That night Gyutaro and Tanjiro ate dinner with Mitsuri. To their surprise, they found that the woman ate a massive amount of food. Gyutaro's mind was short-circuiting. He'd never seen so much food before in his life! "You, sure eat a lot, don't you Miss Kanroji?" he asked, eyes twitching. "You think so? I was really just having a nibble tonight, I was too excited to see little Nezuko!" the pink and green-haired woman replied. Once the Swordsmith who'd served them had left, both Ume and Nezuko left their boxes. Nezuko walked over to the Love Hashira, humming curiously, "Oh! There you are Nezuko! You're so adorable!" Mitsuri cooed.
She began tickling the tiny Demon, making her giggle through the gag. Gyutaro chuckled, remembering the times he and Ume had gone home and played Tickle Monster with their Siblings. "Hey, Nezuko's worst spot is her ribs, she's really ticklish if you use light tickles" he said, as Mitsuri awed, "she's just the cutest thing!" she said. Her fingers lightly teased the shrunken Demons ribs, fluttering her fingers over the sensitive nerves there. Nezuko giggled loudly through her gag and squirmed around. "So, Miss Kanroji, the boy who ignored you at the Hot Springs this afternoon was Genya Shinazugawa. He wasn't trying to be rude, he's just really uncomfortable around girls" Gyutaro explained.
"Oh! So that's what it was! Ah! Wait, Shinazugawa? Is he one of the Wind Hashira's Brothers?" Mitsuri asked. Tanjiro nodded, "yeah, he and our younger Brother Takeo are best friends" he replied cheerfully. Mitsuri hugged Nezuko as she thought, "I didn't know any of Shinazugawa's Siblings were Demon Slayers? Maybe he's just staying out of the spotlight, or I guess with a Brother like that, he wouldn't be in it at all. I wonder what Breathing Style he uses?" The Love Hashira thought out loud.
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The four Kamado's and one Hashira walked down the hall to their rooms, as Ume had come out of her box as well after dinner. "I heard that you've killed some of the Lower Rank 12 Kizuki, right?" Mitsuri asked. "Yes, Ume and I killed Lower Rank 6, and Tanjiro, myself, Ume and Nezuko killed Lower 5 together" Gyutaro replied as Ume held his hand as she walked beside him. "That kind of experience is invaluable to a Demon Slayer. Equal to several years of training. The four of you have surely gotten much stronger than you were before. If you both continue the way you have been, you're sure to become much more powerful. And I mean that," Mitsuri beamed, "Mitsuri Kanroji is rooting for the Kamado Siblings!" she said brightly with a chuckle.
Gyutaro smiled, "thank you, it means a lot that at least someone trusts our Sisters" he said, squeezing Ume's hand affectionately. Suddenly a Kazushi came up to her, "Master Kanroji, your Sword is ready for you Ma'am" she said. "Oh! Looks like I have to go!" Mitsuri said cheerfully. She turned back to the two Brothers and walked towards them. Then she threw her arms around the two's necks and pulled their heads close together, causing both boys to yelp. "I heard that somewhere in this Village is a secret weapon that is supposed to make you stronger. You two should try and find it, okay?" Mitsuri asked, as she released them. She waved, "have a good night you guys!" the woman called as she left.
Gyutaro smiled, "well, she sure is the most cheerful and accepting out of the Hashira we've met, huh?" he said. "Yeah. What do you think she meant by a secret weapon?" Tanjiro asked in confusion. He shook his head, "Well, we can go look for it tomorrow. For now let's write a letter to our Siblings letting them know we've arrived alright, and then get some sleep, okay?" he decided. "Oh! Yeah, we did say we would write them all a letter when we got here, didn't we?" Gyutaro asked. "Can I add something to the letter? I've been practicing how to write again" Ume asked. "Sure, let's get to our room then." Tanjiro agreed.
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After writing the letter, and checking that it was okay to have a Kakushi take it the next day, the four Siblings went to sleep. But not before Gyutaro gave Ume a bit of his blood. The white and green-haired Demon licked her lips, "ah, thanks big Brother. I appreciate the meal" she said gratefully, feeling strength surge through her body. "With this and some sleep, I should be good to go," she said with a grin. Then it faded as she turned to look at her Older Brother, "Gyutaro, are you still getting those bad Premonitions?" she asked him. "Yeah. They're still pretty bad. I've got the chills throughout my whole body, like when I have a fever, but they won't go away.
That was why I liked the Hot Springs so much today. I have a really bad feeling about what's going to happen in this Village Ume. I don't know what to do" Gyutaro replied. His little Sister hugged him, "I know you're scared. But whatever happens, we won't have to face it alone" Ume replied. "That's part of the problem" the green-haired 27-year-old said. His Sister pulled back from her hug, but left her hands on Gyutaro's shoulders, "huh? What do you mean?" she asked. "The fact that Tanjiro and Nezuko are here too is what worries me so much. I couldn't bare it if anything happened to any of our younger Siblings Ume. You know that" Gyutaro replied.
Ume hugged him, wrapping one arm around his head and the other around his back and pulling him close to her, "Nothing is going to happen. That's what we're here for, right?" she asked. Gyutaro sighed, "yeah. Yeah you're right. That's what we're here for." He pulled away from his little Sister's hug, "let's get some sleep Ume" he said, moving to get into his Futon.
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The next day, when Tanjiro woke up, it was to find Gyutaro kneeling over him, "are you alright Tanjiro? You're crying?" he asked worriedly. The burgundy-haired teen wiped his eyes, "I'm fine. Just had a sad dream" he replied. "Alright. Well get ready, we have Breakfast and then looking for that secret weapon the Love Hashira told us about last night" Gyutaro said, moving away from his younger Brother as he sat up. He got dressed quickly, as Ume and Nezuko climbed into their boxes.
Once Tanjiro was dressed, the two of them went down to the Dining Room. As they ate, a Swordsmith entered the room, "Master Tanjiro?" he asked. Tanjiro looked over at him, "I just wanted to tell you that there have still been no signs of Haganezuga yet. Feel free to explore the Village today, and if we can't find him by the end of the week, we'll assign you a new Swordsmith" he explained. Tanjiro looked down in thought. Gyutaro frowned at that piece of news.
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As the Kamado Brother's walked around the Village, their Sister's in their boxes, Gyutaro noticed that Tanjiro seemed distracted, "what's wrong Tanjiro? Are you worried about your Sword?" he asked. "No, it's not that. But I had a weird dream last night" Tanjiro replied. "The one you told me about this morning? You said it was sad" the green-haired young man said. "Well, not really. I'm not sure how to describe it. It did make me feel sad, but- I don't know" Tanjiro said, trying and failing to describe the dream better. "Now, I wonder where this secret weapon is supposed to be? We don't even know what it is!" Gyutaro said, annoyed. "But isn't this fun? It's like we're on a treasure hunt!" Tanjiro said excitedly.
"Heh, yeah, a treasure hunt without a map." Gyutaro said sarcastically, "We have no idea what this thing is, or where it is! What if we completely miss the thing because we don't know what we're looking for?!" he cried in annoyance. "No! I won't give it to you!" a young voice cried in anger. The Brothers looked in the direction of the voice, to find two children arguing. "I need to train with it, so give me the key!" the long-haired boy cried. "No way! I'm not giving it to you! You've already done enough! If you keep using it, it's going to break!" the younger boy cried, looking up at the person standing behind him. Beside him, Tanjiro gasped.
Gyutaro looked down at his little Brother, "what's wrong?" he whispered. "That man," Tanjiro replied, "I'm sure I saw him in my dream last night!" he said in shock.
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"What? But Tanjiro, we've never seen that man before in our lives! I mean, maybe he looks a bit like Father, but not enough for him to be the one you're thinking of" Gyutaro replied in surprise. Suddenly the long-haired boy sighed, "I don't have time for this!" he said, before using a knife-hand chop to knock the boy out. "Hey!" Gyutaro gasped, as the younger boy reached down and took the key from around the now unconscious child's neck. Both Tanjiro and Gyutaro ran out to them, "what do you think you're doing?! You can't just knock someone out and steal their stuff?!" he snapped, grabbing the boy's hand. The boy blinked, "you're those Kamado Brothers with their Demon Sisters. What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I came to get a new Sword, that's what! But then I see you acting like this and stealing something from a kid! You think just because you're a Hashira you can do whatever you want?!" Tanjiro cried. "Yes. As long as what I want allows me to protect humans from Demons, that is entirely my right. Because we're the ones who kill Demons. Swordsmiths can't do anything like that. Between the two of us, the one who can save others more is more important" the young Hashira replied. "Okay, I see what you're saying, but still! That's no reason to be a bully about it! Besides, you're completely wrong about Swordsmiths being useless. Without them, we wouldn't have any weapons that could kill Demons! So weather you're a Hashira or not, doesn't matter, because you would be just as helpless as a normal Civilian!" Tanjiro replied.
The Mist Hashira gasped, before becoming angry. He grabbed Tanjiro by his Haori, "you take that back! I am not helpless!" he cried. "I won't! Not until you apologize to this boy!" Tanjiro yelled back. Gyutaro helped the slowly waking boy to his knees. "Why should I apologize? I was trying to train, and he was stopping me" the other boy replied firmly. "That doesn't mean you have to be needlessly cruel!" Tanjiro shouted back. The Hashira froze, then suddenly his veins popped out on his face and arms. His grip on Tanjiro's Haori increased, "you think this is being cruel? Cruel would be if I ripped off his hand. Cruel would be if I taunted him for being too weak. Cruel would be if I tried to kill his twin Brother right in front of him!" he cried furiously.
Both Tanjiro and Gyutaro gaped at the furious boy. He held his hand out to the masked one on the ground, "give me the key, right now" he ordered, slowing his breathing. Tears streamed down from the young Swordsmith's eye holes in his mask. He looked down and took the key out from where it was hanging around his neck and tucked into his shirt, "fine, you win. Just take it" he said, sounding like he was fighting back tears. Once the Mist Hashira took the key, the boy ran away into the forest, sobbing. "Hey wait!" Tanjiro cried, running after the younger boy. Gyutaro got up and followed him as well, but not before sending one last dirty look at the younger teen.