'Every day, we practiced over and over what we'd learned from Mr. Urokodaki. The basics like holding the breath and flexibility... I was glad I had written those down in my journal, though Y/N was still a lot better than me, and way more flexible, she could literally bend her body in half like she doesn't have a spine'
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3RD POV:
Even after 6 months, you and Tanjiro had yet to slice the boulder. Tanjiro has been trying every day, but you have just been consistently training, deciding that it's a waste of time to always try and slice the boulder without even thinking.
'Not enough! I'm not training hard enough! I gotta do more! More!' Tanjiro thinks, smashing his head on the boulder. You give him a sympathetic look while still holding your handstand (You've been in it for over a minute).
Tanjiro just looks at you in awe at how you can hold one for so long, your arms start getting tired so you put your legs behind you and underneath your head then roll into a standing position
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(Kinda like that)
"Wah!! Y/N, it scares me how flexible you are!" Tanjiro squeals, while you try to suppress your giggles.
You both decide to descend the mountain again, and make it down a lot easier than usual, then go back to your spots at the boulders. Tanjiro tries to slice it again but fails, 'Am I... hopeless? Is Nezuko going to die without ever waking up? Ahh! I'll almost give in! I'm breaking down!' You notice Tanjiro's distress and give him a worried look.
"Keep working Tanjiro! You can do it!" Tanjiro mumbles to himself, hyping him up.
"Shut up!" You both hear a voice yell from on top of the boulder, you widen your eyes as you were so worried about Tanjiro you hadn't even sensed his presence
". A man shouldn't whine. It's unseemly." The peach haired male scolds Tanjiro, 'When did he show up? There's no scent. A fox mask?' Tanjiro looks up at the boy.
"No matter how you suffer, bear it in silence... if you're a man." You grimace at him 'Men shouldn't be told they can't whine, what an as*h0le' You think.
The male jumps from the boulder "If you call yourself a man" "Ah!" He attacks Tanjiro with his wooden sword. You widen your eyes but feel as if you shouldn't intervene so you stay in the sidelines.
Tanjiro blocks the boys attack before getting hit right after, "Urk! Urgh.." he groans. "Slow. Weak. Immature. That's not what you call a man." You narrow your eyes at the man, 'Men can be weak too..' You think but decide against speaking up, as you don't like talking to strangers.
Tanjiro faces him, "What are you doing?" Tanjiro questions "I'd like to know what you think you're doing." the man speaks, an emotion you couldn't register evident in his voice.
"What do you mean? I'm training." Tanjiro looks at the boy weirdly, "How long do you plan to keep your butt on the ground without even taking a stance?" The boy says to Tanjiro and you just want intently as Tanjiro gets up and readies himself.
"Come on. Come at me." "But you have a wooden sword, and I have a real sword!" Tanjiro says with worry lacing through his voice, though the male starts manically laughing and you look at him confused.
"Huh..?" Tanjiro mumbles "Well, well! Thank you for worrying about me. So you think you're actually going to injure me!" and he lunges at Tanjiro. You slightly huff 'He was just being nice',
"Ngh!" "Well, you have absolutely nothing to worry about! I'm more powerful than you because I've sliced that boulder!" You and Tanjiro widen your eyes 'He's sliced the boulder?' you both think at the same time.
He pushes Tanjiro back and jumps at a tree to strike at him, Tanjiro parries his attack and the male rushes through all the trees, way too fast for Tanjiro's eyes to keep up but due to your excellent eyesight you see him perfectly.
The male widens his eyes slightly behind the mask watching your eyes follow him 'She can still see me?' he thinks but quickly shakes it off and strikes Tanjiro again before he can defend himself.
"You've learned nothing. You haven't mastered a single thing! Particularly, the breathing technique Mr. Urokodaki taught you... Total Concentration Breathing." You zone out for a moment 'Yeah, Total concentration breathing. It really helps me, I wonder if there's a way to do it all the time? I should ask Urokodaki-san to teach me if there is...' You zone back in as they start attacking each other again.
"Urgh..!" Tanjiro groans, "Slam it into your flesh!" They both exchange blows, though it's still in the random males favour.
" More! More! More! So that you'll never forget the secrets Mr. Urokodaki taught you! Pound it into the marrow of your bones!" You scrunch your nose up 'Could he make that sound more disgusting?'.
"I'm trying! I'm trying every single day! With everything I've got! But I'm not making any headway! I just can't go any further!" Tanjiro yells with disappointment, you give him a look of empathy as you know just how he feels.
FLASHBACK
(IF YOU DON'T LIKE SENSITIVE SUBJECTS SUCH AS AB!SE DON'T READ THE FLASHABCK)
"Otou-san! Please stop!! I can't go any further!" You cry out as you hurl on the ground from your father's harsh beatings.
"No! You WILL go further! You and Shoto will become the number 1 and 2 Pro heroes! Even both number 1 if possible!" Your father yells while forcing you up, you can't object so you continue training while crying.
FLASHBACK OVER
You look sadly at the ground from that memory, you see the peach haired male knock Tanjiro out by whacking him upwards from the chin. You wince slightly at the harshness and another girl appears, "I'm leaving this to you" The male speaks, seemingly completely forgetting you're there.
"Konnichiwa, I'm Makamo" the young girl speaks and you nod "Y/N Todoroki" You muster the softest voice you can manage, trying to match her energy and she just softly smiles at you.
