ABLAZE | demon slayer

iii.

after the whole fiasco of figuring out who [name] was and how she knew about demon slayers, she was allowed to stay. she was comfortably sat under a tree, watching as tanjirō tried to cut a boulder in half. she hummed softly to herself, glancing worriedly at yoriichi who was muttering to himself.

"shut up! such a shameful display of a man shouting nonsense." the girl startled, looking at the boulder. there sat sabito, perched on the rock without a care in the world. "no matter how painful or difficult it may be, you shut your mouth and deal with it. if you call yourself a man, if you are a true man."

sabito suddenly rushed at tanjirō, their blades clashing together. "slow, weak, rusty. your state is not a man by any definition."

[name] winced at his words. while they were true, he needn't be so harsh on the poor boy. she would've interrupted, but doing so would slow tanjirō's progression.

"what do you want, jumping out like that all of a sudden!!" tanjirō exclaimed, frowning.

"i should be the one asking that question; what are you doing?"

"doing? i'm training."

"how long are you gonna sit on the ground like that? prepare yourself." tanjirō shakily stood, confused. "alright, bring it on!"

"...but you're holding a wooden sword and i'm holding a real sword." silence followed before sabito began laughing.

"you flatter me!! thank you for this care you've shown me. you really think you're able to injure me? you don't have to worry at all. i'm stronger than you, because i can slice that rock open!! you didn't learn anything. you haven't turned anything you're shown into your own skills. especially the breathing technique urokodaki-sensei has taught. even that girl over there has mastered it.

"you've only memorized it like some trivial fact. your body hasn't experienced it at all. i'll make your flesh and blood remember it well. all of it, all of it, all of it!! i'll make you never forget the secret techniques urokodaki has taught you! i'll implant them inside your bone marrow."

"i am learning! i learn every day, i'm doing the best i can to learn with my life!! but right now i don't know what to do at all. i can't move forward."

"move forward!! if you're a man, if you're a true man, you don't have any other choice except moving forward!! bring it on!! let me witness it, your power!!"

[name] glanced at yoriichi, who was watching the situation with amusement. he met her gaze and gave a soft chuckle.

"this kid is very amusing," the man muttered. she nodded in agreement.

"he reminds me of this movie from my world. it's called mulan, and there's a song about making soldiers into men," she whispered back. the two continued watching as sabito proceeded to knock tanjirō out.

the peach-haired boy them turned his attention to a girl who was watching nearby. "i'll leave it to you then."

"yes," the girl replied. with that, the boy disappeared, leaving [name] to sigh. the [color]-haired girl stood up, stretching as she did so. the flowery girl looked over, meeting [name]'s gaze. "hello."

"hi! i'm [name]. and you are?" she already knew but wanted to avoid suspicion.

"makomo. that boy with the peach hair is called sabito."

"i see. sabito's display of skills was impressive. tell him i'd like to spar next time, please." with that, she walked off, yoriichi trailing behind her as they walked towards the waterfall.

[name] sighed. "chichi-ue, do you think urokodaki knows i'm more experienced than i look?"

"possibly, but that is for you to figure out, little sun."