Ali spent hours training with the trio in the practice room until they were all exhausted, lying on the ground and struggling to catch their breath. Once they were completely spent, Ali took his leave and headed back to his room. It was now four in the afternoon, and Ali was eager to try out the breathing exercises for the first time, perhaps even attempting to replicate the Flame Hashira's techniques.
"Let's take it slow and see how it goes," Ali thought as he sat cross-legged on the wooden floor, breathing casually through his nose. He sensed that there was more potential in each breath, but he couldn't quite grasp or harness the power that Demon Slayers were known to wield. He repeated this process for thirty minutes, but nothing changed.
"This isn't working. I'm not getting anywhere with this. It feels too weak—like even if something is happening, I can't feel it. Screw it, let's try what Rengoku was doing."
Ali stood up and took a deep breath, imagining a small fire in the darkness. But suddenly, the darkness around the fire transformed into black hands that emerged from the ground, joining together to snuff out the flame.
"Ugh!" Ali gasped in pain as he coughed up blood and bits of his organs. His left lung was half-charred, and his trachea felt as though it were on fire, clogged with blood.
He dropped to his knees, continuing to spit up blood until it finally stopped. The healing properties of his body kicked in, repairing the damage from his attempt to mimic Rengoku's technique.
"Cough, cough... The breathing style... it rejected me? Or maybe it was something else. I don't know exactly what happened, but fire definitely isn't for me. Damn, it messed me up that badly—it tore through my insides like they were nothing. It's dangerous."
Despite his failure, Ali stood up with a menacing smile on his face.
"But the strength and lightness I felt just before everything went wrong—that feeling was exhilarating. It proves I can do this. I just need to find something that suits me and doesn't burn my organs."
Ali sat back down and resumed taking deep breaths, but this time he focused on visualising pure darkness—a vast, empty void like the one he had experienced when Veska pulled him out of Earth. Ali reasoned that he should master the basics of the breathing technique before trying to visualise anything specific. "This should help in the future when I try other styles. At least I'll know I'm not doing this part wrong."
What Ali didn't realise was that behind him, small wisps of darkness were swirling around his shadow, indicating that his visualisation was not as empty as he thought.
Time passed quickly while Ali sat in his room. He opened his eyes when he felt the last rays of sunset on his face through the paper door.
KNOCK KNOCK. "Dinner will be ready soon," one of the three sisters announced before moving off to inform the others.
Ali stood up and looked down at the spot where his blood and organ bits should have been, but the wood was clean as if nothing had happened. His healing cells dissolved themselves and any part of his body they inhabited when they left his body, so if his arm were cut off, it would begin dissolving until there was nothing left. Ali always appreciated this property; it helped him clean up after himself, leaving no evidence that he had ever been there.
Ali watched the sunset before walking up to the dining room. He could hear laughter and many voices speaking loudly. When he opened the door, everything went quiet. Inside, the trio was sitting together on one side of the table, while on the other side sat the Love Hashira Mitsuri, the Insect Hashira Shinobu, and a new face Ali didn't recognise.
He walked up to the table and sat next to Mitsuri, who blushed when Ali chose to sit beside her.
"I heard you met with Rengoku today. How did it go?" Shinobu asked.
"He showed me the Flame Style. It's not for me, though," Ali responded in his usual cold tone.
"You never asked me to show you my style," Shinobu said, leaning forward to see Ali's face.
He looked at her and said, "I saw it when you fought the demon. It doesn't suit me either. Your style clearly compensates for something. I don't have anything to compensate for." Ali's answer surprised Shinobu.
'He figured that out just from seeing my first form? He's right, my style wouldn't suit him. He's too strong and fast to need it.'
"Mitsuri, what are you doing here?" Ali asked as he glanced at the beautiful pink-haired Hashira.
'She's good-looking. Actually, so is Shinobu and the girl sitting next to her. They'd all be top-tier models back on Earth.'
"Mitsuri asked me to have dinner with us. She said she missed spending time with me, apparently," Shinobu answered before Mitsuri could.
Ali nodded, and the three sisters came in with the food. They had to extend the table just to fit the amount that Ali needed. Then the feast began. At first, Mitsuri was too shy to eat as much as she wanted, embarrassed that Ali wouldn't like her massive appetite. But when she saw him eating enough food for fifteen people, she relaxed a little and began eating happily. Mitsuri was extra happy now, pleased to see that Ali had a massive appetite just like her.
The dinner turned into a spectacle, with everyone watching Ali and Mitsuri eat. They were consuming enough food for at least thirty people, passing each other dishes, making it a fascinating sight.
After dinner, they all sat drinking tea. That's when Mitsuri said, "Actually, I can't stay for too long. I have a mission tomorrow and need to get some rest."
"Let me go with you," Ali responded.
Hearing that, Zenitsu spat out his tea, and Shinobu started coughing, while Mitsuri's face turned completely pink.
"I meant on the mission," Ali clarified.
"Oh," Mitsuri said with a hint of disappointment.
"No, you can't. You only joined the Corps today. You don't even have your Nichirin blade yet. It's too dangerous," Shinobu said firmly, clearly disagreeing.
"I can take care of myself. Also, I'm accompanying a strong Hashira like Mitsuri. I'm sure I'll be alright just watching from a distance. What do you think, Mitsuri?" Ali responded, looking Mitsuri in the eyes. He knew what he was doing.
"I mean, I'm sure it'll be fine if he watches from afar. It'd give him some experience," Mitsuri said, glancing at Shinobu, who sighed and said, "Okay."
Mitsuri had a happy smile after that and told Ali what time they were leaving the next morning before taking her leave.
After Mitsuri left, the trio also went to get some sleep, needing rest after the day's rigorous training.
Ali stood up and went to sit outside in the moonlight, where he saw Shinobu's adopted sister sitting alone.
"So you're the fourth trainee Shinobu talked about. Your name's Kanae Tsuyuri, right?"
Tsuyuri nodded at Ali's question while fiddling with a coin in her hand.
"Why the coin?"
Tsuyuri looked at him, then threw the coin in the air before catching it to see the result. She then answered, "I use it to decide what to do, just like I did now to answer you."
Ali held out his hand, clearly asking to see the coin. Tsuyuri handed it to him, surprised to see him move the coin smoothly between his fingers with ease.
Ali looked at her and thought, 'I don't like people like her, and I hate giving life advice even more. Ah, screw it.'
"You know what? I find it really sad that a strong Hashira like Shinobu, who confidently takes care of a massive amount of responsibility like the medical department in the Demon Slayer Corps, has a sister like you—someone who is so pathetic and weak-willed that they need a coin to decide their course of action, clearly scared of taking responsibility for their decisions," Ali said as he threw the coin back to her.
Tsuyuri caught the coin and found that it was bent in half. She then looked back to where Ali had been sitting, only to find no one there.
Back inside the dining room, Shinobu, who had overheard everything Ali said to her sister, was sitting with a sad smile on her face.
Five extra chapters on patreon.com/Rondo312