Chapter 74 This is true, Shinobu
"It's true, Shinobu."
"I know it's hard for you to believe."
Kanae leaned forward slightly. Those wisteria-colored eyes, which usually held endless tenderness and compassion, now held only crystal-clear sincerity and a hint of deeply hidden supplication.
"We are members of the Demon Slayer Corps, and our duty is to slay demons and protect humanity… I have never forgotten this, not even for a moment."
Kanae spoke very slowly, "But… Tatsu is different."
The moment that name was mentioned, Kocho Shinobu keenly caught a glimpse of an extremely complex light flashing in her sister's eyes.
It was a mixture of pity, heartache, and even a hint of lingering affection.
"He became a demon and can only curl up in a dark corner like a child who has done something wrong… But he hasn't eaten anyone, Shinobu, he really hasn't eaten anyone."
Kanae's eyes grew moist again. In her mind, she couldn't help but picture Tatsu—who possessed such immense power, yet would reveal a look of satisfaction, as if he had gained the whole world, simply because of the human food she brought back, a simple, steaming bowl of ramen and a soft-boiled egg.
"He can eat human food. He waits for me quietly in the dark, and he looks at me with that… that heartbreakingly clear gaze, calling me 'Kanae'…"
Kanae's voice gradually became choked with sobs. She gripped her sister's hand tightly, so hard that Kocho Shinobu felt a hint of pain.
"Shinobu, in this world, I have nothing left but you. I hate the demons who took our parents and our companions more than anyone else. But…"
Kanae took a deep breath, and tears finally fell uncontrollably down her pale cheeks, landing on their clasped hands, scaldingly hot.
She lowered her head and gently pressed her forehead against the back of Kocho Shinobu's hand. In a humble posture, she sobbed and pleaded, "Give Tatsu… and give your sister a chance, okay? Just this once… go see him, go and confirm it with your own eyes. I'm begging you, sister, Shinobu… I'm begging you…"
Boom—!
Kocho Shinobu's brain felt as if it had been instantly struck by a thunderbolt from the heavens. She was stunned.
Her purple eyes contracted violently, and her pupils reflected her sister's lowered, almost humble head.
Sister… was begging her?
The sister who always smiled and stood in front of her, carrying all the suffering on her seemingly fragile but actually indestructible shoulders.
The sister who, after their parents died tragically, gently and firmly told her, "We must protect others from experiencing this pain again."
The Flower Hashira, Kanae Kocho, who was respected in the Demon Slayer Corps and shone like a guiding beacon… now, she had actually lowered her head for a demon, weeping, and using the word "beg" to plead with her?
She felt a spasm in her stomach, as if she had swallowed a handful of poisoned broken glass. Every time she breathed, her internal organs seemed to ooze blood.
This wasn't real.
How could a demon eat human food? How could a demon have a clear gaze?
They were nothing but sewer rats in human skin, driven by appetite, emitting a sickening smell of blood!
That demon, that damn demon who bewitched her sister!
He actually dared to make her sister, who was as pure as a white lily, show such a humble posture!
He actually dared to desecrate her sister by using such an intimate term as "Kanae"!
Unforgivable… absolutely unforgivable!!!
But… feeling the scalding temperature of her sister's tears on the back of her hand, and looking at her sister's thin, trembling shoulders, Kocho Shinobu forced herself, using every ounce of strength in her body, to suppress that murderous intent.
She couldn't be impulsive.
Her sister's Spiritual state was clearly extremely unstable. If she refused firmly now, or showed strong hostility toward that demon, it would only cause her sister to completely collapse, and might even force her sister to cross swords with her again to protect that demon.
She had to be calm; she had to lie in wait like a true hunter.
That demon, Tatsu, was afraid of sunlight.
This meant his range of movement was strictly limited to dark indoors, which gave her the perfect opportunity for an assassination.
As long as… as long as her sister took her to see that demon.
Once she saw him, she, Kocho Shinobu, even if she had to risk her life, would definitely send that monster who had bewitched her sister to hell.
She would let him know just how scorching the hellfire was!
And she would take back her gentle, normal sister who hated demons.
Her psychological defenses reorganized in an instant. On Kocho Shinobu's face, which had been stiff with shock, her muscles began to twitch unnaturally.
She forced the corners of her mouth to pull, attempting to show a soothing smile, but the smile appeared somewhat distorted and miserable due to the pain in her heart.
"Okay…"
Kocho Shinobu's voice was terribly hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing hard against a rough wooden board.
She reached out and gently held Kanae's slender wrist, slowly lifting her sister's head. Looking straight into those purple eyes filled with tears, she said word by word, "I promise you, sister. I… will give you, and him, a chance."
Hearing Kocho Shinobu's answer, Kanae's eyes, which had been blurred by tears and filled with anxiety and despair, suddenly burst into an extremely dazzling radiance after a 0.1-second pause.
The light was too bright, so bright that it dazzled Kocho Shinobu, making her subconsciously want to turn her head away to avoid it.
"Thank you… thank you, Shinobu!"
There was unconcealable ecstasy in Kanae's voice. She leaned forward abruptly and hugged Kocho Shinobu tightly into her arms again.
"I knew it… I knew Shinobu was the most sensible! Shinobu would definitely understand!"
Kanae's cheek rubbed affectionately against the crook of Kocho Shinobu's neck, her breath, carrying a faint scent of herbs, spraying warmly onto Kocho Shinobu's skin.
"Tatsu will be so happy! He has actually always been very lonely. Although he has the 'Transparent World' and can see through everything, his gaze when looking at the world is always so sad… If he knew Shinobu was willing to accept him, he would definitely…"
Kanae chattered away excitedly.
She had even begun to sketch out beautiful pictures of her sister and Tatsu getting along peacefully in her mind.
In her subconscious, as long as her sister was willing to understand, she would definitely be able to discover the gentle, human soul hidden beneath Tatsu's demonic skin.
However, Kocho Shinobu, who was being held tightly in her arms, was as stiff as a block of ice.
Kocho Shinobu's hollow gaze passed over her sister's shoulder, staring blankly at the mottled, yellowed wall of the noodle shop.
On the wall, a moth was desperately throwing itself at the dim oil lamp, not caring even if its wings were scorched by the flame.
How similar.
Kocho Shinobu felt as if her heart had been grabbed tightly by an invisible hand and then ruthlessly twisted into a knot. Bitterness, desolation, and an indescribable sadness engulfed her like a tide.
She looked at her sister, who was as excited as a little girl, and her vision blurred again.
How long… had it been since she had seen her sister this happy?
Since their parents passed away, although her sister's face always wore a gentle smile, that smile always hid an indelible sorrow and a heavy sense of responsibility.
Her sister had forced herself into becoming a perfect Hashira, a protector without flaws.
But now, for the sake of a demon, her sister had revealed such heartfelt, defenseless, and even slightly naive ecstasy, like a young girl in love.
Could it be… that her sister had really fallen in love with that demon?
No! Impossible!
Her sister was just too kind, just that damn maternal instinct overflowing, deceived by the pitiful facade that the demon had faked!
That monster named Tatsu must have exploited her sister's pathetic kindness of wanting to save everyone!
Absolutely unforgivable.
Kocho Shinobu slowly closed her eyes, hiding all the surging murderous intent and deep sorrow beneath her thick eyelashes.
When she opened her eyes again, her purple eyes had returned to the calmness of stagnant water.
She reached out both hands, gently hugging Kanae back, and then, in her sister's ear, said in an extremely soft, extremely obedient voice, "Sister, since you say so… then take me to see that demon. I want to see him… right now."
Take me to see him.
Let me see with my own eyes what kind of disgusting monster has turned you into this.
Then… I will personally cut off his head and make him disappear from this world forever.
Hearing her sister take the initiative to ask to see Tatsu, the smile on Kanae's face became even brighter.
She did not notice the chilling murderous intent hidden beneath her sister's obedient tone at all.
"Okay! Sister will take you right now!"
Kanae agreed without hesitation. She released Kocho Shinobu, her eyes curving into two beautiful crescents, filled with starlight.
"But before that…"
Kanae seemed to suddenly remember something extremely important. She grabbed Kocho Shinobu's hand and turned to walk quickly toward the noodle shop's counter.
"Boss!"
Kanae stood slightly on tiptoe, resting her hands on the wooden counter, leaning over, and smilingly shouted to the noodle shop owner who was busy in the kitchen, "Boss, is the noodle and soft-boiled egg I asked you to pack ready yet? Please hurry, or the noodles will get soggy; he has been waiting for a long time!"
Thinking of Tatsu, who was waiting obediently for her to feed him in the absolutely dark hotel room like an abandoned large dog, Kanae's heart melted completely.
In some aspects, Tatsu was as pure as a blank sheet of paper.
He liked to eat human food, especially soft-boiled eggs, and every time he ate, his crimson eyes would flicker with that cautious sense of satisfaction.
The noodle shop owner wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel draped over his shoulder and walked out from behind the kitchen curtain.
"Alright, alright, it's been ready for you!"
The owner was carrying a paper bag carefully wrapped in thick kraft paper, still emitting wisps of heat. He walked to the counter and handed the bag to Kanae.
"The special large portion of ramen you wanted, with the soup and noodles separated, and the two extra soft-boiled eggs you specifically asked for, are all in here."
"It's fifty mon in total."
The owner extended a thick finger and tapped on the counter, then as if remembering something, raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the floor where Kocho Shinobu had kicked over a chair when she rushed over.
"Um… miss, please remember to pay for that chair too. That was a solid wood chair I just had made by old carpenter Li last month; it was sturdy, yet this young lady kicked it to pieces in one go… Let's say one hundred mon, so one hundred and fifty mon in total."
Following the direction of the owner's finger, in the corner, the pitiful wooden chair lay on the ground, shattered into pieces, with one chair leg even broken in two, silently telling of the violent treatment it had just suffered.
The air suddenly quieted for a moment.
Kocho Shinobu, whose mind had been completely filled with how to assassinate the demon and how to concoct deadly poison, looked over following the owner's finger.
Her gaze paused on the pile of wooden wreckage for two seconds, and a suspicious blush "flared" up on her originally cold cheeks.
She bit her lower lip in embarrassment, and for a rare moment, her eyes darted around in panic.
Just now… just now she had been too excited. When she saw that figure she had been thinking about day and night, her reason had instantly evaporated.
Let alone a chair, even if a wall had been blocking her path then, she would have smashed through it without hesitation to rush over.
But now, being pointed out in public by the owner in front of her sister, even Kocho Shinobu, who was usually imposing in the Demon Slayer Corps and made countless swordsmen tremble with fear, felt an indescribable embarrassment.
She subconsciously shrank behind Kanae, wanting to use her sister's slender body to block the owner's slightly reproachful gaze.
"Ah…"
Kanae looked in the direction of the owner's finger and also saw the tragically dead chair.
She was slightly stunned at first, a flash of astonishment in her purple eyes, but immediately after, as if she understood something, she turned her head and glanced at her sister, who was hiding behind her with her ears glowing red.
Looking at her sister's long-lost embarrassed appearance, an uncontrollable softness and affection surged in Kanae's heart.
This was her Shinobu.
The Shinobu who always pretended to be fierce, rational, and calm on the surface, but was actually more emotional and softer at heart than anyone else.
That kick she just made didn't just shatter a chair; it shattered the fear and despair that had been weighing on her heart for the past few months.
"Pfft—"
Kanae couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"Oh my, I am truly very sorry, Mr. Boss."
Kanae first carefully protected the paper bag containing the ramen and soft-boiled eggs in her arms, then turned around, faced the noodle shop owner, and bowed deeply.
"My sister here has had a quick temper since she was a child. We have been separated for these past few months. She was just so happy and excited to suddenly see me that she couldn't control her strength for a moment, disturbing you and breaking your things. I am truly very sorry."
Kanae raised her head, her exquisite and flawless face wearing a gentle smile without any gloom, a smile that made it impossible for anyone to get angry.
She used her free hand to fish out a small money pouch from the hidden pocket of her Haori, poured out two shining silver coins, placed them gently on the counter, and pushed them in front of the owner.
"This is two hundred mon, including the money for the noodles and compensation for the chair. Consider the extra portion as a gift to soothe your shock. I hope you won't be angry with Shinobu."
The noodle shop owner looked at the silver coins on the counter, and then looked at the woman in front of him whose smile was so warm it seemed capable of melting winter snow, and all his complaints instantly vanished into thin air.
He wiped his hands on his apron somewhat awkwardly and waved his hands repeatedly: "Oh, no, no, one hundred and fifty mon is enough, no need to give more. I understand too; in these chaotic times, sisters reuniting is a huge happy event, so being a bit excited is normal. You are too polite, miss."
"It's only right."
Kanae nodded with a smile, then turned around and took Kocho Shinobu's hand again.
She gently scratched the palm of Kocho Shinobu's hand with her finger, as if soothing a bristling kitten, her eyes full of tolerance and indulgence.
"Let's go, Shinobu."
She hugged the paper bag in her arms tightly and led her sister, walking step by step toward the outside of the noodle shop.
"We are going to see Tatsu. He must be waiting anxiously. If the soft-boiled egg gets cold, he will show that very aggrieved expression."
Kocho Shinobu let her sister lead her out of the noodle shop.
Her gaze stared fixedly at the paper bag in her sister's arms that exuded the aroma of food, her fingernails digging deep into the flesh of her palms.
Aggrieved?
A man-eating demon, actually feeling aggrieved because a soft-boiled egg got cold?
Sister, just how deeply have you been deceived by that monster?
But no matter how much that demon named Tatsu disguised himself as a human, and no matter what means he used to deceive her sister's sympathy, in front of the deadly poison of wisteria, he would only have a dead end.
She would tear off that monster's hypocritical mask, and she would use her own blade to sever this absurd, sinful connection.
"Hmm."
Kocho Shinobu responded very faintly.
The voice was as cold as ice.
Loving Book So Far? Check Out 30+ Advanced Chapters At PA Treon
patreon.com/FictionOP