boketto || t. kamado

forty-seven

A/N: Let me be real with you all - the small desire to rewrite this lately has grown but I'm not gonna rewrite it lol that's so much work.

What I will do, is use this story arc to fix some things that have been annoying me :) so if things feel weird or things are brought up that you forgot about, don't mind me, just cleaning my conscious. May also go back and take out certain things from the start of the book.

For example - in the beginning, Y/n had a bracelet from her brother and a ribbon from her sister. I forgot about those for so long, so I think I'm just gonna get rid of them. Don't mind me, just erasing tiny insignificant details

Okay, anyways, enjoy.

It was comforting, training in Akia's garden again. 

I swung my sword, easing between movements and idle patterns within the opening just outside the house. Just like I used to, I'd let my bare feet slide through the soft grass as I made each movement. A connection with the earth - that's what Akia said must be the reason I enjoy training this way so much. 

The sun shone and birds chirped, making the house feel like paradise. Our own mini safe haven far from the real world and its dangers. We were given warm rays of the sun and few clouds in the sky, but I frankly wouldn't be surprised if I walked off this property and it was storming violently. 

The flowers were in bloom at this time of year as well, with bushes full of color and well-maintained. Daichi had probably been helping out with that, seen as Akia could no longer stand. I'd start helping with stuff around the house as well, but for now, I'd train in the yard. Especially seeing as Akia had requested we do so. She had been oddly sentimental. We both knew why. 

She sat on the porch, blanket overtop of her folded legs and watching beneath the shade. It felt exactly like it did when I first began learning under her. Frankly, it was weird how that felt like it must've been years ago but it truly wasn't. I was training with her before the Final Selection; albeit not in this exact house and in different ways. I guess it has been a while since doing something like this. 

I swung my sword through each familiar movement, shifting my feet into the correct patterns perfectly and focusing on my breathing. It felt astonishingly easier now than when I'd first started rehabilitation training and I reveled in my regained stamina. I'd been on plenty of missions now after the events of the train, but it still felt nice to be moving like this again. 

"Y/n," Akia suddenly spoke up and I paused my movements, dropping my hands back to my sides and turning in attentiveness toward my teacher. 

She held a plate of something and I spotted Daichi retreating back down the hall. I wandered towards her in curiosity - we'd eaten not long ago so it confused me why she had something else.

"I have a favor to ask," She started, holding the small plate out toward me. I sheathed my sword before taking it within my grasp, not needing Tanjiro's nose to smell the fish instantly. Akia explained, "There's a stray kitten I've been feeding by the gazebo. Bring this other there."

I gave a smile, a bow of my head, and a polite, "Yes, ma'am," before spinning and rushing in that direction. 

The gazebo was a structure down a small path. I remember walking this way often when I was younger and just starting out. Akia wasn't exactly the kindest despite my young age, but she became a parental figure in her own way, and these walks were a constant. An active mediation of sorts for her.