Sunlight filtered through the wisteria vines, scattering patches of light across the wooden veranda. Kagaya Ubuyashiki still wore a plain, immaculate kimono and sat upright in his wheelchair. Though the curse's purplish-red veins had begun to emerge across half his face, his expression remained gentle and serene, as though he could embrace all the suffering in the world.
"Rokuya, Kanae, you're here." Kagaya's voice held a peculiar magic, calm and steady, making anyone who heard it unconsciously relax their taut nerves. He opened his already somewhat clouded eyes slightly, his gaze lingering on their tightly clasped hands for half a second as the faintest smile curved his lips.
Rokuya unceremoniously sat cross-legged on the steps before the veranda, casually planting Shura on the blue stone slab beside him with a thud that made the entire veranda shudder three times.
Kanae knelt gracefully beside him and bowed deeply in respect. "Good day, Master."
"No need for formalities, Kanae." Kagaya smiled and nodded, then looked at Rokuya. "Rokuya, Goto told me you performed your selection supervision duties on Mount Fujikasane... exceptionally 'well.' That particularly original gratitude ceremony has already become a much-told story within the Demon Slayer Corps."
Rokuya's face instantly darkened like the bottom of a pot.
"Kagaya Ubuyashiki, I didn't come here today to discuss that damned 'Praise the Sun' business!" Rokuya gritted his teeth, a vein in his forehead twitching twice. "If you keep making the Kakushi Corps hop around the courtyard like toads every morning, I guarantee I'll break every last one of their legs tomorrow!"
"What a shame that would be. I thought those movements were full of vitality and team spirit." Kagaya sighed softly, looking regretful, though a distinctly sly gleam flickered in his eyes.
Rokuya took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to draw