Times Were Hard!

Giyu turned his gaze toward Gyomei.

The towering man was chanting a sutra under his breath, slowly turning the prayer beads in his hands.

His wounds were shocking to behold: three claw marks on his back, deep enough to expose bone; a bloody hole that had nearly pierced his left shoulder; tiny punctures covering his calves where threads had pierced them; and countless scrapes, burns, and bruises.

But Giyu keenly noticed that all those wounds were healing.

It was not the twisted regeneration of a demon, but the utmost self-healing a human body was capable of.

New granulation tissue filled the deep wounds, while the surface injuries scabbed over and shed their scabs, revealing tender pink skin beneath.

The pallor caused by blood loss was also giving way to color at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Giyu could not help marveling inwardly.

Mr. Gyomei's physical constitution really was formidable.

He was stronger than the Demon Slayer Corps members known for their physiques, and perhaps even... no less formidable than me, a Hashira.

Giyu's own special constitution had given him extraordinary powers of recovery, but that was an ability bestowed by the "system," almost like a cheat.

Gyomei's strength, on the other hand, was like rock tempered through countless trials—a level of toughness his body had naturally reached after countless battles to the death and training to his limits.

That pure strength, reliant on no outside power, made Giyu admire him all the more.

"Namu Amida Butsu—"

Gyomei finished chanting a passage and slowly turned around.

Although his eyes could not see, he precisely "faced" Giyu's direction.

"Thank you for coming to our rescue, Lord Giyu."

He pressed his palms together and bowed solemnly.

"Had you not arrived in time, I and those two children would probably have perished in the flames."

Giyu shook his head.

"No."

His voice was as flat as ever, but every word was clear.

"You're strong. Even if I hadn't come, you could have protected them to the end."

It was the truth.

In the dozen or so breaths it had taken Giyu to activate the Transparent World Prototype and rush over at full speed, he had "seen" Gyomei's condition. He had seemed close to his limit, but deep within that rock-solid body lay power that had yet to be unleashed.

Gyomei paused, then smiled gently.

"You flatter me, Lord Giyu."

"When we get back,"

Giyu said, his voice still calm and even, "you should be able to become a Hashira."

Gyomei's hand paused on his prayer beads.

Giyu continued, "You killed Lower Rank Three. Defeating a Lower Rank of the Twelve Kizuki on your own is one of the mandatory requirements for promotion to Hashira."

Gyomei was silent for a few seconds, then quietly chanted the Buddha's name.

"Namu Amida Butsu... I only did what I had to do."

"What a Hashira needs to do is what must be done."

Giyu's face remained expressionless.

"Congratulations."

The word was spoken as flatly as could be, but Gyomei heard the sincerity in it.

"Namu Amida Butsu—"

Gyomei chanted the Buddha's name once more, then abruptly changed the subject.

"Mr. Giyu, may I ask if you have time afterward?"

"Hmm?"

"The next mission Oyakata-sama gave me is three days from now. I have that time to rest."

Gyomei explained, "What about you?"

"Oyakata-sama gave me five days off."

"Then..."

Gyomei turned toward the Kocho Sisters, his voice growing softer.

"Lord Giyu, could I ask you to help those two little girls?"

Giyu followed his gaze.

Kanae was trying hard to help Shinobu to her feet, but her little sister had cried until she was nearly exhausted, and her legs were weak. They had tried several times without success.

Two Kakushi members nearby were hesitating over whether to help, but Captain Fujisawa signaled for them to deal with the bodies first.

"They don't have the strength to carry their parents' bodies,"

Gyomei said quietly.

"The Kakushi members will help with the burial, but... having a Hashira-level swordsman preside over it would show greater respect for the dead and bring greater comfort to the living."

He paused, then added,

"Besides, what those two children need most right now may not be a stranger's help, but... the sense of protection a 'strong person' can give them."

"They've just seen their parents killed by a demon. To them, this world has become a place full of terror."

"If, at a time like this, a Hashira-level swordsman who has slain demons were to see their parents off, perhaps it would help them believe that this world still has the strength to stand against the darkness."

Giyu listened quietly.

He was not good at this sort of thing.

Comforting people, presiding over funerals, making children feel safe... none of those were things he was familiar with.

He was more accustomed to drawing his sword and slaying the demons before him, then leaving in silence for the next battlefield.

But Gyomei's words reminded him of his sister.

He had been only nine when Tsutako died.

There had been no parents, no relatives, only an elderly neighbor who had helped arrange a simple funeral.

He remembered the emptiness he had felt kneeling before his sister's grave, as though his whole world had collapsed.

He also remembered how badly he had wished for someone strong to appear and tell him that it was not the end, that there was still a reason to live.

"...All right."

Giyu finally nodded.

He walked toward the Kocho Sisters.

Kanae was trying to help Shinobu up, but her little sister's legs had no strength left in them.

She herself had cried until she was dizzy, her vision repeatedly going dark. Just as she was about to give out, a figure loomed over her.

Kanae looked up and saw a young, aloof face.

The Water Hashira stood before them, his ice-blue eyes gazing calmly at her. Then... he bent down.

"Can you walk?"

Kanae nodded blankly, then shook her head.

"I... I can, but Shinobu..."

Giyu's gaze fell on Shinobu.

The little girl was still clutching her mother's shroud. Her tears had run dry, leaving only hollow sobs.

He was silent for a few seconds, then did something Kanae did not expect—

He crouched down, slipped one arm beneath Shinobu's knees and the other behind her back, and lifted her securely into his arms.

Shinobu's body stiffened for a moment, and she instinctively tried to struggle, but when she looked up and saw Giyu's face, she stopped.

There was no smile on that face, no gentle expression. It could even be called cold.

But for some reason, there was something reassuring in those ice-blue eyes.

Just like... just like the resolve Gyomei had shown when he stood in front of them last night: "No matter what, I won't let the demon hurt you."

Giyu stood with Shinobu in his arms and looked at Kanae.

"Follow me."

Then he walked over to Captain Fujisawa.

"Where will the bodies be buried?" he asked.

Fujisawa hurriedly answered, "There's a cemetery on the mountain behind the village, where Crimson Sakura Village has buried its ancestors for generations. We're preparing to bury everyone who died tonight there. We've already sent members to dig the graves."

"Lead the way."

"Yes, sir!"

At the cemetery on the mountain behind Crimson Sakura Village, dawn was just beginning to break.

More than twenty new graves had been dug, arranged in neat rows.

A simple wooden marker stood before each grave, bearing the deceased's name in ink. The Kakushi members had made them overnight based on the survivors' accounts.

The Kocho couple's graves were in the front row, nestled together just as they had been in life.

Giyu and Gyomei placed the bodies in the graves themselves—Gyomei had insisted on it.

He said that since they had promised to help, they should see it through to the end.

Giyu did not object. He simply took the other end of the shroud in silence and, together with Gyomei, slowly lowered the bodies into the earth.

Kanae knelt before the graves, and after Giyu set Shinobu down, she knelt beside her sister.

The two girls held hands tightly, watching as handful after handful of earth gradually covered their parents' faces.

"Dad, Mom..."

Kanae's voice was hoarse, but clear.

"Thank you... for giving birth to me and Shinobu."

"Thank you for making us so many delicious meals, sewing us so many beautiful clothes, and telling us so many wonderful stories."

She paused, and tears welled up again, but this time she did not sob aloud.

"I'll... I'll take good care of Shinobu. I'll do my best to live on, for your sake too. So... so please don't worry."

Shinobu buried her face in her sister's arms, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Giyu and Gyomei stood three paces behind the sisters, watching quietly.

The morning sun finally rose fully above the horizon. Golden-red light spilled across the hillside, bathing the earth of the new graves in warm color and casting long shadows from the grave markers.

The Kakushi members finished the burial and withdrew to wait in the distance.

Captain Fujisawa stepped forward and looked at the wounds covering Gyomei, hesitating to speak.

"Lord Gyomei, are you sure you don't need to have your injuries treated first? You can leave this kind of hard labor to us..."

"Namu Amida Butsu."

Gyomei turned his prayer beads, a gentle smile on his face.

"I'd only be idle otherwise. Besides, seeing the dead off on their final journey is the duty of the living. It has nothing to do with my injuries."

Fujisawa was about to say something else when Giyu suddenly spoke.

"Where will they be sent?"

Fujisawa immediately answered with a serious expression.

"Our intelligence members investigated overnight. The Kocho family has distant relatives in the county town fifteen kilometers from here, cousins on their mother's side."

"We've contacted them through a Kasugai Crow, and they're willing to take the sisters in. Once matters here are settled, we'll send members to escort them there."

Giyu was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Good."

His gaze fell on the Kocho Sisters.

Kanae was gently patting Shinobu's back, saying something in a low voice.

Sunlight fell on them, turning the tips of their hair a pale gold.

At least they had somewhere to go.

At least they could live on.

Giyu raised his head toward the fully brightened sky. The dawn glow was reflected in his ice-blue eyes, as was the land that had just endured a fight to the death and was now welcoming new life.

Beneath the deep pool, the raging waves had temporarily subsided.

But the darkness remained, and the fight would go on.

And he had already set foot on a road from which there was no turning back.