Kimetsu no Yaiba doesn't belong to me. This story is a translation of another fanfic of mine. I hope you like it!
Senjuro prepared breakfast in silence, feeling tense. Although he respected and admired his brother a lot, he didn't understand his decision to allow a demon to be there, even if she was asleep.
But deep down, what worried him the most was his father's reaction once he found out. He could be really unpredictable.
He heard footsteps behind him and turned around.
"Good morning!" Sumiko greeted with a smile. Senjuro smiled too, even though he wasn't sure about having a demon in the house, he was glad that Kyojuro had found another apprentice. He hoped she wouldn't run away like the others.
"Good morning," he replied, finishing the final touches and serving everything on plates. He had prepared enough for three, he didn't know if his father would have breakfast with them, but he learned from experience that it was best to have something prepared just in case.
The two young people sat down to eat, and Senjuro looked at her curiously. She seemed like a kind person, he thought.
"It's really good," Sumiko commented after taking a bite.
"Thank you," he said, happy that she liked it, but after that, silence settled in. Neither of them felt like talking at the moment. It wasn't uncomfortable, and they both appreciated the peace.
However, the peace didn't last long. The kitchen door opened abruptly, and a middle-aged man entered.
Sumiko put down the bowl she was eating from and prepared to greet the man, who, by his identical appearance to Senjuro and Kyojuro, she deduced was their father, but when she saw how pale Senjuro was, she stopped. An unpleasant smell reached her nose. Alcohol. That man stank of it.
"Senjuro!" the adult shouted. "Can you explain to me why a demon is in this house?"
"Father..." Senjuro hesitated for a moment. "Kyojuro assured me that everything was okay," he tried to explain what had happened.
"So it's the useless Kyojuro's fault," Shinjuro muttered sarcastically, noticing Sumiko, who was tense. "And who is this?"
"I'm your son's apprentice, my name is Sumiko Kamado," the girl introduced herself immediately, stepping forward before Senjuro could.
Shinjuro looked at her with little interest until his gaze stopped at the scar on her forehead and the earrings. He opened his eyes wide and dropped the ceramic canteen filled with sake that he was holding in his right hand, shattering it on impact and staining the wooden floor with alcohol.
His reaction caught the two off guard, and soon, Shinjuro was holding the girl down on the ground, preventing her from moving.
"Father!" Senjuro shouted, trying to make him let go of Sumiko, but he only managed to get his father to push him back, and the boy fell to the ground. Even though he had retired years ago, his father's strength was still considerable. "Father, please stop!" the boy pleaded, who had gotten up and was trying to help the girl again.
Kyojuro opened the door to his house and as soon as he stepped inside, he heard screams coming from the kitchen. He furrowed his brow and hurried over there, fearing what he might find. What he didn't expect was to see Sumiko on the floor and his father holding her. Senjuro was trying to pull him away, but with no success.
"Brother!" The relief in Senjuro's voice was evident and Kyojuro approached with the intention of calming the situation. Although it wasn't necessary, because at that moment Sumiko was able to headbutt the adult with enough force to knock him unconscious.
The two young men looked at each other in surprise, while Sumiko got up, nervous and aware of what she had just done.
"I'm sorry..." she apologized immediately, ashamed. "It was the only thing I could think of to get him to let go."
"Wait for me in the yard," Kyojuro said, taking charge of the situation. "I'll be there in a little while."
The girl nodded and hurried away. Kyojuro sighed a little and looked at his father, still unconscious on the floor.
"Senjuro, help me take him to his room, please," he asked, and the two of them carried the adult to his futon and laid him down. "What happened?" he asked when they were both outside the bedroom.
"He just attacked Sumiko out of nowhere," Senjuro explained immediately.
"We'll be in the patio. Let us know if you need anything, and Senjuro...," Kyojuro hesitated for a moment. "It's better if you avoid father today," he advised, noticing that his brother's left cheek was a little red, possibly from having received a blow.
"I have experience... Don't worry," Senjuro tried to reassure him, but he achieved the opposite effect.
"I'm sorry," Kyojuro said immediately.
"It's not your fault," the younger one replied almost out of habit. He had already gotten used to that situation.
"I'm sure father will come to his senses eventually," Kyojuro commented, trying to lighten the mood. "Well, see you later," he said goodbye as he walked towards the patio, leaving his brother alone.
Senjuro watched him go. He couldn't disagree more with the older one's words. He didn't believe their father would recover. How many years had he been drinking? Six already? Seven? But he didn't have the courage to express that out loud and to Kyojuro's face.
Shinjuro watched from his bedroom as his son trained with the girl. He furrowed his brow, irritated. His son was more foolish than he had thought, still believing he was special. Being a Pillar was useless. It was suicide and a way of seeking death.
He clenched his teeth. How was it possible that Kyojuro had not understood this? He lifted the ceramic flask full of sake to his lips, having grabbed a new one, and took a long sip. He wiped his lips carelessly with his right hand and lay down on the bed.
He had no desire to do anything else. What was the point? He grunted a little and closed his eyes. He would sleep for a bit.
Kyojuro hesitated, on the one hand, he wanted to continue his duty as the Flame Pillar, although the idea of leaving his brother alone, at the mercy of his father, did not please him at all, but did he have any other option?
The more he hesitated, the more people could die at the hands of demons. It was his duty to ensure their safety.
He looked ahead and continued supervising the training of his companion, sighed a little, and nodded, deciding to take advantage of that moment to ask something. "Are we going to stay here?"
Kyojuro shook his head. "We'll leave in the afternoon, after lunch."
"Rengoku... what do you think is happening to my sister?" the girl suddenly asked. It was something she had been thinking about since she woke up.
"I don't know," Kyojuro admitted after thinking for a few seconds. "It's the first time I've seen a case like this."
Sumiko sighed and, without saying anything else, resumed her training. Kyojuro went back to supervising her without further ado.
Senjuro watched from the door as his brother and Sumiko left. He smiled a little, forced, but he didn't want to worry Kyojuro even more.
It was already enough that he had become a disgrace to the Rengoku family. What good was it to have passed the Final Selection almost a year ago if his katana, when he held it for the first time, did not change color as it should have?
He repressed the tears of anger that threatened to fall. His role was supposed to be to prepare himself to replace his brother as a Pillar in case he died prematurely. That had always been the tradition in his family. But he had broken a tradition that went back to the creation of the Corps. He hadn't even been able to make sure that the tomes written by previous Flame Pillars were intact, many of them had been slashed by his father or were missing pages. He had promised his brother to fix those he could, but that task would take months and some, due to their condition, would be irreparable.
When he lost sight of the two of them, he quickly went inside the house as it was getting quite cold already. It would probably snow again that night, Senjuro thought to himself as he closed the door.
He tried to push away the thoughts that had just been swirling in his head, but no matter how hard he tried to silence them, they always ended up coming back, they never completely disappeared.
"Have they gone already?" he heard his father ask. The young man turned around like a spring and, not finding enough strength to respond, nodded nervously. "I'm going to the bar," Shinjuro said then.
Senjuro quickly stepped out of his way. When his father finished the alcohol he had at home, he usually went to a nearby bar and spent the night there drinking.
Those were the best nights, without having to worry about making noise and risking angering his father. One of the rare moments when Senjuro allowed himself to completely relax.
"Okay, Father," he said, but the adult ignored him and left without another word.
Sumiko lay down on the grass, completely exhausted after training. She closed her eyes for a moment and focused on controlling her breathing. Rengoku sat next to her and watched her happily.
"If you keep up this pace, you'll be ready for the Final Selection in a few months," he commented, feeling quite proud.
She opened her eyes and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Can I ask you something?" Sumiko wanted to know.
"Go ahead!"
"I noticed there's something written on your katana. What does it say?" Sumiko had been curious since the first time she saw it, but with her mind focused on more important things, she had never remembered to ask.
Rengoku looked at her, raising his right eyebrow. It wasn't a kanji too difficult to read, yet he unsheathed his weapon and showed it to her, hoping she could read it this time.
An awkward silence fell between them.
"Well... I...," Sumiko murmured nervously a while later. "I can't read..."
Confessing that had cost her quite a bit. And judging by the expression on Rengoku's face, he hadn't even considered that possibility.
"I'm so sorry!" the man half-shouted. "I hadn't thought of that!"
Kyojuro scolded himself inwardly. Now that he thought about it calmly, he could understand the behavior shown by the girl on several occasions. Like when they arrived at a small town and, because they separated while he hunted a demon, Sumiko was unable to fulfill his assignment to find an inn for both of them.
"It's okay," she replied immediately, downplaying it. It wasn't something that had worried her before. Nobody in her family had learned to read or write.
"Still, you should learn," Kyojuro commented. Sumiko looked at him somewhat surprised. She was a woman, so what good would something like that do her? It's not that she didn't trust Rengoku's judgment, but... did she really have to learn? The man, seeing her doubtful expression, added, "Once you become part of the Corps, you will be expected to write reports of your missions or to coordinate with other members through letters from time to time."
The young woman nodded. "Are there more women in the Corps?" she wanted to know, although she could already imagine the answer.
Kyojuro grimaced before answering. "There are, but they are a minority. It's practically composed of men," he commented. Quite normal if one took into account the purpose of demon hunters. "Few are those who decide to continue wielding a sword after passing the Selection, they usually end up being nurses and learn how to treat the wounded."
Sumiko sat up and approached the basket where Nezuko was, slightly lifting the blanket that covered her and sighed as she saw that she was still asleep. If she had been human, they would have had the option of taking her to a doctor for an examination.
"I've been thinking about what's happening to your sister," Kyojuro confessed then. "And I mentioned it to one of the Pillars at last month's meeting."
"And what did she say?" Sumiko wanted to know, trying not to have too much hope.
"She offered to examine her," Kyojuro told her. The young woman stared at him in silence for a few seconds. If she had known that for a month, why hadn't he told her until now? "But I didn't think it was necessary!"
"Kocho is... well, a special case," Rengoku tried to explain, not too sure how to relate the situation of the Insect Pillar.
"I understand," Sumiko replied, perhaps too dryly, although it didn't seem to bother the other person. By that point, the young woman doubted that it was possible to make him angry; he always seemed to be in a good mood, smiling most of the time.
"Well, I'll write to her right away!" said the man as he took out what he needed to do so and, just a few seconds later, wrote a brief letter that he tied to the leg of Kaname, his raven, who immediately took flight.
Kyojuro thought that it might even be good for Sumiko to have the opportunity to socialize with girls her own age, as he remembered the girls who lived with Kocho.
Shinobu read the letter that the crow had just delivered to her with a serious expression. It was what she had been fearing, that Kyojuro would accept her offer. Having passed a month since she made it, she had come to hope that it wouldn't happen. It was obvious that she had been mistaken.
She brushed a strand of hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear as she thought about the preparations she would need to make. She needed to have a room ready for the demon girl.
Although it wasn't difficult to decide which one to choose. The one furthest away from the others, for safety. She wouldn't put the girls under her care in any more danger than strictly necessary, because of Kyojuro's decision and his offer.
It appeared that the demon girl's sister would also be coming, Shinobu noted as she reviewed the letter. She sighed a little and tried to calm down, to prevent the perpetual rage and anger that she kept inside from surfacing, something that was becoming increasingly difficult.
But how could she not feel that way? Every night, demons killed someone, a family lost an important member or was completely annihilated. She couldn't stop until they were all gone, even though it conflicted with her sister's last wish.
At times like this, Shinobu felt divided. She didn't believe that a world in which humans and demons could coexist in peace was possible, but that had been Kanae's main goal, her sister, and she felt the need to make it a reality, to honor her memory. She, on the other hand, had never been so naive or kind. There were moments when she even envied her older sister for that.
"Shinobu," a female voice spoke, pulling her out of her thoughts and she looked up. Standing in the doorway was Kanao, her younger adopted sister.
"Is something the matter, Kanao?" she asked, forcing that fake smile that she always tried to maintain for Kanae's sake.
"I...I'm sorry I didn't say anything before, but...I want to apply for the Final Selection and I've been training in secret for a while," Kanao hesitated for a moment.
Shinobu opened her eyes wide, surprised by that statement. She didn't know how to take it, it was the first time, since she was eight years old, that the young girl had made a decision on her own.
"It's okay," she immediately reassured her, taking charge of the situation. "I'll help you."
Kanao nodded, relieved that there was no objection.
"What breathing technique are you learning?" Shinobu asked.
"The Flower Breathing," Kanao admitted. The other woman smiled sweetly, for the first time sincerely.
Of course. She wasn't the only one who wanted to keep Kanae's memory alive. She approached the young girl and hugged her. She had been so blinded by her hatred and pain that she had forgotten how Kanao could feel.
The girl, somewhat mechanically, responded to that show of affection. She wasn't used to it.
"I decided with the coin," Kanao admitted after a while, and Shinobu furrowed her brow a bit. It already seemed strange that it was completely her decision.
"Kanao...I know what my sister told you," she began, trying to measure her words. "But you must try not to depend so much on that coin."
"But..."
"I know," the woman interrupted her. "But making decisions on your own, following what you believe is best, is what you should do."
Kanao swallowed nervously and looked at her. She didn't know how to do it, even though she had seen it hundreds of times at the Butterfly Mansion, she wasn't able to do the same.
"I-I'll try," she promised. She knew that was the only way to calm the older woman down.
"Thank you. I'm sure you can do it," Shinobu said as she hugged her.
Rengoku relaxed a bit when they arrived at their destination. It had taken them less time than expected to get to the Butterfly Mansion.
"Let's go to the courtyard," the man said. He hoped they would find someone there.
Sumiko nodded and followed him, mentally reviewing everything he had told her about the place. It was where the wounded from missions came to recover and served as a base for those who were part of the Hidden Squad, a branch within the Corps that was dedicated to picking up the wounded, making uniforms, and cleaning the areas where battles against demons took place. From what Rengoku had told her, it was mandatory for them to wear masks, leaving only their eyes visible.
In the courtyard, an area completely covered in grass, there were several wooden posts joined together with ropes for hanging clothes. Sumiko also noticed a small pond, about two meters long. But what caught her attention the most was the group of girls, five of different ages, who were hanging several sheets on the ropes.
Rengoku approached them smiling.
"Good morning!" he exclaimed. Apparently, shouting wasn't the best idea, as it only scared them, causing one of the youngest ones to drop what she had in her hands and the wind carried it until it fell into the pond.
One of the older girls, a girl with black hair tied in two pigtails, quickly approached them, while the three younger ones tried to reach the sheet with the help of a long stick they had nearby. Meanwhile, the other young woman, who was Sumiko's age, stood still and did nothing.
"Miss Kocho informed us of your visit," said the girl with two pigtails. "We have everything ready. Please follow me."
They entered the house and, after walking through several corridors, arrived at a room. It had only one window, completely covered with wooden planks, so no light from outside entered. The only furniture was a bed with white sheets.
It was obvious to Sumiko who it had been prepared for, she thought as she took off the basket from her back and left it on the floor, but before taking out her sister, she noticed the other girl tensing up and taking several steps back.
She exchanged a quick look with Rengoku and he nodded, so carefully, Sumiko took out her sister and placed her on the bed. Nezuko, still asleep, barely reacted, but that didn't seem to calm the other girl, who only relaxed when they left the room and she locked the door.
"Orders from Shinobu," she explained when she saw Sumiko's gaze.
"Where is she?" Kyojuro asked. "We had things to discuss."
"She went out to buy some medicinal herbs," the girl replied, trying to hide her nervousness, but it was clear that the man's presence intimidated her.
"I see!" Rengoku said while nodding, as if he had expected that.
"If you'll excuse me, I have to attend to several patients," the girl apologized, wanting to leave as soon as possible.
"Of course! We don't want to keep you!"
Shinobu examined the sleeping demon carefully. She could feel the stares of Rengoku and the girl's sister on her, but did her best to ignore them.
"Her pulse is normal," she commented a while later. "As is her heart rate. I would say she's completely healthy," she added after also checking the inside of her mouth.
"But then, why is this happening to her?" Sumiko asked with obvious concern, and Shinobu turned to look at her, smiling sweetly.
"I don't know," Shinobu said, stepping away from the bed. "But it seems to be linked to her nature as a demon."
The Insect Pillar couldn't say much more; her specialty was creating poisons to kill demons, and while she had examined and experimented with many of them to create substances that could kill demons, it had never been with the intention of curing them.
"Rengoku, can we talk in private?"
"Of course!"
The two of them left for the woman's office once Shinobu had locked the door to the room, leaving Sumiko alone there.
With nothing to do, she tried to distract herself by exploring the huge house. It was cozy, and the girls she had met before seemed quite friendly, but she hadn't had a chance to talk to them properly, and didn't even know their names.
She headed to the patio area, and there, sitting on a wooden platform, was one of the girls from before.
She was a young woman who, judging by her appearance, must have been around the same age as Sumiko. She had long black hair tied back in a ponytail on the right side of her head, like the rest of the girls there. What she used to tie her hair was a butterfly-shaped clip. The difference was the colors of it. In her case, it was a butterfly with pink wings on the outside and green on the inside. Her eyes were a soft lilac.
"Hello!" Sumiko greeted, sitting down next to her. "My name is Sumiko Kamado. And you?"
The girl looked at her without responding and took a coin out of her pocket, tossed it in the air and caught it with her right hand, and then looked to see what had come up.
"Kanao Tsuyuri," she finally introduced herself, before falling silent again.
"Can I see the coin?" Sumiko didn't plan on giving up so easily. In fact, the girl's attitude only made her curiosity increase.
Kanao hesitated for a moment but eventually gave in and showed her the coin. Sumiko took it and examined it; at first, she didn't see anything remarkable about it—it was a normal coin.
She returned it to Kanao and looked at her. "Are you also training for the Final Selection?"
"Yes," Kanao replied, looking straight ahead, hoping that would mark the end of the conversation.
Shinobu sat down in one of the chairs in her office and invited Rengoku to do the same. The man sat down and looked at her expectantly.
"I can't help you much more," the woman admitted, no longer smiling. "I've never seen a case like this before."
Rengoku nodded, he had been expecting that. "No problem!"
"You can stay here for as long as you need," the woman offered, regaining her smile.
Rengoku remained silent, thinking about the offer. He only visited that mansion when he had no other choice. Most of the time, he was the one who took care of his own wounds and moved on. If he agreed, he would have a fixed place to rest between missions, although he wasn't entirely convinced of the idea of spending too much time in one place. It could be a good idea, especially with the Selection date getting closer and closer.
"It's not a bad idea, and soon it's time for the test for future hunters," he commented, and Shinobu nodded.
"Perfect then."
"Are you going to send someone this year?" Kyojuro asked, and Shinobu visibly tensed, but she disguised it by maintaining her smile, although less sincerely.
"This year, yes, and I suppose you'll send that girl, won't you?"
"Kamado?" he asked. "Yes. She has potential, and I'm sure she'll make it."
"Kanao too," Shinobu commented. She didn't doubt for a second that Kanao would make it. She was training her thoroughly for that.
Rengoku nodded with his usual enthusiasm and left after saying goodbye.
The following four months passed slowly for Sumiko, who dedicated all her time to training, and with the help of Shinobu, who, seeing that Rengoku wasn't very good at teaching his pupil how to read and write, took care of that. And although she wasn't yet able to understand all the kanji characters and some of them weren't written correctly, Sumiko was making slow progress in that area.
Finally, the day had arrived when both Kanao and Sumiko would leave alone to go to the place where the entrance exam to the Corps would be held.
Sumiko looked, astonished, at the number of food boxes that Rengoku had prepared for her, to eat during the week that the Final Selection would last.
"This...is for Kanao and me, right?" she asked, looking at the man, hoping he would say yes, but Kyojuro laughed.
"Kocho has taken care of that already!" he confirmed, and the girl swallowed. There could easily be more than fifty, she alone wouldn't be able to handle it all, not even in a joke. But her teacher seemed serious about it, and she didn't want to refuse that gesture on his part, it would be very rude.
She smiled a little and placed the sheathed katana on her belt. She was ready to leave, all that was missing was for Kanao to arrive and the two could go.
Just then, the sound of a soft laugh caught their attention. Shinobu was approaching them, accompanied by her pupil.
"I see that Kamado isn't going to starve," the woman commented, smiling.
"Of course not!" exclaimed Rengoku.
"But don't you think it's too much for one person?" Shinobu tried to intervene on the girl's behalf.
"This was the amount I prepared for Kanroji at the time!" Kyojuro seemed quite convinced that he hadn't made a mistake.
"I see, but, Rengoku, Kanroji's physical constitution isn't the same as Kamado's," Shinobu tried to explain. In fact, Kanroji was an exceptional case, it wasn't normal for a girl to need the enormous amount of food that Mitsuri required to stay healthy and fit.
"Oh, I see now!" exclaimed the man. "Would half be enough?"
"Yes, I think so."
Sumiko looked at her savior, relieved that she had helped her with that. She finished packing the food she would take and glanced at Kanao out of the corner of her eye.
"Good luck to both of you," Shinobu said, smiling slightly. "We'll be waiting for you here when you come back."
No one doubted that, both had enough level to overcome it without difficulty.
"Good luck!" Rengoku shouted as the two young women left through the door, heading to Mount Fujikasane.
Sumiko observed the place, it had taken them almost a whole day to reach their destination, but they were finally there.
They were not the only ones present. There were about fifty people in total, although Kanao and she were the only girls there.
She swallowed nervously and forced herself to pay attention to the two girls who arrived, carrying two lanterns to dimly illuminate the area. They looked like twins, both wearing identical purple kimonos and the only physical difference was the color of their hair, one platinum blonde and the other brunette. They even had the same haircut, Sumiko observed.
"Good evening, everyone," the brunette began to speak. "We are pleased to see the level of attendance at this year's trials."
"As you already know, the objective is to survive on this mountain for a week," the other girl continued.
"Beyond the wisteria trees in this area, demons roam freely," the brunette went on, and seeing that several members of the group were retreating in fear, she added, "They are allergic to these flowers, so they won't come near. This area is safe."
"We'll explain the rest once you've passed the test," the blonde informed them as they began to leave. "Good luck and see you in a week."
"Shall we go together?" Sumiko asked Kanao, not eager to face this alone and thinking that they would have a better chance of surviving together.
Kanao hesitated and was about to flip a coin, but Shinobu's words came to her mind. Maybe this was a good time to decide for herself, she thought and nodded in response.
Sumiko smiled happily and the two of them advanced, determined to face the demons that awaited them beyond the wisteria trees.
See you soon with the next chapter! Don't forget to leave a review! I would love to hear your thoughts!