"Miss Yuko, thank you for your guidance." On the Training Ground, several Demon Slayer swordsmen whom Yuko had taught bowed and expressed their thanks.
Yuko said gently, "It was all thanks to your own efforts."
"Please keep up this enthusiasm. I believe that one day, your efforts will receive the rewards they deserve."
Everyone stared at her, somewhat entranced. "Miss Yuko..."
Miss Yuko was so gentle.
"Continue training according to the method I just demonstrated." Yuko glanced around the Training Ground, bowed slightly to everyone, and left.
"If only Miss Yuko hadn't been injured."
"With Miss Yuko's strength, she would definitely have become a Hashira if she hadn't been injured."
"Of course! Miss Yuko is the younger sister of those two esteemed men!"
"The Snow Breathing Miss Yuko created is a powerful Breathing Technique on par with First Breathing. Even now, she's the only one in the Demon Slayer Corps who has mastered it."
Everyone gazed at the departing figure with admiration, until someone suddenly blurted out,
"Miss Yuko is so gentle. I really want to marry her and take her home."
His words instantly enraged the others.
"You idiot Matsuda! Why don't you take a good look at yourself first? I'm the only one worthy of Miss Yuko!"
"What? Yamamoto, you can go to hell too! Don't even think about defiling my gentle Miss Yuko!"
Yuko, who had already left, naturally couldn't hear their uproar. Otherwise, she would probably have complained,
Who on earth spread such exaggerated rumors?!
On par with First Breathing, too!
They're trying to praise me to death! Definitely trying to praise me to death!
After teaching everyone, Yuko returned to her room, picked up the tea set she had prepared, and went straight to the rear mountain.
Whoosh—
Before she had even reached the mountaintop, Yuko heard astonishing sounds coming from above.
Kokushibo held his Nichirin Blade and was tempering the Sword Style of Moon Breathing, but judging from his frenzied aura, his state of mind was far from calm.
Yuko sat down beside a stone table and waited quietly.
After roughly twenty minutes, Kokushibo finally stopped, panting heavily.
Yuko called out, "Brother."
Kokushibo sheathed his Nichirin Blade and walked straight toward her.
Yuko poured him a cup of tea. "Brother, please."
Kokushibo picked up the teacup and drained it in one gulp without the slightest regard for decorum. Then he slammed the cup onto the table.
Kokushibo, who usually paid great attention to etiquette, had never behaved like this before.
Yuko's eyes flickered. Noticing the veins gradually standing out on the hand gripping the teacup, she said calmly, "Brother, are you troubled by the matter of the Mark?"
She knew. She had always known.
She was an adult who had lived two lives. When she was young, influenced by Akino, Yuko had once truly regarded herself as a child and acted spoiled in her mother's arms.
But after Akino's death, she became an adult again.
With the delicate emotions of an adult, she understood exactly what kind of person Kokushibo was.
Hearing Yuko's words, Kokushibo tightened his grip on the teacup, and his breathing became slightly disordered.
Before Kokushibo could speak, Yuko continued, "You're unwilling to accept it, aren't you, Brother? Because you no longer have the time to catch up with Brother Yoriichi."
"..." Kokushibo unconsciously held his breath.
Yuko always saw through his heart without meaning to.
Sometimes, compared with Yoriichi, he felt that Yuko was even harder to deal with.
Kokushibo had never liked speaking when talking with Yuko, because he seemed to have no secrets from her.
Noticing Kokushibo's shock, Yuko sighed from the bottom of her heart.
She raised her head slightly, her wine-red eyes gazing gently at Kokushibo.
"You don't need to prove yourself to anyone, Brother. I've always been proud of you."
"Whether it's you or Brother Yoriichi, both of you are irreplaceable in my eyes."
Kokushibo's heart trembled. He lowered his eyes, his pupils shaking nonstop.
He had always known.
No matter how hard he tried to catch up, he could never surpass Yoriichi.
He simply couldn't accept it...
Yuko pressed her advantage. "Brother..."
She paused. An itch rose in her throat, and she couldn't stop coughing.
"Cough, cough."
The coughing tugged at her lungs. The piercing pain made Yuko cover her mouth and bend over in agony.
Kokushibo reached out anxiously to support her. "Yuko!"
Yuko wiped the corner of her mouth, raised her head, and forced a smile. "It's nothing serious."
Kokushibo fell silent for a moment. "Show me your hand."
Knowing she couldn't hide it from him, Yuko sighed and opened her palm. A patch of cherry-red blood came into view.
"When did it get worse?"
"About a month ago."
"What did the physician say?"
"Provided I don't exercise strenuously, I probably have about three years left to live."
Yuko said optimistically, "That's about the same amount of time as the Mark lasts, so you could say it has no effect on me."
Kokushibo remained silent. With his Clear World, he could clearly determine Yuko's physical condition.
However, Yuko had always strongly resisted the brothers' attempts to peer into this particular matter. She called it spying on a girl's privacy and even said a string of things he couldn't quite understand.
Something about posting on Xiaohongshu and cyberbullying him on Weibo.
Now that he thought about it, she had probably been hiding the severity of her injury.
"Talk less. I'll take you to see a physician."
"No need. My body..."
Before Yuko could finish, her brother forcibly carried her onto his back and headed down the mountain.
Yuko was stunned for a moment before the corners of her lips curved upward.
This is fine... Brother...
Kokushibo had been personally turned into a Demon by Muzan. There was no doubt about that.
As for when and where it had happened, she didn't know.
When Yuko was worried at first, she had secretly followed Kokushibo out several times.
But after her physical strength gradually became more and more inadequate, she gave up on following him.
It should be fine, right?
With Kokushibo's strength, even if he encountered Muzan, escaping shouldn't be difficult.
While carrying out a mission away from home, Kokushibo encountered the progenitor of Demons—the Demon King, Kibutsuji Muzan—for the first time.
At that time, Kokushibo still faced the Demon King with his blade drawn, until the Demon King said,
"Why not become a Demon?"
"Once you become a Demon, you'll possess an infinite lifespan."
"You want to pursue higher swordsmanship, while I want to see what happens when a swordsman who knows a Breathing Technique becomes a Demon."
"What do you say? You're different from the other swordsmen. You have a choice."
Kokushibo's breathing caught, and his expression wavered.
Despite Yuko repeatedly trying to persuade him, and despite the changes already taking place in his heart,
the things people desired were difficult to shake with just a few words.
Those whose backs had been bent by reality and who had abandoned their dreams had not necessarily stopped wanting to achieve them.
Once a possible opportunity appeared, they would clutch it tightly, like a drowning person grasping the last strand of straw.
Muzan's voice almost instantly awakened Kokushibo's dream of surpassing Yoriichi.
That's right.
If I become a Demon, if I possess an infinite lifespan, then I'll have the time to keep training. I'll definitely be able to surpass Yoriichi.
And the price was merely being unable to stand in sunlight.
The opportunity to realize his dream was right before him. Kokushibo's breathing grew heavier.
Just as his Adam's apple nearly moved, Yuko's gentle face surfaced before his eyes, followed by her warm voice.
You don't need to prove yourself to anyone, Brother. I've always been proud of you.
Whether it's you or Brother Yoriichi, both of you are irreplaceable in my eyes.
Kokushibo unconsciously tightened his grip on his sword hilt.
Muzan frowned when he saw this.
What a shame. Looks like I'll have to find someone else.
Just as the atmosphere grew completely stagnant, the fingers gripping Kokushibo's sword hilt relaxed slightly. He suddenly asked, "If I become a Demon, can my illness be cured too?"
Muzan froze for a moment, then curved his lips into an ominous smile.
"Isn't that obvious?"
"Once you become a Demon, any injury or illness can be healed with ease."
Before you continue