Dispassionate

24

24) Nene Hath Returned

Tanjiro watched as Inosuke jumped off the engawa, his eyes scanning the ground. He looked underneath of it, then back to the dirt.

Tanjiro smelled something familiar under it, so he obviously checked, ignoring Inosuke, who rummaged around on the floor. Seiko didn't notice the two doing the most random bullshit until Tanjiro pulled out a whole ass animal.

"Fuck— I thought you left that thing behind!" He scooted away, sitting right next to the swords smiths. "Is that.... A possum?" Kanamori asked, not taking note of Inosuke bashing his sword into oblivion.

Tanjiro shook his head slightly. "He calls it 'Nene' even though it's a possum." He looked a bit pissed even though his voice was nonchalant.

"Put it down, that thing has diseases!" He yelled, staring straight into those beaded eyes. Tanjiro placed her on his lap. "Ugh— never mind— put it back outside!"

"We are outside though." Haganezuka muttered. "I mean out there! In the wild! Where it belongs!"He pointed to the trees that you could see over the wall because plot. "It's a wild animal! It belongs out there, not here!"

"She's just a girl..." Tanjiro muttered. "It's frothing at the mouth!" He basically screamed. "Put it back." He told him, to which Tanjiro shook his head.

"If you wanna keep her, YOU need to go ask Miss Shinobu." He crossed his arms and huffed. It might have been cruel of him to say that, but he knew Tanjiro wouldn't actually do that.

But, much to his shock, Tanjiro stood up and went inside the butterfly mansion, in his search of Shinobu. He was carrying the fucking possum.

"Hmm? What is it Tanjiro— ...." She stood there in silence after seeing the animal in his arms. "Tanjiro... why do you have an animal in your hold?" He looked down at Nene, then up at Shinobu.

Now was his very difficult process of explaining shit.

He set Nene down and pointed to her and then to himself. "So it's yours?" He shrugged, as a sort of 'maybe', or 'I don't know'.

"So what should I do with it?" She asked, taking her eyes off the rabid animal. He was put in a semi panic. How would he explain that, he didn't want to actually talk to someone.

"Stay here." He muttered, just catching her ear. "Oh my! Your voice is so quiet! I guess you can keep it here, just make sure it doesn't bite anyone!" She joked, laughing a bit at it. He felt something tug at the corners of his lips.

A smile.

"Thank you...." When she didn't respond, he had thought she didn't hear him, so he just left.

"Hmm, I guess it's just another Tomioka waiting to happen. Isn't that right, Shinazugawa?" She asked the man who stood unnoticed, arms crossed over his man titt— I mean chest.

"A possum? Really?" He asked, looking down at the shorter woman. "You have a beetle, I find nothing out of the ordinary with this." She whispered, rolling her eyes.

"It's more normal than an animal with rabies."
"You're an animal with rabies."
"What was that?!"
"Hmm? What?"

"So why did you call me here?" He asked, sitting down across from her. She grinned. "Well, if you'd like to doubt this young boy so much, then why don't we put his skill to the test?" She asked, eyes darkening a bit.

"I want the two of you to spar later today." This peaked the man's attention. "I'm not fighting a kid." He stated with a sigh. "If that's all I'm leaving." He was about to stand, but Shinobu continued speaking.

"Hmm, I guess you can't prove this kid doesn't have what it takes. The path to being a Hashira is the only option." Obviously false but who the fuck actually cares.

"There's no way I'm going to let some kid—"
"Then do something about it." She cut him off, standing up. "You will decide if he has what it takes." She said, leaving him alone in the room.

He groaned, looking out the window. "Guess I gotta find the brat now," He rolled his eyes and slid the door open. "How fun."

Now, did Shinazugawa plan on telling Tanjiro that they were sparing? Of course not, don't be silly.

He just grabbed him by the back of his shirt and dragged him to the training room. He threw a wooden sword at him and got into a fighting stance.

Tanjiro.... Did not understand what was happening. This guy smelled sort of kind though, so maybe it'd be fine. "I don't care about getting hurt, so hit me with everything you've got." He told him. Tanjiro just nodded.

"You're to quiet." He complained, instantly going in for a strike. Tanjiro blocked, getting pushed back a few feet. "You're distracted too." Tanjiro ducked down to avoid getting hit.

"I don't understand how someone so weak, could defeat a lower rank." He used his arm to block a kick from Tanjiro, getting sent to the side a few meters. "But you sure know how to kick." He grinned, wooden sword clashing against Tanjiro's.

The man laughed. "You don't even have what it takes to be a demon slayer, I don't know what all that fuss was about. Any training you went through was a waste of time."

Tanjiro's eyes snapped open completely. Training him was a waste of time? So Urokodaki wasted all those months? Tanjiro wouldn't listen to that bullshit.

"I wonder, how did you come to learn about demo—" Before he could finish his sentence he was met with a swift uppercut. He stumbled back a bit, clutching his jaw.

"Damn that hurt...." He looked up to get punched in the face. "Heheh, that's what I like to see!" He cackled (cackled?🤡) and looked at Tanjiro, staring him straight in those dead eyes.

Was the entire point of insulting him to get him to hit harder? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely not.