Whims of the Past

As the days passed by, Hiroto was able to keep his Total Concentration Breathing on at all times, even when he was sleeping. As a result of this, the power of his eyesight started to grow stronger, to the point that if Hiroto pushes his eyes to the maximum potential it can allow him to perceive his surroundings in slow motion.

However, the consequences of using such a technique are heavy on Hiroto, as after he used it he almost passed out from the overload of oxygen rushing to his brain and overloading it with an influx of information.

Aside from this, Hiroto would occasionally converse with Kanao, when she felt like talking (hardly ever), and Shinobu when she was free from her responsibility.

Sitting on the bamboo fence in the middle of the night, Hiroto saw how the wind pressure around him changed. Looking to the side, he saw Shinobu appear.

"Hello, what are you doing here all alone? Are you trying to be like Tomiokoa?" Shinobu said with her same smile.

Hiroto got used to her teasing, realizing that it was part of her sadistic personality. "Shinobu, I have a question that I've been meaning to ask for some time now."

"It's too early for us to be in a relationship you know?" Shinobu teased Hiroto.

"Stop joking around," Hiroto said. "Have you heard of the Dance of the Fire God before?"

"I haven't." Shinobu immediately replied without missing a beat. "Isn't that the thing you do in the morning?"

"Yes, but what about the breath of fire?" Hiroto asked once more.

"I haven't," Shinobu said with a smile waving her hands.

"Well, you should know that it was my father who taught it to me. Our family works with fire, we were charcoal makers. Each year, on New Year eve Father would always perform the Dance of the Fire God to ward off diseases. He was sick and died later as a result of it. I've been carrying on the tradition, and been helping Tanjiro with it." Hiroto explained his circumstances to Shinobu. "I remembered it being called the 'Breath of Fire' once in the past.

"I see," Shinobu said. "So you used your father's breath of fire or the Dance of the Fire God. If you ask a fire user, you may discover something to your interest. Hm-hm."

She then spoke up, "I don't know about 'Breath of Fire' but there is 'Breath of Flames."

Hiroto looked confused and said, "But, aren't they just the same thing?"

Shinbou tilted her head and sat down on the wall next to him. "I don't know the details either, I'm sorry. It's just, in that situation there's a very strict rule about phrasing."

Shinobu then smiled and lifted a finger to her mouth. "You just don't call 'Breath of Flames' 'Breath of Fire'. For the details, it may be a good idea to visit Rengoku-san, the Flame Pillar."

Shinobu then looked into the trees and said, "I can ask the crow. But the reply may take some time."

Hiroto nodded, "Thank you, our father didn't tell me or Tanjiro much about it. However, it was extremely similar to how one would use Total Concentration Breathing, that was how he was able to dance even in the middle of winter when being so frail and sick."

Shinobu stayed silent and listened to Hiroto's story.

"Do you know why I'm still not allowed to leave yet?" Hiroto suddenly said.

Shinobu smiled and said, "That's classified information, Oyakata is still deciding what to do, as you and Tanjiro are the only people to have come into contact with Muzan recently, and he seems to be after you. Oops, It seems I've said too much." Shinobu covered her mouth.

Hiroto stayed silent and gazed at the stars. Hir red and purple eyes reflected the starlight as he thought of the future.

"Shinobu…" Hiroto muttered from the side.

"Hmm?" Shinobu tilted her head and hummed out.

" You should already know I can see people's emotions through their eyes. But when I look at Kanao's… It's like nothing's there. I wanted to ask her, but you know how she is." Hiroto said.

Shinobu looked at Hiroto and kept the same smile, however, her eyes seemed to be sad. "Kanao… She didn't have a great childhood. When me and my sister were in town, we saw her tied and being dragged by a man to be sold. My sister approached her, and when she asked for her name, the man said, "The girl has no name, her parents never gave her one." and when I saw how sad my sister looked at Kanao, I decided to buy her and we took her away."

Hiroto's eyes widened when he heard of Kanao's past.

Shinobu looked down sadly and continued, "In the beginning, I used to say to my sister how she was completely useless. She wouldn't do anything without someone telling her to do it. The same went for eating. You needed to tell her to eat or she won't eat anything the whole time. But all my sister said was, "Hey hey, don't say that. I love your smiling face Shinobu." "

Shinobu smiled slightly when she recalled her sister. "Then my sister decided that the best thing for her was that when she was alone she can decide on things by flipping a coin she gave."

Hiroto stayed silent and just looked off into the distance. 'So that was why. I had no idea.'

"Did you know, when we first decided on her name, Aoi that Kanao has the same last name as her. Saying, "I want a sister!" Oops, I wasn't supposed to say that." Shinobu berated herself playfully.

Shinobu looked at Hiroto then said, "Who knows, maybe she might find someone one day to break her out of her shell and get her to open up." Shinobu smiled mysteriously, before disappearing. Leaving the ringing of bells to echo throughout the silent garden.

'She'll open up whenever she's ready to.' Hiroto thought. 'Maybe I should go see Rengoku and ask him about Breath of Fire. He might know more about this.'

Hiroto sat for a while more, before deciding finally after hours of contemplation. "I have come to the conclusion, that if you sit on a bamboo wall for a long time, your butt will be sore…'

Hiroto left and went to his room, seeing Nezuko laying on the bed. Hiroto smiled and slept on the futon he laid on the ground.

[Next day]

Hiroto was training with Tanjiro outside, as he tried to blow into a gourd.

*haaa haaa* "Brother, how can you do this so easily? I feel like my lungs are about to burst and my heart is in my ears." Tanjiro said weakly.

*sigh* "You need to relax your upper body and tense your lower body. Don't think about it, and just do it." Hiroto said.

"Brother… has anyone ever told you… that you suck at explaining things?" Tanjiro said with dead fish eyes.

"Pa, if they say that then why can I already blow up that big gourd?" Hiroto pointed to the side, exposing a gourd that was laying in pieces.

"Because you're not a human," Tanjiro said with a straight face.

"Why yo-" Before Hiroto could say anything, he was interrupted by a loud voice shouting.

"Hello!! I have arrived at Kocho's request!!" Rengoku shouted from outside of the estate.

Hiroto looked confused but realized this must have been from Shinobu's request last night. 'She's quite punctual.'

Hiroto went outside and saw Rengoku standing there, with the same expression on his face as ever, looking stoic with his arms akimbo on his waist.

"Hello, Kamado Hiroto!! I heard that you wanted to see me?" Rengoku said in a loud voice.

'Was he the one that raised the crows?' Hiroto thought as he covered his ears.

"If you're here, then most likely it was me who asked Shinobu to contact you. I just had some questions for you, come inside." Hiroto said, before leading him inside.

"Certainly!! Pardon my intrusion!!" Rengoku said as he walked in.

Hiroto led him to a tea room and served him some tea, before sitting down opposite of him.

"Delicious!! Delicious!!" Rengoku shouted as he sipped the tea twice.

"...yes, ah I understand-"

"It is very delicious!!" Rengoku yelled towards Hiroto.

"..." Hiroto looked speechless.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Rengoku put the tea down.

Hiroto then began to explain his father's 'Dance of the Fire God' and 'Breath of Fire'.

"Hm! So that's it!" Rengoku said, crossing his arm. He then said with a straight face.

"But I dunno! This is the first time I heard of the 'Dance of the Fire God'!" Rengoku shouted. "But enough of that story."

Hiroto then spoke up, "Wait, could I just ask yo-"

"You should become my Tsuguko(Successor)! I'll look after you!" Rengoku declared out of nowhere.

"Your Tsuguko?" Hiroto then asked with surprise.