It's early morning and the sun holds no redemption for the tenth pillar.
As he woke up he could hear everything around him. The birds chirping. The wind blowing and the leaves dancing around with the soft breeze.
The raven haired boy took a deep breath. He could feel the presence of Aoi inside the estate, Mitsuri was there too, Sumi, Kiyo and Naho were helping the first.
He could feel their presence. The Reiastu they release was strong. The breathing techniques could be a factor in the growth of the Reiatsu. Hiiro took deep breaths, if he can't get out of the full focus breath, he'll began to leak his Reiatsu and the pressure could get so strong that all of the girls inside the estate could die from it.
He remembered Byakuya-sensei words and a memory came to his mind.
"What the Demon Slayers call Full Focus Breathing is just absorbing the Reiryoku and transmuting it to Reiatsu" The cold swordsman explained with his usual seriousness. He was currently under training with the Kuchiki clan head "We, who can manipulate Reiatsu as we please, do not need of the breathing techniques."
A swift attack came from the jet black haired shinigami. Hiiro evaded the wooden sword and launched a three strike counterattack. The noble samurai parried with ease each one of the flawless impacts.
"You've improved. That I recognize, but..." he began to barrage the young swordsman with lightning fast attacks, the golden eyed boy barely managed to block the furious assault from the Kuchiki.
When his sensei performed a more violent barrage combining the Shunpo into his attacks his apprentice fell to the ground, he took three hits, one to his legs, one to his ribs and the final blow to his head.
"It doesn't matter how much you improve. If you can't master the technique all your efforts will be in vain." he stated with a dry tone. Even though he showed calm and coldness like ever, he was impressed and proud of his apprentice.
In just six months he showed a colossal growth, the first day of training he didn't endure more than ten hits and just a bunch of seconds against him.
But now he could defend a full speed barrage of attacks. His golden eyes can see the sword of the Kuchiki, but... he still can't discover the secrets of the shunpo. Such a shame.
"We, shinigamis see no use in what you are trying to achieve. Trying to combine two styles of Swordsmanship, the Reiatsu control and the breathing techniques, that's something we can't accept."
He stared at the raven haired boy.
"But that doesn't mean that I'm not looking forward to the results of this training."
Hiiro smiled big and wide, a cocky grin appeared on his face. He began to chuckle.
"Even the great Byakuya Kuchiki can feel pride of his apprentice" the boy continued to laugh. The shinigami got closer and gave the boy a little bonk on his head.
"Stop talking nonsense." After a moment of reflection he continued "But certainly, I feel a little proud of you. Your discipline and hard work is paying off."
The smile on his apprentice widen as he heard those words.
"Now. Don't you have another lesson to attend?" The jet black haired shinigami inquired with his usual politeness.
"Oh yeah, Sneaky-sensei should arrive anytime so—" the boy received another bonk on his head.
"Who are you calling Sneaky!" A girl shouted while the boy rolled in the ground fron the pain.
"Sui-Feng" called the male shinigami.
"Kuchiki Byakuya." She called back.
"What was that for!?" Hiiro barked at the coal black haired woman.
"You called me sneaky." She accused back. "You should expect me to hit you."
The two of then continue arguing, until a fed up Byakuya stopped them. He told them to train, Hiiro was there for that not for childish discussions.
"B-but, Byakuya-sensei, she was spying on us" Hiiro launched his accusation.
The girl was stunned by the accusation. Even though they were certainly right.
Sui-Feng didn't want any of them to discover the reason about the spying issue she was aware of how sly Hiiro is. In fact, the young apprentice was teasing the girl already, he is aware that it is not the first time she sneaked around the training grounds, at first he tought she was testing him and his perception abilities.
But, there was no Sui-Feng during his physical training with Kenpachi-sensei nor during his lessons with Kurotsuchi-sensei and Urahara-sensei. She just sneaks around during Byakuya-sensei sword training.
He's an idiot but not idiot enough to let something like that slip away.
"Indeed, Sui-Feng's work is to spy. That's her role inside the Gotei 13." The calmness of the current head of the Kuchiki clan began to upset the young swordsman. "But indeed, I see no reason behind this spying."
A large and malevolent smile grew on Hiiro's face. Sui-Feng knew he was about to run his mouth and whenever he do that, oh good lord have mercy.
"I do see a reason, sensei." He giggled viciously. "It's because of you!"
A crimson blush crept into Sui-Feng's cheeks. The male shinigami stood silent again.
"If sneaky-sensei tell me the secret of the shunpo. Maybe I could arrange a date with Byakuya-sensei and—" another bonk to his head, loud enough for the boy to roll over the grass in pain, again.
The young woman excused himself and took Hiiro to his training.
Byakuya Kuchiki felt the cold wind as it played with his long hair. He remembered the words from the Kuchiki clan elders.
'You are the current head of the clan, you must find another wife.' He refused over and over again, he didn't want another wife, he haven't recovered himself from the pain Hisana left him when she passed away.
"A date with Sui-Feng. Such foolishness." He whispered as he left the training grounds with a racing heart and a pink tinted face.
When Hiiro came back to his senses, he found himself at the gates of the Ubuyashaki manor.
He felt multiple Reiatsus from inside. The pillars were reunited, but there were also two new spiritual energies.
As he made his way to the garden, the golden eyed boy heard the commotion. When he arrived he saw Iguro and Rengoku restraining a green and black haori boy.
He has a scar on his forehead and he wears the demon slayers corps uniform.
He was struggling to break free from the grip of the two pillars. Sanemi held a box and his katana, a sadistic smile plastered on his face.
Shinobu and Mitsuri waved to the tenth pillar, the insect pillar pointed to the box. Hiiro understood the message.
"If there's a demon inside, we kill it." He swung the katana with killing intent towards the box.
Before he could stab it, the tenth pillar stopped him. His hand tightly gripping his sword while Hiiro struggled to keep the blade as far from the box as he can.
Their eyes locked in a fierce battle and you could see the sparks fly all over the place.
"What are you doing, bastard?"
"You can't stab the box." Hiiro unsheathed his sword and stood between the wind pillar and the precious wooden box.
"It doesn't matter if there's a demon inside. The Reiastu is different from every other demon."
"I give a shit about the Reiatsu crap, you are committing treason against Oyakata-sama." Sanemi pointed the sword to his fellow Hashira.
"Oyakata-sama haven't ordered anything, Sanemi. Are you implying that your will is more important than master's orders? Who's commiting treason?"
Both of them studied the stance of the other, looking for openings, but they found that there were none.
"You wanna go, bastard?" The sadistic smile grew wider, veins popped out of his hand as the grip strength increased.
"Anytime" Hiiro replied as he point his katana to the spikey haired pillar.
"Breath of wind, second style: Claws-Purifiying Winds." The wind pillar charged against the tenth pillar.
"Breath of the Night, Fourth Style: Moon Vortex." The night breath user didn't want to stay behind and launched himself to meet Sanemi's sword with his own.
The clash between pillar never happened. Hiiro was being restricted by Gyomei while Tomioka and Rengoku were stopping Sanemi. The snake pillar held the boy. At that time, everyone was in silence.
"You started a party?" As soon as they heard the voice, all the pillar kneeled. The current head of the Ubuyashaki family made his entrance. His usual warm smile was there. "Shall I remind all of you? Fighting amongst us are prohibited."
"No, sir!" All of them snorted.
Oyakata-sama explained the pillars about the Kamado siblings situation. He read the letter from the previous water pillar and even Tomioka Giyu put his life and honor on the line for the kid.
When the demon slayers saw Nezuko crawling out of the box most of them were surprised, Sanemi insisted on killing them and even tried to get bitten by the demon girl, at least he tried because Nezuko refused to eat any human.
All the pillars didn't recognize the boy as a fellow demon slayer. All but Giyu and Hiiro. The later didn't care about Nezuko being a demon, the Reiatsu coming from her is different from every other demon.
They were all dismissed, but Hiiro was stopped by the boy, Tanjiro Kamado.
"Mister, I want to thank you for protecting my sister." He bowed.
"Don't get me wrong, kid. You still have to work hard of you want to earn the pillars trust." The tenth pillar commented as he walked to the exit. He got a new mission from Oyakata-sama. "Show me I'm not wrong about you." He performed a shunpo and dissapeared leaving the Kamado siblings behind.