Deduct stamina? If that happened, she wouldn't even have the strength left to swing a sword. In the middle of this godforsaken wilderness, being too weak to fight a demon was no different from a death sentence!
Kazama Aoi's nose began to prickle with sweat. Her eyes darted frantically toward Tanjiro, her mind racing to figure out how to initiate "skinship" without making it look suspiciously deliberate.
A pat on the shoulder? No, that's too casual. What if the System doesn't count it?
Before she could decide, Aoi watched her mission target get launched into the air by the boar-headed boy.
Tanjiro looked startled for a split second, but then his nose twitched as if catching a scent. He spun mid-air, sword gripped tight. "So that's how it is, Inosuke!"
High above, the Mother Spider Demon's hands—connected to her threads—trembled. "I'm going to be defeated... even though that puppet was my fastest and strongest. It's all Rui's fault, coming here to threaten me... that's why I was so anxious, so irritated, so panicked..."
Suddenly, she looked up, her expression shifting to one of pure terror.
"Water Breathing, First Form—"
Watching the Nichirin Sword draw closer, her first instinct was to flee. But then she remembered her daily life of misery. Suddenly, death didn't seem so frightening anymore. She closed her eyes, peacefully awaiting the end.
Tanjiro, seeing her surrender, looked surprised. He immediately adjusted his mid-air stance to change his technique. "Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After the Drought."
The blade of the Nichirin Sword brushed past the Mother Spider's neck. It didn't hurt; in fact, it felt like a gentle, cleansing rain.
In her final moments as she began to fade away, she whispered a warning: "One of the Twelve Kizuki is on this mountain. Be careful."
Aoi watched the scene, stunned. Her chest felt strangely tight.
She hadn't even fully processed the melancholy of the moment when the System's warning shrieked in her mind: [Warning! "Skinship" mission time remaining: less than 15 minutes! Stamina deduction countdown initiated!]
"Crap!" Aoi hissed. She snapped out of it, her gaze locking onto Tanjiro's back.
Inosuke, already losing his patience, began to holler. "Twelve Kizuki? The Great Inosuke-sama isn't afraid of anyone! Tanjiro, let's go find that guy and chop him up!" He moved to grab Tanjiro's arm and charge into the dense thicket.
"Inosuke, you're injured. You need to go down the mountain for treatment," Tanjiro said, looking at him with genuine concern.
Aoi nodded in agreement, eyeing the blood on Inosuke's body.
Inosuke reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, violently wrenching his arm away. "Injured? I'm not injured! Stop looking down on me!" He raised his dual blades, posturing as if he were about to storm the forest.
Suddenly, Aoi caught a glimpse of a white figure on the opposite bank. A demon!
The two boys noticed it at the same time.
"Prepare to die!" Inosuke shouted excitedly.
"Father!"
The Spider Sister screamed toward the woods behind her even as she fled.
"Who are you calling Father?!" Inosuke roared. He pushed off with explosive force, leaping onto the stones to lunge at the white figure on the other side. His twin blades carved two fierce streaks of light through the air.
Just as he was about to cross the river, a massive silhouette dropped from the sky, blocking his path.
As the moonlight hit him, Aoi saw his face clearly. He had a human-like face, but his features were grotesquely spider-like.
So ugly. So disgusting.
Aoi felt her stomach churn. She forced herself to look away, her hand deathly tight on the hilt of her sword. She knew this wasn't the time to shrink back—Inosuke was already locked in a frantic struggle with the Father Spider Demon.
Aoi gripped her Nichirin Sword, feeling a warm current surge through her body as she took a deep breath. She could clearly feel the essence of Wood Breathing flowing through her limbs; the movements of the Sprouting Slash became vivid in her mind.
Tanjiro had already tightened his grip on his sword, his nose twitching to catch the demon's scent as he prepared to jump into the fray.
Aoi looked at his back. The System's warning was still screaming in her head; the countdown had hit the final five minutes.
I can't... if I keep hesitating, I'm really going to lose my stamina! She gritted her teeth, her palms slick with sweat. Taking a massive, lung-bursting breath, she charged toward Tanjiro.
Tanjiro heard the footsteps behind him and started to turn, only to feel a warm body collide with his back. A pair of slender arms wrapped violently around his waist.
"Eh?" Tanjiro froze completely, a bewildered blush creeping up his face. "Ka-Kazama-san?"
Aoi buried her face in the fabric of his haori. She could smell a faint scent of blood mixed with the smell of sun-dried laundry. Her ears were red enough to bleed as she babbled incoherently, "S-sorry! I didn't mean to!"
[Ding! Physical contact with 'Tanjiro Kamado' detected. "Skinship" mission complete!][Reward Issued: Skill "Light as a Feather" unlocked. Permanent speed attribute boost!]
The moment the notification faded, Aoi felt her body grow light, as if a thousand-pound weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Even the slight stiffness she felt when swinging her sword vanished.
She scrambled to let go, stumbling back two steps with her head down, too embarrassed to meet Tanjiro's eyes.
Meanwhile, on the other bank, Inosuke was losing ground. The Father Spider Demon's threads surged like a tide, snagging his twin blades. A massive, chitinous limb swung through the air with the force of a gale, aiming straight for his chest.
"Inosuke!" Tanjiro cried out. He didn't have time to ask about Aoi's sudden behavior. He kicked off the ground, intending to leap across the river.
Aoi looked up, watching Tanjiro's silhouette mid-leap. She tightened her grip on her sword. The aura of Wood Breathing swirled around her blade, the faint sound of a sprout breaking through the earth echoing in her ears.
"Wood Breathing, First Form: Sprouting Slash!"
She let out a low cry. Using the incredible lightness provided by her new skill, she leaped across the water's surface. Her blade let out a sharp, resonant hum as it carved across the Father Spider Demon's arm.
"Tch! Mind your own business!" Inosuke grumbled, though his movements didn't slow for a second. With his blades freed from the silk, he unleashed a fierce strike toward the demon's neck.
The Father Spider Demon roared in pain, black smoke hissing from the wound on his arm. His crimson eyes locked onto Aoi, and a fist wrapped in a foul wind swung toward her.
Aoi utilized her new speed boost, her toes tapping lightly against a tree trunk to dodge the attack with effortless grace. As she landed, she flicked her wrist, raising her sword again. A faint green light coalesced along the edge of the blade.
She recalled the essence of Wood Breathing—Growth and Entanglement. She reversed her grip, driving the hilt's energy toward the ground.
"Wood Breathing, First Form: Sprouting Slash — Variation!"
At her command, the earth beneath them buckled. Countless emerald-green vines erupted from the soil like flexible whips, lashing around the Father Spider Demon's limbs and pinning him in place.
A flash of surprise crossed Tanjiro's eyes, but he quickly tightened his grip. "Now!"
He lunged upward, the essence of Water Breathing surging like a crashing tide. His Nichirin Sword carved a brilliant arc under the moonlight.
"Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux!"