Lin Yoriichi looked at the brother and sister, a wealth of feelings welling up inside him.
His arrival had indeed changed the Kamado family's fate.
Nezuko had not become a demon.
Nor would Tanjiro have to stake his life again and again, fighting those hideous demons to the death.
So-
As the culprit behind all of this, that bastard Muzan Kibutsuji had to be dragged out into the sunlight as soon as possible!
After greeting Nezuko and Tanjiro, Lin Yoriichi finally met Kie Kamado.
She still wore that long white garment with a square neckline, along with a white headscarf.
At the sight of Lin Yoriichi, Kie Kamado's face immediately lit up with delighted surprise.
"Mr. Yoriichi, I finally get to see you!"
"I'm terribly sorry. Back then, I even mistook you for..."
"In any case, the Kakushi here have told us what actually happened."
"Thank you so very much for saving our family!"
"Children, hurry and thank the man who saved our family!"
With Kie Kamado's introductions, Lin Yoriichi finally learned who all the current members of the Kamado family were.
Besides Mrs. Kamado, Tanjiro, and Nezuko, whom he had already met.
The other members were Takeo Kamado, Delia Kamado, Shigeru Kamado, and Rokuta Kamado.
Seeing the children gathered around him, Lin Yoriichi could not help reaching out to pat each of their heads.
And amid his feelings of being moved, that thought surfaced once again.
Why couldn't Muzan Kibutsuji just go get some sun himself and hurry up and die?
After chatting with the Kamado family for a while, Lin Yoriichi prepared to leave.
But just as he stepped out of the room, Tanjiro followed him out.
Meeting Lin Yoriichi's somewhat puzzled gaze, Tanjiro finally asked the question that had been weighing on his mind.
"May I ask why you appeared at our house that day and saved us from that monster?"
Lin Yoriichi looked at Tanjiro's hanafuda earrings and smiled.
"Just consider it a promise I once made to your ancestor."
Elsewhere in the Butterfly Mansion, Giyu Tomioka sat upright in a corner of the treatment area.
"I'm not injured, and I don't need treatment."
"After Murata and I received our orders, we immediately went to investigate the train."
"But the demon there had already left, so we didn't fight."
"Therefore, I'm not injured, and I don't need treatment."
Across from him, Shinobu Kocho was still smiling, but a vein had begun to bulge at her temple.
"You only need to explain it once. There's no need to keep repeating yourself."
A rare trace of confusion appeared on Giyu Tomioka's face, which looked somewhat stiff from his perpetual lack of expression.
Among the Hashira, Shinobu Kocho often took the initiative to talk to him.
He just did not know why she would always suddenly fall silent after exchanging a few words with him.
Could it be just as Mr. Lin Yoriichi said-that I was disliked?
Giyu Tomioka thought for a while, then asked his question.
"Shinobu Kocho, do you dislike me?"
At those words, the smile on Shinobu Kocho's face immediately turned to surprise.
"You've actually become aware that people dislike you?!"
Recalling Giyu Tomioka's experiences over this period, she could not help pressing him.
"Did Mr. Yoriichi tell you that?"
Giyu Tomioka nodded, but then looked puzzled again.
"Yes. Through talking with him, I also realized something else."
"Saying what's on my mind directly seems to be what you call communicating normally with people."
Shinobu Kocho froze.
She had only met Mr. Yoriichi once, at the Hashira Meeting, and her impression of him remained that of a swordsman whom the Master valued highly, someone even stronger than Sanemi Shinazugawa.
If there was anything else, it was the report she had received that Mr. Yoriichi had slain two Lower Rank demons while on a special mission with Sanemi Shinazugawa and Kyojuro Rengoku.
Now it seemed that this Mr. Yoriichi was not only powerful, but could even "teach" Giyu Tomioka?
After comparing her own "teaching results" with Yoriichi's, Shinobu Kocho nodded instinctively.
"That's right. Following Mr. Yoriichi's advice and saying what's on your mind directly really is better than the method I taught you."
Giyu Tomioka asked in return, utterly serious.
"In that case, why did you and Sanemi Shinazugawa still react that way?"
Shinobu Kocho felt the vein at her temple bulge again.
"Obviously, it's because you keep repeating yourself!"
"As for Sanemi Shinazugawa... what exactly did you say to him?"
Giyu Tomioka recalled it for a moment, then spoke seriously again.
"He said some rather discouraging things at the time, so I drew on Mr. Yoriichi's words and my own experiences to point out that constantly saying such discouraging things wasn't good."
"Just like that phrase I always use, 'I'm different from you.' Actually..."
This was the first time Shinobu Kocho had heard Giyu Tomioka personally explain what he meant by "I'm different from you."
She froze at once, and only after a while did she speak softly.
"So that's what you've been thinking all along."
As soon as she said that, Shinobu Kocho realized something was wrong.
"No! Even Sanemi Shinazugawa wouldn't keep picking a fight with you after hearing you say those things."
"He'd even tell Obanai Iguro about them."
"You must have said something else!"
Giyu Tomioka nodded.
"Yes. I also gave him a piece of advice: if you suck, practice more."
After saying that, Giyu Tomioka even took the trouble to explain to her what "if you suck, practice more" meant.
Creak-
Shinobu Kocho instantly tightened her grip on the medical instrument in her hand.
She finally understood the root of Giyu Tomioka's "problem."
His biggest problem was not a lack of communication skills, but a lack of emotional intelligence!
Verifying that guess would take only a very simple test.
So Shinobu Kocho said:
"Let's do a test."
"Suppose the two of us noticed a large crowd up ahead, gathered around something, but we were both standing outside the crowd."
"I was very curious and really wanted to see for myself what was happening inside. What would you do?"
Giyu Tomioka began thinking seriously.
But his very first sentence made Shinobu Kocho lose her composure.
"Someone as short as you really wouldn't be able to see what was happening inside."
Holding back her anger, Shinobu Kocho continued asking:
"So, what would you do?"
Giyu Tomioka said in a low voice:
"I know you treasure your haori, because it's something your older sister left you."
"Whether I held you in my arms or lifted you up, I'd inevitably wrinkle your haori, so I couldn't do that."
Shinobu Kocho froze again at his words.
Was he actually so thoughtful and gentle?
Then Shinobu Kocho heard Giyu Tomioka say:
"So I'd grab you by the scruff of your neck and lift you up."
(Could someone add a picture? Also, today's... even though it's past midnight, this still counts as today's fourth update!)
Before you continue