Haruto's blood

"Please, go ahead."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony."

"Oh, of course, of course."

"Thank you for the treat."

If not for the half-filled cup of blood on the table, the two seated there might really have looked like they were sharing drinks.

The tiny puncture on Haruto's arm stopped bleeding in no time. A swipe of his thumb left not even a trace of the wound.

He was already highly proficient with his Breathing Style. A wound like that could heal on its own in mere moments.

Tamayo dispensed with further pleasantries and lifted the teacup before her. Shielding her face with her sleeve, she drained the blood in one swallow.

Seeing a powerful demon feed right in front of him for the first time still made Haruto a little nervous.

A demon over four hundred years old ought to have good control over her cravings. Haruto didn't want to be laughing and chatting with Tamayo one second, then drawing his sword against her the next.

Besides, Tamayo wasn't the only demon here. Yushiro stood nearby, eyeing him like a hawk.

Haruto was certain that the moment Tamayo lost control, Yushiro would charge over and start by smacking him across the face.

Master and student watched the beautiful woman without blinking. They watched her gently set the teacup on the table, watched the veins rise up her neck, then slowly subside.

Tamayo made not a single sound throughout, as though she had drunk an utterly ordinary cup of Oolong Tea rather than human blood capable of stirring a demon's nature.

What the heck? Guess there's nothing special about it after all.

Haruto felt a little disappointed.

After all, no matter how old people were, they always hoped there was something that set them apart.

Even if being "different" brought no benefits whatsoever.

Tamayo said nothing, staring at Haruto for a long time.

She stared until goosebumps rose all over him and Yushiro was ready to go sharpen a knife. Only then did she pick up a clean napkin and dab the corner of her mouth, her voice gentle and low.

"It seems to taste of Chicken Skewers."

"That's right! I just ate loads of them!" Haruto nodded. "Wow, that's amazing. You can even taste that?"

"I just felt a jump through time and space."

Haruto froze, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. "Time and space?"

Tamayo raised her slender, pale fingers and gently massaged her temples. "Those fragments are still bouncing around inside my head."

"I changed clothes just now, sat by the door waiting for you to come in, and sent Chachamaru to fetch you. The earliest one was seeing a patient this morning...

"After drinking that cup of blood, all those fragments of memory began darting around inside my head.

"Or perhaps they weren't merely memories. It was as though I were sitting where I am now, watching another me do all those things."

Haruto pressed his lips tightly together and said nothing. He felt terribly uneasy, but he couldn't let it show on his face.

What Tamayo described matched his greatest cheat ability almost perfectly in certain respects.

Could time reversal after death actually be reflected in my blood, too?

"This may be an entirely new constitution. I've never seen anything like it recorded in historical texts."

Tamayo closed her eyes and tried to untangle her jumbled thoughts, but failed.

"Hmm... the memories are extremely clear, as though I really lived through them again." She rested a hand against her forehead, her brows drawing together slightly. "But however clear they are, I'm only an observer. I tried to change things... for example, not sending Chachamaru, and having Yushiro instead-ah, it failed."

She opened her eyes and said uncertainly, "Perhaps there wasn't enough blood. Or perhaps I can only look back, not interfere."

Looking at the faint tension in Haruto's eyes and Yushiro's worried expression, she smiled softly. "In any case, against a demon that drinks its enemies' blood, blood like yours might have an unexpected effect.

"But it would also put you in considerable danger. For instance, just now, for one brief instant, I thought..."

The corners of Tamayo's lips curved upward as she spoke wicked words in a soft, gentle voice. "If I drained all your blood, could I turn back time? Even if I were only an observer, watching the people I wished to be with grow up would be a wonderful thing."

Haruto leaned back. "Come on, ma'am. Even if you sucked me dry, time wouldn't rewind four or five hundred years!"

From what Tamayo had said, the blood's effects were still very different from his cheat ability. His heart slowly settled back into place.

Then was Byōha, whom I killed last time, also mentally sent back because he drank my blood-and a whole lot of it, at that?

Was that why he couldn't concentrate on the fight, letting me cut his head off "so easily"?

Whoa...

Haruto broke out in a cold sweat.

It was lucky he had run into Byōha. If he had encountered some other demon that didn't fight by drinking blood, he might have tasted death again, then been stuck on an endless corpse run.

But, looking at it another way... didn't I still kill Byōha through my own abilities?

So do I deserve to be a Hashira or not?

While Haruto rubbed his chin in thought, Tamayo finally metabolized away the effects of his blood.

"What a novel experience. It feels as though I lived an extra day."

She raised the syringe in her hand again and smiled. "Would you mind if I kept a sample to develop medicine? Perhaps, besides the Weakening Drug for Muzan Kibutsuji, I could create a new drug that strengthens the bodies of demon-slaying swordsmen."

Now that Haruto knew Tamayo was Kagaya Ubuyashiki's secret collaborator, he had no reason to refuse her request. Besides, giving a little blood was a trivial matter for a swordsman who used a Breathing Style.

After donating a full syringe of blood, Haruto sat cross-legged off to the side, eating Fried Pork Cutlet.

Tamayo had just sent Yushiro out to buy it. The guy was utterly two-faced: he had agreed readily enough when Tamayo asked, but once he returned, he looked ready to throw the Fried Pork Cutlet in Haruto's face.

Haruto crunched away on his Fried Pork Cutlet, watching as Tamayo and Genya switched roles.

"Lady Tamayo, please let me do it instead!"

Yushiro looked desperate, and he glared fiercely at Genya. "How could we injure your beautiful, precious body over something like this?"

"Yushiro, you aren't strong enough yet." Tamayo shook her head, then grasped her own fair little finger and snapped it off with an expressionless wrench.

Her lower eyelid twitched slightly. Apparently, however powerful a demon was, damage to the body still caused pain.

Genya's mohawk quivered as he watched Tamayo take a deep breath and place the severed finger before him.

Another finger grew back from Tamayo's wound. She wiped away the blood with a tissue, then said with a soft smile:

"Try it. It should taste quite good."

Hmm... sure, that's how the procedure works, but seeing it happen is way too much of a shock.

Look, Genya's face is practically turning green.