First Blade
イントロアーク
水
~
優しい指導
~
↪I was puzzled.
Urokodaki was . . . different. First, I don't know why I was expecting us to go to Urokodaki's little shack at the base of Mt. Sagiri.
He was a Hashira, and owning that rank meant he had nice things. I always wondered how the Corps functioned without being a movement that wasn't recognized by the government, but Shinjuro had been happy to explain it to me.
Apparently, funds come from all over the place. Factions that believe in demons and/or have witnessed them. Families of larger companies who have been saved by Demon Slayers, regular townsfolk who pitch in. And this went all over Japan. But most of all their money came from wisteria houses. The most public ones not only served Demon Slayers, but served as Inn's and hotels, which drew in even more money.
Which was why we now stood in front of a decent sized estate with deep, dark blue accents and wisteria trees everywhere.
Urokodaki walked inside, gently setting me down and slipped off his own shoes.
"You go wash up. Dinner should be ready."
Tadashi tilted his head taking a deep breath.
"Ramen and dumplings." He announced.
I gasped happily.
"Yes! Let's-"
I froze.
I glanced up at Urokodaki suspiciously when he turned at my silence.
"Is this a test?" I asked. "Are there gonna be traps in the hallways on the way to the dining room?"
I had the feeling Urokodaki was peering at me confusedly.
"Um, no. A washroom is on the right-"
"Wait, wait, wait, so no running?" I demanded. "No enduring reflex training to eat food? No being thrown off of cliffs?"
Urokodaki stared at me for minute before sighing.
"I'm gonna assume that last one was Haruki." He shook his head. "He was always the strange one."
He crouched down in front of me.
"You will be fed, and taken care of without a price." He said. "We will train, yes, but not right this moment. Now, go wash up. A washroom is in-between two blue doors down the third hall. Those will be yours and Tadashi's rooms as well."
He patted my head.
"Assuming you'll give me my bed back."
I blinked as he stood and headed down a different hall and left us to our own devices.
Of course . . . this is the real Sakonji Urokodaki. The man before he became sorrowed with the lost of student after student for many years to come. Before he spent his final years before retirement hunting demons down for Final Selection. Before he became isolated.
"Come on."
Tadashi grabbed my hand and guided me down the halls, following Urokodaki's directions until we came across the said double-doors. He put down his own bag, which had started to fill up with books and things he's collected over the years.
"I'll meet you there in a minute." I sighed, heading into the washroom, which conveniently had a window. "I might be a minute."
Tadashi rolled his eyes.
"Women . . . " He muttered before heading back down the hall and turning left.
I immediately poked my head out of the window, glancing left and right.
"Yoriichi!" I whisper-shouted.
Like magic, he appeared in front of me, peering up at the window expectantly.
"What is it? What's wrong?" He asked, making me frown.
"Nothing's wrong." I said and he relaxed. "I wanted to see if you've found a place to train."
"Yes. " He nodded. "Get settled. I'll guide you there later."
He tilted his head to the north.
"And I found something else I want to investigate, so wait until I come and get you."
"What'd you fin-"
But he was already gone.
I sighed, rolling my eyes.
"Men."
~
Urokodaki was by far my favorite Hashira ever.
Period.
I loved Shinjuro and Jigoro, and I knew I'd come to love the future Hashira very much as well, but Sakonji had just earned a place in my heart forever.
I had strutted down the halls to Sakonji's room, Tadashi following behind me and trying to tell me off, knocked on his door in my night kimono, and stared at him expectantly before he sighed and moved aside. I walked in and beelined straight for the bed area, only to pause in surprise.
Side by side were three large fluffy futons set up.
The room was quite nice with a writing station in one corner, a wisteria shrine in another, and a couple candles lit, giving off a peaceful atmosphere.
"Shinjuro mentioned you two didn't enjoy sleeping apart." Sakonji said, not even looking at me as he gestured Tadashi inside. "And Haruki warned me that you're quite stubborn. So I figured this was the best solution."
I smiled at Urokodaki's back fondly before going and plopping myself down on the middle futon.
"Hmm . . . you're too kind." I murmured, nestling into the soft bedding.
After living a previous lifestyle of raised bedding and seating, I'd become one with the ground, and now it was my preferred lifestyle.
I ignored Tadashi's profuse apologies to Urokodaki and sighed, thinking about the future.
I have four more months until I go through Final Selection. After that, they'll stop hovering and I'll be on my own. Which is both a good thing and bad one. I have Yoriichi, which is and isn't as amazing as it sounds. He treats me like a child, expected, but he also doesn't seem to trust me.
He trains me, and teaches me key movement and tips. He's friendly and casual with me, but when I ask him things I already know the answer to, he tries to avoid the conversation.
It's annoying.
My eyes narrowed at the ceiling as Sakonji went around blowing out the candles. I listened to them get into bed while I stubbornly refused to allow the future to be set in stone.
"Goodnight, Tadashi, Sakonji." I said softly.
They said their own goodnights but I was strung with determination.
"Be prepared."
~
Five years have passed.
Urokodaki had been a gentle teacher, and had made sure I knew what he was teaching. Not just teaching me and getting it over with like it was with Yasu.
Yasu himself had put me through hell when we were trying to find the solution to my sword-wielding problem. It turned out, I was a dual wielder. I had too much perceptible reflexes that required me to move as fast as possible on instinct. But I had one large weakness, and that was my vision.
Fast as my reflexes are, my eyes could not keep up. So after a couple of experiments, Yasu suggested we put a blindfold on me and try to see how I fared with my sight gone. It was quite a phenomenal change. As it is said when one looses one of their senses, the others tend to strengthen, so my sense of awareness and sound increased, but the only issue was I couldn't be blindfolded through every fight.
Final Selection had been difficult. I wasn't allowed to bring Tadashi, and Yasu had made sure he was with him while I was gone for the week, but thankfully, I had Yoriichi. That might be seen as cheating but in my defense, I had been barely six years-old. I had passed Final Selection with seven other slayers. They were all surprisingly nice and we exchanged names and locations so we'd know if another was near.
Urokodaki retired.
His hair had grayed enough to the point here his age had clearly caught up. But he still hung around the Corps. He did retire to a smaller abode at Mt. Sagiri, but I made he didn't stay there alone too often. I either visited or made sure he was seeing his fellow Hashira regularly.
Haruki had died.
It was unavoidable. The message reached me late, since I had been hunting down a trail close to present day Kyoto, but I was heartbroken to remember my last words to the Hashira had been, 'You're such a brat, I hope you know that.' His grave had been put in the large graveyard of Demon Slayers, but in the Hashira section, and I visited him regularly to tell him how I was doing.
We were down to three Hashira, and I knew Jigoro would be the next to retire after losing his leg. So that left Yasu and Shinjuro.
Baby Kyojuro had been born, and I made sure to be there as much as possible. The little boy had no idea what I was aware of, but made sure he knew of his potential. Ruka only became ill after her birth of Senjuro, so I didn't need to keep too close of an eye on Shinjuro, but we still were together regularly.
Kanae had come to be considered my little sister. She was quite cute, and was always excited to see me when I came to visit. After Shinobu was born, Kosaki and Haru decided to part from the Corps for a while to raise the girls in peace. I knew they were setting themselves for destruction, and I begged them not to leave, but they didn't listen to me.
Gyomei had retreated to the temple where I would need to be present to prevent the disasters to come. But he was sweet and kind and gentle, and was slowly but surely getting more confident. I never learned what happened to Tanaka and Hana, nor did I ever push him to tell me, but when I went to Mt. Hinode, it was practically barren and destroyed. Gyomei wrote me letters which Koma delivered. As of now, he was someone I'd considered a best friend, second to Tadashi.
Speaking of, the boy had grown.
He was almost a full foot taller than me, and his cravings had vanished completely. We ran into an incident about three years ago where we came across someone under attack by a demon, but Tadashi had ripped the demon apart to restrain himself, so I found myself trusting him to bandage my wounds more and more before I stopped even considering the possibility of him attacking me.
Tadashi had apparently been training with the Hashira as well, when I was asleep. I wasn't aware if he had a blood demon art, but he fought well, clearly having been taught martial arts.
I was almost eleven now, and I strong as I was having been trained by five Hashira, I still got pretty injured. There was a group of kakushi that had been assigned to me on the regular, and they were constantly scolding me for getting hurt.
We lost Kagaya's father, and Kagaya took over the position. In about two years time, he'd be given Amane as a wife, and two more years after that, their quintuplets would be born. Kagaya and I spoke on the regular, and he assigned three more crows to me, since Koma couldn't possibly be my only messenger.
I hadn't run into any more Upper Moons, or notable demons, but I still had a little over a decade before the main timeline came into place.
I still hadn't been able to find certain future Hashira. Mitsuri only joined the Corps to find a husband, not due to any trauma or vendetta, so she wasn't a priority. I've heard mentions of the shinobi, but haven't found Tengen. Muichiro has barely been born I believe, and I'm currently searching for Sanemi and Genya.
I've yet to locate the town the Kamado's reside in, but if I can wrangle that information out of Yoriichi, that might make it easier. The said ghost had become far too familiar to me. He and I may have not know each other long, but we were too accustomed to one another to be called friends.
But one of the future Hashira that I'm currently tracking must be found. What Obanai is going through right now is too much to bear, and I know I need to be there when Shinjuro saves him.
Which meant first things first, I needed to find a certain Michael Jackson.
~
"Hello Haruki."
It was an inappropriately beautiful day, and the sun beamed down cheerfully in the spring morning.
Tadashi was sitting in the shade of a tree, constructed box beside him as he watched me quietly. I'd asked Sakonji for his help in making a box for Tadashi, and he delivered by making a box similar to Nezuko's but completely black, and the door was on the top instead the front.
"I'm gonna go look for new recruits." I said, organizing the flowers gently on his grave.
I hunched my shoulders with a sigh.
"I wanted to apologize for my slowing visits. Kagaya, as much as I love him, is being an ass."
The wind seemed to blow harder, as if Haruki was laughing or scolding me. I smiled fondly, remembered the nights he spent trying to kick me out of his bed.
"I'll come back with good news next time, I promise."
I stood, caressing the grave before turning to Tadashi. Before I could speak, four crows came winging out of the tree to line up in front of me.
"Koma?" I murmured.
"Kagaya has a new mission for you. Join Shinjuro in the west valley. They've come across a cult."
My heart jumped.
Has Douma made an appearance again? I haven't heard anything about him in the last couple of years. I've used his fan on several occasions, and most irrelevant demons don't recognize it but some of the tougher foes I've come across have cowered.
"Report, Konji." I said.
"Gyomei says he's found some children to look after. He wants you to meet them someday." Konji said quietly. "He knows you're busy, so he said to take your time."
I nodded.
"Tell him I'll stop by soon." I turned to the next crow. "Report, Karaki."
"Yasu's sent word that he's heard news of an Upper Moon in the north." Karaki said deeply. "He doesn't know where exactly though."
"Kita?"
"I've located the family you've asked for."
I sighed tiredly.
So many things to do . . .
"Konji, tell Gyomei I'll be there by the end of the week. Koma, let Shinjuro know I'm on my way. Karaki, tell Yasu to wait to move, Shinjuro and I may be able to join him after our mission. Kita . . . we'll head there last."
If Kita had found the Kamado's, things were about to change. But first, I need to see if Douma had changed much in the last five years.
This was where things were about to get interesting.
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