Chapter Text
Seven nights. For seven nights you have been stuck on this mountain, surrounded by demons, with no secure access to food, water, or shelter. When it was finally over, you barely had the strength to walk back to the safety of the wisteria blossoms. Only a small handful of applicants stood beside you, all of them covered in dirt and blood. A pair of twins explain the process of obtaining a nichirin sword, but you can't understand anything being said through the haze clouding your mind. Everything seems like a blur. Actually, everything is a blur... and moving... and falling...
You wake up to the sight of a boy holding you as he kneels on the ground. Beneath his kitsune mask is a red scar, and below the scar is a face plastered with concern and worry.
"Oh good, you're waking up. Are you alright?"
After taking a moment to collect yourself, you look around at your surroundings and realize that you're no longer at the mountain. Instead, you seem to be in a log cabin of sorts. You feel a sharp pain in your head, followed by a wave of confusion.
"What... What happened..? Where am I..?"
The boy explains that after final selection, you passed out due to fatigue and injury. He brought you along with him back to his teacher's place, since he didn't know what else to do. He seems to be trustworthy, which puts your worries at ease.
"How long have I been out?"
"About 3 hours, I'd say."
Sure enough, the sun has already set. An awkward silence lingers for a moment, until he jumps up.
"Oh! I completely forgot to introduce myself! I'm Tanjiro Kamado, and over there is my sister Nezuko."
He gestures over to a girl who's curled up on the floor, sleeping soundly. You introduce yourself in turn, and the two of you start talking about your experiences during final selection. Before long, you're both too tired to talk, so you go to bed for the night.
You rise along with the sun, and after thanking Tanjiro for his help, you leave to return to your home. It's not too far of a walk, surprisingly. You're greeted by your mentor, Muichiro Tokito. Despite their reserved nature, you could tell the mist hashira was greatly relieved and proud that you came home. It was strange, being mentored by someone nearly four years younger than you, but their talent and skill surpassed almost all the demon slayers you knew.
"Welcome back, you gave me quite the scare when I didn't see you yesterday. If it weren't for the message I received from Urokodaki, I would've begun preparing your shrine."
They give you a small, warm smile, and you head inside. Your injuries need time to heal, so Muichiro focuses your training for the day on concentration breathing. After all, it also helps you recover faster, so it's efficient to work on. You take a bath, needing to wash off a week's worth of blood and grime. For the first time in a long while, you feel relaxed, you've been so busy preparing for final selection that it's been over a year since you had a break. Refreshed, clean, and content, you go to bed. All while doing total concentration breathing, of course.