The next day back to where the boulder was. As Shirazumi said, Sabito and Makomo really wanted to train Tanjiro. In front of the boulder, Sabito and Makomo were already present.
Sabito carried the wooden sword he had used to knock Tanjiro unconscious the day before.
Once again Tanjiro tried to fight Sabito, but the result was the same as yesterday. When he woke up, Sabito was nowhere to be seen, only Makomo was there.
After that Makomo told Tanjiro a few things. Movements, stances, posture, and breathing. Anything that Tanjiro does wrong, she tells how to fix all those mistakes.
Sakonji had taught Tanjiro the ten water breaths as well as his stances, but he hadn't done it right. There was no way Sakonji would send his pupil who couldn't do the breathing technique properly to take part in the final selection.
That's why Sakonji told Tanjiro to split the boulder, which could only be done using proper breathing techniques. Apart from that, Sakonji also didn't really want to send Tanjiro to the final selection.
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Days become weeks. Weeks become months. And Tanjiro has never even won against Sabito even once. Every now and then Shirazumi comes to see his brother, but she still can't see her brother's opponent. She could only occasionally hear Makomo's soft voice that convince herself that her brother will be all right. He's getting stronger.
Makomo continues to give suggestions to Tanjiro. Sabito also continues to serve him. It continued for six months. During that time, Shirazumi and Tanjiro kept a secret about Sabito and Makomo from Sakonji. What Sakonji knew was that Tanjiro was still practicing in order to split the boulder in half.
Until one day, Sabito said that Tanjiro was strong enough. He promised to bring a real katana for the next day. The day's training ended earlier than usual.
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Not only Tanjiro is practicing. Shirazumi is also doing her own training. She didn't want to just depend on her younger brother. For her, her body which cannot survive under the sun is already a burden to Tanjiro. At least, Shirazumi wanted to be able to protect herself.
With the katana she borrowed from Sakonji, Shirazumi trains in a different place from Tanjiro. Sakonji lent the katana to Shirazumi because of a reason.
At first, Sakonji intended to give Shirazumi an ordinary katana, but he gave him the wrong katana and give her a Nichirin instead. It doesn't belong to Sakonji but belongs to his late comrade who died fighting demons decades ago.
In his dying state, he entrusted his Nichirin to Sakonji. Sakonji accepted it and still kept his partner's nichirin until now.
After the owner's death, Nichirin will return to its original color. When it was still in use, the Nichirin have light green colour, now it looks like an ordinary katana.
But when Shirazumi grabbed the handle of the katana, it turned white.
Both Shirazumi and Sakonji were surprised. Usually, Nichirin is made with handpicked iron ore and made into a katana. But the Nichirin in Shirazumi's hand used to belong to someone else. This has never happened.
After that, Shirazumi training her breathing with Sakonji. But she's worse than Tanjiro. Shirazumi can't use breathing techniques. But because in Shirazumi's hand the Nichirin's had changed color, Sakonji gave the katana to her. According to his words, it was Nichirin who chose his master, not the opposite. His late comrade's Nichirin must have had a reason for choosing Shirazumi to be it's new user.
Due to continuing to practice, Shirazumi can now use the katana even if it's only for self-defense. At least according to Shirazumi, that's enough.
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The day that being waited has arrived. That night Tanjiro and Sabito face each other. Each held a katana.
When Shirazumi gave a signal, the two of them immediately moved. Each of them swung their katana trying to attack each other.
This time there was something different from their match. For the first time, Tanjiro's katana swung faster than Sabito's. The swing of his sword hit the fox mask Sabito was wearing, cutting it in half.
Because a red rope tied around its back, the mask that was split in half did not fall. It's hung around Sabito's neck.
For the first time Tanjiro saw the face behind the fox mask. Next to his cheek, from the tip of his lips to his cheek was the same scar that had been engraved on the mask he was wearing.
Sabito smiled. A smile full of sadness but also happiness. The most peaceful face Tanjiro has ever seen.
Suddenly, a thick white mist appeared covering Sabito and Makomo. Hiding their figures from view.
What Shirazumi saw was different from what Tanjiro saw. In the end, Shirazumi saw Tanjiro cut through the boulder easily. Shirazumi couldn't say anything. She was surprised and happy because his brother managed to cut through the boulder.
Amidst the white mist, Shirazumi saw the silhouettes of two children. Shirazumi assumed that the silhouettes were Sabito and Makomo. They didn't say anything, only showing themselves to Shirazumi for the first and last time.
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In less than a minute, the white mist disappeared. Shirazumi approached her brother, still fixated on the splitted boulder.
"Tanjiro. How did you split it?" Shirazumi asked curiously.
Tanjiro stood looking down. Without looking at his sister, Tanjiro replied "Suddenly I smell a line, like a string. When fighting, I detect the smell, then I can see the line. The line connects my katana and my target, with the pause of the opponent's movement, the line tightens. that, I cut it "Tanjiro replied.
Shirazumi didn't understand his words. Several question marks appeared above her head.
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Suddenly there was a sound of footsteps from behind them. It's belonged to Sakonji.
With an expression that couldn't be read because of the mask, Sakonji said.
"As it turns out, you can split it ... the boulder..."
A great hard work,
Always bring a good result.
TBC
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Translated from Indonesian to English By : Me (Puspahana94)
As I'm not a professional translator, there's maybe a lot of mistakes in translation. Please don't hesitate to tell me if you find a fatal mistake between the sentences above 😊
BINABASA MO ANG
Thousand of Tears (Tranlated version)
FanfictionKamado Shirazumi is the first child of 7. Her younger brother Tanjiro became the head of the Kamado family after their father died. They live in the mountains with their mother. Their father died last year due to illness, since the beginning his bod...
