I thought the presence was similar.
But since the name was different, I considered him a different person.
"Himejima, it's me. Meiichiro! Due to circumstances, I'm currently using the name Tsuyuri Kōgetsu."
When Tsuyuri Kōgetsu said that after the Hashira meeting, while the other Hashira were dispersing, what expression was I making?
It probably wasn't a smiling face. Nor did it seem like I maintained composure. Being blind, I have never known what my face looks like from birth until now.
"Hey, Himejima. …Why are you in the Demon Slayer Corps?"
To that cautious question, what should I have answered? Knowing that the emotions welling up were not something to pour out on a boy who had just turned thirteen, yet I couldn't help it.
"……Was it you who sold us out to the demons?"
Instead of spewing out passion, what came out of my mouth was a cold, accusing question, with tears flowing like a waterfall.
"……What?"
A frozen voice, not understanding. The boy's breath just stopped.
His pulse didn't unnaturally quicken, nor was there any sign of panic. Seeing this, perhaps the culprit wasn't Meiichiro.
But children are innocent, cruel, and lie easily.
Actually, that night, I failed to see through the children's lie that Kaigaku and Meiichiro were sleeping. So, I can't even trust myself the most.
"Sold out, that's…… what do you mean? Himejima, everyone at the temple……"
"They're dead. Sayo and me…… and except for you and Kaigaku, everyone was killed by demons."
Meiichiro's hurried breath. Cold sweat. Violent agitation. After a long silence, a voice came out, gasping as if the tongue had stiffened, saying "Why……".
"The wisteria scent that should have protected the temple was extinguished. The demon that attacked said. 'We made a deal with a child.' ……That night, the only ones not at the temple were you and Kaigaku."
"……It wasn't me."
Meiichiro couldn't have not known what that meant.
"Then is it Kaigaku?"
"No!! It's not Kaigaku either!!"
Meiichiro shouted more fiercely than when he was suspected himself. With a voice grating to the ears.
"If it's not you, it's Kaigaku. If it's not Kaigaku, it's you."
"No, no no no no! Neither of us would do such a thing!!"
"Then did you two conspire together?"
"Why do you think that?! Please believe me! It's not me, it's not Kaigaku……! Himejima!!"
Meiichiro's shout was mixed with tears. To him desperately appealing his and his brother's innocence, I felt no emotion. It was just like listening to a child's tantrum. Anger surged, thinking he should stop spouting selfish words.
Clearly, if it were the old me, I would have been swayed by Meiichiro's tears.
But my heart, soaked in blood from that day's tragedy, had already sunk into the mud of suspicion. It's not mud shallow enough to be diluted by a child's tears.
Even now, that turbidity has not cleared.
"I don't believe you. I'm sorry, but I can't believe anything anymore. I've lost…… too much to believe."
Still submerged in that turbid mud accumulated in my chest, I continued speaking.
To the end, calmly, trying not to be swayed by emotions, but a cracking sound came from within my palm. The prayer beads wrapped around my fingers shattered and scattered. Just like my heart that day.
"……To protect Sayo, the only one who survived, I desperately swung my fists. I smashed the demon's head over and over, and with the morning sun, the demon disappeared. What remained at the temple was only me, covered in blood, and Sayo, wailing. To the villagers who came, Sayo——"
──That person is a monster
──That person killed everyone
──Everyone died
"I was imprisoned for murder. If Lord Kagaya hadn't saved me, by now a rope of atonement would be around this neck."
Meiichiro couldn't speak anymore. Submerged in despair, he just remained silent. He was a smart child. Perhaps he realized that no matter what he said, it was useless.
But there was no sign of giving up. He intended to appeal his innocence when the time came, and at the same time, he still believed in Kaigaku's innocence.
Truly, ah—— how can children be such unreasonable, selfish beings that logic doesn't apply to?
＊
The day after the Hashira meeting, looking at my face, grinning.
Makomo clenched her fist and said.
"Kōgetsu, who troubled you?"
"Calm down, Makomo! Since he came back from the Hashira meeting, the opponent must be a Hashira, right?!"
"Right, facing a Hashira head-on is difficult. Okay. I'll train with the resolve to die."
"The quick decision to not back down no matter the opponent is reliable, but please restrain yourself!!"
My expression must have been worse than I thought. The flustered Masachika hurriedly handed over a cloth dampened with water. His speed was like the wind. Indeed, as a Wind Breathing user, his actions were quick.
"Hey, what happened? It's okay to tell me slowly."
"You know you don't have to force yourself if it's hard to talk? First, deep breaths, deep breaths."
I know crying is unsightly. I must have resolved long ago never to cry again, why do tears and snot flow down regardless of my resolve?
Cooling my eyes with the cloth Masachika handed me, I stammeringly opened my mouth.
"W-well, you see…!"
No matter what, I couldn't tell everything from the start, so as I tried to speak indirectly, the order of the story became messy and incoherent, but the two nodded quietly and listened.
"I see…… So that person suspects that either Kōgetsu or Kaigaku made a deal with the demon."
"I, I didn't do such a thing, sniff… and Kaigaku isn't the kind of kid to do that, sob……"
"Okay, let's blow your nose once. Here, hmm~"
Masachika's hand holding a tissue to my nose was somehow skillful. He had a brotherly aspect somewhere.
"How can I make him believe my words……"
Even after blowing my nose, still sobbing, I muttered gloomily, and Makomo stood in front of me on tiptoe. She quietly covered my tear-stained cheeks with both hands and softly called my name.
"That person's heart wounds haven't healed yet. I think various hardships piled up at once, so he doesn't have the leisure to listen to your words."
Eyes calm like a lake reflecting the blue sky. In a voice as if soothing a scolded child, Makomo continued.
"So let's wait for him. Don't be impatient."
"…Yeah."
"Can you do it?"
"……Yeah."
"Yeah, good girl."
Makomo smiled and wiped the tears gathered at the corners of my eyes with her thumb.
"But even if we wait, how long do we have to wait? It's not something that will end in a month or two. During that time, Kōgetsu holding onto painful feelings, I don't like that."
Masachika, with his eyes wide open, pouted his lips. But since there's no solution other than waiting, he eventually ruffled his hair roughly and sighed as if frustrated.
"I wish something would happen that solves the situation just like that~, a celebration indeed! kind of thing."
・
・
・
Afterward, when I came to my senses, I writhed in extreme self-loathing.
To burst into loud sobs in front of teenage boys and girls. I literally cried uncontrollably. Out of shame, I want to cry again.
Masachika and Makomo patting my shoulder saying "Don't worry about it" was some comfort, but even that kindness was bitter.
As if trying to forget that sobbing incident, I immersed myself in my duties as a Hashira.
And upon becoming a Hashira, I turned the dedicated mansion given to me into a residence and laboratory, and started research on medicine to turn demons back into humans.
The duties of a Hashira were more than I thought, so I couldn't secure enough research time, but I was grateful that I could repeat trial and error without worrying about material costs.
For now, I was gradually reproducing the poison from my mother's research book that I deciphered in my previous life. It seemed it could be applied in various ways.
The matter of creating a Nichirin Blade that can change effects into slashes, it seemed Tetsuido conveyed the request to Lord Tetchin.
However, whether it would be made depended on Lord Tetchin's mood, so if it was refused, I was prepared to even cross-dress in the worst case, but fortunately, permission was readily granted.
But since the sword's craftsmanship is so complex, even the great Lord Tetchin is having difficulties in production. It will probably take a long time to complete.
In the meantime, the final selection for this term ended, so we now have juniors. It seems the disciples Makomo mentioned also safely passed the selection.
Especially a kid named Sabito was a swordsman of considerable skill, and it's said he cut down most of the mountain demons in this selection.
"In the past, I was stronger," Makomo pouted, looking a bit resentful but also happy on the other hand.
Ah, right. Murata also joined the corps. We usually exchanged letters, but I kept it a secret that I became a Hashira, wanting to surprise him, and when I came out with the pose of a hawk saying "Moon Hashira, Tsuyuri Kōgetsu!" he screamed indescribably and hit my head.
"You're too rude to a Hashira, think about my dignity too!" he said, half-crying and angry.
According to Murata, a Hashira is not someone you can easily mix words with. "The order within the corps gets disturbed!" for that reason.
"I don't mind," I honestly complained, and he said "I mind!" and rapidly patted my head.
In the end, I had to make a promise with the half-angry Murata to act appropriately when people are around. But he said when no one is looking, we can act like before. That's a relief.
To celebrate my Hashira appointment, Murata bought me soba with his first salary. With tempura on the side. He's really a good person.
I smiled broadly with joy, and he sighed, "I'm worried because you give in too easily, you." For some reason.
──With a stifling feeling as if a thorn was stuck in my throat from the incident with Himejima, I spent my days busily as a Hashira.
It was around half a year after becoming a Hashira.
When I was requested by Lord Kagaya to subdue the Twelve Kizuki.
・
・
・
In a seaside village, young girls were disappearing one after another.
The Demon Slayer Corps considered this the work of a demon and, based on witness testimony, dispatched an investigation team to the nearby coast. As a result, a hairpin believed to belong to an abducted girl was found in front of a coastal cave.
The investigation team judged that cave to be the demon's base and entered inside to subdue the demon, but──
"What was inside was Upper Rank 2. The investigation team's skills were no match, and even trying to evacuate, the cave structure was complex, so most of the members were isolated. That's right, isn't it, Takechiyo?"
"Yes, yes! It's dark inside the cave, so be careful not to get lost!"
"Wow~ Ariadne's thread, come to me."
Guided by Takechiyo, the new moon illuminated the sandy beach. The boundary between the lightless sea and sky was blurred, and only the sound of waves echoed eerily.
The place I'm heading to now is a cave darker than this. But lanterns couldn't be used. Because the investigation team that entered the cave with lanterns became targets for the demon due to that light.
So, I, with the brightest night vision, was called out.
"Kōgetsu, this way!"
Takechiyo shouted that, cut through the sea breeze, and went beyond the rock shadows. Crossing the rocky area vibrating with the smell of seaweed, a cave gaping like a monster's mouth revealed itself.
And from within that darkness that seemed to gulp down the sea's resonance, a mass of shadow staggered out.
"Murata!"
He came out with a pale face, and upon seeing me, he knelt down as if his tension loosened. Looking closely, he was carrying someone on his back.
A familiar face. Makomo's disciple, surely the kid named Giyu.
"Are both of you injured anywhere?"
"I, I'm okay, but Tomioka……"
"Sabito…, Sabito is……!"
Giyu, being carried by Murata, screamed. Forgetting that blood was flowing from his own forehead, with a half-crazed voice. In his dazed consciousness, only repeating Sabito's name, his eyes had lost focus. It seems the bleeding is severe.
Sabito must be Makomo's other disciple. He also participated in this mission.
"Murata, what happened to Sabito?"
"……On the way, we encountered the demon, and to let us escape, he became bait himself. He's still inside the cave."
"I see. It's okay as much as you remember. Please tell me the way to the point where you parted with Sabito."
To reassure Murata and Giyu, I asked as calmly as possible, and Murata nodded trembling.
・
・
・
The team composed of over ten people scattered into four groups according to the number of forks at the first crossroads. Murata's group explored the leftmost path, he said.
Even with a blue-tinged face, he calmly explained the path after that, but──
'The seventh fork…… here is where we faced the demon.'
The cave had a merciless structure the deeper I went. When I reached the seventh fork, I felt dizzy seeing the five holes lined up before my eyes.
'Sabito jumped into the second from the right, he said.'
Recalling Murata's words, I stepped into that hole, and the smell of iron brushed my nose. The deeper I went, the thicker the smell of blood became.
Suppressing my breathing that was about to falter due to impatience, as I went deep, a relatively wide space appeared. A smell of blood so thick it was suffocating.
There was a corpse. Holding a sword, not moving at all.
'…It's not Sabito.'
The dead member with a deeply split stomach was an unfamiliar face. A youthful face engraved with pain. Probably a new member.
The blood seeping into the rock crevices was still warm. If only I had come a little faster, this person——
……No. Regret later. Hold onto your senses.
Looking around, a dull glint caught my eye. A Nichirin Blade broken from the base, no longer usable. The blade was blue. Water Breathing.
I could guess whose it was. But his corpse wasn't visible. Then, there is hope left.
'Calm down. Where is Sabito…… where is the Upper Rank demon? Which path did it take?'
This fork had eight paths. All holes gaped black, waiting for me.
No time to hesitate. Even less leisure to check one by one. If only I could follow scents like Urokodaki. I regretted not having such an ability.
With a clinging heart, hoping that perhaps luckily footprints might remain, I looked down at the ground, and── there, I found it.
A guidepost connected like Ariadne's thread, vividly red.
＊
Could the injured Giyu and Murata really escape safely from this nightmare maze?
"Bro~ken, it's bro~ken. My sw~ord is bro~ken!"
'Damn……!'
The comrade who came to cover upon hearing the commotion couldn't block the demon's attack and died. The moment I saw a comrade killed before my eyes, engulfed in anger, the slash I swung became a fateful crossroads.
My blade, forgetting the softness of water, couldn't cut the hard neck of Upper Rank 2.
Abandoning the sword too damaged to even peel fruit, I ran to the comrade who had just stopped breathing. I tried to borrow the sword from that hand that would never move again, but the demon was faster.
"He~re we go!"
"Ugh!!"
The demon, blocking my way with agility unimaginable from its appearance like a plump fish turned human, seemingly foolish.
Hit in the side, I was flung away and crashed hard against the rock wall. My ribs creaked, and a strange sound came from one arm.
Urokodaki's teaching flashed like a passing lantern: if you break your sword, I'll break your bones.
"Heehee, got you~."
"Grr, let go of this!"
The moment my right leg was grabbed, my vision flipped upside down. Hanging in the air, I desperately struggled, but the demon laughed at me and whipped me down to the ground.
This time, my ribs were definitely broken. My internal organs were crushed, and for a while, I couldn't even breathe, and the demon dragged me somewhere.
"Decided~, decided~. I'll take you to the girls I captured~."
Humming a tune, the demon said in a cheerful voice.
"The girls are soft~, and cute~, and small~ so delicious, but stupid~, so they keep trying to escape, so education is necessary~. If you run away from me, this is what happens~!"
Just from those words, I could guess what the demon intended to do with me in front of the abducted girls.
The demon turned into one of the eight paths. Just before that, I put all my strength into digging my nails into the ground, scratching the rock surface soaked with seawater.
"Let go, stop! Please let me go!!"
"Even if you try to escape~, it's useless~. No help will come~. Everyone will get lost~."
Laughing at me screaming unsightly, the demon proceeded. To where the abducted girls were. Not noticing what I, pretending to struggle, was doing.
Each time I was dragged, I pressed my aching fingertips firmly against the ground.
My nails broke.
Peeled off.
My fingertips tore.
Pierced.
Blood seeped out.
Overflowed.
A thread-like red line faintly dyed the ground.
Yes, this will do. Stay like this.
Don't let it break. Don't give up. Don't shrink from the pain. If you're a man──
Connect it. Connect it. To the end. I am connecting the path to reach the demon's neck.
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