A dignified and beautiful black Furisode would almost certainly complement his younger sister’s white skin.

Once she saw the luxurious gold laced obi, his younger sister who had toiled most of her life would probably frown and say: “It’s too much.”

Underneath that black hair that was combed into a Bunkin Takashimada style, would his younger sister have tears flowing out of her eyes……?

(T/N: That’s a traditional Japanese wedding hairstyle, one that is most representative of a typical Japanese bride)

Those tears would be full of joy, not sadness.

My sister is gentler than anyone else.

Even when she became a demon, my sister had yet to abandon the warmth she had when she was a human.

But I wish that you will become happier than anyone else—

*

“—Congratulatory words?”

“Yes……It’s a joyous occasion, a girl from the village is getting married.

Once she finished talking, Hisa’s already small eyes narrowed till it was as thin as a piece of thread.

(T/N: In case no one remembers, because I know I didn’t, Hisa is the old lady at the Wisteria house)

The house emblem that had a wisteria flower was proof of their service to the Demon Slayers without asking for anything in return.

It was said that families with this symbol do this as a way to show their gratitude to slayers who had defeated demons.

Therefore, slayers who have been injured during their missions were always searching for homes with the wisteria flower emblem.

Hisa’s home was one of them.

The group of four consisting of Tajirou, Zenitsu, Inosuke as well as Nezuko were staying there and recovering from their injuries sustained during their mission—it had been exactly ten days since then.

However, Nezuko, who was a demon, was always sleeping in her box which was made of “Cloud Mist Pine” in the daytime, so the ones who encounter the family’s members were mainly the other three……

Thanks to the careful care given to them, that being large amounts of exquisite cooking, fluffy sheets and soft kimonos and so on, the three of them, who sustained rib fractures around the same time, recovered quite a fair bit.

“The groom is from the family of the chief of the neighbouring village.”

“Congratulations to them.”

Tanjirou sincerely congratulated the newly wedded couple.

Hisa said with a slight smile: “If all of you do not mind, I would love for Demon Slayer-sama to also give your blessings……”

“Eh? Us?”

“Of course, it must be if everyone’s health condition allows……Please do not push yourselves.”

“Oh no, our bodies are fine already. But can we really attend?”

Tanjirou asked, feeling concerned. However, Hisa shook her head which was full of white hair.

Hisa said that tonight, everyone would give a bit of their blessings from where they were seated. Then tomorrow, at noon, they will send the bride off to the neighbouring village and then have a grand wedding at the groom’s home.

The bride was exceptionally gorgeous and the groom obviously came to her because of her appearance. However, since it was rare to have such good fate, the villager were also excited for them.

“If they can receive the blessings from Demon Slayer-sama……everyone will be delighted.”

“If that’s the case, then we’ll show our utmost respect. Right? Zenitsu? Inosuke?”

Tanjirou turned his head to ask.

“Un, of course—No, I mean we should. Giving our blessings is nothing like killing demons, it’s not scary at all, and we can eat delicious food as well as catch a glimpse of the bride’s beauty, it’s killing two birds with one stone—but, no matter what, she can’t be cuter than Nezuko-chan right? Oh, I know—I only love Nezuko-chan—please don’t misunderstand.”

Zenitsu replied and rubbed his hands while bowing on his knees after hearing those words.

“What’s congratulatory words?”

On the other hand, Inosuke was using both his hands to shovel manju into his mouth, at the same time, he used his head to roughly hit the side of Tanjirou’s waist.

(Ouch……)

Tanjirou grimaced.

And that (Zenitsu) was gross.

Now—or should he say these few days—this scene had become a habitual one.

Ever since Zenitsu knew that Nezuko was Tanjirou’s sister, his attitude changed and was exceptionally nice to Tanjirou to the point of flattery.

And what troubled Tanjirou about Inosuke were those head butts. Perhaps he was just using his own method to communicate with others but getting hit by a head all the time was getting unbearable.

If this went on, no matter how much time it took, Tanjirou’s ribs would not heal.

And that (Zenitsu) was gross.

“Zenitsu, do you have to talk in such a creepy way? Don’t offend the bride—also, Inosuke, congratulatory words are words used to bless the two people for their union. Ouch…….Inosuke, stop butting me with your head.

After advising the two indirectly, Tanjirou turned his head to face Hisa.

“We also want to congratulate the couple, please help us make arrangements.”

Tanjirou lowered his head.

“I should be the one thanking all of you……”

Hisa bowed deeply to the point that her forehead was about to touch the tatami mats.

“Please have your meal at my home tonight.”

She smiled while saying.

“Speaking of food that young people like, that would probably be meat……Unfortunately, I do not understand western cuisine……”

“—It’s fine, we have received a lot of your care already.”

Just as Tanjirou was frantically waving his hands—

“I want to eat that!!”

Inosuke pushed him aside and loudly shouted: “As usual! Old hag, cook that!! That thing!!”

“Oi, Inosuke!!”

“Don’t just say that, say the name of the dish properly.”

Tanjirou and Zenitsu both chided Inosuke in their own way, “Oh, you mean that?” Hisa nodded, a look of realization on her face:

“I see, it’s the one fried in flour, Tempura, right?”

“That’s right!”

“Alright, alright, I will fry a lot. Are there enough snacks?”

“Nope, bring that as well!! Listen up, it’s that alright?!”

“Alright, alright, the fried rice cakes, correct? I will get them now.”

Hisa answered calmly and then left the room soon after.

Perhaps it had something to do with her age, but every one of Hisa’s movements were extremely silent, almost no sound could be heard.

And just then, she also silently pulled the door close.

“….She could understand, Inosuke only said “that”.”

Zenitsu had a gaze that looked like admiration, yet seemed like he was flabbergasted, as he stared at the paper door that Hisa disappeared behind.

“Yeah—” Tajirou showed his agreement.

Meanwhile, Inosuke continued to chew on his manju without restraint, not listening to the two mumbling to themselves.

“You got to be kidding?! Wearing a kimono and having to stay in a house is basically torture, right?! I’m not doing this shit!! What do you think I am?! I am the King of the Mountains!”

When they first stayed here, Inosuke was throwing a tantrum, but now—even though he still went around shirtless—he seemed to have gotten used to living here.

At least he did not think it was torture anymore.

And most likely, the bulk of the reason was because of the owner, Hisa.

Ever since they visited this mansion, Hisa had never shown a hint of fear towards Inosuke.

Not only was she not afraid of the atrocious pig-headed appearance, she did not treat his weird actions as anything significant. Just thinking that the old lady took care of Inosuke as though he was her grandson, Tanjirou’s heart was briefly filled with warmth.

(I’m so grateful….)

He sincerely thought in his heart.

Not considering that they could get out of clean sheets, enter a warm bath house and other displays of warm hospitality, perhaps because the they bathed and ate from the same pot—even if Zenitsu was abnormally trying to curry favour with him and Inosuke keeps unleashing his head butts—it felt like the distance between the three of them shortened rapidly.

Most importantly, not only did those two not treat Nezuko with disdain for being a demon, in fact, they even accepted her.

This made him very happy.

Tanjirou thought in a relaxed manner.

“Hey, why did you eat all the manju?! Tanjirou and my share are there too, right?! You stupid pig!!”

“You’re so noisy, Hinitsu! If anything, you should blame yourself for being too slow!!”

(T/N: Hinitsu – fart-nitsu)

“It’s Zenitsu! Who is Hinitsu?!”

“Shut it, brat! This is my territory!!”

“Ah—is that so? Then I’m so sorry. What do you mean by territory any—Yahhhhh!!!!”

“Spineless wimp!! If you want to beat me then you’re a million years too early!! Wahahahaha!!!”

Zenitsu, who received a punch to the face, was rolling on the tatami, screaming while Inosuke’s beast like laugh echoed throughout the room.

(………)

Tajirou sighed lightly and immediately mediated:

“—Inosuke, you can’t hit Zenitsu.”

After Zenitsu (unreasonably) retorted Inosuke’s words and was mercilessly beaten by Inosuke, Tanjirou, once more, tried to get them to make up—

To them, this was a scene that they had become used to.

*

“Ah—The bride is so lovely~”

“The food is great, hic.”

On the way back from the bride’s home—

Listening to the two express their very different opinions of the wedding, Tanjirou remembered the bride’s youthful appearance.

The bride who still looked childish was really quite a beauty, it was no wonder that the person from the chieftain’s family would head straight for her beauty and ask for her hand in marriage.

Also that joyful smile definitely showed how blessed she felt.

Even the herons and numerous flowers embroidered onto her Furisode as well as that luxurious gold laced obi all pale in comparison……

“That person—”

“? What is it?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Tanjirou lightly shook his head.

Might just be the same age as Nezuko.

When his mind wandered to this point, something tightened in his chest for a moment.

(Eh……?Why does my chest feel so heavy?)

Tanjirou tilted his head, confused, at the same time, he lightly repositioned the wood box on his back.

Kera kera kera…..suddenly a sound of nails scratching against the inside of box could be heard and Tanjirou who heard it, almost jumped.

(!!)

His sister, whom he thought was asleep, was still awake and this startled Tanjirou.

“But why would that woman wear those kinds of clothes.”

Inosuke asked himself.

“You can’t climb trees if you wear such a long kimono, and you can’t catch rabbits or birds too.”

He tilted his pig head slightly and expressed his deep curiosity.

“Sigh—that’s why I dislike country bumpkins.”

After hearing Inosuke’s naïve question, Zenitsu sighed.

“It doesn’t matter, it’s not like she’ll go into the mountains anyway. After today, she’s going to be the wife of a huge family, she landed on high branches and became a phoenix, get it? Because she’s pretty so she can marry someone rich, wear beautiful kimonos and live a sheltered life like butterflies and flowers.”

“Also, why does she wear such dark clothes? Doesn’t she know that she’ll be targeted by bees if she wears dark clothes in the mountains. Really, what’s wrong with those people, if it’s really a joyous occasion, why doesn’t she wear something a bit more brightly coloured? Just looking at her makes me irritated.”

“I already told you that she won’t go into the mountains. A black Furisode and Shiromuku all are a bride’s usual attire and it represents “I will not be stained by other people’s colours other than yours….” Right? Sigh—I also wish a girl would say such a thing to me. If possible, it would be the best if the other party is Nezuko-chan…….hee hee”

(T/N: Shiromuku is a traditional wedding kimono that is white)

Halfway through talking, Zenitsu took on a creepy high-pitched tone and spoke to himself without control.

“What is this guy saying?”

Inosuke spoke seriously in a soft voice.

“How gross……”

“I do not want to hear that from you!!”

Hearing Inosuke’s insult, Zenitsu became furious.

“What do you think? Tanjirou?!”

“—Eh?” Seeing that Zenitsu had turned towards him for backup, Tanjirou was stunned for a moment then in a vague manner, replied: “Ah—what should I say?”

Somehow he felt restless and distracted.

It was almost like something was stuck…….in the back of his throat.

“What’s up? You keep zoning out.”

Zenitsu spoke with concern in his voice and tugged on the sleeve of Tanjirou’s haori.

“Did something happen?”

“Are you hungry?”

Inosuke said while take large mouthfuls of the mochi he took from the banquet.

“He didn’t eat much during the celebration. There was so much delicious stuff too, what a moron.”

Inosuke finished the rest of the mochi in one mouthful and patted his own chest.

“You wait here, Senjirou, I’ll go back and get some leftovers!”

“?! No, you don’t have to!”

Only now did Tanjirou returned to his senses and he frantically stopped Inosuke who was going out of control.

There was no way he could let him return to the banquet and start looting the place like a mountain bandit, if not this ceremony to specially give blessings will be all for naught.

“No need to hold back, taking care of his minions is the boss’s responsibility.”

“I’m not holding back, also, I’m not hungry.”

“You’ll regret it if you don’t eat when there’s stuff to eat, you know? There’s meat that was this big?! And a large pile of fruits!!”

“I already said I’m really not hungry, Inosuke.”

Even so, Inosuke still could not accept his answer so in the end, Tanjirou had to lower his head and beg him not to go.

With much difficulty (or rather with much reluctance), Inosuke was convinced. Zenitsu, however, had a worried expression and he peered at Tanjirou’s face.

“What’s wrong? You have been acting a bit strange from just now?”

“! Strange? You’re saying I’ve been strange?”

“Un. There seems to be some strange “sound”.”

Tanjirou was taken aback.

Zenitsu had exceptionally good hearing, he could even tell how a person is feeling based on their “sound”, just like how Tanjirou could identify “smells”.

And he was saying that Tanjirou’s “sound” was abnormal.

Tanjirou was flustered and could not say anything to make an excuse.

“—I get it.”

As though he was promising that he would not share this to others, Zenitsu spoke softly, with an extremely stern expression and said:

“This has to do with Nezuko-chan, right?”

“!!”

Unknowingly, Tanjirou’s heart beat harder.

Seeing that Tanjirou was at a loss for words at the moment, Zenitsu could not help but nod.

He had a look on his face as though he saw through everything.

“Most likely you were thinking about the day Nezuko-chan gets married and you suddenly felt lonely.”

“……Huh?”

“However, Tanjirou, you can’t think like that. If Nezuko-chan meets someone whom she wants to marry, you should honestly give your blessings, this is for Nezuko-chan’s sake too.”

“………”

Zenitsu’s assertions deviated a bit from reality.

In Zenitsu’s mind, Nezuko, who was a demon, could get married like a normal person. To put it bluntly, Zenitsu did not even mind that Nezuko was a demon.

Even though Tanjirou felt a bit relieved by this, something was still off about it.

He kept feeling that he messed up a critical factor before that.

However Tanjirou did not know what that was.

Which was why he felt uncomfortable, like there was a bone in his throat.

–Un. There seems to be some strange “sound”.

–This has to do with Nezuko-chan, right?

Why does he feel terrified by these words that were said on a whim?

Tanjirou was deeply troubled, he lightly pressed his hand on the left of his chest. Ba dump ba dump……his chest beat slightly and Tanjirou quietly perked his ears and listened carefully.

However, he could not hear the “sound” that Zenitsu was talking about.

(Of course not, right? My ears aren’t as good as Zenitsu’s…….)

What was wrong with himself? Tanjirou furrowed his brows.

Zenitsu had already left Tanjirou aside and was talking freely about what it would be like when Nezuko gets married while Inosuke was endlessly talking about what dishes would taste great.

Just as Tanjirou was wondering how he should resolve the knots within his heart—

“Hey, Akari!”

Came a young voice.

“Of course you can’t. The sun’s setting, you’ll get eaten by demons.

“But Akari also wants to marry into a large family in the village just like Yutaka-neesan!! I don’t want to do so much work!!”

“No means no!!”

“Petty!! Nee-chan is a petty person! Petty old hag!!”

“What did you say?! I dare you to say that again!!”

Turning his head, he saw two young girls arguing by the side of the road.

One of them seemed to be about ten or eleven while the other was probably about seven years old? Seeing how the two of them looked alike when they were frowning and pouting at each other, they were very likely to be sisters.

(Yutaka-nee……Were they referring to the bride just now?)

Tanjirou approached the two. The younger girl noticed him and immediately grabbed the older girl’s sleeve.

“What’s going on? What are you two arguing about?”

In order not to scare the girls, Tanjirou squatted down and asked.

The older girl quickly glanced at Tanjirou and asked back:

“You’re the Demon Slayer who’s staying at Hisa-obaasan’s home?”

“Un, I’m Tanjirou. Are you two sisters?”

“Yes. I’m the older sister Akane, she’s my younger sister Akari.”

While her older sister was introducing herself, Akari shyly hid behind her sister. She poked her head out a bit and peered at Tanjirou and then hid quickly again.

Seeing that childish behavior, Tanjirou could not help but smile.

(Rokuta was the same.)

No, Shigeru, Hanako, Takeo—as well as Nezuko all went through this phase.

“Yutaka-neesan refers to the person who married into the other village right?”

While reminiscing about the nostalgic past, Tanjirou asked the pair of sisters.

“Right.”

“Let me tell you, Yutaka-neesan found an Onitoukuzu.”

(T/N: Onitoukuzu, literally translates to Demon Lamp Arrowroot)

Akari peeped out from her sister again and interrupted.

“—Onitoukuzu?”

Tanjirou tilted his head, confused. Even though he grew up in the mountains, this was the first time he heard of such a name.

“Is it a kind of flower?”

“Un, it’s a flower.”

Akari nodded her head hard and she extended her small fingers, pointing towards a mountain that was nearby.

“It grows in that mountain. If you pick that kind of flower, you can become a phoenix.”

“Become a phoenix? Ah, you mean flying onto high branches and becoming a phoenix.”

“That’s why Yutaka-neesan was able to marry into a rich family.”

The girl said delightfully.

“That’s just hearsay.”

Akane’s brows slanted downwards.

“This village had a saying from a long time ago “If you carry a flower which blooms under the new moon, then you can marry the your beloved person and live a life more blissful than anyone else”—Because Yutaka-neesan was lucky enough to have such good fate, the old folks in the village are saying that she found the Onitoukuzu. And this child happened to hear those words…….”

“I see.”

Tanjirou hit the centre of his palm, realisation dawning upon him.

“And it happens to be a new moon today—”

“……Yes.”

Akane nodded her head, feeling troubled.

“Akari kept saying that she must pick the flower and she wouldn’t listen to me……It’s merely a flower of fantasy.”

So that was why the two started arguing.

Even though the reason was extremely pure, it was already evening time. Once night fell, demons would start roaming around. No wonder Akane, who was the older sister, would worry.

Tanjirou peered at Akari who was clinging onto her sister’s back tightly.

“But it’s dangerous in the mountains at night, right?”

“Akari is already six years old.”

The girl who had a doll like haircut answered in a stubborn manner.

Even though he was laughing loudly inside his heart, Tanjirou persuaded the girl still with a stern expression on his face.

“It’s dangerous even for adults, don’t you know that?”

“Because demons will appear?”

“Yup.”

“Oh——…… are demons scary?”

“Yes, they are extremely terrifying.”

Tanjirou nodded his head seriously.

Akari thought for a moment then in a reluctant manner, agreed not to go into the mountains.

Akane let out a sigh of relief when she heard the answer.

“Thank you very much for your help.”

Showing her gratitude with a deep bow, she pulled her younger sister’s hands and said: “—Alright, let’s go home”

“What’s up? Tanjirou. Did something happen to those two girls just now?”

While Tanjirou was watching the two people walk away, Zenitsu approached him and Inosuke followed behind.

“What were you all talking about?”

“Ahh—”

Tanjirou told the other two the content of their conversation.

“Tch, how boring. It’s just a child’s nonsensical rambling.”

Inosuke did not seem interested.

“Oh~~It feels like that flower is quite fascinating.”

Zenitsu, on the other hand, muttered to himself, full of curiosity.

“Being able to marry the person you love and then lead a life which is more blissful than anyone else’s—how wonderful. But it’s really too much to say that you’ll fly to a high branch and become a phoenix.”

“Those are just rumors in the end, aren’t they? Zenitsu.”

Tanjirou quickly reminded Zenitsu, remembering his deep obsession with marriage.

After all, this man did cry and propose to a girl he just met on the street.

“Akane also said that it was a fantasy flower.”

“That’s not unusual, girls and the most unable to resist mysterious rumors that have to do with love.”

“! Is that so?”

“Un. Don’t girls like things like magical charms? Something like using flower petals to tell their fortunes. And it’s a flower that only blooms under the new moon, it does sound like something girls would really like—right, there’s a saying that making a wish under a new moon would make it come true so maybe this originated from that…….If that’s the case, perhaps there are a lot of legends that are not just pulled out of thin air…….”

Zenitsu had an all knowing expression, expressing that this flower might really exist.

“Zenitsu, you’re really knowledgeable.”

Tanjirou praised Zenitsu who had unexpectedly provided his insights.

“You! Even if you praise me, you won’t get anything out of it!!”

Zenitsu blushed furiously and with a “Ufufufu”, in a shy manner, he let out a disgusting laugh.

If one thought about it carefully, perhaps he had an ulterior motive and only made himself extremely familiar with matters of this nature to get on a girl’s good side. Regardless, Tanjirou still felt that it was something admirable.

(Really? So girls like these kinds of things.)

In other words—

(Nezuko as well……?)

Tanjirou’s squinted his eyes as he felt the cloud mist pine box upon his back.

(T/N: This (^_^) not (-_-). So hard to translate eye squint in English)

For a moment, the rich looking bridal outfit he saw earlier, the makeup that made people show affection, suddenly overlapped with Nezuko’s appearance.

His younger sister wearing a black based Furisode with a smile on her face—

Looking very happy.

And she appeared to be living a blessed life.

Once he thought of this imagery, the fog that was in his mind cleared up in an instant.

(……I see…….)

Tanjirou finally understood the reason behind the knots in his heart.

“Oi, both of you! Stop chit-chatting and let’s quickly return to the old hag’s house! The old hag fried a whole bunch of food that’s coated in flour and is waiting for us!!”

Inosuke, whose stomach was grumbling loudly, urged Tanjirou to move. Perhaps thinking about all the delicious food that he had not ate caused him to become hungry.

“Hurry, stop idling around!!”

“You still want to eat?”

“How much more do you want to eat?” Zenitsu had a hopeless expression and he turned his head towards Tanjirou who had not moved an inch from where he was.

“What’s wrong? Let’s go?”

“……….”

“Tanjirou?”

Tanjirou hesitated for a second.

“Sorry. There’s something I have to do. Zenitsu, Inosuke, the two of you can go back first.”

After saying that to the two, Tanjirou hurried off, chasing after Akane and Akari.

“Ah…Found them! Over there.”

As it had been some time since they parted ways, Tanjirou was originally worried that he might not be able to catch up with them. However the other party were just two young girls, together with his heightened sense of smell, Tanjirou soon caught up with them.

Two small figures were holding hands in a loving way under the setting sun.

“Akane-chan, Akari-chan! Wait—”

“?”

The two sisters turned their heads at the same time after Tanjirou called out to them.

They both showed curious expressions.

“Demon Slayer Onii-san?”

“What is it?”

“About that Onitoukuzu, can you tell me a bit more about it?”

Hearing Tanjirou’s words, the two young sisters blinked their widened eyes in confusion.

*

–That night.

“Ufufu……eh? Is it? This kind of thing……Hee hee hee….fu—fu—-eh? Hehehehe….Nezuko-chan, you’re really….Nghunghu….”

While Zenitsu was dreaming his sweet dreams, someone suddenly shook his shoulder that was not covered by his blanket in a violent manner.

“…..No~….so annoying….Ugh….the mood is pretty good now…..don’t get in my way…..Inosuke……gu……Ufufu…..it’s nothing like that……Shuu shuu…..Nezuko-chan is really cute……Ufufu.”

“………….”

Zenitsu turned his body, trying to get away from the annoying person’s hand, however, this time, now his cheeks were getting constantly beaten and Zenitsu who was still deep in his sleep frowned.

“Unnnn~~~What? Is it Tanjirou now? Nezuko-chan and I are professing our love to each other, you can stay away a bit too….Hu—Hu–….As I was saying, Nezuko-chan……”

Pa pa pa.

“From the first time I met Nezuko-chan, I…..Uhu….Ufufu…..That’s right….really……Shuu….alright? We’re destined to be together…..Ugunugu….”

Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa—

“Ah—!!Seriously! Didn’t I say you’re annoying?! You’ve been pa pa pa pa and hitting me all the way from the start!! What are you doing?! What do you want?! Are you trying to pick on me?! Do you all have some grudge against me—”

Finally Zenitsu opened his eyes and got angry at the person who kept slapping him.

However—

“?!”

The person looking at him was neither Inosuke nor Tajirou, it was Nezuko who had left her box, Once Zenitsu realized this, all his fury dissipated completely.

“Ne, Ne, Nezuko-chan? Is…….Is, Is something wrong? It’s the middle of the night……..”

Zenitsu bolted upright, completely flustered and his entire face was as red as a cooked octopus.

“Could it be that you want to see me? That can’t be……Ah, Ah haha….Ah, could it be that Inosuke was snoring too loudly?! Ha ha ha……That guy’s snoring is a real piece of work.”

Nezuko kept shaking her head and her glossy black hair swung along with it.

“Eh, it, it’s not? It’s not me is it?! Is it me?! My snoring was too loud?! Or am I grinding my teeth?! Sorry!!”

Zenitsu waved his arms around aimlessly, apologizing, however, Nezuko shook her head again then pointed frantically at the blanket next to Zenitsu and cried out with an “Uu…….”

Zenitsu looked at where she was pointing and stopped his unnatural arm movements.

“Eh? Huh? What about Tanjirou?”

After looking at the that blanket, Zenitsu raised an eyebrow, surprised.

The bedding where Tanjirou was supposed to be sleeping in was empty.

On a side note, Inosuke was sleeping like a log in the other bedding next to him.

Nezuko surveyed her surroundings uneasily.

Zenitsu finally understood what was going on after seeing her actions. She was actually looking for Tanjirou.

Nezuko left her box at night but did not see her brother so she woke Zenitsu up as she was worried.

(Ah—Nezuko-chan is really too cute……She really loves her brother……I’m so jealous of Tanjirou……But she didn’t ask Inosuke for help and looked for me instead……Ah, Nezuko-chan, I love you the most.)

Zenitsu was deeply moved and he let out an expression of infatuation.

“He must have gone to the bathroom, he’ll be back soon.”

“Uu—-Uu—–!!”

Even though he tried to comfort Nezuko but for some reason, Nezuko shook her head forcefully with a look of anger.

“Uu—–!”

“?”

Zenitsu felt that Nezuko was not being her usual self. He pulled away Tanjirou’s blanket and touched the mattress.

“Uh…….”

It was very cold. The icy feeling on Zenitsu’s hand caused the blush on his face to go down at once.

From that temperature, it was impossible that someone was just sleeping on it.

Zenitsu checked the room and then did he notice that Tanjirou’s squad uniform and Nichirin sword were gone. Instead, the kimono he was wearing earlier was neatly folded.

“? Where did Tanjirou go…….?!”

Zenitsu started to worry and he quickly pulled open the paper door that led to the courtyard.

It was pitch black outside so the starry sky looked especially stunning and beautiful.

“Right……today is a new moon.”

Then, the incident of the daytime suddenly crossed his mind.

After seeing the bride, Tanjirou’s “sound” became different from his usual.

There was a rumour that if you had the Onitoukuzu, you could marry your beloved person and be happier than anyone else.

When Nezuko was mentioned, Tanjirou’s heartbeat accelerated.

Tanjirou said he had something to do and then chased after the two girls. That time, the wooden box was swinging along on his back.

Zenitsu turned to face Nezuko.

“That guy couldn’t have—–”

Tanjirou treated the girl who was before him as someone who was more important than anything else in this world—and probably more important than himself. Right now, this girl’s brows were furrowed and she grasped her brother’s blanket in her hands.

*

An entire sea of stars was reflected in his eyes.

“—Uu….Uuuu……..”

Tanjirou collapsed on top of the damp soil.

He fell from a precipice that was higher than he thought.

Fortunately, the place he fell on was full of decaying leaves so Tanjirou did not have any serious injuries. However, he did pass out for a short while.

“………Ugh…….!”

As he was about to get up, Tanjirou could not help but let out a weak groan.

His entire body was in pain.

Especially his ribs. They were almost completely healed—if he were to fracture them again, it would be so embarrassing.

He would not have the cheek to face Hisa who had been taking care of him selflessly.

(….I never thought I would actually fall off a precipice.)

Just as he was feeling guilty of his lack of training, Tanjirou got up as gently as he could. Even though he was still aching, it did not seem like he fractured anything.

Just as Tanjirou breathed a sigh of relief, he heard the sound of branches and leaves rustling.

The reason behind his fall from the precipice had appeared.

Tanjirou looked at it and he broke into a smile.

“So you’re alright, that’s great.”

A wild boar that was about the size of an adult growled deeply and stared at Tanjirou furiously.

“Be careful next time, okay?”

Once Tanjirou finished talking with a smile on his face, the wild boar started to snort again.

A few hours ago—

In order to look for the Onitoukuzu, Tanjirou went up the mountain full of spirit, however it was unexpectedly difficult to find a flower in the mountains at night.

Even though he grew up in the mountains, these were not the mountains where he grew up in.

Walking on the unfamiliar mountain path and searching for a flower that may or may not exist required more willpower than he thought.

Furthermore, Akane and Akari did not have any artistic cells to speak off so the drawing that they tried their best to draw did not help at all. Even so—

“I heard that the leaves are a bright green and the edge of the leaves are like a saw’s teeth.”

“There are five flower petals and they are puffed out like this. Look carefully, it’s this kind of shape. No, no, like this. Ugh, this drawing sucks.”

“The flower is mostly crimson but sometimes there are red or white types….Other traits….ah, right, I heard that each flower petal is shaped like the eye of a pig, they’re really adorable. The smell? If it’s the smell then…..”

The shape of the leaves, the number of petals, the colour and so on—Just as Tanjirou was searching as hard as he could based on these pieces of verbal information, a wild board suddenly poked its head out from the grass.

The wild boar that amazingly resembled Inosuke was breathing quickly and its entire body let out a smell of anger.

Looking at it carefully, there was a fresh would near the boar’s foot and it was not a shallow one. That was probably why it was so agitated.

“You got injured? Come, let me have a look. It’s alright……Ah, no no, if you keep moving about, your wound will……!! Watch out—”

While he was comforting the struggling boar, the boar seemed to slip and fall off the precipice and Tanjirou immediately risked his neck to protect it.

–Which resulted in the current situation.

“Alright—this will do. Be careful in future, alright?”

Tanjirou smiled after he did some simple first aid on the wound sustained by the boar, which had calmed down.

The more he looked, the more it looked like a splitting image of Inosuke.

“Then I need to go look for the Onitoukuzu, take care.”

Tanjirou was about to leave but the boar used its teeth to clamp down on the hem of Tanjirou’s haori.

“Wa! What is it? Are you hungry? But this is a haori, it can’t be eaten.”

The boar growled and forcefully tugged on Tanjirou’s haori.

“Eh? You want me to follow you?”

“Grr———!!”

“Alright, I get it.”

In a flash, Tanjirou could understand what the boar wanted and he nodded his head.

The boar confidently led the way and Tanjirou followed closely,

After walking for a while, a small cave appeared deep among the lush green grass.

“……—Ah.”

A crimson flower bloomed next to the opening of the cave.

Tanjirou’s eyes widened when he saw it.

Bright green leaves, five puffy petals that all resembled the eyes of a pig.

A weak gulping noise came from Tanjirou’s throat.

“Onitou….kuzu………–?”

The flower petals that are covered with the night’s dew were delicately beautiful and they were shining as though there were stars within them.

*

That day when he lost his family in a single night—

When he knew that Nezuko was still breathing, Tanjirou was relieved beyond words.

He was so happy and that gave him a lot of salvation.

Perhaps Nezuko did not want to let her reckless brother become alone, so as a last-ditch effort, she did not mind becoming a demon.

Every time this thought drifted into his mind, strong feelings of sympathy and pity gushed out from Tanjirou for his younger sister and he shed tears several times over it.

Nezuko who have always endured from young.

Nezuko who was so gentle that it was almost tragic.

I swear that I would not let anyone take anything from you anymore.

I definitely won’t allow anyone to hurt you

Onii-chan will make you happy.

Whatever I could not give to everyone else, I will give them to you—

*

“……Areh? Is everyone……already awake?”

When Tanjirou returned to Hisa’s home, there was a huge disturbance happening in the room where all of them were staying in.

It was the middle of the night yet the lights were on and he could hear talking from the end of the corridor.

“So I’m saying that that idiot Tanjirou went into the mountains to find flowers! Yes, in the middle of the night in the mountains. If demons were to appear, it would be very dangerous right? I’m saying I’m going to look for him and you’re coming with me.”

“Ah, why do I have to find Kanjirou in the middle of the night? Can’t you go by yourself?”

“Because the mountains are terrifying at night!! I’m scared if I go by myself!!”

“Tch…spineless wimp. By the way, why would that idiot Tangorou go into the mountains?”

“I said he was finding flowers!! Listen to what others are saying!”

“Flowers? Why is that idiot Chotarou plucking flowers? Isn’t that what girlies do……”

“I guess it might be because he heard the rumours about the Onitoukuzu and wanted to give one to Nezuko-chan. That idiot Tanjirou.”

“What’s an Onitouwuzu? Some kind of food?”

“It’s Onitoukuzu! Didn’t those girls at the village talk about it in the daytime? You were at the side listening too, Inosuke, right? You were wolfing down rice cakes. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten?”

“I remember the rice cakes. They were delicious.”

“Idiot! Inosuke is an idiot!! You’re all idiots!!”

“What did you say?!”

(I’ve been called an idiot so many times….and Inosuke, the names are so wrong it’s ridiculous…..)

Tanjirou swallowed his saliva and anxiously pulled open the paper door.

“….I’m back.”

–Inside the room, Inosuke was tightly choking Zenitsu’s neck.

“?! Uwahh!!!What are you doing! Stop it, Inosuke!!”

Tanjirou frantically rushed forward to stop the scuffle.

“Let go of Zenitsu, Inosuke.”

“Shut up, Chojirou!! This guy is looking down on me!! If I don’t beat the pulp out of him, I won’t be able to take this insult!!”

“Didn’t I always say that there’s shouldn’t be fighting among squad members?! Let go now!!”

With a huff, Tanjirou pulled the two apart, with much difficulty.

“Tch.”

“Uuu….Tanjirou.”

Tanjirou consoled Inosuke, who was clicking his tongue, and Zenitsu who was grabbing onto him as though his life depended on it.

“—Anyway, where’s Nezuko? Is she in her box?”

Hearing Tanjirou’s question , his younger sister slowly poked her head out from under his blanket.

“……..”

“What in the world, so you were hiding here.”

Tanjirou’s face lit up and he cheerfully took out the flower that was kept carefully in the inner pocket of the squad uniform. Even though the flower was a bit bent, it had not withered.

Holding the dazzling flower in his right hand, he gently held it out in front of his sister.

“This is for you. It’s an Onitoukuzu.”

“……..”

“If you have this, you can marry the person you like and become happier than anyone else.”

Tanjirou said with a broad smile.

However his sister did not stretch out her hand for quite a while.

“?”

He did not know if he was overthinking things but Nezuko did not seem energetic at all.

Perhaps it was because he suddenly disappeared, so that made her worry. If that was the case then he really went overboard

Tanjirou purposely spoke in an even softer tone.

“Sorry, I made you worry. The flower’s pretty, right?”

“………..”

Nezuko’s focused on the flower for a while then took it from Tanjirou’s hand and stuck it in her hair.

Seeing that Tanjirou was smiling at her, Nezuko smiled as well.

Then she took the flower from her head and stuck it onto Tanjirou’s hair.

“….Um? Eh, Nezuko, that’s not correct. I don’t need this. This is for you–……”

When Tanjirou finished saying that, Nezuko’s smile faded and her brows tilted downwards.

(Ah….–)

He felt that he had seen that sad gaze somewhere before in the past.

The younger sister kept her gaze fixed on her older brother.

A “smell” that seemed like rebuke……

Yet seemed like pity.

“………….Sorry…….”

Tanjirou could not do anything at all, he could only look back at Nezuko’s eyes. Then, he suddenly remembered something that happened in the past.

“Onii-chan, don’t apologise. Why do you keep apologising?”

Tanjirou inhaled sharply.

Even though he forgot what exactly happened, that time, his younger sister showed her rare anger.

The younger sister had a stern expression, one that she rarely shown, on her face as she stared at the older brother.

That’s right—it was a cold day.

There was snow that chilled people to the bone.

He remembered that it was shortly after their father’s passing.

“We can’t be happy just because we’re live in poverty? It’s pitiful just because we can’t wear beautiful kimonos?”

The younger sister stared straight at her brother, rather than rage and impatient, it was more of a sorrowful “smell”.

“Since it’s useless even if we gave it our all, then it can’t be helped. As a person….we can’t expect that everyone will have everything going the way they want it to.”

The Nezuko in his memories and the Nezuko in front of him were overlapping—

Seeing that his sister’s eyes were full of a deep sorrow, Tanjirou became agitated.

No.

That’s not it, Nezuko.

(I just….want you to be happy….that’s why—)

“Whether I become happy or not, it’s my own decision, what’s important is the “present”.”

The moment the words that his younger sister said before rang in his ears—Tanjirou felt as though a strong blow hit his head.

That’s right—

Because they were poor, his younger sister could not wear beautiful clothes, and she had to toil everyday, then their beloved father passed away and she could only endure for the sake of their younger siblings. Even though the older brother kept apologizing for this, his younger sister said:

Stop apologizing.

“If it’s Onii-chan, then you should be able to understand my feelings.”

(Ahh—–)

So……

Nezuko’s feelings were the same as his own.

No matter what, I want to turn Nezuko back to a human.

If I could, I want her to enjoy that bright period of time a younger girl should have.

And wish that a man she loved could stay by her side.

I wish that you’ll be happy more than anyone else.

There was not one day where Tanjirou did not think about this.

However, Nezuko had the same feelings too.

Just as Tanjirou constantly had his sister in consideration, Nezuko also thought about her brother.

So she wanted to give the flower of happiness to Tanjirou.

Nezuko, who was still alive now had a future, she was not some unfortunate girl.

Even though their family was killed, she herself turned into a demon and the road ahead would be a rough one, she had gained the acknowledgement of leader of the Demon slayers and became a member of the demon slayers. She gained companions who cared about her and there was even a man who expressed his affection for her, not minding that she was a demon.

(T/N: Waitttttttt, this is before that spider mountain arc…what acknowledgement.)

He was fighting for the sake of a happy future for his sister—

Tanjirou pulled his younger sister closer to himself and hugged her gently.

“Thank you Nezuko….”

Nezuko also hugged her brother tightly.

This solid weight and warmth caused tears to spill from Tanjirou’s eyes.

“Hey—”

Suddenly, Inosuke asked curiously:

“Why are you crying? Are you hurting somewhere?”

“Inosuke.”

Zenitsu, who was crying along with them, softly chided him saying:

“Don’t you know how to read the mood? If you don’t, at least keep your trap shut.”

“So? Why did Joujirou climb the mountain?”

“You……Didn’t you hear what I was saying just now? He went into the mountains to get an Onitoukuzu.”

See, that over there—Zenitsu pointed at the flower on top of Tanjirou’s head.

“But that’s not called an Onitoukuzu.”

Inosuke lazily said after glancing at the glower.

After hearing that tone as though it was not anything of significance—

“”…………..Eh……………?””

Both Tanjirou and Zenitsu let out sounds of exclamation at the same time……

*

“……I felt that there was a lot of disappointment yesterday.”

The next morning, when Tanjirou was sitting on a bench soaking up the sun while looking distracted, Zenitsu tried to talk to him, feeling anxious.

Meanwhile Inosuke was dashing around the centre of the courtyard while shouting “Pig Assault!!”

Next to Tanjirou was the box that contained Nezuko.

In the end, the flower plucked by Tanjirou the previous night was not the “Onitoukuzu” but the “Pig Eye Grass.”

As the flower petals were sweet and tasty, most of them were eaten clean by the wild animals. But for some reason, only wild boars do not eat this plant so there were plenty of them growing around the boars’ nests.

In other words actually the boar from last night did not understand Tanjirou’s thoughts and only wanted to invite him to its own nest as a way to thank him for helping dress his wounds.

By the way, aside from the new moon, the pig’s eye grass will also bloom when the moon is full and the duration of how long they bloom had nothing to do with what the night was like.

“It was because I said that the flower might exist, and girls would be happy if they received this flower, right? I feel bad that you did that.”

“—No, it was my own decision. Zenitsu, you’re not in the wrong at all.”

Tanjirou shook his head, smiling.

“Zenitsu, you said yesterday that my sound was “strange”, right?”

“Eh? Ah, Ahh….I did say that.”

“I didn’t really get it myself that time but after seeing how happy Yutaka-san—when I saw the beautiful bride, I couldn’t help but sympathise with Nezuko who can’t live under the sun.”

Not only could she not wear beautiful kimonos.

She could not live under the sunlight.

Furthermore, she would get injured as she gets wrapped up in bloody battles and he could not give her the joys that a young girl her age should be enjoying.

All this made Tanjirou feel immensely guilty, restless and at a loss.

“But Nezuko…….”

“……….”

Nezuko was not a girl who would gripe all day and night on how unfortunate she was.

Just like when she was a human, she strived to live in the “present””

More importantly, Nezuko’s “happiness” was decided by her own hands.

It may be becoming a family with her beloved and living till they were old and gray and yet, it might not.

In any case, that was not something that he, as her brother, should decide.

However, he determined that his younger sister’s “present” was unfortunate so he felt pity for her and tried to force “happiness” onto her……

“What I should be doing now is to defeat Kibutsuji Muzan and quickly turn Nezuko back to a human and avenge my family.”

“Tanjirou……”

Tanjirou looked straight at the other party and finished his words.

“——-I’ll do my best too.”

Zenitsu rubbed his nose and mumbled softly.

“Even though I’m scared……And honestly I’m really weak, I probably can’t help much and I keep feeling like I’m going to die…..don’t ever have any expectations of me….but I’ll do whatever is within my ability and put in as much effort as I can.”

“Zenitsu….”

“Really, don’t even think you can expect anything out of me.”

Zenitsu probably had little to no confidence and even emphasized that point once.

Even so, his thoughtfulness was comforting.

“Oi!! Stop lazing around and start running! Run until you vomit blood!!”

It was not just the courtyard, Inosuke’s voice echoed throughout the entire villa and in one shot, the sentimental mood in the air dissipated.

“In order to turn minion number three back to a human, we have to beat the demon’s boss right?! If that’s the case, we just have to get stronger!! Stop chit-chatting over there! You Bajirou!!”

“What minion number three?! What did you say to Nezuko-chan—”

Even though Zenitsu was angry, Tanjirou only smiled.

“Inosuke is right.”

Inosuke’s straightforwardness and determination was too dazzling.

“….We have to get stronger.”

“Right?!”

“What are you saying? Tanjirou, your fracture is not healed yet right? It took quite a lot of effort for it to be close to full recovery. And speaking of which, we came here to rest, why do we have to work out till we vomit blood? There’s something wrong with the intentions?!”

“Hey, my lackeys!! Hurry up and follow your boss Inosuke!!”

Inosuke’s energetic hollered overshadowed Zenitsu’s baffled complaints.

“At this time—

“The bride’s sedan is passing through!”

The rough voices of the village’s young men were carried over by the wind.

Tanjirou gently closed his eyes.

Yutaka looking youthful in her bridal clothing

Hisa’s warm smile.

Akane and Akari looking on with their eyes shining and their faces blushing slightly.

They were all playing out in front of his eyes.

“……-“

Tanjirou touched the box that was next to him and a sound that replied him from within the box.

The voice was weak but gentle.

Tanjirou broke into a smile and raised his head to look at the azure sky,

Today happened to be a clear sunny day without a cloud in sight.

“Nezuko-chan, watch your step over there.”

“………”

There was a slight drop downwards beneath their feet. Zenitsu reached his hand out and Nezuko grasped his hand tightly.

(Uwah, what soft hands……I’m holding hands with Nezuko!! I’m actually holding hands!!! That’s great!!!!)

The feeling of supple skin caused a lovey expression to appear on Zenitsu’s face and he carefully relished the feeling of bliss gushing from within him.

As he was completely immersed in the strict training for full focus and partial focus breathing, this period of time where he was able to go for a short walk with Nezuko after the moon revealed its face was something that made him feel happy beyond words.

Also he only dared to openly bring Nezuko out after he got the permission from Nezuko’s older brother, Tanjirou as well as from Shinobu, the owner of the house.

During this period of time, all the things that exist in this world seemed extremely dazzling.

Even the moon that hung high in the sky seemed to be giving its congratulations.

“We’re about to reach the place which is full of flowers, alright? Are you tried? Ah, there’s a lot of white clovers there. When we get there, I’ll help you make a flower crown.”

Zenitsu said while blushing.

Nezuko raised her face, which was biting onto a gag, peered at Zenitsu then nodded her delicate chin.

Seeing that adorable appearance, Zenitsu thought, while feeling moved: “Ahh…It’s lucky I’m still alive. It’s great that I didn’t become a spider!!”

“Come over, Nezuko! We’re here!” “!!”

Arriving at a field that was not too far from the Butterfly Manor, Nezuko’s expression lit up.

The field was full of flowers that have bloomed. If even Zenitsu, who was a boy, could not help but be amazed by the sight, then one can imagine what Nezuko, who was in her youthful years, was feeling.

Nezuko excitedly looked around under the faint moonlight and Zenitsu let out a smile as he saw the sight and started to pluck the white clovers like he promised. He wanted to get as many as he could so he could make plenty of flower crowns for her.

(I seem to be skilled at doing these kinds of things….Since a while back.)

Nezuko’s lustrous black hair would definitely be complement the flower crowns.

(I’ll make one with just white clovers and put other kinds of flowers on the rest. They would be more colourful that way.)

Thinking to this point, Zenitsu opened his mouth and asked:

“Eh, Nezuko-chan. What flower does Nezuko-chan think is the most—”

The words only came out halfway but he shut his mouth.

“…….—-”

A yellow flower was quietly blooming at one corner of the white clovers, and a faint memory of Zenitsu’s resurfaced.

(That flower is……)

It was an incident that happened before he met Tanjirou and Inosuke—

That time he was training under a former pillar.

*

“Alright…………..I finally got away from Jii-chan.”

Zenitsu hid behind a large tree and kept a close eye on his surroundings while letting out a sigh of relief at the same time.

“Jii-chan must be so mad~”

Even though he felt a bit guilty, he was unable to endure any longer.

This was not something that was all fun and games, he would really die.

Zenitsu’s “Cultivator” was an energetic old master – Kawajima Jigoro.

“You won’t die from something like this!!”

Even though that was something he always said, the next time might be Zenitsu’s end.

It might not be something that would just end like his hair turning blonde after being hit by lightning.

(Sorry, Jii-chan……But this mediocre level might just be all I amount to…….forget about me—-Actually these aren’t my real thoughts……If you can think about me once in a while, I would be happy—I’m really apologetic about this…..I love Jii-chan the most ……But I can’t carry on doing this anymore.)

Apologising to his master in his heart, Zenitsu hurried on his way, hoping to get to the bottom of the hills before sunset. The sun was gradually sinking down to the west.

After reaching the village, he should taste some of their delicious steamed buns.

Then he shall enjoy the sight of girls walking towards him on the streets to the fullest.

Also, as he need not sneak around to train in the middle of the night, he could have a good sleep at long last.

Watching a movie film did not sound too bad either.

With those thoughts in mind, Zenitsu walked down the mountains with a spring in his step. However, when he reached near the foot of the hill, he suddenly stopped.

His extremely acute sense of hearing picked up the painfully sorrowful crying of a girl.

“Oh no! There’s a girl crying!!”

As though he had become someone else, Zenitsu suddenly had an awe-inspiring expression and he pushed aside branches, crossed rivers and made a beeline for the source of crying which was under a cliff.

A young girl who was wearing a completely white kimono was sobbing uncontrollably while squatting among the grass.

“Eh……Are you alright?! Are you feeling unwell anywhere?!”

“……Eee……”

Once Zenitsu made a sound, the girl was alarmed and her shoulders shook.

She nervously turned her head around, then her shoulders slumped downwards as though she was relieved after seeing Zenitsu. Then she started crying again.

“…………….Uuu, Uu………………”

“Sor, sorry?! Did I scare you?! Eh, are you really alright?! Are you hurt or injured anywhere?!”

Under Zenitsu’s persistent questioning, the girl finally raised her head.

Both their eyes met each other by accident—

The girl’s eyelashes that were moistened by tears were long like a bird’s feathers and they were beautiful to the point that even flowers would lament and sigh.

(Hwagh…..!!)

Zenitsu felt as though an arrow went straight through his heart and he unconsciously clutched onto the left side of his chest.

Of course, that was the Cupid’s arrow.

Perhaps it had to do with not having parents from young and not knowing the warmth of having a family while he was growing up—? He yearned for love and marriage more than most people and easily plunged into love.

Zenitsu had completely fallen head over heels with this teary eyed girl before his eyes.

He became frantic, no matter what, he wanted to stop this girl from crying.

“Um, if……if yo, you don’t mind, can you tell me why you’re crying? I might be able to help you……!!”

“………..”

“My name is Agatsuma Zenitsu, and I’m learning swordsmanship from this “Cultivator” Jii-chan.”

“Swords…manship?”

The other party probably felt uneasy when she did not know who he was. Considering this point, Zenitsu introduced himself and the “sound” from the girl started to change slightly.

That was the sound he was hoping for.

The sound of finding a small ray of light while one was in a desperate situation.

Zenitsu realised that he had become the girl’s hope and he was so happy that he raised his voice.

“Eh? It’s alright if you just talk, do you want to talk with me?!”

The girl’s tears ceased only after Zenitsu suddenly asked this question in a fearsome way.

“….My name is Sayuri.”

She told him her name with a trembling voice.

“I live in that village up ahead that’s full of wisteria flowers together with my mother, step-father and two step-sisters.”

“I see, so you’re called Sayuri. What a cute name—so? What are you doing up in the hill’s today? And you’re wearing a kimono that doesn’t look easy to walk in….”

After knowing the girl’s name, Zenitsu continued to ask while waving his hands around, however the girl only slanted her brows downwards sadly.

“Actually , a few nights ago, my step-father encountered a demon in this hill……Even though he was lucky enough to escape with his life, that time, my step-father promised to offer up his daughter as a trade……”

“Ehh?! He’s offering up Sayuri to a demon?! What the heck is that?! Isn’t that too much?!”

“This is something that can’t be helped……If my stepfather is not around, then my mother and stepsisters would not be able to live on.”

“…….”

The girl lowered her eyelids and the tears that remained on her eyelashes rolled off her cheeks immediately.

Her black hair that was tied high on the back of her head was too lovely to even compare with anything in the world.

Facing this pitiful girl, Zenitsu threw all concerns to the back of his head and shouted loudly: “—I’ll help you!”

*

“I’ll pretend to be Sayuri to find that demon then I’ll finish it off in a jiffy! Sayuri, you can wait for me at the foot of the hills!!”

As Zenitsu walked on the dimly lit mountain path, he very quickly regretted letting such words out of his mouth.

Even though he wore a kimono to disguise as Sayuri, the hem was ridiculously long, as though he could trip anytime. Furthermore, he hid his sword on his back so it made it difficult to move about.

Also, he had to fight a demon and this made Zenitsu scared out of his wits.

(No, it’s not possible right?)

(Since when did I have the ability to kill off a demon alone?”

(And what do I mean in a jiffy?! In a jiffy!!)

(How can I do this.)

(It might better to go back, lower my head and apologise to Jii-chan and ask him to come with me……)

(But there’s no time……)

(Ah—I’m going to die……I’m dead meat.)

Zenitsu’s rational side could not stop wailing.

He really wanted to bawl out loud without caring about his dignity and then escape from this place at full speed.

But on the other hand, he also knew that only he could stop that cute girl from crying.

(Sayuri……seems to be happy.)

When Zenitsu said he was going to get rid of the demon, Sayuri’s tears started trickled out of her eyes non-stop and she cried her heart out.

Even though the bright sound that represented hope and joy gradually grew stronger, there it was definitely interlaced with guilt, shame….as well as bewilderedness.

Perhaps it went against her conscience to push Zenitsu, someone who was a complete stranger to her, into the fire.

That was a complex and heart-wrenching sound.

(She’s really a kind girl.)

As they were about to part ways, Sayuri grasped both of Zenitsu’s hands with tears in her eyes and asked him to return safely—At that moment, Zenitsu recalled that trembling voice.

Although her stepfather wanted to sacrifice her, who had no blood ties with him, and her own biological mother did not plan to stop him, Sayuri never blamed the two of them.

Therefore, Zenitsu wanted to help her out even more.

However, even if he had strong feelings and courage for the girl, he was unable to overcome his fear of facing the demon. On the way to the location that the demon and her stepfather promised to meet, there were many times Zenitsu wanted to run but with much difficulty, he convinced himself to push on.

There was a thin crescent moon hanging in the sky.

Zenitsu raised his head and looked up at the moon through the gap between the trees and quietly prayed within his heart.

(I hope it’s a small and weak demon!!)

At this moment—

——The sound of a demon came over.

“Ee……….—–”

Zenitsu frantically covered his mouth with both his hands to prevent his wailing from escaping his mouth by itself.

It was the sound of something that was looking forward to the girl arriving and could barely hold itself back from chewing on her soft and succulent flesh. It sounded so greedy and cruel.

Zenitsu’s entire body was shivering and he stopped his footsteps.

He was unable to move forward, no matter how hard he tried, he could not take another step.

As Zenitsu held his breath and stood immobile in the dark mountains, an enormous demon emerged from the depths of the grass. That demon was irregularly formed, it had three gigantic arms sprouting out from its back and each were holding huge sickles. It had a bloody gaping large mouth that extended to its ears and above that were six cruel tiny eyes that glinted in the dark of the night.

(This is bad……I’m doomed for sure. Sayuri…….I’m sorry.)

Seeing that grotesque appearance and gigantic form that seemed to touch the clouds, Zenitsu was so terrified even his teeth were chattering.

Haa, haa, haa, haa, haa, haa, haa, haa, haa, haa, haa, haa—Zenitsu forgot about the image that a girl was supposed to have and starting gasping loudly.

“You’re that old man’s youngest daughter?”

The demon asked in a raspy voice.

In a flash, Zenitsu’s heart leapt to his throat. He just barely managed to suppress the fear in his heart and replied.

“Ye…Ye ye ye yes.”

But was unable to prevent his words from coming out unnaturally.

“My, my, my name is Zenko.”

After glancing at Zenitsu—

“That damn old man, he lied to me to protect his life. How is this ugly bitch the prettiest woman in the village in any way?”

The demon clicked its tongue, furious.

In order to disguise as Sayuri, Zenitsu tied his hair up, just barely, then he crushed some red petals to get their juices for makeup. However he was a boy disguised as a girl after all.

Quite a number of demons preyed on young beautiful girls, this demon probably had this kind of fetish as well. He came forward with the disappointment of his hopes being dashed and impatience.

Zenitsu was shaking like a leaf from fear.

“Whatever. Anyway, I’ll kill and eat you first. Then when then the seasons change, those hateful wisteria flowers will fall, then I’ll eat that bastard’s wife and other two daughters in front of him……That’s his punishment for fooling me.”

The demon wiped the drool leaking from his mouth and said in a threatening manner.

His voice was filled with a malicious joy.

That raspy voice which thirsted for blood was so icy cold that not a bit of warmth could be felt.

The demon arrogantly lowered his voice:

“First, I’ll use this sickle to gouge out your eyeballs. Then I’ll dig out your tongue. Afterwards—”

“Eeya……………………………………………—”

Because he was too scared, Zenitsu finally gave up on thinking.

The sound of a thread snapping was heard in his brain and just like that, the darkness swallowed him……

*

“Engahh?!”

Waking up as the sound of something hitting the ground after falling from high up was heard, Zenitsu quickly looked around his surroundings. Then he realized the demon’s skull had fallen next to his feet and he unintentionally let out a scream.

“Kyaa——————————-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The volume was loud enough to cause a tremor to the mountainous forest in the night.

As Zenitsu leapt away from it, he seemed to kick the demon’s head, and with an uncomfortable sound of being hit, the skull rolled around non-stop and the blood that remained on its wound flew everywhere.

“Iyaaaaaa—————!!!!!! Noooo————–!!!!”

As though the demon saw something unbelievable, its six eyes stared wide open and were bloodshot. The cut on its neck was also completely flat, as though it was cut but a sharp blade.

Just like a white radish that had been cut.

“What what what?! Why did it suddenly die?! I hate this!!!! I had enough!!!!”

Zenitsu bawled.

“Why did its head suddenly get lopped off?! Why?! It’s so scary!! I hate this?! What is this?!”

He could not grasp the situation.

The demon was suddenly decapitated.

And strangely enough, he was holding onto the sword that was hidden behind his back.

The pure white kimono he was wearing was also covered with the demon’s blood.

“Did someone save me?! Eh, where are you?! Did someone save the useless me?!”

Zenitsu cried as he looked around him but he could not see and sign of another person.

Then—

(Ah!!)

He had a realization.

There was only one person in the world who would be willing to lend a hand to save him, right?

“Jii-chan……”

Tears gushed out of Zenitsu’s eyes again.

It was highly likely that Jigoro, who wanted to bring Zenitsu back, saved him from the clutches of the demon then understanding the situation, decided to kindly hide himself.

Gratefulness and guilt filled Zenitsu’s heart.

“Jii-chan……thank you….I will definitely find happiness with Sayuri……thank you for taking care of me all this while….really….I’m so thankful that you’ll save someone like me. You must take care of yourself.”

Zenitsu sheathed his sword while crying and bowed deeply to the dark forest, then cutting off all his remaining attachments, he left the scene.

–As Zenitsu disappeared, a person holding a cane started to move among the grass.

“……–That idiot disciple.”

That low voice sounded melancholic.

“I already said that you have talent that won’t lose to anyone, why won’t you understand—”

*

Sayuri is waiting for me.

Sayuri is waiting for me up ahead!

Zenitsu held onto the yellow lilies that he plucked on the way to the foot of the hills and was so lost in his own thoughts it was almost like he was in a dream.

“Thank you…….Zenitsu-san, I like you.”

The image of Sayuri’s ecstatic expression floated into his head. Ufufufufu, for a moment, Zenitsu was so embarrassed that he let out a strange laughter.

He could see a figure wearing his clothes at the side of the path.

“Ah! Sayuri–……”

Zenitsu was about to wave his hand energetically but stopped himself.

Sayuri was not alone. Next to her was a simple looking young man, looking in his direction with the same uneasy expression.

“Zenitsu-san……….”

“………..”

Tears gushed out of Sayuri’s eyes.

Then, Zenitsu understood everything.

Sayuri realized that Zenitsu harboured feelings for her that was beyond just sympathy and compassion which was why he was willing to take her place. However, she already had a lover.

Because of that, her sound sounded so complex and heart-wrenching.

Sayuri did not trick Zenitsu willingly.

She did not mention it, that was all. Because she wanted to live, because she did not want to die, she had no choice but to choose to remain silent.

Last time, there was a woman who tricked Zenitsu out of his money and eloped with the man she loved, but Sayuri was different from her.

It was clear from the sound.

But Zenitsu only wanted to focus on the positive side of the situation.

Right now, her sound was just saying over and over again: I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

It made people want to cry—

(……………It’s not Sayuri’s fault)

At the same time when he felt his passion cooling off, Zenitsu still showed a smile to the girl. There was a sharp stabbing pain in his chest.

“The demon’s dead, you don’t have to worry anymore.”

“Th……thank you……Thank you.”

“Thank you very much……!!”

The man also showed his gratitude sincerely and was almost going to kneel down and kowtow.

“I will never forget your generosity and compassion……!I’m going to take Sayuri away, far away from that heartless stepfather of hers! I really thank you very much!! Demon Slayer-sama!!”

(So noisy……! I didn’t work this hard for your sake!! It was all for Sayuri!! But, actually the one who defeated the demon was Jii-chan?! Damn it!! And this person isn’t good looking, he’s just a normal goody goody two shoes, this pisses me off even more, stupid!!)

Zenitsu was crying tears of blood within his heart and he stealthily turned the lilies around and hid them behind his back.

“Zenitsu-san……I, that……sorry……”

“………….”

“Really…….really sorry……”

Tears trickled out from Sayuri’s eyes.

The sound of her blaming herself was gut wrenching.

“Sayuri, be happy…….”

“……………—Alright.”

Sayuri cried and bowed her head several times.

In the end, the two people returned to the village together.

Zenitsu watched as the two disappeared with a smile on his face.

“……………Uu, Uu.”

When only he was left, the tears flowed out rapidly.

Within his blurry field of vision, Zenitsu looked at the flowers he wanted to give to Sayuri, at a loss.

Yellow lilies.

He remembered their flower language was—

“Cheer” and “fakery”.

(…….!!)

His chest kept hurting. Zenitsu wanted to throw the flowers on the road….but in the end, he dismissed that thought.

Just as he was trying to hold back his tears under the moonlight, someone came up beside him.

Without realizing it, Jigoro had appeared.

That sound was imposing and terrifying, but yet, quite gentle.

Zenitsu nervously opened his mouth:

“………About that………Jii-chan, I……”

“You moron!!!”

With just one shout from Jigoro, Zenitsu shrank back in fear.

“How many times have I told you and yet you abandoned your training and ran away! Also, what with this weird getup!! It’s hideous!!”

“Ee….sorry!!”

“Seriously, it’s troublesome to have a stupid disciple.”

Jigoro sighed and said softly.

Zenitsu cowered in shame.

“But you’re not just any simple moron.”

“Ugh……”

“You’re a big moron.”

“…………..”

Just as Zenitsu was about to shrink back even more, Jigoro softened his tone.

“You’re a gentle big moron.”

“Jii-chan…….”

Zenitsu raised his head, surprised and Jigoro immediately lifted his hand and placed it on Zenitsu’s head.

That hand was large and rough.

It was a hand that saved many people before when he slayed demons as a pillar.

Zenitsu dreamed that he could become like that one day—

The man he respected had a pair of strong gentle hands.

“You did well. Not only did you not abandon that girl, you also overcame your fear and fought.”

“………the one who helped her was Jii-chan, I didn’t do anything at all.”

Hearing Zenitsu say that in a depressed manner, Jigoro gave a baffled expression.

“What? You think I defeated the demon?”

“Eh? Isn’t it? When I passed out, Jii-chan—”

“The one who defeated the demon is you, Zenitsu.”

“Uh……”

Zenitsu’s eyes widened as he could not comprehend the situation.

(Eh……? What’s that supposed to mean? Wasn’t it Jii-chan who defeated that demon? Why did he say I defeated it……Ehhh?)

Zenitsu was thrown into confusion, but he guessed that he could use philosophical ideas to explain this.

(Because I didn’t escape from the demon so Jii-chan was willing to help—so it’s the same as me defeating it? That must be what Jii-chan means, right? But there’s too many things omitted in between; I don’t understand what he’s saying at all.)

As Zenitsu was having his own ideas and kept nodding to himself, Jigoro called out his disciple’s name: “—Zenitsu.”

That was the imposing tone he used when they were undergoing training.

“Do you know what people mean by a good swordsman?”

“Um….of course it’s someone who is an amazing swordsman. Just like Jii-chan.”

Hearing Zenitsu’s reply, Jigoro seemed to have felt somewhat embarrassed and his face became red in an instant.

He cleared his throat and said:

“Then what characteristics do you think an amazing swordsman needs to have?”

“Uh….wel, well….”

“It’s compassion.”

Facing Zenitsu, who was stuttering, Jigoro inculcated him with an idea.

“Compassion can make a person’s heart infinitely tough. A sword that you swing for the sake of others can have power that is immense. You must become that kind of person.”

An extremely gentle gaze appeared on the old master who always seemed to be furious as he looked as his disciple who would amount to nothing.

“No matter what, you must think about the weak and step out to protect them. This is something that only you, someone who understands the meaning of being weak, can do.”

“…… —”

Seeing the soft gaze from Jigoro and hearing the comforting encouragement that was given to him, the back of Zenitsu’s throat and the corner of his eyes became hot for a moment, the feeling of sorrow also built up in his nasal cavity.

“As long as you don’t lose that compassion, you definitely can become a good swordsman.”

“Jii-chan……”

The tears suddenly fell.

“I……I…….”

“……………”

Facing Zenitsu who was sobbing uncontrollably, Jigoro only gently patted his blonde hair.

*

“—…..”

There was also a crescent moon in the sky that night.

“I wonder how Sayuri is doing….”

Zenitsu smiled with his eyes and looked at the yellow flower swaying in the wind. Then, someone roughly pulled his sleeve.

(T/N: like this (^_^))

Looking down, he saw that Nezuko had an unhappy expression.

Zenitsu was quickly brought back to reality.

“Ah, sorry, Nezuko-chan! I’ll make one for you soon.”

“Uu–!”

“Sorry, I zoned out for a bit. Alright, I’ll make you a pretty flower crown as an apology. Right, shall we make one each for your older brother and that idiot Inosuke?”

After Zenitsu finished his words in a cheerful manner, Nezuko smiled happily.

“Un–!”

“Ah ha ha.”

After seeing Nezuko’s smile, Zenitsu could not help grinning himself.

Sayuri must be leading a blissful and happy life with that gentle lover of hers.

While he, just like before, was still weak, a cry baby, cowardly and could only run away.

He definitely would not be able to become the tough blade that his Jii-chan mentioned that day.

Honestly speaking, Zenitsu did not even know if he could be considered a compassionate person.

(But one day……)

I definitely will—

As he made a vow in his heart, the boy plucked the most beautiful flower in the field for the cute girl.

“—You have the face of Jonan (ill fortune with women).”

“Eh…….?”

Tanjirou stopped his steps as he heard surprising words from the middle of the crowd.

Zenitsu and Inosuke who were beside him stopped as well.

Tanjirou glanced around with his eyes widened and realized that there was a short elderly woman standing at the crossroads. The elderly woman had frost coloured hair, a face full of wrinkles and was wearing a lavender coloured kimono.

Just as Tanjirou threw her a doubtful gaze, the elderly woman lightly shook her head and said in a resolute manner.

“Not you.”

Tanjirou turned his head towards Inosuke.

“Not that boar head either, it’s the blondie.”

“Eh?”

After hearing the elderly woman’s words, Zenitsu who was just zoning out at the side as though he was not involved let up a shocked expression and pointed at his own nose with his index finger.

“Uh……do….do you mean me?”

“—–Yes.”

The elderly woman made a great show of nodding her head.

“Granny, what do you mean by Jonan?”

After Tanjirou asked that, the elderly woman sternly replied:

“Jonan means a man landing himself into disaster because of his fateful encounter with women, that boy’s face has that kind of look.”

“What’s this old hag rambling on about? Is her head screwed on right?”

“Inosuke!”

Tanjirou chided Inosuke.

“You rude fella!! I’m not an old hag!!”

The elderly woman roared with a terrifying raspy voice and Tanjirou and Zenitsu were startled.

“Then are you an old dude?”

Inosuke, on the other hand, spoke in a dismissive manner.

“It’s all the same anyway. An old person is an old person.”

“—I won’t harm you, do not approach any woman for the whole day today.”

The elderly woman seemed to have decided to ignore Inosuke.

As though she was going to look through Zenitsu’s eyes, the elderly woman stared at him, her gaze unwavering.

“Avoid women as best as you can.”

And at the same time, she solemnly ordered him.

“Also, it’s better if you don’t even speak to them.”

“That sounds kinda overboard……”

Zenitsu smiled while looking at Tanjirou for his agreement. However, what the elderly woman said later made his already slightly stiff smile freeze completely.

“You’ll die.”

“!!”

“If any woman was to fall for you, you will die. And it would be in a way that is as tragic as you can imagine it to be. Burn that into your brain.”

After she finished talking, the elderly woman started feeling around her waist area.

She pulled out a tattered talisman.

The yellowed damage surface of the paper had some words written on it but it was illegible.

“…..Even though this can only give you a peace of mind, take it.”

Forcing the talisman into Zenitsu’s hand, the elderly lady left in front of the three of them. She did not ask for some exorbitant payment for the fortune telling or for the talisman. But doing that only made the situation even more spine chilling.

Zenitsu was still frozen at where he was standing.

As though he had lost his soul.

“Zenitsu……?”

Tanjirou asked nervously out of concern.

“Ahhh——————————-!!!!!!! (Terrible high-pitched sound)”

The ugly wail that could not be described –rang out among the crowd.

*

“I don’t believe this….what is going on? Saying that I will die……So scaryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.”

With fear racing throughout his whole body, Zenitsu tightly grasped onto Tanjirou’s haori, and all fluids that could flow were flowing down his face.

“We’re about to go back……why would she say I’m going to die? It’s weird! It’s too weird!!”

“Zenitsu….”

It was not as though Tanjirou could not understand his feeling.

After finishing a mission outside the village, the trio went to rest at household that had a wisteria emblem which was nearby. Only now were they going to return to the Butterfly Estate and they were going to buy some souvenirs here since it was on the way.

“If it’s not too much trouble, please buy some snacks on your way back.”

The one who requested that was Kochou Shinobu, ,the owner of the Butterfly Estate.

Ever since the mission on the Infinity Train, the three of them had been dedicated all their energy into training. Shinobu was probably worried about them.

As expected of a large town, one can see all sorts of strange things just by simply looking around.

At the beginning, Inosuke was unusually scared of the crowd and kept hiding behind Tanjirou.

“Hey! What’s that?!”

“The horse is pulling a really large box!!’

“Why are those people’s clothes so weird?”

“There’s a nice smell?! Is it that tempura thing?!”

Right now, he seems to be extremely excited.

“This guy is so embarrassing.” Even though, Zenitsu, who was the only one who was used to the city life, showed an impatient expression, he was seriously picking gifts for the girls at the Butterfly Estate.

Thinking back to the kinds of snacks he saw at the Butterfly Estate and considering how this did not seem right or that did not seem right for very long, in the end, he went for the safest option, manju.

After buying sufficient manju for the rest at the store that was widely popular among women and just when they were about to return back to base, he was suddenly given a death sentence.

Even other people would be completely panicked.

“I hate this……why me?! Why?! Tell me why?! Uwahh——!!!!”

“Zenitsu, calm down.”

“Bi—-Bi—–Bi—–Bi—–This guy is so noisy.”

Just as Tanjirou was trying to console a sobbing Zenitsu, Inosuke said in disdain:

“If you’re a man, stop chit chatting and pluck up your courage!!”

“You’re too much!!”

Zenitsu looked back at him angrily.

“You’re really too much, Inosuke!! I get that as well, but you’re really too much!! I might die, right?! And that person said I will die very tragically!!”

“Inosuke, you need to consider Zenitsu’s feelings too.”

Tanjirou was sympathetic of Zenitsu and he tried to appeal to Inosuke.

“Anyone would be in a panic if they were suddenly told that, right?”

“That’s just the nonsensical words of an old hag.”

“It’s not nonsense, it’s fortune telling.”

“Isn’t that the same?”

Inosuke said coldly.

Tanjirou guessed that he might not even know what fortune telling was.

“Listen, Inosuke. Fortune telling is……”

And he planned to explain from the beginning.”

“Whether it’s accurate or not, it’s just some kind of prediction in the end.”

Unexpectedly, Inosuke seems to have knowledge about it.

“You actually know, Inosuke.”

“Yeah. I’m the boss after all!”

Hearing Tanjirou’s praise, Inosuke puffed out his chest saying : “It sure is a pain bringing such disappointing minions.”

Usually Zenitsu would have retorted with: “Boss?! Since when?!” “I have no intention of being your minion!” Right now, his expression was that of a small animal in a complete hopeless situation and he was listening to the conversation of the two while shaking.

“—yeah.” After thinking for a while, Tanjirou nodded his head and responded then he turned to face Zenitsu.

“What Inosuke said is reasonable, Zenitsu.”

“………..”

His friend who got his name called jolted then quietly sent a terrified gaze over.

“There’s definitely not one fortune teller who is omnipotent. And there won’t be one.”

If such a person exists, then they would be a god. Not a human.

Because of the sudden scare, not only Zenitsu, even Tanjirou got flustered.

If one just treated the entire thing as just a mere prediction, then there was no need to be overly worried.

Hearing Tanjirou’s words—-

“You…you’re right.”

Zenitsu finally showed a relieved expression.

He sniffed and said:

“Now that you mention it, that old granny seems suspicious. She must be a scam—”

“You mean that fortune teller at the crossroads with excellent divination skills?”

Suddenly the cheerful voice of a girl overpowered what Zenitsu was saying.

“?!”

Zenitsu froze and immediately hid behind Tanjirou. Tanjirou and Inosuke turned their heads towards the source of the voice and they saw two girls dressed in elegant clothing chatting and walking over.

“Yeah. I heard she a fortune teller with a head of white hair and a lavender colored Kimono—”

“She’s that spot on?”

“Yes, it seems so. My friend followed that fortune teller’s advice and very quickly found her soulmate and they even got engaged in half a month!”

“Ahh….that’s great!!”

“But there seemed to be people who did not heed her warning and got injured because of that.”

“Goodness, that’s horrifying.”

“You’ll be fine as long as you follow her orders.”

“Areh, but I don’t see anyone who looks like her.”

“Really. Where did she go?”

The cute girls were looking around for the fortune teller.

Zenitsu’s gaze was locked on the two of them.

But he did not show his usual lewd—or more accurately, infatuated expression. His ashen face was stiff like that of a wax figurine and cold sweat was flowing down his forehead.

On top of that, a strange kara kara sound could be heard. Turns out it was the sound of his teeth chattering.

(This is bad…….)

“Zen—”

Right at the moment when Tanjirou was about to remind Zenitsu about what they talked about earlier—

“Yarghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Zenitsu let out a terrible scream that sounded like a chicken being crushed to death.

The eyes of people around them focused on him/

The two girls let out a yelp in fright and they bolted off as quickly as rabbits.

“See!! See!! It’s actually accurate?! Other people are saying that it’s spot on?!”

“Pull yourself together!!”

Tanjirou hugged Zenitsu, who had bent over and curled up like a shrimp, then forcefully pulled his cheeks.

His intention for doing this was snap Zenitsu back to his senses but unexpectedly, the latter started squealing.

“Ah?! What?! What are you doing?!”

“You need to get a hold of yourself!”

“As if I can! And it hurts you know?!”

“Don’t give in to the fortune, Zenitsu.”

“I can’t do it!! Didn’t those two girls say so as well?! I’m going to die! I’m going to die today!! Uuhehehehe……”

Zenitsu had fallen into the depths of fear and he even let out a bone chilling laugh.

Just as Tanjirou was at a loss of what to do, Inosuke who had kept quiet all this while clicked his tongue, saying:

“—Tch, what a bunch of embarrassing minions. Both of you, not talking about that moron Monitsu, Choujirou, didn’t you listen to what that old had said properly?”

He moved his boar head towards the two.

One side of Tanjirou’s brow frowned slightly.

“Inosuke, you mean…?”

“Jonan refers to a man encountering disaster because of his luck with women right?”

“Ah, yes, that’s what it is.”

That was the kind of face they heard that Zenitsu had.

“Do you think it’s possible for this guy?”

“………..”

“So it has to be a bunch of hogwash.”

Inosuke said in a resolute manner.

“I see.”

After hesitating for a while, Tanjirou nodded.

“The both of you are too much!!!!”

Zenitsu threw a tantrum.

“Don’t you two think you’ve gone overboard?! So?! Are you saying I have no luck with women?! That it’s not possible for any girl to like me?! Never mind about Inosuke, Tanjirou, you feel the same way as well?! And to think you have a kind face!! Damn it!!!!”

Zenitsu yelled at the top of his lungs and was close to shedding blood tears。

“No, that’s not what I meant—”

Forcing himself to say something that did not come from his heart was unbearable and Tanjirou, who could not lie, was flustered. He raised his voice and said:

“Anyway, let’s quickly return to the Butterfly Estate.”

Shinobu was there.

If Zenitsu could hear Shinobu gently telling him: “It’s just fortune telling, nothing to worry about.” He would definitely calm down. As long as they make it through the night, he will completely forget about this whole fortune telling thing the next day.

Tanjirou made his calculations.

“No!!”

However, in the next second, Zenitsu suddenly yelled.

“We can’t return to the Butterfly Estate! Tanjirou!!”

“? Why?”

Unexpectedly, Zenitsu was against the idea. Tanjirou could not help but let out a confused expression.

“Is there a problem?”

“Do I have to explain….Do you really not realise it?! There are six girls there, right?! Listen carefully, six girls, okay?!”

Zenitsu counted them out with his fingertips. There was Shinobu, Kanao, Aoi, Kiyo, Sumi and Naho.

After Tanjirou heard those words, he still could not understand. Inosuke also looked at Zenitsu impatiently.

“And so? Zenitsu.”

“If someone among them develops feelings for me, then what?! What if one of them confessed to me? Then I’m doomed! And that girl would be too pitiful, right?! Loving me would lead to my death? That’s a tragedy!!”

Even though Zenitsu specially explained, Tanjirou still did not understand.

“This guy is still as gross as ever.”

“………..”

Inosuke said shortly in a low voice.

Tanjirou also did not know what to say to his pitiful friend.

“———-I have decided.”

Then, Zenitsu spoke in a serious whisper.

“I will avoid girls completely for the whole of today!! Tanjirou and Inosuke, you’re both in charge of protecting me, in case girls fall in love with me! Do you understand?! You have to give your all to protect me!! I have to live for Nezuko-chan’s sake!!”

“We might as well dump him here.”

“No….we can’t do that.”

Inosuke and Tanjirou were having a short argument but Zenitsu did not hear their words.

Perhaps Zenitsu thought about Nezuko’s situation—warm tears filled his eyes as he dived deep into his own imagination.

In the eyes of passersby , it definitely looked gross.

“Then let’s find some place to ditch him.”

“I already said we can’t, Inosuke.”

“It’s alright, Nezuko-chan! I definitely won’t die! I will survive this crisis and bring you happiness that’s unparalleled in this world……!! Marry me without any second thoughts!!”

Zenitsu, who was gushing tears because of his own fantasies, gripped his fists tightly and completely ignored Inosuke’s biting words and Tanjirou’s troubled expression.

*

“Welcome.”

“!!”

Right at the moment they stepped into the shop, a female staff member approached them with a cheerful smile.

This was a café that faced the main road.

As Zenitsu refused to return to the Butterfly Estate and Inosuke was hungry, in order to fulfil both their requests, the group came to this café. However, right after stepping into the shop, Tanjirou understood that this decision was a bad one.

(What do I do? There’s girls everywhere…..)

As expected of a fashionable café in a big town; there were female customers everywhere.

Adolescent girls who were dressed nicely all looked in their direction from afar.

The female staff member was wearing a western apron outside her kimono and walked over with a broad smile. A gentle gaze peeped out from her neatly combed black hair.

“How many people?”

As expected, once the waitress finished speaking, Zenitsu immediately grabbed onto Tanjirou’s right arm, grabbed the battered talisman given to him by the elderly woman with his other hand and started trembling.

Not only that—

“Eee—————!!”

He let out a threatening growl.

“Ah.”

The smile on the waitress’ face froze.

“Sorry.”

At this time, just like before, it was Tanjirou who was in charge of bowing and apologizing.

“Please….take a seat inside……”

The waitress used an unusually high pitched voice to bring the trio to their seat.

She was terrified to the point she did not even take note of Inosuke’s boar head.

However, this situation—In Zenitsu’s eyes, was one where a young girl had a crush on him and became shy.

“What now what now what now what now what now what now?”

Zenitsu kept mumbling non-stop.

“What if she falls in love with me……what if she falls in love with me……what if she falls in love with me……”

“Zenitsu……”

“Haahaahaahaahaahaahaa…”

Seeing that Zenitsu was panting in an unusual manner, as well as his sweating and shaking, even Tanjirou could feel his nervousness. The nasal sound and sweaty palms were especially outstanding.

“Um, Zenitsu, can you calm down just a bit?”

Even though Tanjirou persuaded him, Zenitsu became angry as though his entire body spiked up.

“What are you talking about?! Don’t tell me my death means nothing to you? It doesn’t matter if I’m not around? What kind of friend are you?!”

“It’s not like that. How can I not be affected if you die? I just feel that there’s no need to be that scared—”

It was a pity that Zenitsu treated his words as air.

His whole body still shook and he kept muttering what now. Tanjirou helplessly looked towards Inosuke but he just snorted, having an attitude of “I told you so.”

“You should have listened to me and dumped him from the start.:

“That’s not a nice thing to say. Inosuke is the boss, right?”

“!That’s true. Oi, Monitsu, let’s go!! I’ll protect you because I’m the boss.”

Inosuke’s mood suddenly became very good and he forcefully slapped Zenitsu’s back.

The place where the female staff brought the trio to—was the corner table deep inside the shop. It was a brightly lit shop but for some reason, only that area was especially dim and the air was bit heavy.

It was obvious that they got chased there so they would not affect other customers. But that was a good thing.

Zenitsu quickly sat on the inside seat and hugged both his knees on the chair.

Tanjirou sat next to him and Inosuke sat opposite him.

After picking up the menu—

“I can’t understand this.”

That was what Inosuke said right at the get go.

“This word is read as “Ai”, “I”, “Su”, See, it has the “I” in Inosuke.”

“Oh, it’s my “I”!!”

“Then this is read as “Ku”, and this is “Ri-” and “Mu”.”

Tanjirou was reading each word one by one as though he was teaching his younger brother.

“Yi——–!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Beside him, Zenitsu suddenly let out a scream.

Tanjirou jumped and asked:

“What is it?”

Zenitsu lifted a shaky finger and pointed at a girl who was seated far away.

“That girl froze when she saw me….She must have fallen in love with me.”

“Sorry, I completely cannot understand what you’re saying.”

Tanjirou said with an expression of regret then Zenitsu shook his head with an exaggerated action.

“But everyone is looking at me……the waitress might have fallen for me……uu…..what should I do? Tanjirou.”

Zenitsu had a tone of despair.

“This guy can’t be helped.”

“Inosuke.”

“Even though he was already very gross in the first place, he’s now sick to the bone, he doesn’t even know what’s fantasy and what’s reality anymore, right?”

“……Inosuke.”

Hearing his friend icily speak the bitter truth, Tanjirou quickly stopped him with a light voice.

Then, another waitress came came to take their order.

“Excuse me….what would you three like to order?”

The other party was obviously wary of Zenitsu. Perhaps it was for that reason, her voice was shaky and a bit high.

Zenitsu saw her, misunderstood the meaning again and started to shake.

“Yi! This person kept stealing glances at me……she must be planning to confess….so scary so scary so scary so scary so scary so scary so scary so scary—-”

“Don’t go overboard, Zenitsu.”

Tanjirou hit Zenitsu’s head with his fists as the latter had lost all sense of reason.

“Can’t you see she’s frightened?! Don’t cause trouble for the people in the shop!”

Even though he did not use a lot of strength, his friend’s eyes suddenly rolled upward and collapsed on the table in a relaxed manner.

After the situation finally regained its peace—

Tanjirou lowered his head to apologise again.

“It’s, it’s fine—”

The waitress was teary eyed. Even though Tanjirou also wanted to let her leave as quickly as possible, the menu was full of items that could not be identified from their name.

Just as Tanjirou was at a loss—

“Hey, that looks tasty, don’t you think?”

Inosuke pointed.

Tanjirou turned his head in that direction only to see that a lady seated nearby was picking up a spoon and eating what looked like a white manju in a glass vessel.

From the lady’s expression, that food seemed to be cold. The vessel also had a long object that looked like a rice cracker.

It did stir his curiosity.

“Give us three of those.”

After Tanjirou ordered—

“Alright.”

The waitress let out an obvious relieved expression. She smiled lightly then quickly escaped from the table……

*

“Thank you for waiting. This is the store’s recommended ice cream.”

What they ordered was sent to their table in a speedy manner, however, it was another waitress who served it to them.

This time, it was a woman with a terrifyingly muscular frame. Even a sumo wrestler would be dwarfed in compassion. Just her arms alone were thicker than Tanjirou and Zenitsu’s thighs and her muscles were fuller and firmer than Inosuke’s.

“Because it melts quickly, please enjoy it as soon as possible.”

“Wow, thanks—-”

Tanjirou expressed his thanks with a smile. Inosuke, who was always itching for a fight, had his fighting spirit raised high by those naturally thick muscles and he was struggling on whether he should challenge the waitress.

“Yahoo! I’m looking forward to this!!”

Fortunately, Inosuke’s attention was taken away by the delicious food before his eyes and he completely ignored everything else.

He removed his boar head and excitedly grabbed his spoon.

After scooping a generous spoonful into his mouth—

“Oi….oi.”

Inosuke made a sound of amazement.

Looking carefully, he was so moved he was trembling.

“This is actually really delicious!! What is this?!”

“I heard it’s called ice cream.

Tanjirou reiterated what the lady called this dish—

Then ate a mouthful himself.

“It’s tasty!”

Tanjirou’s eyes became round. The taste was very different from a manju, it was sweet and cold and it melted in his mouth.

“Tasty tasty tasty tasty tasty tasty!”

Inosuke let out a cheer and scooped large chunks out.

When it came to delicious food, Inosuke was pretty much harmless. Also, as he usually wearing his boar head, one could not imagine that he had a handsome face, in fact, it was not too much to say that he was a beautiful youth with white skin.

Perhaps It was for this reason, the ladies in the shop had their gazes focused in Inosuke.

–Then, for some reason, Zenitsu woke up.

“Ah?!”

“You’re awake, Zenitsu.”

Tanjirou breathed out a sigh of relief, saying:

“The ice cream is here. It’s really nice. After eating this, I’m sure you’ll feel better.

However, Zenitsu, whose face was like that of rotting wood, turned a deaf ear.

“I feel like there’s someone looking at me……”

“Eh?”

“”Eh?” What do you mean “Eh”! Don’t you see that those girls’ passionate gases?! Now what?! I’m going to die?! And in a way that would be the most miserable that you have ever seen!!”

“Calm down, Zenitsu. You’ll cause trouble for the people here, right?”

“Noooooooooo!! Nezuko-chan, Jii-chan, save meeeeeeeeeeeee——–!!! I don’t want to die yettttttt!!!!”

“Zenitsu!!”

“Excuse me, sir. If you continue to make so much noise in the shop, I will have to ask you to leave.”

Just as Zenitsu was ignoring Tanjirou, who was trying to stop him, and was screaming like he seen a monster, that muscular lady politely gave a warning.

Zenitsu stared at her straight.

“Um……what…..you said “Sir, I like you. Because I’m too shy, may you step outside”……?”

Zenitsu who misunderstood in a ridiculous manner started to tremble on the spot.

“Yiii———-!!! I’ve been confessed to!! That’s a confession!! Nooooooooooooo!!!!”

Zenitsu yelled on the top of his lungs then pushing Tanjirou who was seated next to him aside immediately, he dashed out of the store’s entrance, there was not even the opportunity to stop him.

“Zenitsu……—”

Tanjirou watched as his friend disappeared with a flabbergasted expression.

Perhaps he received a huge shock so Zenitsu forgot to bring the talisman that was initially tightly held in his hand.

Inosuke, who was sitting on the opposite side, ate the ice cream with great relish and did not even realise that Zenitsu had ran away.

Tanjirou gently picked up the talisman his friend left on the table.

Then—

“Sir, may I ask….where did you get that talisman?”

The waitress frowned and asked sternly—

*

“What do we do…where did Zenitsu go?”

Tanjirou searched for Zenitsu amongst the crowd of people.

If it were in the mountains, it would extremely easy to spot that blond mop of hair, however this place was full of different colours and everyone was dressed in various ways. It would definitely take a huge effort to find his friend.

The waitress—her name is Koiro—said that there was a fake fortune teller who would borrow the name of the famous fortune teller at the crossroads and find entertainment in scaring people with her malicious lies. Previously, a customer of the shop also encountered this fake and that time she showed her a talisman which looked exactly the same as the one that Zenitsu had.

After listening to Tanjirou’s description of what had happened, Koiro was extremely worried and sympathetic.

“I will be done with work soon. I’ll search with you guys afterwards.”

Also, I’m very familiar with this town—the kind girl said. Tanjirou was of course glad to accept her help. It was unfortunate that they still could not find Zenitsu.

(Don’t tell me Zenitsu had some ideation of hating the world……no way.)

Negative ideas appeared in his mind. Zenitsu was on the edge of a mental breakdown after all.

“Can’t you pick up that idiot’s “smell”?”

“Even though I’ve been trying from the start, but some strong smell keeps bothering me so I can’t sniff it out……”

Tanjirou knitted his brows.

Koiro said this smell was called “perfume”, it was mainly used on women. Some had an extremely sharp smell. So Tanjirou’s sense of smell was useless here.

“I’m going to search around here with Koiro, Inosuke can go over—”

Tanjirou only spoke halfway then—-

“Found him!!!”

Koiro suddenly let out a shout.

He turned his head, following where Koiro was pointing, and looked. That was definitely Zenitsu who was crying while walking.

Tanjirou let out a sigh of relief.

“Zen——-”

“Sir————!!!!!!”

At the same time when Tanjirou was about to call out, Koiro rushed over with heavy footsteps.

Zenitsu jumped while letting out a yelp then he weakly collapsed on the ground. Most likely, he went weak kneed in fear.

Just as Zenitsu closed his eyes, giving up—

“The carriage horses ran away———-!!!!!!!”

A man’s angry roar rang out throughout the street.

There was a disturbance around them,

“Run——-!!!!!”

“Ah———!!!”

“Help meeeeee!!!!!”

People scattered like rats and there were screams coming from everywhere.

Tanjirou surveyed his surroundings. Koiro was about to sprint towards Zenitsu then the horse appeared from her right side. It raised its legs.

“Inosuke!”

“Got it!!”

Tanjirou gave an order and the two took action at the same time.

However, something that was as fast as lightning had already taken Koiro away from beneath the horse’s hooves even more swiftly than them.

“…..—–?”

Tanjirou eyes widened.

The object that was like lightning was Zenitsu.

His friend used breath of lightning to save Koiro.

“That guy’s good.”

Inosuke mumbled softly.

“Pretty amazing for a spineless wimp.”

He went up to the horse that had lost its goal and was going on a rampage then fiercely glared at it.

In a split second, the horse became even more docile than a puppy.

(As expected of Inosuke….)

Tanjirou who became relaxed suddenly remembered Zenitsu’s situation – and returned his gaze to his friend. His friend, who was carrying Koiro was surrounded by an excited crowd.

“Good job, kid!!”

“What did you do?! You’re so fast, eh?!”

“You’re so cool, big brother!!!”

“You’re amazing!!! Boy!!!”

Everyone were throwing praises at Zenitsu magnanimous deed, however, the person involved had an expression that he had no energy to care about them.

Perhaps Koiro was too heavy, Zenitsu’s face was ashen and he could not stop shivering.

“Zenitsu, are you alright–?”

Even though Tanjirou rushed over as quickly as he could, he was unable to get closer due to the human wall. With much difficulty, he managed to squeeze to the front and Koiro, who was being carried by Zenitsu, was staring at his friend with a flirtatious gaze that did not match her frame.

“Sir….for my sake……”

“……It, it’s nothing….this, this isn’t anything much…….as, as a person, thi, this, this is something that I should do.”

“Such a courageous and humble person……”

Koiro mumbled to herself, her heart beating.

The atmosphere then was as though she was going to reveal her confession of love.

Zenitsu kept averting his gaze as though his life depended on it. However, as he looked around the crowd in an attempt to beg for help, his gaze suddenly stopped.

The colour drained from his face until it was a pale as a corpse.

Tanjirou found it strange so he followed his friend’s gaze and found that fake fortune teller.

“Inosuke!” “Leave it to me!!”

Inosuke weaved through the crowd and dashed straight for the fake fortune teller.

However—

“Eh? Eh, Si, sir?! Are you alright?! Sir——!!?”

Hearing Koiro’s shouts, Tanjirou turned his head back immediately.

His friend had lost consciousness while carrying Koiro…….

*

After Zenitsu woke up, Tanjirou explained the whole situation to him, at the same time, he tried to calm Inosuke down lest the latter should yank all the hair out of the fake fortune teller whom he caught. After that, the three were sent off by Koiro and they left the town, reaching the Butterfly Estate after sunset.

“Arara, it must have been tough.”

After hearing the details of what had happened, Shinobu gently expressed her sympathy for what they went through.

Kiyo, Sumi and Naho also showed their indignation, saying: “Poor Zenitsu-san.” “Are you alright?” “She actually tricked passers-by, that’s too much.” Zenitsu who was extremely depressed by the situation only cheered up after hearing them.

Koiro was the niece of the Café’s boss, in order to thank Zenitsu for saving his precious niece’s life, the boss gave them chocolates, milk candies and large amounts of various other snacks….so the girls were extremely happy.

And their joy was Zenitsu’s joy.

“But Inosuke was really calm since the start.”

Drinking the tea brewed by Aoi and Kanao, Tanjirou praised his friend vigorously.

“Ah?” Inosuke who was eating chocolate raised his head, looking confused.

“That’s filthy!”

Aoi chided angrily.

“I bet this guy felt that I have no luck with women.”

Zenitsu showed his irritation.

“If not, then he couldn’t care less whether I lose my life or not, so he’s so calm.”

But the unexpected thing that happened was—

“When I saw that old hag, I had this disgusted feeling.”

Inosuke gave a different answer.

“My gut feeling told me that she had already decided what she wanted to say and was ready to say it to someone. A normal fortune teller wouldn’t do that right? Then again, what happened to that “hearing” you always use? Didn’t you hear anything?”

“……….”

Zenitsu let out a sudden startled expression.

Seems like he completely forgot about it.

Seeing that Zenitsu had lowered his head and was not saying anything—

“You are an idiot after all.”

Inosuke made another stabbing comment.

“Shall we take this chance to change your name to Ahoitsu?”

(T/N: Aho means stupid)

“……Shut up.”

Zenitsu’s retort was lacking the force that it usually had.

However Tanjirou was the same when it came to this point. Even though he was completely flustered, he did not smell the malicious “smell” that came from the fake fortune teller. Just as Tanjirou was deeply reflecting about this, Kanao refilled his empty teacup with tea.

“Thanks.”

“………….”

“Has Kanao eaten the chocolate yet? It’s really nice.”

Tanjirou held the chocolate out, but for some reason, Kanao blushed furiously and hid behind Shinobu who was nearby.

She refused to take the chocolate because she did not toss her coin……it did not feel like that was the reason.

(What’s wrong with her?)

Tanjirou tilted his head, not understanding.

“Areh~ Tanjirou, isn’t that a nice mood.”

“What? Zenitsu. Your face looks scary.”

“And to think you look so harmless……If you dare to obtain your happiness before me, I’ll curse you, get it?”

“???”

Zenitsu’s eyes were red and he gritted his teeth while getting closer to Tanjirou, as though he was ready to curse him anytime.

Tanjirou could not understand what was happening and at that moment, was at a loss of what to do. Shinobu saw the situation and smiled, saying:

“—–alright alright. Anyway, Zenitsu did not come to any harm in the end. Not only did you all successfully complete your mission, you even caught a fake fortune teller on the way home. Your batch of slayers are rather excellent.”

Her smile relaxed the tension of the place.

*

As Aoi helped to boil another batch of hot water, the trio headed for the bath house.

“I don’t want to bathe, I’ll just rinse myself a bit.”

Even though Inosuke was full of complaints, Tanjirou still dragged him over.

“…….Thanks for your help.”

Then, a weak voice came from behind them.

Tanjirou, and Inosuke.

Even though the volume was really small, it was clearly unexpectedly sincere and somewhat embarrassed,

“–? Zenitsu?”

When they turned around, it was the usual Zenitsu again.

“Sigh—this day has completely wiped me out.”

Zenitsu grumbled impatiently.

Then—

“I’m going to bathe.”

Once he finished, he quickly walked towards the bath house.

“…..—”

Tanjirou’s eyes squinted as he looked at his friend’s stubborn figure and could not help but let out a smile.

(T/N: Squint ^_^)

“Your batch of slayers are rather excellent.”

Shinobu’s voice rang out next to his ears.

Was it like that?

Even though he did not know if it was because they were always together since they became demon slayers.

Tanjirou always felt that he was lucky to have met these two during the Drum house mission.

There were some things he could overcome only because they were around.

So he did not get knocked down by the sadness that was difficult to avoid.

Fortunately, he was not alone.

“If you want me to soak myself, I can, but I’m not washing myself.”

“No. Aoi said so too, right? You have to clean your body before entering the bathtub.”

“That annoying brat!”

“Don’t say that, she also has other people in mind. Alright, let’s go, Inosuke.”

Tanjirou dragged his other friend and smiled again.

Looking out of the corridor, the night sky was full of twinkling stars. It felt like they may fall anytime–