"Shinobu-san will kill you."
"You have no right to say that," Muichiro retorted, panting as he tried to keep up with Inori. "You started training three days after you woke up even though Kocho-san told you to rest. Besides, I want to join you in next month's Final Selection."
Inori fell back, jogging alongside Muichiro. "It will certainly be nice to have you there, but I was not mummified when I started rehabilitation training," she stated dryly.
"You took off the bandages even though Kocho-san threatened you."
Inori clicked her tongue. "Aren't you supposed to be forgetful?"
"Aren't you supposed to be faster?" Irk marks popped out of Inori's temple as she smiled venomously.
"My, my, Muichiro." Muichiro momentarily froze at the use of his first name. "If you want me to leave you behind so badly, then I guess I'll see you in another thirty laps." He didn't get a chance to respond as Inori ran faster, accumulating speed and building stamina.
Muichiro managed to run thirteen laps around the Ubuyashiki Estate before his legs collapsed, and that was with break intervals. Inori stopped running upon seeing his wheezing form crawling on the ground. She helped him back into the house. "It's alright, Tokito, you did better than me when I first recovered, and you've already mastered total concentration constant, so don't look too down."
"Muichiro."
"Huh?"
"You can call me Muichiro, you know. You let me call you Inori and all."
Inori stared at him before beaming. "Then, I'll do that." She let Muichiro sit on the porch, leaving to grab two wooden swords. Inori paused, turning to look back at him. "By the way, Muichiro, what breathing style are you trying to learn?"
"Mist Breathing." Muichiro showed her the time-stained scroll he had been reading. "The original one in Oyakata-sama's library is incomplete in my opinion, so I want to add more forms. I only have the idea right now though. Have you ever heard of this breathing style?"
"Mist, huh? It's not a breathing style I often meet, but there was one former pillar who was kind enough to teach me." As she took a seat beside him, Muichiro moved the scroll between the two of them. "Six forms...yeah, I've learned how to do them. It's going to be sloppy, but do you want to see how they look?"
"Sure."
Hopping off the porch, Inori made her way to her favorite spot in the backyard, the blank space under the large tree. Taking one sword out of her belt, Inori controlled her breathing as she shifted her posture, recalling the movements she had been taught a long time ago.
"The first form of Mist Breathing is a thrust attack," Inori recited the words one of her many teachers had told her. "Um, uh, put strength into your arms and—"
Mist Breathing: First Form: Low Clouds, Distant Haze
The pebbles on the ground shot up, getting blown in the direction of her sword, and clattering into messy stacks. A bead of sweat glided along the curve of her cheek and jaw, dripping off her chin and onto the floor as Inori straightened her posture. Tilting her head, she flashed Muichiro a grin.
"How was that? Cool, right?"
"It was sloppy."
"That's because it's my first time doing it with a sword!" Inori huffed, crossing her arms. "Let's see you do better on your first try."
"It's different. You have prior training and a skilled trainer. I don't."
"Then, what am I?"
Muichiro blinked, tilting his head to the side as he stared at the girl. "You're not a trainer." Because that was a fact. Inori was a swordswoman in the making, not a trainer. Yes, she has the knowledge, but she wasn't experienced or skilled enough to teach others.
Inori must've realized that too because she opened her mouth, closed it, then sighed, kicking a stack of pebbles. "I can't even say you're wrong." Huffing, she plopped down beside Muichiro. "Aah, I should hurry up and finish making my own breathing style. I can't believe I'm still stuck at the fifth form."
She pulled the new scroll she requested from Kagaya, as well as the ink and brush—Amane had taught her how to write with a fountain pen, but Inori wasn't used to it. Even though Kagaya said it was a gift for her since she liked to write so much. Opening the scroll, she sank the brush into the ink before beginning to write.
Muichiro tilted his head, looking down at what Inori was writing. "Moon Breathing?" He tilted his head in the other direction. "I thought your breath is called Star Breathing?"
"It is," replied the girl without lifting her head from whatever she was writing. "All breaths come from one breath, that is the 'Sun Breathing' that was created by Tsugikuni Yoriichi," she explained as the brush glided smoothly on the scroll. "From that breath comes many derivations, which then has many more derivations. I derive Star Breathing straight from Sun Breathing, though it's also connected to other breathing styles because that is my foundation."
Her foundation was everything that had been taught to her, and if Yoriichi said she could be strong as herself, then Inori would try to believe him.
"Moon Breathing was made by Tsugikuni Michikatsu, Yoriichi-sama's brother...and also Upper Moon One." Muichiro tensed at that, snapping his head towards Inori with a look Inori could only describe as indignation. Inori simpered, knowing she would probably have to tell Muichiro about his ancestry later. "He strived to be the strongest, and in his conquest, he ended up abandoning everything, including his humanity."
Yoriichi may have spoken highly of his brother, but Inori couldn't see Michikatsu as anything but a demon, one who was responsible for many deaths and one of the shackles keeping Yoriichi chained to the land of the living.
"He destroyed all records about Moon Breathing when he betrayed the corps centuries ago." Inori tapped the side of her head, offering Muichiro a lopsided grin. "But I am a walking and living archive." She dipped the brush into the ink again. "My knowledge of Moon Breathing is minimal since I've never seen it before, and nobody has ever taught it to me. Everything I write here is just based on the descriptions I've been told. Even so, I hope this can be useful for someone in the future."
"Will you adapt it into your breath too?"
"I might." She shrugged in response, writing the last stroke. Wiping the sweat on her forehead, Inori smiled at her work and left the ink to dry. "All breaths are made by humans for humans. As long as I know how to breathe, and as long as I know how to move, I can do any technique. That's what I believe."
That was what she had been taught.
"Can you try it now?"
"Hm?" Raising an eyebrow at the boy, Inori hummed before eventually nodding. "Well, I want to see just how far I can go with what I have and just by following verbal descriptions, and it's not like I'll lose anything if I fail, so why not?"
Hopping off the porch, Inori took out one wooden sword and held it tightly, furrowing her eyebrows as she recalled what she had written. "Uh, Moon Breathing's slashes take the form of a crescent moon." It was also the breath that took Kanato's life, wasn't it? "And, um, the first form of Moon Breathing is supposed to be a very powerful horizontal slash, so—"
Muichiro blinked as Inori swung her sword into the shape of a crescent moon, tilting his head to the side. "Nothing happened," he pointed out. It was as if Inori was just swinging her sword without putting any technique into her movement. "I wonder why?"
"Hm..." Inori furrowed her eyebrows at her sword. "It somehow doesn't fit the descriptions of what the dead told me. How weird. Ever since Yoriichi-sama taught me Sun Breathing, I used to be able to do other techniques a bit more easily, even though I couldn't master Sun Breathing itself."
Well, she had given up when Yoriichi 'abandoned' her, so there was that.
"Why don't you try again?"
Deciding Muichiro was right, Inori repaired her stance and swung her sword again. But she still felt like she was unable to implement the technique into her movements. It was different from when she was doing other forms. She couldn't feel her body merging with her movements, and her arms ended up feeling strained.
"I think I'm doing something wrong." Scrambling back to the porch, Inori reread the scroll before grabbing the other scrolls she had gathered. "My records of Sun Breathing and Moon Breathing, then the records about the other first generation of breaths."
She had wondered if Yoriichi would appreciate her making a physical archive of his breath. He had always thought his techniques were worthless, so he never bothered passing them down. He had other disciples, all of who were killed because they were his disciples, and perhaps that was why he thought his techniques were worthless.
Because they couldn't protect anybody and instead, caused death.
"I pity that man," the swordsmith who made Yoriichi's swords once told her. "He had such a despairing look on his face when the master asked me to make a sword for him." That swordsmith was also killed by Tsugikuni Michikatsu because he forged Yoriichi's blade. "I poured all my skills and experience, all my heart and soul, all my emotions and prayers, all my dream and wishes...I poured them all into the blade I forged for him."
Inori had never seen Yoriichi's sword, nor did she know what it looked like. She only knew that the sword shone blazing red whenever Yoriichi did his techniques.
"Exterminate." That was what was carved onto the blade, just that one word. "He believed his sole purpose of existing was to exterminate demons, but I wanted to exterminate that thought out of him." He had laughed quite boisterously back then. "Even though we both forge and wield that blade to exterminate all demons, it's really funny how different the swordsman and the swordsmith think."
"How the swordsman and the swordsmith think." Inori stared at her wooden swords, battered and stained with blood from all the blisters she got. "What do I think of the swords?"
"Aren't they just tools?" Muichiro spoke up as he tilted his head to the side. "They're weapons used to slay demons. That's what they are, right?"
"Yes, but don't you think they're similar to our breaths?" Inori asked back, sitting cross-legged on the porch. "Someone...a swordsmith dedicated their time and determination to forge the sword, to become masters of their own crafts. Isn't that the same as us who dedicate our everything to developing our techniques?"
"I don't understand what you're trying to say."
"No blade is the same even if it's forged by the same person. Haganejin-sama once said that to me." His hand back then felt warm on top of her head, and so was his crooked smile. "That's because the emotions put into each blade are different. That's because techniques will continue to develop until the end of life, and even beyond that."
The same way every one of her techniques was different even if she did the same form. "The technique did nothing wrong." The blade did nothing wrong. Michikatsu's blade did nothing wrong, and neither did the Moon Breathing he created. "I suppose this is why Yoriichi-sama told me to rid myself of any darkness."
Inori smiled bitterly at that, hopping off the porch with one sword gripped in her hands. She turned her head to the side, flashing a confused Muichiro a grin. "I'm going to do Moon Breathing again," she told him. "But this time, I'll get rid of Tsugikuni Michikatsu from my head."
Perhaps it was a bit harder to just get rid of him from her head, so Inori settled on just putting away her hatred for the technique the demon used. Because even if she didn't want to admit it, Tsugikuni Michikatsu was a strong swordsman who had dedicated his life to perfecting his techniques, and that dedication was admirable.
She didn't need to think about how that same dedication was the reason why he became a demon. She just needed to think about how the technique that was said to be second only to Sun Breathing was a marvelous and innocent technique, and that she could save a lot of lives if she could set aside her subjectiveness.
Moon Breathing: First Form: Dark Moon, Evening Palace
The pebbles shot up, getting blown in the direction of her slash. Both Inori and Muichiro stared, eyes wide and mouths slightly agape. Numbness spread from her fingertips to her shoulders, and Inori winced, unceremoniously dropping her sword.
"Agh, okay, I guess it's possible to do this breath, but not recommended." Well, her body was obviously different from Michikatsu's, someone who once strived to be the strongest samurai of his era. Still, she smiled. "But did you see that? I did it, Muichiro."
"Yeah." Muichiro pushed the scrolls away so Inori could flop onto the porch. "It didn't even scratch the tree though."
"Well, that's because it's my first time." Huffing, Inori massaged her shoulder. "That aside, you said you wanted to add another form to Mist Breathing, right? What's the idea?" Inori knew Mist Breathing was a breathing style that focused on swift movements that would confuse the enemy, so she was curious to know what Muichiro had come up with.
"I'll drastically change my fighting tempo to disorient my enemy."
"Like a dance," Inori mumbled, holding her chin as she hummed. "Like when you suddenly change the tempo of the music and catch the dancer off guard." It was a bit similar to the finale of the Crimson Dance where the music would go from slow to fast to faster to slow without a set pattern. Well, she heard that was because nobody bothered learning the finale since nobody had survived that long, so the finale was done as the musicians pleased, and the dancer must adapt.
Muichiro nodded, though he didn't seem to think about it as deeply as Inori was. "Yeah, the demon will be long dead by the time it realized what's going on."
Inori placed her index finger on her chin in thought. "Changing tempo, huh? That sounds good." She turned to face him with a grin. "Do you mind if I copy your idea? I think I've just found the sixth form of Star Breathing."
"Are you going to combine it with another breathing form?"
"Yeah. I'm sticking with the drastic tempo change, but I want to utilize my speed." Because that was her strongest strength. "An attack so fast and so uncontrollable that it would look like I'm at two or more places at once." A cloning illusion, simply put.
Like two slashes that looked as if they were just one slash due to how quick they were. Disorientation and a play of speed at the same time would be difficult, but not entirely foreign for her. "I think I'm going to try doing that."
"How about a spar?" Muichiro grabbed a wooden sword, standing in front of Inori who stared at him in bewilderment. He half expected her to refuse, so it surprised him when she shrugged and agreed.
"Not too long though, Oyakata-sama wants me to be present in today's pillar meeting."
"Ah, so that's why your schedule today is rushed."
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
While Muichiro and Inori were busy sparring in the backyard, the pillars were gathered in the front garden for their meeting.
"Oi, Kocho. Did the brat tell you anything?" Sanemi asked as a way of greeting. He may have talked with Inori and even fought her, but he never got a single piece of information about Muzan or her time in his captivity.
Shinobu smiled, her voice laced with fake sweetness. "Ara, ara, Shinazugawa-san, how could you not know her name? You've met her, I even remember you using her to destroy my tree." When Sanemi clicked his tongue, she chuckled. "And Inori-chan did tell me a few things, though I'm sure Oyakata-sama will discuss it with us later. That's what the meeting is about after all."
"So, she really did escape Kibutsuji Muzan," Obanai muttered to himself before addressing the larger issue. "Oyakata-sama told us she gave him information about Kibutsuji and the upper moons. Did she give any information to you? How did she even manage to escape?"
"Ah, it's probably because of her ability, right, Shinobu-chan?" Mitsuri squealed. "She said that the dead helped her escape. How cool."
"The what helped her what?" Tengen stared at Mitsuri as if she was crazy. Surely, he misheard her.
"Oh? Did none of you know?" Kyojuro beamed at the confused pillars. "Young Hoshizora told us that she can communicate with dead spirits, and she received help from them when escaping." Well, the only pillars to have visited the Butterfly Estate since Inori was taken under Shinobu's wing were him, Mitsuri, and Sanemi, so Kyojuro guessed it was only natural most wouldn't know. "That's also how she knows about the Blue Spider Lily and about the demons."
"Hold on, back the fuck up. You didn't tell me that." Sanemi held his hand up, reciting everything he had heard so far. "The brat can fucking talk with shitty ghosts and those shitty ghosts helped her escape? How the actual fuck? And those shitty ghosts know how to make Kibutsuji immune to the fucking sun? We should kill it."
"Shinazugawa, how do you plan to kill the dead?" Obanai asked logically. "Besides, according to Oyakata-sama, Hoshizora managed to keep her mouth shut, so Kibutsuji hasn't conquered the sun yet."
"Ah, how painful it must be for her to be held captive by that man." Usual tears streamed down Gyomei's eyes as he chanted a prayer. "How fortunate for us. She managed to keep strong."
"By the way, is it just me, or is someone fighting right now?" Tengen asked, his ears picking up the sounds of wooden swords clashing.
The pillars immediately tensed, sharpening their ears. There were indeed obvious sounds of wood clashing against each other and heavy pounding, definitely not something that should be heard in the hidden estate of their precious master.
Realization dawned on Mitsuri first.
"Ah, Inori-chan is staying here, right? She must be training. I want to see." Mitsuri skipped toward the source of the noise. Shinobu had told her about how beautiful Inori's Star Breathing was, and Mitsuri was curious.
"Hoshizora? Training? What are you talking about?" Tengen followed behind Mitsuri. "I thought she was ten?"
"Uzui-san, she turned eleven last December," Shinobu corrected, also following Mitsuri. "She's actually very strong. I taught her Insect Breathing because she can use multiple breathing styles on top of creating her own. Besides, even Shinazugawa-san had a fun time fighting against her."
"What do you mean multiple breathing styles?" Obanai asked. "And she fought you?" He raised an eyebrow at Sanemi who refused to say anything and just glared at the other pillars who were staring at him expectantly, though he mostly only glared at Giyu despite the Water Pillar not even looking at him.
"Exactly as it means. Well, you'll understand if you see for yourself." And so, fueled by curiosity, the pillars followed Mitsuri to the backyard. Giyu wasn't interested in going, but Kyojuro headlocked and dragged him anyway.
Kyaa! Inori-chan is training with a sword. So cool! So majestic! Mitsuri was internally squealing as she peeked from the corner of the backyard. Oh, my. Who is that with her? So cute.
"The second form of Mist Breathing is a series of consecutive slashes," Inori explained, waving her fingers in a crisscross motion. "Depending on your speed, you can get as many slashes as you want." Gripping her swords, she changed her stance. "Well, I use two swords, so—"
Mist Breathing: Second Form, Modified: Three-Layered Mist, Double Layers
The pebbles flew again, some landing on the porch as Inori swung her wooden swords. "Oh, that was six. The Mist Pillar who taught me managed to make eight, but I think I can make more if I practice." Tilting her head to the side, she flashed her sparring partner a grin. "Muichiro, you should try it too. I'll counter with my own forms."
"Alright."
Mist Breathing: Second Form: Three-Layered Mist
Star Breathing: Fifth Constellation: Tornado of the Lion
Inori twirled, dodging Muichiro's flurry of attacks. She backflipped a fair distance away from him. She had just taught him how to do the six forms of Mist Breathing two hours ago, yet he was already able to perform them well, in the standard of two hours, at least. For an amnesiac, his body remembered how to do the forms quite quickly.
"I've been thinking." Her eyes were trained on the scrape on her arm. "But Mist Breathing is really annoying to fight against."
"What a coincidence." Muichiro gripped his sword tighter. "I was about to say the same thing about Star Breathing."
Mist Breathing: Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash
Wind Breathing: Seventh Form: Gale, Sudden Gusts
Muichiro gritted his teeth, using all his strength to block Inori's dual swords. Inori swiped her legs, forcing him to jump back.
Water Breathing: Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust
Mist Breathing: Seventh Form: Obscuring Clouds
Already? Inori's eyes widened when an illusionary mist started to cover her vision. Sure, they have been practicing their newly formed techniques, but she didn't expect Muichiro to perform his so soon. As I thought, Muichiro is a genius. As expected from someone who shares Yoriichi-sama's blood. Well, his brother's blood but still. Looks like I'll have to try that now too.
Star Breathing: Sixth Constellation: Dance of the Maiden
"Eh? Inori-chan multiplied! How? What? The other one is gone too! What?" The pillars watched in shock as almost half a dozen figures of Inori attacked a constantly disappearing and appearing Muichiro.
Inori moved faster, dialing her senses to the notch. This was the first time both of them did their respective forms, so it was obviously still sloppy. That was how Inori could easily spot Muichiro, and how Muichiro could counterattack Inori. Their swords clashed, the impact causing both of them to lose hold.
Inori stared at the swords that fell to the ground. "Well, I guess that's a tie. My sixth form needs practicing."
Muichiro nodded, picking up the fallen swords. "Me too."
"Ara, ara, Tokito-kun." Muichiro and Inori turned their heads to see Shinobu approaching them with a dangerous smile. "I thought I told you to rest. Inori-chan, please don't encourage him to disobey me, his condition will worsen."
"I'm fine."
"I didn't encourage him, I just didn't stop him," Inori said as if that was any better. "Oh, by the way, Shinobu-san, why are you here? The meeting hasn't started, right?"
"We came in early, though it is about to start soon," Shinobu answered. "Did Oyakata-sama ask you to be present?"
"Yeah, he said his pillars will have questions only I can answer, though I highly doubt I can be of much help," Inori answered truthfully, parting ways with Muichiro as she and Shinobu made their way to the front garden.
"Why? From what I heard, you gave a lot of useful information." The pillars rushed their current missions to get back as soon as possible the moment reports about Kagaya receiving information about Muzan and the upper moons were spread. It would be a shame if they couldn't get anything useful out of it.
"I only know bits and pieces from the stories the dead told me, and most of them were killed before the demon showed their full strength. Basically, the information I gave him is probably just the upper moons playing around." Inori turned the corner, only to stumble back upon seeing the pillars.
"Inori-chan!" Mitsuri engulfed her in a hug, burying Inori's face into her chest. "You were so cool just now! There were like six of you! How did you do it? That was so amazing! You were so fast too! Inori-chan, you're incredible!"
"Why are you here?" Her voice was muffled by Mitsuri's chest. "I didn't know pillar meetings were held in the backyard."
Before Mitsuri could answer, Inori felt herself being lifted by her collar—like a cat—her mismatched eyes stared into a pair of fuchsia ones, unimpressed.
"This is the flamboyant girl who flamboyantly escaped Muzan?" Tengen asked the pillars in general, making a shocked face as he swung Inori's collar like how one would dangle a cat, ignoring her whines. "She's so tiny."
Veins popped on Inori's forehead. She flashed the silver-haired man a smile that would make Shinobu proud. "Kindly do not use your height to harass me, I'll kick you."
"I'd like to see you try, kid."
Without hesitation, Inori kicked him where the sun didn't shine.
The effect was immediate, Tengen instantly dropped her while someone in the background cringed.
Landing gracefully, Inori stared at Tengen who was bent over holding his crotch. "Huh. Getsu-nii was right." And so were those yakuza men, and so were those demon slayers, and so were those martial artists. "It is the weakness of all men."
"You little—"
"Inori-chan, that was so awesome!" Mitsuri engulfed her in another hug, dragging her away from Tengen.
Shinobu followed suit, giggling as she passed a still bent over Tengen. "Ara, ara, Uzui-san, you really shouldn't have done that. Well then, I doubt it was a lethal kick, so I assume you'll be fine." She didn't even bother helping the Sound Pillar, opting to join Mitsuri and Inori.
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙