On the mountain path leading to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters,
two figures walked one behind the other, the atmosphere painfully awkward.
Walking in front was Sanemi Shinazugawa.
His uniform was torn to shreds and soaked in blood, and paired with that ferocious, murderous face of his, he looked like a demon that had just crawled back from hell.
Walking behind him was Genya Shinazugawa, shoulders hunched.
He wanted to get closer but didn't dare.
He wanted to speak but was afraid of getting yelled at.
"Um… b-brother…"
Genya held it in for a long time before finally speaking.
"Shut up."
Sanemi didn't turn his head. His voice was still cold, but the violence that used to come with it was gone.
"Don't yap."
"Oh…"
Genya scratched his head, but couldn't stop the smile creeping onto his face.
His brother hadn't told him to get lost.
His brother had even slowed down to wait for him.
That was enough.
The two of them walked in this clumsy silence all the way to the gates of headquarters.
Just then—
Two overlapping haori suddenly entered their field of vision.
Giyu Tomioka.
He had returned from his time away.
He stood expressionless at the gate, looking at the blood-soaked Shinazugawa brothers.
Those deep-blue eyes of his showed not a single ripple of emotion.
"What are you staring at?"
Sanemi shot him a complicated glare.
"Wanna fight again?"
Giyu didn't answer.
He stared at Sanemi for a while, as if pondering some profound philosophical question.
Then, abruptly, he spoke.
His voice was calm. Flat.
"I'm not being hated."
The air froze.
A cold wind swept past, rolling a few dead leaves across the ground.
Sanemi froze.
Genya froze too.
"Huh?!"
The veins at Sanemi's temple twitched cheerfully. He seriously wondered if his ears had been damaged by Shōzaburō's explosion.
"What the hell are you talking about?!
Who asked you?!"
Giyu still wore the same blank expression.
Sabito's words had untied the knot in his heart—he wasn't hated.
But when those words reached Sanemi, the meaning twisted completely.
What the hell was he implying?
"So you're saying everyone hates me now?!
Move it!! Don't block the road!!"
Sanemi shoved past Giyu and stormed into headquarters.
Genya bowed awkwardly to Giyu.
"Um… Tomioka-san, sorry… my brother's not in a great mood…"
Then he hurried after Sanemi.
Only Giyu remained at the gate, watching their backs, tilting his head slightly.
"…Is he being hated too?"
The Master's Estate
Although Kagaya Ubuyashiki was blind, his hearing was extraordinarily sharp.
He heard the heavy footsteps.
He smelled the thick stench of blood.
"Sanemi… you've returned."
The Master's voice was as gentle as water, though a faint tremor hid beneath it.
"Genya… are you there as well?"
"Yes, Master,"
Sanemi knelt on one knee and lowered his head deeply. Genya knelt behind him.
"Report," Kagaya said softly.
Sanemi took a deep breath.
He neither hid anything nor embellished the truth.
He recounted everything that had happened in Yoshiwara—
Shōzaburō's self-destruction,
the simultaneous appearance of three Upper Moons,
and… how Inosuke had acted, how he had staged that brutal fight to save them, how he had used two priceless medicines to drag them back from the brink of death.
"Four Upper-Moon-level combatants…"
The Master's fingers tightened slightly.
"That child… faced all of that alone?"
"Yes."
Sanemi raised his head. His bloodshot eyes were filled with guilt and reverence.
"Master… there's something I must clarify."
"Hashibira Inosuke… even though he's the adopted son of Upper Rank Two, even though he calls those demons his family—"
"He is absolutely someone we can trust."
"He truly… wants to create a perfect ending."
Sanemi's voice choked.
"Even if misunderstood, even if exiled, even if he had to turn around and save people like us—people who once hurt him…"
"He didn't hesitate for even a second."
At that moment, Giyu—who had been kneeling nearby—suddenly spoke.
"So your brain finally grew in? (You finally figured it out?)"
Sanemi: "???"
He whipped his head around, glaring at Giyu, fists clenched so tightly they cracked.
"GIYU TOMIOKA!!
What the hell do you mean by that?!
Are you saying I'm brainless?!"
Giyu looked genuinely innocent.
Sanemi wanted to punch him—but suddenly, he felt drained.
Because… it was true.
That day, it was his impulsiveness, his refusal to think, that had caused everything.
"…It grew,"
Sanemi muttered through gritted teeth.
"And Inosuke even kicked it a few times."
Giyu nodded.
Then he asked the question everyone cared about most.
"That child… does he want to come back?"
The room fell into dead silence.
Even the Master turned his head slightly.
Sanemi fell silent.
He remembered Inosuke's backlit figure walking away in the morning sun.
That mocking yet utterly free smile.
"No,"
Sanemi finally said hoarsely, lowering his head.
"He was resolute."
"And…"
"He seems… genuinely happy now."
At those words—
Two silent streams of tears slid down Kagaya Ubuyashiki's curse-marked face.
"I see…"
His voice was barely a whisper.
"Happy…"
"That's good… then."
He smiled bitterly.
"Rather than letting him return to a place that hurt and disappointed him…"
"Rather than forcing him back to face our suspicion and outdated rules…"
"It's better… not to disturb him."
The Master slowly raised his hand.
A Kasugai Crow landed on his finger.
"We owe that child… far too much."
"If he chose that path, if he can make a flower bloom even in darkness…"
"Then the least we can do… is not trample that flower."
"Pass down the order."
His voice became solemn and authoritative.
"Recall all Hashira searching for Inosuke."
"Rengoku, Shinobu, the others…"
"Tell them… stop searching."
"Do not interfere with Inosuke's life. Do not attempt to force him back."
"Let our actions… slowly show him that we were wrong."
"And one day… if the chance comes…"
"We'll repay our debt to him."
The crow nodded, let out a sharp cry, and took flight.
Moments later—
Countless Kasugai Crows rose from headquarters, a black tide spreading in all directions, flying across the land.
At the Foot of the Eternal Paradise Cult Mountain
Shinobu Kocho stood by an inn window, gazing at the church shrouded in mist.
She didn't want to leave.
Suddenly—
Flap! Flap!
A Kasugai Crow landed on the windowsill.
"Caw!
By order of the Master—cease the search! All personnel return!"
"Inosuke has been located! He refuses to rejoin! All units withdraw! Do not disturb him!"
Shinobu froze.
The teacup in her hand trembled, tea spilling onto the back of her hand.
"Found him… but he refuses to return?"
"Do not… disturb?"
She looked toward the church.
Did he really not want to see us anymore?
Had he truly lost all hope in this place?
Her eyes reddened.
She bit her lip, staring in that direction as if trying to see through the walls to the boy himself.
After a long moment—
She took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the ache in her chest.
"Since it's the Master's order…"
She turned and picked up her Nichirin Blade.
"Inosuke… if you're living well…"
"Then… I won't disturb you."
Even so—
As she turned away, a single tear fell and splashed onto the wooden floor.
Somewhere in a Small Town, at a Ramen Stall
Kyojuro Rengoku was holding his tenth bowl of ramen when he heard the crow's message.
His movements froze.
"Mm! He's been found?! Excellent!"
He was smiling—but the light in his owl-like eyes had dimmed.
"He doesn't want to come back…"
"That's understandable… after how deeply we hurt him."
Rengoku set the bowl down and bowed deeply toward empty space.
"It is regrettable!"
"But as long as you are safe, young man, that is enough!"
"I will wait for you! No matter how long it takes!"
Gradually—
All the Hashira received the message.
Whether they were on missions or desperately searching—
They all stopped, looked in the same direction,
Then, carrying exhaustion and regret, turned back toward home.
Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters — Hashira Meeting
This time—
There was no arguing.
No killing intent.
No tension thick enough to cut.
All the Hashira knelt in the courtyard.
Wind, Water, Flame, Insect, Stone, Sound, Love, Serpent, Mist—
All present.
The atmosphere was deathly still.
The Master sat on the veranda, his face paler than usual.
"You've all returned," he said softly.
"Sanemi has already explained the situation, hasn't he?"
No one spoke.
"We wronged Inosuke,"
the Master said quietly, yet his words struck like thunder.
"He is not a traitor."
"He chose to bear everything alone—to protect us, and for a greater purpose."
"What we must do now…"
"Is not disturb him. Not force him back."
"But silently guard this place."
"Guard the Demon Slayer Corps. Guard humanity's front line."
"Until… he truly forgives us."
"Until… the day he is willing to return."
A suppressed sob broke the silence.
Mitsuri Kanroji covered her face and burst into tears.
"I'm sorry… Inosuke-kun… if only I'd been more firm that day…"
Obanai Iguro remained silent, his mismatched eyes dim with regret.
Shinobu knelt with reddened eyes, staring at the ground.
Muichiro Tokito looked up.
The boy who usually stared blankly at the sky now had tears pooled in his eyes.
He looked at the Master and asked a question that suffocated the entire courtyard.
"But what if…"
"What if Inosuke… never forgives us?"
His voice trembled.
"What if he thinks it's better over there… what if he no longer needs us?"
"What if… we never meet him again?"
Silence.
Those "what ifs" pierced straight into everyone's hearts.
Why should he come back?
Why should a simple apology erase such pain?
If it were them… they might never forgive the Corps.
Despair spread quietly.
Sanemi clenched his fists.
Giyu lowered his head.
Rengoku stopped smiling.
Then—
Kagaya Ubuyashiki raised his head.
Behind those blind eyes shone a light that seemed to see beyond the future.
"He won't,"
the Master said firmly.
"I have foreseen it."
All the Hashira looked up at once.
The Master gazed into the distance, into the unknown darkness, a compassionate smile on his lips.
"One night… he will need our help."
"And when that time comes…"
"That will be the moment we repay everything."
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