Life's been kicking me while I've been down but I'll survive. College has changed so I have a different move in time, but I still start classes on the 17th apparently so that's... fun. Anyways, we get to see some more Shinazugawa vs Musashi before the leadup to the final fight kicks off.

"I couldn't move during the previous battle because I got poisoned," the Mist Pillar started as the others gazed at him. The boy's eyes staid gazing forwards as he spoke despite the gazed on him. "I was using my breaths to try and delay the poison, but a boy who tried to save me nearly lost his life, and my old memories came back. I got so angry that I lost complete control of my emotions."

His brow furrowed a bit as he continued. "I think my heart rate went over 200 BPM… and my body became burning hot. I think my body temperature went over thirty-nine degrees."

Kocho startled as Kyojuro's brows furrowed.

"That's not exactly a good condition to be fighting in. That temperature alone could kill you unless you're part of the Flame Breathing branch. Raising the body temperature is normal for us, but I don't think my father or I have ever reached that number. That's quite dangerous," he remarked as the Insect Pillar nodded.

"It would have been life-threatening," she agreed and Tokito shrugged his shoulders slightly, oversized sleeves shifting.

"Well, it is because of that reason that I think I can be used as a screening test," he suggested, his normally vacant eyes becoming deathly serious. "Will you die or will you not? That's probably the difference between those who have the mark appear and those who do not."

"A heart rate over 200 BPM…" Musashi murmured, "And a body temperature of around thirty-nine degrees… That sounds almost like Mana Burst to me…" Her eye narrowed as the other Pillars along with the Ubuyashiki family looked at her.

"'Mana… burst'?" Mitsuri asked and Musashi nodded.

"It's a Servant Skill. As you know, ServantAt its base, it is the increase in performance caused by infusing one's weapons and body with energy— usually magical but in this case, I assume it's one's life energy— and instantly expelling it," the one-eyed woman explained, "High-speed, strong defenses, impossible leaps, flames, gems, light and lightning, water, stars, even condensed beams of energy… the only thing is, no normal human can manage that."

Musashi shook her head. "I have doubts that Magecraft and Magic are as advanced here as they would've been in other worlds, but nonetheless, Mana Burst would simply kill anyone who wasn't a Servant. Or wasn't someone who trained with Magecraft their entire lives… and I've never known any sort of Mana Burst that activates another's."

Ubuyashiki tapped his fingers lightly, seeming to think as the other Pillars glanced at each other.

"That could be the reason for the curse that is affiliated with the Marks," the master of the Slayers said after a long moment.

"Curse?"

The blind man nodded. "Yes. Any Demon Slayers who have awakened the Demon Slayer Mark are said to die upon reaching the age of twenty-five."

Upon hearing that the Pillars all tensed a bit. Of the Pillars assembled, Himejima was older than twenty-five at age twenty-seven. Then there were Kyojuro, Tomioka, Shinazugawa, Iguro, and Musashi to consider— all of them had reached their twenties, though Musashi was unsure of the exact year she knew she was not twenty and not twenty-five but somewhere in the middle.

Kocho and Mitsuri would be in their twenties soon, so even if the Marks assisted in the end of Muzan, it was highly unlikely that any of them aside from Tokito would live long enough to see any longer-term impacts from it. If they all survived that was.

"Either way," Kyojuro spoke up, "If it means gaining an edge against Muzan and the Demons, then I am willing to lose my life over this!"

"I agree," Himejima said, his prayer beads rattling a bit as the other Pillars nodded. It was their duty and if their lives were cut short because of it, so be it.

"That said, we still do not know the qualifications to obtaining these Marks," Kocho said but Tokito shook his head.

"Remember when you were treating my wounds, Kocho?" he asked her and she nodded. "I had a fever, right? And the temperature recorded was thirty-nine degrees. My guess is that I had the same body temperature when the mark appeared."

Shinazugawa clicked his tongue. "So it's that simple, huh?" he asked.

"I envy those simpletons who can say this is simple," Tomioka uttered and suddenly Iguro and Shinazugawa's ire was on the Water Pillar.

Kyojuro crossed his arms. "Looks like getting this mark is going to be our priority as Pillars, mhm!"

Ubuyashiki nodded with a light smile. "Yes. I trust that you all will figure out a way to train together, but I must request something from you, my children."

Mitsuri tilted her head. "What would that be, Oyakata-sama?" she asked.

"Those who have manifested the mark must participate," he said, "No matter who it appeared for, and there will be no exceptions."

(x)

Musashi stretched her back as the doors slid shut. Ubuyashiki, his wife, and two children had left and the Pillars remained in the room.

It didn't take long for Tomioka to get up, making a move to leave. "Whoa, hold it," Shinazugawa said, eyes moving to the Water Pillar. "Don't leave just yet, man. We oughta make future plans now, am I right?"

"Then you all can talk about it," the Water Pillar said simply as he stood. "It's got nothing to do with me."

"What do you mean 'nothing'" Iguro hissed, his eyes narrowed as his snake's tongue flickered. "You don't understand your position as a Pillar here. Or what? You planning on getting a head start on training without us?"

Tomioka didn't bother with an explanation, instead choosing to start to walk out of the room. Musashi remained silent as Shinazugawa and Kocho both made an attempt to get the other Pillar to stop.

"I'm not like you guys," he finally said, which made Shinazugawa twitch before the Wind Pillar was on his feet, teeth bared.

"Wow, you're pissing me off…" the white-haired man growled. "You said the same thing before, Tomioka. Are you making fun of us?" Tomioka simply ignored Shinazugawa, turning to walk out of the room.

"Hold it, fuckwad!"

"The only fuckwad here is you, Shinazugawa," Musashi said flatly and the man whirled around, growling.

"L-Lets not fight—" Kanroji started in an attempt to calm the situation down but was cut off as Musashi rattled the blade at her side.

"You want to fight me again, Shinazugawa?" she taunted and the Wind Pillar grit his teeth, lunging at Musashi. He didn't get far as a sudden explosion of energy that could be physically felt sent him sprawling back. All heads turned to Musashi, a violet aura seeming to radiate around her before vanishing as she let go of her sword.

"Tomioka, sit back down, please. Let's talk a bit more about this. The Master's orders are the master's orders," she said calmly.

Himejima and Kyojuro both nodded in agreement as Tomioka and Shinazugawa sat back down, both seemingly stupefied at the one-eyed woman's display of power.

"Now, I have a proposition…" the Stone Pillar started and the second half of the emergency Pillar meeting began.

(x)

"Musashi, Gyoumei," Ubuyashiki's voice was soft as the nine Pillars stood to leave and prepare for the mass training session that was planned. Ubuyashiki and his wife had both rejoined them out of curiosity part way through the planning session— which had ended up with a lot of yelling as Tomioka still refused to join them in the Pillar Training.

Musashi herself wasn't exactly keen on training others, but the group agreed that she and Himejima were both going to hold sessions that were not mandatory at the end of the training. Himejima would handle raw strength while Musashi would simply be a final boss so to speak— if she felt like those who challenged her were fit to go, they would be free to go.

There would be another section of training that Musashi would be overseeing as well, one that was far more important to them then Musashi's "final test"— And one that Shuten Dōjii would be holding. Poison resistance.

Of course, with the information of another Demon joining the Slayers in an alliance, Shiazugawa practically exploded in protest. The others were quite against Shuten Dōjii working with them, but when not only Musashi vouched for her, but Kyojuro and Himejima, the Wind Pillar and the others all backed down. There were no false promises that Shuten Dōjii wouldn't eat or had never eaten humans— everyone knew the story about the Demon of Mt. Ōe— but the fact that Shuten hated Muzan as well? It was enough.

Ubuyashiki seemed happy enough at the final decision of the training set up— the Pillars had all agreed to pull the former Sound, Water, and Flame Pillars in if they accepted, though knowing Uzui, the one-armed man would be rearing to help. The former Lighting Pillar was suggested, but it had turned that down. No one could contact him as if late, and because of that Kanroji suggested that maybe the elderly man had his hands full with dealing with his own affairs.

That said, Musashi hadn't been expecting the Master to still need the two of them, both Pillars stopping upon hearing their names and glancing over to the Master. Kyojuro stopped as well, standing by the door with a quizzical look on his face.

"If I could speak to you two for a moment, please?"

Musashi and Kyojuro glanced at each other before the Flame Pillar nodded.

"I'll head back and help Senjirou with dinner!" he said before he turned, leaving and closing the door behind him. As he left, Musashi and Himejima both turned to the black-haired man.

"What is it that you need from us, Oyakata-sama?" Himejima asked as the two sat down again. The master smiled gently.

"I have something to ask of you two, and I pray that you forgive me for my selfishness."

He took a breath. "Soon, very soon, Muzan will arrive," he started and Musashi and Himejima both tensed. "Despite everything you've done for me, Musashi, my body is still weak. I cannot offer a blade to help you, and it does not sit well with me to wait behind protection while my children are out there fighting for their lives."

The raven-haired man placed a hand on his chest, smile still gentle. "The others will not agree to this, so I must ask you two to do this for me… please, use my body as a decoy and take the opportunity to take his head."

There was silence as the two Pillars took his words in, Amane sitting silently beside her husband.

"Why do you think that?" Himejima asked after a second and Ubuyashiki smiled.

"Just instinct," he admitted. Musashi glanced at the taller man sitting beside her as tears started to drip down his cheeks. She turned back to Ubuyashiki. "How do you plan on creating that opening, if I may ask," she questioned, brows furrowed. "I know you must have a plan."

He nodded. "This estate will be rigged with explosives. Muzan will not be expecting a suicide. What happens afterward is up to you."

"Both Oyakata-sama and I have agreed to this. Muzan expects him to be unable to move and needing an attendant at his side," Amane spoke up before stopping as Musashi raised a hand.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but I thought I was being called on to get Okayata-sama out of the blast the second before it went off."

There was silence and she blinked.

Amane and Ubuyashiki glanced at each other, a silent conversation going on between them before turning back to the two pillars.

"Can you?" Amane asked and she nodded.

"I can," she said, "But to do that, Lady Amane and I need to switch places. I'm assuming you plan on sending Kiriya to a safe location? It would be best if everyone but Oyakata-sama in your family were there. The Rengoku estate comes to mind first— if not there, then they can at least guard where they would be moved… Tomioka's teacher as well and any other former pillars or slayers still alive. High chance that Muzan doesn't know what you look like, Lady Amane. I don't have everything worked out, but we at least look around the same age range."

She pursed her lips. "The less who know about this the better, though."

"Of course," Himejima agreed. "Then I will be the one to take Muzan's head."

"Fucking go for it, you funky Stone Pillar."

Himejima just sighed. The man was used to her the strange terms she pulled out of nowhere at times, though Ubuyashiki seemed amused.

"On that note, I'm going to have to back down from training the other Slayers," she added, "As we decided before, I was just going to be the final fight to see if the other Slayers were even ready, but…" she paused, "I want to take time to plan everything to the last detail. I can still help oversee Shuten, however."

Himejima nodded silently. "Alright," he said and the two of them moved to stand.

"Be safe, my children," Ubuyashiki told them as they left. Musashi glanced back and gave the blind man and his wife a slight grin.

Hopefully, everything would work out in the end.

I'm taking a big liberty with the Mana Burst thing, but I hope you forgive me for that

M2R: Thank you