Outside, light and shadow wove together. The afternoon sun filtered through the treetops in the courtyard, as if even time itself had slowed.
Shinobu Kocho stared blankly at the boy before her.
Even now, his face remained as expressionless as ever. From a moment ago until this very second, there had been almost no emotional fluctuation in his voice—so calm it was as if he'd merely been chatting with her about the weather.
And yet… the weight and warmth contained in that one sentence had been bright as sunlight, forcing its way through the gloom that had long shrouded the girl's heart.
Ever since her sister died, she had treated her own body as a tool… a vessel of poison meant for killing demons.
Did she truly not care about her own life anymore…?
No—rather than not caring, it was that she had never dared to think about it too deeply.
She was not some great, courageous person. It was only the conviction of revenge that kept this already-battered body moving.
And now… there was someone who cherished her life even more than she did.
So he wanted her to live properly—rather than turning herself into a one-time, disposable consumable.
If she truly lived to the end… what would she want to do then?
The thought flickered through Shinobu's mind—only for her to shake her head and brush away the mess of feelings immediately.
It was a "future" she absolutely could not afford to imagine—at least, not yet.
Because once she had something to cling to, once she had desires and attachments… she was afraid she truly wouldn't want to die anymore.
In the end, she had never thought about such things before—so why, today of all days…
She lifted her head quietly, the corners of her lips curving into a faintly self-mocking smile.
"I never thought that I—the Insect Hashira—would be scolded by a child younger than me… and end up so unsettled."
"You really are quite the strange one."
Yoriichi tilted his head, hesitating. "Was what I said just now… strange?"
Perhaps to hide the panic in her heart—or perhaps simply to seize back control—Shinobu took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed the turmoil inside her.
"Telling someone to treasure their life isn't strange, but…"
A glimmer rippled through her violet eyes. She leaned forward, drawing close to his ear.
The distance between them shrank in an instant—so close he could almost feel her warm breath brushing his earlobe.
The air was filled with the distinctive fragrance of wisteria—dangerous, yet strangely alluring.
"Sometimes, being too honest isn't necessarily a good thing."
She deliberately dragged out the last syllables, a slyness flickering in her beautiful eyes as she tried to catch a glimpse of embarrassment or fluster on his face. "You might even end up being disliked, you know?"
It was a perfect counterattack.
By all logic, a normal boy—teased at this distance by an older woman—would turn red and instinctively retreat, letting her reclaim the initiative.
And yet—
Faced with that bright smile inches away, the boy's breathing remained steady—no different from when he swung his blade at demons.
Those dark red eyes were clear to the bottom, quietly reflecting Shinobu's slightly stunned face.
"Would you hate me because of the advice I gave you just now?"
His voice was utterly calm, as if he were sincerely asking an academic question.
"Huh…?"
Shinobu blinked, the smile on her lips freezing.
"I only wanted to help you take revenge with your own hands. That way, you'd be able to let go, wouldn't you?"
Yoriichi looked at her and continued in the same even tone. "If you don't personally settle this karma, your heart may never find peace. Or… would you still feel that your pride has been wounded, even then?"
Shinobu went still for a long moment. Then, as if something clicked, the teasing faded from her face and she asked cautiously:
"Don't tell me… if you weren't considering my pride and my obsession, you were planning to deal with that demon yourself?"
Yoriichi didn't hesitate at all. He gave a small nod.
"..."
For an instant, the air seemed to stop.
A moment later—
Tap.
Shinobu raised her hand and lightly knocked two fingers against the boy's forehead—not hard, not soft.
"What are you thinking? This kind of thing needs careful planning."
Though her words were scolding, her gaze had softened.
She withdrew her hand. Her expression gradually turned serious as the presence of the Insect Hashira returned to her small frame.
"That's Upper Rank Two, Tanjiro-kun."
Shinobu lowered her voice, anxiety heavy in every syllable.
"I know your swordsmanship talent is extraordinary. But demons are cunning creatures—especially the Upper Ranks."
She paused, eyes locking onto Yoriichi's.
"And with how huge a commotion your last two battles were… Kibutsuji Muzan has likely taken full notice of you now. The next thing waiting for you may be targeted ambushes and traps."
"Don't let arrogance pull you into a corner."
"I don't want… to see anyone die again because they underestimated demons."
Her voice sank at the end, as though old memories had resurfaced.
Since the Demon Slayer Corps was founded, it had been built on blood and tears.
And among them, there had been plenty of geniuses… but there were also those who, because of pride and overconfidence, ultimately died at a demon's hands.
Yoriichi fell silent for a moment, then nodded without a word.
He had seen too many lives vanish—whether mighty swordsmen or ordinary civilians. Before death, all were equal.
Perhaps to ease the heaviness, Shinobu put on her signature smile again and tilted her head.
"Since you want revenge against Upper Rank Two, do you have any concrete plan, Tanjiro-kun? Passion alone won't cut it."
Yoriichi hesitated, then lifted those clear, dark red eyes to her.
"Ms. Shinobu… have you heard of the 'Transparent World'?"
"The Transparent… World?"
Shinobu blinked, puzzled.
As someone deeply versed in pharmacology and medicine, she had read countless old texts—yet she had never encountered that term.
"Is it a derivative form of a Breathing Style? Or some kind of… Zen phrase describing a mental state?"
"No. It's not a metaphor, and it's not an adjective."
Yoriichi shook his head. His gaze focused on her, as if it could pierce through her haori, her uniform—through skin and muscle itself.
"It's a world you can see inside a living body."
His calm voice echoed down the corridor, describing something that even a medical expert would find unbelievable.
"Muscle contractions, the flow of blood, the friction of bone, the expansion of the lungs… Once you enter that realm, all of your opponent's bodily information is laid bare before your eyes."
The smile slowly drained from Shinobu's face, replaced by a healer's shock and disbelief.
"How… is that possible? Even the finest surgeon can't see the human body's workings without opening it up. Tanjiro-kun—are you joking?"
"For example—right now."
Yoriichi didn't argue. He simply raised a finger and pointed gently to a spot about three inches below Shinobu's left shoulder.
"Beneath your collarbone, there's an old fracture that healed. Because of it, the blood flow through the nearby channels is a fraction slower than on the right side. It doesn't affect daily life, but when you swing at extreme speed, there's a tiny hesitation."
Shinobu's pupils shrank sharply. She froze as if struck by lightning.
That injury… was from a mission two years ago. It had healed so well—and was so well-hidden—that even Kanao didn't know. Sometimes even Shinobu herself forgot about it.
He… really saw it?
"As long as you can see these things, an enemy's attack is no longer 'sudden.' It becomes 'traceable.'"
Yoriichi's voice remained steady, as if explaining the simplest truth in the world.
"Before someone swings a blade, their muscles contract first. Before they move, their center of gravity shifts first. If you master the Transparent World, no matter how fast a demon is, to you… it will all look unbearably slow."
He paused, then looked at Shinobu's stunned face and spoke with quiet seriousness.
"Ms. Shinobu is not strong enough to sever a demon's neck, so you chose poison and speed as your weapons. That fighting style… is actually more suited to the Transparent World than anyone else's."
"If you can see the quickest routes of blood circulation inside your opponent… if you can see the best entry point for your poison to spread…"
"Then you won't need to trade wounds for wounds. You'll only need a light thrust… to end them."
Shinobu stared at the boy—only fifteen—and felt a storm surge through her chest.
"Can something like that… really be done?"
Her voice was dry, because she was suppressing the trembling excitement inside her.
This wasn't merely about becoming stronger.
It was about seeing, at last, a genuine ray of dawn on a revenge path that had always been steeped in despair.
Yoriichi looked at her. For once, a gentle curve appeared at the corner of his lips.
"I can teach you."
"So you can live to see a future with no demons."
-------
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