Hello! I'm so happy to be able to post again! Hopefully I can keep it up lol. Oh I should mention that I totally thought Masachika was a retired Hashira and have now corrected my mistake. My apologies. Anyways please enjoy this chapter!

Harry's POV
A lot of things changed after Harry became the student of the current Wind Pillar, Masachika Kumeno. He was a kind young man, but also quite strict. He expected nothing but your best efforts, which the young boy did his best to give. When he had missions, which was often, Harry would stay at the Rengoku household. It was hard for him to stay there, though, as Ruka-San became ever weaker. However, he knew he couldn't abandon them after all they had done for him so he continued to return and help out as much as he could.

Awhile after Harry became his apprentice, Masachika-Sensei came home a little late. And he wasn't alone. A young boy a couple years older than Harry was with him. He was covered in blood and had a feral look in his eye.
Harry smiled and bowed politely.
"Harry Rengoku at your service. It's nice to meet you!"
The boy only scoffed and looked away, not uttering a word.
Harry huffed. Rude.
Masachika-Sensei smiled at his student.
"This is Sanemi Shinazugawa," he explained. "He's a Marechi who's been luring in demons with his blood, and then chaining them up until the sun comes up. I intend to train him alongside you."
Harry blinked in surprise. He had never heard of anyone managing to do that sort of thing without any training at all. That was impressive. He hoped the other would eventually agree to become friends with him.

And he did after Harry found his weakness- ohagi. A few plates of that later and the two were joined at the hip.

He told Harry about what happened to his family, and how they were all dead save for one of his brothers who he'd severed ties with in hopes that he'd live his own life and not join the Corps. Although Harry wasn't a big fan of the way he went about it, he understood his desperation to protect the only family he had left.

And Harry, in turn, told him about his magic and what happened to his own family. It was only reasonable as he stayed with them, and it would be impossible to keep it a secret for long. Sanemi-kun accepted magic with a surprising amount of tenacity for someone with such a violent personality, Harry had thought.

Sanemi-kun also took to Wind Breathing like a duck to water. It didn't take him long to reach Harry's own level. Then again, he was older, nearing the age of fifteen, with Harry being a little over twelve.

A few months into their newfound friendship, tragedy struck in Harry's own life.

Ruka Rengoku finally succumbed to her illness.

Harry immediately went to the Flame Estate once he heard the news. Kyojuro-kun was the one who greeted him at the gate, his usual smile dim and his eyes red. He'd been crying. Harry quickly enveloped him in the tightest embrace he could manage, hoping to convey a level of comfort and apology that he wasn't there. He squeezed him back just as tightly in thanks and forgiveness. Once they went inside, Harry could immediately see how dim the atmosphere was without the calming but steady and strong presence of the Rengoku matriarch. He looked at his brother.

"Where's Shinjuro-San?"

Kyojuro-kun's shoulders had an uncharacteristic slump.

"He's... at the bar."

Harry sighed. He'd had a feeling that the older man would not handle the death of his wife well. It seems he was right. He looked at Kyojuro-kun.

"I'll stay for as long as I can. Masachika-Sensei will understand if I need a few weeks to take care of everything."

Harry wanted to help his family as much as possible. He already felt guilty that he wasn't there for Ruka-San's passing. The least he could do was help now.

Kyojuro-kun sighed.
"Father has become... something other than himself right now. I know that you've had... history with this sort of thing. I don't want you to get hurt."

Harry mentally sighed. It was worse than he'd thought then. As much as the thought that Shinjuro-San, the same man who saved him from his abusers, was starting to become like them due to the sheer magnitude of his grief made his insides twist, he couldn't abandon them. Kyojuro-kun and Senjuro-kun were still, and would always be, his beloved brothers. Harry couldn't, wouldn't, abandon them when they needed him the most.

Harry nodded to himself as an idea came to him.
"If you need to, you can come to Masachika-Sensei's place. I'm sure he wouldn't turn you away."

Kyojuro-kun shook his head.
"I have to stay here and look after Father. And the texts I'll need for my training are here too. I can't leave."

Harry was shaken out of the sudden realization that Shinjuro-San had stopped training Kyojuro-kun when the latter grabbed his shoulders.

"But Senjuro-kun should go with you. I don't want him to see Father like this."

Before Harry could answer, the man they spoke of appeared. Harry mentally winced at his appearance. Instead of the usual crisp uniform, he was wearing a threadbare kimono. He smelled like the jar of sake in his hand. His hair was a mess. When he saw the boys, his eyes filled with a rage they had never seen directed at them by this man before.
For a moment Harry was frozen. He felt like he was back with the Dursleys as Shinjuro-San started to unleash all his rage and grief onto the two boys in front of him. His chest tightened in a way it hadn't for years as the voices of his aunt and uncle echoed in his head, making him want to crawl to the relative safety under the stairs.

Harry only snapped out of it when the man roughly grabbed Kyojuro-kun by the arm as he continued to yell. That reminded Harry of why he was there. This was not the time to take an unwanted trip down memory lane.
"...still be alive if not for you!" The rage-filled words of the enraged man suddenly started filling Harry's ears as he screamed at him. It seemed like he blamed him for the death of his wife.

Harry din't rightly remember what happened after that, only that he somehow ended up outside with Kyojuro-kun fussing over him as one of his hands inexplicably had split knuckles.

"...so sorry, Harry! I- he hasn't lashed out like that before."

It took Harry a minute to realize that Kyojuro-kun was apologizing for his father's behavior. He sighed.
"I... it's alright, Kyo. Don't apologize. It wasn't your fault."

Harry's brother fidgeted.
"I still should have protected you from that. I'm the older one after all."

Harry shook his head.

"You've been dealing with it since Ruka-San... passed. Don't blame yourself."

Kyojuro-kun finally stopped apologizing, but Harry could still see the guilt in his eyes as the older boy gently wrapped his knuckles.

Eventually, the two boys came to an agreement. Harry and Senjuro-kun would permanently stay with Masachika-Sensei, assuming the later was amenable to that. Kyojuro-kun would stay to keep training and keep an eye on their father. Harry did his best to convince Kyojuro-kun to come with them, but he would not be moved. Harry only agreed as long as Kyojuro-kun promised daily updates via crow and weekly visits to the Wind Estate.

Later, when Shinjuro-San went to the bar to buy more sake, Harry sneaked Senjuro-kun out of the Flame Estate, leaving Kyojuro-kun behind with a heavy heart. He inwardly prayed it wasn't a mistake as he clutched his younger sibling close to his chest.
Little Senjuro was asleep, thankfully. He had slept a lot since Ruka-San died. It made Harry sad that the little one would likely barely have any memories of his mother.

Once Harry came back to the Wind Estate, Senjuro-kun still in his arms, he was greeted at the gates by a worried Masachika-Sensei.
Harry pursed his lips sadly as he explained the situation.

"Ruka-San has passed away," he began softly. "Shinjuro-San has lost his mind to grief. He is drinking heavily and lashing out at everything in sight. I brought little Senjuro-kun back with me to prevent his father from harming him. I tried to convince Kyojuro-kun to come as well but he was adamant that he stayed to continue his training as well to keep an eye on his father. Is it agreeable to you if Senjuro-kun stays with us for the foreseeable future?"

As Harry spoke, he had been ushered inside and a futon was laid out for Senjuro-kun to rest. Harry gently laid the boy down and turned to his Sensei, waiting for his answer. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a curious Sanemi peeking through the doorway.

Masachika-Sensei smiled gently, placing a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Of course he may stay with us, Harry-kun. It would be quite terrible of me to ignore such a child's plight, your own brother's no less. And, if you like, I can try to help on my end. As a Hashira, I can probably make sure that Rengoku-San will be too busy to harm his children."

Harry's shoulders slumped in relief. It's not that he doubted his Sensei, he just needed to hear the confirmation that the older man had his back. Had their backs.

Masachika-Sensei turned to where Sanemi-kun was standing.

"Sanemi-kun, kindly prepare some food for when our guest awakens. Harry-kun, prepare the guest room for your brother."

Both boys immediately obeyed. Despite the normally chaotic nature of the duo, both boys could tell that this was not the time to argue.

As Harry was gathering supplies from the kitchen, he felt Sanemi-kun lean slightly closer to his shoulder.

"You good?" he grunted quietly in typical Sanemi fashion.

Harry smiled sadly, knowing that Sanemi-kun was truly concerned about him.

"Yeah," he lied, keeping himself busy so as to avoid looking at his best friend.

Sanemi-kun snorted in disbelief but otherwise let him be. He knew he couldn't pry anything out of him unless the other was willing.

Once Senjuro-kun was fed and placed in his new room, training began again. Although at this time they normally focused on perfecting the Wind Breathing forms by constant repetition, Masachika-Sensei sensed that something else was needed, and commanded the two boys to spar.
Harry was grateful. He needed to release the built up tension in his system. A good spar would help with that. The twelve-year-old picked up his wooden sword, and prepared a stance, Sanemi-kun doing the same on the other side of the dojo.

Harry ended up losing the fight after three hours, his inner turmoil affecting his performance. Nonetheless, the fight had helped settle his mind. Shinjuro-San may have betrayed him, just like the guardians before him, but Harry was no longer the powerless weakling he had been. He could do something about his circumstances now.
And, Harry thought as he looked to where Masachika-Sensei and Sanemi-kun stood, he was no longer alone. Those two, he knew, would support him no matter what. Plus, he still had his brothers. He wasn't going to let one person's betrayal bring him to despair. Not this time.

***time skip a few months***

Harry and Sanemi stood still as Masachika-Sensei fussed over them in an uncharacteristic manner.

"Remember to-"

"-head to where the sunlight will come first."
Harry finished what his Sensei had said.

"And also-"

"Remember to hunt for food during the day."
Sanemi-kun did what Harry had done.

Masachika-Sensei sighed.

"Alright then. I'll stop fussing. It's not like Slayers get lucky in Final Selection very often though, so be careful."

"Except for that one a couple years ago," Harry quipped, referencing a somewhat recent Selection where all but one of the participants had survived. It was all-but unheard of for that many to survive, as usually over half of the participants perished in the Demon-filled hell.

Final Selection didn't make much sense to Harry. Why trap these people on a mountain like that for a week? Why risk wasting valuable lives and potential just to get in the Corps?

For all he knew, that one potential slayer who perished two years before might have had the potential of a Hashira. Harry had heard he'd saved most of his fellow participants, killing most of the Demons in the process. Privately, Harry wondered what sort of Demon could kill someone so allegedly strong, especially when these Demons were supposed to be super weak. He hoped he didn't meet it.

Although he understood that letting just anyone join might be a bad idea, he was sure that there was a more humane for them to do so than be forced to survive for a week in hell.

But what could he do? He was about to participate in this hell himself, Sanemi-kun at his back.

Harry snapped out of his inner thoughts as he and Sanemi-kun were finally sent off by Masachika-Sensei and Senjuro-kun (who was clutching at Masachika-Sensei's leg), spouting promises to return at the promised time.

He and Sanemi-kun set off at a steady jog, making good time but not exhausting themselves. They'd need all the energy they could get to survive this week.

They picked up Kyojuro-kun on the way, the other boy sneaking out while his father was absent in order to take the exam. His father (who was no longer a Hashira) had strongly disapproved of Kyojuro-kun's continued training, and would have prevented the boy from going no doubt if his sake stash had not conveniently vanished.
When they arrived, a few people had already gathered. Harry immediately noticed some people who stood out. One was an old friend.

"Obanai-kun! How are you?"

Harry hadn't seen the other boy in a long time, although they occasionally exchanged letters. He went towards him, Kyojuro-kun on his heels, a puzzled but curious Sanemi following behind.

Obanai-kun raised a brow when he saw him, but Harry knew from how the hard line of his brow softened and the happy hiss of Kaburamaru that they were welcomed.

After Sanemi-kun was introduced, the four talked about what had been happening in each other's lives lately.
Obanai-kun had invented his own breathing style, Serpent Breathing, it turned out. His teacher taught Water Breathing, and he'd based his own technique off of that. The other boys were quite impressed with this. It was hard to create your own breathing style.

Soon, they made another friend. A beautiful girl with two pink and green butterfly clips in her long, black hair named Kanae Kocho introduced herself to them. She was joining the Corps because her parents had been killed by demons. She and her younger sister, Shinobu, were saved by the current Stone Pillar. She used Flower Breathing and was also medically skilled, it turned out.

However, as they talked and more participants arrived, a voice sounded from the front of the clearing.

Final Selection had begun.

"Total concentration..."

A Demon snarled at Harry from below where he seemed to fly.

"Wind Breathing..."

The Demon reached towards Harry with sharp claws.

"Seventh Form... Gale, Sudden Gusts..."

The Demon was shredded to pieces before it could touch Harry, its head landing a distance from its body.

Harry gracefully landed on the ground, as the dismayed Demon turned to ash behind him. A feeling of elation coursed through his body.

That was his first kill.

He was finally making a difference.

Sanemi-kun grinned at him, his own kill turning to ash not away.

Harry nodded at him.

"Let's go."

They hadn't been in this Demon hell for long, but they were already being heavily assaulted. Harry thought that the Demons who'd been there longer than a few months knew of what was coming and wanted a chance for some "food."

Harry snapped his head to where he heard rustling sounds, hand on his hilt, but eased a bit when he realized it was just Kyojuro-kun.

The trio continued on, trying their best to stay together.

Obanai-kun and Kanae-San had gone off on their own.

Three days later, they came across a Demon who had the unusual and annoying ability to create sonic booms. Kyojuro-kun (or rather his hearing) was an unfortunate victim of that Demon, and he'd starting talking quite loudly to make up for his busted hearing, which drove Sanemi-kun crazy to no end.
Other than that, the trio were doing rather well and had no serious injuries between them.

On the last day, the exhausted trio encountered a fellow participant, who was urging them away from where they were going.

"It's huge!" the boy cried out. "Run! You'll never kill it!"
After the boy left in a state of terror, the trio looked at each other. Something out of the ordinary had clearly spooked him. They decided to investigate from a distance.

Harry gasped as the massive Demon came into view. It was truly enormous. It's body was fat, and an ugly green color. It was covered in hands. It was also talking.

"Come out, come out, sweet little foxes!"

Its voice was horrendous. Harry felt a shiver run down his spine. This Demon was possibly on a league with a Twelve Kizuki. There's no way the three of them could defeat it. Grabbing Sanemi's arm tightly in case he got any ideas, Harry pulled them all away.

Harry could only feel numb as he stood in the clearing where Final Selection had begun. There had been about thirty participants at the beginning of the week. Now, fewer than ten remained, including himself, Sanemi-kun, Obanai-kun, Kanae-San, and four others Harry didn't know.

Harry knew that many died in Final Selection, but that knowledge didn't prepare him for the harsh reality of the missing participants.

He still felt numb as he chose the ore for his sword, as a beautiful Kasugai crow was assigned to him, as he was measured for his uniform.

He understood, perhaps for the first time, that this line of work truly came with a heavy, costly price. A price paid in blood.

Masachika-Sensei received the three boys happily, declaring that he was quite proud of them. Kyojuro-kun had elected to stay at the Wind Estate for a time. He had no doubt that his father would be enraged once he found out that Kyojuro-kun was now a Demon Slayer. It was best to wait until his first mission over and allow the heat of anger to cool.
Harry had doubts that would work but kept silent. It was Kyojuro-kun's decision to go back after all.

Two weeks later, the sound of tinkling bells greeted the boys, who were training in the yard. The clambered to the door, knowing what was coming.

"Masachika-Dono!" Kyojuro-kun, who's hearing still suffered, yelled. "The swordsmith is here!"

Indeed, the smith had come, three carefully-wrapped packages with him.

Harry greeted him and let him inside, allowing the man to take a seat as he eagerly awaited his own package.

The smith handed the packages out.

"These swords were specially forged with special steel that is infused with sunlight," he explained.

Harry was amazed as he unwrapped his sword. The hilt was wrapped in black leather and had tiny, green triangle decorations on it. The sword sheath was also green. The green of the sword and sheath matched his eyes. His tsuba was round and had little designs that reminded him of tornadoes. After admiring it for a moment, Harry carefully drew it. He gasped as it turned green, much like Sanemi-kun's did. Except, for Harry, he had a gold streak right through the middle of the flat of the blade.

"That's because of your magic," the smith, quite excited, exclaimed, causing Harry to start. How did he know?

It was Masachika-Sensei who explained.
"The smiths have always known about magic users in the ranks so they can fashion weapons accordingly. Their blades often have a streak like yours as their magic also reacts to the metal."

Harry nodded. That made sense. Sort of.

Kyojuro-kun drew his sword and was delighted when it turned red, making the smith very happy.

"Red swords are a sign of good luck, you know," the smith explained. "It really must mean I have amazing luck if I get a magic user and a red sword in the same day!"
The man left, humming quite happily to himself as three teenagers stared after him, puzzled, as Masachika-Sensei laughed behind them.

The trio was sent on a mission that very night, their crows coming to them with an assignment not ten minutes after the smith left.

Before they left, Masachika-Sensei gifted Sanemi-kun and Harry beautiful haoris. Harry's was white with black ravens flying amok on it. Sanemi-kun's was white with green wind patterns on it. Kyojuro-kun had his father's old haori with the flame patterns on it.

It wasn't long until they were close to the village.

"According to what the crow told us," Harry said, Lily, who was wrapped around his neck, hissing in agreement. "The village should be a few miles out."

Sanemi-kun rolled his eyes.

"Way to state the obvious."

Harry decidedly did not comment that Sanemi-kun had the very habit of doing that very thing all the time and focused on the mission.

There was a Demon living in the surrounding woods that was preying on the women who went to draw water in the outer well in the evening. It was said to be able to put these women in a trance so they would allow themselves to be drowned in the well and then eaten.

Harry thought that was a horrible way to die.

Sanemi-kun just wondered why the women weren't smart enough to stay away from the well.

Kyojuro-kun was just happy to be able to do his duty.

As they entered, they could immediately tell something was wrong. Everyone, especially the women, were giving each other furtive glances as they caught sight of the newcomers, eyeing the snake around Harry's neck and the suspicious looking shapes hidden under their haoris.

Harry saw a young man morosely walking along the street, people whispering as he passed.

"Poor guy... his sister committed suicide this week... she must have been secretly depressed... she jumped into the well like those other girls... could he have done it?"

Overall, the picture painted wasn't pretty. It seems as though many girls had been committing suicide by jumping in this one well close to the village edge. Each of them left a suicide note. What was odd was that none of the girls had outwardly shown signs of depression or suicidal tendencies. And so many of them were happening so the village thought everyone was going mad.

Harry thought it more likely that the girls were lured out there and then killed, the suicide notes being used as a cover-up for the Demon's evil deeds. This would not be easy if the creature showed that level of cognition.

He approached the strange boy everyone was whispering about.

"Excuse me? My name is Harry. My friends and I are looking to see what caused these suicides. Will you accept our help?"

The boy stared at him and turned away, a bitter laugh escaping his lips.

"What can you do?! My sister was fine, I swear it! And now she's dead! Unless you can bring back the dead, stay away from me!"

Kyojuro-kun, following Harry's lead, grabbed him by the shoulder in a gentle but firm grip.

"We believe that your sister was fine. We're here to help find out what happened. Will you take us to the well?"

Thanks to the boy, whose name was Saburo-San, they located the well. Everything seemed alright with the well itself, but the presence of a Demon remained, a lingering stench that no scrubbing could erase. They decided to stake it out until nightfall.
Sanemi-kun, who was the fastest, remained close in case another woman decided to suddenly take a dip in the well.
As dusk came, Harry noted that, because of the position of the well, it became dusk here faster than at the other places in the village. This would give the Demon more cover to commit its atrocities. They'd have to be careful.

All three of them tensed when the figure of a young woman appeared. She stepped close to the well, bucket ready to draw water. Everything seemed fine and normal. Suddenly, she stopped, and seemed to be listening.

Harry strained his ears, and suddenly froze as the forgotten voice of his mother reached his ears. She was beckoning him, telling him to come to her. He only knew what she sounded like due to the nightmares he had of her death.

He looked over at Sanemi, who's face was white as his hair. Harry could guess what he was hearing. Kyojuro-kun seemed confused by their expressions. Harry remembered his hearing loss. Perhaps the distance from the Demon meant that the spell didn't have as much of an effect on him.

With a jolt, he looked at the woman at the well, who seemed to be in a trance. She had tears in her eyes, and was reaching towards the well. Harry then understood what this Demon did.

Harry glanced at Sanemi-kun, who was still in a state of shock and realized that no help would come from that corner. Looking at Kyojuro-kun, he pointed to himself, and then to the well. He pointed at Kyojuro-kun, and then the girl. Kyojuro-kun, nodded, understanding.
As one, Harry and Kyojuro-kun pushed off the tree and shot towards the woman was standing, body poised to jump into the well.

I'm happy to have a another chapter out for y'all! My goal is one a month, but we'll see how that goes lol. Did you like the subtle nod to Sabito? He's the best boy y'all I love him so much and really wish he survived with Giyuu. I'm sorry I didn't have a fight scene. I got tired lol. I'll have one next chapter promise!
❤️Daughter of Halt❤️