Redemption... for demons?

Exhausted, Sabito and Giyu supported each other down the mountain and found two unfamiliar girls outside the wooden cabin.

They were dressed in mourning clothes. One was helping Master Urokodaki prepare the meal, while the other sat by the door washing clothes.

As usual, Master Urokodaki said nothing. The two boys approached, only to hear Haruto's helpless voice from where he lay in bed. "Didn't I already say we'd introduce you to a trainer? You don't need to do any of this..."

"You're seriously injured right now. We're just doing what little we can." Seeing the two return, the pink-eyed girl washing clothes looked up and asked for the haori they held.

"Please don't trouble yourself!" Sabito said in a fluster, shooting Giyu a look.

Giyu put his sweat-soaked haori back on and did his best to force a polite smile.

Who knew where these two girls had come from!

Makomo had only just left! Had Master Urokodaki already taken on new female students?

If Makomo found out, she might never say anything like "I love Master Urokodaki the most" again!

By the time Haruto finished helplessly explaining the situation to them, the meal was ready.

Sabito brought over a stool and sat beside Haruto, holding two spoons. For every bite he took himself, he shoved another into Haruto's mouth.

Makomo had always done this before. Although the Water Breathing swordsmen were all as gentle as water, Makomo was still more attentive when it came to caring for a patient.

After finishing her meal rather stiffly, Shinobu came outside. When she saw Sabito nearly feed Haruto through his nostril, she stepped forward and took over the spoon. "Let me do it, Mr. Urokodaki. Please enjoy your meal."

Sabito hesitated and glanced at Haruto. At his signal, he handed the spoon to Shinobu Kocho.

Sigh.

Haruto sighed inwardly.

These stubborn sisters really were impossible to figure out.

Before anyone agreed to help them, they had been so earnest that it was hard to turn them down.

Sakonji Urokodaki had agreed to recommend them to trainers he knew-he himself had little desire to take on new students these past few years.

Once that was settled, they seemed to feel deeply indebted, as though everything they did carried a hint of atonement.

"Your muscles are far too weak..."

He heard Sakonji Urokodaki speaking with Kanae inside the cabin. "Without enough muscle, you won't be able to cut off a demon's head, no matter how sharp your sword is.

"If you don't sever a demon's head with a Nichirin Blade, it won't die at night. Instead, the demon slayer will be the one who dies.

"With your height, you still have room to work on that. But what about your younger sister? She's short, and her arms are slender. Even if she becomes a swordswoman, how will she survive a demon's claws?"

Shinobu's hands moved quickly. She seemed lost in thought, her expression somewhat blank.

Fortunately, Haruto swallowed fast enough that the spoonfuls of food being pushed into his mouth didn't choke him.

"Perhaps it doesn't have to be about cutting off someone's head or piercing someone's heart."

Kanae answered softly, "Isn't there another way? Couldn't we redeem them with medicine or something else and turn them back into humans?"

"Redemption... for demons?"

Sakonji Urokodaki fell silent.

"Master Urokodaki must think your sister's not right in the head," Haruto muttered under his breath.

To talk about redeeming demons and turning them back into humans when both her parents had been murdered... she really was the very model of a bleeding heart.

Shinobu's hand paused, then she rose and left.

It turned out the bowl was empty. After refilling it, she returned and said quietly, "That demon in the village, the one with horns on his head..."

Her throat tightened. She sniffled before continuing, "His name was Irimura Koichi, because he used to live in the first house at the entrance to the village. He was Father's closest friend from childhood."

Haruto turned his head slightly to look at her.

The girl's nose and eyes were red, tears shimmering in her amethyst eyes. She was struggling to keep them from falling.

"Uncle Irimura was a warm, cheerful man. He watched us grow up, and everyone in our family loved him.

"But a few years ago, he went into the mountains to gather medicinal herbs and disappeared. Everyone said wolves in the mountains had eaten him. Who could have known he'd turned into a man-eating demon and would return to the village years later?"

A clear teardrop struck the ground, leaving a shallow dent in the dust.

"I didn't recognize him. My sister did." Shinobu raised her arm and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. "Our parents probably never knew that their dear old friend Irimura, whom they'd missed so much, really had come back to the village.

"My sister doesn't just show kindness indiscriminately. She only thinks Mr. Irimura had his reasons. The ones who deserve to die aren't the people turned into demons, but the demons who turn people into them."

Haruto sighed softly.

"Separation and loss hurt, don't they?"

He watched the sniffling little girl. "But once you become a demon slayer, that kind of separation and loss is almost an everyday occurrence."

"But wouldn't it be better to prevent it?" Shinobu stubbornly shook her head. "Every demon we kill means fewer families torn apart. Wouldn't-that be better?"

"Your sister's still talking about redeeming them!"

Shinobu Kocho turned her head away, avoiding the subject. "Would you like more food?"

"Of course. I've barely gotten started!"

Sakonji Urokodaki didn't send the sisters away. Instead, he tidied up the empty room to the right of Makomo's and let them stay for a few days.

Haruto could tell that he wanted to change Kanae's impractical notion of "redeeming demons," but didn't know how to broach the subject.

"If there were a demon that could restrain itself from eating people, it might be worth redeeming."

Sakonji Urokodaki said, "But once it's already eaten someone, what need is there to redeem it?"

"A demon that doesn't eat people?" Haruto shook his head. "Could one even exist?"

Humans and demons weren't like humans and fish.

Humans could choose not to eat fish, but demons would eat humans.

Before the weather truly turned cold, Haruto finally became able to get out of bed and walk through the pain.

Although he still needed support, the pain lessened day by day, a sign that he was recovering.

The only downside was that his muscles had atrophied considerably. It seemed he would need a period of physical conditioning even after he fully recovered.

"Doesn't the Demon Slayer Corps have a department like that?"

Kanae looked thoughtful. "A centralized medical department that could also draw up rehabilitation plans after recovery-the Demon Slayer Corps should provide a place like that."

"Members with medical expertise aren't easy to come by. Once you join the Demon Slayer Corps, perhaps you could suggest to Ubuyashiki-the Master-that he establish a department like that."

He had nearly blurted out "that Ubuyashiki kid" again. Haruto glanced at Sakonji Urokodaki and gave an awkward smile.

"Perhaps that day really will come..."

A day later, the Kocho Sisters each departed with a letter of introduction written by Sakonji Urokodaki.

Cang Kong brought back news: Makomo had passed the Final Selection and become an official swordswoman of the Demon Slayer Corps.