Su Chen shook his head, feeling a small headache. He looked around the empty room. "Where did everyone else go?" he asked.
Kocho Shinobu smiled and started counting on her fingers. "Well, Aoi went to sleep after she finished sweeping the floor. Inosuke slept for a long time. When he woke up, he was yelling about finding some 'mother.' I guess he wanted to ask you to be his stepfather. And Kanao, that sweet child, watched over you all night. I just told her to go to sleep."
Shinobu then covered her mouth, pretending to be surprised. "Oh my, oh my~ I suddenly realized I'm quite lucky. I just got here, and you woke up, Mister Su Chen!"
"Is that so?" Su Chen said, stroking his chin.
His mind quickly processed the information in Shinobu's words. The first piece of information caught his attention. Inosuke wanted him to be his stepson? Su Chen actually had some thoughts about that... but not about Inosuke. He was thinking of the other two, the 'three little ones.'
The blond one, Agatsuma Zenitsu. And the other one, Kamado Tanjirou.
One was the successor of Thunder Breathing. The other was the successor of Sun Breathing. Both of these Breathing Styles were ones Su Chen was very eager to get. He could use Inosuke to get closer to them. After all, there was plenty of time. Su Chen could plan this slowly.
However, there was one more thing that made Su Chen very confused.
How did Shinobu convince Shinazugawa to concede? Would someone so eager to improve, someone like Shinazugawa, really give up on his own?
Su Chen looked up and asked, "Shinobu, how did you convince Shinazugawa to give up?"
Shinobu blinked her big eyes. "Oh, it was simple. I put some anesthetic on my Nichirin blade, and then I stabbed his kidney. He conceded right after that."
Su Chen: "..."
Su Chen was shocked. How could such a cute little girl say something so terrifying without batting an eye? It was a good thing he had never tried to annoy her before. The consequences would have been... unimaginable.
Su Chen swallowed, feeling a little cold. He continued to ask, "Did... did Shinazugawa make any other demands?"
"He did!" Shinobu smiled sweetly, then said happily, "He even donated blood to you before he left. See? He's quite a warm-hearted person."
"Blood?" Su Chen murmured.
Then, he had a look of sudden realization. Of course! The "other blood" his body had sensed during his meditation... it was Shinazugawa's!
Speaking of Shinazugawa's blood, Su Chen immediately thought of his special, rare blood type. In the original story, it was said that this rare blood could make demons extremely drunk. His brother, Genya, might have also awakened his Ghoul Eater constitution because of this rare blood.
In short, if Su Chen could successfully transform the blood now in his body, it could be very useful in the future. This was an unexpected, pleasant surprise.
At this moment, Shinobu spoke again. "By the way, Mister Su Chen, your body is also very special."
Su Chen's expression froze. He pointed to himself. "Me?"
"Yes!" Shinobu nodded. "At that time, you had lost a lot of blood. We were all planning to give you Inosuke's blood. But it was strange. Your body had a rejection reaction. Then Kanao and I also tried, but it still didn't work. In the end, only Shinazugawa's blood could match."
She continued, "We had no choice. To make sure you had enough blood, the Butterfly Mansion had to... 'procure' Mister Shinazugawa's blood. Fortunately, he was very cooperative! He sat still in the blood donation chair and cooperated with our blood collection until early this morning, right before he left!"
As she said this, Shinobu jumped off the stool. She started searching for something in the room. The next moment, she came back, hugging a large iron bucket around her waist. The bucket was so big it completely blocked her from view.
Seeing this, Su Chen asked with a strange expression, "This... this wouldn't be..."
"That's right!" Shinobu's voice was muffled by the bucket. "This is the blood Mister Shinazugawa gave! I still have two more buckets just like this in my lab!" Her face, somewhat excited, peeked around the side. "It's such a pity Mister Shinazugawa couldn't hold on. Otherwise, I could have collected more!"
The girl laboriously put the heavy iron bucket down and said excitedly, "Do you know, Mister Su Chen? Mister Shinazugawa's blood is really amazing! I heard him say before that his blood could make demons drunk, but it wasn't until I researched it yesterday that I realized it's not that simple!"
Then, Shinobu explained all the information she had analyzed from the blood. After listening, Su Chen briefly summarized it in his head. It was roughly similar to the information he already knew from the original story.
It had to be said, Shinobu's intelligence was astounding. Her points were basically correct. Shinobu even guessed that Genya Shinazugawa's strange constitution was also related to this blood. After all, Genya often came to the Butterfly Mansion for treatment because of his Ghoul Eater body.
The girl lectured for more than ten minutes before she finally stopped, though she still looked like she wanted to say more. Shinobu sat back on the stool and concluded, "It's truly a pity that I only collected two buckets of such precious research material. Next time, I must invite Mister Shinazugawa over more often... for a check-up."
Upon hearing this, Su Chen's mouth twitched slightly. He could only say, "It seems... it seems Shinazugawa is indeed a... warm-hearted man."
The next moment, Su Chen suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, Shinobu," he said, "isn't there a competition today?"
Shinobu smiled. "Yes~"
"Then... can you get me a Nichirin blade?"
Shinobu looked like she had already guessed he would ask this. She jumped off the stool again and dragged a large box out from under his bed. Before long, she had a standard Demon Slayer Corps uniform and a brand new Nichirin blade in her hands.
Su Chen's eyes lit up. He asked with some anticipation, "Did you buy this for me, Shinobu?"
Shinobu scratched her head, looking a little shy. "No... I don't have any money right now. This was given to you by the Master."
As she said this, Shinobu tidied the clothes and handed the uniform to Su Chen. "Mister Su Chen, please extend your hand and try this on. See if it fits."
Su Chen reached out his arm, and the girl directly put the uniform on him.
"Strange..." Shinobu furrowed her delicate brows and mumbled, "Is this uniform made too small? I remember your height was one meter seventy! Why does it look like it doesn't fit?"
She looked at Su Chen, who was being constricted by the tight uniform. Shinobu was completely puzzled.
Su Chen's neck was being choked by the collar. His face flushed red and he said, unable to breathe, "Perhaps I've... grown taller... who knows? Why don't you alter it for me, Shinobu! And quickly... take the clothes off! I'm practically suffocating!"
"Oh!" Shinobu quickly pulled the clothes off.
Only when oxygen re-entered his lungs did Su Chen's tense body finally relax.
But before he could even catch his breath, Shinobu drew the new Nichirin blade from its sheath and handed it to him.
"Now," she said with a smile, "try this Nichirin blade!"