Tanjiro instantly forgot their earlier struggle, his eyes sparkling as if they were filled with starlight. "Haganezuka-san! So you really have been working hard for my sake!"
Haganezuka, still sprawled on the ground, reached up and gave Tanjiro's head a blunt, rhythmic thwack. "Shut up! Who said I was doing it for you?! I just wanted to see if I could forge a blade that surpasses anything I've made before!"
"My, my, Haganezuka-san sure is a classic 'all bark and no bite' type, isn't he?" Aoi Kazama giggled, covering her mouth as her eyes curved into mischievous crescents.
Haganezuka scrambled to his feet, his voice suddenly thick with burning determination. "Fine! Just leave this blade to me. I'll use the Haganezuka family's secret Nichirin Sword polishing technique to make it absolutely magnificent."
Kotetsu muttered under his breath from the side, "You could have just said that from the start. You obviously don't trust us, yet you keep demanding we hand over the sword. You're so stubborn."
Haganezuka whirled around to glare at him. He snatched Kotetsu up by the collar, hoisting the boy into the air. "What would a brat like you know!"
"Aaah!" Kotetsu dangled in mid-air, his arms and legs flailing. "Let me go! Let me go! I'm just telling the truth!"
"Haganezuka-san, please put him down!" Tanjiro cried, rushing forward to pry them apart.
Seeing the chaos, Aoi quietly slipped behind Haganezuka. With a precise flick of her fingers, she gave his ribs a sharp, playful tickle.
Haganezuka's entire body went rigid. His grip on Kotetsu's collar vanished as if he'd been hit by a stun gun. He stood frozen for a long moment before finally sputtering out, "You... you brat! What do you think you're doing?!"
"Nothing much." Aoi tilted her head, blinking with faux innocence. "Just thought I'd mention—you've got a great physique, mister."
Haganezuka's face turned a violent shade of crimson in an instant. The blush spread from his cheeks to his ears, and even his neck was stained a deep pink.
He clamped his hands over his sides, jumping back two steps as if he'd been scorched. He roared in a mix of fury and sheer embarrassment, "You—you—you... How indecent! Where is your sense of propriety?!"
Aoi shrugged, looking perfectly justified. "I'm just stating facts!"
Besides, she thought privately, he's a total gift to the eyes, just like Sanemi. Truly a generous man.
Once Haganezuka managed to steady his racing heart, he turned to Tanjiro. "In any case, I'm taking this sword for safekeeping. Until it's ready, use this one."
He handed Tanjiro a loaner Nichirin Sword.
"Thank you!" Tanjiro accepted the blade with both hands, gripping the hilt solemnly before giving Haganezuka a deep bow. "I will use it well! I won't let your hard work go to waste!"
Haganezuka waved a dismissive hand and vanished into the depths of the forest.
Grumble—
Aoi clutched her stomach, a look of sheepishness crossing her face. "I'm hungry..."
Tanjiro smiled warmly. "Then let's head back."
"Yeah!"
The Interlude
"So... why exactly are you eating in my room?" Genya Shinazugawa demanded. He looked at Tanjiro, who was sitting cross-legged at his table, with an expression of pure exasperation.
"Eh? Aren't we friends?" Tanjiro blinked his bright, honest eyes, his voice filled with nothing but innocent confusion.
"Hah?! Not a chance!" Genya roared, his temper flaring. "Why would I be friends with the guy who broke my arm? Don't tell me you forgot!"
"Well, that was because you were being mean to a girl, Genya. I didn't have a choice." Tanjiro looked at him as if this was the most logical thing in the world. He reached out, offering a warm rice cracker. "Genya, these senbei are really good. Do you want to try one?"
Veins throbbed on Genya's forehead. He pointed a trembling finger at the door. "Stop calling me by my first name! Get out!"
Just then, Aoi walked in carrying several skewers of dango. "Oh? What's going on? Are you two fighting?"
The moment Genya saw Aoi, his face betrayed him, turning a bright, helpless red. His anger vanished as if doused by a bucket of ice water. He jerked his head away, muttering incoherently, "No... nothing's going on!"
"Oh? Is that so?" Aoi arched an eyebrow. She walked to the table and held out the skewers. "Here. You guys want some?"
Tanjiro's eyes lit up, and he immediately took a skewer. "Thanks, Aoi!"
Genya also reached out awkwardly, his voice a low mumble. "Uh... thanks."
As they ate, Tanjiro noticed Genya's mouth and looked confused. "That's strange. Genya, didn't you lose a tooth? I found your front tooth back at the hot springs."
Genya stiffened. After a moment of silence, he said coldly, "You saw wrong."
"I definitely didn't see wrong. I even kept the tooth." As he spoke, Tanjiro actually fished out the bloody tooth to show him.
"Why would you keep something like that?! You're disgusting!"
Tanjiro blinked, holding the tooth in his palm with a look of pure sincerity. "No, it's just that since you dropped it, I thought I should return it to you."
"Are you insane?! Throw it away!" Genya felt like he was being pushed to the brink of a nervous breakdown.
Aoi couldn't help but burst into laughter at their interaction. She reached out and patted Genya's tense shoulder. "Alright, alright, don't be so mad. You're going to turn into a blowfish if you keep huffing like that. Tanjiro just means well."
Genya finally calmed down, taking a deep breath to suppress his internal screaming.
"By the way, Genya, why are you here?" Aoi asked, tilting her head curiously as she bit into a dango.
Genya paused, the red in his ears deepening. He toyed with a snack on the table, answering vaguely, "Uh... I asked one of the smiths to make a weapon for me. I came to pick it up."
"What kind of weapon?"
"This." Genya hesitated for a second before pulling a blueprint from his robe and handing it to Aoi.
Aoi's eyes widened the moment she saw the drawing. "Is... isn't this a handgun?"
"A handgun?" Tanjiro leaned in, peering at the paper with curiosity.
"Ah, it's nothing..." Aoi quickly handed the blueprint back and stood up, brushing off her clothes. "It's getting late. Tanjiro and I should head out. We'll leave you to it."
Genya nodded. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight!"
On the Mountain Path
Elsewhere in the mountain forest, a swordsmith was crouched beside a small, portable forge. The glowing red fire illuminated a face slick with sweat.
On the anvil beside him lay several bullets that gleamed with a cold light. The tips were made from the same scarlet iron sand used for Nichirin Swords, shimmering with a strange luster under the firelight.
"This kid has some strange ideas," the smith muttered, weighing a bullet in his hand. "Making firearms out of demon-slaying materials... I wonder if it'll actually work."
He packed away the ammunition and stood up to head down the mountain, planning to continue the work tomorrow.
Halfway down the path, he suddenly spotted a porcelain pot sitting on one of the stone steps.
The pot was intricately carved with lotus patterns, shimmering with a faint, pale light under the moon. It looked remarkably exquisite.
The smith walked closer, murmuring to himself, "Whose pot is this? Why would someone leave it in a place like this?"
In the next second, a mass of black water surged from within the pot. Under the moonlight, it churned and solidified into a hunched, dark silhouette, radiating a foul, rotting stench.
The smith's pupils shrank to pinpricks. "A... a demon!"