The gramophone continued to play the foreign song Doma had mentioned.
Gift boxes piled up like small mountains.
Brand-new bicycles gleamed brilliantly.
Everything felt warm.
But the moment everyone clearly saw how battered and disheveled Inosuke and the others looked—
Silence.
A deathly, absolute silence.
"Inosuke…?"
Kotoha froze for a split second, then stumbled forward and rushed to her child.
"How did you end up like this…? What happened?!!"
Her hands trembled. She wanted to touch Inosuke's face, yet was afraid of hurting him.
"…Didn't you tell Mom you were going back to the Demon Slayer Corps?
Didn't you say… everyone there missed you very much?
Then why… are you back covered in injuries again…?
Did someone bully you?
It's only been a few days… only a few days…"
Kotoha broke down.
Her whole body shook as she cried, large tears falling onto Inosuke's dirt-covered hands.
"Where's your uniform?
Where's your sword?
Were they taken from you?
My Inosuke… does it hurt…?"
Looking at his mother crying uncontrollably, Inosuke sniffed and forced an ugly smile, awkwardly reaching up to wipe her tears.
"I-it's fine, Mom… I just fell while walking…"
"Fell?"
A gentle voice—one that concealed boundless killing intent—rose above Inosuke's head.
At some point, Doma was already standing in front of them.
The benevolent smile had completely vanished from his face.
Those seven-colored, glass-like eyes churned with bottomless frost.
His gaze fixed on Inosuke's empty waist.
On the vanished uniforms of the three boys.
"Inosuke."
Doma's voice was soft—soft like a lover's whisper.
"Tell Dad.
Who did this?"
Inosuke's heart skipped. Instinctively, he tried to block Doma's line of sight, shielding Tanjiro and Zenitsu behind him.
"Dad, don't worry about it.
This was my own business—just sparring between men.
Getting a little hurt is normal…"
Crack!
The temperature in the hall plummeted.
The bottle of red wine meant for Gyutaro exploded on the table.
"Sparring?"
Doma didn't look at Inosuke. Instead, he stared past him, locking onto the trembling Zenitsu and Tanjiro.
"Zenitsu-kun. Tanjiro-kun.
You are Inosuke's closest friends.
You wouldn't lie to me, would you?
Tell me… what did the Demon Slayer Corps do to my son?"
Zenitsu's teeth chattered uncontrollably. He had never seen Doma this terrifying.
Tanjiro was also crushed by the pressure, barely able to breathe—but he still clenched his teeth.
"Mr. Doma… we… we just quit.
We chose to leave on our own."
"Quit?"
Doma let out a cold laugh.
"You were thrown out, weren't you?"
That single sentence tore away all pretenses.
Inosuke's body stiffened.
Doma slowly crouched down and gently brushed a finger over the bruise on Inosuke's cheek—the one Shinazugawa Sanemi had left.
His fingers were shaking.
He was furious beyond measure.
"…Was it because of me?"
Doma asked softly.
"Because you are my child…
so those people threw you away like garbage. Is that it?"
Inosuke said nothing. He only lowered his head.
Boom—!!
A terrifying killing intent erupted from Doma, shooting straight into the sky.
"Heh…
Hehehe…"
Doma stood up. His laughter was sharp and piercing, like it came from hell itself.
"Do they all want to die?
I sent my precious son over there to play.
I endured hunger and refrained from eating humans—
And this… is how they repay me?!"
"A few worthless lives…
Even if that so-called Ubuyashiki family were wiped out entirely, it wouldn't equal even a fraction of the grievance my Inosuke suffered!!
Ungrateful trash…
If they don't want to live, then they don't have to."
With a violent motion, Doma flicked his wrist. Two golden folding fans appeared in his hands.
"I'M GOING TOO!!!"
Zzzrt!
Daki screamed.
Veins bulged across her face, her beautiful features twisted with rage.
"Those bitches!! Those ungrateful bitches!!"
She rushed to Inosuke's side. Seeing his injuries, her eyes burned with tears of fury.
"My brother and I have behaved ourselves!
We hid here and didn't eat people—went hungry if we had to—
All so we wouldn't cause trouble for Inosuke!
And this is what they do?!
They dared to hit him?!"
Gyutaro slowly crawled out.
His emaciated body radiated a horrifying, bloody aura, the blood sickles in his hands carving deep marks into the floor.
"Ah… unforgivable…
I'm so angry… so very angry…"
The killing intent of three Upper Moons converged.
This was no longer mere favoritism.
They had touched their absolute reverse scale.
"Stop!"
A choked shout rang out.
Inosuke suddenly rushed forward, throwing his arms wide and clinging tightly to Doma on the brink of rampage, while grabbing Daki with one hand.
"Don't! Please, all of you!!"
He buried his head into Doma's icy chest.
"This was my own choice! I threw the sword away myself!
I've already cut ties with them—completely!
I returned the money! I abandoned the blades!
I have nothing to do with the Demon Slayer Corps anymore!!"
Inosuke lifted his head, his heterochromatic eyes filled with pleading.
"Dad… I already feel terrible enough…"
His voice trembled, his body shaking.
"I won't be a Demon Slayer anymore.
I'll stay here, in the Eternal Paradise Cult.
I'll be the young lord, the crown prince.
I'll stay with you all… I won't go anywhere."
Doma lowered his head, looking at the boy in his arms.
At the tear tracks not yet dry in his eyes.
At the way he begged desperately to protect the people who had hurt him.
It was the most humble plea a child could make.
After a long time—
The killing intent in the hall receded like a tide.
Doma took a deep breath, tossed the fans aside, and hugged Inosuke tightly in return.
"…Alright.
We'll listen to Inosuke.
As long as you don't leave…
as long as you stay here…"
His voice was hoarse. He rested his chin atop Inosuke's head, eyes dark and unreadable.
"Then Dad… will agree to anything."
As long as you stay by my side.
"All right, all right! Enough crying!"
Doma suddenly changed expression, forcing a bright smile as he clapped his hands.
"Look! What's this? Ta-da!"
He gestured to the room full of foreign goods like presenting treasures.
"These are surprises Dad prepared for you!
Look at this suit—Inosuke will look amazing in it!
And these shoes!
And this—bicycles! Tanjiro-kun, Zenitsu-kun, you've never seen these before, right?"
"Kaigaku! Don't just stand there!
Put on your pocket watch!"
Doma forcibly dragged the atmosphere back.
He held the suit up against Inosuke, shoved red wine into Gyutaro's hands, and hung a diamond necklace around Daki's neck.
"Come on, try them all!
Tonight we're eating Western food! Drinking red wine!
We're celebrating the return of Prince Inosuke!"
Kotoha wiped away her tears and forced a smile as she went to the kitchen to prepare food.
The gramophone played on.
As if the near-eruption of slaughter moments ago had been nothing but an illusion.
Yet beneath this warm façade, everyone knew—
something had already shattered beyond repair.
...
Night fell.
The exhausted boys sank into deep sleep.
Kotoha took Inosuke's filthy clothes to the backyard to wash them.
But in the grand hall of the Eternal Paradise Cult, three demons still remained.
Doma sat upon the high cult leader's throne, slowly swirling a goblet of blood-red wine.
Daki and Gyutaro sat in the shadows below, their gazes dark and venomous.
"Lord Doma,"
Daki finally couldn't hold back. She played with the diamond necklace at her throat, her voice thick with resentment.
"Are we really just letting this go?
They bullied Inosuke that badly—I saw it clearly.
Those weren't sparring injuries.
I can't stand it!
As long as we don't tell Inosuke, we can go secretly—
Even killing a couple of Hashira to vent our anger would be fine!"
Gyutaro ground his teeth, producing a grating sound.
"Yeah… being looked down on like that…
It makes my blood boil… I want to rip their guts out…"
Doma remained silent.
He stared at the moon reflected in his wine.
In his mind echoed the words Inosuke had once cried drunkenly to Tanjiro.
"The former Flower Hashira died by my dad's hand…"
"I'm a piece of trash, right? I want to atone… I want to repay what I owe…"
"Heh…"
Doma let out a soft chuckle.
"Consider it settled."
"…What?"
Daki froze.
Doma set the wine down.
"That child, Inosuke… has always felt indebted to the Demon Slayer Corps.
Because I killed someone's sister.
So for years, he saved people obsessively, got injured over and over—
like a fool trying to atone for sins he thought were his."
His fingers lightly tapped the armrest.
"But today… the Demon Slayer Corps cast him out.
They trampled his sincerity and denied everything he had done."
"So… the scales are balanced now."
His tone was utterly calm.
"To me, those meaningless lives were never important.
Inosuke is what matters most.
He's done enough. He's suffered enough today.
From this moment on, Inosuke owes them nothing.
Those lives, that so-called redemption… all void."
"Then… we're not killing them?"
Daki asked unwillingly.
"Not yet."
Doma shook his head.
"Killing them now would only make Inosuke unhappy.
He just came home. He's still hurting.
We need to let him feel that home is joyful.
And besides…"
Doma narrowed his eyes.
"Let those idiots cling to life in regret.
Losing Inosuke… is already the greatest punishment they could receive."
"But—"
Doma's tone suddenly turned cold.
"If they dare disturb us again…
If they dare step onto my territory, or attempt to hurt Inosuke again…"
"Then no one will be spared.
No matter how Inosuke begs, I won't show mercy again."
...
Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters
Late night.
Candles flickered inside Ubuyashiki Kagaya's residence.
The Master's illness seemed to have worsened after the day's turmoil.
"Still no sign of him?"
His voice carried deep exhaustion.
Sitting in the shadows, Urokodaki Sakonji replied in an aged, hoarse voice:
"No.
Giyu… hasn't told anyone.
Even his Kasugai Crow can't find him."
Urokodaki sighed, clenching his calloused hands.
"Inosuke's departure may have hit him very hard."
...
Mount Fujikasane
The final selection grounds of the Demon Slayer Corps.
The birthplace of countless young swordsmen's dreams—and the graveyard of countless young lives.
Though it wasn't selection season, the mountain was still steeped in wisteria fragrance.
But tonight, that scent was mixed with heavy blood.
Slash!
A demon lurking in the darkness was decapitated before it could even scream.
Tomioka Giyu stood amid scattered demon corpses.
His haori was soaked in blood. His deep blue eyes were empty, as though his soul had left his body.
Unconsciously, he had come here.
He walked to a massive boulder at the mountain's peak and slowly sat down.
From here, the entirety of Mount Fujikasane was visible.
Wisteria petals drifted down like purple rain.
"I messed up again,"
Giyu murmured, staring at his Nichirin Blade.
"Sabito…
Sister…
It feels like… I can never keep the people around me.
I always make things worse."
He remembered Inosuke's back as the boy walked away.
That youth who had once protected Tanjiro like Sabito once had—
forced away.
"If I had died back then…
If Sabito had lived…
Would Inosuke have been kept by Sabito?
Would everything… have turned out differently?"
Giyu muttered to himself.
Then—
"You idiot, Giyu."
A crisp yet helpless voice rang out amid the falling wisteria.
Giyu snapped his head up, pupils shrinking violently.
"Who's there?!"
At the edge of his vision—
Beneath a wisteria tree bursting with cascading purple blossoms—
A figure wearing a fox mask, clad in a haori with the same pattern as the half he wore, sat quietly on a branch, legs swinging.
Giyu's hand gripping his sword trembled.
The figure gently removed the mask.
A dazzling, familiar smile was revealed.
"Even though those two strange kids made me feel oddly relieved…
Like even without me, you blockhead could still live properly…"
The figure drifted down and stood before Giyu, raising a hand as if to knock his head—only to pass straight through.
"But still…
Not being able to see you…
Seeing you end up like this…
I just couldn't leave completely."
Sabito.
The wind stopped.
Petals froze midair.
And only that long-overdue reunion remained.
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