Chapter 18: A Brief Respite

The trek from Fujikasane Mountain to Sagiri Mountain was about two day's travel, at least for the trio of newly-minted Demon Slayers. During their travel, Kiyoshi continued to practice with Full Focus: Constant, but to frustratingly little effect. He had to be missing something, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure it out.

Were that all, Kiyoshi would have easily overcome his irritation, but it wasn't. No, his discontent ran far deeper than that, though Kiyoshi himself wasn't aware of it.

Of course, Kiyoshi's frustration was not lost on his traveling companions.

Kaigaku, despite how he'd begun to open up, was scarcely inclined to initiate conversation about anything other than fighting and eating. Makomo, on the other hand, had no such disinclination. When the trio stopped travelling for the evening, settling under the boughs of an ancient oak, she broached the topic. "Kiyoshi, are you unwell? You seem rather...discontent."

Kiyoshi's eyebrows shot up. "I didn't realize it was so obvious. I'm not ill, I'm just...struggling with this technique."

Makomo cocked her head curiously and motioned for him to continue. Though Kaigaku continued his silence, the gleam in his eyes betrayed his interest.

Kiyoshi folded his hands in his lap and leaned back against the tree, gazing through the leaves at the darkening skies for a few moments. Then, he began to speak.

"The technique is called 'Full Focus: Constant. Lady Shinobu, the Insect Pillar, told me about it." Kiyoshi blew out a sigh. "Apparently, the gulf between those who can constantly maintain a state of Full Focus Breathing and those who cannot is a magnitude greater than the gap between a member of the Corps and an untrained civilian. In fact," he raised a finger, "it's one of the prerequisites to becoming a Pillar."

"Master never told me anything about that, and he used to be a Pillar," Kaigaku remarked with a frown.

Makomo gave a nod, adding, "Neither did Master Urokodaki."

Kiyoshi nodded. "Lady Shinobu said that most students aren't told about it until they're at least Hinoto rank, so they don't try to reach beyond their grasp and hurt themselves. Tsuguko usually learn about it, though, so it's probably fine for both of you to know as well."

"Ah," Makomo breathed, her eyes suddenly sad, "that would explain it. Master Urokodaki...he has lost many, many students to that morphed demon, and I am certain that he frets over the heath and safety of those he teaches."

Kaigaku, for his part, didn't give voice to his thoughts about being out of the loop on this topic, though the grimace on his face made it quite clear that he wasn't pleased about it.

"Anyways," Kiyoshi continued, "during Final Selection, I...hit a block, I guess. I can't seem to maintain my Breath for longer than six hours." He cupped his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps Sir Urokodaki will have some suggestions…" Kiyoshi looked up abruptly, a sheepish look on his face. "That is, if you don't mind me asking your teacher, Makomo."

She gave a light, warm laugh. "Please, Kiyoshi. I do not have sole rights to my teacher's knowledge; feel free to ask him whatever you like. I cannot promise he will grant you a straight answer, however; Master Urokodaki oft favors less direct answers to questions." Makomo raised her finger and spoke in a faux-imperious tone. "Just as water is able to flow in any direction and take any shape, so too must your mind and body be malleable and free…" she trailed off with a chuckle, then added, "...or so Master says."

Kaigaku made a rude noise, then snarked, "That just sounds like he doesn't feel like answering."

Makomo rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Perhaps," she riposted, "or perhaps my teacher knows that I am capable of reasoning out the true meaning of his words, and do not need his teaching spoon-fed to me."

Kaigaku narrowed his eyes. "You calling me stupid, girly?"

"And if I am?" Makomo replied serenely.

The silence grew tense as Kaigaku glared at Makomo, and the seconds dragged on...before Kaigaku threw his head back and let out a harsh, barking laugh. "Maybe I am, then," he replied once he'd calmed down a bit. "For someone so prim and proper looking, you've got some steel to you." He gave a feral, but not altogether unfriendly grin. "I don't hate it."

Makomo covered her mouth with her sleeve to hide the smile that had crept across it, though her eyes gave it away. "I am sure I do not know what you are talking about, Kaigaku."

Kiyoshi looked between his two traveling companions, a small smile on his face. Both of them were quite the characters, there was no mistaking that, but he couldn't say he minded traveling with such lively, colorful people.

It was certainly a lot less lonely than Mister Wolf's journey had sounded, anyway.

-x-x-x-

The next day found the trio leaving the more heavily forested part of the province and entering the flatlands, where rice paddies and farmhouses abounded. A few curious looks were shot their way by farmers working their crops, as they made for an unusual sight, but thankfully nobody accosted them for being unaccompanied by an adult. As such, they made good time, and by the time the sun hung low in the sky they could see Sagiri Mountain on the horizon.

As they approached the foot of the mountain, Makomo almost seemed to vibrate with intensity. Not quite giddiness and not quite anxiety, the girl seemed to be filled with an almost overwhelming sense of longing, to Kiyoshi's inner eye at least. One thing was clear, though: Makomo couldn't be happier to see her teacher again—no, more than that: she was overjoyed to be returning home.

The warmth and love with which she spoke of Sir Urokodaki would be unmistakable even if Kiyoshi didn't have his inner eye; after all, it was the same warmth that he felt whenever he was around Miss Tamayo and Mister Wolf, and the same warmth that Kaigaku poorly concealed that he felt for Mister Kuwajima. The warmth of belonging, of having someone you can call family, someplace you can call home.

And all too soon, that very home was before the trio. Night had finally fallen, and the forest was alive with the sounds of insects and birds. The sole light in the forest was flickering candlelight from the window of a small wooden cabin, situated beside a dirt trail that led up the mountain.

As the cabin came into view, the intense sense of longing Makomo was giving off seemed to hit a peak, and she broke into a run, leaving Kiyoshi and Kaigaku behind as she bolted towards her home.

Just as Makomo reached the cabin's door, it slid open to reveal a red-masked figure clad in a blue kimono patterned with white clouds; the very same masked figure, Kiyoshi noted, who'd accompanied Makomo to Miss Kanae's funeral. Without a doubt, this was Sakonji Urokodaki, former Water Pillar.

As Kiyoshi and Kaigaku approached at a far more sedate pace, Makomo embraced her teacher. Sir Urokodaki bent down to return the embrace, pulling her close with a degree of care usually reserved for spun glass.

Though Kiyoshi could not hear the words that passed between them, his inner eye told him all he needed to know. It showed him the desperate, disbelieving relief that was coursing through Sir Urokodaki, and how Makomo had finally fully relaxed and lowered her guard completely, something she hadn't yet done around the two of them. And of course, Kiyoshi could scarcely miss the deep bond between them, the unmistakable tie of familial love. It was an overwhelmingly potent sensation, but not painfully so.

It was truly a beautiful thing.

With his inner eye open so wide, though, Kiyoshi felt...something he couldn't identify on the edge of his awareness. It felt like nothing he'd ever felt before, not quite human and distinctly not demonic. It was far in the distance, somewhere off in the mountains.

All the same, whatever this oddity was, it didn't feel hostile, so Kiyoshi put it out of his mind for the moment. There were more important things to focus on right now.

As Kiyoshi and Kaigaku crossed the last few meters of the path to Sir Urokodaki's cabin, the tengu-masked former Pillar released Makomo and turned to regard the two of them. Though the mask obscured his face completely, both of them felt the weight of Sir Urokodaki's measuring gaze all the same.

"And who," he asked in a soft, yet serious voice, "are you two?"

Kiyoshi was the first to step forward, bowing deeply at the waist as he introduced himself. "Kiyoshi Ametsuchi, newly of the Mizunoto rank. I will be in your care, Sir Urokodaki." After a moment of silence, he jabbed his elbow into Kaigaku's ribs.

Kaigaku gave a huff, then bowed as well, though his was far more sloppy. "Name's Kaigaku. No family name." He jerked a thumb at Kiyoshi, then gestured at Makomo. "New Mizunoto, just like them." A spark seemed to crackle into existence in his eyes. "Came along because she," he gestured to Makomo again, "said you used to be a Pillar, just like Master. I was curious."

Kiyoshi shook his head slightly, an exasperated smile coming to his face. "Of course, Makomo inviting us to come meet you was the chief reason, at least for me."

Sir Urokodaki looked between the duo and his student, his expression concealed behind the scowl of his crimson mask. After a moment, though, he motioned to his door. "It seems we have much to discuss."

-x-x-x-x-x-

After Master Urokodaki had drawn the story of what had happened during Final Selection out of Makomo, he'd gone quiet for a while. He'd just...knelt at the fire pit, fists tight and head bowed. After a time, he'd gone over to Kiyoshi and Kaigaku and laid a hand on each of their shoulders, then spoke in a voice choked with emotion.

"Thank you, both of you. Thank you for helping my disciple survive that morphed demon, and thank you for helping avenge the deaths of my past students."

Kiyoshi had merely given a smile, and said, "I was able to help, and I did. It's as simple as that." Something about his smile and the way he'd spoken had felt off to Makomo, though she couldn't put her finger on the source of that feeling.

Kaigaku, on the other hand, had given a snort and replied, "You don't need to thank me; Makomo was the one to finish off that meaty bastard with that dragon of hers. We just kept it busy." He'd then shot her a feral smirk and said, "Don't think that it'll be the same next time, though."

And now the four of them were crowded around the fire pit, enjoying one of Master Urokodaki's delicious hotpots as a late dinner. Compared to the rice balls and trail rations they'd been eating for the past week or so, this was heaven, and it was clear that Kiyoshi and Kaigaku agreed with her, if the way they were tucking into their own meals was any indication.

After they finished their meals, Master Urokodaki gathered up the dishes and started washing them in a small basin of river water. As he worked, he began to ask Kiyoshi and Kaigaku questions, with the first (unsurprisingly) being about Kiyoshi's false arm.

"It's a long story," Kiyoshi hedged, "and one that's pretty hard to believe, but...at Miss Kanae's funeral last year, do you recall the one-armed man who attended with me?"

"I do," Master Urokodaki confirmed, "he managed to freeze both Giyu and myself with nothing but the weight of his Chi. What about him?"

"He was known by a particular name, once." Kiyoshi looked at Master Urokodaki, his eyes bright and unflinching. "Sekiro."

Her Master said nothing for a moment, but Makomo could practically feel his incredulousness. "The legendary One-Armed Wolf of the Sengoku era? The man who brought the land of Ashina to its knees for the sin of stealing away his lord? That Sekiro?"

Kiyoshi nodded seriously. "Mister Wolf no longer claims the title of Sekiro, because he has passed the Shinobi Fang," he rattled the false arm in emphasis, "to me. One day I will be worthy of the title he bestowed upon me." Kiyoshi's face twisted into a mask of determination. "One day, I will claim the name of Sekiko, but for now...for now, I am Fox."

"I...I see," Master Urokodaki replied, very clearly nonplussed and befuddled by what Kiyoshi had revealed to them. And in fairness, Makomo was also taken aback. She'd not heard of this Sekiro person, but her Master had said that he was from the Sengoku era, which had ended hundreds of years ago. To claim that he'd been taught by a man from that time period...had Kiyoshi been anybody else, Makomo would have immediately dismissed him as mad, and even now she wasn't sure if she believed he wasn't.

Apparently, though, Master Urokodaki had decided to handle his confusion by changing the topic, this time to ask Kaigaku a question. The boy in question didn't seem to care much about the baffling claim that Kiyoshi had made, oddly enough.

"Kaigaku, was it?" her Master asked, receiving a nod in response. "You mentioned your master was a Pillar as well, did you not? What is his name?"

Kaigaku opened his mouth to answer, but he was interrupted by the twin sounds of shattering cookware and Master Urokodaki inhaling sharply as he stared past the three of them. At the same time, Kiyoshi's head snapped around, eyes fixed on whatever had shocked Master Urokodaki so.

Of course, Makomo turned to look as well, laying eyes upon a peach-haired boy with a scar on the right side of his mouth, which was pulled into a small, incredibly sad smile. Makomo's eyes widened as they fixed first on the fox mask that dangled from his hand and then on the tunic he was wearing, or more specifically, the pattern that adorned it.

It was the very same pattern that comprised half of Sir Giyu's haori.

As though in a trance, Master Urokodaki stumbled towards the boy, one hand outstretched. It was then that he finally spoke again, his voice barely a whisper.

"Sabito?"

AN: ...Well. It's certainly been a while, now hasn't it? I do apologise for that; the past month has been...rough, shall we say, for a number of reasons, and that impacted my will to write rather harshly. However, I seem to have recovered my spark to some degree, so hopefully the following weeks will see a return to my once-weekly posting schedule.