February 10, 1914
Nezuko, Zenitsu, Kaigaku, Genya, Vèro, Sanemi, and Gyomei were attending a formal event at the Mochizuki Estate near Tokyo. Accompanying them was Chiyo, who was sent to assist them for the visit even though she was not present for the rescue mission. All of them had been fitted in more formal European-style wear, such as tuxedos and suits for the men and flowing dresses for the women.
The celebration was filled with good spirits, music, and dancing, and as the nobles conversed among themselves, Zenitsu said to Kaigaku, "I wonder where Nezuko-chan is. She's running a little late."
"I'm here," Nezuko then said as she walked over. She now wore a lilac pink evening gown, and her hair had been tied back in a bun. "Sorry for the late arrival. Chiyo-chan was helping me with my dress."
"Speaking of," Chiyo herself added as she walked in beside Nezuko, wearing a similar evening gown that was colored red as well as a new red eyepatch. "How do I look, guys?"
Zenitsu was astonished to see the two of them, especially Nezuko, in such formal wear, and was silent for several brief moments before Kaigaku smiled and told them both, "You two look wonderful."
Chiyo smiled and replied, "Really? Thank you, Kaigaku."
Nezuko then asked Zenitsu, "Hey, are you gonna answer her?"
"Oh, right," Zenitsu replied, snapping out of his trance. "Your dresses look great. Chiyo-chan, you did a wonderful job for you and Nezuko-chan."
Chiyo bowed and replied to him, "Thank you, Zenitsu-kun."
Meanwhile, Genya and Vèro were already dancing, with Vèro having taught him before how to do so formally and whispering to him tips as they danced. "Good," she said to him. "Keep moving your feet like that. Make sure you don't let go of me."
"I won't," he replied, his face red from blushing as he danced with his girlfriend.
"Don't worry so much about it," she told him. "No need to be embarrassed, Genya."
Off to the side, a few nobles were watching Genya and Vèro dance. One of the noble women commented, "That boy seems rather nervous. I bet this is his first time dancing in such a way… Or dancing in general."
One particular noble watched the proceedings with contempt, that noble being Kyosuke's younger brother Junpei. He was proud of his brother's promotion to count, especially given that he was next in line due to Emi being an only child and a daughter. Junpei, who also was a colonel in the Imperial Japanese Army, looked down on the slayers, viewing them as being of too low of a class to warrant such attention, but went along with it all because of his brother. He thought to himself, "These people don't know the first fucking thing about high society and how to conduct yourself. Us nobles could have taken care of this, especially with our connections to the military. That girl the one man is with is also way too peculiar. I don't see what he sees in her."
Gyomei and Sanemi, meanwhile, were both talking among several other nobles, all of them women. Gyomei told them all, "Even with my blindness, I've been able to find a place among the Demon Slayer Corps and even rise up the ranks."
One of the noble women replied, "Wow… That's so cool, Himejima-san."
Gyomei chuckled. "Why thank you."
Meanwhile, several noble women were captivated by Sanemi's looks, with one of them commenting, "He looks so handsome. I wonder how he got those scars…"
Sanemi, amused by their comments, replied, "You know I can hear you guys, right?"
The women all immediately snapped out of their daydreams and bowed in apology. "Our apologies, Shinazugawa-san."
"Not saying you guys were doing anything bad," he assured them. "I was just saying I could hear you."
"Oh," said one of the noble women. "I see."
"I got these scars in hunts," Sanemi explained in a rather brief way without getting into detail about his past, which is how he preferred to answer when people asked about his scars. "It's nothing too special." Sanemi then turned to the dance floor and saw his brother dancing with Vèro, smiling as he did. "He's all grown up now," he thought to himself. "I never thought I'd see him dance with a woman."
Gyomei asked Sanemi, "I can hear Genya and Vèro's feet tapping on the floor. Are they dancing, Shinazugawa-san?"
"Yeah," he replied. "My brother's doing pretty good, actually. I'm surprised you can pick them out from everyone else on the dance floor with your hearing."
"When you're blind, your other senses become much sharper to compensate."
"I knew that, but holy shit, that's impressive you could tell them apart."
Back on the dance floor, Genya and Vèro began to laugh with each other as they swayed slowly to the music within the reception hall. The latter told the former, "See? Not so bad, huh?"
"I guess not," Genya replied to her.
Vèro then suddenly stopped and leaned in to whisper to him, "Do you wanna spend some alone time after this?"
Genya blushed and replied similarly, "Uh, well, uh… You… You look really good in that dress."
"Is that a yes, mon amour?"
"Perhaps." The two then began to dance again as if the interruption had never happened. He thought to himself, "We haven't done such things together for a good two weeks. We'll finally have enough alone time to do it."
As all of this was going on, Zenitsu, who had been talking with a young man around his age who was related to nobility, turned and saw Nezuko talking with several men. Seemingly in a hurry, she bowed to all of them before hurriedly walking over to Zenitsu, surprising him. "Nezuko-chan, wha-?"
Nezuko then grabbed him by the arm and pulled him aside. "Hey, come here."
A confused Zenitsu asked, "What's up?"
Nezuko explained, "Those men keep pestering me, and I don't know what the Hell to do about it. I was thinking maybe you could tell them I'm your fiancée to keep them off of my back."
"Fiancé?" Zenitsu immediately blushed at the thought of one day marrying Nezuko. "Uh, well, I…"
"I guess those rich people haven't seen a female soldier or warrior before, or at least haven't heard of any since the era of the onna-musha. They stare at me like I'm some kind of God damn rare animal. It doesn't help that most of them are a good ten years older than me."
Zenitsu snapped out of his daydream and realized why Nezuko felt uncomfortable with the men she was talking to. His brooding expression and tone of voice made it clear that he was very annoyed with them. "Oh, I see. I'll have a word with them and make sure they stop that shit."
"Just don't go too crazy. Be polite but firm with them, Zenitsu-san."
"I know, I know," he assured her before he walked up to the men. He thought to himself in his head as he walked up to them, "Okay, be calm and polite, but get to the point. Don't cause a huge scene."
One of the men, curious to see him walk up to them, asked him, "What is it, young man?"
"If you keep pestering my fiancée," he warned all of them in a rather creepy tone of voice as he shifted to a haunting facial expression. "I'll make sure all of you regret it."
All of the rich men were taken aback by him. One of them said, "Uh, what? Who do you think you're talking to?"
"That girl you keep bothering is engaged to me and me only," he told them all as he stared at the man who had spoken to him directly in his eyes. "So stop or else."
"Hey," he then said to Zenitsu as the latter tried to lean closer to him. "Back the Hell up."
Nezuko noticed how Zenitsu was doing and sighed. "Ugh, he's going overboard."
One of the nobles asked Zenitsu, "That girl in the dress we were talking to is betrothed to you?"
"Yes, she is," Zenitsu nodded. "And she told me you guys were bothering her."
"Okay, fine, if we were, we'll stop," said another one of the men, annoyed with Zenitsu and his behavior. "We weren't doing any harm, so stop being so rude to us. We are of a higher class than you, after all."
Nezuko walked over and said to the men, "Is my fiancé bothering any of you?"
All of the men's facial expressions changed from not taking Zenitsu seriously to understanding that he had been telling the truth, at least as far as they knew, of course. One of them even said to the couple, "Oh… You two actually are betrothed…"
"We'll be taking our leave," Nezuko then said to all of them as she took Zenitsu by his right arm and began to walk him away. "Have a nice evening."
As the couple left the ballroom, the men looked on in confusion, with one of them saying to the group, "I honestly thought that boy was bullshitting us, but I guess it must be true if that lady says it's so."
"It's so weird," another said. "She seems like a lady, and yet she does things very much unbecoming of one. In the modern Westernized world, you would think there would be no place for women on the battlefield."
…
Outside on a rear balcony at the mansion, Nezuko took a deep breath and said to Zenitsu, "Thank God we can get some fresh air. Dealing with those idiots was frustrating." It was a cold night out, so the only thing in the sky was the moon and very light snow falling to the ground.
"I swear," Zenitsu then said. "I heard some of them saying shit about women fighting too as we walked away."
"That fucking annoys me. The nobles are forgetting that we used to be on the battlefield before the Edo period."
Zenitsu, curious to find out where she heard about all of this, asked her, "Where did you hear about women being warriors in the old Japan? I didn't think they'd teach that much about history in the rural villages where you and Tanjiro-kun lived."
"They didn't talk about that in my village," Nezuko clarified. "While you were recovering, Uzui-san's wives taught me about the onna-musha and kunoichi like themselves."
"I still can't believe he managed to get three women all to himself sometimes."
"Well…" Nezuko then leaned in and whispered to him, "It's not just Uzui-san who loves all of them."
Zenitsu, confused, asked her, "What do you mean by that?"
"All three of the girls like each other too," Nezuko replied. "Or, well, from what I understood, they're married to each other as they are to him."
"You mean…"
"I think?"
Zenitsu blushed. "You're telling me the three wives he has also love each other?" He took a deep breath and told her, "You know what that means, right?"
"They care for each other?"
"Not just that. It means they also… Have sex with each other, even if he's not there."
Nezuko immediately blushed a bright red in response. "Oh… Oh my…" She had been unaware of such a possibility up until that very moment. "I knew that two girls could enjoy such relations with each other due to what all the oiran in Yoshiwara talked about, but I didn't know his three wives did, too."
"Yeah," Zenitsu nodded. "I am not really surprised those four do that sort of thing. I mean, I was always wondering how Uzui-san managed to keep three women satisfied like that, and I guess that would work."
"Speaking of women and relationships," Nezuko then asked him. "Have you noticed that Chiyo-chan keeps trying to get close to Kaigaku-san?"
"Now that you mention it," Zenitsu agreed. "Yeah, I have."
"I hate to say it," Nezuko admitted. "But I don't fully see what she sees in him. Maybe it's him, maybe it's me, I don't know. He just wouldn't be for me, I guess. Besides…" She then hugged Zenitsu. "I have you to love anyway."
The two embraced and smiled before kissing each other. When they split, Zenitsu told her, "I love you."
"I love you, too. You aren't mad at me for saying that about Kaigaku-san, right?"
"No, it's fine," he assured her. "I'm not offended at all."
…
Back in the ballroom, Kyosuke prepared to give a speech to the eager crowd regarding the rescue of his daughter as he, his wife, his brother Junpei, and his daughter all stood on a balcony overlooking the ballroom. "Could I have everyone's attention?"
As they all turned to him, Zenitsu and Nezuko ran back in to see what was going on. Kaigaku turned to them and said, "The count's speaking. Hurry up."
"Ladies and gentlemen," said the count as he gave his speech. "It is a great honor to be here tonight after such a trying time. Of course, none of this would be possible without the work of our esteemed guests. These brave men, and even women, are members of what is known as the Demon Slayer Corps. They patrol the rural areas of Japan every night to protect us from the work of demons who seek to bring harm to our country. It was these same demons that so callously murdered several of my servants and then kidnapped my daughter. I thought I would never see her again, but I was able to find this esteemed organization, which has operated for many generations in the shadows, even during the turbulent and unstable Sengoku period, and they were more than willing to rescue her. Many of the slayers, as they are known, are young. In fact, many are of the same age as my daughter, including most of the slayers who rescued her. Even so, these brave young men and women risk their lives every day to save others. Among the slayers sent to rescue my daughter were two of the best slayers in the entire organization, who are referred to as Pillars. These Pillars are the highest-ranking members of the organization, and represent the best of the best. Shinazugawa Sanemi and Himejima Gyomei led the team for this particular mission, and both have extensive careers with the Demon Slayer Corps. Even the slayers ranked below them who participated in the rescue performed exceptionally well. I could not have asked for a better rescue team. In particular, I wish to also recognize Inadama Kaigaku, who led the section of the team who located my daughter inside the abandoned mansion the demons kept her imprisoned in. He is a brave young man, and perhaps one day, he could rise up to the ranks of the Pillars of the corps himself. I may not know too much about the corps, but I know someone who will go very far in life when I see them, and that young man Inadama will go very far."
Kaigaku nodded and thought to himself, "It's good to hear some praise from a noble. With him on my side, I'll get pretty far."
"Treat him, the Pillars, and all of our other guests with the same respect you would treat each other. They are deserving of it after all the hard work they have put in. Words cannot express my gratitude for bringing my daughter back to me in one piece and avenging the deaths of my servants at the hands of those dastardly demons. Because of this, I am honored to announce that I will be making a significant monetary contribution to the Demon Slayer Corps, amounting to ¥150,000."
Several gasps echoed throughout the ballroom at the large amount, though none were of disapproval. Rather, all the slayers were amazed that the corps would be given such a massive sum of money. Sanemi remarked in amazement, "Holy shit… That's over a third of our yearly budget…"
Genya similarly said to himself, "What the fuck? That's huge…"
"I know that amount seems like a lot, but truthfully, I could have given more if I could do so without risking my family's finances too much. Additionally, I will make it my mission when I take a seat in the House of Peers in the year 1915 to push for government recognition and support of the Demon Slayer Corps, something that, in the opinion that I've formed since I began working with them to rescue my daughter, is well overdue. Now, I wish for all those present at this celebration to give the Demon Slayer Corps a round of applause for a job well done."
As the crowd applauded the slayers with claps and cheers, Junpei thought to himself, "Yes, yes, enjoy tonight, Inadama. You will be taken care of soon, though. I will ensure I inherit my brother's position as count when the time comes, and you can't stop me…"
…
As the ball wound down, Kaigaku and Emi began talking among themselves about the night's events in a hallway. "I had a really fun time tonight," Emi told Kaigaku. "I really needed it after everything that's happened since I got kidnapped."
"I can tell," he replied. "I must say, your dress looks really good, Mochizuki-san."
Emi blushed slightly and smiled. "Why thank you. You look very nice in a suit yourself."
"Of course. While I'm more used to being in a uniform, it's nice to be in something more formal for once."
Emi then asked him, "How long have you been doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Slaying demons, Inadama-san."
"Oh, that. I've been a demon slayer for two and a half years now. I've built a good record and have plenty of kills under my belt."
Curious about how combat was, she asked him, "What's it like to take a demon's life… Or anyone's life for that matter?"
"I had a feeling that question would come up," he replied before taking a deep breath. "You have to remind yourself that the demons we hunt are going to kill someone else or yourself if you don't kill them. Sure, they may look human, but they lost their humanity when they became demons. Sometimes, of course, it can get to some of the slayers, but thankfully, it's never bothered me."
"It must be difficult to do your job."
"It is. Not everyone can do it… Or should for that matter."
Emi was easily impressed by Kaigaku's words. She thought to herself, "Wow… He's really awesome, and he's handsome too… I would love to get to know him better."
"Your father said some really nice things about all of us," he then told Emi. "I'm flattered that a nobleman such as himself would think of us like that."
"Well," Emi then explained. "My father wasn't always a count. Before he inherited my family's title, he was a much lower-ranked noble. We were once mere barons, but due to my father's hard work and his dedication to Japan's modernization, we were able to rise to the level of count. He knows what it's like to battle your way to the top, so he's more sympathetic to those of the lower classes than many other nobles."
"That would certainly explain it," Kaigaku nodded. "Your father sounds like an intelligent man. I can tell he cherishes you deeply since you're his only child."
"Yeah, he does." Emi chuckled as she recalled how her father treated her. "He always dotes on me and asks how I am, even as I become a woman. I guess I'll always be his little girl, even as I become an adult." She then asked Kaigaku, "If you don't mind me asking, what was your childhood like?"
"Mine…" Kaigaku then sighed and explained, "I was actually an orphan. My parents had both died by the time I was only four due to disease, so I spent much of my childhood wandering the streets before I was taken in by an orphanage. If it weren't for that, I'd probably be dead right now. Even back then, I desired to be something greater than what I was, and to have something greater than what I had, and that drive to succeed and grow has kept me going even to this day."
Emi, feeling bad for potentially bringing up bad memories, replied, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, if I did."
Kaigaku assured her, "No, no, it's fine. I'm not bothered by my past. You asked a good question, and I gave you an answer."
"Oh, I see. Alright. I was just making sure, that's all."
Meanwhile, down the hallway, Chiyo saw the two of them talking and sighed. "Of course…" She seemed rather disappointed and dejected to see the two of them bond. As she was about to walk away, she spotted Nezuko walking over to her and looked up at her. "Oh, hey there, Nezuko-chan."
"Hi, Chiyo-chan," she replied. "What's going on?"
"Oh, it's nothing," she told her, denying that anything was wrong. "I was just looking for you guys, that's all." As the two of them walked down the hallway, she thought to herself, "So he wants to get closer to the count's daughter… I guess it's okay for him… And for me, it'll have to be okay."
Genya and Vèro then walked down the hallway together and waved to Nezuko and Chiyo. "Hey guys," Vèro said to both of them. "Did you two have fun tonight?"
"I sure did," Nezuko replied with a smile. "I see you two had a lot of fun dancing together."
"I'll tell you," Genya added. "I never knew I had it in me."
"He started out rough," Vèro humorously said of Genya. "But he got the hang of it."
Genya then chuckled and told the others, "I saw my brother's face while we were dancing. He was shocked when he saw us."
Nezuko replied, "I know, right? Shinazugawa-san looked so confused when you two first danced." All of them then shared a laugh about the events during the party as they began to walk down the hall together.
At the other end of the hallway, Junpei looked at Kaigaku and Emi with disdain, formulating ways to derail Kaigaku's ambitions and his growing friendship with Emi in his head. He said to himself quietly, "I won't let you win her hand and become next in line to our family's title, you motherfucker. Just wait for me, Inadama Kaigaku…"
