The Hashira of Tomorrow

Arc 2: Training Begins

Logan woke up to loud metal clangs and shoes sliding on concrete. He peeked his head out of the door and saw Pedro and Sheldon having a one on one battle. Off to the side, Tanjiro was watching them closely, noting when they moved out of stance or let themselves become open to an attack. He kept tallies on these mistakes, and at the moment, Pedro was winning. Conner and Aoi walked by, carrying two trays full of several plates and drinks. Logan lightly smiled and ducked back into the room to let them pass, then stepped out and greeted Tanjiro and the others. Tanjiro bowed, handing him an unsheathed katana. "So young Logan, who will you fight?" He asked. Logan looked at Pedro with an evil glare. He unsheathed the blade, which appeared longer and thinner than the others. Sheldon looked at both of their blades and yelled "Tanjiro, this isn't fair! Most of Logan's sword is missing!" Tanjiro looked back at the blade and quickly grabbed it from Logan's grasp. "I sure do hope Kanao doesn't kill me.. that was Shinobu's custom weapon you just saw." Conner returned just in time to see Tanjiro returning the blade to it's podium and scanned it's edging along the cover. He turned to Tanjiro and tugged on his Kimono. "Was this the blade that Shinobu used? Where did she ever go?" Tanjiro took a knee and put his hand on Conner's shoulder. "To be quite honest with you, we don't know what ever happened to her. Her hairpin and katana were both laying on the ground, but we searched in a 50 mile radius and found not a trace. Not even a single demon in that range. Kanao honestly has never been the same since her disappearance. But I'm sure your friend Logan will do well under her training!"

Conner lowered his head with a face of thought. "So, Logan is learning flower breathing? What does that mean for everyone else?" Tanjiro thought for a moment and gasped. "Your Pedro friend would do well under the beast breathing technique! And that Sheldon child would do wonders with fire breathing! You would seem to fit water breathing well. Of course, I'm always open for suggestions!" Conner nodded. He thought to himself "whatever must happen to save Andrew from his fate, I'll do it." Tanjiro stood up and yelled for the three outside to come in for breakfast. Pedro and Logan came racing in with Sheldon coming in a few seconds later. Tanjiro sat them all down at the table and told them that training would resume after they were all done. Conner turned to his three friends and said "guys, Tanjiro told me what our breathing techniques might be!" Logan turned his head up in the blink of an eye yelling "what did he say I would get?! oh, I bet I'll get thunder breathing, maybe water!" Sheldon looked at him and exclaimed "oh please, the best you would do is beast breathing, you already act like an animal." Pedro laughed, almost falling out of his chair. Logan turned a to a bright red, throwing a fish filet at him. It zoomed by Sheldon and was heading towards Shinobu's blade. A white flash caught the piece of fish and tossed it back to Logan, the fish landing on the plate. The four looked up to see the flower hashira, Kanao standing before them. "Please do be careful now, and remember young Logan, no roughhousing during your stay."

Logan slowly stood up and got on his hands and knees bowing his head down. "I'm so sorry Miss Kanao, it won't happen ever again! From now on I'll be well mannered, it'll seem like I'm not even the same child! Please forgive me!" Kanao stood in front of Logan and reached her hand out. "There is no need to apologize. It's been tampered with before, and it might be passed down to my student.. if I find the right one." Logan glanced and her for a moment, taking her hand and getting up from the floor. "Miss Kanao.. would one of us be your student?" Kanao looked at the group. "Well, I could say that while I was watching you fight your friend over there, you are the lightest of all. You're also the hardest to hit with your skinny frame and build." Logan stared at her in shock. "Hey now, what's that supposed to mean?! I have arm strength!" Kanao giggled. "That's not what I mean, young Logan. I mean you have the fastest reflexes, and have the fastest strikes out if your friends. By no means am I pointing fun at you all, I am only pointing out the good in a future student. All of you will be on an even playing field as your training progresses."  Conner smiled at Kanao and said thank you. Pedro crossed his arms and turned away from her. "I thought he was quite slow, plus he didn't hit me once." Sheldon slapped the table and looked at Pedro with an angry glare. "You didn't hit him either, he blocked every move you threw at him! Neither of you landed a single strike, but Logan was the closest to drawing blood, and you can't deny that." Pedro stood up and left in a heap of murmurs. Tanjiro walked in and hugged Kanao. "Thank you for taking care of the students." He turned to the children still sitting at the table. "I cannot wait for you all to begin training. You'll be ready for Final selection in no time!"