Warm Sunlight Reaches a Lonely Heart, a Cold Blade Protects a Boy!

"Ouch—it hurts so much..."

Tanjiro Kamado, supporting his back, limped and grimaced as he entered the dining room.

He felt like every muscle in his body was protesting, holding up a banner.

However,

The moment he stepped into the dining room, the aches and pains that had been plaguing his mind were instantly banished by the intense scene before him.

Four people were already seated at the spacious dining table.

Seated in the main seat was none other than Giyu Tomioka, who always stood ramrod straight.

To Giyu's left, Flower Hashira Kanae Kocho is resting her chin on her hands.

Her stunningly beautiful face wore a sweet smile that could melt glaciers, and her pair of bright pink eyes seemed to be born from Giyu's profile.

To Giyu's right, Shinobu Kocho was holding a pair of chopsticks, her purple eyes seemingly burning with two eerie flames.

She snorted in her signature sweet yet sarcastic tone.

While poking seventeen or eighteen holes in an innocent piece of white radish in the bowl, the sour smell could practically waft out of the Butterfly Mansion's door.

At the very end of the table sat a little girl with a single side ponytail and a pink butterfly hair accessory.

She was holding a small bowl, sipping her soup slowly, completely oblivious to the almost tangible aura of chaos surrounding her, as quiet as a lifeless, exquisite doll.

Good morning, everyone.

Tanjiro swallowed hard, and under immense psychological pressure, found an empty seat in the corner and sat down.

As soon as he sat down, his nose, which was far beyond human size, twitched uncontrollably twice in the air.

The next second, Tanjiro's wine-red eyes widened suddenly, his pupils dilating violently!!

"What... what is this?!"

In his olfactory world, human emotions are associated with specific scents.

At this moment, what emanates from Kanae is an extremely rich rose fragrance, as if it were soaked in honey!

The scent was filled with undisguised adoration, infatuation, and extreme tenderness, and like a giant pink fishing net, it enveloped Giyu Tomioka.

That's fine, after all, Ms. Kanae and Mr. Giyu are a match made in heaven.

But!!

What made Tanjiro feel like his worldview was collapsing was Shinobu Kocho!

Tanjiro actually smelled a scent from this usually sharp-tongued pharmacist, like a tart lemon mixed with strong syrup!

The most fatal flaw is that this bittersweet emotional arrow has also precisely and firmly pierced Giyu Tomioka's heart!

Two sisters, both in love with Lord Water Hashira?!?!

Tanjiro stiffly turned his neck to look at the man who was at the very center of an emotional storm, yet was still intently picking out salmon bones.

"Mr. Giyu... you are such a sinful man!!"

Tanjiro inwardly gasped.

He had always thought that Mr. Giyu was just a blockhead who only knew how to wield a knife, but he never expected that this blockhead would unknowingly win over the two most beautiful sisters in the Butterfly Mansion!

What level of luck with women is this?!

Just as Tanjiro was reeling from the explosive gossip,

His gaze inadvertently fell on the little girl quietly drinking her soup.

"To be honest, this is the first time I've ever met this girl."

Tanjiro, acting on his instinct as the eldest son to be friendly, tentatively sniffed the air to try and calm his inner gossip-loving urges, wanting to catch a whiff of the little girl's emotions.

"Breathe--"

Tanjiro took a deep sniff.

"Um?"

Tanjiro was stunned.

He rubbed his nose, somewhat skeptical, and took another deep breath.

No.

There's nothing there!!

There was no joy, no sorrow, no anger, not even the most basic human emotion of calm!

In Tanjiro's olfactory radar, the place where the little girl was sitting was practically a vacuum!

"Is my nose broken?!?!"

Tanjiro pinched the tip of his nose.

Throughout his life, he has been able to sense the emotional fluctuations of both man-eating demons and stray dogs on the roadside.

This was the first time he had ever been unable to smell any odor from a living human being!

"That..."

Tanjiro couldn't hold back any longer, and he tentatively gave the little girl a bright, sunny smile.

"Nice to meet you! My name is Tanjiro Kamado! What's your name?"

Hearing the sound, the little girl slowly put down the soup bowl in her hand.

She turned her head, her purplish-red eyes quietly looking at Tanjiro.

She wore that soulless smile, as if she were looking at a stone.

Then, to Tanjiro's bewildered gaze, the little girl pulled a copper coin from her pocket.

A light flick of the thumb.

"Bite--!"

The copper coin tumbled in mid-air before landing back in the palm of the hand.

She glanced down; it was the front.

So the little girl raised her head and answered mechanically in a flat, monotone voice:

"My name is Kanao Tsuyuri. Hello."

After saying that, she turned her head back and continued to look at the empty bowl in front of her with a smile, as if the conversation had never happened.

"Huh? Huh?!?!"

Tanjiro's worldview suffered its second major setback this morning.

What kind of operation is this?

Why would someone only talk to you after you flip a coin?

And why can't I detect even a trace of happiness in her smile?!?

Just when Tanjiro was completely baffled...

"I'm stuffed."

Giyu Tomioka decisively put down the empty bowl in his hand and clasped his hands together.

He stood up, completely ignoring the two conflicting emotional auras around him, and straightened the hem of his casual clothes.

"Thank you for your hospitality. I have very important matters to attend to, so please excuse me."

After saying that, Giyu turned around and walked out of the dining room without any hesitation.

Watching that broad figure disappear through the door, Kanae's smile softened even more, while Shinobu bit her lip in annoyance and muttered under her breath, "Big blockhead."

"Tanjiro."

Kanae turned her head, her watery eyes looking at the red-haired boy who was still staring blankly at Kanao.

"Were you wondering why Kanao reacted that way just now?"

Tanjiro nodded repeatedly, like a chick pecking at rice.

"Yes! Ms. Kanae, my nose has never failed me, but I can't smell any emotion on Kanao. She's like... an empty shell."

Upon hearing the word "empty shell, "Kanae and Shinobu's eyes dimmed simultaneously.

"You smell it right, Tanjiro."

Kanae sighed, looking at Kanao with pity as she remained unresponsive.

"Kanao is a child we took in. She suffered cruel abuse when she was very young!!"

"In order to survive, her heart activated a self-protection mechanism, completely severing all emotional connections."

"She doesn't know what pain is, she doesn't know what happiness is, she's even lost the ability to make her own decisions!!... If no one gives her a clear instruction, she'd rather starve to death than eat a single bite."

"That coin was a tool I made for her. When she encounters something she can't decide, she uses a coin to make a decision."

"How so..."

Upon hearing this, Tanjiro's wine-red eyes instantly welled up with intense heartache.

As the eldest son who had always been treated gently by his family, he simply couldn't imagine how much pain a girl would have to endure to completely close her heart to him!

"Tanjiro."

Kanae suddenly stood up, walked to Tanjiro, clasped her hands together, and said in an extremely solemn tone:

"I have a very important request to ask of you."

"Huh? A request? For me?"

Tanjiro, flattered, pointed to himself.

"Yes."

Kanae smiled, her eyes filled with trust in the boy.

"Tanjiro is a very gentle child, as warm as the sun. Perhaps this quality of yours can melt the ice in Kanao's heart."

"My request is this: please, do everything you can to make Kanao smile from the bottom of her heart, genuinely!"

"It's not the fake smile you get after flipping a coin, but a genuine smile that comes from feeling the warmth of the world!"

Tanjiro was stunned.

He glanced at Kanae's expectant eyes, then turned to look at Kanao standing alone in the corner.

He seemed to see himself again, desperate and helpless in the snow.

A powerful protective instinct and a sense of responsibility as the eldest son erupted in his chest like a volcano!

"I understand! Ms. Kanae!"

Tanjiro suddenly stood up, pounded his chest, and roared confidently:

"Leave it to me! Even if it costs me my life, I, Tanjiro Kamado, will make Kanao!"

Seeing Tanjiro's energetic and energized appearance, even Shinobu Kocho was still sulking, couldn't help but burst out laughing.

And so, from this very second...

Tanjiro has completely unleashed his terrifyingly relentless and persistent attack mode!

After breakfast, Kanao went to the courtyard as usual to gaze at the sky in a daze.

Tanjiro was like a piece of chewing gum that wouldn't let go, and he came right up to her.

"Kanao! Look how blue the sky is! Let me tell you a joke!"

Tanjiro danced wildly, his facial expressions exaggerated to the extreme.

Once upon a time, there were two crows, one called "Coo-Coo" and the other "Cluck-Cluck." One day...

He struggled to tell a joke that was so lame it was practically ice-cold, then looked at Kanao with expectant eyes.

Kanao blinked, silently took out a coin, and flicked it!

--Opposite side!!

So she didn't say a word, or even blink, and continued to look at the sky.

"Damn it! The lame joke tactic failed!"

Tanjiro gritted his teeth in frustration, but his stubbornness was fully unleashed.

"Then let's try acrobatics!"

Tanjiro did a handstand right there in the corridor, even supporting himself with two fingers as he struggled to make a face!

"Look, look! Kanao! Don't I look like an upside-down giant monkey?!"

Kanao tilted her head, looking at Tanjiro, whose face was flushed red.

She took out the coins again.

"Bite--!"

--front.

Kanao gave her signature hollow smile and said softly:

"You have great balance. Goodbye."

After saying that, she turned and left, leaving Tanjiro standing upside down in the wind, bewildered.

"No! I will never give up! Even if it takes ten thousand times, I will make you hear the voice of your own heart!"

Tanjiro landed on his feet and, like a tireless perpetual motion machine, chased after Kanao's retreating figure once more.

The courtyard of the Butterfly Mansion was suddenly filled with the boy's energetic yet somewhat comical shouts.

On the other hand, Giyu Tomioka, who had left the Butterfly Mansion, did not go for his usual sword-wielding training.

He was dressed in simple casual clothes, and although his pace seemed unhurried, each step he took covered an eerily long distance.

His direction was very clear— the Ubuyashiki Estate.

Walking along the quiet mountain path, complex thoughts surged in Giyu's deep blue eyes.

There are less than two days left until the Hashira Meeting that will decide Tanjiro's fate.

Giyu knew better than anyone what a brutal verbal attack it would be.

A boy who has overcome sunlight and whose body is filled with the Demon King's Blood is, to the Pillars who hate demons to the core, an ultimate heretic who must be physically exorcised on the spot.

"Shinazugawa will definitely draw his sword, and Mr. Gyomei will show no mercy."

"Tanjiro's weak and feeble words alone are simply not enough to persuade them."

"If we want to save Tanjiro, we must secure a voice with real weight before the meeting begins."

Within the Demon Slayer Corps, he is the only one capable of suppressing all the Pillars and delivering the final blow.

Only that person!!

He has always been a loner and disdains cultivating any professional relationships.

But this time, for the sake of the red-haired boy who was fighting against his demonic instincts with all his might, he decided to make an exception.

This is also to honor Mr. Tanjuro's weighty entrustment on his deathbed.

Lord Water Hashira decided to do something unprecedented: pull some strings.

Before long, Giyu had passed through many hidden checkpoints and arrived at the back mountain where the Ubuyashiki Estate was located.

This is the most solemn and sacred place for the Demon Slayer Corps.

--Hero 'Heroes' Tomb.

The Wisteria covering the hillsides swayed gently in the breeze.

Rows of cold, blue stone tombstones stood in neat rows.

Buried here are swordsmen who sacrificed their lives in the darkness to protect humanity.

The air here seems to carry an atmosphere of both tragedy and tranquility.

Giyu slowed his pace and walked slowly up the stone path.

When he reached the deepest part of the tombstone complex, he stopped.

Two figures stood in front of a newly erected tombstone not far ahead.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki was wearing a plain-colored haori.

His face held an extreme gentleness that transcended life and death.

Beside him, Lady Amane, with a face as serene and aloof as a fairy from the moon palace, was carrying a basin of clear water.

Kagaya stretched out his pale hand, holding a clean white cloth, and under Lady Amane's guidance, gently and carefully wiped the cold tombstone.

The movements were as gentle as if stroking a sleeping child.

Giyu did not approach to disturb them, but kept a quiet distance and silently lowered his head.

After wiping the tombstone, Kagaya slowly straightened up.

A smile, as warm as the spring sun, bloomed on that face tormented by the curse.

His voice was extremely soft, possessing a magical power that could instantly disarm anyone.

"Giyu- kun, you've arrived..."

Upon hearing this loving call, Giyu's perpetually icy face softened instantly.

"My Master."

"I apologize for disturbing your cemetery cleaning."

"No disturbance."

With Lady Amane's support, Kagaya slowly turned around to face Giyu.

"I knew you would come, Giyu- kun."

Kagaya's empty eyes seemed to reflect the future of the entire Demon Slayer Corps.

"You've never been the type to proactively reach out to me during your breaks."

"For you to lower yourself and make a special trip to this cemetery to find me, it must be because of that child named Tanjiro Kamado."

Giyu's back trembled slightly.

In front of his Master, all his thoughts seemed to become transparent.

"Yes, my Master."

Giyu raised his head, and in his deep blue eyes burned an extreme sharpness and determination that would move even ghosts and gods.

"I came for that boy."

"I would like to ask you..."

Giyu took a deep breath, his words as firm as iron.

"At the upcoming Hashira Meeting, please give him a chance to prove himself, no matter what!"

"He didn't eat people! He suppressed his demonic instincts with his human will! He conquered that raging demonic blood!"

This was the first time in Giyu Tomioka's life that he had used such an urgent, even pleading tone, to argue for another person's fate.

Kagaya listened quietly.

A gentle breeze brushed across his face, which was etched with the marks of a curse.

The smile on his face turned into one of immense relief and emotion at that moment.

"Our invincible Lord of Giyu..."

Kagaya murmured softly,

"He's really becoming... more and more like a real person with flesh and blood."