If you didn't see the second AN I put in the last chapter, the Omake with Smooth Criminal Muzan Jackson was NOT actually part of the story. It was there as something to laugh at. That's what I meant as a "crack" idea. There's no way it can happen, and it's so unlikely to happen that the chances of me unironically fucking up the plot that badly is close to none. Don't worry about that. If there is any lingering doubt that Muzan is in this world of Heroes, no, he's not.

Also I realized that there was a massive continuity error in the chapter numbers in the title, since the Prologue was Chapter 1 on FFnet and Chapter 1 was Chapter 2 on FFnet, and so on. That has been fixed as of the moment I am typing this (before I started on the chapter), and it will numerically increase from there as this goes on.

I do not own Kimetsu no Yaiba or MHA

Chapter 7

The entire hall watched the ongoing finals match in silence, as the two competitors held their shinai in the standard two-handed grip. They slowly rotated around, their focus never wavering from the tip of their opponent's weapon, and their bodies were ready to move at a moment's notice.

Silence. The two stopped moving.

One.

Two.

"KAAI!" The red-flagged kendōka made his move, the tip of the shinai flicking towards the right, and immediately arced down to the white-flagged kendōka's right side.

Side.

"DŌ!"

The strike was intercepted with a single flick of the wrists, and the resulting clang of wood against wood echoed throughout the building. The two then continued a series of exchanges, both attempting to strike towards the men, or head, to try to create an opening. One on the defensive at one moment, then switching to the offensive, neither could break through the other's wall.

They then found their shinai locked together, connecting at the grip in a very common position, shinai pointed directly up.

The white kendōka drowned out the resulting noise by his steady breathing, focusing his energy on his brain, arms, and legs. He kept his reactions at the highest possible speed to detect any follow-up strikes that might occur. He trained his eyes on certain parts of his opponent's body, searching for any openings.

He could tell his opponent was skilled, incredibly so. He had to have been, to make it to the finals without giving up a single point to everyone he faced. His opponent must have practiced as hard as possible to get to the level of skill he was currently at.

But he was well aware that he couldn't discredit his own work and experiences. He had gone through many life and death experiences over many years of his own, making his spirit rock-solid. He had gone through the same rigorous training. There was no better road to improvement than going through these hard battles. They forced your body to adapt and accel to greater lengths than swinging a shinai in a dojo.

His shinai is steadfast, and keeps mine locked in this position. If I try to go for men or dō, I will just give him an opening.

He had to keep his moves as precise as possible to allow for the highest chance of scoring a point faster than his opponent. Strikes to the side of the body generally left openings for a thrust to the neck. However, based off of the way his opponent kept his arm position, he was also well aware of that.

They could sense each other's kisei, or spirit, through their weapons. Spirit was a very important factor when it came to the entirety of Kendo in general. Lack of will could easily be taken advantage of to make the other falter, and the aggressor to score an easy point.

It was also one of the important rules. You must show fighting spirit in every strike by shouting beforehand.

Show no weakness. Concentrate on every slight movement, and take advantage of every opening or misstep.

One option that he could take was to falsify the weakening of the spirit in order to bait him into a premature strike. For that, he would need to put extreme faith that his reflexes would surpass everything else.

Luckily for him, he had many experiences with enemies with inhuman levels of agility.

He let his arms go slack, and slightly pushed forward in the opponent's direction. He felt the weight of the other side shift backwards, and the shinai disengaged.

"KAAAAAI!" The resounding shout was greater than the last in an attempt to weaken his spirit and stance further as the blade curved outwards and towards his left glove.

Breathe in.

His eyes left the opposing shinai, instead focusing on his own stance and attack. He stepped forward, shuffling his feet forward slightly while raising his arms, tensing his right while applying horizontal pressure to the left.

Breathe out.

"HAAAAAH!" Accelerating the tip with every ounce of the strength in his arms, he swung forward in the split second his opponent was in action.

It was now no longer a competition of defending against attacks. It was now a match of speed, of who could land their strike first.

His eyes didn't leave the left side of his head as the shinai impacted it. The head shifted to the right, signifying the impact made.

"MEN!"

"DŌ!"

Tanjirou didn't feel an impact on his side until an instant later.

He struck first. He won the final point. He won the match.

The referees on the side raised their flags. To win a point, two or more of the officials need to judge and agree that the strike had spirit, hit the correct place, and had correct posture. The official would raise the color of their flags corresponding to the ribbon worn by the person who would receive the point.

All three of the flags raised were white. The score was now 2-1. He had won.

Relief and joy flooded through him on the inside as he fought the urge to celebrate out loud. However, he knew he had to show zanshin, or continual awareness, even after the end of the match, so that his point does not get cancelled.

Both of the boys on the floor stood up, and lowered their shinai. They turned around and walked to the edge of the inner square on the center of the floor, faced each other, and crouched down. While their knees were bent, they flipped their shinai towards them in a standard sheath position, signifying the end of the fight. They stood back up, walked backwards a few steps, and bowed slightly, in a respectful way.

Applause rang out from every side of the gym, though the loudest centered around a select group of people on one corner of the audience. Tanjirou smiled lightly behind his helmet. His school's Kendo Club was, of course, watching in hope that their school would at least have one tournament to their name. Now that they finally obtained one, and one of their students was eligible for the nationals, they had everything to be excited about.

He walked back outside of the court towards the mat, where a dark-haired boy with small bear ears on his head sat cross-legged, reached towards the back of his head and untied the strip of cloth keeping the helmet on his head.

"That was amazing, Kamado! You actually managed to defend against him!" the boy complimented. "Even I couldn't see that coming! He had to have been at least 2nd dan!"

Tanjirou took his helmet off of his head, freeing up his hanafuda earrings and cherry-colored hair, and lightly shook his head, laughing off the praise. "Honestly, it wasn't anything too special, Fujimoto. I had to gamble on my strike landing faster than his to get the final point."

Akihiko Fujimoto, the captain of the Kendo Club at Musutafa Middle School, was in the same year as Tanjirou, who were currently in their third. Being one of the three members that was able to pass the 2nd dan alongside Tanjirou, he was a formidable opponent in the Dojo, as reflected in his placement in this regional tournament.

He and Tanjirou met in Primary school during 3rd grade, through Kendo. Not even counting the fact that they landed in the same class, they had very similar interests. Tanjirou could make friends with nearly all types of people, but Fujimoto was just someone you couldn't help but befriend.

"Still, you won! That's the first time someone from Musutafa Private's actually won the regionals!"

Tanjirou smiles brightly. "Yeah. I'm really glad it ended the way it did. It was a really good match."

They looked over towards the side of the audience, where the rest of the club were on their feet in the front row, waiting for them.

"Come on, Kamado, the rest of the crew's waiting!" Fujimoto beckoned him over with one hand, jogging away towards the awaiting students.

"I'm coming!" Tanjirou picked up his helmet and shinai, and made his way over, completely unaware of the coming assault.

"Kamado, you did it!"

"KAMADOOO!"

"You actually won it! You're gonna become a legend in the club now, dude!"

His knees nearly buckled as half of his club jumped on him from all sides. "Gah…. guys…. heavy… please….?" Unprepared for the weight of his club mates without Total Concentration Constant, he hurriedly activated his 'quirk'. His legs straightened as the muscles in his body contracted and strengthened, pushing everyone off of him.

The sport of Kendo didn't allow the use of any quirks, and if you were caught using one, it meant automatic disqualification from any and all tournaments. It gave an unfair advantage, which was why Tanjirou made sure to breathe regularly and only rely on techniques and natural speed.

Even if it wasn't a quirk, which sadly, in a futuristic society of superpowers, nobody would believe it wasn't.

"This definitely needs a celebration, dude! A party, or something, man! If there's an occasion that needs one, it's right now!" Another boy from the side yelled excitedly.

"Hah. I'm not sure if we can do that in school, they probably wouldn't let us," Fujimoto disputed. "It's mid-year anyway."

"Anyway, it's up to Kamado," the final member added. "You won it, dude. You want the party, or not?"

Tanjirou wasn't exactly one for parties or celebrations, the only ones he took part in being either his or his sibling's birthdays back home. A small cake or some sweets would do just fine. However in this world, things tended to be more grand. People could afford to throw massive festivals, as evident with traditions in schools across modern Japan. He didn't truly mind, as long as everyone enjoyed themselves.

"If I were to be honest, I'm seeing the same problem as Fujimoto. I don't think the school would allow us," he admitted. "But If you guys want to do it, then I don't have a problem."

A feminine but all-too-familiar voice interrupted their discussion. "Don't you boys think it's a bit too soon to be talking about celebrations yet?" A pair of hands latched onto Tanjirou's shoulders from behind him.

He turned around, despite instantly recognizing the voice.

It was the face of his "mother". Although he knew that technically wasn't true biologically, legally, it was. He liked to consider Ryuko more of a mentor and a good friend rather than a parental figure, as someone like Giyuu, for instance. After all, it was a bit strange for someone to be a parent when they were in their mid-twenties.

Or that's what Ryuko said. Her words, not his.

"Being called 'Mom' sounds so much more messed up than I expected. It makes me sound way older than I really am." Tanjirou knew from experience not to broach the subject of a woman's age.

So he just left it at that, and agreed to calling her by her given name "Ryuko" while in private. In public, or mainly when other people were in earshot, he would use other terms such as "Mom" or "Elder Sister" only to avoid Ryuko being recognized as a hero, which led to them being swamped in public due to her popularity, or just to avoid rumors and confusion during school.

Overall, he was thankful that there was even someone like Ryuko there for him in the first place. With her in his life, things were definitely much easier than they could have been.

"Woah, is that…"

"We're sorry, Tatsuma-san," Fujimoto quickly brought the attention onto him, well aware of what would have happened. "We just got too excited about Tanjirou winning the tournament."

Ryuko quickly brought her hands up. "Wait, that wasn't what I was saying, Fujimoto-kun. You can go ahead and celebrate, just it would probably be better to save the plans after the Award Ceremony."

Oh. The four boys sagged their shoulders when they heard her words. Award ceremonies.

Way to kill the mood.

Award ceremonies in Japan consisted of a lot of marching, standing, and bowing to the audience, players, and referees to show formality. It was fairly taxing, though not as much as the fights themselves were. Most of all, it was long.

Very very long.

"At least my little winner here will be able to get yet another trophy," she praised, while promptly grabbing Tanjirou by the side with one arm and pulling him close, crashing him into Ryuko's side.

"Man, Kamado, you're gonna get a trophy too? Wish I had that, it would look hella sick!" One of the other boys, Okamura, lamented.

Tanjirou quickly wrestled himself out of his guardian's grip. "I think everyone who made it to the qualifiers is going to get something, Okamura-san. That's why they have all those medals there." He pointed towards the stand in the very front, housing ornaments of medals, trophies, and other rewards.

"Speaking of which, everyone's starting to line up. It's about to start, they're going to call it up any second now…" Fujimoto muttered to the group, lowering his voice.

Sure enough, the organizers called for every available participant to line up in rows by school or placement in the tournament. Tanjirou and Fujimoto made their way towards the back, due to their placements in the final bracket of 16. Okamura and the final boy, Kurosawa, trudged to the front, along with others from the same school.

And so the minutes of standing commenced. The constant applause every minute hammered into his ears. The patience he was so well renowned for was currently being tested, slowly but surely withering away by the passing second. Yet his Taisho origin and teachings held firm as his face retained its neutrality.

Rows upon rows of students marched forward, around, and through the middle of the large, unmoving crowd to receive various medals. The distance between him and the announcers' table shortened more and more, until about 90 minutes in, they reached the row of the tournament qualifiers.

The quarter-finalists went up and out. So did the semi-finalists, where Fujimoto received his bright silver medal and walked to the back with a huge smile plastered on his face. Three people now remained, with two standing to the right of Tanjirou; a boy whom he eliminated in the prefinal, and the only other 2nd-dan who made it to the finals with him.

The two received their awards and applause, with their names being recognized and shouted out over the microphone, and walked to the back, leaving Tanjirou standing in the front on his lonesome.

"And finally, we have the winner of the Musutafu Kendo Regionals, Tanjirou Kamado-dono!" He bowed down from the waist, and felt a light strip of cloth fall over his head and onto his neck. Standing up, he took in his hands a fairly decent-sized trophy. He bowed to the ones that gave it to him, stepped forward a bit, faced the audience, and bowed towards them too.

It's a lot bigger than I expected it to be! But this is still amazing!

The officials turned around, and gave one last bow towards the audience, and after the final applause, everyone dispersed. Parents who were spectating collected their kids along with their shinai and bogū (Kendo uniform), and made their way outside to retreat back to the safety of their homes.

Tanjirou had his hands quite full as he made his way over to Ryuko, who was waiting near the entrance.

"You're going to need some help carrying that, you know," she commented.

He shook his head lightly, though due to the size of the trophy it was barely seen. "It's fine, Ryuko. It's not heavy at all."

"Well, I wasn't asking." She promptly took the trophy off of his hands, and made her way into her car. Seeing Tanjirou's slightly crestfallen face, she added, "I know this is important to you, but it wouldn't do if it broke, would it?"

He rearranged the formatting of the items in his hands, securing them in his grip better. He opened the door to the back and placed all of his belongings on the seat, and quickly hopped in the shotgun side.

"Damn, it's pretty late, isn't it?" He heard Ryuko mutter from his left. He glanced at the digital clock for a second, and his brow raised in surprise.

21:34. Even by Tanjirou's standards, it was quite late to be out. In a few hours, it would be prime time for villains to be out and about. Fortunately, Ryuko didn't have any sort of night duty on this day of the week.

"We came here at 15:00, right? That means we spent 6 hours here, on a Sunday…" Tanjirou trailed off. In all of the hustle and preparation for such a big tournament, he completely forgot he had school the next day.

Technological clocks were a significant change from the Taisho era to the Modern era. Although technology had advanced far enough back home to a point where they had standard sundial-type clocks, it was still a luxury-type item. The economy regulated it so that the rich, people who were able to afford anything and everything, hoarded all of the fresh and new items that had recently been invented.

After a set period of time when bigger and better things were available, the price of the former goods decreased, making them more accessible to the public. In a way, things still functioned the same way here, except the rich were now large-scale companies and heavily-funded Hero Agencies.

The Demon Slayer Corps, being government independent, didn't have its own budget as an organization, and did not see the need for such items, which was why they made do with looking to the sky for sun positions. It took quite a while for Tanjirou to get used to the time systems, but he eventually got the hang of it.

It was definitely the easiest thing to get used to, compared to everything else.

The ride home was quiet, and the roads were empty due to it being so late. He opened the window slightly to feel the sharp coolness of the wind brush over his face. He closed his eyes and leaned back, basking in the makeshift air-conditioning. The minutes ticked by, and the two entered their home, tired from the events of the day and more than willing to take it easy.

The humble abode that was Ryuko's house hadn't changed all that much since Tanjirou had first arrived. The differences that could easily be spotted downstairs were a few pictures dotted on the walls, or some tables of either a younger Ryuko or a younger Tanjirou. He wasn't a stickler for homes to be a specific "style", having that hammered out of him during his time as a Demon Slayer. He had grown more used to the modern feel of the residence, along with the numerous other technological additions and the modern accessories.

The main differences that were especially significant were the upstairs, or more specifically, Tanjirou's own room. A fairly decent-sized room, it had been refurbished to suit Tanjirou's needs, be it scholarly or personal. He preferred the room to be open, as he considered himself somewhat of a minimalist, but under Ryuko's insistence, it contained standard furniture in various places.

A sliding closet and a twin-sized bed stationed themselves in the corner of the room, towards the right side entering in, with a small nightstand next to it. A drawer dresser stood on the opposite side, towards the left facing to the center, big enough to store the majority of Tanjirou's belongings and other miscellaneous clothing articles.

A fairly large desk encompassed the majority of the far side, atop of it was a keyboard and laptop hooked up to a 24-inch monitor, bought under the guidance of his tech-savvy friend. It was mostly empty except for a couple of school books stacked on top of one another in the corner. A drawer was built into the side, containing all of his school supplies and essentials.

Entering the house, Tanjirou wasted no time in hustling towards his room, and standing in front of the largest cabinet in his room: his trophy and award collection. Filled with various medals and awards received from his school, competitions, and festivals, they were all polished until they shone with an incredible luminous quality. It was hard to take your eyes off of it once your eyes happened to glaze over it, like pseudo-hypnosis.

However, he was easily able to avert his attention from his existing awards, choosing in favor to be entranced by his newest and greatest accomplishment. A gold cup with various engravings on them, and a small pictogram of two figures in bogū, crossing shinai.

He opened the clear door, and placed it in front of the small awards he had been given from the past years: Academic Excellence, among with a few others. He paused for a few seconds, admiring the new look, and finally closed it.

After a small yet delicious celebratory dinner, courtesy of Ryuko, and a quick shower, Tanjirou leaned back in his bed under the comforts of his blankets, his room shrouded in darkness. His eyes were drawn to a familiar framed picture by his bedside. A small drawing of three figures, all contrasting colors. One with a black and green checkered haori, one with a bright-yellow haori covered in white triangles, and another with a boar mask, shirtless. It was of himself and his two friends, Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira.

He drew it during a class in Primary School once, when he was thinking back on all the times he had spent with his first friends. Comrades, in a sense. Brothers-in-arms in the Demon Slayer Corps, even if they were a tad bit strange.

I wonder what they're all doing now. Zenitsu, Inosuke, Giyuu. I wonder all the time, and it's been so long that it shouldn't matter to me… but it does.

He never forgot about his past, even after the five years of living here, and it was evident based on numerous drawings of his, stashed away. His family, especially. His mother. Father. Takeo, Hanako, Shigeru, Rokuta.

I wonder what you all are up to, now that I know what can come after death. Maybe you're watching over me in this new world. I wonder if maybe one day, by some miracle, I can see you all again. I wonder if you will be able to see what I will become.

He closed his eyes, his brain slowing down. Images of a familiar face flashed in his mind's eye.

It really makes me happy, knowing that I managed to give you a chance at happiness…

His consciousness drifted away into dreamland once more.

Nezuko.

The sun shone bright and early once more down on the normally calm city of Musutafu as Tanjirou opened the door, fitted into his white and black school uniform, his mind and body ready once more for another day of school.

"You have everything?" Ryuko's voice echoed in the house towards him as he fitted his outdoor shoes on.

"Yeah! I'm off!" He closed the door, and ran off down the street towards his school.

Over the years of living here, he had perfectly memorized every intersection, store, and shortcuts that the city provided. His normal tendencies of living in seclusion faded away rapidly as the standard city crowd became the norm to him. He no longer hesitated to delve into the masses, and his adjustment to modern society was fairly smooth.

Backpack strapped with him, he jumped over some metal bike-racks, and sprinted towards the corners of a fence, blocking off a pond. This particular one was strange. Two fences, each perpendicular to each other, both ended at the corner of a building. To get to the other side of the fence, away from Tanjirou's neighborhood, it would normally take around 10 minutes extra if you took a detour. However, if you had the agility to hop the corner, you could just get to the other side instantly. You didn't technically break a law by going into the pond below if you messed up the jump, and you saved a lot of time.

Or as Fujimoto had told him. His dad was a cop, he said.

Breathing in and tensing his legs, he swiftly jumped over the fences, using his hands to propel him even further. He landed smoothly on the other side, and continued running.

The back of the school came into view as Tanjirou ran through the small gate with around ten minutes to spare. Switching over to his indoor shoes, he placed all of his other belongings in his assigned locker and hurried over to his classroom, Class 4.

He knew that Kendo was quite a big thing in Japan, and especially among the students. They liked to follow sports a lot. Normally, the recognition for winning such a big tournament would have spread among the students, but today, something else, something far more important was taking place.

The career aptitude surveys and essays.

Third years in all schools had to fill up a survey and write an essay on what they want to do when they go to high school, where they want to go, and why.

People that had quirks that had some slight potential in combat or rescue usually gravitated towards Heroics as their first choice, and they put a middle to high-end Hero school in that slot, such as Seiai, Seijin, or maybe even Shiketsu. There were the occasional people who would choose U.A, but they usually got ridiculed, being told that it had a 0.2% admission rate, and only the best of the best and the truly gifted quirk-wise ever got that opportunity.

The ones with non-combat quirks usually decided that Heroics but nothing but a pipe-dream, and usually pursued some general studies courses or specialized schools, like Tech, Arts, General Education or maybe Heroics Support to create support items.

Tanjirou opened the door, and stepped into his classroom, though not before taking a slight peek in the door. Most of the students were already present, and the boys were at their desks, silent and deep in thought. Normally, there would always be some in the back corner, freely talking and lightening up the tension in the atmosphere. However, today, the silence was almost accentuating it.

That didn't mean it was totally unbearable. The usual group of girls, which centered around the star of the third year Mina Ashido, were in a rather large discussion about future prospects. It was loud enough that Tanjirou was able to catch quite a bit of their conversation from his spot in the room.

A more defined voice called out to him. "Yo, Kamado! Hurry up man!" Fujimoto waved his arm over.

Tanjirou snapped out of his daze and walked over. He set his bag down to the side and took a seat, picking his canteen out and taking a sip.

"You already know what you're going to put down?" Fujimoto asked. He was well aware of what Tanjirou wanted to be, of course. But like most other people, even he thought U.A was a stretch.

Tanjirou nodded in confirmation "Yeah. I'm choosing U.A for my first choice, and maybe Shiketsu for my second and something else to fill in the other spots."

Fujimoto let out a small sigh. "Even after all this time, I still have trouble believing you're trying to go for the national school. But I mean, your mom is literally the number nine, so…"

"Could you keep your voice a bit lower?" Tanjirou interjected, making quick glances around the classroom just in case anyone was listening in.

The fact that he was the adoptive son of the current number nine Hero was something that he didn't tell that many people. It was something that Ryuko herself warned him of, and if he let thy fact leak out, he would garner himself attention that he really didn't want or need. Only Fujimoto and some of his other friends like Okamura and Kurosawa knew up until recently.

Fujimoto's eyes widened "Crap, my bad," he apologized, lowering his voice. "Anyway, If anyone's gonna have an actual decent chance of getting into U.A, it's you."

"Even with potential help from Ryuko, it still doesn't make getting in any less difficult," Tanjirou pointed out.

"True." The two sat in silence for a bit, and Tanjirou looked up at the clock. 8:25. They had about 5 minutes until homeroom officially started.

Tanjirou changed the subject. "What about you? Do you have any ideas on what you want to do?"

Fujimoto scratched his head. "I'm going for a tech school, or maybe Hero Support. I'm sure I can get into some place, but what's the harm in aiming high? I heard U.A had pretty good support programs…"

Tanjirou nodded. Fujimoto always liked technology and engineering, far more than he himself did. He still had trouble to this day trying to use technology on a deep level, and all he could do was the basics. His friend was the one that introduced him to the wonders of tech in the first place, and the apparent wonders of gaming.

"Wait, hold up dude. I just had a thought." Fujimoto looked up at him, a smirk on his face. "After you graduate, and you make your agency, watch me come out as some sort of Support legend and hook you up with all kinds of things. Dude, we could actually make a pretty lit pair!"

"If I were to be honest, I'm probably not going to go too far in the realm of Support Items," Tanjirou replied. "The one thing that I would probably use as a hero is a sword, and that's it."

Fujimoto opened his mouth to reply, but it was drawn out by a girlish scream from behind them.

"MINA YOU'RE APPLYING TO U.A?"

The room turned silent as everyone's attention had diverted to the group. Ashido's hand came up to scratch her cheek, and she laughed awkwardly, clearly nervous at the sudden interest in their conversation. "Yeah, I figured I would give it a shot. It would be really cool if I would actually get in, ya know?"

The bystanders muttered in response, clearly amazed by her choice.

"U.A?"

"That's amazing?"

"What do you mean? That's stupid! Do you actually believe that anyone from here is gonna be able to do it?"

"If anyone can do it, it'd be Ashido!"

Fujimoto had his eyebrow raised at that. Turning back to Tanjirou, he offhandedly commented, "Well, it seems like you got competition. You reckon she can do it?"

He wasn't sure on top of his head. Mina Ashido was known around the students to have an incredibly flashy and versatile quirk, along with extremely good looks, according to the male variety.

He had seen her Acid in action, and it seemed like she had good control over it. As a Hero, she had many options available to her.

"I wouldn't be sure until we know what's on the actual admissions exam, but Ashido-san has a good quirk, and she has a lot of potential to become a great hero," he replied.

Fujimoto nodded. "You're right about that. She's got everything you need to be someone big. Not like she's got anything against you, of course. You'd probably smoke literally everyone with your skill with the sword. She wouldn't stand a chance against you one-on-one."

"Anything can happen during a fight. It all depends what approaches the other takes, and how much strategy one can bring to the table. Raw skill doesn't always equal success on the battlefield. The tides can very easily turn into anyone's favor."

The other boy sighed. "Well, if you say so, man. You know more than I do."

The door opened, and the class grew silent once more. A man with large spectacles and an ashen-gray suit stepped in, papers tucked under his arm. The homeroom teacher, despite his intimidating looks, was actually a very kind and lenient man. Having skill and intelligence on every field in spades, he was someone that all the students could depend upon.

He smoothly walked over to his large desk, and sat down on it. He was silent for a few minutes, and spoke in his usual deep voice.

"I assume you all know everything about what we will be doing today?" He questioned. The class turned their heads to each other, and nodded in confirmation.

The teacher continued on. "Good, but I will repeat it anyway just to make sure. You are to fill out your career survey forms, and write an essay on why you choose the path you did. I don't care what you choose, but make sure the path you take is one that you truly want to do, and one that you can see yourself doing with the skills that you have. That is all I have for you today."

He walked around with the stack of papers, and handed several sheets to every student. He passed by Tanjirou's desk, and paused next to it after he placed the papers down.

"Kamado."

"Yes, Sensei?"

Tanjirou lifted his head up, giving his attention to the teacher.

"Word is that you were the victor of the regional Kendo tournament. Do I presume that to be correct?"

"Yes. I did," he confirmed. "It was a hard competition, and everyone performed admirably."

The teacher smiled. "Well done." He continued passing out the assignment, and Tanjirou felt something kick his left foot. He looked towards Fujimoto, who gave him a thumbs up. Tanjirou returned it with a smile on his face.

The period passed by in complete silence, with everybody focusing on what would probably be the most important assignment they would get this year, barring final exams. Everyone did research on different high schools, and were given some examples and suggestions as reference.

The bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom, and everyone let out a collective sigh and leaned back, clearly tired of the work they were doing. Chatter broke out once more, everyone conversing with each other on future school prospects and dreams. Tanjirou, sitting in silence along with Fujimoto, calmly finalized his research. U.A was a website frequented by pros and students alike, being such a staple for new heroes to enter in. The most ideal place to choose potential sidekicks from, everyone who even got into U.A were miniature celebrities in a sense, being put in front of the majority of Japan, even part internationally, for everyone to hear and see.

U.A, as Ryuko had definitely not failed to let him know, placed major emphasis on both standard education and Heroics, requiring above-average grades to get in. Luckily for Tanjirou, he was never one to slack off on his studies, and if you pay attention, even without the extreme studying habits of some elite schools such as Somei, you could get fairly high grades.

His mother, back in his world, had taught him and the rest of his siblings how to read, write, and do a small bit of math. That wasn't to say he knew everything about it, but he knew the basics not to fall behind as he got admitted to Primary School.

That wasn't even the strangest part of it. It was much stranger to him being around people that were so young, when he knew he was about 7 or 8 years older than them mentally. His behavior compared to them was such a stark contrast compared to the others that it worried some teachers, and his general silence often got mistaken for so many other issues. Though, that started to change when he met Fujimoto.

His behavior, compared to the Taisho era, was noticeably different. Normally, being someone with an outside upbringing, or as Zenitsu called a "country bumpkin", he had no idea about any societal norms, and often, according to outside eyes, behaved strangely at times. The longer he spent in this new world, the more that changed, though much had to do with his mental maturity. Currently at the mental age of 21, and physically 14, he had slowly adapted to fit in with everyone else, though keeping his Taisho core and upbringings with him.

The adaptation also included his school behavior, and how he did compared to the other kids. Excelling in Math, English, Japanese, and Gym, but doing rather decently, yet still above average in Calligraphy, Sciences, and Electives, he held a stable spot in his year's Top 20, occasionally breaking through to the Top 10.

The usual periods of rigorous academics passed by, and lunch came through, and the two boys were left mentally exhausted by the end of the four hours. They gradually exchanged small talk on their findings.

"I'm definitely going for the tech side," Fujimoto effused. "I mean, the requirements for some schools were actually kind of disappointing if you look at it objectively. They said you need "some degree" of experience in some languages, but all the ones listed are so similar, they could literally be the same thing!"

Naturally, Tanjirou found himself nodding along with him, despite not knowing anything about what he was saying. Sure, he knew the very basics of CS, given that they had it as an elective last year, but he knew he would never reach the level of genius that the juvenile tech support had.

"But man, U.A's got some insane requirements. I highly doubt I'll be able to pass it's support exam. Apparently they rely on 100% engineering skills, and they only accept the freakishly obsessive kind. You literally have to make up a Support item from scratch in your head and build it in an hour! First of all, the fucking time limit on that! Second, aren't we trying to learn how to build the goddamn item? Why the hell do we need to know how to already build it beforehand? Defeats the whole purpose of learning!"

Fujimoto looked around him, his body stiffening slightly, but then relaxed. "Shit that was pretty loud. What did you find?" He asked.

Tanjirou looked through the papers in front of him. "Well, my first choice is going to be U.A, of course. The Hero course application usually consists of a written test, which isn't easy, but not terribly difficult either. They also have a practical, which almost always consists of robots. The exact task isn't allowed to be leaked out, but there's going to be one problem." He let out a deep breath he didn't know he was holding.

"You can only use your quirk, and you aren't allowed to use any support items unless it's absolutely necessary for your quirk."

"Damn. So you can't use your swords?"

"Nope. It does suck, but it makes sense. I just have to overcome it all, don't I?"

Fujimoto shook his head. "Easier said than done. You sure you can take out robots with your bare hands?"

Tanjirou shrugged. "I honestly don't know. But I'm curious!" Would his own limbs enhance with Total Concentration Breathing work on metal? The thought intrigued him. It would be much more preferable if he had his sword with him, so that he could cut through it, but not everything went his way.

The bell sounded out, and the two stood up, making their way to the gym for their next period. They got changed into their uniforms, and gathered outside. The board for their class mentioned…

"The indoor courts? Huh. We're doing a new unit?"

"Most likely," Tanjirou replied. "We just finished up Tennis, after all. I'm excited for this!"

"Of course you would be."

They both ran over, and entered the building, though not before taking off their shoes and socks, leaving them barefoot.

In front of them, was a bucket full of helmets, wrist guards, and…

"Shinai?" Tanjirou's head spun. Were they…

"Yooooooo. YOOOOOOO DUUUUDE!" His friend became more hyped by the second. "It's our time to shine!"

His spirits started to soar. They were finally about to do something that he genuinely enjoyed. Not that he was saying the rest of the units were boring, but still…

"Kendo unit?" One classmate muttered.

"Man, I'm so excited. I can't wait to win!"

"Idiot, look around you! See them over there? Fujimoto's the captain of the Kendo Club! He's like, the best there can be! And Kamado's an absolute monster on the court! I'm not sure anyone's been able to beat him!"

Tanjirou heard his name being spread around as they waited for the instructor to arrive.

"Isn't that Tanjirou Kamado?"

"Wasn't he the one who won the Musutafu Regionals?"

He should have expected it. The attention that winning the tournament would get would spread around and catch up to him, even if he made no mention of it.

"Alright, class!" The instructor came running in. The Gym teacher, a rather hyperactive lady with a face that resembled a crocodile except without the large snout, was someone who was extremely athletic, and apparently had tons of experience in all sports. Advisor to one of the bigger sports clubs, she could definitely teach a class.

"As you can clearly see, we will be starting the Kendo unit today. Since this is one of the most popular martial arts in Japan as of now, and most of you should have encountered it in some form before. But even if you know all about what it looks like and the rules, actually practicing it is something else entirely. It may look easy at first, but when you pick up the Shinai for the first time, you'll really see how much about it you don't know.

"There are many things about it that are essential, some of which include the grip on the Shinai, correct posture, and most important of all, footwork. Even one mistake can potentially cost you the entire match.

"A lot of people have misconceptions about what Kendo is about in the first place. The purpose of Kendo is not about improving your skill with the sword at all. It's about your character. This art originated far back in Japan's history, from the time of the Samurai. They carried themselves far differently, and placed a lot of emphasis on things such as honor and duty. People believe practicing this sport not only improves your physical health, but your mental health and how you act. They say it makes you a better person."

She looked around, and made sure she had everyone's attention.

"Good, now we'll start with the basics. But first, Kendo isn't a one-man sport. So….. I'm going to need a test dummy for this…. or maybe two…. hmmmmmm…."

The class looked down nervously. For this specific teacher, being the "test dummy" was something you wanted to avoid. It was a task that was tiring, incredibly stupid, and it took a hit on the soul, something nobody knew could have been a thing.

"Luckily, there are two people perfect for this demonstration…"

It wasn't hard to guess who they were.

Tanjirou swallowed nervously. He had faced Upper Moons, and had been face-to-face with serial villains in a 9-year-old's body, and yet…

The thought scared him. Why?

That was a good question.

But he couldn't avoid it. At least Fujimoto would be here to take the fall with him.

The pain…

"Ahhhhh…. that sucked…."

Back at home after school, Tanjirou laid face-up on his bed, still dressed in his white school uniform. P.E hadn't gone as well as it should have, as soon as he and Fujimoto were made "test dummies" for being the class's masters of Kendo that they were, they had to do all sorts of weird things.

Kanroji-san, did you somehow find yourself in another world?

It was so much like her version of the Hashira training that he struggled to believe that it was coincidental.

Ryuko was at her agency during this time of the day, so he was left home alone. Her boost in popularity mainly took place when his body was 11 years old, nearly 2 years into this world. The number of villains started to spike more and more, and she was there to solve most of them, along with her various sidekicks.

She started up her own agency soon after he was adopted by her, and she had spent less and less time at home. He had been there a few times himself, and the place was amazing, in his view. A large building downtown, it had many, many rooms with all sorts of training halls, offices, meeting rooms, and even Ryuko's very own workplace.

She would take him there once in a while so that he could see and know what to expect when he became a hero, and what working there would be like. The amount of paperwork was definitely an intimidating prospect, but it came a lot with managing an agency. There were also a lot of major projects going on that the agencies were tasked with, such as investigations on villain groups, forecasted disaster control planning, and more.

She had even recently taken on a new student from U.A for Work Studies. According to her, the student's name was Nejire Hado. She was one of the top of her year in U.A, and one of the earliest to get into a work study, which was usually left for late in the second year to third year. It's an amazing accomplishment for someone of her age.

Ryuko ended up rising throughout the Hero rankings in Japan, up until she ended up in the Number 9 spot. Her Dragon form became renown, and while in that form, it was extremely difficult for her to maintain some sort of solitude. That was somewhat protected by her regular human form, however, but even with her hero outfit, the claw on her face gave herself away most of the time. The only way to truly mask herself in public was to either put her hood up, or change up her hairstyle.

Apparently, she even had a fan club somewhere, which was dedicated to her and everything about her. They even had a website with every known detail about her, disregarding anything too personal, or as they claimed. For some reason, Tanjirou's name was on there, and they somehow got that detail, though that was an obscure fact. He usually never got recognized in public in that way.

He sat up from his bed after a while once he heard the growling of his stomach. He slammed the palm of his hand onto his fist, and shouted aloud, to no one.

"Alright, it's time to eat!" Kanroji always said that she and Tokito would eat a lot of food, and that it was a key to getting extremely strong.

He stood up and made his way down to the desolate kitchen, which at the moment was spotless. Opening the fridge, he took out some Yakisoba noodles, sauce, various vegetables, and the thin-sliced pork belly, along with the Yakisoba pan to put it all in. One of the first recipes he learned in the modern era, it was insanely good and filling to eat, and easy to make.

An hour and lots of cooking later, he had two steaming bowls of Yakisoba in front of him.

"Thanks for the meal." He put his hands in front of him along with his chopsticks, and dug into the meal.

XxX

Some time later, he stood outside with his steel training sword, and dressed in light, sleeveless clothes that were all black. The sky started to darken, and the wind running through his hair felt colder. He stood in the same way as he did five years ago, at the end of his first week in this world.

Back then, he was in his nine-year old body, and incapable of fighting at the level he was in during the Taisho period. All of his training, all of the improvements he made with Urokodaki, Sabito, and the Hashiras, all of the experience he had gained over the years, was brought down to naught.

Later on? He was back in the same body that he had before. He knew what to do. He had all of the steps there in front of him. He had done all of the training before. He just needed to re-implement it. It was grueling, it felt like you nearly died at times. The various training sessions with Iguro and Sanemi, the training with the Yoriichi-bot and Kotetsu made him stronger than he could ever imagine. There was even a saying in this world that summed it up.

"Whatever doesn't kill you….

Makes you stronger."

Breathe in….

Breathe out…

Total Concentration Breathing!

In a burst of speed, he drew out his Training Katana, and slashed it in front of him. He paused, and held it at eye level for a few seconds. The speed which he currently held was not completely what he used to have, though it was getting closer and closer by each passing day.

As of now? He had already redone his accuracy training with Iguro to the best of his ability. His sparring sessions with Giyuu in his mind. Even Himejima's training, in an area of the woods near the outskirts of the city, which only few were able to pass. It wasn't the same, but it was better than nothing.

He closed his eyes once more.

Recall the Repetitive Actions. Set your pre-determined movements. Raise your focus. Increase your heart rate and blood temperature.

Dance of the Fire God…

Images of his family passed by in his head once more. The most important words that he could recall were cycling in his head.

"Set your heart ablaze!"

"I accept you, Tanjirou Kamado."

"Keep pushing, no matter what it takes, to complete your purpose."

Pass the energy through every muscle fiber in your body. Take in as much oxygen as you can. Push your lungs to the limit.

Mix in all the styles that you know. Strengthen your dance.

Flame Dance!

He stepped forward, keeping as much weight off of his toes as possible, and flicked his sword upwards, and to the side immediately after.

Enter the zone. Block out everything unnecessary from your surroundings. Focus on yourself, your body, and go even faster. Even stronger.

Never stop.

He let his momentum carry him forwards even further, unconsciously letting his legs move. He spun on the spot, and slashed to the side, then upwards, forcing his sword into a blur, undetectable in the naked eye.

Soaring Flame Haze!

Keep pumping energy throughout your body. Remember everything everyone taught you.

Remember all the battles you faced.

He dug his feet into the ground, and dashed forward a few meters. He stepped on one foot and through his weight back, skating through the air, curving his blade in a deadly spiral.

Blue Heaven!

Landing on his feet, he twisted his body in a circular motion, flicking the sword in a horizontal slash, continuing the movement throughout the spin.

Fire Wheel!

He set his foot back, and his blade to his side. He bent his arm in a 90 degree angle, and set his left hand on the hilt. He held it in a two-handed grip, and thrusted forward with all his might.

Sunflower Thrust!

He stood still, keeping his blade level, arms still extended. He caught his breath for a couple of seconds, and stood back up.

Looking at what was needed to enter U.A, he needed to be at peak performance, or at least as high as his body would allow him. As Urokodaki had told him many times, continuous practice will never be fruitless. There is always something to be improved.

He needed to rely on his breathing and strength as he continued on his journey. He couldn't afford to get overconfident about his own abilities.

10 months. That was all the time he had left until the entrance exam for U.A. Everything that he had done will lead up to that moment.

He had to pass that. No matter what. In order to become the best that he can be, this is what he needed to do.

To fulfill his purpose.

AN It's not exactly 10K words yet, but I don't know what else to add here without it sounding too boring. It was a slice-of-life ish chapter preluding U.A and basically all that Tanjirou has got to during this time.

So I need to bring up a few things. One, Tanjirou's character. We haven't seen that many instances in Demon Slayer where we can see Tanjirou's raw personality outside of any fights, training, etc. The whole story was focused on him during his time as a Demon Slayer, focusing on his training against upper moons, and the fights that last 30 chapters. The Tanjirou in this story, or more specifically in this chapter, is not the exact same in the Manga. I tried, but it was extremely hard to do so, and also, it wouldn't be logical. He spent 5 years as of now, and his personality and actions have changed. But what exactly did I change? The Tanjirou here will be the same as ever in normal interactions. He's still the extremely kind and empathetic boy we all know of, but the difference here is he has the factor of, how do I say this? Common sense? He now knows normal social etiquettes, and doesn't do occasionally questionable things, like picking a tooth off of the ground and giving it to Genya, that was a bruh moment not gonna lie. Also, people change a ton between the ages of 16 and 21, usually, they lose their edge factor, which Tanjirou didn't have in the first place, and they gain a little common sense. I just hope you guys see it as somewhat in-character, because it's hard to judge your own writing as the writer.

The second part is a question; Is there anything from the U.A entrance exams that can let Tanjirou use his swords? I'm pretty sure I remember it being specifically a test of the quirk, and if you aren't allowed support items, people like Shinsou could have had at least a shot at getting in using some sort of weapon.

That's pretty much it. There was more I wanted to say here, so I might update this part a bit later once I think of something.

Oh yeah, Kendo. I had to do some research on it, and it's actually really freaking great. It's definitely a very interesting thing to watch. As I put in the chapter, Kendo mainly focuses on character, not swordsmanship, but Tanjirou uses it for both, in his own way. His skill there in swordsmanship already helps him a ton on Kendo. So that might have a pretty decent impact on Tanjirou as a character.

And now, an Omake, which is NOT CANON may I mind you. Some people actually thought in the last chapter that Muzan was in this world for real… that hurt me inside a bit but at the same time, understandable. I didn't make it clear enough. But for this one… if you watch a lot of YouTube, you might know this one. But if you know, you know.

Omake: Today's Climate

All for One lay in his chair, lamenting on all of the things that have happened to him.

His fight with All Might, the Eighth holder of One For All. That injury should have been equivalent to the one that he sustained currently, and even with all of the stabilizing and regeneration quirks he had active, he still couldn't do so much as move.

So it made him wonder, what would happen to All Might as the Symbol of Peace? Would be Even survive in the landscape of Heroism today?

"Hah, Hahahahaha!" It would certainly be a difficult endeavor, pun intended, for him to maintain what he has currently.

"When the people say they want to see All Might back to where he was before, I'd LOVE to see All Might try to exist in the landscape today."

These days, all anyone cared about was the public image. Rankings. All of the other trivial things that should not matter, yet they do. That injury…. would certainly take a toll on him and his image.

"The things that he used to be able to do would NEVER fly on what he is right now."

But truly, all in all…

"I'd love to see him succeed in today's climate."

Thanks for reading!

AN#2 As soon as I clicked the "Submit" button, I completely forgot about this: I'm making another story! This one's going to be a pure MHA fic only, 10K words per chapter as usual, and the name for it will be "Temporal Chronomality". Try deciphering the meaning, it's the basic premise of the story.