𝕭𝖔𝖓𝖉𝖘 [Tanjiro Kamado X Reader] (Kimetsu no Yaiba)

~ninety-six~

(Y/N) Pov:

"Slow, slow, slow, slow! The hell are you people doing?! I got no clue!" I heard a familiar voice yelling at some poor souls. Chuckling to myself, I walked around the estate of the former Hashira, spotting two women.

Hinatsuru-san noticed me first. She smiled brightly at me, saying: "It's so nice to see you again, (Y/N). Please, follow me. I'll bring you over to Tengen-sama." "Thank you. And yeah, it's really nice to see that you're doing great. How are the others?" I asked her, starting to walk with her.

"Makio and Suma are doing great. What about your friends? I heard you had a harsh mission." she said, her voice filled with worry. I nodded at her words, answering: "They're all still the same. As if nothing had ever happened." "That's great to hear." she replied, smiling.

She then looked over at Uzui-san, who was yelling at some Demon Slayers. "Your stamina's low as hell! This is just basic running, man! If you're gonna be this slow, beating an upper moon's gonna be a dream within a dream, okay?!"

He then hit them as they had dropped to their knees, saying: "Hey, hey, hey, I didn't ask you to lick the ground. It's not break time yet, so go for another round!" Hinatsuru-san lightly shook her head, saying: "He's got no mercy for them."

I chuckled again, saying: "That's fine. They have to learn. Otherwise, they'll die out there." Then, I walked ahead of her, approaching the former Hashira. He stopped talking, turning his head in my direction as soon as he heard my footsteps.

But before he could spot me, I vanished from my current position, reappearing on a tree branch above him. Uzui-san looked puzzled for a moment, before smiling proudly, saying: "Listen here, brats! I don't have much hope for you left, but if you just copy this girl here, you'll survive flashily!"

I jumped down next to him, giving him a tight hug, saying: "Uzui-san! It's been so long!" The other Demon Slayers gasped, probably not used to seeing someone interact this way with a Hashira.

Uzui-san patted my head, saying: "Nice to see you, kid! So you finally got better?" "Mhm! I'm still not at 100% at the moment, but I feel healthy enough to start the training." "That's the spirit! And you really mastered the flashy techniques I taught you, huh?" he asked me.

Nodding, I replied: "Of course I did! I had the best teacher, after all." "You flatter me." He then turned to face the others, saying: "Break is over! Go run another 100 rounds! And if I hear anyone complain, it'll be 200. Now go!" With that, the already exhausted Demon Slayers got up and started to run, all breathing very heavily and uneven.

"Alright, now we have a little time. Tell me what happened. I heard you ran into quite some trouble." said Uzui-san, causing me to sigh lightly. I leaned onto the tree to my right, saying: "Yeah, we did. It was a disaster. The swordsmith village was discovered, and two upper moon's were present. And another Demon that was even stronger than them."

With a confused expression, Uzui-san asked: "Wait a second. One that was even stronger than an upper moon?" "Yep. He's... a nightmare. I had no chance from the beginning of the fight, and we both knew it. He just toyed with me, and ultimately poisoned me. Luckily, Onii-chan got there in time and was able to prevent him from killing me then." I explained briefly, having told this story countless of times before.

"And the other upper moons? Who where they?" he asked me. I thought for a moment, then answered: "Upper moons four and five." "Four and five? Quite impressive." "I didn't do much though. Nothing at all, to be honest. I got poisoned, then was out for the rest of the fight. Tanjiro, Genya, Nezuko, Kanroji-san, Onii-chan, and Muichiro did everything." I admitted, a bit ashamed that I wasn't of any help.

He ruffled through my hair, saying: "I see now. That's why you're here so early. You wanna make up for what you couldn't do, am I right?" I nodded, looking at the ground while doing so. "You're spot on." I said, sighing softly. "I wasn't of any use. I just hindered Onii-chan and the others from fighting..."

Gently pushing me forwards, he said: "Alright! Run 50 laps, then take a flamboyant break!" "But I can-" I tried, only to have him shake his head with a small smile. "You're still not fully recovered. And I can't just let my favorite kid exhaust herself because she can't see her own flamboyant value again. Now go!" I hesitated for a moment, then grinned, saying: "Alright! Thank you, Uzui-san!"

Somewhere else:

3rd Person Pov:

Giyuu had given up on keeping quiet. Tanjiro, sent by Ubuyashiki, had tried to change his mind for four days straight now, and he had enough. He thought that, maybe if he talked to Tanjiro, the young boy would stop pestering him the way he was right now.

"I never actually passed the final selection." he said out loud, not looking back at the young Demon Slayer. Tanjiro asked: "Eh? The final selection, as in the wisteria flower mountain one?" "Yes. Back then, there was a boy whose family got killed by Demons, just like me."

He took in a long, deep breath, then said: "You probably heard about him from (Y/N) already. His name was Sabito. I went into the selection with that peach-haired boy." Hearing that, Tanjiro's eyes widened.

But despite that, Giyuu continued. "I was thirteen. We got along right away because we both lost our families and we were of the same age. Sabito had a strong sense of justice, and he was a very kind boy. He was the only one who died in the selection that year."

Tanjiro's eyes slowly moved down, now staring at the ground. The only one who didn't make it? "He pretty much single-handedly defeated every Demon on that mountain. Everyone aside from Sabito got accepted in that selection." continued Giyuu.

He said: "I was injured by a Demon who attacked me in the beginning, so I was fading in and out. Then Sabito came and saved me. He entrusted me to another boy, then headed towards another voice crying for help. When I came to, the selection was over. I was selected for surviving the seven days."

Tightening his hands into fists, Giyuu said: "But I am a human who couldn't beat a single Demon, and I was bailed out. Can I really say I passed? I am not worthy of becoming the water Hashira. I am not worthy of standing with the other Hashiras as equals. I'm not like them. I never should've had a place among the Demon Slayers."

At that, Tanjiro teared up, failing to keep his emotions under control. He could easily understand Giyuu. That would probably be the same way he would think if his partner would have died during the final selection.

"Just go take the Hashira training. That's best for you. I'll never get that mark... Maybe Sabito would've gotten it. He was a better brother for (Y/N), too." said Giyuu, continuing to walk, leaving Tanjiro behind. Before he was gone, he added: "Don't concern yourself with me anymore. It's a waste of time."

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Picture from:

https://id.pinterest.com/pin/726909196112182252/