Hearing this, Mizuki looked down, her mind involuntarily wondering.
Touch it? Touch what?
Kochou Shinobu's gaze drifted, avoiding eye contact.
Seeing Kochou Shinobu's reaction, Mizuki's heart inexplicably sped up for a moment.
Kochou Shinobu pointed to the top of Mizuki's head with some difficulty, "...That...horn..."
...Huh?
Mizuki was stunned for a moment. So she was talking about the horns?
This situation felt a bit strange.
However, she was an old monster who had lived for hundreds of years. Even if she hadn't eaten pork, surely she had seen a pig run?
Mizuki suppressed the flutter in her heart, lowered her head slightly, and said in a muffled voice, "...Okay."
It's just touching a horn. What's the big deal?
Everyone has curiosity. When she first became a demon, she often touched her own body all over.
To avoid poking Kochou Shinobu, Mizuki even adjusted her angle slightly.
After all, she couldn't control this horn at will, and it didn't have any Attached abilities. Besides feeling it to the touch, it was just like a pendant.
Although it made her look taller when on her head, it also felt a bit superfluous.
If she encountered a horn-breaking maniac, wouldn't her horn be broken?
It felt like something that could become a weakness.
While Mizuki was lost in thought, Kochou Shinobu looked at the horn so close to her, swallowed, and hesitantly reached out her hand.
She touched it gently.
Seeing that Mizuki had no reaction, she then boldly stroked it.
It felt a bit rough to the touch, but it wasn't harsh on the hand. On the contrary, it was very exquisite.
It was much harder than she had imagined... and a little itchy.
Mizuki's feelings were more direct. Although the horn had no real function, it definitely had a sense of touch.
It felt itchy when touched.
At the same time, Mizuki's earlobes began to turn slightly red. She felt it was a bit too intimate.
The closest she had ever been to love in this life was when Kokushibou forcibly carried her away back then.
So, facing such a slightly ambiguous situation, Mizuki felt somewhat at a loss.
After experiencing her own dream, she already had an answer regarding her feelings for Shinobu.
But she couldn't know Shinobu's thoughts, and being an unassertive person herself, she was completely too embarrassed to speak.
What if she was rejected? Wouldn't that be humiliating?
Moreover, they were both girls.
Although her memories from her previous life were mostly forgotten, her values had been established since childhood with the help of those memories, and she had no unusual views on such matters.
But what about the people of this era?
That's why Mizuki didn't dare to express her feelings.
"Okay... it's done." Kochou Shinobu didn't linger for too long; she simply satisfied her curiosity and withdrew her hand.
Breathing a long sigh of relief, Mizuki calmed her mind, and her long white hair gradually turned crimson.
Perhaps because she had never eaten humans, Demonization consumed quite a bit of energy. Her usual state wasn't entirely maintained out of consideration for those around her.
She feigned composure and smiled, "How is it? How was the texture?"
Kochou Shinobu was still a bit shy, but hearing this, she couldn't help but smile wryly, "The texture... it's very subtle..."
Her cheeks were still flushed.
Mizuki was pondering a way to break the ice when she suddenly remembered Tamayo's instructions and pulled a syringe from her pocket. "Oh right, this is for Nezuko. Could you please help her inject it, Shinobu?"
"This is a medicine that can restore human taste after injection."
"Eh? Okay." Kochou Shinobu took the syringe.
Mizuki had intended to change the subject and restart their conversation, but... because of what had just happened, their words inexplicably dwindled, as if they suddenly couldn't find a topic.
After sitting with Kochou Shinobu in the hallway for a while, the two silently ate their pastries, then said their goodbyes and returned to their respective rooms... The next morning, when Mizuki arrived at the courtyard, Tanjirou and the others were already there, panting and sweating profusely from exhaustion.
After greeting Kochou Shinobu in the infirmary, Mizuki left the Demon Slayer Corps directly and headed to Tamayo's laboratory.
During the daytime, naturally, only Yae came to open the door for her.
After another long chat with Yae, she arrived at Tamayo's laboratory.
One good thing about demons is that, unlike humans, even if you're full and well-fed, you still need to sleep to replenish energy.
As long as demons have enough food, they can remain perpetually energetic, like a perpetual motion machine.
This is also why Tamayo's medical skills advanced so rapidly. As a human, you only live for a few decades at most, and you still have to sleep for several hours every day. When you're exhausted, the effectiveness of your studies also diminishes.
But Tamayo is different; she can maintain a state of mental alertness at all times.
Tamayo seemed surprised by Mizuki's arrival, as she had just been there yesterday.
Mizuki explained her thoughts to her.
Tamayo shook her head with some regret, "Once blood leaves the body, its temperature rapidly rises with the air temperature."
"Considering the effect, the shelf life probably won't exceed one night."
"It's impossible to popularize it on a large scale."
It seems Tamayo had already considered this issue.
Mizuki scratched her ear-length hair, troubled, "In that case, we can only distribute as much blood as possible to the Pillars before the final battle."
The other swordsmen might not be able to be accounted for.
"That's already enough. Most of Muzan's Twelve Demon Moons have been eliminated, and a war of attrition might not be feasible." Tamayo shook her head again, "The Pillars can barely protect themselves, but others are just moving blood packs in front of Muzan."
Mizuki thought about it and agreed.
Although it was a bit disappointing, there are always trade-offs. Discovering that her blood had the ability to suppress regeneration was already an unexpected joy, and she had no complaints.
Leaving Tamayo's laboratory, Mizuki returned to Butterfly Mansion.
Tanjirou and the two others were still training frantically in the courtyard. Perhaps stimulated by the battle in the Entertainment District, they had been training almost non-stop during this period.
Every day, besides eating and sleeping, they were training, even pushing Zenitsu to the point where his eyes were bloodshot.
Pondering her future plans, it was already July, and August was fast approaching.
It was time to find the blue spider lily for Tamayo to research.
Previously, Tamayo was worried about being discovered by Muzan, so she didn't even let Mizuki know the location information.
But now that the final battle was imminent, Mizuki felt that if that thing could be picked for research, it should be researched.
And Tanjirou had been away from home for over two years; it was time for him to go back and see his family.
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