"Your father and mother… are they really… gone?"
Nezuko Kamado asked hesitantly.
"Is 'gone' the same as being dead?"
Kanao Tsuyuri tilted her head and looked at Nezuko.
"If that's what you mean, then yes. They're dead." She said it calmly.
To Kanao, that so-called "home" from the past held no warmth—no memories she wanted to cling to.
But to Nezuko, who had just scolded her moments ago, the answer felt unbearably heavy.
She had never expected that kind of response.
Her chest tightened.
"I—I'm sorry!"
Nezuko immediately bent forward and bowed deeply in apology.
At that moment, guilt flooded her heart. How could she have said something so harsh? Something that must have hurt so much?
Just imagining how painful it must have been for Kanao to hear those accusations made her feel even worse.
Kanao looked at the girl who kept apologizing to her, clearly puzzled.
She didn't really understand why Nezuko was acting this way.
But she didn't think about it too much either.
Right now, the only thing that mattered to her was finding flowers—preferably the Blue Spider Lily her uncle needed.
"I'm really sorry… I didn't know… I shouldn't have said those things."
Nezuko continued apologizing, her voice full of regret.
Kanao simply tilted her head at her once more, then ignored her and continued searching the area for flowers.
Watching Kanao walk farther away, constantly bending down to pick flowers, Nezuko hesitated before finally slinging her own small bamboo basket onto her back and following after her.
Kanao noticed her following and glanced at her briefly before returning her full attention to the flowers.
A moment later, Kanao climbed onto another grave mound and picked a small cluster of flowers.
Nezuko opened her mouth as if to say something… but stopped.
"Um… are you picking flowers?" she asked quietly.
When Kanao turned her head to look at her, Nezuko immediately forced a smile. Two cute dimples appeared on her cheeks.
But Kanao only glanced at her once before turning away again.
In fact, she found Nezuko a bit annoying—she was interfering with the task of picking flowers for her uncle.
"Well… actually…"
Watching Kanao pick more flowers from another grave mound, Nezuko hesitated before continuing.
"Picking flowers here isn't really… good. This is where people are buried. Taking flowers from a graveyard is… well… it's considered bad luck."
"If you want flowers, you could pick them somewhere else."
Kanao turned slightly and tilted her small head again.
She didn't understand what "bad luck" meant.
She only knew that Soma wanted her to pick them—that these were what her uncle needed. So, she just looked at Nezuko once and continued her silent task.
Seeing Kanao continue to harvest the flowers—even climbing onto the grave of Nezuko's own grandmother to pluck a bunch—Nezuko didn't quite know what to say.
Naturally, she didn't like seeing someone standing on her grandmother's grave.
But then she thought about Kanao's situation… about losing her parents…
And she thought about her own father, who might leave her soon.
Just imagining that kind of loss made it impossible for her to scold the girl again.
"I'll help you pick some too."
Nezuko bent down, picked a flower, and walked over to Kanao. She placed it gently into Kanao's basket.
"Don't be sad anymore. Even though your father and mother… ah, why am I saying this…"
Kanao glanced at the flower in her basket, then looked up at Nezuko before continuing to search for more flowers.
"Oh, right. Why are you picking so many flowers?" Nezuko asked curiously as she walked beside her.
Kanao didn't answer.
For someone her age who had lost both parents, Nezuko didn't feel annoyed by the silence.
Instead, she felt sympathy… and a strange sense that they shared the same pain.
Because…
She was about to lose her father too.
"Are you picking these flowers to visit your father and mother's grave?"
Kanao remained silent.
"I can understand how you feel," Nezuko continued softly. "When your parents are gone, it must hurt a lot. I understand, because… my father is very sick, and he might also…"
Her voice faltered as she spoke.
"You must really miss your father and mother," Nezuko Kamado said softly. "That's why you're picking so many flowers to visit them, right?"
She clasped her hands together behind her back as she walked beside the other girl.
"I came here today to visit my grandmother too. She was always very kind to me. She used to bring me konpeitō to eat. Do you know what those are? They're those shiny little candies that look like tiny stars…"
Perhaps because she was the eldest daughter in her family, Nezuko had long learned to shoulder responsibility.
She had to take care of her younger siblings. She had to help with the housework. Even when she felt sad, she forced herself to smile.
But now, standing here with someone her own age—someone who had suffered the same loss—she couldn't help letting her thoughts spill out.
Nezuko kept talking, her beautiful eyes slowly filling with sadness.
"Father's condition has been getting worse lately. Last night… he even told me he might not live much longer…"
All that sorrow had been buried deep in her heart. She had originally planned to confide it at her grandmother's grave.
But now there was another girl here—a girl her age, someone who had already suffered the same fate.
Without realizing it, Nezuko began pouring everything out.
Kanao Tsuyuri suddenly stopped walking.
Tilting her head, she stared at Nezuko.
The girl before her had a delicate, beautiful face. Her skin looked soft and pale, and the damp mist clung to her eyelashes as they trembled faintly with each breath.
She looked beautiful yet cute, though she was currently shrouded in heavy sadness.
Kanao simply couldn't comprehend it.
"Wouldn't it be better if your father died?"
Her tone was calm—almost matter-of-fact.
To Kanao, the sadness in Nezuko's eyes made no sense at all.
Wasn't that supposed to be a good thing?
Nezuko, who had been rambling moments ago, froze.
She slowly lifted her head, her delicate face filled with shock as she stared at Kanao.
For a moment, she even wondered if she had misheard.
"Y-you… what did you just say?"
Kanao tilted her head again.
"Wouldn't it be better if your father died?"
"Y-you…" Nezuko stared at the girl in front of her in disbelief.
"It's clearly something to be happy about."
Kanao picked another flower as she spoke quietly. "It's clearly something to be happy about. Why are you so sad?"
She truly couldn't understand.
"Father... he's... he's someone so important to us. So important, so important..." Nezuko stammered, still stunned by Kanao's words.
She couldn't imagine how anyone could say something so heartless.
Didn't she care at all?
Didn't she feel even a little sad when they left?
Could someone really feel happy about something like that?
"Someone important?" Kanao muttered to herself, glancing at Nezuko again. She still didn't get it.
When her uncle had killed the man called "father," she hadn't felt sad at all.
She had never thought that "father" was someone important.
And she had never once felt unhappy about his death.
In fact—
Wasn't it a good thing?
If there was someone truly important…
Wasn't that only her uncle?
Seeing Nezuko looking more and more agitated, as if she was about to argue fiercely with her, Kanao suddenly felt like she didn't want to deal with her anymore.
She picked another flower.
Her basket was already completely full.
Looking at it, she felt a little happy.
She wondered if among all these flowers, there might be the one her uncle was looking for.
Tilting her head, she glanced at Nezuko—who was still muttering to herself in disbelief.
Then Kanao simply turned and walked away.
Right now, all she wanted was to hurry back and give the flowers to her uncle.
If she could find the flower he needed—
That would be the happiest thing.
Helping him…
That was what mattered most.
As for a father dying—
Something that should be a happy thing—
Why be sad about that?
Why...
shed tears over it?
...
PS: I've started a new One Piece fanfic—check it out if you're interested!
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PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin