𝐚𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 | 𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐢𝐫𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐲

𝟎𝟔| 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐨, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐨𝐦𝐨.

   𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐤𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. Holding their breath, flexibility. They were happy Tanjiro wrote every regimen so they could keep up with their routine. Though with every day passing for the next six months, they still could not slice the boulder. Every day they would descend the mountain, swing their swords, do simple workouts like sit ups and push ups, practice their forms. But still, nothing they did would allow them to break the boulder.

   Tanjiro stared at his torn up hands, the fabric on the hilt of his sword rubbing them raw, "why can't we do it...? We've trained so hard and so long and we still can't cut through it... Is it that I'm not good enough? Will Nezuko die just like this? I'm about to give up! It's impossible!" He hit his head on the rock, "come on, Tanjiro, you can do this!" He yelled, hitting his head again, "you can!"

   Y/n looked at him with concern in her eyes, "Tanjiro! D-don't do tha-"

   "Silence!" A voice shouted from above the boulder. Tanjiro and Y/n looked up to see a boy. He wore a patterned haori and a fox mask. Have.. I seen that pattern before..? "It's unseemly to whine, knock it off. A demon slayer bears his suffering in silence. Isn't that what you want to be? Then start acting like it." He jumped from the rock, his sword in front of him and about to strike. Tanjiro deflected it only to be kicked in the side."You're slow, weak, and immature. That's not what I call a demon slayer."

   "What do you think you're doing?" Y/n asked.

   "Trying to figure out what you think you're doing."

   "What do you mean? We're training."

   He turned around to face Tanjiro again, how long do you plan to keep your butt on the ground? Both of you, take a fighting stance. Come on then, give me your best shot."

   "But... your swords made out of wood and there's two of us... We could hurt you..."

   The boy only laughed at Y/n's words, "well, well! Thank you for worrying about me. But do you honestly think you can hurt me?" He sped towards the girl, sword ready to strike. She deflected it with her own, "huh... the pretty girl is pretty fast, huh?"

   Her eyes darted and a slight blush appeared on her cheeks, "huh- what..?" Tanjiro's eyes narrowed and he sprinted towards the boy with pink hair

   He ignored him and smirked, "jealous, are we? Be rest assured, I'm far more powerful than you both! I've already cut through my boulder! I could with the pretty girl over if I wanted to."

   He jumped away, landing onto the side of a tree and using it to dash at Tanjiro. The boy ducked for cover only to see him jump from tree to tree. The next thing he knew, the one in the mask was next to him, using his speed and sword to knock him down.

   "You obviously haven't learned anything! You haven't mastered any of your training. Especially not total concentration breathing. Didnt Urokodaki teach you? All you've done with training is memorize it. Your body still has no clue what it needs to do. What the hell have you been up to for the past year and a half? All of it has to be hammered into your flesh!" The boy with pink hair swung at Tanjiro, only to be deflected each time, "more! More! You have to make sure you never forget the secrets Urokodaki taught you! Pound it into the marrow of your bones."

   "I'm trying!' Tanjiro shouted, still defending himself, "I'm giving it all I've got every day! Except, I'm not getting anywhere! I can't. I don't think I can do it!"

   "You can! Man up! Don't you wanna be a demon slayer?! There's no nowhere else to go but forward," the boy moved on to Y/n, swinging his sword and colliding it with her own, "give it your all! Show me just what you're capable of!" Y/n dodged his moves, until she thought she found an opening. Key word: thought. She narrowly missed him and he used it to swing upwards, the wooden sword hitting her chin, knocking her unconscious.

   "Y/n!" Tanjiro called, rushing to the girl only to be knocked out in a similar fashion.

   "I'm leaving the rest to you," the boy in the mask said, talking to another stranger. The girl nodded. She wore her fox mask on the side of her head instead, and a haori, a familiar shade of red.

   It was nighttime and Y/n opened her eyes first, only to be met with a pair of green ones, "are you alright?" The girl asked.

   Y/n quickly sat up, "please tell me you saw that!"

   "Hm?"

   "The way that guy hit me! His swing didn't lose an ounce of power! It was really beautiful! I want to be able to do that! What do you think? Is that possible?"

   "I'm positive it is. Because I'll be there to look after you, and him," she pointed to Tanjiro who was shifting around in his sleep.

   "What happened to him?"

   "The same thing that happened to you."

   "Oh... oh..! I'm sorry, who are you?"

   "Makomo."

   "What about the boy who hit me?"

   "That's Sabito." Eventually, Tanjiro woke up, getting the same run down as Y/n.

   Makomo helped the two train. She pointed out their flaws, unnecessary movements and bad habits. Though, when either of them asked her why she was helping or where she was from, she wouldn't answer. The only thing she'd reply with was, "Sabito and I love Urokodaki very much." She told them that she and Sabito weren't siblings, but orphans raised by Urokodaki. She was strange and the way she spoke was almost dreamy.

   She'd explained why total concentration breathing was important, though the two only looked at her with confusion. "So.. how do I do that?" Y/n asked.

   "Train until it kills you. Because, when you really get down to it, there's nothing else you can do."

   So they trained. They trained until it felt like their arms and legs were going to fall off, until their heart and lungs felt like they were going to burst. Even then, everytime Sabito visited them, they couldn't beat him.

   Six months later, that changed. Tanjiro's hair had grown out and was now swaying in the wind, snow drifting to the ground. Y/n was next to him, staring at Sabito in front of them. They challenged him to another fight, though this time his sword was real.

   "It took you six months," Sabito said, unsheathing his sword, "but you look like you finally belong."

   "This is the day we win," Tanjiro stated. Y/n and Tanjiro took a deep breath, just like Makomo taught them. Without a word, the fight had started and everyone was on the move. It ended as quickly as it started. Y/n and Tanjiro sharply swung their swords before Sabito's moved an inch. His mask was split in three, revealing his face.

   Sabito smiled at them softly. He looked happy, sad, and relieved all at the same time. Makomo watched from the sidelines, "Y/n, Tanjiro... You did great. Don't forget what you just did. Keep winning for me." The fog grew thick and it was like she disappeared.

   Y/n looked forward to realize Sabito was gone as well, revealing the boulder split into three, just like his mask. They were sure what they sliced through was his mask, but no, it was the boulder. 

--------------------------------------------

𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞

--------------------------------------------