Does Master Care About Him?

In Shinobu Kocho's room, the scent of wisteria hung in the air, so strong it was almost bitter.

It was the scent Shinobu knew best, and the scent that flowed through her body.

Shinobu sat at her desk, the pestle in her hand suspended in midair, where it had been for some time. Sunlight streamed through the window and refracted through the glass bottles, casting dappled spots of light across the desk.

She put down the pestle and raised her injured hand once more. An hour ago, in the dojo, she had slashed that palm open with a knife, drawing a torrent of blood.

But now, not even a red mark remained. Her hand was pale and slender, the lines on her palm clearly visible, without a single scar.

"This is... baffling."

She murmured under her breath. Her voice held none of the gentle smile she usually wore like a mask, but instead carried a rare note of confusion and irritation.

She brushed her fingertips lightly over her palm. It felt as though she could still feel that moment.

"Why go this far? Even if it's to kill demons... is a suicidal approach like this worth it?"

Kiyohiko's angry shout from back then echoed in her mind.

Shinobu frowned slightly.

He was a demon, a creature that craved blood more than anything.

He had smelled the lethal dose of poison in her blood, the stench foul enough to send an ordinary demon fleeing, yet his first reaction had been neither fear nor disgust, but... anger?

What was he angry about?

Was he angry because... she didn't take care of herself?

"Heh, impossible."

Shinobu gave a very quiet, derisive laugh, as though mocking the demon, but also mocking herself for having wavered for a moment.

"How could a demon understand any of that? No matter how human a demon seems, its nature is twisted."

Her gaze fell on the little fish tank in the corner of the desk.

A plump goldfish was blowing bubbles, looking quite silly.

Shinobu reached out and gently tapped the glass over the goldfish's head.

"Isn't that right, Fugu? That guy was only acting. To win our trust, to survive in a place full of Demon Slayers... it's all a survival strategy."

The goldfish flicked his tail, turned, and swam away, plainly uninterested in his owner's troubles.

Shinobu sighed, her gaze returning to her right hand.

Although her reason kept insisting, "That was a demon's trick," another scene played through her mind against her will:

When Kiyohiko used his Blood Demon Art to transfer the wound, black veins spread up his arm, and white smoke rose from his skin as it endured the wisteria's deadly poison, hissing as it corroded.

At the time, that idiot demon had been grimacing in pain, yet he had still refused to back down.

"Busybody."

Shinobu drew back her hand and clenched it hard, her nails digging deep into her palm as she tried to use the slight pain to regain her composure.

To kill the demon who had murdered her sister, to send that demon to hell, what was a little poison? What was a little pain?

She had long since decided to turn herself into the deadliest poison. This was her revenge, the only thing keeping her alive.

But why had a single remark from that demon lodged in her heart like a thorn?

"Is it worth it?"

"Of course it is."

She spoke to the empty room, as though trying to convince herself.

"As long as I can kill demons, anything is worth it."

She picked up the pestle again and began pounding the herbs in the mortar.

What was that demon doing now?

He had probably gone to his room and fallen fast asleep, hadn't he?

That room faced the wrong way and was dark and damp. She wondered if he would complain.

"Tch..."

Shinobu's hand stopped.

"Why do I care whether a demon is comfortable?"

A soft knock at the door interrupted Shinobu's thoughts.

She adjusted her expression in an instant, her signature, flawless gentle smile returning to her face.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Kanao entered.

"Oh, it's you, Kanao."

Shinobu's voice was soft and sweet, as though the person who had been brooding alone moments ago had never existed.

Kanao nodded and walked over to the desk, but did not leave right away.

She looked at Shinobu, her purple eyes seemingly searching for something.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

Shinobu noticed Kanao's gaze at once and shifted her seated position, a little awkwardly.

Kanao raised a hand and pointed toward the corridor, then at the ceiling. Next, she put both hands on the desk and moved them quickly, before finally pointing to her mouth and miming biting down on a plate.

Shinobu froze for a moment, then realized what Kanao was describing.

The image was simply too vivid.

A demon clinging to the ceiling like a gecko, a stolen plate clenched in his mouth...

Shinobu couldn't help laughing out loud.

"That guy... what was he doing? Acrobatics?"

She shook her head helplessly, and the absurd amusement seemed to dispel some of her earlier troubles.

Kanao watched Shinobu smile. Though her face remained largely expressionless, her eyes softened slightly.

Master... hasn't laughed like that in a long time.

Shinobu quickly realized she had lost her composure. She cleared her throat, suppressed her smile, and became the dignified Insect Hashira once more.

"I see..."

She paused, looking out the window in the direction of that room, a complicated look in her eyes.

"As long as he doesn't cause trouble... let him be."

Kanao looked at Shinobu, then out the window in the direction Shinobu had just been looking.

She pulled a coin from her pocket and tossed it. It flipped through the air before landing on the back of her hand.

Heads.

"Master..." Kanao's voice was very soft. "Why..."

Shinobu froze.

Her purple eyes widened for an instant, as though she hadn't expected the usually quiet child to ask such a direct question.

"Why..." Shinobu repeated the word, the smile at her lips fading a little, becoming more genuine and calm. "Do you want to ask why I allowed a demon to stay at the Butterfly Mansion and have been so lenient with him?"

Kanao shook her head. That wasn't what she wanted to know.

At the Final Selection, she had seen Tanjiro and the others protecting Kiyohiko. She knew about the Hashira Meeting and the Master's orders. She knew all that and agreed wholeheartedly, but... there was still one thing she didn't understand.

"That demon... Kiyohiko. Master... do you care about him?"

Shinobu: "!?"