tw : blood
Y/n surprisingly healed faster than a normal person, so by just a week, she felt much better, and she could monitor her students once again. "Suki, your posture, straighten it, and aim it from the left," Y/n commanded as Suki nodded and did what Y/n told her to do. "Aoko, your posture is great, keep up the good work," Y/n nodded approvingly.
"Saeko-san, I'll be heading off to the Butterfly Estate for the Rehabilitation Training, do you think you can-"
"Of course, Master," Saeko nodded with an excited expression. Y/n nodded. "Good, have a good time, all of you," Y/n smiled before she disappeared, and reappeared in front of the Butterfly Estate. Shinobu was sitting on the engawa when she noticed Y/n appeared. Her purple eyes widened.
"Y/n-san, you should be in bed! you shouldn't be moving around too much, your leg is fractured!" she exclaimed as she sheathed her clean blade and made her way towards her little sister. "I'm fine," Y/n smiled reassuringly. Shinobu shook her head. "You don't need to lie, you know," Shinobu said worriedly. "Come on, I'll escort you to one of the rooms," Shinobu said as she reached towards Y/n but by reflects her hand was slapped away. Shinobu's eyes widened. Y/n's eyes widened as she looked down at her hands.
"Ah, my apologies, Shinobu-san, I didn't mean to slap you-- It was by reflects!" Y/n exclaimed. Shinobu blinked for a couple of times. "It's alright Y/n-chan, I've experienced it too sometimes," she said, smiling. "So, what caused that fractured leg of yours?" Shinobu asked softly. "And broken knuckles," she added. "And a bandaged head," Shinobu added.
"Ah, well, I-- I think it was just by my insecurities, you know?" she said in a small voice. "Insecurities?" Shinobu raised a brow curiously as her smile faded away. "Insecurities," Y/n nodded. "I felt insecure, knowing that I'm a Pillar, yet I'm extremely weak," she grimaced at the thought. "I felt a bit pressured, so I started working myself out, in result, my strength had been drastically increasing, and my speed too, but I was loosing myself to exhaustion," Y/n said silently as her smile fell into a frown, her eyes went half-lidded as she stared tiredly at the ground.
"Though ever since Kanae's awakening, my body was able to heal faster and it could handle the training more, I feel like if she wasn't there with me, I would've only survived 3 days," Y/n continued. Shinobu's eyes widened. "Kanae-Nee-san's Awakening? What do you mean?" she asked. "A ghost of Kanae had managed to save me a while back then," she explained briefly. "I was nearly dead due to my spine being injured severely, somehow, she healed all my wounds," Y/n continued.
Shinobu's eyes widened in amazement, her eyes watered slightly, but she made sure Y/n didn't see it, but she was a tad too late since the girl noticed her tears. 'Kanae-Nee-san...' she thought to herself. 'Thank you for saving Y/n when I wasn't there for her,' she held her haori tightly, looking down at her feet.
"Are you alright, Shinobu-Nee-san?" Y/n asked. "I'm fine," Shinobu smiled gently at the girl as she collected herself and wiped her tears away. "Y/n-san," Shinobu called suddenly. "Yes?" Y/n asked. "I don't think I've ever told you this, but you resemble your older sister so much, and I'm so happy to have you," Shinobu smiled softly as she held Y/n's cheeks with endearment.
Y/n smiled and she nuzzles into her touch. "Thank you, Shinobu-Nee-san, I'm so happy to have you too," she muttered with a small smile. "Y/n-san!" a voice exclaimed brightly. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alright," the girl smiled. "Aoi-chan," Y/n greeted as Shinobu let go of Y/n and smiled at Aoi. "Hello Kanzaki-san!" Shinobu smiled. "Master," Aoi greeted with a nod.
"Tanjiro's waiting for you in the Rehabilitation Training," Aoi grinned and Y/n nodded, before she left she felt an arm gripping on to her. "I heard what happened, so please don't do it again," Aoi whispered, making sure that only Y/n could hear.
"Keep on doing your training, but please don't hurt yourself like this again," she said in a hushed voice. Y/n nodded. "Thank you for your concern, Aoi-chan," Y/n smiled softly as Aoi grinned and Y/n left to go inside the Estate but halted.
"Y/n-san," Shinobu called. "Yes, Nee-san?" Y/n asked. "Don't do that next time, and that's an order from your old Master," Shinobu said, referring to her messy training. "Understood."
✿
Fifteen days had gone by in a blur, as Y/n had fulfilled various of missions, despite of her unfit state, she felt much better after resting for a few more days.
In this current state, Y/n was on a mission with Kanao as the both of them ran in separate ways to cover up the wide ground. As Y/n sped through the many trees, she caught a glimpse of a fabric, and went after it. Her body ran with speed as Y/n smiled the whole time. She always had a smile on her face, just like Shinobu's, Kanae's, and Kanao's.
Y/n finally stopped in her tracks when she sensed the demon very close. "A Pillar, huh?" it muttered. "Finally, some fun-" before it could finish it's sentence, Y/n's feet leaped with a great force as she swung her sword so swiftly, that the demon didn't even realize she was there, cutting it's head off. It's eyes widened. Y/n swung her sword to get rid of the demon's blood.
She sheathed her blade. Y/n smiled down at the demon before nodding towards him, and disappearing into the depth of the woods. She started running around the woods in a fast manner, passing by many trees, trying to sense Kanao, until she saw her sheathing her blade. Y/n stopped next to her.
"Are you alright?" Y/n asked. Kanao nodded. "How about you?" Kanao asked. "I'm good," Y/n smiled. "Say, let's go back to the Butterfly Estate and have dinner?" Y/n asked with a small smile. Kanao beamed. "Yes!" she said a bit too excitedly as she blushed in embarrassment. Y/n smiled and ruffled her hair, before giggling brightly, and soon enough, Kanao broke into a fit of giggles.
✿
The two of them had sped off from the mountains, and headed towards the Estate, though it took them hours, to reach back the Butterfly Estate, the both of them slowed their pace down and started chatting in hushed whispers.
"You're so strong, Y/n-san," Kanao said with soft eyes, she knew what had happened because Y/n told her after Rehabilitation Training. Now, it's Kanao's mission to compliment Y/n's strength everyday.
Y/n sighed. "Did you say that out of pity?"
"No. I meant every word," Kanao smiled softly yet a hint of sadness was present in her smile. 'I should've been there for you, Y/n, but you never told me your problems, you would always hide everything behind that pretty smile of yours,' she thought to herself as an unsettling frown formed. Y/n glanced at Kanao and noticed her frown.
"Are you alright, Kanao?" Y/n asked worriedly. Kanao sighed before breaking into a small smile. "Promise me something?" Kanao asked as she held out her pinky and Y/n raised a brow, she raised her pinky and smiled at Kanao. "What's up?" Y/n asked. "Please promise me to tell me whatever you're thinking about," Kanao whispered.
Y/n's eyes widened slightly. "Everything about anything," Kanao said. "Why?" Y/n asked. "As your sister, it is my duty to help you," Kanao mumbled. "I may not be good at comforting people, b-but I want to try, I don't want you to get hurt," Kanao blushed shyly. "So... is that a promise?" Kanao asked.
Y/n smiled and she entwined her pink with hers. "That's a promise," Y/n smiled, before she entwined her whole hand with Kanao's and the both sisters made their way in the garden of the Estate. "Let's walk around and chat?" Y/n suggested. Kanao beamed. "That sounds so lovely," she said with a grin. "Okay!" Y/n smiled before she lead the way.
As the both of them walked on the hard ground silently, Y/n gazed up in the sky to notice a certain burgundy haired boy, but with a lady. Kanao tilted her head at Y/n, she watched her features, noticing how Y/n furrowed her brows as she also noticed how Y/n's grip on Kanao's hand tightened.
"Y/n..?" Kanao muttered, but that didn't end Y/n's train of daydreaming. Kanao's eyes finally followed Y/n's gaze as she noticed Shinobu very close to Tanjiro. Her face was mere inches with Tanjiro's. Kanao furrowed her brows. 'Is he... inlove with Shinobu-sama? Why is Shinobu-sama so close..? Is she flirting with him?' getting the wrong impression of Tanjiro as Kanao's grip on to Y/n's hand tightened even more, this snapped Y/n's attention as she noticed how tight Kanao's hands are.
She also realized that Tanjiro could smell her and Kanao from a far away. Kanao continued to stare. "Kanao," Y/n yanked her arm. Kanao snapped and stared at her. "Y-Y/N-- He's--" she whispered. "Go inside, he could track us with his scent," she hissed carefully, gripping on to Kanao's hands tightly before she disappeared and reappeared inside the Dining Room in the Butterfly Estate.
Tanjiro blinked and stared at where Y/n was once at. "Odd. I smelled Kanao, but she's gone.." he trailed off. Shinobu's eyes widened slightly as she looked at Tanjiro. 'This boy... has an extraordinary sense of smell!' Shinobu thought to herself.
Y/n's heart burnt into ashes, filled with jealousy. She huffed and shook her head, before forcing a smile. "Now, now, Kanao! Let's have dinner, yeah?" Y/n asked brightly. Kanao grip on Y/n's hand tightened even more, at this rate, one of them is going to snap the other's hand if they keep on squeezing each other's hand too tightly.
"Let's not talk about it, I'm sure Shinobu Nee-san is only chatting with him about something," Y/n said, trying to calm down the furious Kanao. Kanao fumed angrily yet silently. There was something she spotted on Tanjiro, and that was a blush. Kanao was about to say something but Y/n pressed her head against her shoulder, engulfing her figure into a tight hug.
"Don't be mad, alright, Kanao?" Y/n smiled down at Kanao, she felt a bit shocked that Kanao was this overprotective, yet, she didn't want to cause such a ruckus, since she could tell that the both of them were just chatting about how hard Tanjiro worked.
"I saw by their lips that they were just talking about how hard Tanjiro worked for his breathing, so please calm down," she whispered into her ears. Kanao wrapped her arms around her sister's body as she dug her face in her shoulders. The both of them fell silent.
"What do you feel?" Kanao asked. "We promised. Right? So tell me what you feel," she said. "Jealousy," Y/n answered truthfully. "And that's all, but it's alright," Y/n caressed Kanao's hair gently. "I'm alright because you're here with me," Y/n smiled. Kanao sighed silently.
"S-Sorry, perhaps my time of the month had me overreacting," Kanao sighed silently. Y/n let out a small 'oh'. "Mines passed already, and it's alright, don't apologize," Y/n smiled as she pulled Kanao away. "Let's eat?" Y/n smiled happily. "I know you're hungry," she said. "Let's eat," Kanao nodded brightly.
✿
"You came all alone again, Tanjiro?" Aoi asked as she furrowed her brows. Tanjiro bowed silently. "I tried to get them to tag along.. but..." Tanjiro trailed off, still in a slumped posture as Y/n wore Kanao's haori and Kanao wore Y/n's haori. The both of them copied each other's hairstyle, Y/n's in Kanao's hairstyle, and Kanao's in Y/n's hairstyle.
"Ah! We look so adorable, Kanao," Y/n exclaimed. Kanao nodded brightly as she hugged the haori tighter, feeling Y/n's warmth from the haori as her hair was tied in Y/n's style. "Tsuyuri Kanao!" the crow cawed as it perched on the window sill. "You are assigned to go to the village in the West!" the crow said. "Follow! Follow!" it continued as Kanao glanced at Y/n. "Good luck, Kanao-san," Y/n smiled. Kanao nodded. "I'll be back as fast as I can," Kanao said before she quickly disappeared.
"Well, it doesnt' matter to me," Aoi crossed her arms as she looked away from Tanjiro. "I'll give them another nudge later!" he exclaimed. Soon, there was a rope that was tied to the ceiling as Y/n stared up at the rope and blinked, before Tanjiro quickly grip on to the rope and started climbing up, gripping it tightly.
"Good job Tanjiro-san! Keep on doing your best!" Y/n exclaimed, cheering him on, and her sweet voice made Tanjiro's grip loosened as he fell. His face was red in embarrassment, yet he felt content, hearing his girlfriend cheering for him.
Y/n immediately ran towards Tanjiro worriedly. "Tanjiro, are you okay?" she asked as she pulled Tanjiro up with her hand. "I'm alright," Tanjiro smiled as he groaned slightly. "You can do it Tanjiro! I know you can," Y/n smiled as Tanjiro felt his cheeks reddening before he smiled brightly at her.
"Thank you, sweetheart!" Tanjiro exclaimed before running off towards the three small girls.
Doing pushups as they sat on his back. Y/n watched attentively with a smile. her hair was pinned to the side, decorated with Kanao's hairpin and Kanao's cape was laying warmly on her shoulders.
She watched Tanjiro trained for hours, lifting small heavy boulders and pushing up while the small girls was on Tanjiro's back. Then it was time for full body training, Y/n stood across Tanjiro with a smile adorning her features as sweat was visible on his cheeks. 'I'll go easy on him this time,' Y/n thought to herself with a smile. The both of them leaped forward as the three small girls cheered.
"You can do it!" they yelled at Tanjiro.
Y/n ran away swiftly as Tanjiro reached to grab her but she made a turn, as she ran away, Tanjiro turned around and ran after her as he let out a battle cry, leaping towards her, but she managed to escape him just in time. Y/n looked back slightly with wide eyes. 'He's getting faster!' she thought to herself. Tanjiro aimed at her as Y/n jumped in the air gracefully, a bead of sweat was visible on her cheeks as she stared at him with amusement.
Y/n quickly landed and started running away as Kanao's cape flew behind her, her eyes were set on Tanjiro as she furrowed her brows, Tanjiro swiftly ran towards Y/n. 'I can do this!' he thought to himself. 'I'm slowly catching up to her!' he thought. 'I can keep up!' he continued.
He reached out his hand to touch Y/n's hand, letting out a small battle cry but Y/n turned to side, dodging his touch. Tanjiro fell forward, face planting the ground as Y/n landed and stared at her hand, before staring at Tanjiro. "Ow, ow, ow," he muttered. "Are you alright?" Y/n asked as she stood over Tanjiro's laying figure, her shadow covered him as she blinked down.
Tanjiro stared up at her and nodded slowly, painfully as Y/n held out a hand and he swiftly grabbed it, pulling him up to his feet. "Don't give up darling! I know that you can do this!" that made his knees shake as his heart thumped loudly, feeling his cheeks reddened up again.
✿
It was already evening, and Y/n stood next to Aoi, across Tanjiro, smiling confidently at him. "Thanks a bunch!" he exclaimed as he bowed. He straightened his posture before Y/n noticed Zenitsu and Inosuke behind Tanjiro, Aoi followed Y/n's stare and huffed, crossing her arms as she shut her eyes and looked to the side. Tanjiro noticed, and he turned around to look at Zenitsu and Inosuke. Inosuke was covered in leaves as Zenitsu was covered in dirt.
"Zenitsu! Inosuke!" Tanjiro exclaimed. The both of them quickly ran away as Tanjiro frowned. Y/n blinked into the distance. "I refuse to get involved," Aoi said in a stern voice.
✿
Zenitsu gulped down his medication as the bird perched over his shoulders. He choked out a word. "Gross!" he exclaimed. He turned to the side to notice that Inosuke was on his feet, as his buttons were open, he huffed a smoke through its nostrils. "Come on, Monitsu."
✿
"Nee-san, can I ask you a favor?" Y/n asked curiously. Shinobu stopped in her tracks as she turned around, raising an eyebrow. "Yes?" Shinobu asked. "How does poison work on your blade? I want it to be on my blade too.." Y/n trailed off as Shinobu's eyes widened slightly. "What for?" Shinobu asked, raising a brow. "Just in case," Y/n trailed off. "And to fit more with the Insect Breathing," Y/n added. Shinobu furrowed her brows. "I'll have to make the poison first," she said as she held her chin.
"Then, you'll have to send it to the swordsmiths to make sure that your blade is able to produce the poison," Shinobu said. "Are you sure though?" she asked silently. "I'm sure!" Y/n nodded. Shinobu sighed before smiling. "Alright," she said as she pat Y/n's back gently. "But, you'll have to take care of today's Rehabilitation Training, can you do that?" Shinobu asked, tilting her head. "Of course, I can Nee-san! They're my friends after all, so it should be easy," Y/n smiled.
"Try to get the two out of bed, can you?" Shinobu smiled. "I'm worried," she added. Y/n nodded. "Beware. I'll be in my lab if you need me," with that said, she disappeared into her lab. Y/n raised her brow. 'Beware?' Y/n thought to herself. Y/n turned around before disappearing and reappearing back into the training room.
✿
Y/n stood in front of Inosuke and Zenitsu, her white haori engulfed her body well, and her hair was pinned just like Kanae's. "What Tanjiro is mastering is a skill called 'Permanent Total Concentration Breathing.'" Y/n explained.
"By continually using your breathing technique every second of the day, your base stamina will skyrocket!" Y/n exclaimed brightly. The both of them blinked towards Y/n before looking at each other. Y/n did an eye closed smile at them both happily. "Let's give it a go!" Y/n said as she let pointed into the distance.
✿
A thud was heard in the room as Inosuke was on all fours as he panted, beads of sweat was seen on his mask as Zenitsu laid flat on the ground, panting in horror. "Impossible!" he squirmed and screamed. "Serious impossible!" he yelled. Y/n sighed as she facepalmed. 'Now I know why Shinobu-Nee-san said that,' she grimaced.
✿
Y/n stared from the door frame at the four of them, listening and peeking. "I still can't mantain it all day unless I really throw myself into it, but if anyone can, it'd be you two! You go like this to make your lungs expand! When that rattles your blood, your bones and muscles will go 'Boom boom! You gotta stop it!'" Tanjiro explained as he posed. Y/n chuckled to herself, feeling a blush coating over her cheeks.
Zenitsu and Inosuke grimaced greatly at Tanjiro. "All that's left to do is train like crazy!" he exclaimed brightly. The both of them shook their heads, groaning lazily. Y/n suddenly appeared behind Tanjiro, her white haori went flying as she placed a warm hand on his shoulders. Tanjiro looked up and blushed bright red at Y/n.
Y/n pointed with her thumbs in the air, like a checkmark. "Now, now. We're talking about a
basic--no, an entry-level skill, so there's no reason you shouldn't be able to do it," Y/n smiled. "That said, it is true, that one must put in a lot of effort to master the basics," she continued. Y/n quickly stepped back from Tanjiro as he looked at Y/n and Y/n slowly made her way towards Inosuke.
She kneeled down to the sitting boy, their faces were mere inches. Y/n placed a hand on his shoulder, sending him an eye closed smile. "Although, it's not like some big hurdle for you to overcome, right? Something as simple as this should be child's play. Right, Inosuke?" Y/n asked teasingly, she's slowly picking up Shinobu's personality, which she enjoys very much.
An irk mark appeared on Inosuke's head. "It'd be downright shame if it wasn't, despite being an entry-level skill! But if you disagree.. I suppose that's that," Y/n continued her eye closed smile, before she pat Inosuke's shoulders. "No need to brood over it!" Y/n exclaimed, patting his shoulders repeatedly. Irk marks travelled around his head as smoke huffed out of his mask nostril.
He screamed. "The hell you tryna say?!" he yelled. "Of course I can! Look down at me and I'll rip of your damn breasts!" he screamed loudly. Tanjiro gasped dramatically. "INOSUKE!" he yelled scoldingly, as his eyes widened.
Suddenly, Y/n grabbed Zenitsu's hands in hers. Zenitsu let out a small cute sound as he began to sweat. Y/n brought his hands near her and smiled charmingly. "Good luck, Zenitsu!" Y/n exclaimed brightly with an eye closed smile. "I'll be cheering for you!" she said with her beautiful charm. Zenitsu's face slowly burned red, he let out small noises before his hair flew and his eyes were boggling. Tanjiro stared at him with dotted eyes at him. "Yes ma'am!" he screamed as hot steam blew and gushed out of his ears, shaking happily.
Y/n clapped happily for Zenitsu. Y/n giggled happily as she continued clapping. Y/n then made her way towards Tanjiro and she placed her hands on his thighs before bringing her face up close to Tanjiro's, mere inches a part as Tanjiro's ears blew steam and his face went as red as his hair. "Do your best Tanjiro-san! I'll give you a kiss as a gift," Y/n smiled before pecking his nose and he tried to refrain himself from screaming in joy, Y/n leaned back and stood up as Tanjiro held his chest, trying to calm himself down.
Zenitsu immediately left the training room and jumped on the high walls of the fence, he immediately ran on it with such great speed. Inosuke immediately ran out to lift the heavy boulders with his arms. He let out a cry of determination. Tanjiro kept on cheering Inosuke on as Kanao watched from the distance with Y/n. "What did you do?" Kanao asked curiously, sweatdropping. "I'm not sure," Y/n chuckled.