It was already noon.
The Master had departed.
Sunlight broke through the clouds and poured down, yet it could not dispel the gloom hanging over the estate.
White mourning streamers fluttered in the cold wind, and the air felt suffocating.
At the center of the courtyard stood a memorial table.
Behind it was no coffin—only a neatly folded set of clothes.
A beautifully made haori.
One of Inosuke's favorites.
Because there was no body to be found, everyone believed the boy had turned to dust.
All they could erect was an empty memorial.
Shinobu Kocho knelt beneath the corridor, holding a handkerchief Inosuke had once given her.
Her head was lowered. The gentle, smiling eyes she always wore now held nothing but emptiness.
"That child…" Shinobu's voice was light as smoke, as if she feared disturbing the dead.
"He hated bitter things so much… every time he drank medicine, I had to coax him forever."
"He was so afraid of pain… how much must he have suffered at the very end…"
Beside her, Kanao Tsuyuri clutched the hem of Shinobu's sleeve.
Don't flip a coin. If you want something, go take it.
The boy's voice still echoed in her ears.
Large tears fell from Kanao's eyes and splashed onto the ground.
For the first time, she didn't use a coin to decide.
She chose—on her own—to cry.
Aoi Kanzaki, Kiyo, Sumi, and Naho huddled together, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Inosuke… no one's going to steal tempura from the kitchen anymore…"
"The kitchen… it's so quiet now…"
"Namu Amida Butsu…"
Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima clasped his hands in prayer. Thick tears streamed down his face as his prayer beads clacked loudly.
"What a wonderful child… such a pure, powerful soul… burning himself out at the brightest age just to protect others…"
Sanemi Shinazugawa stood by the window, staring hard at the sky outside.
His chest heaved violently—rage compressed to its breaking point.
"Tch!"
Sanemi smashed his fist into the window frame. Wood splintered.
"That damn brat… that little bastard who headbutted me at the meeting…"
"And he just dies like that? Not even a body left behind?!"
"Damn it! Who gave you permission to die?! I hadn't even beaten you up yet!!"
Muichiro Tokito sat in a corner like a puppet that had lost its soul.
In his hand, he tightly held a small packet of sugar candies—already melted.
Zenitsu had given them to him after the battle.
Inosuke wanted me to let you try these. He really wanted to recruit you as his sidekick.
Muichiro put one candy into his mouth.
So sweet.
Then why… was his throat filled with bitterness, so thick he couldn't swallow it?
"We can't let him wander outside as a lonely spirit."
Rengoku Kyojuro finally broke the silence.
"If we can't find his body… then carve his name onto the Monument of Fallen Heroes."
"He was… the Ice Hashira. The pride of us all."
Meanwhile—
In the mountains fifty kilometers from Demon Slayer Headquarters—
Boom!
A familiar blur raced across the treetops.
The speed was extreme. Every step made the branches explode under the strain.
"Huff… huff… huff…"
Inosuke gasped for breath.
Yet he didn't slow down—instead, he pushed agility and lung capacity enhancements to their absolute limits.
"Faster! Faster!"
"That crybaby Wenyi must've fainted from crying by now, right? And that stiff Gonpachiro's probably blaming himself again!"
"If I'm late, I might really get buried! And if they put up a tombstone—what, am I supposed to carve 'I was here' on it later? That's cursed!"
As he ran, Inosuke rapidly reviewed the Swordsmith Village battle.
In the original timeline, Tanjiro and the others would struggle until dawn.
Most importantly, Nezuko would conquer sunlight, alerting Muzan and triggering the all-out war of Infinity Castle.
"But this time—it's different!"
Inosuke grinned wildly into the rushing wind.
"Because I interfered! The battle ended way too fast!"
"And Nezuko was protected the whole time—she never conquered sunlight!"
This was a butterfly effect powerful enough to change the entire timeline.
Nezuko hadn't overcome the sun.
Muzan wouldn't learn of her special nature.
And thus—he wouldn't rush into a total war.
Which meant—
Time.
Inosuke had bought precious time for the Demon Slayer Corps—for everyone.
"As long as the Infinity Castle battle doesn't start, I can use my position as Upper Rank Five, a double agent, to slowly infiltrate… slowly lay the groundwork."
"I'm going to find a perfect ending—one where no one has to die. Where everyone survives."
Just then—
A burning pain surged from his collarbone, like red-hot iron pressed against skin.
Inosuke glanced down, pupils tightening.
From prolonged extreme exertion and emotional turbulence, the lotus-shaped mark at his collarbone surfaced once more—clear and vivid.
"Mark, huh…"
He didn't stop running. Instead, he pressed his hand against the scorching pattern. His eyes softened—yet grew resolute.
He knew the price of the mark.
Anyone who awakened it would not live past twenty-five.
"…Fine."
"This life-burning curse… I'll shoulder it alone."
"Gonpachiro, Wenyi, everyone else… you didn't awaken it, right?"
"A short-lived hero—one is enough. This young lord can handle that role alone."
His eyes grew damp, but he shook his head hard.
"You idiots… all of you better live long, happy lives!"
Boom!
Inosuke stomped down.
His speed exploded once more.
Butterfly Mansion.
Tanjiro and Zenitsu were still kneeling.
Hours had passed. They hadn't moved an inch, like stone statues.
Their tears were spent, leaving eyes so swollen they could barely open.
From the wooden box beside Tanjiro came sudden movement.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Nezuko scratched anxiously inside, her nails screeching against the wood.
"Shh… Nezuko, be good…"
Tanjiro's voice was hoarse as he gently patted the box, tears falling again.
"Don't… it's daytime… you can't come out…"
"I know you want to find Inosuke… I do too…"
"But…"
His voice broke.
Then—
It was as if an invisible string in the air had been lightly plucked.
Tanjiro's dull, lifeless dark-red eyes suddenly stirred.
That was… a scent.
Extremely faint—yet engraved into his very bones.
The scent of ice and snow from the Eternal Paradise Cult, mixed with that uniquely youthful vitality.
And it was coming—from very, very far away.
At an unimaginable speed.
At the same time—
Zenitsu's drooping ears shot upright.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
A heartbeat.
A rhythm he had heard countless times—
when he was crying, when he was being protected, when he was slacking off.
"That's…!"
Zenitsu jerked his head up, disbelief exploding in his eyes.
Tanjiro looked up too.
They met each other's gaze.
No words were needed.
No confirmation required.
That was their big brother.
That was their family.
"AAAAAAHHHH!!!"
The two of them shot up like cannonballs, smashing into the memorial table, knocking over white streamers—
Even slamming into Haganezuka and Tetsuidō, who had just come to offer incense.
"Tanjiro?! Zenitsu?!"
Shinobu's hand trembled, incense falling from her grasp.
"Where are you going?! It's daytime! Nezuko's still in the box—!"
"Doesn't matter anymore!!"
Tanjiro hoisted the box onto his back, roaring as he ran, his face twisted beyond reason.
"He's back!! That scent— that bastard is back!!"
"No funeral needed!! Burn all the white cloths!!"
Zenitsu ran so hard one shoe flew off—but he didn't care. He laughed wildly.
"Big brother's not dead!! I knew it—scourges live forever!! He's alive—AAAAHHH!!"
All the Hashira and slayers were startled by the chaos, rushing out.
"What's going on?!"
"Did those two snap?"
Gyomei was still crying. Sanemi frowned. Giyu remained blankly confused.
Then—
From the sky came an uproarious, ecstatic chorus of crows.
"Caw! Caw!!"
"Correction! Intelligence update!!"
"Hashibira Inosuke—alive! Survival confirmed!!"
"That menace—no, that hero—he's back!!"
Everyone looked up.
At the end of the mountain road, under the blazing noon sun—
A massive cloud of dust surged like a charging army.
At its very front, a figure raced forward with unstoppable momentum.
Bare-chested, showing a powerful physique.
Black-and-blue long hair whipped wildly behind him.
A familiar fan clutched in his hand.
From far away, that arrogant, overbearing, thunderous voice echoed across Demon Slayer Headquarters.
"HEY!!!"
"Which idiot put up white mourning cloths at the gate?!"
Inosuke skidded to a halt, carving two deep trenches into the ground.
He stood there, hands on hips, hopping mad.
"Who gave you permission to hold my funeral feast?!"
"Where's my tempura?! Where's my welcome party?!"
Time froze.
Staring at that lively, foul-mouthed, aggressively alive figure—
The incense in Shinobu's hand snapped.
Muichiro dropped his candy; it rolled across the ground.
Sanemi's eyes bulged like bells, jaw nearly dislocating.
Gyomei's prayer beads scattered everywhere with loud clacks.
For the first time ever, shock appeared on Giyu Tomioka's stoic face.
The next instant—
"INOSUKE!!!"
"BIG BROTHER!!!"
Tanjiro and Zenitsu cried out, throwing themselves at the returning boy with all the strength they had.
Inside the box, Nezuko slammed the lid desperately.
"Waaahhh! You bastard! You scared us to death!!"
"Thank goodness… thank goodness…"
Under the sunlight, the boy was knocked to the ground by his companions. Though he cursed at them to get off because they were heavy—
The corner of his mouth, hidden from all eyes, lifted high.
"I've come back from hell."
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