Su Chen gave a mysterious smile. "Well? Are you ready?"
Kanao Tsuyuri nodded nervously.
She eagerly awaited the result in Su Chen's hand.
If it landed heads up, maybe I could change?
But...
What if it landed tails up?
Wouldn't I have to stay the way I am?
Still too afraid to talk openly with Su Chen?
Kanao was terribly conflicted.
Su Chen kept putting off opening his hand, too.
The delay made the girl so anxious she nearly jumped.
Finally, Kanao could not hold back anymore.
Her little mouth opened wide. "Su Chen, hurry up and open your hand so I can see!"
"Did the coin land heads up or tails up?!"
The corners of Su Chen's mouth slowly lifted.
He said pointedly, "Kanao, you spoke."
"Me? What did I say? Aren't we looking at..."
Kanao's voice cut off abruptly.
Only then did she belatedly realize.
"Just now... I said so, so much?"
Su Chen continued, "Kanao, you spoke so fluently."
Kanao's heart was in turmoil.
She did not know why she was acting this way.
She glanced at Su Chen's hand, then actually rushed over and pulled his hand open.
But...
There was nothing in his palm!
"How could this be?"
Kanao stood rooted to the spot.
She looked at the sky, then at the ground.
Finally, her gaze settled on Su Chen as though seeking help.
She was a little afraid.
Afraid of the changes happening to her.
Amid that bewilderment and helplessness, Su Chen was the first person Kanao thought of.
Su Chen was gentle, so she instinctively wanted to cling to his warmth.
A strong hand gently clasped her.
Su Chen slowly stepped in front of the girl.
He held her in a comforting embrace.
Only after her trembling became less noticeable did Su Chen say with great patience, "Want to know why?"
Kanao nodded timidly.
Su Chen said earnestly, "Actually, Kanao, it's not that you can't speak. You just hid yourself away before."
"It's not that you can't make decisions, either. You just wanted an emotional anchor to help you make them."
"But have you ever thought about this, Kanao?"
"What were you thinking when the coin was in the air?"
At his words, Kanao lowered her head in thought.
At the same time, Su Chen spoke again. "Actually, the moment the coin was in the air, you had already made your own decision in your heart, Kanao."
Boom!
It was as though Kanao's heart had received a powerful shot of stimulant.
Her trembling body calmed in an instant.
Her tangled thoughts.
Her wandering gaze.
In that same instant, both found somewhere to settle.
Kanao stared at Su Chen with her beautiful eyes wide, emotions overflowing within her!
So it wasn't that I couldn't speak!
It wasn't that I couldn't make decisions, either!
I'd just been keeping myself locked away all this time...
In the moonlight, Kanao's eyes grew more lively.
She wanted to etch Su Chen's face deep into her heart.
At that moment, Kanao truly wanted to say something.
"Thank you, Su Chen."
"I know what to do now."
"I'll keep doing this all morning, too."
Kanao gently hugged Su Chen, resting her head against his chest.
She spoke the words from the deepest reaches of her heart.
She greedily inhaled Su Chen's scent.
Her heart felt warm, almost hot.
Su Chen held Kanao gently, too, lightly patting her back.
After they had held each other for a little while.
Kanao asked the question that had been troubling her.
"Then, Su Chen, where's that coin from earlier?"
Su Chen smiled. "Of course I didn't catch it. That coin fell somewhere nearby."
With that, Su Chen turned around.
He went to look for the coin.
But as he searched, something went wrong.
He could not find it!
Su Chen panicked inwardly. Fuck, I took it too far.
He grew so anxious that he even activated Bullet Domain.
But he still could not find it!
Just then, Kanao's voice came from behind him. "Mr. Su Chen, you didn't lose my coin, did you?"
"Of course not!"
Su Chen answered calmly.
In truth, he was panicking like crazy inside.
It clearly fell over this way just now!
Su Chen grew increasingly anxious.
He searched through the darkness, covering the entire area behind him without finding it.
Just then.
A pair of soft hands suddenly wrapped gently around him.
"Mr. Su Chen, you don't need to look anymore."
Kanao's voice came from behind Su Chen. "I don't need it anymore."
The girl wrapped her arms tightly around Su Chen's chest, greedily breathing in his scent.
There was a trace of dreaminess in her words.
"I found something more important."
"Mr. Su Chen, didn't you want me to do the one thing I most wanted to do?"
Kanao tightened her embrace around Su Chen a little more.
"Now I've done it."
"Mr. Su Chen, let's go home."
The night was utterly quiet.
Su Chen carefully turned around, only to discover that Kanao had already fallen asleep.
Long hours of breathing practice, coupled with frequent changes in body and mind, had long since left the girl exhausted.
Once the shackles on her heart came off, Kanao drifted into sleep.
"This girl." Su Chen gave a doting smile.
Then he gently lifted her into a bridal carry.
Feeling the warmth against his palms.
Su Chen could not help smiling faintly.
Suddenly.
A reflected ray of moonlight flashed across Su Chen's eyes.
He instinctively looked in a certain direction.
There, beneath the moonlight.
The coin lay gleaming atop the flowers picked earlier.
Early the next morning.
Su Chen slept in again.
He had spent a full two hours carrying Kanao back yesterday, wearing his poor lower back out!
After getting up, Su Chen did a brief warm-up before hurrying downstairs.
"Konnichiwa, Mr. Su Chen!"
"Konnichiwa!" Su Chen answered with a smile.
"Konnichiwa, Mr. Su Chen!"
"Konnichiwa!"
"Konnichiwa, Mr. Su Chen!"
"Chiwa, chiwa!"
Kiyo, Sumi, and Xiao Caihui took turns greeting Su Chen.
Su Chen answered each of them.
Su Chen looked around and could not help asking, "Has Shinobu still not come back?"
Kiyo answered, "The Master summoned Lady Shinobu first thing this morning."
"He summoned her again?" Su Chen was taken aback.
He did not know what had happened this time to send Shinobu Kocho, the Insect Hashira, running back and forth again.
It seemed the Demon Slayer Corps really was desperately short of people!
No wonder Kagaya Ubuyashiki went to such lengths to recruit people.
After sending the three little girls away.
Su Chen cast a few furtive glances around like a thief.
Once he confirmed no one was around, Su Chen hurried to the basement.
Then he slipped into Shinobu Kocho's laboratory.
With his first visit under his belt, Su Chen knew his way around this time.
He walked up to the desk.
And picked up Shinobu Kocho's diary quite naturally.
Before you continue