Mount Fujikasane
Moonlight washed the land clean.
Purple wisteria petals fell like an endless rain, drifting down without cease.
Tomioka Giyu stared blankly at the fox-masked boy standing before him.
His hands trembled. He wanted to reach out, to touch him—yet feared this was nothing more than a hallucination.
"Sa… Sabito?"
Giyu's voice was shattered beyond repair.
"Is it really you…?
Am I dreaming…?"
The boy opposite him chuckled softly.
His flesh-colored, medium-length hair looked especially gentle beneath the moonlight.
He stood there just as he had back then—unchanged, unrotted, frozen in time.
"Idiot."
Sabito sighed.
"You've grown taller. You've gotten stronger.
But…"
Sabito raised his hand. Though he couldn't touch anything, he still made the motion of flicking Giyu hard on the forehead.
"…why are you still such a crybaby?"
"Ugh…"
Giyu instinctively covered his forehead. It didn't hurt—but that familiar feeling of being scolded instantly shattered the shell he'd built over years.
His tears burst forth without warning.
He knelt among the wisteria petals, tears falling together with the purple rain.
"I'm sorry… Sabito… I'm sorry…"
Giyu clutched the dirt, his sobs suppressed and despairing.
"I don't deserve it… I don't deserve to be a Hashira!!
Back at the Final Selection, I didn't kill a single demon…
You saved me. You saved everyone…
You should have lived!
You should have become the Water Hashira!!"
"And now… I messed things up again."
Giyu looked up at Sabito, his face soaked with tears.
"Inosuke… that child who's as brave as you were, who wants to protect everyone just like you…
He was forced away.
I forced him away…
I was too useless…
Do they all… hate me?"
"Who gave you permission to say that?!
Are you stupid?!"
Sabito's smile vanished, his gaze turning sharp.
That disappointed, frustrated look made Giyu freeze mid-cry.
"Giyu!"
Sabito shouted, his voice echoing through the valley.
"Why do you think I died?!
Why do you think my sister hid you away?!
We entrusted the future to you—not so you could drown in self-pity!!
The title of Water Hashira was earned by you killing countless demons over these years!
It was bought with your blood!!"
Sabito crouched down, bringing himself level with Giyu's eyes.
His gaze softened again, filled with the warmth reserved only for a closest friend.
"No one hates you, Giyu.
Except you yourself—no one hates you."
"As for that child, Inosuke… I saw him."
Sabito tapped his own chest.
"I saw hope in him.
His departure wasn't your fault.
The road he chose was always harder than most…"
"If you feel guilty…"
Sabito smiled gently.
"Then live on—with our share as well.
Live until your hair turns white.
Live until you're surrounded by children and grandchildren.
Live until this world no longer has demons.
That… is the best memorial you could ever give us."
As Sabito's words fell—
From behind the wisteria trees, translucent figures slowly emerged.
Makomo.
And the senior disciples who had died at the hands of the Hand Demon.
They wore warding masks and haori of various styles.
"Giyu, do your best."
Makomo waved with a smile.
"Don't cry—be a man."
"We're always watching you."
"Live well… for us too."
Countless gentle voices merged into a warm current, wrapping around Giyu's already tattered soul.
The sky full of wisteria petals felt like an embrace.
"Everyone…"
Giyu's vision blurred once more.
"I understand now."
He stood up, his spine slowly straightening.
"Sabito… thank you."
Sabito smiled.
His body began to break apart into countless points of light, drifting into the night sky along with the petals.
"Go, Giyu.
Go and witness it—I believe that child named Inosuke will create a miracle.
This time, I really have to go…
Goodbye, my dearest friend."
The wind stilled.
Tomioka Giyu stood atop the mountain, his haori fluttering gently.
...
Eternal Paradise Cult
This was the highest-class tearoom within the cult.
Doma, dressed in his red-and-white leader's robes, lounged lazily against a soft couch.
Opposite him sat Tanjiro and Zenitsu, now changed into Western suits.
The atmosphere was calm.
"Does the tea suit your taste?"
Doma asked with a smile, his seven-colored eyes reflecting the two boys.
"Th-thank you, Mr. Doma."
Tanjiro sat upright.
Zenitsu, meanwhile, shrank slightly beside him.
"Now then, you two little ones."
Doma leaned forward, his lazy demeanor disappearing.
"I want to ask you something."
He pointed to his own eyes.
"I am a demon. A man-eating monster.
An unforgivable Upper Rank in the Demon Slayer Corps' eyes.
Inosuke is my child. I am his father.
Now that Inosuke has been driven out, he will become the young lord here.
But what about you?"
A playful smile curved his lips.
"Do you truly not care that I'm a demon?
Are you really willing to abandon the justice of the Demon Slayer Corps and follow Inosuke forever—spending your lives here in the Eternal Paradise Cult?"
The question was sharp.
The room fell silent for several seconds.
Tanjiro set down his teacup.
He lifted his head. In his dark red eyes, there was no hesitation, no evasion.
"Mr. Doma,
I do not judge your past, nor do I care about your identity.
Because I myself have a sister who is a demon."
Tanjiro glanced out the window at the snowy scenery, as if recalling memories.
"These past years, I've carried Nezuko with me and endured countless cold stares and rejection.
I understand very well the pain of being denied for an identity you never chose.
Inosuke… understood me. He protected me.
He gave Nezuko and me dignity."
Tanjiro turned back to face Doma directly.
"In the Demon Slayer Corps, I was an outcast who traveled with a demon.
But beside Inosuke—here, in the Eternal Paradise Cult—I smelled home.
You treat Aunt Kotoha well. You treat Inosuke well.
You even treat Zenitsu and me well.
That feeling can't be faked."
"If not for Inosuke…"
Tanjiro's eyes reddened.
"I might have died on some mission long ago—or worse, died together with my family.
He changed my life.
He taught me that endings can be rewritten.
So… what I owe him can never be repaid in this lifetime.
Even if it's hell, I will follow him."
Doma froze for a moment. The playfulness in his eyes faded, replaced by genuine appreciation.
"What a… truly moving speech."
He then looked toward the boy shrinking beside Tanjiro.
"And you? Crybaby blond?"
Zenitsu sniffed. His body still trembled out of habit, but he suddenly lifted his head, eyes brighter than ever.
"Me too!"
"I used to be trash…
A complete waste."
Zenitsu's voice trembled with tears.
"I only knew how to run, how to cry.
I got tricked out of money, scolded by Grandpa…
If I hadn't met Big Brother Inosuke…
I'd probably be dead in some ditch by now—or turned into a bitter, useless wreck."
Zenitsu thought of Kaigaku.
"Big Brother didn't just save me.
He saved Grandpa. He saved senior brother.
He forcibly twisted that horrible future back onto a different path."
"I don't care if you're a demon!"
Zenitsu shouted.
"Anyway… anyway, I think you're way better than those hypocritical Hashira!
At least your kindness is real!
As long as Big Brother doesn't kick me out…
I'm staying here! I'll be his lackey for life!!"
Looking at the two boys—
One gentle and resolute, the other timid yet utterly sincere—
Doma fell silent for a moment.
Then he burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! Good! Excellent!
That brat Inosuke really does have my taste!
Picking up two treasures like you!"
Doma stood up and spread his arms.
"In that case…
As the leader of the Eternal Paradise Cult, I formally invite you—
Stay.
Not as guests, but as Inosuke's left and right hands, as members of the cult."
"This Eternal Paradise… will belong to you as well."
Tanjiro and Zenitsu exchanged a glance.
They stood up together and bowed deeply to Doma.
"Yes, Cult Leader!"
...
Inner Hall – Changing Room
Inosuke stood quietly before the mirror.
Though the bruises on his body had been treated by Kotoha, the exhaustion in his eyes could not be erased.
"Hah…"
Inosuke took a deep breath.
Kotoha, eyes still red, held an exquisitely elaborate set of robes.
They were his—his cult leader's attire.
"Inosuke…"
Her voice trembled.
"I'm fine, Mom."
Inosuke took the clothes and put them on piece by piece.
Lotus flowers and auspicious clouds were embroidered across the robes.
A wide black belt cinched his waist, from which hung the symbolic pair of folding fans.
He was no longer the child who merely imitated his father in handling cult affairs.
At this moment—
He was Hashibira Inosuke.
The sole heir of the Eternal Paradise Cult.
The true divine child.
"Let's go."
He turned to Tanjiro and Zenitsu, who were also dressed in cult attire, and spoke softly.
Tanjiro wore a black-and-red long robe, a new blade at his waist—solemn yet gentle as ever.
Zenitsu wore a platinum-white haori. Though still adjusting his collar, his gaze no longer wavered.
The three walked side by side toward the doors leading to the main hall.
Over a hundred believers had already gathered inside.
Daki, Gyutaro, and Kaigaku stood on either side of the raised platform.
Doma sat upon the main seat above.
Creak—
The doors slowly opened.
Moonlight spilled in from behind, stretching the shadows of the three boys long across the floor.
Every gaze snapped toward the entrance.
Inosuke took his first step.
Leather boots pressed into the expensive carpet.
"When I was little, I thought this place was just somewhere to eat and sleep.
I feared my father's hypocrisy, despised the ignorance of the believers.
I yearned for the outside world—for the blood and fire of the Demon Slayer Corps."
Second step.
Tanjiro and Zenitsu followed half a step behind him.
"But now…
The Demon Slayer Corps doubts me.
Muzan uses me.
The so-called light cannot tolerate someone like me.
The so-called darkness only wants to turn me into a tool for ambition."
Third step.
Fourth step.
Fifth step.
...
Final step.
Inosuke stopped at the center of the hall.
The believers dropped to their knees, eyes blazing with fanatic devotion.
They didn't know what had happened.
They only knew—this was Lord Doma's son, their divine child.
"In that case…"
Inosuke lifted his head, looking at his father smiling down at him from the platform.
"Then within this corner of the world, I'll be my own god.
Even if I don't know how long this peace will last…
Even if tomorrow is the end of days—
At least right now…"
"This is my paradise."
Inosuke stepped onto the platform.
He stopped beside the seat prepared for the young lord.
He turned—
And slowly sat down, crossing one leg, his gaze imperious.
Tanjiro and Zenitsu stood at his sides, hands resting on their sword hilts.
In the shadows, Daki and Gyutaro smiled with satisfaction.
Doma fanned himself with golden fans, the smile in his eyes nearly overflowing.
At that moment, the atmosphere in the hall reached its peak.
"Welcome our Young Lord!!!"
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