"I choose to have it all." Under Sakonji Urokodaki's gaze, Kanzaki Kumo slowly stated his choice.
Kanzaki Kumo had always been a greedy person.
When creating his own techniques, he wanted to cover as many bases as possible.
When he met two girls who had feelings for him, naturally, he did not want to let either one slip away. He even...
Had this been his previous life, he would not have pursued either of them. Penniless as he was, he struggled even to support himself and could not hold a good girl back.
But now, his material circumstances were practically as good as they could get. Only three obstacles stood in his way: the girls' own wishes, Demons, and age.
Although resolving the first two would be rather difficult, it was not impossible. At least, Kanzaki Kumo wanted to try.
"You brat... are you really not afraid I'll purge Kuwajima's school for him?" Sakonji Urokodaki was so angry with Kanzaki Kumo that he almost laughed. His eyes seemed ready to spit fire as he stared at him.
"With your age and experience, Urokodaki-senpai, I don't think you would go that far." Kanzaki Kumo calmly shook his head.
In every world and every era, there were always so-called "upper-class people" whose antics went far beyond simply dating several people at once. At Sakonji Urokodaki's age, he would have heard something of such things and would not actually cross blades with Kanzaki Kumo over the present situation.
Besides, this was not a world that enforced monogamy. A certain flashy fellow, Tengen Uzui, had more than one wife.
"..."
Kanzaki Kumo and Sakonji Urokodaki faced off for a long while. In the end, the latter spoke first.
"Hmph! Remember this, brat. If you ever make Makomo suffer, I will never forgive you."
Matters of love were ultimately the young people's own business. As an elder, this was as far as Sakonji Urokodaki could go.
"What I can promise is that I won't toy with any girl's feelings."
"You'd better keep your word."
Meanwhile, after Makomo helped Kanae settle on where she would be staying for the coming days, they began chatting as they tidied the room.
"Kanae, what suddenly made you want to learn a Breathing Style? Your life at the Butterfly Mansion was so peaceful, and you don't have any bitter grudge against Demons. Won't Uncle Zemu and the others, and Shinobu, worry?"
"The peace at the Butterfly Mansion is sustained by you, Kanzaki-kun, and all the Demon Slayer Corps Swordsmen risking their lives in battle. If I had no talent for it, that would be one thing. But since I have the ability, of course I can't enjoy that bloodstained peace with a clear conscience."
"As for Shinobu and my parents, they do worry about me, but they're willing to respect my choice. After all, they're my family. I'm learning a Breathing Style so I can protect them better, too."
"Hmm... you really are like Kumo in some ways." Makomo tilted her head in thought for a moment, unconsciously looking at Kanae with a hint of scrutiny.
Back when she had opened her eyes in her sickbed and met Kanzaki Kumo's gaze, filled with concern and even self-doubt, she had known she had fallen for him-and willingly so.
The only reason she had not told Kanzaki Kumo how she felt was that she had once heard him mention that he thought he was still young and was not considering such things yet. Coupled with her own slight sense of inferiority, Makomo wanted to wait until she, too, became a Hashira and could stand beside him before saying anything.
But now, Makomo discovered that her close friend seemed to be showing a few signs of the same thing.
"Perhaps this is a kind of fate, too. If it weren't for Kanzaki-kun, whether I'd even still be alive..." With her back to Makomo, Kanae did not notice the change in her eyes and simply went on speaking.
Whenever she mentioned Kanzaki Kumo, her tone and gaze unconsciously grew a little gentler, carrying a touch of admiration and longing. It was not intense, but it was there.
"Knock on wood! Don't suddenly say something so unlucky." Makomo interrupted before Kanae could finish. Having hovered at death's door when she was severely injured last time, Makomo was still rather sensitive to such words.
After all, she was only a teenage girl. If not for the hatred she carried, she might never have set foot on the perilous path of slaying Demons.
That was also what she admired about Kanzaki Kumo and Kanae. Despite having no bitter grudge, they were still willing to join the Demon Slayer Corps as full-fledged Swordsmen.
"Hmm... I really shouldn't say things like that. After all, my parents, Shinobu, and I are all doing well now. That's enough." Kanae considered it for a moment and also felt that what she had just said was not very good.
"Exactly, exactly. We all need to stay well."
As Makomo chatted with Kanae, she tried comparing herself to her, only to discover, rather sadly, that aside from having met Kanzaki Kumo earlier, she seemed to have no advantages at all.
With that thought, she finished the task at hand, went behind Kanae, and threw her arms around her.
"Speaking of which, Kanae, what did you eat growing up? I'm a few months older than you, but not only are you taller than me, even your figure..."
"Eek! Makomo!" Kanae's delicate brows drew together as she caught Makomo's mischievous hands and turned around.
Yet just as she turned, Makomo's hands slipped free and started making mischief again. A little embarrassed and annoyed, Kanae retaliated, and the two beautiful girls began fooling around, their bell-like laughter filling the newly tidied room.
Neither mentioned the earlier topic again.
After sharing lunch in the little courtyard on Mount Sagiri and chatting for a while with fellow disciples Sabito and Giyu, Kanzaki Kumo rose to take his leave.
Kanae Kocho volunteered to see Kanzaki Kumo to the path down the mountain.
"Kanae, although Water Breathing is a good Breathing Style, easy to get started with and fairly strong all around, and is one of the existing Breathing Styles that suits you better, it isn't necessarily the one that suits you best. You're very talented. Perhaps you could use Water Breathing as a reference to create the Breathing Style that suits you best."
Before they parted, Kanzaki Kumo still brought up the subject of creating a Breathing Style with Kanae.
He did not know what had prompted Kanae to create Flower Breathing in the original story, but since she had the talent, even if Kanzaki Kumo's influence had shifted her fate slightly, it probably would not prevent Flower Breathing from coming into being.
"I... will give it a try. Thank you, Kanzaki-kun."
"All right, that's that, then. I'll come visit Mount Sagiri now and then, too. You can go back to the Butterfly Mansion when you have time. They aren't very far apart. I'm off. Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Kanzaki-kun."
After waving goodbye, the two turned and went their separate ways.
There was no need to take a carriage back to the Butterfly Mansion. Kanzaki Kumo's legs served him better than a carriage.
As he ran along at an unhurried pace, Kanzaki Kumo mulled things over.
He kept feeling as though he had forgotten something.
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