Chapter 77: What Kind of Sister Am I?
Kanae gritted her teeth, a flicker of inner conflict flashing in her eyes, but she ultimately made her decision.
"Let's… let's tie her up first."
Having to tie up her most beloved younger sister as if she were a criminal was undoubtedly a tremendous psychological torture for Kanae.
But she had no choice. To protect Tatsu and to prevent Shinobu from doing something impulsive again, this was the only viable method for now.
"Okay."
Tatsu nodded without saying anything more.
He walked to the corner of the room, rummaged through a cabinet, found a bundle of soft hemp rope used for tying up luggage, and handed it to Kanae.
Kanae took the hemp rope and knelt down beside Kocho Shinobu.
She wrapped the rope around Shinobu's wrists, taking care to avoid the acupoints and fragile blood vessels, and placed a layer of soft cloth where the rope touched her skin.
Next, she tied up Shinobu's legs as well, using a binding method that would restrict movement without causing her any discomfort.
Throughout the process, Kanae's gaze remained fixed on her sister's face.
Looking at her sister's tightly closed eyes, Kanae's heart was filled with bitterness.
"I'm sorry, Shinobu. Sister knows you must be very angry with me, but I really cannot let you kill him. One day, you will understand Sister's good intentions."
After properly securing Shinobu and confirming that she would not be injured if she struggled, Kanae slowly stood up.
Tatsu had been standing quietly to the side, watching everything. Once Kanae finished tying up Shinobu, he turned and walked to the low table, sitting down cross-legged.
"Since things have come to this, let's eat first."
Tatsu reached out and opened the paper bag, and the rich aroma of tonkotsu broth instantly filled the room.
He pushed one of the bowls of ramen to the spot opposite him, then picked up his chopsticks and began to eat unhurriedly.
After all, life had to go on, and problems needed to be solved slowly; before that, filling one's stomach was clearly the most practical choice.
Kanae, watching Tatsu's calm demeanor while eating, felt her tense nerves relax slightly. She walked over to the table and sat down beside him.
Although there was steaming ramen in front of her, Kanae had no appetite at all. Her gaze drifted from time to time toward her sister lying on the tatami mat, her eyes filled with deep worry.
"Tatsu..." Kanae held the ramen bowl with both hands, feeling its faint warmth, her voice low, "Do you think... can I convince Shinobu?"
Tatsu stopped his chopsticks. He swallowed the noodles in his mouth, turned his head, and looked at the sorrowful young girl beside him.
"Hmm, there's no rush for that." He put down his chopsticks, shifted his gaze from Kanae's face, and cast it toward Shinobu, who was lying not far away.
"I just activated the Transparent World and took a look. Your sister's body currently contains quite a bit of wisteria poison."
"What?" Kanae jerked her head up, looking at Tatsu in utter disbelief, the bowl in her hands nearly slipping as she trembled.
Tatsu ignored Kanae's shock. "It looks like a high concentration of wisteria poison. It has already entered your sister's blood and muscles. Judging by the distribution and accumulation of the toxins, this was definitely not ingested all at once, but rather the result of continuous injections over a period of time."
Tatsu turned his head, staring straight into Kanae's increasingly pale face, and said word by word: "Therefore, she must have injected it herself."
This news struck like a bolt from the blue, shattering Kanae's reason into pieces.
"No... that's impossible..." Kanae's lips trembled violently, "Shinobu... why would she do that? wisteria poison is toxic to humans too!"
As Kanae Kocho, who was well-versed in pharmacology, she knew very well how terrifying wisteria poison was. Although that toxin was the bane of demons, if a human injected it into their body, it would trigger extremely severe rejection reactions and poisoning symptoms. It would destroy the human immune system, cause unimaginable agony, and even significantly shorten a person's lifespan!
"Why?" Tatsu chuckled, "Because she wants to kill demons. Because she knows she isn't strong enough to sever a demon's neck like you can. So, she turned herself into a walking poison. She is using her own life as a bargaining chip, preparing to take down some powerful demon, or perhaps me, with her on some future day."
"The most urgent matter, I think, is not to ponder how to convince her to accept me." Tatsu looked at Kanae's swaying body, his tone becoming exceptionally grave, "But to find a way to make your sister stop injecting wisteria poison into her body. If she continues like this, even if she isn't killed by a demon, she will be completely destroyed by that toxin herself."
Hearing these words, Kanae could no longer suppress the grief in her heart. She covered her face with her hands and burst into tears. "Sob... Shinobu... my foolish sister..."
She finally understood. She finally understood what kind of desperate determination was hidden beneath her sister's smile. What kind of sister am I? I preach the ideal of peace between humans and demons every day, yet I didn't even know what kind of suffering my own dearest sister was enduring.
Shinobu... she pushed herself to this hellish state to avenge our parents and to protect me! She wanted to save demons, yet she discovered that she was about to lose her most beloved younger sister.
Kanae knelt on the cushion, her body trembling violently, tears soaking her clothes. Meanwhile, Kocho Shinobu, lying on the tatami mat, still kept her eyes tightly closed, completely unaware of everything happening in the outside world. Yet, at the corner of her eye, a crystal-clear teardrop quietly slid down, unbeknownst to anyone. Perhaps it was a physiological reaction to being knocked unconscious by the hand strike, or perhaps, in her subconscious, she had heard her sister's weeping.
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