"Your hair ornament is quite distinctive~"
Doma's diamond eyes—practically engineered for the purpose of making people weak at the knees—opened wide as he studied the black spider lily in Inori's hair with an appreciative smile.
"A friend gave it to me."
Inori's gaze lifted briefly. She touched it with one finger.
"What do you think? Does it suit me?"
"It does." Doma kept smiling. "Although... personally, I don't think it quite fits you."
"Hm?"
In all the time she'd been here, the demons under her had been almost entirely compliant—she rarely heard a dissenting opinion. So Doma's answer genuinely caught her off guard.
—You dare question my aesthetic? I am a beautiful girl. Even dressed like a disaster, I should still be causing palpitations.
"Don't misunderstand—it isn't ugly. Not at all. It's simply that you deserve better~"
Doma cleared his throat and continued.
"A little while ago, I happened to see a hair ornament outside that I thought would suit you perfectly. That's why I was on my way to retrieve it—so I could give it to you."
"..."
Something faintly suspicious stirred in Inori's chest. She had the sudden, strange feeling that Doma's smile had shifted in quality.
He was different from the others in the Infinity Castle. The attentiveness he showed her, the way he—Upper Rank Two—would cheerfully take on menial tasks without complaint, the steady effort to satisfy anything she said she wanted, and now this: an unusually personal gift. From a boss's perspective, Inori had every reason to wonder whether her subordinate's loyalty had curdled into something else entirely.
"You remember what I told you."
She didn't raise her voice. Calm, unhurried.
"I said you weren't to target women. You haven't forgotten that, have you?"
They were demons. That didn't mean they were obligated to eat people the way a story might lazily assume—the past several days of Doma quietly teaching himself to cook in the Infinity Castle were proof enough of that.
"Of course. It was your first order to me. I could never forget it."
Doma's expression flickered slightly—just for a moment—but his answer came without hesitation.
"Good."
Inori nodded. The tension around her eyes eased.
"Whether human or demon, everyone needs to understand the position they actually occupy."
"The ones who live long in this world aren't always the good people. They aren't always the evil ones either. But they are always the smart ones." She looked at him steadily, her tone edging toward something more deliberate. "Doma. Don't test my limits. Don't do things I would dislike. Are we clear?"
She wasn't speaking to the room. She was speaking to him—a quiet signal: whatever thoughts might be forming behind that perpetual smile, keep them to yourself. If they crossed a certain line, Inori could not guarantee his rank. Or his life.
"Thank you so much for your concern... I will continue to give everything I have for your sake!"
Doma lit up like a child handed a piece of candy, so overcome that he nearly fumbled over his own words.
What exactly was going on with him? Why was he like this? He was clever—sharper than most demons she'd met. Surely he had parsed the threat she'd just issued, plain as it was. Unless... it really was that simple. Unless he genuinely was, in some baffling way, a clean slate—no ulterior motives, no improper designs, and all of this excessive helpfulness really was just straightforward loyalty.
She couldn't read him. In the entire Infinity Castle, there had only ever been two she'd failed to see through: Nakime, once, and now Doma. At first she'd assumed it was her own overcaution. Doma was just like this—docile as a lamb, that was his nature.
But over time she'd come to notice something else. Doma was complicated. He could seem almost comically obtuse one moment, and then turn around and do something that completely blindsided her. He was erratic in a way that didn't follow any pattern she recognized. Sometimes he felt like the most reliable person in the room. Other times he was basically a very large child.
He was just wired a little differently, she supposed. Unlike anyone else she'd ever met.
—Whatever. Not worth the energy.
"That's enough on this topic. I don't need a gift from you. Just manage the other demons properly—that's all I'm asking." She held his gaze, her voice settling into something firm. "I'm going out. Don't go anywhere."
"...I'm disappointed."
Doma's whole manner deflated. He looked genuinely crestfallen.
"Even just to try it on... please, Lady Inori. Can't you grant me this one small request?"
—You relentless pest.
Inori was about to snap back at him when she made the mistake of looking directly at his expression—those pitiful, beseeching eyes, soft with something that was either completely sincere or a masterclass in manipulation, and she couldn't tell which.
She found she didn't have it in her to crush it.
It wasn't a particularly unreasonable ask. And she had already made her position clear enough—if he was still nursing foolish intentions after that warning, then his brain needed recalibrating, and she'd deal with it then.
"Fine. Bring it back first. I'll have a look."
Inori exhaled.
"I'll decide after I've seen it."
"I'm certain you'll love it."
Doma gave a definitive nod, his expression turning serene and warm. He looked, for all the world, like someone with complete confidence in their own taste.
...
...
"Shinobu-nee-san is back!"
"Little Shinobu pulled it off again—she'll be a Hashira just like Kanae-san in no time!"
The short-haired girl with the hooked blade slung across her back dragged herself through the gate of Butterfly Mansion, trailing the same silver moonlight that was scattered across the ground. A handful of children who were still up and bustling around at this late hour came to meet her, along with a few senior members who had been here since before she set out on the Final Selection.
She had gone on Kocho Kanae's orders to a nearby village—assigned to assist the Wind Hashira in clearing out a large cluster of demons that had been lurking suspiciously around the settlement for some time.
Kocho Shinobu had not wanted to go. She and her sister had even had a small argument about it. The reason was simple: Shinazugawa Sanemi had driven Inori away, and Kocho Shinobu did not like him for it. But she couldn't let personal friction interfere with the work of hunting demons. So she went without hesitation, and she worked well alongside him. Task completed.
"Not really... I've still got such a long way to go before I'm anything like Nee-san."
She scratched the back of her head, a little embarrassed at the praise—though not entirely displeased by it.
"Oh, has Nee-san come home yet?"
The senior member who'd been rolling up her sleeves to sort through supplies shook her head.
Kocho Kanae had an important assignment today. Before leaving, she'd told Shinobu she would likely not be back until well after midnight, and that Shinobu shouldn't wait up. Shinobu knew her sister well enough not to worry about her ability to handle herself—Kanae was a Hashira, one of the strongest Breathing swordsmen in the Corps—and tonight's destination was nothing like a demon hotspot. She'd been sent to investigate traces, follow threads. She'd be home soon.
So why was this quiet, unsettled feeling still sitting there?
Kocho Shinobu said her goodnights to everyone in the mansion and went back to her room, pulling the door shut behind her. She stripped off the field clothes still gritty with mountain soil, wrapped herself in a towel, and made her way down to the bathhouse at the rear of the building. She pushed aside the bamboo curtain—steam rose in soft white columns, and the water was at just the right temperature.
She lowered herself slowly into the bath, leaned back against the wall. The aches in her body began to dissolve. The last of her wariness drained away with them, until she was completely and utterly loose—lashes beaded with moisture, eyelids beginning to drift.
Kocho Shinobu let her guard down entirely.
And then, from right beside her ear, came a voice like a devil's whisper.
"Shinobu~"