"You want them... to learn Total Concentration Breathing?" Giyuu nodded as an answer. She had never been more sure of a decision before in her life. Well, her life in Japan, because there were many decisions she didn't regret back when she was in Magnolia, like joining Fairy Tail.

"Yes. Even if they each have their own magic, the only way for them to defeat demons is by beheading them. Of course, the fact that they also need nichirin blades is also clear. But that can be arranged for later, I want to focus on them learning Total Concentration Breathing and-" the woman rambled on and on, explaining her plan and even ready to design a training regime that fit her each of her friends' capabilities. Urokodaki just listened closely, his arms crossed. Behind the mask, however, he had a fond look on his face, his lips curled up into a smile. Giyuu had changed, really. It took a few seconds, almost turning into minutes, until the black haired woman finally realized she had been rambling. She covered her mouth, bowing her head bashfully as a response.

"I apologize, sensei." she whispered.

"Do not apologize. In fact, I think that creating a regime for each one of them based on their physical capabilities is a very good idea." Urokodaki told her. Giyuu looked surprised, but she nodded, a small smile on her face.

"Isn't it too early in the morning for you both to be talking..." Wendy mumbled as she walked out of the room she, Lucy and Erza were sharing, rubbing her eyes. Clearly, she was still asleep, wearing a sky blue jinbei with white vertical stripes sown on it.

"Sorry for waking you up, Wendy. We were just talking about some things." Giyuu apologized. The blue haired girl just hummed, walking over to them.

"Training, right?" she asked, receiving a nod as an answer. Urokodaki watched as the small girl knelt down and laid her head on Giyuu's shoulder, basically cuddling up to her. Giyuu just placed a hand on the girl's head, patting it gently.

"Marvell-san, right?" he named. She sleepily nodded, looking up at the older man.

"You should go back to bed, child. You look tired, and you should get rest." he told her. She shook her head in response, her movements slow as her eyes closed half way.

"Wanna stay with big sis..." she mumbled, the rest ending up in an uninteligible mess of noises neither ex Hashira understood. Giyuu hummed softly in response, while Urokodaki shook his head, glancing at his former student, as if asking her what they should do with her. Giyuu glanced back at him.

"It's okay if she stays. Wendy is the best behaved out of them all." she assured "Now, about how we're gonna train them is gonna be tricky. Lucy, the blonde, she's gonna need a lot of balance. She's really smart, but I worry that her physical capabilities won't improve. It's why I want to evenly balance it." she started. Urokodaki remembered the blonde girl. She was kind, and her smile reminded him of Sabito.

"Next is Natsu, Gray and Erza. The pink haired boy, the black haired boy and the red haired girl you met last night. The three of them already have the strength and muscles needed. Even so, I want to put them through the training to make it fair. But I'm sure they'll be able to master it easily." she continued. From the bedroom, Urokodaki heard who he assumed was Natsu say how his hair was salmon and not pink, which just confused the former Hashira. Giyuu sweatdropped.

"That's Natsu. I apologize if he and Gray get into arguments. They do that. A lot." she sheepishly said "If they do, feel free to hit them on the head and scold them, or call for Erza. She puts them in their place a lot." she told him. He just hummed, keeping that in mind. He was sure he'd be able to have those two under control—he can just throw them down the cliff like he did with Tanjiro when he was training him—but he was glad to have some sort of help with the chaos.

"I'll have to ask Haganezuka to forge them swords." Urokodaki hummed. Giyuu nodded.

"I trust in Haganezuka-san. After all, Tanjiro's sword was made by him, and even if he broke it, he'd still ask him to make it." she chuckled softly.

"Very well." Urokodaki nodded, looking out the window and noticing it was already sunrise "I'll go buy food to make breakfast. You stay here, Giyuu." he told her. The black haired woman nodded, watching her teacher getting up and getting ready to leave.

"Sensei." she called. He turned his head, raising a brow.

"...I want to tell Tanjiro and his friends of my current status. But I don't want to let the other Hashiras know. Because I don't know what they might do." she admitted "I will... I'll send Kanzaburo to deliver him a letter." she said. Urokodaki stared at her, surprised. There was a second of silence, Giyuu feeling her confidence waver slightly.

"I see. I respect your decision. Just be careful." she nodded, feeling relieved. She wasn't going to regret the decision at all. Not this time.

Tanjiro sat on the porch of the Butterfly Estate, resting from training. He had a solemn look on his face. Him and his friends had been like that ever since Tanjiro was forced to witness the gut wrenching punishments Giyuu had endured just a few months ago. No matter how much he tried to erase them from his mind, he just couldn't. It just made him feel disgusted about the other Hashiras. Well, except Iguro. He didn't exactly suggest a punishment for the woman who spared both his and his sister's lives. So he was neutral towards him. The others

"Tanjiro." he heard Zenitsu call for him. Turning his head, he saw both the blond and Murata standing beside him.

"Zenitsu, Murata-san." he greeted, his voice soft. The blond boy sat down next to him, while Murata decided to stay standing.

"Here. Inosuke insisted that you eat." Zenitsu said, offering him a bowl of karinto. Tanjiro blinked.

"Aoi-san made it, before you ask. Inosuke tried to help, but he kept eating the raw ingredients." Murata chuckled "I think he caught a stomach bug because of it, because now he's in bed with Kanao-san looking over him." he added. Tanjiro laughed softly, his mood was significantly lighter. He took a bite of the food, his face brightening greatly.

"Aoi-san's cooking is amazing, as always!" he beamed, his smile stretching.

"Mhm, can agree! Aoi-chan has some great culinary skills!" Zenitsu nodded, Tanjiro humming in agreement.

"Are you taking a break from training?" Murata asked.

"Mhm. I... I wanna master the Water Breathing techniques. For Giyuu-san." Tanjiro said, his tone serious "I'll... I'll take Giyuu-san's place as the Water Hashira. To honour her and her memory. Because she was a great person, and..." he said, a hand over his chest. Murata and Zenitsu looked at him in surprise.

"Tanjiro..."

"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to ramble there." he sheepishly apologized, rubbing the back of his neck as he laughed softly.

"No, actually. That's... really inspiring." Murata admitted, sparkles all around him. Zenitsu nodded his head in agreement. Tanjiro looked at them, surprised. But then he smiled, taking another bite of the food.

"CAW CAW! LETTER FOR KAMADO TANJIRO! CAW CAW!"

The three perked up at the familiar sound of a crow. Tanjiro looked up, his eyes slowly widening when he saw Kanzaburo flying towards him. He quickly put the plate to the side as he got up, reaching his hand out. Kanzaburo landed on his finger, a letter wrapped around one of his legs. Tanjiro slowly untied the letter, patting the crow's head once he got the letter. The crow nuzzled its head against his palm, enjoying the affection before flying up, landing on the boy's shoulder. "Isn't that Giyuu-san's Kasugai crow?" Murata asked.

"Yeah, it is. I'm not sure why he's delivering me a letter. Maybe it's from Urokodaki-san?" Tanjiro said, not sure of his words as he slowly unfolded the paper. He had to admit that he hadn't expected for it to be that big, because he hadn't noticed that it had been folded to hell and back. However, once he opened it fully, he felt his heart stop for a second, everything around him freeze.

"Tanjiro? What's wrong?" Zenitsu asked as he got up, him and Murata walking to him with looks of concern in their faces. Once the blond got a glimpse of the letter, however, he stopped as well, his eyes slowly widening. It almost felt like his own heart actually stopped beating at that very moment.

Dear Kamado Tanjiro:

It's been quite a long time since I ever wrote you a letter. Or since you saw me. Or heard of any news about me at all. I must admit that it was my fault, having been careless when fighting against a demon. But I assure you, I'm alright now. I'm back, more confident and stronger than ever.

Urokodaki-sensei has been doing well, better than I've ever seen him. In fact, he's gathered a bunch of new students just recently. Students that happen to be people I know. A family that's not related to me by blood, but by the strong bond we share, if you will. I'm helping him train them, and I can't wait to see them progress.

I heard that you and your friends have been doing wonders against the demons you've fought. Word runs fast in the corps, it seems. However, I'm very proud of your progress, as well as Zenitsu's and Inosuke's. You three can create an amazing team together, I'm sure of it. I hope Murata-san has been doing well as well. I never got to talk much to him after we went to the Final Selection, and we only greet each other every now and then, but I wish to talk to him more. He is a nice person. I didn't get to talk to him during the Mount Natagumo mission, but I hope he is doing well.

How is little Nezuko doing? I hope she's been growing stronger, and I hope she's been healthy. I'm happy to hear that no humans have been harmed by her. I knew she could do it. I still owe you an apology for how I treated you both when we first met. How wrong I was to think she was just another demon. But she isn't. She's special. And I'm more than glad to have taken accountability for her.

I'm staying with Urokodaki-sensei, hiding myself from the corps. No matter how much I think about returning, I won't. The Water Hashira is no more. Ever since that cruel and harsh punishment, I cannot bring myself to look at the master and most of the Hashiras the same. I hope to the gods that Amane-sama was never made aware of these punishments. Because I don't want her to worry about me. Her husband is already sick and dying, I don't want her to be more stressed.

I hope to hear from you soon, and to write to you again, Tanjiro. Keep up the good work, I'm very proud of you and your friends.

-Tomioka Giyuu.

Zenitsu clasped a hand over his mouth, his eyes glossy as he looked at his friends. Murata was speechless, his eyes were fully wide and his jaw was practically on the floor, unable to say anything. And Tanjiro... while he couldn't read his expression, his ears picked it up. They picked up his accelerated heart rate and his ragged breaths. Zenitsu quickly placed a hand on his shoulder, seeing him starting to cry. "Is... Is this real?" Murata asked.

"It is... This smell- And this handwriting- It's Giyuu-san's..!"

"Still no trace?" Sanemi asked his friend, who sat on the branch of a tree. The Serpent Hashira shook his head.

"It's like she vanished completely." Obanai said, his brows furrowed. Sanemi huffed, an annoyed look on his face.

"Damn Tomioka. Not only does she have a stick up her ass by thinking of herself as above others, but now she vanishes for two fucking months? Piece of shit." he grumbled. Obanai narrowed his eyes, looking away from his friend. He didn't agree with him on his stance right now. He didn't blame Tomioka for running away. For leaving. For vanishing from the Corps.

'I would have done the same as her. Even if she broke the rules, what she went through wasn't a punishment. It was torture.' he thought, exhaling quietly as his mind went back to the punishment. He shifted, a chill going down his spine. Just thinking about it made his body freeze. Seeing her face filled with terror as she begged for forgiveness.

'No matter what the others think, that was... too much. Master, I must apologize for going against you right now. But I cannot agree with you in this. What you did to Tomioka was not normal.' he mentally told himself.