Seven

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Yoriichi wakes you up bright and early the next morning. Like many other days he leads you to an open area in the woods that you use as your training area. You're admittedly not looking forward to whatever he has planned as you're feeling sluggish from not sleeping well. Your dreams were plagued with nightmares of some strange shadow monster with glowing eyes attacking you and clawing at your face, so you got little sleep.

"What are we doing today, Yori?" You question him with a yawn.

"I'm going to be teaching you sun breathing." You instantly perk up, your exhaustion washing away and instead being replaced with excitement. He's mentioned breathing styles briefly in the past but never actually taught you anything. You do know that he's the only person to have ever used sun breathing so you're interested to see if you're able to.

"We'll only work on doing the first form today." Yoriichi unsheathes his sword and hands it to you. He's not entirely sure on how to teach you considering you can't see so he can't simply demonstrate. Instead he'll have to be extremely detailed in his explanations.

He moves behind you, wrapping his arms around you as he places his hands over yours on the sword. "The first form, Dance, is a singular downwards vertical slash in an arcing motion." He slowly moves your arms to mimic the action before stepping away to let you do it on your own.

You practice the swing a few times, getting a feel for it. It's pretty similar to the practice swings you would constantly do but you know that it'll be infinitely more difficult once you try to pair the breathing with it. 

Yoriichi watches you, taking note of how well you're executing the swing. Once he feels comfortable with where you're at with it, he begins to explain how to do the breathing. It sounds pretty complicated and the second you attempt to do it, it feels as if your lungs are bursting and you end up choking on your breath.

"Keep trying." He encourages, knowing it's impossible to get it right on the first try. Sun breathing is arguably the hardest form but he has faith that if anyone can pull it off, it's you.

Once you're able to catch your breath, you try again. Over and over you attempt to do the first form of sun breathing only to choke and fail every time. Yet you continue to try even as you don't make any progress.

Yoriichi watches for a while, giving pointers here and there before eventually leaving you to practice on your own. For hours you stand outside in the cold, alone and shivering yet determined to keep going until you make some kind of progress.

Yet as the day changes to night you find yourself still unable to do the first form. You were beginning to grow frustrated when Yoriichi finally returned, informing you that he had taken the liberty to make dinner while you were outside practicing. Usually the two of you cook together but he figured you could use a break from everything with how hard you worked that day.

Sitting with him, you eat unenthusiastically, not shouting your usual compliments after every bite. It's a bit strange to see you so quiet since you've always been rather loud and talkative. Seeing you so quiet and lost in thought is a bit unsettling.

He knows why you're upset. As a twelve year old, you're bound to become upset if you don't reach the goals you set for yourself quickly. While you know that breathing techniques are hard to learn and take a lot of time to learn, you still feel upset that it's so difficult even after the years you spent practicing to prepare for learning a breathing style.

"You'll get it in time. There's no need to feel so disappointed in yourself." Yoriichi speaks up, breaking the silence that settled ever since you sat down. "For some people, it can take upwards of two years to learn and master a breathing style. For others, it can take as little as a few months. It all depends on the person, along with the breathing style. You may not be able to do it today, but with time you will either perfect sun breathing, or even create your own."

"What if I'm one of those people who can't use any breathing styles?" You poke at your food before setting your chopsticks down, no longer hungry despite having not ate since that morning. "What do I do then?"

"Then you adapt." You repeat the word back to him in a questioning tone. "You do not need a breathing technique to become a demon slayer. There are actually not many who are capable of using breathing techniques. There are those who simply adapt to use different weapons or fighting styles to slay demons to make up for their lack of technique."

You think over his words, considering them carefully. The goal has always been to become a slayer like Yoriichi- someone powerful enough to use techniques and bring even the strongest demons to their knees. Without a breathing technique, can you really become as strong as him? Or have you been chasing the impossible for all these years?

Without another word you stand up and exit the room, heading back outside into the dark. Yoriichi watches you go with a saddened gaze, knowing that you're likely not taking the entire situation very well. He feels bad that he couldn't say more to cheer you up. He can only hope that things get better with time.

~~~~~~~
🔆TAISHO SECRETS🔆

🔅It was extremely upsetting for you to learn it might be impossible for you to be like Yoriichi, the person you looked up to the most

🔅Yoriichi believes you'll be able to use a breathing technique eventually even if it's not sun breathing

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