As a doctor, Tamayo had always been well aware that she was ill.
This was a complex psychological disorder mixing both split personality and schizophrenia.
She had split off a personality named "Tsugikuni Mitsuba" in her mind, and could often see this personality appearing beside her, interacting with her in various ways.
Tamayo was equally clear about how this personality had originally come to be.
Over the long passage of time, in order to find a way to defeat Tsugikuni Mitsuba, she would often rack her brains trying to understand and analyze Mitsuba's behavior and thought patterns.
She would even, when thinking about certain problems, assume the role of Mitsuba, deliberately immersing herself in Mitsuba's way of thinking to make deductions.
And all this accumulation underwent a strange qualitative change after the subjugation operation in the early Tokugawa Shogunate.
That night, when she saw Mitsuba's desperate struggle when forced into a corner, Tamayo suddenly realized that the girl before her had actually never done anything to harm her.
Looking back now, during those few short days they spent together, aside from verbal attacks, Tsugikuni Mitsuba had taken no further action against her at all.
Facing someone who wanted to kill her in the name of "liberation," merely responding with some verbal mockery and even being willing to give sincere advice at parting—
From this perspective alone, Tsugikuni Mitsuba had been as merciful to her as a saint.
And it was precisely after realizing this that immense guilt suddenly welled up in Tamayo's heart—guilt toward Mitsuba.
Because no matter how many reasons she had, the fact was that she had indeed been constantly trying to kill someone who had never truly harmed her, even putting this into action.
If the two of them had the chance to meet again, surely Mitsuba would viciously curse her...
Or rather, Tamayo hoped that Mitsuba would curse her.
And so, the personality named Tsugikuni Mitsuba was born in her mind.
This personality had thought patterns almost identical to Mitsuba's, faithfully responding to the deep expectations in Tamayo's heart.
No matter when or where, she would use her words to mercilessly expose all of Tamayo's pretenses, doing everything possible to torture her tormented heart.
Using this nearly torturous method to allow her twisted heart to find some relief...
"How pathetic, Miss Tamayo~"
Still lying quietly on the hospital bed, Mitsuba's laughter clearly rang in Tamayo's ears.
"When did you become so indecisive?
With such a great opportunity right before your eyes, yet here you are hesitating and looking before and after. I don't remember you being someone so afraid of failure.
If you hesitate any longer, another good opportunity to kill me will slip away, you know?"
"What I truly want to kill has always only been Muzan."
"More of this hypocritical talk... You really are a hypocrite, Miss Tamayo..."
Her figure instantly appearing on the counter before Tamayo, Mitsuba sat there, looking down at her from above.
"You and I both know that I'm different from you. I have always stood on Lady Muzan's side."
"If you want to kill her, you must first kill me. Otherwise, I will do everything in my power to stop you."
"This is a situation you cannot avoid no matter what, isn't it?"
"The choice is so simple, so what exactly are you hesitating over, Miss Tamayo?"
"Could it be that the guilt accumulated in your heart over these hundreds of years has truly crushed the hatred in your heart, making you want to give up on avenging Lady Muzan?"
"Ha... What a joke, how could that be possible?"
Looking at the silent, head-bowed Tamayo, Mitsuba sneered, slowly taking her hands and forcefully pressing them against her own neck.
"Look, Miss Tamayo, my neck is right here."
"No matter how powerful a demon, if the neck is severed, they will surely die."
"Don't worry about what happened to Akaza at the Infinity Castle happening to me."
"As the person who knows me best in this world, you know better than anyone that I'm not the type with deep obsession. If my neck is severed, I absolutely don't have the ability to regenerate it."
"Let that child named Kanae come. She is Butterfly's descendant, someone I care about. Let her come to cry to me, let her come to accuse me, let her come to curse me."
"Let her tell me that her mother died because of me, that her family has been trapped by my curse for generations. Let her tell me she hates me! She wants to kill me!"
"Look, Tamayo! The method is this simple, the path is this clear, so what else do you have to hesitate over? Just reach out and do it!"
Bending down, slowly approaching the always silent, head-bowed Tamayo's ear, Mitsuba said with a smile:
"Miss Tamayo, don't tell me you want to escape, want to give up, want to find peace... How could it be that easy?!"
Her voice suddenly becoming incomparably cold, Mitsuba leaned down beside Tamayo's ear and spoke word by word:
"You want liberation, but I don't want it. I want to see your failure."
"Because this is what you owe me. I want to see you once again trying your utmost to kill me, then once again completely failing before me!"
"I want to see you fleeing in disgrace before my eyes! I want to see you barely surviving with that guilt in your heart! I want to let your twisted heart live in constant fear!!"
"I want to see you suffer! Tormented day and night! Forever and ever! Do you understand?! Tamayo?!"
Mitsuba's tone grew increasingly agitated, like a soul-reaping knock, striking again and again against Tamayo's already twisted and riddled heart—this was a voice only she could hear.
Her arms still trembling as they gripped Mitsuba's neck, Tamayo deeply lowered her head. She didn't respond, only closed her eyes, letting tears silently slide down her cheeks.
"So this time too, you absolutely must not disappoint me, my dear Miss Tamayo..."
"..."
"Wonderful! I never expected finding Miss Tamayo would be this easy!"
"Yeah, ah..."
On the other side of Tokyo's streets, Tanjiro was still immersed in the joy of successfully finding Tamayo. But Zenitsu behind him, for some unknown reason, was in very low spirits.
The three of them didn't rashly bring Tamayo back to the Demon Slayer Corps. Instead, they first reported this situation to Ubuyashiki through the Kasugai Crow.
They wanted to wait for Ubuyashiki's reply before arranging a secret meeting between Tamayo and him.
This was also Tamayo's suggestion.
After all, there were many swordsmen in the Demon Slayer Corps with deep grudges against demons. If they brought Tamayo back so rashly and something unpleasant happened, affecting subsequent cooperation between both sides, that wouldn't be good...
Now with powerful enemies before them, the Demon Slayer Corps must treat any force that could potentially be recruited with caution.
"Hm? Tanjiro, look over there, isn't that Kanae-senpai and... Lord Sound Hashira?"
...
(I think I probably like Tamayo, but what I like isn't her appearance, not her personality, but that suppressed guilt and twistedness in her heart when she's being tortured by Mitsuba~)
(Yes, what I like is simply that melancholic air about her~)
(Alright, enough fooling around. The Upper Six siblings' arc is about to begin. If nothing unexpected happens, this should be the book's final arc before the grand finale. Mainly because the Swordsmith Village arc in the original doesn't have many distinctive features to write about. Starting the grand finale directly might be better for the story's pacing...)