The shout immediately caught Nezuko's attention, whose big eyes swiveled until they stopped at the precise moment they met Tanjiro's.
And after a beat of silence… she broke into a run.
All the exhaustion built up over seven days of combat, sleepless nights, and resentment toward a certain traitorous senpai vanished from Tanjiro's body in an instant, as if it had never existed.
A radiant smile bloomed across his face, and he opened his arms wide, ready to welcome his beloved little sister.
However... right as his feet pushed forward to close the distance, a firm and terribly familiar hand landed on his shoulder and pinned him in place.
Marcus, without letting go of a Tanjiro who was already starting to tremble with indignation, extended his other hand toward Nezuko with a warm smile.
"Nezuko-chan, come here to me~"
!
Nezuko stopped halfway, her little head tilted to one side.
She looked at Tanjiro, then at Marcus.
She seemed... to hesitate.
It was in that instant that something broke inside Tanjiro. With a slowness that contradicted the storm boiling within him, he turned his head until his eyes met Marcus's, and from the clash of gazes erupted a crackling so intense that the air between them seemed to sizzle.
The great battle for Nezuko… Round Two!
Taking a deep breath, a fierce flame appeared in Tanjiro's eyes—a flame that would have impressed anyone who wasn't Marcus.
Because Marcus, far from flinching, simply removed his hand from Tanjiro's shoulder, crossed his arms, and gave him a look that needed no words to convey its message: try me.
"You can't use your Breathing!" Tanjiro whispered.
"What a joke," Marcus scoffed without uncrossing his arms. "That's my natural ability—it'd be like asking you to stop being hardheaded."
"At least you can't use your blood!"
"... Fine. But then you can't use the emotional-memories attack either."
"..."
Tanjiro hesitated, glanced at Nezuko who still had a somewhat lost look in her eyes, and nodded through gritted teeth: "Deal! Gentleman's pact! Word given!"
And the very next second, his expression transformed completely. The fierceness vanished, replaced by a warmth so genuine and enveloping that it seemed to radiate its own light—like a small sun that had decided to lower itself to a little girl's level. He leaned forward slightly, opened his arms with a tenderness that would have made anyone with even a shred of sensitivity cry, and called to her.
"Nezuko… come, come to your dear big brother."
His tactic was transparent but devastatingly effective: tenderness, familiarity, that instinctive dependency a little sister feels toward the person who's carried her on his back for as long as she can remember.
And it worked.
The moment he spoke, Nezuko didn't hesitate for a single second and broke into a run toward him. Inside Tanjiro's chest, a happiness so intense it clouded his judgment completely erupted: "Yes, that's right, Nezu—UGH!"
But he couldn't finish.
A sandal-clad foot appeared from his left flank at extreme speed and slammed squarely into his side with a solid thud that startled the last remaining birds out of the nearby trees.
The kick caught Tanjiro dead in the ribs. The force was precisely measured: not enough to hurt him, but more than enough to send him... flying.
"WAAAAAAH!"
Tanjiro let out a bizarre scream and went hurtling into the bushes.
Pulling his foot back, Marcus smiled at the exact spot where a pair of sandaled legs stuck out from the shrubbery.
"You never said anything about not using feet."
Then he turned around, and his face shifted with a fluidity that was frankly unsettling: the mocking smile melted away and in its place bloomed a radiant expression, as if the kick he'd just delivered had never happened at all, as if the entire universe had been reduced to the girl in the pink kimono staring at him with wide eyes, still processing the fact that her brother had just gone flying and not quite sure whether she should follow the direction he'd disappeared in or stay where she was.
"Nezuko-chan~! Did you miss me?" With complete nonchalance, he spread his arms, scooped her off the ground, and spun a full circle with her in his arms.
"...Mmh?"
Nezuko let out a confused sound from behind her bamboo muzzle, her little hands clawing at the air in the direction of the bushes where Tanjiro had disappeared.
But Marcus's arms were firm and held her with a certainty that left no room for negotiation, and without paying the slightest attention to her squirming, he started walking toward the cabin.
"Come on, come on—your big brother Marcus has lots of new stories to tell you."
…
CRACK!
Three seconds later, a snapping of branches emerged from the bushes, followed by a Tanjiro who crawled out of the foliage with the dignity of a wet cat and his head covered in weeds, leaves, and what appeared to be a twig dangling from his ear.
And in front of him, there was no one left.
"MARCUS!!!"
Crushing victory for Marcus.
…
When the siscon Tanjiro entered the cabin dragging a visible cloud of resentment behind him, the scene that greeted him was exactly the one he'd feared: Marcus sitting cross-legged, holding a Nezuko who had already stopped struggling and settled comfortably into his arms, while he stroked her hair and smiled with the most insufferably smug expression Tanjiro had ever seen.
"You're a piece of—!"
"Y-You've really... You've really come back..."
A trembling voice came from behind him.
Tanjiro turned around and found that his master, Urokodaki, was standing at his back, as silent as ever. But beneath the Tengu mask, tears flowed without restraint and fell to the floor with a steady rhythm that said everything without the need for words…
Tanjiro, who knew the reason behind his master's tears, felt his own eyes redden, and Urokodaki pulled him into his arms.
Seeing her brother cry, Nezuko, who had already calmed down, struggled to her feet.
And Marcus didn't stop her—on the contrary, he gave her a gentle push, letting her run to her brother and embrace them both.
The three of them melted into a knot of arms and tears and relief that filled the cabin with something warm and ancient.
Marcus watched them from the floor, in silence, wearing a smile different from all the ones he'd used before. He untied his sword and placed it carefully beside the flower mask.
Some knots of the heart were meant to come undone…
Afterward, Urokodaki insisted on taking care of dinner.
He wouldn't take no for an answer, but Marcus and Tanjiro ended up helping him anyway, because neither of them was capable of sitting still.
It was during the meal, with the steaming bowls in their hands, that the two of them told him everything. About the Hand Demon. About the Selection. And finally, what they'd saved for last: the children at the summit of the mountain.
Marcus didn't hide the fact that Makomo's soul had entered his sword, either. Though he presented it as an accident rather than something deliberate.
That last part wasn't just news to Urokodaki. It was news to Tanjiro as well.
And upon learning it, the memories came rushing back all at once: Marcus tearing the demon apart with a fury that didn't seem like his own, insisting that Tanjiro be the one to use Water Breathing, that it be his blade that delivered the final blow…
Everything—absolutely everything—clicked into place.
Looking at Marcus, who had placed Nezuko in his arms and was smiling, Tanjiro thought once more: He's kind, Senpai…
"Master, please take my sword to the summit when you can. I believe this time, the children have a lot to tell you."
Holding the sword with both hands, Urokodaki felt the faint vibration of the blade and the sense of apology it carried.
He couldn't hold back any longer and broke down crying inconsolably.
He wasn't an emotional person by nature.
If they had told him the bare facts, perhaps he could have taken it calmly. But knowing that his students were still up there, too consumed by guilt to come down, that Marcus had carried Makomo in his sword, that Tanjiro had settled that debt with the very same Breathing he had taught them all... it was too much.
"I... I've failed all of them." He bowed deeply, his voice in pieces. "Tanjiro, Marcus—thank you!"
Tanjiro knelt beside him and placed a hand on his back, trying to say something comforting, but when he thought of thirteen companions who had once eaten from these very same bowls and never came back, the tears won out.
Marcus wasn't much of a crier. Though he was moved on the inside, he was more of a believer in leaving things behind: if there's payback to collect, you collect it, instead of crying about it after the fact.
So he pulled out a wooden comb he'd bought in town and started carefully combing Nezuko's hair. In two years of sleep it had grown quite a bit, and the tips had taken on a blazing orange tint that hadn't been there before.
Nezuko, oblivious to the crying and the revelations, half-closed her eyes at the feel of the comb and let out a contented little noise.
After a long while, Urokodaki managed to pull himself together. He wiped his face beneath the mask with a gesture that was meant to be discreet and absolutely wasn't, and then his gaze settled on Nezuko.
His expression changed.
"Tanjiro, there's something I must apologize to you for."
Tanjiro blinked, his eyes still red.
"During the time Nezuko was asleep, without your consent, I acted on my own and implanted a suggestion in her."
"A suggestion?"
"I told Nezuko: all humans are your family—you must protect your family, and demons are the enemy."
"..."
Tanjiro was quiet for a moment, processing it, and then let out a long sigh that relaxed his shoulders all at once.
"Master, you don't need to apologize—you did the right thing." His voice was calm, without an ounce of reproach. "Keeping Nezuko from hurting people... isn't that what we all want?"
As he spoke, he looked at Nezuko, who was sitting in Marcus's arms with an expression of total contentment.
"So Marcus counts as family to her too…" Tanjiro tilted his head, half understanding, half resignation. "No wonder she's so attached to him."
Hearing that, Marcus stopped combing Nezuko's hair and scratched his cheek with a discomfort that was rare for him.
"Well... I also have something I need to apologize to you for."
——————
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