CAT || Kimetsu No Yaiba Fanfic

Cat Chapter 18

This chapter is like,, a break from works (for me, and y'all, and these dahlings).

Hotaru stepped out of the showers, changing into a long light blue yukata, with her hair up twisted up on a towel. She sat on her bed, in front of her three boys who were looking a bit sheepish and glancing at anywhere but her.

"So," she started, "I heard that two of you stopped coming to training after getting beaten by Kanao."

She doesn't need to say any names, Zenitsu and Inosuke lowering their head in shame. Hotaru's scowled deepen at the uncomfortable silence. "Why?"

"Wellll," Zenitsu laugh nervously, "I think I did a pretty good job, so beating Kanao-chan wasn't really the issue. So I just..." He trailed off, realizing how pitful he sound. "...gave up."

Hotaru cracked her neck, sighing through her nose. She raised an eyebrow at Inosuke. "And what about you?"

Inosuke refused to glance at her way. "I don't like loosing. If I come back there I'll just keep loosing."

This time, Hotaru actually groaned. 'But at least they're realizing their mistakes, right?' She thought, glancing back and forth at the boys. 'And openly admitting them too.'

"You do know that this is your recovery training, right? So of course she'll beat you all. Ino," Said boy stiffened, "You're still a growing boy, It's okay to loose. Yes you're loosing, but if you're actually still trying, then you'll someday beat her. And many more enemies."

He didn't respond, but he seems to square his shoulders up straighter. Hotaru turned to Zenitsu.

"Zeni, you do sound pathetic." The boy flinched. "But you should know that you're the most advanced right now from you three. You went on an extreme training, and you're certainly the fastest now, right?" He nodded in response.

Hotaru's eyes softened, her voice lowering into a gentle one.

"Then don't give up that easily, you dolt. Don't you have friends to protect?"

Zenitsu heard her sound, so supporting and proud, and he can't help the sniffles and tears coming.

'Ah,' Hotaru deadpan. 'He's crying...'

"Anyway." She cleared her throat, before looking at the boy comforting the crying one. "And you?"

"I'm improving, Hotaru-san!" Then Tanjiro deflated a bit. "But I still can't beat Kanao like them."

Something seems to comes into his mind as he perked up and look at Zenitsu an Inosuke. "There was this full focus breathing though. Naho-chan, Kiyo-chan and Sumi-chan said that Kanao and the Pillars already know how to do that."

The two shifted to him in interest, Hotaru nodding in agreement. "Doing the full focus breathing for the whole day makes people stronger. Like the Hashiras and Kanao, their difference in strength to you is clear."

'Who in the name of fucks are Naho, Kiyo and Sumi?'

"Hotaru-san, they're the three girls helping us everyday with the stretches..." Zenitsu had said. Hotaru only nodded, not bothering to question if she said her question out loud, since the gears on her brain was already turning rapidly.

Hotaru was honestly surprised though. Her mission had gone for almost nineteen days, counting the journey going there and back. From what she remember from the series, Tanjiro started training the full focus breathing after fifteen days of continuous loosing. But he hasn't even began yet. Was she missing something? Or was that she can't just remember because of her poor memory? Was the timeline already changing?