Chapter 13: Hey, Brother, Quite the Skill You Have There
It spread its hands, wearing an indifferent, roguish expression:
"Besides, that person just now was truly delicious. That flavor of despair...
It's just a pity that the portion was too small; I haven't even eaten my fill yet.
Since you've delivered yourself to my doorstep, although you look a bit thin,
you're tender and delicate, so you should taste much better than that stinky man from before, right?"
Upon hearing these words, Kanae Kocho's inner rage intensified.
But just as she prepared to draw her sword and charge, Tatsu suddenly dashed out from the woods behind her, appearing by her side in an instant.
Tatsu's appearance caused the demon opposite them to freeze for a moment.
The aura of one's own kind cannot be concealed; it immediately sensed that the young man who had suddenly appeared before it was also a demon.
Tatsu first glanced at Masashi's severed head in the grass, his brows knitting slightly, a flash of complex emotion crossing his eyes.
Subsequently, he turned his head to look at Kanae Kocho beside him.
At this moment, Kanae's body was trembling slightly from anger and sorrow, her eyes rimmed with red.
"Kanae."
Tatsu called out softly.
He reached out and gently patted Kanae Kocho's shoulder,
"Don't be sad anymore.
Such things... although they cannot be undone, what we can do is prevent such tragedies from continuing to happen."
Kanae Kocho heard Tatsu's voice.
She turned her head, looking into Tatsu's blood-red eyes, and the anger in her own eyes gradually subsided.
"Mm, Tatsu."
Kanae Kocho nodded gently, her voice returning to its usual gentleness,
"I know.
It's just... seeing a scene like this, I still feel very sad."
This scene was completely beyond the expectations of the demon opposite them.
It widened its eyes, looking in disbelief at the interaction between the human and the demon before it.
That look, that tone...
"Th-this... what is going on?"
The demon's heart was filled with doubt and shock.
It had never seen a Demon Slayer Corps swordsman stand so intimately with a demon, let alone comfort each other.
In its understanding, the Demon Slayer Corps and demons were natural enemies, locked in an irreconcilable feud.
Its gaze darted back and forth between Tatsu and Kanae, finally settling on Tatsu.
Looking at Tatsu's "upright gentleman" appearance, the demon suddenly seemed to understand something, a look of sudden realization appearing on its face.
"Hey, brother, quite the skill you have there!"
The demon pointed at Tatsu and let out a harsh, strange laugh,
"You've got this little human girl wrapped around your finger!
Tsk tsk tsk, to think you could make a member of the Demon Slayer Corps so devoted to you; I truly admire your methods, brother."
The demon thought Tatsu was toying with Kanae Kocho, using some means to deceive this kind human girl, just like a cat would toy with a mouse before catching it.
"Hey, tell me, when are you planning to eat her?"
The demon leered and stepped forward a few paces, winking at Tatsu,
"A top-tier piece like this must be saved for last to savor slowly, right?
Especially when she discovers the truth, realizing that the companion she has always trusted is actually a demon waiting to eat her, that look of collapse and despair...
wow, just thinking about it makes me so excited I'm drooling!
Brother, can you share a piece of the action when the time comes? Even just an arm would do!"
The demon became more and more excited as it spoke, completely immersed in its own fantasies.
There could be no genuine feelings between demons and humans; there was only deception and being deceived, the relationship between hunter and prey.
The demon stared greedily at Tatsu, then scanned Kanae Kocho with that disgusting gaze used to evaluate ingredients, saliva nearly dripping from the corners of its mouth.
However, the expected rage and humiliation did not occur.
Kanae Kocho took a gentle breath.
She didn't draw her sword immediately, but instead tilted her head slightly, in her lavender eyes, the flames originally ignited by anger now settled into a more resolute glow.
She looked at Tatsu beside her.
Tatsu remained as calm and unruffled as ever, only with a hint of pity and mockery in his eyes for this inferior demon.
He did not offer an explanation, because in that demon's barren and twisted worldview, it was impossible to understand any way of existence other than killing and devouring.
"How truly pathetic."
Kanae Kocho's voice rang out softly, breaking the demon's self-righteous laughter.
The demon's laughter stopped abruptly; it looked as if it had been choked, staring with wide eyes at the human girl:
"Huh? What did you say? Pathetic?"
"Using your narrow and ugly heart to speculate about a noble soul you cannot possibly understand—is that not pathetic?"
Kanae Kocho took a step forward, blocking in front of Tatsu.
She looked the demon straight in the eye, her words striking like pearls:
"Tatsu is not like you."
"Although he is a demon, he has never discarded his dignity and bottom line as a 'human'.
Along this journey, I have seen with my own eyes that he does not eat humans."
Bits and pieces of these past few days surfaced in Kanae's mind.
She remembered being in that bustling restaurant, the crowd packed, filled with all kinds of human scents.
For a demon, that was no different from being in the midst of a feast filled with ultimate temptation.
Although she appeared calm on the surface at the time, her hand had been resting on the hilt of her sword, constantly vigilant against Tatsu losing control.
But what did Tatsu do?
He ate tonkotsu ramen, blowing on it because it was too hot, then swallowed it with a look of satisfaction, even smiling embarrassedly when sauce got on the corner of his mouth.
He could obtain energy through human food, and could restrain his instincts through powerful willpower.
"He will show a happy smile when eating delicious ramen, and will pause to admire beautiful scenery.
He possesses emotions richer and a heart warmer than many humans."
Kanae Kocho said, the corners of her mouth curling into a gentle arc unconsciously,
"You say he is deceiving me? Keeping me as livestock?
No, that is merely a projection of your own dirty desires.
Because you cannot restrain your desires, because you are a slave to your desires, you naturally assume all demons are as base as you."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
The demon was enraged by Kanae's gaze, which seemed capable of seeing through everything.
It felt as if it had been stripped of its skin, exposing the ugly, unbearable soul beneath.
It could not bear for a weak human to dare speak to it in such a condescending, pitying tone.
"What do you know! Demons are meant to eat humans! This is nature! This is instinct!"
The demon roared hysterically, its grey skin beginning to bulge, blue veins popping, clearly on the verge of exploding,
"That guy is just putting on an act!
When he is starving, he will definitely tear you to shreds! He definitely will!"
Tatsu looked at Kanae blocking in front of him, a warm current surging through his heart.
As a demon, being so firmly defended by a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps—this feeling was wonderful and precious.
He had just wanted to say something when he saw Kanae lift her hand slightly, stopping his action.
Kanae's expression became serious again, that gentleness revealing a majesty befitting a "Hashira".
"I have already made myself very clear regarding Tatsu.
Whether you believe it or not, the facts will not change."
Her gaze passed over the demon to look at the deep, dark woods behind it, her tone suddenly turning as cold as frost,
"Now, let us talk about your sins."
"Recently, cases of missing young girls have been occurring frequently in several nearby villages and towns.
According to the Demon Slayer Corps' intelligence, those missing girls were all around fifteen or sixteen years old, the very prime of their youth."
Kanae's fingers rested lightly on the hilt of the peach-colored Nichirin Sword at her waist,
her thumb applying slight pressure to push out a section of the snow-bright blade, which refracted a chilling light under the moonlight,
"They all disappeared without cause at night, leaving no traces of struggle at the scene, only a faint scent of blood.
Their families cried out their names in the dead of night, parents turning grey overnight from losing their daughters..."
Although Kanae's voice was calm, every word struck the air like a heavy hammer, carrying suppressed rage,
"Those girls... were all eaten by you, weren't they?"