"What are you guys doing? What kind of nonsense are you spouting in front of our guest?!!!"
After welcoming Shinobu Kocho back, Aoi Kanzaki had followed her instructions and gone outside to greet Su Yan. Seeing him getting along so well with the Butterfly Mansion's trio, she had hesitated to interrupt them.
She never expected the trio's words to become increasingly outrageous. To get daily candy, they suggested he marry Lady Shinobu, or even marry her. The most absurd part was that they were actually gossiping about her, claiming she wet the bed?!
Aoi completely lost her composure and immediately jumped out to stop them.
"Ah, the bossy manager is here."
Although the trio said this, they didn't look scared at all. Instead, upon seeing Aoi arrive, they didn't forget to wink at Su Yan and pitch her to him, "Big brother, she's our Butterfly Mansion's bossy manager, Aoi Kanzaki. She's somewhat pretty, right?"
"How about you marry her, big brother, and stay at the Butterfly Mansion from now on?"
"Sumi Nakahara!!"
Aoi panicked and immediately shouted the name of one of the three girls who was still gossiping about her.
"The bossy manager is mad, let's run."
The trio exchanged glances, tugged at Su Yan's clothes, and said, "Big brother, we'll tell you about her bed-wetting later after we escape from her."
With that, they scurried away.
"Sir, please don't listen to their nonsense, I definitely don't..."
Aoi didn't chase after them because those three were incredibly sly. She wouldn't be able to catch them anyway, so it was better to explain things clearly to Su Yan first, lest he actually misunderstand.
"It's fine."
Su Yan looked at the twin-tailed girl in front of him, smiled, and said, "Children say the darndest things. I won't take it seriously."
If the trio had been talking about anyone else, Su Yan might not have believed it. But if it was Aoi Kanzaki, the credibility was quite high.
As one of the supporting female characters in the Demon Slayer world, Su Yan had a certain understanding of Aoi Kanzaki. Like other members of the Demon Slayer Corps, Aoi had a tragic past of losing her family to demons. She once harbored the desire to become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps to avenge her family. She even learned Water Breathing—the most widely spread of the five basic Breathing Styles—and passed the Final Selection to become an official member.
However, unable to suppress the fear in her heart when facing demons, she couldn't overcome her psychological barriers, leaving her unable to properly grip her Nichirin Sword. Thus, she was brought into the Butterfly Mansion by the then-living Kanae Kocho, who gently persuaded her to join them and contribute to the Demon Slayer Corps through logistical support.
Eventually, she slowly became the only official member of the Butterfly Mansion outside of the three Kocho sisters and the trio of little girls, taking charge of managing matters big and small within the estate.
Judging from what the trio said and Kanae Kocho's muttering to herself not long ago, the fact that Aoi Kanzaki wet the bed might actually be true.
"I am truly sorry."
Aoi bowed slightly, lowering her head toward Su Yan, her voice carrying a perfect blend of gratitude and embarrassment. She tried to change the subject, "It's almost time for dinner. Please follow me, sir."
"Or would you prefer to stroll around the Butterfly Mansion first?"
"My name is Su Yan. You don't need to call me 'sir', just calling me by my name is fine."
Looking at the two blue butterfly ornaments clipped to Aoi's twin tails, Su Yan couldn't help but think of Takagi Saya, who was still on Greed Island. They both had the same hairstyle... twin tails. It was just that their hair colors were different, and Aoi's hair only reached her shoulders in a medium-short cut. However, the butterfly-shaped ornaments unique to the Butterfly Mansion looked much nicer than the two simple white ribbons Takagi Saya tied in her hair.
"..."
Aoi froze for a moment before correcting herself, "Understood, Lord Su Yan."
"Never mind." Su Yan waved his hand. "You go back first. I'll just look around the area."
"Understood." Aoi paused, then replied, "Then I will deliver your portion of dinner to your room later, Lord Su Yan."
After saying that, she quickly left the area. On one hand, having her shortcomings exposed by the trio made her feel a lingering awkwardness when facing Su Yan. On the other hand, she needed to go discipline those three little girls. It was a good thing Su Yan didn't believe their words; otherwise, being exposed like that would have made her die of social embarrassment on the spot.
"Brother Su Yan, how are my brother and Shigeru doing? Are they okay?"
After Aoi left, Nezuko didn't follow her. Instead, she looked at Su Yan and asked about her family. It was fortunate that the trio had gossiped about Aoi earlier, diverting everyone's attention. Otherwise, if her own thoughts had been exposed by the trio in front of Su Yan, she probably would have run away from him out of sheer shyness.
"Let's take a walk together. We can talk as we go," Su Yan suggested.
"Okay."
Nezuko nodded and followed behind Su Yan, silently listening as he recounted the situations of her older brother Tanjiro and younger brother Shigeru.
"Hmm?"
As they walked, Nezuko suddenly bumped into Su Yan. She quickly looked up at him, a trace of confusion in her eyes, wondering why he had suddenly stopped. Then, following Su Yan's gaze, she noticed a girl sitting quietly not far away, her hair tied in a side ponytail.
The girl wore a pink kimono. Her fair, delicate face looked just like a doll's, and a pink-and-green butterfly ornament was clipped to her ponytail. She sat quietly in the courtyard, surrounded by butterflies dancing gracefully around her. The girl extended her right index finger, and surprisingly, one of the butterflies fluttered over to rest upon it.
"So pretty!" Nezuko couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
However, Nezuko's sudden voice startled the butterflies around the girl, causing them to fly away.
"S-Sorry!"
Realizing her mistake immediately, Nezuko quickly bowed and apologized. Yet, the delicate girl merely swept her gaze over Su Yan and Nezuko. She made no response, her eyes seemingly devoid of any emotion, let alone blame. She simply turned around, intending to leave.
"Wait."
Su Yan immediately called out to stop her. With such obvious characteristics, Su Yan instantly guessed her identity—the youngest of the three Kocho sisters. Kanao Tsuyuri!
At the same time, she was also the most tragic of the three sisters. Abused by her parents as a child, she developed severe autism, becoming mute and unexpressive. Later, she was sold to human traffickers by her parents, but was soon forcefully bought from them by the sisters Kanae and Shinobu Kocho. She received the most doting love from Kanae and Shinobu.
While almost everyone else in the Demon Slayer Corps fought in wooden sandals, Kanao Tsuyuri was the only one who wore expensive white lace-up boots. Shinobu Kocho hadn't even wanted her to join the Demon Slayer Corps, hoping she could live the ordinary, happy life that her older sister Kanae spoke of. In the anime, she had secretly participated in the Final Selection.
Unfortunately, fate never took pity on the tragic. After experiencing the death of Kanae Kocho, she would later witness her other sister, Shinobu Kocho, die right in front of her during the final battle of Demon Slayer.
Kanao Tsuyuri turned her head and looked quietly at Su Yan. She still didn't speak, her eyes seemingly devoid of any emotion.
"If you could see Kanae Kocho again, what would you say to her?" Su Yan asked.
Finally, upon hearing the name Kanae Kocho, Kanao froze. A ripple of emotion finally began to surface in her pink eyes. Her lips parted slightly, and she softly uttered a single word: "Sister..."
Her voice sounded somewhat hoarse and stumbling, like someone who had never spoken before learning to talk for the very first time.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]