Day & Night

Stage Two: The Red String

Tsukie's POV

I stared at the ceiling of the guest bedroom I was occupying. Taking in a deep breath, I groaned through the exhale, forcing myself to get up. I promised my family, the Rengoku men, and the kids to train with them today. Fuck I needed to. Especially after being back at my job this week. My assistant was truly testing me, and it was to the point that while I was visiting Kyojuro one night, she showed up.

She looked at me, shocked and slightly nervous. This bitch had the audacity to look me up and down and tell me that she needed to visit because no one else would. If I were allowed to kill her, I fucking would. There was a strong chance I would have hit her if it wasn't for Tengen walking in for his weekly visits. Sadly, I had to do the next best thing and entirely ban her from the hospital.

The door knock let me know it was time to get up.

"I'm up," I called out and prepared myself for the day.

I drove to my parent's house for training because I could have anyone at the house. I'm shocked that I'm still sleeping there. Well, that is when I did sleep. As I was getting closer to the house, I noticed that I was gripping the steering tight that my knuckles were white. I haven't seen any of the Rengoku family since the day of the accident. To be honest, I didn't feel like I could face them. There's no telling how Tanjiro feels right now, either.

I groaned when I saw not only the family car for the Rengoku but fucking Tengen's car. Taking a deep breath, I walked into my family's home, not wanting to be surrounded by people but needing it at the same time. My brother and Senjuro saw me first and ran to me, and a second later, Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu followed behind.

"What's going on?" I asked the kids, that were practically my height.

"Ms. Kajiura, we're so sorry," Tanjiro said, bowing at my feet along with the other boys.

I was so shocked by the action that it took me a moment to gather what he was doing. Kneeling before the boy, I placed my hand on Tanjiro's shoulder.

"There is nothing to be sorry for," I said, seeing Inosuke watching me intently. "I read the report more time than I should, and there was truly nothing any of you boys could have done. If you had interfered, you all would have been dead. You're still learning, and It's our duty to protect you as Hashira."

"I told you that, even owl face guy said so," Inosuke mumbled while also butchering Kyojuro's name. He still managed to mess mine up.

"Come, we have training," I said, rising with them.

My father and Mr. Rengoku then greeted me.

"It's good to have you back, my little moon, but we're going to have those five train with Tengen," my father said, and I looked around for my friend.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"Avoiding you, apparently he walked on an almost murder," Mr. Rengoku said, smirking.

"I'll have a talk with her, Tsukie," my father said, and I shook my head.

"There's no use, papa. She wouldn't listen anyway and make my life even more difficult than it already is," I said, crossing my arms.

"I'll get you out of this contract, I promise," my father said as we went into training.

Mr. Rengoku and my father wanted to train me more so that I was prepared for more demon attacks that were bound to happen. The night Akaza attacked was planned, and with the investigation of the rat in our mist, the alliances between the demon slayers and some of the demons became strained. Personally, I hated it because there were truly good demons out there helping us, but it takes that one bad apple.