"Very well."
Kanae nodded lightly. The two thus separated, each walking toward opposite sides of the cinema hall to find seats.
But strangely, after this, whenever Kanae saw an empty seat and wanted to go over, there would always be a visitor who sat in that seat one step ahead of her, forcing her to look for other empty seats.
After this repeated several times, she finally found an unoccupied seat and walked over to sit down.
"Excuse me, let me through..."
"It's fine, watch your step."
Suddenly, a somewhat familiar female voice rang out beside her ear.
The Kanae who had just sat down was instantly stunned, then abruptly turned her head to look at the woman beside her who had responded.
"Miss Mitsuba?!"
The instant she saw that smiling face, Kanae subconsciously cried out her name in shock.
Yes, the woman sitting beside her at this moment was Mitsuba.
Kanae could never have imagined that she would see Mitsuba again here?
Even less could she imagine that she would so coincidentally be sitting right beside Mitsuba?
No, that wasn't right...
Suddenly recalling the scene just now where she could never secure a seat no matter what, Kanae completely understood.
It wasn't a coincidence!
Miss Mitsuba had deliberately guided her to sit here!
But why would Miss Mitsuba do this? Could it be that Miss Mitsuba wanted to meet her?
Speaking of which, when did Miss Mitsuba appear here? Was it by chance? Or did she have some other purpose?
Could Miss Mitsuba also be one of the demons hidden within this villa?
"It's been a while, Kanae. After that night in Tokyo, I truly didn't expect to see you here."
Just as Kanae's mind was in complete chaos, Mitsuba took the initiative to speak, greeting her with a smile.
"Ah, yes, it's been a while. I'm also surprised..."
Striving to recover her thoughts from the chaos, Kanae likewise responded.
[Calm down, calm down first... Miss Mitsuba appearing here tonight is definitely not a coincidence. She must have her own purpose...]
[Miss Mitsuba deliberately guiding me to sit beside her must also be for the same reason. Clear your mind, I must calm down as soon as possible...]
"Speaking of which, Big Butterfly, are you still doing that 'catching bad guys' job?"
Beside her, Mitsuba spoke again, using a rather special nickname.
After brief confusion, Kanae realized what Mitsuba meant by the "catching bad guys job."
That night at the Tokyo dance hall, she had hastily used the excuse of "catching bad guys" to conceal her identity as a Demon Slayer.
[I didn't expect Miss Mitsuba to still remember. I had even forgotten about it myself...]
Only, why would Mitsuba suddenly bring this up now?
Still unable to determine what information Mitsuba was trying to convey, Kanae decided to temporarily continue following Mitsuba's words.
"Yes, I'm still doing it."
"So, Big Butterfly, did you come here tonight to catch bad guys too?"
"Yes."
"Sigh..."
Hearing this, Mitsuba sighed instead, her face showing an expression of rather deep regret and some sadness.
"You're so young, why would you want to do such dangerous things..."
Her brow slightly furrowed, hearing this sudden sigh from Mitsuba, Kanae probed:
"You... don't wish for me to continue this work?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
To her probe, Mitsuba replied with a tone of course:
"To be honest with you, Big Butterfly, I actually like you very much. So seeing someone as young as you involved in such dangerous work, I feel really, really sad, you know!"
"Eh? I-it's like that? Y-you were actually feeling sad for me?"
Struck dizzy by Mitsuba's sudden straight ball, Kanae instantly felt her head spinning.
So that's how it was—Miss Mitsuba was worried about her... hehe... ehehe...
[No no no! Now is not the time to be thinking about these things!]
[Calm down, Kanae! Miss Mitsuba clearly came to tell you something important!]
"Kanae, I'm very curious."
At this moment, Mitsuba beside her spoke again, asking a question that instantly pulled Kanae back from her fantasies to reality.
"If one day, you discovered that someone important beside you had also become a 'bad guy,' what would you do then?"
All stray thoughts in her mind were instantly cleared. Kanae's thoughts raced at extreme speed.
Without even thinking, she knew that the "bad guy" in Mitsuba's words referred to herself.
Therefore, what Mitsuba's words actually meant was—
"If one day, you discovered that I am also a demon, what would you do?"
This was a question that could yield completely different answers depending on the situation.
So, from what standpoint was Mitsuba asking her this question? And what kind of answer did she actually hope to receive?
[Ah, so that's how it is. So this was Miss Mitsuba's purpose...]
In just an instant of thought, Kanae completely understood.
[So you still harbored such thoughts tonight...]
She fully understood Mitsuba's motive for deliberately appearing before her tonight and asking these strange questions.
And thoroughly grasped what answer Mitsuba wanted her to give.
That habitual smile once again appearing on her face, Kanae thus turned her head. Looking at Mitsuba, she spoke with an incomparably serious and firm tone:
"I will arrest her."
I will kill you.
"No matter how important the person, as long as she becomes a 'bad guy,' I will definitely capture her. Because, this is my duty."
As a Demon Slayer, no matter what, I will absolutely show no mercy to you as a demon. I will definitely kill you.
"Is that so..."
As if understanding the meaning in her words, Mitsuba lowered her eyelids, her expression suddenly becoming somewhat dejected.
"That truly is... regrettable..."
Immediately after, as if completely heartbroken, she simply gazed silently at the screen that had already lit up ahead, no longer speaking a single word.
But Kanae knew that she had handed in the perfect answer.
No, she had only written half of this answer sheet so far.
The remaining half was still waiting for her to continue writing next.
[Mother... tonight is the night!]
Forcibly steadying her hand that trembled slightly from inner excitement, Kanae worked hard to calm her breathing.
[Tonight, Miss Mitsuba will assist me in completely becoming the sole existence in the entire Demon Slayer Corps capable of "slaying Upper Rank One"!]
[I will thoroughly solidify my position in the eyes of the gods and Ubuyashiki, becoming the final gravedigger of their millennium-long obsession! Leading them to completely plunge into that bottomless abyss!]
[And then... let you rest in peace.]