"Too slow!" Yoizumi reminded, and the wooden sword directly poked the team member's abdomen, making him kneel on the ground in pain. He covered his stomach without any complaints, and responded loudly with a pale face.
"Yes! Sorry!"
"It turns out that seeing Snow Pillar smile yesterday was your illusion!" Murata, covered in dust, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his feet trembling. Why did it feel like today was stricter than usual?
"But I clearly saw the corners of his mouth turn up, about this much." Komi Kata, who had climbed up from the ground, stretched out his left hand, bending his index finger and thumb, the gap inside probably couldn't even fit a grain of rice.
"You… you have really good eyesight." If Murata hadn't been standing next to Komi Kata, he wouldn't have been able to see the tiny gap between his fingers.
"What are you two talking about again?" Yoizumi appeared behind them silently, his flat, uninflected voice suddenly echoing in their ears.
"Ugh…" The two shivered simultaneously and stiffly turned their heads.
"Snow… Snow Pillar!"
"500 sword swings. No food until you're done." Yoizumi said calmly, then raised the wooden sword in his right hand and tilted his head to look at the two.
"Come on, continue training. Those 500 swings can be done after training is over."
"…Yes…" The two despairingly raised the wooden swords in their hands.
"Crack!"
The wooden swords, unable to bear the strain, finally broke. Murata and Komi Kata, who were sprawled in the deep pits they had made in the ground, looked at the sky with faces devoid of life.
Not only were the wooden swords broken, but they were also about to shatter.
How much longer would these endless days last?
But Yoizumi still didn't let them off. He stood above them, looking down, and said in a cold, faint voice.
"How much longer are you going to lie there?"
"Yes! Sorry! Snow Pillar!"
The two instantly stood up and went to get new wooden swords.
Sighing helplessly, Yoizumi continued to instruct the others.
He glanced at Nezuko, who was sitting obediently under the long corridor watching him, and smiled slightly at her.
Seeing her brother look over, Nezuko raised her small hand and waved at him. Yoizumi also raised his hand and responded to her, mirroring his sister's movement.
Nezuko let out a series of indistinct giggles, put down her small hands, and quietly swung her legs, her bright pink eyes fixed intently on her brother in the sunlight.
She remembered what her brother had said not long ago.
[One day you can also be in the sun.]
But when is 'one day'?
"Hmm…" Nezuko lowered her head in distress.
Did she have to run into the sun and bask for a while like her brother until the sun liked her?
Or did she have to have golden hair like her brother?
Thinking of this, Nezuko looked at Yoizumi's dazzling golden hair in the sunlight, like a favored child of the sun.
Nezuko picked up her braid, which her brother had tied for her that morning. Staring at her red hair tips, Nezuko nodded her small head.
The sun is also red when it sets quickly!
Then the sun must like her too!
(Nezuko, who thought the sun disliked her.)
Clenching her fists to cheer herself on, Nezuko stood up and looked in Yoizumi's direction. A few seconds later, she ran off with a "da da da" sound.
When Yoizumi next looked, his sister had already disappeared.
Did she go to find Kanzaki and them?
…Nezuko ran to the backyard, standing in the shadows, nervously looking at the sunlight at her feet.
The scene of her brother being exposed to the sun kept replaying in her mind. She clearly remembered how her brother was scorched and festered in an instant by the sun, and she felt scared and panicked just watching.
But her brother was still smiling and comforting her, yet she clearly felt that his hand, stroking the top of her head, was trembling slightly.
At that time, her brother must have been in a lot of pain.
So he didn't let her try.
He just kept promising again and again.
[Brother will turn Nezuko back into a human.]
Nezuko didn't want to stay in the dark shadows forever; she also wanted to be in the brilliant sunlight, together with her brothers.
Since she was her brother's sister, then she must also be liked by the sun, right?
Even if Yoizumi was not her biological brother, blood relation was just one type of family, and the emotions between them sometimes could not be compared to blood relation at all.
At least, Nezuko thought so.
Nezuko took a deep, determined breath of fresh air and resolutely stretched her small hand into the sunlight.
As her fair, tender arm was exposed to the sun, the intense burning pain made Nezuko let out a muffled groan of agony. She trembled and withdrew her arm, which was charred and emitted the smell of burnt flesh.
Unimaginable pain assailed Nezuko. She tightly closed her eyes, panting quickly and rapidly, and large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.
Tears welled up in her eyes, making her pink eyes shimmer with moisture.
It hurts so much…
It hurts so much…
It hurts this much in just a moment, so was her brother in even more pain?
Her brother was still smiling at that time, telling her not to worry.
Nezuko sniffled, wiping away her tears. If her brother could do it, she could too!
When she could move around in the sun, she would definitely smile at her brother first.
She extended her other, unharmed left hand again.
"Sizzle." The sound of flesh being scorched was so distinct.
Nezuko endured the intense pain, unwilling to give up. Her arm visibly charred, even her bones could be seen.
"Ugh… Hmm!"
Her arm trembled continuously from the unbearable pain. Nezuko gritted her teeth, her small face scrunched up, and sweat kept rolling down.
It hurts so much… it hurts so much… the sun doesn't seem to like me.
Nezuko thought, crying.
In a trance, she seemed to see… Mother.
Kie gently embraced Nezuko, and a familiar, gentle voice sounded.
"Nezuko, don't give up."
"You can do it."
"Mother believes in you."
Nezuko thought of her deceased family.
She absolutely didn't want… didn't want to be like that culprit, only able to live in the shadows.
She wanted to be with her brothers, in the sunlight!
Nezuko actually ran directly into the sun herself. The intense pain throughout her body assailed her, but she wasn't afraid at all.
The flow of time seemed to slow down. Nezuko had no good skin on her body; she was completely burned.
"Ugh!" She bit down hard on the bamboo muzzle, shattering it directly. The bamboo muzzle fell to the ground with a "clatter."
Nezuko's eyes widened. All the pain in her body was alleviating!
She tilted her head up to look at the dazzling sunlight. Slowly, the sunlight falling on her body was no longer scorching, only warmth… "Snow… Snow Pillar, actually… you can rest assured, we won't… slack off!" Murata, panting from exhaustion, spoke little by little, continuously swinging his wooden sword.
Komi Kata, next to him, was already speechless.
"I have time now; I'll wait until you two are done." Yoizumi stood in front of them, counting their sword swings.
"Ugh… Eh?" Murata let out a whimper, then, as if he had discovered something, stopped his movements, his soft arm trembling as he raised it, pointing behind Yoizumi.
"Snow… Snow Pillar! That is…"
Yoizumi looked in the direction Murata pointed, and his cold blue eyes instantly contracted.
Nezuko stood unharmed in the sunlight, smiling brightly, just as she had on that afternoon many years ago.
Her pronunciation was not standard, speaking in halting tones.
"Snow… Snow…"
"Bro… Brother!"
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