"She was talking about how Mr. Giyu was leaving today, saying she would personally prepare the most sumptuous farewell breakfast for you~"
"... How come the sun is so high this morning, and I can't even see her?"
Shinobu felt increasingly uneasy as she thought about it. She looked up at Giyu and casually asked:
"Mr. Giyu, do you know where my sister went?"
"Boom--!"
The moment the words "Onee-sama" and the questions about her whereabouts came out of Shinobu Kocho's mouth!
Giyu stiffened in an unnatural way at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Not only that!
If you observe carefully, you will find that...
This Water Hashira Lord, who always maintains a regular schedule, now had faint dark circles under his deep blue eyes!
"Cough... cough cough!"
Giyu Tomioka pressed his fist against his lips and let out a stiff, dry cough!
He didn't dare look directly into Shinobu Kocho's clear purple eyes!
He drifted around frantically, like a guilty thief, glancing at the white clouds in the sky one moment and the ants on the ground the next.
"How... how would I know?"
Giyu's voice was so dry it sounded like he was chewing sand; his lying skills were absolutely zero.
"The whereabouts of the Flower Hashira... that's an internal secret of your Butterfly Mansion, isn't it? As an outsider, I shouldn't ask too much."
This blatant attempt to cover up the truth only made Ren frown even more deeply.
But Giyu didn't give Shinobu a chance to continue asking questions or even delve deeper!
Because Lord Water Hashira felt guilty!
He had never felt so guilty in his entire life!
The thought of almost tearing the entire bed apart last night made this innocent man feel like he could die on the spot.
"Ahem... It's getting late. Professor Urokodaki must be getting impatient at Mount Sagiri."
Giyu turned around abruptly and strode towards Tanjiro was still sulking.
No nonsense,
Giyu grabbed Tanjiro by the scruff of his neck like he was holding a Shiba Inu with its fur standing on end!
"Hey? Hey hey hey? Mr. Giyu, what are you doing?!"
Tanjiro was like a rag doll being lifted up, his arms and legs kicking wildly in mid-air.
"Total Concentration: Water Breathing"
Giyu said in a low, deep voice.
"Whoosh--!"
He carried Tanjiro Kamado, and his entire body transformed into a deep blue shadow.
Almost in the blink of an eye, a piercing whistle of air shot through the courtyard, and with unbelievable speed, it completely fled the scene of the crime!
Only a gentle breeze and a few leaves were left behind.
"..."
Shinobu Kocho stood there, stunned, staring at the deserted tree-lined path, a huge exclamation mark appearing above her head.
Why are you running so fast?
Suspicion filled Ren's purple eyes.
"And... why were Mr. Giyu's ears so red just now? He didn't even dare to look at me?"
A woman's intuition is often more terrifying than the Blood Demon Art of an evil spirit.
"Could it be that..."
Ren stroked his chin, a bad feeling suddenly surfacing in his mind.
"What wicked thing has that serious-looking blockhead done?!"
With this strong sense of doubt, Shinobu turned around and decided to go to her sister's room to investigate herself.
After seeing Giyu off, Shinobu went to the kitchen and took out a prepared, exquisite breakfast tray.
The tray held freshly cooked lotus seed porridge, several plates of refreshing side dishes, and a cup of fragrant floral tea.
She walked lightly to the door of the guest room belonging to Flower Hashira Kanae Kocho.
Standing in front of the tightly closed wooden sliding door, Shinobu's mind had already involuntarily begun a crazy, imaginative drama.
In Shinobu's imagined scenario:
My own beautiful and elegant older sister, who is obsessively infatuated with Giyu Tomioka, must be wearing a thin nightgown right now, huddled alone in a dimly lit corner.
My sister's hands were tightly gripping a clean white handkerchief, her eyes were swollen and red like two walnuts, and tears were falling like pearls from a broken string.
"Mr. Giyu is gone... Waaaaah... My heart has been taken away with him..."
"What's the point of my life without Mr. Giyu by my side... I won't eat! I won't eat anything! I'll go on a hunger strike until the day he returns!"
Imagining this, Ren felt a surge of intense heartache and helplessness.
"Sigh, my sister is really something, she's practically become Mr. Giyu's hopelessly infatuated woman!!"
"Although I also like that big piece of wood, I can't go on a hunger strike!"
He sighed inwardly, his expression softening considerably.
"No matter how much we miss Mr. Giyu, health is the foundation of everything!! How can we go on a hunger strike?"
Ren shook her head, extended her slender fingers, and gently placed them on the wooden frame of the sliding door.
"Sister, I'm coming in. Even if you're feeling really down, please have a little bit of hot porridge..."
This was accompanied by a tender call filled with sisterly affection.
"Splash--"
Shinobu very carefully opened the paper door of the Japanese-style room.
However--,
The moment the paper door was pulled open, revealing the entire room to Shinobu Kocho without any obstruction!
"Clang!!"
"Clang!!"
Ren's usually nimble hands seemed to be electrocuted at this moment!
The tray slipped from his hand and slammed heavily onto the wooden floor!
The bowls and plates on the tray shattered into pieces on the floor, and the hot porridge spilled everywhere...
However, Shinobu Kocho was too preoccupied to care about the mess on the ground at that moment.
Her body was as stiff as a statue!
The pupils contracted, dilated, and then contracted again in a frenzy!
What did she see?!
This is not some heartbroken, depressed bedroom!
The once smooth tatami mats are now completely unrecognizable.
The expensive silk sheets were crumpled into wave shapes, and in some places even large tears!
One of the exquisitely embroidered pillows lay in a corner under the bed, while the other hung forlornly on a screen in the distance.
And the air in the entire room...
Ren, with her keen sense of smell honed from years of working with herbs, instantly detected a odor that nearly suffocated her!
The scent mingled with my sister's unique body fragrance.
It ferments and intertwines in the air, creating a sweet and decadent fragrance that makes people blush and feel weak all over with just one whiff!
"What... what exactly is going on...?"
He swallowed hard, his gaze slowly shifting towards the center of the ruins.
In the center of that chaotic "battlefield".
Kanae Kocho, the dignified Flower Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, did not hide in a corner and sob as Shinobu had imagined.
On the contrary!
She was wrapped tightly in a sheet like a silkworm and was sleeping soundly!
This sleeping posture shows absolutely no trace of hunger strike or depression!
This is clearly a lazy Persian cat that's eaten and drunk its fill and is extremely satisfied!
Even worse!
The thin sheet couldn't hide Kanae's stunning figure at all.
Her fair and delicate shoulders were exposed to the air without reservation.
The edge of the sheet subtly outlined her breathtaking, almost unfairly exaggerated curves.
If that were all, it would be fine.
When Shinobu gazed upon Kanae's fair neck, delicate collarbone, and even the snow-white skin that stretched deep into the sheets...
Ren's brain exploded with a "boom"!
On my sister's perfect skin, there were scattered... suspicious light red "hickeys"!
The marks, some deep and some shallow, brazenly proclaimed the frenzied harvesting that had taken place here last night!