In the backyard of the Butterfly Mansion, the evening breeze brushed through the wisteria trellises, making a soft rustling sound.
Yamada withdrew his large hand from atop Shinobu's head, picked up the last cup of sake on the table, and drained it in one gulp.
"Isn't it tiring watching from behind the pillar for so long? Come out."
Yamada didn't even turn his head, he simply placed the empty sake cup back on the tray and spoke indifferently.
Hiding behind the wooden pillar, Kanao's body trembled slightly, knowing she had been discovered. She lowered her head like a child who had done something wrong and walked out from the shadows with small, hurried steps.
"Kanao? Since... since when were you there?"
Shinobu, who had been blushing furiously just a moment ago, suddenly sprang up as if struck by an electric shock. She hurriedly adjusted the slightly messy collar of her yukata, trying to regain her usual elder's dignity, but her ears, which were extremely red, could not be hidden.
Kanao didn't flip a coin. She just opened her eyes, looking at the embarrassed and annoyed Shinobu, then at the calm Yamada.
"From... from when Shinobu-nee's hair was being touched." Kanao's voice was very soft, but it was heard clearly in the quiet corridor.
"Aaaah! You girl, go to sleep right now!"
Shinobu was mortified. She picked up the tray from the ground and quickly fled the scene, leaving only Yamada and Kanao behind.
Looking at the fleeing Insect Hashira, Yamada couldn't help but chuckle.
He stood up, walked over to Kanao, and looked down at the girl who always seemed like a doll.
"Your eyes, what did they see?" Yamada asked.
Kanao froze for a moment, subconsciously clutching the coin in her pocket. "I saw... Shinobu-nee smile. Not like the smiles before, but a real smile."
"Since you've seen it clearly, then stop using a coin to measure the world."
Yamada put his hands in his pockets and brushed past her, his tone flat. "A true swordsman must learn to see with their own eyes and strike with their own heart. Get some rest, little girl."
Watching Yamada's back as it gradually vanished into the night, Kanao stood dazed for a long time.
Finally, she took the copper coin she had been clutching tightly and very solemnly placed it deep back into her pocket, never to take it out again.
—
Late at night, inside the Insect Hashira's private medical room and bedroom.
Shinobu leaned against the door, gasping for breath. Her heart was still beating like a drum, and Yamada's domineering words, "Doma's life is mine," kept replaying in her mind.
After a moment, she took a deep breath, and her eyes gradually became clear and determined.
She walked to a locked, secret cold storage cabinet in the corner of the room and took out a black metal box. Opening the box, over a dozen syringes filled with a high-concentration purple liquid were neatly arranged inside.
This was the potent poison she had spent countless days and nights refining from wisteria flowers.
According to her original, extremely mad and desperate plan—since her strength and physique could never sever the head of an Upper Rank demon, she would spend an entire year or even longer continuously injecting this Wisteria Toxin into her body.
She wanted her internal organs, blood, and even her fingernails to become a poison that would kill demons.
When she encountered the murderer of her sister again, she would take the initiative to let the other party eat her, using her own flesh and blood as a bomb to perish together with him.
This was a plan of self-destruction that could be called cruel.
Over the past half month, she had already begun trying micro-injections. The pain of the toxin traveling through her veins each time was like ten thousand arrows piercing her heart.
But now...
Shinobu looked at the purple liquid emitting the scent of death, and the image of Yamada in the courtyard during the day surfaced in her mind—the peerless, god-like figure who released violent thunder with one hand and trampled several Hashira under his feet.
"He could crush several Hashira gathered together in one move. If it's that arrogant idiot, perhaps... no, he can definitely kill that demon." Shinobu murmured to herself.
Her heart, which had been completely frozen by hatred and the will to die, finally melted completely at this moment.
She didn't want to die anymore. Since someone had arrogantly taken the burden of revenge upon themselves for her, she wanted to live. She wanted to see the destruction of that demon with her own eyes, and she also wanted to... see more of that bastard's arrogant look.
Crack!
Without any hesitation, Shinobu threw the syringe in her hand into the nearby medical incinerator.
Then, she poured all the remaining Wisteria Toxin from the metal box into the high-temperature incinerator.
Watching the eerie purple poison turn to ash in the fire, Shinobu let out a long sigh of relief.
The mountain pressing down on her soul was finally completely crushed at this moment.
She looked into the mirror and revealed a bright, beautiful smile. "Yamada, you arrogant bastard, you'd better do as you said. Otherwise, even if I turn into a demon, I will never forgive you."
...
The next morning.
"Caw! Caw! Urgent orders! Urgent orders!"
Just as dawn was breaking, the shrill cries of several Kasugai Crows broke the silence of the Butterfly Mansion.
"A large number of demons have appeared on Mount Natagumo! Dozens of swordsmen sent there have been nearly wiped out! Caw! Heavy casualties!"
"Master has ordered! Immediately dispatch Water Hashira Tomioka Giyu and Insect Hashira Kochō Shinobu to provide support! Act immediately!"
Yamada, who was washing up in the backyard, keenly caught the Kasugai Crows' broadcast.
"Mount Natagumo... Lower Moon Five, Rui.'
Yamada spat out the mouthwash and casually wiped his face.
Just then, an ear-splitting system notification sounded in his mind.
[Ding! Detected that the host has completely changed the inevitable death ending of the key character Kochō Shinobu!]
[Kochō Shinobu took the initiative to destroy all the Wisteria Toxin used for self-detonation last night, completely abandoning the plan to perish together. The trajectory of fate has undergone an epic shift!]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining an extremely generous reward: 8,000 Dimension Points!]
"Oh?"
Yamada's hand wiping his face paused slightly, and a flash of unexpected pleasant surprise crossed his eyes.
Last night he just conveniently gave her some reassurance. He didn't expect Shinobu to be so decisive, directly terminating the long-prepared suicide plan.
Eight thousand points!
This is much more than what one gets for killing a Lower Moon!
With an extremely pleasant mood, Yamada put on his pure black haori, tucked the thunder pattern kusanagi sword into his waist, and slowly strolled toward the main gate of the Butterfly Mansion.