Demon Slayer - Tale of Flame and Dream : A Fan Story

Chapter Thirty Five: Nightmare Breathing

Three days after Sanemi and Shinobu visited. Ren was standing in the training yard of the Kitsune Den surveying the area. For the past two years, Ren had been teaching Demon Slayers how to survive, but in recent months had also been seen teaching new swordsmen Flame Breathing. This however took a backseat following her grief period after Rengoku's death. Hime had taken to filling in for her teaching sessions, making the students perform a strict training program. "Faster" he could be heard shouting at the students as he made them run up the nearby mountains and down the valleys. "He's a decent teacher isn't he?" Sanemi said to Ren during one of his visits. "Yeah" "Even if they're all pathetic" Ren smiled as she heard Sanemi say this. While he was rough on the outside, she knew he really did care.

"Ren?" Koba's voice snapped her out of her trance and back to reality. She turned to see him standing there with a mixture of demon slayers and newer students. Koba told them to ait before walking up to her. "You sure you're ready for this?" he asked, concern in her voice. "I'm fine" she said with a smile. She clapped her hands together and turned to face her students. "Who's ready to learn more Flame Breathing?" she said in an animated voice. A loud cheer answered as all of the students smiled and ran into place. As the day went on, students showed different signs of fatigue. Some were sweating, others panting and one or two were found lying on the floor. "Push past your limits" Ren called out to them all. "If you don't you'll never improve". She saw one student at the sword training area. His speed and strength were good, but he lacked technique.

"Tiruji, what form is that?" She asked him. Tiruji blushed and dropped his sword. "It's supposed to be Flame Breathing" he said grabbing his sword from the ground. Ren chuckled to herself. "Flame Breathing isn't just about breath techniques and how your body is tuned, it's about your swordsmanship as well. Watch me" She said. All students stopped what they were doing, even the exhausted ones sat up and watched. "For Flame Breathing Forms, you start in certain positions, while you can start with your sword away, it means you need to be faster with your draw. See how my sword is out? Now, look at the dummy over there..." she said pointing at a training dummy around twenty feet from where she stood. "Flame Breathing, First Form..." She said, making each movement visible for her students to see. She darted off at tremendous speed and delivered a single horizontal strike to the dummy "... Unknowing Fire". When she straightened up, all her students began to clap. "See? You need to maintain the forms I've showed you and hone them to perfection. Practice the Eight forms I've taught and you will see improvement, believe me" She addressed with a smile. 'Just like how you taught me Big Brother' a single tear rolling down her cheek. She wiped it away before anyone could notice. "Keep practicing and you'll see major improvements" she said turning away and leaving them to their training.

"They're doing well" Koba said with a smile as he folded his arms "They're not the best, but they're improving" Ren said sheathing her sword. "I heard back from Shinobu, those three boys who were with Lord Rengoku have fully healed and are back out on missions" Koba said to her. Ren looked into the sky at this. "Does this not please you?" he asked in a worried voice. "He should be with them, he should still be here" She said, tears dripping off her chin. "I shouldn't be the Flame Hashira, it should still be him" Koba though this might happen and he let her be. After a while, Ren regained her composure. "Sorry, I guess I'm still not over it" she said moving to one side.

"Mission! Mission!" Ren's Kasugai Crow swooped down and onto her shoulder. "Investigate Demon Activity in City" it squawked. "Thanks Shin" Ren said stroking its neck with the back of her finger. "Oh, you named him?" Koba said surprised. "Yep, thought that Yami might have been lonely" She said with a smile. "So, you gonna go?" he asked her. "Yeah, I just have one thing to do before I go, Take care of yushi for me ok?" she said before running off to her room. She opened a draw on her desk and pulled out a box and opened it.  Inside was a batch of strawberry mochi and a small painting. Ren looked over to her wall and at a photograph of her, Rengoku and Senjuro together and all smiling. Smiling and looking at the painting, she saw how accurate the painting was as a copy of that photograph. She pulled out a sheet of paper and began to write a letter.