[sub][sub][sub][sub][b][color=crimson]ـــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــ[/color][/b][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub] [hider=Social Compassion]Miyuki got what she wanted, Hikaru was nothing like Himari,after all, her brother was like family to hers, this is the first time Miyuki meets Himari and there's one thing he's right, she gets pissed off as easily. ‘Selfless State. Just like Father.’ She thought. “Big deal. So by that logic, beating a Consort will give you the Hashira pass, if so anyone can do it, so work ethics don't matter anymore, and we are not the same, I am adopted, hence I have to earn everything, you're nothing but someone born from a bloodline, blessed with everything.” [color=violet]“Blessed? You really do know nothing. My bloodline is cursed. And I've had to work hard to even reach this point. If being born from a bloodline mattered we wouldn't still be fighting and losing to demons today. My brother would still be alive. And if anyone can do it, why haven't you? You sit on your high horse but watch others fight and die before you.”[/color] “You fool, Father just didn't come up with the technique himself, what I was doing was helping him perfecting it, 7-years ago. The brain is needed for the muscle to work. I've been working at the back end of things, why do you think Kyoto is so stagnant compared to Tokyo? Like I said, big talk, for belonging in a branch that got the most deaths. It's because Tokyo is not afraid to use Demons! Who do you think is behind Takaya's operations, it's not just Guen-san,Hmm!” Himari sighed. She was getting nothing through this thick one's skull. She then had the nerve to bring up her betrothed’s operations as if she were ignorant of the dealings of the Corps. [color=violet]“You're blaming me for Kyoto's state? Why do you think I was assigned there? To help change and cleanse Kyoto. Everyone I love was in Tokyo, but I did what I needed to do to ensure we wouldn't lose more lives. And if you think I'm ignorant of what goes on with my Takaya-sama, you're sorely mistaken.”[/color] Miyuki assumed her stance, she knew that with the Selfless State, it would be difficult. She played the psychologist part. “Oh and where the heck were you, when your brother was dying? Yanagi and I were trying our very best to keep him alive, I was gonna tell dad until Kairi came.” Miyuki being poor in comms as always, in the matters of the heart. [color=violet]“I wasn't assigned to the mission. If I were, my brother would still be alive. And excuses. You had plenty of time to tell your father instead of letting the news be dropped on him like this.”[/color] Miyuki got a flashback of the times she spent with Hikaru, she liked him but too bad, he already got a fiance. Hikaru was not only a fighter but a mind of his own, Hikaru was an inventor, he was one of the few Kyoto Idiots, who aren't bound by tradition. “Compass Breathing: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” Miyuki gets into a horse stance, and will anticipate every faint movement and attack upon any mistake Himari makes. [color=violet]“Moon Breathing: First Form: Dark Moon, Evening Palace.”[/color] Himari entered a low crouching posture before quickly dashing forward swinging her right hand horizontally like a katana before curving it up like a crescent moon. “Soryūshiki: Suzuwari.” The same move, Miyuki used to disarm Kuwajima-senpai earlier, rather than disarm, it was catching Himari's attack, pound for pound, their clash released quite a shockwave, which dented the tatami flooring and the walls around the area, even the pictures of the Grandmasters before them. “Good form. I knew you're a doer, instead of a listener, but it would be stupid if I yield now, do I? I could have done that earlier.” Miyuki speeds up, there were 7 mirages of her, Afterimages. “Compass Breathing: Leg Type, Break Dance!” Miyuki performs multiple leg sweeps, flips and kicks, shockwaves that were strong enough to destroy their surroundings, and her moves were erratic. “Iai-Shūto: Windmill!” She switched using Wind Breathing, achieving the same crescent slashes as Himari. Himari stood still and waited to react. She wasn't using her eyes, she was using her senses to determine which of the images were actually Miyuki. When the real leg sweep came she flipped backwards to avoid the incoming kicks and slashes. The girl had an impressive amount of speed and power. But she'd show her real crescent slashes. [color=violet]“You're not going to beat me with cheap tricks. I'll always be able to tell the real you.”[/color] Himari said as she entered another stance placing both arms in front of herself and crossing them like an X. [color=violet]“Moon Breathing: Fifth Form: Moon Spirit Calamitous Eddy!”[/color] She swung her left arm down before quickly arcing it up sending actual crescent slashes forward. She followed it up with her right arm arcing it above the way her left hand slashed. She followed the attack immediately with dual slashes from both arms. The way she moved made it seem like a dance, but if it was, it was the dance of death. Miyuki deduced that Himari has the same fighting style as hers. She closed her eyes as Himari's barrage was at its peak, feeling the air around her, the changes in motion and the faint presence that Himari has, for a new Hashira, she's proven worthy of having the title, thus Miyuki got some scratches, to what extends to clothing damage and some minor cuts, her left cheek was bleeding. Parrying pound for pound on what Himari has been throwing, Kenzo noticed what Miyuki was about to do, before he could react, it was already too late, “Miyuki stop! Don't use that! “Miyuki-chan don't!” Even Yanagi told her to stop. The air around them was vehement and it was visible, still her control of actual air was precise, it's not destroying the place. “I'll say this once. Yield. You don't wanna know what's gonna happen next.” Miyuki threatens Himari. As intense as the wind was, Miyuki's presence became more faint. Himari felt the intense wind picking up around them and wasn't scared in the slightest. She crouched into another fighting position extending both of her arms behind her back. Just as she did so her mind flashed back to one of the last training sessions she had with her brother. [i]Himari and Hikaru's wooden katanas clashed with each other with such force that it caused hers to splinter and break. Despite this she entered another stance ready to continue. “Why must you fight so hard, Hima?” Hikaru asked her. [color=violet]“I have to win. If I don't beat you, how will I kill a Demon Lord let alone Michikatsu?”[/color] “You don't have to win. You have to survive. This is just training. Is that really why you fight? I thought you learned more from leading the Tsukikage Ryū.” Himari dropped her head. [color=violet]“No. We fight to protect innocents from those who lurk in the darkness.”[/color] “That's right. How can you protect them if you're dead? Not all battles require victory. Sometimes the best option is to live to fight another day and if you get injured or die in training who are you protecting?” [color=violet]“Sheesh. I get it already. I yield.”[/color][/i] Himari's mind returned to the present. She looked at Miyuki and the injuries she caused her so far. She had already proven her point. If this fight went any further one or both of them would end up seriously injured. Even her father didn't want her using this next move. [color=violet]“Tch. Even when you're dead you still can't stop teaching me, Hika.”[/color] Himari said aloud before placing her arms to her side and bowing to Miyuki to honor their spar. [color=violet]“I yield. You should listen to your father. Certain attacks are reserved only for the enemy. I almost forgot that myself.”[/color] Miyuki in a split second, calmed down briefly and in that instance, that thing she summoned finally receded, as if it wasn't there but for those with a perception as sharp as an eagle, they could've seen such visceral patterns. “It was fun.” She showed a genuine smile, like as if nothing happened, whether it's fake or real, that smile was at least vague. The air around them stopped feeling dense. Himari nodded in agreement. This Soryu style was pretty interesting. To be able to do so much without the use of a blade. It was almost like Blood Demon Arts. No wonder it packed quite the punch against demons. [color=violet]“It was. Now you've got me pumped to learn.”[/color] Tenko let out a sigh of relief as Himari and Miyuki both backed down. From what she had seen, interfering would just make the two stew in their irritation, festering grudges, so she reluctantly watched silently. She was about to interfere just before that last attack, but thankfully, they both stopped at the last second, and things were settled for the time being. It looked as if she had made the correct judgment then. “Yeah, you can call me Miyuki-chan, Tenchan.” She gives an affectionate gesture to Tenko. “Try not to break too many things. I wouldn't want to break you, though you already know, between us, Jae-senpai.” “Alright, I was wrong about you lot, we all had so much grief, it's nothing new, but make no mistake, I hate people who just got their ranks for shits and giggles, all of you are worthy of what you got right now.” “Soryu is meant to embrace but not succumb to that inner darkness, like water’s reflection, will you be able to fight your inner demons? If you can't, then you'll lack that focus, let alone to even control that scarlet inside you, everyone?” Demons…Tenko wondered what hers would be. Of course, being a student of psychology, Tenko knew that everyone had one. Though the nomenclature changed from Jungian ‘shadows’ to the more modern Cognitive Dissonance, it was something that existed to some degree or another within all humans. Self-diagnosis was a bad practice both as physicians or psychologists, but if Tenko were to guess what her ‘demons’ were…it would probably be related to her faith in some manner or other. A distinctive sound of a sword being sheathed would be heard as Kairi let out a sigh of relief. [color=pink]“That is a little too close, closer than I'm comfortable with.” she admitted as the singular blade disappeared into her jacket.[/color] Her eyes gazed at Miyuki as she spoke. [color=pink]“This better never happen again.”[/color] the overprotective captain warns Miyuki as she stares at Ryonosuke with clear authority. [color=pink]“Let's go and get those materials, the faster we return the better.”[/color] she declared as she walked away from the Dojo, mapping out the routes they needed to take. It won't take them longer than fifteen minutes. Miyuki smirked, of course, something like this will happen again, it's better to let emotions out, than bottle it. “Hey, Captain. I don't suppose you wanna run an entire loop, do you?” The University, Wasegawa & this plane, are two separate dimensions, this is Yanagi-chan’s BDA.” Yanagi popped out of nowhere and provided all the Hunters with talismans to know the in and outs. Kairi would be spooked by the appearance of the demon but managed to restrain herself to get the talisman. [color=pink]“A nifty little trick.”[/color] she admitted as she inspected the talisman with a close eye. [color=pink]“Alright let's get those ores and candles, you might want to have those prepared beforehand next time.”[/color] Kairi spoke as she put the talisman on her pocket and went her way. —--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From the edge of the dojo, the Agatsuma twin sat, crossed legged, and watching as Himari and Miyuki sparred. He didn’t feel the need to intervene between them when things started to get a bit serious, not being dumb enough to try stopping Himari when she’s getting revved up. Instead he focused on the scarlet dust, practicing Total Concentration: Breathing, every breath deep and exhaled at a slow rate. Kousai couldn’t afford to not be ready, he was willing to learn whatever technique necessary to slay the demon threat. The flame nichirin katana sat across his legs, giving him comfort as he practiced. A moment from his past flickered through his mind, a visage of his brother, as his eyes watched Himari, Miyuki throughout his breathing practice. [color=yellow]”Captain, I can also help if need be.” [/color] Kousai spoke loud enough so that Kairi could hear him, for if there was anyone here that she likely found reasonable then it was Kousai, and he always endeavored to be helpful to Kairi and the few people in the corp that he saw as comrades. Taking a stand and a break from his practice, the Rumble Hashira decided to make his way to the middle of the dojo, facing toward Himari. [color=yellow]”Dear sister, must you always cause a scene?”[/color], Kousai spoke with a comforting but mischievous smile. Himari chuckled in response. [color=violet]“Me? Cause a scene? Never. I just enter the scene and steal the show when it starts.”[/color] Miyuki had a faint smile too. Kairi would let out a sigh and stand her ground, [color=pink]“No, the faster you learned these techniques the better so focus on learning, so leave the boring parts to this big sister, got it?”[/color] she spoke as she left using Mirage Breathing to get away faster. Kousai nodded at Kairi’s response, turning his attention back to Himari, giving a slight chuckle before speaking, [color=yellow]“Seems like the other slayers are starting to catch up to us. And here we thought being the few to slay even a consort would make us the stars of the corp.”[/color] Himari shook her head. Despite bringing it up earlier to prove a point to Miyuki she never considered defeating a Consort to be a real accomplishment. Not when they were so easy to replace and still paled in comparison to the Demon Lords. [color=violet]“I'm not surprised. This war has been pushing us all to grow at exceptional rates, but I've never been satisfied with just killing a Consort. My goal was always Michikatsu. Now it's also the Demon Lord who killed my brother. Until their blood and ash cover my blade this star won't be able to shine.”[/color] These past six months changed Himari and reshaped her life drastically. She lost her brother but gained even more to protect. She needed to get stronger. She'd have to thank Takaya for initiating this training. It was exactly what she needed to see her limits and break through them. “It's true, consorts are easy to replace, you'll find Tokyo doing more than just recruiting Demons but also inventing new ways to kill Demons.” she said with honesty. Kousai gripped his brother’s blade tightly when she spoke of her brother’s passing, despite his jokes, he knew they weren’t any closer to stopping the demons. He stood a bit firmer, his back straightening up, and face losing the mischievous. [color=yellow]”Well it is in our best interest to follow in their footsteps. Kyoto will be free of the demon menace. That will always be my goal.”[/color][/hider][sup][sup][sup][sup][b][color=crimson]ـــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ــــــــــ[/color][/b][/sup][/sup][/sup][/sup][color=Gainsboro]Both Branches, Tokyo & Kyoto learned to put aside their differences by the training that Oyakata, Takaya enforced. For the past 60-years, there was nothing but dread as the Demon Slayers were just surviving against most Demons until sunrise, since common decapitation methods don't work. Even with the vast advantages that an elite Hunter would reap, like the Demon Slayer Mark, for the past 60-years, a lot of them died. Whether by the natural causation of the Mark's Curse, whereupon Death claims all lives at 25-years-old, died trying to awaken it, died while using it, just died after a late awakening of age & overusing it, the most detestable thing is to those who've forsakened the Corps, by becoming a Demon — just to overcome the Curse of The Mark. 4-years ago, hope finally came, former Wind Hashira - Soyama Kenzō, made the Soryū Scarlet Method, an unarmed method, made to disable healing factor of Demons regardless of Rank, unfortunately he retired after critical injuries from the ordeal he got with a Demon Lord. Hence, the mass production of the Soryū Scarlet didn't get passed on and led to so many casualties. Oyakata of Kyoto, Tsugikuni Haruka was pleased to hear the outcome, having read Takaya's report.[/color][hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/s9OrWJr.jpeg[/img][@JrVader][@Digmata][@13org][@TimelessParagon] [b]Event:[/b] Scarlet Dawn Upon The Blue Spider Lilies [color=Gainsboro]Tokyo's Oyakata-sama, Ubuyashiki Takaya has brought with him two elite Hashira at the Daikaku Shrine. Alongside them was former Wind Hashira, Soyama Kenzō & some Hinoe-ranked Demon Hunters as bodyguards. Flashbacking to what Miyuki's told Kairi prior leaving.[/color] [i]It's confidential, whatever you and that slacker do, stays there. Don't tell anyone.[/i] "Awesome!" [Color=Gainsboro]Asechi, a Hinoe-ranked Demon Hunter was in awe of the ancientlike construct that they set their foot upon - it was like a throwback to the haydays of Edo.[/color] Asechi was puzzled, they could've gone during the day but why at night? Takaya smiled reassuringly. "Everyone, this is the place, where the Soyama Family gets their ingredients from." [Color=Gainsboro]Nearby, Takaya saw his collaborator, not one of the Corps but an ally.[/color] "Long time no see, my friend. Daikaku Kōshin. Fear not, my Demons are outside, putting up a barrier with their Blood Demon Art, so no one finds out about this place." [color=Gainsboro]The place itself, the Daikaku Shrine, was in fact made out of Nichirin. Even if a Demon tried going in, they'll die not just from the metal itself but the vast amount of Wisteria Flowers. If they managed to get deeper, they'll die by having engaged the Daikaku Monks.[/COLOR] Memories come rushing in Ryoshu's mind, it was the memories of the fallen, the former Moon Hashira, Tsugikuni Hikaru, it gave him an inkling on where to go. [Color=Gainsboro]Kenzō said. [/Color]"Yo, Shin-chan, we're here for more scarlet iron sand, scarlet metal and some blue spider lilies! I'm trynna experiment on my Soryu, you see?!"[hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/3ZTHjXQ.jpeg[/img][@Haha][@King Kindred][@Randomguy][@xAlter][@Taka][@Aku the Samurai] [b]Event:[/b] The Lesser Evil [color=Gainsboro]Miyuki was so cheerful and from the training itself, it appears that Jae-un was the only one that didn't tire, training from Morning till Dusk, the felt their sore muscles & that's something that one would expect, having so trained rigorously. "Come on guys, don't tell me you're all too tired, sheesh!" Miyuki was so casual and cordial with her group, forgetting that she was such a strict Teacher – who trained them hellishly. The Training was so intense that it's not only their muscles that are sore, their lungs was also pushed to the utmost limits. Of all her newfound friends, she spent the most time with Tenko Thompson, next was Himari, then Kousai and last Jae-un. Based on their Training Regime from 8am to 7pm, Hellish Hours. All were trained with Suzuwari, the basic of the basics. [b]Tenko[/b] was drilled most with Kicks, Miyuki made her kick air until she broke, followed by kicking multiple training dummy trees until it broke, especially she's the only one in the group that's not a Hashira. Miyuki's intent was to improve Tenko's physical prowess, it took 3 hours to train Tenko, with little breaks yet among all her students, who were equally given a hard ass time besides Jae-un, Tenko was given insights and compliments about her enhanced senses, Miyuki showed her a glimpse of Mugaryū. [b]Himari[/b] being as skilled as Miyuki, that she herself gave quite a beating. They sparred for 2 hours, until Himari was pushed beyond her lung capacity. Miyuki's intent was to teach Himari how to go forward and plow her enemies down, hiding with the Selfless State was a great feat but relying on it overly was an entirely different matter. It was also a Stamina Training, the Selfless State, drains the user's stamina big time, Miyuki was also surprised that Himari was subconsciously infusing the scarlet with her moon, that could result to something else. She quoted earlier before they left for the Hot spring. [i]Hide and Seek can only take you so far, hide all you want, the simpled exposure will just be your end.[/i] [b]Kousai[/b] was better than his Tsuguko. Obviously. In fact, Miyuki made Kousai and Himari spar for 3 hours until they break. [b]Jae-un[/b] was the real deal. He picked up fast. Miyuki refused to elaborate and only had 30 minutes with him. Now... "Come on guys, we are already here, y'all deserve a break! Tomorrow we train till we break! Though I'll have Jae-un and Kousai with me at the latter night, we'll be patrolling! Guen-san said this place is great to heal wounds!"[/color][hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/AoKHKse.jpeg[/img][b]Four Hours Earlier[/b]: [@Arminwraith] "What the--?!" Once again, Isaka was cut down, this time, not by crescent blades but by waterjet torrents, FYI, he's still alive but that should knock him out. The door was cut into pieces and Isaka was knockback, breaking the TV. "You punk rat." Guen was oozing bloodlust the moment he saw Keodis. "Wasegawa almost lost its cover. I don't think Muragarasu is that low to spill the beans, but you, you're quick enough to bend the knee to anyone who bids higher. I heard from a reliable source that a Demon of a Higher Level, managed to snuck in, even with Yanagi-chan's Blood Demon Art" Little did she know, she was referring to Ryoshu. "Of all the Demon Informants in Tokyo, you've been giving me quite the time for the past 7 years!" Guen was furious with Keodis. "Talk, you know what happens when you mess with me." She assumed and accused Keodis of leaking info, without knowing the Moons found out. [b]The Water Hashira Enters![/b]