Kyoko Tsukino figured that the kendo club at her college would just be a bunch of sweaty boys hitting each other with sticks and goofing off. It was what she was used to after all. But little does she know that this club has a bit more to it: a secr...
Class passed by fairly quickly, and I was introduced to their friend Inosuke Hashibara as well. He wore a boar head as he came in, but quickly took it off upon seeing our sensei's death glare. Honestly if you had told me he was a woman, I would have believed you. He had strikingly feminine facial features, greyish green eyes and black hair with blue tips at the ends.
He was also dressed in a black uniform, though he didn't wear any kind of shoes or haori either. The only interesting detail was that he had tan fur trim on his uniform, as if he were trying to imitate some kind of beast.
The three boys also invited me to lunch, apparently they want me to meet the rest of their friends. I politely declined though, as I was a bit worn out from Inosuke's constant yelling and carrying on, along with Zenitsu's continuous paranoia. Thankfully they understood, and agreed to meet up with me after school so they can introduce me to the kendo club.
"TSUKINO-CHAAAN!" I hear the blonde's cries as he races over to me as the final bell chimes. Oddly enough we all shared biology together, they are taking it as part of their general studies while I need it for my degree. "You ready to go to kendo?"
"Sure am, Zenitsu-kun," I reply, pulling my messenger bag over my shoulder. "Is there anything I should prepare for?"
Tanjiro and Inosuke sidle up beside us after gathering their things. "Well, they don't require tryouts so it's not like you'll be denied or anything," the boy with the hanafuda earrings answers. "But they might ask to see what you can do, usually in a sparring match of some kind. That's assuming you have experience, of course."
"I HOPE THEY PUT YOU AGAINST ME!" Inosuke cries as he puts his boar head on. "I'm going to wipe the floor with you, Tsukino-san!"
"How come you can remember her name, but not ours?" Zenitsu says with a sigh, shaking his head a little. "Anyways, Tanjiro-san, will Nezuko-chan be there today?"
"Ah yeah, I was thinking we'd go get her on the way," he replies, before turning to me. "Nezuko is my little sister. She doesn't go to this school, but our sensei allowed her to join the club anyways. I'm sure you two will get along great!"
I merely shrug as we exit the classroom, many other students rushing towards the gates to leave the school. We make our way towards the parking lot, where Tanjiro takes the lead and walks towards a back alleyway. I feel a tad bit confused however, as I see a particular large box made of wood standing by itself in the alley.
"Nezuko, come on out," Tanjiro whispers, kneeling beside the box. "I want to introduce you to someone, I promise you'll like her."
"Wait, is your sister in that box?" I ask in an exasperated tone. The door to the box opens as if to answer my question, and a young girl peeks out at me from the inside.
Her eyes are a pale pink color, sparkling like a glass of champagne. She's dressed in a darker pink kimono with a lighter shade of lining and a leaf pattern, secured by a red and white-checkered with an orange-threaded hanhaba-obi and a green obiage.
Over this, she sports a long, dark-brown haori that reaches her calves, as well as a pair of zori with pink straps and white tabi socks, wrapped with thick pieces of black material resembling kyahan.
Her black hair reaches down past her waist and changes color to that of a rusty orange, a pink bow in her hair to keep it back. Finally, she holds what looks to be a bamboo muzzle in her mouth.
"Why do I feel like this is illegal.." I mutter as the young girl hops out of the box.
"Nezuko is.. well, let's just say she isn't normal," Tanjiro says in a quiet tone. His eyes darken a little and become clouded, a sad smile on his face. "Not anymore anyways. I hope you'll keep this a secret, only the rest of the kendo club knows about her."
I frown a little and cross my arms, wondering what he means by 'not normal'. "We just met today, Tanjiro-kun. Not that I'm saying I won't keep it a secret, but you need to be more careful. It's foolish of you to say such a thing to someone you don't know well."
"Ah! You're right, Tsukino-san!" Tanjiro shouts, standing up straight as a rail before letting out a nervous laugh. "Sorry, you just seem like the trustworthy type. Plus, you would have found out when we got to kendo.."
I let out a sigh before reaching over, ruffling up his hair a little. I hear Zenitsu gasp and Inosuke mutter something to himself, though I'm not sure exactly what he said. At first I thought I had done something wrong, as Tanjiro's eyes widened the second my hand touched his head.
But then the boy smiled, and leaned into my hand.
"You know, you remind me of someone.." Tanjiro began, his voice fairly quiet. "Someone who is very dear to me. I knew you were a good person since we met this morning, so I don't think I'll regret my choice."
I smile a little before turning my attention to Nezuko, who was staring up at me from beside her brother. I hear a little hum come from her bamboo muzzle, before she places her own hand on my head despite having to reach up a bit.
"It seems like Nezuko likes you," Tanjiro comments, as Nezuko nods before hopping back in the wooden box. The boy shuts the door before pulling the box onto his back, I didn't even notice the straps on the thing.
"I'm happy to hear," I reply. "Speaking of though, you said she wasn't normal. What did you mean by that?"
Zenitsu pales a bit as the four of us make our way out of the alleyway. "It's not something we should say out here," he says, Inosuke nodding beside him. "Perhaps we should wait until we're in a private space."
"Aish, how much time do we have until kendo starts?" I ask before looking at my phone for the time. "If you want, we can swing by my place beforehand. I kind of want to bring something for everyone at least, since I am intruding in the middle of the year."
"You're not intruding, Tsukino-san!" Inosuke shouts through his boar head. "But there are a lot of slay- I mean, classmates in the club. It would be impossible for you to bring something for everyone."
"Actually, I think only the hashira and our leader will be in attendance, besides a couple others," Zenitsu comments. "So if you are including us five, there will be seventeen total in attendance today. Something about a holiday of some kind for those above first year."
"The hashira are the strongest in the kendo club besides our leader," Tanjiro explains. "Anyways, I think I'd be interested in seeing your place Tsukino-san! We've got about an hour before it really starts, we just usually get there early."
"Then that settles it," I respond before putting my phone back in my pocket, smiling to the two while adjusting the strap of my bag.
And so the three of us headed out, my heart skipping a beat with excitement as my first club meeting was drawing near.
Wow it took me a while to write this, since I have so many other stories going on at the moment. But the words came out so easily, I'm fairly proud of myself. It's currently almost five in the morning by the time I'm finishing this, so I'm going to clock out now.
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Tanjiro Kamado- Breathing style: Water/???
The main protagonist of the Demon Slayer series! He originally learned water breathing before becoming an official member of the corps, but discovered that it's not the only technique he knows! What could this secret technique be?
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