The sounds of clanging could be heard within the butterfly mansion as Inosuke and Susamaru dueled. The latter was still learning the basics of swordsmanship; however, her speed and strength were enough for her to keep up with her more experienced instructor. Still, her lack of experience left many openings for Inosuke to exploit and eventually he weaved one of his training blades right into sternum. This caused Susamaru to stumble backwards until she fell onto her behind.
"Ouch! Could you stop doing that?!" Susamaru yelled as she rubbed the middle of her chest. The bruise she got would regenerate quickly but she was still annoyed as this had been the fourth time during this training session.
"Hehehahaha! Never!" Inosuke laughed as he did a little dance to signify his victory.
"You're not helping me by knocking me on my ass!" Susamaru complained.
"Sure I am! Now you know the gaps in your defenses!" Inosuke corrected.
"… why though? We fight other demons… they won't be using swords and I can regenerate if they hit me!" Susamaru countered.
"Um… hmmm… uh…" Inosuke pondered as he slipped his hand under his mask to scratch his chin. "You know… I'm not sure it does matter now that you mention it."
"You should still learn how to defend as well as attack Susa; what if you're hit in a vital spot and it takes you too long to regenerate? You being down for a few seconds could make a huge difference in a fight," Zenitsu chimed in from the sidelines. He wasn't much for sparring and would rather teach Susamaru through guidance and demonstration rather than trying to crack her skull with a training sword like Inosuke did. "I think we should end here for the day though, apparently there's going to be some announcement regarding training later. You should check on Tanjiro in the infirmary while Inosuke and I see what's going on," the yellow-haired boy suggested.
"Hmm… I guess that is something to consider. I'll try to practice more after I speak to Tanjiro," Susamaru agreed before returning her training swords and exiting the training room. She quickly made it to the infirmary where Tanjiro was being eating a meal while speaking to a kakushi. Said kakushi recoiled at the sight of Susamaru at first; however, he quickly remembered her and relaxed. He then poked Tanjiro to indicate his friend had arrived.
"Oh! Hi Susa!" Tanjiro beamed as he continued to shove onigiri into his mouth.
"Hey, you seem to be doing better than a couple days ago. How's your leg?" Susamaru asked as she pulled up a chair.
"It's still broken. It doesn't hurt too much while lying down but I'll still be out of commission for a while," Tanjiro said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"What's with that expression? You killed an upper moon! Don't act weird about being hurt," Susamaru said as she could tell where his head was at. She knew he wanted to be back out into the field as soon as possible and was feeling guilty for every moment he was bedridden.
"I know… but everyone else is out there still on patrol… still protecting everyone," Tanjiro lamented.
"Well actually, demon attacks have pretty much stopped since you guys won the battle at the swordsmith village," the kakushi chimed in as he cleaned up Tanjiro's plates.
"Really?! Then what is everyone doing now?" Tanjiro asked.
"Training mostly," Susamaru answered.
"Yeah, and apparently some kind of special training for regular corps members is in the works. I think they are announcing what it is tonight," the Kakushi finished as he finished cleaning up Tanjiro's dinner and began to leave. Once he was gone, Susamaru felt a sense of relief as she wanted to discuss her own training with Tanjiro.
"Now that he's gone. Tanjiro! Can you help me with my training?" Susamaru asked placing her hands together in a begging motion.
"Your own training? Sure! What are you trying to work on?" Tanjiro replied with a huge grin.
"I'm learning how to use swords properly… I want to be more useful in our next fight…"
"Woah! That sounds great! … wait, isn't that against corps rules?" Tanjiro's expression quickly changed to one of confusion as he pondered the implications of his friend's training.
"It is! That's why Inosuke and Zenitsu have been training me in secret! Only they, Shinobu and Kanao know. Shinobu is letting me use her training room," Susamaru explained.
"Oh I see! That makes sense!" Tanjiro nodded in understanding. "Then I'll help you train too! I can show you water breathing and the dance of the fire god!"
"You will?!" Susamaru beamed.
"Of course! Although… my leg needs to heal first," Tanjiro admitted as a sweat drop fell down his face.
"Well yeah, I didn't expect you to get out of bed this second but thank you… I could use someone else's instruction… Inosuke isn't the best teacher… and Zenitsu means well but he explains the theory too much rather than showing me how it's actually done," Susamaru elaborated.
"I see… well I'm not much of an instructor myself but I'll see if I ca-" Tanjiro said before the door to the infirmary slammed open.
"Huh?" Susamaru said as she leaned back to see who interrupted their conversation. She could see Shinobu had come in with a very concerned and upset expression on her face.
"Susamaru, please come with me… we are being summoned by the master," Shinobu said seriously.
"Uh oh, what does Kagaya want?" Susamaru asked.
"Considering he called Inosuke, Zenitsu and myself along with you… I think you can guess," Shinobu answered.
"Oh… shit," Susamaru said as she realized the implication of the four of them begin summoned. She quickly rose from her chair and waved goodbye to Tanjiro who wished her luck as he also realized the problem at hand. Susamaru then began to follow Shinobu outside, luckily the sun had finished setting and the two traveled in the silent night to the Ubuyashiki mansion.
Once there, the two were led inside by the younger Ubuyashiki twins. They moved through the halls at a slow pace. Susamaru could feel guilt weigh heavily in the pit of her stomach, she likely got Shinobu and her other friends in trouble by trying to learn swordsmanship… she planned to beg for only her punishment although she was still frightened by what that could be.
Eventually, the twins led the two women to a large room where Zenitsu and Inosuke were already sitting. Zenitsu looked as nervous as ever but what unsettled Susamaru more was Inosuke, who did not have his boar head on and was almost as nervous as their cowardly friend. Even Shinobu seemed quite perturbed by the summon and this made Susamaru even more worried as she sat in the middle of everyone so she could focus the master's attention on her when he arrived; however, the master never did. Instead his wife arrived and sat before the group with her children flanking her. She gave a polite bow before beginning their meeting.
"Good evening to you all. I will be presiding over this meeting in Kagaya Ubuyashiki's stead. Due to his condition worsening, he can no longer appear before anyone," Amane began. Shinobu already knew this to be the case because of the previous hashira meeting she attended; however, it still hurt to hear those words as she knew their master would not be with them for much longer. No one else in the room was pleased to hear this either; however, they all bowed respectfully to show they understood. With the introduction over, Amane continued, "tonight we will be discussing the taboo the four of you have broken." Before she could continue, Inosuke chimed in.
"How did you even find out?!" The boar boy yelled disrespectfully. This earned him a death-glare from Shinobu which was enough for him to settle down and fall back in line.
"The Kasugai crows informed us. They always report to us when rules have been broken," Amane explained. Inosuke, Zenitsu and Susamaru's faces fell as they realized this meant that the head of the corps knew everything and that they weren't being stealthy at all. Shinobu pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration with herself as even she didn't remember that detail. She had too much on her mind and thus had made such an obvious error. Now she feared she would be banished from the corps and she was furious with herself over it.
"May I continue?" Amane asked as everyone grappled with her previous revelation. They nodded as they braced themselves for the inevitable lecture. They each prayed their punishment wouldn't be as severe as they thought. "Very well, you all seem to grasp the weight of the issue at hand. All of you have been aware of the rule that the demon slayer corps does not teach swordsmanship to outsiders, especially demons. Every demon is connected in some way to Kibutsuji and if they learned our secrets, it is possible he could learn them as well. This cannot be allowed to happen under any circumstance," Amane said as she looked around the room.
Susamaru gulped as she hadn't realized how serious her rule-breaking truly had been. Her mind raced as she remembered that Kibutsuji could see through other demons' eyes and she had likely given him a front-row seat right to their training regiments and worse where they lived! This was extremely disconcerting for her and she questioned why she was even allowed to stay here in the first place if they demon slayers had known this.
"However, circumstances seem to be changing," Amane began again causing the group to refocus on her. "Demons have not yet attacked our headquarters despite the fact that a hashira position is currently vacant and many of our slayers are recovering from many recent skirmishes," Amane continued as everyone listened with great interest. "This is especially surprising given that the demon Nezuko has conquered the sun and is likely Kibutsuji's main goal at present. This has led us to believe that neither Nezuko, nor Susamaru are linked to Kibutsuji as he still does not appear to know our whereabouts."
Amane's explanation caused the group to breathe a sigh of relieve. Especially Susamaru, who had believed she had made a mistake of unimaginable proportions just by hanging around the slayers. Once the group had processed Amane's words, she continued.
"With this deduction in mind, Kagaya Ubuyashiki has decided it is within the slayer corps best interest to encourage Susamaru's training and, as such, has forgiven this transgression," Amane concluded with a small smile.
The slayers and their demon friend were absolutely stunned by this. Zenitsu even began to cry tears of joy as it meant he would not be punished. Inosuke also couldn't contain himself and began leaping into the air as he pumped his fists. Susamaru clasped her hands together and thanked Amane who simply raised her hand to indicate the group needed to settle down.
"With this being said, your individual training sessions will need to come to an end, I'm afraid," Amane continued.
Susamaru nearly fell over in further shock. "B-but, you just said my training was in the corps' best interest, right?"
"Indeed it is; however, Inosuke and Zenitsu need training as well. Additionally, Shinobu," Amane turned her gaze towards the insect hashira, "you are needed for a special project which will be discussed when the others have been dismissed."
This surprised Shinobu as she thought she would be participating in the upcoming hashira training sessions; however, she decided to hold her tongue for the moment and merely replied with, "understood."
"Wait… then how will I keep training then?" Susamaru asked.
Almost as if on cue, one of the Ubuyashiki twins, the one with black hair, turned around and went to fetch something from behind his mother. When he was finished rummaging through a chest, he began walking towards Susamaru with two sheathed swords in his arms. He bowed in front of the demon before placing the two blades at her knees. Susamaru stared at them in awe and looked up to see if there would be any further explanation.
"A-are these for me?" Susamaru asked as she gestured to herself.
"Indeed they are. With these blades, you are being inducted as an honorary member of the demon slayer corps and thus you will begin training with the hashira with the rest of the corps members. The training begins tomorrow… although you will only be able to train at night. Because of this, we expect you to work twice as hard as you will have half as much time as everyone else. I humbly ask that you do your best," Amane said as she bowed to acknowledge Susamaru.
Susamaru's voice was caught in her throat. Of all of the things she expected to happen tonight, an induction into the corps and receiving blades were events that had never crossed her mind. She had never felt more honored in her life and really didn't know how to express it other than return Amane's bow and pledge that she would do her best.
"Ooh, ooh! Open the blades to see what color they will be!" Inosuke said as he gestured to Susamaru's new blades.
"Huh?" Susamaru said as she stared at him in confusion for a moment before realizing she had seen Tanjiro and Inosuke's blade change color when they received new ones after the fight on Mt. Natagumo. "Oh right!" She said excitedly before she unsheathed one of her blades. She inspected it for a moment and realized it was significantly longer than a normal blade; she believed this type of sword was called a tachi and its handle was also longer so that it could be wielded with two hands more comfortably. She thought about why she was gifted two tachi blades when traditionally only one would be used; however, she quickly realized why as she sprouted her extra arms and found that each blade could be comfortably gripped with three hands meaning she could put all her strength into these swords much more easily. She was so impressed with them that she didn't realize she missed an important detail…
"Oh man, looks like your swords won't change color yet…" Inosuke said disappointed.
"That's a shame, sorry Susa," Zenitsu echoed as she quickly looked at them in confusion.
"Wait… why not? I thought they just changed when someone held them," Susamaru asked.
"Not exactly," Shinobu chimed in. "The swords only change color in the hands of someone who has acquired a certain level of skill… otherwise the person who forged it would already have imbued a color onto it." Shinobu explained.
"Oh, alright… not sure how that works but I guess that makes sense," Susamaru looked at the swords again and wondered if they were some kind of magic… then realized how silly her thought was as they needed to have some sort of supernatural property to be able to kill demons.
"If you are satisfied, then I would like to dismiss everyone except for Shinobu," Amane interjected as the conversation about Susamaru's swords died down. "Susamaru, we welcome you and expect great contributions from you. You may begin training with everyone else tomorrow night. For now, you may practice what you can on your own," Amane finished as she bowed a final time. Susamaru, Inosuke and Zenitsu bowed in turn and took their leave.
As they traveled back to the butterfly mansion, Susamaru could not have been happier with how that meeting had gone and was imagining the look on Tanjiro's face when she showed him her swords. Still, she knew that starting tomorrow, she would be forced to work harder than she ever had before; however, this did not bother her. In fact, she was excited to prove herself and finally feel like she was on an even playing field with her friends.