•|• Avatar •||• Hashibira Inosuke x Reader •|•

Chapter 10

I call out, seeing him groan in pain as he looked up at me.
"There are traps all over the mountain! This is what he meant by this being a test!"

"I think he's trying to kill us instead! Now grab on!"
I steady myself and offer him my staff to grab on to, and slowly get him out of the tiger pit.

We kept going for a little more, but trigger yet another trap, a log coming straight for me as it knocked us both down, pain already burning my side.

"Ngh! I was joking before, but now I think he might actually want us dead!"

"If we keep running into these traps, we'll never get back by morning!"

"Not to mention that the air is so thin... It's no wonder we can barely breathe!"
I help him up, and we keep running until he stopped, grabbing my arm.

"I have a plan."

He slowly steadied his breaths, continuing.

"Once we get further down the mountain, you should be able to airbend again, and until then, I can use my sense of smell to sniff out all the traps."

"That's genius, Tanjiro! Once we get far down enough I might be able to fly us both down before sunrise!"

"Wait... Fly?"
He seems confused, to which I open my glider.

"You didn't think it was just for show, right?"

"Maybe another time. Let's focus on getting to thicker air for now."

I nod and carefully wait for him to calm down and steady his breathing before we make our way down again.

This time getting down much faster as Tanjiro pulled us both out of the way of the traps.

"You're amazing, Tanjiro!"
I tell him as we keep going, stopping him when we got down to air thick enough for me.

And, true to the plan, I cleared up the fog down the path, Tanjiro guiding me on where not to step and we started running down again.

I had to run back to get him a few times, because he was unfortunately not agile enough to dodge the traps quickly.

But, by holding him close and making sure he couldn't slip from my side, I could dodge for the both of us!

"Tanjiro, I have an idea.."
I quickly tell him, giving him no time to respond as I put his hands around me.
To say he was flustered was an understatement.
"W-Wha-"

"I'm fast enough to dodge the attacks, and if we move as one, I can dodge for the both of us! So if you hold on tight and don't trip, we'll make it down faster for sure."

He hesitantly nodded, but knew I was right as he did as told.
I held him tight and used my staff to keep clearing our path, Tanjiro yelling out when and from where to dodge.

The second we saw the house, we felt victorious, but deadly tired as we stumbled to the door, sliding it open harshly, barely catching our breaths.

"We... made it..."
Was all Tanjiro could muster before he fell to his knees, panting.

"We... made it down the mountain, sir..."
I patted his back for comfort, just as tired and beaten up as he was, finishing the sentence.

《•|•-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-•|•》

"Dear Urokodaki, sir, forgive the intrusion, but there's a boy and a girl headed your way in need of instruction. They want to become demon slayers. Both of them were fearless enough to attack me unarmed. A demon killed the boy's family, except for his sister, which turned into a demon, but I'm certain she will not attack a human.

The girl, on the other hand, is a very powerful bender, and came to defend the boy alongside his demon sister. She's very agile, and bears quite a resemblance to one of your old friends, and I think you'll take great interest in her.
I have suspicion she may be the next Avatar.

These kids are different. I can sense something about them. The boy has a keen sense of smell, much like yourself, and the girl has very sharp eyesight.
So maybe, just maybe, they'll find a way to break through. I'm asking you to train them. This may seem like a frivolous request, but, please, humor me.

If I'm not mistaken, this will all make sense one day.

Take care of yourself.

-yours truly, Giyu Tomioka"

《 •|• 《♡》 •|• 》

End
● Chapter 10 : ●
● "Test." ●