4 years earlier, April 7, 1909

As Kanae and Shinobu were just putting Kanao and Aoi to bed, they heard several frantic knocks at the gate to the Butterfly Estate. Kanae said to herself, "I wonder who it could be at this time of night."

"It sounds serious," Shinobu replied to her sister. "Nee-san, I'll go answer it." Shinobu picked up her sword and ran out to the gate from the house. When she reached the gate, she opened it up and was confronted by a slayer. "Who are you? What's going on?"

"I was told to give this message to you," the slayer, who was about the same age as Giyu, replied as he gave her a message on a piece of paper. "I'm Kishi Masato. There's a slayer in trouble about fifteen minutes out from here to the south!"

"What's going on?"

"There's some demon in one of the villages," Masato replied. "We could use a Pillar to go out and see what's going on. The other slayer I was talking to would have used his crow, but the demon got to the crow and killed it, so he had me deliver the note."

The message Shinobu was given read as follows: "I have a confirmed demon attack at Tayoyama Village. I need backup from Kocho Kanae immediately. This is Tsuchinoe Oma Nobuhiko, Badge Number 942-003." The presence of a badge number and a rank confirmed its genuineness to Shinobu, and she quickly ran inside to grab Kanae.

Unbeknownst to any of them, this was in fact a trap. Masato thought to himself, "Excellent. She's so fucked. We're leading her right into the hands of an Upper Moon! She won't survive!"

Soon after, Kanae came running out of the house. "I got your message! I'm heading out there as soon as possible!"

Masato replied with a bow, "Good luck, Kocho-sama! I pray for your victory!" Of course, he did not actually mean a single word he said. "I still can't believe Oma-kun went as far as to kill his own crow to make this work," he thought to himself. "But I guess we need to do anything we can to make sure that traitor bitch dies, even if it's some crazy shit like that. I mean, fuck, he killed his own crow. Who does that?"

"Nee-san," Shinobu then called out to her. "Do you want me to go with you?!"

"Stay here," Kanae told her. "Someone needs to guard Kanao and Aoi."

"Got it," Shinobu somewhat reluctantly replied. "Whatever you say, nee-san."

Masato then left in the same direction as Kanae, telling Shinobu, "Your sister should be back by sunrise, if not before then!"

Present, October 7, 1913

As Kanao battled against a demon in a rural village, she yelled at the demon as she was blown back by an attack several feet, "Stop resisting already!"

"Huh," the demon replied. "I've heard plenty of things about you and your master. I heard you were a quiet girl."

"I don't care what you heard about me," Kanao replied. "That was then, and this is now!" She then ran at the demon, yelling, "Breath of Flower, Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo!" She then directed a powerful slash of her sword directly at the demon, missing his neck only by inches and instead slashing up his upper chest. "Damn!"

"You missed," replied the demon as his wound healed and he winced in pain. "I may be hurt, but I'm not out yet!" He then rushed towards her and prepared to punch her with an enlarged fist.

"Second Form: Honorable Shadow Plum!" Kanao then deflected three punches in the span of just two seconds with her sword, slicing off both of the demon's hands. "Now, Fifth Form: Peonies of Futility!" As the demon tried to deflect with his armless hands, Kanao attacked him with nine rapid slashes. The ninth and final one finally struck him in the neck, effortlessly decapitating him and killing him.

As his head rolled on the ground and his body began to disappear, Kanao suddenly felt someone watching her and turned around to see who it was. Upon seeing nobody, she turned back around and put her sword away back in its sheath. Then, she felt the presence again, and this time drew her gun as she turned around once more. This time, she saw another slayer standing in the shadows of the trees nearby. "Hello there, Tsuyuri-san."

"Who are you? You scared me by doing that." Kanao then holstered her gun, assuming that since he was a slayer, he was not a threat.

However, the slayer, who was in fact Masato, emerged from the shadows with his sword drawn and his face completely covered except for her eyes. "You did not win against that demon. You were killed in action when he grabbed your sword and struck you down."

"What?" Kanao was deeply confused as he walked forward to get closer to her. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Your funeral will be attended by many," Masato replied, ignoring her question. "And none of them will know the truth." He then suddenly dashed forward at Kanao, who replied by drawing her gun and firing at him once. However, the bullet missed. Even so, Kanao was able to dodge Masato's sudden attack. "Get back here!"

Kanao yelled as she ran from him, "What the fuck?! Get away from me!" As she ran towards the village, she thought to herself, "Please, let someone see me and this pursuit! I need help!"

Meanwhile, Masato thought to himself, "I may not have a gun, but I can still kill you!"

Masato remained in hot pursuit of her until they approached the village and saw people standing on the side of the street. "Hey! Hey! This guy's chasing me!"

Masato, realizing he was now visible to multiple people in uniform, even with his face covered, quickly stopped himself as the three villagers all stared at him. "Shit! Uh…"

Kanao yelled at him, "I don't know who you are, but get away from me!"

"You heard her," the oldest of the three, an old man carrying a walking stick, yelled at him. "I'll come over there and beat your ass with my cane if you come any closer! Hitoshi, get the gun!"

"Got it," the second of the three, the old man's son, replied as he ran back to his house to grab a hunting rifle.

"Fuck," Masato replied as he turned around and ran away. "This isn't over, Tsuyuri, you bitch!"

As he ran off, the old man asked Kanao, "Was he one of your own?"

"I hope not," Kanao replied, taking a deep breath and a sigh of relief. "I'll make sure to report this."

"Do you want us to chase after him?"

"No, it's fine. I don't want you guys getting hurt." She then called to her crow, "Kana! Kana! I have a message!"

Kana, Kanao's crow, then flew down from the treetops and perched herself on her arm. "Are you okay, Kanao? I saw that guy chase you."

"I'm fine," Kanao assured her with a smile. "Tell Shinobu-sama about this. Tell her to make a telephone call to the Oyakata-sama as well. I don't want this masked slayer attacking anyone else. I'll also need assistance from at least one more slayer at this village."

"Understood," Kana replied as she flew off. "Stay safe, Kanao!"

October 9, 1913

As Masato returned to his home from a mission, completely unaware of Nobuhiko's arrest two days prior, he set his sword down on a table and looked around. "Damn it," he muttered to himself. "I can't believe Eguchi-san backed out of attacking that so-called Flame Pillar." As it turns out, Rantaro had decided that James could not be attacked on the 7th due to him being around too many people for him to slip away unnoticed. "We'll have to attack him again another time." Masato lived alone, but felt like someone was watching him from the outside as he walked through the house. "What the fuck is this… This feels weird… It feels like someone's staring at me…"

Then, he heard shouting from outside. "Kishi! Kishi! Come out!"

Wondering what was going on, Masato quickly ran to the front door and grabbed his sword just in case. As soon as he opened the door and ran out, he saw four people, three of whom he recognized standing in front of him. "Huh? Iguro-sama? Tomioka-sama? Tokito-sama? Who's this other kid with you?"

"It's been a while, Kishi-san," Muichiro then told him as he drew a gun and aimed it at him. "You're under arrest!"

"Wait, what?" Masato then tried to walk away down the street, only for the four of them to follow him. "Tokito-san, what the fuck?!" As Tanjiro tried to lunge at him, he screamed, "Hey, hey, get the fuck away from me!"

Tanjiro shouted at him, "You're under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder of a fellow slayer and perjury to a Pillar!"

"What the fuck?! I just got back from a fucking mission, you fucking cocksucker!" Tanjiro and Giyu then grabbed a hold of him and tried to restrain him. "Fuck you, you motherfucker! Get the fuck off me!"

Giyu shouted at him, "Stop resisting! Come on!"

"You don't got shit on me, you hear me?! I'm doing my job, you fucking piece of shit!" He then tried to spit at Tanjiro, causing Tanjiro to hold him down harder. "Fuck you, you little shit!"

Obanai then shouted at Masato, "Hey, Kishi-san, let me give you a little legal advice: Shut the fuck up!" He then pinned him down on the ground with his elbow.

"Oh, fuck you, you fucking prick! I'm actually doing my job, you motherfucker!"

"Enough!" Giyu then hoisted him up from the ground with Tanjiro after he had successfully tied his hands behind his back and disarmed him of his sword. "Shut the fuck up and stop fighting us! You're under arrest, whether you like it or not!"

October 10, 1913

The next day, outside the meeting house of the Ubuyashiki Estate, Kanao and Shinobu awaited the beginning of an extraordinary meeting of the High Council due to the two previous arrests. Kanao was also invited to attend due to being the subject of the attempted attack on the 7th. Both smoked cigarettes outside, trying to calm their nerves. Kanao puffed out smoke before asking Shinobu, "Shinobu-sa-"

"Just call me nee-san," Shinobu replied to her. "You don't always have to call me Shinobu-sama when literally nobody else is around, Kanao." She then struck a match on a stone next to her, lit up a cigarette with said match, and then stamped it out on the ground.

"Nee-san," Kanao asked her. "Is Shinazugawa-san really gonna do something?"

"I can't believe he's actually bringing his damn gun into the meeting," Shinobu replied. "I'm scared, to be honest. He wouldn't tell me why he's bringing it in. Anyway, how are you and Tanjiro-kun?" The sudden change in subject caught Kanao off-guard as she blushed. "Are you two using those condoms like me and Tomioka-san asked you too?"

"Yes," Kanao affirmed with a nod. "Nee-san, you're not mad I didn't have him wear one the first time, right?"

"No," Shinobu shook her head. "I'd be a hypocrite if I was. Me and Giyu-san haven't used one half of the times we've fucked, and definitely not the first time, but unlike you and Tanjiro-kun, we're older and earn quite a bit of money, so I'm not in too much trouble if I have a child. Even so…" Shinobu then looked down at herself and sighed. "I still have to worry about my short stature. You know as well as I do that I'm short and small for my age in most aspects."

Kanao undersold exactly what she was getting at. "Are you worried about childbirth, nee-san?"

Shinobu reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I've seen women die giving birth to their children, Kanao. It's not pretty. It's fucking terrible. I was about 13 when I had to see that for the first time. Me and Kanae-oneesan tried to save this girl a year older than you from the village nearby, but… She passed. Her son lived. I don't want you, or me for that matter, going through what she went through."

Kanao nodded before she puffed out some smoke. "I see… I'm sorry you had to see that."

The Day Before

Sanemi stood alone in his home, staring at himself in a mirror after finishing a written letter he intended to deliver to Kagaya when he next saw him. As he stared deeper into his own reflection, he took a deep breath and said to himself, "I'm fucked up…" He then made sure his revolver was loaded by checking the gun, intentionally aiming the barrel at him while he checked it and not caring if it went off. "All set and ready to go. I'm gonna end that bastard's life if it's the last thing I do."

The letter he wrote read as follows:

Apologies for shooting Eguchi Rantaro and making a mess of your estate, Oyakata-sama. It was just business. I cannot let a high priest who conspired to kill a Pillar get away with it, especially when said Pillar was my wife and especially when they tried to repeat the same nonsense. I'm sure if one of us conspired to kill Amane-sama, you would want to do the same, and we would help you. If this results in me losing my status within the Demon Slayer Corps, so be it. I will gladly go to jail or be beheaded if it means I can finally get some level of vengeance for Kanae some four years after her murder.

Genya, if you read this, I want you to know that even though we fight and whatnot, I do love you as my little brother. You will always be my brother, and that will never change.

Vèronique, if you read this, I want to apologize for the way I treated you when it came out you could eat demons. I was so blinded by rage that I could not see that our enemies could also be humans too, not just demons. I am truly proud to call you my Tsuguko. I hope that Himejima-san can further the training I have given you.

Present Day

In the meeting room, after Kagaya had started the meeting off, Rantaro immediately spoke after him. "I am truly concerned about these two arrests. What kind of concrete proof do we have of these two otherwise upstanding slayers conspiring to kill Kocho-san, Tsuyuri-san, and Colby-san?"

"The fact they admitted it," James immediately replied back, annoyed that Rantaro was denying the obvious and not knowing he was in on it. "Wake up, already! What world are you living in?!"

"Calm down," said another high priest to James. "There is no need to raise your voice, Colby-san."

"I get that," James replied in annoyance. "But I feel like I have the right to be a little angry when I know of a plot to assassinate me."

Kagaya then told the room, "Okay, listen. I don't want people's emotions boiling over. Aside from Rantaro and James, does anyone else have anything to add to this discussion?"

Sanemi thought to himself, "Now's my chance!" He then cleared his throat and spoke up. "I do." Intentionally sitting next to Rantaro before the meeting and staying there for the meeting, he knew what he thought he had to do as he began to speak. "Okay, so, I get that we have skeptics here. The idea of slayers conspiring to kill Pillars and a Tsuguko is, after all, a shocking accusation. However, I can personally testify that I heard Oma admit to these crimes in front of Kocho and Tomioka. Tomioka can back me up on this one."

"Indeed," Giyu replied. "I heard it all go down before me and Shinazugawa arrested Oma."

Rantaro then asked him, "What's to say that you two did not conspire to lie?"

Another high priest asked Rantaro, "Eguchi-kun, why are you so determined to clear their names? What's going on?"

"Someone has to defend them from these serious accusations," Rantaro said back to him. "Shouldn't som-"

"I have the real answer," Sanemi then interrupted him with. "The real answer is that Eguchi Rantaro is also involved in this plot."

Several gasps echoed through the room as Rantaro replied back in faked disbelief, "Are you insane?! I would do no such thing!" In his head, he thought to himself, "Fuck, he found me out!"

Sanemi turned directly to him and asked him, "Don't you intensely dislike Colby?"

"That has nothing to do wi-"

"And didn't you dislike Kanae when she was a Pillar too? You said that her views were insane and a detriment to the corps to my wife's face."

"They were detrimental! That still ha-"

"I'm not finished. Didn't you once say to a now deceased pillar that you thought Kanae was a traitor to the corps?"

"I would never accu-"

"You're lying, Eguchi. You're lying out of your ass. You did do all these things!"

Kagaya, shocked by Sanemi's revelation, was speechless and felt powerless to tell Sanemi to stop, not sure if he even wanted to do so. "Rantaro," he thought to himself. "Why? Why would you do this?"

Sanemi then asked him as he began to laugh, "Want to hear a joke? You'll like the subject matter!"

"A joke?! This isn't the time for jokes! Stop laughing!"

"You're the joke, Eguchi! You always were a joke. You always thought that you could do a better job than us at killing demons, but you never actually advanced past Kanoto, so you became a high priest instead!"

Rantaro yelled at him, "You're so rude, Shinazugawa! How dare you talk to a high priest that way!"

"Thanks!" Sanemi then continued to laugh as Rantaro attempted to continue doing damage control as the rest of the room looked at him in disgust. "I'll tell you what, Eguchi. You can go die in a ditch for all I care!"

"You know," Rantaro replied to him. "There are ways to not be awful while disagreeing with them, Shinazugawa. There's no reason for your behavior. Stop being awful!"

Now giving him a sinister and hateful stare, Sanemi told him in a quiet tone, "You're awful, Eguchi Rantaro."

"How the Hell am I awful?!"

"You never appreciated us," Sanemi explained to him. "You shouted us down whenever any of us suggested anything short of a never-ending war against demons. You then plotted to betray us and kill one of our own over a damn disagreement of opinion, and then you tried it again four years later."

"You're lying out of your ass, Shinazugawa!"

"Just keep telling yourself that."

"Don't you know how dangerous it is to suggest peace with demons? Kocho Kanae's suicidal philosophy is what gets people killed."

"No, it isn't." Sanemi shook his head and began to laugh again. "You took my wife away from me. You get people killed, not my wife."

Shinobu wanted to jump in and help Sanemi, but saw the gun in his waistband and held herself back. "I shouldn't get involved," she thought to herself. "What is Shinazugawa-san planning?"

Gyomei tried to speak up, asking the two, "Can you two please calm dow-?"

"This doesn't concern you," Rantaro told Gyomei. "This is between me and Shinazugawa."

James spoke up as well, telling Rantaro, "Now y'all are startin' to piss me off, Eguchi."

"This especially doesn't concern you, demon!"

James replied back in anger, "What the fuck did you just say to me?!"

"Quiet! You all are the ones who need to listen to us as the high priests!"

"There you go again, not listening to us Pillars!" Sanemi laughed again. "It's so amusing!"

Rantaro still tried arguing with him despite getting nowhere doing so. "You're still laughing! You're accusing me of these baseless lies, and you're fucking laughing! Do you think this is funny, Shinazugawa?!"

"I do! It is funny, and I'm tired of pretending it's not!" Sanemi then stealthily cocked his gun. "How about another joke, Eguchi?"

"No, I think I've had enough of your jokes."

Sanemi then told him his second joke, his tone getting angrier and angrier as he did. "What do you get when you put together a grieving husband with the man that set up his wife's murder and then tried to kill his sisters-in-law?!"

"I did no such thing! Shut up! Get him out of here!" Rantaro remained defiant to the end.

"I'll tell you what you get! You get what you fucking deserve!" Sanemi then quickly whipped out his gun and fired a single shot at Rantaro point-blank in the head, instantly killing him and splattering blood all over another priest next to him. Sanemi took several deep breaths in shock from his own actions as screams of horror emanated throughout the room.

Mitsuri yelled out, "Holy shit! He fucking killed him!" Despite still being angry at Rantaro, she still ran to his body to see if she could find any signs of life, failing to find any when she reached him, causing her to gasp in shock. "Oh my God… He really is dead…"

Obanai, Kanao, and Muichiro quickly disarmed Sanemi and kicked his gun away from him as Kagaya called out, "Everyone, calm down! Calm down!" As soon as he said that, the room quieted down and the chaos stopped. "Take Sanemi outside. This meeting is over. I'll deal with him myself." Despite his calm voice, it was clear that he was being very serious as several Kakushi ran into the room to deal with Rantaro's body and the blood that had been splattered onto the wall behind him.

James looked at Sanemi in the eye as he was led outside. The two nodded to each other before the latter was led out of the room. James thought to himself, "I can't say I wouldn't have done the same in his shoes. That fucker really did do all this, huh?"