Late at night, after eating her fill at the izakaya, Kocho Shinobu carried the packed food back to her residence in Tokyo—a private apartment that was neither good nor bad.
This was accommodation arranged for her by the Ubuyashiki clan. Only a few streets away from Tokyo University, it was quite convenient for daily travel. When staying in Tokyo, Shinobu basically lived here.
However, this apartment wasn't occupied by only her...
"Good evening, Kanao! Come quickly and see what Big Sister Shinobu brought back for you to eat~"
Pushing open the door, Kocho Shinobu called out with a smile to the girl sitting in the living room, lit by lamp light, bent over her desk working hard on homework.
The girl wore a butterfly hair ornament, a standard sailor uniform, a simple single ponytail, had purple pupils, and was beautiful and very cute.
Her name was Tsuyuri Kanao, the adopted younger sister of the Butterfly sisters.
Who Kanao's original parents were, neither of the Butterfly sisters knew.
The sisters first encountered her several years ago in a rural town.
At that time, this dirty, pitiful child was being tied up by human traffickers and paraded through the streets, looking for buyers.
It's the twentieth century and they still dare to traffic children in broad daylight?!
Having received normal education, Kocho Shinobu, upon seeing this, immediately rushed forward in rage and fiercely punched that human trafficker, knocking him unconscious on the ground!
Thus, Kanao was brought back to the Butterfly Mansion by the sisters and from then on was adopted by them as their younger sister.
Of course, at this time Kanao still didn't have this name.
Tsuyuri Kanao, this name was given to her by the Butterfly sisters later on.
As for Kanao's original name, she herself didn't know.
Perhaps because of being abandoned by her parents when young, then subsequently beaten and abused multiple times by human traffickers, when Kanao first arrived at the Butterfly Mansion, she could neither speak nor express her emotions.
She would forever just sit blankly in one place; unless someone called her, she would absolutely not move.
In order to gradually heal these psychological wounds from Kanao's past, Kanae at that time, after serious consideration, ultimately gave her a notebook and a pencil.
[Kanao, from today onward, I'll teach you to recognize characters.]
[This way, if in the future there's something you want to say in your heart, you can tell your sisters by writing it on paper...]
Kanae's move was undoubtedly a good one.
Through writing and reading, this greatly opened up this autistic girl's world, continuously injecting many fresh things into her originally closed heart.
By now, although Kanao still wouldn't directly speak with people, she had already grown accustomed to expressing her emotions to others through writing...
And later, after Kocho Shinobu obtained her dual doctorate degrees from Tokyo University and, with Ubuyashiki Kagaya's permission, went to teach in Tokyo.
Kanao also followed her to Tokyo and began her life attending school there.
In the living room, hearing Shinobu's voice, Kanao immediately set down her pen and looked back.
She nodded, a smile appearing on her face, then raised her hand, silently pointing toward the bathroom beside Shinobu.
"Hmm?"
Shinobu turned to look in confusion, just in time to see Kanae, who had finished washing up, opening the door and walking out.
"Ah, little Shinobu, you're back..."
"Big Sister!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Kocho Shinobu immediately flew forward and tightly embraced her elder sister, excitedly saying:
"When did you come to Tokyo? Why didn't you tell me in advance? Is it another new mission? How long are you planning to stay this time?"
Nowadays, one of the Butterfly sisters lived permanently in Tokyo, only occasionally returning to the Butterfly Mansion to train physicians there.
The other was a Demon Slayer, constantly running about outside on missions. Normally, they truly rarely got to see each other.
In Shinobu's memory, the last time the sisters met was already several months ago...
"There is indeed a new mission. If nothing unexpected happens, I should be able to stay a few more days this time."
Allowing her younger sister to hold her like this, Kanae softly explained:
"There's a Lower Rank demon hiding in Tokyo that previously escaped from our hands by luck.
The Master attaches great importance to this. During this period, he has continuously dispatched many swordsmen to Tokyo to search for its whereabouts. Big Sister is one of them..."
"Lower Rank demon? Won't that be dangerous?"
Shinobu released her hold and hurriedly asked.
Kanae merely shook her head slightly.
"Don't worry, just try to go out less at night in the coming days."
"Alright then... Oh right, Big Sister, do you want to go send Kanao to school together tomorrow? I can also take you around the city for a good stroll."
Shinobu hurriedly proposed.
Because it was on the way, during her time living in Tokyo, she personally sent Kanao to school every morning, then went to Tokyo University to teach.
"Tomorrow..."
For some reason, hearing her younger sister's proposal, Kanae's gaze suddenly became somewhat evasive.
"Tomorrow, Big Sister might need to go out a bit early..."
"Is there something?"
Shinobu asked curiously.
It couldn't be going to catch demons during the day, right?
Would demons actually go out strolling in broad daylight?
"Mm, there are indeed some matters..."
Kanae's voice was somewhat guilty.
She couldn't possibly say that she wanted to take this opportunity to quickly go see the address on Mitsuba's business card, right?
Not only would she need to explain a pile of things, but this kind of "using public business for private purposes" matter was also somewhat difficult for her as an elder sister to speak of...
Fortunately, the simple-minded Shinobu didn't ask further.
She merely nodded and smiled:
"Alright then, whenever Big Sister has free time, the three of us sisters will go have fun in Tokyo together!"
"Mm, thank you, little Shinobu..."
Hearing this, Kanae quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
[In any case, tomorrow morning, I'll go pay a proper visit to Miss Mitsuba...]
"..."
Time came to the next morning.
When Shinobu woke up, she discovered that Kanae had already left the apartment.
On the dining table in the living room was the breakfast she had specially prepared for her two younger sisters before leaving.
After eating breakfast, simply washing up and dressing up, Kocho Shinobu stood before the mirror, put on that butterfly hair ornament, draped on that familiar white lab coat, then together with high school girl Kanao, left the apartment.
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This story has ended in chapter 315, you can read on patreon.com/dzeref887 for faster access or wait until August to read on WebNovel until the story ends.