The Sun Will Always Rise Again

Chapter 9: Strenuous Workouts

The Demon Slayer Corps has around several hundred members. It's an organization unrecognized by the government. Yet, it has existed since ancient times, and we continue to hunt demons today. But as for who's leading the Demon Slayer Corps, that remains a mystery.
Demons. Staple food: humans! They kill humans and feed on them. No one knows when and where they first appeared. Their physical power is remarkable. Wounds heal in the blink of an eye. Flesh is restored after being hacked off, and limbs can be newly regenerated. Some demons can shapeshift. Others have otherworldly powers. They can only be killed by sunlight or by decapitation with a special sword.
The Demon Slayers battle the demons with their own mortal bodies. Since they're human, their wounds are slow to heal, and, once lost, their limbs don't grow back!
Even so, they battle the demons ... to protect other humans.

You were woken up by someone gently shaking you. "[name]...[name]...wake up!", a soft voice reached your ears. Slowly, you opened your eyes to be greeted by a burgundy mop of hair.

Tanjiro could tell, that you were still very sleepy but you two had to get up. It had been a few days, since you both had started your training with Urokodaki. He still remembered the man's words clearly, when you had your first day:

"I am a trainer. I literally train swordsmen. There are many trainers, and each of them train their pupils with their own regimen in their location. To join the Demon Slayer Corps, you must survive the Final Selection process held on Mt. Fujikasane. Whether or not you're eligible for the Final Selection is up to me", Urokodakis speech made it clear, that the both of you had to train hard. Tanjiro was sometimes carefully sniffing the air around you in order to check up on your mood. To his surprise, you were not scared or intimidated by everything at all. He could always smell a certain excitement surrounding you. It also kept him at peace most of the time.

"Yeah...I'm awake...", you said while literally turning around again and pulling the blanket further up, almost making you disappear. You fled into the warmth of your futon.

"If you don't get up right now, you will have to do some extra rounds", Urokodaki was standing at the doorway, judging you for your antics. That made you get up fast, suddenly you were out of bed and already on your way to put on some clothes that were more suitable for training. No way in hell would you do extra rounds!

Tanjiro laughed a little at that. Then his eyes locked onto the form of his sister. Nezuko was still sleeping, it was starting to get a little worrisome. However, before he managed to think about it further, he already heard your voice calling out to him.

"Come on Tanjiro!", as if you were not just the one who had to be forced out of bed. "I'm on my way!", he called back and got up, "Bye, Nezuko. We will come back soon."

***

Every day the two of you had to descend the mountain. Of course at first, it was insanely difficult but even you started to get used to the path and its traps, which were set up to get you. It was almost easy for you to memorize the pattern of them. However, it was still a challenge to react in time. Your reflexes did get better after a while, but the problem was that Urokodakis traps were getting more and more...intense.

With that said, there were a few short knifes flying towards Tanjiro and you in that moment. Thankfully you two managed to dodge them in time. You just kept on running forward, this honestly seemed like such an idiotic tactic but it still worked. Well, not all the time of course. It was when you almost fell into a pit with sharp knives protruding from its bottom, you had the realization that it was sometimes smarter to think before you acted. If it had not been for Tanjiro, you might as well could have gotten turned into a human on a skewer at this point. The thought made you shudder.