Two months after Muzan's death.
Kanzaki Aoi, holding the freshly washed bedding, stood on her tiptoes to place it on the clothesline. She patted the quilt, smoothing out the wrinkles, and let out a soft sigh.
"I'm telling you..."
Inosuke, still with bandages wrapped around his waist, stood with his hands on his hips, looking defiant. His wild boar headpiece was, uncharacteristically, slung at his waist, revealing a face remarkably like a girl's, contorted in an expression of stubbornness.
"I'm hungry!"
"Lady Shinobu said that even though your wound has healed, you shouldn't eat greasy food while you're recuperating," Kanzaki Aoi said with a helpless sigh, continuing to hang the laundry.
"Then I want to eat tempura!"
"That's also not allowed. You can't eat shrimp right now either," Kanzaki Aoi told Inosuke seriously, turning to face him with a stern expression.
"How could a wound like that affect me, the great Inosuke! You're underestimating me too much!"
"Is that so?" a gentle, pleasant voice came from beside the two. Shinobu smiled and spoke softly to Inosuke.
"Uh..."
Inosuke's hands, which were on his hips, slowly dropped to his sides. For some reason, whenever he faced Shinobu, he inexplicably felt a surge of nervousness, an involuntary urge to obey.
"Inosuke, are you not going to listen to me?"
"These things aren't good for your wound. Once your injury is healed, you can eat as much as you want, okay?"
Shinobu gently patted Inosuke's shoulder, smiling as she spoke.
"But..."
"Hm?"
"Yes..."
After Inosuke dejectedly left their sight, Kanzaki Aoi looked at Lady Shinobu with admiration.
"As expected of Lady Shinobu!"
Smiling, Shinobu glanced at the sky. The weather was lovely today. "Aoi, I have to go to headquarters today. I'm leaving the Butterfly Mansion in your care."
"Yes! Understood!"
Watching Lady Shinobu's retreating figure, Kanzaki Aoi blinked, then bent down to continue hanging the quilts.
Her pigtails swayed with her movements.
Lady Shinobu... What happened two months ago still felt like a dream to her... Muzan was dead, but Yoizumi had fallen into a deep sleep.
Lady Shinobu also... seemed to have returned to how she was before Yoizumi came to the Butterfly Mansion... Even though it was the same Lady Shinobu, Aoi felt that... she preferred Lady Shinobu when Yoizumi was around.
Kanzaki Aoi thought so.
"Creak."
Pushing open the door, Shinobu walked a few steps to the side of the sleeping person. She lowered her gaze and stared at Yoizumi for a while. After a long moment, Shinobu sat on the edge of the bed and raised her hand to lightly tap Yoizumi's brow.
Her usual gentle voice was particularly clear in the quiet room.
"Yoizumi, the weather is beautiful today."
"The temperature is very comfortable too..."
"Inosuke is still as naughty as a child."
After her words, Shinobu silently stared at Yoizumi, as if expecting a response. After a while, facing Yoizumi, who hadn't even twitched an eyelash, Shinobu suddenly smiled again, sighing self-deprecatingly. Her beautiful purple eyes were filled only with loneliness.
"..."
She leaned down and gently rested her head on Yoizumi's chest, her movements so light as if a slight exertion of force would make him disappear.
After a long time like this, Shinobu straightened up again, smoothed the stray strands of hair from her forehead, and adjusted the rainbow-colored haori on her body. She put away her fragile expression, transforming back into the reliable Lady Shinobu of the Butterfly Mansion... In a soft, slow voice, she spoke each word distinctly.
"Yoizumi, I'm going to headquarters."
"Wait for me to come back."
But she knew full well that she would not receive a response from Yoizumi.
Shinobu waited for a few seconds, then walked out of the room... Headquarters.
"Yo~ Shinazugawa, are your injuries all healed?" Uzui Tengen hooked his arm around Sanemi Shinazugawa's shoulder, smiling.
"Tch! Get your hand off me!" Sanemi Shinazugawa yanked Uzui Tengen's hand away, glaring at him sideways.
"Why so fierce? We're good comrades who fought side by side, after all."
Uzui Tengen spread his hands. His previous headband had been damaged by Upper Rank One in the Infinity Castle. His hair was loose, making him appear particularly flamboyant.
"Hmph!"
Sanemi Shinazugawa turned his head, not bothering to acknowledge him.
"The others are taking their sweet time arriving."
Standing with his arms crossed in the new Ubuyashiki headquarters, Uzui Tengen was filled with a sigh. That ruin hadn't been cleared up even after two months.
Just how many explosives were buried there... "I'm not the last one! That's great!"
Kyoujurou's booming voice echoed through the room. After two months, Uzui Tengen felt that his eyes were even brighter; he was truly flamboyant.
"Uzui!" Kyoujurou walked to Tengen's side, greeting him with a smile.
"I heard your wives cried a lot when you returned?"
At this, Uzui Tengen's eye twitched uncontrollably. That day was truly a disaster... Even recalling it now gave him a headache.
While the two were talking, Giyu Tomioka had silently entered the room and stayed by himself.
He lowered his head in silence, recalling the words Urokodaki-sensei had said before he left.
"Talk more with everyone in the Corps, Giyu."
That being said, what should he talk about?
Giyu tried hard to think.
"Yo~ Tomioka, how have you been lately?" Uzui Tengen asked.
"Uh..." His calm eyes widened slightly, then Giyu nodded.
"Fine."
"How can you be popular if you talk so little...?" Uzui Tengen raised his hand and rested it on Giyu Tomioka's shoulder, looking at him sideways.
"You won't be able to get a wife like this in the future."
"Do you want me to teach you?"
Tomioka Giyu uncomfortably turned his head. He hadn't considered this question before and didn't know how to answer for a moment.
Uzui Tengen didn't stay idle either. He pulled Shinazugawa over, one hand on each, his face full of the expression of someone with experience.
"You two, one's a silent type and the other's a firecracker."
"Not flamboyant at all."
"Even Obanai and Mitsuri are getting somewhere."
"If you have any questions, just ask me. After all, I'm a flamboyant handsome man with three wives."
Sanemi Shinazugawa glared, his voice low and hoarse as he gritted his teeth.
"Get lost!"
When Shinobu arrived, she saw Shinazugawa angrily pushing Uzui Tengen's hand away, but she didn't pay much attention, simply assuming their relationship had grown closer.
"Kochou, are you alright?"
Kyoujurou spoke as soon as he saw Shinobu.
"Yes, thank you for your concern, Rengoku-sensei."
Seeing Shinobu looking well, Kyoujurou also felt relieved.
Finding her spot and sitting down, Shinobu rested her hands on her knees, lowering her gaze in silence. This time, there was no one beside her who would secretly hold her hand... Even though Yoizumi had only attended a few meetings... she had simply grown accustomed to him being by her side.
When Iguro Obanai and Kanroji Mitsuri arrived together, Uzui Tengen's teasing made them both blush profusely until they were finally let off the hook.
After Tokito Muichiro and Gyomei Himejima arrived.
The Pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps sat upright until Kagaya Ubuyashiki, their Master, arrived.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki, whose eyesight had gradually recovered, looked earnestly at his children. Many of the scars on his face had also disappeared. His gentle voice was not loud, yet it reached everyone's ears perfectly.
"Everyone, thank you for coming."
"To attend this final Pillar Meeting."
"Today..."
"I have an announcement to make."
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