"Michikatsu..."
Following the guidance of Lady Ubuyashiki, I entered the Master's chambers. The sight of him lying there was nothing short of a shock.
The pale, sickly scars that had been confined to his face only half a year ago had now crept down to his hands, already claiming his entire upper body.
His entire frame was wrapped tightly in bandages, with only his mouth and nose barely functioning. He was, in every sense, a living corpse; it would not have been strange for him to draw his last breath tomorrow.
"It seems... your health has not been well, Master."
"To show you... such an unsightly state... I can only... apologize... Ayame... could you... help me up...?"
The Master attempted to rise, supported by his wife.
"No, please, just stay lying down..."
"I cannot... I am the one... who asked you... to come... *Cough! Hack!*"
As the Master coughed, bright red blood sprayed from his lips. I rushed forward, supporting him alongside Lady Ubuyashiki.
"I told you to just stay lying down."
"Haha... I am fine..."
Fine? Nonsense. This man looks like he could die tomorrow without surprise.
"My Lady, if I may be so bold, how much time does the Master have left...?"
"All previous heads of the household have passed away before reaching the age of thirty. Although the Master is currently twenty-one... the physician says it will be difficult for him to endure even another year."
"He can live longer than me. You still have eight or nine years left, Master. Surely you must live to see Muzan's head fall?"
"...Yes.... Muzan's head... falling... I must see it... with my own eyes...."
Lady Ubuyashiki and I slowly supported the Master's body, helping him into a comfortable sitting position.
"Master, why did you call for me? Your body is in such a state; you could have spoken through your wife or a Kasugai Crow..."
"I am sorry... to take up... your time... but this was... something I wanted... to tell you myself..."
Even though the Master could no longer see me, he adjusted his gaze to meet mine as he began to speak.
"What do you... believe... was the reason... I changed the Final Selection... immediately after... hearing your words?"
I shook my head.
How should I know?
The Final Selection—the Demon Slayer Corps' greatest heartache. He had claimed that such an irrational trial was necessary to reach the future where Muzan is killed, yet it had always bothered me that he changed it the moment I protested.
It happened three years ago, so my memory is a bit hazy, but I remember him explaining the necessity of the trial and then suddenly deciding to change it mid-explanation. Was there a specific reason?
"The truth is... I will soon die..."
Is he dying of the disease? But what does that have to do with the Final Selection...?
The words that next spilled from the Master's lips were truly shocking.
"Yes... I am to die... at the hands of you... who had... become a Demon..."
.....?
Excuse me?
What kind of nonsense is... My Lady, please don't look at me like that...!
Why would I become a Demon, and why would I kill the Master!?
***
So, the Master's gift of foresight had shown him such a future.
A future where I, fearing a short life brought about by the Marks, submitted to Muzan when he sought me out. I became a Demon, and as a sign of my submission, I offered him the Master's head.
Quickly! Hurry up and finish the story and explain yourself, Master! The look in your wife's eyes is becoming increasingly ominous.
The Hashira are still right outside! At this rate, I won't last eight years; I'll be laid out in eight seconds by a mob attack!
"The reason... I changed the trial... lies there... The future I saw... and the Causality... that led to it... have already... been distorted..."
Distorted?
"The Breathing Styles... you passed down... In the future... I witnessed... you were not... the one who taught them... to our Corps..."
"Don't tell me."
"Yes... it was your... younger brother, Tsugikuni Yoriichi... In that future, when he was seventeen... he lost his pregnant wife... and the child... in her womb to a Demon... He sat for ten days... simply holding her corpse... until the Flame Hashira of the time, Rengoku Tenjuro... found him..."
Rengoku did?
"And so... he was the one... who taught the Breathing... You only joined... the Corps... after seeing him... had entered.... You were not... the first to join..."
"That brat was first...? Then, in the original course of events, he should have joined the Corps this year, and only then should the Breathing have been passed down?"
"Indeed... Causality was already distorted... from the moment you followed... Tenjuro three years ago... Therefore, the karmic link... of that Final Selection... required to reach that specific future... became meaningless... *Cough! Hack!*"
The Master coughed again, spitting up blood. Wiping the blood from his mouth, he struggled to continue.
"Furthermore... the Michikatsu in the prophecy... and the Michikatsu before my eyes... are different.... Yes... entirely different.... To such a man... I wish to make... one request....."
"What is it...?"
"Muzan will... eventually... seek you out.... There, you will... have to make... a choice.... If you refuse his offer... he will try... to kill you... For Kibutsuji Muzan... is that kind of man..."
"I'll just take his head the moment we meet, then."
The Master smiled faintly at my words and slowly raised his trembling hand to take mine.
"It is a shameless request, but whether you are human or Demon... you will still be you. Please, remain on the side of humanity. That is my wish."
I wasn't sure what he meant. Was he telling me not to become a Demon? Or was he saying that if I was turned against my will, I should just take a dive into the sunlight?
"Do not worry. Unlike that 'me' from the prophecy, I have no reason or purpose to live a long life, so I do not fear a short one. The thing you worry about will never happen."
At my answer, the Master only maintained that faint, thin smile.
***
The first emotion I felt for him was simple admiration.
The man who, alongside Master Uzui, saved me from a Demon during the Final Selection. A man who did things others could not as if they were nothing, dismissing his deeds as trivial and seeking no reward.
He was like a protagonist or a hero from the old stories my mother used to tell. I felt a vague sense of longing for him, the man who embodied the person I most wanted to be.
And the second emotion I felt, when I first accompanied him on a mission, was relief.
I was relieved to find that even he—a man who seemed to live out a perfect script—harbored worries befitting his age, such as not wanting to appear weak before his stronger younger brother. I was relieved to know he wasn't someone far out of reach.
While watching him hold his own in a spar against the Wind Hashira, what I felt was veneration and a goal.
'I truly want to stand in the same place as him.'
That heart took root. He planted a goal in me, where before I had only swung my sword out of a sense of duty. He was always ahead, serving as my lighthouse, treading lightly on the snow to leave footprints so I wouldn't lose my way.
That was why I became his Tsuguko. I wanted to know more about the kind of person he was.
I wanted to know why this feeling of veneration continued to build the more I saw him. I wanted to understand this anxiety that arose whenever I thought our positions were drifting apart.
Yet, the more I learned about him, that uncomfortable knot did not disappear, even after I reached the same rank of Hashira.
Why, despite reaching the same station, does this heavy lump remain? Does it only grow deeper as I learn more? Is this truly what 'veneration' feels like?
Why did I feel regret rather than joy upon being promoted to Hashira? Why did I hide my true feelings behind the excuse that I wasn't ready to be a Hashira, simply because I was sad that I was no longer his Tsuguko?
Why does it hurt me so much to know his life is limited?
And why am I so angry at him for acting as if his numbered days mean nothing at all?
"Lady Amano, have you been waiting long?"
I looked at him as he emerged casually from the Master's mansion.
I do not know if what I feel for you is veneration or admiration. However, I simply do not want to see you standing alone in a far-off place. For now, that is enough.
So, Lord Tsugikuni, from here on out, it is all your responsibility.