Tanjiro Kamado

"You can go now."

"Urokodaki-sama!"

Fey had been so engrossed in storytelling that he had forgotten about the time and failed to notice that Urokodaki had come in and was standing right behind him. He had almost placed his hand on his katana and was about to draw it, thankfully this time he stopped himself.

"Go"

"Ah... yes!"

Fey stood up and was about to leave but he turned around in order and asked something that had been on his mind.

"Urokodaki-sama, may I ask what happened to her?"

...

There was a period of long silence, where neither person said anything. The topic seemed sensitive and Fey could feel a heavy pressure emanating from the room. After a few seconds had passed Urokodaki finally opened his mouth.

"She was cursed by a demon."

Fey's mood dropped at those words. He might've guessed that it had something to do with the demons, however hearing it firsthand feels different. He clenched his hands tightly as he prepared himself for his next question.

"Can she be saved?"

The pressure coming from the room got stronger and Fey was trying hard to fight back.

"I don't know."

...

"I see"

For some strange reason, Fey took this more personally than he should've. He felt as though a girl her age should be living a happier life, and yet here she is, bedridden and cursed.

Not knowing if she will ever wake up.

Not knowing if she will ever be the same.

Fey couldn't even really say that he knew her, and yet he felt sympathy for her. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do for her, and seeing her there was just another cold reminder of how powerless he currently was.

'If you want power, you are going to have to take it."

Those were the words Sirius had whispered into Fey's soul at that time. This was the second time in his life that Fey had wanted power desperately, but there were no shortcuts to be had, or rather his one shortcut was currently sleeping.

'To hell with building a house, I'll just sleep outside if I have to. I'd rather train harder for one more day than to look have to look at this scene ever again.'

Fey gripped his sword tightly and just as he was about to leave to train he was called out by Urokodaki.

"Leave your katana here."

"Huh?"

"Leave it here"

'What am I supposed to train with then?'

Even though that was what Fey was thinking, he wouldn't actually bring himself to say those words. He was still depending on Urokodaki to teach him in the future so it was best to play along, at worst he would just look for any random stick to swing around, and if that one broke then he would look for another one.

Having thought of that, Fey removed the blade from his hip and placed it by the door, but before he could walk out, Urokodaki threw something in his direction.

"Use that for now. Swinging a real blade is exhausting, and it's best to learn with something lighter at first. Once you are ready, you can take your sword back and use that to practice."

Fey caught the object and he could see that it was a wooden bokken.

'It's definitely lighter than the katana I was carrying before, and it's even the same length too. I wonder where he got it from?'

Taking a second to look at his new bokken, Fey noticed that it was brand new. Then he linked it with Urokodaki's disappearance this morning after his meditation, and all of the sudden Fey could imagine what this old fellow was up to.

'So you've already thought of me as your student. Thank you Urokodaki sensei!'

Fey turned around to face Urokodaki and bowed politely, after that he took his brand new bokken and left to train out back.

---------------------

"542... 543... 544..."

In a small clearing, Fey had been swinging his bokken as hard as he could, taking short pauses in between to change his posture and look for the most efficient way to swing. After a long time, he had fallen into a natural rhythm which involved: inhale, swing, exhale, raise, inhale, and so on.

Time had quickly passed by and the sun was already setting over the horizon, but even so Fey would continue to swing his bokken. A little over a day ago, Fey had almost died when he had been attacked by a demon, and today he had seen another one of their victims with his own eyes.

He had seen what they could now, and now more than ever he felt a fiery passion within him pushing him to raise his blade and then bring it down with all of his might.

"Hello"

"545... 546... 547"

"Umm, Hello?"

"548... 549... 550"

Finally, after 550 swings, Fey's arm were beyond sore. His muscles swelled up and pulsated as though trying to break his skin. His forehead was drenched with sweat and even his legs were trembling slightly, as for every swing he would take a step forward and redirect the force from his swing onto his leg.

"Are you Fey?"

Fey was startled. He had been so focused that he had withdrawn his sense, and the only voice he could hear were his own. Now that he had realized someone had snuck up so close to him, his first reaction was to draw his bokken and swing it backwards with all of his might.

And that is exactly what Fey did.

Even though his entire body screamed in protest, he forced it to listen and draw his bokken one last time, except it didn't go as he expected.

*Thud*

Even though it was fast, Fey could clearly see how the figure had shifted his katana from his hip to his front and parried his blow to the side quite easily. Fey, who had put all of his weight behind that strike, followed his sword and tumbled onto the ground.

He was dumbfounded. Sure he was tired, but he also never expected to have been dealt with so easily, and at this point, Fey's body had given up on listening to him. He tried to get up quickly to face the figure, but when he tried to put weight behind his legs they gave out and he collapsed once again onto the dirt.

"Ahhh, I'm so sorry about that. My body moved on its own, here let me help you up."

The figure walked over and helped Fey stand up. After making sure he was standing on his own two legs the figure back off slightly and for the first time Fey could get a clear look at him.

His face was littered with bruises and traces of dirt that had been wiped off in passing. His ruffled black hair was thrown backward and you could clearly see his tanned forehead as well as the red scar that marks it. The boy had red tips similar to that of the girl who Fey had seen just earlier, except he looked older than her, almost the same age as Fey's body.

Finally, the boy reached out his hands towards Fey.

"My name is Tanjiro Kamada, I am one of Urokodaki's students. Nice to meet you!"

Fey looked at his rough and calloused hand, then he extended his own.

"My name is Fey. Nice to meet you too."

This moment would go on to mark the time Fey had made his first friend in another world.