A Life Worth Living

Secrets

After speaking with Genya, Mira made her way to the training grounds where she found Sanemi, Giyu, and Shinobu waiting for her. They were the three she wanted to train that night, as their different personalities and fighting styles could make teamwork difficult for them.

As she approached the group, she noticed a small lump on the side of Sanemi's neck. Mira gave him a knowing smile. There was only one slayer under Sanemi who would be able to land a blow on him, and that was Tanjiro. He probably did it during their confrontation about Genya. Sensing her gaze, Sanemi quickly looked away and covered the bruise with his hand.

"Good evening everyone! I hope training with the slayers went well today. As for our session, the three of you will try your best to restrain me. I will resist with everything I have, so try your best!" Mira tossed them their wooden swords, and the training began.

All three of them did their best to work together against Mira, who would evade their strikes, grab their swords, or trip them. At one point, she managed to get Giyu and Sanemi tangled up, causing Sanemi to lash out at his fellow Hashira even though it was mostly his fault rather than Giyu's. Shinobu didn't work with the other two and tried to strike Mira on her own, but that was her weakness. She wasn't strong enough to fight Mira on her own, resulting in her ultimately landing in the dirt.

However, fighting against three Hashira was not an easy feat. Unlike when she fought Sanemi for the first time, she was not able to simply dodge. She used her own wooden sword to deflect and attack back. It also made it more realistic for Sanemi, Giyu, and Shinobu because in a real fight, their opponents would not hold back their strikes. Mira's demonic strength and speed gave her an edge, but she still had to commit 100% of her effort to keep her opponents at bay without revealing anything that would give away her identity.

The training continued with short breaks scattered throughout for Mira to instruct them on their deficiencies as well as their strengths. However, Mira was particularly brutal against Sanemi. She would trip him, pull his sword from his hands to hit him with it, and use him as a shield against Shinobu and Giyu's attacks. By the end of it, he was in much worse shape than the other two.

"This was a good session. Thank you for training with me! I learned a lot, and I hope we were all able to benefit from it as well!" Mira bowed, and so did Giyu and Shinobu. The two of them turned to leave, leaving just Sanemi, who was anything but pleased.

"Akimoto! What the hell was that!?" he growled. "You used me like a doll out there!" Mira turned to him with a blank expression. She was still extremely angry with him about what he had done to Genya and Tanjiro earlier that day.

"Everything that happened to you only occurred because you were not proficient enough to stop me," she said matter-of-factly. "Maybe instead of getting mad at others for mistakes that you made, you should take some ownership." Her last sentence wasn't about the sparring match, and Sanemi knew it too.

"So that's what this is about." Sanemi sighed and leaned his wooden sword against a stump as he took a seat atop it. "Go ahead, lecture me," he snapped. Mira narrowed her eyes as if she was going to scold him, but she stopped herself.

"No. I will talk to you about this." Sanemi eyed Mira suspiciously.

"Really? Because it looks to me like you're about to burst at the seams and tell me off."

"Your observation is correct. But I am a woman of my word, so please leave before I change my mind." Sanemi let out a frustrated sigh.

"Woman of your word? Genya asked you not to bring it up didn't he?"

"I'm not at liberty to confirm that." But her answer told him everything he needed to know. Genya hadn't quit the Demon Slayer Corps as he had hoped, and he had told Mira not to get involved. He saw Mira's fist clench out of the corner of his eye as she attempted to restrain herself.