After the group got back home, Gyutaro decided to go to his Master's Compound and see if the man would consider training him again. Even so, he still expected an apology from the Stone Hashira for not trusting him and condemning his Sisters just because they were Demons, even though they'd never eaten anyone. The thought of it made him angry, even now. Even so, he knew that he needed to keep training in order for him to protect his Siblings, so he was willing to forgive the man if he would apologise as well. The next day, he grabbed his weapon and Ume got into her box. Then the two headed for the Stone Estate. Tanjiro was still off Missions because he hadn't gotten a new Sword yet, so he agreed to look after their Siblings for him. As the Kamado travelled to his Master's home, he prayed that things would go well today. He had no bad feelings, but he was still incredibly nervous.
"It will be okay big Brother. Try and relax" Ume said from her box. Gyutaro sighed, "thanks Ume. I'm just worried about how he'll react to you. What if Master tries to hurt you?" he asked. "Do you have any bad feelings about this meeting?" his Sister asked, and he could feel her shifting in her box. "No, I don't. Not yet at least" Gyutaro replied. "Well then, that means that it'll be fine. So calm down Gyutaro. Okay?" Ume asked. The green-haired man sighed, "yeah. I know I don't have any reason to worry. But the way that he just brushed me off at the trial, like I was crazy for wanting to protect my own Sisters-" he shook his head, "I'm worried that he'll still try to kill you, no matter what I say" Gyutaro replied worriedly. "You think he still doesn't trust your judgement about us" Ume said.
"Yeah. Like I said, I don't have any bad premonitions, but I still can't help but worry for you" Gyutaro replied, adjusting the box to be more comfortable on his back. There was silence for a moment, before Ume spoke again, "I wish I could hug you right now to reassure you, but the sun is out and I would burn to death" the Demon woman said, making her Older Brother snort at the dark humor. "Instead, all I can do is tell you- listen to your feelings. Your premonitions have never been wrong before. And so, if you don't have a bad one, then there's nothing to fear. So stop worrying. We'll be fine" Ume assured, before yawning, "I'm going to sleep now big Brother. We'll talk later" she said. Then she fell silent, obviously asleep.
Gyutaro took a deep breath. His little Sister was right. He didn't have anything to worry about. He had no bad feelings like before. So there was no reason to worry. Finally, after about an hour, Gyutaro reached his Master's Estate. Standing in front of the door, his nerves reared their ugly heads. He was about to leave the Estate, when the door suddenly opened. He turned to look, expecting to see the Stone Hashira. That man's hearing and Sixth Sense was something else. Instead he found Genya Shinazugawa to be staring at him from the door. The two stared at each other for a long moment, before Gyutaro opened his mouth to speak, but the teenager grabbed him roughly by the arm and dragged him inside the Estate.
"What are you doing here?!" both of them cried in shock. The Kamado blinked, "I'm Himejima's Tsuguko. What are you doing here? I thought you'd be at home with your younger Siblings" Gyutaro asked in confusion. Genya crossed his arms, "right, he mentioned he had a Tsuguko" he replied with a sigh. The Shinazugawa crossed his arms over his chest, "well, after what nearly happened in the past, I wanted to become a Demon Slayer and protect our family as well, but Sanemi wouldn't have it. He refused to let me join the Corps. But I was terrified that, one day when he was gone, another Demon would attack our family, and this time, a Demon Slayer wouldn't conveniently come along to save us.
I didn't want to be helpless like that again, so I joined the Final Selection. After I passed, Himejima took an interest in me, and made me his Student, even though I can't technically, well, use Breathing styles. So now I'm training under him as well" Genya explained as he led Gyutaro into the compound. "I'm happy for you. I'm sure you'll be able to protect your Siblings. You're working hard for them" the oldest Kamado replied. The teen flushed slightly, "yeah, w-well, Master is this way!" Genya called, heading out into the yard. Gyutaro followed him to find his Master meditating on the ground, "Master! Gyutaro is here to see you" the Shinazugawa called.
Himejima opened his unseeing eyes, "Gyutaro. And-" the large man froze, turning in the direction of his first Student, "you have your Sister with you" he said. It wasn't a question. "Yes, I do. Is that a problem?" Gyutaro asked with an edge to his voice. Gyomei stood up, his massive form dwarfing Gyutaro's own height, "no. It's fine. After all, there is no murderous intent coming from her" the Stone Hashira replied.
"Come inside please" he said, heading back towards the house. Gyutaro let out a sigh of relief that it seemed to be going well so far. They headed into the sitting room, Gyutaro politely following behind the man, before setting Ume's box down on the floor next to the table and sitting down himself. "Would you like Tea?" Genya asked. Gyutaro breathed through the tension in the air, amazed that the younger teen couldn't feel it, before turning to him, "no thank you, I'm alright" he replied. The Shinazugawa looked between the two of them, before Gyomei spoke up, "Genya, return to your training". The teen nodded, "alright Master. Thank you" he replied. Then he stood and left. There was silence between the two, before Gyomei sighed.
"Do you know how I joined the Demon Slayer Corps Gyutaro?" the man asked. The green-haired Kamado looked up, "no Sir, I don't" he replied. Gyomei turned his unseeing eyes to the open door. "In the past, I ran an Orphanage in a Temple. I knew of Demons, so I always burned Wisteria Incense to ward them off. One night, a Demon got into the Temple. The children panicked and ran around. I couldn't tell where they were to protect them, and they were all killed. All except one child, named Sayo. I became so angry and determined to protect her, that I crushed the Demon until it couldn't regenerate, and burned in the sunlight.
However, when the Police arrived, they thought I had killed the children, as there was no body for evidence and Sayo was too traumatized and young to explain. And so I was arrested. I would have been executed, had the Master not saved my life and invited me to join the Corps. So you can see why I would have trouble accepting Demons such as your Sister's. However, I have heard that both of them have fought multiple times to protect humans. Therefore I would like to apologise to you on your Sister's behalf, as well as not trusting your word" Gyomei explained.
Gyutaro clenched his fists, "you wouldn't listen. They are my Sister's. I told you that they didn't eat humans. I expected you, at least, to trust me when I said that they weren't dangerous to humans. You are supposed to be my Master, but you didn't trust me! You wanted to kill my innocent Sisters, just because they were Demons, even though neither of them had eaten or killed anyone! How can I give you my trust, when you refuse to trust me?" he cried, unable to stop tears from welling in his eyes.
The large man took a deep breath and bowed low to the ground, the muscles in his large arms rippling, "I am truly sorry Gyutaro. I want you to believe that. Your Sister's are truly amazing to be able to survive without human flesh or blood, and I know they will continue to protect humans. Will you please accept my apology?" Gyomei asked sincerely. "No," Gyutaro replied firmly, "not until you give a sincere apology to Ume and later Nezuko as well" the green-haired 27-year-old replied. The Stone Hashira bowed his head, "of course" he replied.
When Ume came out of her box, she grew back to her true size and knelt in front of the Older man. Her Older Brother clenched his fists in nervousness. Gyomei studied the Demonic presence in front of him closely for the first time. He could sense no malicious intent, or even hunger. If she didn't have a Demonic Aura, he would have thought the Kamado woman to be a normal human. Again, the man bowed low to the ground, "Ume, I am deeply sorry for how I treated your life as nothing, even though your Brother pleaded your innocence. I can see now, that you are not like other Demons. And the same is true for your younger Sister. I apologise for my actions in the past.
Even if you can't forgive me, I hope that you will allow me to continue training with your Older Brother" Gyomei said. Ume stared down at the man for a moment, before she spoke, "as long as you can help my Older Brother become strong enough to protect our family, then you have my forgiveness" she said. The Hashira nodded, "I will. I swear" he replied. Ume nodded, before yawning, "now, if you don't mind, I'm going to sleep. Please take good care of my Brother" she said, before laying down on the floor and going to sleep. "Ah! Ume! That's rude!" Gyutaro yelped. "Its fine. She can sleep here for as long as she needs to. Are you ready to begin your training again?" Gyomei asked.
The Oldest Kamado looked up at him, before grinning, "of course! Anything for my Siblings!" he replied.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
Gyutaro spent the next few weeks training, visiting most of his younger Siblings every Wednesday, and getting to know Genya better. He learned that he and Takeo were fast becoming best friends. Rokuta was exchanging many letters with Kiriya. He never read them for privacy's sake, but he had a bad feeling about the contents of those letters.
Rokuta seemed to be very stressed whenever he wrote his friend letters now. Finally, he went to visit his Brother, to find Tanjiro in a panic, because his Swordsmith had refused to fix his sword. "What do I do? If he won't fix it, then I can't protect our Siblings!" his younger Brother groaned. "Hey come on, surly it can't be that bad?" Gyutaro asked. But he blanched after reading the letters the Swordsmith had sent, the threats and words of hate sprawled across the pages more than explanation enough. "Oh" he muttered, as his brother wept tears of shame. "Hey, if Mr Haganezka won't send you a new sword, why don't you just go to the Swordsmith Village and ask him directly?" Naho suggested as she walked by with a basket of laundry, having overheard their conversation.
"Wait, we can do that?" Gyutaro asked, dumbfounded. "Of course! You would need to ask the Master's permission first though" the little girl replied. "Ah! That's great! I'll ask Miss Shinobu to write a letter right away!" Tanjiro cheered, beginning to run off. Suddenly Gyutaro got a horrible sick feeling in his stomach, so strong he almost vomited. "Ah! Big Brother! What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. Gyutaro panted, clutching his stomach, "I'm going too" he said. "Huh?" Tanjiro asked. Gyutaro stared his younger Brother in the eye, "I'm going to the Swordsmith Village with you Tanjiro" he said firmly, leaving no room for discussion. Slowly Tanjiro nodded, "alright. I'll ask Miss Shinobu to add it to her letter." He replied, still looking worried.
Gyutaro nodded, leaving to go get ready. Whatever would happen at that Village, it was going to be very dangerous. However, at the same time, he could feel that something incredible would happen as well. He took a deep breath to try and settle his nerves. Whatever it was, he knew that he couldn't leave Tanjiro and Nezuko to face it alone.