The girl in the wheelchair comes into her own

"I... I mean... I want to stand..."

"Stand... oh! But can you really manage, Sis? You're so badly hurt..."

Tanjiro sighed in relief once he understood what Chinatsu meant, but he still worried about her condition. Anyone who saw those injuries would have taken them seriously.

Chinatsu shook her head to show she was fine. She actually felt very little pain; moving was simply difficult.

After a moment's hesitation, Tanjiro nodded. He carefully lowered Chinatsu from his back. Her feet touched the ground, but her legs had so little strength that she almost fell again. Fortunately, Tanjiro and Nezuko each took one side and steadied her.

Th-this... this was just too embarrassing.

Chinatsu lowered her head, her cheeks faintly flushed. Until then, she had genuinely never imagined a day would come when she needed someone to hold her up. In her previous life, she had been an athlete who could easily do a standing flip.

"Sis, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine. My legs are just weak."

Once Chinatsu stood steady on the ground, she panted heavily, struggling to maintain her balance. To Tanjiro and Nezuko, it looked as though she was suffering from the pain of her injuries.

But to the doctor before them, the whole thing was utterly ridiculous. He had already decided the girl wasn't really injured at all and was just playing a prank on him.

"Kids these days. I'll let it slide this time. Go on, stop bothering me." The doctor waved the three of them away, then returned to his house and shut the door.

Tanjiro wanted to knock and beg the doctor to treat his sister, but Chinatsu stopped him.

"Sis?"

"It's fine. I probably don't need a doctor."

Though those words weren't very convincing coming from someone swaying on her feet, Tanjiro still believed Chinatsu for one simple reason: she was his sister.

After leaving the doctor's house, Tanjiro still wanted to return to their home on the mountain to gather and bury their mother and younger siblings' bodies. Chinatsu and Nezuko both agreed, but before that, Tanjiro made another stop.

About ten minutes later, Tanjiro ran out of a woodworking shop, pushing a simple wooden wheelchair with both hands.

"Sis, use this for now!"

Tanjiro grinned. Of course he wouldn't let his sister walk all the way home like that. A wheelchair was the solution he had come up with.

The wooden wheelchair wasn't cheap, and Tanjiro hadn't brought much money. But he was on good terms with quite a few local shopkeepers, and the woodworking shop's owner readily let him buy it on credit. He could pay once he returned from the mountain with the money.

Looking at Tanjiro's smile, Chinatsu lowered her head, unable to help marveling inwardly at just how kind he was.

Though anime had plenty of kindhearted boys, Tanjiro's kindness truly stood out even among all those protagonists.

Seeing what looked like a smile on Chinatsu's face made Tanjiro even happier. At the same time, he silently resolved to protect both his sisters.

Chinatsu sat in the wheelchair as Tanjiro pushed it, while Nezuko followed happily beside them, her eyes narrowed in a smile. The three slowly made their way back to the wooden house on the mountain.

When they returned and saw their family's bodies, that oppressive atmosphere settled over them once more. Tanjiro silently entered the house and carried out his mother, younger brothers, and younger sister. He dug graves near their home and buried them.

Tanjiro pressed his hands together and closed his eyes to pray for his family, silently swearing to avenge them and find a way to turn Nezuko back into a normal human.

After finishing his prayers, Tanjiro turned and returned to Chinatsu and Nezuko. He had been about to say, "Let's go," when it suddenly occurred to him that he still hadn't properly explained what had happened to his older sister.

Then Tanjiro briefly explained his encounter with Giyu Tomioka and what Giyu Tomioka had told him, putting it all in his own words.

As he spoke, he carefully watched Chinatsu's expression, afraid she wouldn't be able to accept it. Although he had always known his older sister to be open to new things and gentle in temperament, no matter how accepting someone was, there was no guarantee they could keep their composure when faced with something like demons.

"So that's what happened. Tomioka told me to find an old man named Sakonji Urokodaki. If I'm going to avenge our family, I need to get stronger too."

As Tanjiro spoke, he unconsciously clenched his fists, while Chinatsu lowered her head before him. He thought she might be feeling unwell or disturbed by the subject of demons. Just as he was about to comfort her, Chinatsu took a deep breath and raised her head.

"Then let's go. Let's find Sakonji Urokodaki. I'll train with you." A light shone in Chinatsu's eyes as she sat in her wheelchair.

Tanjiro was startled. He had hoped to settle his older sister somewhere safe, then take Nezuko with him to find Sakonji Urokodaki. It wasn't that he thought Chinatsu would hold him back; he was simply concerned about her physical condition.

"Sis, you should get plenty of rest. I'll do my best." Tanjiro tried to persuade Chinatsu, growing a little flustered. But how could she just recline in her wheelchair and watch the protagonist clear dungeons while she idled her way to the ending? Being sent to this world had been so sudden that she felt some resentment, but now that she was here, there was no reason to do nothing.

Chinatsu could still faintly feel the despair and helplessness the body's original owner had felt when facing Muzan.

Unable to do anything, she had watched her mother and younger brothers die before her eyes, then been mercilessly slaughtered by Muzan herself.

Muzan called himself a natural disaster. Being killed by him was no different from dying in a rainstorm, gale, earthquake, tsunami, or volcanic eruption. No one sought revenge against those disasters, and he was merely another kind of natural disaster. Being killed by him was perfectly normal. Anyone who survived an encounter with him should simply be grateful to have escaped with their life...

Just thinking about it pissed me off!!!

Sitting in her wheelchair, Chinatsu grew so angry just thinking about it that she wanted to rush straight up to Muzan, tell him, "Bullshit!" and cut him to pieces.

Chinatsu took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. She knew she had to stay calm. As she was now, she still couldn't do anything. Her immediate priority was to get used to her body, then practice Hinokami Kagura.

I couldn't wait to meet Muzan someday, holding a red Nichirin Blade with my head lowered, walking toward him step by step as I said, "What do you think life is worth?!"

Muzan's expression would definitely be quite a sight.

At that thought, a sinister smile appeared on Chinatsu's face. Beside her, Tanjiro blinked blankly at the sight.

What was Sis thinking about? That smile was so scary...