𝓞𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓞𝓫𝓼𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷

𝟎𝟐𝟔

New Mission

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

        Y/N held Tanjiro's arm as she tried to help him up, but she was too fatigued to do so.

'So tired... I overestimated myself...'

"Hm...? Oh, hello there," she said, shifting her gaze to the three little girls.

They were holding two plates of rice balls, some tea, and four small gourds.

"Hi Y/N-san, Tanjiro-san!" Naho, the girl with the green hair clips, greeted.

"We were wondering if you could blow into these gourds," Sumi said.

"Blow into the gourds?" Tanjiro repeated, his mouth stuffed with rice.

"Yes. When the Hashira were training Kanao-san, Shinobu-sama would oftentimes make her blow into the gourds," Kiyo said.

"That's interesting? What was she supposed to accomplish?" Y/N asked, taking a sip of tea.

"Her objective was to destroy it!"

"Eh?! Destroy this hard thing?!"

"Yeah, and since these are specially crafted gourds, they're harder than usual ones. They slowly increase in size, and now, Kanao-san can destroy..."

The girls pulled out a gourd that was about the size of them.

"...this gourd."

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

        Y/N blew hard into the large gourd, a vein popping up on her forehead.

'Come on, come on, come on!'

The gourd cracked a little before bursting open completely.

She heard claps coming from behind her.

"Bravo! You've beat Kanao during your Rehabilitation Training, and now you've burst your gourd! It seems that your training has come to an end!" Shinobu said happily, though there was a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Not only that, but your sword has arrived earlier than the others and your wounds have fully healed. I'd say you're ready to get back on the battlefield."

As if on cue, Hiroto flew onto Y/N's shoulder.

He told her to find a noodle shop where the Flame Hashira was.

She would accompany him on a mission to defeat a demon that dwelled on the Mugen Train.

She nodded and left to get ready.

On her way, she ran into Aoi.

"Ah, Aoi-san! I'll be leaving this evening. I want to thank you for your hospitality," she said.

"It was nothing, really. Good luck," Aoi said, turning her face in a failed attempt to hide her blush.

Y/N giggled and walked into her room.

"Y/N-CHANNNN!!!" Zenitsu screamed, running into her arms.

"PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME! I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU!"