After his training with Obanai, Goku finally reached Sanemi's training ground. "Is Sanemi's dojo this way...?"
"Wrong!" noised Rin, his beloved Kasugai crow.
"When did you... tch, nevermind..." muttered the boy.
Suddenly, Goku heard a very familiar voice. "GOKUUUU!"
Zenitsu jumped on him. "PLEASE, PLEASE LET ME ESCAPE!"
"Zenitsu-kun... Let me go, please," said Goku.
"YOU'RE A HASHIRA, RIGHT? MAKE THIS HOTHEAD REASON!" yelled the yellow boy.
"Who's the hothead?" asked a voice. Goku turned and saw Sanemi, grabbing Zenitsu's head. "Make your choice, either come back to train or be killed by me!"
"Come on, Sanemi, don't be so harsh with him..." said Goku.
"Tch... It's not my fault if he doesn't train like I said," replied Sanemi, releasing the grip on Zenitsu's head.
"C'mon, Zenitsu-kun, let's get through this together..." said the one-eyed the boy, smiling and giving his hand to Zenitsu.
"But... But I don't want to train...!" said Zenitsu. In that moment, Sanemi knocked him off with a hit on his neck.
"Carry him," he ordered.
"Of course..." said Goku, carrying Zenitsu on his shoulders.
"So, what's the training plan?" asked the boy, following Sanemi.
"1v1 against me," said Sanemi. "Simple, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is," said Goku. "Training with another Hashira-- especially if they're as strong as me or stronger -- is by far the best way to train."
"Fine. Be ready, then..." said Sanemi. "Well, to be fair, the training was every slayer charging at me and trying to hit me, but since it's you, a 1v1 will be enough. Also, because I don't think your training will pay off if other slayers help you..."
"Fantastic idea, Sanemi," said Goku.
"So, here we are, on the training ground," said Sanemi. "Hey, you jerks! Observe how two real men fight!"
"Don't be so harsh, Sanemi..." muttered Goku, extracting his two wooden swords. "...or I'll be harsh on you!"
"I'm not asking for anything better!" exclaimed Sanemi, extracting his wooden sword and countering Goku.
As the clash went on, Zenitsu woke up.
"Oof... am I... am I still here...?" he wondered. Then, he turned and saw Goku and Sanemi fighting. (They're really fighting each other... when we met, we were as strong as you. Now you handle one of the strongest Hashiras on your own, even becoming one... When did you get so strong, Goku...?)
At the end of the fight, Goku retreated to his room. (I don't know why, but when I fight Sanemi, I feel... alive. And they say Gyomei is even stronger! I want to fight him!)
Suddenly, the one-eyed boy heard a familiar voice. "Hey, wait, Aniki!"
(Huh? That's Genya-kun's voice...) thought Goku, following the voice and hiding to avoid being seen.
"There's one thing I need to tell you... you need to give it a rest!" said Genya. Then, Goku saw Sanemi giving his back to his little brother.
"I don't have a younger brother," said the Wind Hashira. "If you don't back off, I'm going to destroy you!"
(Now I understand why Genya-kun is so rude sometimes... sometimes I wonder what it's like to have a little brother... Unfortunately, I never experienced the feeling of being loved by a family member... but that's okay, I guess...)
"Look at you, you can't even use Breathing Styles... Just quit the Demon Slayer Corps..." said Sanemi, turning to leave.
"W-wait, Aniki! I just wanted to apologize to you..." muttered Genya.
"I couldn't care less about your excuses..." snorted Sanemi.
"Aniki, I... I even ate demons, just to continue fighting," said Genya. In that moment, Sanemi froze.
"What did you just say...?" he whispered, with a crescendo of anger. "You ate some...?"
In that moment, some kind of pressure invaded the room. Then, Sanemi disappeared.
(He disappeared...?) wondered Goku. Then, the boy realized.
"Genya-kun, watch out!" he shouted, dashing towards Genya and pushing him away, just before Sanemi was able to gouge out his eyes.
Outside the building, Zenitsu was relaxing. "I wish how many more days we'll have to keep up with this..."
Suddenly, he saw something crashing through the wall.
"Ha! It's that cold-blooded man! Lay down, pretend that you've fainted!" exclaimed Zenitsu, lying down. But then, he saw Goku.
"Sanemi, with all due respect, stop it! Are you planning to kill Genya-kun?" asked the boy.
"Hell no, I'm not going to kill him," said Sanemi. "It would be easy to kill him, but since that's against the rules... I'm going to ruin him behind recovery!"
"He's your brother, you can't do this!" said Goku. "Do you have an idea how much I wanted a brother in my life? And you, who have one, treat him like this?"
"Let's make a deal then. If he quits the Demon Slayer Corps right now, I'm gonna let him go," said Sanemi.
"You don't have that kind of authority, just because you're the big brother!" said Goku. "Probably you want him to leave the Corps because you don't want him to get killed, do you? But even if he has no breathing styles or whatever, he's made up his mind to risk his life fighting demons!"
"And, for the record, without Genya, the others and I wouldn't have defeated that Upper Rank, so he's a valuable slayer!"
(Goku is... protecting me from Aniki? Why?) wondered Genya. (No, I think I understand. He's doing this... Because Tanjiro would have done the same...).
"I ask you, please, to get out of the way, Goku," said Sanemi.
"Sorry, I can't," said Goku. "I know you don't want to hurt me because you see me as a friend, but I can't let you hurt Genya-kun, who's like a brother to me, unlike what you think of him!"
(B-Brother...? He sees me like a brother...?) repeated Genya in his mind.
"Fine... then sorry, but I'll ruin you beyond recovery first!" exclaimed Sanemi, charging at Goku.
(Here it comes...) thought Goku. He managed to block Sanemi's fist. "I won't fight back, I don't want to hurt you."
"Then just get out of the way!" said Sanemi.
"Sorry, I already said I can't," said Goku. "Zenitsu-kun, get Genya out of here, please!"
"Aniki, stop that! Goku-kun has nothing to do with this!" exclaimed Genya.
"Sorry, but we're out of here!" exclaimed Zenitsu, dragging Genya away.
"I admire you, Goku, you just have one defect: you're too kind," said Sanemi, realizing he was exaggerating, and withdrew his punch.
"And you're too hot-headed," said Goku, laughing. In the end, Sanemi slightly smiled, then turned and left.
"He managed to tame the Wind Hashira..." commented a slayer. "I didn't tame him. I calmed him down," said Goku. Then, he left as well.
Chapter 47 - End