The sun was already low on the horizon, the afternoon coming to an end and giving way to night.
Shinobu and I walked leisurely along the dirt trail.
It was one of those simple missions.
Just a few travelers disappearing along this path during the night.
It probably meant an opportunistic Oni hiding somewhere nearby.
We took this mission for two reasons:
To test some poison formulas Shinobu and I had been developing, and for her to officially test her new breathing technique.
I glanced at her as we walked.
"Hey, Shinobu."
"Yes?"
"Why exactly did you name your breathing Insect Breathing?"
"You've told me yourself that you hate insects."
Shinobu fell silent for a second.
Then smiled faintly.
"Because the name fits."
I tilted my head slightly.
"My techniques focus on thrusts and fast attacks."
"They end up resembling stings."
"Like those of an insect."
"And the use of poisons also fits perfectly into the concept."
I nodded in agreement after thinking about it for a few seconds.
"It made sense."
Above us, four black silhouettes circled in the sky.
My three crows and Shinobu's crow watched the area from above, searching for any suspicious signs.
Meanwhile, I occasionally searched using my presence.
Stopping constantly to scan would be tiring and tedious.
So I left most of the work to the crows.
I stretched my arms upward.
At that moment, my eyes caught something near the base of a tree.
I stopped, my gaze fixed on it.
Shinobu took two more steps before noticing and then turned her head toward me.
"Usan?"
I didn't respond and walked toward the tree, crouching when I reached it.
Shinobu approached, her hands behind her back.
I was looking at a small cluster of mushrooms growing at the base of the trunk.
They had a smooth surface and a yellow-green coloration.
I pointed at them, smiling slightly.
"Recognize these?"
Shinobu looked for a second.
Then her eyes lit up in recognition.
"Oh!"
She crouched beside me.
"Death caps."
"Exactly," I nodded.
She tilted her head slightly when she saw me grab one by the stem.
"Taking samples?"
I carefully pulled the mushroom out.
"Crk." A small wet sound came from the stem detaching.
I started cleaning some of the dirt off it.
Then Shinobu seemed to draw her own conclusions and decided to share her knowledge.
She raised her index finger, like a teacher beginning an explanation.
"One of the most poisonous mushrooms in existence."
She began listing:
"The effects start a few hours after ingestion, some including:"
"Intense vomiting."
"Diarrhea, sometimes with blood."
"Severe abdominal pain, dehydration, hypotension…"
"Then comes a false recovery, and after that the symptoms continue."
"Liver failure, kidney dysfunction, among others."
"And finally, de… ath…"
She froze.
Her brain was clearly still trying to process what she had just seen.
Because, in the middle of her explanation…
I had simply brought the mushroom to my mouth.
"D-death…"
I bit, chewed casually, and swallowed.
"..."
Slowly, the color began to drain from Shinobu's face.
"…"
She blinked once, twice, and then snapped back to reality.
Her hands shot to my face.
She grabbed my cheeks with both cold hands, trembling slightly.
"USAN!!!"
"Spit that out!"
"Now!!!"
She shook my head slightly.
"Spit it out!!"
It was exactly the same tone of desperation as someone trying to stop a dog from swallowing something dangerous.
"Shinobu…"
"SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!!"
"I don't suffer from poisoning."
She froze.
"…"
"I only ate it to strengthen my immune system a bit more…"
She kept staring at me.
I sighed, gently freed myself from her trembling grip, and punched the base of my stomach, vomiting the mushroom onto the tree roots.
Shinobu still looked like she was about to have a breakdown, so we decided to take a short break.
─── ◆ ───
We stayed still for a few hours.
Shinobu watched me the entire time like a hawk, examining me, looking for any signs of poisoning.
But…
Nothing happened.
When it finally became clear that I was perfectly fine, her expression changed.
First relief.
Then irritationlots of irritation.
"Idiot."
"Idiot!"
"Are you trying to give me a heart attack??"
"…"
"Sorry..."
She turned her face away with a "Humph," her cheeks slightly puffed in frustration.
"Stupid!"
"Who in their right mind deliberately eats one of the most toxic mushrooms known?"
She kept muttering insults as we walked through the night.
I just listened in silence, feeling guilty about her reaction.
'The guide really gave me some mental damage…'
'Seriously, even if it works for me, it's completely abnormal for other people.'
I've been doing this since the first time I drank the poison vials the assassin guide gave me.
Eating poisonous things to strengthen my immune system, the improvement I felt whenever I consumed something more dangerous than before was… satisfying…
'Shinobu's reaction reminds me a lot of Tsubaki's.'
My mind briefly returned to the memory.
She was the first to see me eat something poisonous… her bravado vanished instantly.
She was shocked, then spent several minutes scolding me, sulking.
'I need to stop worrying the people who care about me.'
'After this mission, I'll take some time to reflect on whether the things I do are strange.'
─── ◆ ───
After promising never to do that again and receiving a few more insults…
We refocused on the mission, with Shinobu now calmer, mainly because of my promise.
The crows finally found something.
Some stains of dried blood on trees near the trail.
Enough to indicate we were heading in the right direction.
So I decided to expand the search.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, placing my hand on the sheath of the katana recently returned by my swordsmith.
"Shadow Breathing: Second Form, Anshi."
I began detecting life around the area.
"Found it."
I deactivated the technique and turned toward where I had sensed the Oni.
We walked for a few minutes until reaching the detected spot.
A cave, we didn't even need to enter. Its inhabitant showed up as soon as we got close to the entrance.
"What was that just now…?" An Oni stepped out of the cave.
"Demon Slayers…" He looked at us with disdain.
I glanced at Shinobu, nodding toward her.
She nodded back and advanced, almost disappearing in a blur.
"Huh?!"
The Oni barely had time to react.
"Insect Breathing: Hachi no mai: Manabi."
The blade pierced the Oni's chest with a single thrust.
He fell to the ground and began to convulse violently.
'Dance of the Bee's Sting… Nice name.'
Shinobu's speed was better than when we sparred.
She let out a soft sigh while looking at her katana.
"Hmm."
"Without a proper katana for poison injection… the technique can't be used to its full potential…"
Even so, she smiled, turning toward me.
"But I'm proud of this creation."
"Thank you for the support, Usan…"
'Awwn.'
"But you're still an idiot."
Her smile disappeared, disapproval once again visible on her face.
'Ouchh.'
I walked over to the fallen Oni.
He was still alive, since the poison Shinobu had used was paralytic.
His muscles trembled as he tried to move.
I looked at Shinobu.
"Well… the paralytic is good."
"We need more tests with stronger Onis later on."
"For now, we need a standard poison with a faster effect."
"If you have to face more than one Oni at the same time…"
"Waiting for the poison to take effect while dealing with another would be problematic."
For now, Shinobu is limited to using poison on one enemy at a time, since she has to manually reapply the solution to her katana.
She nodded.
"Yes."
Then a smile reappeared on her face.
"For that…"
She placed her hand inside her haori.
And pulled out several small vials.
"We need to test some formulas."
I also pulled out my own set of vials.
"A looooot of formulas."
─── ◆ ───
From the Oni's point of view…
He saw two pairs of purple eyes staring at him.
Then the two looked at each other and broke into wide smiles.
An absolutely terrifying smile.
─── ◆ ───
[A/N]: Here are some of the ages of the characters in the timeline I'm following:
Usan: 15 years old
Shinobu: 14 years old
Kanae, Sanemi, Giyu: 17 years old
Rengoku: 16 years old
Aoi, Kanao: 12 years old
"The girls from the butterfly mansion": 4 to 6 years old
Ubuyashiki's daughters and son: 4 years old
I hope this helps you see how the story is currently progressing; it's not necessarily canonical with the original.
If you'd like to support my work and receive bonuses such as 5 to 10 advanced chapters, spoilers, early access to my new books, polls, and more, check out:
P @ t r 3 0 n - Condor7