The cute three little girls of the Butterfly Estate, Naho, Sumi and Kiyo, were horrified at the sight of you when you entered the front gate practically leaning all your weight on the Kakushi that held you.
Tears welded up in their eyes as they did their best not to swarm you.
You greeted them with as large of a smile that you could muster for them. They took it and responded with grins of their own as they made sure that you had a clear way into one of the wards.
The sound of multiple feet thudding along the floorboards brought you to lift your head, coming face to face with the snout of Inosuke's boar mask. Not even flinching at his close proximity, you lifted your hand to tap the cheek of it. "Hi Inosuke." Behind him you could make out a sobbing Zenitsu and a slightly frantic Tanjiro.
With half-lidded eyes, you waved at the three of them. Your energy was almost completely gone at that point. All the energy, stress, and tenseness of your body throughout the Final Selection had left you. Your limbs were practically jelly, and you were sure that the Kakushi wanted to just drop you off to rid them of your weight.
You opened your mouth for a moment, to greet the three boys, when you cut yourself off by slumping over and passing out right then and there.
There were shouts in the hallway from basically everyone, yet none of them woke you up from your sudden slumber.
They were loud, frantic, and worried about the state you had come back in. The boys were unaware of your participation in the Final Selection, as they were still healing up from the battle they took part in with Rengoku when you left.
Speaking of, there was a call of your name, and the boys stilled as Rengoku's suddenly intimidating aura approached them. He placed a hand on Tanjiro's shoulder while he gazed unblinkingly at your body. "Take her to one of the wards please." The Kakushi had picked you up onto their back as soon as you had passed out, making it easier on them to transport you.
Nodding, the Kakushi dodged passed those in the hallway, quickly following the three girls that had begun to prep one of the beds for you.
Rengoku then turned to the remaining three.
Inosuke was huffing behind his mask, angry at something. Zenitsu still had tears in his eyes, but was looking a lot more placated. Tanjiro, on the other hand, was looking past the retired Hashira and down the hallway where you had gone. The worry still clear in his expression as he finally turned his head and made eye contact with Rengoku.
"Will (Y/N) be alright? What happened? Were was she these past few days?"
Patting his shoulder a few times Rengoku finally smiled. "(Y/N) will recover in no time, this is a cause for celebration!"
To say that Tanjiro was confused was an understatement. Why would they be celebrating when you had come back after missing for days. Especially with how injured and tired you were. Inosuke was huffing and puffing even more so behind his mask before running off. There wasn't anything anyone could really do to stop him when he was in a weird mood like that.
Zenitsu seemed to have a bit more of an understanding of the situation, as he shuffled up to them and tugged on Tanjiro's sleeve. "Let's go check up on her later when she's awake." Tanjiro could only nod in response. Eyes never leaving Rengoku as the retired Hashira moved down the hallway, presumably to which ever one of the two wards they had put you in.
~~~~~
Your body screamed in protest as you sprung up from visions of blood behind your closed eyelids. Sweat littered your body as you breathed heavily, wincing in pain with each inhale.
A cold hand was placed on your shoulder, easing you back into laying down before placing a cold rag onto your forehead. Looking over, Aoi was frowning at you. "You shouldn't move right now." You smiled brightly at her concern, it was nice to see her again even if you were only away for a week. "Thank-" You had to clear your throat as your words got caught from the dryness of it. "Here."
There was another hand that came from your other side, in it's grasp a familiar cup of medicinal tea. You took a few small sips before grinning, "Thank you Rengoku-san, Aoi."
Aoi finished wiping the rest of the sweat from you, giving you a warning look before making her way out of the ward. You could only give her a sheepish look in return, knowing better than to get on her bad side while being a patient.
Rengoku had his gaze set on the cup in your hands until you finished the rest of it. He took it from you, setting it back down at the nightstand and faced you with a bright expression. "Congratulations in passing the Final Selection (Y/N)!"
The proudness in his expression had you almost grinning like a mad man at him. "Thank you Rengoku-san. You helped me a lot." Your mind wandered back to when you remembered the times that he had you read and study the book that Kocho had gifted you. If you hadn't, you probably would have starved during the Final Selection.
You thought about talking how the Final Selection went, but you flinched at the thought of the Tree Demon. The memory of how constricting it's hold on you was made you shiver. You were brought out of your thoughts by the patting of your arm.
Rengoku had gotten up from the chair beside your bed, giving you a pat of reassurance. "Rest up, we will celebrate your passing once you've recovered!" You watched as he left the ward with those words, his broad back giving you a sense of comfort before your view was blocked by a sobbing Zenitsu.
"(Y/N)!!!" He wailed. "You've been asleep for a whole day! We didn't know when you'd be waking up." Zenitsu threw himself over the foot of your bed, bawling into the bed sheets.
"We were very worried for you (Y/N)-san" Tanjiro followed closely behind Zentisu, instead deciding to take the seat where Rengoku was just a few moments before. You could only grimace, as you could feel the sheets close you your feet starting to get wet from all of Zenitsu's tears. "You disappeared without warning, and for a few days at that..."
You could see clearly on his face how worried he was. Tanjiro wasn't facing you, his gaze staying glued to his feet. His brows were furrowed, but the pout his face was sporting turned your grimace into a small smile.
It was at that moment that Inosuke busted into the ward, kicking the door open and all while yelling at the top of his lungs. You couldn't make out most of what he was saying thanks to the suddenness of his actions, but he kicked Zenitsu off the bed and roughly placed a tray of food onto your lap.
Tanjiro had, in turn, turned to Inosuke to reprimand him of his actions. While Zenitsu couldn't have been bothered to pick himself up off of the floor. "Inosuke-" "As my underling, you have to be at your very best to serve me!"
There was a lot more huffing and scolding words from Inosuke, but your mind was elsewhere as you looked at the food at your lap.
The servings were heaping over the dishes. The rice was piled up high in the bowl, and the many fried fish looked like it had seen better days.
Looking up and taking a glance at the three boys around you, you felt warm.
They had, even though you still haven't known them for long, worried about you. They clearly had they own ways of showing you, but the motions they had gone through from the past few weeks and months left you content.
Your smile was cut short as all four of your heads snapped to the ward's doorway as the menacing aura of Aoi stomped through it.
~~~~~
Despite the injuries that occurred to you over the Final Selection, you body healed up fast. The last thing that was left was your right leg.
You ribs had healed the fastest, which was great cause you could finally stretch without that piercing pain. The lacerations from the claws of all the Demons you fought left only the miniscule bits of scars.
It was that fall you took before finishing off the Tree Demon that had left your right leg feeling weird even thought you had no broken bones. There was no pain, but you had moments where your leg would go numb if you trained a bit too hard.
Pushing it to the back of your mind, as soon as you were able to wander around outside of the ward and be back in your room. You took advantage of it.
You would hobble around the Butterfly Estate with nothing to do, as you were still waiting for your new blades. There was no way you'd be sent out to your first mission without any means of destroying a Demon.
A lot of the times you would be stopped by either Aoi or Tanjiro. Aoi would scold you on many occasions that, even though you were given the 'ok' to be on your feet, you should be resting in bed to recover at a hundred percent. Tanjiro on the other hand, would sort of tail you around. He would stick close to your sides and stick his arms out every time you leaned a bit too far to one side.
At one point, it felt like Tanjiro was breathing down your neck. You quickly turned around to face him. Your sudden movement had him reeling back and he could sense the frustration building up in you. "I'm not about to fall over at a moment's notice! Tanjiro you don't need to hover over me!"
You were huffing, glad to have finally gotten that off your chest. You understood his worry for you, but you were now an official Demon Slayer. There were bound to be multiple solo missions for you to go on. No way were you going to start leaning on and becoming dependent on someone now. You got this far without his help, you didn't need it now.
There was a sense of sadness in Tanjiro's eyes, and it made you pause in your thoughts. Maybe you should clear up why you were gone for so long. Grabbing a hold of his hand, you clasped it with both of yours. "Listen Tanjiro-" Your eyebrow twitched at the sound of the calling of your name.
"I think someone is here for you (Y/N)..." Tanjiro could only follow your stomping form as you dragged him by the hand as you made your way down the hallway to the front gate. You stopped short at the doorway when you came face to face with a man in a Hyottoko mask*.
You felt your eyes cross at the sight of the man being so close to you, the eyes of the mask comically facing different directions. "Demon Slayer (Y/N)?"
Tanjiro squeezed your hand in surprise at the sight of a swordsmith, even more so that they called you a Demon Slayer. Was that why you were gone for so many days?
Straightening your spine to give the man a proper bow, you greeted them. "Hello, I am the Demon Slayer (Y/N). Please come, I'll prepare some tea for you." You pulled Tanjiro out of the way for the man to enter the estate, finally letting go of his hand as you gestured for the man to follow you.
The three of you found yourselves as six, as Zenitsu, Inosuke, and even Kocho had heard about the arrival of the swordsmith.
You could feel a nervous sweat start to pool at the back of your neck as the three boys stared at you.
"Demon Slayer (Y/N), my name is Isshin Ashina and I was tasked to be the one to forge your blades." In front of him, he placed down a bundle that he began to unwrap. Inside were two sheaths that you just knew would be your new Yoroi-Doshi and Wakizashi.
"Congratulations on passing the Final Selection (Y/N)." Kocho's voice was as soft as ever, but you could hear the hint of proudness underneath it. It was thanks to her and that book she gave you that you didn't fully starve those seven days.
The room was silent as everyone waiting for you to pick up the blades.
Here goes nothing
Taking a hold of both handles, you unsheathed both Yoroi-Doshi and Wakizashi. The blades were close to a dull dark grey, and for a moment you felt your heart plummet. Didn't Rengoku say something about the Ninchirin Blades being known for changing colour?
All too soon after those thoughts passed through your mind, Zenitsu gasped.
From the bottom of both blades, a golden colour began to wash over them. It wasn't a solid gold, and was more translucent with specks of amber like glitter sparkling across them.
Your mouth was agape at the sight. It was so dazzling, it was almost as if you could hear Uzui's words in the back of your mind complimenting you on having such flambouyant swords.
"You're an official Demon Slayer now (Y/N)?!"
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Hyottoko mask: A wooden mask usually worn during festivals. All the inhabitants of the Swordsmith Village wear these to keep their identity concealed.
Taisho Secrets!
More Taisho Secrets maybe?
- At this point in time, (Y/N) currently has 5 people that are on their way of becoming romantic interests for her.
- Zenitsu had a pretty clear idea that you had gone off to participate in the Final Selection as he was sitting there watching you train with Rengoku for a few days.
I think after this chapter, we'll soon be reaching the next canonical arc that will probably take a while for me to write, as there will be way more planning that needs to be involved, as well as much more action taking place where (Y/N) will be involved now that she's an official Demon Slayer. So please continue to be patient with me as you have been with previous chapters! <3