"Tanjiro, what are you doing so early in the morning?"
"Zenitsu, don't disturb me. I'm comprehending the Transparent World."
Early in the morning, Zenitsu had just woken up when he saw Tanjiro sitting alone on the balcony, facing the bright sun outside the window, meditating with his eyes closed.
This was downtown Tokyo. Several days had passed since the battle at the Infinity Castle.
To conveniently continue tracking Upper Rank One's movements, Tanjiro and the others had moved to live in downtown Tokyo.
Of course, they weren't staying at Kanae's apartment—after all, the Butterfly sisters lived there, and it wouldn't be very convenient for three boys to stay there.
The three of them had rented a new apartment downstairs in the same building. Living in the same building made it convenient to contact Kanae when needed.
"What's with you, meditating there every morning when you wake up? I don't think you're trying to comprehend the Transparent World—you're trying to become a monk~"
Casually throwing in a retort, Zenitsu sat on the sofa and picked up the newspaper on the table.
There hadn't been anything important in the newspapers lately—mostly entertainment news. However, one hot topic deeply attracted Zenitsu's attention.
It was a news report about an "Osaka Girl Band."
Just these past two days, a new type of band had suddenly emerged in Osaka.
With explosive tags like "youth," "beautiful girls," "multicultural fusion," and "breaking conventional norms," it had truly stirred up a wave of discussion domestically.
According to reports, all members of this band were young, beautiful girls in their teens and twenties.
They were proficient in various instruments, each performing their own duties within the band. What they performed wasn't the traditional elegant music of the past, but rather folk pop songs more accessible to the general public, more straightforward and colloquial.
What was even more eye-catching was that these beautiful girls in the band didn't wear uniform clothing like traditional orchestras of the past.
From the photos published in the newspaper, among them were those wearing traditional kimonos, sailor uniforms, cheongsams, Lolita dresses... and even shrine maiden outfits and maid costumes!
In short, they were very beautiful!
Of course, if Zenitsu had to pick the most beautiful one among them, it would definitely be that older sister in the traditional kimono!
This older sister appeared to be older than the other beautiful girls in the band—around twenty-four or twenty-five years old.
Her hair was styled up, and not only was she exceptionally beautiful, but her demeanor carried both dignity and a hint of charm, aloofness and a bit of playfulness—extremely contrasting!
This was a unique charm that even black-and-white photos couldn't conceal!
Especially her unique vertical pupils—they seemed capable of capturing one's soul. With just one look, Zenitsu felt his spirit being sucked in!
According to the report, this older sister was also the leader of this girl band, proficient in playing the guzheng and piano.
Ah~ So she was also a beautiful older sister with elegant hobbies and many talents~ She must be a gentle older sister like a Yamato Nadeshiko~
How he wished she would look at him with that kind of disdainful and contemptuous gaze...
He heard that after some time, this girl band would also come to Tokyo for a tour. He wondered if this beautiful older sister was married, if she had a boyfriend...
If only he could meet her face-to-face and exchange a few words, how wonderful that would be~
On the sofa, Zenitsu couldn't help but begin fantasizing in his mind about the beautiful story of himself and this beautiful older sister—from meeting and getting to know each other, to developing deep feelings, to confessing their love, and finally walking down the aisle to spend their lives together...
"Hehe, ehehe..."
"Zenitsu, you're smiling disgustingly."
In the kitchen, Genya—who had just finished making breakfast—came out and saw Zenitsu sitting on the sofa with that silly grin, his expression extremely disgusted.
"Tanjiro, come eat."
"Okay!"
Recently, Tanjiro—the best cook among the three—had been immersed in comprehending the Transparent World every day. Whenever he had time, he would squat on that balcony meditating, emptying his five senses or something...
And Zenitsu was useless, so with no other choice, Genya had to take up the responsibility himself, handling the cooking every day.
"By the way, should we also try to find that demon named Tamayo?"
At the dining table, amidst the chewing sounds of the three, Genya suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.
Tamayo—this was the demon Kanae had mentioned during the Hashira Meeting when recounting Upper Rank One's past.
According to the Butterfly Clan's records, the subjugation operation against Upper Rank One during the early Tokugawa Shogunate was facilitated by this demon.
She seemed to have broken free from the progenitor's control for some unknown reason and was quite familiar with Upper Rank One's personality and Blood Demon Art.
More importantly, although she was a demon, she harbored intense hatred toward the progenitor Muzan—belonging to a force the Demon Slayer Corps could potentially recruit.
The only regrettable thing was that after the failure of that subjugation operation back then, Tamayo had disappeared without a trace.
For several hundred years since, neither the Butterfly Clan nor the Demon Slayer Corps had any records of her—her fate unknown.
No one knew whether she had been found and killed by Muzan, or was quietly hiding in some corner, waiting for a new opportunity...
"Hah? How could a demon who's been hiding for hundreds of years be that easy to find? Forget it..."
"I actually think Genya is right. We should at least try everything. Maybe we'll get lucky and really find this Miss Tamayo?"
Tanjiro spoke up to retort, seriously thinking for a moment before immediately proposing:
"Alright! In that case, after we finish eating, let's all go out and investigate together!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Tanjiro, are you serious? And why do we have to start looking from Tokyo? How are you so sure that demon named Tamayo is definitely hiding here?"
"Haha, because we're living in Tokyo now, so naturally we can only start looking from Tokyo...
Besides, even if we can't find Miss Tamayo, as long as we can discover any intelligence related to that Upper Rank One, that would be excellent!"
Speaking thus, Tanjiro lowered his head and murmured:
"Because, I also really want to have a good talk with Upper Rank One..."
Only now, looking back, did Tanjiro notice that in his previous two encounters with Upper Rank One, he hadn't actually had a proper conversation with her even once.
Especially after hearing Kanae recount her past, Tanjiro felt quite regretful about this.
He felt that if he wanted to talk, Upper Rank One would very likely be willing to have a good conversation with him.
This wasn't baseless speculation, but a reasonable inference he made based on the personality Upper Rank One had shown during their previous two encounters.
As for what they should talk about, frankly, Tanjiro's mind was still blank.
He just felt that no matter what, he should try to do this, even if the other side was his enemy...
"Alright, we don't have any important missions these past few days anyway, so let's go out for a walk together..."
Not noticing Tanjiro's distraction, Zenitsu also nodded in agreement.