Forever

Chapter 2 - Training Grounds

"It's a peaceful day today...that cloud looks like...a cloud," Muichiro thought to himself, looking up at the sky as he made his way to his personalized training ground. Every hashira had one, that is, everyone except Rengokou. After his death, his training ground was made into a special prayer place. Muichiro could not help thinking about this. It most certainly would have been an ordinary day if only a certain someone named Y/N hadn't been newly recruited. As a new hashira, she did not yet have a personalized training ground yet, as she still needed to hone her own skills a little more. Muichiro thought as much. His wounded side ached, but to him, it was just a scratch. Clenching his fists at his side, Muichiro thought to himself, "Akaza...Uppermoon 3. That bastard, what was it that he said? 'I will kill you in your sleep?' I'll get to you first."

"Are you alright, Muichiro-kun?" Y/N snapped Muichiro out of his thoughts. They had arrived at his training ground. Warm sunlight encompassed the wooden house. Currently, no one was there; it was probably a bit early, considering that the other hashiras had not yet arrived at their own training grounds. Otherwise, Muichiro would have heard the growling of Sanemi and the clanking of swords from Giyuu's. Muichiro sighed. He was tired. But not yet tired enough. He could fight, and he wanted to see how strong Y/N was.

Muichiro had experience. His attacks consisted of spasmodic slashes, dashes, swift dodging, slashes in the air, and of course, mist breathing. He stepped into the training room and watched as Y/N grabbed a bamboo training stick from the corner. Muichiro did the same. Studying Y/N was a little difficult, Muichiro realized. She had a really sweet appearance, and that made Muichiro wonder if her fighting style was the excat opposite. After all, he did not know her attack patterns nor what kind of breathing style she used.

"Y/N-chan," he called, stepping into the center of the room. "What breathing style do you use?"

"Ah, I use mist breathing just like you! I can't wait to put my skills to the test with you, Muichiro-kun!" she exclaimed.

"Mist breathing as well...this will surely be interesting." Muichiro thought. Getting himself into a fighting stance, he slipped a nonchalant mask on and said, "Y/N-chan, are you prepared?" When Y/N nodded, Muichiro did not waste a second going in for the attack.

Y/N immediately blocked the attack with the makeshift bamboo sword, but that was just what Muichiro wanted to happen. "I attacked fast without warning yet she managed to block it...what incredible reflexes," he thought to himself. "Let's see what else you've got."

"First form: Low clouds, distant haze." Muichiro breathed. A powerful frontal attack was unleashed to Y/N's body. However, Y/N easily blocked this by simply holding up her bamboo in a backhand form and using her body weight to push Muichiro backward. Then came multiple counterattacks. A swift kick in an attempt to break Muichiro's bamboo. Muichiro easily deflected the blow.

"Fourth form: Waterfall." Y/N whispered. She got into a low stance and dashed towards Muichiro delivering a total of eight consecutive attacks. Muichiro deflected all the blows easily.

The training battle continued until noon; by then, both Muichiro and Y/N's bamboo swords were roughed up and cut in half. Muichiro was only slightly out of breath, yet Y/N was panting heavily. Muichiro 'hmped' and wiped away the little sweat forming at his forehead.

"While your reflexes are amazingly fast, your endurance, not so much, Y/N-chan. It has only been 3 hours, yet you are already out of breath. Is this hashira behavior?" Muichiro said, tossing out the broken bamboo swords out.

"No, it certainly...is not..." Y/N panted heavily, quickly draining the water from her bottle. "I might need a shower after this..." she grumbled. "But! Thank you for training with me and offering your time, Muichiro-kun! I learned a lot and will continue to improve. Will you be up to train again?"

"Only if you improve...I cannot train with you if you are like this."

Y/N grinned. "Of course! Well, goodbye Muichiro-kun. Until we meet again!" With that, she scampered off in search of cold water to bathe in.

Muichiro stepped outside, and cool breeze softened his features. "Y/N is interesting...despite the 'harsh' remarks I made, she reamined kind...the others would certainly be down in the dumps." he thought. "Her fourth form of mist breathing...it was similar to mine? The only difference is that she delivers consecutive attacks while I simply slash after I take a low stance. Interesting, we have similar breathing styles, Y/N-chan. This will be a competition to see which fighting style will have the upper hand."

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

"Muichiro!" Muichiro turned around to see the all-time cheerful Tanjiro Kamado behind him. Tanjiro was an eccentric child. Despite having suffered so much, he had found people he called home-the hashiras. They all treated him kindess...well, we will not mention Sanemi. Tanjiro greatly enjoyed hanging out and chatting with Muichiro, and Muichiro's feelings were mutual towards Tanjiro. Why, you may ask? Muichiro acts differently around others. Well of course. However, Tanjiro was the one who helped Muichiro regain his memories. That is part of the reason why Muichiro's eyes lit up when he saw Tanjiro.

"Tanjiro! What brings you here?" he exclaimed.

"I want to chat! I just finished training with Gyomei, I'm so tired..." he panted. "Oh! By the way, I've heard you've been training with the newly recruited hashira, Y/N! I heard she's really sweet. How were her fighting skills?"

"Her reflexes are impressive, yet her endurance needs loads of improvement..." Muichiro looked Tanjiro up and down. "Her personality matches yours."

"Eh? Well does it now!" Tanjiro laughed. "Why don't we chat for a bit? After all, it would be a waste not to be outside in this peaceful day!"

Muichiro nodded. With that, the duo proceeded to chat while enjoying the warm sunlight that they both basked in.

[I'M SORRY THIS IS SO CRINGE]