Brothers?

"Your name is a lot like the Wind Hashira's. His name is Sanemi Shinazugawa. You two wouldn't happen to be brothers, would you?" Chiba Yo asked curiously.

Clatter.

The Nichirin Blade Genya had wanted for so long fell to the ground. He suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Chiba Yo by the shoulders, and shouted excitedly, "What did you say? My brother's here too? Where is he now?"

Chiba Yo had only meant it as a joke to ease the tension between them, but he hadn't expected Genya to react so strongly.

So they really were brothers?

"Uh, he was just at the Insect Hashira's Butterfly Mansion. I don't know where he went after that. He might still be there," Chiba Yo answered honestly.

"Where's this Butterfly Mansion? Tell me, quick!" Genya asked, growing more agitated as he shook Chiba Yo by the shoulders.

Chiba Yo turned to point out the Butterfly Mansion, only to see the Wind Hashira he had just met passing by.

"Brother..."

Genya let go of Chiba Yo and immediately turned and ran toward Sanemi.

"Brother! I finally found you!" Genya shouted excitedly as he ran toward Sanemi.

Sanemi naturally heard Genya's voice as well. He turned his head and saw him, looking surprised for a moment before his usual cold expression returned.

"Brother, about what happened back then..." Genya had come within a few steps of Sanemi, but before he could get his apology out, Sanemi's words cut him off.

"A fool like you is no brother of mine. Get out of the Demon Slayer Corps," Sanemi said icily, staring at his younger brother without a flicker of emotion, as though he were a stranger.

Those cold words stopped Genya in his tracks, and the excitement in his heart chilled in an instant.

But he soon recovered.

My brother must be treating me like this because of what I did back then. This is all my fault, so I have to apologize properly.

"Brother, everything that happened back then was my fault. I misunderstood you and said those awful things. I'm sorry! I've been looking for you all these years. Please, whatever happens, let me stay by your side!"

Genya shouted the words he had kept buried in his heart for years. He was so excited and nervous that fine beads of sweat appeared on his face.

Having finally seen his brother again and mustered the courage to speak his heart, Genya watched Sanemi anxiously. Yet Sanemi's next words doused him like a bucket of cold water.

"Stop shamelessly calling me 'brother' over and over. I don't have a brother, and I don't care what you have to say. Get lost." With that, Sanemi turned and left.

Genya stood frozen, at a loss. He had always imagined what it would be like to reunite with his brother. He had imagined his brother might scold him for what he had done back then, or even hit him. After all, he had gone far too far. No matter how gentle his brother was, he probably wouldn't forgive him right away.

But he had never imagined that his brother would refuse to acknowledge him at all. The brother who had once been so gentle with all his younger siblings now spoke so harshly.

It's all my fault... If I hadn't said those things back then... at least we'd still have each other... But now...

I deserve this, don't I? The little brother he risked his life to protect ended up screaming that he was a murderer. How much must that have hurt him? Even if he hates me, he has every right to...

Genya stood there with his fists clenched, unaware that his nails were digging into his palms. Self-blame and guilt filled his heart, and he didn't even notice that Sanemi had already walked far away. But even if Sanemi had stayed, he would have struggled to say anything more.

"Are you all right?"

A voice sounded beside Genya. Chiba Yo patted his shoulder and looked at him with concern.

Although Chiba Yo still didn't know exactly what had happened between Genya and the Wind Hashira, he could tell that Genya was hurting terribly.

"It's all my fault... I misunderstood my brother... I said those awful things..." Genya could no longer hold back the emotions that had been building inside him, and tears spilled from the corners of his eyes.

Chiba Yo didn't know what had happened or how to comfort Genya, so he could only stay beside him.

After a while, Genya gradually calmed down. But after what had just happened, neither of them felt like training for the time being. They sat together on the steps outside the Corps Barracks and began to talk.

"Thank you." What had just happened had made Genya feel much more warmly toward Chiba Yo, and he voiced his gratitude.

"It's nothing. You..." Chiba Yo had been about to ask what was going on between him and the Wind Hashira, but remembering how upset Genya had been, he couldn't bring himself to ask.

To his surprise, however, Genya brought it up himself.

"You're probably curious about what happened between my brother and me, aren't you? My brother used to be a very gentle person. It must be my fault that he's become like this..."

Genya really wanted someone to confide in, and Chiba Yo happened to be a very suitable choice.

Since Genya was willing to talk, Chiba Yo listened closely.

"My brother and I were born into an ordinary family in a city. There were seven children in our family. I was the second oldest, and my brother was the oldest.

Our father often gambled and beat and berated us and our mother. Whenever he beat us, our mother would shield us beneath her small body.

Later, our vile father was stabbed to death by someone who held a grudge against him, leaving us children and our mother with only each other to rely on. Back then, my brother told me, 'Dad was stabbed to death. From now on, we'll protect everyone. Though why am I saying from now on? They've been counting on the two of us all along.'

I still clearly remember the gentle smile my brother wore then.

Our father's death didn't hurt us very much. All he had done while he was alive was beat and berate us. Afterward, the seven of us children struggled to get by with our mother. Although we were poor, we were all content. As long as we had each other, we were happy.

But that life changed one night..."

At this point, a pained expression crossed Genya's face. It was clearly a memory he didn't want to revisit, but he continued anyway.

"That night, our mother still hadn't come home. I stayed at home to look after our younger siblings, while my brother went out to look for her.

But even as dawn approached, neither of them had come back. I told my younger siblings to go to sleep first, but just then, there was a sudden, urgent knocking at the door.

My younger siblings thought our mother had come home and immediately opened the door. A dark figure slipped into the house and killed the children who had opened the door in an instant. It slashed my face too, and the last little brother in my arms was also wounded and left barely alive.

Just then, my brother rushed in, grabbed the dark figure, and barreled out of the room with it, telling me to run.

When I came to my senses, I was the only one in the room still able to move. Seeing my little brother barely clinging to life, I went out to find a doctor.

But on the way, I found my brother holding a kitchen knife, and our mother lying in a pool of blood..."