Illumi stormed off in a huff....
The boy's silky black hair hung and swayed as he turned and left, leaving Roy with a back-of-the-head that was neither big nor small.
Roy watched him go, and with just one glance, from the Nen naturally drifting out of his crown, he caught a trace of stubbornness and defiance, tinged with a deep, dusky gray....
Roy only smiled and let him be, flopping onto the bed to start conserving his strength.
There were still about seven hours until dawn broke. Roy folded his hands over his lower abdomen, closed his eyes, let his consciousness sink, and once again entered his own [Cognitive World] through "Deep Sleep."
This time he didn't push open the [Hokage Gate] to go deeper into the Hokage world. Instead, he rolled up his pant legs, took off his shoes and socks, and strolled along the beach, letting the tides of the [Sea of Cognition] rise and fall, surge and swell, washing over his feet.
A moment later, he stopped in front of the [Demon Slayer Gate]. After hesitating for a while, he reached out, pushed it open, and stepped inside....
"Wng~" That familiar sensation of falling swept over him....
The role named [Kamado Eiichiro] reconnected....
When Roy opened his eyes again, all he saw before him was a small mound of a grave, and a field of withered red spider lilies swaying slowly in the wind....
Roy stood there in silence for a moment, remembering how he had once gazed across the other shore with the Sage of Six Paths. He wondered... whether Tsugikuni Yoriichi had found his wife and child on the far side of that river by now.
The boy, carrying a hint of wistfulness, looked deeply at the night.
With another look, his body instantly turned to light, and borrowing the veiled glow of the moon, he drifted toward home.
Three wooden houses encircled by forest in an open clearing gradually came into view, arrayed in the shape of the character "品," lined up in a row....
Faint, light snores drifted out from within the houses, off and on....
Roy did not show himself; he hid within the moonlight, watching his mother Kie Kamado, his father Tanjuro, his grandmother, Nezuko, Tanjiro, Takeo and Mao, and little Hua Zi curled up in Kie Kamado's arms like a kitten. In his heart, his understanding of those things called [Bonds], [Bloodline], and even [Cause and Effect] quietly deepened....
He even,
In the depths of Roy's heart, a faint feeling arose: that if he wished, he could at any time use the [Lines of Cause and Effect] to alter the lives of these people. He could likewise use the [Cause and Effect Blade] to erase the bonds between himself and the Kamado Family... as if he had never appeared at all, and from then on, he would no longer be the eldest son of the Kamado Family.
But... is that what he himself, and what the Kamado Family, truly wanted?
Roy turned into a strand of moonlight, circling within the night. At a certain moment, he suddenly heard a soft, gentle murmur:
"Eiichiro, is that you?"
Roy started, then poked his head out to look down.....
"Tap... tap...." A light string of footsteps came from inside the house, spreading out along the wooden veranda, and then—
Under the spilled moonlight, Tanjuro rose, throwing a robe over his shoulders, leaned against a veranda pillar, and looked toward the place where Roy was hiding in the moonlight,
gazing at him with gentle eyes.
Clearly, the [Transparent World], for a healthy Tanjuro, had advanced considerably yet again!
"Father, how are you?" Knowing he couldn't hide it, Roy slowly stepped out of the moonlight, riding little whorls of wind as he landed on the veranda... that long, flaming-red hair swaying down his back was just like Tanjuro's own once had been. With a single glance, it was as if he were seeing his past self....
The difference was that his past self had been a sickly man, whereas the boy before him was strong and sturdy, his tall, imposing frame nearly catching up to Tanjuro's. It was hard... not to feel a sigh rise in one's chest.
Ripples of light filled Tanjuro's pupils as he said gently, "After taking the medicine you brought, I've been much better."
Roy gave a soft "mm," floated to the man's side, and stood with Tanjuro, gazing at the bright moon hanging high, as he asked, "Should I wake your mother?"
Roy shook his head lightly. "No need. Partings are too bitter. I don't want to see Mother in tears again."
Tanjuro tucked his hands into his sleeves and nodded in silence. Then... father and son were like mouths sewn shut with needle and thread, falling into shared silence....
After a long while, Roy lifted his foot and said, "Father, I'm going."
Tanjuro said nothing. Just as Roy was about to ride the moonlight away, the man reached out and smoothed the creases on his clothes, and said, half to himself, "Every time you come home, something big happens. As your dad, I'm ashamed I can't be by your side. So,"
"Eiichiro," Tanjuro lovingly ruffled Roy's hair and said softly, "please take care of yourself."
"I hope that next time, I can still see you in one piece....."
"Yes!" Roy's face broke into a smile, and a Warm Current silently flowed through his heart.
The young man looked deeply at Tanjuro, then let his gaze pass over the man's shoulder, pausing in turn on his mother Kie Kamado, his grandmother, Nezuko, Hua Zi, and, in the side rooms, Tanjiro, Takeo, and Mao. Then his body gradually turned to light....
Slowly, he vanished from Tanjuro's sight,
leaving the man alone, solitary and silhouetted against the veranda pillar, staring blankly at the sky, unable to come back to himself for a long, long time....
"Whoosh~" A gust of wind rose, stirring the lush mountain forest, the leaves rustling in response....
Roy left home and flew straight toward Sagiri yama. That night, he met his teacher again; all the senior brothers and sisters drank and sang, giving themselves over to mountains and rivers, and after they had completely relaxed their spirits,
The final bowl of wine,
he clinked cups with Sabito with hearty vigor,
tilted his head back and poured it all down his throat in one go,
then let out a long, satisfied breath—and the night gave way to morning!
Immediately after, he opened his eyes in a hazy daze and exited the [Demon Slayer World] through the [Gate of Cognition], returning to the [Hunter World]....
"Dang~" At four in the morning, the clock in the corner chimed,