Chapter 1 – The Letter Before Summer
Principal Kagaya: "Students of St. Monfort Slayer School… please take your seats."
Giyu: "Everyone, quiet down."
Obanai: "You are not the teacher."
Giyu: "And you are not helping."
Shinobu: "Ara ara, Tomioka-san is trying his best. Let him feel important."
Sanemi: "Just start already. I was training."
Kagaya: "Thank you. As you all know, the final day before summer vacation has arrived."
Zenitsu: "YES! I packed already!"
Inosuke: "I was going to train in the mountains!"
Muichiro: "What is summer vacation again?"
Obanai: "How do you forget basic things?"
Kagaya: "However… before you all scatter, I have an announcement."
Rishik: "Something feels off."
Ramim: "It does."
Giyu: "Class XII-A and XII-C will now train together from tomorrow."
Sanemi: "All Hashiras together? Hah. Finally."
Shinobu: "Oh my. That will be noisy."
Obanai: "Who decided that?"
Kagaya: "I did."
Obanai: "…Understood."
Rishik: "Ramim, this might be interesting."
Ramim: "Training is never interesting. It's necessary."
Zenitsu: "Why is he always like that?"
Shinobu: "Because he is twenty-one and acts like he's forty."
Rishik: "He just doesn't waste words."
Ramim: "Talking wastes energy."
Inosuke: "WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?"
Srijon: "It means he's serious."
Sanemi: "New kid, don't talk too big."
Srijon: "I'm not a kid."
Shinobu: "He became Hashira in months. Let him talk."
Obanai: "Light Breathing, was it?"
Srijon: "Yes."
Rishik: "You're improving fast."
Srijon: "I had good seniors."
Ramim: "Don't flatter."
Zenitsu: "You two are like an old married couple."
Sanemi: "Shut up."
—
Later, during break.
Giyu: "Stay inside the classroom."
Muichiro: "There is something outside."
Obanai: "What now?"
Muichiro: "There is a letter on the corridor floor."
Zenitsu: "Is it mine?"
Sanemi: "Why would it be yours?"
Muichiro: "It smells strange."
Shinobu: "Let me see."
Muichiro: "No. I will give it to Tomioka-san."
Giyu: "Give it here."
Rishik: "That smell…"
Ramim: "Demon blood."
The class went silent.
Giyu: "It's probably a prank."
Shinobu: "Read it first."
Giyu: "Fine."
Giyu: " 'Our only mission was to find the Blue Spider Lily and eat humans… but you have interfered. Soon that interference will stop. Soon, there will be no Demon Slayer Corps.' "
Zenitsu: "That is NOT funny!"
Inosuke: "WHO WROTE THAT?!"
Giyu: "Who is pranking us here?"
Shinobu: "Tomioka-san… turn the paper."
Giyu: "…What?"
Shinobu: "The backside."
Giyu slowly flipped the paper.
Obanai: "What is it?"
Giyu: "…It's written with demon blood."
Sanemi: "So?"
Shinobu: "Look closer."
The edges of the blood writing were burned, as if reacting to light.
Rishik: "That reaction…"
Ramim: "It's real."
Giyu: "…It says a name."
Srijon: "Who?"
Giyu: "…Muzan Kibutsuji."
The room froze.
Zenitsu: "He wouldn't just send a letter!"
Sanemi: "He wouldn't joke either."
Obanai: "Why warn us?"
Ramim: "It's not a warning."
Rishik: "It's a declaration."
Shinobu: "Or a distraction."
Giyu: "I'm taking this to the principal."
—
Principal's Office.
Kagaya: "You did well bringing this."
Giyu: "It may be nothing."
Kagaya: "No. Muzan does nothing without purpose."
Shinobu: "There were no demons spotted tonight."
Sanemi: "That's what worries me."
Kagaya: "If demons disappear… they gather."
Ramim: "For something bigger."
Rishik: "Something planned."
Kagaya: "Exactly."
—
Next Morning. Assembly Hall.
Kagaya: "Students… there will be no summer vacation."
Zenitsu: "WHAT?!"
Inosuke: "GOOD!"
Obanai: "Explain."
Kagaya: "From today onward, all Hashiras will undergo advanced Hashira Training."
Sanemi: "Finally."
Shinobu: "So serious."
Giyu: "All classes will follow schedule under my supervision."
Obanai: "You are not the teacher."
Giyu: "…I am managing."
Shinobu: "Let him manage."
Srijon: "So this is real."
Rishik: "It is."
Ramim looked toward the window. The sky felt heavier.
Rishik: "You feel it too?"
Ramim: "Yes."
Srijon: "Feel what?"
Ramim: "Silence."
Sanemi: "What silence?"
Ramim: "The kind before something breaks."
Rishik: "You think Muzan will attack?"
Ramim: "No."
Srijon: "Then what?"
Ramim: "…Someone stronger."
The wind outside stopped.
Zenitsu: "Why did it just get cold?"
Muichiro: "It feels like something is watching."
Giyu: "Everyone to training grounds. Now."
Shinobu: "Ara… summer ended early."
Kagaya watched quietly from the balcony.
Kagaya: "The board has been set."
Ramim tightened his grip on his sword.
Ramim (softly): "Let it come."