(y/n)'s POV
Today Zenitsu starts the rehabilitation training. Tanjiro and Inosuke walk with the same dread as they did when I was starting. Suffice to say, Zenitsu was affected by the dread Tanjiro and Inosuke radiated. I, however, was just lazy and wanted to get this over with.
"H-Hey..." Zenitsu says nervously. "You guys are scaring me. It's not that bad right...? Guys?"
We arrive at that all too familiar room. Aoi gives Zenitsu the run-down, much like she did with me.
However, right after Aoi finishes, Zenitsu's fear is completely gone.
"Hey..." Zenitsu says. "Come on, both of you."
"Huh?" Inosuke says. "No way, I'm not moving."
"Shut up and come with me like I said!" Zenitsu yells.
Zentisu then grabs Inosuke and Tanjiro by the collar of their attire and starts dragging them out of the room.
"Come on you lowlife dirtbags!" Zenitsu yells. "And you! (y/n)! You better come along too! Your attendance will decide their fate!"
Zentisu continues dragging them out of the room and towards the yard. Of course, I would've preferred to stay inside, but I didn't really have a choice, so I followed their trail.
"You bastards!" Zenitsu screams. "You're both miserable bastards!"
"Huh?!" Inosuke says. "What did you say?!"
Not even a second after Inosuke finishes his sentence, Zenitsu nails him directly in the face with a punch, sending him flying into the wall behind us.
"Inosuke!" Tanjiro cries out, aiding his friend.
"What the hell Zenitsu!" I yell back, helping Inosuke. "That was just plain rude! Apologize!"
"You guys apologize to me!" Zenitsu yells back with enough force to knock Aoi off her feet. "How dare you all come back from training acting like you returned from Hell when you were actually in Heaven?!" Zenitsu screams.
"All you did was play and frolic with girls all day!" Zenitsu yells, jumping around wildly. "Get on your hands and knees and apologize! Commit seppuku!"
This goes on for a while, and eventually Zenitsu calms down and happily frolics back to the training room.
"Hello!" Zenitsu says with a smile, basically radiating pure bliss. "Please teach me well!"
Zenitsu easily survives the stretching portion, laughing throughout the entire ordeal. Then, during the cup game, he easily outspeeds Aoi and puts the cup right in front of her. However, he doesn't splash it on her.
"I would never splash tea on a girl." He says, irritating Aoi.
Finally during tag, Zenitsu easily tags Aoi too. Except, he goes a little too far and full-on grabs her as if it was a hug, earning him a beating from an irritated Aoi.
"I won the battle but lost the war!" He says.
(Timeskip)
It's been a while since Zenitsu's time training started. It's a long story as to what happened every day since then. But to summarize, everyone except for Tanjiro, including myself, lost all motivation to continue training and stopped doing so for a while. It wasn't until we all witnessed Tanjiro's tremendous growth that we also trained like hell.
In the end, we all mastered Total Concentration: Constant, and were given the final test.
"Now's your final test." Aoi says, presenting four large gourds. "You've mastered Total Concentration Breathing Constant, I'm impressed, some more than others."
"Hey what do you mean by that?!" I say.
"You know the point of the test." Aoi says, completely ignoring me. "Blow a hole into the gourd with only your mouth and you pass."
We all manage to break the gourds with our breathing, although not without effort. I celebrate at the accomplishment, along with Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke.
As our rehabilitation as ended, we start to pack our things and prepare to leave. Sumi, Naho, and Kiyo are all sad to see us leave. Especially me, who's left before.
"Don't leave!" Sumi begs. "We can prepare a permanent room here!"
"Yeah!" Kiyo adds. "It'll be much safer!"
"Don't worry girls!" Zenitsu cheerfully says. "I'll be sure to visit soon!"
As Inosuke and Zenitsu talk to the girls, I notice Aoi walking across the lawn with some laundry in her hands. I decide to give her a long overdue thanks, while I wait for Tanjiro.
Aoi starts to hang up the white sheets on the clothesline and I decide to start the conversation there.
"Hey." I say, peeking from behind the sheet.
"Ah!" Aoi says, startled. "(y/n)? Why are you here? You nearly made me faint!"
"Sorry." I apologize. "I just wanted to stop by before I leave."
"Stop by?" Aoi says. "Why? You missed my lecturing already?"
"No, not that." I say. "I just wanted to say thanks. For everything you've done for me during my multiple stays and my friends' stay."
"There's nothing you need to thank me for." Aoi says, grabbing another sheet from the woven basket. "I'm doing all I can do."
"What do you mean?" I ask. "You've done so much, although I didn't appreciate it at the time, I now see that you only lectured me because you cared."
"That's nothing." Aoi says bitterly. "That's nothing compared to what you have to go through out on the front lines against demons. I passed final selection through sheer, dumb luck. I've been too afraid to pick up a sword since then. So, I'm a coward."
"Being unable to fight has nothing to do with cowardliness!" Tanjiro says.
"W-Where'd you come from?!" Aoi says surprised.
"Yeah!" I say, joining Tanjiro. "Since you helped us, we'll carry your feelings into battle."
"(y/n)?!" Aoi says, looking at me.
"That's right!" Tanjiro proclaims. "So, thank you for everything you've done!"
"You guys..." Aoi says meekly. "Thanks, I guess."
"Oh right! I got something I need to do!" Tanjiro says, excusing himself. "See you later!"
"I've got to head out too." I say. "See you later Aoi! Oh, and thanks again!"
I quickly leave the lawn, as quickly and abruptly as I had entered. But not before I heard Aoi mutter "Those idiots..."
I reunite with Inosuke and Zenitsu outside, seeing them fight over the onigiri given to them by Sumi, Naho and Kiyo.
Tanjiro is quick to join us, carrying the wooden box that held his sister Nezuko within.
(Later...)
We arrive at the location of our next mission, a train station. A large steam engine is stationed there as passengers board it.
"This must be the guardian of this place!" Inosuke says. "What's its name?!"
"This doesn't have a name." Zenitsu says. "It's called a train."
"It should probably have a simple name for such a docile creature." I say. "Maybe something like Thomas."
"Wait!" Tanjiro says. "It is docile, so we shouldn't disturb its rest."
"Do any of you guys know what a train is?!" Zenitsu says in disbelief.
Inosuke causes a commotion and attracts some police officers, since the Corps isn't recognized by the government, we decide to make a break for it as the train departs.
"Quick!" Tanjiro says. "Jump onto that car!"
Without needing a second warning, all four of us jump onto the last passenger car of the train. And thus, our next mission began.
A.N - Finally! Onto the Mugen Train! There'll be quite a bit to cover so I'll most likely decide to split it into multiple chapters. Hope you enjoyed this chapter though, even if there wasn't much action. See you in the next one!