October 17, 1913

"So," James asked Vèro at the Rengoku Estate as Tanjiro and Kanao visited. "Ya wanna cut your hair short. Is that right?"

"Yes," she replied. "I don't want my hair getting grabbed by a demon again. My ponytail was way too long, and it scared the shit out of me when I got grabbed. Got any ideas for shorter hair?"

James suggested, "Maybe you could cut it really short, like to the top of your neck?"

"No, I don't want to lose that much hair," Vèro replied as she shook her head. "Besides, I still want to be able to tie it in the back."

"Hmmm…" James then had an idea. "Your grandmother Alice had her hair up in braids at one point. She still tied 'em back, too."

"She did?" Vèro was now curious. "What exactly did it look like?"

"Uh… Okay, um…" James then grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil from a table nearby. "Let's see, uh… Okay, here…" As he continued to attempt to draw Alice, he did his best to depict her hair.

"Are you finished yet?"

"Give me more time. I'm doin' my best here."

"Okay, okay…"

After a few minutes, James presented the sketch to Vèro. "Here it is… It's not good, I know. I tried my best…"

"… Putain, qu'est-ce que c'est? Is that even human, or demon?" She was in utter disbelief at how bad James' drawing skills truly were.

"Look, I ain't good at drawin' shit, okay?"

"I heard Kanao's better at drawing." She then changed to Japanese and called out, "Kanao, can you come over here and help us?"

Kanao walked into the room and asked, "What is it?"

"I need you to take this picture and actually make it look like a person," Vèro told her as she handed the picture to Kanao.

"Oh, come on, it ain't that terrible!"

Kanao looked at the picture and asked them both, "Is this even human?"

James, dejected at having his drawing 'skills' trashed by both Vèro and Kanao, sighed. "Damn it, I ain't gettin' a break, ain't I?"

"Don't worry," Kanao assured her. "I'll make this look better. Colby-san, can you help me describe this so I can better get an idea of who this is?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine."

After a few minutes of sketching and drawing, Kanao finally finished the picture and showed Vèro and James. "How about this? Is this what you're looking for?"

"Exactly," Vèro replied graciously. "Thank you so much, Kanao!"

"Wow," James replied in amazement. "That's… That's actually really damn good."

"Alright," Vèro then said as she held the paper up for all to see. "This will be my inspiration! With this, my hair will look the greatest it's ever been!"

"Ya sure can be really active," James remarked. "Maybe a little too much sometimes."

"Oh, shut up, old man! I have the right to be!"

"Old man?!" James was annoyed by her remark. "I'm barely older than you!"

"Not by chronology, you aren't!"

"Years are just numbers for demons! Give us a damn break!"

Kanao awkwardly backed out of the room, telling them, "I'll let you two talk it out then, heh…"

Meanwhile, Giyu and Shinobu had snuck off to a secluded area within the Butterfly Estate to take care of some business by themselves and enjoy some privacy. This business, of course, involved sex. Though they did not have it as often as Obanai and Mitsuri, the two still made sure to have it relatively often. As the two finished and began putting their clothes on again, Shinobu asked Giyu, "I got an assignment to go to later tonight. Wanna do it again when I get back?"

Giyu, amazed that she wanted to have sex a second time in a single day, replied, "You're that horny?"

"I've lusted after you and also loved you for at least five or maybe even six years," Shinobu replied with a grin and a blush on her face. "Of course I am. Besides, we could give Mitsuri-chan and Iguro-san competition if we plan it out a bit more."

"Well," Giyu then replied, trying and failing to come up with what he wanted to say. "Um…"

"Giyu," Shinobu asked him. "Were you going to say something?" After more silence, she told him, "Well, come on, say it."

"I'm concerned because we keep half-assing condom usage."

Shinobu went from playful to serious as soon as he finished the sentence. "I see…"

"One time, you give me one and I wear it," Giyu explained, finally able to vent what he wanted to vent. "And then another, you tell me to fuck you raw, like… I don't mind it too much, since it does feel better raw, but… Shinobu, you know what will happen, right?"

Shinobu now understood what he was getting at, realizing that Giyu was talking about the risk of pregnancy. "Yes, I understand, Giyu."

"So, do you want to get pregnant or something?"

"Tomioka-san, don't just say that out loud!" Shinobu was shocked that Giyu blatantly addressed the elephant in the room. "Look, Giyu, I would prefer it if I got pregnant a little later, but… If I got pregnant now, I wouldn't be too upset. It's just…" Shinobu tried to find the words to express how she felt. "Ugh, I… It's just that we've been a couple for not too long, even though we've been holding back our love for each other for years. I don't want to rush into marrying you, but at the same time, either of us could die at any moment in our line of work."

"So you want to have a child before you or I die?"

"I guess I do," Shinobu replied. "Himejima-san once said that me and my sister would make good wives and mothers one day to good men, and initially I wasn't too excited with the idea of belonging to someone. Then along came you and I realized that maybe that wasn't such a bad thing after all. My sister being married to Shinazugawa-san for six months also convinced me that I could be a wife but still be myself, too. She never got to have kids, but they would have been great kids if she did."

Giyu, somewhat confused as to why Shinobu went on such a long rant, replied to her with, "Wait, what does Kanae and Shinazugawa have to do with it again?"

Shinobu facepalmed. "I'm saying that seeing them be married helped me realize that marriage isn't all that bad. Look, enough about the marriage stuff, okay? The point is is that I would like to get pregnant after a bit more time in our relationship, but if I get pregnant now, I wouldn't mind. That's why I'm inconsistent. Look, if you want to wear a condom without me saying you have to, you can go right ahead, Giyu. I won't stop you if you're not comfortable not using one."

Giyu paused for a few seconds before shaking his head. "No, it feels too good without one."

Shinobu took a deep breath and admitted as she finally completed putting her clothes back on, "Okay, yeah, I gotta admit, it does feel better without one."

Then, they heard knocking on the door in the room they were in. Aoi could be heard on the other side asking, "Shinobu-sama, are you in here?"

"Oh fuck," Shinobu quietly said to herself before she told Aoi. "Yes, I'll be right out!"

After a few seconds, Shinobu opened the door and emerged just as Aoi told her, "Shinobu-sama, we have a new shipment of medicine that you need to sign off on."

"Ah, right," she told her. As she was about to walk up the stairs to the ground floor from the basement, she told Aoi as she paused for a brief moment, "By the way, I think I already told Kanao this, but… You don't have to call me Shinobu-sama. We're family, Aoi."

Aoi was surprised to hear her say that. "So it would be nee-san?"

"Yes," Shinobu confirmed. "You're my sister just as much as Kanao is."

Giyu then walked out of the room as well, causing Aoi to blush. "Tomioka-sama, what are you doing here?!"

Giyu turned to her and told her, "We had se-"

Shinobu sighed as she interrupted him with, "Tomioka-san, you don't have to be so blunt about it!"

Later that night, Kokushibo waited in a forest clearing for the new Lower Moon 4. As he looked around, he shifted his six eyes around the trees, looking for any sign of life. "This is getting a bit frustrating," he thought to himself. "Where is this guy? He should have been here by now."

Then, he heard a voice calling out to him. "Hey, over here!"

"Huh?"

A demon with claw-like nails and a single black stripe running down the center of his face then emerged from the forest. "Hey there, I'm Kengo. Apologies for being late. I was busy ripping this dude traveling by himself to shreds along the road near here."

"I see," Kokushibo replied. "So, our master chose you to be Lower Moon 4?"

"Yeah," Kengo nodded proudly. "I'm glad he chose me. So far, he must surely be pleased with my work, and especially with my future plans."

"Future plans? What kind of future plans?"

"So there's this town a few kilometers north of here," Kengo then explained to him as he pulled out a sheet of paper with plans written on it. "And in a few nights, I want to wreak havoc on it. I want to try to see how many people I can kill in a single night. I'm aiming for at least thirty kills or more in a single night."

"Well," Kokushibo said as he looked over the plans. "This is certainly ambitious. What will happen if a demon slayer catches you?"

"There are none around here," Kengo replied. "It will take them at least a day or two to reach here. By then, it'll already be too late. Besides, I can overpower a regular slayer with ease. I already have twice."

"And I have done the same to thousands," Kokushibo remarked. "Now, I suppose I'm here to train you, right?"

"Correct."

"Very well," Kokushibo replied as he drew his sword. "Let's train then. I won't kill you, so don't worry, Kengo."

"Are you sure about thi-?"

Suddenly, Kokushibo grabbed Kengo by the neck and began to choke him due to his doubt in regards to Kokushibo's training. Calmly but firmly, he told Kengo, "I find your lack of faith in me and our master very disturbing. If you want to succeed, you must be much more humble, young Kengo."

"Fuck… Agh… Agh…" He then dropped him onto the ground when he let go of his neck. "Agh, fuck! That hurt!" As the pain receded, he asked him, "What the fuck was that for?!"

"Accept humility or else," Kokushibo then warned him. "Now, get up on your feet and fight me, Kengo."

"Fine, I'll play that game," Kengo replied as he pulled a wakizashi from a sheath on his waist. "I got a blade too. It may not be a katana, but it can still kill a human just the same!"

The two then began to spar in the forest. Initially, as the two clashed several times, it appeared that Kengo might have actually had the upper hand. However, he miscalculated a swing, and after he missed Kokushibo, he realized that he was in trouble as his opponent's sword came down on his left arm. "You missed!"

As Kokushibo severed his left arm, Kengo screamed in pain, "Fucking Hell, my arm!"

"You actually aren't too bad," Kokushibo remarked as he put his sword away back in its sheath. "But I was going easy on you. After all, most of your opponents will not be nearly as strong as me. Even so, you still have quite a bit to work on, Kengo."

As Kengo's arm began to grow back, he told him, "Fine, fine, I could improve, sure. There, I said it."