The Insect Hashira Was Going to Cook Herself!?

The afternoon should have been the Butterfly Mansion's most peaceful time. But a flurry of hurried, chaotic footsteps and heavy panting tore through the stillness.

"Quick! Get the hemostats ready! And lots of bandages! Aoi, get the medicine, quick!"

Shinobu Kocho's voice had lost its usual composure for once, turning sharp and urgent.

Inside the emergency room, the stench of blood was almost palpable. A young Demon Slayer Corps member lay on a stretcher, his abdomen torn open by a demon's claws. Blood poured freely from the enormous gash, staining the entire sheet red.

"No... He's losing too much blood. I can't stop it..." Fine beads of sweat formed on Shinobu Kocho's forehead. Her hands were covered in blood as she desperately pressed on the wound, trying to snatch even one more second from death's grasp.

But reason told her it was already too late.

His internal organs were damaged, and he had lost too much blood. With human medical methods, there was no saving him. Watching the young man's pupils slowly lose focus, Shinobu Kocho bit her lower lip, a deep sense of helplessness coiling around her heart.

Was she going to watch another comrade die...?

Just then, a hand reached over and gently but firmly moved Shinobu's bloodied hands aside.

"Move over, bad woman. You're in my way."

Shinobu Kocho looked up sharply, meeting Kiyohiko's eyes. Usually full of mischief, they were now as calm as still water.

His face, usually wearing a flippant expression, was now completely serious. He didn't even glance at Shinobu, his gaze fixed entirely on the injured man.

As a former medical intern, Kiyohiko knew saving lives was no joking matter. So when he smelled the blood filling the house and heard Shinobu Kocho and the others running over, he had come straight here.

Seeing Kiyohiko's expression, Shinobu Kocho remembered how serious he had been when he treated her at the dojo.

With that thought, Shinobu Kocho looked at Kiyohiko and said:

"Kiyohiko-kun... please..."

Kiyohiko nodded, paying Shinobu Kocho little further attention. His eyes never left the Corps member on the bed as he stepped forward and placed both hands directly over the man's mangled abdomen.

The next second, the grating sound of flesh tearing rang out in the quiet emergency room.

Under Aoi Kanzaki's horrified gaze, the ghastly wound on the man's abdomen began to heal at a visible rate. Skin grew back, and the purplish-black poison receded.

At the same time, the clothes over Kiyohiko's previously unharmed abdomen turned red in an instant as blood gushed out. An identical gaping wound appeared on his body out of nowhere, its flesh turned outward and its depths exposing bone.

Kiyohiko sucked in a breath, his brows knotting tightly.

It hurt.

It hurt a lot.

Though he had long since grown used to it, having someone else's pain instantly doubled and copied onto his own body felt like walking a tightrope, no matter how many times he experienced it.

Of course, the next second, white smoke began to rise from Kiyohiko's body. Within a few breaths, his wound had healed completely, leaving only a patch of fresh, slightly pink skin.

He turned around to find Shinobu Kocho standing behind him. There was no smile in her purple eyes, only a deep emotion he couldn't read.

Her gaze made Kiyohiko a little uneasy, and he instinctively took half a step back. "Hey, why are you looking at me like that? I'm really not used to you being like this."

Shinobu Kocho ignored his joking and approached step by step until she had backed him into a corner.

"Did it hurt?"

She spoke suddenly, and before Kiyohiko could answer, her small, cool hand reached out and gently touched the spot where he had been injured.

"Whoa! What are you doing?!"

Kiyohiko went rigid as if he had been electrocuted, his back pressed tightly against the wall. He barely dared to breathe.

Too close.

And that spot... those were his abs. That was a sensitive area for a man.

"I asked you, did it hurt?"

Shinobu Kocho raised her head and stared intently at him.

"It... it was okay, I guess..."

Kiyohiko suddenly found Shinobu Kocho's beautiful purple eyes terrifying. He turned his head away, not daring to meet her gaze.

The Kakushi members and Aoi Kanzaki watched everything unfold before them, wishing they could burrow into the ground and vanish on the spot. But Shinobu Kocho and Kiyohiko were blocking the emergency room's exit, so they barely dared to breathe, afraid of disturbing the two of them.

Shinobu Kocho made no further move. She noticed their gazes and realized she had lost her composure, so she silently withdrew her hand.

The emergency room fell silent for a moment.

Oh, and there was the Corps member on the bed. His wounds had healed completely, and he was lying there fast asleep.

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Kiyohiko swallowed and forced his voice back into its usual flippant tone.

"Well, the sun must have risen in the west today. The bad woman actually cares about me."

"That's not what you said to me back at the dojo..."

"Let me think... Oh... something about 'no need, Mr. Demon'... Ah! Ow, ow, ow!"

Before he could finish, Shinobu Kocho's little foot came down mercilessly on his, grinding it hard a couple of times.

Shinobu Kocho had recovered her usual smile and was beaming at him as though she weren't the one stepping on his foot.

"My, my, it seems I still have to act this way for you to feel comfortable and behave yourself, Kiyohiko-kun."

Kiyohiko held his foot and hopped wildly around on one leg. "You bad woman!"

Seeing how comical he looked, Shinobu Kocho secretly chuckled to herself, but returned to normal the next second. She turned around and waved to Kiyohiko without looking back. "Let's go."

"Huh? Where? More special training? I'm not going! I just lost so much blood!"

"To the dining hall."

Shinobu Kocho didn't look back, but her voice carried a hint of lighthearted amusement. "Since you lost so much blood, you need to replenish yourself properly."

"There's a special meal at the dining hall today. As a reward, you can eat as much as you want."

The emergency room door slammed shut.

As the two figures disappeared at the end of the corridor, an eerie silence settled over the room once more.

"Um... was that really Lady Insect Hashira just now?"

After a long while, a Kakushi member broke the silence.

"I think... so?"

Another member answered.

"And that demon... ah, no, Mr. Kiyohiko,"

The first Kakushi member scratched his head, a trace of awe and bewilderment in his voice. "Aren't he and Lady Insect Hashira a little... too close?"

"Also, is there a special meal at the dining hall today? How come I didn't know?"

"No."

Aoi Kanzaki suddenly spoke up, answering with absolute certainty.

"Huh?" The two Kakushi members froze.

"I mean, there's no special meal at the dining hall today."

Aoi took a deep breath and put her hands on her hips, trying to use her usual sternness to hide the tremor in her voice.

"I'm still here helping, and Kiyo and the others are still doing laundry. There isn't even a fly in the dining hall kitchen right now, and the pots are cold. Where would this 'special meal' come from?"

Once again, the room fell silent.

The same absurd thought occurred to all three of them at once, an idea that nevertheless seemed to be the only explanation.

If all the cooks were here...

And if the pots were cold...

Then could that so-called "special meal" be...

"Lady Insect Hashira... is going to cook herself?!!"