The Sun Will Always Rise Again

Chapter 37: Total Concentration

At the moment, life was not as exhausting as it was for the last few months. Yes, the rehabilitation training was of course taking its toll on you. However, compared to actually fighting demons, it was like a walk in the park. Well, at least almost. Because there was still a certain obstacle that none of your managed to pass. That obstacle was Kanao.

In the past five days, it was not possible for any of you to beat Kanao in even one of the tasks that were part of the training. Not Tanjiro, Inosuke, Zenitsu nor you could stop her from holding up a cup or hold the own cup against the girl. None of you could even lay a finger on a single strand of her hair, not even you. At least during the training. On other occasions, Kanao seemed to like your company a lot.

Meanwhile, Inosuke and Zenitsu had given up on the training and stopped completely showing up at this point. You tried to coerce them into coming back every other day, but not even your words of affirmation were able to do anything.

Everyone seemed slightly concerned, or maybe even annoyed, but you just shrugged, knowing that if everything would go according to canon, they would come back eventually. So, you had nothing to really worry about besides your own self.

That was why Tanjiro and you stayed; you were both still determined to win against Kanao!

Said girl always listened to you talk after the session was over. Her eyes were newly filled with an emotion one could call intrigue or interest.

During a conversation between Aoi and you, Kanao constantly threw glances at you, wondering what you were laughing and smiling about. As soon as you noticed that, you waved the cute girl over to you, inviting her into the chit chat. She was more than pleased.

Even if she never talked- or only talked after throwing her coin, you still made her feel heard. The way you smiled at her made her feel included and even slight touches on her arm made her wish, she was able to speak openly what was on her mind. But...was that really what she needed to do? More and more did she catch herself wanting the coin that she threw to land on a specific side and if it did not, she even got a bit frustrated.

One day after training, you saw the dark-haired girl flip her coin once again, making a decision. You watched as the small roundish object flew through the air and stepped a bit closer, when you heard it land on her hand.

As you stood next to Kanao, your gazes met and even though you did not even know what the girl needed a decision about, you still anticipated its reveal, just like Kanao.

While she slowly pulled her hand away, you looked at the coin side which displayed "heads". In the corner of your eyes, Kanao's form slightly shrunk at the reveal.

"You know...", you paused for a moment, feeling a bit unsure if what you were doing was the right thing, "...If you really want something then", you took the coin and flipped it into the air, "Why not just try again?"

Kanao's eyes widened as the golden piece of metal soured up once again, waiting for it to fall down. It fell closer down towards you, but her eyes were quicker than the coin. She looked at you and your concentrated expression, making her think about the words you had just said. Try...again...?

Seemed like your reflexes after a long day of training were strained, because the coin landed right on top your face, bouncing to the floor afterwards from the impact.

"Ah-", you gasped and bend down immediately to find the small thing, "Were did it- Oh!", you pointed towards the coin that was still spinning on the ground, Kanao's eyes following your gaze, "There it is."

Both of you walked closer, anticipating the outcome just like before. The little noise that resounded through the room was overshadowed by the others chatter, but to you two it was loud and clear when it stopped.