The Dancing Star

Chapter 10 - Determination, From Stress

The Dancing Star

Chapter 10

12Thirtypain03

WARNING: This story is rated M for mature-rated content. If some acts of violence, blood, or anything easily triggering make you uncomfortable, please leave and do not read. Any change to a character, when introduced, killed, changed into a demon/human, or more will be labeled in the chapter of occurrence. If a character has died in a chapter, that chapter will give a cause of death to that character.

Urokodaki's House

Urokodaki was sure that giving Tanjirou those gourds would relax his troubled mind. Besides that, this would also allow him to analyze Nezuko's progress in her breathing style. Tanjirou was an unsure question in Urokodaki's book, but even then, he was a remarkable individual for his ability to learn advanced breathing techniques.

By comparison, Nezuko was showing a more typical demon slayer progression. She had a breathing technique that matched Water Breathing and was progressing fine. Even her inability to speak was not a problem it seemed.

Nezuko was more akin to a normal demon slayer by comparison to Tanjirou.

But that also made Tanjirou a bit of a concern. Urokodaki could smell the jealousy and sense of weakness he was having for himself. It took Urokodaki some time to help him deal with it. However, that was somewhat of a struggle. That was why he gave him the gourds.

Tanjirou was an enigma for many demon slayers, and it was not just because he was a demon. Nezuko was a demon too, but she was akin to a more typical demon slayer, thanks to the progression she was making.

Urokodaki could tell that for Tanjirou's struggle, it was all because of his breathing technique. Whatever that breathing technique was, Urokodaki had to find out more about it. That way, it could help Tanjirou develop his breathing style.

Likewise, despite Tanjirou's issues, he did have another student, the younger sister of the Kamados.

Unlike Tanjirou, Nezuko was managing to progress through the water-breathing forms well. It was due to her being a newly trained fighter, but she suffered very few side effects from using the forms, which made her an acceptable candidate. It was quite a shame she was a demon, like her brother, but alas, they had figured a way out regarding this issue.

Her brother was already trained in a specific affinity. It was clear to Urokodaki. However, he needed to find out which one exactly.

Nezuko meanwhile was making progress, being extra determined due to Giyu's condition with being able to access a new technique, and whilst Nezuko was beginning to feel confident about her progress, the same could not be said for Tanjirou.

They may be due to his inability to progress in water breathing at a similar rate to his younger sister, or he was feeling unsure about his abilities in general. Regardless of the reasons, Tanjirou was feeling down.

"I do need to find a way for Tanjirou to fight alongside his sister. Alas, because Tanjirou is now a demon, he will not be able to live a normal life outside the demon slayer corps. If he is unable to fight for the demon slayer corps, then he may be executed for being a demon, regardless." Urokodaki thought it was something he did not want.

Not just because he cared for Tanjirou, but also for the potential of what this could do to Nezuko. After the episode Tanjirou had before, he realized that to keep them human-like, he needed to keep Tanjirou and Nezuko together.

Urokodaki could understand why Tanjirou was upset, but it was something that every demon Slayer went through. While not every demon slayer may not be able to perfectly perform a breathing style, especially whether external factors played a role in a demon slayer's growth.