Up until now, Makomo still refused to believe that Soma was a demon.
But the truth was—
Soma really was a demon.
This fact was something Makomo could not accept. Her heart was filled with grief and pain.
At this moment, more than anything, she wanted Soma to give her an explanation.
"Why are you a demon?"
As Soma wiped Makomo's tears, he repeated her words. Then, in a low voice, he said,
"In this world, most demons had no choice when they were human, and they had no choice when they became demons either. Whether one becomes a demon or not is not something anyone can decide for themselves."
"You ask why I became a demon? I don't know how to answer that either. I don't know what purpose Muzan Kibutsuji had when he turned me into a demon back then. Becoming a demon was never my wish in the beginning, so I can't give you an answer. I don't know how to explain any of this to you."
Makomo fell silent.
She did not have Tanjiro's sensitive nose, which could smell a demon's emotions. Nor did she have Tanjiro's ability to sense the sorrowful pasts of demons after killing them.
In her previous understanding, although demons had once been human, they had betrayed their own kind and become creatures that fed on their former kin. These demons were cruel, terrifying, and the root of all evil.
She had never known that becoming a demon was not something one could control.
Hearing Soma say these things, the pain of him being a demon lessened somewhat. In her heart, she even felt a trace of sympathy, a trace of heartache.
She only felt that it was not Soma's fault for becoming a demon. All the original sin belonged to Muzan Kibutsuji.
If not for Muzan Kibutsuji, Soma would never have become a demon.
When she shifted her hatred and resentment onto Muzan Kibutsuji, the pain in Makomo's heart eased a great deal, and her tears gradually stopped.
If that were all, Makomo probably would not have cared about Soma's identity as a demon.
But…
it was not only that.
Makomo knew that after becoming a demon, Soma had once done certain things.
He had killed many innocent swordsmen.
"Then killing Hiroshi Furukawa… was that not your intention either? Was that also decided by Muzan Kibutsuji?"
Makomo raised her head and looked at Soma seriously.
"Hiroshi Furukawa?"
Soma frowned.
Seeing that Soma seemed not to know, Makomo suddenly felt a sense of joy in her heart.
Even relief.
Perhaps the demon Hiroshi Furukawa had once been hunting was not Soma, but another demon.
Perhaps Hiroshi Furukawa had died at the hands of some other demon.
If that was the case…
the pressure in her heart would suddenly become much lighter.
Makomo truly did not want to face the cruel truth that Hiroshi Furukawa had died by Soma's hand.
Even if every clue pointed to Soma as the demon who killed Hiroshi Furukawa, as long as Soma denied it, Makomo was willing to believe him.
"Back then, Hiroshi Furukawa came alone to Mount Sagiri to ask sensei for help. He hoped to borrow sensei's nose to track a demon who was traveling with a human girl… but in the end, he was cruelly killed by that demon."
Makomo told Soma about Hiroshi Furukawa, and about the demon they had been hunting at the time.
In truth, everything pointed very clearly in one direction.
Makomo even knew that the demon who matched those clues should have been…
But she did not want to admit it.
After listening, Soma could not help falling silent.
All this time, he had never known the name of the swordsman who had once hunted him. Only now did he finally learn it.
So the swordsmen who had hunted him back then had been Hiroshi Furukawa's demon-hunting team.
"As long as it was not you, that is enough."
Makomo spoke softly, her voice suddenly becoming lighter.
Although she had always hated demons, despised demons, and found it difficult to accept that the person she had always admired and liked was a demon, over these past few days, she had gradually begun to accept it.
After all, even if Soma had become a demon, he was different from those bloodthirsty evil demons.
All this time, Soma had always been a very good person.
Aside from the fact that he was a demon.
So for Makomo, up to this moment, the only thing she still could not accept was Hiroshi Furukawa.
She could not accept that the comrades she had once fought alongside, the people who had once cared for her, had died by Soma's hand.
Without that,
everything would truly have been fine.
Truly fine.
"So… that swordsman's name was Hiroshi Furukawa."
Soma was silent for a while before slowly speaking.
When Makomo heard those words, her heart instantly sank to the bottom.
Soma saw it.
He knew that perhaps if he simply denied it, Makomo would believe him.
In fact, denial was probably the thing that could comfort Makomo most right now.
But—
Makomo already knew the answer in her heart.
She was only deceiving herself.
After all, the clues pointing to the demon who killed Hiroshi Furukawa were far too obvious. A demon traveling with a human girl—only Soma fit that description best.
"He was a very heroic swordsman. And very strong… Killing him was not easy."
Soma spoke softly.
That day's battle had been dangerous. Even now, Soma still remembered it clearly. In fact, he had nearly had his head cut off by Hiroshi Furukawa.
"You… you really killed Hiroshi Furukawa."
Makomo pressed a hand against her heart, her expression filled with pain.
"Not only Hiroshi Furukawa. His teammates as well." Soma looked at Makomo and said calmly, "I ended all of their lives."
The girl's lovely face instantly filled with anguish, as though she could not accept any of this.
"Why did you kill him?" Makomo could barely face it.
"If I hadn't killed him, he would have killed me. I didn't want to die, so it had to be him." Soma explained faintly.
Makomo fell silent all at once.
She did not know how to face any of this.
Whether it was Hiroshi Furukawa, who had hunted Soma because he was a demon, or Soma, who had killed Hiroshi Furukawa in order to survive, there were problems on both sides. Yet both could also be considered reasonable.
As a demon slayer, was Hiroshi Furukawa wrong to slay demons?
That was what every demon slayer did. They worked to protect humanity and purge demons.
Was Soma wrong?
To ordinary humans, Hiroshi Furukawa had been a hero who protected them.
But to Soma, he had been a dangerous enemy.
What was wrong with killing someone who wanted to kill him?
If both Hiroshi Furukawa and Soma were right, then whose fault was it?
All at once, Makomo felt lost.
In this matter, she truly did not know how to face the truth.
"Hiroshi Furukawa was a demon slayer, so he became enemies with you in order to hunt demons. And you, in order to survive, attacked someone who threatened you…"
Makomo bit her pale lip, her delicate body trembling slightly.
"Then how am I supposed to view all this? Should I accept that it was right for Hiroshi Furukawa and the others to die by your hand? Or…"
"Are you unable to distinguish right from wrong?"
Soma looked at Makomo, his voice gentle.
Makomo bit her lip and looked at Soma with hopeful eyes.
She desperately wanted to find an answer.
An answer that could convince herself.
"There is a way to distinguish it."
Soma looked at Makomo, his voice calm. "How could there be no right or wrong? It only depends on which side you stand on."
Makomo looked at Soma in confusion.
"If you stand with Hiroshi Furukawa, then I was wrong. I cruelly murdered heroic swordsmen. I am a bloodthirsty demon."
At this point, Soma shrugged and glanced at the girl.
"If you stand with me, then I was not wrong. I killed the people who wanted to kill me. What is wrong with that? I only wanted to live. What is wrong with that?"
Looking at Makomo, whose expression had fallen into pain, Soma's tone remained calm.
"The root of your suffering in this matter lies within yourself. It lies within your own heart, Makomo."
"Which side does your heart truly stand on?"
"Do you stand with me?"