“Would you take over this dojo, Hakuji?”
I looked up to see Uncle Keijo speaking with a warm, smiling face.
I was his only disciple, and Koyuki had never trained in [Soryu].
I had assumed I would eventually inherit the style, but hearing it out loud made it real.
Still, the idea of inheriting the [Soryu] dojo simply because I was the sole student felt absurd. I resolved to train even more diligently, striving to become a martial artist truly worthy of Uncle’s legacy.
I was overjoyed, believing I had finally been officially recognized by Uncle as a true warrior of [Soryu].
However,
it seemed Uncle’s thoughts at that moment differed slightly from mine.
“Koyuki says she likes you too.”
“What?”
My mind froze.
Someone... likes me?
Before I realized it, I glanced at Koyuki standing beside Uncle.
She avoided my gaze, her cheeks flushed a deep crimson.
Seeing her rosy face, I found myself blushing just as fiercely, turning as red as a radish.
Three years ago.
*I can’t say for sure now, but you never know what might happen later.*
I had dismissed those words back then because I couldn’t imagine such a future for myself.
I was a criminal.
A criminal with countless lines etched into his stigma.
For someone like me to have a companion who loved me... it felt impossible.
I couldn’t picture a future where I spent my remaining days with such a pure soul.
Simply having a place to belong was enough.
It was enough just to honor my father’s dying wish to live an honest life.
I thought I had already received more than I deserved...
I knelt, placing both hands on the ground and pressing my forehead to my palms in a deep bow.
A faint hope that I might live an ordinary life, like everyone else, swelled within me until it could no longer be contained.
*If you decide to protect them, you must protect them at all costs.*
I vowed then that, even at the risk of my own life, I would protect these two no matter what.
@@@
It had been a long time since I last visited Keijo’s dojo, this time accompanied by Tamayo and Uzui.
Had it been about three years since I left?
I wondered if that fellow had been doing well.
I knocked on the dojo door and called out Keijo’s name. With a creak, the door opened to reveal his smiling face.
Having heard my voice, he came running, still holding a water ladle from the well.
“Hey! Long time no see!”
“It’s been a while.”
Keijo laughed heartily, genuinely pleased to see me.
His face looked exactly the same as it did three years ago.
“So, have you finally come to become my disciple?”
His persistence was as unwavering as ever...
“I just came to visit.”
“That’s a shame...”
At my words, he sighed and lowered his head.
Then, he immediately looked up as if he had remembered something important.
Judging by the excitement in his eyes, was something good happening?
“Ah, and as for you and Koyuki... we—”
—*cough*.
A faint cough echoed from somewhere.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t hear his next words; it was that the small cough was far more important.
Immediately following the cough came the sharp, metallic scent of blood.
Keijo seemed unaware...
“Ah, right.”
“Just a moment... excuse me.”
I cut Keijo off and stepped into the dojo, rushing toward the source of the scent.
The origin of the blood.
“Cough, cough!”
Koyuki had collapsed in front of the well, coughing up blood.
The amount of blood she was spitting out was alarming.
Worried that her illness had relapsed, I used [Revealed World] to examine her body.
*It’s poison.*
Poison.
A toxin was slowly spreading through her system, eating her away from the inside.
Who would do such a thing?
I noticed the water ladle lying idly beside her.
Could it be... someone had laced the well?
Uzui, who had followed me, discovered Koyuki at the same time.
“Uzui, it’s poison!”
At my words, she nodded and quickly produced an emetic and a water gourd from her robes, administering them to Koyuki.
As Koyuki swallowed the medicine and water, she violently vomited a bloody fluid.
After that, I carried her inside and laid her in a comfortable position.
“This is an emetic. First, we need to purge the poison...”
Uzui spoke through clenched teeth, her voice laced with uncertainty.
It couldn’t be helped.
Vomiting was only first aid.
We needed an antidote, but we had no idea what kind of poison Koyuki had ingested.
If her health hadn’t already improved over the years, she would have died on the spot.
“Koyuki...! What is this...!”
Keijo ran over, his face twisted with a look of horror I had never seen before.
“It’s poison. Someone must have laced the well.”
“Poison? What are you talking about...!”
Keijo stared at Koyuki in utter disbelief.
What should we do?
There was no time.
Even as we deliberated, the poison was killing her.
Even if Tamayo analyzed it and synthesized an antidote, Koyuki’s body wouldn’t hold out until then.
Was there any other way?
...I didn’t want to use it.
The one method I dreaded most.
Turning Koyuki into a demon...
There was no other option.
I might not even have time to explain it to Keijo, but I couldn’t let a wedding ceremony turn into a funeral procession.
*Stop.*
[Kibutsuji Muzan]’s voice echoed in my mind, urging me to desist.
Stop? She’s going to die any second.
*I... agree with Muzan...*
Kokushibo also opposed the idea.
*Even if it is weaker than the original, the blood that transforms a human into a demon is still a potent poison.*
*That girl... especially weakened by poison... it is highly likely she will not adapt to your blood.*
Then what am I supposed to do?
Should I just let her die...?
This girl was different from the Hashira and the elders who burned away their mortality for the sake of immortality.
They had rejected their humanity, but Koyuki was different.
She was just an ordinary girl who wanted to live.
After she had finally tasted a normal life for three years, telling her to just die... was that even reasonable?
To hold a funeral at what should have been the happiest moment of her life?
Really... is there no other way?
At that moment.
“There is... a way...”
Someone spoke, their voice strained with difficulty.
@@@
There was a way.
It wasn’t impossible.
The devil’s bargain that [Kibutsuji Muzan] had offered to me and Michikatsu.
Demon transformation.
If we turned Koyuki into a demon, we could revive her.
And since Michikatsu’s blood was the closest to Muzan’s, he could be the one to transform her.
But Michikatsu refused to give her his blood.
From his expression, it didn't seem like he didn't *want* to, but rather that he *mustn't*.
Could it be...
He believed that because his blood was as toxic as Muzan’s, Koyuki—already dying of poison—would fail to adapt to it...
I bit my lip.
Then there was only one method left.
Medicine.
The drug I had developed just in case, designed to transform a human into a demon.
The medicine I created so that those on the brink of death, clinging to a longing for life, could be saved.
With that, perhaps I could save Koyuki.
But.
That drug had never been tested on anyone.
Unlike Michikatsu’s blood, I had no idea what would happen to Koyuki after the transformation.
Would she attack Keijo the way I once did...?
What if Koyuki became like I was...?
Even as I spoke bravely, my hands trembled, slick with sweat.
I was afraid.
I was terrified that my decision might send Koyuki down an irreversible path.
I had become a doctor to save more lives than I had taken...
But if she became a monster because of me...
I would be... pathetic.
Even now, Koyuki was dying.
And here I was, indulging in such selfish thoughts...
Then.
“Keijo.”
Michikatsu suddenly stood up, removed his gloves, and—
“Wait—”
—*slash*!
He slashed his own wrist.
“What the hell are you doing...!”
Keijo grabbed Michikatsu by the collar, shocked by the sudden act of self-harm.
But.
At Michikatsu’s severed wrist, bone began to sprout, veins reformed, and flesh knit back together instantly.
Keijo couldn’t utter a word, his grip still tight on Michikatsu’s collar.
Then, Michikatsu threw the severed piece of his hand into the courtyard. Under the direct sunlight, the flesh withered to ash and vanished.
Michikatsu...?
“As you can see, I am a demon.”
Why reveal his identity now?
“And I will make Koyuki a demon.”
Keijo seemed to lose all strength, his hand slipping from Michikatsu’s collar.
“I’m sorry, but this is the only way. So, Tamayo, I’ll take over from here.”
As he spoke, he extended his hand toward me, asking for the drug.
He spoke calmly, as if taking the entire burden of responsibility upon himself.
He knew why I had hesitated to give Koyuki the drug.
So he revealed his identity to ensure all the blame would fall on him.
Why?
I could have taken the responsibility.
After all, our relationship was one of mutual utility.
He didn’t need to care this much.
So, what should I do...?
Then.
“It’s okay. Please.”
Keijo’s lips finally parted.
@@@
Admittedly, I had my doubts.
His body was as strong as steel.
They said it was because of a skin disease, but he would wrap himself tightly even in broad daylight.
I couldn’t shake the suspicion that they might be demons who preyed on humans.
But.
They were sincere.
Koyuki, who had once been confined to her bed, coughing and frail, had recovered her health.
Thanks to them, our Koyuki had left her sickbed and could play with Hakuji again.
We had even gone to see the fireworks together—something I had longed for her to experience.
The thread of hope I had abandoned, even after my wife had given up, was something they helped me grasp once more.
And now, he was trying to save Koyuki again, even at the cost of revealing his true nature.
He revealed himself to shoulder all the responsibility.
He was stating that everything from this moment forward was his burden, not the doctor's.
So, I...
“It’s okay. Please.”
I decided to believe in his goodwill.
A goodwill that sought to save a life even at the risk of hate and resentment.
Because such a desire to save cannot be evil.
“Koyuki may become a demon, but she is my daughter; I will not abandon her, even if it kills me.”
“And with Hakuji by her side, what is there to fear?”
“So...”
“Please, do not hesitate. Save my daughter.”
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