It had already been about a week and a half, and I've only managed to beat Makomo, and I've been inching closer to Giyu, but by the time I get to him, I'm already exhausted because of Makomo. Sabito wasn't kidding. It was nothing but constant training. my entire body aches whenever I move. I didn't have much time left...I needed to do this fast. Or else I won't be able to join them. On our occasional breaks, Makomo would treat any minor cuts or bruises I had. Then it would be right back into training. This was the 6th time today. I kept failing against Giyu, and had to re-fight Makomo over and over again. Giyu knocked me on my ass again, and it was time to do it over. It would be easier if I could use my breathing, but everytume I tried to use total concentration, my lungs felt like that were being scratched by thousands of tiny little claws. After catching my breath, I finally got back up, and raised my wooden sword to Makomo. I began wondering why I could barely touch Giyu. Why it seemed like he out-classed me in every way. I was doing everything exactly how Urokodaki taught me. So why did nothing work. Then, I saw it. They each had their own unique style. Their own way of fighting, moving, and thinking. While I was merely doing everything as I was told. It was just like Urokodaki said. Water can take any shape or form. I just needed a stance that can act as the vase. bring out my strengths, while covering my weaknesses. I snapped out of my thoughts when Makomo got ready to strike. I gripped the sword with my right hand, taking my left hand off the handle, lowering my body and spreading my legs, flipping my blade and holding it the way one would usually hold a dagger, then positioned my open left hand in front of my chest. A low stance that brought out my strengths. I may not be fast like Makomo, but I'm agile, flexible, quick to react, and "spinny" as Sabito puts it. I tend to twist and turn a lot when fighting. So using it to my advantage could give me an upper hand. I was ready to start so I could fine-tune my new stance, but Makomo decided to play 20 questions.
Makomo: "Um.....what is that?"
Y/N: "It's a stance?"
Makomo tried to hold back a very audible giggle.
Makomo: "What kind of stance is that??"
Y/N "Can we stop worrying about my stance and fight?"
Makomo: "S-sorry its just...you're very..open? I just thought-"
After I grew impatient waiting for us to start, I charged Makomo, aiming for her shoulder as I didn't want to hurt her too much. She quickly reacted, jumping to the side with a look of disbelief.
Makomo: "That wasn't fair! We were having a conversation!"
Y/N: "You wouldn't stop talking about my stance! I got bored and decided to attack. A demon wouldn't have waited that long!"
Makomo only pouts and gets ready to fight again, which is exactly what I wanted. I quickly drop back into my stance exactly as before as Makomo dashes toward me. She had a very fast, and sometimes confusing style of fighting, but begins to lose those advantages when blocked or parried. She starts to become predictable, so the second she swings her wooden sword, I confidently counter with an opposite strike which carried a lot more power than I thought, as it almost knocked Makomo off her feet. I used this to my advantage however, rushing her with an overhead strike, which she barely evades, everything going exactly as I'd hoped. As she touches the ground, I jump slightly into the air, spinning slightly and throwing a kick at her, which I expected her to dodge, but it took her by surprise and next thing I knew, I had thrown a full-powered kick straight into Makomo's nose. Makomo fell to the ground, as small tears began to build up in her eyes.
Y/N: "I'm so sorry! I expected you to dodge like you usually would!"
Makomo: "I-It's okay! I was just slow and didn't see it coming..."
I began apologizing profusely as Sabito cleaned the blood dripping from her nose. She continued to reassure me, telling me that it was ok, but I still felt bad. It had been about 30 minutes before we resumed, and I had to fight Giyu next. We were half way through, and I was making considerable progress, but Giyu knew something was wrong, like I was holding back. He jumped back from me, creating a bit of distance before deciding to speak up.
Giyu: "You don't have to hold back! You can fight me like you mean it."
Y/N: "B-but I don't want to hurt you too! What if I end up giving YOU a bloody nose aswell?!"
Giyu: "I'll be fine. You don't have to hold back for my safety, it wouldn't be a test to prove yourself if you did!"
Giyu said this with a smile. It encouraged me to fight at my fullest. So far we'd almost been even, with Giyu having the upper hand, while I was slowly gaining on him as with each strike I became more in tune with my new stance. It was anyone's game.
I had attempted to kick Giyu, but he easily dodged and grabbed my leg while thrusting the sword towards my chest. Wanting to put up a bit more of a fight, I jumped off my other foot and spun out of Giyu's grasp, and quickly kicked him in the chin, which I felt really bad about, but thought back to his earlier reassurance. Giyu quickly recovered and we began trading blows once again, before Giyu parried with a quick strike, and tripped me. Seeing the opportunity, he got on top of me and held he sword close to my neck.
Giyu: "I...win."
Y/N: "Actually..."
We were both out of breath, and Giyu had a confused look on his face while I smiled. Then he noticed that something had been pressed into his chest. He looked down and saw Y/N's sword, aiming directly at his heart. If it were a real sword, it would've gone straight through.
Giyu stood up and offered Y/N a hand, which he quickly took. Once they were both of their feet, they shared a long embrace, patting each other on the back. When they separated they realized how late it had gotten. Urokodaki had tried to tell them they should come down to rest, but apparently they were so focused on each other that they hadn't noticed. After Urokodaki congradulated them, they all came down from the mountain, ate, and went to sleep, ready for tomorrow.
Smol Timeskip~
As usual for the past 2 weeks, I woke up at the crack of dawn, quickly got ready, and began my daily routine, which consisted of light stretching, some pull ups, sit ups, and a full sprint up the mountain, using total concentration to make sure I don't run out of energy, no matter how much it hurt. I made it to the designated area when I saw Sabito in the middle, and Giyu and Makomo were sitting on the side.
Y/N: "Alright! Let's hurry this up. I'm ready to show you who's really the best around here!"
I won't lie, after yesterday I was feeling a little cocky.
Sabito: "You'll only be fighting me today. This will be the final test. And also the final day of your challenge."
Y/N: "Wait....what do you mean final day?? There's still like 5 days left!"
Sabito: "Exactly. In order for you to be at you fullest by final selection, we need you to pass TODAY."
Y/N: "But that's not what you said! You said I had 3 WEEKS! this isn't fair! How am I supposed to prove I'm better than you if you change the rules half way through!"
Sabito: "And that's your problem. You always think you're better than everyone else. No one's ever even on the same level as you. You aren't SPECIAL. you're human, just like the rest of us. It's ok to be prideful. But when you let your pride turn into a delusion, You can't come to terms with yourself. That's why you can't use water breathing, Because deep down, you think you're too good for it. Get over yourself. then you can fight me, As an equal."
I'd be lying if I said Sabito's words didn't hurt. What's worse is I knew he was right. I always thought I was the greatest. I was so deep in my own shit that I actually believed everyone was below me.
Y/N: "You're right. I'm sorry. Let me prove I can stand with the rest of you. Let me prove that I deserve to join the rest of you on OUR journey to become the greatest demon slayers ever!"
Sabito didn't say anything. He only smiled, Makomo and Giyu quickly following suite. Even Urokodaki had shown a little bit of joy, which was only noticeable by his body language.
Sabito: "Good. Now that you've opened your eyes, its time for your final challenge. I want you to come at me with full intent to kill. I won't hold back and neither should you. Are you ready, Mitsu?"
I wasn't ready at all, especially knowing that if I fucked up, then that was it. There was no second chance. But since I didn't the luxury of a day off, I had no choice.
Y/N: "Yea. Let's do this!"
Sabito throws the sword to me, which I easily catch. This was a real sword, which means no cheap trips like I did with Giyu.
Sabito: "Well then, why don't you take that interesting stance of yours, and we'll get started. I'll strike first."
I quickly unsheathed the sword as Sabito did the same. There was only one reason Sabito would warn me of his attack. He was testing me again, and I knew exactly what to do.
Sabito rushed toward me, surprisingly fast, with his sword to his side. Once he got close, I could hear his breathing. I brought my sword to my side, opposite of Sabito's, And took a slow, deep breath. Waiting for Sabito to strike me. I didn't even know if it would work, but it was worth a try. As time seemed to slow down, and both me and Sabito went to strike each other, Taking one final breath, preparing our forms.
"Water breathing, First form, Water Surface Slash-"
"Water breathing, Fourth form, Striking Tide!"
Upon hearing what form I was using, he suddenly stopped his attack and went on the defensive, throwing his breathing out of control and probably cause himself a bit of pain. Seeing my opportunity, I rushed Sabito with 4 quick strikes, knocking him off his balance. I threw a kick to his chest but he quickly grabbed it, regaining his balance as he pulls me towards him, bringing his hand back and punching me in my nose. He tried to punch me again but I moved to the side and backed up to create a little distance. Sabito gave me no time to think as he rushed me with fast, powerful attacks, everytime I tried to block he almost knocked the sword out of my hand with each strike, so I had to resort to swiftly dodging his attacks. As I kept barely dodging his strikes he quickly used another water form, not giving me any time to counter with my own.
"Water breathing, Tenth form, Constant Flux!"
As I blocked Sabito's attack, I noticed it didn't have much power behind it, then came the 2nd, then the 3rd, then 4th as he relentlessly attacked me, his strikes getting heavier with each rotation. He began over powering me as I couldn't block him anymore, with every strike he almost sent the blade flying out of my hands. It was only a matter of time until one of our blades broke. I need to act. I needed to neutralize his attack while follow up with something to throw him off. But I didn't know which form to use. First form would probably be strong enough, but using one slash after another hurts my lungs. I haven't learned the 9th or 10th yet, and the rest wouldn't carry enough power. Leaving me with one option. A gamble. I could create my own on the spot, and suffer for it soon after, but if I miss that attack I'd be sure to lose....but I didn't have a choice...the forms that would work well with my stance are the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th. Maybe I could mix them in some way to make my own...its now or never. After barely blocking another strike, I took a deep breath, and prepared to test my makeshift breathing form. As his next strike inched closer to me, I decided I was ready to either win, or lose.
"Water breathing, 12th form, Flash Flood!"
Sabito, Makomo, and Giyu looked surprised, while Urokodaki watched in anticipation. I started my onslaught of breathing techniques with 2 first forms, one to counter Sabito's 10th, causing him to slightly lose his balance as he went on the defensive. I spun around to give the slash more force, Sabito blocked again, but lost more of his footing, then it was onto the 4th form, slashing at him 5 times, as he dodged the first 3, blocked the 4th, but couldn't dodge the 5th as it cut straight through his mask. Using his surprise to my advantage, I switched to the 3rd form, using its graceful movement to dance around Sabito, slashing around him in a flower pattern, which he had difficulty blocking. Not letting him recover, I used the 7th form, throwing 2 quick thrust at Sabito, which he barely blocked the 1st thrust, but was thrown completely off balance by the 2nd. I knew this wouldn't be enough, so I reluctantly added another form. I could feel it becoming difficult to breathe, pure adrenaline keeping me standing. I hoped this would finish it, as I wouldn't be able to move much afterward. It was time to end this.
"Water breathing, 8th form, Waterfall Basin!"
A large plume of water came crashing down onto Sabito, while I struggled to stand up straight. I shakily backed away, waiting to see if I had won.....as my adrenaline quickly died down and I fell to my knees struggling to control my breathing, Sabito gets up from the ground, Using the sheath of his sword to keep himself up. He slowly walked up to me, as I stumbled to my feet, barely able to lift my sword. Once he was close, he let his sword fall to the ground, and hugged me. It confused me at first, as I assumed we were still fighting, but I eventually dropped my sword and hugged him back. Without breaking the hug, he spoke up, catching my attention.
Sabito: "You did well mitsu."
Y/N: "So..d-does this mean I can go with you guys?"
Sabito: "Of course you can. Lets all become great demon slayers together....Ok brother?"
Y/N: "Yeah...We'll rise to the top, maybe even become hashira...And defeat any demon who stands in our way...brother."
as we were both exhausted from our fight, we soon passed out, our bodies bruised and sore, but our bond stronger than ever.
Flashback end~
Y/N: "And the rest is history. We went to final selection, and I watched them die, as I was too weak to help them. I told Giyu to run while I tried to fend of 2 demons. Then I lost an arm, a leg, and a lot of blood. I thought I had died, but I woke up a while later as a demon. I found a way to escape the forest by climbing one of the large trees and jumping over the wisteria. I wandered on my own for a while, until I met another demon. A twelve Kizuki, Upper moon 3. He was strong, dodged and countered my every move. Then, after beating my ass for a few hours, he asked me to be his apprentice. I trained under him, met 'That man' and all of the upper moons. Then, I went on my own for a while. Went up mountain natagumo, met Rui, and ended up staying there as many people, mostly marechi, would commit suicide on the mountain. Then, about 3 months later, I met you three." As I finished, I looked Shinobu in her eyes, and gave her a cold glare. "So can I go now?"
Shinobu: "Yes. You are excused, we can continue this tomorrow." As soon as she finished, I slammed the door and blinked down the hall to the medical ward, and went to sleep. Not looking forward to tomorrow.
Hello! I'm feeling much better and am ready to continue writing. Just one more chapter until we move one to the mugen train arc. Yay! 🙌
(P.S, this chapter is 2906 words, I didn't want to release a shoes chapter after making you all wait so long. It was going to be out sooner, but I caught a bad cold and couldn't focus. I hope you all have a wonderful day, And I'll get to working on the next chapter!)