Tanjiro: How can we keep Nezuko away from the sun?

Tanjiro and Edward are currently trying to find someway to conceal Nezuko from sunlight so she won't burn to a crisp.

Edward: I dunno, maybe if we find some box or a-

Out of the corner of his eye, Edward spots a basket sitting out of use on the ground by a small house.

Edward: -basket..... how did I do that?

Tanjiro: Wait here, I'll go see if they'll let us have it.

Tanjiro walks up to a few farmers and sees if he can take the basket off there hands. While that's happening, Edward takes in the scenery.

Edward: *Sigh* How could anyone want to destroy this world. Such a shame.

Tanjiro comes up behind Edward, "I got the basket!"

Edward jumps in surprise, "AH!.... Don't do that!

Tanjiro chuckles, "Heh, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

Edward: Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come on, Nezuko's waiting on us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tanjiro: Nezuko! We're back!

Tanjiro sets down the now fixed basket and looks to where Nezuko is supposed to be hiding. Though, Tanjiro didn't see her.

Tanjiro: She's gone....

Nezuko: .... hmmm....

Nezuko pops her head up revealing she had dug a hole to hide even more from the sunlight.

Edward: Nope, she's right there.

Tanjiro: I noticed.....

Edward kneels down and looks towards Nezuko, "We're gonna come in, alright?"

Nezuko:.... hmm....

Tanjiro and Edward crawl towards Nezuko and set the basket down in front of her.

Tanjiro: Nezuko, can you fit in here?

Nezuko crawls out of the hole and goes head first into the basket.... she doesn't fit.

Tanjiro: Hmmm, maybe she can get smaller instead of bigger.

Tanjiro: Try getting smaller Nezuko. Smaller, Nezuko, smaller.

Edward: How can she get sma-

Nezuko flips the basket up and shrinks to the perfect size to fit into the basket.

Tanjiro: There you go, good job Nezuko.

Tanjiro pats Nezuko's head and looks towards Edward, "Alright, I think we're ready to.... go.

Edward is looking at Nezuko like she is a lost kitten that needs protection.

Edward: You are so adorable! I must protect you with my life.

Tanjiro: Uh, Edward? Are you okay?

Edward: Huh....oh...OH, yeah, yeah I'm fine. Lets go!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeskip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

???: Mount Sagiri? Well, you'd have to cross those mountains there but it is getting late, are you sure you want to head there with all that luggage?

Edward: We're fine, thank you for your worry, but we will be alright.

Edward and Tanjiro continue on their way.

???: People have been going missing lately! Try not to lose your way!

Tanjiro waves a thank you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's now night and Nezuko is now walking with Edward and Tanjiro.

Tanjiro stops and points out something.

Tanjiro: There's a temple over there.

Edward: Stay here, I'll go check it out.

Edward runs up some stair towards the temple. He cracks open the sliding door and already smells blood. Once the door is fully open, Edward can see just what had happened. Dead bodies littered the floor.

After looks closer, Edward can see the demon that caused this.

The demon looks at Edward, "Do you dare enter my territory? For that, I'll make you pay."

The demon attacks Edward and knocks him outside.

Tanjiro and Nezuko run up, "Edward! Are you okay!?"

Edward: I'm fine! Just stay where you are, I'll handle this.

Edward focuses back on the demon, "This is where you meet your demise."

Demon: You can't even HOPE to defeat me.

Edward gets in a stance, "Breath of Gods First Form: Final Strike of Hermes."

Demon: Huh?

Before the demon can blink, Edward has already dealt a deadly strike cutting the demons head off.

Demon: AGH! So fast! I didn't even see him.

Tanjiro just stares from the sidelines, "How did he...?"

Edward puts his sword back into its sheath.

Edward: It's almost sunrise, you should probably hide Nezuko somewhere now.

Tanjiro: Oh, right. Come on, Nezuko.

Edward's senses go off revealing a familiar aura, "So it's you where looking for, Sakonji."

Sakonji: Your senses are as sharp as ever.

Sakonji Urokodaki, the former Water Hashira, appears behind Edward.

Tanjiro: Huh? Where did he come from.

Edward: Tanjiro, this is Sakonji Urokodaki, and he'll be the one training you.

Sakonji: He looks to indecisive. He won't last a few seconds.

Edward: Trust me, he'll do just fine.

Tanjiro runs up to Sakonji, "It's great to meet you, Mr. Urokodaki."

Sakonji: With an attitude like that you'll be dead with your first demon encounter.

Edward: Tanjiro, this man will train you like there's no tomorrow.

Tanjiro: If I can help people that suffer because of demons, then its worth it.

Sakonji tests Tanjiro, "Tanjiro, what would you do if your sister ate a human?"

Tanjiro takes to long to answer and receives a slap from Sakonji.

Sakonji: Your too indecisive. What do you think the consequence to travelling with a demon is?

Edward doesn't stick around and walks off to the stairs to sit down.

Edward breathes a sigh of fresh air.

Edward: I wonder if I'll see them?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Training with Sakonji began with a multi-mile run to the mountains. And then after dropping Nezuko off at Sakonji's home, they hiked their way up the mountain.

When they made it up far enough, Sakonji turned to Tanjiro and told him that he must make it back down the mountain to Sakonji's house before daybreak or he won't teach him.

And with that, Edward and Sakonji disappeared into the mist.

Edward: Don't you think this might be too hard for him.

Sakonji: Nope.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inside Sakonji's home, Edward was asleep and Sakonji was making sure Nezuko was comfortable.

Tanjiro bursts open the door, "I made it *Breath* back down *Breath* the mountain.*Breath*"

Tanjiro collapses on the ground. Sakonji carries the unconscious Tanjiro to a spot he can rest. Sakonji proclaims that Tanjiro is now his new student.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeskip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tanjiro continues training under Sakonji. As Tanjiro progresses, the training becomes harder and more dangerous.

Edward watches as Tanjiro trains and gives him pointers whenever possible.

Sakonji's training would brake any normal person, but Tanjiro was determined to make Nezuko human again, no matter the cost.

Tanjiro went through sword training, endurance training, Breath training, and even tried to learn Edward's forms but was denied.

All throughout Tanjiro's training, Nezuko is in a comatose like state, so Tanjiro keeps a journal for Nezuko.

After 1 full year of training with Sakonji, Tanjiro is led to an open area with a big boulder. Tanjiro is supposed to cut the boulder in 2 if he wants to enter Final Selection.

During Tanjiro's solo training, he would go through everything he learned from Sakonji and keep training.

After 6 solo months, while trying to cut the boulder, a figure appeared on the boulder and went through some quick combat training with Tanjiro before having him be trained by another figure. The second was a figure was a female named Makomo and the male was Sabito.

For the next 6 months, Tanjiro would train with Makomo and Sabito until he was ready.

After the 6 months, Tanjiro challenged Sabito to a duel. But instead on a wood sword, Sabito's sword was real.

In the blink of an eye, Sabito's and Tanjiro's duel was over and Tanjiro had won. Tanjiro split Sabito's mask down the center.

Tanjiro looked towards Makomo and back towards Sabito. But in the place of Sabito, the boulder was split by Tanjiro.

Sakonji had arrived to check on Tanjiro, and found him standing in front of the split boulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, Sakonji let Tanjiro eat as much as he wanted.

Edward looked at Tanjiro in a new light.

Edward: Tanjiro isn't the same boy he was 2 years ago. Tanjiro's strong now and doesn't need someone to protect him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sakonji was preparing everything for Tanjiro before he left for final selection in the morning.

Edward walked up to him, "He'll be fine, we both know that."

Sakonji paused, ".... I know, but I can't help but worry."

Edward: None of the others were your fault.

Sakonji: You should get some rest, your traveling with Tanjiro tomorrow to final selection, aren't you?

Edward: Just remember what I said.

Edward leaves Sakonji and goes to his room to sleep. Sakonji stands there thinking about all of the children he's trained and raised just to lose them at final selection.

Sakonji: Your right.... Tanjiro, you better come back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~