I Spy

Chapter 8: Teacher's Lounge Meeting

Date: September 23, 2024
Time: 12:30 PM (Lunch)
Location: Kimetsu High School
Weather: Sunny

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"So why did you call us here?" Iguro said as he sits in the teacher's lounger along with Rengoku, Sanemi, Mitsuri, Shinobu, Gyomei, Giyu, and Tengen. "We have important matters to discuss regarding Isamu-kun's and Akira-chan's mission," Kanae said with a smile while entering through the door. While closing the door she also said something else, "Also Master said we are going to have a new arrival for the hashira position soon. So while we wait for him and the new arrival to come we can talk about the two siblings' mission that happened a few nights ago." The other hashira looked a bit intrigued about who the new guy is going to be.

"I wonder who the new guy is?" Giyu said a bit blandly, "Ara ara Tomioka-san, you decided to start up a conversation once in a while huh?" Shinobu said to Giyu while poking him, "Is it wrong to start a conversation?" Giyu said while looking at her with a dull face, "Nope, just a reminder that if you want friends then you have to start more conversations than just this one." Shinbou said while still poking him, "But I do have friends...." Giyu said while looking into the coffee that he was drinking, "Ara ara you haven't realized already?" Shinobu immediately said back, Giyu looked at her with a poker face, "What..." Giyu said. Shinbo just giggled and turned around, "Nothing loner," Shinbou said with a bit of a teasing tone. Giyu looked kind of aggravated after Shinobu said that but he decided to brush it off, deciding that it was not worth his time to argue with Shinobu.

"Kyaaa! I hope they are cute!" Mitsuri screamed which caused all the people in the room (especially Tengen) to cover their ears. "Ow..." Tengen said, "Mitsuri calm down, you're going to break your vocal cords if you scream that loud or something," Iguro said while looking at Mitsuri, "Kyaa! I'm sorry Iguro-kun and you guys!" She said while covering her face in embarrassment, "Thank you for that Iguro-san, my ears were about to rupture," Tengen said while trying to get his ears to stop ringing. Iguro looked at Tengen with a bit of a death stare, "What...?" Tengen said, "I was only trying to compliment you..." he said as he looked at Iguro, "Nevermind," Iguro said as he looked away from Tengen. "Anyways... I wonder how strong this guy is since he managed to reach the rank of hashira in the corps." Rengoku added while eating a bento box, "Umai!" He screamed which caused everyone to jump, "Do you have to do that every time?" Sanemi said with a bit of anger in his tone, "Now, now Sanemi-kun, don't be like that to your fellow comrades," Kanae said brightly and with a smile. "Ok..." Sanemi says. "His heartbeat went up," Tengen thought while smirking at Sanemi. "Oi! What are you looking at?" Sanemi said to Tengen who was still smirking, "Nothing, I'm just thinking about my flamboyant-ness!" Tengen said proudly, "Ok..." Sanemi said with a poker face.

"Umai!" Rengoku said, "Ok, I am seriously asking, why do you keep doing that?" Iguro said, Rengoku stopped eating for a second and swallowed his food to talk, "Well according to ancient samurai customs, it was common for samurai to cherish every meal as they would never know that it would be their last." Rengoku said as he began to eat again, "Umai!" He said once again. "Dam that's kinda dark..." Iguro thought as he looked away from Rengoku. "Anyways, Kanae, when is this new guy going to come?" Sanemi said while looking at Kanae who was sitting next to Shinbou (who was still trying to annoy Giyu), "He will come along with Master in a moment," Kanae said, "So it's a "he"..." Sanemi said under his mouth.

"Anyways, while we wait for Master and the new guy, we need to talk about some serious business that happened a few nights ago," Kanae said somewhat seriously, which caught everyone's attention in the room. They then trailed their eyes toward Kanae as she began to speak, "So a few nights ago, one of my students along with his younger sister was sent to escort the group who were supposed to make the delivery of the ores, once they got there, they found the entire group unconscious and the man we are trying to hunt down in the middle, they began to fight him, but according to Isamu-kun, they were no match for him." She said as everyone looked at her with shocked expressions except for Shinobu, "Wait... Did you say Isamu?" Iguro said, Kanae nodded, and the other hashiras gasped at this information because Isamu and Akira were in their classes. Some of the hashiras (mainly Sanemi and Iguro) were pretty pissed and gripped their fists in anger, "What happened to them afterward?" Mitsuri asked while still looking shocked, "They are in the Butterfly Mansion infirmary right now, recovering as we speak, they got home on Friday night looking bruised and unconscious." Kanae said, "How... They are some of our strongest fighters, how can someone like them be beaten to a pulp like that," Giyu says as he snaps his fingers, "I don't know but apparently this threat may seem bigger than any other threat we faced other than demons due to how easily he took out two high-ranking slayers." Kanae said, "Did Isamu-kun find out what he was doing here?" Mitsuri said, "Yes in fact he did find his intentions, and to put it simply he is here for revenge," Kanae said, which made some of the hashira in the room feel a bit uneasy. "Tch, he is just another threat that we can deal with simply." Sanemi said, "I'm not so sure Sanemi-san..." Giyu said while stroking his chin, "He may have taken some of our strongest slayers and never may have never faced one of us, but he may be as strong as a lower moon or maybe be on an uppermoon level considering how easily he managed to take them both down." He added.

"And how do you know?" Sanemi said as he stood up angrily, "Sit down Sanemi," Gyomei said as he clapped his hands loudly which alerted the entire room along with scaring Sanemi a little bit, "Tch, fine," Sanemi said as he sat down, "It seems like this mysterious person may seem like a threat after all, if any of our slayers encounter him, I recommend that the crows that were assigned to said slayer alert other nearby slayers to the threat ." Gyomei said, "That sounds like a good idea Gyomei-san." Rengoku said, "Flamboyant idea!" Tegen proudly said. The other hashira nodded in agreement to the idea as Gyomei sat down to pray again. "But what if one of us encounters him first?" Mitsuri says, "The crows should still alert other nearby slayers in case this guy is just as strong as a hashira," Shinobu said, the other hashira nodded in agreement.

As the hashira were chatting about the new threat, the door to the teacher's lounge opened up. "Master!" They all said in unison as they bowed down to their leader, "It's ok my children, you may stand up again, please continue your usual business." Ubuyashiki calmly said, the hashira rose from their spots and sat back down, "But, mind I ask you what you were talking about my children?" Ubuyashiki answered, "Please mind us Master, but we were talking about the new threat and how we are going to approach him, Master." Kanae said, "Ahh, if so then you can carry on, but I do have some news about the new hashira." Ubuyashiki added. "Mind if we ask who they are, Master?" Iguro added, "Why ask when you can find out yourself?" Ubuyahiki replied with a chuckle. A short, little boy with long hair and turquoise tips then entered behind Ubuyashiki finally revealing himself.

"Hello, who are you, people?" The boy said, "Muichiro-kun!" Mitsuri said with a happy yelp, "Hello Muichiro-san." Gyomei and Giyu said in unison. "Who are you?" Muichiro said. "Oi! You three, who is this kid?" Sanemi said to Gyomei, Giyu, and Mitsuri. "He's Muichiro Tokito, he's in one of my gym classes," Giyu said, "As well, his homeroom class is across from my class," Gyomei added. "When I and Giyu do joint exercises together with the first-year students, he is always the best performing one out of them with excellent speed and flexibility," Mitsuri says. "Tch, so what? He is just a little kid, and the title of hashira belongs to adults," Iguro says. "Now, now Iguro don't be so rude, Muichiro may seem young and little, but believe me, the title of hashira is well-deserved for him." Ubuyashiki replies, "Very well, only for you, Master." Iguro says as he calms down. "

"But, Master, how can we be so sure that Muichiro-san is qualified enough to become a flamboyant hashira?" Tengen asks, Ubuyashiki smiles, "If you want to prove just how strong Muichiro is, then try to punch him," he says. "If you say so, Master," Tengen says as he gets up and prepares to punch Muichiro, Muichiro looks at him very blandly which somewhat ticks Tengen off. Tengen then charges Muichiro at blinding speeds and almost hits him, but Muichiro blocks and punches his gut. Tengen drops to the ground holding his stomach in pain, "Ow..." he said, the other hashiras were shocked as Muichiro looked at them with a bland expression. "Oh my..." Mitsuri said, "Tch, well it looks like we are going to have to accept you into our ranks then," Sanemi said. "What do you mean by "ranks"?" Muichiro blandly stated, "It means that you are a hashira now," Iguro said, "What is a "hashira"?" Muichiro said. Iguro looked at him like he was dumb, "I forgot to mention this, but poor Muichiro over here has retrograde amnesia, so he will forget things very easily," Ubuyashiki added, "Oh, poor Muichiro-kun," Kanae stated. Sanemi and Iguro just sigh. "Well, Muichiro-san, now that you are apart of us, I think it's time to get you introduced to each of us." Tengen says as he finally gets up from the ground, Muichiro looks at him blandly, "It's not like I will remember any of this but ok," Muichiro says.

"This is going to take a while..." Tengen thought as he looked at Muichiro with a "bruh" face.

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"Inosuke get back here!" Zenitsu said while chasing Inosuke who had his homework, "If you want it then come and get it then!" Inosuke said while looking back at Zenitsu, he gave a cheeky expression and continued to run.

Tanjiro was on the sidelines eating a sandwich as he looked at the ensuing chaos. As he was eating, he noticed the girls approach, "*Mff* *Mff* hey guys." Tanjiro said while eating, "Hey Tanjiro," Aoi said, Nezuko quickly ran to Tanjiro and gave him a hug, "Hey Nezuko, how you doing?" He said while patting her head, "Good," she said while hugging him with a smile. "Kanao, how are you doing? I haven't heard from you or Aoi all weekend." Tanjiro said while having a smile plastered on his face. "I-Im doing fine, me and Aoi had some "family" issues we had to deal with over the weekend," Kanao said with a little stutter, "That's good, and I hope you have your issues solved now," Tanjiro said. "Yes we have," Aoi said as she saw Kanao blushing a little.

"Get back here with my homework you boar head!" Zenitsu said while still chasing Inosuke, "Inosuke stop running and give Zenitsu his homework, or else no food for you for a week!" Aoi said sternly which caused Inosuke to stop running and give Zenitsu his homework back, "Thanks," Zenitsu said as he snatched his homework from Inosuke. "Works every time," Aoi thought with a mischievous smile. "Now that I gave Monitsu his homework back, where is my food Paoi?" Inosuke said, Aoi was a little ticked off by his demanding tone, "I don't have any food with me, you will just have to wait till I give it to you," Aoi said back, which caused Inosuke to groan, "But I am hungry right now," Inosuke said as he started to look for food, his eyes then met Tanjiro's sandwich as he immediately took it from him. "H-hey Inosuke!" Tanjiro said as Insouke snatched his sandwich from his hand, "Haha, it's mine now Gonpachiro!" Inosuke said as he started to run with his sandwich, "Get back here Inosuke!" Aoi and Zenitsu said as they began to chase Inosuke in an attempt to get Tanjiro's sandwich back. "Leave it, it's fine, plus he is more hungry than me," Tanjiro said to Zenitsu and Aoi. "But you need to eat too, Tanjiro." Nezuko said, "Don't worry I'll eat when I get home, it's not like I am going to die anyways," Tanjiro said with a chuckle, "Ok if you say so Tanjiro," Nezuko says as she finally releases her hug.

"Haha! Thank you for your donation to the King of the Mountains, Monjiro!" Inosuke yelled, Tanjiro just chuckled and began to look around. "Also... By any chance, have you guys seen Genya somewhere?" Tanjiro said. "He should be coming by anytime soon, he just had to visit Sanemi-sensei for a bit," Aoi said.

"Yo!" Genya said as he turned the corner, causing Zenitsu and Nezuko to jump. "Oh hey, Genya!" Tanjiro said, "Yo, Tanjiro what are you guys doing here?" Genya said with a smile, "Just hanging out I guess," Kanao said. "That's nice, mind if I join you?" Genya said. "Sure!" Tanjiro said with a smile as Genya sat down. "So, what are we talking about?" Genya said, "I don't know, I was just watching Zenitsu chase Inosuke, then the girls came, and then Inosuke stole my sandwich," Tanjiro said, Genya looked at Inosuke who was chowing down on Tanjiro's sandwich.

"Anyways... I was thinking of going to the park this weekend, I'm pretty bored at home, and I kind of want to go out," Genya said, "That's nice, if we all have time we can join you if you don't mind." Tanjiro kindly said. "Really? Thanks, Tanjiro!" Genya happily said.

*RING*

"Dam it, well that's the bell, see you guys next period," Genya said as he leaves. The others wave at him and also get up and prepare to leave, "Bye guys, bye Kanao!" Tanjiro said as he leaves the group. The others wave at each other and leave. "He said goodbye to me!" Kanao thought with a blush as she and Aoi walked together. "She needs help..." Aoi thought while looking at her adoptive sister with a dumbfounded face.

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*RING*

The bell goes off again a few hours later and school is now dismissed for the day, as Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke walk out of the corridors of the school they see Kanao and Aoi at the gate.

"Hey, guys!" Tanjiro said, Kanao and Aoi looked to where the group of boys was, "Hey Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu!" Aoi said, Kanao just waved at the boys. "Has anybody seen Nezuko?" Tanjiro said, "Nope," Aoi said as she shook her head. "Oh," Tanjiro said, but as soon as he said that, he heard a shout, he turned around and saw Nezuko walking with Genya. "Nezuko-chan!" Zenitsu said as he ran up to Nezuko, "Hello Zenitsu!" Nezuko said happily. "Nezuko, Genya! Nice to see you two here!" Tanjiro said.

Behind the four people, Inosuke was trying to climb the wall of the school fence, everybody saw him trying to climb the wall and wondered just what the hell he was doing. The group noticed this too and turned around, "Inosuke, what the hell are you trying to do?" Zenitsu said with a confused expression. "I'm trying to get over the wall, was does it look like to you Monitsu?" Inosuke said as he was still trying to climb the wall, "It looks like you're being an idiot to me," Zenitsu said. Inosuke was ticked off and stopped attempting to climb the wall, he then looked at Zenitsu angrily and Zenitsu gulped, "Rahh! Get back here Monitsu for calling me that!" Inosuke said as he started to chase Zenitsu (for like the 5th time today), "AH-!" Zenitsu screamed as he started to run in the other direction.

"There they go again..." Genya said to the others while looking at the ensuing chaos. "Anyways... why are you guys waiting here?" Tanjiro said to Aoi and Kanao, "Our nee-sans told us to wait at the gate while they take care of some business with the other teachers." Aoi told Tanjiro. "Ah, ok!" Tanjiro replied brightly which caused Kanao to blush a little bit, Aoi noticed this and looked over at Kanao, "This girl really needs some help..." She thought.

"Yoohoo! Aoi, Kanao!" Kanae said with a smile as she and Shinobu started to walk out of the corridors of the school and towards the group. "Hey, nee-sans!" Aoi said loudly and ran toward her sisters, "Hey, Aoi, are you ready to go?" Kanae said, Aoi nodded. The three women walked towards Kanao who was still standing at the gate, "Hey Kanao, are you ready to go?" Shinobu said, "Yes, nee-san." Kanao said as she turned to her friends. "Alright guys, me and Aoi are going to do it now," Kanao said as she was about to turn around to walk. "Wait, Kanao!" Tanjiro said as Kanao turned around, her sisters did too due to the volume of his voice.

Tanjiro approached Kanao and was about to say something until he noticed something off. He approached Kanao's face, closing the distance between them, "Too close!" Kanao thought as she began to blush like crazy, as Tanjiro's face got closer and closer, he placed his hand on her head and took out a leaf that fell on her head earlier, "There!" Tanjiro happily said as he removed the leaf from her head, at this point, Kanao was so confused and flustered at what Tanjiro just did that she stopped moving for a while. "Ok, Kanao bye!" Tanjiro said as he turned around and left the school grounds, but before saying goodbye to his friends.

The sisters witnessed the entire event their reactions were mixed, Kanae was happy for her sister, Shinobu was a bit ticked off that Tanjiro was that close to her sister, and Aoi was over it. Aoi decided to go get Kanao who was still standing in place, trying to calibrate what Tanjiro just did. "Kanao..." Aoi said, no response, "Kanao!" Aoi shouted, waving her hand in front of her sister. After a while of not responding she decided to drag her home while she was still calibrating.

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Date: September 23, 2024
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Tanjiro's House
Weather: Sunny

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As Tanjiro unlocked the door to his house, he went upstairs and changed his clothes. After he changed his clothes, he went downstairs to make himself some lunch.

"I wonder if I have any new missions today?" Tanjiro thought to himself as he makes his lunch. He then sighs to himself as he sits down on his couch, waiting for his lunch to finish cooking, he then turns on the TV to watch a show.

As he is watching his show his mind begins to wander off again, "I wonder what this organization is using these ores for, but during the fight a few nights ago, I did notice something strange. The two siblings that I fought were carrying katanas, which is not unusual, but the properties of their katanas interested me." He thinks as he notices that his lunch has finished cooking. He then gets up to transfer his food to a plate he got from the dishwasher he had. "Their katanas were different colors, the girl's katana was green, and the boy's katana was orange. I know it's not rare to paint your blade a different color, but something was different with the "paint," it seems like the color was "natural" which is odd because all blades that I have seen are naturally silver when they first come out of the forge." He thinks as he brings his food to the living room and begins to watch TV, "Maybe I should get a closer look at these colored blades, maybe they have something to do with the ore shipments I am collecting." He thinks as he calmly eats his food.

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As Tanjiro lies down in bed he looks at his phone and checks his notifications, "Nothing interesting," he thinks as he puts down his phone and starts thinking about what happened at school today. "So I have 2 upcoming tests, one for science, and one for ELA. A school dance in about a month, and some other things..." He thinks as he sighs and flips over on his bed. "Though, Kanao's face was kinda cute..." He randomly thinks at some point, he quickly shook his head furiously and tried to get rid of the thought, "What am I thinking? Focus on the mission ahead, you are only here for one reason." He thinks as he feels his heartbeat slowly rise and then drop to a normal rate.

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And now it's time for another entry of "High School Gossip" brought to you by our fellow teachers! (Well some of them at least).

Shinobu: Ara ara Tomioka-san what are you doing here?

Tomioka: To be honest Kocho, I don't know, I was told I was going to get salmon daikon.

Shinobu: Always so clueless aren't you Tomioka-sannnn.

Shinobu begins to poke Giyu

Tomioka: Anyways... In about a month from now, Kimetsu High will have a Halloween school dance were both teachers and students can dress up however they want to in order to fit the Halloween theme.

Shinobu: While following dress code rules.

Tomioka: Right, the dance will be both for teachers and students, but before the actual dance, teachers, and students will participate in separate activities, only a few of them will have both groups included, but nevertheless the dance will be filled with fun activities for both the teachers and students to participate in.

Shinobu: That sounds like fun, I wonder if Tomioka-san will participate in any of these activities, considering he's a depressed loner.

Tomioka begins to re-think his life choices...

Tomioka: Join us in the next chapter "A New Kind," where Tanjiro's power is finally found out by the enemy and their reaction to it.

Shinobu: Ara ara so quick Tomioka-san, why can't you talk for longer?

Tomioka: Because I don't like to talk...

Shinobu: Of course you don't.