79 Marks

A day later, Inosuke returned to the Butterfly Estate due to an injury.

"Shintaro!" Inosuke's loud voice came from outside of Hiroto's room as he burst through the door. "Look at you! I leave you for one mission, and you're already fighting Upper Moons again! Ha! As expected from my vice-captain!"

Looking at Inosuke dully, Hiroto said, "Who's your vice-captain? And besides…" With a glint in his eye, Hiroto got out of bed and looked smugly at Inosuke.

"Besides, is that how you address the Flame Hashira?" Hiroto said, with his head tilted 45 degrees upwards.

"But Sendoku isn't here," Insouke said.

*slap* Smacking his forehead, Hiroto said, "It's me you idiot. I am now the Flame Hashira, hohoho."

"Huh?! You! Y-You!! M-Mm, as expected of my vice-captain…" Inosuke said, rubbing the shin of his boar mask.

Sighing Hiroto just let it go. Going back to his bed, the door to his room opened and Nezuko walked in.

"Ah, Nezuko! Come here." Hiroto said, patting the side of his bed. Walking over, Nezuko sat on the side of the bed and smiled at Hiroto.

"B-Brother... W...what is?" Nezuko said, pointing at Inosuke.

Inosuke stood shocked with the eyes on his boar mask widening.

"Hahaha, that's Inosuke. Don't worry, you don't have to remember his name." Hiroto said, patting her head.

"W-Wait. Wait wait wait. Kiroto, y-your sister. How is she not burning?! Is she a human now?! Wait, she can talk! Aghh! Too much thinking!" Inosuke said, as his head started to go into overdrive

"Agh, whatever, don't shout too loudly, you're gonna give me a headache. I already had to deal with one loudmouth, now there's another." Hiroto said, massaging his head.

"Well whatever, Inosuke, can you bring Nezuko to find Aoi and the others? The girls seem to like to play with Nezuko, the same goes with her." Hiroto said as he grabbed a pile of documents that were left in the corner of the room from Rengoku.

"Hmmm, fine. Come on, Nezuko let's go." Inosuke said, leading Nezuko out of the room.

"Huh? Wait. Hold on." Hiroto turned around, but the two had already left the room. "Did he just call Nezuko's name correctly? What the hell is this? Where's the gender equality man?"

…..

Standing in the garden, Inosuke was trying to teach Nezuko.

"Inosuke," Inosuke said, urging Nezuko on.

"Imofuke." Nezuko repeated, trying her best.

"Inosuke. Inosuke!!" Inosuke urged on again.

"Imosuke." Nezuko muttered out.

"Boss Inosuke." Inosuke changed it suddenly.

"Bosh Imosuke." Nezuko tried pronouncing again.

"OI! What are you trying to teach her!" Aoi shouted, throwing a pan at Inosuke.

Biting down on the pan, he grabbed it and waved, "I'm teaching her the importance of learning one's name, underling 6!"

"Who's underling 6?!" Aoi shouted, rolling up her sleeves.

"Ah!" Sumi shouted.

"Stop her!" Kiyo ran forward and pulled her back.

"You can't hit people!" Naho said, pulling her arm back

-----

For the next 2 days, this scene occurs frequently, with Inosuke making it his goal to have Nezuko remember his name.

Tanjiro had finally woken up after being out cold for seven days. Each morning and evening Hiroto would go check up on him to make sure there was nothing wrong and that he was recovering.

On the day that Tanjiro woke up, both him and Nezuko were relieved. But then he was dragged off by Rengoku to learn more about being a 'Flame Hashira'

Currently, Hiroto was leaving the Butterfly Estate. A crow arrived early in the morning and announced that his presence was required at headquarters.

"Ah! Hiroto!" Zenitsu, who was running along the path greeted Hiroto.

"Oh, hey Zenitsu. Back from your mission?" Hiroto said, scratching his shoulder.

"Yea, I heard what happened at the swordsmith village, how is everyone doing? How's Nezuko? Is she safe? Was she hurt? Which bastard was it that hu-" Zenitsu said worriedly.

"Okay, stop it right there. Don't worry, everyone's fine. You could say that something good had come out of this." Hiroto said, waving his hands around.

"Hmm, alright. Where are you going by the way? Aren't you too injured to be going on missions?" Zenitsu asked.

"Haha, it's not for a mission. It's a summons from Oyakata-Sama. It's for a Hashira meeting. Probably about the events at the swordsmith village." Hiroto said.

"Huh? Then why do you have to go?" Zenitsu asked.

"Hehe, that's because I'm now the Flame Hashira!" Hiroto announced.

"What?! You're the Flame Hashira?! Well, I mean, I already expected that to happen in the future, but not this soon." Zenitsu said.

"Well, probably the events in the swordsmith village spurred it on. Anyways, I need to head out or else I might be late for my first Hashira meeting. See you later, oh, and If I hear that you tried any funny business with Nezukp, I'll make sure to give you mission after mission." Hiroto said, patting Zenitsu's shoulder and started to run off.

Sweating a bit, Zenitsu laughed it off and walked into the Butterfly Estate. Running away, Hiroto thought, 'Oh wait, I didn't tell him what happened to Nezuko. Oh well, it should be fine.'

"GYAHHHHHHHH!!!" Zenitsu screamed out.

"W-Welcome," Nezuko said smiling.

"AAAAAAAGH! SO CUTE I'M HAVING HEART ATTACK!!!!" Zenitsu screamed out at the top of his lungs, causing Hiroto to stumble as he ran. "Is Nezuko-chan speaking?! For me? Is it me? Is she working hard for me? Oh yea, I'm back in the groove! Can we finally get married?!

"Welcome back, Inosuke," Nezuko said, smiling.

The surroundings got deathly quiet. Aoi was smiling smugly, and the girls didn't know how to react.

"Where the fuck is that pig?" Zenitsu said, veins bursting out of his head, and blood pouring out of his mouth as he bit down. "I'm gonna spit roast that thing alive…"

Looking back at the estate, Hiroto threw a rock over the wall.

"Gah!" *thud*

*sigh* "Tanjiro, protect little Nezuko for me." Hiroto said and started to run off again.

-----

[Ubuyashiki Estate]

Although Hiroto told the others he was headed to headquarters, he was led to the Ubuyashiki Estate instead upon arriving at the actual headquarters. Having to be taught the secret passages and how to navigate past some fake pathways was quite something.

'This is even more troublesome to get to, compared to going to the swordsmith village.' Hiroto thought as he arrived outside of the Estate.

Thanking the Kakushi, he walked inside. Sliding the door open, he said, "Pardon me."

In the middle of the room, where the other Hashira. They were all gathered around in a semi-circle, sitting on the ground.

"Huh, there's our new Flame Hashira. You managed to just make it on time." Sanemi said, with a hand resting on his knee.

"Congratulations. Although it is quite sorrowful that we could not have a proper ceremony, you are nonetheless a Hashira now, of equal rank to us." The Rock Hashira, Himejima Gyomei said with his hands clasped.

The others in the room nodded. Hiroto walked forward and sat next to Shinobu. Across from him were Uzui and Muichiro.

"Greetings Hiroto! It's been a while since we last met, huh? And look at you, you seem to be even more flamboyant since last we met." Uzui said.

"Yes, it has been a while. How have you been these days?" Hiroto asked.

"I am well. If it wasn't for your help back then, I might not even still be here haha." Uzui said, crossing his arms.

"Don't say something so morbid," Obanai said, giving Hiroto a glance and a slight nod.

"Aagh. I even you guys, dammit." Sanemi said. "Why can't I bump into Upper Moons? Kamado over here has already encountered 2."

"It's not like people bump into them all the time," Obanai said. "Well, Kamado can be considered a… special case. But how are you three doing, Kanroji, Tokito, Kamado?"

"Oh! Yeah! Yes, I'm feeling a lot better!" Mitsuri said, pulling herself out of her stupor. 'They're worried about me!!' She thought.

"I… am not at full strength yet," Muichiro said lazily.

"It was good that we didn't lose a Hashira. If we did, the Demon Slayers would be in big trouble. But defeating two Upper Moons without a casualty is very noble, indeed…" Gyomei said as tears streamed down his face.

"You two recovered quickly from this," Shinobu said to Mitsuri and Muichiro. Turning to Hiroto she said, "What's even more surprising is you. I still don't know how you were able to recover the fastest out of the others."

"Oyakata-Sama probably wants to talk to us about everything, including this," Giyu said with his usual deadpan expression.

"Hm, I must say that it was a flamboyant job that they were able to defeat two Upper Moons regardless," Uzui said.

"It was a tough fight, regardless," Hiroto said, adjusting his monocle.

The door to Hiroto's left at the end of the room opened up.

"I'm sorry for the wait," a woman with white hair and empty black eyes said as she entered the room with the two children that Hiroto recognized from the Final Selection and the past Hashira meeting.

"For your Hashira meeting today, I, Ubuyashiki Amane, will be attending in place of Ubuyashiki Kagaya," Amane said, kneeling and apologizing, with her two children behind her.

'Oh, she must be Oyakata-Sama's wife.' Hiroto thought as everyone in the room including him turned to face them respectfully.

"Right now, the disease affecting our master Kagaya has gotten worse. And he sends his apologies for being unable to attend this meeting in front of you all." Amane announced.

The pressure in the room increased, as the veins on Gyomei's arm threatened to burst from his tense grip.

Speaking in a solemn voice, Gyomei said, "Understood… I will pray for Oyakata-Sama's flickering flame of life to last a bit longer, even for just a day. And for you to stay strong, Amane-Sama."

Staying silent for a moment, Amane closed her eyes and said, "He would like to give his thanks to all the Hashira's. Before I begin, he expresses his apologies to Kamado Hiroto, for not being able to properly congratulate you on becoming the Flame Hashira."

Hiroto nodded his head and chose to stay silent.

Amane continued, "I'm sure you all have heard this, but we now have a Demon who has conquered the Sun, and she is here. Kibutsuji Muzan has most likely altered his goals to go after her so that he can conquer the sun himself. The time for an all-out battle is approaching."

The Hashira's got serious from Amane's words.

"Also, we have reports of strange marks appearing on Kamado-Sama, Kanroji-Sama, and Tokito-Sama during their battles against Upper Moons four and five," Amane said, causing the people around the room to become curious.

Uzui's eyes widened as he realized something.

Amane continued. "So I would like to ask you three about how you got those marks and what the conditions are to obtain them."

Muichiro and Mitsuri both didn't know how to react. Hiroto kept quiet, watching their reactions first.

"Marks?" Mitsuri asked.

"During the Sengoku Era, there were some swordsmen of the first breath who were one step away from ending Kibutsuji Muzan. They all had marks that resembled Demon Crests." Amane announced.

The eyes of all the Hashira's, including Hiroto's, widened in disbelief.

"This knowledge has been passed down, though, so some people should know about this," Amane said.

"But I haven't heard of it. So why are we hiding this?" Sanemi asked.

"Because a lot of people were brooding over the marks never appearing, and that's why. We do have one piece of consistent knowledge about them." Amane said, and turned to the girl behind her.

"Once the person has that mark on them, it starts spreading to others, as if they're resonating." The girl said, putting down an old and tattered book. "That was how one of the swordsmen of the first breath put it."

"And as of now, the person who first had this mark is Kamado Hiroto," Amane said. "I see that you had noticed this, Tengen-Sama."

Nodding his head, Uzui said, "Yes, during our fight against the Upper Moon Six, I saw a mark that was akin to flames spread from his arms and up to his neck and face."

Pausing for a moment, Uzui added, "Not just that, it seemed as though his strength and speed was enhanced by several times. So much that even I was not able to see how fast he was able to move." Uzui and the other Hashira's turned to look at Hiroto, who sat there and didn't know how to react.

"Please, Kamado-Sama, can you explain to us how you were able to achieve those marks?" Amane said.

Pausing to look around the room Hiroto looked at the scar on his right hand, and said, "It… it was like Gaaaah. Vroom, my arm felt like gachaaaaa, and it then I could feel my legs rumble as well as my body going kabawaaaa."

"..." Sanemi.

"..." Gyomei.

"..." Amane.

"..." Everyone.

*smack* "My, I'm sorry about that everyone, it seems that Hiroto-Kun has not fully recovered yet." Shinobu said, smacking Hiroto's head.

Blushing Hiroto bowed his head down and apologized.

"...Your younger brother, Tanjiro, gave a… similar account on this as well…He said it was hard to describe." Amane then turned to Mitsuri and asked her, "Please, inform us if you can, Kanroji-Sama, Tokito-Sama."

"O-Okay!!" Mitsuri said. 'Amane-Sama is wonderful… She thought."

"So, like, back then, my body was like, super light. And uhhh, uhhh." Mitsuri tried to explain.

"It was like, Badaaaam! And Duuurrr and Budaah! Then my heart went Badum Baum, and my ears went Screeeeee! And my tinkle tankle too!!"

"..." Amane.

"..." Giyu.

"..." Shinobu.

"..." Everyone.

Obanai rubbed his head, *sigh* "These two…"

"I am so sorry. I will go hide in a tiny hole now." Mitsuri said, kowtowing on the ground.

Muichiro then spoke up. "I wasn't aware of any marks. But looking back on the previous battle, I became aware that a number of things were different. If you fulfill these conditions, then maybe everyone can get these marks. So let me tell you how it works now."