Finally the Hashira Training had started. Gyutaro and Tanjiro left their Siblings at the Butterfly Mansion for Shinobu to look after, since the Insect Hashira was busy studying the Blue Spider Lilly and wouldn't be participating in the Training. Nezuko was happily playing with the younger children out in the sun. The rest of the Hashira would be leading the Corps members in their own training regimens. Gyutaro also knew that now that Nezuko was a Demon again, she would be in danger. Muzan wanted to conquer the sun, and he could do so by absorbing their younger Sister.
Amane promised them that Nezuko would be safe in the Demon Slayer Headquarters, that was the only reason he was alright leaving her alone. The rest of their younger Siblings spent time playing with the Shinazugawa children. They were slightly worried about Nezuko, but when they saw her playing gently with her own Brother's and Sisters, the other children were happy to meet her. Genya spoke to Takeo as the rest of their Siblings played together, both boys watching Nezuko hugging Rokuta, "I'm happy for you. Your Sister is able to play with you all again. And she is immune to sunlight too. You must be relieved Takeo" the mow-hawked boy said to his friend.
"Yeah, I am. When Gyutaro and Tanjiro told us what had happened at the Swordsmith Village, we were so worried about our Sisters. But Nezuko is fine. Better than fine even. We're all glad that she's okay. But, now that bastard Muzan will be coming after her, and I don't know what's going to happen. I'm- I'm scared Genya. I can't lose anyone else to that monster." Takeo said, voice getting quieter and quieter until he was whispering the last part. The Shinazugawa boy placed his hand on Takeo's trembling one, "it will be okay. We have to believe in our Older Brothers" Genya said calmly and firmly.
Takeo let out a sigh after a moment, "yeah. Yeah, you're right. And I'll protect everyone else while they're fighting. I'm the oldest Brother after Gyutaro and Tanjiro after all, and the whole reason I become a Demon Slayer was to keep our Siblings safe while they were fighting" he agreed. The Kamado looked over at the other boy, "you know Genya, you're the first friend I've ever had. My family used to live on a mountain, and we only sometimes went to the Village at the bottom of it. None of us had time to make friends in those short visits. So, this is the first time we've all made friends" Takeo explained, watching as Hanako played with Sumi and Teiko, Shigeru played with Hiroshi and Shuya and Rokuta played with Koto.
He smiled, "it's nice to have friends" Takeo said.
U*G.K
Meanwhile, the older Kamado Siblings had begun the Hashira Training. "Come on! You can't move onto the next stage until you improve your basic stamina!" the Sound Hashira called, as Gyutaro and Tanjiro, along with everyone else did sit ups. After that was finished, they had to climb a cliff. Gyutaro focused his breathing as he climbed, 'we have to get stronger. To protect our family!' he thought. After they made it to the top, then they had to lift buckets of rocks tied to a bamboo pole on their shoulders. 'It's a good thing my training under my Master was so similar to all of this' Gyutaro thought to himself.
"Get running already! Hurry up! You're all too slow!" Tengen yelled, as Corps Members ran exhaustedly through his course. Gyutaro passed several Demon Slayers, leaping over the logs in his way, and continuing. "There, see? Gyutaro can do it, and he's only been a Demon Slayer for less than a year! So get yer asses moving! The Demons won't go easy on you when your fighting them!" the Sound Hashira called, as Tanjiro also passed the other Slayers.
Gyutaro easily lifted a basket full of rocks on his back while doing squats, since it was similar to the Training he did with his Master. 'Speaking of Master Himejima, I wonder what his Training is?' he thought to himself. As he trained, the green-haired Kamado noticed Zenitsu using his Thunder-Breathing to rush past them with his basket of rocks. 'Ever since he found out about his Sensei's suicide and fought Kaigaku, he's become so determined to become stronger. He doesn't even complain about training anymore' Gyutaro thought. As warry as he was about the Demon Slayer Mark due to his Premonitions and Visions, he also knew that they wouldn't stand a chance against the remaining Upper Rank Demons and Muzan without it.
And he hated that. So many Demon Slayers already sacrificed their lives in the war against the Demons. Why did even those who survived have to die so young? 25 years. Damn it. He'd never felt so relieved to not have the Mark before in his life. He was 27, nearly 28 now, and he knew that he needed to live to look after his Siblings, as well as the Ubuyashiki children. He couldn't afford to die from the Mark. "Gyutaro? Hey, *pant* it's been a while!" a female voice called. "Miss Renho? Sorry, I mean, Miss Kanahe" the brown-haired young woman ran up, "You can call me by *pant* my first name, it's fine" Renho replied. She had a slightly less full basket of rocks on her back as she struggled to keep her breathing even while running.
"Maybe we shouldn't talk while we're training. We can during our next break though" Gyutaro suggested. Renho nodded wordlessly and the two focused on their training. The next thing they did was carry each other on their backs. Gyutaro carried another Corps Member, while Renaho was given the task of carrying Tanjiro. "When we take a break, I'll cook lunch for everyone today, okay?" Tanjiro was asking as they ran passed him. Gyutaro smiled. Tanjiro was the same as always.
U*G.K
After their Training had stopped for lunch, Tanjiro did indeed cook for everyone, taking over from Tengan's Wives for the lunchbreak that day. Gyutaro helped him and together they made food for everyone. "Thank you for this you two. We can make dinner for everyone tonight though, and we'll do lunch tomorrow as well, okay?" Hinatsuru said with a grateful smile. "Of course. But cooking is one of the things I know I can do, so I want to help if that's okay with you three" Tanjiro replied. "You should focus on your training Tanjiro. Let us do the cooking!" Suma said with her hands on her hips.
As the Demon Slayers waited for their lunch, Gyutaro wondered how everyone was doing without them. He hoped his younger Siblings were behaving. He knew the Shinazugawa Siblings were supposed to come visit them today. Gyutaro knew that if anything happened to the other kids, Sanemi would kill him. Once the first lot of meals was done, everyone dug in. Gyutaro hadn't realised how hungry he was after all of the training, but now that he did, he found that he was starving! It had been a long time since he had been this hungry, but since it was due to his training, it didn't bring back any bad memories.
He ate until he felt satisfied, and lay back on the ground. Gyutaro knew things wouldn't stay this way forever, that things would start to go wrong soon. He remembered his Vision about the Ubuyashiki's trap for Muzan, and the plan they'd made with him. But for right now, he could spare a moment to rest, before he had to start the training again. "Hey Gyutaro? Can you give us some tips here?" a young man asked, as two other Demon Slayers walked up to him. The green-haired boy sat up, "yeah, sure. What's wrong?" he asked curiously. "Well, about this Mark thing that we're supposed to be training to get-" the first one began, making the Kamado frown.
"Does it count if we get really hot because of the weather? I know one of the requirements is to have a really high temperature, right?" the second young man continued. Gyutaro looked down, "Sorry, I don't know about that. Excuse me, I have to get back to training" he replied in a monotone voice. The 27-year-old stood up again and restarted his training. Dark thoughts clouded his mind. Thoughts about the Demon Slayer Mark, and Tanjiro, and the battles they would have to fight soon as well as worries about his family. Gyutaro only made it 1 Kilometre before all the thoughts swirling in his head disrupted his breathing enough to force him to stop running.
He gasped for air, desperately trying to use Stone-Breathing to calm down, tried to sit down and meditate, but he couldn't focus. The green-haired young man gripped his chest, sweat building up on his face. 'Calm down! You have to calm down and breathe! You know how to do that, you've mastered Stone-Breathing! Come on! Breathe!' Gyutaro thought, but his body wouldn't obey his mind. He could feel his heart beating painfully in his chest. Wait, was it beating that hard? Or was that just how loud his heartbeat sounded? Gyutaro tried to stand up, or at least sit down properly, but his body wouldn't respond to him. It was like his thoughts were cut off from his brain.
His skin prickled uncomfortably, as fear crawled through him. His mind began flashing through all of the worst case scenarios. Muzan finding his family when he came to kill Kagaya, failing to stop him and the Demon Slayer Corps being wiped out, Muzan finding and eating Nezuko and becoming immune to sunlight then killing them all and going on a rampage, his Siblings being brutally murdered, while he isn't there to save them- 'no! No! No! Stop it!' Gyutaro thought furiously, gripping his hair and pulling to try and snap himself out of it- "Gyutaro! Gyutaro can you hear me Big Brother?!" a familiar voice called out to him, as he felt hands firmly gripping his shoulders.
The Oldest Kamado Sibling gasped in a painful breath, and his vision cleared for long enough to see Tanjiro looking down at him with worry. Tanjiro, who would die so young. Gyutaro wheezed, his chest aching and burning without oxygen. "It's okay Big Brother. I'm here. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. Just try to breathe, please" Tanjiro said, clenching his hands on his shoulders. Gyutaro forced away the dark thoughts in his head, focusing on Tanjiro's red eyes, his long ponytail of burgundy hair, his Hanafuda earrings. His first little Brother, who reminded him so much of their Father. Their Father who had saved him and Ume, and who had given them this family.
Slowly, the green-haired young man regained control of his breathing. As he did tears welled up in his eyes and he pulled Tanjiro into his arms. He couldn't let Tanjiro die too. There had to be something he could do about this! "Hey!" Tengen called, suddenly leaning into their space. The two Brother's nearly jumped out of their skins, "fuck! Don't do that!" Gyutaro snapped at the Sound Hashira. "You okay Gyutaro? Your heartrate and breathing were all over the place just now" Tengan asked, the younger man frowning in concern. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Come on Tanjiro, let's get back to training" the Oldest Kamado replied, standing up.
"Are you sure you're okay Big Brother?" Tanjiro asked in concern. "Yeah, I'm fine" he replied, going back to the training. Tanjiro watched him run off with concern.
U*G.K
The next day each Slayer was paired up with someone and had to carry that person through the course on their backs. Tanjiro and Gyutaro got through the course easily, before beginning more exercises. "Damn those two have insane stamina! No wonder they're so far ahead of us!" one Slayer said, gasping for air as the knelt on the ground in exhaustion. As everyone took a break to eat, some Juniors decided to talk to the Kamado Siblings. "Those Upper Rank Demons are crazy strong, right?" one young man asked. "Sure, more than you can believe" Tanjiro replied. "What was it like?" another Slayer asked.
"Well, you have to understand that these Demons are so far above what a human can normally match," Gyutaro said, "you have to push your body to the limit in order to compete with them" the green-haired Kamado explained. "Yeah, like, nearly die. But then you're suddenly managing to fight them, and everything is happening so fast! If you're not careful you might end up killing yourself accidentally!" Tanjiro added. "Alright, gotcha! We get it!" the Demon Slayer who'd asked hastily cut the Brother's off. As Gyutaro ate, he hoped Nezuko was safe, along with the rest of their Siblings.
U*G.K
"Alright! Let's wrap things up for today!" Tengan decided, before pointing at a mountain in the distance, "today you're hitting that mountain! Take a lap around it's foot and come back!" he ordered. Several people cried out in dismay. "If you don't get a move on, no dinner for you!" the Sound Hashira called. Tanjiro, Gyutaro and Renho all stood up and moved out, while most of the other Demon Slayers had to force their aching bodies to move with each other's help.
U*G.K
Several weeks later, after a lot of training, Tengan decided they would have their final test to see if anyone was ready to move on. He led them out into the forest in the middle of the night. "Do we have to do this now? I can barely see a thing out here" one Demon Slayer said nervously, gripping his wooden sword tightly. "Demon Slayers go on missions at night and that's also when we fight Demons of course. You should all be used to fighting in the dark" the Sound Hashira replied. "Well, yeah. But not everyone has super hearing or smell, or whatever! We're not like you" another young man replied.
"Even without those senses, you own should be trained enough by now to fight effectively. You're all still alive, aren't you?" Tengen said. He stopped inside a circle of flaming torches, "here's the test. I am going to put out these torches and everyone will have to defend against me without them. Gyutaro and Tanjiro on the other hand, as Demon Slayers who already have experience fighting Upper Ranks, have to defend their comrades from my attacks. Understood?!" Tengen called. "We're going to get beaten half to death" another Demon Slayer said in despair.
"Ready? Go!" the Sound Hashira called, using one of his Bokken to extinguish the torches with a gust of wind, plunging them all into darkness. Gyutaro let out a breath, and extended his senses. His body tingled with a premonition, and he turned and blocked a strike aimed at the younger man behind him. The other Demon Slayer yelped in shock at the speed of the two, quickly scrambling out of the way. The Sound Hashira brought his second Bokken out in a swift attack towards the Demon Slayer to his left, but Tanjiro slipped in and blocked that attack too.
The two Kamados continued to fight Tengen, before the other Demon Slayers ran in to join the fight. Since they were using wooden swords, Gyutaro wasn't able to use his normal style of fighting. He had to improvise. He slid under an attack by the Hashira and locked his sword with Tengen's two. "Go Tanjiro!" Gyutaro called. His younger Brother weaved in and out around the other Slayers and moved to attack the Hashira. "Nice try" Tengan called, before he shot away again. Gyutaro sensed the man coming around them, and called out a warning: "on the left! Everyone over there get ready!" he cried.
However his speed was too much, and several Demon Slayers went down. 'Of course he'd be good in this environment. This guy is a former Shinobi. From what I've read, they use the darkness to their advantage. Just like Demon's do' Gyutaro thought. He clenched his fists around his Bokken. 'We have to work together right now, close off our openings'. "Everyone fall in! Guard each other, don't leave any openings for him to exploit, because he will!" the oldest Kamado called. Everyone grouped up, Tanjiro and Gyutaro walking around the outside. Suddenly, "on the right!" Tanjiro called. A couple of the Slayers managed to block a strike from that direction, before Gyutaro managed to fend the man off.
But the force of the attacks knocked the group apart, sending them flying into the trees. 'He's strong. But my Teacher isn't known as 'The Strongest of the Demon Slayer Corps' for nothing!' Gyutaro thought. He sent an attack back that actually managed to push the man backwards. Tengan grinned, "well, well. It seems Himejima taught you pretty good!" he proclaimed. The Kamados raced forwards, "let's go Tanjiro!" Gyutaro called. "Right!" Tanjiro replied, both attacking the Hashira together. "A-amazing! They're holding their own against a Hashira!" a Slayer said in awe. Tengan kneed Tanjiro in the stomach and would have sent him flying back, but Gyutaro caught him and kept him from being thrown too far.
"I've got you Tanjiro!" he cried. "Thank you Gyutaro!" the Burgandy-haired teen replied gratefully. The Brother's then went on the offensive, attacking Tengan together, not giving him a chance to go after the other Corps Members. "They're all so strong! This is what happens when you face multiple Upper Rank Demons and survive the encounters!" one young man said in awe. "Let's help!" Renaho called, racing towards them. Everyone agreed and ran to fight.
U*G.K
Tengan sighed, as the only Slayers who had managed to do anything during the test were the two Kamado's and Kanahe. "You guys, seriously! And I'm one of the weaker Hashira!" Tengan said. "There's no way regular guys like us can take on a Hashira! Much less an Upper Rank Demon! But you, all of the Hashira! And the Kamados! I believe that you can all do it!" one young man cried, as others voiced their agreements. "We might never reach your level, but we can help! Support you all! So we're all going to work hard, so that we can do at least that much!" another Slayer said tearfully.
"Everyone" Gyutaro said softly. Tengan smiled.
U*G.K
The next day most of the Slayers continued their exercises, while Gyutaro and Tanjiro stood to the side with the Uzui's. "You know what? Despite it all, they're making progress for sure" Tengan said. "But you two," he turned to the Kamado Brother's, "there's nothing more for you to do here. Move on to the next training" he said. "You've both defeated Upper Rank Demons. But, until we end Muzan Kibutsuji, this war will never end." Tengan turned to the two Brothers, "I'm counting on you both. End this, for all of our sakes" he said.
"We will! We'll bring him down no matter what! And our family will finally be safe again" Gyutaro said firmly. As they left the area, the Brother's looked ahead to what they would be doing next.