Inei was very near Mt. Sagiri, a smile crept up to his face, which instantly froze when he saw a kid slightly older than him exit from Urokodaki's house holding a Katana, he looked rigged from up to down.
Without hesitation, Inei instantly burst forward with maximum speed and pinned him down, Inei pointed his blade at the unknown person's throat.
The red-haired kid froze, his eyes widened as he sweated buckets.
"Don't move a muscle"
Inei was about to break his arm when he felt a hand on his shoulder, glancing back, he saw Urokodaki, who was shedding tears as he looked at him.
Inei lost the grip on his blade, he threw his body at his Master and tightly hugged him.
"You made it out alive, I'm so glad"
As the tears slid down from the red mask, he patted the boy's back and stood up. Inei's face, however, grimaced as soon as he remembered about the intruder.
He shifted his eyes toward the red-haired kid, the latter flinched.
"Inei, don't be alert, he is a student of mine, Tanjiro Kamado"
Hearing that, Inei sheathed his Katana and entered the house to clean himself, Tanjiro glanced at Urokodaki.
"He's really strong... Is that your student you mention earlier Master Urokodaki?"
Urokodaki nodded his head.
"Yes, he is... very strong"
Tanjiro clenched his fists, he wanted to be that strong too! To save his sister!
But Tanjiro was puzzled about one thing, he decided to ask his Master about it.
"Master Urokodaki, I don't understand, why should we hide Nezuko until he is gone?"
Urokodaki did not respond, he firmly stared at Tanjiro.
"Continue your training, now! Get back up you useless brat"
"Ahhhh!!!"
Tanjiro was kicked in the butt, he flew over the forest as he cried from the pain.
"Sigh... I'm sorry for keeping this from you, Inei"
The grey-haired man sighed as he went to monitor Tanjiro on his training, meanwhile, Tatsumi cleaned the borrowed Nirchirin sword and freshened himself.
***
15 days passed by, and Inei could honestly say it wasn't peaceful in the least, the problem being the newcomer, Tanjiro Kamado.
The guy kept on ranting about the possibility of 'good' and 'bad' demons, which Inei found to be complete bullshit, he wasn't buying that crap.
Demons and 'good' didn't match up, atleast not for him, Inei almost choked Tanjiro to death because he was fed up with his stupid theories.
He hated demons from the bottom of his heart, it acted as a fuel to add on to his blazing ambition, nobody could change his point of view.
As the young boy sat in front of the house, Inei's ears perked up after hearing bells jiggle in the distance, he stood up as he saw a man wearing some sort of weird mask and a crane enter his vision.
'Finally'
Inei knew it was the attire of swordsmiths, he waited patiently as the man finally reached in front of him.
Inei was about to open his mouth, but was soon tonguetied as the man entered the house without even glancing at him.
The young swordsman was puzzled, he turned around and entered inside the building, as he set his foot inside the hall, he saw the man sitting across Urokodaki, his facial expressions completely hidden under his mask.
"Rin-Sama, this is not the one who passed the selection"
Urokodaki said, the swordsmith looked at Tanjiro and snorted.
"Hmph! Then what are you getting at? If this is not the rumored prodigy, who is it? Don't joke around! If not him, is it that fragile kid in front of the house?!"
Urokodaki stayed silent, the Swordsmith dropped the wooden box in his hands and stared at the man in front of him for a solid minute.
"Don't tell me..."
The footsteps approaching were deafening to the guest, his heart thumped as the sound got louder, and louder.
Finally, it came to a halt, the swordsmith slowly shifted his head behind him, when he did, he saw a young boy, staring at him, full of… boredom?.
Inei slowly raised his hand, opened his palm, and set it before the man's eyes, the latter grew puzzled as he gazed at the young swordsman in front of him with visible confusion.
"That is my sword I believe... Hand it over"
The man broke out of his trance, he slowly picked up the sword and handed it to Inei.
The young boy drew his sword, he slid his finger over its edge, feeling the pure metal. He praised the quality of the work, one could see how masterfully the sword was forged.
Slowly the silver metallic color of the sword started to change, starting from the tip, it turned amethyst Wholey, besides the hilt and the grip.
Urokodaki and the swordsmith stayed silent, an ominous feeling crept up to Inei's heart as he glanced at the purple blade in front of him.
"Amethyst... Inei"
As Urokodaki glanced over at him, his eyes turned dim, his arms felt weak and fragile, his heart grew cold, the same could be said for the swordsmith.
Inei noticed the uneasiness in the room, he looked at his Master, waiting to hear what he had in store for him.
"Amethyst... Young child, I am afraid you will not meet a good end, for this color represents fate"
The swordsmith spoke with grimace, his words echoed inside the wooden hall,.
"Fate?"
Inei tilted his head, visibly confused by the lack of information, he could not understand what the man meant by "fate".
"Fate... You are bound to the will of Nature, Inei. It seems you have a purpose, and you have been chained to finish it, no matter how, when, or where, you are [Fated] to accomplish it... or die trying"
"What Urokodaki said is true, there were only rare cases of Amethyst, and the people who are blessed with the color usually... They die in the worst possible way. People bound by fate experience the crucial of things happening, they become the center of every single event"
Tanjiro drew in cold breath, he could not believe it, a kid was being told he would die. In front of the very child!?
His gaze darted across the room toward Inei, the young Kamado was slightly startled by observing Tatsumi.
The kid was calm as usual, his dark pupils resting as he gently stroked the blade of his Nichirin Sword, as if he heard nothing.
"I see... I guess I'm destined to serve some sort of purpose"
He sheathed his blade and bowed towards the swordsmith, his gaze met his master's.
Urokodaki felt shame for doubting his student, he stood up and patted the young swordsman on his shoulder.
"Inei Tatsumi, thank you for letting me teach you"
Inei smiled, Inei was about speak but was shortly cut as a raven rushed onto his shoulders.
"Inei Tatsumi! Inei Tatsumi! Villagers of Hinohara are disappearing every night!! To the North, you must go and find the cause! This will be your first official mission!! Good Luck Inei Tatsumi!!"