Chapter 150: Are You Sick in the Head?
The Tokito residence sat nestled deep within the craggy embrace of the mountains, accessible only by a single, winding dirt path heavily overgrown with wild brush. The terrain was far too treacherous for any vehicle, forcing Akira and his group to leave their transport at the foot of the mountain and proceed on foot through the dense, ancient forest.
Sunlight filtered through the thick canopy in dappled patches, illuminating the floating dust motes as they trekked higher. After walking for what felt like hours, the sound of snapping twigs drew their attention. Emerging from a thicket on the opposite side of the mountain path were two young boys carrying woven bamboo baskets.
Both groups froze, staring at each other across the narrow clearing.
The boys were practically mirror images of one another. They shared the same shoulder-length black hair that faded into a striking mint-green at the tips, framing large, similarly colored eyes. Both wore slightly faded, oversized short-sleeved shirts. One carried a heavy load of chopped firewood in his basket, while the other's was filled to the brim with freshly foraged wild vegetables and medicinal herbs.
Despite their identical features, their reactions to the sudden appearance of strangers could not have been more different.
The boy carrying the firewood immediately stepped forward, using his own body to shield his twin. His mint-green eyes narrowed, flashing with clear, unadulterated wariness and deep distrust. His right hand tightened around the worn wooden handle of his chopping axe, lifting the blade just a fraction of an inch. Without taking his eyes off the intruders, he reached his left hand back, silently gesturing for the boy behind him to stay quiet and stay put.
His hostile gaze lingered longest on Akira. Standing significantly taller and broader than anyone else on the mountain path, Akira cut an imposing figure. But what truly set off the boy's internal alarms was the massive, bulging burlap sack slung effortlessly from Akira's grip—a sack large enough to easily fit both of the twins inside.
Living in these deep, isolated old forests, the sudden arrival of strangers was already a massive red flag. Seeing a group dressed in attire that screamed wealth and nobility, hauling such a highly suspicious, heavy sack into the middle of nowhere? It felt wrong on every conceivable level.
As if sensing the tension, the contents of the sack suddenly woke up.
The heavy burlap began to writhe violently. A series of muffled, guttural mmph, mmph sounds echoed from within, accompanied by the frantic thrashing of something desperately trying to break free.
Akira didn't even blink. He simply raised a hand and delivered a casual, heavy strike to the side of the sack. A dull thud rang out, and the thrashing instantly ceased, returning the bundle to a dead, heavy silence.
The two brothers had already taken a synchronized step backward. While keeping their wide eyes locked firmly on Akira, they were actively using their peripheral vision to scan the dense tree line, mapping out the fastest escape routes. The boy standing in front tightened his grip on his axe, his jaw locked in grim determination. He looked entirely prepared to throw his life away just to buy his brother a few precious seconds to run.
"Excuse me, are you the Tokito family?"
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Amane stepped forward. Having roughly deduced their identities from their distinct appearances, she recognized the escalating tension and sought to defuse it. She lowered her posture gracefully, bowing her head in a gentle, non-threatening manner that immediately softened the heavy atmosphere.
The boy in front maintained his fierce glare, but the one hiding behind him peeked out and answered in a soft, innocent tone.
"Yes. My name is Muichiro, and this is my older brother, Yuichiro. May I ask who you are?"
Yuichiro shot his younger brother a thoroughly exasperated, speechless glare, clearly frustrated by how easily Muichiro gave up their names to strangers with a writhing kidnapping sack.
"We are from the Demon Slayer Corps," Amane continued softly, her voice carrying a soothing cadence. "And I am—"
"I've already said it before, and I'll say it again!" Yuichiro snapped, cutting her off entirely. "We will not be joining you! Man-eating demons or whatever nonsense you spout—who knows if they're even real!" He took another step back, raising the axe slightly higher. "If there is nothing else, you can leave. You are not welcome here."
He continued to glare daggers at Amane's group, his knuckles turning white around the axe handle, while his other arm rigidly blocked Muichiro from stepping forward to speak again.
"You don't believe there are man-eating demons in this world?" Akira asked, his voice calm and steady as he finally broke his silence.
"I'd sooner believe that meat buns fall from the sky than believe in your fairy tales!" Yuichiro spat back, his voice cracking slightly with defensive anger. "You people just invented these imaginary monsters because you want two helpless kids to go risk their lives for your stupid organization. Let me tell you right now, it's never going to happen!"
"In that case," Akira said, his expression completely unbothered, "why don't you open this and see for yourself."
Without another word, Akira swung his arm and tossed the heavy burlap sack through the air.
It flew in a heavy arc and landed with a sickening, meaty thud directly at Yuichiro's feet.
Despite his bold claims of disbelief, Yuichiro felt a violent shiver of primal fear shoot down his spine as he stared at the motionless sack. In truth, both brothers vaguely remembered their late father mentioning the existence of terrifying monsters known as demons. When the Demon Slayer Corps had first sent an invitation, Muichiro had actually considered joining. But Yuichiro, utterly terrified at the thought of his gentle brother risking his life against such horrors, had aggressively used his "disbelief" as a shield to refuse them.
In Yuichiro's mind, as long as they stayed hidden away in the safety of the deep forest, the demons would never find them. There was no need to fight. No need to die.
And now, these absolute lunatics had brought a demon directly to their front door.
No, seriously, are you sick in the head?! Yuichiro screamed internally, his eyes darting from the sack to Akira's calm face. Wait, are all four of you completely insane?! That's a demon! A literal man-eating monster! And you just hauled it all the way up a mountain? And now you want me to open it myself?!
Swallowing hard, Yuichiro forced down the rising panic in his chest. His hands trembled slightly as he reached out, gripping the thick rope tied around the mouth of the sack. He pulled the knot loose and tentatively peeled back the rough fabric.
The moment the sunlight hit the interior, revealing the grotesque, green-tinted face and jagged, protruding fangs of the creature inside, a wave of absolute, paralyzing terror flooded Yuichiro's brain.
He had never seen a demon before today. But the very second he laid eyes on that twisted visage, his instincts screamed the truth. It was a fear etched deep into human DNA—the sheer, paralyzing dread of a prey animal locking eyes with its natural predator.
Even though the demon had been brutally folded in half, its limbs tightly bound with thick rope, its mouth stuffed with a heavy gag, and was currently knocked out cold, Yuichiro felt the blood drain from his face. His hands and feet turned to ice. His muscles locked up completely, leaving him frozen stiff, still holding the edge of the sack open like a statue.
Seeing his older brother freeze up so unnaturally, Muichiro leaned in, driven by a mix of deep concern and innocent curiosity.
He peeked over Yuichiro's shoulder, his mint-green eyes landing on the grotesque creature inside the sack.
Unlike his brother, Muichiro did not freeze. He felt that same primal, soul-deep fear, but his body reacted entirely differently. In a fluid, almost frighteningly calm motion, Muichiro reached out, grabbed his brother's sleeve, and yanked him backward, putting several feet of distance between them and the sack.
In that split second, Akira caught a glimpse of Muichiro's eyes. Beneath the surface layer of instinctive fear, there was a chilling, razor-sharp glint of pure killing intent.
Once they were a safe distance away, the fear in Muichiro's eyes rapidly subsided, replaced entirely by that cold, calculating hostility directed at the monster on the ground.
His reaction sent a ripple of genuine surprise through Akira and the rest of the group.
For an ordinary person—especially a child barely in his early teens—Yuichiro's reaction was textbook. Freezing up, trembling, and being entirely consumed by fear was the normal response to seeing an evil demon for the first time. Most adults would have collapsed crying, fainted on the spot, or lost control of their bladders.
But Muichiro? To maintain a clear head through the paralyzing fear, to focus on his brother's safety, and to instantly develop a lethal killing intent toward the predator? That was an astronomically rare talent.
It wasn't until Muichiro had dragged him safely away that Yuichiro finally snapped out of his trance, gasping for air.
"Well," Akira said, his tone dryly amused. "Do you believe me now?"
A mountain of vicious curses piled up in Yuichiro's throat. He wanted to scream at them, to curse their entire bloodlines, but he was too utterly terrified to make a sound. He was genuinely afraid that if he insulted them, this giant of a man would just kick the sack open and let the monster eat them. In Yuichiro's mind, anyone unhinged enough to hike up a mountain with a live demon as a prop was capable of absolutely anything.
"It's daytime, so there's no need to look like you're about to pass out," Akira said, taking a casual step forward. "Even if this ugly bastard wakes up, it wouldn't dare crawl out of that sack. Sunlight is the ultimate bane of all evil demons."
To prove his point, Akira reached down, grabbed the bottom corners of the burlap sack, and gave it a violent, upward shake.
The unconscious demon tumbled out into the dirt, rolling directly into a patch of bright, unfiltered sunlight.
The reaction was instantaneous. The demon's eyes snapped open as its flesh began to blister and boil violently. A muffled, agonizing shriek tore through its nose, vibrating against the gag as its entire body rapidly crumbled into glowing embers. Within seconds, the creature burned away into absolute nothingness, leaving behind only a pile of scorched ropes and a dusty gag resting in the dirt.
The entire execution took less than five seconds.
A few feet away, the Tokito brothers stood rooted to the spot, their axes forgotten, completely and utterly dumbfounded.
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