Higashikuze Akiho's very existence was thought to be taboo among demons and humans alike: she was a half-demon, the first of her kind. But being taken in and rasied by a former pillar with a strong sense of justice and a hatred for Kibutsuji Muzan...
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第二十二话
For the next three months, Akiho trained with Sanemi under special arrangements.
The pillar was often busy and so she was told to not show her face around his district unless his crow specifically called for her. When it did, it would be a grueling day of getting beat up by the pissed off man. He was always pissed off about something and seeing her seemed to piss him off more, but he took satisfaction in being able to beat his trainings into someone who was unrelenting and never cowered under pressure. He had kicked dozens of swordsmen out of his dojo for being weak and easy to crack, after all. Akiho was different, and like she promised, she never even uttered a word of complaint.
No one knew of the occasional training sessions that the girl had with the volatile Wind Pillar except Shinobu since she was the one who gave the girl the address after knowing the reason behind it. Not even Genya knew, and while Akiho felt bad about keeping it a secret when they went on missions together, she didn't want him to worry over her since Sanemi showed no mercy during trainings. There was a small ulterior motive behind it as well; she wanted to understand the Wind Pillar and get on his good side so that she may one day be able to mend the relationship between the two brothers.
She knew how desperately Genya wanted to be acknowledged by Sanemi, and she would do anything to try and help.
However, three months and the man still seemed to hate her guts by the way he always scowled at her even if she did well. He was so different from the Flame Pillar who was always encouraging and kind. When she trained with Kyoujorou, the man always focused on her strengths and pushed her to do her best. The Wind Pillar was the complete opposite—he would pinpoint all of her weaknesses and hold it over her head like a taunt before mercilessly pummeling her to the ground.
Thus, training with Sanemi was like going into battle with nothing but the clothes on her back—she always felt like she was dragged through a hurricane at the end of the day. He was quick like the wind and harsh like a storm. And yet she never gave up and gritted through the pain.
She also spent some time training alongside Tanjirou, Zenitsu, and Insouke at the Butterfly Estate when she wasn't on missions or keeping Senjurou company. Even Shinjurou seemed to warm up to her and allowed her to permanently reside within the Rengoku Estate—she had Tanjirou to thank for that, as Senjurou had revealed to her how his visit to the estate during the week that she went "rogue" changed the man for the better. He even stopped drinking as much.
It made Akiho incredibly happy to be able to fulfill Kyoujuoru's dying wish for her and the gruff man to get along. Although, thinking about Kyoujuoru still made her sad sometimes, but she continued to keep an unwavering outlook.
