Thus, my appearance became known to Makomo, Masachika, and even Sabito. No one found my white hair and red eyes creepy, and thankfully, they accepted me as I was.
"Heh, that's good to hear."
That was Uzui's impression. This man, despite his busy schedule as a Hashira, often comes to my house to hang out.
By the way, today's gift is his wives' special mochi. He brought it himself, spread it out on the table, and started eating it, even arrogantly demanding, "Hey, tea." What a self-centered man. I should tell his wives about this later.
"Masachika was disappointed that if he'd known earlier, we could have had a water gun fight in the Wisteria-crest house bathhouse. I wanted to do that, too."
"As a Hashira, you don't often go on missions with lower-ranked members."
"Right. Except for troublemakers like Uzui."
"What? You want to hear about my wives? Tch, it's the seventeenth time, and you're still not tired of it, huh?"
"It's your annoying bragging I'm tired of! Ah, damn it, I'm caught!!"
Escaping Uzui's clutches was impossible, and I was helplessly captured. Hoisting me over his shoulder like a sack of rice, Uzui straightened his back with a shout, "All right!"
"Might as well take a bath. I'll play with you instead of that guy Masachika."
"You idiot, who'd heat bathwater for the likes of you! I'd rather boil tea with my belly button than do that!"
"Hey, crow, pass a message to my wives. Tell them I'm taking this cheeky Moon Hashira brat with me, so prepare a bath and meal."
"You'd go that far?!"
・
・
・
They say seeing is believing, right?
In other words, facing his wives is equivalent to the damage of hearing him brag about them a hundred times.
"Welcome, Lord Moon Hashira."
"Please make yourself at home."
"Dinner is still being prepared, so why don't you take a bath first!"
Beauties everywhere—right, left, and center.
My feelings upon being welcomed with smiles by Uzui's wives? Don't ask. That'll tell you everything.
"Starting tomorrow, make sure Uzui stubs his pinky toe on the wardrobe corner..."
"My pinky toe isn't so weak it'd lose to a wardrobe. Don't underestimate me. Now, scrub my back quickly."
"Fine. Where's the scrubber?"
"Let me tell you upfront, my back muscles will outshine any scrubber."
Damn it, the persuasive power of him pointing at his back muscles is annoying.
I couldn't refuse the bath his wives had prepared with sweat, so I ended up in the tub with Uzui. What's so great about scrubbing this guy's back? I'd rather scrub my master's back.
"All right, now it's your turn. Stay still. I'll wash your hair."
"Wait, that thing you're applying to my hair without hesitation... it's not dye remover, is it?"
"If I don't remove it, I can't wash your hair. Using such cheap stuff, you've ruined your hair texture."
Before I could complain, water was poured over my head, and murky water streamed down with steam. Uzui washed my hair, now bleached white, with surprising care.
"We happen to have hair dye at home. It's much higher quality than the cheap stuff you use. I'll re-dye it for you after dinner, so be grateful."
I already knew, but Uzui doesn't listen to others at all. Complaining is useless. There's a limit to being self-centered.
"By the way, Uzui's bathhouse is spacious. I'm jealous."
"No, it's modestly small? It gets packed when my wives and I, all four of us, get in."
"Are you bragging in style, you bastard!"
＊
A bathhouse where two men exchange banter.
Outside, Hinatsuru, who was adding firewood to the furnace, smiled slightly.
'What an excuse, saying "we happen to have it."'
What is he saying, when he specifically went to the bustling town to buy hair dye?
'He bought several highly-rated products, tested them on his own hair for quality.'
Recalling her husband frowning in front of the mirror, saying this one's no good, that one's no good, Hinatsuru swallowed a silent laugh.
Her husband, who seemed bold and generous but had a surprisingly mischievous side—all the wives were worried about how he'd give the hair dye to the Moon Hashira. Who would have thought he'd use such a twisted method?
'I'm sorry to the Moon Hashira for being dragged here suddenly, but I'm glad Lord Tengen's wish came true.'
With an apologetic heart, they set the table with plenty of food the Moon Hashira would like, hoping he'd forgive them for that.
Since her husband always said, "He's small but surprisingly eats a lot," the quantity should be sufficient.
'But, Lord Tengen taking a bath with someone other than us...'
Exposing one's skin means being unarmed with only one body. In that state, if something happens, you can't respond.
Of course, her husband is three times more robust than others, so no matter what attack comes, it wouldn't be a problem, but bathing with the Moon Hashira isn't just due to such ominous confidence.
'Lord Tengen, you trust the Moon Hashira.'
Shinobi are raised in environments far from safety or peace to eliminate their vulnerabilities and carelessness.
As the biological son of the clan head, her husband was forced through harsh training incomparable to ordinary kunoichi like them. She heard that sometimes, under the name of training, siblings would kill each other.
Poison, traps, assassinations, ambushes—days when even family couldn't be trusted. He must have lived always wary of his surroundings, and bathing was likely the moment when his guard was highest.
Habits ingrained in the body don't disappear easily. Yet...
'He's letting his guard down enough to show his defenseless back to that child.'
The voice of her husband coming from inside the bath sounded like that of an ordinary young man his age.
It was a voice filled with gentleness, not suspicion or wariness.
"By the way, your muscles are thinner than I thought. I expected you to be more trained."
"I'm moderating it until I finish growing taller."
"Ah~, right. If you grow taller, the muscles you can build increase accordingly."
"Exactly, exactly. It varies by part, but if you build too much muscle from a young age, you won't grow tall."
"So, Lord Moon Hashira, how tall do you plan to grow?"
"Dream big, like Himejima!"
"Pfft, hahahaha! Even Himejima is too much, no matter how you look at it!"
"You know what, Uzui? Getting hit with a wet towel really hurts."
"How kind of you to tell me before attacking. Ouch!"
"Ah, my towel—!"
"Come on, if you're angry, try to get it back. Hurry up and grow taller!"
"Damn it, aren't you embarrassed running around naked and excited at your age?!"
"Don't you know the saying, 'Look at others' actions and reflect on your own'?"
"Shut up, you反面teacher!"
Her excited husband. The shouting Moon Hashira. Uninhibited conversation and splashing water. Hinatsuru finally couldn't hold back her laughter and left, covering her mouth.
Hinatsuru doesn't know what an ordinary brotherly relationship is like. Her husband probably doesn't either.
But perhaps that's what the scene unfolding inside the bathhouse is.
"Hinatsuru, come quickly. Will Lord Tengen and Lord Moon Hashira's bath take much longer?"
"Yes, it seems they'll be a while longer. Hehehe."
"Why are you like this? Did something good happen?"
Returning to the kitchen, Suma and Makio asked with puzzled expressions.
"Lord Tengen is having so much fun in the bath. Actually—"
With a spreading smile, Hinatsuru told them about her husband enjoying himself without any anxiety.
＊
We barely managed to get out of the tub, tired of Uzui, who was as excited as a sixth-grader on a school trip.
In the spacious room we were guided to, a lavish meal was laid out. Is this what Uzui eats to maintain those muscles? I'm, I'm not jealous!!
I'm reflecting on eating even Uzui's share out of jealousy.
But one of the wives, Suma, smiled and said, "It's okay. Eat a lot!" Makio proactively served more rice, and Hinatsuru poured tea at the perfect timing. What, is this heaven?
Wow—while engulfed in happiness, my emotions are a wildfire below and a flood above with jealousy toward Uzui. A mysterious emotional state.
Still, the food was delicious. I ate every last bit of the wives' heartfelt hospitality.
"Uzui's wives are all good people."
After the meal, while getting my hair dyed in Uzui's room, I muttered without thinking.
"Thanks. But I won't give them to you."
"I have no romance for married women or affair preferences, so don't worry."
"Well, a plain country bumpkin like you wouldn't even be considered. That's because my wives have high standards, thanks to me!!"
I wanted to hit Uzui, who was laughing loudly. If I weren't in the middle of dyeing, I would have.
By the way, Uzui's hand movements while handling my hair are surprisingly delicate, so if I relax, I might fall asleep like this. Is he a professional hairstylist?
If there were a hairstylist like this in modern times, he might be featured in magazines as too handsome. A useless thought, but he'd also suit being a bartender or bandman. There's probably no ninja as suited for the 3Bs as this.
"Don't you have anyone like a lover?"
"If I did, I wouldn't be this consumed by jealousy."
"So there's no woman you like? That's a lonely life."
A woman I like.
Suddenly, the sound of a biwa echoed through my mind.
"...Oh, that reaction means there is someone?! Who is it? That girl who always wears a fox mask? Or one of the famously beautiful sisters? Surely not the Flower Hashira's older sister. Anyway, just tell this Tengen, and I'll introduce you in style!"
"No need. She's someone Uzui doesn't know. Besides, I... broke a promise to her, so she might already hate me."
The comb I made to give in return for her biwa playing, my life, all burned away along with that promise.
Now I keenly feel it. My life until now has been made of promises, and after continually breaking them, here I am.
"I promised to give a gift in return for the favor, but I couldn't keep it. I ended up unable to. Because of me."
However he took those words, Uzui didn't press further.
"...It'd be harder to hate someone like you in style."
To Uzui, clearly clumsy at comforting, I threw a scoff instead of thanks.
The biwa tones I heard countless times in the Infinity Castle grew all the more nostalgic, making my heart creak.
＊
"Lord Kōgetsu! I've become the Flower Hashira's tsuguko!"
I heard those words from Kanae one afternoon when we happened to meet on the street. Squinting her eyes in the bright sunlight, she continued with a bright smile.
"Right now, I'm living with Shinobu-nee at the Flower Hashira's estate. It's close to Lord Kōgetsu's estate too, so we're neighbors now."
"It's a bit far to be neighbors... huh, Shinobu-'nee'?"
Kanae only has one sister, Shinobu. When I tilted my head, Kanae, her smile fading, explained.
"We took in a girl recently. She lost her family to demons and had nowhere to go."
Lost her family to demons, had nowhere to go—
Hearing that, I thought of the children I met on a mission not long ago. Having lost their father and with their mother turned into a demon, they had no relatives to rely on and now live at the Wisteria-crest house, doing small errands.
The second son, a boy named Genya, deeply regretted the harsh words he hurled at his eldest brother who protected them. He kept crying, wanting to apologize.
Was their brother found after that? I exchange letters with Genya occasionally, but with no particular news, it seems not yet.
"Her name is Aoi. I'll introduce her next time, so please get along well with her."
"I see. Then next time I bring snacks, I'll prepare some for that child, too."
Lost in thought about what Aoi-chan might like—mashed red bean paste or whole red bean paste?—Kanae blinked her long eyelashes curiously.
"Lord Kōgetsu, you're not saying anything."
"About what?"
"Hmm, things like 'Slayers shouldn't care about such things one by one' or 'If you bring someone every mission, there'll be no end to it'?"
"Who did you hear that from? The Flower Hashira?"
"No, the Flower Hashira didn't say that! She was a bit troubled, but she grumbled and accepted, saying, 'If it's that person, I'll forgive it.'"
When I asked who she heard it from, she said other slayers.
Kanae's belief in viewing demons as pitiful beings and raising her sword so they no longer attack people clashes with other slayers who hate demons.
Because of that, she sometimes hears sarcasm or nagging from heartless slayers.
There are even those who criticize her kindness as hypocrisy. Anyone who feels the saintly aura emanating from Kanae would never say such things. If they feel it and still spit out those words, they're truly twisted.
"...It was a mission I was assigned to. I arrived late on the scene, and because of that, Aoi's parents were killed. If I had been faster, Aoi wouldn't have been left alone. The demon would have ended without killing more people."
She didn't bow her head, but Kanae's eyebrows quietly lowered.
"...I brought her here without thinking ahead."
Then she smiled weakly, as if hiding her sorrow.
Kanae isn't just a kind child. She's thoughtful and wise.
As a demon slayer whose life could end at any moment, there's no guarantee she can look after a child forever. As long as she goes out to hunt demons every night, peaceful days aren't promised to them.
"I just couldn't leave Aoi alone. So she wouldn't be lonely, so she wouldn't cry... I wanted to become her family."
Some might criticize that kindness as irresponsible. Still, she will surely reach out to someone again.
Looking at her, Nobuya's daughter, I suddenly recalled Rei's memories.
Perhaps because of that, I understood Kanae's heart well.
"That's enough. The more family, the merrier."
Instantly, Kanae's eyes widened. Her light amethyst eyes, resembling Nobuya's, sparkled. Meeting her eyes, I felt as if glimpsing the past.
With eyes that narrowed gently, as if tickled—the same gaze as Nobuya, who never got discouraged no matter the criticism about his medicine.
"Right. I'll make it a lively family!"
Regaining her smile and puffing out her chest, the girl reminded me of a single flower blooming magnificently.
・
・
・
Not long after, the estate where the Kochou sisters stayed came to be called the 'Butterfly Mansion.'
It also began serving as a treatment facility for slayers affected by demon blood arts, relying on Shinobu, who is skilled in pharmacology.
I'm occasionally called for treatment support, and whenever I am, I reminisce about the Shabana era and sink into nostalgia.
The Flower Hashira didn't particularly object to more than half the estate being used as a recovery space. Rather, since the estate was too spacious and not fully utilized, he allowed them to use it freely.
"That medicine was very effective. Thank you, Kōgetsu."
"That's good. There don't seem to be any aftereffects, right?"
"Yes, the patient's progress is smooth. If they take it for three more days, the demon blood art will completely disappear."
Walking through the Butterfly Mansion corridor while handing over the medical report, Shinobu.
Her activities have been dazzling since obtaining her custom Nichirin Blade.
There were groups who complained with jealousy that she, a Kanoe rank, received a sword directly from the village head, but Shinobu herself just smiled slyly, saying, "Thanks to that, it's so~ easy to fight." She's a strong girl.
Recently, she seems to get along well with Makomo, so the day she delivers a Droplet Thrust (punch) isn't far off. Just thinking about it makes me expectant and a little scared.
"Shinobu-sama."
A voice with a slight lisp called from behind. With neat, precise footsteps. Turning around, a girl not much younger than Shinobu was standing there.
With her hair tied in two pigtails and a butterfly hair ornament like Shinobu and Kanae, she was the very child Kanae brought during a mission.
"Aoi-chan, hello."
"Hello, Lord Moon Hashira."
"Aoi, what is it?"
"I finished making bandages and came to ask where to put them."
Aoi-chan slightly lifted the basket in her hands. Inside, carefully rolled bandages were neatly arranged.
"Thank you. Put the bandages in the cupboard next to the medicine shelf. Arrange them with the older ones in front."
"Yes, understood."
Aoi-chan's small back receded with a neat nod.
Staying at the Butterfly Mansion, Aoi-chan handles replenishing and maintaining treatment tools, among other household chores.
I've eaten meals she made before, and they were incredibly delicious. I heard her family ran a proper restaurant.
I heard she was tormented by nightmares of losing her parents when she first came, but now she's gradually recovering by taking on these roles. Probably, household chores are good for changing her mood.
"Well, now that there are no critically injured, I should go shopping with my sister."
"Procuring ingredients? Need help?"
"Our house doesn't have a big eater like Kōgetsu, so my sister and I are enough."
Shinobu laughed with a playful voice.
Not long after, I heard that the Kochou sisters brought a new girl from where they went shopping.
＊
"Are you Kanao-chan? Nice to meet you. I'm Tsuyuri Kōgetsu."
Eye color, hair color, facial features, height, low voice—none resembled my memory, but I recognized her at a glance. The moment I saw that smile, I knew.
"Kanao? Come on, you should greet him."
Even when urged by the older sister who saved me from being sold, my mouth remained tightly shut like a clam. Sweating profusely like a waterfall, I couldn't take my eyes off the smile of the person who was my brother.
"You're sweating a lot. Are you feeling unwell?"
Puzzled by my silence, my brother's hand reached toward me. A large hand descending from above.
It seemed similar to my father's hand that used to hit me, but the touch was completely different. A gentle touch that conveyed only kindness swept up my hair and pressed against my forehead.
It was the same warmth as that day in childhood. The nostalgic sensation I thought would never return.
"No fever. You must have been nervous."
If I could call my brother, who tilted his head, 'brother,' how wonderful that would have been. Just as I intuitively recognized him as my brother at a glance, if he had recognized me as his sister, how amazing that would have been.
But part of me was relieved that my brother didn't recognize me. I even hoped he'd never notice, like this forever.
My brother was hit while protecting me.
When my father tied my brother up tightly, I didn't stop him.
I didn't cry while watching my brother being dragged away.
I didn't go out to search after my brother disappeared.
How could such a cold-hearted person dare to call herself a sister, family—there's no way.
Thinking that, yet wanting to call my brother 'brother' is also true. Now I don't even know which is my true heart.
Even though it's my own heart, feeling so accustomed to emptiness, it seemed like there was no longer any 'true heart' left in it.
・
・
・
I, who was taken in at the house called the Butterfly Mansion, was given the name 'Kanao.' And now, a new surname is about to be given to me.
No, I'm being made to choose that surname.
Five pieces of paper are placed before me, fidgeting.
Each has different characters written, but having never learned to read, I don't know what they mean or how to pronounce them.
"Kanao, how about Kanzaki? The same Kanzaki as me??"
Aoi, who lost her parents and was taken in at the Butterfly Mansion, said in an excited voice. Kanzaki is Aoi's surname, I heard.
I'm not good at choosing things myself, so I thought lazily of just going with what Aoi said, but I have no idea which paper that is.
"No, Aoi. Kanao's surname should be decided by Kanao herself."
Kanae gently chided Aoi, who intervened from the side. Kanae taught me that if I'm troubled, I can decide by tossing a coin, but with a coin that only has two sides, I can't choose one from the five options in front of me.
"I borrowed surnames from several people. From the Flower Hashira, Kuze; from Shinobu's teacher, Motomiya; and even my teacher's. So, Kanao, which one do you like?"
Her tone wasn't pressing, but at those words, I sweated more. Wandering like a lost child over the five pieces of paper, I finally picked up the one right in front.
"So that's it?! Wait, this one? Even if it's not this, it's okay? Really okay?!"
Aoi pointed at the paper to the right of what I chose and spoke urgently.
I see, that character is read as Kanzaki. Then what is the character I picked read as?
Gazing at the three characters written on the white paper, I thought that, when—
"Then Kanao, from today, you're Tsuyuri Kanao!"
Saying that, Kanae smiled beautifully.
—Nice to meet you. I'm Tsuyuri Kōgetsu.
My brother's self-introduction from that day flashes through my mind.
Tsuyuri. The same surname as my brother.
I didn't choose it intentionally. It was just a coincidence—yet what is this emotion overflowing in my heart? This warm feeling, like my brother's hand.
As if covering the lid on an unknown emotion, pressing down my pounding heart, I hugged the paper with 'Tsuyuri' written on it to my chest.
Tsuyuri Kanao.
Repeating that name silently in my throat, an inexplicable dizziness washed over me.
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