the little paths we find ourselves upon

By: Aviantei

[Twelve Shots of Summer: DECK 7-II/12]

[Parameters: "XII-Hanged Man"]

July I

Feeling upside down;
finding one little secret;
feeling freedom

Four years.

I had been in the world of Kimetsu no Yaiba for four years. While after that much time, it shouldn't have felt so surreal, I couldn't deny that it did. That first anniversary, I'd been immersed in training and distracted by the presence of my two kōhai. On the second, I'd been preparing for my Final Selection. And on the third, we were smack dab in the middle of Canon and developing my mentorship program. In all those situations, I'd been far too concerned with other things to think about it, but—

I missed home.

If I could even call it home anymore, considering that where I lived now was just as much my home. But who said you could ever just have one? Either way, I missed my family. I missed Dad congratulating me on my report card and taking me out for ice cream. I missed Grandma waking me up on the weekends and having me take a walk to the park. Hell, I even missed the few times that Mom would stop by, even if they were short and not very connected. At least she bothered to stop by at all, though it seemed like she had no idea what to do with me after Jaden had died.

If I had stayed in my original world, would we have been able to fix our relationship? Would she and Dad have been able to sort out their differences? Would I have even been the same person? If I'd never woken up in Kimetsu, I would have graduated high school by now, getting ready for college. What would I even be doing? I couldn't imagine another future for me besides passing down Thunder Breathing—god, would I have fallen in love with other people? Would I be waking up beside someone else right now?

Rolling over in the futon, I curled up against Zenitsu's side. He nuzzled against me, but it seemed like he was still asleep. I wanted to smile, but I couldn't quite pull it off. How had Dad and Grandma even reacted whenever they went to wake me up one morning and I hadn't been there? How long had they grieved over losing me, too? How long had they looked for me? Were they still grieving? Had they moved on enough and were enjoying their lives? I hoped so on the last point, but my disappearance had to have left a shadow over their lives that I couldn't just ignore.

(Something I'd never admitted to anyone: I threw myself into this world, into becoming Sensei's apprentice, and I forced myself not to think about home because it hurt too much.)

Even worse, I couldn't just say that I would go back if I could. It would be nice to see them, would be nice to let them know that I was okay and happy—even if I was a whole world apart—but disappearing again would mean leaving more people behind, and I didn't want to do that. Zenitsu had lost so much, and the one difference from Canon was that I was here for him, too; I didn't want to take that away.

"Please," I whispered, "whoever or whatever brought me here, please don't make me leave again. I wouldn't be able to take it."

"Mm, what's that…?" Zenitsu mumbled, still half asleep, though he sounded alert soon enough. "Eh? Rairi—Rairi, hey, why are you crying? You didn't have another nightmare, did you?" He rolled over, pressing me close to his chest, and I shook my head, unable to ignore the wet spot I was leaving in the front of his sleep yukata. Even though the morning was already warm, I didn't want to pull away whatsoever, and Zenitsu rubbed my back. "Hey, it's okay, we're okay…"

"Today," I said, managing to force the word out around the lump in my throat. "Today was the day I woke up here."

Zenitsu stilled, all the way down to his breath. I adjusted, pressing my ear against his chest and soaking the sound of his heartbeat. Even with what I'd told him before, there was just so much I could explain about my old world with everything else going on. Maybe he felt as conflicted about it as I did; torn that I'd disappeared from there, but glad that I had shown up here at all. "Do you…?" Do you miss it, do you want to go back, do you regret it?

"I…" The answer to all those questions was both yes but no, because what else could it be? But if I hadn't been there, then…

Rairi-senpai, Kaigaku had said, thank you for staying.

"I belong here now," I said, and Zenitsu let out a small little exhale in relief. "I hadn't missed home a lot, but maybe that feeling's just been building up more than I expected. I mean, I…just woke up here. As far as my family was concerned, I disappeared." Even with Canon all complete and Kibutsuji gone, I'd never figured out the cause, and maybe that made it harder to accept. If I knew why, maybe I would've been at peace. "I just…can't help but think about it."

"That makes sense." Zenitsu started running a hand over my hair, and I let it comfort me. "You…haven't talked much about any of your family aside from Jaden." Oh, he's right. "I mean, I get it, since that would've been awkward considering the whole coming from another time, thing. But even since then…" Zenitsu caught himself, looking flustered the next second, and backpedaled with, "Sorry, I don't mean to be pushy, I guess I was just…wondering what it was like."

To have a family, I understood.

I pulled myself into a sit, dragging Zenitsu with me into a tighter hug. "I don't mind you asking, sweetie." Half the tension in Zenitsu's shoulders had melted away, and I nuzzled against his hair for my own comfort. "It's just…strange to think about." No matter what I did, I wouldn't be able to go back home and see Jaden again, because Jaden wasn't around to see. Dad and Grandma and Mom were other matters. "A couple years after Jaden died, my parents split up, so it was just me and my dad for a while until we had Grandma move in, too. It was comfortable, and I loved them." My eyes felt hot, and I didn't bother trying to stop the tears as they rolled in. "God, I'm a fucking mess."

"Nooo, don't say it like that. If you're a mess, Rairi, then I'm a disaster!" Despite everything, I still had it in me to laugh at the comment, which I knew was why Zenitsu had said it in the first place. "Besides, of course you're going to miss them. You're the one that's always telling me how everyone processes their feelings in different ways, and that applies to you, too, you know!"

He had a fucking good point there, but we'd already learned that I was the master of not being able to accept my own emotional vulnerability right off the bat. Thank fuck Zenitsu was patient enough to work with me and remind me to follow my own goddamn advice. "Right, I know. It's just…hard to internalize right now. What right do I have to talk about missing home whenever I didn't even try to find a way back?"

Because that was part of what was getting to me about all of it, now that I had time to reflect. I'd just accepted that I'd been pulled out of my own world, had thrown myself into becoming Sensei's apprentice and learning Thunder Breathing. Yes, part of that had been because it had hurt too much to think about, but even now, with Muzan gone, I'd never once thought about trying to find out what happened or if there were a way to un-isekai myself back to my ordinary life where Kimetsu no Yaiba was just a story, where Zenitsu, Kaigaku, Sensei, Mitsuri, and everyone else were just fictional characters to enjoy on the other side of a screen or see running around in manga, merchandise, and fanart.

I didn't think I could fucking handle that.

"…Do you want to find a way back?" Zenitsu's voice was quiet, like he hadn't wanted to ask the question in the first place but he'd resolved to do it anyways. If I was scared to think about the possibility, how did he feel about the idea that I could go away forever? "Sorry, sorry, you don't have to answer that. I guess… I'm just…"

"I know, sweetie, I know." I pressed a kiss into his forehead, hoping that would help. "I…don't want to go back, Zenitsu." And then, the thing that made those words true, "I don't want to leave you."

"And if I could go with you?" Well, what the fuck was I supposed to say to that? Though I'd avoided thinking about it as much as possible, the thought had crossed my mind; some part of me had assumed that going back to my original world would mean going alone, but did it have to? I mean, yeah, it would be messy, but if Zenitsu was with me, that was very different than the alternative.

I mulled the idea over, but I was getting nowhere real fast. "What would you want to do?"

"That's cheating; I asked first." Whoops, I'd been caught with no chance of falling back from it, and Zenitsu's half pout was enough to corner me even further. "But no matter what," Zenitsu said, resting his forehead against mine, "I could go anywhere, so long as you were with me, Rairi."

It had to be because I was already so vulnerable, but those words made me tear up even more, and I pulled Zenitsu back into a hug. That said, without the pressure of losing out on Zenitsu's company, it made finding my real answer become a whole lot easier.

"…I'm happy to stay here. I don't need to go back." I couldn't deny that I wouldn't mind having the opportunity to send my family a message to let them know I was alright, and seeing them would be even better—but if those things never happened, I could feel at peace with it. "If we come across something that will give us answers, I'm not about to ignore it, but I don't want to go out of my way to hunt them down. We have enough work to take care of our current life as it is." With another squeeze and a quick kiss, I rolled over to the side of the futon, reaching for my prosthetic.

Today was a day I didn't feel like wasting away in bed, and we took those.

If our goal was to be able to pass on Thunder Breathing, we needed to start doing that, so it had become my and Zenitsu's current mission.

Of course, there were some complications to that. One: Without any demons, the need to learn something like Total Concentration kinda tanked way hard. Two: Swords were already illegal in Japan, so there was an even more limited potential audience. That said, it wasn't like there weren't some selling points. For starters, exercise was always a plus, and Total Concentration had excellent health benefits on top of that. And even if you didn't have a proper blade, you could still learn self-defense skills. Hell, even in my original era, stuff like kendo and whatnot were popular as sports, so it wasn't like the arts would go away.

"Plus we already have the training space for it," I said, as Zenitsu, Natagoro, and I were talking over the rough business plans. "The Thunder Estate has a whole training hall already, plus even rooms for overnight students, if we want to go that far. At least we're not going to have to invest in the property."

"That is a good consideration to keep in mind," Natagoro said, looking over his own notes that he'd brought for the occasion. Considering this sort of work was in his wheelhouse, I was more than willing to trust his opinion in the matter. "You're also lucky that Jigorō-sama left this place in good shape. In the future, you'll want to keep maintenance costs in mind, but none of that should be an issue for the immediate time being. I'm not as sure about the amount of equipment you have on hand, though…"

"We have enough to handle a small batch of students," Zenitsu said, since he'd been the one to dig through it all and make an accurate count of what we had. "Not that Sensei left us concrete teaching plans or anything, so we're not certain how much we do need. But I think we could take on five students without any issues, if we play it safe." For whatever reason, the idea of having a small group of in-house apprentices warmed my heart, though I was willing to bet it was in part because it would mean the estate wouldn't feel as empty. Zenitsu's more serious expression slipped away to a more self-depreciating smile as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure we'll be able to find a lot of students to worry about equipment in the first place…"

While it was a bit depressing, I did share the sentiment. I could think of benefits and selling points all I wanted, but it didn't matter much if no one was all that interested in the first place. Plus we lived in a smaller town, so we didn't have the advantage of pure population numbers on our side. Because they were amazing, some of our Slayer friends had volunteered to come and help with starting numbers, but that pool would dry up sooner or later.

Zenitsu and I had had that issue lingering over our heads for a while, and we had yet to find any concrete answers. On the other hand, Natagoro didn't look anywhere near as worried. "While I see your concerns, I think you're both underestimating the influence Jigorō-sama has had on this town." Zenitsu and I exchanged a quick glance before we gave Natagoro our attention as he continued, "Jigorō-sama protected this area for years, even before his retirement. Many families have passed down word of his deeds. I'm sure once you announce the estate is open for training, you'll have no difficulty finding customers."

That information coming as a surprise to both of us, Zenitsu and I exchanged another glance, though it was much more filled with confusion than the last one. I assumed it was the same for him, but I was realizing I didn't know an awful lot about Sensei—in part because he didn't talk about himself much, in part because I'd never asked, more of that "way too thrown off by being isekai'd" thing. The things I knew about Sensei could be boiled down to a few key facts:

He'd once been a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps.

He'd retired from active duty due to losing his leg, after which he became a Cultivator.

He'd been a strict but caring teacher, one who valued his students above even himself.

When it comes to his past or how he became a Demon Slayer, I have no idea. Hell, I didn't even know how he became a Hashira (aside from the obvious qualifications instated by the Corps). And on top of that… "Natagoro-san, how did you and Sensei meet?"

Looking just as curious as I did, Zenitsu sat up a bit straighter. Natagoro, though not looking thrown aback by the sudden attention, still took a moment before replying, "We were from the same hometown, as it were. Not that we were all that close growing up." Something about the concept of a smol Sensei just didn't click in my head, but it wasn't like he had popped into existence as an old man. "In fact, in my teenage years, I took on an apprenticeship and left town, since I was the third son and all. Jigorō-sama and I met again…I want to say I was not quite thirty yet? In any event, he saved me from a demon, and after that I agreed to help him manage the Thunder Estate."

"Oh, so he must've been a Hashira by then," Zenitsu said.

"Yes, that's right. This place was much smaller then, but the main part was constructed. It expanded more whenever Jigorō-sama picked up several Tsuguko to apprentice under him." Given that Sensei had long made it clear that me, Kaigaku, and Zenitsu were the sole students left to pass on Thunder Breathing, I didn't quite feel like asking what had happened to the others. I had a good enough guess. "It was…I'd say a bit around five to seven years before he lost his leg and needed to retire."

I hummed. "He didn't let that stop him, though." I mean, yeah, he'd stepped back from the front lines, but he'd gotten back up, learned how to stand up again, and continued to teach students to contribute to the fight against Kibutsuji Muzan and the demons. "We ended up with someone great for our sensei, didn't we?"

Zenitsu nodded, and Natagoro had a soft smile on his face. "Yes, I'd say so," Natagoro said, "and he had wonderful students as well." I reached out to squeeze Zenitsu's hand, and he sniffled a bit before regaining his composure. "That's why I'm glad to help you out with this process. Would you like me to start spreading the word around town, then? Even if you don't start accepting students right away, the word of mouth will serve as some advertising, and I'm sure that will build enough intrigue to get you people whenever you're ready to begin."

"I think that sounds like a good idea." Natagoro had plenty of clout himself, so we couldn't waste any of that. "Zenitsu?"

"Yeah, let's do it," he said, looking a bit giddy at the prospect. "The sooner the better with this sort of stuff, right? Just let us know if there's anything we can do to help out, Natagoro-san, and we'll be glad to. I mean, this is our goal, after all, so we gotta put in some legwork, too!"

From there, most of the conversation was hashing out some other details about pricing and whatnot, to which I didn't have much to add but still trusted Natagoro to give us solid advice. Even then, there was one thing he couldn't help us out with that Zenitsu and I had to figure out on our own.

"…Just how the hell are we going to teach these people anything?"

Though I'd somehow been a tutor on numerous occasions when it came to Total Concentration and its Constant variant, I'd never done anything as complicated as teach a whole breathing style. Sure, I could perform all of the Thunder Breathing forms, and that counted for something, but just showing the thing off and being a good teacher were two different things.

Hence: I'd sent out some letters asking for help, and I'd gotten a couple of people who were willing to help.

"…This is still a combination, anyway you look at it, though," I muttered, looking at the pair who'd been free enough to show up at the Thunder Estate first.

"Hm, what do you mean, Rairi-san?" Kei asked, tilting her head. Since the purpose of her visit was to do some training, she'd put her auburn hair back up into the bun I'd seen her wear so much as a Slayer, but her more intricate kimono still seemed a bit out of place in comparison to the uniform I was so used to.

I would've said the same about her companion, but I was far more thrown off by the fact that Shinazugawa Genya had arrived at all, considering I hadn't sent him a direct invitation. On top of that, while Kei had a certain Japanese elegance to her, Genya was far more on the punk aesthetic thanks to his mohawk. The one person that could have been more out of place would have been his elder brother, Sanemi, and thank fuck the former Wind Hashira hadn't arrived on my doorsteps, because that was just asking for disaster.

There was no turning down students, though, so that was enough with the stalling for me. "Don't worry about anything I say out of nowhere," I said, trying to start us out on topic instead of having to wrangle it back all the time. What I wouldn't give for some of Sensei's no nonsense attitude. "Either way, I'm glad you two agreed to help me out."

"Of course!" Kei was as giddy as I'd ever seen her, which was a massive change from how she'd been not too long after Kaigaku…became a demon. "I was able to convince my family to let me take some time off from helping out with the sales for a while, so I'm in your care!"

With such enthusiasm right next to him, Genya looked a bit embarrassed to be present. "I just…wanted to try and pay you back for the help you gave me and my brother at the end." Despite his rough exterior, he was just a softie at heart. Not to mention Genya was one of the Canon characters that hadn't survived the original manga, so there was that. "That said, I don't know how much help I'll be, since I can't perform Total Concentration at all."

Right, that's one of the side effects of him being able to gain power from eating demons. Without any demons around, Genya's battle prowess had been nerfed into the ground, though his basic weapons proficiency was more than enough to handle any ordinary situation not involving monsters. "You don't need to worry about that," I said, earning a curious look. "I mean, there's every chance that someone I end up teaching will also not be able to perform Total Concentration. This can help us start to get ideas for how to teach them well." I offered a smile and reached out to pat his shoulder. "You're perfect to help us out, Genya-kun, so I'm glad you came all this way."

Genya ducked his head a bit, but it wasn't quick enough for me not to notice the way he was blushing, just a bit. "Y-yeah, not a problem." Man, maybe I was biased, but I sure got the feeling that the author of Kimetsu had been way too good at making these kids giant cuties all around, like good job.

"So, so, Rairi-san," Kei said, leaning forward in her enthusiasm, "what are we starting out with first?" Even Genya had glanced up, looking curious, so it looked like it was time for me to do the thing I'd wanted help with in the first place.

"I know you know a lot of this stuff already, but I was hoping to go over some basics on Total Concentration so I can get a feel for how I should be pacing these sorts of lessons first…"

Said teaching demonstration led to me coming to one conclusion: at face value, Total Concentration Breathing was kind of boring as shit.

Now, I would never deny that it wasn't important. Without Total Concentration, human beings wouldn't have had anywhere close to the strength to be able to stand off with demons, beings who had supernatural power tucked into their back pockets. Without it, I would have become very much dead all the way back at Final Selection, even if it had been a fair and balanced test in the slightest (which the version I had taken wasn't). That sort of shit was essential, but you couldn't figure out Total Concentration—like Genya—just breathing in general was helpful for being able to maintain your physical condition. But without the concern about demons, or even with it, sitting someone who was interested in swordplay down and telling them to breathe better didn't quite seem appealing.

"Yeah, so I think we'll need to mix some of these concepts together," I said over dinner.

Zenitsu, sitting right across from me nodded, swallowing first before responding, "That makes sense. I'm pretty sure Sensei did that sort of thing as well." I'd sort of remembered that, but all that early training was kind of fuzzy in my mind. I could still perform everything, since I'd absorbed the skills to the point of second nature, but you couldn't expect me to have a perfect memory. Still, I couldn't help but wonder if I was cut out for teaching at all. "Aw, don't sound so down, Rairi. That's why we're trying things from this angle, right? So we can hash out all the details before we get into the actual work!"

"That's right, Rairi-san!" Kei said, offering me a grin. "Besides, your teaching is overall good, so you can still use that. You just need to shuffle it around with some other things, and it'll go together. Not to mention that while you're sorting things out, I get to hang around, so it's all good with me if you need a while to get it all together. Right, Genya-san?"

"Huh?" Genya had been picking at his food, seeming not to expect getting pulled into the conversation. With Kei's persistent smile, he seemed extra flustered, but he managed to clear his throat. "It wasn't a bad experience. Everything you said made sense, even if it's something I'm not capable of pulling off."

The reassurance was enough to ease some of my concerns, though I still had a lot of work to do. At least those were things that Zenitsu and I could figure out later, so I wasn't quite panicking just yet. "Well, if you guys think of anything, let me know, alright? I need all the feedback I can get." Kei and Genya both gave their (differing in levels of energy) affirmations. "That goes for anything around the house, too. We've kinda gotten used to just having the couple of us around, so who knows if there's anything else we need to keep students comfy."

Maybe it was because he'd studied under Himejima, who I understood lived a minimalistic monk lifestyle, but Genya seemed a bit taken aback by the concept. "No, no, you don't need to do any of that for us, I don't wanna cause any trouble."

"Don't be silly, Genya-kun, you don't need to turn down hospitality like that." Kei seemed to have a very different lifestyle philosophy, which I knew for a fact she didn't learn from Kaigaku in any way shape or form.

"That sounds like something we'll need to consider, too," Zenitsu said, having the same thought that I did. It was nice to know I wasn't just making up things that I thought made sense. "I'm pretty sure that Sensei had us in the conditions we did to prepare for being Demon Slayers, and that's not a need anymore. But if we go too luxurious, there's a chance it won't feel like training, either…" Trailing off, Zenitsu put down his chopsticks and pulled out a small notebook from his pocket, scribbling at a rapid pace.

"It doesn't help that some students will handle some conditions better than others, too." Just looking at the two we had with us was enough of an example of that. "The best we can do is try a bunch of things and see what happens. Kei-san, Genya-kun, I'll be counting on you both, okay?"

"You got it, Rairi-san!"

"I'll do my best."

After a handful of days of working over the basics of Total Concentration and some common sword techniques, I'd gotten some good insights on what to work with. Much like the breathing aspects, Kei and Genya alike both understood simple swordplay, but that was what made them very helpful test students. While I knew how to follow the way I'd been taught, Kei and Genya had gone through different cultivators, so they knew some extra methods to help things make sense to them. Zenitsu took notes the whole time, and it kind of felt like we were learning way more from them than they were from us.

That's kinda the point, though, I reminded myself more than once, but it did encourage me to absorb as much as I could to be a good teacher later.

But with a lot of wrinkles ironed out on the basics—and a lot of homework for Zenitsu and I to figure out how tf we were going to handle our job later on—it was time to get into the actual Thunder Breathing part.

When it came to my recovery, I'd gotten approval from my local doctor to do more intense activity, so long as I paced myself. That meant I was nowhere near my peak as a Slayer just yet, and I doubted I'd survive a serious fight in any way, but I didn't need to be able to handle Kibutsuji just to teach people how to use Thunder Breathing.

Which meant I was going to use the opportunity to give a demonstration for all I had, and my anticipation had me all but bouncing in my seat throughout breakfast.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" Zenitsu asked as we finished clearing our plates. He had an amused smile on, but I wasn't about to apologize for my enthusiasm, either. Neither Genya nor Kei objected, so Zenitsu clapped his hands together and stood up. "Let's go ahead and get started for today, then." Following the routine we'd established, we all gathered up our dishes, dropped them off in the kitchen for Kimiko, and then headed out to the courtyard. "If you don't mind, Rairi, I'll take care of Hekireki Issen and Honoikazuchi no Kami, and you can handle the rest, okay?"

"The floor's all yours, sweetie." Hm, were flirting and pet names unprofessional for a teacher? Fuck it, it was my school and I would do what I wanted. "Go and show them what you do best."

Excited as I was, I wasn't about to steal Zenitsu's expertise from him. He stepped towards the center of the courtyard with Kei, Genya, and I standing on the sidelines. Seeing Zenitsu's stride filled with such confidence compared to how he'd cried and ran away four years ago made me want to tear up, but I kept my composure and gave him all the attention he deserved.

And then, the precursor to it all: an inhale.

"Kaminari no Kokyū—Ichi no Kata: Hekireki Issen."

It was a blink and you miss it sort of moment. Even Kei, who had been Kaigaku's mentee, looked stunned at the sheer speed, and Genya's mouth hung open, leaving me to swell up in pride. Zenitsu was a master of his craft, through and through, and I felt lucky to be able to witness such a pure and beautiful form of what Thunder Breathing could be.

But that didn't mean that Zenitsu was done just yet.

Zenitsu and I had agreed that doing any of his multifold variations wouldn't agree well with our house (they could be shown off another time), and the Shinsoku variant was just there for more speed and wasn't quite practical for beginners to see. Instead, his stance shifted, the center of his body slipping lower than the usual stance for our first form. In my peripheral, I could see Kei squint in concentration, as if she noticed something was different, but he wasn't quite sure what.

"Shichi no Kata: Honoikazuchi no Kami."

Lighting surged around his form, turning him into the dragonesque shape of a raiju. Zenitsu's control was fine enough that he didn't cause any major destruction to the surrounding area, though I did notice a few singe marks leftover on the grass. I myself had been able to pull off the form but once—and that had been in a desperate situation—but Zenitsu made it look so easy, as if he'd always been meant to bring such a form into the world.

"Beautiful," I murmured, though that low volume wasn't enough to keep Zenitsu from hearing me.

The expression on his face had been one of concentration, but my word was enough for that to crumble, his cheeks tinting red and a pleased smile slipping over his lips. No, Rairi, you were not going to say fuck it and kiss your partner silly when you're supposed to be aa teacher! Didn't mean I couldn't kiss him silly later, but for now…

Zenitsu cleared his throat once, trying and failing to keep his eyes on Kei and Genya as he addressed them. "That form is my invention," her said. "So it's not something we'll end up getting to while you're helping us out with developing our lesson plans. But it is something that's possible with Thunder Breathing, so I thought you might like to see it. I mean, for the longest time, I wasn't able to do anything but Hekireki Issen, so it shows that you can figure things out with a lot of practice, so use that as encouragement…or something." With a nervous laugh to fight the way he was losing steam, Zenitsu shuffled over to where we were standing. "You ready to go ahead and show off the rest, Rairi?"

I gave Zenitsu a couple of pats on the shoulder, then strode forward. Maybe it was because both of our audience were kōhai and I had plenty of experience being a Senpai. It wasn't my first time performing the other forms, either, since I'd done some practice. Kei and Genya may have been our test run students, but that didn't mean I wanted to fall on my face in front of them. But once I put my hand on my sword hilt, got into my opening stance, and breathed, those pieces inside me that were the long result practice clicked right into place.

Ni no Kata: Inadama.

My sword slashed through the air in five quick slashes, lighting sparking off my blade.

San no Kata: Shūbun Seirai.

I kicked off the ground with my left leg, managing the appropriate position for several more leaps, each one landing their own attack.

Shi no Kata: Enrai.

With the right breath and movement, lightning scattered in an AOE effect, adding more singes to the yard.

Go no Kata: Netsu Kairai.

Shifting my grip, I made an upward slash with all my strength.

Roku no Kata: Dengō Raigō.

Following the momentum of my last blow, concentrated the last of my long range moves into a single point before returning my katana to its sheath with a definitive snap.

On the side, Zenitsu started to clap, which turned into a mini round of applause from everyone. In any other situation, I would've told them not to bother, but I was a bit too busy realizing that tears had started spilling out of my eyes. Yes, I'd practiced before, but there was something about stringing it all together and the fact that I could still pull them off with my prosthetic—Shūbun Seirei in particular—just felt good.

You see that, Sensei? We're going to be able to pass down Thunder Breathing, just you watch.

"Ehhh, Rairi-san, don't cry!" Kei raced over to my side, looking concerned. "You did great! Amazing! Super cool!" Behind her, Genya seemed paralyzed, his eyes wide in panic.

"It's okay, everyone," Zenitsu said. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that he was tearing up, too, but his lips were in a wide smile, his expression the one I could recognize as being full of love and affection. "It's a happy cry, right, Rairi?" I nodded, mopping up my tears with my sleeve, for what little good it did. "You were amazing. As beautiful as ever."

Which was more than enough for me to erupt in a fresh round of tears all over again.

We took a short break from training after that.

With everyone all cried out and back in a productive state of mind, it was time to start the instruction proper. While it wasn't as if you needed the first to do the other forms—as Kaigaku had more than proven—most Total Concentration styles had their opening form as a pretty foundational movement for a reason. Now, I hadn't studied every breathing form under the sun (or, even, of the Sun), but that seemed to be a constant, while the remaining numbered forms tended to have to do with when they were invented rather than any sense of scaling difficulty.

In any event, Zenitsu and I had agreed to start out with the Hekireki Issen, and it hadn't even been a contest.

"Okay, that's close, but your stance is a bit too wide," I told Kei as we worked on the foundational movements. Her experience with a sword helped in a lot of ways, but Stone Breathing was another matter altogether in comparison, with its heavy focus on power. As such, Kei's natural habit was to keep herself steady so that her swings would have more oomph to them, whilst Thunder Breathing kept you moving, almost never committing to a position aside from taking a launch point. It wasn't quite as specialized as the always-flowing Water Breathing, but there was enough of a gap between our school and what Kei had learned to cause some challenges.

Never one to give up, Kei screwed up her face in concentration and shifted as I told her. "Like this, then?"

"Yes, that's about where you want to be." For a beginner, just the rough positioning was fine. With more practice, you could get much more precise with your movements, finding the right combination that worked for you, but that was a question of mastery rather than execution. "Now, put your hand on your sword, but don't draw it just yet." I gave Kei a demonstration, and she mirrored me, though after a second's pause since we had opposing dominant hands. "When it comes down to it, you don't need to draw from a sheath to perform the Hekireki Issen, but it is the origin of the form, so we'll work from there. Besides, if you can handle the more complex version, you shouldn't have much issue with whipping it out as necessary." In fact, if you were to compare us, Zenitsu was much better at doing the full draw and return on a consistent basis than I ever had been, but that was neither here nor there. "Alright, so the full motion is going to look like this…"

Tapering down my speed—which was just hilarious considering the whole point of our breathing style—I showed the Iaijutsu movement, completing a draw of the sword and making a strike before returning it to the sheath, then repeating it a few times for good measure. It had been a long time since I'd gotten so granular, and it made me just a bit aware of how much I'd tweaked the movements for my own use in live combat.

I'll just have to join everyone whenever we do drills, huh? I thought, doing one last high speed slash to show off the final product. Kei had been watching me with an intense expression the whole time, absorbing whatever she could. "Alright, you wanna give it a try, Kei-san?"

"Yes!" Her enthusiasm was adorable, not to mention admirable. She adjusted back into the starting position, muttering to herself to make sure she got it just right. From there, she set her gaze forward, as if imagining an enemy before her, and then she drew her sword, one exact millimeter at a time. Thunder Breathing wasn't nitpicky enough that you needed to strike at the same angle every time, so I let her feel it out a couple times. She did do a few more repetitions before picking up speed, though on her last iteration she fumbled a bit with returning the sword to her sheath. "Yikes, that's a weird thing to get used to right there…"

"Haha, I bet. Still, that was good for your first shot." Way better than when I'd started, that was for sure, though I'd had no real experience whatsoever with holding any sort of weapon back then, so it was an unfair comparison. "It's the speed where things get complicated, but I'm sure you can figure it out if you keep trying. Do you wanna focus on what we have so far, or do you want to get into the breathing parts next?" For an amateur, I'd have them practice the basic movement for a while, but since Kei had experience, I figured she could tell what approach was best for her.

Her lips pursed as she mulled it over a moment. "If you don't mind, I want to see the breathing patterns, please. That helped Stone Breathing click a lot better with me."

"No problem. Alright, so the big thing to remember with Thunder Breathing is that you want a lot of that power to go into your legs…"

In theory, anyone could perform a kata from one of the Total Concentration Breathing styles. They were, after all, built off of regular sword forms—such as Thunder Breathing's origins in Iaijutsu. That was why Zenitsu and I were confident we could pass down Thunder Breathing as an artform and why you had situations like Sun Breathing preserved through the Kamado family's Hinokami Kagura.

But when it came down to using the kata as an effective weapon against demons, the Total Concentration aspect was necessary to provide the right amount of strength. It didn't matter how effective Nichirin steel was; if you didn't have the power to cut through a demon, you were kinda fucked. When you got that strength through your breathing and lined it up right, that was what let you manifest the techniques into their elemental effect.

Did any of that make any logical sense? I had no idea, but was how the world I'd landed in worked, so I'd just kind of rolled with it. No sense in arguing with the reality before me and all that.

In any event, if you timed your breathing right with the correct focus on your body, plus the proper movements, you would execute a form. The better control you had over your Total Concentration—and later the Constant variation—the more effective your move would be. Thus I was working on providing the instruction for the remaining forms since Zenitsu's skills lied elsewhere.

"Alright, so today we're going to be going over the Dengō Raigō." When it came down to difficulty, Thunder Breathing's fifth and second forms were about the same, with one focusing on speed and precision, while the other had power at its core. It was that strength aspect that had landed me on form five, since Kei had an affinity for Stone Breathing, which was all about power. "I'm pretty sure Sensei introduced this one to me as best used for a finishing blow on a tough opponent, which is still true, but I haven't figured out a way to describe it to someone who isn't fighting demons, so cut me some slack." Zenitsu snickered, while Kei's lips twitched up. "In any event, I've shown it off to you before, but let's go ahead and demonstrate it one more time to give you a clear visual to work with."

Not wanting to crack anyone in the face, I took a few steps back from my line of current students. With my sword in hand, I slipped back into that focused state, my breathing lining up before I launched into the strike, a massive clap of thunder sounding from the blow, leaving me with a sense of giddiness in the aftermath. Damn, that felt good!

I was not strong enough to stop myself from pumping my fist, earning a couple of smiles from my audience, but at least I got back on track right afterwards. "This is a move that involves a deep inhale so you can make your final attack more powerful on the exhale." I did an exaggerated version of the process, feeling the crackle of electricity forming in the move, though with a less thunderous sound afterwards. "Unlike a lot of other Thunder Breathing moves, you want to put a bit of focus into the arms for the heaviness of the swing, but the bulk of the power does come from the legs."

When you built up enough momentum with your kickoff, that contributed plenty. Even when it came to performing the move from a stationary position, you put a lot into the drop of your body weight to assist the blow, but that was yet another detail that had to do with execution rather than the basics I was trying to impart.

…Yeah, when it came to Thunder Breathing, I could go on for hours. Best to stick on task.

"So the main thing is getting into the right breathing rhythm. Pay attention to me, and then follow along."

I demonstrated the breaths once more, and that set us into our first section of practice. Once again, there were a lot of skipped steps when it came to working with people with sword skills, but that was beside the point. Genya emulated me as best he could, keeping his inhales and exhales in rhythm. Kei and Zenitsu had that Total Concentration flair to it (which just kinda came down to the sound of it, but still). After offering a few pointers, we went onto the next phase, which was practicing the swing. Dengō Raigō had the advantage in that you didn't need to be anywhere near as precise with the motions as you were with the sheathing on the Hekireki Issen, so we didn't spend too much time there, soon after moving on to combining the two.

"Yeah, that's looking good," I told Genya. Sure, there were no sparks, but he still had a good sense for his exhales and using that to lean into his actions, helping ease the tension out of his muscles. "I would say you'd want to push more force into the move, but good effort."

"Alright, I can give that a shot."

"Kei-san, show me what you've got."

"Roger, roger!" Kei got into position, looking much more in her element than when we'd been working with the Hekireki Issen. There was a moment where she collected herself, then she breathed, her next swing managing to produce sparks. "Nice, I got it!"

"Great work." I flashed her a thumbs up, and Kei giggled, looking beyond pleased with herself. She was the type to not be able to sit still, though, so it wasn't long before she went back to her reps. I smiled, then stepped over to the remaining trainee under my care for the day. "How are you feeling, sweetie?" While no one would have blamed him for not even trying, considering how many times he'd failed in the past, Zenitsu had insisted on giving it another shot, and I would never turn down his enthusiasm.

…Not that he was looking as enthusiastic now.

Zenitsu's brow was furrowed in concentration, and the deep brow on his lips just made him look far more dour than usual. Even when we'd been training in preparation for the final battle, I hadn't seen him make that face. I also couldn't tell if it was better or worse than how he'd been back in our training days as we worked on the same exact task, though maybe the present won because he wasn't quite on the verge of tears.

"Dammit, this is so frustrating!" Oh, it looked like I had spoken too soon. Zenitsu wasn't about to throw a fit, but he was gripping onto his hilt hard enough to make his knuckles flare white. "I…I thought I'd changed after everything. I mean, I made the Honoikazuchi no Kami, right? So that had to mean I could improve…" He took in a deep breath, though it did little to erase the tremble in his voice. "Sorry, Rairi. I know we're supposed to pass things on together, but at this rate…"

"…At this rate you're already going to be amazing at this." Zenitsu gave me a long look, but we were both aware I was speaking nothing but what I thought was the truth. "I could tell by watching that your form already looks better than it did before, and that's going to be amazing for teaching. Now, how about you show me what you're doing, and I'll see if I can help?" Zenitsu wouldn't be the only person to have difficulties with the forms, so I could use all the practice I could get.

"Alright, I'll give it my best." His following smile was a little weak, but he got into position anyways. Seeing that resolve made me all extra proud, but I forced myself to focus as Zenitsu started, Kei and Genya falling quiet behind me to give him room to focus. Zenitsu gripped his sword, breathed, and—

Nothing.

Zenitsu grimaced, and I frowned. When it came down to it, it didn't look like anything was wrong. In fact, the speed of his strike was on par with my own, and I'd felt the wind whip off the strike, so it had had the right force. In practice, there was no reason why it shouldn't have had the correct result, and yet…

Zenitsu let out a self-depreciating laugh. "…I'm not cut for this, am I?" he asked, on the verge of tears all over again. "I mean, even Sensei gave up on teaching me how to do anything else. I mean, yeah, I can do one thing right, so I'm not worthless, but still…"

"There's gotta be something we're missing," I said. Sure, I wasn't an expert, but I knew my way around Thunder Breathing, and I couldn't believe that Zenitsu was just incapable, not whenever he'd made his own form. He gave me a skeptical look. "I mean it, I'm sure there's one thing that we can't tell, but I bet that will change it all. Sweetie, I know this is gonna be rough, but show me again a few times." I had the feeling if he gave up here, it might not make it impossible to recover, but it would affect him for a long, long time.

He trusted me well enough to do as I asked, so that meant it was my job to find the answer. I focused as hard as I could, watching the movements. There wasn't anything that looked wrong, which just made everything all the more frustrating. And yet, something in the back of my mind just told me something had to be off, and I knew to trust that instinct, and as soon as I noticed, everything would make sense. What was a problem that was unique to Zenitsu, that would affect him more than anybody else?

"…Speed."

Zenitsu froze mid-motion, his hearing more than capable of picking up my mutter, and he stared at me, wide-eyed, and Kei looked just as if not more confused. "What do you mean, Rairi-san?" she asked. "It looks to me like he's more than fast enough. Like, I managed something, and I wasn't more than even half that speed." Genya nodded in affirmation, her logic making perfect sense. And yet—

"No, no, you don't get it. It's not that he's not fast enough." That would never be an issue for Zenitsu, even when he was an old man, I was sure of that. "It's that he's too fast." The others all gave me different looks, but they all captured a perfect sense of confusion. "His speed is outpacing his breathing, so the technique isn't lining up. For Hekireki Issen, that's fine, since it's about the burst of the launch, but when you get to the other forms—"

"—the exhale is landing way too early, so the body relaxes before it should," Zenitsu said, finishing my thought for me. "And since Thunder Breathing is all about the moment of impact, if that's not right, none of it's going to work out at all." He looked down at his hands, as if seeing himself for the first time, but the defeated slump in his shoulders was gone, and soon he was back in the starting position. "So if I take it easy, and slow myself down just right…"

The effect was almost instantaneous, a massive boom following the swing of his sword, and I had to blink the spots out of my eyes from the resulting light. For a long while, the two of us just stood there, staring at each other as if to confirm that we'd both experienced the same moment—and then I tackled him in a hug, knocking him to the ground as we both screamed in joy.

After more than three years' worth of effort, Zenitsu had managed to perform one of the original six Thunder Breathing forms other than the Hekireki Issen.

[Author's Notes]

Remember when I said that this collection was going to be twelve pieces? Well, the July section kind of ended up with two separate plotlines, so I decided to make them individual chapters so the tones didn't clash. This one uses Hanged Man as its archetype, which is often used to represent looking at things from a new perspective. That new angle is what leads to Zenitsu's success in this chapter.

Thanks to Fox Headphones for the favorite on the og walk steady! It was my birthday yesterday, so leave me a review as a gift lol (or don't. But I'd appreciate it if you did)!

I know "being able to only do one thing" is kind of Zenitsu's thing, but the fact that he makes the Honoikazuchi no Kami makes my author brain go "there's no reason he can't do something else," so here are my unnecessary Total Concentration and Thunder Breathing headcanons to explain why.

Your behind the scenes fact for this chapter is that the July sections took the longest to write! Probably because they were secretly two chapters instead of one, whoops.

Vani is once again on my lap while prepping author's notes. My most recent interview went well, and I am now in administrative limbo for both positions. But at least I have kitty cuddles.

Chronic Guardian is still going strong with his [Twelve Shots of Summer] collection, Kairi Hearts, and he's successfully made it to the halfway point! I recommend giving his works a read; they're a good time.

Tomorrow: July II, featuring the prompt "xi-Hunger." Please look forward to it!

[07.15.2023]