Kanao tramped around the mountain at a loss, searching for the crow that had flown off with Kiyo’s hairpin in its beak. It had been an ordinary-looking bird except for a flash of white in its tail. She’d chased it as best she could from the ground and was pretty sure it had landed halfway up the mountain. But as her search wore on with nothing to show for it, she grew less and less sure of what she’d seen.
She peered up into the trees and sifted through the grass at her feet, but neither the crow nor the hairpin appeared. The sunlight streaming through the trees grew lower and redder. With the world around her dimming, Kanao began to panic.
She had good night vision. She’d be able to continue searching even after the sun completely vanished. She was more concerned that staying out late would needlessly worry her sisters back at the mansion. But if she gave up and went home, Kiyo’s hairpin would likely be lost forever.
Kiyo …
Kanao’s throat tightened. Kiyo was a cheerful girl, but she’d cried inconsolably, curled up and shuddering with sobs, at the theft of the hairpin. It reminded Kanao of the way she’d been when she first arrived at Butterfly Mansion.
Kiyo had cried often then. Her family had been snatched away by a demon, and she had trouble recovering from the shock. One thing or another would remind her of a lost loved one and make her burst into tears.
Kanao remembered one afternoon in particular. She was sitting on the veranda, catching her breath after a training session, while Kiyo crouched in the corner of the courtyard, sobbing quietly. Kanao was used to the new girl crying. She didn’t think much of it. She stared absently at the yard, looking at nothing in particular, not even the passing butterflies.
Then, out of nowhere, Kanae crossed the courtyard to Kiyo. Kanao heard Kiyo say something in a hoarse voice, but she was too far away to make out the words. Kanae looked at the bereaved girl with warm, sad eyes. She spoke, and Kiyo nodded. Kanae’s long, slender fingers pulled Kiyo’s hair away from her eyes and pinned it in place with a pair of butterfly hairpins. The girl wiped her eyes and smiled.
Kanao could see that Kanae was taking on the emotions Kiyo couldn’t bear, as she’d done for all the girls at Butterfly Mansion. She drew out the girl’s sorrow, anger, loneliness, and fear and began to soothe her pain. Even at the cost of her own health and happiness, Kanae was a born healer.
To Kanao, Kanae had been kindness made flesh, a beautiful soul to the core. It was as if all the warmth in the world had been drawn together and shaped into human form. Kanae and Shinobu took the orphaned girls at Butterfly Mansion and made them into a family. The butterfly pins Kanae gave them were a visible reminder that, no matter what, they had a home.
The hairpins certainly weren’t rare or expensive. They were, as Inosuke had said, just things. But the simple act of putting the pins in their hair made the girls feel that they weren’t alone. For Kanao, at least, that was no small matter. She was sure Shinobu, Aoi, Naho, Sumi, and Kiyo felt the same.
That was why she had spoken so roughly to Inosuke, even though she knew he hadn’t meant to hurt anyone’s feelings.
“You’re under the same roof as young people your own age,” Shinobu had told her just a few days before, after Kanao returned from a mission. “Why don’t you try talking to them? It’ll help you grow, the way making friends with Tanjiro has.”
Given that Kanao had only just started being able to make decisions for herself without flipping a coin, Shinobu’s suggestion was difficult for her. When she brought Inosuke bubbles to blow, or gave Aoi medicine to administer to Genya, she pushed the objects at them and hurried away without saying a word.
And today, when she was really trying, it had come to nothing. Her shoulders slumped.
And here I thought I had changed a little, thanks to Tanjiro.
Was she incapable of friendship? Was killing demons really all she could do?
Feeling gloomier with each step, Kanao pressed on. At last, however, she had to admit there was no sign of the hairpin. Reluctantly, she started down the mountain.
I’m sorry, Kanae. I can’t do anything for Kiyo. I’ll never be like you or the other girls.
As her thoughts drifted in this direction, she caught sight of someone at the foot of the mountain, silhouetted in the setting sun. She squinted, trying to make out a face, before realizing that she was staring at a boar’s head.
“’Sup.” Inosuke raised a hand in a curt greeting. Before she could ask what he was doing there, he tossed something at her. “Here.”
Baffled, she caught it in both hands. She pulled her palms apart to look inside, and her eyes grew wide as saucers. “You found it,” she gasped.
The threads were a bit tangled, and part of a wing was torn off, but it was Kiyo’s hairpin. Kanao lifted her face from the ornament. “But...how?” And why? What had possessed him to come looking for it? She swallowed her questions and waited for Inosuke to explain.
The boy snorted and tossed his head. “You’re looking at Lord Inosuke, king of the mountains. These slopes are full of my minions. All I had to do was ask around about a weird-looking crow, and they coughed it right up. Piece of cake.”
Kanao’s eyes grew even wider. “Are you saying you can talk to animals?”
“Course.” Inosuke nodded smugly. “Least, I can tell what they’re thinking.”
“That’s amazing,” said Kanao. With those simple words, Inosuke was immediately in high spirits.
“Well, y’know.” He puffed his chest out, all but begging her to keep the compliments coming. Despite his gruff voice and the imposing boar head on his shoulders, he reminded her of a little boy. “Thing like that catches the light. Crows love shiny stuff.”
Kanao held the hairpin up. The sun had almost completely set, but the last of the evening light set the pale butterfly wings on fire. They really did glitter and shine. Dyed crimson in sunlight, the hairpin was very beautiful. In its reflection, she could almost see Kanae. Overcome with emotion, she squeezed the pin to her chest, being careful not to break it.
“Look,” she said, “I’m sorry for yelling at you before.”
“Huh? Where’d that come from?”
“Thank you, Inosuke.” Kanao bowed.
Inosuke jumped in surprise. In the silence, Kanao realized it was the first time she’d ever called him by name. She felt strangely exposed, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.
“Y-yup,” Inosuke said at last. He thumped his chest. “I’m the boss, after all.”