They had all taken their training seriously, rigorously going through the regime. Rengoku felt the exhaustion in his bones. He was fighting harder than ever, he needed to be able to keep up with you. If he wasn't able to do something as simple as that, what use was he to the Corps?

He hit the training dummy again, and again. The Bokken (wood training sword) in his hand vibrates with every hit. He felt the vibration being absorbed by his muscles, causing them to fatigue faster. He'd have to push through this, there was no other way.

He'd have to push through all the pain, go beyond his limits, and conquer his own physical limitations. And keep going. It didn't matter how much it hurt, all that mattered was getting stronger and surviving another day.

He was drenched in sweat by the time Shinobu came and got him. The boys had collapsed, seeing him furiously training gave them the desire to do the same, not wanting to be outdone by their superior, so they worked until they couldn't.

Tanjiro was somehow still up and moving. That boy could conquer death by sheer will alone, Rengoku thought fondly. Shinobu took the Bokken away from him, putting it away gently before leading him back to the dining room.

He entered the room to see Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenistu passed out on the table. His boisterous laugh awoke two of the three. Insouke attempted to jump up to defend himself but was unsuccessful, while Zenistu looked at the Hashira with hazy eyes.

Tanjiro seemed to have been knocked out for the night. Rengoku didn't blame him, he'd once been in the same boat. Their bodies still weren't used to the same stress his own was.

They ate, greedily, not knowing how hungry they were until the food hit their tongues. "Delicious." Rengoku would never get tired of the lovely food given to him. He would never stop thanking the cooks for their insurmountable efforts either.

He ate happily, while the other two ate far faster than they ought to. "I hope you are all up bright and early for tomorrow's training!" Inosuke and Zenistu groaned, but Tanjiro continued to snore.

Rengoku laughed good heartily and elected to ignore their groans. "I will see you tomorrow young slayers. Good night!" He called as he stood, he handed his dishes to the three young girls, who gave him looks of determination.

"You three have a good night as well," he said softly. They smiled, nodded, and took off with his dishes.

Rengoku walked back to his room and shut the door behind him. He leaned against the door for a moment, trying to gather himself. Every joint, muscle, and follicle hurt.

He hobbled over to his bed, trying to massage his muscles. He sat carefully on the bed, stretching what little amount he could. A rough groan came from the pain when he leaned to one side or the other

"Damn her. Stupid demon," he grit aloud. He was sore, but not dead. He waved his hand in front of his face trying to rid any thoughts of goodwill towards you. You were a demon, nothing else mattered. Demons needed to all be eradicated or there would be no peace.

Didn't matter how pretty, or nice, or anything else you were. You. Were. A. Demon. Rengoku wanted to slam his head against the wall but refrained from doing so, not wanting anyone to come to check on him while he was having a moral dilemma.

"I'm ashamed as a Hashira. If only I could crawl under a rock." He groaned, stuffing his face into his pillow. He resisted the urge to scream into the feathering, but barely.

I must sleep. To get stronger, and defeat (Y/n). The Hashira nodded to himself, tucking himself in and closing his eyes. Desperately hoped to not have a dream-like last night.

- - - - -

He woke from a dreamless sleep to what seemed like a tapping on his window. His body tensed. He had to continue to pretend to be asleep in case of an intruder. The tapping seemed to have stopped.

He slowly reached to the side, where his sword was resting. He gripped it fiercely, throwing the covers off of him and standing up faster than he should have. His eyes widened. He blinked, and the image of you was gone.

Why did I just see her? What is wrong with me? Rengoku felt he was going insane. He knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep so he sat against his bed, his sword resting against him, and leaned back against the mattress.

He closed his eyes, just listening. He didn't hear anything. But he was still on edge. So he sat there, with his eyes closed, waiting and listening.

He woke from a dreamless sleep to what seemed like a tapping on his window. His body tensed. He had to continue to pretend to be asleep in case of an intruder. The tapping seemed to have stopped.

He slowly reached to the side, where his sword was resting. He gripped it fiercely, throwing the covers off of him and standing up faster than he should have. His eyes widened. He blinked, and the image of you was gone.

A quiet tap, tap, sounded from the window. Rengoku jumped up, drew his sword, and was prepared to kill the would-be intruder. He opened his eyes only to see his crow pecking at the window.

Rengoku released a heavy breath, heart rate lowering at seeing it was his crow. "Kaname, why are you here so late at night?" The man asked his crow, opening the window for the bird to hop in. The bird softly cooed but tilted its head.

Rengoku was confused as Kaname only did that when he had a message for him, but upon closer inspection, there was a small piece of paper tucked into the bird's collar. Rengoku gently grabbed the paper, before ripping it open so he could read it.

Dear Lord Rengoku,

I hope you've been thinking about me. I'd be oh so sad if it was only one-sided. I saw your crow and just had to send you a message. He's lovely, very polite. I'm so happy with how willing he was to deliver a message for me. I was pleasantly surprised by seeing him and not having to fight with the poor bird.

He seems like a lovely and loyal bird. I've seen your progress. It's quite phenomenal how far you're able to push yourself. I am truly proud of how much you've progressed, and so quickly. I also enjoy seeing the boys so happy to follow in your footsteps.

I haven't seen such eager children in so long. It's refreshing. You have so much willpower, and I hope to see more of it in the future. I hope you've spoken with your master about me. I can't wait to meet everyone, and I hope you invite me in your ever-polite way.

I hope you have good dreams and a good night's rest. I wish I could visit you but I don't think anyone would appreciate that, no matter how desperately I want to see you. Ah, alas I may only see you in my dreams, and maybe yours too.

Rengoku could hear the laughter at the end of the letter. He was steaming in-in- well he didn't know but it was some emotion akin to anger. Well screw her, he thought bitterly, but of course, his own thoughts had to come back and bite him in the ass. That's the whole point.

Rengoku groaned at his own mind's sabotage. He went to rip the letter but something stopped him. He wanted to rip the damn thing to shreds so dearly, but why couldn't he? Why couldn't he rip such a ridiculous letter up?

And god, why did it remind him so much of his own mother? He felt the tears again, hiding his face in the paper to just get it over with.

His crow sat there, looking at him with its head cocked to the side. Rengoku couldn't stop. Why did you have to have such an effect on him? There was no way it wasn't a blood demon art.

Rengoku decided that he'd send a letter back, mainly to tell you to piss off and ask what on earth did you do to me?

He scribbled the words down quickly, and gently put it under Kaname's collar. "Please give this to her quickly." His crow nodded, taking off through the empty window.

Rengoku slumped back against his head, desperately hoping to receive an answer of the blood demon art used on him. He refused to believe anything different. But while he awaited his crow's return, he felt the heaviness of sleep weigh on him. He figured he'd wake when his crow returned. He did not.

You had simply left Rengoku. It wasn't difficult when being as old as you. Akaza was able to do something similar. It isn't one actually teleporting, simply moving faster than the eye can follow.

You decided to stop a few miles from the training site. Akazas grip never wavered. He kept silent as you walked farther away. You finally stopped and rounded the man. He cowered away from your gaze but didn't let go of your hand.

"Akaza. I am very disappointed in you." The male whined, trying to make himself smaller, but he wasn't able to stop his body from fidgeting either. "I-I'm really sorry Mother, I promise to do better. It wasn't my intention, Muzan ordered me to kill him. Mother, I'm so sorry. Mother, please don't be mad." He was on his knees begging at this point.

You stared at him, gaze and face blank. "I accept your apology," Akaza's face brightened, "but that does not excuse your behavior. You could have pretended to follow Muzan's orders, but you almost killed a hashira!"

The demon cowered away from you, fearing that you would hit him. You were immediately ripped from your anger. "Akaza, sweety, I'm so sorry." He peeked up at you, confused by your apology.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because I never want you to be afraid of me. I would never hit you. And I am so sorry that I made you feel otherwise. I may want to correct inappropriate or bad behavior but I never want you to feel the need to flinch."

You dropped to your own knees, engulfing the other demon in a fierce hug. He hugged you back, "it's alright mother. I-Muzan, he hurts the other demons, I'm sorry for how I reacted."

"Never apologize for a knee-jerk reaction. It was not anything harmful to yourself or me, I am just so sorry you have the need to flinch. I'm sorry you have to work for Muzan, it pains me to see how he treats you all."

You gripped each other tightly, you knew you'd still have to chastise the other but knew to go about it in a much calmer and polite manner. "Here, why don't you lay down, and we'll have a discussion about what you did and why it wasn't okay, does that sound better?"

He nodded, trying to hide his face in your shoulder. You adjusted, resting yourself against a tree, and him leaning against your chest. He was curled up in the embrace, sitting between your legs.

"So Akaza. Do you know what you did wrong?"

He nodded, "okay, and what was it?" You kept a gentle voice, not wanting to scare him more than you already had. "I was going to kill a Hashira," he mumbled. "That's correct. But you realize what you were about to do was wrong, correct?" He nodded to your question.

"Good, you realize what you were doing is wrong. That's a step in the right direction. Now, why did you try to kill him?"

"Muzan ordered me to come to help the new demon on the Mugen train, and I saw him. He seemed so powerful I wanted to test myself. I got carried away and forgot everything you taught me. It felt so good to fight someone so strong, it's been so long since I've had a challenge. I'm really sorry."

You hushed him, carding your hands through his messy hair. "You don't need to apologize right now. So you got excited to fight someone close to your level and got carried away. Did you forget he was human?" You asked gently.

Sometimes for reformed demons, it was difficult to remember that when they found someone near their level they were occasionally human. He nodded again, fisting the fabric around your legs. "That's okay, we just have to work on that. You can't attempt to maim everyone you fight. You have to work on differentiating when Muzan is watching and when he isn't."

The demon nodded, pushing himself farther into your body. You continued to stroke his hair, humming softly. You'd known Akaza for a very long time. He was one of the first upper Kizuki you were able to reform.

You'd reformed others, but Muzan ended up figuring out something was wrong and killed them. You mourned and grieved over each of them, taking a piece of you with them as he killed them. You felt each of their deaths in your soul, and you didn't want to feel that anymore.