Adapt. // kny x insert m!reader

01 - THE CORPS.

The unknown man, who was still yet to introduce himself, had been explaining the drill with demons and the 'Demon Slayer Corps'. By that point, the child had a faint idea of what demons were and what the job of demon slayers is, but his mind was still flooded with numerous questions, so he decided to voice his concerns. "Sorry, but I have a question." Y/N cut the man off from his explaining, who simply nodded and turned his attention to the boy. "If you could kill that, this whole time, why the HELL didn't you do anything?! I could've died, you know? Would you be able to live with the burden of the death of a kid that you could have very easily saved?" His eyebrows were furrowed as on his face was portrayed a prominent scowl. That clearly took the mysterious man aback, because the boy was right. It was very reckless of him to let a child battle it out with a demon, despite knowing that the boy would win. "Well, you're right there, young one! I definitely should have stepped in, but I was especially intrigued by how well you were handling the situation at hand! If I really deemed that you would die at any point, I would've stepped in, but you didn't need my help at all! Therefore, I propose that you join the Corps! You would be a great asset against the demons; you could even become a hashira in a short period of time if you learn a breathing technique that isn't performed by me or my colleagues, or if you create your own technique! Maybe you should become a tsuguko actually!" The smiling man seemed fairly excited by the idea of the shorter male joining the organisation, but the h/c boy himself seemed quite hesitant.

"I don't know, I don't even know your name. Why should I trust any of the things you just said?" Y/N looked away, his face displaying how conflicted the 12-year-old. "Well, you have no reason to trust me, but if I really wanted to harm you,  I could've easily done so by now. I see no profit out of lying to you about any of this either! If I wanted to take you in for a different cause, I would have done so by force. By the way, my name is Rengoku Kyojiro, the flame hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, and I would love you to become my tsuguko, or at least to get to teach you the basics of holding and using a katana!" Kyojiro said loudly, giving Y/N a warm, welcoming look. In reality, the (h/c)ette knew that this could not be a trap, but he was weary of his own childishness, so the confliction he displayed was wether to trust his gut feeling or think about this as logically as a 12-year-old can. "Fine, but I can't move my body, so please give me some time to relax. I feel like I'll drop dead the moment I try to stand up..." the e/c boy muttered as he closed his eyes, allowing for his aching limbs to relax, until he started to feel his weight being lifted. "No worries, I can carry you to the Ubuyashiki estate to be treated! It should only take a few hours with my speed! I have to report today's events anyway, so this is a good chance for you to get to know the other hashira. They also announced of a new hashira joining the team and he is about your age. Maybe he could train you instead!" The blond male said as he started speeding off towards a certain direction. "T-that's cool and all, but are you sure you can carry me like this the whole time?" Y/N said worryingly, but his concern fell to deaf ears, apparently, so he decided to just close his eyes and hope for the best.

It had been about 8 hours since the journey started, and they finally managed to reach the headquarters. The sun was beginning to set at that time, since it was summertime after all. Y/N managed to sleep for all 8 hours and would have slept longer if Kyojiro had not woken him up. "Nii-San we're already here..?" The preteen said mindlessly, forgetting about the honorifics he was supposed to use when referring to Rengoku, but he didn't seem to mind, as he said nothing of it. "Yes, we have arrived. I suggest you walk from here, Y/N-kun." He said softly as he stepped into the grounds of the headquarters, with the smaller male in hand. They made their way through the gardens of a massive mansion, that upon entering seemed like a maze, but the older man seemed to be able to navigate around it with ease. Then he requested to speak with someone named 'Oyakata-sama'. A white-haired woman led them into a hallway, then entered a specific room. Faint mumbling could be heard until she slid the doors of the room open, to reveal a man- seemingly sick- sitting seize style on a thin pillow, with another two pillows resting in front of him. The man who must have been 'Oyakata-sama' motioned his hand to signal for the two to sit in front of him. Y/N was pushed in the room first by Kyojiro, who awkwardly sat himself seize style on one of the two pillows as well, the taller man taking his own seat next to him the same way.