Dream Thief

The boy with the mohawk trembled as he put the finger into his mouth and slowly chewed.

Yushiro remained kneeling where he was, but leaned his head right up in front of him, his eyes fixed on the boy.

"Delicious, isn't it? It must be delicious!"

Say it isn't, and I'll tear you to pieces right now!

That was Lady Tamayo's finger!

Genya could no longer answer him.

His reaction was even stronger than the first time he had tried it. His eyes, which had more white than pupil, turned demon-black in an instant.

The fangs he had lost not long ago sprouted again, piercing his lips. His tongue, now a purplish blue, licked away the blood that trickled out.

Genya felt as though his heart was about to leap out of his chest. The pounding inside forced his mouth wide open, and drool spilled down onto the clothes over his chest.

"Hah... hah..."

Tamayo frowned slightly. "Perhaps he's too young, and his body isn't strong enough. Digesting my flesh and blood is still too difficult for him."

Only after a long while did Genya recover his senses. His pitch-black eyes moved slowly. "I think I feel a little better."

Too slow.

Haruto sighed inwardly.

With a "skill cast time" this long, a demon could easily tear him apart and swallow him in the middle of a fight.

But he did not dampen Genya's enthusiasm. Instead, he asked, "How does it feel compared to last time?"

"It feels amazing!" The child was incredibly excited. He felt that his thoughts were moving absurdly fast, and his quivering muscles drove him to dart all around the room like a huge black rat.

"Hey! No matter how excited you are, rein it in! This isn't a playground!"

Yushiro suddenly appeared behind Genya and grabbed his collar, looking displeased.

"And there's this..."

Genya closed his eyes, slowly digesting the information that had appeared in his mind. He held out an arm and pierced it with his sharp demonic claws. In an instant, a faint, strange fragrance drifted from the wound and filled the entire room.

"This is..." Tamayo froze, looking at Genya in surprise.

Blood Demon Art: Bewitching Blood-Daylight Demon Fragrance!

This was her Blood Demon Art. The strange fragrance released through her blood could impair a target's brain function, coaxing them into revealing the secrets they wanted to protect.

Although Genya's Daylight Demon Fragrance could not compare to hers, it already posed a considerable threat.

The demon eater constitution truly was special, and this child, not yet ten years old, possessed even more astonishing talent.

To reproduce her technique with nothing more than a single finger was simply astounding.

Caught off guard, Haruto inhaled the strange fragrance and felt his mind grow dull, as though his thoughts were about to grind to a halt.

Seeing the white-haired brat's sluggish expression, Yushiro secretly gloated.

Lady Tamayo might not have released it herself, but Daylight Demon Fragrance harms the human body. If a human inhales too much, he might end up an idiot...

A clean white towel covered Haruto's face. Tamayo knelt beside him and gently lifted his hand to hold the towel in place.

Yushiro: Σ(っ °Д °;)っ!!!

"Lady Tamayo! Please let me do it! I'll take good care of Mr. Haruto!"

"Make sure you don't deliberately smother him to death, Yushiro."

"Of course I won't!"

After the fragrance in the room dispersed, Tamayo prescribed Haruto some medicine to clear his mind and calm his nerves, then promised to carefully study the vial of blood he had left her.

"Genya's body still isn't strong enough, but that's only natural. He's still young, after all.

As he grows older, his body will develop further, and he'll be able to convert demon flesh and blood more quickly."

Tamayo wrote swiftly on a sheet of paper. "In any case, don't let him face demons alone until he can digest their flesh and blood quickly."

"I understand."

Under Yushiro's murderous gaze, Haruto asked, "May I write to you in the future?"

Tamayo smiled softly, folded the sheet covered in writing, and handed it to him. "Of course. We're now-research partners."

After they left Tamayo's Residence, concealed by Yushiro's Blood Demon Art, Genya seemed rather subdued.

"What's wrong?" Haruto reached out and ruffled his mohawk, sighing a little inwardly himself.

As that Ubuyashiki fellow had said, Haruto needed a Tsuguko to learn and inherit his Star Breathing.

Here, Tsuguko meant a disciple, not an adopted son.

Within the Demon Slayer Corps, there were many master-and-Tsuguko pairs, and some masters even had more than one Tsuguko.

They were different from the usual cultivators and prospective swordsmen. An outstanding Tsuguko followed a master not merely to learn a Breathing Style, but with the determination to learn everything that master knew. The finest Tsuguko would inherit their master's mantle.

Haruto had originally intended to have Genya carry on Star Breathing, even though he had his cheat ability and believed he would live to a ripe old age.

But Star Breathing truly did need to be passed down. It was a powerful Breathing Style, and both he and Kagaya hoped a child would be able to master it.

Yet Genya could not learn Breathing Styles at all.

Haruto did not let his disappointment show. He had learned Sabito's gentle smile-it worked wonderfully for reassuring children.

"Teacher." Genya quietly tidied his hair again. "What... what are demons really like?"

Haruto knew what he was thinking.

Meeting the gentle, beautiful Tamayo and the eccentric Yushiro today had shattered the impression of demons Genya had only just formed.

The first demon he had ever seen was his mother, and every wound he had suffered had been inflicted by her after she turned into a demon.

When he recalled that night, he did not even know whom he should hate.

His mother? No, that wasn't right.

Haruto, for not arriving in time? That would be ungrateful.

His brother, who had left home and was too ashamed to face him? That was even more impossible.

He could only endure his grief and hate the unknown person who had turned his mother into a demon.

In his imagination, powerful demons had to be evil, reeking all over and covered in blood. Wherever they walked among humans, they brought suffering.

Such creatures deserved hatred, giving Genya the conviction to slay demons.

But... but Miss Tamayo was so beautiful. Perhaps beauty had nothing to do with it; she radiated warmth.

She was even a doctor. That very morning, she had still been treating human patients.

Yet she was indeed an extremely powerful demon who survived by drinking human blood.

The contradiction was too much for Genya's little head to handle.

Haruto stood still and pondered for a while.

Wasn't this exactly what had been on his own mind?

Had Kagaya introduced me to Tamayo merely because my blood was special? No, that probably wasn't it.

So he gently stroked the bristly back of Genya's head and answered, "Are there no pitiable people among demons? Of course there are.

Even among the terrible demons who eat several people every day, some might have tragic pasts.

But does being pitiable give them the right to hurt innocent people?

Miss Tamayo is one of a kind. Her resolve is greater than that of anyone I've ever met.

Her hatred of Muzan Kibutsuji may also surpass that of anyone I've ever met.

Genya, don't overturn your convictions because of one exceptional person."

Genya looked up and nodded, only half understanding.

Inside the residence, Tamayo unwrapped the gift Haruto had brought.

It was a pair of scented candles currently popular among young women in Tokyo Prefecture. Shaped like white stone statues, they gave off a faint scent of white camellia and ambergris even before being lit, looking both fashionable and elegant.

Beside the candles was a note listing their name and their top, middle, and base notes.

Dream Thief.

Tamayo turned a candle over in her hands, examining it from every angle, a smile lifting the corners of her mouth.

"An exceptional... person?"

She set down the candle and picked up the syringe filled with Haruto's blood.

"Perhaps he really is... a dream thief."