Shinobu's tsuguko [the apothecary diaries x demon slayer]

7)

At midnight, Maomao was woken up by some shaking and some whispering in her ear. Maomao, reluctantly opened her eyes, "Hm?"

"Maomao! I apologize that Shinobu didn't inform you, we start training at 12, due to the small time frame to teach you the forms of flower breathing"

Kanao was on top of Maomao, lightly shaking and tapping at her to get up. She was fully dressed in uniform, with an expression of guilt. Her lips were pursed and she was slightly gripping on to Maomao, and to Maomao's dismay, she had gone to bed at ten, to be awoken at 12. Giving her 2 hours of sleep. The green haired girl sighed and got up, making her way towards her wooden dresser to get dressed.

Kanao stood silently in the corner, fiddling with her hands, in need of something to do. She looked down and closed her eyes, waiting for Maomao to finish getting ready. 'This will surely throw me off my schedule..' Maomao thought, adjusting her skirt to be better presentable. The girl messed around and fixed her hair for a moment before standing before Kanao with a slightly tired, (Thankfully it wasn't noticeable) but humble expression. The girl stood in her uniform, sword sheathed in her belt, before Kanao,

"After you, Kanao." She hummed, slightly bowing. Kanao smiled and walked towards the training grounds, Maomao following after. As they walked, Maomao was left to her own thoughts, thinking over the following events. The floor creaked and hummed as they crept towards the exit, as if warning them about something. Something that was waiting outside the door, on the grounds.

Something was off, and Kanao seemed to notice it, stopping in her tracks and staring intensely at the door. Maomao was sure that f Kanao stared at the door any longer, she would be able to see through it, or break it down with her eyes alone, "Hm.. Do you sense that?" Kanao whispered towards Maomao, as she nodded back tensely, gripping onto her sword and unsheathing it. Kanao looked around, unsure what to do, and reached around for her coin in her pocket, but stopped and her hands curled into fists,

"Don't worry Maomao, I will take care of it." She said and unsheathed her sword while Maomao sheathed hers. Kanao ran towards the tall door and pulled it open to see a small mouse looking up at her. The mouse was roughly two inches tall and so fluffy, you couldn't see its face. Kanao's face of determination turned to disappointment and embarrassingly sheathed her sword, "Oh! Ah.."

Kanao stepped on the mouse and squashed it, while Maomao held back her laughter. As Kanao turned around to Maomao with a blank expression on her face, Maomao covered her smile with her mouth and chuckled, "Mm! Ahem.." The two walked side by side to their destination in silence with the occasional cough or sneeze.

——

"So, let's go right to learning some of the forms." Kanao peeped, still visibly a bit embarrassed, adjusting her grip on her sword. Maomao nodded, getting ready for the next few hellish hours of learning, and practicing, and repeating this process over and over again until she hardened the breathing styles into her mind. So each and every swish of her sword could be flawless, drawing out the perfect attack. When she had to learn insect breathing, it took days just for a singular style, due to the style being inefficient and too unique for her body.

Right now all she needs to do is focus on her sword. She needs to focus on every part of it. From the bottom to its tip, from the very core of it, to its sharp blade. Kanao coached Maomao for hours. Maomao learned, practiced, refined, and repeated. Over and over again, until she had learned the moves, memorizing its motion, its movements, its feeling, the breath intake and outtake. First Kanao would show her the move, Maomao would look back and watch it in slow motion, analyzing every adjustment, every motion, every movement. Kanao would then tell her what to do, and she would perform to the best of her ability. By the end of the day Maomao had almost memorized the form, needing more coaching and help from Kanao the next day to perfect it.

"You have done great today Maomao, It is very surprising you have almost mastered this form." Kanao's lips curled into a warm smile, no backhanded meaning or intent.

"Ah, thank you Kanao. I thank you for coaching me today and help me learn this form" Maomao returned the gesture and walked towards her room, clutching her now throbbing wound. During Shinobu's training the wound opened up afterwards, and it seemed that the same one had its stitches a bit loose. "So tedious.." She mumbled to herself, creeping down the hallway to her room. The two doors stood before her in elegance, reminding her of the rear palace but with a less luxurious look. She softly slid her fingers through the crack, and spread apart the doors, as if she were peeling bark from a tree, and retired for the night.

—

The next few days were less grueling for Maomao. She had better gotten the hang of the butterfly forms, and could perform two (obviously not without struggle). For her to learn and master all the forms in her current time frame would be very difficult and arduous but, not impossible. She would practice over and over again, maybe even have sleepless nights, to achieve this goal.

"Flower breathing, fourth form: Moon Moths Ray" Maomao leaped into the sky, a few feet above ground, and twisted into a flurry of movements, very blurred and hard to see. As she twisted, she was going downwards towards a wooden log, with many cuts and slashes on it, very worn down and sturdy. When she approached the log, mid air she slashed it in half, perfectly straight and a clean cut. She performed the form in seconds, seamlessly.

"Do it again. Please use more power." Kanao stated. When teaching Maomao, she seemed to open up to her and have a more assertive attitude when training. Maomao secretly appreciated this side of her, it felt like she really got to know the girl, the girl under her soft and fuzzy exterior. Kanao was always a gentle and quiet girl, only speaking up when she had to, but in this state, she was authoritative and more bold.

The girls were at work for two weeks, hammering out and polishing Maomao's ability as much as they could. At first glance, anyone could tell the girl had definitely become more aware of her surroundings, and powerful. She had become more connected to the earth, her roots spread out to everywhere around her, alerting any sudden change or shift in the wind. Her body was covered in bruises, cuts, and rashes. Some occasionally aching. Maomao's once smooth hands, a minor bruise here and there, had adopted calluses all over them. When she would look at her hands, it would remind her of the pestering black haired man; Jinshi whose hands were in a similar condition.

Maomao had definitely learned all of the butterfly forms, but not mastered them, in comparison to Kanao, who is a master of all butterfly forms and very skilled in that area. The green haired apothecary was now (or always was) a swordsman. If she had to admit, even though she was a member of the Demon Slayer Corp, she never really did take up learning the forms. At least, not mastering them. With Shinobu, she learned some of the Insect forms, in case she were to face a low level demon.

Maomao was packing her things, (not that she brought that much stuff anyway) and tidying up her room, for her next visit. The girl hoped for a soon return to this place she called home. She had already bid her goodbyes to the insect and love hashira. Also to the other butterfly sisters, (the alive ones, at least) and was currently putting together her items, in a slow and awfully stalled manner. She finally packed all her things, after taking a very, very, long time and walked along the rocky and bumpy path, slowly making her way back to the palace.

—

A/N: Hi! I apologize for the very long wait, i have found myself with no motivation, and have been writing other fanfics for other accounts. I may come back and edit/fix some things, since this is not edited at all and was most likely written at a low ability. Bye! (Word count: 1443)