Let's go back about half an hour.
Rengoku Mansion, a quiet and elegant interior.
A faint aroma of matcha filled the air, drowning out the shouts and cries of the men practicing swordsmanship in the courtyard.
With Ruka Rengoku picked up the purple clay teapot and poured the tea into the white porcelain teacup in front of Kanae.
"Kanae- chan, have a taste."
"This is a new tea from Shizuoka that we just got this year; it has a fairly sweet taste."
Ruka put down the teapot, and her gentle eyes, which seemed to see through everything, fell on Kanae's unbelievably beautiful face.
"Thank you, Ruka- neechan."
Kanae obediently picked up the teacup and took a small sip.
After drinking the hot tea, she did manage to calm down after being annoyed by that "straight man's" remarks from a certain Water Hashira Master at the door.
Kanae put down her teacup and sighed softly.
In front of a gentle and insightful mature woman like Ruka, she no longer bothered to maintain that perfect Flower Hashira.
Instead, she revealed a touch of the spoiled and helpless charm typical of a girl in love.
"Ruka- neechan, you heard that down in the hallway too, didn't you?"
Kanae pouted her rosy lips slightly, her delicate white fingers gently twisting the hem of her clothes.
"That Mr. Tomioka is like a rock that's been submerged in the deep sea for a hundred years!!"
"I went to great lengths to find an excuse to get him to spend more time with me, but what he did was..."
Kanae was both amused and exasperated when she thought about what had happened at the door earlier.
"I've never seen anyone so blunt as to expose a girl's attempt to be cute!"
"Pfft..."
Hearing Kanae's slightly aggrieved complaint, even the usually dignified Ruka couldn't help but cover her mouth with her sleeve and laugh.
"That's definitely something Mr. Tomioka would do."
Ruka's smile deepened.
"However, this also precisely shows that he has no ulterior motives whatsoever; he's as innocent as a child."
Ruka leaned forward slightly, looking at Kanae with tender eyes.
"Actually, those swordsmen who can unleash their full power on the battlefield are often the same kind of stubborn and inflexible people in real life."
She turned her head, her gaze peering through the crack in the paper door at her husband in the courtyard, who was drinking heartily from a gourd. Her eyes were filled with undisguised longing and remembrance.
"When Shinjuro was young, he was even more impressive than Mr. Tomioka."
"His mind is filled with nothing but wielding a sword and killing demons; he can't even utter a single kind word."
Kanae opened her pink eyes wide in surprise.
Was Mr. Rengoku like this before?
"Yes."
Ruka withdrew her gaze, took Kanae's hand, and gently patted the back of her hand.
"These men dedicated all their passion, reason, and lives to the cause of slaying demons."
"When they face evil spirits, they are invincible swords;"
But when faced with tender emotions, they become clumsy and at a loss.
Ruka's voice was soft, yet every word struck Kanae's heart.
"Kanae, the way you look at Mr. Tomioka doesn't lie."
Kanae's fair cheeks flushed instantly after her secret was exposed, but she didn't flinch. Instead, she met Ruka's gaze with composure.
"As someone who's been through this, I want to tell you a little secret."
Ruka smiled and squeezed Kanae's hand a little tighter.
Falling in love with a powerful swordsman is a very difficult thing.
"Because you can never stop him from drawing his sword and charging into the most dangerous battlefield, and you can't be the obstacle that gets in your way."
"Therefore, what we can do is not to change the sharpness of this knife."
Ruka's gaze became incredibly firm yet gentle.
"Instead, it should be the warmest and most embracing scabbard when he returns."
"When he returns to your side, exhausted from enduring wind and rain, life and death, outside."
"You just need to quietly accept his sharpness, soothe his wounds, and tell him 'Welcome back.'"
"This is the way of being a wife for us women."
The warmest... scabbard?!
Kanae listened quietly, her pink eyes glistening with tiny tears.
The image of Giyu Tomioka's perpetually expressionless face flashed through her mind.
That person hid all their tenderness and sorrow deep in their heart, just so they could hold onto their Nichirin Blade and protect everyone around them.
He was so tired, and so lonely!!
Kanae's heart suddenly softened, as if it had been soaked in a pool of warm water.
"I understand, Ruka."
Kanae grasped Ruka's hand in return, her blush still lingering, but her eyes shone with an unprecedented brightness and determination.
I won't force him to change.
"I will melt that ice, little by little, in my own way."
The scene returns to the present.
In the backyard of the Rengoku Mansion.
Having just finished giving Kyojuro Rengoku his "hardcore coaching," Giyu Tomioka was still clutching half a withered tree branch in his hand.
At that moment, Kanae, who had come out of the inner room, was holding his right arm tightly, her soft breasts pressed against his arm without any hesitation.
"I wonder if, after we return to the Butterfly Mansion tonight, Mr. Giyu will be willing to give me a similar 'personal' practical training session in my room?"
Kanae tiptoed, her warm breath brushing against Giyu's ear.
After Ruka's guidance, Kanae's skill level has clearly improved to a new level.
In her gaze toward Giyu, besides the blatant teasing, there was also an unyielding affection and tolerance.
Giyu Tomioka stood still.
His deep blue eyes lowered slightly as he looked at the fair, delicate hand that was tightly holding his arm, and felt the tingling sensation coming from his ear.
Giyu's heart, solely focused on becoming stronger and slaying demons,
At this moment, however, ripples spread out in circles that could not be calmed down at all.
He pursed his thin lips and remained silent for a full five seconds.
"It's time to go back."
There was no rejection, no push away.
He simply turned around silently, letting Kanae cling to him like a koala, and walked out of the yard.
"Haha!! Tomioka, you're such a straightforward person!"
Sitting on the veranda, Shinjuro Rengoku watched this scene and burst into hearty laughter again, taking a big gulp from his sake gourd.
Kyojuro Rengoku, who was just instantly killed by Giyu with a tree branch...
He was standing in the middle of the yard, covered in sweat, his big eyes burning with fierce fighting spirit.
"Hmm! Mr. Tomioka! Thank you for your guidance!"
Kyojuro's booming voice echoed throughout the courtyard.
"I will definitely try my best to lower my center of gravity! I look forward to your next visit!!"
"Then we'll have another intense, close-quarters training session!!"
Hearing the sonic attack coming from behind, Giyu paused almost imperceptibly.
He didn't turn around, but silently made a decision in his heart:
Do not step into this ridiculously loud yard again for at least a while.
As evening fell, the setting sun painted half the sky a beautiful orange-red.
Golden sunlight spilled onto the bluestone path, casting long, long shadows of Giyu Tomioka and Kanae Kocho, which slowly overlapped.
On the way back, neither of them spoke.
Without the threat of evil spirits, without the intense special training, there was only the rustling of leaves in the breeze and the occasional bird call.
Kanae was still holding Giyu's arm.
But unlike the teasing that had a mischievous edge at the Rengoku Family earlier,
She was unusually quiet at that moment.
She simply rested her head gently on Giyu's broad shoulders, moving in sync with his rhythm, like a little wife relying on her husband.
This is a gentleness that needs no words.
Giyu walked, a slight ripple flashed in his usually calm eyes.
He was a little unaccustomed to this sudden silence.
In his memory, this always smiling Flower Hashira always had endless things to say when facing him, or she would get so angry at his silence that she would jump up and down.
But now, the soft warmth pressed against my arm...
Not only did it not make him feel resistant, but it also inexplicably relaxed his nerves that had been taut for years.
He turned his head slightly and glanced at the girl leaning on his shoulder out of the corner of his eye.
The afterglow of the setting sun cast a soft glow on Kanae's profile; her long eyelashes drooped, and a quiet, happy smile graced her lips.
A gentle breeze blew by, and a cherry blossom petal, which seemed to have drifted from nowhere, slowly landed on Giyu's shoulder.
Kanae noticed something and looked up.
Those clear pink eyes met Giyu's deep blue gaze.
The two exchanged a brief glance on the street in the sunset.
Kanae didn't tease him as usual.
Instead, she naturally raised her free hand and gently brushed the petal off his shoulder.
"Thank you for your hard work today."
Her voice was soft and gentle, like a spring breeze, sweeping across Giyu's heart without any aggression.
It's just a simple sentence.
There was no teasing, no interrogation, only abundant tolerance and understanding.
Because she knew that what he carried on his shoulders... was the Oyakata-sama's expectations, and the future of the entire Demon Slayer Corps.
Giyu's apple bobbed up and down.
Looking into the girl's tender eyes, he felt a slight clench in his heart.
He remained the taciturn Giyu Tomioka.
"... Um."
Giyu withdrew his gaze and looked back at the street in front of him.
He managed to utter just this one monotonous syllable.
But at that moment, his usually stiff right arm unconsciously pulled in a little bit.
The movement was so small it was almost invisible.
But that just allowed Kanae, who was holding his arm, to lean against him more comfortably and get closer!
At the same time,
Giyu subtly slowed his pace, accommodating the girl's rhythm.
I sensed the man's clumsy yet subtle tenderness.
Kanae's smile instantly blossomed, more beautiful than the sunset on the horizon.
The two of them nestled together as they walked toward the Butterfly Mansion in the afterglow of the setting sun.
A gentle breeze blows.
The chilly air had somehow become completely intertwined with the faint Wisteria, inseparable from each other.