"Oh, if it isn't Tanjiro,"
Marcus kept his eyes straight ahead, ignoring the dark aura emanating from Tanjiro.
"Look, she is... my new little friend. I'm having a friendly pre-war exchange with her."
A vein throbbed on Tanjiro's temple. "Friend-ly ex-change?"
He pointed at the tiny gap between Marcus and the girl's shoulder. "You call that friendly?! That's harassment! IT'S HARASSMENT!!"
"You're exaggerating." Marcus waved his hand and offered Kanao a smile. "Look, she accepts my company."
"By the way. Let's greet our new friend. Pretty Lady, what's your name?"
"You are completely clueless about her name!?" Tanjiro frantically smacked Marcus's back. "And calling her Pretty Lady is totally disrespectful!!"
"That's exactly why I'm getting to know her." Marcus brushed it off. "Tanjiro, watch your image."
"..."
Kanao watched them argue in silence. Her eyes reflected the surface of a calm lake.
Moments later, her fingers twitched and the coin flew through the air again.
It landed on her palm.
Heads.
"My name is... Tsuyuri... Kanao."
"Kanao..." Marcus savored the name while lightly licking his lips.
"What a beautiful name... I'm Marcus, and this is my scaredy-cat younger brother, Tanjiro Kamado."
"WHO IS A SCAREDY-CAT?!"
Tanjiro bristled and immediately stood in front of Kanao, instinctively adopting a straight posture. "H-hello! I'm Kamado Tanjiro!"
Kanao looked at him, nodded, and then...
The interaction ended right there.
She returned to her silent state, staring blankly at the wisteria.
Tanjiro's jaw dropped to the floor.
'This... this girl... communicating with her is really hard...'
'Although she is really, really cute... it makes total sense that Marcus approached her—WAIT!'
'Wait, now is the time to focus on something else!'
'We must focus exclusively on the final selection!'
"Relax, take a deep breath." Marcus patted Tanjiro's shoulder and whispered, "Kanao is... well, a bit special."
"Special my ass!" Tanjiro dragged him by his clothes into a corner, gritting his teeth to muffle his screams.
"Did you forget why we came here? Nezuko is waiting at home! How can you, how can you get here and start...?"
"Start what?"
"Hitting on other girls!" Tanjiro's voice almost slipped out of his control.
Marcus scratched his ear, flashing an expression of absolute enlightenment, "Tanjiro, you lack vision. What I'm doing is called the Power Expansion Plan."
He pointed at Kanao and then at himself, "You can tell from a mile away that she's strong. If I get closer to her, my breathing efficiency increases. If my breathing improves, I get stronger. If I'm stronger, I can protect you better..."
"Me?!"
"...and the adorable Nezuko-chan." Marcus added, flashing a bright smile. "See the big picture? It's a growth cycle."
Tanjiro's mouth fell wide open, leaving him completely speechless.
'Wait... did he just say something logical?'
Wait a minute!
THAT WAS PURE MANIPULATIVE LOGIC!
Just when his head started smoking, two crisp claps echoed from the front of the courtyard.
All eyes turned toward the sound.
Two "girls," one with black hair and the other with white hair, dressed in wisteria kimonos. They stood in front of the crowd, materializing in the place with absolute stealth.
Both shared identical features, displaying serene smiles and speaking with perfectly synchronized voices.
"Thank you all for attending the Demon Slayer Corps Final Selection tonight."
"On this mountain, the demons captured alive by the swordsmen remain trapped."
"They remain confined to this place, held back by the wisteria that blooms all year round from the base to halfway up the mountain, flowers the demons deeply abhor."
"However, beyond this point, the wisteria flowers vanish."
"The demons roam freely around the mountain."
"Surviving here for seven days is the condition to pass the Final Selection."
Both of them bowed.
"And for that reason, we wish you the best of luck."
As those final words echoed, the atmosphere grew heavy.
The candidates gripped their swords in almost perfect sync, abruptly ending all previous chatter.
The crowd sprang into action.
Some took a deep breath and dashed into the darkness. Others scanned their surroundings cautiously, and several formed small squads to move forward.
Tanjiro gripped the hilt of his Nichirin sword and looked at Marcus. "We—"
Mid-sentence, he found Marcus turning his back to him. He already had his hand reached out to Kanao, who remained standing under the shade of a tree.
"Kanao, do you want to go together?"
"Are you seriously hitting on her at a time like this?!" Tanjiro almost tore his hair out.
"..."
Kanao looked at Marcus's outstretched hand, and this time she bypassed the coin toss altogether.
She simply observed Marcus for a moment and then walked away.
Marcus placed a hand over his chest, exaggerating the pain. "... I've been rejected."
Witnessing the snub, Tanjiro fought fiercely to hold back his laughter, sealing his lips with both hands.
Smack!
Tanjiro hissed in pain, grabbing his head as he crouched down.
Marcus hid his hand, which felt somewhat red and numb, and growled menacingly. "I will absolutely smack you despite your incredibly thick skull!"
And he immediately looked in the direction Kanao took, inhaling the trail of her scent, memorizing it.
"The space on this mountain is confined, our reunion is just a matter of time."
[Analysis progress: 0.15%]
"MARCUS!!!" Tanjiro exploded. He jumped to his feet and firmly grabbed Marcus by the collar of his haori, shaking him lightly. "The plaza is deserted! Everyone has left! It's our turn!!!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming, chill." Marcus let himself be dragged, maintaining his unalterable smile. "Relax a bit. Seven days is an eternity, we have plenty of time—"
"AAAAAAH!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream, abruptly slicing through the air, interrupted their chat. It came from the depths of the gloomy forest ahead of them.
The shriek was followed by the visceral sound of tearing flesh and chewing.
Tanjiro's face turned completely pale. Marcus's smile faded instantly, and his hand gripped the hilt of his sword.
"It seems..." he muttered, "the selection has begun."
________
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