"However, by the time she joined the Demon Slayer Corps, I had already left the Demon Slayer Corps with Yoriichi for certain reasons."
"Therefore, I never actually met her when I was in the Demon Slayer Corps."
"It was only later that we bumped into each other by chance," Mizuki said simply, without telling the two the specific circumstances at the time, "She had just joined the Demon Slayer Corps back then and was on her first mission."
"The entry requirements for the Demon Slayer Corps weren't as stringent back then as they are now. Plus, with Demon Slayer Mark swordsmen falling one after another, the skill level of the swordsmen was uneven, and even her learning of the Breathing Technique was extremely rough."
Kochou Shinobu and Himejima Gyoumei looked at each other. Neither of them knew much about the history of the Demon Slayer Corps, but hearing Mizuki's words, they couldn't help but feel sad for the Demon Slayer Corps of that time.
It must have been a difficult time.
Fortunately, the Seniors persevered.
The fact that so many people can live happily is the meaning of their perseverance.
"And perhaps it's because she had been attacked by a demon before, so she had a fear of demons."
"Given her strength and mindset, it was difficult for her to overcome even ordinary demons."
"Worried that she might die at the hands of a demon, I took the initiative to offer my help, thinking I would see if she could grow during the mission. If she couldn't, I would suggest she quit the Demon Slayer Corps."
I don't know if she quit the Demon Slayer Corps after that.
"I originally thought it was just an ordinary incident of a demon eating people..." Mizuki's eyes were a bit dazed as she fell into memories, not even noticing the reactions of the two, "...I didn't expect to encounter my brother, who had turned into a demon, there."
Even now, she doesn't know how Michikatsu found her. Was it a resonance of their Bloodline?
That's a bit of a stretch. After becoming a demon, she could indeed sense the Bloodline of Yoriichi and herself, but that required being face-to-face.
To sense the existence of her own blood relative from hundreds or thousands of miles away, she would at least need to be a Golden Core Stage Cultivator.
Or was it just a pure coincidence?
Then her luck was really not great.
Although that was indeed the case.
Kochou Shinobu pursed her lips. She had heard this part before, but at the time, Mizuki had only briefly mentioned that her brother had turned her into a demon.
And then she discovered she wasn't afraid of sunlight at all, nor did she need to eat human flesh.
She said it very lightly.
It had the air of what she said when joking with Uzui Tengen:'She is the most perfect life form.'
Mizuki's expression was not as heavy as it is now.
"The result was obvious. I couldn't defeat him and was injected with demon blood..." When she said this, Mizuki paused, as if she suddenly felt her words were a bit too heavy, so she deliberately pivoted, "Of course, that was because I was sick at the time."
"Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have been able to beat me."
Kochou Shinobu: "..."
She knew it would be like this.
Kochou Shinobu sat on a nearby rock, resting her chin on her hand with her elbow on her thigh, tilting her head and watching Mizuki motionlessly.
It was so deliberate that she looked a bit dazed.
However... she was even cuter...
It seemed not bad either.
"Amitabha." Himejima Gyoumei had no reaction, just acting as a qualified listener, occasionally saying 'Amitabha' to show his presence.
"After I lost to Kokushibou, I thought she would be killed..." A haze stained Mizuki's eyes, "However, that guy crippled her hands and feet and threw her in front of me."
Hearing her refer to her own brother as 'Kokushibou,' Kochou Shinobu knew that this matter had displeased Mizuki.
Because, in most cases, when Mizuki recounted her memories, she liked to use Kokushibou's real name, 'Michikatsu,' to refer to him.
Only when she felt angry at him would she use his demon name, 'Kokushibou.'
Hearing Mizuki say this, Kochou Shinobu immediately understood Kokushibou's intention. It was because turning into a demon would consume a large amount of physical strength, so he had prepared 'food' for Mizuki in advance.
Thinking about it this way, he really was a 'qualified' brother, very considerate of his sister.
"Amitabha."
Himejima Gyoumei also understood the meaning and let out a sigh.
"Before losing consciousness, I tried my best to restrain my desire to eat people."
"Perhaps it was because I had eaten the blue spider lily, or perhaps it was because of my special Physique, but I did not become a man-eating demon as he had wished."
"After waking up, I discovered she was not yet dead, so I used my own blood to save her."
It sounded like a fairly perfect story.
But even if Mizuki didn't say what happened next, Kochou Shinobu could roughly guess it.
"However, after she woke up, she didn't say any words of thanks to me. Instead, she kicked me away and then ran away in fear." Mizuki shrugged, looking unconcerned, "Even though when I told her to run away earlier, she had specifically run back to save me."
Himejima Gyoumei couldn't help but ask: "What were your thoughts at the time, you, the one who saved that person?"
"What were my thoughts, you ask?" Mizuki glanced slightly to the side, noticing the trace of expectation on Himejima Gyoumei's face—the expectation to resonate with others.
Mizuki could understand Himejima Gyoumei's agitation; being called a murderer by the person one protected was not normal by any standard.
"Naturally, I hoped she would understand me at the time, thinking she could say thank you to me, or chat with me about future plans, or whether she should change careers and do something else."
"But I was in a state of Demonization at the time, and because I saw people, my saliva secreted unnaturally."
"In her eyes, I must have been a complete monster."
Kochou Shinobu finally couldn't help but interrupt: "That's not true! Mizuki is very cute, even after Demonization she is very cute. I don't find it scary at all."
Mizuki looked at her serious expression, and a warm current couldn't help but flow through her heart.
"Amitabha, I have also heard others praise Young Miss Mizuki's appearance," Himejima Gyoumei pressed his palms together, "saying they didn't find it scary at all, but rather quite magnificent."
Mizuki originally wanted to ask who had such good taste, but upon hearing the second half of the sentence, she swallowed her doubts and instead smiled, "I think so too."
"It's clearly very cool, right?"
If she turned into something like Gyokko, she would rather die.
It was too ugly; she couldn't accept it, either physiologically or psychologically.
"Exactly, exactly." Kochou Shinobu nodded repeatedly, looking just like a little fangirl.
She was clearly very beautiful. Kochou Shinobu couldn't help but fantasize about seeing Mizuki's figure in a clearing deep in the mountains, on a night when the moonlight was bright, walking through the hazy woods of the night.
If it were her, she definitely wouldn't mistake Mizuki for a demon or a ghost.
She would definitely think that it was a deity of the mountains.
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