Beauty of Her Spring [KNY Reader Insert]

Chapter 2: Tsuguko

"Ah...hello, Rengoku-san."

He turned around, his haori flushing around him slightly by the action.

"Fujihara-san, thank you for coming."

You smiled, approaching closer. "It's no problem. Thank you for inviting me to assist with this. I'm sure you could have done a great job even if I was not called."

He gave a small grunt, eyes flickering briefly to the side before he closed them and crossed his arms. "Well...you may be right, but I would appreciate the assistance now. Multiple recruits follow the water style, and I know you know both that style and the flower style."

"That's correct, but..." You trailed off, looking around. "Wouldn't it have been better if you had called..."

"Urokodaki. Thank you for coming."

You nearly jumped out of your skin when you noticed the looming shadow behind you, turning to see the masked man standing idle behind you. You could see his pupils trained on you before shifting to Rengoku and slightly bowing his head.

"Thank you for having me. I am sorry I arrived late."

Rengoku shook his head, "No need to apologize. Fujihara just arrived moments ago," he said, a slight smugness to him as he said so.

You scowled lightheartedly, "Hey now, I was caught up in some affairs..."

The flame-haired man chuckled briefly before leading the two of you over to the training grounds.

You had heard from Taniguchi-san that Rengoku was tasked with giving a workshop to the many recruits that had entered only a few months ago. It would be that the Flame Hashira was assigned to ensure that the new batch of demon slayers were up to par. Demon slayers needed to be able to slay actual demons, as the name entailed. Or, at least, that's what the consensus was among most men. You agreed to some extent but believed that people could improve even after passing the test. It did not mean that they would remain "weak" forever.

Rengoku took you before a large group of young demon slayers, all but a pair or two composed entirely of fresh, baby-faced teenagers. It wasn't a rarity to see, but you knew any outsider who could see this would think you were losing your mind. Teenagers? Children are being sent out to fight demons.

It was a harsh reality.

"Currently, they are sparring with one another in order so we can gauge their current strength," Rengoku explained to the two of you.

A few pairs were clashing and dodging their partners' attacks, most displaying a technique you were familiar with in the initial stages of your past training. Water breathing was easy to grasp and the most basic style of fighting a demon slayer could learn. Not every slayer learned it, but it was one of the five basic styles, so it was used more in the corps.

Rengoku wasn't taught it, and in your case, you were taught only briefly to use it as a stepping stone to learning flower breathing. The one who would be more familiarized with the breathing style would be Urokodaki. So, as much as you were flattered to be invited to help with the workshop, you felt Rengoku would benefit most from having Urokodaki around and not having you take up space here.

You hummed in response, eyes falling on a pair that caught your attention. "I see. Are these all the recent members? Such a large group..."

"I agree," Rengoku replied in turn, crossing his arms. "That is why I proposed this workshop along with Yukimura and Amano. We do not doubt the success of the Final Selection, but we want to guarantee that we are not just recklessly sending all these young men out to their deaths."