"So please…" Akari whispered. "Please kill them"
"...You're asking for something vague there, Fujimoto-san," Kagerou said, casually lifting his kiseru. His tone remained even, almost detached. He wasn't unmoved by her story, there was pity, yes, but nothing more than that.
"To 'kill them' is far too broad," he continued. "And I don't see why you still cling to revenge when you've already witnessed it yourself." He exhaled slowly. "That creature you saw, we call it a demon. And the man you saw… was a Demon Slayer"
"…Demons… Demon Slayers…" Akari echoed softly. She looked up at him. "Is it really alright to tell me that?"
"Hm?" Kagerou hummed, tilting his head slightly, the kiseru still resting between his lips. "It's fine. After all, once this is over, you'll be placed under the Demon Slayer Corps' protection"
Akari stiffened. "Protection?"
"This ryokan," Kagerou explained, "will be marked with the Wisteria crest. We won't force you to do anything. You'll simply be... sheltered"
"…I don't really understand what that means,' Akari said carefully. "But it sounds like something secret. Do you even have the authority to decide that?"
Kagerou shrugged. "No. But I know someone who does." He waved it off lightly. "I'll pass your name along after I finish my mission here. You won't need to do anything, someone will come to you"
He then straightened slightly.
"But let's return to the main topic"
"Please," Akari said quietly.
"Look, Fujimoto-"
"Akari," she interrupted. "Just Akari. And I'll call you Kagerou. Is that alright?'
Kagerou blinked, momentarily caught off guard.
"…I don't mind," he said after a beat.
"Akari-san"
He tapped ash from his kiseru.
"I understand the hatred you hold toward demons," he continued calmly. "But revenge?"
His gaze sharpened slightly. "The demon that killed your husband was already slain. That was justice"
He exhaled.
"And 'kill them'?" he went on. "That's our duty regardless of your feelings. The Demon Slayer Corps exists for that purpose"
Then his eyes met hers directly.
"So tell me, Akari-san," he said quietly. "Who is this revenge really for?"
He paused.
"I know it's a foolish question," he admitted. "But I want to hear your answer"
"For who this revenge is, huh…?" Akari murmured.
For a moment, she seemed lost somewhere far away, her gaze unfocused, as if staring at something only she could see. Then her eyes returned to Kagerou.
"…If I say it's for myself," she continued slowly, "then I'd be selfish. I know I'm not the only one who's lost someone important"
Her fingers tightened slightly.
"But if I say it's for humanity…" She gave a quiet, almost bitter laugh. "No. I'm not a saint, Kagerou-kun"
'…That's honest,' Kagerou thought, but he didn't interrupt her. He simply listened.
"I've heard many things over the years," Akari went on. "In my search for the truth, I did things I know I shouldn't have." Her voice didn't waver. "I ignored people when I could have helped them. I closed my eyes to suffering when it wasn't useful"
She lowered her gaze.
"All of it… I justified it in the name of the truth"
She inhaled once, steadying herself.
"So let's say this instead," Akari said quietly. "I want them to die for the greater good. Because I want this suffering to end. The suffering of people who don't even know what hunts them in the dark"
Her eyes lifted again, sharp and resolute.
"Revenge might not be the right word anymore," she admitted. "But that's how it began. And no matter how many years pass…" Her voice faltered, just for a breath. "…That feeling never went away"
--------
- Later That Same Night
Moonlight spilled quietly over the ryokan, silvering the tiled roofs and the narrow garden below.
Kagerou sat on the wooden window frame, one leg drawn up, the other hanging loosely over the edge.
Behind him, the paper shoji was left half-open, allowing the night air to slip inside. It carried with it the scent of damp earth and distant fog.
Between his fingers rested a kiseru, slender and elegant. He lifted it to his lips and inhaled slowly. The ember glowed, brief, restrained, before dimming again as he exhaled.
Smoke drifted upward in thin, lazy strands, curling toward the sky as if answering the moon's silent call.
His eyes remained fixed on the moon above the courtyard.
Round.
Distant.
Untouched.
Its light traced the sharp lines of his face, softening nothing, revealing everything.
There was no impatience in his gaze.
No urgency.
Only a quiet weight, as though the night itself had settled inside his chest.
Below him, the world slept, unaware of the thoughts passing behind his eyes.
Another breath.
Another thin trail of smoke.
For a moment, it almost felt as if the moon were watching him in return. Two distant observers, sharing the same silence.
And Kagerou, unmoving on the window's edge, remained there as if carved into the night itself, a solitary figure suspended between the warmth of the ryokan and the cold, unyielding sky.
"…For the greater good, huh?" Kagerou finally murmured.
A thin smile tugged at his lips as Akari's words surfaced in his mind.
"…Now then, what should I do?" he continued quietly. "Akari-san said the demon never shows itself when it attacks… That's troublesome"
He let the thought linger.
Waiting wasn't a problem for him, but he had no intention of staying here for days just because his prey refused to show itself.
His gaze drifted downward, toward the road beyond the ryokan.
Mist clung thickly to the streets, swallowing the path whole, a silent testament to the fear that gripped the town after nightfall.
"So a single demon can reduce an entire town to this…" Kagerou muttered. "…Humans really are fragile"
The kiseru lowered slightly as something sharp flickered behind his eyes.
"Hm~" he hummed. "Should I go for a walk?"
The corner of his smile curved just a little higher.
"Well," he said softly, rising from the window frame, "if the demon won't come out on its own…"
His feet touched the floor without a sound.
"I'll just give it a reason to"