Faced with Su Yan's question, Kanao Tsuyuri pulled a coin from her kimono.
One side of the coin was engraved with the character for heads, and the other with tails.
Kanao clutched the coin tightly in her hand, glancing up at Su Yan before looking back down at the coin.
Su Yan knew that the girl before him suffered from severe trauma. When Kanae Kocho and Shinobu Kocho first brought her back to the Butterfly Mansion, she was so closed off that she acted like a robot, only following the orders of others.
It was only under the careful care of the two sisters that she slowly began to improve.
However, she still could not make decisions for herself in her daily life.
Therefore, when faced with a problem, she would flip a coin and let the result dictate her next action.
Yet right now, confronted with Su Yan's question, Kanao was gripping the coin tightly.
A conflicted emotion unexpectedly surfaced in her pink eyes.
Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead, sliding down from her temples along her delicate face...
"Brother Su Yan, what's wrong with her?"
Nezuko could not understand why the delicate girl was hesitating for so long over such a simple question. If he had asked her, she would have given an answer immediately.
"Shh."
Su Yan did not speak, merely shaking his head at Nezuko to signal her to be quiet.
Watching Kanao struggle internally, Su Yan was curious if this question could serve as the key to unlocking her sense of self.
'If this doesn't work, what will happen when Kanae Kocho actually appears before her later?' he wondered.
'If she can overcome this, both Kanae Kocho and Shinobu Kocho will surely be happy for her, right?'
"Insect Breathing! Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter!"
However, arriving faster than Kanao's decision was a sharp, chilling gleam of a blade.
This strike was not aimed at any of Su Yan's vital spots. Rather than an assassination attempt, it was more of a...
Warning?!
Even so, if he took that hit without using Ten, it would likely poke a hole right through him.
Su Yan had no intention of taking such a baffling hit. He immediately shifted his body, easily dodging the sudden attack.
"Brother Su Yan, are you okay?"
Nezuko anxiously patted Su Yan down, checking him all over. Once she confirmed he had not suffered any injuries from the attack, she finally turned her gaze toward the assailant who had suddenly lunged at him.
Her voice carried a hint of anger as she spoke. "Sister Shinobu, why did you suddenly attack Brother Su Yan? Aren't you friends?"
Indeed, the one who had just used an Insect Breathing sword form to attack Su Yan was its very creator, Shinobu Kocho.
"Shinobu?"
Su Yan tilted his head to look at Shinobu, equally puzzled by her sudden ambush.
"You are not allowed! You are not allowed to lay a hand on this child!"
Shinobu pulled Kanao into her arms, speaking coldly to Su Yan.
Even the deliberate smile she always wore had vanished, replaced by an unprecedented seriousness in her eyes.
But her tone quickly shifted. Her usual smile returned to her face as she spoke in a light, cheerful voice. "Say, Mr. Scumbag, you can do whatever you want to me."
"But please, absolutely do not lay a hand on this child. Otherwise, I will truly get angry."
To Shinobu, after the death of her older sister Kanae, the Butterfly Mansion they built together and this girl they adopted were the only two remaining connections she had left to her sister.
As long as Su Yan could eradicate Muzan and kill the Upper Rank Two demon that murdered Kanae, he could do whatever he wanted to her.
She did not even care if he treated her as a mere replacement for her sister.
But this child was absolutely off-limits!
Hearing this, Su Yan was left speechless.
It seemed Shinobu had completely misunderstood him.
No wonder she had suddenly attacked him with a non-lethal strike. It really was just a warning.
Still, Su Yan could understand where she was coming from.
In the original storyline, after becoming the Insect Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Shinobu had actually trained three other Tsuguko besides Kanao, whom she and Kanae had adopted early on. All three had successfully passed the Final Selection and joined the Demon Slayer Corps.
However, none of them survived; they all perished in subsequent battles against demons.
Only Kanao remained. Although Shinobu allowed her to learn the Flower Breathing created by Kanae, she never once entertained the idea of letting Kanao join the Demon Slayer Corps.
Perhaps letting her learn Flower Breathing was merely to give Kanao a means of self-defense.
She just never expected that Kanao would secretly run off on her own to participate in the same Final Selection as the main cast.
And that had been the very first decision Kanao had ever made on her own in her entire life.
"Will you listen to my explanation, Shinobu?"
Su Yan could only offer her a helpless smile.
Shinobu replied softly, "Mhm, I am listening."
Despite her words, Shinobu instinctively shielded Kanao behind her back.
She showed absolutely no sign of believing him.
Su Yan had no choice but to explain the question he had just asked Kanao and his reasoning behind it.
He also described Kanao's conflicted expression when asked—how she wanted to flip the coin but hesitated to do so.
"Kanao, do you miss our sister that much too?"
Shinobu turned back to look at the still-conflicted Kanao, a trace of relief in her voice.
The smile on her face gained a fraction of genuine warmth.
It was easy for her to figure out the reason behind Kanao's inner turmoil.
Because it involved Kanae, flipping the coin was a habit she had relied on for years when faced with a problem.
But she hesitated because she did not want the coin to make a decision she internally opposed when it came to matters concerning Kanae.
Realizing this, Shinobu could not help but think, 'If my sister could see this, perhaps she would be happy too.'
She then pulled Kanao into a hug, gently stroking her hair as she spoke softly. "Kanao, only when it comes to matters regarding our sister, please don't use a coin flip to decide, okay?"
"Mhm."
Although the voice was incredibly soft, Shinobu heard it clearly.
"Thank you."
Shinobu softly thanked Su Yan, her tone softening considerably.
She then took Kanao's small hand and actively extended an olive branch to Su Yan. "Aoi Kanzaki has already prepared dinner. Mr. Scumbag, you should come join us too."
Nighttime.
Just as Su Yan was planning to take Makomo back to Greed Island...
A gentle voice drifted in from outside the door.
"Hello, may I come in now?"
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