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

Chapter Thirty Seven: Senjuro

The morning after Yuna was rescued by Ren, the two sat in the central courtyard. "I just don't know what to do" Yuna said in a defeated voice. "My family owned that hot spring for generations, at least since the Sengoku era" "I am sorry" Ren said in a sympathetic voice. "My home and family were taken from me by demons too, many demon slayers have" she added looking to Yuna. She looked confused. "What are you suggesting?" She asked Ren, who leant back against the railings as a fox ran up to her. "You could always join us?" she suggested. Yuna looked shocked. "You don't need to know how to fight to help, The Kakushi help with medical recovery and care of other demon slayers" she added. "Maybe" Yuna sighed. "But I want to be able to defend myself too" she continued. "I can teach you" Ren said kindly. Yuna smiled and accepted the offer, despite Ren saying her training can be harsh and intense. The remainder of that day, Ren trained with Yuna, taking her for runs, encouraging her to push further and train her strength. While she struggled this first day, Ren could tell she had potential to defend herself against most demons one day. When night fell the two were training using wooden swords, Yuna was dripping with sweat and covered in bruises but Ren looked as though she barely exerted herself. Finally, when Ren said they could stop. Yuna fell to the floor and lay there motionless. "That was brutal" she said weakly. "Rest up, we're doing it again tomorrow" "What!" Yuna shouted in despair.

When morning came, Natama and Akio returned from the mission they'd been sent on while Ren was in Tokyo. "You're not replacing Kellia already are you?" Natama said laughing. "Not at all, Yuna is just training to be a demon slayer, I'm training her personally so she can catch up to the others" Ren said as she watched Yuna train the accuracy of her sword strokes. "Where's Koba?" she asked them. "He got a mission shortly after you did" Akio said. "Looks like he's still on it" Yuna gave a flurry of fast but innacurate strikes to the training doll. "Wanna help?" Ren asked Akio. "I can" he said simply. "You plan on teaching her Flame Breathing?" he asked. "I do, but I'll only teach her the first eight forms, when she's ready, I'll teach her the tenth" "What about the ninth?" a new voice said from behind. They all turned and Natama and Akio went ridged. "Oh, hey Sanemi, didn't know you were stopping by" Ren said in a cheery voice. "Spur of the moment thing" he said dismissively. "You didn't answer my question" Ren turned to face Yuna, her movements looked cleaner but could improve a lot.  "Because I don't know it" She said plainly. "Huh?" Sanemi said in a quick, confused voice, the sound made Ren chuckle. "Shinjuro never taught it to me, and neither did Kyojuro" "But learning that form could help a lot" Natama said still ridged in Sanemi's presence. "Purgatory is a hard form to do" She said simply. "Yuna" She called. "You can take a break now" Yuna smiled and walked away to get some water. "Wanna spar?" she asked Sanemi. "Why not" he said rotating his shoulder joint. The two grabbed wooden swords and made their way to the training circle. "All out ok?" Ren asked. "If you can keep up" Sanemi said smirking. "Begin" Akio said.

The two Hashira darted at each other with speed so fast, no one could follow their movements. All they could see were the times their swords clashed and when the two weren't moving. Whirlwinds told them where the two were. Ren and Sanemi were evenly matched, their attacks equal in speed and strength. "Wind Breathing: Sixth Form, Black Wind Mountain Mist" Sanemi said his voice full of adrenaline and joy from the fight. He rotated his body and performed a powerful uppercut attack. Ren barely blocked the attack in time and felt herself get lifted into the air.

Both her and Sanemi smiled, but his faded when he saw her next movement. "Flame Breathing: Seventh Form, Meteor Rain!" she called as she rebounded off the tree branches above them and crashed down on Sanemi. Both hit the ground hard and when the dust settled, they were lying face up and laughing. "More?" Ren said breathlessly. "Hell yeah" Sanemi responded. They both kicked up off the floor and resumed their sparing match.

"They're insane" Yuna said weakly. "Yeah, we feel the same way" Akio said his face in a perpetual state of shock. "Flame Breathing" "Wind Breathing" The Hashira said at the exact same time. "Fourth Form" "Third Form" they both moved their swords at the same time. And in the instant before the swords clashed again, Natama grabbed Yuna and pulled fer even further away from them. "Brace yourselves" Akio called over the wind that whirled around them. "Blooming Flame Undulation" "Clear Storm Wind Tree" The two attacks clashed and send shockwaves around the area, windows flew open, dirt kicked up and created dust clouds and the water in the pools rippled and splashed like the sea against cliffs. There was a loud splintering sound and the two wooden swords cracked and broke in two. They all stood there, panting hard. "A tie?" Sanemi said slightly confused. "Guess so" Ren said. There was a silence that filled the air. Then Sanemi broke it. "You're a lot stronger now, he would be proud" He patted her shoulder and collected their swords.