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Chapter 96: Kocho Shinobu: Pah, Scumbag
"My sister's ex-boyfriend?"
Hearing Suyan's outrageous claim, the fake smile that Kocho Shinobu had constantly maintained on her face instantly shattered. She couldn't help but scrutinize him from head to toe.
Black hair, dark eyes, and undeniably handsome. At first glance, he seemed completely ordinary, but the longer she looked, the more an unfathomable depth seemed to radiate from him.
Was this really the type of man my sister liked?
"I see!" Kamado Tanjiro exclaimed, clapping his hands together in sudden realization. "No wonder these two Demon Slayer Corps authorities didn't recognize Mr. Suyan, yet Mr. Suyan knew exactly who they were."
"So your ex-girlfriend was actually a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, Mr. Suyan? That makes total sense."
"Now then, Miss Kocho Shinobu, for the sake of your sister, Kanae." Suyan didn't bother correcting Tanjiro's assumption. Instead, he smiled, extending his hand toward her for the third time in an offer of reconciliation. "Can we call a truce?"
"Heh." Shinobu sneered coldly.
She quickly came to her senses. She had grown up with her older sister; they had depended on each other for survival. If her sister truly had a boyfriend, there was absolutely no way she wouldn't have known about it. Furthermore, it wasn't the kind of secret Kanae would have ever hidden from her.
Looking at it that way, the man standing in front of her was undoubtedly spouting nonsense.
Shinobu sharply slapped Suyan's hand away. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"
"Why wouldn't you?" Suyan asked softly.
"If what you're saying is true, then fine. I'll ask you this: why have I never seen you before?" Shinobu countered, her gaze turning sharp. "And where exactly were you on the day my sister was murdered by a demon?"
He had originally just thrown the comment out casually to tease the young woman. But seeing how intensely seriously she was taking it, Suyan suddenly found himself genuinely intrigued.
After a brief pause, he began spinning a tale—nine parts fiction, one part truth. "My name is Suyan. As you can probably guess from my name, I am not a native of this island nation. I hail from that massive country to your west."
"It was about two and a half years ago. I came to this country to study abroad, and that was when I met a girl who was as beautiful as a blooming flower." Suyan let his gaze soften. "Your sister, Kocho Kanae."
"Even though we only spent a single day together, Kanae's silhouette was deeply branded into my heart. We talked about so many things that day. Stories about demons, the history of the Demon Slayer Corps, and, of course, her two precious younger sisters."
"She told me about one sister with a reckless and hot-tempered personality—her little Shinobu. And another girl, closed off and entirely unsure of how to communicate with others—Kanao."
"I told her back then that I wanted to take her and her sisters away from this country to live a normal, peaceful life. But Kanae refused. She told me that she and her sister had made a promise. In order to prevent the tragedy that befell them from happening to anyone else, she chose to stay behind and kill as many demons as she possibly could."
"Not long after that day, I returned to my home country." He let out a quiet sigh. "It wasn't until I arrived back in this country recently that I caught wind of the faint rumors… that Kanae had passed away. As for why she never mentioned me to you? That, I don't know."
Listening to Suyan's story, Shinobu couldn't suppress the nagging sliver of doubt creeping into her mind. Could he actually be telling the truth?
Her sister had been killed by an Upper Rank demon two years ago. And Shinobu's current, perpetually smiling demeanor was something she had only adopted on the day her sister died—a mask crafted to mimic Kanae. If someone hadn't intimately known her in the past, she would have absolutely no idea that she used to be a notoriously hot-headed and impulsive girl.
As for the promise regarding demons? That was a sacred secret strictly between the two sisters. She had never breathed a word of it to another living soul.
When she connected that to the final words her sister had gasped out before dying—pleading with Shinobu to quit the Demon Slayer Corps and live the life of a normal girl—the pieces aligned far too perfectly.
Could it be? Is this man standing in front of me… really my brother-in-law?
"Although you're a bit different from how Kanae described you, you must be the younger sister she affectionately called little Shinobu, right?" Suyan said, his voice dropping to a gentle, comforting timbre. "If the opportunity arises, could you take me to the Butterfly Mansion someday? I want to see the place where Kanae lived."
Suyan saying all of this naturally served a specific purpose.
In the world of Demon Slayer, the concept of souls objectively existed. They just rarely made an appearance. Aside from Tomioka Giyuu's fallen fellow apprentices manifesting near the former Water Hashira's home to guide Tanjiro's training, the spirits of the dead almost exclusively appeared in the form of life flashing before the eyes of their closest loved ones during near-death experiences.
For instance, the protagonist Tanjiro would invariably see a deceased family member in his visions whenever he was in mortal peril, conveniently waking him up just in time. Or Upper Rank 3, that 'Doghouse Seat' Akaza, who saw the soul of his beloved fiancée, Koyuki, after having his head severed, prompting him to recall his past and choose self-destruction. And, of course, Shinobu herself seeing Kanae's soul in her final moments.
If the essence of Breathing Styles was simply an alternative form of manipulating life energy, then these spirit manifestations could very well be a conceptual equivalent to what Hunter x Hunter referred to as Post-mortem Nen.
If that were the case, then by utilizing the power of his Contract, he might actually have a chance to pull off a resurrection utilizing the mechanics of Post-mortem Nen—much like the Toilet God of War, Hisoka, who revived himself after dying once.
Unfortunately, Suyan had already used Gyo to scan the immediate area. He hadn't spotted Kanae's figure lingering anywhere near Shinobu.
Synthesizing his gathered intel, Suyan formed a hypothesis. In this world, the souls of those who died harboring deep lingering attachments likely remained anchored to the location where their memories were most profound. Just like Sabito and Makomo, who remained tethered near Urokodaki's home where they had trained. Had Tanjiro not ultimately slain the Hand Demon during the Final Selection and freed them of their earthly regrets, they likely would have only ever appeared again as a fleeting vision right before Giyuu's death.
If his guess was correct, then the place with the deepest emotional resonance for the deceased Flower Hashira would undoubtedly be the Butterfly Mansion, where she had lived with her sisters.
Since Suyan had no intention of officially joining the Demon Slayer Corps and dealing with their bureaucracy, targeting the deceased Kanae as his entry point to visit Urokodaki's home and the Butterfly Mansion was undeniably an excellent strategic choice.
After all, dead men tell no tales. And by the time she could talk, he would have already achieved his goals.
Naturally, there were other ways to accomplish his objectives. But the reason he chose to go about it this particular way was largely driven by a petty, mildly sadistic urge to mess with the canonically two-faced, venomous anime girl.
He was genuinely looking forward to seeing exactly what kind of expression would contort her face when she finally realized this entire heartfelt backstory was a complete fabrication.
Shinobu remained completely silent. She looked up at Suyan's seemingly melancholic expression, her mind already beginning to buy into the elaborate identity he had fabricated.
"Sister Kanae and Brother Suyan are so pitiful… lovers who could never be together," Nezuko murmured. Having listened intently to the story, she clung tightly to Suyan's arm, heavy tears already starting to well up and roll down her cheeks.
Suyan chuckled softly, reaching out to affectionately pat Nezuko's head before turning his gaze back to Shinobu. "If you'll allow it… would you let me take care of you from now on, little Shinobu?"
Hearing the overly familiar pet name, Shinobu snapped out of her daze.
She took one look at Nezuko—who was actively sobbing while hugging Suyan's arm—and then glanced over at the incredibly gorgeous, exceptionally well-endowed Busujima Saeko standing silently nearby. Finally, she looked back at Suyan's flawlessly gentle and tender expression.
In a fraction of a second, she reached a definitive conclusion.
This man is an absolute, irredeemable scumbag!
There was no way in hell she was ever going to acknowledge a brother-in-law like him!
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