However, good times are always fleeting.
A few days later, the two returned to the Demon Slayer Corps' logistics headquarters, the Butterfly Mansion, in a grand procession, carrying medicine baskets filled with rare medicinal herbs.
The afterglow of the setting sun bathed the Butterfly Mansion's iconic Wisteria garden in a warm orange-red hue.
When Giyu Tomioka and Shinobu Kocho pushed open the heavy wooden courtyard gate side by side.
A figure, as gentle as a spring breeze yet possessing a deadly, mature allure, was already waiting in the center of the courtyard.
"Oh, I knew it! The magpies have been chirping on the branches all day; it must mean my great hero has returned safely!"
Kanae Kocho, like a light pink butterfly, gracefully approached with delicate steps.
She wore an elegant light pink kimono, her long, smooth black hair casually tied back, with a few playful strands falling beside her fair and slender swan neck.
Although the kimono was conservative, it perfectly accentuated her incredibly alluring figure.
At this moment, Kanae exudes a mature "wife-like" Kanae and a fatal allure of a sophisticated older sister.
That was a captivating glow emanating from within after being nourished.
Kanae.
Giyu stopped in his tracks. The moment he saw this woman, the ice in his usually calm, deep blue eyes melted away, revealing a clear and gentle light.
Before Giyu could finish speaking...
Kanae opened her arms wide, like a weary bird returning to its nest, and enthusiastically rushed into Giyu Tomioka's embrace!
"Welcome home, Mr. Giyu."
Kanae buried her beautiful face deeply in Giyu's chest, greedily inhaling his familiar scent.
She reached out her soft, white hands and gently brushed the dust off Giyu's shoulders.
"You must be tired from your journey. What would you like to eat tonight? I'll cook for you myself, okay?"
Kanae tilted her head back, her watery pink eyes filled with adoration for the man before her.
And Giyu Tomioka didn't resist at all. He skillfully put his arm around Kanae's slender waist and pulled her tightly into his arms.
"It will be all right."
However--
Shinobu Kocho was standing less than three meters away from them.
Although she forced a stiff smile onto her delicate, doll-like face, a hint of jealousy lingered deep within her purple eyes.
"How could my sister do this...?"
"These past few days, the person who stayed with him deep in the mountains, and was treated with such tenderness by him, was me!"
"Why is it that as soon as we return here, his embrace and his tenderness belong entirely to my sister?"
Looking at her sister's perfectly justified posture, like the mistress of the house, and at Giyu's natural arm around her waist.
An unprecedented sense of frustration and intense "craving" tore away all her pretense at that moment.
"I'm jealous... I'm so jealous!"
Shinobu Kocho clenched her fists inwardly, a sharp, aggressive glint flashing in her purple eyes.
"We must find a perfect opportunity to... completely win over this man!"
As night deepened, the bright moon hung high in the sky.
Inside the tranquil Butterfly Mansion guest room, only a paper lantern emitting a soft glow was lit.
Giyu Tomioka had just finished showering and changed into a loose, dark blue bathrobe. He was sitting cross-legged on the tatami mat, resting with his eyes closed.
"Splash--"
With a soft creak of a wooden door being pushed or pulled, the paper door was silently opened from the outside.
A certain mature woman's scent, so alluring it stirred the blood, instantly filled Giyu's nostrils.
Giyu suddenly opened his eyes.
Kanae Kocho had already slipped into the room like a seductive serpent.
The nightgown hung loosely on her fair, rounded shoulders, revealing her breathtakingly beautiful figure, slender waist, and long, straight legs under the dim light, exuding a fatal allure that could drive any saint mad on the spot.
"Kanae? You..."
Faced with this sudden, alluring night attack, the Water Hashira Pillar, who was usually unfazed on the battlefield, showed a rare hint of panic in his eyes.
"Mr. Giyu, it's been so many days since we last met, don't you miss me?"
Kanae didn't give Giyu any chance to think or refuse.
Like a cat in heat, she pounced on the tatami mat, skillfully and passionately pinning Giyu down on the soft bedding from her superior position.
"Hmm..."
As Kanae's warm, soft body pressed down tightly against Giyu's firm chest, his two astonishingly full mounds Giyu in mid-air for a moment before finally falling limply to the ground.
He knew all too well that the alluring woman before him was already his wife.
Under Kanae's onslaught of red lips, which was like a storm, Giyu completely gave up all resistance. A hint of desire ignited in his deep blue eyes, and a fierce battle between the woman and the man erupted in the quiet guest room.
"Oh... Mr. Giyu Courage... my husband..."
The usually dignified, virtuous, gentle, and charming Lady Flower Hashira now unleashed her most primal and unrestrained passion on the bed.
Those delicate, irresistible moans pierced through the thin paper door and drifted into the silent corridor.
Meanwhile,
At the corner of the corridor.
Shinobu Kocho, who was suffering from insomnia due to her heavy heart and constant thoughts of Giyu, was wearing a thin nightgown and holding a glass of water when she happened to pass by Giyu's door.
When those unbearable moans reached my ears...
Clang.
Shinobu Kocho's water glass fell directly onto the wooden floor and rolled to the side.
Her body seemed to be frozen in place, completely stiffened outside the door!
On that delicate, doll-like face, it looked as if blood was about to drip from it.
"This... this voice... is that my sister?!"
She could even clearly hear the sound of the bedding rubbing violently, and the man's deep, heavy breathing.
"How could this be...? My usually dignified and virtuous older sister would actually make such... such shameful and wanton sounds?!"
The Shinobu Kocho with shame and indignation, knew from reason that she should immediately flee this place of trouble.
But--,
Her feet seemed rooted to the floor, and she couldn't take a step no matter what she did.
Amidst extreme shame and indescribable, immoral stimulation.
Shinobu Kocho's long, straight legs were slightly brought together...
Her breathing became rapid, and her purple eyes misted over.
"So... Mr. Giyu is this wild when it comes to that kind of thing?"
"If... if I were inside right now, being held in his arms like that, being taken from like that by him, it would be me..."
Once this thought arose, it spread wildly through Shinobu Kocho's mind like weeds, causing a complete transformation in her psychological defenses.
Inside the room,
After the passion subsided, the passion subsided again.
The room was filled with a strong scent of hormones.
Kanae, covered in fragrant sweat, nestled limply against Giyu's broad, muscular chest, her fingers tracing circles on his well-defined abdominal muscles.
"Mr. Giyu..."
Kanae slightly raised her exquisitely beautiful face, flushed with satisfaction, and asked softly in a tone that seemed casual yet held a hidden agenda:
"Did Shinobu cause you any trouble while you were gathering herbs in the mountains? What kind of girl do you think... our Shinobu is?"
As the "first wife" who is tolerant of her younger sister and even completely unconcerned about sharing this excellent man with her, Kanae is trying to find out what's going on and understand her sister's situation.
Upon hearing this question...
After pondering for a moment, Giyu Tomioka praised:
"Shinobu Kocho's medical skills are irreplaceable in the Demon Slayer Corps. In combat, her agility ranks among the top of the Pillars, making her an excellent and trustworthy ally."
"..."
Kanae rolled her eyes inwardly.
"Who asked you that?! You big blockhead!"
Kanae decided to cut to the chase; she looked directly into Giyu's eyes and delivered a straight shot:
"Oh dear, Mr. Giyu is such an idiot. I wasn't asking for her opinion as a comrade-in-arms."
"I'm asking you... as a man, do you have any... romantic feelings for Shinobu?"
This problem arose.
Shinobu Kocho outside the door, stopped breathing instantly. She bit her lip tightly, her heart pounding in her chest, and she pricked up her ears, waiting for the answer that would determine her fate.
Inside the room, Giyu was visibly taken aback.
A hint of surprise flashed in his deep blue eyes, as if he had never considered his relationship with Shinobu Kocho from this perspective before.
After a moment of silence.
Giyu shook his head honestly, his tone completely genuine:
"No."
"I only considered her a colleague I could entrust my life to, and... your sister."
Boom--!
Outside the door.
Hearing this blunt and unforgiving negative answer...
Shinobu Kocho felt as if her heart had been struck hard with a sledgehammer. An indescribable sense of loss and heartache instantly overwhelmed her.
["No... just a colleague... just a younger sister..."]
These two sentences were like sharp knives cutting into her soul.
But--
This feeling of frustration lingered in Shinobu Kocho's mind for only a second.
The next second!
An unstoppable competitive spirit exploded in her purple eyes!
"So, in your heart, I've always just been a colleague?!"
"Giyu Tomioka! You big idiot!"
"Since you have no feelings for me, I'll make you feel them! I absolutely won't give up like this!"
Outside the door, the girl who had been eavesdropping clenched her fists tightly, filled with a desire to conquer, and silently turned and left the corridor.
Inside the room,
Hearing Giyu's resolute answer, Kanae sighed inwardly.
"Shinobu, it seems you still have a long way to go if you want to conquer this iceberg. This is all I can do for you."
Kanae thought to herself helplessly.
Immediately, her watery eyes became hazy and passionate again, and she pressed her full, hot body against Giyu once more.
"Since Mr. Giyu only has me in his heart... then tonight, please love me well!"
Amidst Kanae's soft moans, the second battle commenced fiercely in this confined space!
The battle instantly intensified.
It lasted for a full hour!
However, this was ultimately a fierce and brutal battle in which a thousand enemies were killed while eight hundred of their own were lost.