CAT || Kimetsu No Yaiba Fanfic

Cat Chapter 48

"Hotaru-san?" Tanjiro acknowledge as Zenitsu echoed the same thing, the three boys proceeding to immediately go to her the moment they saw her. "Aren't you training with Uzui-san?"

"He let me take a break," she said, cracking her neck with a sigh.

The large man did not let her take a break. He ordered her to. He thought that she's training too much. He did not expected her to actually train from dawn to dusk without breaks, not including the meals and bathroom breaks. She seems to be the type to slack off during training to sleep, but her resolve to get better proved him otherwise.

So Tengen kicked her out. She was on her way to bother Kyoujuro when she saw him soundy asleep with Senjuro. She didn't bother them of course. Sleep is important, and will be much more for the next months. So she went to find Tanjiro and the brats instead, only to see them about to train with Mitsuri.

'Speaking of the woman..' She look around them, only seeing junior slayers stretching their limbs as best as they can. There's no Hashira around. "Where is she?" She asked.

"Hashira-san is," Zenitsu's eyes went behind her. "there."

Hotaru had barely enough time to react before a body crashed into her from behind.

"Stop appearing from nowhere, dammit," she hissed, hooking her arms underneath Mitsuri's legs to hold her up.

Mitsuri giggled, happy to be carried. "You should be able to tell if someone will be coming at you suddenly. What if I'm a demon?"

She deadpanned. "I can sense the demons coming, but you're a Hashira who's really good at hunting demons."

"That's...flattering, Hotaru-san," Mitsuri squeak, covering her face with her hands. Hotaru only sighed, dropping her hold and letting the girl fell ungracefully on her behind with another squeak.

"I'm gonna train here with these brats if you don't mind," she said, gathering her hair and tying it in a higher ponytail. The said brats along with Mitsuri look at her in surprise.

"OI!" Inosuke suddenly shouted before anyone can say anything. "Aren't you training with the large loud man already?! Don't butt in our training!!"

Hotaru didn't bat an eye even if he's screaming directly into her ear, as she was used to it already. "Calm down, peppa. I'll be back to training with the large loud man in an hour." She patted the top of his head, making him calm down a bit. She look back at the staring Hashira. "When will we start?"

Mitsuri smiled brightly. "Let's start now! Let's go inside first."

Inosuke and Zenitsu raced on who will get there first, while Tanjiro and Hotaru followed leisurely behind.

The former two seems to be much more competitive to each other. And looks like Zenitsu believes more in himself. That's good, because he really is strong. He just doesn't believe that he is.

"You're letting your hair down a lot, Hotaru-san." Tanjiro suddenly piped up beside her.

"Hm?" She glance at him and saw how the boy's hair has grown a lot. His hair looked the same when she read the manga, but it seems like did had grown longer. Tanjiro instinctively look down as she raise her hand to pat down his hair. "Am I?"

"Yes. You usually don't have it down because you said it bothers you." He peered up curiously.

Hotaru avoided his eyes, looking down and tucking a strand of dangling hair behind her ear.

Two people, underneath the sunset. One looking like a null shadow beside a bright sun. Hands holding. Eyes gazing. Fond smiles. A hand running through her hair. Comfort. Warmth.