Shirakawa turned around, his face wearing an undisguised smile of success that looked particularly… punchable.
At least, that was what Makomo felt.
She puffed out her cheeks, her pale green eyes wide, staring like a little squirrel whose pine cone had been snatched away. "You—you did that on purpose!" Makomo stomped her small feet indignantly. "Yesterday too! And today!"
"Mm-hmm~" Shirakawa nodded generously, hands stuffed in his pockets as he sauntered back to Makomo's side. "What else? I called out for a year and no one paid me any mind. I had to get a little 'revenge,' didn't I?"
"We didn't ignore you on purpose…" Makomo's voice grew small, her fingers starting to twist the hem of her clothes again. "Sabito said… he said it would be better to observe for a while…"
"And what did you observe?" Shirakawa asked with great interest.
"Observed that you're a troublesome fellow." A deep voice came from the side.
Sabito's figure slowly emerged, still wearing that same old haori, his fox mask facing Shirakawa.
Though his expression couldn't be seen, the helplessness in his tone was practically overflowing.
"Wow, Senior Sabito is here too." Shirakawa wasn't surprised at all, greeting him with a grin. "Good evening~"
Sabito didn't take the bait and said directly, "Makomo answered your question from yesterday. Now it's your turn to answer."
"Right, exactly!" Reminded, Makomo quickly straightened her small frame, trying her best to look serious.
"Shirakawa-kun, you haven't told me yet! Why do you know about us? And your Breathing Style, and the sword—"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait."
Shirakawa raised a hand, interrupting her rapid-fire questions. "One question for one answer; that's only fair, right?"
Makomo froze. "Eh?"
"Yesterday you answered my question about how I knew you kill demons, so today I can answer one of your questions."
Shirakawa extended his index finger and wagged it. "As for the rest… ask tomorrow?"
"How can you be like this—!" Makomo couldn't help but stomp her foot. "You promised to tell me today, you're cheating!"
"This is called 'equivalent exchange.'" Shirakawa said solemnly. "And look, didn't I come today? That shows plenty of sincerity."
Makomo looked at Sabito huffily, her eyes pleading for help.
Sabito fell silent for two seconds and sighed. "Ask the one you want to know most first."
Makomo bit her lip and thought. Her large eyes circled Shirakawa several times before she finally asked cautiously:
"Then… that pink Breathing Style of yours… what exactly is it? Why is it that every time you use it… I… I feel like I want to get closer to you?"
After asking, her face turned red again, and she quickly added, "I-I'm just curious! I don't mean anything else!"
Shirakawa laughed.
He walked to the giant boulder and sat down against the cold stone surface, patting the spot beside him. "Sit?"
Neither Makomo nor Sabito moved.
"Fine." Shirakawa didn't mind, speaking leisurely. "My Breathing Style is called 'Color Breathing.'"
Makomo: "Color…?"
"Color as in hues," Shirakawa added without changing his expression.
"As for the effect… simply put, I get stronger when I'm near girls. The closer I am, the better the effect."
The air went silent for a few seconds.
Makomo blinked, seemingly processing the meaning of those words.
Sabito's fox mask tilted slightly. "…Huh?"
"So," Shirakawa turned to Makomo, smiling brilliantly.
"It's normal for you to want to get close to me. The characteristic of my Breathing Style is—a natural attraction to the opposite sex."
Makomo's face turned red instantly, all the way to the tips of her ears.
"Wh-what are you talking about!" She waved her hands frantically, her whole body looking like it was about to emit steam. "I don't… I don't…"
"Mm-hmm, you don't, you don't." Shirakawa nodded agreeably, though his eyes were full of mischief.
Sabito took a step forward, partially shielding Makomo, his mask facing Shirakawa. "Such a Breathing Style… is unheard of."
"That's why it's self-created." Shirakawa shrugged. "Impressive, right?"
"…Indecent," Sabito summarized.
"Thanks for the compliment~" Shirakawa accepted it wholeheartedly.
Makomo poked half her head out from behind Sabito, looking at Shirakawa nervously as she whispered, "But… but you know our situation… why would your Breathing Style be effective on me?"
"That, I don't know." Shirakawa spread his hands with a wicked grin.
"Maybe my Breathing Style has no effect on you at all, and the reason you want to be close to me is because…"
Makomo: "Because of what?"
"Be—cause—" Shirakawa intentionally dragged it out, waiting until Makomo couldn't help but take two steps forward before suddenly saying with a serious face:
"Because you like me!"
⊙(・◇・)? "Eh?"
∑(O_O;) "Ehh!!?"
(#／.＼#) "You!!! You—you!!! What are you talking about!!!"
Makomo's expression instantly became extremely colorful, her small face turning a deep, alluring red.
The next second!
Pop!
Like a punctured balloon, Makomo vanished instantly.
"What happened!? Where's Makomo!?"
Shirakawa was startled, thinking he had overdone it and caused the girl to explode from embarrassment.
Fortunately, Sabito remained calm.
"She ran away. Don't look for her; she probably won't dare to see you for a couple of days."
"She didn't explode, did she?"
Sabito (￣ー￣): "We are ghosts, not balloons!"
"That's good then…"
Sabito sighed helplessly. "But if you keep teasing her like this, I can't guarantee she'll want to see you in the future."
Shirakawa (￣へ￣): "Wasn't it you who wouldn't let her show herself in the first place?"
Sabito: "…As expected, I find it hard to like you!"
"It's fine, the one I want to see isn't you anyway!"
"Alright, let's leave it at that for today…" Shirakawa turned around and waved without looking back.
"Makomo, I'm leaving. See you tomorrow. If you don't show up, I'll shout all over the mountain: 'Makomo—Makomo—where are you—'"
"Don't you dare shout!" Makomo's embarrassed and annoyed voice rang out right on cue.
"Hahaha~ Then you better not miss our date tomorrow!~"
Shirakawa's figure quickly disappeared into the woods.
Sabito stood where he was, watching the direction he left for a long time without speaking.
"…What a strange fellow."
"Yeah…" Makomo appeared beside him, nodding with a red face, her voice tiny. "But… I don't seem to hate him."
Sabito rolled his eyes beneath his mask.
He used his finger to poke Makomo's little head, making it wobble.
"You—have some dignity!"
Makomo stared blankly in the direction Shirakawa had gone, a faint blush rising on her face again.
In the time that followed, Shirakawa added another item to his daily routine.
That was going to the mountaintop before sleeping to chat with Makomo.
For the first few times, Sabito would still appear during their Q&A sessions.
Later, unable to stand Makomo's fangirl behavior, he simply stayed away to keep his peace of mind.
However, he wasn't idle either.
Tanjiro's persistence finally moved him.
Half a year later, just like in the original story, he appeared before Tanjiro as a sparring partner who was both a teacher and a friend.
Mt. Sagiri was very high—so high that the air at the summit was thin, pressing against the clouds, covered in snow year-round, and hidden from the sun.
Perhaps that was the reason Sabito and Makomo could remain there.
Later… Shirakawa and Tanjiro, these two fellow disciples, naturally became regulars at the mountaintop.
One spent his days training desperately, constantly being beaten.
The other spent his nights flirting and chatting with a girl.
Sometimes when Tanjiro wanted to practice a bit longer, Shirakawa would chase him away.
He was also curious about what Shirakawa was doing sneaking off to the mountaintop every night.
So one night, he secretly followed him to take a look.
That single glance caused Tanjiro's mental state to collapse on the spot.
His senior brother kept calling him "Brother-in-law" and saying he wanted to marry Nezuko.
To be honest, over the years, he didn't seem to resist those words as much anymore.
And yet…
Yet this bastard!!!
Was actually running to the mountaintop every night to secretly date one of his two little masters!?
This was too much to bear!
When Tanjiro jumped out of the woods shouting, "You bastard Shirakawa! What do you take Nezuko for!" and scared Makomo away—
The result was predictable.
With a bruised face and a head full of bumps, Tanjiro finally learned from the still-fuming Shirakawa—
His two little masters were both orphans, disciples raised by Sakonji Urokodaki.
They were both… people who had already died.
ε(┬┬﹏┬┬)3
This made Tanjiro cry so hard he wouldn't let go of Sabito's leg. As for Makomo… Shirakawa wouldn't let Tanjiro hug her…
Initially, Tanjiro wanted to tell Urokodaki about this.
But he was stopped by Shirakawa.
Shirakawa knew very well that the knots in their hearts had not yet been untied.
They had always felt they had failed Urokodaki's teachings.
That was why they didn't dare to see him.
If the truth was to be told to Urokodaki, it had to wait until after killing the Hand Demon in the trial grounds.
Only then could both sides find peace of mind.
Tanjiro understood this as well, so he didn't act rashly and instead silently pushed himself harder in training.
And so… another year passed!
On this day, in his battle against Sabito, Tanjiro finally realized his own unique finishing move.
The Opening Thread!
Listening to the sound of the giant boulder crashing down on the mountaintop,
Sakonji Urokodaki, sitting cross-legged in the small storehouse, opened his eyes—both gratified and reluctant.
It was time!