September 15, 1913
"That fucker better not give my sister that kind of uniform!" Tanjiro was audibly and visibly angry at what Shinobu had told him about a certain Kakushi. "What the Hell's wrong with him?!"
"He's a pervert," Shinobu replied. "There's a reason he's called Scum Glasses. He tried giving me that kind of uniform when I was fucking eleven years old. Eleven, Tanjiro-san. Seriously, what the Hell, right? Me and my sister burned them and got male uniforms from another Kakushi. Kanae-neesan's uniform did not fit too well given that, well…" She then pointed out her chest with her right hand, causing Tanjiro to blush as he realized what she was getting at. "Yeah, that, but eventually, the same Kakushi made one that better fit her. I didn't have any issues in that department until I got older and began growing into a young adult, and when that happened, I also got a better fitting top."
"Did Kanao get the same uniform?"
"Unfortunately yes," she replied with a sigh. "She burned the top, but she liked the skirt for some reason. It stumped me and Aoi-chan, but to each their own, I guess."
"Hey guys," Nezuko then said as she knocked on the door. "I'm ready to come in."
"Come on in," Tanjiro then told his sister.
When she walked in, she smiled and told them, "So, how do I look?"
"Woah," Tanjiro exclaimed as he observed her uniform, consisting of a normal uniform top as well as a skirt. "Wow, Nezuko, you look so cool!"
"Kanao-oneechan inspired me to get this uniform with the skirt," Nezuko beamed with pride.
Then, all of them heard the distinctive cries of Zenitsu from down the hall. "Nezuko-chan! NEZUKO-CHAN!" He then ran in and saw her uniform as she turned around to face him, confused. He immediately stopped and looked at her uniform in shock. "No way… Nezuko-chan, you look…"
He then fell onto the floor, startling Nezuko. "Zenitsu-san, are you alright?!"
"I'm more than alright," he told her as a trickle of blood came out of his nose. "I'm in Heaven."
…
Soon after, Susamaru came home to the Rengoku Estate after running an errand for the family. Kyojuro welcomed her home and told her, "Welcome back! How was the trip?"
"Not too eventful," she replied as she set down a bag of food. "The townsfolk here are really warming up to me."
"That's always good to hear," he replied.
"Hey, dear," James replied as he walked over and then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, confusing Kyojuro. "How was the town market?"
"Crowded," she replied. "But I managed to find what I needed."
"I'm surprised you two are so open with your affection," Kyojuro pointed out. "That's not often a thing here."
"It is where he's from," Susamaru explained. "And to be honest, I like it better that way."
"Well as long as you two are happy, I won't raise any complaints!" His energetic voice was audible throughout much of the house. "We all could use more positivity in our lives!"
Then, Paul flew in from a window with Ginko by his side before the two landed on the floor. "Hey there, fuckers!"
James, amused by his vulgar introduction in English, replied to him, "Hey there, Paulie! What do ya got for us today?"
"A message from the boss himself," he explained in English before switching to Japanese. "He wants the three of ya to start scheduling train rides on the Infinity Train!"
Susamaru replied, "That's that train route that operates all throughout the night, right?"
"Yeah," Ginko then replied. "All through the night! The Oyakata-sama thinks it's being infiltrated by demons! A group of six slayers disappeared last night from the train!"
"Holy shit," Kyojuro replied in disbelief. "Six slayers in one night?!"
"Yep," Paul replied. "I could hardly believe that shit myself, but it's real! Worse still, they think a group of demons from the South are involved!"
James asked, "Confederates?"
"Yep," Paul confirmed. "It's a bunch of traitors plus at least one Demon Moon of unknown rank from Muzan's forces."
"That definitely sounds like something that needs to be addressed," Kyojuro said. "When do they want us to travel on the train?"
"Do it on the 19th," Ginko replied.
"The 19th… That'll be the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga!" James' realization sent a shiver down his spine. "That's the battle I was turned into a demon at. Holy shit…"
"I was just gonna say that," Paul pointed out. "Cruel coincidence, huh? Anyway, they may also send you a few more slayers. The boss ain't sure yet."
…
September 18, 1913
Today was the day that Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu would leave the Butterfly Estate and finally go back in service in full. Joining them this time was Nezuko, who would now walk beside them as a full teammate rather than be confined to a box like before. At the same time as they packed their things, James had just finished talking to Shinobu when he noticed Kanao sitting quietly by herself with several butterflies surrounding her. Tanjiro also noticed her and asked James, "What's going on in that head of her's?"
"She seems very blank," James replied. "Like she ain't opened up to anyone. I noticed that she flips her coin a lot to make decisions if she isn't ordered to do somethin' by someone else."
"Huh… Let me see if I can talk to her…"
James smiled. "Atta boy. Go get 'er, Tanjiro."
As Tanjiro awkwardly walked up to her, he told her, "Hey there, Kanao. So, uh, we're gonna be leaving soon, and I wanted to thank you for helping us in our rehabilitation."
Kanao silently stared at him, giving no response before she pulled out her coin and flipped it. Once it landed, she told him in a soft and calming voice, "Think nothing of it. All I did was follow Shinobu-sama's orders, after all. Bye for now."
"So you flip that coin to decide things, huh?" Tanjiro was genuinely interested in her coin-flipping habit, and sat down next to her.
"Farewell."
"I must say," he replied. "That is unusual, but you make it look pretty cool!"
"Goodbye."
Tanjiro could sense that even though Kanao was telling him goodbye, she wanted him to stay a little longer. "I mean really, you're a pro at it!"
Kanao slightly giggled in response. "It's nothing special. I just flip this to decide things when I haven't been ordered to do something by someone else. For example, I flipped the coin just seconds ago to decide whether or not to talk to you."
"I see," Tanjiro replied as he got an idea. "If you don't mind, can I borrow that for a second?"
"Absolutely," Kanao replied, giving him the coin. "What do you have in mind?"
"This! This flip will decide if you listen to the voice in your heart from now on, with yes being heads!" Tanjiro then flipped the coin, thinking to himself, "Please, land on heads, land on heads, land on heads…" Sure enough, when the coin landed on his right hand, it landed on the side it wanted to. "Alright! I got heads!" He excitedly jumped up into the air and cheered for himself and Kanao.
"Heads…"
Tanjiro then clasped Kanao's hands together, surprising her and leaving her starstruck as he told her, "You should know that it's the heart that drives people! You should let your heart grow as strong as you possibly can, Kanao!"
As Tanjiro was about to walk away, Kanao asked him, "Wait a minute! How did you know it would be heads?!"
"It was just chance," Tanjiro explained before he then chuckled. "Truth is, even if it landed on tails, I would have kept going until it landed on heads, but a first time win is even better!" He gave her a smile before walking away again, waving goodbye to her. "Good luck and have fun, Kanao! Remember, listen to your heart!"
As Tanjiro left, Kanao stood still, his words ringing in her head. "Listen to my heart… Listen to my heart…" She then covered her face as a massive blush engulfed it and turned it bright red. "Oh my God…" As she took a deep breath, she looked to the sky and thought to herself, "He told me to listen to my heart, and… He's right. I need to stop relying on my coin for everything." She then slowly walked back into the house, but before she could, she noticed James nearby. "Huh? Colby-san?" She blushed once again. "Did… Did you see all that?!"
"Yeah," he replied, a smile running across his face from the wholesome interaction he had just witnessed. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone, Kanao. It ain't nothin' to be embarrassed about."
"I know, I know," she replied. "God, why am I getting so flustered?"
"Maybe it's because you don't think of him as just a comrade," James pointed out. "Or even as just a friend."
Kanao, confused, asked him, "As in what?"
"You must like him a lot," James answered. "As in how a couple does before marriage."
Kanao's face lit up in red for the third time in a few minutes. "Uh, no… I don't…" She could not even bring herself to deny it. "Maybe, well… Anyway, I gotta go do something." She then walked away from him towards another part of the estate. "By the way, good luck on your train mission!"
"Much appreciated!" James then chuckled to himself as she rounded a corner. "It's always nice to see young love blossom like that."
…
Minutes later, Inosuke walked up to Aoi, having been egged on by Tanjiro and Nezuko to do so. As he nervously approached her, his boar mask in his arms, he told her, "Hey, um…"
Aoi looked up at him from hanging up clothes on a wire and asked him, "What is it, Inosuke-kun?"
"I just wanted to say thank you," Inosuke told her in an unusually calm and polite tone. Well, calm and polite for Inosuke. "You really helped us a ton."
Aoi smiled. "Thanks. You were a bit of a troublemaker, but you did well."
"Troublemaker, eh?" Inosuke then nervously told her, "I look… Uh…" He quickly turned around and whispered to Nezuko, who was standing a bit of a ways away, "What was it?!"
"I look forward to seeing you again," she mouthed to him.
"Right, um," he then said to Aoi as he turned back around. "I look forward to seeing you again, Aoi."
"As to you," Aoi replied with a smile, making Inosuke feel a bit uneasy as he had never felt such feelings before in his life. "So, what do you guys have planned for your travels?"
"Um… Uh… For fuck's sake, what was it... Oh yeah!" He then snapped his fingers as he remembered. "Shantaro, Hazuko, and Meikitsu wanted to go find the Flame Pillar and see if he knows about this weird ass thing Shantaro can do… Ugh, what was the name of it again? Dance of the Smoke Monkey? Dance of the Fire… Fire something?"
"Dance of the Fire God? Tanjiro-kun mentioned it to me already."
"Yeah, Dance of the Fire God! That's it!"
"I wish him luck on his quest for knowledge," Aoi replied. "And I wish you luck as well on your journey."
Inosuke then replied as he ran off to join the others, "Thanks for the luck!" He then waved to her as the four of them left the Butterfly Estate to head out on their quest to find Kyojuro Rengoku.
Aoi sighed to herself and thought, "He can be such a dunce… But he's kinda cute- Wait what?!" She quickly shook her head and blushed. "Cute?! Why did I immediately gravitate to that?!"
…
On the same day, Mitsuri was finishing a report when she looked over at the telephone on her desk, conflicted about whether or not to use it. "Hmmmm… Fuck, do I do it or not?" She had debated calling Shinobu and apologizing to her for the argument, as the two had not spoken since then.
"You really should," Obanai then told her, slightly startling her. "Sorry to scare you, but you haven't been the same since you and Kocho-san stopped talking. I hate seeing my wife get upset like that." He then walked over and hugged her from behind. "Come on, I don't want to see you get upset, Mitsuri."
"Alright, alright," she replied as she picked up the receiver and turned a hand crank.
An operator immediately replied with, "Operator, connect me to the Uehara Family in the Town of Kumakita, please."
"Uehara Family… Town of Kumakita… Aha, here we go." The operator then connected her to what she thought was a regular house, but was in fact the corps switchboard.
"Demon Slayer Corps Switchboard," a Kakushi then replied. "Do you have an identification code?"
Mitsuri then looked on a piece of paper for her identification code of the month. "Yeah, it's gonna be, uh… 6-5-8-1-Tsuki."
"6-5-8-1-Tsuki… Alright, Kanroji-sama, where do you want to call?"
"Connect me to the Butterfly Estate, please."
"As you wish. By the way, congratulations on the baby."
"Thank you," she replied with a smile as she was connected to the Butterfly Estate.
Aoi answered with, "Butterfly Estate?"
"Aoi-chan," Mitsuri asked her. "It's Kanroji… Can you find Shinobu-chan for me?"
"Got it," she replied.
Within fifteen seconds, Shinobu answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Shinobu…" Mitsuri took a deep breath. "I want to apologize for the fight we had. I said a lot of things that I shouldn't have said, and I don't want to push you away. I was wrong to yell at you like that."
Shinobu paused for ten seconds as she thought of a reply. "I see. Well… Perhaps I was too harsh myself. Mitsuri-chan, you're my closest friend aside from the girls here, and… I need you in my life as my friend."
"I agree," she replied, beginning to get emotional. "But please, promise me one thing."
"What is it?"
"Don't throw your life away for nothing," Mitsuri begged her. "If you're going to kill yourself one day, please, take out that demon that killed your sister with you. Don't just die for nothing, please. If you die, I at least want to take comfort knowing that you died a champion and a hero." She held back her tears as she concluded with, "Please, promise me that."
"I promise," Shinobu agreed. "I won't die without taking that son of a bitch with me for the ride."
Mitsuri wiped her eyes as she smiled. "Thank you… Shinobu-chan, at least try to find a way to live, too."
Shinobu paused again before replying, "Okay then. I'll try to find a way. I can't make any promises or guarantees, but I will try."
…
So, that wraps up Season 1 of the Hunter From America, folks. It's been a wonderful 52 chapters, and I have enjoyed every last bit of it!
In regards to the aborted premature end of the series, forget about that. That's old news, and it won't happen again barring extreme circumstances.
If you have not guessed already, Season 2 will pick up with the Infinity Train Arc, or the Mugen Train Arc as many others call it. If you have not yet seen the canonical movie version, definitely put it on your bucket list! Both the English and Japanese versions are incredible! It really gives the manga version of this incredible story arc justice.
Special thanks to the following for their support and assistance:
Radikcore
Dccrulez
GetSnekt
LordCali4nia
SpineCricket
BlueLeaf10
Ultravioletheart
ReddSpiderLily
Czar_Cabbs
Lili of Muzantoes
Audi?
Aylién
Crisperia
Manu259
And everyone else I did not mention by name in the KNY, ZenNezu, GiyuShino, TanKana, and Rengoku Shrine Discord servers. Many of those listed above are also fanfiction writers and/or fan artists, so be sure to follow their stories/artworks as well if they are.
If you have not already, subscribe to the Breath of Fiction Podcast on YouTube! Myself, Radikcore, Dccrulez, GetSnekt, and LordCali4nia are the hosts, with Czar_Cabbs acting as our artist, and we have recently been joined by ReddSpiderLily as well!
Anyway, stay tuned for Season 2, which will also be 52 chapters long! You won't have to look far, because they'll be right here!