You sat silently in a tree not far from the butterfly estate. You waited for Rengoku's crow to fly back by, you'd just so happened to see it flying towards the town, and were now waiting for its return.

You heard the flap of wings first, seeing the bird not long after. You didn't quite remember the lovely thing's name. "Hey, sweet birdy!" You called, waving towards it in hopes you wouldn't have to chase it.

The bird seemed to have remembered you, swooping down and landing next to you. "Oh, well aren't you just the loveliest little bird. Such a sweet one hm?" You scratched where his cheek, causing the bird to make a pur-like sound.

"Can you do a favor for me? I even have some food for you." The crow cawed, tilting its head, you gently stuck the letter between the bird and its collar. "Oh why thank you. You are such a lovely crow. So pretty too, you must take great care of your feathers." You hummed and set some food down for the crow.

You proceeded to stroke the beautiful bird, happy to see it enjoying its food so readily. You felt that all the Kasugai crows deserved to be treated with the utmost care and respect.

You missed your own little bird friend but were happy to have the one right in front of you. The bird finished his food, clucked at you in thanks, and took off towards where you assumed Rengoku was.

You smiled and watched as the bird flew away. Wishing you could follow it but knew better. The wisteria surrounding the estate was enough to deter you. You were more allergic to the wisteria than Muzan's demons but it didn't make it any more tolerable.

It made you itchy all over and the feeling would last at least a day after you touched the wisteria. It was miserable, so you stayed as far away from it as you felt necessary.

You did your best not to laugh when you heard Rengoku's heart rate increase, almost feeling the anger radiating off of him at your letter. You felt the sudden shift in his mood, feeling pain suddenly.

You frowned, getting down and deciding to leave to give the man time that he may need. You meandered your way through the town, all the laters lit so beautifully, the fireflies fluttering around.

You desperately wished your children were here with you, but they were safer with Tamayo. You signed, but shook your head, moving on towards some of the shops. An older man was calling toward you, and you decided to entertain him.

You sauntered over, seeing the fruit sitting nicely on the stand. "Hello, ma'am. I have some lovely pears, for a beautiful lady like you, I can give you a discount." He smiled, grabbing a pear and extending it towards you.

You smiled, handed over a few coins, took the pear, and walked off. You bit into the fruit, the juice dribbling down your chin. You hummed, wiping the juice from your chin, but continued to bite into the tasty fruit.

You were minding your own business, enjoying the pear when Rengoku's crow chirped at you, you lifted your arm, and the bird perched on the given limb. You couldn't help but wonder why it had come to find you again when you saw the paper tucked in its collar.

You bit into the pear, trying to stick it in your mouth, and reached to grab the paper. After a try or two, you gripped the small sheet and gave the crow a little scritch. The bird flew up into a nearby tree and simply watched you as you started to open the piece of paper.

Stop tormenting me in my dreams. I don't know what demon art you cast upon me but I need it to go away. I don't know why you so desperately wish to converse with me but I have no interest in ever speaking to a demon if not to kill it.

You almost wanted to laugh at his insurance that you had used a blood demon art.

Leave me alone, Ms. (Y/n). I do not know why Tanjiro trusts you, but I don't.

Flame Hashira.

And that was it. That was all that man wrote. You frowned, hoping for a better response but shrugged. You turned to look at his crow, it was still staring at you. "Thank you dear birdy. I have nothing to reply at the moment, you may return." You bit off a small piece of pear, throwing it in the air for the crow to catch.

The bird swooped down, scoping the piece in its mouth before taking off back towards the butterfly estate.

- - - - - - - -

Rengoku awoke the next day, still feeling incredibly tired but refreshed. He trotted down the stairs to the dining hall to eat his usual portion of breakfast.

Rengoku didn't want to admit to himself that he was slightly disappointed at not receiving a letter back from you. He wanted to know what you had done to him, and completely ignored the part of him that longed for the companionship you offered.

He shook his head, deciding to instead pick up his chopsticks and bowl. Rengoku heard some bits and pieces of conversation and heavy footsteps. He looked up from his food and saw Inosuke, Zenitsu, and Tanjiro stumbling through the doorway.

He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face, "ah boys. Glad to see you awake, eat up. There is much training that needs to be done." Rengoku returned back to his food.

The boys groaned but sat down. Inosuke, per usual, wolfed down his food and attempted to steal the other's food. Zenitsu was doing his best to dodge Inosuke's hands, and Tanjiro was slowly putting bits and pieces of food on Inosukes plate.

Rengoku chuckled, but finished his meal and left to take his medicine and get ready for more training. He reentered his room, seeing his crow sitting on the window sill.

Rengoku opened the window fulling for the bird. "Ah, Kaname! Did you bring any news!?" Kaname squawked, hopping in and tilting his head. Rengoku grabbed the paper and opened it. He was absolutely not disappointed at the fact it wasn't from you.

The letter was from Ubuyashiki.

Dear Rengoku,

This is some very interesting information. I wish to meet with this woman, as I have an odd trust in Tanjiro and his experiences. She also saved you which I must thank her for even if she must die in the end.

I hope that you are able to get in contact with her. If you didn't thank her for saving you then you're not as polite as Ruka said you were.

Holy shit he never did thank you. He was so worried about making sure everyone was safe and the fact that you were unlawfully pretty. He shook his head and continued to read the letter. Knowing Ubuyashiki was teasing in his prior statement.

I wish to set up a meeting with this Demon, we will have to figure out the details later if she accepts the meeting. I am very interested in this demon, however, and the possible advantages over Muzan she could give the corps.

I hope you are able to get in contact with her to help ensure the future of the demon slayers.

Sincerely,

Ubuyashiki

That was all he wrote. Rengoku had hoped for me, he had hoped that his leader would join his desire to end the demon, he wanted Ubuyashiki to show anger at what had been done and kept from him.

Why he expected Ubuyashiki to be angry, he didn't know. He wrote a short letter back, grabbing a handful of seeds to feed Kaname before giving him the letter and sending the bird off.

Rengoku dressed and rushed down to the training grounds. He was going to work those children to the bone, himself included.

He told the boys they needed to run 100 laps around the compound, he was on lap 79 and was slowing down with fatigue. He was unsure how far along the others were, but he'd passed them at least continually, an uncounted amount, within the first 20 minutes.

The sun was high in the sky when Rengoku finally finished. He stumbled to the side, dunking himself into a nearby creek. He hissed at the cold on his hot skin but relished in how it soothed his body.

The others were stumbling through their last 10 laps, and Rengoku had moved on to the next exercise, which was to do 1,000 pushups.

Kiyo sat on his back, calling off numbers. He pushed through, every one of his muscles shaking and straining with exertion. He tried not to falter on his last push-ups, but he was so tired.

He had his last one, pushing through it and letting out a low groan. Kiyo cheered for him, dancing around his sitting figure. The other boys had finally finished their laps, falling over at his feet.

He felt his body trembling from effort, but he took deep breaths, continuing to properly fuel his muscles.

The girls got on the three boys' backs, already cheering at them to get to the exercise. Rengoku couldn't help but huff a laugh at how the boys groaned loudly.

He rested for about 10 minutes, watching the boys struggle with the 500 push-ups they needed to do. While he wanted to push them past their limits, he needed to remember that their limits were far less than his own.

He was a Hashira, which meant he needed to be at a higher standard constantly, but that didn't change his want to push the younger ones so they could achieve their greatest potential.

He could see that they would all be strong, he could see their potential, and he wanted to see them achieve that. But just because he wanted them to achieve greatness did not mean they had the same resolve that he did. The thought that they didn't want to achieve the potential that he could see made a frown come over his face.

He stood, albeit shakily, and moved away from the boys so he could lay down and proceed with his 1,000 sit-ups. He didn't want to think about anyone else having a possible lack of resolve, so he focused on his sit-ups, and breathing.

He was almost done when he felt a sharp stab on his left side. He sat there for a moment, trying to gather where the feeling came from. He looked around, knowing it wasn't a physical stab, just a look so intense that it manifested itself in such a way.

He stopped at a single Sakaki tree. He could feel that is where the stare was coming from. He glared at it but decided it wasn't a big enough threat with the sun up so high.

They had stopped for lunch, everyone's stomachs grumbling loudly, not caring for social norms and raging a storm. Rengoku ate greedily, tasty coming out every now and then if he breathed between bites.

He set his bowl down, groaning in contentment. The boys stayed in the dining room to practice reflexes. As a Hashira he mostly trained his body, if he were to train reflexes it would need to be done with another Hashira.

- - - - - - - -

He did his 1,000 sword slashes, and it was beginning to get dark. He decided he'd wait till it was dark and he would confront whoever was staring at him earlier. He had a feeling that it was you, however.

He was sweating all over and hoped that you weren't coming back with a vengeance. He had no hope of beating you before he was injured, much less now. He had mostly healed, but Shinobu said she would kill him herself if he reopened any of his wounds.

Shinobu is scary, Rengoku sat, thinking of ways to make this person come out in the opening.

He had only been sitting there for a few minutes when he felt the stare again. He sat with a sword in hand, cleaning it. He side-eyed the spot, picking the sword up, pretending to inspect it. He angled himself properly, raising the sword up and slashing down.

He practiced for a moment or two before he launched the sword towards the wandering eyes. He heard an airy chuckle and saw a person crawling down the tree, with his sword in hand.

"Well that was a fine throw Lord Rengoku," you giggled, twirling his sword in your grip.