Silence, a long silence.
The miko's clean, elegant brows could finally no longer hide the joy stemming from her maiden's heart.
Kanbe Hikaru watched Kikyo, waiting unhurriedly for her answer.
Then, he saw Kikyo smile.
It was the first time Kanbe Hikaru had seen her smile like this.
It was different from her usual detachment, and not the coldness during battle.
It was a smile from the bottom of her heart, like the blooming of morning light.
"You demon…"
Her voice trembled slightly, sounding somewhat speechless: "Do you even have to rush to say something like that?"
"A confession is a declaration of victory, not a bugle call for a charge," Kanbe Hikaru said. "Since I've already confirmed your feelings, it should naturally be me who says it."
"If I let you speak first, wouldn't it make me look useless?"
Kikyo's smile deepened.
She gripped Kanbe Hikaru's hand back, her fingers interlacing with his.
"Okay," she said.
Her voice was soft but firm.
"Let's be together."
[shikon no tama: naohi: favorability + 5]
[Current favorability: 65 (Intimate)]
[It says: "Finally."]
Of course, this was thanks to the Shikon Jewel 'tipping him off' all the way. Later, he should set a separate table for the naohi!
Kanbe Hikaru thought.
...
The night gradually faded, and a faint, pale white appeared on the eastern horizon. The candles in the shrine had long since burned out, leaving only the cool morning light to filter through the lattice windows and spill onto the two of them.
The words exchanged between the two were like a stone dropped into water, sending ripples through the air that lingered for a long time.
Kikyo leaned against a wooden pillar, her black hair cascading down, her fingers gently stroking the longbow resting on her lap. Her expression had returned to calm, but deep within those pitch-black eyes, there seemed to be some unresolved thoughts surging.
The joy was real.
It was the flutter of a young maiden's heart, the satisfaction of a soul that had been lonely for eighteen years finally finding something to rely on. But worry was also, more or less, truly present.
She was a miko.
A professional existence whose duty was to protect the Shikon Jewel, protect human villages, and slay demons.
And Kanbe Hikaru was a demon.
An Oni Samurai.
An existence who, even if he saved people, would still be feared by ordinary people and regarded with wariness by monks.
In this chaotic Warring States period, the line between humans and demons was clearly drawn; those who crossed it often met no good end.
"What are you thinking about?"
Kanbe Hikaru's voice interrupted her thoughts.
He had already stood up, stretching his slightly stiff body.
After a night's rest, absorbing the turbid energy between heaven and earth, coupled with the accelerated recovery of demon power from [Bloodthirsty Immortality], the injury on his chest had disappeared, and strength was surging once again beneath his pale skin.
Kikyo looked up at him.
The crimson oni mask was still set aside, revealing that pale, handsome face.
His eyes, with the black and white inverted, were certainly not clear, yet they held not a shred of confusion.
"I was thinking…"
Kikyo's voice was very soft: "If we are together, what will others think?"
"Us being together is, in itself, contrary to common sense."
"Demon Slayers might question it, monks might crusade against us, and even the villagers in this village… although they are grateful to you now, as time passes, will fear outweigh gratitude?"
The paths of humans and demons are different.
In any world, this is actually an iron law.
Kanbe Hikaru did not answer immediately.
He walked to the window and pushed it open.
The morning breeze, mixed with the scent of soil and vegetation, flooded into the room.
He looked at the village gradually waking up at the foot of the shrine, watching the wisps of cooking smoke rising.
"Kikyo."
He stood with his back to her, his voice full of confidence: "Who do you think set these so-called ethics, these so-called rules?"
"Humans."
"Exactly, humans."
Kanbe Hikaru turned around, leaning against the windowsill with his arms crossed, his expression equally confident: "It's because they are weak that they need to band together, need 'others' to highlight their own orthodoxy, and need rules to maintain a fragile sense of security."
"But I am not human."
"And you are not an ordinary person."
He pointed to the floor beneath his feet.
"Last night, this land of Kanto accepted me."
"If even the land that nurtures all things does not reject me, then what do the eyes of mere mortals matter?"
Kikyo was slightly stunned.
Indeed.
Last night, during that battle, she witnessed with her own eyes the land's response to Kanbe Hikaru. It was not the forced plunder of Demonic Qi, but a kind of attention from the earth toward a specific individual that had never been seen before.
Because he purified the demonic atmosphere in all directions.
Because he slew the demons causing chaos.
That was enough.
The standard for judging good and evil should never be race, but behavior.
"Furthermore."
Kanbe Hikaru walked up to her, crouched down, and brought his gaze level with hers.
In those crimson eyes, her reflection was mirrored.
"Rules are meant to be followed by the weak."
"As long as I am strong enough."
"Strong enough that true Great Yokais on the level of Kidomaru, or even stronger than Kidomaru, would not dare to easily set foot on this land; strong enough that even those Great Yokais in Kyoto would have to think twice; strong enough to…"
He reached out and gently smoothed the jet-black ink-colored hair behind Kikyo's ear.
"Strong enough that no one would dare say a single word of 'no' in front of you."
"By then, so-called ethics and so-called taboos will just be jokes."
His tone was arrogant, yet it was an arrogance that felt justified.
This was the survival philosophy of an Oni Samurai.
Simple, brutal, yet straight to the core. This was truly the principle Kanbe Hikaru believed in: the so-called fear of insufficient firepower—conversely, as long as one piles up enough firepower, there is nothing to fear!
Kikyo looked at him, looking at this demon who appeared to be about the same age as her.
The stone in her heart, which was not large to begin with, suddenly shattered.
That's right.
What was she worried about? The tragedies of the past were merely because she wasn't strong enough. A lack of trust was also because she cared too much about so-called status.
But.
The 'oni' before her had a will more resolute than anyone else's, and she believed he possessed the potential to overturn the rules.
As long as she held onto good intentions in her heart, that would be enough.
Most importantly—he was on her side, unconditionally on her side. She also trusted him.
That was enough.
"You are right."
Kikyo smiled with relief; the charm of that moment made the morning light outside the window pale in comparison.
"As long as I am strong enough, that is fine."
She reached out and took hold of Kanbe Hikaru's somewhat cold palm again.
"Then, Kanbe Hikaru, so that those idle gossips don't bother us."
"You must become even stronger."
But Kanbe Hikaru maintained a calm expression and simply gripped her hand back, their palm temperatures mingling.
"Alright."
Regardless, at least for now, this was enough.
[shikon no tama: naohi: favorability + 2]
[Current favorability: 67 (Intimate)]
[It is glowing; it feels that this is the way a guardian should look.]
[It is very gratified.]
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