The hashira could not begin to understand where they were or how they had come to be here. They all stood in a plain room, with no windows or doors in sight. The first immediate thought was that of a demonic blood art, but with how far each of them live from each other, the strength it to pull all of them to a single location would require that something even more dangerous than that of an upper moon.
"Come on out and show yourself you damn demon! All you've done by pulling us all together is bring your death along with us!" Sanemi Shinazugawa yelled out reaching for his sword, only to find nothing on his hip. "What the?! Everyone check your gear!" Just like Shinazugawa, none of the hashira had their nichirin weapons on their persons.
"Hello there pillars of the demon slayer core, please do not act rashly. I am the one who has brought you all here." The pillars looked around hoping to find a body to pair with the strange new voice they just heard. "I am no demon, and I mean no harm to any of you, I simply wish to help... enlighten you."
Shinobu Kocho let out a slight laugh, almost wanting to humor their abductor. "My oh my, and pray tell what you plan to "enlighten us" on? And if you aren't any kind of demon, then just what are you and how can you be seen as trusted? You have just kidnapped us after all."
"I am someone that exists on a separate layer of logic to all of you. I am not a God, but I exist on a higher layer than you all. That is how I have been able to bring you all here. Only your consciousness has been pulled into this space however. Your physical bodies still remain where they were last left, and since none of you had any missions, your bodies are all safe from harm. Allow me to confirm this to ease your thoughts." The voice had actually lived up to their words, placing a projector into the room with them, showing that each of their body's were perfectly fine. Each of them staring at their sleeping forms, felt slightly better knowing their lives weren't in immediate danger.
"Alright alright, you've proven that you aren't trying to kill us just yet. But, you still haven't told us what this enlightenment is about. I did not get pulled out of a flamboyant group sleep with my three loving and even more flamboyant wives just for the topic to be something bland and boring." Tengen had complained, annoyed firstly by being pulled away from his wives, and secondly by his time being potentially wasted for nothing.
"Has anyone here noticed a certain water pillar is not here standing with you?" Everyone had only noticed now that the voice was correct, that was not in the room with them. "He will be the topic at hand that you will be learning about."
"The damn loner?!" "Rat face??" "Tall, dark, and funeral dressed?" "Aaah! Tomioka-san?! His cold, shy, and mysterious personality makes him such a hidden gem!" "...Who is that again?" The pillars couldn't help but have their own reactions to this information. Each of them having their own thoughts on the only of them that chooses to stand alone, some having more positive or negative thoughts about the man than the others. All were taken out of their thoughts however, when stone pillar, Gyomei Himejima, clapped his hands together.
"Can you guarantee that our comrade is safe? And just how is it you plan to teach us of him? As far as it can be perceived, any way of learning this information aside from directly by Tomioka himself, can be looked upon as invasion of his privacy." Gyomei prayed for the safety of his comrade, acknowledging that while they themselves are safe, he still remained as unaccounted for.
"I will comfirm that while this method will be an invasion of his privacy, this extreme is the only way you all will be able to understand him. All of you have created your own images of him in your minds, and all of which can be labeled as incorrect. He himself would never reach out to others to talk of his issues, just as none of you would. Most of you have something to hide, and just like him, would never be willing to open up about it. Giyuu Tomioka has been selected because his desire to keep his secrets has caused the biggest rift among all of you. As for his safety, here is your confirmation."
The same projector that had showed them all their sleeping forms, now showed them the missing hashira. The man looked as if he just woke up, bags under his eyes and his breathing seemed...uncontrolled. He quickly moved his way to his sword and escaped his estate, looking as if to distract himself. They watched as the main trained in private, forcing himself to what seemed the point of exhaustion. Was this how hard he pushed himself when he distanced himself from everyone? Was he always like this or did he push himself this far only to force away whatever thoughts seemed to currently haunt him?
Some of the hashira had focused in on what the voice had said. That he would never willingly talk about their issues, and they didn't like that they agreed they wouldn't willingly talk of them either. Obani had felt his carved face itch under his mask, hating on how he was being forced to relate to Tomioka of all people. His past was nothing more than a curse to him, something that held him back from being able to fully enjoy the present. Now he was forced to have to learn and potentially relate to Tomioka. Was he going to have to relate to him in some way as well just for extra salt in his aged wounds? He never put much thought into the pasts of the other's, much less to the emotionally dead end of them. One question couldn't help but climb into his mind the more he thought of it though, just what kind of past had made Tomioka into what he existed as today?
Tengen could only think of his siblings, how he was one of only two survivors. His former shinobi training was not a secret to the others, but none of them knew of his family history aside from the master. As flashy as he liked to be on display for everyone, he refused to expose that side of himself. He considered himself quite outspoken, but Tomioka barely spoke at all. Everyone had their own right to privacy, but Tomioka quite literally removed himself from everyone around him. One question began to grow in his mind, just what caused him to shut himself this away this much from everyone?
All Shinobu could think of about her past she wouldn't be willing to share was her hatred of demon kind after the death of her elder sister. She wasn't afraid to show how she felt before the loss of her sister, but after her death, she locked away the idea of showing how she felt, refusing to show anyone how angry she really was. She only showed the personality of Kanae Kocho, the caring, always smiling, mask that was her sister's personality. She buried her hatred of demons under the fake smile she wore everyday, not wanting those left that are important to her, to see how much she still was hurting. This only begged the question, what was it that Giyuu was hiding under that mask she believed he wore for everyone around him?
Sanemi still had refused to believe or trust this entity, and he hated that he had to agree with something that it had said. The most that could be known about him to the others was the loss of his best friend, and that he had a little brother in the demon slayer corp as well. None knew of the rest of his family story, not of his parents, and not that he once had more siblings than just Genya. Yet even through what he had to go through, he still was willing to work with others. Tomioka's stand-off desire and his belief that he was different from the other pillars angered him, he admitted to that enough times. But now that he focused on the words that were said by the voice, a question formed in his head. Just what happened to make himself believe he was so different from them?
Finally the hashira all looked at each other, attempting to guage each other thoughts. They knew the only way to guarantee their escape from this place was to play along, so begrudgingly they agreed. "Hello there! Mystery voice? We'll watch about Tomioka-san! Oooh this is gonna be so exciting. We're finally going to be learning about our resident seclusive water hashira!" Mitsuri was the first to speak out, attempting to contain her own excitement. Obani felt a confliction of emotion, happy that he was seeing Kanroji excited about something, but rather annoyed it had to be about Tomioka of all people.
"Excellent, before we begin, allow me to help Gyomei with his vision. One moment please." Before they could question what had implied, an entity of light had formed in the room. Sanemi's first instinct was to attack it as revenge for originally abducting them, but his fist had only past through the construct in front of him. "Please watch where you swing, this form is not solid and therefore if you attack it, you will only risk hitting someone else. As I had also said before, my intent is to not harm any of you, only to teach." Placing their hands on either side of Gyomei's head, a light had englufed the room. As quickly as the light came, it was gone.
The hashira watched intently on Gyomei, as his eyes formed Iris and pupil, the color of his new eyes shifting to brown, fitting the man who's breathing technique was closest to the earth itself. "I...I can see once again. I can see my comrades before me. Thank you entity, you may not see yourself as that of a god, but you have truly blessed me. May the Bhudda watch over you, and give you the same kindness you have given onto me. No matter what may happen in this room, I shall cherish the memories of seeing my comrades and ingrain them into my memories." Gyomei had performed a prayer, tears of joy flowing due to the overwhelming flood of happiness in his heart.
The entity had given the pillars some time to feel joy for their formally blind friend, not wanting to spoil their freshly made good mood with what they knew would come. "Keep in mind Gyomei Himejima that this will only last for as long as your consciousness resides in this room, once you awaken, you will be blind again just as your physical form is." The entity watched as the stone hashira nodded, appearing to have known this blessing would not be for forever. "Excellent, with everything and everyone being prepared now, we can finally begin."