As soon as you arrived at the hashira meeting, you immediately felt singled out.

Everyone else there was just so- well, you didn't want to say weird, since that was an insult, so you would just say unique. Gyomei Himejima, the stone hashira, seemed to be endlessly crying and worshipping Buddha, the water hashira, Giyuu Tomioka, the serpent hashira, Obanai Iguro, and the wind hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa, were all grumpy, and the remaining ones, such as Mitsuri Kanroji, the love hashira, Tengen Uzui, the sound hashira, and even Shinobu Kocho, were all odd.

The two servants of Oyakata, young girls wearing kimonos with wisteria embroidered on them, exited the building and bowed to all the hashira and you, saying, "Oyakata-sama has arrived!"

The leader of the hashira, a kind man with a curse that was killing him slowly, which also rendered him blind and scarred terribly, came out from the house wearing a simple white kimono. You had heard of him, but had never seen him in real life, and now that you were so close to him, he scared you a bit. His skin, which looked like it was rotting from the large scar spreading across his upper face and stopping just below his eyes, made you a bit uneasy about being so close to him, but you had no choice. Muichiro wanted to introduce you to him officially, which meant you needed to be close to him to speak up clearly.

"Hello, my children," he said. His voice was soft, but not like Muichiro's. Muichiro spoke softly, but this man spoke clearly. It was his tone that was soft, and that soft tone calmed you down, no matter how odd you felt around him. You breathed in deeply, in and out a few times, before saying, "I would like to introduce myself to you, Oyakata-sama."

"Oh, a new child has come to join my forces? I did not hear any news of a new hashira being announced though..."

To clear up any doubt, you immediately responded with, "I'm not a hashira, yet. But I want to be. I'll let my teacher tell you more about me."

You gave Muichiro's hand a squeeze to bring him back to the event at hand. He had been watching clouds go by with an absent expression on his face. When he felt your skin brush against his, he blushed and turned to Oyakata-sama, not bothering to hide his flustered look.

"This young woman is my student, and her name is... her name is..."

He trailed off with a sigh and a shake of his head. His memory issues were playing up again, so soon? You felt terrible for him, and you could see that he was embarrassed by this whole thing. You might as well take over for him.

"My name is L/N Y/N, and I'm Muichiro's student! I hope to learn underneath him until I gain enough strength to strike out on my own and kill all the upper moons that are left alive! If that doesn't prove my skill and my drive to become a hashira, I have no clue what will!"

"Too dangerous," you heard Muichiro mutter repeatedly in a low voice, shaking his head.

"Ah, well then, Y/N. It's a pleasure to meet you. Have you just come here to observe, or do you want something from us?"

"You're cute! I'd help you!" Mitsuri said, smiling a cute smile.

"No, I'm just here to observe. Honestly, I feel as if I've already spoken too much..." you said, remembering what Shinobu had told you just earlier, to not annoy the hashira. Thankfully, none of them looked really annoyed, except the ones who were always annoyed.

Oyakata laughed amiably and gave you a smile, which showed that he meant no harm.

"Don't worry, compared to a few of the hashira, you barely make any noise," he joked.

The hashira all laughed, even the grumpy ones. You felt an overwhelming feeling of warmth, like you belonged there. You hadn't felt this way in a long time, and the emotions shocked you a bit, so you drew away from Oyakata and sat down on the ground next to Muichiro, as your mind tried to process every warm and fluffy emotion you were feeling inside.

"Y/N.. I'm sorry," you heard Muichiro whisper. "Your name, I-"

You were about to open your mouth to interrupt him and tell him not to worry, but then you were interrupted by inhuman screams, coming from close behind you.

"Demons, children! Demons are approaching! Be ready!" Oyakata warned.

After he warned you, he went back into his home, for his own safety, and all the hashira, plus you, drew your swords, ready to battle.

You hadn't expected such a fun, cheerful meeting to turn into a chaotic mess this quickly. But whatever these demons came up with, you would defeat it, to prove your strength to the hashira!

You noticed that Muichiro was trembling like a reed in a storm, so you gave him a hug, holding onto him until you heard the sounds of swords slashing skin.

The demons were here.

It was time to do work.