Welcome Back, Yuko

"Sigh."

Being a demon wasn't easy. Yuko sighed.

She removed the veil from her conical hat, which she had been using to conceal her face. Although she probably hadn't grown into anything particularly strange-looking, she couldn't see her own appearance. If something had gone wrong, it would have been troublesome.

There happened to be a bronze mirror in the room. She picked up the mirror from the table and poked at her cheeks.

Everything was the same as before, as if she had merely gotten a manicure.

Just as Yuko was thinking this, she suddenly noticed that something seemed off about her eyes.

She leaned close to the bronze mirror and pulled at her eyelids. In the reflection, there were actually two pupils in each of her eyes.

Well, now she'd never dare make fun of Kokushibo for being a six-eyed lemon spirit again.

Two pupils had appeared in one eye, one large and one small. The smaller one was almost fused to the larger, making it look like some kind of sticky deformity. Yuko's wine-red eyes looked extremely eerie.

Double pupils?

The last person with something this impressive had been some legendary overlord who could lift a cauldron.

Could it be that she had the aura of a king too?

Yuko found some amusement in her misery and carefully examined herself. Aside from the changes to her pupils, there truly weren't any other differences.

Well, there were also two slightly protruding little canine teeth.

Yuko bared her teeth, then focused her energy on the top of her head while facing the bronze mirror.

The next moment, two sinister Demon Horns emerged.

At first glance, they didn't look like demon horns. They looked more like dragon horns.

The horns were at least twenty centimeters long. In other words, once she stood up, she would be about as tall as Kokushibo with the horns included.

This counted as a second growth spurt.

Yuko fully transformed into a demon. Her striking wine-red hair was dyed white from the roots in the blink of an eye, and her fingernails lengthened slightly.

From a distance, she looked less like a sinister, ugly demon and more like some unknown deity.

The only thing that somewhat marred her beauty was the faintly sinister network of veins beneath her skin while fully transformed.

Wow~

I'm breathtakingly handsome.

Yuko's eyes shone.

This appearance is really handsome!

After admiring her own beauty, Yuko returned to her human form.

Only the double pupils in her eyes remained. Perhaps because she was too weak at the moment, she couldn't completely erase the signs of being a demon.

Fortunately, it wasn't too serious. Wearing a conical hat would conceal it sufficiently.

Yuko pondered her plans for what came next in the room.

At the very least, she had to let Yoriichi know she was safe.

But she could only return at night. She was afraid Yoriichi would notice her before she even got close to the house.

It would be bad if he treated her like a minor monster and killed her.

She should at least give him some warning first.

Thinking this, Yuko called over an employee.

"Could you please find me some paper and a pen? I want to let my family know that I'm safe."

Looking at the hair ornament in Yuko's hand, the employee really couldn't think of any reason to refuse.

After writing the letter, Yuko said, "Could I trouble you to deliver this letter to..."

"This is your payment."

The employee accepted the jewelry Yuko handed over. Suppressing his wild delight, he thumped his chest and promised, "Don't worry, miss. Even if it costs me my life, I'll make sure this letter reaches your family!"

Yuko: "..."

For some reason, she suddenly felt a little uneasy.

While the employee was delivering the letter, Yuko continued staying there.

Only several days later, when the employee carefully described Yoriichi's appearance to her, did Yuko finally believe that the letter had reached him.

When night fell, Yuko checked out of the room and walked down the street on an empty stomach.

She was so hungry she wanted to eat people.

In Yuko's eyes, the lights glowing from every household looked like barbecue stalls lighting up beside the road late at night.

They made her want to go over despite herself.

She shifted her gaze away and tried not to think about it as she hurried on through the night.

After becoming a demon, the injuries to her lungs had healed, and her physical abilities had improved tremendously.

She used the breathing techniques of Constant Reduplication throughout the entire journey.

Since mastering Snow Breathing, this was the first time she had used it so smoothly.

Inside the pitch-black room, Yoriichi sat on the floor. Beside him lay his Nichirin Blade, along with another broken white Nichirin Blade.

He hadn't slept peacefully for several days.

Because of Yuko's letter.

[Dear Brother,

I am Yuko. I'm truly sorry for leaving without saying goodbye.

But please listen carefully. After leaving home, I encountered Kokushibo by chance in a certain mountain... After becoming a demon, I discovered that I had broken free of Muzan's control and had not lost my sanity. It seems to be the same as Miss Tamayo's situation... I will return home one night in the near future.]

This letter and the Demon Slayer Corps' report had arrived in Yoriichi's hands almost one after the other.

The Demon Slayer Corps had told him that they had discovered signs of Yuko fighting an evil demon in a certain mountain, but had not seen Miss Yuko herself. They had found only a broken Nichirin Blade at the scene.

The result was obvious.

If she had been an ordinary person, Yuko's letter would have been almost like a message from a soul returning on the seventh day after death.

It was chilling.

Yoriichi glanced at the corner of his eye at Yuko's broken blade and sat there with a grim expression.

He swore that if Yuko's letter had been Muzan's doing, then he would dig three feet into the ground if necessary and unearth Muzan.

Using Yuko's identity to deceive him, desecrating the dead...

Yoriichi suddenly raised his head, staring straight at the door.

Yuko had already entered the city, and the place where she and Yoriichi lived was not far away.

She wondered whether Yoriichi was asleep at this hour.

But with Yoriichi's senses, he had probably noticed her before she even got close.

Thinking this, Yuko carefully approached the house, praying that Yoriichi wouldn't treat her like a minor soldier and patch her up.

She didn't think she could take Yoriichi on right now.

The last person who had confidently confronted Yoriichi head-on was now hiding inside a tortoise shell and refusing to come out.

When she drew near the house, Yuko's powerful senses as a demon instantly detected a figure sitting inside.

In the middle of the night... Did he not sleep?

Creak~

Yuko stealthily opened the door. Moonlight slanted inside, illuminating the lower half of Yoriichi's seated body.

The instant she saw Yoriichi, something seemed to stir in Yuko's heart.

In a daze, a blurry figure holding a Scarlet Blade charged toward her.

Those were the cells of Muzan remaining inside her body.

Yoriichi's eyelid twitched. The Transparent World unfolded before his eyes, and there was no doubt that the person before him was Yuko.

Yet Yuko's murky aura also reminded him that the person before him truly was an evil demon.

Unlike other evil demons, however, she did not carry the foul stench of having eaten humans.

"Um, Brother... Why are you still awake so late?"

Yuko's awkward voice drifted over, and the coldness on Yoriichi's face instantly vanished.

Yoriichi spoke with a moved expression. "Yuko..."

Yuko closed the door and slowly sat down in front of Yoriichi.

Seeing the worry on his face, she smiled gently. "Sorry, Brother. I came back late."

Yoriichi was stunned for a moment, then smiled just as warmly.

"Welcome back, Yuko."

That night, the brother and sister talked about many things.

Having once spared Tamayo, Yoriichi did not believe that all evil demons had to be exterminated, much less when one of them was his own family.

But regarding Kokushibo's actions, he felt only sorrow in his heart.

Not only had he fallen into depravity and become a demon, he had even turned his own little sister into one...