Demon Slayer: The Strange Demon

by Blackdrag-rose


Swordsmith: Intense Training

The first thing Kotetsu did, after making sure that Zeroshiki was fine and Muichiro's attacks hadn't damaged it, was head to his family's storehouse to retrieve a few things, namely a spare blade since one had been stolen and some wooden ones in cause Tanjiro couldn't stand up to the might of the battle doll. Kotetsu was of the opinion that Tanjiro could get stronger, to the point where he could be more aggressive and talk down to someone like the Mist Hashira, saying all sorts of things that suggested that the young boy wished harm on the one who wronged him. Pinkamena knew that since the boy mentioned a few things like slitting open one's belly, cutting off one's long hair, that it would be better to slice off his head and place it on a prison gate, and a few other things that suggested that he needed some help, instead of venting to whoever was nearby, as it might be taken the wrong way. Even Tanjiro didn't want to do it because he knew that Muichiro was better than him in so many ways, as he was smaller and thinner than he was, yet he was so much stronger than he was, a fact that surprised him and caused him to look forward to his new training, even though he really wasn't sure he wanted to fight Zeroshiki, given what he had seen earlier.

Of course, when Tanjiro actually started facing off against Zeroshiki, due to Kotetsu's encouragement, he found himself being put in immediate danger as it swung at him and knocked him around, even though they had taken off Nezuko's box so he had access to his full speed. Kotetsu was of the opinion that Tanjiro was moving by habit, instead of not making decisions after seeing his foe's movements, which was something many of the more experienced Slayers used in battle, causing him to realize that the boy was also speaking of Pinkamena's movements, which he had seen many times now. Basically, when one thought about it, Tanjiro had no foundation and it was surprising that, against all of the Demons he had faced, that he had been able to survive everything he had been through, and Kotetsu claimed that he would help Tanjiro find his footing. The other thing he did was take away all food and water until Tanjiro improved, using the life and death situation that others used to draw on more of their inner power to force open his own dormant power, and until he did good he wouldn't be getting anything to eat or drink.

Another thing they learned was that there were other ways to change Zeroshiki's movements, besides turning the key in the back of it's neck, and Kotetsu inquired if they knew about puzzle boxes, as it had the same principle as what he was talking about, one had to move everything in the right order to get the desired result. With Zeroshiki all one had to do was rotate it's fingers, where a smith who observed someone training would rotate the fingers to match the doll's movements to whoever it happened to be fighting, in the sense that they found out what someone's weaknesses were and used that knowledge to alter Zeroshiki. Kotetsu claimed that if someone didn't do this, rotating the fingers, there was no way for the swordsmen facing it to improve, thus, since he hadn't turned the fingers for Muichiro, that meant that the Mist Hashira had basically wasted his time with Zeroshiki, something that caused the little boy to laugh, like he had scored a victory of some sort over the Hashira. Pinkamena kind of understood why Kotetsu didn't like Muichiro, given what they had seen not that long ago, but even then she felt that he was going too far with his dislike for him, as it might sour his relations with whoever his client might be, since he should be learning how to forge blades at some point in time.

While Kotetsu was firm about Tanjiro not being given any food or water, at least until he proved that he was learning from his experiences by hitting the doll in some manner, Pinkamena convinced him to allow her friend to sleep and rest, as no rest would ensure Tanjiro would die before the third day was done, but she had another reason for wanting her friend to rest and recover.

"Wait, you want to train with the doll as well?" Kotetsu asked, as he was surprised by the statement, because he could see that Pinkamena was strong, in fact he knew that she was far more suited for being a Slayer due to the Village Chief telling them that her blade, against all odds, was undamaged and pristine, so it confused him.

"Yes, I'd like to face Zeroshiki and test my skills." Pinkamena replied, because while she had been training by using some of Tanjiro's inherited memories, the ones she felt that he wasn't ready to learn from, facing off against a doll that was made in Yoriichi's likeness, and possessed a range of movements that matched his own with a surprising degree of accuracy, was something she couldn't pass up on, "Besides, I know you want Tanjiro to learn from it, so I won't break it like Muichiro did... even though I can repair it with my powers, in case something unforeseen happens."

Kotetsu said nothing, other than tell Tanjiro that it would be in his best interest to observe her while she trained, before she stepped out and drew her blade, using her power to create a Room around her and Zeroshiki, so the others weren't caught in the middle of what was about to happen, before the gears in the doll whirled to life and her foe took on one of it's many battle stances. Once they were both ready Pinkamena made the first move and rushed forward, moving through the air as her blade followed suit, where Tanjiro noticed that, for the time being, she seemed to be going on the defensive, blocking the incoming attacks that were coming her way, while Kotetsu observed to see how she could improve her skills with her training. Both of them were impressed by all of her movements, as her arm moved faster than a Human's did, a fact that Tanjiro knew was due to her demonic nature, which the young smith likely couldn't see thanks to Pinkamena's enchantment on her fox mask, and yet she was countering all of Zeroshiki's blades as she dodged as well, since being cut and instantly healing would reveal her nature to those who weren't in the know. Tanjiro found that he was thankful for the Room his friend had made, as she and Zeroshiki were slashing at each other and seemed to be hacking apart the area, as trees were falling and being hacked to pieces, but since they were on the other side of the barrier none of the attacks even came close to hitting him, Kotetsu, or Nezuko's box.

When the pair paused, however, Kotetsu noticed something weird, Zeroshiki seemed to adjust himself to her style, as the doll's hands, the ones that altered it's movements, sheathed their blades for a few seconds before he watched as several of the fingers rotated on their own, meaning Pinkamena knew how to use it and didn't need him or something else was causing this, like the soul of the swordsmen this doll was modeled after.

As the two trained Kotetsu discovered something very interesting, when Pinkamena trained Zeroshiki acted more like the rumored person it had been modeled after and altered it's movements all by itself, but when it came time for Tanjiro to take over it acted more like a doll, as if Pinkamena was influencing it in some manner. He wondered what was going on as he watched the pair, as it sure seemed like someone had to be messing with the doll without him doing anything, due to the fact that it seemed to remember the rotation of it's fingers between the two, especially when he made an alteration to Tanjiro's training. Another thing he had to do, after the first few sessions of Tanjiro's training, was change out the blades for six training sticks, because the swordsman in question clearly didn't have the skills of a Hashira and he knew that if the doll had real swords it would end up killing Tanjiro, regardless of whatever power Pinkamena had, so when they changed places he also had to switch out the weapons. Still, he wasn't sure if Tanjiro was learning from watching Pinkamena fight, given what whenever it was his turn he kept dodging and didn't do anything, while his companion dodged attacks and also lightly struck the doll, not hard enough to shatter it since this wasn't her time to shine, given that she was far stronger and more skilled than Tanjiro was.

That pattern followed for five days, Tanjiro failing, repeatedly, to do anything to Zeroshiki and it's training sticks, which was just annoying for Kotetsu to watch after seeing the Slayer stand up to Muichiro, while Pinkamena and the doll dueled as if they were two ancient warriors, as their movements were so identical it was like someone fighting their shadow. While he wasn't paying attention Pinkamena gave Tanjiro a private Room to at least get some water, so he didn't die of dehydration while he trained, but the lack of food and any real sleep, as he only gave her friend a few minutes of rest before forcing a new routine on him to boost his skills, really hindered his progress, despite her warnings. When he finally switched back to forcing Tanjiro to face the real blades of Zeroshiki, likely growing tired of switching them every time the pair switched who was facing the battle doll, Pinkamena nearly stepped up to stop her friend from being cut down, but he actually ducked under one of Zeroshiki's attacks and struck the doll. While the attack was worthless, as it did nothing to his foe, he did do something this time around, even if he ended up hitting the ground due to not breaking his fall, to which Kotetsu lived up to his end of the bargain and informed Tanjiro that he could finally have some food and drink, much to Tanjiro's joy since he was nearly on death's door during the last few moments of this session.

With the ability to predict movements, while not having the skills of a Hashira, Tanjiro had improved thanks to his training and was able to sort of stand up to Zeroshiki once he was done eating, to the point where he actually looked like he might be able to deliver a blow to the doll, which Kotetsu encouraged... though when it happened Zeroshiki's head split open, as the blow was to the neck, as it fell to it's knees, revealing an ancient sword and it's scabbard.

"Pinkamena, Kotetsu, do you see that? Something came out of the doll!" Tanjiro said, his voice full of excitement, due to the fact that Zeroshiki hadn't cut him down while they were training, even though a small part of his hair had been cut off before he delivered that final strike, which shattered his blade in the process.

"It must be a three hundred year old sword, from the Sengoku Era!" Kotetsu replied, where he was equally excited by this discovery, especially since it meant that Muichiro couldn't claim the blade that was in front of them, one that had clearly seen better days since the handle looked like it might fall apart soon.

Pinkamena said nothing as the two excited boys pulled the scabbard out of Zeroshiki, where once it was out she moved in to mend the battle doll since she wasn't about to let it fade into memory, before they carefully drew the blade out, only to find that it had been rusted from old age and they fell to the ground in despair, allowing her to pick it up and find that the back edge was black and the cutting edge was bright red.

"No way... this... I recognize this blade." Pinkamena commented, because she had seen it many times in her training with the legendary Demon Slayer, the one who nearly killed Muzan and helped establish the first Breathing Styles with those he had fought beside, and had wondered where in the world it might have gone, her favorite theory being Muzan taking it so he could sleep better at night, "This is the blade of Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the first of the Sun Breathing users!"

"Well, now it belongs to Tanjiro. My doll, my ruling!" Kotetsu said, not that he cared who the blade belonged to, rather he knew that Tanjiro had been looking for his smith and that giving him a blade forged during the Sengoku Era was the best way to thank him for everything he had done since arriving in the Swordsmith Village, hence why he held a hand out so he could accept the blade from her.

"Oh hell no! I'm not giving this legendary weapon to him!" Pinkamena stated, something that surprised Kotetsu, as he was expecting her to abide by his wishes and hand the weapon over, where she sheathed it without delay and focused on him for a few seconds, due to the fact that there was no telling what the little boy would do when something didn't go his way, like she had seen since meeting him, "No offense, Tanjiro, but I'm not about to let such a treasure be broken."

Tanjiro nodded his head, as he suspected that him breaking his swords all the time was why she was doing this, but as he did that they found someone walking towards them, which turned out to be a buff Hotaru that wore no shirt, though while he frightened him and Kotetsu, due to his sudden arrival, Pinkamena wasn't intimidated by him at all.

"I heard everything. Leave the blade to me." Hotaru said, where he reached forward and found that a fox tail swatted his hand out of the way, causing him and the boys to find that Pinkamena had shifted her tail upon his arrival and that all four were at the ready, as one had dealt with his hand and the other three waited for someone to make a move, "What are you doing? Only I can restore that blade to what it used to be!"

"You aren't the only smith in this village, and given your history I wouldn't trust Yoriichi's blade to you either." Pinkamena replied, as part of her was worried that Hotaru would snap the blade out of spite, regardless of who the weapon ended up with, though while everyone was distracted she opened a portal to her realm and Zeroshiki stepped through it, as she was the center of attention right now, and once that was done she started to head towards the village, "I think I'll talk with the Chief and see if he'll work on it... after all, he made my blade and I've had no problems with it, so he should be able to do what you do in record time."

Hotaru jumped at her, intending on taking the blade so he could refine it with his skills, though Pinkamena smiled as she vanished without a trace, where all she did was use her power to mess with his eyes so he couldn't see her, and headed down the path back to the village, leaving Tanjiro to deal with his smith and Kotetsu. It didn't take her all that long to reach the village, where some of the people welcomed her back, using her new title since the news of her ascending to the rank of Hashira was now circulating around all of the places the Corps had a presence in, causing her to nod her head towards them before reaching her destination. Tecchin was surprised by her return, which she expected, while the reveal of the blade used by Yoriichi was even more surprising to him, though the request to restore it didn't come as a surprise, as he, along with a number of swordsmiths, dreamed of finding the blade and working on it. Of course he also knew that there were others who would seek to interrupt the process if they found out what sort of weapon he was working on, where he and Pinkamena arranged for him to stay in her inner world for a few days, where he would be able to peacefully work on it, all without the fear of being interrupted, and even if she had to evacuate the others to her world he'd be the only one to have access to the forge he had her make for him.

Pinkamena informed him that her world played by different rules and, if he so desired, he could work without exhaustion and clear multiple days in a single go, where he considered the information before telling her that he had to add the icon that all Hashira had on their blades to her own, since she was one as well, which he would do after working on this blade, so once they were done he took Yoriichi's blade into her world and got to work.

After that Pinkamena found that Tanjiro sought out Genya the following day, as nothing important happened during the rest of the day they discovered the legendary blade, save for finding that Hotaru had trained himself to make a blade that would keep him alive. While she respected the smith's desire to keep his only client alive, given that the other Slayers had to hate him for his inferior blades, Pinkamena was firm in her decision, he wasn't touching Yoriichi's blade, nor was she going to hand it over once Tecchin was done working on it. Genya, on the other hand, seemed to be hanging out in part of the village, his room of the guest house, and Tanjiro went to him to explain things and figure a few pieces of information out, though since she didn't care, due to it being none of her concern, Pinkamena remained on one of the roofs and just glanced out at the village. She was making sure the perimeter was set and that everyone was inside, save for Hotaru who was out in part of the more mountainous section of this place, especially since she was sure that two demonic energies were lingering in some hidden tunnels that were out in the wilderness, meaning the evacuation might take place anyway and braced herself for when night eventually fell.

When the moon came out, however, two large demonic signatures came their way and she found another smith was still out, where she flashed through the wilderness for a moment and found a demonic pot and some old Demon coming right towards the village, to which she snatched the one outside and silently sounded the alarm for the smiths to evacuate to her inner world, as she had a feeling two Upper Moons were on their way and didn't want anyone caught up in the fight that was about to take place.