At those words, Kirishima Bupai raised his signature white eyebrows and let out a deep sigh.
He let the burning Bright Red Blade hang casually at his side, its scarlet glow illuminating his helpless expression. "I know this sounds absurd, and it's hard for you to accept."
Despite his helplessness, his voice was deep and powerful, carrying an unquestionable certainty. "But listen carefully, Kocho..."
"This little girl named Nezuko is different. She's never taken a human life-not in the past, and she never will!"
"She's innocent. On that point, I, Kirishima Bupai, can vouch for her." Though he was serious, his emphatic guarantee sounded like meaningless noise to Shinobu Kocho.
"That's very dangerous, little boy~" Shinobu Kocho's gaze finally settled on Tanjiro. Her smile remained sweet, but her eyes were cold as ice.
She took a light step forward, her slender sword having already slipped past its guard again at some point.
As though coaxing a child who didn't know any better, she lowered her voice. "Won't you move aside? What you're protecting... is a human-eating 'demon,' you know."
"No! That's not true! Nezuko really..." Tanjiro stumbled over his words, so anxious he was nearly in tears as he tried to explain again.
"Tanjiro!" Kirishima Bupai's deep voice cut him off. "Take Nezuko and go. Leave me to discuss this with her."
Tanjiro shuddered and gave Kirishima Bupai's broad, mountainlike back a grateful look, without hesitating another second.
"Yes! Thank you, Mr. Bupai!"
He nodded sharply, quickly turned and opened the wooden box, then scooped up Nezuko, who was curled inside. Settling her securely on his back, he burst into his fastest sprint and raced into the depths of the forest without looking back.
"Oh dear, that won't do~"
The smile instantly vanished from Shinobu Kocho's face, replaced by icy killing intent.
Her purple figure shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, her slender sword pointing straight in the direction Tanjiro had fled.
Clang-!!!
A piercing metallic clash rang out as dazzling sparks burst into the night sky.
Like a phantom, Kirishima Bupai appeared in Shinobu Kocho's path once again.
His scarlet Bright Red Blade firmly blocked her thrusting sword.
Under the tremendous force of the collision, Shinobu Kocho's light body was sent drifting several steps backward before she regained her footing.
Shinobu Kocho slowly raised her head, the smile entirely gone from her face.
For the first time, her purple eyes looked squarely at Kirishima Bupai with such clarity, her beautiful gaze filled with disbelief and bone-chilling scrutiny.
"Mr. Bupai... you're openly violating Corps rules." A trace of anger colored her voice, but there was more incomprehension. She enunciated each word. "It seems now... that you're serious."
Lowering her body slightly, Shinobu Kocho assumed an offensive stance, ready to spring. "But... I don't have time to play this pointless game of hide-and-seek with you..."
Before her words had faded, Shinobu Kocho drove hard with both legs, her petite body shooting into the air like a cannonball as she attempted to leap straight over Kirishima Bupai and pursue Tanjiro and his sister.
Yet before her body had risen even three feet...
A strong, powerful arm swept around her slender yet powerful waist with lightning speed.
"Mm!"
Shinobu Kocho let out a short, muffled grunt.
The two froze in midair in an extremely strange and awkward position.
As though carrying a bundle of firewood under his arm, Kirishima Bupai held the Insect Hashira tightly against his side.
At this sudden turn, Shinobu Kocho's long purple hair spilled loose, and for the first time, her face showed the shock of being caught off guard.
Kirishima Bupai's right hand, however, was not idle.
Holding Shinobu Kocho firmly with his left hand, he turned his right wrist and swiftly ran his fingertips across the scarlet Bright Red Blade.
Carrying a scorching heat, his fingertips instantly carved a clear line of words into the searing blade.
The next instant, his arm muscles tensed, unleashing terrifying strength.
Whoosh-!!!
Like a scarlet meteor shot from a bow, the burning Bright Red Blade shrieked through the air as he hurled it in another direction with all his might.
The blade became a dazzling streak of red light, instantly vanishing into the dark depths of the forest.
"Let go of me!" Shocked and furious, Shinobu Kocho began struggling at once, her dignity and duty as a Hashira so brutally trampled.
She sharply bent her knee, and two sharp spikes, clearly coated in deadly poison, suddenly sprang from the bottom of her delicate shoe's heel.
Hiss!
As astonishing strength erupted from her waist, abdomen, and right leg, the poisoned spikes on her heel stabbed viciously toward Kirishima Bupai's ribs like a scorpion's hooked tail.
Faced with this potentially lethal sneak attack, Kirishima Bupai did not even frown.
Instead, he gave a low chuckle, the corners of his mouth beneath his sunglasses curling into a teasing smile.
"Sorry, beautiful... I'll have to teach you a little lesson!" His deep voice carried a peculiar magnetism.
Immediately afterward, he raised his now-free right hand high-the hand that had once driven Rui to a breakdown and a female demon to despair.
Then-
Smack!!!
An exceptionally loud, crisp slap suddenly rang out, even raising a faint echo through the mountain forest.
Kirishima Bupai's large, strong hand landed squarely and forcefully on Shinobu Kocho's buttocks, their full curves outlined by her tight Corps uniform.
The feel was astonishingly springy, but the sound pierced the night's silence even more astonishingly.
"!!!"
Time seemed to freeze completely at that moment.
Shinobu Kocho's right leg, poised to strike with its poisoned spikes, suddenly stiffened as though someone had pressed pause, stopping dead in midair.
Every muscle in her body tensed...
Slowly, with extreme stiffness, Shinobu Kocho raised her head. Her purple eyes, always brimming with a gentle smile, were now wider than ever before.
Her exquisite eyes were filled with utter shock, bewilderment, disbelief, and...
A spark of mortified fury, fully ignited and fierce enough to burn everything to ashes...
Her cheeks rapidly flushed a searing, unbelievable crimson at a speed visible to the naked eye...
Just like that...
With an utterly petrified expression, Shinobu Kocho stared fixedly at Kirishima Bupai's face, hidden behind his sunglasses and seemingly still bearing a trace of teasing amusement.
Silence was tonight's Cambridge...
Even the summer insects fell silent for me...
There was only the sound of Tanjiro's hurried, fleeing footsteps in the distance, and... the lingering resonance of that crisp echo that still seemed to hang in the air.
A few wisteria petals drifted from somewhere unknown, spiraling leisurely down between their frozen figures.
"M-Mr. Bupai!!!"
Kocho finally broke free of her utter shock.
Her formerly fair, pretty face was now flushed bright red like a ripe apple, even the roots of her ears stained crimson.
She began struggling fiercely, her slender body twisting within Kirishima Bupai's iron-hoop-like arm.
Even her voice trembled slightly with mortified anger. "I never imagined... you were that kind of person! Let go of me! I don't think doing something like this... is a good thing!"
Before you continue