Adapt. // kny x insert m!reader

02 - PILLARS.

The past few weeks spent in the butterfly estate had been going smoothly. Sure, Y/N had a rocky start with the new training, but he was learning fast. His experience in fighting definitely helped, so for once he didn't totally hate his family's tradition. Well, he still hated every single thing about the things he was put through as a kid, but it came in handy now, he guessed. Shinobu was impressed to say the least. He really needed nothing other than to become a bit faster. They had found out he was taught Total Concentration: Constant as a kid. Along the line of the family, there must have been a high ranking demon slayer, so the breathing technique was passed down. It was convenient, but sometimes he broke the habit. They definitely had to work on that, but overall his speed even surpassed her own tsuguko's at the time. The young boy was definitely very talented, it was a wonder how the Corps didn't find him earlier.

Y/N had just finished training for today, so he was awkwardly limping to his room to get changed from his sweat-drenched clothes. It wasn't like the training wasn't difficult and didn't take up a lot of his energy, but it wasn't as bad as his previous training was. It wouldn't stop until he fainted, and even that was considered a break sometimes. He would occasionally to without food for days and still train. Of course, his body wouldn't be able to keep up, but in the end it kind of paid off, if this was going to be his job in the end. All he had to do, was grow out of his old unhealthy eating and training habits, which didn't prove to be too hard since the workers of the butterfly estate would pester him about eating and taking breaks, even when he wasn't too tired or hungry. It was annoying, but he knew it was for the best.

Today he was especially tired. He didn't sleep much the previous night, since he was told he would start using a practice sword to swing and try out, but seeing the state he was in, they didn't let him, and instead did normal training. He was only going to start doing simple swings, so in reality he didn't have anything to fear, but he still was scared of disappointing Shinobu with his stance or anything he'd do wrong. He knew she wasn't like that, but he couldn't help but remember how his father would react when he would mess up a new move he'd learnt. Holding a sword, even a wooden one, was a big thing for him, as stupid as it may sound. He did end up sleeping through most of the day and training a bit again in the afternoon, so he would keep himself in shape, much to the butterfly workers' dismay. Nonetheless, the girls found his drive and determination incredible, even if he actually had no reason to be so fixated on becoming a slayer.

"Ara~ Y/N-kun you should listen to the girls when they tell you to rest for today. You seemed pretty tired this morning~" Shinobu suddenly appeared next to him as he was doing some push-ups, startling him. "Gommen, Shunobu-san. I didn't know what else to do and I had too much energy to just miss out on this." He scratched the back of his neck, sitting down. "Well then! If you really have nothing to do, I'd like you to meet some people! They heard about you from Rengoku-san and I, so they thought they'd drop by to meet you!" The short girl clasped her hands together as she looked down at the sitting boy. "Are they hashira? You seem pretty excited about it, and I don't see any other reason for you to be excited about me meeting someone, unless they are of high rank like yourself..." The young boy asked cautiously, in case he were wrong, but he instead received a nod from his temporary trainer. "Correct! You're one smart boy. Now, follow me!" She started walking away, with Y/N following closely behind her.

Once they stepped out of the estate, they were greeted by 4 unfamiliar people, all of which were much taller than himself. They all held an intimidating aura, mainly one of the two white-haired guys who had a bunch of scars displayed across his body. He wasn't very tall, but he was definitely scary as hell. Next to him stood a way less intimidating girl with braided pink and green hair. She was blushing and smiling, unlike the 3 other men standing beside her, who held stoic expressions. Next to her stood a tall man with deep blue eyes and black hair that was covering his face a bit. His haori was mismatched and even though he wasn't the tallest of the group, he still had a strong presence and a stoic and stern expression. Lastly, there was a white/silver-haired guy who stood the tallest out of the 4. He had a very flashy appearance, with lots of jewelry decorating his muscular form. He seemed to be good at makeup by the looks of it, since his right eye had an odd, yet impressive red shape surrounding it. His nails were painted, which kind of made Y/N want to paint his own nails. He would ask Shinobu to do that later, probably. Nonetheless, all seemed very strong and intimidating- it was actually one of the very few times he felt terrified of a human. He just knew that he would be no match against them if they were to fight.