on task (till she wasn't)
it had been three weeks since what Asa liked to call the flail incident. as promised, gyomei gave her a training regimen and she always did it to the best of her abilities.
on ‘odd’ days she would go to the waterfall and stand under it as long as possible, and when she gave out she would take a small break and then do it twice more, then do basic sword exercises with a wooden bokken.
while on ‘even’ days she would run as many laps as possible around the property as she could before noon, she was up to 97 now, and then try her best to chant mantras in her head as she pushed a boulder up a steep slope.
thank kami he hadn’t taken her to the fire pit yet.
as she soon learned, gyomei wasn’t the best teacher, he was kind and encouraged her in his own way. but he was terrible at explaining how he did things. she had to watch intently every time he showed her a new exercise just to get the basics down.
the practice sword gyomei gave her to practice with was wider at the end then the base, and the handle was longer and more curved than a normal katana, -a dao if she remembered correctly- she was confused at first but she ended up being grateful as it felt natural in her hands.
when gyomei was at his estate and not actively training her, other pillars would come to train and she would sit and watch. except when kanae-san would come.
the first time she sat and watched like she always would but then kanae turned and whispered to gyomei, they both turned to Asa and gyomei waved her over.
“what do you need gyomei-san?” Asa questioned as she got closer. “kanae-san would like a chance to spar with you, if that is alright Asa.”
Asa turned to look at the other girl and they made quick eye contact before kanae smiled kindly. “gyomei-san here likes to focus more on brute strength,” kanae started, “but if you want to make a derivative then you need to expand your data-base.”
database?? “yes kocho-san” she agreed, whatever the pillars said she wouldn’t go against them ‘cannot have another uzui incident’ Asa thought, “ah call me kanae, alright? kocho can be my sister.” she said placing a hand on her cheek, “or shinobu-san, i heard you had a run in with my cute little sister”
Asa blinked, of course shinobu-san would say something about that, “yes, she was very helpful.”
Asa blinked.
kanae smiled knowingly.
“i’d like to warn you kanae-san, i may disappoint you.” Asa warned “nonsense, you haven’t been training very long but i believe in you enough.” Kanae encouraged.
———————
it was a wash, Asa knew there was a massive gap between her and hashira, she was expecting it. but kanae was unbelievably fast, it was terrifying to face head on.
“how long have you been training Asa-san?” kanae asked, couching down to where Asa was on the ground, “officially? four and a half weeks” Asa replied looking up.
resting her head on her hand kanae spoke “for four and some weeks your strength is incredible, i guess gyomei-san picks well.” Asa blushed at the praise “if that’s what you believe kanae-san, i’m still not as good as i should be.”
“you’ll get stronger as you progress,” kanae smiled, taking Asa’s hand to pull her up “but before that why are you still wearing a kakushi uniform to train?” she asked, cocking her head to the side. “has gyomei-san perhaps not taken you to get proper clothes?”
gyomei went rigid off to the side, “don’t worry kanae-san, we just haven’t had the time, gyomei is mostly out on missions and i’ve been training more than anything” Asa explained hurriedly.
kanae hummed “well next time i come to train i’ll bring you some!” she said happily, "or you could come to my estate now, gyomei-san?” she said, turning her attention to the towering man. “ah, um, as long as Asa is okay with it?” he said awkwardly, rubbing his prayer beads together.
Kanae was looking at Asa so hopefully and who was she to deny a pillars wishes? “i will do whatever you’d like kanae-san” kanae made a face at that but quickly smiled again “then come along, i’ll return her later gyomei-san” she called, leading Asa away hand in hand.
“the butterfly estate isn’t that far.” kanae smiled back at her, “are you ok to run?” Asa sighed “our definition of ‘run’ is different, kanae-san, but i’ll do my best.”
“i’ll slow down for you then” kanae said as she took off. Asa sighed once more before chasing after her.
Asa caught up right behind kanae, the other looked back and made a hand signal Asa didn’t understand before she jumped into the air and landed on a tree branch before running off again..
yeah Asa couldn’t do that. she continued to run on the path she knew, taking shortcuts where she knew it would be safe to do so.
———————
“Asa-san! what took you so long?”
“You started running on branches Kanae-san, i don’t think i could’ve caught up if i ran full speed the whole time.”
“i’ll have to teach you then Asa!”
———————
kanae led Asa around her estate by the hand while checking in on patients every couple of rooms.
“shinobu is better at the medical side of things in my opinion,” kanae said after coming out of one of the rooms and taking Asa’s hand again, “but she never believes me when i tell her.”
Asa hummed not knowing how to respond “let me check in on one more person then we’ll get you those clothes alright?” kanae spoke, smiling at the other, “sure kanae-san” kanae smiled wider -if that was even possible??- and opened a door walking in.
Asa was waiting outside said door when a white haired man covered in scars passed a corner and was walking her way. Asa wasn’t phased by this as many people passed kanae and asa, this was a medical facility after all.
until he stopped and looked up at her. “wheres your mask kakushi?” he asked his voice rasping.
she couldn’t respond with the first thing she thought of so next best thing “i’m not a kakushi sir.” “well damn that looks like a fuckin kakushi uniform.” he sneered
she sighed “it is”
“so you just stole it?” he asked, his eye twitching.
she didn’t think he could look more unhinged. she was wrong. a back and forth between the two with the white haired man getting more pissed at the indirect answers and Asa trying not to say something she’ll regret later.
she almost started to cry tears of joy when kanae came out of the room.
“sorry that took a bit longer than expected, Asa- oh! shinazugawa-san! hello, what an unexpected surprise.” kanae said, retracting her hand that was reaching out towards Asas’.
“you know this fake kakushi kanae-san?” shinazugawa-san -what a mouthful- asked, stepping back so there was room between the three. “fake-? oh, no no shinazugawa, this is gyomei-san’s tsuguko!”
“she doesn’t look hurt so what is she doing here?” he asked, crossing his arms. “ahh why so defensive shinazugawa-san~?” he turned a little red “if you must know, i was going to lend her better training clothes!”
as kanae spoke about Asa’s training, Sanemi looked Asa up and down. he wasn’t stupid. she looked strong, sure but was that because of the height difference or was she actually just naturally strong?
she looked as though she was trying her best to avoid eye contact with him. not like he was the one giving bull shit answers.
at some point kanae stopped talking and the three said their goodbyes, as sanemi turned the corner kanae once again took Asa’s hand and led her to what looked like a bedroom.
“i’ll lend you some of my old clothes, or we could go out shopping if that’s what you’d prefer?” kanae asked, walking into the room. “i wouldn’t have any money to spend, i left it all at my old home.” she replied as kanae turned back, a small stack of clothes in her arms.
“i was afraid you’d say something like that, but i’m letting you know now Asa, i would not mind spending some money on you,” Kanae said smiling and handing the clothes to the other, “these should fit, you’re a bit taller than me but then again, these clothes were always a bit big.”
Asa was grateful to say the least “thank you so much kanae-san.” if Asa’s hand was free kanae would’ve taken it again “please don’t worry, and drop the formalities please, it would mean a lot to me.”
to Asa’s surprise her mind wasn’t in shambles when the hashira requested it. “sure Kanae, whatever you’d like.” Asa said, returning the smile, even if less intense than kanaes’ own.
kanae flushed suddenly covering her face “you can’t do something like that to me Asa, it’s too much” kanae said muffled by her hands “?” Asa set the clothes down on the drawer they came from and took kanae’s hands from her face.
“are you alright kanae? did i do something wrong?” Asa said worriedly, she leaned down slightly to see eye to eye with the very flushed kocho sister.
just then someone slammed the door to the room open and there stood kocho shinobu “kanae! i- oh.. uhh” the normally headstrong girl was reduced to almost nothing in an instant when she saw her sister and newest companion in the room. kanae’s room.
———————
the trouble shinobu ran to kanae for was resolved, multiple slayers had run into the estate badly beaten and in need of medical attention shinobu didn’t think she could give by herself. by the time they were done the sun was starting to set and Asa was once again sitting at the edge of an engawa.
to her right she heard light footsteps and as she turned kanae sat down next to her taking up Asa’s hand again.
“are you alright kanae?” Asa asked quietly, still facing the other. the dying light made kanae’s worry lines show but it also made her eyes shine. “i’m alright, it’s always intense when a comrade comes in critically injured.” kanae spoke after a bit of just sitting together.
“i can only ever imagine, i’m sorry it’s you that must deal with it.” Asa said, trying to comfort her. kanae shook her head, “i’m sorry, i phrased it as if it was a bad thing, i wouldn’t trade this job for anything else.”
they sat for a long while holding each others hand and watching the sunset until kanae finally spoke again.
“we should get you back to gyomei-san, huh?” she asked looking at Asa, “most likely, i’m sure he’s fine though, he knows i’m in good hands.” Asa responded, squeezing kanae’s hand as she spoke.
even with deciding they should go they still sat for a few more minutes enjoying each other’s presence before Asa stood up offering her hand to the other once she was fully up. Kanae smiled and took it picking herself up easily off the engawa.
“shall we?”
———————
once they got back to the gate the two women said their goodbyes at the gate Asa watched the other as she disappeared back into the forest.
She turned towards the vate and walked inside “gyomei! i’m back!” she shouted in case he was still there. alas there was no response so Asa went to the room she was given and tried her best to sleep, smiling to herself while thinking of the day she just had.
she was so thankful.
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taisho era secrets!--
-Asa has 4 younger siblings, who she regularly writes to, they're the only reason her parents knew about her becoming a demon slayer
-Kanae found out about Asa from shinobu when she came back to the estate with out filled papers from gyomeis biannual check up
-Kanae's spare clothes were a gift someone else had gotten her, though they were to baggy so she couldn't wear them
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★