"I understand."
Rokuya suddenly laughed. The coldness and killing intent on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by a mercenary, utterly pragmatic smile. The contrast between killing one moment and laughing and chatting the next sent a chill through both Tamayo and Yushiro.
"Let's introduce ourselves again. Demon Slayer Corps, Kai Hashira, Takanashi Rokuno." Rokuya did not offer his hand, merely giving his name and title. "Female demon, what you just said won me over. I'm a fair man. An enemy of my enemy is worth cooperating with."
"Cooperating?" Tamayo froze. She had thought he would, at most, spare them, never expecting him to propose cooperation. As far as she knew, the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps hated demons to the bone and would never compromise.
"That's right. Cooperating." Rokuya hoisted Shura back onto his shoulder as though its three hundred jin of weight did not exist. "I won't kill you. I can even offer you a degree of protection in this part of Tokyo Prefecture and pretend I don't see you. In exchange, you need two things."
"First, you must share your research findings with me, especially your analysis of Muzan's weaknesses."
"Second, act as my radar. Your perceptive abilities shouldn't be weak. Since you've managed to hide in Tokyo Prefecture, you must be able to detect other demons' movements. Tell me where they are, and I'll kill them. Once they're dead, I'll draw their blood and bring it back for your research."
Rokuya looked down at Tamayo, his tone carrying an imperiousness that brooked no argument. "You won't lose out on this deal. I'll do the backbreaking work of cutting them down. All you need to do is stay behind the lines and conduct research. What do you say?"
Tamayo's heart began to pound.
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