The Good Demon [KNY]

Part 70: Tenacity

"Three."

Akai took in a deep breath and heated his limbs. An orange glow spread down veins and lit up his limbs. In the center of his chest, a dull glow pulled rhythmically, following his heartbeat.

"Two." 

"He's still bare-handed. I should close the distance the moment the fight begins." Tanjiro decided.

"One..."

"Kick his ass, Tanjiro!!!" Inosuke shouted.

"Go!!!" Genya shouted.

"Breath of-"

"Yea, no." Akai flew forward with a flaming fist and punched. Tanjiro gasped and ducked, barely avoiding the attack. Tanjiro gritted his teeth and retaliated.

"Sixth Form: Whirlpool!" Tanjiro hopped away, twisting midair while doing so and slicing into Akai's side as he put distance between them. "Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow: Turbulence!!!" Tanjiro's movements became hazy as he assumed an unusual footwork. Each step was light and fast as if he was weightlessly dancing on the surface of a lake. Akai growled and pursued, chasing after Tanjiro while throwing wild strikes. Tanjiro held strong, weaving and dodging each attack at nearly a hair's length away. Akai threw a particularly strong punch, and Tanjiro parried. It was only a moment, but Tanjiro saw the silhouette of a water dragon bite into his hand as Tanjiro's blade parried his punch. He three another punch, and it was parried again. This time the strike was more powerful. Akai realized what was happening and smirked. "Tenth Form: Constant Flux!!!" Instead of pushing forward normally, Tanjiro used the flux while parrying, building up power in his strikes with each parry. With each parried attack, the water dragon in Tanjiro's blade grew stronger. 

"Holy shit..." A recruit muttered.

"He's got a chance!" Another yelled.

"Keep fighting!!!" Others began to shout words of encouragement.

"Cheeky little..." Akai smiled and breathed fire in Tanjiro's direction. Tanjiro yelped and jumped back to avoid the attack. Akai flew through the flames and aimed a punch at Tanjiro's midsection. Tanjiro twisted his body midair, positioning himself vertically to Akai. "Second Form, Improved: Lateral Water Wheel!!!" Tanjiro swung his blade downward-vertically from Akai's point of view- and bisected Akai's arm. He landed on his feet and leaped in Akai's direction, raising his blade high as Akai put his hands up to block. "Eight Form: Waterfall Basin!!!" Tanjiro swung his blade downward and sliced through Akai's arms. "Fourth Form: Striking Tide!!!" Tanjiro rushed forward and swung his sword. It was Akai's turn to run. Tanjiro let out numerous strikes, each time twisting his body and adding even more power to his attacks. Tanjiro swung hard, and opened a giant gash in Akai's chest. Akai grunted in pain and leaned back but Tanjiro stepped forward and pointed his sword's tip at Akai's chest. "Seventh Form: Piercing Rain Drop!!!" Tanjiro thrusted his blade straight towards Akai's heart.

CLANG!!!

Akai, in a move of desperation, bit down on his tongue and used Morphing Comet to turn his chest into Nichiren, making Tanjiro's blade bounce off of it. 

"Crap!" Tanjiro's eyes lit up with panic. "Don't give up, finish it!!!" Tanjiro scowled and pushed further forward. "Dance of The Fire God:"

"Wrath of The Cosmos." Akai regrew his arms and disappeared into a flash of red. He reappeared in front of Tanjiro, planting a metal palm into his chest. Tanjiro flew back and tumbled into the ground, spinning and rolling into the dirt. 

The fight was over.

Akai stopped and took a few deep breaths. Even if for a moment, he had to get serious. Akai jogged over to Tanjiro, who was sputtering and coughing while clutching his chest. Akai crouched down and aided Tanjiro, dusting him off and helping him to his feet. 

"Tanjiro Kamado, people!" Akai shouted to the crowd. The area lit up with applause as Akai slung Tanjiro's arm over his shoulder and walked him towards his friends.

"All of that to beat you at your normal state, yet I only lasted a second when you got serious." Tanjiro gritted his teeth and muttered. "I'm not strong enough...!"

"...I can tell, Tanjiro, that you're getting stronger." Akai said. "Hell, if you pulled that stab off, you might've killed me!" Akai chuckled. "So don't let this get you down." Akai patted his back and pushed him toward the crowd, who surged toward him.

"Whew." Akai sighed, and split in two.

"That was fun." Righty got up and dusted himself off.

"Was Tanjiro always that strong?" Lefty asked. "Meh, never mind." They approached the crowd, who was currently swarming Tanjiro with questions and congratulations. Lefty looked to the sun. He guessed they had a few more hours of sunlight.

"Alright, folks. Today's training is over. And since Tanjiro's effort put me in a pretty good mood, I'm thinking of a celebration." Lefty decided. "There'll be no training tomorrow, and I'm thinking of taking you all to the city!!!" He declared. The crowd lit up with a surge of cheers at the news.

"I don't think that's possible." A Kakushi commented from the treeline.

"I'll pitch it to Ubuyashiki and see what he says." Lefty turned and responded to the bushes.

"Aaand that's a wrap. Go tidy yourselves up and do plenty of stretches! And get some good sleep tonight too!" Righty said as the trainees began to disperse. 

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Random Trivia One: A List of The Books on The Bookshelf in Konpeki and Akai Suisei's Home:

-A guide to blade maintenance
-A guide to parenting
-A recipe book
-A guide to Hamon breathing
-A guide to killing demons
-A list of chores for Akai
-A list of bills for the house
-A Spanish dictionary (Konpeki Knew a Foreign Merchant)
-Novels
-A picture book Akai used to read when he was little

Random Trivia Two: 

Akai's father gave Akai basic martial arts training in his younger years. This is why he didn't get slaughtered by Akaza, a master of Soryu style Karate, in their battles.

Random Trivia Three: 

Akai, and in turn Lefty and Righty, do not know if they have a Kasugai crow or not. They assume the one that talked to them before the Infinity Trian mission was the crow, but they haven't seen it since. 

Random Trivia Four: 

Muzan won't let the demons feed on the general human Populus as of now, and instead tells them to either cannibalize on each other or ask Douma nicely for a cult member to feed on. (Also, Douma owns a cult) 

Random Trivia Five:

Konpeki Suisei's body count is one hundred and thirty-eight. With sixty Lower Moons and forty Upper Moons included.

Random Trivia Six:

When asked how blood tastes to Akai and his two halves, they commented:

Lefty: Like apples.
Righty: Like juice.
Akai: Like apple juice.

Random Trivia Seven:

The reason Akai knows what piss tastes like is that-

The Kakushi writing this report was attacked before they could finish.