Chapter 48: Infinity Train
"A mission?" Hiroto asked.
"That's right! This time they requested a Hashira for this next mission, so I was assigned to it! You will be coming with me, this will be our first mission together!" Rengoku said, keeping his same straight face.
"Finally, something other than paperwork…" Hiroto said tiredly. "Do you have the details for this mission?" Hiroto asked afterward.
"Of course! We are going to go investigate the 'Infinity Train.'!" Rengoku said.
"?? Train? What's that?" Hiroto said confused.
Rengoku's mouth was stuck open as he didn't know how to respond. "It is a big carriage on wheels that go really fast and is really loud! It can hold many people in it!"
Hiroto still looked confused at what he was saying.
"That's not important! It was said that in a short period of time, more than 40 people have disappeared on the train! We sent a number of swordsmen to it, but so far none of them ever reported back! So that's why, as a Hashira, I'm going there and so are you!" Rengoku explained the details of the mission.
"More than 40? Do you think one of the Twelve Kizuki is involved?" Hiroto said.
"Anything is possible! However, I do expect that we might encounter one of the Twelve Kizuki, but they should be enough for us!" Rengoku said.
And like so, Hiroto and Rengoku set off to a city with the crow guiding them. Looking at Rengoku's crow, it was surprising it had some red feathers attached to it.
After a whole day of traveling, they finally arrived in the city. Compared to Asakusa, the one they were currently in was smaller than by a large comparison. Rengoku reminded Hiroto to hide his sword, as the Demon Slayer Corps is an organization that isn't recognized by the government.
Walking to the train platform, Hiroto saw a bunch of people standing around and getting ready to board the train. Hiroto looked forward and saw a large wooden structure.
"What is this? Is it the guardian of the land?" Hiroto asked.
Rengoku stumbled in his step as he heard Hiroto's words. "This is what they call a train! A mode of transportation that came from the west! It's a steam engine! A train used to carry people!"
Hiroto nodded at his words but was not willing to underestimate the train.
As they entered and took their seats in one of the carriages, a woman came and carried some bento boxes, giving some to Rengoku.
"Tasty! Tasty!" Rengoku shouted as he ate, and took another bento box from the woman.
*sigh* "It just had to have sweet potatoes in it." Hiroto sighed, as Rengoku ate boxes upon boxes of the bento, constantly shouting out 'Tasty!'.
Hiroto looked around the carriage and saw people taking their seats minding their own business or reading something from a large piece of paper.
"UWOOOOOHHH!! We're in the belly!! We're in its belly!! Whoaaa!! It's the beginning of the fight!!"
"Shut uuuup!!"
A couple of loud, but very recognizable voices came from behind the carriage. Hiroto turned around and saw Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke standing around, while Zenitsu tried to get Inosuke to shut up.
"Tasty!" Rengoku yelled out again.
Tanjiro turned to the voice and saw his older brother's face peeking from over the seat and looking at him.
"Ah, big brother!" Tanjiro said, before running forward to greet Hiroto.
Hiroto stood up and hugged him, asking him. "What are you three doing here? You finally recovered?"
"Well, since we recovered we decided to leave the Butterfly Estate since we had nothing else to do. Walking around the countryside would be more convenient when our orders came in." Tanjiro said.
"Liar!! YOU were the one that decided we should have left!" Zenitsu yelled out.
"It seems you finally recovered, good for you Zenitsu," Hiroto said.
"Uwahhh, Hiroto aniki I missed you!" Zenitsu cried out, trying to hug Hiroto but was held back by Tanjiro.
"Shintaro!" Inosuke yelled as he pointed at Hiroto. "I have grown a lot stronger in these past few weeks. Just you wait, soon you shall be my minion! I won't mistreat you, you can be minion 1!"
Hiroto ignored him, and said, "So, what brought you here to this train then?"
"Well, a crow told me that Rengoku, the Flame Hashira was nearby so I wanted to meet him and ask some questions of my own," Tanjiro said, looking behind Hiroto's back and seeing Rengoku, who turned towards Tanjiro and said.
"Tasty!"
"Ah, I…" Tanjiro didn't know how to respond.
"Don't worry, once he finishes eating he'll stop," Hiroto said, as the female attendants of the train carried a pile of empty bento boxes to be disposed of.
Hiroto let Tanjiro sit next to Rengoku as they talked about the past Flame Hashira's and what Hiroto had been learning from him these past few weeks.
Hiroto sat in the seat directly behind him. He took Nezuko's box from his and was hugging it as he waited for the train to start moving. Inosuke sat next to him with a proud look, while Zenitsu ignored them, sitting on a seat to their right.
Hiroto noticed how Inosuke hid his swords. Well… tried to. Inosuke though that by sticking the sword in the back of his pants would be enough to conceal them, but all that did was hide it from the front as it was completely exposed from the back.
Inosuke showed this off to Hiroto with a proud look, trying to get Hiroto to praise him, but all he got was. "Why?" Inosuke took this as a compliment regardless.
As the train began to move, Tanjiro, Hiroto and Inosuke were startled at the loud noise coming from the front and the jolt in the carriage.
"Ah, it began moving," Zenitsu said casually. As the train started to pick up more speed, Hiroto watched the outside curiously and was surprised at how fast the train was moving. 'If the Demon Slayer Corps had this, it would make moving around so much easier.' Hiroto thought.
"Uwooohh! Wow! Wow! It's so fast!!" Inosuke popped his head out of the window, climbing over Hiroto.
"That's dangerous, moron!" Zenitsu yelled, trying to pull Inosuke back.
"I'm gonna get out and run! I'm gonna have a race to see which one of us is faster!!" Inosuke declared looking out.
"There are limits to idiocy!!" Zenitsu cried out.
"It's dangerous! We're not sure when the Demon's gonna appear yet!" Rengoku said.
Zenitsu looked back with a dumbfounded expression. "Huh? You're kidding. A Demon's gonna appear on this train?" He asked incredulously.
Hiroto nodded and said, "It will, that's why me and Rengoku are here."
"It will?! Nooooooo!! So we're not going to a place with Demons, but one's gonna show up here? Noooooo!! I'm getting off!" Zenitsu cried out.
Hiroto spoke up, "I thought you guys knew that already."
"The damn sparrow didn't say anything!" Zenitsu yelled out.
"In a short period of time, more than 40 people disappeared on this train, including a number of swordsmen that we sent, they never reported back. So I'm here as a Hashira with my Tsuguko, Hiroto!" Rengoku said.
"Haaaaaa, I'm getting off!!" Zenitsu yelled with tears streaming down his face.
"I will… look at… your tickets…" A man wearing a black suit and a short cap walked up from down the aisle. Behind him were other passengers that were asleep.
"Tickets?" Hiroto asked.
"He's the conductor of the train, he has to confirm our tickets and punch holes in them!" Rengoku explained.
The group then passed the tickets over to the man who punched holes through them. At this moment, Tanjiro seemed to have tensed up, as he started to sniff the air.
"I have seen them…" The conductor's frail-looking face said.
Rengoku felt his instincts shout out to him, as he stood up. Hiroto also picked up on this ability, the ability to sense by using one's instinct, however, it was not as refined as Rengoku's.
"Conductor! It's Dangerous, so stand down!" Rengoku said, pushing the man aside and taking out his sword. "It's an emergency, so I would prefer it if you don't ask me why I have a sword on me!"
The conductor, however, showed no reaction and just stood to the side wearily.
"Uwaaah!" "Kyaaaah!" Various cries shouted out from the other passengers, as a Demon with two faces in one head was crouching in the middle of the aisle.
"Grrrrooll" The Demon gave a low growl as it faces Rengoku.
"Big guy!! Were you hiding your blood Demon Techniques?" Rengoku said, slowly taking out his flame pattern sword with a gold shine on top, the kanji for 'Reduce Evil Demons' was etched near the handguard. "It was hard to find your presence, however! The red Flame Sword of Rengoku will burn you down to the bone!"
"Grahhhhh!!!" The Demon yelled out, as it's two faces screamed towards Rengoku.
Hiroto didn't make a move as he knew just what Rengoku was capable of.
'Breath of Flame, First form: Sea of Fire.' Rengoku disappeared from his position and left a trail of fire in his path as he lunged towards the Demons, *swoosh* cutting the Demons head off in one motion.
*thud* The Demon fell to the ground. "Whoa, that was awesome!" Tanjiro shouted out. "Make me your disciple! I want to learn your swordsmanship!"
"Sure thing!!" Rengoku said, sheathing his sword. "I'll make you into a fine Swordsman!"
"Me too!!" "Me too!" Inosuke and Zenitsu yelled out.
"I'll look after every single one of you!!" Rengoku shouted out.
"Rengoku Aniki!!" "Aniki!" The 3 shouted out as they cheered around him.
However, this was all an illusion, as currently, all 5 of them are currently asleep next to each other in their seats.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Suploly
Suploly Finally, we have arrived at the Infinity train! Let's see how Hiroto would fail, at what would happen to Rengoku?
Let me know your thoughts on this chapter in the comments, hope you enjoyed this one!
Peace out!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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