Muichiro fell silent.
Tetsu no Sosuke did not rush him. He waited quietly at the edge of the woods. Beneath the night sky, the chilly wind left him feeling strangely peaceful.
"I want to learn."
Muichiro finally spoke, then looked at Tetsu no Sosuke. "But my brother will be angry."
Tetsu no Sosuke grinned. "Then we won't tell him."
"Huh?" Muichiro froze. They could just not tell him?
"But my brother will find out," Muichiro said. "And when he does, he'll be even angrier."
"Then tell me, when would he find out?" Tetsu no Sosuke asked.
"I don't know..." Muichiro shook his head.
"Let me think. Most people can't recognize Swordsmanship just by looking. Unless you tell him yourself... Well, if you can keep it to yourself, that shouldn't be a problem."
Tetsu no Sosuke thought for a moment. "There's another possibility. Say you two face a crisis you can only survive by using Swordsmanship. Your lives might be at stake. If you use it to save you both, what reason would he have to blame you?"
Muichiro considered that. "Our lives would be at stake?"
"You should know this world isn't as safe as it seems," Tetsu no Sosuke said. "Why else would someone like me need to exist? You're special, and so is your brother. There will always be those who don't want you to be born or to grow up. Of course, not everything is a conspiracy. Maybe you'll simply have bad luck. Who can guarantee they'll always be lucky? We have to find ways to protect ourselves in this world."
"Protect... my brother."
Muichiro suddenly asked in earnest, "If I learn Swordsmanship from you, will I have to join the Demon Slayer Corps?"
"That's up to you," Tetsu no Sosuke said. "Swordsmanship alone won't let you