When Doma died, that happy smile was still on his face.
There, in the faint, gentle radiance of the morning sun, his body slowly whitened and crumbled, scattering little by little on the light breeze like a bundle of firewood burned down to nothing.
Inori didn't know whether he was still faking emotion for her sake, but she preferred to believe that in this moment Doma had truly felt "happiness." She couldn't do any more for him. This was perhaps just the keynote of this world, forever cycling through tragedy. His birth was a tragedy, his growing years were a tragedy, and meeting Muzan and becoming Upper Rank Two had turned him into a source that spread tragedy outward.
Looking at the pile of debris on the ground that had once been Doma, Inori suddenly understood something.
Sometimes the thing that dissolves gradually into foam under the rising sun isn't only a mermaid princess. It might also be a demon who had lived more than two hundred years.
—Didn't expect you'd actually pity the guy.
Ouma Mana's voice came through inside her head.
She seemed a little put out, because this fellow had dared to covet what was hers.
—I'm not pitying him. There's nothing about him worth pitying.
He'd lived two hundred years, and in that time the innocent girls he'd deceived and killed, if not a thousand then at least eight hundred, never mind that he'd also presided over a whole cult. This was the fate he'd earned.
—I'm just marveling at the one who created this world. Her craft really is a touch too masterful.
Even a villain steeped so deep in sin was drawn this distinctively, in a way that left her unable to hate him. He wasn't a born evil like DIO, and he had no tragic, tear-jerking memories to whitewash him with. He simply didn't know how to be a good person, living the only way he thought natural until he'd become a being loathed by many.
—Created this world??
Ouma Mana couldn't make any sense of the phrase.
—It's nothing.
Inori couldn't be bothered to explain to her that this place had once been an animated show in her own memory, and that even the two of them were nothing more than flat 2D characters in an anime.
"Let's head back."
Inori turned, a resolute light in her eyes. This time she'd truly made up her mind about something.
—Head back where?
—To keep this story going.
Even if it took months, even years, Inori would find the secret hidden inside the Nameless Monster. However harsh the conditions, she'd give it her utmost to see it done. She would trigger D4C once more and leave this world, returning to the side of the people who mattered to her.
From the very start, there had only ever been this one thing she needed to do.
...
Kocho Kanae's injuries were severe, but fortunately Inori had arrived in time, keeping Doma from landing the finishing blow.
Kocho Shinobu carried her sister on her back until reinforcements arrived to meet them, and then had her borne back to the Butterfly Mansion for treatment. Her life was saved, but the damage to her lungs was not something that would heal overnight. It didn't affect ordinary daily life, yet for a demon-slaying swordsman the lungs were an organ on par with one's hands, more vital even, because only healthy lungs let them use their unique breathing techniques.
And now Kocho Kanae could barely maintain even the basic Total Concentration: Constant, which was as good as a life sentence.
—She could no longer hunt demons as a Hashira.
Word that the Flower Hashira had run into Upper Rank Two soon reached the Ubuyashiki main estate. Unlike before, Ubuyashiki Kagaya's body had been steadily recovering since Muzan's death, and he'd largely regained the physical functions of a normal person. So on hearing the news, he quickly gathered a few trusted retainers and hurried to the Butterfly Mansion to look in on Kanae's condition.
The small sickroom was packed with people, nearly all of them core members of the Demon Slayer Corps. As a newly risen Hashira with a sweet face and a gentle temperament, Kocho Kanae was quite popular within the Corps, and deeply trusted among the Hashira. The Rengoku Kyojuro of later days even called her "Nee-san," which was proof enough of her charm.
"Master, please, all of you should head back. I'm truly fine!"
Kanae was rather overwhelmed. She'd never imagined the Master would come in person, and instinctively started fretting over the state of his health.
"To sit at home while sending you all out to brave danger, that would leave me ill at ease as well."
The long-haired man with the scars on his face answered from his chair, a clear, limpid smile on his lips.
His complexion had improved markedly from before, his voice carried more strength, and even the scars on his face had faded quite a bit in color. At this rate, regaining his sight wasn't out of the question.
"You've had it hard, Kanae."
The one speaking was a monk standing at the Master's side.
He held a string of prayer beads, a clear blade-scar across his forehead, tears spilling endlessly from both eyes.
This was Himejima Gyomei, the Stone Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, and also the strongest Hashira of the current age. Weeping as he was, he looked deeply moving; anyone who didn't know better would think he grieved over Kanae's injury. The truth, however, was that Himejima was always in tears, anytime and anywhere.
"Rest well from here on. Leave what comes after to us."
"All right."
Lying in her sickbed, Kanae smiled.
"I'll work hard to recover, too, and rejoin the ranks as soon as I can."
"No. That isn't what I had in mind." Himejima spoke softly, then seemed at a loss, struggling to say it. "I asked the doctor, Kanae... your injuries are grave. That demon's cold air invaded your heart and lungs."
"Himejima-san, I'm truly all right. A few days' rest and I'll be fine!"
Kanae was frightened. She was afraid of being left behind. She wasn't even twenty yet, and now she was being forced into retirement. She couldn't accept a thing like that.
"You're a doctor yourself. You should understand the facts aren't as simple as you're making them out to be." Himejima Gyomei turned suddenly grave, admonishing her like a stern, rigid elder.
"Look at the people standing here. Everyone gathered because they're worried about you. You may not treasure your own life, but you have to consider how everyone else feels, and how the Master feels."
Himejima spoke in a level voice, neither hurried nor harsh, yet with an authority impossible to defy.
He wasn't only the strongest Hashira in the Corps; he was also the savior of the two Kocho sisters, and the one who'd guided them into the Demon Slayer Corps. Though Himejima had never been their teacher outright, in a sense he counted as an elder to the sisters as well.
"Kanae-nee-san! Just set your mind at ease and heal. Having you in the Demon Slayer Corps makes everyone feel safer, but I'd still rather see you live on, safe and sound."
Rengoku Kyojuro spoke up in time to add his own urging.
"..."
Kanae didn't know how to answer.
Of course she knew the state of her own body, but in her heart she couldn't let go of the Corps she'd been part of for so long. She'd been a Hashira for less than a year, and now she was being forced to withdraw over some inexplicable madman. She couldn't accept an outcome like that.
"Retire, Kanae."
Ubuyashiki Kagaya spoke as well.
The Demon Slayer Corps really was short on talent now. In recent years, apart from Kocho Kanae, there'd been no standout newcomers; even the ones with decent potential tended to die quickly at demon hands, and the Hashira positions had long stood vacant. To lose an important Flower Hashira now was salt in the wound.
But it was all right. Their greatest enemy, Kibutsuji Muzan, was gone, and the demon side had been calm and quiet of late, so easing up a little posed no problem.
Besides, before long a new round of the Final Selection would begin. Perhaps the Hashira of the future would emerge from among those children.
"Leave what comes next to us. And besides, you still have your little sister, don't you?"
His voice was low, clear, and gentle.
"That you're alive is the greatest encouragement to us. Live well, and entrust your dream to the children who come after. I don't want to reach the day demons vanish from the world at last, only to find that someone who could have shared in the victory is missing from our side."
"Master..."
Listening to all this, Kanae felt her nose sting, the tears very nearly breaking loose.
—That's right. Even Muzan, our greatest enemy, has been destroyed. There really doesn't seem to be any need to push myself so hard.
"Hm? I know you can't sit idle. Here's what we'll do: I'll arrange for you to become a new Cultivator as soon as possible. But do take good care of your body, and try to avoid overexerting yourself."