Nezuko gently patted Takeo's back, her expression tinged with sadness as she tried to calm him.
"Don't say that. Giving up without even trying isn't like you at all, Takeo."
"But! But! That kind of… that kind of monster—"
"I know," Nezuko said softly. "You've already been very brave. While our brother was fighting, you protected everyone so well. And afterward, even though you were heartbroken, you still explained everything clearly. That's more than enough. From here on, you don't need to push yourself anymore. I'm back now. Let me take care of it."
"But the Demon Slayer Corps exists to fight demons! After seeing something like that, how can I let you go alone?!" Takeo sniffed hard. "Besides, I'm the second son. I'm supposed to protect everyone. What kind of sense does it make for you to stand in front of me?"
"I don't want to discourage you at a time like this," a calm, slightly helpless voice interjected, "but becoming a Swordsman comes with extremely harsh requirements. It's not something you can do just because you want to."
Yoriichi's words drew both Takeo's and Nezuko's attention. They turned to look at him, and Nezuko frowned slightly in confusion.
"Could you explain more clearly what those differences are?"
"The most important point is learning a Breathing Style," Yoriichi said.
"Only by using a Breathing Style can a human gain physical abilities capable of contending with demons. But not everyone has the constitution to learn one. That alone is enough to eliminate ninety percent of people."
He looked at Nezuko as he continued.
"And since demons only appear at night, Swordsmen almost always operate after dark. On top of that, demons often look very similar to humans. Fighting them places a tremendous strain on the heart and mind."
"Even so, I still want to try," Nezuko said, her gaze unwavering. "Would you be willing to help me, Mr. Yoriichi?"
"If big sister's going, then I'm going too!" Takeo scrubbed his tears away hard. "We can go together and stay with our brother! We can look out for each other!"
"No," Nezuko said firmly. "Takeo needs to stay behind and take care of everyone."
But Takeo refused to back down.
"If it's about taking care of the family, you're better at that than I am. No matter how you look at it, the one more suited to take the exam is me."
"But—hm?"
Nezuko suddenly felt a weight on her head. She looked up and saw Yoriichi standing there without her noticing his approach.
"Mr. Yoriichi?"
Yoriichi gently rubbed both of their heads, smiling faintly.
"Let's talk about all of that after discussing it with your family and relocating. For now, you should both go to sleep. I have work to do as well. You see, Swordsmen don't have much personal time at night."
After Nezuko and Takeo apologized awkwardly and left, Yoriichi let out a quiet sigh. He lifted the mask he always wore and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I've already given my insights on swordsmanship. What should I include in the letter to Oyakata-sama this time…? Sigh—let's put that off for now. First, I need to find the children…"
...
While Yoriichi was agonizing over how to explain to Ubuyashiki Kagaya that he wanted to protect a child who had just turned into a demon, elsewhere, Hiru was still putting Tanjiro through relentless training to suppress his appetite.
"What exactly is going on with you?"
Hiru muttered as he tightened the lid of the container, watching Tanjiro repeatedly smash his head into the ground to drive away the hunger.
"Logically speaking, breaking through restraints should be far harder than suppressing appetite, shouldn't it?"
As the sweet scent of Rare Blood gradually faded from the air, Tanjiro finally regained some composure. He brushed the dirt from his forehead and panted heavily.
"I can't do it at all. I can't control it… This is way too hard. Hiru, how did you manage it back then?"
"Didn't I tell you? It was the pressure of facing death," Hiru replied. "Though it might also be because I'd been eating wild beasts for a long time before that."
"To be honest, beast blood doesn't contain much energy. Two bears are only about equivalent to one human. As for weaker animals, eating them gives you even less than what you can accumulate by going into self-hibernation after adapting to a demon body."
He rested his chin on his hand.
"These days, I drink blood more to numb myself—to create the illusion that 'I'm already full, I don't need to hunt,' and use that to restrain myself."
Tanjiro froze.
"Then… does that mean you never fully overcame the urge to eat people?"
"To be precise, I overcame most of it," Hiru explained. "Now I'm only interested in Rare Blood ranked above a hundred. But don't be discouraged. It took me a full fifty years to get that far, and my Blood Demon Art helped a great deal."
"F-fifty years?!"
Hiru laughed at Tanjiro's stunned expression.
"Close your mouth. You're about to start drooling."
"Ah—sorry!" Tanjiro hurriedly wiped his mouth. "Then the Sanemi you mentioned before—what level of Rare Blood does he have?"
"Two hundred and three… no, the last time we met it was probably around two hundred and sixty. He's still growing, after all."
"Amazing…"
"But you're pretty amazing too," Hiru said, ruffling Tanjiro's hair. "You've already learned to struggle against the urge to eat this quickly."
His gaze shifted to the cave wall Tanjiro had smashed apart with his head.
"Though your method did surprise me. By the way, was your head always this hard?"
"Ah, yes! My head's always been hard, and my recovery is really good now, so don't worry! Please open the bottle again! I'm ready!"
"…Already?"
"Yes! Even though I can't remember anything about my family right now, I want to see them as soon as possible!"
Watching Tanjiro plunge once more into battle with his appetite, Hiru let out a quiet sigh.
"What an incredible kid…"
...
Even with Tanjiro's tireless effort—training almost without sleep—it still took more than two months before he could barely keep his saliva in check when faced with the demon-luring drug.
When Hiru finally decided to take him away because he still hadn't fully suppressed his appetite, Tanjiro was overwhelmed with anxiety.
"Wait, Hiru! I think we should keep practicing a bit longer!"
"Keep practicing with you?" Hiru flicked Tanjiro's forehead. "Do you think I don't have work to do? If this drags on, getting laughed at during the March meeting would be one thing. But if I'm so busy in the latter half of the year that I don't even have time for my own affairs, I'll really lose my temper."
"S-sorry…"
"And another thing," Hiru added. "Your refusal to face sunlight is a real problem. You're using Sun Breathing, aren't you? Its damage to demons is no worse than sunlight itself."
"I'm sorry… but every time I see sunlight, I just hate it. And for some reason, I always feel like I'm going to die…"
Tanjiro lowered his head.
"And even when I use Sun Breathing, it still feels like my body is burning. It's really painful…"
"This is troublesome…" Hiru muttered. "Honestly, if you hadn't regained your sanity back then, I could've just turned you into a demon under my command. That would've saved a lot of hassle…"
"I'm sorry…"
"Enough," Hiru said, patting Tanjiro's head. "Don't worry too much. For a demon, being able to face that level of Rare Blood without immediately drooling is already impressive. And I have no intention of letting you out of my sight. There's no Rare Blood among your family, so nothing will happen."
"Yes… thank you for everything…"
Even so, Tanjiro remained afraid—afraid his family would look at him differently, afraid he might lose control and attack them again.
But when he followed Hiru to his family's new place of settlement and saw them rush over to embrace him, their faces full of worry and relief, all the anxiety that had built up over months vanished in an instant.
He couldn't help but smile softly.
"Yes. I'm back."