Before I knew it another few days had passed and I realised that Zenitsu and Inosuke had stopped going to the training room so instead of letting Tanjiro do it by himself I began to go to the training room when doing my own training. It made me smile seeing as how Tanjiro was continuing to try harder and harder every day. He knew that he could ask me how to train to beat Kanao but he continued to try and find the answer by himself. That is how we found ourselves heading back to the room after another day of training that Tanjiro had failed to get Kanao.
"Tanjiro-san" called Kiyo, one of the little girls, the one with pink butterflies in her hair..
"Tanjiro-san," Naho called, she is the one with green butterflies.
"Tanjiro-san are you alright? We've been calling you over and over" Sumi explained, she was the one with blue butterflies.
"Sorry I didn't hear you. what is it?" Tanjiro asked, shooting me a look that had me smirking, if he wanted to know who was around him then he should pay attention.
"Here's a towel for you" They offered fidgeting nervously.
"Ah thank you, you're all so kind" Tanjiro smiled, making the girls brighten.
"Here is one of you as well, Hikaru-san," they said, handing me a towel.
"Thank you very much" I smiled and they brightened again.
"Um Tanjiro-san, Hikaru-san, do you maintain total concentration breathing around the clock?" Kiyo asked.
"Huh?" Tanjiro asked while I smiled.
"Morning, noon and night and all through the night while you're asleep, are you using total concentration breathing nonstop?" She asked.
"No I don't, I've never done that, is that even possible?" Tanjiro said before turning to me.
"I have been doing it since the mission before I met Inosuke and Zenitsu," I answered his unasked question, making his jaw drop.
"Amazing, we're told that being able to do that makes a world of difference," Kiyo said.
"Even just using that technique for a short period of time really takes a toll but I should do it around the clock?" Tanjiro asked.
"It gets easier the more that you do it, it's how I am able to slow my blood down so that I didn't bleed to death while on the mountain and all the other times I get hurt" I explained.
"Exactly, some people have already mastered it," Naho said.
"All the Hashira, Kanao-san and now Hikaru" The Sumi said.
"Please do your very best" smiled all three of them.
"I see, thank you I will give it my best, Hikaru," Tanjiro said.
"I'll give you some pointers but it's your body there is only so much that I can do to help you and I will expect payment" I said and he nodded.
"Of course, what do you want as payment?" Tanjiro asked and I leered at him.
"Oh the usual" I said, making him blush bright red before I ran off to bed with Tanjiro running after me. Getting to the room I chuckled as Tanjiro grabbed me and started to scold me for saying that in front of the three girls.
The next morning Tanjiro decided to try and get the other two to try and go back to training but of course that was a flop. After that we headed to the garden and Tanjiro started to do his total concentration breathing for longer than normal. This made him collapse to the ground with a groan.
"That won't work Tanjiro, you have to fight through the pain even if it is hard. It is like the training with Urokodaki-sensei but this time instead of training your body you are training your lungs. Don't try to push yourself too much, take small steps at a time" I instructed while I was doing one handed push ups.
"Yes," Tanjiro said once more, doing total concentration breathing. He was going good to start off with, it took me four days to be able to do total concentration breathing for even half a day. As I said before I could only give him some basic instructions and tips since it was his lungs that he was having to train. When we were taking a breath the three girls came up to us with some rice balls and surprisingly some gourds.
"Blow into these gourds?" Tanjiro questioned while we ate.
"When she was training Kanao, Lady Shinobu often had her blow into gourds," Kiyo explained.
"Interesting, I never thought that you would be able to expand your lung capacity like that, it's pretty neat" I commented.
"Does it make a sound or something?" Tanjiro asked and I looked at him blankly.
"No, she blew into it to burst the gourd," Kiyo said.
"Really? Wait burst? What? You mean this? Something this hard?" Tanjiro exclaimed, tapping the gourd.
"Not to mention this is a special kind of gourd so it's harder than normal ones," Kiyo said.
"I am guessing that they get bigger and bigger as you get better. May I ask how big the one that Kanao can burst is?" I asked and they pulled out a huge gourd.
"That's right Hikaru, you said that you can do total concentration breathing around the clock. Would you like to blow into this gourd?" Sumi offered.
"Of course if it isn't any bother" I said with a smile and they shook their heads. Walking up to the gourd I uncapped it and took in a deep breath before putting my mouth on the gourd and then blew. I continued to blow until my lungs emptied and with a large noise the gourd burst.
"Good job" I heard and looked up to see Shinobu standing there.
"Thank you Kocho-san" I said before she brought out a bigger gourd. This time when I tried to burst it I couldn't do it.
"Looks like you still need more training" She commented with a smile before walking away. I knew that she was right after all on the mountain against Rui. I was useless even with my total concentration breathing around the clock, I would have to train more and more until I was stronger. The days continued to fly by with me helping drill Tanjiro on the different things that Urokodaki taught us as well as doing them myself. This time though Tanjiro was doing it while doing total concentration breathing and if he stopped doing it I quickly slammed my hand into his stomach winding him but getting the message through to him. I also added more things to my own training as well that were focused on my body's strength as well as my lungs strength.
Chapter 21: Visitor revealed
Start from the beginning
