Returning to the shrine where the wisteria bloomed, Haruto saw a sea of heads.
The swordsmen who had successfully passed the Demon Slayer Corps' selection chatted among themselves, their faces filled mostly with relief at having survived.
Sabito stood beneath the torii with his arms folded, his broken blade still tucked neatly into its sheath at his waist.
Giyu Tomioka stood beside him. After spending half a day unconscious under Murata's care, he had found Haruto and Sabito teaming up to hunt demons and joined the fight without a word.
"This is Giyu Tomioka. We trained under the same master."
Sabito had whispered to Haruto, "He may look like a kid who loves scowling, but he's actually a real scaredy-cat."
When he heard that Sabito had nearly been killed by the Hand Demon, Giyu Tomioka's face had gone white.
To ease the burden on Sabito, who was fighting with a broken blade, the black-haired boy had fought desperately hard.
Now, the two of them watched as Haruto frowned and demanded an explanation from the Ubuyashiki Family's representative-
"Tell me, isn't putting a demon that's survived for over forty years into the selection going too far?
Don't you check every year? A monster that big spent forty years in that mountain. Do you know how many kids with limitless futures he ate?"
The representative looked deeply troubled. "We're terribly sorry. We did conduct thorough inspections, but..."
"Do you know how much stamina it takes to stay in a mountain like that every day? Do you know what stamina means to a swordsman?"
"We're terribly sorry..."
"I'm very sorry, Haruto."
A voice as gentle as a breeze suddenly sounded beside him.
Haruto turned around and found a handsome boy with long black hair standing before him.
He had a pair of beautiful purple eyes, their only blemish the frightening scars spreading around his left eye.
Even so, he still wore a gentle smile. "It's been a while. Is Mr. Goto doing well?"
The boy waved a hand, and the representative bowed to him before withdrawing.
It was Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the current head of the Demon Slayer Corps, only fifteen years old. Haruto knew him.
Although their positions were vastly different, they were close in age and had met several times in the Swordsmith Village.
At their first meeting, Kagaya had been six years old and had already served as Oyakata-sama for two years. Though his face was still childish, his speech and bearing had already been remarkably poised and dignified.
"Ubuyashiki..." Haruto opened his mouth, about to address him as he always had, but then remembered that he had already passed the Demon Slayer Corps' selection and corrected himself. "Master, my master is doing well."
The last time he had seen him had been two or three years ago. Back then, Kagaya hadn't had those scars on his face.
Once those scars covered his entire face...
Haruto lowered his eyes and stopped himself from thinking any further.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki's bright eyes flickered, and his smile grew even gentler.
"If you don't mind, would you like to come inside and talk?" He turned slightly and gestured toward the shrine. "You haven't met my wife yet, have you? Her name is Amane. She's the daughter of a shrine priest."
Of course. Of course.
Only by marrying children from priests' families could the children of the Ubuyashiki Family slow the curse upon their fate, barely extending their lives to thirty.
This was... the Ubuyashiki Family's fate, the gods' punishment for Muzan Kibutsuji having been born into their bloodline.
Haruto's lips moved, but in the end, all he could do was nod.
"Mr. Urokodaki, Mr. Tomioka, please join us as well."
The two fox boys exchanged a glance, brought their feet together, and nodded.
Amane, the shrine priest's daughter, was a beautiful, gentle girl. She had married Kagaya two years earlier, when he was thirteen, and had given birth to twin daughters.
Haruto, Sabito, and Giyu knelt on the polished floor as Amane served them tea.
The latter two seemed somewhat ill at ease. They didn't understand why the head of the Demon Slayer Corps had appeared at what was only the final selection, much less why he was personally hosting them.
Unlike Sabito and Giyu, who were uncomfortable, Haruto was feeling rather wistful.
Damn it, we're not even a year apart. Why does Ubuyashiki have a wife and daughters, while I've spent all these years training and barely even seen a girl my age?
Never mind the village-it's full of fire-masked men obsessed with ore and charcoal furnaces. Even out here at the selection, all I've met are boys like Sabito and Giyu...
Haruto stared resentfully at the teacup before him, ground his back teeth, and said, "I want food."
Sabito and Giyu both froze.
He was asking for food... during an audience with the Master?
Kagaya Ubuyashiki didn't mind at all. In fact, his eyes curved into a smile that said he had known this would happen.
"Amane, sorry for the trouble."
Amane Ubuyashiki went to prepare the meal, while Kagaya sat cross-legged on a cushion and first turned to the two uneasy fox boys.
"Is Mr. Urokodaki in good health?"
Sabito straightened his back and answered earnestly, "Master is doing very well. He's still been going out on demon-hunting missions lately."
"It is thanks to him that the area around Mount Sagiri is so safe. And thanks to him that we have two such outstanding swordsmen as you. Mr. Urokodaki is not only an excellent Hashira, but an excellent trainer as well."
Haruto pricked up his ears. A trainer? He needed an excellent trainer to help identify the gaps in his training and overcome his difficulties.
"Master would be very happy to hear your praise."
Sabito smiled softly. His eyes resembled Kagaya's, and both held the same gentle light.
"Later, you can have your measurements taken where you were earlier and receive your Demon Slayer Corps uniforms.
After that, you will receive your tamahagane, the material used to forge Nichirin Blades. Your own Nichirin Blades will be completed and delivered to you within ten to fifteen days.
I imagine Haruto is already familiar with that."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki looked at Haruto, his eyes curved in a smile.
"Who will be assigned to forge my blade?" Haruto asked.
"Who would you like it to be?"
"Anyone but Mr. Haganezuka," Haruto replied. "I don't want him chasing me with a kitchen knife after a big battle..."
Remembering the eccentric swordsmith with wind chimes dangling all over his hat, and his powerful muscles, Haruto couldn't help shuddering.
Kagaya chuckled, his radiant smile briefly distracting Amane as she stepped into the room.
"The food is here."
Two servants of the Ubuyashiki Family followed behind her, each carrying an armful of heavy meal boxes.
"I haven't asked how much you two eat." Amane smiled apologetically and set two exquisite meal boxes before Sabito and Giyu.
"Please don't trouble yourself, ma'am. This will be plenty."
Sabito looked at the generous portion in his box, then at the nearly twenty boxes the servants were carrying, and hurriedly waved his hands. "That's far too much. We couldn't possibly finish it."
For the first time, panic appeared on Giyu Tomioka's face as well. "One box is enough."
Amane looked relieved. "That's good. I was worried I hadn't prepared enough."
Under Sabito and Giyu's shocked gazes, she placed all twenty meal boxes beside Haruto.
Twenty boxes!
Packed to the brim with grilled eel and yellow rice!
The white-haired boy picked up his chopsticks and pressed his palms together reverently before the food. "Thank you for the meal."
As the two fox boys stared with blank, beady eyes, box after box was emptied. The eel and yellow rice seemed to vanish into a bottomless black hole...
Haruto treated his food with reverence and complete focus, utterly ignoring the barrage of comments that had started flowing again.
[Calling it now: an iconic Food Hashira moment!]
[Yay! It's the handsome fifteen-year-old Oyakata-sama!]
[LMAO, Sabito and Giyu were so shocked they went off-model.]
[I hope those two boys realize the Master might've invited them here just so Haruto could eat his fill, hahahaha...]
Before you continue