The boy left behind

"How do you kill a demon?"

"Cut off its head with a Nichirin Blade, or expose it to sunlight."

Sanemi couldn't bear to watch his mother's head be cut off, so he hoisted her frail body onto his back and staggered out of the house.

Genya had waited in the yard for a long time when he saw several people enter, wearing the same clothes Haruto wore beneath his outer layer.

"Mr. Haruto."

A Kakushi who knew Haruto bowed to him. "Are you feeling better?"

"Thanks to you, I've fully recovered."

Genya watched them exchange pleasantries, watched the Kakushi clean the Shinazugawa home and gather up his younger siblings' bodies.

Where was his brother? Why hadn't he come back yet?

The sun had been up for ages.

The white-haired swordsman's parrot flapped in from outside. "Huh?"

Genya heard the young man make a puzzled sound.

Haruto glanced back at the boy with the Cresthead, who nervously rose to his feet.

"Come here." Haruto beckoned to him.

Calling him a boy was generous; he was still just a child. If not for that tuft of hair sticking up on his head, Sanemi would have looked even smaller.

"...As I watched Mom suffer and turn to smoke before my eyes, I thought more than once about just letting her go.

But you were right. We've already learned what it means to have our family destroyed. There's no reason to make anyone else suffer the same pain."

Cang Kong landed on Haruto's shoulder and relayed the words Sanemi had left behind.

"I wasn't there when my little brothers and sisters were killed, and I even watched Mom die with my own eyes.

I honestly don't know how I could face Genya again. I'll spend the rest of my life regretting what happened.

So I thought about it for a long time, sir.

I've decided to leave and never come back. I'll use the little you taught me about killing demons to take revenge on the monsters that did this to my happy family.

Genya's a good kid. He might get sulky, but he's always been a good kid.

If you don't mind, please keep him with you.

Of course, if you're too busy, we have an uncle..."

Genya looked as though he'd been struck by lightning. He muttered, "What the hell are you saying? What kind of bullshit is that?!"

He hurled the slingshot clutched tightly in his hand to the ground and roared, "You're going to kill demons? Who the hell do you think you are?!"

Haruto stroked Cang Kong's head, feeling a dull ache beginning in his own.

He could pick up no sign of Sanemi anywhere nearby. He must have left a long time ago.

What was this? Entrusting a child to him? More like taking a mile after being given an inch.

Genya rushed out of the house like a gust of wind and ran frantically around the area.

"Go after him."

Haruto tapped Cang Kong, and the white-feathered parrot took flight after Genya.

Haruto pushed open the wooden door and entered the house. The bloodstains had already been cleaned away.

"Miss Yuko." He called to a Kakushi he knew. She was holding a logbook and recording something.

Beside her stood a government official from Kyobashi Ward who had just arrived and was confirming the relevant details with her.

"What's this family's name?"

"Shinazugawa," Tai Fu Yuko answered.

Of the two surviving children, the older one was Sanemi Shinazugawa, and the one with the Cresthead was Genya Shinazugawa.

Haruto rubbed his chin. "Do they have an uncle?"

Keeping a child this young with him would be far too inconvenient. With his regular missions, he simply had no time to look after a kid.

"They used to," the official answered.

"Used to?"

"The Shinazugawa family did have a relative, but he died three years ago," the official said. "His son sold their house nearby, and no one knows where he moved."

Didn't that mean...Genya Shinazugawa had nowhere to go?

If Haruto didn't take him in, the kid would become a truly homeless orphan, wandering through cities and towns.

Damn it! Haruto slammed his fist against the wall in frustration.

If he got his hands on that Sanemi Shinazugawa, he was going to yank out every last white hair on his head!

Haruto said goodbye to Miss Yuko and headed toward Cang Kong's location.

Genya hadn't gone far. In an open space outside the residential area, Haruto found the boy with the Cresthead curled up on the ground.

There were many half-dried drops of blood around him, left behind by Sanemi.

He had curled himself into a ball and fallen quietly asleep, as though his brother were still beside him.

Mount Sagiri or the Swordsmith Village? Haruto spent a long time debating.

Although Master Goto was getting on in years, he still insisted on working on the front lines of swordsmithing. Haruto worried that looking after a growing child as well would be too much for him.

Besides, Genya had explicitly asked Haruto to teach him how to kill demons just as he did. Though Genya never said it, Haruto could tell he still wanted to do the same thing as his brother.

Master Goto had a knack for training people, but he wasn't a professional trainer, after all. He might not be able to teach Genya a Breathing Style properly.

After thinking it over for quite a while, Haruto decided to leave Genya on Mount Sagiri.

Genya wasn't much of a talker and often wore a stiff expression that warned strangers to keep their distance.

But he was still a child, and a few ruffles of his hair from Sabito were enough to make him bristle.

"So what are you to him now?" Makomo asked as she applied medicine to the scars on Genya's face. "His big brother?"

Genya shot a quick glance at Haruto. "No..."

"Of course not." Haruto struggled to tear off a piece of rock-hard smoked pork, chewing it with loud crunches. "I'm his dad. Come on, kid, call me Dad!"

Even after being knocked on the head with the smoked pork, Genya didn't get angry. He merely tipped up his nose and snorted.

As long as it didn't concern his brother who had run away from home, he paid no mind to what anyone said.

And so another little figure joined the back of the group climbing the mountain every day. While everyone else carried rocks, his hands were empty.

"I don't think I can use Water Breathing."

Genya, who had grown a little taller, held Giyu's old sword and told Haruto dejectedly, "Flame Breathing or Water Breathing, it makes no difference for me."

Haruto was surprised that Genya couldn't learn a Breathing Style.

Water Breathing was the easiest of all the styles to pick up. If he couldn't even learn that, he could pretty much forget about becoming a demon-slaying swordsman.

"It's all right. Even without..."

He was just about to offer Genya some comforting words when comments suddenly flashed before his eyes for the first time in ages.

[Wow, long time no see! Another arc before the main story!]

[It's Haruto! Come here, my little white-haired hubby, let me smooch you-]

[How old is the Star Hashira now? How'd he get so tall?]

[Sixteen? Or was it seventeen? Genya's already on Mount Sagiri, so this should be after the Shinazugawa family massacre.]

[The Shinazugawa family's bloodline is seriously badass. Sanemi is the Rolls-Royce of rare blood, and Genya's a demon eater.]

[Too bad only two survived. I wonder if any of the little brothers and sisters had special talents.]

Wait.

Haruto raised an eyebrow. What did they mean by...a demon eater?