June 11, 1913

"Is everything for you packed?" Mitsuri was checking over her bag of supplies, which included a small box containing thirty bullets plus two loaded revolver speedloader tubes. Hanging from her belt was not only her sword, but also a gun, a first for the Love Pillar.

"Yeah," Obanai replied as he walked towards her, carrying his bag on his back. "You know how to work the speedloader, right?"

"Of course," Mitsuri eagerly replied as she pulled her gun out and demonstrated, quickly ejecting all five unused bullets onto the floor and then loading another five in. "Just like that. Now, I gotta pick these bullets up."

As she bent down to pick up the six bullets on the floor, Obanai noticed he could see into her chest from the angle he was standing at, and looked away. "Curse that uniform and its awkward exposures," he thought to himself. Once she picked up and loaded the bullets into the speedloader, she stood back up. "We gotta be careful. We already face a risk of going around carrying swords, but if the police catch us with guns, we'll face even more trouble." Obanai then pulled his gun out to inspect it.

"The Oyakata-sama does have a point, though," Mitsuri replied. "Carrying sidearms would not hurt us, especially with those new poisoned bullets Shinobu-chan made." Both of the revolvers they carried were compact snub-nosed models known as the British Bulldog, utilizing the .450 Adams round. Kagaya had given the Swordsmiths several models of compact revolvers for them to study and copy, and for now relied on James to cast sun-absorbing bullets with his Blood Demon Art. However, he aimed at casting them out of nichirin very soon.

Kaburamaru slithered around Obanai, looking at the gun with curiosity. He smiled behind his bandages and told him, "Don't worry. This may be loud, but it will help protect me." As he put his gun away, the words James had told him the day before still weighed heavily on his mind. "He doesn't know me," he thought to himself. "He doesn't know half of what I've been through. What the fuck gives him the right to call me out and say I'm wrong?"

"I got these new shoes from Shinobu-chan," Mitsuri then gushed to Obanai, snapping him out of it. The shoes were green, to match her knee-high socks, and were sturdy, easily meant for long-distance trips. "Don't they look so cool? They're good for walking long distances."

Obanai chuckled, amused by her eagerness to use them. "They sure do."

Later that night, the two made their way to their destination along an unlit path in practically the middle of nowhere. The only thing guiding them was a compass owned by Obanai and a map from Mitsuri. Obanai asked her, "How much longer until we get to the hotel?"

"Considering we've walked for about an hour," Mitsuri replied. "I'm gonna guess we got another hour and a half until we reach our destination."

As they continued silently down the road, the forest surrounding them on both sides, Kaburamaru suddenly hissed, causing both of them to stop. As they both darted their eyes around, wondering what caused him to hiss, they heard the sound of hooves coming from behind them and quickly turned around. What followed was a gunshot up into the air, startling both of them as a group of three men armed with hunting rifles approached on horseback. The leader of the three told them, "Don't move. This is a robbery!"

"A robbery?" Obanai turned around and was immediately confronted by a rifle aimed at his head.

"You can't do a fucking thing," another robber then told them as he aimed his rifle at Mitsuri. "Tell the police, and they'll just arrest you two for carrying weapons without a permit. Hand over all the cash you guys are carrying."

Obanai then told the three of them, "I wouldn't rob us if I were you."

The leader replied, "We don't care who you are. What are you, anyway? Fucking pretend samurai?"

A third robber then grabbed Mitsuri from behind, holding her up by her shirt. "Look what we got here. You're far too pretty to be out at night like this."

"Let her go," Obanai yelled out, pulling his gun from his waistband and aiming it right at the head of their leader. He did not care one bit that he was outmanned and outgunned. "Take me instead, if you must! Just let Kanroji-san go! I don't care what happens to me! Her life matters more!"

Mitsuri, realizing what kind of trouble he was getting himself into, sighed. "I guess it can't be helped." She then kicked her right leg up into the air, revealing a knife in her right shoe that aimed backwards from her heel, before mule-kicking the man right in his crotch. The blade easily sunk into his clothes and his skin, puncturing his genitalia and spilling blood all over.

The man immediately fell over in pain, screaming, "That bitch just stabbed me in the fucking balls!"

Distracted by the attack, the leader of the trio was unable to react in time before Obanai shot him in the face, putting a hole right in his left eye socket and leaving a hole in the back of his head as he fell to the ground. Meanwhile, Mitsuri pulled her own gun and shot the second man right before he could aim at her, striking him in the chest twice. As both men fell to the ground, dead from their wounds, the third man tried to reach for one of the rifles, still bleeding profusely from his crotch, only for Obanai to shoot him in the back, killing him instantly.

As the dust settled, Mitsuri took several deep breaths and said to herself, "Damn it… I… I actually did it…"

"Thank God you're okay," Obanai then told her. "So that's why you were so excited about those sho-"

"Iguro-san," Mitsuri then angrily yelled out as she grabbed him by his shirt collar and pinned him to the side of a tree out of rage. "Fucking shit for brains! The only reason you're not fucking dead right now is because I had to step in and save your ass after you were fucking reckless!" Something inside her had snapped as a result of the confrontation, and she needed to let it out right then and there. As her grip on her revolver tightened, she continued, "This isn't the first fucking time I had to do it, but by God, it will be the last fucking time! Look, I agree to be your partner on missions a lot, but this is fucked! I will gladly protect you through the fucking flames of Hell, but it's just not fucking possible to protect someone who's trying so damn hard to get himself fucking killed all the time!"

Obanai was horrified to see someone like her become so visceral and driven by rage. He had heard her raise her voice very few times before, and never on this scale. "Are… Are you mad, Kanroji-san?"

"Hell yes," Mitsuri spat at him. "I'm fucking pissed! Do you have any fucking clue how many people care about you?! Why is it that every time you're in a bad spot, you want to throw your fucking life away?! Do you fucking know what that would do to everyone who loves you?!" As she went on, her rage slowly turned into sadness as tears began to form in her eyes. "Do you even have a single fucking iota of a clue of what that would do to me?! I don't want to live in a world without you in it, Obanai! It's like you're fucking suicidal, and I'm sick of it!" Her use of his first name shocked him, as did her tears. "Please, don't say you're gonna sacrifice your life for me. I don't know what I would do with myself if you died!"

As she let him go, she broke down and fell to her knees, dropping her gun and crying. Obanai looked at her, shocked at the preceding events as the horses the three now dead highwaymen came off of stood silently nearby. "Have I… Did she…" He then took a deep breath from under his bandages. "Kanroji-san, come on. I… I'm sorry I did that."

"When we get to the hotel," Mitsuri then told him as she calmed down, wiping away her tears. "We're gonna have a serious talk about us. Until we get there, I want both of us to stay silent."

Meanwhile, James, who was sleeping in the same bed as Susamaru, the two of them completely nude, was unable to fall asleep, the words he had told Obanai still ringing in his head, as well as his reaction. "Darling," Susamaru asked him as she turned over to him. "What's wrong? You can tell me."

"It's about Obanai," he confessed. "I… I argued with him yesterday about Mitsuri."

"What was it about?"

James sighed, retelling his side of what had happened. "The man hates himself so much he refuses to tell her he's in love with her, even when it's so fuckin' clear she loves him, too! It reminded me too much of what I used to be."

"I see," Susamaru replied, feeling bad for Obanai. "I'm somewhat familiar with why."

"Really? What happened to him?"

"It was about eight years ago," Susamatu recalled to him. "I had been a demon for two years by then. I remember this because Mukago-chan sent me to visit where his family lived once to deliver a message to a demon. She had just become Lower Moon Four about a week prior."

May 5, 1905

At a relatively large home in the middle of a small village in the middle of the night, a slightly younger looking Susamaru knocked on the door to the front, not knowing what to expect, but knowing that her destination was right in front of her. She carried a small bag made of human skin that had been given to her by Mukago, who in turn had been given to her by Muzan. Inside the bag were letters and other papers. As the door opened, a young woman about the same age as Susamaru had been when she was turned into a demon emerged. She bowed and told her, "Welcome. Who are you?"

"I am Susamaru," she explained to her. "I was sent to deliver a message to Hebiko by our master."

"Right this way," she then replied, opening the door fully for her. The fact that she had called the demon by her name indicated that she was indeed not a threat, but was telling the truth. After going down several dimly-lit hallways, she entered a throne room, and before her was Hebiko, a demon who bore the lower body of a snake as well as the eyes of one. "Hebiko-sama," the young woman explained. "This demon girl was sent by Kibutsuji Muzan to give you a message."

"Sssso she wassssss," she replied, drawing out her s-sounds in her speech. "Welcome to the Home of the Iguro Clan. What isssss your name?"

"Susamaru," she replied with a bow. "I have a message from our master himself." She then pulled out a letter and a few papers from her human skin bag. "It is of the utmost importance that you read these letters and follow the instructions on the attached sheets of paper."

As Hebiko took the letter and read it, she smiled. "I ssssee," she noted. "Ssssso, he hasssss conssssidered me to become a Lower Moon. Well, tell him I am honored by hissssss idea."

"Whatever you do," Susamaru further instructed her. "Do not let any of this fall into the hands of the Demon Slayer Corps. If you feel like they may, destroy them." She then turned to the human women who had let her in. "That goes for you, too."

"Our lips are sealed," she replied. "Hebiko has been very kind to us for 370 years."

Then, an older woman with turquoise eyes came into the room. She appeared to be about 27, and greeted Susamaru. "Welcome. I see you've already met Hebiko-sama." The woman held a small infant in her hands, peacefully sleeping. "I was just going to feed our master."

"If you want," Hebiko offered to Susamaru. "You can join in. I'll leave sssssome of the dinner for you."

Confused, Susamaru asked, "What's the dinner?"

"She'ssss holding it," Hebiko noted to her, pointing to the baby in the woman's arms. "By the way," she asked the woman. "How much longer until your son is ready?"

"Give him another two weeks," the woman replied. "And he'll be a wonderful meal, Hebiko-sama. Until then, take my fifth daughter here."

"Sssssoundssss good to me," Hebiko replied. "Sssusssamaru, what do you ssssay?"

Disturbed by what had just transpired in front of her, she replied, "Um… No thank you, Hebiko-san. I must respectfully decline."

"That'ssss okay," Hebiko nodded. "Not everyone'sssss got the same tassstesss as me." She then gleefully plucked the infant from the older woman's arms, causing it to cry, before gripping it firmly and biting down on its head, causing blood to spill onto the floor and the sobs of the baby to cease. As she consumed the child, Susamaru tried her best to hide her shock. Once she was finished, she asked the older woman. "What a wonderful meal. Tell me, how old wasssss she?"

"Three months old," the woman replied. "Obanai will be even better."

Several minutes later, Susamaru had exited the home in a hurry. Once she entered the outside, she ran as fast as she could away from the Iguro Clan Household, the image of the woman feeding her own baby to Hebiko replaying in her head over and over again. Once she rounded a corner past a closed-down tea shop, she found an empty garbage bin and quickly threw her head into it, becoming violently ill and excreting chunks of digested flesh and blood from her earlier meals over the past week. Once she was done vomiting into the trash can, she took several deep breaths and fell to the ground, breaking out into a cold sweat. "What the fuck… She willingly fed her own children to one of us?! What the fuck?!"

"Even by demon standards," Susamaru told James in the present day. "She was disturbing to most of us. Mukago-chan even told me before she sent me that that bitch had 'unusual tastes.' I just never expected to see a grown woman feed a three-month-old baby to a demon. Turns out they were a clan of thieves who had been doing this for 370 fucking years just so Hebiko could give them all the shit she stole from her prey."

James was horrified by the story. "That… That explains so much. Obanai must be so ashamed of his family that he thinks the only way to atone is death. Even so… That's the wrong attitude to have. I hope he makes peace with himself and with Mitsuri without having to die."

"Maybe he will," Susamaru replied with hope. "Maybe you got through to him, but he just isn't showing it." She then kissed him on his cheek. "Goodnight, dear."

"Goodnight," he replied as they both closed their eyes and went to sleep.