𝐒𝐄𝐀 ꕀ 𝐊𝐍𝐘

six

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once again, shinobu had requested kazemi to stay for another month. she was still receiving missions, but would just return to the estate right after.

recently, she'd been hanging with aoi, due to the fact that shinobu's schedule was now quite busy with missions and patients. kanao was always training, so she didn't have the time to sit or walk with her. she had initially asked if kazemi would like to train with her, but unfortunately, the younger girl wasn't really the best instructor. her methods of training weren't really the same as what shinobu taught kanao. she typically learned more from experience. 

aoi did most, if not all of the talking while telling her stories and stuff, but this was one of those instances where it was bearable. kazemi didn't mind. 

"yeah, and that was how naho accidentally let a cat into the estate! shinobu almost screamed when it rubbed against her leg while she was working!" aoi finished her story with a laugh. she had quite the firm, yet soothing voice. it was nice to hear. 

"you remind me of a blue gourami." kazemi stated, completely out of the blue. aoi was very confused. 

the noirette stared at her, completely perplexed. 

"im sorry, a... a what? is that a pasta...?"

"no, it's a fish. it's very pretty." kazemi quickly went to get a book on fish from shinobu's office. she was currently on a mission, so it was empty. she saw an odd purple syringe while searching, but thought nothing of it and got the book she was looking for.

then, she came back to the kanzaki, and found the page where the blue gourami was mentioned.

aoi... didn't know how to feel. yes, it was a pretty fish, but being compared to one was quite odd...

in curiosity, she read a little from the page.

the three spot gourami, also known as the opaline gourami, blue gourami, and gold gourami, is a species of fish endemic to southeast asia that has spread to other parts of the world. 

"...thank you for telling me that. anyways, do you mind helping me bake some donuts?" aoi smiled kindly. "it's a new western dish!"

she nodded, and they began.

it did not go well.

aoi had found out one new thing, during the baking experience with kazemi.

she was shit at baking.

just five minutes in, aoi quite literally snatched the mixing bowl from her, then sweetly told her that she could just eat rice crackers and watch.

"don't worry! you didn't do anything wrong! i just don't wanna burden you with anything!" aoi had said, with a slightly wavering grin and thumbs up. 

now, she was observing the process with intrigued eyes, occasionally asking a question every now and then. aoi gladly answered.

quite the fun day.

°｡

once she'd eaten the donuts with aoi and the triplet butterfly girls, she'd gone to check on kanao, and perhaps spar. after all, she was pretty bored.

she spotted kanao swinging a wooden sword. kazemi clapped to get the older girl's attention. she looked to the source of the sound, and when she saw who it was, she released her fighting stance and walked over to her.

she quickly flipped a coin.

'heads to ask what she is here for. tails to ask to train together.' it landed on heads. she was a little disheartened, since she did want to train with the girl. she'd overheard her first conversation with shinobu. she was very curious of what "sea breathing" was.

"hello. what do you need?" she asked.

"if you don't mind, can we spar?" kazemi requested. kanao noticeably perked up.

she fell quiet for a second, before flipping her coin once again to decide.

'heads for no. tails for yes.' to her dismay, it landed on heads. 'i want to, but the coin said no...'

kazemi just watched. then, completely catching the youngest butterfly sister off guard, she grabbed a wooden sword from a basket full of them and swung it at her. still wielding her own wooden katana, kanao deflected it. she was very confused. but, as the time went on, she pushed her thoughts into the back of her head, and engaged in the spar.

'flower breathing, second form: honorable shadow plum.' kanao delivered multiple rotating slices to fend off the rapid barrage of blows kazemi was sending her way, and succeeded in gaining distance. then, she took that time to run at kazemi, with her wood sword held high in the air.

'sea breathing, fourth form: deathly stillness.' to dodge the attack, she used minimal movement, swiftly sidestepping to the right. kanao almost lost her footing, since the sword swing she'd done had needed lots of momentum.

for the next entire hour, they sparred. it was more of a one-sided spar, though, since kazemi wasn't exactly fighting, and was instead showing kanao all the blind spots and problems in her fighting style through experience. one of her flaws, was that she sometimes took too long to register slashes. since she was still a tsuguko in training, and had not yet taken the final selection, it made sense.

by the end of the sparring session, kanao was tired, slightly bruised, and exhausted, but she had learned a lot. sometimes mistakes and flaws were the best teachers.

°｡

hiiiii

blue gourami:

heres a few things to just note

- this is one year before present, kanao has not become an actual demon slayer yet

- kazemi was not trying in the spar, and was instead exploiting kanao's flaws to get her to notice them and adapt. she was not trying to win or overpower kanao. she was also trying to cure her indecisiveness, since she could see that kanao indeed wanted a spar, but was relying solely on the coin. thats why she just rushed in all of a sudden

tehehehehhnnhjahs byee

unedited