Seventh Moon

Rengoku Kyojuro: Dawn

Our bliss was short-lived. The only bright side to it was that it didn't happen the moment we woke up. What we did wake up to was a moody and bruised Tanjirou. Apparently, Tokito-san was also in the village and was beating up some poor kid. Tanjirou stepped in and somehow got roped into training with a mechanical doll, so he'd become stronger and won't lose to Tokito-san.

That led to Tanjirou showing us the doll. "Whoa, six arms?" Kyojuro seemed impressed as he moved closer to examine it. A sense of recognition came over me once I set my eyes on the odd-looking doll. While it has six arms, the rest of it looked like it was modeled after a samurai, with its long hair tied up and its earrings... huh? "Tanjirou-kun, this doll has the same earrings as you." Kyojuro hummed his agreement at my observation. That same feeling of dread I always feel whenever I see Tanjirou's earrings crept up on me, coupled with the nagging recognition.

"This doll feels so familiar." I said, which surprised Tanjirou and prompted him to tell me how he feels the same. "Me too! I feel like I know him. Kotetsu said this doll was modeled after an actual swordsman from the Sengoku era. Ah! Perhaps you know this person, Y/N-chan!" The Sengoku era was more than three hundred years ago. Not even my parents were alive then! "I'm not that old Tanjirou-kun. Though, if this doll had six eyes instead of six arms, it looks so much like Kokushibo." And to think Kokushibo has this air of being a swordsman. Could it be?

"Kokushibo?" "Who's that?" Kyojuro and Tanjirou asked at the same time. "Upper moon one." The look of surprise on their faces was expected. "You don't really think that this was based on a demon, do you?" Tanjirou asked, looking at the doll more closely. I tilted my head as a crazy thought entered my mind, "Well, Kokushibo wasn't always a demon. Do you think he was a demon slayer at some point?" Kyojuro hummed in contemplation and Tanjirou turned from the doll to me.

"It's possible." Kyojuro answered, surprising both me and Tanjirou. "Akaza did offer to turn me into a demon. It's possible that has happened to other demon slayers he fought before. Also, I am both a demon and a demon slayer." "Maybe you could ask Kokushibo himself next time." Tanjirou suggested, which he instantly regretted. "There's no chance of that happening. I'm not letting Muzan take Y/N again." We knew how intense Kyojuro could be, but the moment he said that gave me chills.

Tanjirou went to bed – since he's human and was up all day already – while both Kyojuro and I went hunting. "Well, it's about time we start your lessons!" Kyojuro declared the moment we're both cleaned up. Oh, yes. He was supposed to train me. "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Kyojuro somehow procured training swords for us and found a small clearing in the woods where we could get into it. I didn't know what exactly I expected but Kyojuro was strict!

Before anything else, he made sure I was holding the sword correctly, and that my stance was correct. He did have to guide me through it, wrapping his arms around me in the process. It was distracting and I'm amazed at how he was able to focus on the task. After he deemed my stance and grip good enough, we moved on to whacking each other.

"First thing to keep in mind," Kyojuro's voice boomed, "keep your eyes on your opponent!" Okay, easy enough. I nodded and looked at him intensely. "So far, you've been able to hold back demons using your demon blood art. Your sword would mainly be to end them permanently." Kyojuro demonstrated some swings, and I swear it seemed like he actually sliced the air around us. And he was using a training sword too.

"Ah! I ... hah... it feels like my arms will fall off!" I managed to say as I tried to catch my breath. It feels like a lifetime ago since I've felt this exhausted, and to think Kyojuro barely dropped a sweat! Demon slayers really are something else. Kyojuro hummed, looking extremely pleased. "That was great progress, Y/N-chan!" he moved to take the practice sword from me and we walked back to our accommodations, not before he declared, "Now would be the perfect time to go to the hot spring!"