44 Departure

"Yes!! My Tsuguko! I can take care of you and help you better understand your 'Breath of Fire'!" Rengoku said.

Hiroto thought, as said, "I don't see how I can lose out on this. I'll accept, and become your Tsuguko!" Hiroto then bowed towards him.

"Haha! Good!! I already got a glimpse of what you were capable of! And from what Tomioka had reported, you managed to have slain a lower moon!" Rengoku said with his same stoic expression.

"The 'Breath of flames' has a long history!" Rengoku then began to explain the different breath styles. "Swordsmen who can use flames and water have become pillars in every age, no exceptions. The basic breaths are Flames, Water, Wind, Rock, and Lightning. And the other breaths are branched out from those. Mist is derived from the wind!"

Renguko then crossed his arms. "Young Kamado, I know that your sword is crimson, so it derives from the flames! But, you trained under the water breathing technique, which makes it peculiar as to why you possess this color! However, you said that your father taught you the breathing technique, 'Breath of Fire' which could explain the color!"

Hiroto nodded at his swords. Then said, "What about the purple that is forming at the top here?" Hiroto took his Nichirin Blade out and showed how the top side of the blade was purple, only by a sliver as the red still dominates the blade.

Rengoku looked at the blade for a second, before saying. "No idea!"

Hiroto stumbled in his position.

"That doesn't matter for now! What's more important, I understand that you currently don't know what kind of swordsmanship to master!" Rengoku said.

This made Hiroto realize that he never trained in a particular sword style before, only using the breathing techniques to solidify his foundations in swordsmanship.

"I can train you back at my place, so be at ease!" Rengoku said.

Hiroto looked down, and thought, 'If I leave, I won't be able to be with Nezuko or Tanjiro. Who knows what will happen if I'm not with them. But… If I don't go, I'll never be able to become stronger than how I am now. Tanjiro may also be able to grow if I gave him more responsibility to act as an older brother to Nezuko…'

Hiroto looked up and said decisively. "I will go with you. I will train and get stronger under you."

"Good! I like your fighting spirit! I can tell that you will become a powerful Hashira one day!" Rengoku said.

(Author's whim: Decided to use Hashira instead of pillar from now on cause… it sounds cooler…sue me)

"I will come and get you by the end of the day!" Rengoku said, before standing up to leave. "Make sure you say your farewells by the end of the day!"

As Rengoku left, Hiroto heard someone stumble behind him. Turning around he saw a look of surprise on Kanao's face as she heard what Rengoku said.

Kanao gripped her hands and spoke. "Y- Are you going to leave?"

Hiroto was surprised, she could speak more than 4 words on her own. Hiroto smiled and said, "Yes, Rengoku asked me to become his Tsugoku, and I accepted it. He's going to help me train and become stronger, so I can protect those close to me. Nezuko, Tanjiro…" Hiroto's words trailed as he looked at Kanao, and said.

"And both you and Shinobu," Hiroto said with a smile and left through the door off to the side.

Kanao stared blankly into space where Hiroto once stood. 'Protect...me?'

As Hiroto walked away, he felt his head start to get hotter as he screamed inside his head. 'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THAT WAS SO CHEESY'

Hiroto later recovered and arrived at where Tanjiro was, pulling him into his room. Nezuko woke up when she heard two people enter her room. She saw Hiroto and Tanjiro walking in and relaxed.

Hiroto sat on the side of the bed as Tanjiro sat on a chair opposite to him. Nezuko was laying down in her bed as she watched the two curiously.

"Tanjiro… Rengoku offered to make me his Tsugoku. I accepted it and will have to leave the estate by the end of the day." Hiroto said, looking at Tanjiro.

Tanjiro was shocked at his brother's words. "You… you're leaving? For how long?" Tanjiro said sadly.

Hiroto replied, "I'm not sure. I'll be staying at his place while I train. When you recover, you can come and train with us. He says that he might have more information on our fathers 'Breath of Fire'. You must have realized it too by now, that father's technique is related to the different breathing techniques that Demon Slayers used."

Tanjiro said, "Of course, when I first used it I remembered back to when we watched father perform the Dance of the Fire God during the New Year's. But it's raw power is too much for me to use consecutively, and only in short bursts."

Hiroto nodded, then said. "I'm the same with you, although I can use it for a longer period than you, it's still hard to maintain for long drawn out fights."

"Tanjiro… while I'm gone, you have to watch over Nezuko. You have to step in for me and take care of her. Make sure no harm comes to her. Take care of yourself too." Hiroto added.

Tanjiro nodded his head solemnly. "I swear brother, nothing will happen to Nezuko while you're away."

Hiroto looked beside him and saw that at some point Nezuko had crawled up beside him and slept next to him, using his lap as a pillow.

"I know what you two are like. You're both sweet, but you're both scary when you get mad." Hiroto caressed Nezuko's hair as he continued saying.

"Some time ago, Nezuko got mad at a villager adult because he bumped into a little kid and injured him. She told him to apologize. Luckily, things were okay back then since a lot of adults were around. But I saw anger in her eyes… The same goes for you Tanjiro. People who get angry for other people's sake show a lack of concern for themselves. And one day, because of this fact…" Hiroto's words stopped as he looked down in sadness.

"I might lose someone else precious to me…" Hiroto said quietly.

Tanjiro's eyes started to water up as he heard his brother's words. His brother would always act strong in front of him, supporting the family from behind. To see his brother open up about what he's afraid to lose made Tanjiro realize how heavy the burden on his brother's back is.

Hiroto stayed silent and looked at Nezuko's face that was staring up at him. "Hey, Nezuko. You remember that lullaby mother would always sing for us?"

Nezuko stared at him in confusion, tilting her head.

"Since I'm leaving, I'll leave you some memories of her," Hiroto said, before starting to sing a soothing lullaby.

"Knock knock, little bunny from the little mountain. Why are your ears so long? When she was small my mother ate the leaves of a tall tree, and that is why my ears are so long~." Hiroto sang.

Nezuko's eyes widen, as the figure of Hiroto was replaced with that of her smiling mothers, she started to tear up.

"Knock knock, little bunny from the little mountain. Why are your eyes so red? When she was small, my mother ate the fruit of a red tree, and that is why my eyes are so red~."

Nezuko fell asleep under the lullaby, with a blissful smile on her face. Tanjiro was silent as he heard the lullaby his mother used to sing for him, causing emotions in him to bubble up.

Hiroto got up, and said, "Let's leave, Nezuko needs to rest."

Tanjiro wiped some tears from the corner of his eyes and stood up, following Hiroto outside.

Hiroto spent the rest of the day gathering his personal belongings, which was barely any and went to the entrance of the Butterfly Estate. Everyone who worked at the estate gathered to see him off.

Hiroto smiled and approached them. "Wahhh Hiroto-Sama!" "Why do you have to leave so soon?" "Wahhhh" The three little girls cried as they lept at him.

"There there." Hiroto patted their heads to calm them down. "I can still visit you from time to time, I just won't be living here anymore. Besides, Rengoku told me that it's not that far away."

Aoi looked on from the side with her arms crossed. She said with a light blush on her face, "Take care of yourself if you're ever hurt you can come back."

Hiroto smiled at her, and nodded, causing her to turn around to hide her face.

"My my, I didn't expect you to leave so soon Hiroto. We'll miss you." Shinobu said as she appeared from nowhere.

"Why is everyone treating my departure as though I'm going to die?" Hiroto said haggardly.

"Wahhhh, Hirotoooo don't leaveeeee." Zenitsu cried, trying to cling to Hiroto. Hiroto pushed his face back with his hand and said, "Stop clinging onto me, like I keep telling everyone, I'll still visit you guys from time to time."

"Handatiro Santaroe!" Inosuke yelled from the side, "I will train to make myself even more powerful, and become stronger than you! You are worthy to be my minion!"

"Yea yea, whatever you say," Hiroto replied.

"Don't worry brother, I'll look after Nezuko while you're gone," Tanjiro said, balling his fist.

Hiroto ruffled his hair and said, "You should look after yourself as well, focus on recovering for now and your breathing."

Hiroto saw Kanao on the side, who didn't say anything. Hiroto walked up and patted her head, causing her to look up in shock. "I'll see you later, take care."

Kanao nodded her head, looking at Hiroto who turned away and walked towards Rengoku.

"Let us depart now, young Hiroto! Goodbye, everyone!" Rengoku shouted as the two started running off.

Hiroto waved back towards the others, giving them all one last glance as he left.

Inosuke grabbed the end of Tanjiro's shirt as he watched Hiroto runoff, Zenitsu was crying at seeing Hiroto leave. Aoi, turned to leave, giving Hiroto a last glace. The three girls waved their hands after him as he ran off. Kanao touched her head where Hiroto patted, and Shinobu had a sad glint in her eyes as she watched Hiroto's distancing figure as he ran alongside Rengoku.