Chapter 118: Kakushi: I Can Brag About This Experience for a Lifetime
Not too long ago.
After Kanzaki Akira stepped out of the carriage and vanished into the darkness, Kanae's grip on the wooden window frame tightened until her knuckles turned white. As the carriage rumbled further down the dirt path, the distance did nothing to muffle the sheer violence erupting behind them. The night air shuddered with massive, booming collisions that sounded like a mountain flood bursting through a dam. Every tremor sent a fresh spike of dread through her chest.
She desperately wanted to turn back. However, Akira had explicitly entrusted her with the safety of the passengers inside the carriage before he left. She also knew her own limits; with the terrifying scale of the battle echoing through the forest, rushing in blindly might only serve to distract him and create a fatal opening.
Forced to wait, Kanae stepped outside onto the driver's bench, her eyes locked onto the pitch-black sky above the tree line. She counted every agonizing second, waiting for the very first sliver of dawn to break so she could rush back to his side.
Time crawled by at an excruciating pace. Finally, a faint, grayish-blue light began to bleed across the eastern horizon.
Kanae could not sit still for another heartbeat. She tossed a hurried instruction to the driving Kakushi, leapt cleanly off the moving carriage, and sprinted back down the road at full speed.
She left the poor Kakushi sitting alone on the bench, completely bewildered as the morning wind ruffled his uniform.
'Wait,'the Kakushi thought, his eyes widening behind his mask.'There are two demons inside this carriage with me!'
Halfway through Kanae's frantic sprint, the devastating commotion ahead abruptly ceased. The sudden silence was deafening, causing her heart to leap directly into her throat.
The sun had just begun to peek over the mountains. The demon must have fled from the sunlight.
But what about Akira?
A suffocating wave of anxiety pushed her legs to move even faster, her breathing technique flaring as she blurred down the forest path.
Then, she saw it. A solitary, blood-drenched figure sitting in the middle of the ruined dirt road.
The person was slumped forward, wearing the tattered, shredded remains of a haori she had sewn with her very own hands.
"Akira-kun!" Kanae cried out, the name tearing from her throat before she could even process the sight.
As she closed the distance, the horrific extent of his injuries came into sharp focus. His body leaned heavily to the left, barely supported by his uninjured arm. Both his custom haori and the dark Demon Slayer Corps uniform beneath it were ripped wide open, exposing a back completely painted in crimson. Deep, jagged lacerations crisscrossed his flesh. Worse still, his right arm hung at a sickening, unnatural angle, the shoulder joint visibly crushed and deformed.
Hearing her desperate call, Akira managed to shift his posture slightly. His blood-smeared profile came into view. Because the entire right side of his body was wrecked, he could only track her rapid approach out of the corner of his left eye.
Kanae dropped to her knees beside him, her hands trembling as she immediately began tearing long strips of clean cloth from her own uniform to serve as emergency bandages. Tears spilled over her eyelashes, cutting clean tracks through the dust on her cheeks.
Watching her cry as she frantically tried to stem the bleeding, Akira offered a weak, dry smile. "Ara, aren't I still alive and well?"
"How is this well..." Kanae choked out, a soft sob escaping her lips.
She didn't waste another second. With practiced, gentle precision, she bound his mangled right shoulder, using the thick cloth strips to strap his entire right arm tightly against his torso to prevent any further bone displacement. Moving to his left side, she carefully assessed his back, avoiding the deepest gashes as she maneuvered herself under him and hoisted him onto her back.
It was a blessing that Kanae was a master of Total Concentration Breathing. Without the enhanced physical strength it provided, carrying a grown man of Akira's build over such a long distance would have been impossible.
His right arm needed high-level medical treatment immediately, or the nerve and bone damage could become permanent.
After running a short distance down the road with Akira secured on her back, Kanae spotted their carriage stopped dead in its tracks just ahead. A very familiar figure stood aggressively beside the driver's bench, the sharp tip of a Nichirin Blade pointed directly into the carriage cabin, interrogating the terrified Kakushi.
"Speak! Why is there a demon inside this carriage?!"
It was Sabito. His designated patrol route happened to cover this exact vicinity. He had just finished his night shift and was preparing to head back to headquarters when his Kasugai Crow frantically alerted him to the massive shockwaves generated by the clash between Akira and Akaza. He had immediately changed course to provide backup.
Instead of the battle, he intercepted the carriage halfway down the road. Yushiro had already deactivated his Blood Demon Art camouflage. Now that the sun was rising, keeping the carriage invisible would only cause mysterious clouds of dust to fly up on the road, drawing even more unwanted attention from early morning travelers., an invisible carriage speeding down a public road in broad daylight was a massive accident waiting to happen.
Sabito had watched the carriage seemingly materialize out of thin air, and his honed senses immediately locked onto the distinct, obvious aura of demons radiating from inside the wooden cabin.
If the driving Kakushi hadn't frantically screamed out his corps identification in the nick of time, Sabito's blade would have already severed his neck.
'In that moment,'the Kakushi thought, sweat pouring down his face,'that blade was exactly zero point zero one centimeters away from my throat.'
"Sabito-senpai, do not harm the demons in that carriage!" Kanae shouted, her voice ringing out just in time to stop the Water Hashira from tearing the cabin doors off their hinges.
"Kanae?" Sabito snapped his head around, his fierce glare softening into absolute shock. "Holy—! Who could possibly injure Akira like this?!"
Sabito had sparred with Akira on numerous occasions. He knew exactly how terrifying the man's combat prowess was. Seeing him reduced to such a battered, bloodied state sent a cold jolt through Sabito's chest.
"Upper Rank Three," Akira answered, his voice raspy and weak from the severe blood loss. He forced his eyes to stay open, refusing to pass out just yet. "The demons in the carriage are special cases. I've already sent a report to Kagaya-sama. They do not consume human flesh, and they even helped me save an entire family tonight."
"We can explain the finer details on the way. Please, help me get Akira-kun to treatment first," Kanae interjected, her tone leaving absolutely no room for argument.
They were still a considerable distance from the Butterfly Mansion. By taking turns carrying him, they could maintain a much faster pace without exhausting themselves.
"Alright," Sabito nodded sharply, sheathing his blade.
It was broad daylight now anyway. The demons trapped inside the wooden carriage couldn't step outside even if they wanted to, meaning they posed no immediate threat to any civilians on the road.
Without another word, Sabito took Akira from Kanae's back, settling the injured man securely against his own shoulders. The two Hashira moved out, taking turns carrying him as they blurred across the landscape toward the Butterfly Mansion. Along the way, Akira and Kanae provided a brief, concise explanation regarding Tamayo and Yushiro's unique circumstances.
While Sabito's brow remained furrowed—his deep-seated distrust of demons hard to shake—he did not argue. He simply stated that he would defer entirely to the Master's final judgment.
The sun had just passed its peak when the trio finally crashed through the gates of the Butterfly Mansion.
The estate's residents, who had just sat down for their midday meal, instantly abandoned their food. Chaos erupted the moment they saw Akira's gruesome state.
Shinobu's eyes widened in horror before her medical training took over. She immediately barked orders, pulling Aoi to her side as the two of them rushed Akira into the intensive care ward to begin emergency surgery. Meanwhile, Kanae was swarmed by the other girls, all demanding to know what had happened.
"Kanae, what exactly went wrong out there? Could it be..." Makomo trailed off, her fists clenching. She knew the original purpose of Kanae's mission, and her mind instantly jumped to the worst conclusion: that those so-called 'peaceful' demons had laid a trap and ambushed Akira.
"No, it wasn't them. Akira-kun was escorting a special family away from the area when we were pursued by Upper Rank Three. He stayed behind alone to intercept the monster so we could escape. That is why he is injured," Kanae explained gently.
She then sat down and recounted the full details of the harrowing night, officially revealing the existence of Tamayo and Yushiro to the rest of the household. Due to the sudden escalation with the Upper Ranks, Tamayo needed to be brought in to accelerate the development of the anti-demon medicine immediately. There was no longer any reason to keep her existence a secret from the Butterfly Mansion's inner circle.
"I am so sorry, Makomo," Kanae said softly, bowing her head toward the younger girl.
The primary reason they had kept Tamayo's existence a secret from the household was specifically to protect Makomo, who carried a deep, traumatic blood feud against all demons. Akira had originally planned to spend weeks slowly preparing Makomo mentally for the revelation, but the sudden appearance of Akaza had completely shattered that timeline.
"There is no need to apologize to me, Kanae," Makomo replied, her tense shoulders dropping slightly. "Just like Sabito, I will follow the Master's decision. Besides... neither you nor Akira are reckless fools. If these are demons that the two of you have personally approved of, then I am naturally willing to place my trust in them as well."
While a knot of unease still twisted in Makomo's stomach at the thought of working alongside demons, her overwhelming concern for Akira's survival drowned out everything else. She simply didn't have the energy to harbor resentment right now.
Miles away, on a dusty country road.
Thanks to the blazing afternoon sun keeping the passengers securely locked inside the cabin, the lone Kakushi managed to suppress his lingering terror. He drove the carriage—containing the Kamado family, the two demons, and the calico cat—toward their designated safe house.
However, fueled by sheer adrenaline and the desire to get this terrifying job over with, he whipped the horses into a near-sprint. The carriage bounced and rattled violently over every rock and rut, giving the poor occupants inside an incredibly jolting, nauseating ride.
By the time the sun began to dip low in the western sky, the carriage finally skidded to a halt at its destination, arriving nearly two full hours ahead of schedule.
The Kakushi didn't even bother opening the door. He simply shouted, "We're here!" from the driver's bench, leapt off the carriage, and sprinted away into the woods as fast as his legs could carry him.
'I can brag about the sheer insanity of this mission for the rest of my life,' the Kakushi thought, a manic grin spreading beneath his mask as he ran.
The two previous Kakushi on the shift: Agreed.
Kakushi: Tsk, you guys just transported some demons. I had a literal Hashira hold a drawn blade directly to my neck! Have either of you ever been held at sword-point by a Hashira?!
The two previous Kakushi on the shift: We really haven't. You're definitely the impressive one.
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