Platonic Tanjiro Kamado X Reader - Blog Posts
That One Training Arc | Chapter 2
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Key:
Japanese: regular text
English: bolded
Thoughts: in italics
I’m so awesome. Urokodaki finally acknowledged me!
As Urokodaki leads you and Tanjiro inside his humble abode, you can’t help but wonder what happens next.
"The demon-slaying corps... Their numbers are around a few hundred. An organization that is not acknowledged by the government. However, they still exist and continue to kill demons. Nobody knows who is leading this band of demon hunters... Still shrouded in mystery. Demon. Their main source of food, humans. They kill humans and then consume their flesh with no regrets. When they were first born or where they came from is still unknown. They have powerful physical abilities and even when injured, they can immediately heal themselves."
Wow, this is a lot of talking...
"Body parts hacked off will still have some sort of connection and they can grow completely new arms and legs. There also exist demons that have the incredible ability to change their body structure. If one does not use a blade of special quality, even after chopping the demon's head off, the demon will not die. The demon-slaying corps fight the demons with their mortal flesh and blood. Due to them being human their injuries recover slow and their lost limbs will never regrow. Even so, they still fight the demons for humanity..."
Urokodaki continues speaking, which you assume he’s giving Tanjiro and perhaps you too, information about what demon slayers are and all that jazz.
"I am a cultivator. Like the word describes, I cultivate swordsmen. There are a lot of cultivators who train swordsmen with a variety of techniques in a variety of places. If one wants to enter the demon-slaying corps then they must first survive in the final selection on Fujikasaneyama. I get to decide whether you two participate or not."
Hm, nice.
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After being accepted as Urokodaki's student, you took it upon yourself to learn how to understand and speak Japanese alongside your swordsmanship training.
Every day you would descend the mountain with Tanjiro, slowly learning how to avoid the traps placed alongside the path. Both you and Tanjiro were seeing a significant increase in your stamina. But as the days went on the difficulty of the traps increased, making them far more dangerous.
Sometimes I wonder if Urokodaki secretly wants to kill us...
Once the two of you finally got the hang of going down the mountain, Urokodaki handed both Tanjiro and yourself a sword and ordered you to descend the mountain with it in hand. "We've been promoted Tanjiro! Now it's time for actual hell! Yay!" You give Tanjiro a very sarcastic cheer and Tanjiro gives you a concerned look.
"Are you alright? Your scent is telling me you're worried... Are you nervous?",
"Listen Tanjiro, I still have no idea what you're saying so I'mma just say yes."
Mmm, we love barely understanding each other.
Before setting off you approach Urokodaki, "Hey Urokodaki-sensei, don't you think we look pretty cool?" He gives you a blank stare and pats your head.
You’ve fallen for my trap Urokodaki. I will now think of you as a father.
With sword in hand, both you and Tanjiro did unsurprisingly terribly, which took you both back to square one with the traps.
Rip the progress Tanjiro and I made up until now.
After an epic failure of a training day, you plop your behind down beside Tanjiro with a notebook in hand that Urokodaki had provided you. You ask Tanjiro what certain things were called since your memory was lacking in the Japanese department.
You were getting a hang of a couple of basic things, and with your recollection of your lessons with your reliable pal, Duolingo, your progress was small but just enough for Tanjiro to be extremely proud of you. "Wow! Your Japanese is improving so much [Y/N]!" A proud grin grows on your face as you say, "Hell yeah it is!"
I will do anything to protect his smile.
You continue practicing your speech, with Tanjiro occasionally correcting your mistakes. As thanks for helping you with your Japanese, you took it upon yourself to also teach Tanjiro some English, just so it’d be easier for the two of you to interact efficiently.
I wonder if teaching him English will fuck up some things in the future... Eh, I'll deal with it later... Maybe...
Right after your little moment with Tanjiro, Urokodaki came to remind you of your failure by having you and Tanjiro swing your swords to get used to handling them.
You know what? These heavy-ass swords were meant to be held by my glorious self.
Urokodaki drilled into your head how important form was, and how easily a sword could break if not handled correctly. He might have also threatened to snap your bones if you had broken the sword... But what do you know?
I'm just gonna pretend I didn't understand any of that.
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Today Urokodaki had you and Tanjiro attack him at the same time to try and hit him. Tanjiro was very hesitant at first, not wanting to cause harm to his trainer. You on the other hand, however...
I'LL SHOW YOU, YOU OLD MAN!
In the end, it didn't really matter since he threw you both to the ground in an instant.
Urokodaki's strong as shit, what the fuck, nobody told me he was THIS superhuman. Not even my launches at him worked...
Forcing yourself off the ground, although your body begged you to rest, you ran full speed towards Urokodaki with your sword held over your head.
Before you had time to react, Urokodaki had grabbed the collar of your kimono and flung you towards Tanjiro on the ground. "Oof-" Unfortunately landing on top of him, Tanjiro let out a pained gasp.
"I'm so sorry Tanjiro!" Scrambling to get off of the poor boy you roll to the side of him and use your arms to lean over him. "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" He gives you a small grin responding with an "okay".
“Okay”? But I just flattened his poor body like a pancake.
You tilt your head to the right, displaying your visible confusion.
What is he talking about? No, no, no! Definitely not okay!
"It's not okay Tanjiro! I injured my sweet boy!" You say with a guilty frown.
Tanjiro merely looks up and lets out a chuckle.
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Today Urokodaki had you practice breathing and taught you how to do the correct forms.
Alright, so I’m making some progress at least!
Though Urokodaki began to constantly punch both you and Tanjiro in the stomach for not "putting in strength towards your abdomen", Tanjiro sloppily continued to translate for you.
Tanjiro's learning a whole new language faster than me.
With a content smile, you think back over your progress since you and Tanjiro have begun training. It's been six months since you arrived in this world and met your little "family", but it's also been six months since Nezuko had gone into her mini-coma.
I know she ends up being okay, but Tanjiro doesn't. And I can't just tell him, "Nah, you don't have to worry, she'll wake up after we head off to the final selection!". He’d just question me...
You sit next to Tanjiro as he places a hand on his younger sister's forehead, your eyes beginning to soften...
It does suck knowing she's gonna be like this for another year and a half, I wish I got to interact with her more before this happened...
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Urokodaki once again increased the difficulty of your shared training with Tanjiro as if it wasn’t enough torture already. The old, but badass man had you descend the mountain from areas far more dangerous than the initial place he had taken you all those months ago.
Man, I wish we had just stuck to that old place. At the very least I knew what to expect...
The lack of oxygen in the area made it far more difficult to traverse, but somehow the two of you were able to manage without too many injuries.
"Man, Tanjiro! That was pretty hard huh? I felt like I was gonna die." With a nod of his head, he gave a tired reply "We still made it! I'm proud of both of us!"
His hair's gotten a bit longer, I bet he can put it in a really short ponytail now. Well, maybe not, some of his hair might not fit in it at all.
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"I have nothing left to teach you." Urokodaki's sudden statement towards you and Tanjiro had startled you.
Holy shit, really?
A year after your arrival, you had finally finished the necessary training to be eligible for the final selection. Conscious in your mind was the fact that the actual hard part is awaiting you ahead.
I still have to break a big ass boulder after this.
"From now on the two of you will need to prove yourselves. Improve upon all the basics of which I have taught you." He beckons you to follow him up the mountain, taking you toward the detested boulder.
"If you can hack this boulder in half, I will allow you to join the final selection." Staring up at it, (yes you actually had to crane your head to look at it) you glare at the boulder before you.
I hate this shit already. At this rate, I'm never going to catch a break from this old man.
"[Y/N]" Urokodaki suddenly calls, which interrupts your thoughts, "Huh?", Urokodaki walks away without another word. "Dang it!" You give Tanjiro a quick hug, a determined smile on your face, "Good luck! You're absolutely gonna need it!"
Turning your back towards him, you miss the adoring smile on his face. "You too, [Y/N]!", he calls out enthusiastically. Forcing your legs to move you faster, you quickly make your way toward the direction Urokodaki was headed, "Urokodaki, you walk way too fast! Could you ever find it in your kindred soul to give a mere student a nice 5-hour break...hehe.. please?"
All that leaves your teacher is a grunt as he stands in place. "Huh? Why'd you stop?" Little did he know that you were THIS close to face planting to the ground. Hesitating to walk out from behind him, you find a boulder of a similar size to Tanjiro's in front of you.
Ahh, so here's my worst enemy.
"You will be doing the same as Tanjiro." He gives you a head pat before heading back down the mountain towards his home.
Well, that's that then. Big rip to me. The old man didn't even bother saying "good luck". Eh, not like I need it. I'm pretty awesome and I will *definitely* collapse on the floor right after this.
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Both you and Tanjiro continue your rigorous training after Urokodaki declared he was only letting you go to the final selection if you break the stupid boulders. Luckily for both of you, Tanjiro had been keeping tabs on your training in a notebook Urokodaki had given him. You spent your days continuously practicing what you had learned.
After a long day of improving your skills, you both sat against the boulder that Tanjiro had tirelessly worked to slice in half.
"Hey, Tanjiro." Your companion turns his head to look at you properly, "Yes, [Y/N]?" Taking your attention off the pebbles in front of you, you give him a sheepish smile, "I don't think I want to use the water forms as a demon slayer. I think I might want to make my own breath form..."
His body becomes a bit more rigid as his head snaps to look at you, "Really?"
Becoming more nervous as the seconds pass, you release an awkward laugh. "Uh, yeah... I've been wanting to tell Urokodaki-sensei for a while now, but... I don't want to disappoint him."
"Disappoint him? What do you mean? How could you disappoint Urokodaki-sensei?" Tanjiro's left eyebrow arches up, giving him a perplexed expression. "Well, cause, he, he spent so much time training me on how to use the breath of water forms, but in the end, I ended up wasting his time because I don't want to use those forms." You lightly bang the back of your head against the boulder, "This ain't the first time, but I feel like a failure..." Tanjiro's hands quickly make their way to your shoulders as he gives you a stern look.
Oh shit, did I fuck up? Did I make him mad? Please tell me I didn't upset him!
"[Y/N]. Urokodaki-sensei won't be disappointed in you. In fact, I'm sure he'll be super proud of you for coming up with your own breath style! Besides, even if he isn't, I'm proud of you for wanting to do your own thing!"
After you hide behind your hands out of embarrassment (cause damn it not everyone blushes “a bright red”), Tanjiro's arm wraps around you in a side hug. "If you aren't going to use the breath of water, what breath are you going to be using?"
You don't answer and Tanjiro gives you a questioning glance.
Oh shit, I actually have no idea.
"About that... I have no idea yet..."
"Oh. Well, that's okay! I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. Oh, and if you need help, I could always help you! Or we could ask Urokodaki-sensei for some tips." Tanjiro gives you another warm smile, and you give your own awkward one in return.
Ah, how can you be so nice to me? Especially towards someone like me!
"Tanjiro... You really are too kind sometimes... But, I can't accept your help."
"Wait, why not?" His arm leaves your side as he instead ops to hold onto your hands. "Well, 'cause, 'cause you still have your own training to do. If you help me, you won't be able to focus on perfecting your own skills. I don't want to take away any of your time and prevent you from being the best you can be."
If I do that, you might end up dying in the final selection. If that happens, everything will be fucked and then I'll never forgive myself-
"No, I don't mind, really! Besides, fighting against someone with a different breath style could help me even more. It'll be like a new training exercise." You sigh through your nose, "Fine, but our main focus is going to be to slice those rocks, then help me make my breath style."
"Okay!"
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After another half year of trying to slice the boulders and attempting to create your own breath style, you noticed how anxious Tanjiro had become. You were once again resting on the ground, but instead of leaning against the boulder, you were facing Tanjiro with your back against a tree.
He's been going at it for a couple of hours now. I feel kinda bad...
"Hey, Tanjiro, you should take a break."
Not hearing you, or ignoring you, he continues to assault the boulder in front of you, his breathing heavy as he becomes more frustrated. "I need to work harder! WORK HARDER!" His yelling startles you as he slams his head against the boulder.
HOLY SHIT, HOW DID THAT NOT HURT HIM?
"Shut up!"
A new voice interrupts Tanjiro's pity session, "Such a shameful display of a man shouting nonsense." Your eyes brighten up as both you and Tanjiro look up at the boulder to find your favorite peach-haired boy sitting on top.
OH MY GOD, IT'S SABITO! I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S FINALLY HERE! I'M GONNA DIE! I'M SORRY TANJIRO BUT I'VE FOUND MY NEW HUSBAND, BYE!
"No matter how difficult and painful it may be, you shut your mouth and deal with it. If you call yourself a man," He rises to his feet, "If you are a true man," He jumps off the boulder, drawing his wooden sword and attacking Tanjiro. With little time to counter, Tanjiro struggles against Sabito, using the handle of the sword to block his attack. Using this as an opportunity, Sabito delivers a strong kick, sending Tanjiro falling to the ground.
HE'S SO COOL AND STRONG, WHAT THE HELL.
Your companion lets out a strained gasp, "Slow, weak, rusty, your state is not a man by any definition." Sabito stands in place, not breaking a single sweat. Although you were slightly concerned for Tanjiro, your feelings of fangirling over the masked male overshadowed the worry.
He's really here! Ahh, hold on, lemme propose real quick.
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