It took Zenitsu a couple of weeks to come out of his funk. But when he did, he seemed to have changed. He had more determination than before. He was still scared of Demons, but he no longer tried to avoid training or working hard. He kept training, even when he started crying, "if you don't work hard now, when Gramps sees you next, he's beat the crap outta you! Don't give up! I gotta make Kaigaku pay for everything he put us through!" he growled. Gyutaro watched the blond-haired teen train with an impressed look on his face. Considering the behaviour he'd seen from him previously, this was a massive improvement. He even attempted the Total-Concentration Constant that the Kamado Brothers were working on. The green-haired young man focused on his own training.
Total-Concentration Constant was a whole other monster. It was so hard and painful to do the Breathing for more than a couple of seconds that he thought his lungs had burst. He usually would have gone to ask his Master for help, but he'd been too nervous to do so since the trial. The man that he had trusted hadn't trusted him, and had wanted to kill their younger Sisters. So the thought of going to Master Himejima for training advice now was too nerve-wracking. Especially as he would've brought Ume with him. But then he was given advice about how to do the Breathing technique by the three youngest girls. "You have to blow into the gourds to make them blow up!" Kiyo said cheerfully. "Huh?" Gyutaro asked.
"If you can do that, your lung capacity will have increased a whole lot! Making Total-Concentration Constant easier to do" Sumi continued. Gyutaro stared at the gourd. It looked very solid. But, if the Hashira had trained this way- "alright, I'll try it" The Oldest Kamado said! But no matter what he did, he couldn't break the gourd. One day, while he was recovering from one such attempt, he heard very familiar voices: "Big Brother!" Shigeru, Hanako and Rokuta called. He turned to his younger Siblings, crouching down to hug them as they ran over. Gyutaro pulled back, as the three all began talking at once. "Woah, woah! Slow down, I can't understand you! Where's Takeo?" the green-haired Kamado asked. "He's asleep right now" Hanako replied.
Gyutaro nodded, "did the Hashira really try to kill Ume and Nezuko? Are they okay?" Shigeru asked worriedly. "They're both fine. We can go see them if you want?" he replied with a smile. "Okay!" Rokuta replied, as the three began walking. "Are your injuries okay?" the 7-year-old asked with a frown. The Oldest Kamado nodded, "my injuries are fine. I wasn't as badly hurt as Tanjiro. But he's doing great too. We've both been training to get back in shape again" Gyutaro replied. He led them to a closed room in the Butterfly Estate. "Ume is awake right now, but I don't know about Nezuko. She was still asleep the last time I checked." He explained.
Gyutaro opened the door, "Ume, you have visitor's!" he called, opening the door. The Demon woman looked up, smiling when Rokuta and Shigeru ran into the room, while Hanako followed eagerly, but calmly. "Ume!" Shigeru cried, as he and Rokuta hugged their Oldest Sister. The white and green-haired Demon hugged her two younger Brothers, "Shigeru, Rokuta. I m-missed you," she said. "You can talk now big Sister?" Hanako asked happily, surprised. "Yep. M-most-ly" Ume replied, stroking her youngest Sister's hair. Shigeru turned to look at Nezuko, who was asleep and still had the muzzle in her mouth, "Big Sis Nezuko is asleep again. Did she get hurt on your last Mission?" he asked worriedly, as he walked over to his other Older Sister.
"Unfortunately she did. The enemy Demon was one of the really strong ones. So now she needs to sleep again" Gyutaro explained, relieved that he had a convenient half-lie to use. He didn't want to scare his Siblings anymore than they already would be. Ume picked up the giggling Rokuta, "so, what's been happening recently? I was going to visit all of you after I got the letter about you guys making new friends, but then I got that last Mission." Gyutaro asked, as he sat down on Ume's bed. "Not much. Rokuta went to play with Kiriya again, and met his older and younger Sisters. I hope we can meet them soon too" Hanako replied.
"Yeah! We all played with the Temari together! And explored their house" Rokuta said cheerfully. "Are our Siblings here?" Tanjiro asked as he poked his head into the room. "Tanjiro!" Shigeru and Rokuta cried, running over to their Older Brother, while Hanako walked calmly. Gyutaro chuckled at how they'd had the same reactions to seeing them. "Hey! How are you all? It's been a while since I was able to visit," Tanjiro said happily, hugging his younger Siblings, "I heard about you making friends with the Shinazugawa Siblings. I'm glad most of them are good kids" he muttered, thinking of the white-haired guy who'd stabbed both of their Sister's, one of which was a 12-year-old child.
While they talked and caught up, Ume tugged on Gyutaro's sleeve, getting his attention. "Hm?" he asked, turning to look at his Oldest younger Sibling, "is something wrong Sis?" he asked. "I'm g-gonna go to b-bed now" she said. "Oh, sure, we'll go," the green-haired Kamado said with an understanding smile, as he stood up, "hey guys?" he called, getting everyone's attention. His younger Siblings looked over at him, "Ume is going to sleep now, so we have to go. We can talk in our room" Gyutaro said, beckoning his younger Siblings to follow him.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
The Kamado Siblings were in the room Tanjiro usually slept in. Zenitsu and Inosuke were off training, so the large family had the room to themselves. "Ew! You fought Spider Demons!? Sounds disgusting!" Hanako groaned. "Most of them didn't actually resemble Spiders, but their powers had something to do with Spiders" Tanjiro explained. "Now that I think about it, I wonder why Rui and his "family" were all Spider-themed" Gyutaro wondered, crossing his arms in thought. "Well, either way, I'm just glad that it's over. It was one hell of a night, I'll say that much" Tanjiro replied with a sigh of relief. "I'm just glad that you're all alright Tanjiro" Rokuta said, hugging his Older Brother around the waist.
"Yeah. In fact, I think we're pretty much healed, but we'll have to check with Miss Sinobu about that. I wonder what our next Mission will be?" Tanjiro said, while hugging his youngest Brother back. "How can you think about another Mission, when you all almost died Tanjiro?!" Hanako asked fearfully, "if you all die, we'll be all alone! We've already lost Mom, we can't lose anymore family!" she cried, tears in her eyes. Everyone quieted down, as the 12-year-old spoke, "these Missions are too dangerous! Both you and Gyutaro have almost died on them! And Nezuko was badly hurt too!" she was crying now, trembling with the force of her sobs.
"Why do you have to be Demon Slayers?! Why can't you just be happy we're all alive and safe and go back to the way things were before?!" Hanako demanded, breaking down. Tanjiro knelt down in front of his youngest Sister, "Hanako. I'm truly sorry if I worried you. If the fact that I'm a Demon Slayer scares you. I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "You must have been worried about this the whole time, weren't you? Feeling like you couldn't say it." Tanjiro wrapped his arms around her, "I really am glad that you're so concerned for us. But you don't have to worry. We're doing this because we want to. Because all we want is to be able to keep all of you safe. What happened to Mom was horrible. It would have happened to all of you if she hadn't been sick, and asked us to take you all with us. And that Demon is still alive. I have the feeling he came after our family specifically. And there are a lot more Demons too. We have to be able to protect you, otherwise we would never be able to forgive ourselves. And we want to turn Ume and Nezuko back into humans too. Both Gyutaro and I love you all so much, that we can't stand the thought of losing you. That's why we became Demon Slayers. That's why Takeo became a Demon Slayer as well, though he doesn't take Missions.
We just want to protect you because we love you all so much. Losing any of you would crush us. Do you understand Hanako?" he asked, pulling back from the hug. Hanako sniffed, wiping her eyes. "Yeah. Sorry for what I said big Brother. Thank you for protecting us" she replied, hugging Tanjiro tight, "just promise me you'll come back to us alive. All four of you. That's all I want Tanjiro" she whispered. The Burgandy-haired 15-year-old rubbed his little Sister's back, "of course. We'll come back no matter what" he replied firmly.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
After the Kamado Siblings went home, the group of Slayers did light training until bedtime. The next day, Tanjiro and Inosuke got their reforged Nicherin Swords. After a little more training and a check-up, everyone was pronounced fully recovered. Early that Morning, a Crow woke them all up, "It is now morning everyone! Caw!" Gyutaro yawned as he sat up, looking at the Crow. "You have a new Mission! Casualties on the Mugen train are on the rise. You are to meet Kyojuro Rengoku and Mitsuri Kanrouji on Site! Depart at once! Depart at once!" it cried.
Gyutaro and Tanjiro locked gazes. Two Hashira, and 6 of them. Whatever Demon was attacking the train couldn't be a normal one. "Could it be, a 12 Kizuki?" Gyutaro asked in a whisper, while both Inosuke and Zenitsu were getting ready and hopefully couldn't hear them. "With two Hashira, something is up at least. We should be on guard. And make sure we get a blood sample for Miss Tamayo!" Tanjiro replied. "I can hear you know! You really think a 12 Kizuki will be there?" Zenitsu asked worriedly.
The two Kamado's shared looks, and it was decided that Gyutaro would answer, since he was better at lying, "It was a guess, but probably not. They most likely will be a bit stronger than normal, if two Hashira are being sent in though" he replied. The blond narrowed his eyes at them, before sighing, "let me sit next to Nezuko's box and I won't complain" he replied. "Sure. I guess that's fine. Just take care of her for me" Tanjiro replied as he continued to pack.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
When the group got to the Station, Tanjiro, Gyutaro and Inosuke were awed by the train. "What is that?" Gyutaro asked in shock. "It's a train, you know, a vehicle for transportation?" Zenitsu explained in confusion. "A vehicle for transportation? You mean like a car?" Gyutaro asked. Now it was Zenitsu's turn to be confused, "you know what a car is, but not a train?" he asked. "Well, I would see cars from time to time in the Entertainment District when I was a kid" Gyutaro explained. Zenitsu's face suddenly turned as red as a tomato, "you've been to the- wh-wh-what were you even doing in the Entertainment District as a kid?!" he exclaimed in shock.
"Ume and I grew up there until the Kamado's saved and adopted us" Gyutaro replied calmly. That calmed the blond-haired teen down. 'They were Orphans. Forced to live all alone on the streets. But they were found by good people, just like I was found by a good person.' An image of his Master flashed in his mind, and he clenched his fists, growing even more determined to kill his former Sibling Student, 'Kaigaku, I swear I'll kill you no matter what it takes!' he thought. "Let's go get our Tickets" Zenitsu said, leading the way towards the ticket booth. Well long story short, they got their tickets, had to stop Inosuke from attacking the train, had to run from the Police once the Authorities had spotted their swords, and barely made it onto the Train before it left.
Most of them sighed once they were safely on the Train and it was speeding off down the tracks. "Well, let's get to it, and find Kyojuro and Mitsuri" Gyutaro said, turning to enter the Train, with his younger Brother and Tanjiro's friends behind him.
To Be Continued