Pummeling Kaigaku

He stacked the thick logs he'd carried on his shoulder neatly onto the woodpile in the restaurant's back yard.

Kujo Tachibana slowly breathed out, then looked at the short, rather fearsome old man behind him and said with a smile,

"Old man, I've done all this work for you. Surely that covers my food bill, right?"

Inoue Shogo gave a cold snort and grumbled,

"You brat! Do you know how much of our expensive food you ate in that one meal?"

"Want to leave? Work for another six months!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Inoue Shogo hurried back inside, not giving Kujo Tachibana the slightest chance to argue.

Tachibana could eat enough for three people, but he could do the work of five or six. Even if he had to start paying him later, this deal would still be a bargain.

Kujo Tachibana watched Inoue Shogo's retreating back and rolled his eyes helplessly. He knew exactly what the old man was up to!

It had been two months since he'd left Toyama Prefecture. In all that time, Kujo Tachibana hadn't found the Demon Slayer Corps—or even encountered a single demon.

His money had run out long ago. After two months of Bear Grylls-style wilderness survival, Tachibana felt like he'd practically become a commando.

It was manageable in places with a healthy ecosystem. He could at least hunt some wild animals.

But near Peace Town, things got a little strange. He had no idea why.

Tachibana hadn't spotted a single mouse in the woods outside town.

There were hardly any fish in the river, either!

After going hungry nine times over three days, Kujo Tachibana had no choice but to leave the mountains and enter town, where he ate a meal without paying and was forced to work off the debt.

But that was exactly why Kujo Tachibana suspected something was wrong with this place.

There was a very high chance that a demon was living nearby!

Tachibana couldn't think of any other explanation.

If there was a demon here, Tachibana believed the Demon Slayer Corps would eventually find their way to this place.

So, under the pretense of working off his debt, Tachibana waited for the Demon Slayer Corps to arrive. During the day, he went into the mountains to chop wood and search for the demon's tracks.

After practicing swordsmanship for so many years, Tachibana really wanted to find a demon and test his skills.

That afternoon, as usual, Tachibana was in the restaurant's back yard, splitting the logs he'd chopped into evenly sized pieces of firewood.

Just as Kujo Tachibana was absorbed in practicing his "wood-splitting" swordsmanship, a hurried cry came from the road beyond the wall.

"Can someone help me? That boy up ahead is a thief! Don't run... Stop!"

"That's all the money I have..."

"Oh, gods... Can someone help me?"

The voice belonged to a woman in her thirties with a sallow face. She braced one hand against the wall and held the other to her chest.

Panting heavily, she struggled to chase after the black-clad boy up ahead.

Inada Kaigaku clutched the faded, nearly white cloth pouch in his right hand. Panting hard, he raced forward, glancing back every now and then.

Seeing the woman fall farther behind until she collapsed to the ground, unable to keep chasing him, Kaigaku couldn't help but grin smugly.

Ever since that night when he'd brought a demon to the temple where Himejima Gyomei and the orphans lived in order to save his own life,

Kaigaku had left Himejima Gyomei's free dining hall and gone back to making a living through theft.

Only now, Inada Kaigaku had become much "smarter."

He no longer targeted healthy people. Whenever he arrived somewhere,

Inada Kaigaku would go to the local clinic and quietly wait outside.

He would pick out his target.

The woman today was no exception.

To keep himself from being eaten by demons, he had to become a Demon Slayer!

And on his journey to find Demon Slayers, Inada Kaigaku had always done things this way.

Inada Kaigaku ran all the way out of town, bracing his hands on his knees as he panted heavily and cursed,

"That stupid woman."

"Even if you kept that money, it wouldn't save your life!"

"You might as well have given it to me. Just lie there and rot."

"Honestly!" Kujo Tachibana couldn't listen to any more. With a sigh, he slowly stepped out from behind a tree in front of Kaigaku.

He rolled his neck, then cracked his knuckles, working his hands back and forth.

Kujo Tachibana looked at this "scum of humanity."

He could feel the palpable "malice" radiating from Kaigaku.

For the first time in both his lives, Tachibana felt the evil of humanity so deeply!

When he'd watched the anime in his previous life, Tachibana had simply hated this character.

But now, standing face-to-face with Kaigaku and sensing him for real,

Tachibana couldn't stomach his vile character.

Kujo Tachibana could no longer hold back his fury!

"If I don't beat you until you're disabled today, then I haven't been eating enough!"

Kaigaku was startled when Kujo Tachibana stepped out from behind the tree, clearly "up to no good."

"Who are you?" he asked hurriedly.

Kujo Tachibana didn't bother with an answer. He punched Kaigaku across the bridge of the nose and cursed, still not satisfied,

"I'm your father! Today, your father's going to beat the hell out of you, you unfilial brat!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Kujo Tachibana kicked Kaigaku in the stomach.

The blows left Kaigaku dazed. One hand clutched his nose, which was spurting blood, while the other held his churning stomach. He writhed on the ground...

The next second, Tachibana's toes rained down on Kaigaku's body. No matter how he struggled, Tachibana always managed to kick him where it hurt.

Kaigaku curled up like a worm, squirming on the ground as he begged in broken gasps,

"D-don't... don't hit me... I'll give you all my money... I've got lots more..."

Kujo Tachibana took a deep breath and lifted Kaigaku by the collar with one hand.

With his eyes swollen until only slits remained, Kaigaku shakily pulled several money pouches from his clothes.

Only after Kujo Tachibana took the pouches did Kaigaku breathe a sigh of relief. Then he lowered his head, hiding the resentment in his eyes as best he could.

"Go on, please, just take the money and leave..."

"Someday, someday I'll kill you!"

As Kaigaku silently prayed for Tachibana to hurry up and leave, he fixed Tachibana's appearance, voice, and even scent in his mind.

Feeling Kaigaku's hatred shoot through the heavens, Kujo Tachibana gave a cold laugh and said softly,

"Kaigaku, are you especially resentful of me right now? Do you wish I were dead, or even want a demon to eat me?"

At Kujo Tachibana's words, Kaigaku stiffened!

He thought in terror,

"He knows my name!"

"He knows everything!"

"He's going to kill me!"

The fear of death made Kaigaku start trembling uncontrollably.

As if he could read minds, Kujo Tachibana bent down and whispered in Kaigaku's ear,

"Heh. Don't worry. I won't kill you."

Tachibana wasn't lying to Kaigaku. He truly couldn't bring himself to kill a "human child."

Kaigaku should have been grateful that being a "child" had kept him alive.

But Kaigaku didn't get to enjoy that relief for long.

Kujo Tachibana leaned close to Kaigaku's ear and whispered again, "But I'll ruin you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Kujo Tachibana raised his right fist, extended his middle knuckle, and gave the "load-bearing wall" of Kaigaku's lungs a light punch.

He couldn't hit too hard. If he did, Kaigaku might not survive.

Still want to learn Thunder Breathing? Eat shit! Tachibana cursed silently.

Then Kujo Tachibana tucked the crippled Kaigaku under one arm and carried him toward the clinic in Peace Town.

Kaigaku was now glaring at Kujo Tachibana without bothering to hide his resentment.

Even though he still didn't know what Kujo Tachibana had done to him,

Kaigaku was sure this "devil" wouldn't have acted without a reason.

"Why are you looking at me like that? You're making me look like the villain!"

"Get it straight. You're the villain!"

Kujo Tachibana grumbled and slapped Kaigaku again.