Kimetsu no Yaiba doesn't belong to me. This story is a translation of another fanfic of mine. I hope you like it!
It had been two days since Kyojuro had found his father's body. According to what Shinobu told him, he had fainted in front of Sumiko, who, scared, had sent a crow to the Butterfly Mansion. Although the animal couldn't explain exactly what was happening, beyond that something was happening to the Flame Pillar, Shinobu was the one who went to see what was going on.
The Insect Pillar arrived accompanied by five members of the Demon Slayer Corps, two of whom took Rengoku on a stretcher. While one stayed to make sure Sumiko was okay, the other two and Shinobu entered the house to see what had happened.
As soon as they saw the body, they completely covered it with a sheet that was in that bedroom. They left it there until later, when they returned with another stretcher to move the body.
After that, Shinobu had sent a letter to the leader, notifying him of what had happened, although being vague about the cause of death, only able to rule out, based on the state of the body and the house, that there was no demon behind it.
It was decided that, after talking it over with Kyojuro and Senjuro, the body would be cremated and the ashes would be placed in the Rengoku family's tomb. The older of the brothers had done everything he could to spare Senjuro the sight of their father's condition.
A funeral pyre was organized for the cremation of the body, and the ashes were placed in an urn that the two brothers carried to the family tomb. Neither of them had fully accepted their father's death, but that was no excuse, in Kyojuro's eyes, to neglect their duties.
"Would you like to resume your missions now?" asked Shinobu, serious, placing the folder she had in her hand on her desk and turning to look at him.
"That's right, I don't think it's a good idea to leave it any longer," Kyojuro said.
Shinobu sighed. "You should take at least a month off. Your brother will appreciate you spending some time with him."
"But..."
"Another Pillar could do your missions," she interrupted, sensing where the conversation was going. "And Sumiko is still waiting for the sword from the blacksmith village."
"I am the Pillar of Flames, I can't do that, Kocho."
"But we are also human," the woman pointed out. "And you have been doing badly for some time, haven't you?" Kyojuro looked at her without understanding, and the Pillar added, "Sumiko told me what happened with the demon in the mansion. It's not like you to be so careless."
The man looked away, aware of what she was referring to. But at least that made his companion feel some pity for him. "I don't want you to end up like Kanroji that time."
Months ago, Mitsuri's moter fell ill and was not recovering well. Kanroji found out that thanks to her frequent correspondence with her family, but because of the missions, she was unable to visit her during the time she was convalescing. Being by nature a person who cared greatly about her family, the stress of not being able to be there took its toll and she lost her appetite. She ate, but not as much as she should have, which in the long run affected her performance during missions, ending up injured after fighting low-level demons.
It wasn't until Kocho confronted her about it that the Pillar of Love told what was happening, and Ubuyashiki gave her a brief break to recover and be with her family while the Pillar of Snakes took care of her missions. And Shinobu personally sent the medicine that Kanroji's mother needed.
Kyojuro sighed a little. "I suppose you're right," he conceded.
Shinobu raised an eyebrow and watched him. Kyojuro was somewhat dejected and seemed to have his mind elsewhere. "Well, I won't keep you any longer. Senjuro should be in the infirmary with Aoi," she commented, and her companion nodded, walking towards the door, although before leaving he stopped and looked at the woman.
"Kocho, thank you."
She smiled a little. "Don't mention it, it's not necessary."
Kanao was nervous. She had found out, thanks to Aoi who had overheard a conversation between Nezuko and Sumiko, that the latter's birthday was coming up in a couple of weeks.
She wanted to give her something, but she didn't know what, so she ended up turning to Shinobu for advice.
"So you want to give her something, right?" asked the woman when Kanao mentioned that the birthday was coming up soon.
"Yes," Kanao replied.
Shinobu put her right hand to her chin and thought for a moment. "Have you thought of anything, Kanao?"
The girl shook her head. She didn't want to give her just anything, or the first thing that came to mind.
"Maybe she would appreciate something handmade from you," the Pillar suggested gently. Knowing Sumiko as she did, she would probably value something like that much more than an expensive gift.
"Thank you, Shinobu," murmured Kanao, suddenly feeling a little nervous, and hurriedly left after muttering a brief goodbye.
The woman smiled a little and shook her head to herself, amused. Seeing Kanao completely come out of her shell was a relief. Although she regretted that her sister wasn't there to see it, she would have been proud.
Sighing a little at the thought of her sister, she resumed what she had been doing before. As the manager of the Butterfly Mansion, she made sure to keep strict control over the supplies and medical materials they had. Money, with the salary that Kanao and she contributed, was not a problem, but she always preferred to make sure everything was in order and avoid unnecessary expenses.
Kanao walked down the hallway and, passing by Sumiko's bedroom, couldn't help but look in that direction. She had to think of the right gift for her, she told herself.
She had never tried making something by hand, she didn't even know if she was good at it. She didn't even know if she would have time to do it, as she could be called away at any moment. A knot formed in her stomach as she realized that it was perfectly possible that, on the same day as the birthday, one of them would have to be away.
She continued on until she reached her room and closed the door behind her. She sat on the bed and her gaze settled on the small desk in front of her. Following an impulse, she stood up and opened one of the drawers. She put her right hand in and took out a butterfly-shaped hairpin. The outer part was a light red and the inside was a bluish white.
It was the one she had worn until the death of her other older sister. And she had stored it there, almost forgetting about it. It had some dust on it, the girl noticed, but otherwise it was in perfect condition.
It was then, while she was contemplating the hair accessory, that she had an idea. She took one of the cloths she kept in the drawer, which she used to clean the dust when it accumulated in the room, and carefully removed the dust from the hairpin.
She lifted it up to get a better look at whether it was clean. Would Sumiko like it? Kanao hoped so. She lowered her arm and decided to look for her. She wanted to give it to her as soon as possible. She quickly walked out and almost ran into Aoi.
"I'm sorry," she apologized right away.
"It's okay, but you should be more careful," Aoi reprimanded her. Kanao then noticed that Aoi was carrying a bucket of water.
"Aoi, do you know where Sumiko is?"
"Oh, she's in the courtyard. Apparently, they had her katana prepared and it arrived today."
Kanao nodded and hurried towards the courtyard without even saying goodbye to her friend, who looked at her with some bewilderment.
"But what's up with her today?" she murmured to herself. Although she didn't dwell on it too much and continued on her way to the kitchen.
Senjuro hugged his brother tightly. Kyojuro had come to see him as soon as he left Shinobu's office, but as Aoi and he were tending to some wounded, they couldn't be alone until now.
Kyojuro stepped back and looked at him. He didn't know what to say, dealing with these things had never been his strong suit, but he had to make an effort.
"Do you think father is in a better place?" Senjuro had beaten him to the punch.
"I'm sure he is, and mother is with him," Kyojuro had no doubts about that. And, very possibly, Shinjuro would be happy again.
"If we hadn't left...," the younger one began to say, but his brother didn't let him continue.
"Don't say that!" he exclaimed. "We can't know and we shouldn't think that way!"
"But..."
"The only thing we can do is move forward with our heads held high," Kyojuro said seriously. That was what he had always done. Senjuro wiped away the tears that were welling up in his eyes and Kyojuro continued speaking. "I'm aware that it's not easy, but we can't stop and get stuck," he said sternly. That not having done so had been their father's mistake was implied.
The boy nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment.
Kyojuro ruffled his hair. He now understood better how Sumiko had felt now that he only had Senjuro.
Warabihime furrowed her brow with evident irritation. In her hands, she held one of the letters that, thanks to her blood technique, she had managed to snatch from the crow, killing the animal in the process.
But now she had a problem, she couldn't read the content. She was convinced that those lines and dots had to contain a message. And she lacked clues or indications with which to deduce its meaning.
And, for that same reason, she couldn't assume that Suma was exchanging letters with a demon slayer. It was true that they used that kind of bird for messaging, but it was too soon to draw conclusions.
The most prudent thing would be to make the girl disappear and take note of what that generated. She smiled a little at the thought of the possibility of fighting a demon slayer. If she was in a good mood that day and it turned out to be someone with some beauty, perhaps she would turn them into a demon.
It was something she had never done in the almost two centuries she had been a demon. But she would think about that when the time came, now the important thing was to take care of Suma. She would have to hide her in a place where they couldn't easily find her. And the best place was her underground pantry, where she could interrogate her calmly.
She hoped she would be cooperative enough, or she would have to resort to more aggressive methods. She smiled at the thought, she already had several ideas of what she could do.
Kanao nervously approached Sumiko, whom she had found in the front garden. She held the hair clip in her left hand, ready to give it to her.
"Sumiko," she called softly as she reached her, and the girl turned around, smiling at the sight of her, causing Kanao's heart to beat a little faster.
"Hi, Kanao!"
Kanao swallowed nervously and gathered her courage, raising the hand holding the gift, causing her friend to notice it and look at her in confusion.
"Well...," Kanao gathered her courage to continue speaking. "I found out from Aoi that your birthday is coming up soon, and I wanted to give you this."
Sumiko, somewhat surprised, carefully took the hair clip and smiled again. "Thank you so much, Kanao," she said, using her free hand to undo the ponytail she was wearing and removing the well-worn hair tie, which Kanao noticed and couldn't help feeling relieved. She had chosen well, she thought, as she looked at Sumiko with her hair down for the first time. It was completely straight down to the tips, which were slightly wavy, and reached almost to her waist. But Sumiko's voice brought her back to reality. "Can you help me put it on?"
"Of course," Kanao replied, although her voice trembled for a few seconds and a slight redness covered her cheeks. She quickly stepped behind her friend and began to gather her hair into a ponytail, then took the hair clip and placed it, securing the hair.
Sumiko turned around as Kanao took a couple of steps back. "How does it look?"
"Perfect," the girl confessed, and Sumiko beamed with a radiant smile.
Senjuro was helping Aoi and the other three girls set the table. Dinner time was approaching and they had almost everything ready, although due to Kyojuro's almost insatiable appetite, they had to prepare almost five times more food than usual and it took them longer than usual.
"But... how can he eat so much and still be... like that?" asked Kiyo, one of the youngest girls.
"Well... I think it's because he burns it all right away," Senjuro replied, somewhat embarrassed at the thought of how much of a glutton Kyojuro could be.
"Oh..." murmured the girl, nodding. It made sense.
"Naho, can you let the others know?" Aoi asked.
"Sure!"
The girl hurried out of the dining room after placing the last pair of chopsticks. She knew that at that time, Shinobu would be in her office or in the makeshift laboratory she had.
She tried her luck in the office first. When she reached the room, she found that the door was closed. She knocked a couple of times and waited to see if she would get a response. But after waiting several minutes and not hearing anything, she gave up and headed to the other place.
The laboratory could only be accessed from Shinobu's bedroom. Once there, she had to open a door at the back and descend several flights of stairs. She didn't like that place, and on previous occasions when she had to go to let her know, she would usually ask Kanao or Aoi to do it for her.
When she was in the hallway where the owner of the house's room was located, she ran into Kyojuro.
"Mr. Rengoku!" she called out, since she was there, she would also let him know.
"Yes? Is there something wrong?" he asked, smiling a little. Although it didn't seem completely genuine, Naho didn't dare say anything.
"Dinner is ready," the girl said.
"Perfect! I'll go to the dining room right away." Rengoku left quickly, leaving Naho alone, who resumed her journey to the bedroom.
She opened the door after making sure Shinobu wasn't there and crossed the bedroom to the entrance to the laboratory.
She was nervous as she put her hand on the knob and turned the handle. As soon as she opened it, she felt cold and was grateful that the lights that illuminated the descent were on.
She hugged herself as she went down the stairs. That was by far the coldest area in the whole place, but she didn't stop, no matter how much she wanted to, she had to do what Aoi had asked her to do.
The descent felt endless, but when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she came across a wooden door that was closed.
She walked towards it and knocked on the door three times until she heard Shinobu give her permission to enter.
If she had thought the stairs were cold before, it was much worse in the laboratory. Trying not to shiver, she looked at Shinobu.
The woman had been sitting in front of a table and, judging by the microscope placed there, must have been examining something. But Naho, who wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, barely noticed those details.
"The... dinner is ready!"
"Already?" Shinobu asked, taking off the white coat she had been wearing over her uniform. "Have you let everyone know?" she asked as she hung the garment on a nearby coat rack, and the two of them walked towards the exit.
"No, I just need to let Kanao and Sumiko know."
"Well, then go tell them and we'll meet in the dining room."
The girl started running up the stairs. Shinobu laughed a little and simply took a key out of his pants pocket. She locked the door securely and, after making sure it was latched, began the ascent.
Kanao was watching the man beneath the tree with a certain fear. She had been talking calmly with Sumiko when the blacksmith arrived. The man was not at all happy about what had happened with the katana and had started chasing them, brandishing a kitchen knife and shouting obscenities and insults.
He had made them run around the courtyard, and until they climbed up into the tree's canopy, they didn't get any respite. Although he was still there, waiting for them to come down.
"I'm so sorry!" Sumiko apologized again, but like the previous times, she failed to calm down the blacksmith.
"Shut up, you idiot! I'll carve you up, do you hear me?!" the man shouted at the top of his lungs, completely out of his mind, while wielding his weapon threateningly.
"I don't think we're going to be able to reason with him," Kanao confessed.
"It seems so, yes."
Their only alternative seemed to be that one of the residents of the house realized their absence and came to look for them. Preferably Rengoku or Kocho, they would know how to deal with this, right?
At that moment, the adult took several steps back, raised his arm with the knife, and threw it in their direction, hoping to hit Sumiko with it, but the girl easily dodged it by moving her head slightly to the right.
"So, here you are," they heard a female voice and saw Shinobu and Aoi coming out and approaching them. "You must be Haganezuka, right?" Aoi asked, looking at the man.
He looked at her, nodded, and then focused his attention back on the two girls.
"They told us your favorite food was octopus-filled balls," the Pillar commented, smiling. Finally, she seemed to capture the blacksmith's interest, who nodded vigorously. "We prepared several as soon as we knew you were coming. Aoi, why don't you accompany him?"
The girl, who had noticed Sumiko's butterfly-shaped hairpin when she looked at the two girls, nodded distractedly and hurried to obey, leaving with Haganezuka.
"You can come down now," Shinobu said, and the two girls jumped and landed cleanly on the ground. "Dinner is ready, and we were worried we wouldn't find you anywhere."
"Thank you very much, Kocho," Sumiko murmured. If it hadn't been for her, who knows how long they would have had to stay there.
"Don't mention it. Haganezuka is well known for his temper. He forged my sister's sword, and this kind of thing happening was quite common." Shinobu's gaze turned nostalgic but only lasted a second. "By the way, Sumiko, that hairpin looks great on you."
"T-Thank you. It was a gift from Kanao," the girl murmured, smiling a little. She really liked it.
The three of them headed towards the house.
Suma opened her eyes with effort. The last thing she remembered was being in her room and how something, a cloth, wrapped around her from behind. She tried to move, but she couldn't, something was holding her arms and legs, and she couldn't see where she was, the place was too dark.
She turned her head to make sure, there was no light coming in from anywhere. The only clue she had of where she was, was the rough texture of the stone she felt underneath her.
"I see you've awakened," she immediately raised her head upon hearing that feminine voice. "You took less time than I expected."
"Who are you?" Suma did her best to hide her panic.
"Here I am the one asking questions, dear," she heard as the woman advanced towards her. "And we have a lot to talk about~"
The hair on Suma's neck stood up. She couldn't see her yet, but she could sense the power emanating from her captor.
"You see, I know you've been exchanging letters with someone," the other said, dropping them in front of the human with some disdain. "But I haven't been able to read them."
"I'm not going to tell you what they say, demon."
"Oh, perfect. So you know what I am." Suma felt the other grab her chin and force her to raise her head even more. "I assume you were corresponding with a demon hunter, right?"
Suma grimaced, realizing she had possibly said too much by identifying her as a demon.
"I wonder how long it will take them to realize you're missing, but until then we can have some fun."
The kunoichi gritted her teeth, she didn't like where the situation was heading at all.
"I'll ask you something else, who were the letters addressed to, honey?"
Suma didn't answer and her interlocutor sighed a little, removed her hand from her chin, and in a quick movement, broke the little finger on her right hand. The only reaction from her was to close her eyes tightly and grit her teeth to keep from screaming.
"Every time you don't answer one of my questions, I'll break one of your fingers, is that clear?"
If Makio had been in that situation, she would have mocked that threat. As kunoichis, they had had to endure worse things, but Suma wasn't crazy enough to risk letting it slip and provoking her.
At least her eyes had adapted somewhat to the darkness and she could make out the silhouette of her enemy.
"It's a shame, you're quite pretty, you know? I have nothing against you, but..."
"I won't reveal anything to you," the kunoichi interrupted her.
"Darling, I don't know if you have sawdust instead of a brain, and you haven't realized your situation yet. I'll get the answers out of you, and even if I don't, now I'm clear about one thing." The woman grinned triumphantly. "I'm sure that if you go without communication for a while, they'll come to see what happened. And then I'll kill that hunter."
"Before that, they'll find me!"
"Please don't make me laugh. It's impossible for them to locate you here," she informed her as she took another one of her fingers and, like before, broke it without the slightest remorse.
Suma tried to react as little as possible, she wouldn't give her the satisfaction of screaming.
"We can go on like this for as long as you want, but I assure you, in the end, you'll tell me what I want."
Kanae smiled amusedly as she watched the demon hunter fall dead. It was especially entertaining for her to see how fragile they were. Killing those who were once her companions had ceased to matter to her a long time ago.
It was really a matter of survival, and she did not want to die. She deeply appreciated Douma for giving her a second chance to live and she was not going to waste it.
She approached the body and grabbed it without much care. Turning around and carrying it over one shoulder, she left the forest and headed back to the temple of Douma's cult.
She had not gone far enough for anyone from the Corps to discover the location of that place.
The only thing she regretted was not being able to kill the crow, which had fled as soon as it saw her. She didn't fool herself, it would have gone to warn the boss. It was really time for them to know she was alive, to tell the truth.
She stopped when she reached the back of the building and with a leap, she reached the balcony on the second floor. She peered through the window and saw Douma sitting on a cushion, reading a book in the dim light of a candle.
To let him know she was there and to open the door, she tapped the glass twice gently. The demon put the book aside and looked in her direction. He got up and walked over there, opening the door and letting Kanae in.
"Was it difficult?" he asked as she carelessly left the body on the floor.
"No, but his crow escaped," Kanae replied.
Douma nodded, serious. That could be a hassle, and they were going to have to speed up their original plans.
"And what will you do?" he asked, looking at the woman. "They will send more after you, and they may discover all of this."
Kanae sighed a bit and tucked her hair behind her ears. "Leave, do I have another option?"
The crow perched on Kagaya Ubuyashiki's shoulder. It was exhausted after its flight, with almost no stops, from Hokkaido.
"I bring news!" exclaimed the bird, trying not to chirp too loudly. "Kanae Kocho has been seen alive in Hokkaido!"
Ubuyashiki, who had raised his right hand to pet the animal, stopped abruptly. He had a bad feeling about this.
"Now she is a demon!" the crow finished saying. Kagaya, making an effort to contain his emotions, congratulated the messenger.
"You have done very well," he said and, with the help of his wife, stood up and looked towards the woman. "Let him rest with the rest of the crows and please write an urgent message to Shinobu telling her about this."
Amane nodded and, after leaving her husband with their two older daughters, hurried to fulfill the order.
Shinobu trembled as she read that letter over and over again. It had to be a lie, Kanae couldn't... her sister had died two years ago. It was true that the body was never found, but... no, she refused to believe it, there had to be some kind of mistake. But at the same time, she was aware that the pattern wouldn't lie about something like this.
Without realizing it, she began to squeeze the paper in anger that was beginning to open up inside her.
Her sister, who had been so sweet and kind, turned into one of those monsters that devoured humans?
She would make that wretch pay, she would make him suffer the worst of deaths. No matter what it cost, she would be the one to put an end to his existence.
A shiver ran through her at the thought of having to kill Kanae too, but it was the only way she could rest in peace, she forced herself to remember. Something her sister deserved.
"Shinobu... what's wrong?" Hearing Kanao's voice, she looked up and the anger in her eyes faded a bit. She left the letter on the table and walked towards the young girl. She hugged her without answering her question yet.
Kanao was even more worried, the content of that letter had to be even worse than she expected.
"We have to talk," murmured Shinobu when she let go of her. The girl nodded, she didn't remember seeing her older sister so serious before.
See you soon with the next chapter! Don't forget to leave a review! I would love to hear your thoughts!