Han Zhiqi sat on the steps in a white patient's gown, staring fixedly at the courtyard gate ahead, his whole body like a stone statue.
Two days ago, after Xiao Qing and Xiao Cheng had given him a thorough beating and forcibly dragged him back to bed, Shinobu Kocho had rebandaged his wounds. That night, he woke up and sat on the steps by the door. He had been sitting there for two days without eating or drinking. No matter who spoke to him, he ignored them, merely staring at the courtyard gate.
No one knew what he was looking at, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Whenever the Butterfly Mansion trio saw him, they avoided him as if he were a plague. Only Kanao Tsuyuri seemed to regard him as some amusing toy. After eating, she went nowhere else and always stood beside him, playing with his snow-white hair.
To outsiders, Han Zhiqi looked like Kanao Tsuyuri's doll. He did not move at all, and the two of them really did look rather alike.
Kanao Tsuyuri kept smiling, though no one knew what she was smiling about.
Han Zhiqi kept staring, and likewise, no one knew what he was looking at.
There was nothing in Kanao Tsuyuri's eyes, so she smiled.
Han Zhiqi's eyes held everything—longing, pain, despair—so he sat there blankly. He was in such pain that he had lost even the most basic ability to show emotion.
Aoi Kanzaki, her hair tied into twin ponytails, walked to the bottom of the steps. A few days earlier, she had led several Corps members to search for clues about demons near White Snow Mountain, and only returned with her team that morning.
The moment she entered the courtyard, the Butterfly Mansion trio surrounded her and chattered nonstop. When she heard about the boy's strange behavior, Aoi Kanzaki suddenly remembered something that might awaken him.
Aoi Kanzaki patted Kanao Tsuyuri on the shoulder and winked at her affectionately. "So, Kanao, is he fun?"
Kanao Tsuyuri turned to glance at her without saying anything, then turned back and continued playing with the boy's hair.
Aoi Kanzaki was already used to Kanao Tsuyuri's behavior. She muttered to herself, "Ah, it's rare for Kanao to like something other than butterflies." As she spoke, her gaze fell upon the boy.
"Hey. Hey."
Aoi Kanzaki called out twice. Just as the Butterfly Mansion trio had said, this guy showed no reaction at all.
"Don't tell me he really went stupid? What are we supposed to do if he did? Is he planning to mooch off the Butterfly Mansion, eating, living, and being cared for for free? Ugh, just thinking about it gives me goosebumps."
Aoi Kanzaki kept talking to herself, completely unaware that the boy's gaze had been drawn to the necklace in her hand. It held a faintly blue pendant shaped like a teardrop.
Suddenly, Aoi Kanzaki sensed something wrong. The instant she lowered her head, she saw the boy's hand shoot toward her wrist.
Aoi Kanzaki thought the boy was trying to attack her. As a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, she had developed abundant combat experience through repeated harsh training and battles against all kinds of demons.
Almost the moment the boy moved, her body reacted on its own. Aoi Kanzaki performed a graceful flip and landed in the center of the courtyard. Her right hand pressed against her sword hilt as she crouched into a natural defensive stance, staring at the boy with a stern expression.
The killing intent that had burst from the boy a moment ago made her feel that he was dangerous.
"Kanao, get away from him! He's dangerous."
Kanao Tsuyuri stood there woodenly, her hand still suspended in midair in the pose of playing with his hair.
Hearing Aoi Kanzaki's voice, she first looked at Aoi Kanzaki, who was acting as though she faced a great enemy, then at Han Zhiqi. Her right hand pressed against her sword hilt as she also hopped back a step. Yet she did not know whom she was holding her sword for, and she looked at Aoi Kanzaki with a baffled expression.
Han Zhiqi stood at the bottom of the steps, staring fixedly at the pendant necklace in his hand.
"Where did this pendant come from?"
Only then did Aoi Kanzaki realize that the pendant in her hand had somehow ended up in the boy's hand. She was instantly shocked.
Though her rank was not high, she was still a battle-hardened member of the Demon Slayer Corps. Ordinary people found it difficult even to get close to her. Yet a patient had snatched away her pendant without her noticing in the slightest. What did that mean? It meant this guy was stronger than her? Was it a coincidence, or...
"We picked it up beside you when we found you that day."
This was his sister's pendant.
Han Zhiqi vaguely remembered that, on the day his sister had been taken away, she had placed the pendant in his palm. He had remained unconscious these past days and had actually forgotten all about it.
Now that he had this pendant, he suddenly felt as if his sister had returned to his side.
The killing intent around Han Zhiqi gradually faded. He sat back down on the steps. Before, he had stared at the courtyard gate; now, he stared at the pendant in his hand.
Kanao Tsuyuri walked over to Han Zhiqi and continued playing with his hair.
Watching this strange pair, Aoi Kanzaki was rendered utterly speechless.
She had already prepared herself for a fight, but now she could only unwillingly lower her stance. With nowhere to vent her resentment, she could only loudly berate Han Zhiqi for being crazy. Before leaving, she even cursed him, saying he might as well sit there and starve to death. Then she stamped her foot angrily and ran off.
There had only been one weirdo in the courtyard before. Now there were two—two weirdos capable of driving people mad.
Kanao Tsuyuri liked being close to Han Zhiqi, most likely because she felt she had found someone of her own kind.
He sat there from sunrise to sunset. This was already the third day, and no one knew how long he intended to keep sitting there.
Until that evening.
Aoi Kanzaki's voice came from inside the house, calling Kanao Tsuyuri to eat. Kanao Tsuyuri dropped the hair she had been playing with and ran indoors.
While everyone gathered around and ate with great relish, Han Zhiqi silently appeared in the room. Aside from Kanao Tsuyuri, everyone else looked at him with disgust.
Aoi Kanzaki thought the guy had finally become too hungry to bear it and had come in begging for food. She even felt somewhat pleased about it.
"What, you finally know what hunger is? Want something to eat? Let me tell you, we didn't prepare any food for you. Keep starving, then. Hmph."
"Exactly, exactly."
"We gave you food, but you wouldn't eat it. Now that we're not giving you any, you come begging? There isn't any. Hmph."
The Butterfly Mansion trio chimed in one after another. They still held a grudge over him calling them bastards that day.
"What is the Demon Slayer Corps? And what are demons?"
So this guy had not come for food after all. What a weirdo. He had gone three days without eating, and the first thing he said was to ask something like that.
They looked at each other.
They did not want to pay attention to this weirdo, but they worried that if they did not answer him, he would keep standing there. Not only was it creepy, but it would ruin their appetites.
"Demons are monsters that eat people."
"The Demon Slayer Corps is an organization that specializes in killing monsters. You don't even know that? You're unbelievably ignorant."
The Butterfly Mansion trio did not miss any opportunity to humiliate Han Zhiqi.
"Who is the strongest in the Demon Slayer Corps?"
"Of course it's Lord Stone Hashira."
The Butterfly Mansion trio wore contemptuous expressions.
"I want to see him."
"Y-You... want to see who?"
Xiao Qing pointed at Han Zhiqi as if she had heard something hilarious. Holding back her laughter, she looked around at her two sisters. "Lord Stone Hashira? Did I hear that right? He said he wants to see Lord Stone Hashira. Hahaha."
The three of them burst out laughing at the same time.
"Do you think someone as insignificant as you can see Lord Stone Hashira just because you want to?"
Before you continue