"Hiru, what are you...?"
"Ah, Brother."
Hiru spat out the rabbit that had been drained of blood. "I'm dealing with the aftermath."
"Aftermath...?"
Yoriichi watched as people were led away in groups. "The Kakushi have already been drawn here. The only reason they've stopped coming closer is because I arrived."
"It's fine if they get closer. At this point, a few more memories don't make any difference."
Hiru picked up another rabbit and bit into it, his expression sullen, his words muffled. "Kokushibo must've leaked my information to Muzan. This demon wasn't one of the Twelve Kizuki, but the concentration of blood in its body was very high, and its Blood Demon Art was troublesome. Muzan specifically pushed it out as bait."
"What happened?"
"He probably thinks I can overcome sunlight and wants to devour me to evolve."
After sending off the last group of people whose bodies had been patterned, Hiru began tampering with the memories of the employees in the small building.
"So he specially sent this woman out. When I tried to save people by fighting Muzan for control of the demon just now, he memorized my scent. There's bound to be plenty of trouble later. But I've memorized his scent too. If he shows up nearby, I'll do everything I can to evade him and stall until you get there, brother."
"Mm. I'll be careful about the distance as well."
Yoriichi watched those people leave with vacant expressions and let out a sigh. "I hope they can go back to a normal life after this..."
"Honestly, I'd rather go back to how things were before—"
Hiru picked up the last rabbit, clearly disgruntled. "Just drawing every day and following you around was enough. Maybe I should fake my death. Being in the Demon Slayer Corps is really exhausting—"
"Don't be willful."
Yoriichi reached out and ruffled Hiru's hair, the corners of his mouth lifting under the mask. "Your world shouldn't revolve only around me."
"I still have my painting."
"That's far too monotonous."
Yoriichi smiled. "Before we defeat Muzan, try to make more friends. That way, when you return to a normal life, I'll be more at ease."
"You have to turn back into a human with me."
Yoriichi rubbed Hiru's hair again. "I will turn back into a human with you. But I was already an old man when I became a demon. I probably won't be able to keep walking alongside you forever."
Hiru released his Blood Demon Art over another batch of people, then spat out the rabbit that had dried out in his mouth again. Ignoring Yoriichi's words, he declared, "Alright! All done! I'm taking a vacation! Vacation! You take one too, brother! Come traveling with me!"
"Before I rushed over, I promised the Kakushi I'd investigate the anomaly. How about we go traveling after the next Hashira Meeting?"
Hiru puffed out his cheeks, then relented after a moment. "Then afterward, you have to apply for the same roaming jurisdiction as me—at least six months!"
"Alright. I'll request it from Oyakata-sama."
Yoriichi glanced around the room. "Looks like no one here has been left untouched by the Blood Demon Art. Finish off that demon."
"Yeah. I need to recover the blood too."
Hiru reached out again and grabbed the woman's head. Under his control, all the blood in her body flowed into his own. In his hand now was a red crystal the size of an adult man's fist, and a gray crystal the size of a baby's fist.
Seeing this, Hiru couldn't help but start cursing. "He actually set aside a portion of blood that hadn't been absorbed and converted. If I hadn't come during the day, that old bastard definitely would've tried to screw me over again! That ******, so 'elegant, affable, and polite.'"
Yoriichi reached out and smoothed down Hiru's hair. "Well—at least you're not short on red pigment anymore."
Hiru paused, then quickly calmed down. "True. When it comes to red, I still haven't seen a demon with blood purer than Muzan's—put it away, put it away..."
Yoriichi smiled again, but his smile soon faded. "So, it was my elder brother... Kokushibo who told Muzan about you."
"Yeah. He's the only member of the Twelve Kizuki I've met so far."
Hiru's expression remained calm. "But Muzan seems unwilling to mention Kokushibo. When I brought him up, Muzan's expression turned strange. He's probably still reacting to your face, brother."
"Huh? My face? Why?"
"Because you didn't just chop him 'swish, swish, swish' to pieces in an instant or anything, right?"
Hiru destroyed all the shriveled corpses and began straightening his kimono and haori. "He's been hiding for decades."
"But he's the Demon King. The damage from the Bright Red Nichirin Sword would still slowly..."
Yoriichi recalled the demons whose severed limbs had never regrown after he cut them off. His voice weakened. "Alright, but in his mind I should be someone who died hundreds of years ago. It shouldn't be that bad, right?"
"Who knows what's going on in his head..."
Once Hiru finished tidying himself up, he withdrew his demon form. After carefully confirming there were no loose ends, he looked back at Yoriichi. "Let's go."
Seeing Yoriichi and Hiru emerge from the small building, the surrounding Kakushi finally gathered their courage. They hurried over, crowding around to ask what had happened.
Hiru gave them a simple explanation: during his investigation, he discovered people under the control of a Blood Demon Art and followed the trail here. He then used brute force to compel the demon to release its victims and killed it. Finally, he'd called in Yoriichi—whom he'd already notified by letter—to deliver the finishing blow.
"Eh? But... but Human Hashira, you weren't carrying any weapons..."
The Kakushi stared at him blankly. "How did you force the demon to comply?"
After a brief silence, Hiru reached out, grabbed the support pillar in front of the building, and casually crushed a handful of wood chips off it. "Get it?"
The Kakushi only looked even more stunned.
"Anyway, I'll leave the cleanup to you. There are a few team members on the second floor—make sure you send all of them to the hospital. My brother and I will head out first."
"Uh, r-right! Got it!"
Hiru turned to Yoriichi. "Since we've got the chance, come eat with me first, brother?"
"Alright, but we're not going to a dessert shop."
"Eh—that's so mean!"
"It's not right to treat desserts as meals."
"I don't get indigestion!"
Yoriichi's voice was as gentle as ever. "No means no."
"Then let's get barbecue. Barbecue."
Watching the two of them walk away, one Kakushi went over to the pillar where Hiru had just crushed off a handful of debris. He couldn't resist pressing his hand against the gouged-out section—only to jerk back as a splinter stuck into his palm. "Are all Hashira monsters...?"
"Who says they aren't..." another Kakushi said with feeling. "I heard from a friend working somewhere else that Sun Hashira-sama was in Gunma... and yet he shows up here today."
"You're kidding, right? There's a whole Yamanashi Prefecture between Gunma and Shizuoka! What kind of speed is that?"
Another Kakushi leaned in. "Don't tell me you two don't know?"
"What?" they both asked.
Lowering his voice, the newcomer whispered, "Sun Hashira and Human Hashira are brothers, and they're really close. More importantly, rumor has it Sun Hashira is a total little-brother maniac. He supposedly joined the Final Selection because Human Hashira wanted to watch the sunrise from the peak of Mount Fujikasane. Later, because Human Hashira wanted to hurry down the mountain, Sun Hashira spent an entire day killing every demon on the mountain."
"Whoa—there's a story like that?!"
"Hurry up and tell us more!"
"Ahem, let's get back to work first."
The Kakushi glanced around, then lowered his voice again. "We'll talk in detail later when we're on break—just the three of us."