Sensei (Kimetsu No Yaiba)

15

As promised, Tanjirou went to meet Giyuu at a place Giyuu use to train alone. Tanjirou, on his way there, pondering as to why Giyuu choosed to isolated himself rather than being talkative and train with other Hashiras. He cast the thought aside when he saw Giyuu was already waiting next to a bamboo tree.

"Tomioka-san !" Tanjirou flashed a smile and the Water Pillar and he nodded subtly at his appearance, pushing himself to a stand from the bamboo. Giyuu was someone who is hard to smile, but Tanjirou did not take it to heart.

"Did you practise the meditating ?" Giyuu suddenly asked, and Tanjirou remembered the meditating session of him with Sensei. After that evening, he continuously meditate himself in a secluded place so he wont be interrupted, and day by day, he could feel himself able to control the course of oxygen through his body. He nodded confidently.

"I see. Let's proceed to the next part." Giyuu said and Tanjirou barely caught the wooden sword the Water Pillar tossed at him out of nowhere. The younger saw Giyuu stared him down intimidatingly while moving his sword to comfortable himself with the swings. Tanjirou pursed his lips, gathering his courage and stanced as well.

"Come at me." Giyuu said monotonously, and Tanjirou did without any second thought. He sprinted towards the Hashira but before he could reach him, Giyuu was already at the back with a stance as if he had done his part. Tanjirou furrowed, not knowing what happened which later he felt some cuts on his clothes, almost grazing his skin to blood. He looked over his shirt to locate all of the cuts and it was three in total.

"Tomioka-san, how are you able to create a cut using wooden sword ? It is not sharp enough to create even a shallow cut." Tanjirou asked in amazement whilst Giyuu fixed her composure.

"Nature is not only for display, Tanjirou. Use it to your capability. If you concentrate enough, even fluidity of water kills." Giyuu turned to face Tanjirou completely, "In my case, I used air to create velocity on places I want it to happen, and I did it on your clothes and against your skin a bit. I want them to happen."

"You want them to happen ?" Tanjirou questioned curiously.

"Yes. If you want to execute something flawlessly, it should be because you want it to happen. Earlier, I want to land a few cuts on you in a blink of an eye, and with that I didn't think of anything else aside from the outcome." Giyuu explained again.

"I still don't get it. How does thinking that makes you able to achieve your goal ?"

"It because you closed your other senses to focus only on one thing, and when it happens, you can even create two slices in a second."

"Really ? That's really cool."

"Your body is only a mechanism your mind control. Nothing is impossible aside of your thoughts that discourage yourself. This is how Sensei could stay so passive and once she set up on something, nothing could go wrong."

Tanjirou listen intently while looking at his senior. A few seconds passed by and he smelled a hint if sadness, and he witnessed how Giyuu frown deeper at the mention of Sensei.

"But she was proven a human after all." He saddened after hearing what happened to his Sensei. He didn't know what had drove her to sacrifice herself to the other Demon Slayers at the red-light district. Hearing it from Uzui pained him. He wished he was there to save Sensei.

Suddenly, Giyuu looked up to Tanjirou.

"No slacking. I want you to try until you able to it." He clenched his wooden sword and charged towards Tanjirou.

———

Tamayo rushed to the front door with Yushiro trailed behind her. She opened the door a little too fast, to see a woman standing with an old saggy blanket on her. Her eyes were wrapped with bandages as if to cover herself from viewing the world.

Tamayo felt her heart softened seeing Sensei. It would be the first time she ever saw Sensei in that kind of state, so vulnerable and lost. It might seem different in the eyes of Yoshirou, but knowing Sensei for decades gave her a different perspective.

Tamayo took a step forward, and Sensei did not react. She felt so heavy moving her hands to the covered eyes, and slowly undo the bandage on them. Slowly, the plum red reveals to the both of them, and Yushirou did not dare to interrupt the elders.

Tamayo gazed at those eyes. If they don't remind of her of the cruel progenitor, they would be the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.

"You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.." an unconsicous tear slipped onto Sensei's cheeks as she heard those words. She did not want to be reminded of those disgusting eyes she had always had since centuries ago. It pain her knowing she was one of those creature she swore to kill since a child.

"What makes you conscious of this side of you ?" Tamayo asked gently, wiping the tear on the porcelain skin in the process. The elegant woman knew her companion won't answer her, but it amazes her after all those centuries, Sensei never acknowledge this side of her. Could it be the child ?

Why did she goes to that extend ?