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Chapter 115: Kocho Shinobu's Warning and Request
Faced with Suyan's question, Tsuyuri Kanao reached into her kimono and pulled out a coin.
One side of the coin was engraved with the character for 'heads,' the other with 'tails.'
She gripped the coin tightly in her hand, looked up at Suyan, and then looked down at the coin.
Suyan knew that due to the severe autism she suffered from, when Kanae and Shinobu first brought her back to the Butterfly Mansion...
She was initially so damaged that she acted like a robot, only moving when instructed to.
It was only through the sisters' meticulous care that she slowly began to improve.
However, she was still incapable of making decisions for herself.
So, whenever she faced a choice, she relied on the outcome of a coin flip to dictate her actions.
But right now, confronted with Suyan's question, Kanao gripped her coin tightly.
An unexpected expression of conflict flickered in her pink eyes.
Beads of sweat began to gather on her forehead, rolling down the side of her delicate face...
"Suyan, what's wrong with her?"
Nezuko didn't understand. Suyan had only asked this exquisite girl a simple question.
Why was she hesitating for so long?
If he had asked her, she would have been able to give an answer immediately.
"Shh."
Suyan didn't explain. He simply shook his head at Nezuko, signaling her to stay quiet.
Watching the conflicted Kanao, Suyan was curious if his question could serve as the key to unlocking her ego.
If this didn't work, what if he made Kanae appear before her later?
If she could truly decide for herself, whether it was Kanae or Shinobu, they would both surely be overjoyed, right?
"Insect Breathing! Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter!"
However, arriving faster than Kanao's choice was a gleam of sharp, biting steel.
The strike wasn't aimed at any of Suyan's vitals. Rather than an assassination attempt, it felt more like...
A warning?!
Even so, if he took a hit like that without using Ten to protect himself, she would have easily poked a hole straight through him.
Suyan had no intention of taking a random hit. He shifted his body, effortlessly dodging the sudden assault.
"Suyan, are you okay?!"
Panicking, Nezuko frantically patted Suyan down to check for injuries. Once she confirmed he hadn't been hurt by the attack, she finally turned her gaze toward the assailant.
Her voice filled with anger as she yelled, "Sister Shinobu! Why did you suddenly attack Suyan?! Aren't you friends?!"
Indeed, the one who had abruptly unleashed an Insect Breathing sword technique on Suyan was none other than its creator, Kocho Shinobu.
"Shinobu?"
Suyan tilted his head, looking at Shinobu, equally puzzled by the sudden ambush.
"You are not—absolutely not—allowed to lay a hand on this child!!"
Shinobu pulled Kanao into her arms, glaring coldly at Suyan.
Even her constant, ingrained smile had completely vanished, replaced by an unprecedented look of lethal seriousness.
But then, her tone took a sharp turn. The fake smile was instantly plastered back onto her face, and her voice returned to its light, airy cadence.
"Say, Mr. Scumbag, you can do whatever you want to me."
"But please, I beg you, do not target this child. Otherwise, I will genuinely get angry."
For Shinobu, after Kanae's death, the Butterfly Mansion they had built together and this girl they had adopted...
Were the only two connections she had left to her sister.
As long as Suyan could destroy Muzan and kill Upper Rank Two to avenge Kanae, he could do whatever he wanted to her.
She truly didn't care if he treated her as a substitute for her sister.
But this child? Absolutely not!
Hearing this, Suyan was rendered speechless.
It seemed Shinobu had completely misunderstood his intentions.
No wonder she had suddenly attacked him, but with a non-lethal strike. It really was just a warning, huh?
But Suyan could understand where she was coming from.
In the original timeline, after becoming the Insect Hashira, Shinobu had trained three Tsuguko, aside from Kanao, who they had adopted from the start.
All three had successfully passed the Final Selection and become official members of the Demon Slayer Corps.
But none of them survived. They all died on subsequent demon-slaying missions.
Kanao was the only exception. Even though she learned Kanae's Flower Breathing, Shinobu never once entertained the thought of letting her join the Corps.
Perhaps letting her learn Flower Breathing was simply to give her a means of self-defense.
She just hadn't expected Kanao to sneak off and participate in the same Final Selection as the main cast.
And that had been the very first time in Kanao's life that she had made a decision entirely on her own.
"Will you listen to my explanation, Shinobu?"
Suyan could only offer a helpless smile.
Shinobu replied softly, "Uh-huh. I'm listening."
Despite her words, her body language told a different story. She instinctively shielded Kanao behind her back.
She didn't look like she believed a word he was going to say.
Left with no choice, Suyan explained the question he had just asked Kanao, his reasoning behind it, and the conflicted expression she had shown—torn between flipping the coin and wanting to decide for herself.
"Kanao... So you miss our sister very much too, don't you?"
Shinobu turned her head, looking at the still-conflicted Kanao. Her voice was laced with a deep sense of comfort.
Her smile grew a fraction more genuine.
It was easy for her to figure out why Kanao was struggling so much.
Because it involved Kanae. Flipping the coin was a deeply ingrained habit developed over years of facing problems.
Not flipping the coin meant she didn't want the coin to make a decision she didn't agree with regarding matters of their sister.
Realizing this, Shinobu couldn't help but think: If Sister could see this, she would probably be so happy, wouldn't she?
She pulled Kanao into a tight embrace, gently stroking her hair, and whispered, "Kanao, only when it comes to matters regarding our sister, please don't use the coin to decide, okay?"
Her voice was incredibly quiet, but Suyan heard it clearly.
"Thank you," Shinobu whispered her gratitude to Suyan, her tone noticeably softer.
Then, she took Kanao's small hand and actively extended an olive branch to Suyan. "Aoi has already prepared dinner. Let's go eat, Mr. Scumbag."
Night fell.
Just as Suyan was planning to take Makomo and return to Greed Island...
A gentle voice drifted in from outside his door.
"Moshi moshi, may I come in now?"
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