boketto || t. kamado

fifty-three

A/N: EP 1 OF THE NEW SEASON IS OUT WOOHOOOOO

It was my favorite type of weather when I left the small village.

It had just finished raining, with only a few drops escaping the sky and onto my clothing. Like a mist in the air that gave it a delightful chill and let every other breath be visible in a vapor form. The sky was still cloudy and blocked out the sun and I had to watch my steps to make sure I didn't step in any fresh puddles. The air smelled of fresh dew and clear air. So calm and quiet. I may like the warmth, but I believe it was best felt after a nip of cold, just like this.

I was finally headed back towards the Butterfly Mansion and I made headway with the intent of making it by dinner. Several months had passed now since Aika Sensei's and Mr. Rengoku's passing, but we'd all been making incredible improvements in our training and fell into a routine of some sort. Training, missions, and small bouts of downtime. Sometimes we'd be paired off into missions, other times they were solo. We busied ourselves with work and getting better and feasted when we happened to be at the Butterfly Mansion at the same time.

It felt good to be in a routine like this. Defeating lower-ranked demons was slowly becoming easier and easier until it was rare for me to receive a scratch. My will was now put onto the inside of my haori and my previous heirlooms had taken a new home for the current time. I was the one and sole Spirit Breathing Demon Slayer - and I intended on being my own person along with that title.

Oh, Daichi got married as well. His partner was a pleasant person, and I wished them goodwill.

Ocha flew above me, leading me down the path as I took a steady but quick-paced jog out of the rainy town. Hours seemed to fly by like simple leaves in the wind, occupied with my movements more than anything. I was hoping to catch Lady Shinobu for a training lesson - she was out of the house quite often, but any chance I got for her to aid me with my use of poison or simple swordsman techniques, in general, was appreciated. She'd even been helping me grow some bit of immunity to the most common poisons - a task that had made me incredibly ill the first session, but it was growing easier with each week that I did as she had written. Small amounts every once in a while - just enough to teach my body how to defend itself a little bit.

I felt good. Productive and as if I was improving still despite the death of my teacher. The boys were good, too. Inosuke completed missions with brags of his victories and Zenitsu managed to survive them time after time - which slowly became less and less of a surprise. Especially after seeing him work on the train. And Tanjiro, working hard as ever to become an incredible demon slayer and bring his sister back into a human. Always reading or taking blood from demons that held even a smaller trace of Muzan's scent.

I'd grown better at falling back into normalcy around him, too. Despite the occasional slip-up when I turned and he was nearly nose-to-nose with me or we'd sit up at night and chat. My heart still tried to escape me and I felt I could pass out from the way my breath stuttered, but I'd grown to accept it.

The cloudy sky dispersed the more I traveled until the leaves were dry and signs of rain had been left behind me. The air was warm and I could see the familiar town in the distance. I was close - the Butterfly Mansion is on the outskirts of town, so I turned down a smaller road to avoid the crowds in the market.

I wasn't sure if the others would be home. Both Inosuke and Zenitsu were already on their own missions by the time I had left. If I was lucky, maybe all the boys would be back and we'd have more joint training. My favorite was typically going on long-winded runs with them. I won't lie and say I don't take joy in my ability to both outpace them and continue for much farther distances than them. Though I did dislike how Zenitsu once brought up night training so Nezuko and I could match outfits - I knew it was just because I adorned the white undershirt that went beneath my uniform. It held short sleeves and a tighter fit. But not all of us can go entirely shirtless as the three boys could.