Present Day, October 14, 1913

"So all of the shit about Eguchi was true?"

"Yeah," Muichiro told Yoriichi as the two trained in the former's dreams. "The journal he had exposed everything. I don't blame Shinazugawa-san for putting a bullet in his head after what we found out. The Oyakata-sama is going to start a larger investigation to see if more people were in on Eguchi's plans."

"I can't say I wouldn't have done the same," Yoriichi admitted. "As much as I don't necessarily like revenge, I'd be greatly tempted if I came face to face with the demon who killed my wife and unborn child."

"Anyway," Muichiro then brought up. "So…" He thought to himself, "Okay, how do I approach this?" He then sighed, deciding to come clean and be blunt. "Okay, look, I want to find Kokushibo and fight him."

Yoriichi's blood ran cold when Muichiro mentioned fighting Kokushibo. "You want to what?!"

"I want to find him," he replied. "I've been honing my skills with you very well."

"You're nowhere near ready," Yoriichi firmly told him. "You need to develop a Demon Slayer mark on your face at the very least, Muichiro!"

"That's the thing on your face, right?"

"Indeed," he replied as he pointed out the flame marks on his face. "Be warned, though. Most people who have this mark don't live long. You have a child or twins on the way. Do you really want to throw away your future with them, young Muichiro?"

"Damn it, of course you brought that up…" Muichiro realized that Yoriichi had a good point. "Fuck… I get why you're concerned, but-"

"You're not ready," Yoriichi repeated himself. "You'll be killed if you try to fight him, Muichiro." He then suddenly drew his sword and attacked Muichiro, who responded by quickly drawing his sword, only to be slashed across his chest.

Muichiro screamed in pain, "Fuck! What was that for?!"

"I'm gonna fight you at full strength," Yoriichi told him. "Now get up! Get on your feet! I'll show you that you aren't ready!"

Muichiro then readied his sword despite the pain and called out, "Breath of Mist, Fifth Form: Sea of Clouds and Haze!" He then charged at Yoriichi and unleashed a large amount of slashes in an attempt to cover his movements.

Yoriichi, however, countered with, "Breath of the Sun, Fourth Form: Burning Bones, Summer Sun!" With a large circular slash through the air, he deflected Muichiro's attack. "How's that?!"

"Sixth Form: Lunar Dispersing Mist!" With a backflip into the air, Muichiro slashed downwards towards Yoriichi, attempting to hit him but only managing to scrape the side of his head and barely doing any damage. "Shit, I missed!"

"Seventh Form: Beneficent Radiance!" Yoriichi responded to Muichiro's attack by jumping up into the air and delivering a powerful slash, striking Muichiro's back and forcing him onto the ground in pain. As he landed back on the ground, he told Muichiro, "It's over, Muichiro! You aren't ready!"

Muichiro got up despite the pain and yelled at him, "Don't underestimate me!"

Yoriichi's eyes changed from determination to keep

fighting to worry over Muichiro's state of mind as he told him, "Don't do it!" Within his head, he thought to himself, "He's becoming too power-hungry!"

Muichiro then yelled, "I will!" He jumped up into the air and attempted to decapitate Yoriichi from up above, only for Yoriichi to slash at his legs and slice both of them off with ease. As Muichiro screamed in pain, he and his legs landed on the ground. "Fuck… Fuck! My legs!" He bled profusely from the stumps that Yoriichi had made, and knew that he would die and wake up soon.

Yoriichi looked away, clearly distressed by the image of Muichiro slowly dying due to blood loss within the dream. "I… I can't look, Muichiro. You aren't ready. Remember that when you wake up, please. I don't want you to die."

"No, no…"

"Don't get yourself killed, please!"

With that, Muichiro's eyes opened wide as he promptly awoke next to Mukago in bed. "Holy shit…" He then sat up in bed as he caught his breath and looked around. "Fuck… Yoriichi, why?" As he sat down back in bed, he said to himself, "I need to be ready. I will fight Kokushibo one day, I swear…"

"Honey," Mukago then asked him as she stirred awake. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he assured her before kissing her on the forehead between her horns. "I'm fine, dear. Go back to bed. The babies need it."

"Wait… The babies, like in plural?"

Muichiro told her with a sigh, "You see… Us Tokitos have a tendency to have twin sons, so…"

"So we could have twins?" Mukago then nodded in thought. "I see, I see. Did you have twin brothers?"

"Not that I can remember," Muichiro replied. "I can't recall much of my past. I only know about the Tokito twin thing because of word of mouth."

"Either way," Mukago assured him. "I'll be happy, whether it's one or two babies, boy or girl." She then kissed him on the lips. "You know, we don't have much going on in the morning tomorrow, and we're both up. Maybe we can keep each other warm, if you know what I mean."

Muichiro gave a faint smile, getting what his girlfriend was getting at. "I see. That doesn't sound like a bad idea, Mukago." The two then giggled as they embraced each other, Muichiro being careful to not squeeze her belly too much. "We can have a little fun in the middle of the night."

…

October 15, 1913

As Vèro and Genya went out on a mission alone without their teachers, the two walked through a heavily-wooded area, looking for signs of demon activity. The two also talked about Sanemi's incident during the special meeting. "I still can't believe my brother was holding all that in," Genya told Vèro. "I'm even more shocked that Kanae didn't even have to die."

"I'm so sorry," Vèro comforted him with a pat on the shoulder, causing him to blush slightly. "Genya, I know you don't have the best relationship with Shinazugawa-san, but I know for a fact that he loves you." She then pulled a letter out of her uniform shirt that she had been hiding. "Ignore that I stored it under my shirt and read it for a second, okay?"

It was the letter that Sanemi had wrote in case he either was killed or chose to commit suicide after killing Rantaro during the meeting. "What is this?"

"Don't tell him I gave you it," Vèro warned him. "He doesn't know I did. I think he may have written it in case he died. Obviously, he's lucky the Oyakata-sama didn't have him executed, but I think he also entertained the idea of suicide after killing Eguchi."

"Suicide?" The thought of Sanemi dying got to Genya really quickly, and he took a deep breath as tears formed in his eyes. "I don't want to lose my brother, Vèro. Please, watch out for him and stop him if he tries to do something stupid. He's the only family I have left."

"I will," Vèro nodded. "I'll do everything in my power to keep him safe from himself." She then hugged him to comfort him. "Genya, I care about you and I care about your brother. I don't want to see either of you get hurt."

Genya somewhat awkwardly returned the hug, nodding and telling her, "Thanks, Vèronique. That means a lot."

"It's not often people use my full first name," Vèro remarked. "It sounds nice coming from you."

Then, before either of them could progress any further, they heard rustling behind them before Vèro felt something grab a hold of her and throw her to the ground. Genya yelled out, "What the fuck?! Vèro!"

"Agh, tabarnak!" Vèro quickly drew her sword as she looked up at a demon who had ambushed them. Before the demon could strike her with his claws, Vèro slashed his hands off and got up, yelling at him, "Can't strike me down that easily! Now, va t'en! Get the fuck out of here!"

"I don't think so," the demon told the girl as he kicked her to the ground and then placed a hand on her shoulder. As he bent down and exhaled in her face before he grasped her ponytail in the back, he told her, "Not when you're so exotic and foreign."

"Let go of her!" Genya tried firing his shotgun at him, but it jammed. "Fuck, my gun!"

"Aww, look at that," the demon told Vèro. "Your friend's gun jammed. I wonder if he's thinking about who I'm gonna kill. Well, the jokes on him, because I'll kill you both."

"Let me go!" Vèro was disturbed to hear herself described in such words, and quickly drew a knife before stabbing the demon once in the stomach before yelling, "Fuck it!" With a swift motion, she decisively and effectively cut her hair in one fell swoop, freeing her from his grasp and shortening her ponytail. As she stood back up, she grabbed her sword again, she told him, "Take all the hair you want! It doesn't matter!"

"You're feisty! I like that!" The demon then charged at her.

"Breath of Wind, First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter!" Vèro charged forward in the opposite direction and sliced the demon's head clean off in a cyclone-like motion, ending the fight before Genya had to step in. "Go to Hell!"

As Genya cleared the jam in his gun, he asked Vèro, "Hey, are you alright?!"

"Yeah," she replied to him. "The fucker tore my hair up real good, but it'll grow back."

"If I could make a suggestion," Genya then told her. "Maybe make the hair in the back a little shorter so it isn't so easy to grab."

"Hmmm…" Vèro then looked at the demon's dissipating body and nodded. "I see… I see… I'll have to ask Jack about that."

Confused, Genya asked her, "Jack? Who's Jack?"

"Oh, right. James. Jack was a name he was called a lot in America."

"Isn't he your grandfather, though? Why not call him jii-san or something like that?"

Vèro sighed. "Yes, technically, he is my grandfather, but… I feel more like we're siblings. I mean, he looks barely older than me despite being 35 years older than me. Imagine if your father or mother was stuck looking like a 15 year old like you?"

Genya nodded. "Okay, yeah, I understand. If they were still alive, that would be pretty fucking weird." The two then shared a laugh over the thought of their parents being perpetually stuck as teenagers. "Anyway, let's start heading back. I think we've gotten our fair share of scares tonight."

"You know," Vèro then told him. "When I first met you, I thought you were this shy but also gruff and tough guy who didn't get along with people, but I can see now that it just took someone to talk to you to realize that wasn't entirely right."

Genya smiled. "Thanks, Vèro."

…

October 16, 1913

Inside the Dimensional Infinity Fortress, a demon who bore similar hair to Kokushibo sat at an office desk, going over notes he had taken throughout the day. "Let's see…" Then, he heard a knock at his door. "Hm? Who is it?"

"It's me," Jubal Early, the Third Knight of the Moon, then answered. "Jubal."

"Come on in, Early-san," Kokushibo then told him.

"I got here a message from General Kibutsuji," Jubal told him as he handed him a note. "He wants you to train the current Lower Moon 4. It's some kid by the name of Kengo."

"Kengo, eh? I've heard of this young man." He then looked over the note. "Alright. Tell him it'll be done. Also, if I may suggest, try not to call our leader by his name around other demons from Japan. No one else knows I'm the only one among us Japanese demons who can say Kibutsuji-sama's name, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Understood," Jubal replied. "You know, we've never had such a restriction with General Jackson or his brother."

Kokushibo nodded. "Yeah, I know. That's just how Kibutsuji-sama is. He sees me as his greatest work and most loyal servant, hence why I have no such restriction. Anyway, I'll meet with Kengo first thing tomorrow night."