Muichiro

"Oh, it's the Mist Hashira, Tokito Muichiro," Hiroto said. "I remembered Rengoku meeting him before while I was back at the Flame Estate. I wonder what he's doing."

"Go away!! I'm not handing my key over, no matter what! And I definitely ain't teaching you how to use it!!" The boy with the hyottoko mask shouted at Muichiro.

"What's going on? Are they arguing? Brother, maybe we should leave. Eavesdropping is bad. But… we might have to intervene if they start fighting." Tanjiro said, fidgeting.

Hiroto said nothing and just kept watching. Muichiro then raised his hand, and brought it down onto the boy's neck, sending him tumbling over.

"Ah!" Tanjiro exclaimed as he saw Muichiro just hit a boy.

"Gh… ugh…" The boy grunted as Muchiro dragged him up by the hem of his shirt.

"Heeeey! What are you doing!!" Tanjiro yelled, running out in front. Let go of him!!" He grabbed onto Muichiro's wrist and tried to pry it off.

*sigh* Hiroto sighed and walked over, keeping an eye of Muichiro so he doesn't do anything to Tanjiro.

"Your voice is so annoying… Who are you?" Muichiro's lazy voice came as he said slowly.

"What're you doing to a kid!! Get your… Gh!" Tanjiro applied more and more pressure until the veins in his hands bulged but still wasn't able to move Muichiro's arm. "Ugh."

Muichiro gave a side glance to Tanjiro, and said, "You-Let-GO." He then brought his elbow and slammed it into Tanjiro's gut.

*Thud*

However, before it hit Tanjiro, Hiroto stepped in between them and pushed the elbow off to the side. "Now now, Tokito. Although my brother may have been brash and tried to pull you away, you still shouldn't lay your hands on him. Lest you want a repeat of what happened to Shinazugawa?" Hiroto said with a kind smile.

Muichiro paused and said. "... What happened to Shinazugawa? Who are you?"

"... Really? You even met me with Rengoku at the Flame Estate. Is your memory that bad?" Hiroto said.

"Ah, you're that Tsugumo. Hm? I sense something strange in that box. It feels like a Demon... What's in there? Is that…" Before Muichiro could finish, Hiroto drew his face real close to his and whispered in an emotionless tone.

"What about it?"

Muichiro paused and didn't finish the rest of his sentence.

The boy then muttered, "I-I'm not handing this key over to anyone. Not even under torture. 'It' is gonna break very soon!!"

Muichiro turned to the boy and said, "Have you ever been under torture? Not even adults can endure it, so it's impossible for you. It seems like you're just a dumb kid who doesn't know his place."

Muichiro's gaze lowered, "And so what if it breaks? Just make another? You know, all this time that you've been grumbling and mumbling, do you know how many people have died? This is what happens when you get in the way of a Hashira."

Tanjiro and the boy got tenser as they heard his words. Hiroto stayed silent, listening to what Muichiro had to say.

"Unlike you people, a Hashira's time is extremely important. You'd understand if you thought a little." Muichiro looked down at the two with slight disdain, "Swordsmiths can't fight. They can't save lives. Making weapons is all they're good for."

Hiroto then interrupted him at the end. "So… if a Hashira's time is so important… then what the hell are you doing here for? It's day time, who's dying? Which Demon can walk about in the daytime? Are you just talking out of your ass? Trying to abuse your position? How would Oyakata-Sama react, once he learns one of his own Hashira's is bullying a member of the Demon Slayer AND a kid from the swordsmith village, the sole village that makes our Nichirin Blade."

Muichiro stayed silent, looking at Hiroto.

"What? Did everything I say make sense to you? Or are you daydreaming still? A Hashira's time is precious? Then why are you here? The only reason for you to be in the village must be due to your sword. So what time is he wasting?" Hiroto said, defending the boy.

Muichiro didn't utter a word. The boy looked at Hiroto. It was unknown what he was thinking of at the moment.

"I don't have time for this." Muichiro moved extremely quickly, but Hiroto didn't react to it since he didn't feel any hostile intent behind his movements. Muichiro blurred past Tanjiro and the boy, and took what seemed to be a key from his and walked away.

"Ah! The key!" The boy shouted but was stopped by Hiroto.

Hiroto shook his head and said. "It's best not to get on his nerves. At Least he didn't get physical with you again."

"But, brother! How can we just let him say those things about the swordsmiths!" Tanjiro yelled. "Each swordsmith has a very important and crucial job! They possess amazing skills that are different from swordsmen! It's like you said, if they don't forge out Nichirin Blades, then we can't do anything, right? Swordsmen and Swordsmith both fight their own battles, without one another they wouldn't be able to function properly."

Hiroto ruffled Tanjiro's hair and smiled, saying, "Relax, don't get so agitated. What you said is right. Who knows, maybe your words might have reached someone's ear." Hiroto looked past Tanjiro's shoulder and saw the familiar haori of a certain Swordsmith hiding behind a tree as they ran off.

"Hm? *sniff sniff*" Tanjiro began sniffing, but stopped. "Hmm, I thought I smelt Haganezuka-san around here, but it might have just been his past scent," Tanjiro said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Ha-Haganezuka? Nah, he wasn't here. Nope, haven't seen him recently." The boy said, whistling and trying to seem inconspicuous. Of course, Tanjiro bought the act.

*sigh* "Sorry, we weren't able to stop him from taking your key." Tanjiro said, looking downcast.

"Oh, no! I was really happy! You stood up for a stranger like me… Thank you so much!" The boy said, bowing to the two.

"No, no, I couldn't be of any use to you…" Tanjiro said, waving his hand.

"What's the key for anyways? I'm surprised that Tokita would insist so much on getting his hands on it." Hiroto said.

"Ah, it was for a mechanical doll." The boy said.

"A what?" Hiroto tilted his head.

"A mechanical doll. My ancestors made it, and it has one hundred and eight different movements." The boy said, sitting on the ground. The two siblings followed suit.

"Whoa!! Amazing!" Tanjiro cried out.

"But, how can a doll have so many movements? Can it even move on its own?" Hiroto asked inquisitively.

"Well, it's mechanical. So it doesn't rely on people to control it. It's power also surpasses that of Humans, so it's used as a training dummy." The boy said.

"Oh, so that's why Tokita wanted the key. He must want to train against the doll." Hiroto said.

"But…" The boy then mumbled, looking anxious. "It's slowly deteriorating, and it might break soon."

*BOOM* *THUD* *SLAM*

A cacophony of noise came from deeper within the forest as the two were talking.

"Whoa, what's that?!" Tanjiro said.

"Is that the meghanibal doll?" Hiroto asked.

"...Mechanical. But, the guy from before must have already started." The boy said, getting up and leading the two over to where the sounds came from.

As the two arrived, they saw a series of clashes between Muichiro and a mechanical doll with long red hair, tied in a ponytail.

"That… is the battle doll my ancestors made long ago." The boy said. "Yorichi Zeroshiki."

"Wait… It's him…" Hiroto said, with his eyes widening as he stared at the doll. 'He looks so similar to the person I saw in my dream. His hair, that mark on his face. He even has the Hanafuda earrings and the bracelet.'

"Who? Do you know him, brother?" Tanjiro asked.

"Huh? How can you know him? He was modeled after someone from the Sengoku period. Don't tell me you're over 300 years old?" The boy said, looking at Hiroto with a weird glance.

The doll had six arms growing out of its body, and the left side of its face was busted up, exposing the wires and mechanical parts to the outside.

"Why are there six arms?" Tanjiro asked.

"Well," The boy answered, "According to my dad… This doll is modeled after an actual swordsman, they had to give it six arms or they couldn't replicate his movements."

"Wait… Doesn't that make this doll more than 300 years old? How is it still working after all this time?" Hiroto asked.

"It's construction is so superb that we can't hope to achieve that level even now. So if it breaks, we can't fix it anymore." The box said, growing anxious when he watched the fight between Muichiro and the doll that was still going on. "My dad died suddenly, and I have no siblings. So I have to be the one to fix it. But I don't have the talent to fix blades or dolls…" The boy started to freeze up, his tone getting more somber.

"So that's why… I see… I see." Tanjiro said, looking sad.

Hiroto didn't say anything and just ruffled the boy's hair.

Tanjiro watched Muichiro and said, "This person… is amazing. He's just as young as I am… But he's talented…"

"Well, of course!! That boy is a descendant of the 'Sun Breath' Users!" An annoying voice came from the side. Looking over, the group saw a crow with long eyelashes yell out. "He's a genius!! He's completely different from you. Haha! Haha! Haha! Hoho!"

"Um, he doesn't use the Sun Breath," Hiroto said casually.

"Shut the hell up!! I'll gouge your eyes out!!" The crow shouted and lunged at Hiroto, who merely dodged him.

"But… I saw it in a dream. I saw the doll in a dream before!" Tanjiro said.

Hiroto raised an eyebrow. 'So Tanjiro also saw this man?'

"What? You're a total moron. Have you ever come to this village before? You're being delusional that you make me laugh. So you know a warrior from the Sengoku Era? How old are you?" The crow said.

Tanjiro paused and thought about his words. "Kegh." The bird laughed.

"Sorry about that… I must look weird." Tanjiro sulked.