"Good morning, Yōsen-san!"
"Good morning, Yōsen-san" × 3
Kanzaki Aoi was airing the bedding in the yard, and three little girls were helping her. They were Terauchi Qing, Nakahara Cheng, and Takata Naho. When they saw Yōsen coming out of the room, they greeted him one after another.
"Morning... good"
Yōsen had been in the Butterfly Mansion for three weeks, but he rarely left the room. The girls also learned from Shinobu that she had accidentally saved him. He had a very serious incurable disease. He would get red rash all over his body when exposed to the sun. His body was weak and his spirit was sluggish. In addition, Yōsen was thin and his skin was an unhealthy white, so the little girls believed it, and they usually took care of Yōsen a little.
Kanzaki Aoi noticed that Yōsen liked sweets very much, so she would make some from time to time and put them at his door. When she went to collect the bowls at night, the food was eaten cleanly. This was the highest praise for the chef, and Kanzaki Aoi worked even harder.
The three little girls also often stayed with Yōsen. They thought that Yōsen was in poor health and couldn't go out, so he must not have any friends to play with. They often stayed in Yōsen's room together, asking Yōsen to play cat's cradle with them. Seeing Yōsen's clumsy movements, they were even more convinced of their idea.
One night, Yōsen was lying on the bed, and the three of them insisted on reading him a bedtime story. Yōsen was very energetic at night and couldn't sleep at all. Instead, the three of them fell to the ground and fell asleep while reading. Yōsen had no choice but to hug the three of them to the bed to sleep, and he stayed by the window watching the stars all night.
"Do you... know where Kochou... Shinobu is?"
"Lady Shinobu is in the room," Kanzaki Aoi aired the bedding and picked up the bamboo basket to come to Yōsen's side, looking at his increasingly pale face, and said with some worry.
"Yōsen-san, are you okay? Your face looks so bad."
"Yes" × 3 The three little girls stared with their beady eyes, looking at Yōsen worriedly.
"I... I'm fine."
Kanzaki Aoi thought that Yōsen usually stayed in the room, sleeping during the day, and only had energy at night. When they first met, his face was not so bad. Now he must be holding on. Thinking of this, Kanzaki Aoi looked at Yōsen with sympathy.
"?"
Yōsen touched his face. Was there something strange about it? Why did she look at him like that? Today he promised Shinobu to give her his blood. Shinobu was basically out on missions at night, and Yōsen had to replenish his strength through sleep during the day, so he could only meet her in the morning. As for the pale face, it was because Yōsen had been drawn 5 large syringe tubes of blood in the past three weeks. Yōsen was obviously a little overwhelmed. It was still too slow to recover by relying on sleep alone. Fortunately, Shinobu also saw it, and today was the last time to draw blood.
"I'm going to find... her."
Just as he was about to leave, the corner of his clothes was pulled. The three little girls were looking at Yōsen with their six beady eyes. Yōsen asked uncomfortably.
"What's... wrong?"
"Yōsen-san, aren't you going to say goodbye to us?" The three little girls were very afraid that Yōsen would die like this because of his worsening health. They liked Yōsen very much, not only because he was good-looking, but also because Yōsen would play with them without a trace of impatience, and sometimes he would gently stroke their heads.
"That Terauchi..." Yōsen was interrupted before he could finish speaking.
"It's Kiyoharu!"
"It's Sumi!"
"It's Naho!"
The three of them were very persistent in Yōsen's address, but Yōsen hesitated for a while, but still didn't say it. He was not used to calling other people's names like that. In the expectant eyes of the three, Yōsen said.
"Well... goodbye."
After saying that, Yōsen walked along the shadow of the corridor towards Shinobu's room. The three of them were a little disappointed, but they regrouped. Kiyoharu made two small fists and said to Sumi and Naho.
"Yōsen-san must be embarrassed. We have to work hard! Until Yōsen-san can call out Kiyoharu, Sumi, and Naho's names!" The three of them were full of fighting spirit, but Kanzaki Aoi asked in confusion.
"Why do you want Yōsen-san to say goodbye?"
"It's good to say goodbye, so we will definitely meet next time!"
"Eh~"
...Lightly knocked on the door a few times. After getting Shinobu's response, Yōsen opened the door and walked in. Shinobu yawned and knelt on the tatami. Yōsen noticed the faint dark circles under her eyes and sat opposite her.
"Are you... okay?"
"Ara~ Is Yōsen-san worried about me?" Shinobu returned to her usual state. She had been on missions non-stop recently. Even as a Pillar, she was still a little tired. She also had to take time to study Yōsen's blood. Yōsen's blood was very special. Shinobu had been studying it for a long time and had not come to a conclusion, but so much had been drawn, it was enough.
"Yes."
"Eh?" Shinobu gently covered her mouth with her hand, somewhat surprised by Yōsen's admission. In the days of knowing Yōsen, she had gradually understood Yōsen's personality. This person was a little dull, but especially serious. He was not good at communication and would not say intimate words. What happened to him today?
"You... still need to rest well."
Yōsen looked at Shinobu with a serious face. In Yōsen's eyes, this person was small, but seemed to be burdened with something and was forcing herself. Although he had only known her for three weeks, Yōsen thought she was a good person. The people in the Butterfly Mansion were all good people. He hoped that they could be safe.
"Yes, I know. I think Yōsen-san words are becoming more and more numerous~" Shinobu responded with a smile. The current Yōsen had a bit of vitality, unlike when he first met him, when he exuded an empty aura.
"You... are all good people."
Shinobu, who did not expect to be given a good person card, slightly widened her beautiful purple eyes and saw that Yōsen's indifferent face actually had a trace of a smile. This kind of Yōsen made Shinobu once thought that he was an ordinary human being, not a demon.
The reason why Yōsen was like this was because in the three weeks in the Butterfly Mansion, he had roughly understood what a demon was and what the Demon Slayer Corps was. Most of the Demon Slayer Corps had been hurt by demons, and because of hatred, they joined without hesitation, just so that there would be no more people like them.
Taking it as their responsibility to kill all the demons in the world, the ranks from top to bottom are Pillar-level swordsmen, and nine ranks: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui. To become a Pillar, you must successfully kill fifty demons or one of the Twelve Kizuki, and the goal of all Demon Slayer Corps members is a demon king named Kibutsuji Muzan.
For some reason, as soon as Yōsen thought of this name, his whole body would heat up, and there seemed to be an uncontrollable impulse. Yōsen was not sure what it was, but perhaps he would know when he saw this demon king.
Shinobu, as a Pillar, brought a demon back. Once discovered, she might have to pay a huge price, and perhaps even the people in the Butterfly Mansion would be implicated. But even so, she let Yōsen live here in peace. Yōsen didn't want such a gentle person to be hurt. He would leave in the next few days. With this thought, Yōsen raised his sapphire-like eyes to look at Shinobu.
"You are... good people, I can't... let you be implicated because of me, I will leave... in the next few days."
Unexpectedly, he was actually going to leave. Shinobu couldn't even say words of retention. She knew Yōsen's character, very stubborn. She sighed softly, put her hands on her legs, straightened her back, and said to Yōsen.
"I understand, then Yōsen-san, have a good trip."
"Yes."
Yōsen stretched out his hand towards Shinobu. Shinobu was stunned and stretched out her hand to hold his hand. She didn't expect that he would actually want to shake hands. Feeling the rough touch on her hand, how could a young man have such hands? Thinking like this, the time for the two to shake hands was a little long.
Yōsen moved his hand, a little puzzled as to why she wanted to hold it. Wasn't she going to draw blood from his hand?
"That... aren't you going to draw... blood?"
"?"
"Draw blood?"
Wasn't he going to shake hands and say goodbye? Shinobu hurriedly pulled her hand back, with some blush on her face. Who told Yōsen to stretch out his hand without saying a word, which made her misunderstand.
Then Shinobu drew two tubes of blood as revenge. Thanks to this, Yōsen fell asleep for two days. During this time, Sumi, Kiyoharu, and Naho came. If Yōsen didn't still have breath, they would have thought that Yōsen had already passed away.
When he was about to leave, it was already the night of the third day after waking up, but he didn't expect to meet a stranger sitting under the eaves.
It was a girl he had never seen before. Was she also from the Butterfly Mansion?
The girl was Tsuyuri Kanao. At this time, she also noticed Yōsen. This was the first time she had met him. He was indeed different from other demons. If you didn't look carefully, you really couldn't tell that he was a demon. Two pairs of calm eyes met like this, and neither of them spoke.
Should I say hello to him/her? This was what both sides were thinking at this time. Soon Yōsen took the lead in looking away. He was not good at talking to people, so it was better to leave first to avoid causing trouble to others. Just as he turned around, a crisp voice came from behind. Yōsen turned his head and saw a coin shining and constantly turning in the night sky.
"Pa."
The coin was pressed on the back of Kanao's hand. Heads meant talking to him, tails meant not talking. She raised her palm, and it was heads, so Kanao raised her head to look at Yōsen, who was about to leave.
"Hello, I am Tsuyuri Kanao."