"Snow Pillar, you've worked hard!"
Another group of Demon Slayer Corps members successfully passed the assessment. Yoizumi silently stared at the expressions of joy and tears on their faces, somewhat puzzled.
Why do the people who pass always look like this?
Is it really that worth being happy about?
It took them so long, even with Yoizumi relaxing the requirements.
Suddenly, he felt something flying over his head. Yoizumi instinctively raised his hand to catch it. It was a shuttlecock kicked over by a few little girls. Seeing Nezuko-chan run over, Yoizumi smiled gently and handed the shuttlecock to his sister.
"Brother, play with me!" Nezuko-chan tugged at Yoizumi's sleeve, not allowing him to refuse. Brother was always so busy, sometimes he didn't even have time to braid her hair. Now that he finally had time, Nezuko-chan naturally had to seize the opportunity, pulling Yoizumi forcefully to stand before the three little girls.
Kiyo, Sumi, and Saho looked at Yoizumi with expectant, beady eyes. Ever since Mr. Yoizumi played cat's cradle with them last time, he hadn't played with them again.
But they all understood; Mr. Yoizumi was the Snow Pillar and was very busy every day. They didn't dare to disturb him.
"Mr. Yoizumi, play with us!" x 3
Defeated by the offensive of four pairs of expectant eyes, Yoizumi nodded and agreed.
He had never played with this shuttlecock before, but seeing Nezuko-chan and the others play so easily, it shouldn't be too difficult.
But Yoizumi was wrong.
"Thud."
"I'm sorry…" Yoizumi said softly, staring at the shuttlecock that had flown high due to his excessive force and then plummeted at high speed, embedding itself into the ground.
"It's okay, Mr. Yoizumi!"
Kiyo scurried over to the shuttlecock, trying to pull it out but found she couldn't with one hand. So, like pulling a radish, Kiyo's small face was full of effort as she finally extracted the shuttlecock deeply embedded in the ground.
"Brother, you're clumsy!" Nezuko-chan said, covering her mouth and giggling.
"It's alright, let's try again, Mr. Yoizumi can definitely do it!" Saho said, making small fists with her tiny hands to comfort him.
A more serious expression appeared in Yoizumi's blue eyes. He hadn't expected this to be quite difficult; he needed to control both the force and the angle. He had underestimated it.
Next, he would be serious!
"Whoosh!"
"…"
Everyone present watched as the shuttlecock flew out of the courtyard like an arrow, followed by a scream.
"Ouch!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Yoizumi and Nezuko-chan exchanged glances and simultaneously looked towards the entrance of the Butterfly Mansion.
It wasn't until the person they hadn't seen in months appeared, with his familiar black and green haori, black and red hair, and the distinctive flaming Mark.
Nezuko-chan quickly rushed towards Tanjirou. Tanjirou, who was covering his forehead in pain, was caught off guard and knocked to the ground by his sister.
"Ne… Nezuko!"
Tanjirou saw with his own eyes that his sister was safe and sound in the sunlight, and his eyes immediately reddened. Months of hard and tiring training hadn't made him frown, but now... He carefully hugged his sister back, kneeling on the ground and embracing Nezuko.
"This is great… This is great! Nezuko!"
Tanjirou's voice was choked with emotion, and his shoulders trembled slightly.
"Brother, don't cry." Nezuko-chan showed a sweet smile, gently stroking Tanjirou's forehead, which was red from the shuttlecock, to comfort him.
"No pain, no pain."
Tanjirou's crimson eyes suddenly widened, his lips trembling, his eyes filled with disbelief. After many years, he finally… heard Nezuko-chan call him brother again… Large tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes, but Tanjirou smiled, a smile of immense warmth.
Nezuko-chan wrinkled her small face, worriedly patting and tapping Tanjirou's head. Why was he crying one moment and laughing the next? Had Brother been damaged by a shuttlecock?
Yoizumi walked over to the two, squatted down, and touched Tanjirou's forehead with his fingertip, using Blood Demon Art: Rotation.
"Sorry, Tanjirou, is your head okay?"
Tanjirou sniffled and shook his head, indicating he was fine. He stood up, wiped away the tears from his face, and greeted with a smile.
"Yoizumi-nii!"
His gaze shifted back and forth between the brother and sister in the sunlight. In a trance, Tanjirou felt as if he had returned to the most ordinary afternoon in the past. Then Tanjirou showed a brilliant and gentle smile.
"I missed you all so much."
Yoizumi gently patted Nezuko-chan's head.
"Didn't Nezuko make a flower crown for Tanjirou?"
"Flower crown!" This reminded Nezuko-chan, who immediately ran into the house. Almost the next moment after Nezuko-chan ran back inside, a sharp voice echoed throughout the entire Butterfly Mansion.
"Nezuko-chan~! I'm back!"
Agatsuma Zenitsu, holding a bouquet of flowers picked from who-knows-where, ran into the Butterfly Mansion, his eyes searching everywhere for Nezuko-chan's figure.
"Nezuko-chan! Where are you?"
Yoizumi gave a helpless look at Zenitsu, who, after several months, was still the same.
"Zenitsu! You're here too," Tanjirou said.
"Of course, I worked desperately hard to pass the training!"
That's right, Tanjirou had witnessed it at Tokito's place. Ever since that day, Zenitsu had suddenly stopped complaining about the difficult training.
Sometimes, he could even be seen training hard by himself.
"Is that so…?" Yoizumi said lightly. Returning here meant that it was his turn to train them again.
"Ugh…" Zenitsu stiffened all over, his expression changing repeatedly. First, he recalled his past experiences being trained by Yoizumi, then he remembered the resolve he had made. He swallowed hard.
"J-just bring it on! I'm not the me I used to be!"
He had made up his mind to be someone his grandfather would be proud of!
His senior's death must have been a huge blow to his grandfather, so he had to work hard to make his grandfather happy!
"Is that so…" After all, he was the one who killed Zenitsu's senior. To express his apology, Yoizumi would be even stricter with Zenitsu in the upcoming training, making him stronger.
Zenitsu inexplicably felt a chill down his spine. He shivered abruptly, rubbing his arms in confusion.
Why did he feel cold in this weather?
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