Each Hashira possessed an estate of their own, modeled after their wishes and personal style.
The butterfly mansion, for example, is supposed to be a place of healing, so it is naturally modeled to resemble a hospital. The Stone Hashira's estate was styled according to Buddhist traditions, and the Wind Hashira's estate was modeled after pure violence.
So naturally, the Flame Hashira's estate, which has housed multiple Hashira, looked like a training ground.
Training dummies, pseudo-dojos, and an uncomfortable amount of sumo-wrestling pictures? What the hell does that have to do with being a Hashira?
Wait...
"Kyojuro, do you like men?"
"What?"
"Huh?!" yelled out Tanjiro in confusion
"It's just..."
"Ah, I see," Kyojuro nodded in understanding. "You have fallen in love with me and wish to court me!"
"HUH?!"
"Ah man," I said, scratching my head, "You saw right through me."
"HUHH?!?!?!?!"
Pfft
Unable to control our reactions, both Kyojuro and I burst out in laughter at Tanjiro's dumbfounded face.
'""HAHAHAHA""
"Wh-what? Wait, were you just messing with me?"
"You're so entertaining, Tanjiro," I said, wiping a tear coming out of my eye
"S-senpai!"
Bro isn't Mash.
"Young Kamado, being a Demon Slayer, not only requires physical prowess, but mental strength as well. You must be able to distinguish reality from fiction, or you will end up falling for a Demon's trick."
"Amazing Kyojuro-Sama, you even turned a joke into a lecture effortlessly," Tanjiro said while sulking, "just like my parents."
'Damn, trauma that surpasses worlds'
"Regardless," I said, moving the attention to the real question, "What's up with all this Sumo stuff?"
"Ah, that's why you asked that question earlier." Kyojuro nodded, moving his eyes across the estate."Indeed! These pictures can be quite misleading at first."
"...so?"
"It is their passion!" Kyojuro suddenly shouted, his eyes shining with fervor. "Watching sumo wrestlers give their all to overpower their opponents—such burning spirit is rare in any other sport! You can feel it in the air during a match!"
"A-ah, Rengoku-San"
Rengoku's passionate speech was interrupted by a squeaky female voice.
'Wait, that voice...'
All six eyes zoomed in towards the source of the sound.
'She is...'
*Badump*
She had long, thick hair dyed a soft sakura pink that faded into lime green halfway down. It was tied into three large braids that rested neatly over her shoulders. Her eyes were wide and pale green, with a glossy surface that reflected the light in bright white specks. Long black eyelashes framed them, and just beneath each eye sat a small beauty mark. Her lips were light pink, naturally soft-looking, and unpainted.
Unlike her face, filled with innocence and cuteness, however, her body was the complete opposite. I believe the metaphor for these types of women was 'the face of an angel and the body of a devil'.
While her face was that of an innocent maiden, her body was that of a seductress. A thin waist adorned with perfect curves and breasts of the perfect size.
A curvaceous young woman of pale skin complexion with a thin waist and big, thick thighs. As for her breasts...
'GYYAAAA-'
She's got HUGE boobs. I mean some serious honkers. A real set of badonkers. Packin' some dobonhonkeros. massive dohoonkabhankoloos. big old tonhongerekoogers.
'And that uniform...'
"Wh-what is that clothing?"
Looks like Tanjiro beat me to the punch
No, for real this time,
She was beautiful. The uniform she adorned perfectly highlighted her curves, and the belt she wore perfectly highlighted her petite thin waist. The tight clothing and boob window displayed her bare squished breasts.
Despite her body, she had an aura of innocence and curiosity surrounding her, almost as if there were pink flowers constantly floating around her. Her bright green eyes were shining with admiration and curiosity as she looked at us and the smile she displayed seriously took my breath away for a second.
That smile, full of joy and adoration...
'No one has ever smiled at me like that'
Seriously, WHY did that mid nerd emoji looking guy reject her? The people of this generation are stupid asl smh smh ts pmo.
"Yes, I too was startled upon witnessing it," Kyojuro remarked upon Tanjiro's remark, "But worry not, the Kakushi who delivered the uniform said it was the standard female uniform."
Ah, yes, the same Kakushi who tried to scam Shinobu into wearing the same uniform. Thankfully, Shinobu was much smarter than both Rengoku and Mitsuri combined and immediately set fire to the uniform.
'Thank you, unnamed hero.'
Regardless
The world around me turned gray as I activated Transparent World.
In that moment, I focused on Mitsuri. The manga had mentioned her unique constitution, with muscle density eight times higher than that of the average human. Now, seeing it for myself, it finally made sense.
'Nice muscles.' I thought mentally whistling 'They look like steel cables more than anything.'
Thick, tightly woven fibers that looked more like high-tension steel cables than anything human. Every strand moved with perfect coordination, coiled with strength far beyond what her frame suggested.
'It's kinda like Muscular, except the muscles are inside the body.'
Strong, cute, pretty, charming
What more could you want? This is the perfect woman
"U-um," Mitsuri continued in a small voice, before taking in a deep breath.
"Rengoku-San, I will support your love to the end."
Nevermind.
All the good feelings and positive opinions I had of her instantly came crashing down
"Br-brother, father may not approve of your relationship, but don't worry, I'll try my best to convince him."
This is getting a bit out of hand now. Even the little brother has joined in.
"Guys chill, we were just jokin-"
*woosh*
My explanation was interrupted as a projectile was thrown right in my face.
*Thud*
'Ow, the hell?'
I caught the projectile mid-air, but a sharp jolt of pain ran through my fingers. I winced silently. I had underestimated it—it was thrown with far more force than I expected, definitely not the weight of a normal projectile.
'Still,' I thought as my eyes narrowed, 'Why would someone throw a gourd?'
*shiver*
Goosebumps shivered down my spine as I instantly unsheathed my sword. Not even half a second later, a booming sound was heard as if the air itself was crying out in pain as something heavy slammed straight into my sword.
*BOOM*
The sound of our blades clashing was akin to a grenade setting off. An initial screech sound evolved into a full explosion, making the winds around us stir up as if a tornado had appeared. The land beneath our feet exploded into tiny pieces from the sheer force, turning into dust particles that spread throughout the entire estate.
'The only one here capable of this much destruction is...'
"Flame Breathing Firs-"
"Water Breathing Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust"
Before the assailant could unleash his attack, I immediately used the fastest form of Water Breathing, instantly thrusting my Nichrin Katana towards the thruster's neck, stopping just short of impaling his neck.
"Aoyama, stop!" Kyojuro's voice rang out, halting us both. "That is my father!"
''Waah, they're both so strong"
"So this is a Hashira..."
'...Shinjuro Rengoku, the current Flame Hashira, and Kyojuro's father'
Appearance-wise, this man is a complete carbon copy of Kyojuro Rengoku, if not a bit older with more wrinkles. However, this man possesses none of the charm that his son does, possessing a gloomy aura instead of the one that brings hope, and is covered in the smell of alcohol; no one would believe this man to be a Hashira.
"Grr"
Shinjuro growled as he looked straight into my eyes. Despite having a blade pointed straight at his neck, his usual deadpan eyes were burning with rage for some reason, making me believe for a second that he truly would not mind getting his neck impaled if it meant having the chance to strike me with his sword.
*drip*
All sound stopped, as everyone's eyes moved directly towards the sound.
On the ground was a tiny splatter of blood.
Tracing the drop of blood, my eyes arrived at my Nichrin Sword, which eventually traveled up to Shinjuro Rengoku's neck. It looks like I used a bit too much force and slightly pierced the first few layers of his skin, leading to a tiny leakage of blood.
'Thankfully, it's not lethal. I do NOT want to be put on trial for killing a Hashira.'
"Hmph"
Seeing the drop of blood and the thin stream of blood finally calmed down Shinjuro's anger as a semblance of rationality appeared in his eyes. Slowly raising his hands, Shinjuro slowly walked away from the blade pointed at his neck.
"Aoyama Yuito Daichi," Shinjuro said coldly as he sheathed his Katana into his scabbard. "Why are you here?"
"Isn't it obvious, old man? I'm here to learn Flame Breathing."
"I know that much," Shinjuro countered, ignoring my remark. "I'm asking why you want to learn Flame Breathing."
"The hell do you mean by wh-" I paused for a moment, before widening my eyes in realization. "Wait, don't tell me"
"A student of the former Water Hashira Sakonji Urokodaki, who taught you Water Breathing. Then, you came under the tutelage of the Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima, from whom you learnt Stone Breathing.
And now, you want to learn Flame Breathing, because your Nichrin Katana is coloured red? Who are you trying to fool?"
"U-um, Rengoku-San," Mitsuri said, stepping in trying to calm him down Can you please-"
"SILENCE"
"Eeek"
Letting out a squeaky sound, Mitsuri immediately dashed behind Kyojuro.
"And YOU," Shinjuro yelled out in rage, pointing his finger towards me, "You're trying to re-create Sun Breathing, aren't you?"
"FATHER!" Kyojuro shouted out, trying to intervene, "Please stop! He is clearly only interested in learning Flame Breathing to see if he has an aff-"
"You're right."
Before Kyojuro could finish his excuse, I cut him off.
'No use pretending now'
"Kyojuro, your father always mentioned how Flame Breathers were a knock-off of Sun Breathing, but did he ever tell you what Sun Breathing really is?"
"Aoyama, what are you trying to say?" Rengoku asked, clearly confused
"Sun Breathing is the original breathing technique, the first ever to exist. However, the breathing technique was too powerful to teach to others, so they instead derived the five main breathing techniques.
Stone Breathing was a derivative of the strength aspect.
Water Breathing was a derivative of its fluidity and adaptability.
Thunder Breathing was a derivative of its speed.
Wind Breathing was a derivative of its offensive abilities.
Flame Breathing is the derivative closest to Sun Breathing.
I won't deny that my goal in coming here was to learn Flame Breathing to further master Sun Breathing. I was going to immediately go searching for the former Thunder Hashira as soon as I learned Flame Breathing."
"Hmph, at least you're honest," Shinjuro grunted. "See, Kyojuro? He only tried to befriend you to take advantage of you."
"Father"
Unlike before, Kyojuro opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. He was searching for a retort—but couldn't find one. His father had a point. After all, they had barely known each other for a day.
'Maybe, father is right?'
"Kyojuro, whatever you're thinking of right now, stop it."
Sensing a gloomy aura coming from Kyojuro, I immediately asked him to halt his thinking process.
"Listen up, old man," I said, raising my sword towards him. "I don't know why you're trying to antagonize me so hard for trying to learn a breathing technique, but I will tell you one thing: I am NEVER going to take advantage of a friend of mine."
"Aoyama..."
"Senpai..."
"Waahh, that's so cool."
"What's your problem if I do want to learn Flame Breathing and turn it into Sun Breathing, huh? You're jealous your drunk-ass can't use Sun Breathing, huh? Oh right, I'm sorry, if you tried to use Sun Breathing, your mouth would probably catch on fire from all the alcohol you've been chugging down."
"You," Shinjuro's eyes widened before narrowing in anger, "I am a Hashira, mind your words."
"You're a hashira alright, just instead of being filled with concrete, you're filled with beer instead. I mean, I can see your gut hanging out completely stuffed with alcohol."
"How dare y-"
"Both of you, please stop."
A heavy pressure, akin to a burning volcano, spread out throughout the courtyard for a moment before dissipating.
"Aoyama, I understand your anger, but please keep in mind that he is my father and I will not tolerate any more insults." Kyojuro then turned to the other side. "The same goes for you, father, he is my friend, so please be mindful of your words."
A heavy silence descended in the courtyard as Shinjuro and I stared at each other in silence.
"Tch, whatever. I never expected to raise such a naive son."
After a moment of contemplation, Shinjuro retracted his gaze, not before insulting Kyojuro.
"If only you realized what I have been saying, instead of befriending these..." His eyes scanned the present Slayers before stopping at Tanjiro. "...Insolent brats."
Or more accurately, at his Hanafuda earrings.
*THUMP*
The utter look of rage on Shinjuro's face that appeared on Shinjuro's face frightened the group of slayers in front of him so much that their hearts let out a collective heavy beat.
"You..."
The sheer amount of anger radiating from his face turned the atmosphere hot with rage. It felt as if the air around everyone froze, rendering everyone unable to breathe.
"Re-rengoku san," Mitsuri whimpered, clinging to Kyojuro while letting out startled gasps.
'Eek, so this is...'
*clank*
Tanjiro wasn't any better. The sheer amount of power radiating from Shinjuro rendered Tanjiro immobile as his instincts blared at him to run. The Nichrin Katana he held slipped from his grasp as Tanjiro knelt down while clutching his chest, unable to breathe from fear.
'This pressure, so this is...'
Kyojuro readied his sword as he stepped in front of Tanjiro, yet even his hands couldn't stop shaking from fear.
'I have fought multiple demons before,' Kyojuro thought grimly, 'But none had this presence. So this is...'
' ' ' A Hashira ' ' '
*whoosh*
Just as the heat threatened to consume everyone, a cool, humid air blew throughout the estate, calming everyone down while acting as a form of a protective blanket.
"What?" Shinjuro mumbled in confusion, before understanding dawned in his eyes, prompting him to turn furiously in my direction. "YOU!"
Eyes full of shimmering volcanic rage met eyes full of cold indifference.
"Me"
*creeakkk*
Hearing the sound of wood breaking, Shinjuro's eyes traveled to my Katana as I tightened my grip on its handle, letting out a slow creaking sound as if daring him to do anything.
'Go on, try anything'
After a moment of contemplation, Shinjuro turned back around to disappear back to his man-cave.
~~~~~
That went horribly
"Seriously, how can you live with someone like that?" I muttered angrily, stuffing down another sweet potato straight from Kyojuro's plate." Doesn't he get on your nerves? I regret ever trying to help him."
"Help him?" Kyojuro asked in confusion
"Ah, right, Tanjiro's breathing technique is called Hinokami Kagura, but it really is Sun Breathing."
*cough*
Tanjiro immediately choked on his food upon hearing what I said.
"W-wait, Senpai, what do you mean I'm using Sun Breathing?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Your ancestors just renamed it to Hinokami Kagura to protect themselves from Muzan Kibutsuji."
"Why would the Demon King care about a breathing technique?" Kyojuro asked in confusion.
"Let's just say he hates Sun Breathing and leave it at that for now."
"Tanjirooo," Mitsuri whined jumping at Tanjiro much to his shock. "You've even got a super secret overpowered technique that can defeat the main villain. It's like you're the protagonist of a manga or something."
"P-protagonist? me?" Tanjiro stuttered in confusion while trying to shake off Mitsuri "No way, I'm just a country bumpkin, why would I be the protagonist?
"Anyways," I continued "I thought I could help your father if I made you and Tanjiro fight each other. Since it was clear that Tanjiro wasn't going to win, I figured if you won against a Sun user, your father would stop being a drunkard, but that plan went down the drain fast."
Letting out a sigh, I snatched the rest of the food present, much to Mitsuri's shock.
"I see," Kyojuro nodded. "Unfortunately, that plan would not have worked in the first place."
"Huh?" I yelled in confusion, "Why not?"
"Because Kamado here is weak," Kyojuro said, disregarding Tanjiro's cough. "He hasn't even mastered Total Concentration: Constant yet. I believe that even if I did beat him, father would not have been convinced."
Huh, I completely overlooked that possibility. This version of Tanjiro might be stronger than his Canon version, but there was no way he could have mastered constant in just a few months of training.
Originally, it took him two years of training to properly strengthen his lungs to accommodate Water Breathing in the first place, and then a month of training to master it.
"Ah but you looked so cool" Mitsuri replied hurriedly as if sensing my displeasure "When Rengoku-San's dad looked at us, the air went BOOM and I thought I was going to die, but then you were like WOOSH and then you both were BAM, and then he backed out. That was so cool."
"Uh," I mumbled in confusion, "Thank you?"
"Wait, Senpai" Tanjiro interrupted "if you wanted to learn Sun Breathing, can't you just copy my Hinokami Kagura?"
"That is part of the plan."
I sighed, leaning back. "The problem is, after generations of hiding Sun Breathing as Hinokami Kagura, the breathing style has degraded. Currently, it's just an imperfect version of the actual breath."
"Ah," Mitsuri yelled, slapping her fist on top of her flat hand, "Since the breathing styles are derivatives, you're going to master all the breathing styles, then straighten out the imperfections, right?"
"Bingo"
"Hm," Rengoku hummed, "Then the remaining breaths are Flame, Wind, and Thunder?"
"Nah"
Brushing the crumbs off my shirt, I rose to my feet, unsheathed my katana with a clean, practiced motion, and drew in a deep breath, filling my lungs with air.
"Flame Breathing First Form: Sea of Fire"
The air around me instantly grew hot, wavering with rising heat as flames erupted from my blade. I swung the katana in a wide arc, the same as Water Breathing's first form, before it surged forward, launched as a blazing projectile.
Silence
For a moment, no one said anything as the flaming arc extinguished mid-air after a second.
"When your father attacked me," I said, sitting back down as if I hadn't done something extraordinary, "I saw the way his muscles and lungs contracted. After that, reverse engineering Flame Breathing wasn't that hard."
"Th-th-that"
It looks like Kyojuro short-circuited
"Waaah! No fair."
Mitsuri suddenly cried out, before jumping up and pointing her finger at me as if accusing me of a heinous crime with tears in her eyes
"I trained day and night for entire months, and I could barely make a decent arc, and you just come along, see it once, and then just copy it perfectly?" Mitsuri yelled, stomping her foot, "No fair! Not fair at all, the protagonist's Senpai should die to motivate him! Die die die die"
Let it be known that her threats were anything but threatening
"Still," I said, ignoring her tantrum, "I haven't mastered all the forms yet. Your father only attacked me with the 1st form, so I was able to copy that, but I can't use the other forms right now."
*CAW*
The cries of a crow interrupted the conversation
"CAW CAW, MESSAGE MESSAGE, FLAME PILLAR COME TO THE MEETING CAW CAW"
The meeting?
Wait.
This is the beginning of Rengoku Gaiden!
"Everyone, please stay here," Kyojuro said, standing up. "I must inform Father."
"Hey Kyojuro," I said, stopping him in his tracks, "You know, your father will probably refuse, right?"
Putting aside the fact that he refused in Canon, he's probably really pissed after the fight we just had.
"Be that as it may, I must at least inform him of the message," Kyojuro said, as he started walking away.
"Um, Senpai," Tanjiro nervously said, looking towards me, "This is going to end up in a disaster, right?"
"Of course," I sighed, leaning back, "The whole day has been full of disasters one after another anyway, what does it matter if there's another?"
"Rengoku-San", Mitsuri whispered worryingly
Sigh
Deep down, I, too, hoped for the Rengoku family to regain their initial peace and semblance, but I knew that was a dream at this point. Especially now that I fucked up bad.
'Yet again,' I thought gloomily, 'Yet again, I have let another friend down'
This curse...
No.
This isn't a curse.
Time and time again, I blamed everything on my curse. My friendship with my first friend that ended after I lost my temper, my relationship with my parents that became strained after I intentionally isolated myself, my hatred towards my sister becauseof my inferiority complex.
It's my own failure. My arrogance, my ego, my habit of charging ahead without thinking things through. Every disaster I cause, every mistake I make, it all stems from me. I can't keep blaming it on some curse just to escape the truth of my weakness.
No, this is completely my fault.
"Aoyama-Senpai"
As if sensing my gloomy mood, Tanjiro tried to distract me, but I sighed putting my hands up as if to stop him.
"Sorry Tanjiro, but I think this is something I need to resolve right now, or I'll never progress further in life."
To cast away my fear of failure, my insecurities, my inferiority complex, my negative thoughts was easier said than done. But, this is something I must do if I ever hope to bring peace to both these worlds.
My doubts...
...
No
There are no doubts anymore. Even if what I am going to do goes against my beliefs as a Demon Slayer, if doing this means that everyone gets a happy ending, then I have no other choice now.
*SPLASH*
The sound of a gourd breaking took me out of my thoughts.
"That was..." Mitsuri whispered worryingly
"Tanjiro" I said ignoring the sound "Show me all the moves of your Hinokami Kagura."
"Huh?" Tanjiro replied in confusion "Weren't you going to copy all the basic breaths before?"
"Change of plans" I replied "Because I am going to do something stupid."
That's right.
Most people complain about the butterfly effect when they transmigate into another world, but aside from having Tanjiro learn Hinokami Kagura instead of Water Breathing I haven't changed much.
Which is why, I am going to utterly fuck up Canon now, consequences be damned. If I'm going to live in this world, I'm not going to live while cowering in fear.
*clack clack*
The sound of Kyojuro's footsteps echoed throughout the corridor as he approached us, his face grim.
"Father will not be going" Kyojuro said somberly, before smiling brightly "But worry not! for I have been given permission to go as his stand-in."
"I must apologize" Kyojuro replied bowing down "But I must depart now. If I am to act as a stand-in for a Hashira, the least I can do is not be late."
"You're right" I replied standing up while smoothening the creases on my pants. "We definitely can't be late"
"We?"
"We"
"After all" I replied looking straight in his eyes "I'm going to the meeting with you."