The fifteen days it took for the completion of Tsukiko's nichirin sword were not spent comfortably.
Now that Tsukiko had survived the final selection she was going to be facing even more dangerous demons. Hashimoto resumed training Tsukiko as if she had never left. He fed her a delicious meal, let her sleep, then woke her at dawn for hellish training.
Before she left for final selection, Hashimoto had Tsukiko train to build up her lung capacity and strength. She had made the mistake of asking why he had so many oddly sized gourds in the little hut behind his house. Hashimoto was letting Tsukiko continue training on her own until she reminded him of the gourds.
He had made her train her lungs until she could burst the largest of them with her breath. When she left for final selection, she had thought that was the end of her training.
Tsukiko was very mistaken.
"Total concentration constant," Hashimoto had said the second Tsukiko opened her eyes. She had screamed in fright when she saw him leaning over her.
"What are you talking about!" Tsukiko had thought that she would be allowed to rest until her sword came. "Are you saying there's more training?"
Hashimoto had grabbed her by her clothes and pulled her to her feet that morning. He gave her no chance to refuse. He recognized Tsukiko's intelligence and knew that, if given the chance, she would find a way out of the training.
Tsukiko had been promised that once she could manage the technique or her sword came she would be allowed to rest. Luckily, she had already done the heavy lifting before she had left for final selection. She had managed to have full concentration constantly. She had achieved it a day before her sword came.
However, this was no small feat. Had it been anyone else training her besides Hashimoto, Tsukiko doubted that she would have been able to actually manage it so quickly.
Tsukiko had thought that he was a brute when it came to training before final selection. During the fifteen days she saw a whole new side to the man. He stood over her every hour of every day for her training.
Tsukiko had only been so miserable once before in her entire life.
Finally, the fifteen days were over, and she was waiting outside for her sword to come. Tsukiko had covered her eyes once again with the veil that Hashimoto had given her. She had stood next to the path that led to the house peacefully and in total concentration. Until Hashimoto came outside and demanded she do more training.
"No old man!" She yells pointing at him as he stands on the opposite side of the path. "You told me once I could do the breathing all day you would leave me alone!"
"Don't call me old man!" He yells back aggravated with the new nickname she had given him since she came back from final selection. "I don't want you getting killed out there! The more you train the safer you will be!"
Tsukiko knew how he felt about her, and she cared about him in the same way. The two were family now.
"There's no way I'll die on a mission if I didn't die with your training! Let me rest until my sword comes!" Tsukiko had lived through the some of the most intense training a demon slayer could receive. Hashimoto knew how well her eyesight was and adapted to it. "I'm tired of you beating me with sticks!"
The two continue to yell back and forth until a voice spoke out. Both of them had noticed the man in a hat with ribbons tied on wearing a mask. He had stood silently for a few moments watching the two.
"I am Nishikawa. I am the one who forged the blade that will be used by Eto Tsukiko."
The two snapped their heads to the man, immediately embarrassed that they were caught arguing.
"I am Tsukiko. Please come inside for some tea." Tsukiko steps forward to the man and gestured to the house nearby.
The man followed the pair into the home and sat with them. Once they all had their tea, he explained the materials behind the blade of the sword. Tsukiko fully understood now, the blade was able to kill demons because it was always bathed in sunlight.
Hashimoto had grazed over this fact for two years.
"I will not give you the Nichirin sword until you uncover your eyes." The man said staring at Tsukiko. She was unable to see his disapproval of the veil due to his mask.
Tsukiko's eyes shifted to Hashimoto and he gave a slight nod knowing that she was looking. He had told her to keep her eyes covered around strangers from now on. For they may bring her trouble.
She had told him of what Kouki had told her before he died. About the demon looking for her. Hashimoto had told her about the original demon and how he would have been the one at her home.
The girl gave a small sigh before removing the veil from her eyes.
"You're eyes! I see why you keep them covered!" Nishikawa cries out. "Your family must have dealings with the moon god and fortune telling dreams. This would explain your incredible beauty."
Tsukiko blushed with embarrassment. She did not consider herself beautiful. The moon god was one that was looked to for beautiful things. Her mother was the most beautiful person she had ever seen. Tsukiko could understand the beauty in relation to the moon god. But the other part?
Fortune telling dreams? It would explain why so many people would come by her home for two days in a row. Tsukiko's other would wake screaming in the night in between these visits. Her mother would claim that she just had nightmares when Tsukiko went to check on her.
A proud look came over Hashimoto at Nishikawa's words. Indeed, he thought his secretly adopted daughter was very beautiful. While he was not Tsukiko's father by blood, he was by heart. Even if he didn't tell her so. He felt fatherly pride at her being complimented as beautiful.
Noticing Tsukiko's confusion and Hashimoto's pride, Nishikawa decided to carry on with the sword. He only knew very little of stories of those who would appeal to the moon god for guidance in dreams. He didn't want to be pestered for answers he didn't have. The man also did not like the smug look on Hashimoto's face.
"The blade of the sword changes color based on its owner," Nishikawa said handing the sword to Tsukiko. "Remove the blade from the scabbard and let's see."
Tsukiko did just that. She pulls the Nichirin sword from the scabbard and holds it in front of her. At the base of the blade were the words 'dissolve demons'. Then slowly the blade turns to a milky white color.
"It's white," Hashimoto states looking at the blade. He knew of the hashira with the white blade but did not expect his student's blade to white.
"Geez," Nishikawa breathes gathering his things, "I was hoping for something exciting."
Tsukiko's eyes narrow at the blade to get a good look. It did not appear to merely be white to her eyes. The room was dim as Hashimoto preferred it to be dark. His breathing style made him pale and more susceptible to the sun's rays. Tsukiko needed a better look at the blade.
In a quick slashing motion, she shoves the blade into the sunlight streaming through the window. Immediately the blade began to glow with hues of blue. Tsukiko turned the blade in the light and it seemed to shimmer with the blue moving in the white.
"It's the color of moonstone." She informs the two men. "My family valued the gem." She pulls a necklace the kept hidden around her neck from beneath her clothes as proof.
"This is interesting!" Nishikawa cried out and moved closer to the blade for a better look.
"Were you wearing that this whole time?" Hashimoto asks having never seen the jewelry before. Thinking about her training made his blood run cold. With all the throwing her about and wrestling he could have strangled her with it.
"Yes." Was all Tsukiko said as she was focused on pulling her sword out of Nishikawa's grasp. He had never seen the color before. The man was fight Tsukiko for her own sword.
He let go when Tsukiko's crow flew in from the open window and landed on her shoulder, hitting the sword smith in the face with her wing.
The crow was quiet and whispered into Tsukiko's ear. "Northeast. Go to the town in the northeast and meet the other demon slayer there."
Tsukiko thought this was cute and that the bird must be a little shy.
"What is it saying?" Hashimoto asks unable to hear the crow's words. This caused Tsukiko to hear the bird breath in a deep breath next her ear but realized too late what was happening.
"Caw!" The crow sounded out in a yell. "This is your first assignment! Go to the Northeast town and meet the other demon slayer! Young girls are disappearing every night!"
Tsukiko screamed at the loudness of the bird. She heard the crow breath in again, but she was quick to hold its beak shut. The crow had lost its cuteness.
"I'm going! Just be silent!" She released the crow's beak who then flew back out the window.
Nishikawa was quick to leave after the disappearance of the crow. Tsukiko tried to dress quickly and leave so that she would not be late in arriving in the town. But Hashimoto stopped her on the way to her room. He spoke to her about the different abilities of demons and the dangers she may face. Once he finally stopped talking, Tsukiko changed.
When she was ready Tsukiko met Hashimoto outside of his home. He had prepared a small cloth sling filled with food for the girl.
Tsukiko smiled at the sight of it and removed her haori to place the sling around her underneath. She would still be able to enjoy her master's cooking.
"Be safe on your journey Tsukiko. I will pray for your safety." Hashimoto tells the Tsukiko once she has readjusted her haori.
"Thank you for everything you have done for me Hashimoto. I will not die at the hands of a demon." Tsukiko bows to her master and when she stands there were tears in his eyes.
No more words were spoken between the two. Hashimoto tied the veil he made for Tsukiko and she left.
They did not need words to know the bond between them.
Tsukiko kept a swift pace to the town in the northeast. She would have to move fast to get there before nightfall. Even though the northeastern town was the closet, it was still a good distance from Hashimoto's house.
It didn't help that the man had talked for so long. She had seen that he actually didn't want her to leave so he was buying time with her.
When she arrived at the town night had already fallen. Tsukiko looks around from the bridge she is standing on. She knows that she needs to find the other demon slayer soon.
Tsukiko set off into the winding roads around the town. It was not long before she turned a corner and saw Tanjiro. He had a focused look on his face and a strange box on his back. The demon must be nearby because he was drawing his sword.
'How lucky that he is the other demon slayer,' Tsukiko thought to herself. She was very happy to see him again.
Tsukiko's mouth opened to call out to him. The words were lost as she fell into the ground. The demon slayer's stomach dropped at the movement and her eyes screwed shut.
The air around her was thin and murky. She was in a swamp. The thin air that she trained in on the mountain would have allowed her to breath easily in the swamp had a hand not been crushing her windpipe.
Tsukiko shammed her eyes in open to get a look at her attacker.
She was face to face with a three horned demon.