Northern Inn.
Inside a pharmacy.
"Man-eating bears?" A mature yet sweet voice rang out.
The Shop Owner's wife explained, "Here we also call them Cave Beasts; many mountain hunters have been eaten."
"No wonder the atmosphere at the inn is so tense."
"Guest, I'm saying this for your own good, could you please leave immediately?"
"Hmm, but it's rare to have free time, and it's inconvenient to ask others to buy raw medicine. Besides..." The girl, holding a pastry, wearing a butterfly hair ornament, dressed in a floral kimono, and draped in a butterfly haori, chuckled lightly, "I'm also very interested due to my work."
"If there's any stock, please be sure to tell me."
Kochou Shinobu's calm demeanor left the Shop Owner's wife speechless.
Just then.
"You went to the mountains alone again!"
Kochou Shinobu looked over at the sound, seeing a group of hunters arguing in the street.
"I wasn't alone! Taro was there too!" The girl, holding a hunting dog, retorted.
"Taro isn't a dog!"
Seeing the argument escalate, Kochou Shinobu asked the Shop Owner's wife curiously, "Is that...?"
"Yae? She's the daughter of Hunter Yozo. She was attacked by a bear, and her father and companions were... right before her eyes."
"Since then, she's been searching for her sworn enemy in the snowy mountains, except when she comes down to the village for supplies. I really can't bear to watch..."
Kochou Shinobu's eyes darkened slightly, saddened by the girl's experience.
Suddenly, her mouth twitched.
"That idiot..." Kochou Shinobu sighed.
Seeing Tomioka Giyu's interaction with the hunters becoming increasingly perilous, Kochou Shinobu finally couldn't help but step out.
Just as she was about to leave the shop, a figure wearing a straw hat with long, wine-red hair flowing from behind entered her line of sight, instantly capturing her attention.
Kochou Shinobu's purple eyes slowly widened, a faint light flickering within them, as if she had witnessed something incredible... Because there was no malice, Mizuki didn't pay attention, but she didn't expect the other person to grab her clothes.
Mizuki looked back to see the girl, draped in a butterfly haori, holding a corner of her clothing with one Hand and clenching the other to her chest, her gaze flickering slightly as she looked at Mizuki.
Kochou Shinobu?
Mizuki was slightly stunned. She still had a strong impression of this Insect Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps.
She was one of the few characters she had a mental image of over the past few hundred years.
Coupled with Douma's battle with her sister two years ago, the two could be said to have exchanged greetings.
"You..." Looking at those peculiar eyes, Kochou Shinobu's gaze flickered, and her lips parted slightly, "I've been looking for you..."
Hmm?
It must be about saving her sister.
Mizuki understood after a moment of thought.
'Take him away! Hand him over to the police!'
'I am Tomioka of the Demon Slayer Corps...' The background noise gradually faded.
Kochou Shinobu's purple pupils shimmered like the starry river in the sky, flickering with faint light: "I wanted to thank you for saving my sister."
"It's nothing." It was just a coincidence that she met her, especially after she decided to change something and happened to use her Breathing Technique.
It could be called luck.
Kochou Shinobu: "..."
This woman is so cold.
The hunter girl, who had been ignored beside them, couldn't help but speak, "I say, what exactly are you two...?"
Before she finished speaking, her eyes went dark, and she fell. Fortunately, Mizuki was right beside her and quickly caught her.
The sudden situation also broke the strange atmosphere from before. Kochou Shinobu, momentarily stunned, quickly stepped forward to examine her.
The hunter girl's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and her cheeks were flushed and hot.
"She has a fever; we need to find a place for her to rest." Kochou Shinobu finished her examination and looked up at Mizuki, "Could I trouble you to help?"
"Mm." Mizuki stepped forward and picked up the girl.
Kochou Shinobu's envious gaze flashed, and she pointed to the other side of the street: "To the pharmacy over there."
The two transferred the girl to the pharmacy owner's house on one side of the street.
They placed the girl on the tatami mat.
While wiping the girl's forehead, Kochou Shinobu said to Mizuki, "Could I trouble you to boil some hot water for me?"
For a moment, Mizuki felt as if she had returned to the time hundreds of years ago when she went out to treat patients with Tamayo.
"Just call me Mizuki." She nodded slightly and turned to leave.
"Mizuki..." Kochou Shinobu murmured the name twice.
A very pleasant name... Mizuki went out: "Mr. Giyu, could you...?"
Silence~
Where is he?!
Wasn't he following them the whole time?!
Mizuki's pupils trembled.
Entrusting the boiling of water to the Shop Owner's wife, Mizuki quickly ran out and along the street, finally stopping everyone at the police station entrance. It took considerable effort to rescue Tomioka Giyu from the crowd.
Mizuki's eyelid twitched: "Are you an idiot?"
Tomioka Giyu: "They wouldn't listen to my explanation."
"…"
Mizuki couldn't be bothered to waste words with him and took him back to find Kochou Shinobu.
"Ara, Mr. Tomioka, I was just wondering if you got lost." Kochou Shinobu, holding the medicine, muttered as she sat down next to Mizuki in the hallway.
Giyuu: "..."
Kochou Shinobu held out a dose of medicine to Mizuki: "Would you like some?"
"It can prevent colds."
"No..." Mizuki subconsciously replied, then saw the girl leaning in, supporting herself on the floor, with a slightly expectant look in her eyes.
?
What are you expecting?
Also, you're too close.
Mizuki could even clearly see the delicate individual eyelashes on her eyes.
After a moment of silence, Mizuki untied the white cloth from her face, picked up the medicine, and drank it all in one gulp.
Human food tastes pretty much the same once it enters the mouth; there's no question of whether it's delicious or not.
As for preventing colds, she had almost forgotten the lung disease that tormented her the most back then.
Kochou Shinobu was slightly lost in thought; she actually removed the white cloth so easily.
She had thought someone dressed so thoroughly wouldn't do it so readily.
However... she was as beautiful as expected.
A delicate nose, fair skin, and the peculiar pattern on her cheek were also a bonus.
She looked a little more mature than Kochou Shinobu had imagined, appearing to be in her early twenties.
Kochou Shinobu proactively asked, "Miss Mizuki, how did you meet Mr. Tomioka?"
"By chance, I suppose." Mizuki untied the Nichirin Blade from her waist and placed it on the corridor floor.
She never expected him to follow Tanjirou home.
Kochou Shinobu's gaze swept over the blade beside her.
Even the sword is wrapped in white cloth; that's overly cautious... "I want to meet the Ubuyashiki family head through his introduction."
Introduction?
"Miss Mizuki is...?"
"I am the successor of Snow Breathing."
People of this era aren't very accepting of anomalies; it would be better to inform the Ubuyashiki family first before explaining to them.
If they rejected her, she would be embarrassed.
After all, the Ubuyashiki Clan frequently changes residences to evade Muzan's pursuit, so they are not easy to find.
Kochou Shinobu, of course, didn't know Mizuki's thoughts; she almost instinctively exclaimed.
"You mean that messy Breathing Technique?!"
Mizuki's expression stiffened, and her mood instantly plummeted.
Messy... messy... yes... perhaps a little... but it's still a Breathing Technique passed down from the Sengoku Period!
Can't you show it a little respect?!
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