The first time I met her, I thought she was such a beautiful girl. Porcelain skin, clear violet eyes. Surprisingly slender and lovely. Kind to everyone, regardless of who they were. Strong, smart, cute, brave—a truly magnificent girl.
I’d love to get close to her. How great it would be if we could talk and talk forever …
When I happened to hear this story, my mind went blank. I couldn’t even begin to process it.
“Lady Kocho watched as her parents were killed by a demon right before her eyes. And then her older sister Kanae on top of that … And in such a fashion …”
Aah, I didn’t know.
Shinobu. I didn’t know.
“Listen, I joined the Demon Slayer Corps to find a man to marry. After all, as a girl, you wanna have someone stronger than you, right? You wanna be taken care of. You get what I’m saying, don’t you, Shinobu?”
I never would have said that if I’d known. Such a frivolous reason. If I’d known about Shinobu’s past, I definitely would never have told her that.
Aah. I’m such an idiot.
I wonder how she felt when we had that conversation? She looked sort of surprised. Then she said with her usual smile, “Well, mm-hmm. I’m not so sure myself” and “I’m sure you’ll find someone wonderful, Kanroji.”
She must’ve been so disgusted. I bet she was angry. Maybe she was all “How can I be in the same group as this flake?”
Hey, Shinobu. I …
So I …
“Does Kanroji seem off?”
Shinobu Kocho cocked her head to one side at this sudden question from her colleague. They were in the medical office of the Butterfly Mansion where she lived as the Insect Hashira. While she developed poisons to attack demons, she also treated and took care of Demon Slayers injured in battle.
The majority of mansion visitors were injured people. Still, her colleague Obanai Iguro—without a scratch—came to see her and immediately began expressing his concern about the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji. A serious look fell over his face.
“Off in what way?” she asked.
“In every way. Thoroughly off. You haven’t noticed?” Iguro reproached her.
As if they had arranged it beforehand, the snake wrapped around his neck flicked out its long tongue at the same time. This was the Snake Hashira’s pet, Kaburamaru, more beloved than any dog.
“Hmm, let me think.” Shinobu traced the area around her upper lip with her index finger. She tried to remember how the Love Hashira had seemed at their most recent Hashira Training. “No, nothing in particular.”
“What have you even been looking at? Are your oversized eyes peepholes? Are they just for decoration?” Iguro snarked and let out an enormous sigh.
I don’t exchange letters with Kanroji as frequently as you do, you know. She swallowed these words and smiled apologetically.
“Well now, I’m terribly sorry.”
Although it was the middle of the day, when the demons weren’t able to be out and about, the Hashira with their many responsibilities were extremely busy. The fact that he had pushed all of that aside to come here meant that he was not just here for show or on a whim.
In contrast with his seemingly hostile appearance, Iguro considered his friends above all else.
“Could you tell me exactly what about Kanroji has been off?” Shinobu asked. “Anything you’ve personally noticed is fine.”
Iguro nodded meekly. “Fifty.”
“Sorry?”
“Normally she eats a hundred dumplings, but she only had fifty. Get it? Just fifty? The Kanroji. Famed lover of dumplings.”
Shinobu unconsciously took a step back as she saw how serious Iguro was, confronted directly by his bloodshot eyes.
Reflexively, he leaned toward her.
“And her replies to my letters are very curt. Terribly concise, and formal almost, like we’re not friends. Why? It’s strange. All of it’s plain weird.”
“Aoi. Iguro is leaving now.” Shinobu turned her back to Iguro and called to the girl outside of the treatment room. “Iguro, you can go out that way.”
“That’s not all.” Iguro ignored Shinobu’s sarcasm and continued. “At the Hashira Training, Kanroji wouldn’t meet the eyes of any of the Hashira. And not just the Hashira. She wouldn’t meet Master Ubuyashiki’s eyes either.”
Taken aback, Shinobu looked back at her colleague. The Hashira were one thing, but Ubuyashiki? Mitsuri respected and worshipped Kagaya Ubuyashiki with all her heart. Like the rest of them, she held Ubuyashiki in the highest esteem. As far as Shinobu knew, Mitsuri had never once gone against any of his decisions. Above all else, he was Ubuyashiki. If she was averting her eyes from even Master Ubuyashiki … well, something was indeed off.
“After that, Tokito picked up a handkerchief she dropped, and when he called out to her, she practically jumped through the ceiling and then ran away.”
“That is indeed strange.”
Normally, Mitsuri would clutch her hands to her chest happily and express her honest gratitude with a “Thank youuuu, Muichiro.”
“Was that when you first noticed that something was off with Kanroji?” Shinobu asked.
“No, she was already acting strangely twelve days earlier.”
The fact that he so smoothly produced such a specific number was ripe for making fun of. But if that were true, it meant that she had already been out of sorts for nearly two weeks. That was truly worrisome.
“She might be sick or something. I’ll try poking around and asking her myself, but you keep an eye on her too. Okay, Kocho?” Iguro concluded. Once Shinobu nodded in agreement, he left, apparently having told her what he’d come to say.
Alone again, Shinobu sat on a chair in the treatment room. He didn’t have to come all the way out here; he could have simply written a letter and had his Kasugai Crow bring it to her. When she thought about how he was simply that concerned about Mitsuri, she smiled fondly at how cute it all was.
“Goodness. When it comes to Kanroji, Iguro really does strike immediately.” She leaned back in her chair and sighed. The sweet, charming face of Mitsuri Kanroji, the only other female Hashira, popped into her mind.
“Shinobu! Shinobu!”
The older girl with her innocent smile cozying up to Shinobu like a kitten. She smiled to herself at this picture in her mind.
The wind outside shook the branches of the cherry trees, now devoid of pink blossoms and covered only with green leaves.
The thin, flexible blade ran through the dark night like a living creature.
“Love Breathing! First Form! Trembles of First Love!”
Twisting in the air, the blade sliced through the flesh of the enormous demon faster than the eye could see. The demon’s head tumbled to the ground, and Mitsuri let out a short sigh. Unlike in a usual fight, her body felt strangely heavy. She thought her strike was also poor. It was like there was a fog in her brain, making everything hazy.
“Thank you so much … Thank you.” The man of the couple she’d rescued bowed over and over.
“A-are you all right?” the woman asked, trembling.
“Hm? All right?” Mitsuri raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“You … You’re injured …”
“Me? Injured—” Noticing the woman’s eyes focused on her cheek, Mitsuri wiped at it lightly with the palm of one hand. It came away with blood on it. She finally realized she had been hurt.
“Because of us … Because you rescued us.” The woman cried apologetically.
“Thank you so, so very much.” The man bowed deeply once more.
Mitsuri hurriedly waved her hands. “Oh, don’t worry about it. A little thing like this is nothing. Sorry for scaring you. Anyway, I’m just happy you’re both okay.”
The man teared up. “The truth is, my wife’s carrying a baby.”
“What? Really? A baby?” Mitsuri looked at the woman in surprise, and her face brightened at last.
Tears wet on her cheeks, she smiled bashfully. “I’m about three months along.” Her belly was indeed swelling out.
“Isn’t that something!” Mitsuri cried. “Congratulations. You take good care of that baby.”
“We owe our family’s lives to you. Thank you so much!” The man thanked her for the nth time, and then the young couple walked away on the night road, leaning on each other. Mitsuri watched them go until they disappeared from sight as she placed a hand over her chest.
Ba-dmp, ba-dmp. Her heart was pounding.
What if the demon attack that had cut her cheek had hit the woman’s stomach instead? The thought of it instantly terrified her.