After changing his clothes and steadying himself several tis, Hiru finally stopped in front of the door. To be honest, even now he found it hard to believe the man who claid to be Yoriichi. And yet, that identical face left him with no way to deny it…
Wait—identical?
【Shouldn’t Yoriichi-nii have a birthmark on his forehead? But that person looked exactly the sa as my older brother just now?】
Hiru’s hand paused on the doorknob.
【There’s no way my brother would dye his hair white just to ss with . Father would definitely scold him… So is this really a kidnapping?】
Hiru let out a quiet sigh and opened the door.
【I’ll just take it one step at a ti. With the abilities that man showed, I couldn’t resist him anyway. And as an adopted son, there’s no way I could promise him anything… Still, was I really that strong?】
“What are you thinking about?”
Hiru looked up at Yoriichi, who had once again put his mask back on. Suppressing the doubts in his heart, he shook his head slightly.
“Nothing… I was just wondering why those people keep looking over here.”
Yoriichi glanced toward the Kakushi lingering nearby and reached out to gently ruffle Hiru’s hair.
“They like you very much, so they’re worried about you. But they don’t feel comfortable coming over to say it directly, so they’re watching us from a distance.”
“…Worried about ?”
Hiru froze.
“Why?”
“Well… because you’ve done a great deal for the Demon Slayer Corps. You’re highly respected by the Kakushi.”
“Respected…”
Hiru lowered his eyes.
“It doesn’t feel real at all.”
“You’ll rember soon enough. And I’ll tell you everything little by little. Co on.”
Hiru nodded and followed after Yoriichi.
But once they left the Wisteria House and he saw the unfamiliar scenery around him, he had no choice but to accept Yoriichi’s claim that he had lost his mories.
At the very least, he had never seen sothing called a utility pole, nor glass windows so clean and transparent, nor mirrors that reflected a person’s figure with such clarity.
“The world has changed a lot, hasn’t it?” Yoriichi said with a faint smile. “Humans have always possessed an astonishing creativity, from ancient tis to now.”
Hiru had been comparing the clothes of the passersby to what he rembered when he looked up at Yoriichi.
“That’s true… almost everything is different from my mories. A very long ti must have passed, right?”
“Yes. About four hundred years.”
Yoriichi noticed Hiru’s gaze drift toward a roadside stall selling taiyaki.
“Do you want so?”
“Eh? N-no, that’s alright.”
“It’s fine. Wait here for .”
Hiru watched as Yoriichi walked over, bought two taiyaki wrapped in oil paper, and handed one to him.
“Try it.”
“…Thank you.”
“Mhm. I think it’ll suit your taste.”
Hiru looked down at the taiyaki in his hand, breathing in the sweet aroma. The fish-shaped pastry itself felt novel.
“I’ve never seen a snack like this before…”
After a brief mont of hesitation, Hiru took his first bite.
The freshly made crust carried a distinctive toasted fragrance, cracking faintly as his teeth broke through. Inside, the texture was soft and fluffy, with handmade red bean paste that still contained bits of uncrushed beans, giving it a rich and layered mouthfeel. The warmth spread through him, bringing a comforting sense of ease.
“It’s delicious… thank you.”
“You’re welco. There’s a dessert shop just ahead. Have you decided what you want?”
“Strawberry daifuku will be fine, thank you.”
The mont Hiru said that, Yoriichi smiled.
“Why are you laughing?”
“It’s nothing. I was just thinking that if you rember all of this when your mories return, it’ll be quite interesting,” Yoriichi said with a soft chuckle. “Let’s go in.”
Once they were seated and the desserts had been served, Yoriichi began explaining everything to Hiru in the calst and most concise way he could.
As he spoke, Hiru’s expression shifted—from anger, to sorrow, and finally to numbness. He didn’t interrupt, listening in silence until Yoriichi finished.
“You’re saying…”
Hiru finally spoke.
“…that my older brother slaughtered the entire clan?”
Yoriichi nodded.
“Why?”
Hiru clenched his fists.
“How could my brother do sothing like that? Even lying should have its limits.”
Yoriichi simply looked at him. Even though his expression was hidden behind the mask, Hiru could clearly feel the sorrow emanating from him.
After a long stretch of silence, Hiru was the first to relent.
“…After that, I beca a demon?”
“Yes. I was also transford into a demon using your blood,” Yoriichi replied with a slight nod. “As you’ve seen, more than four hundred years have passed since the Sengoku era. A human lifespan couldn’t possibly last that long.”
“…Alright. But there’s one thing I really can’t understand.”
“What is it?”
“What was I even thinking as an adult?”
Yoriichi looked puzzled as well.
“What do you an?”
“I was clearly a Demon King, yet I joined the Demon Slayer Corps and even beca a high-ranking mber. The Corps’ master helped cover it up, too…”
Hiru raised a hand and pressed it to his temple.
“No matter how you look at it, that’s taking things way too far, isn’t it?”
“Is it?” Yoriichi smiled. “I believe Hiru had his reasons. At least so far, even if his actions were reckless, the results have always been good.”
“…I still can’t understand it. And after hearing all of this at once, I can’t accept it so easily, even if many things already prove that what you’re saying is true.”
Hiru lowered his gaze.
“At the very least, I absolutely don’t believe what you said about my older brother.
“From the ti we were children, he always noticed our situation and stepped forward to protect us. He wasn’t as harsh toward the clan as Father was. He was gentle and strong—how could soone like that be as despicable as you claim? It’s absurd…
“And if he really destroyed the clan and chose to sever all bonds to beco a demon, why would he leave alive? I’m the one who should have been killed.”
Yoriichi recalled how Hiru had collapsed emotionally after his second encounter with Kokushibo and fell silent as well.
In the end, he only pushed the plate of desserts closer to Hiru.
“Then, Hiru, why not take this opportunity to et your friends and hear what they think?”
“…What?”
“I’ve only achieved so success in martial arts. I’m not good at dealing with people, nor am I skilled at strategy. All I can do is tell you what I’ve seen and what I know,” Yoriichi said, looking at Hiru.
“But you’re a clever child. Why not et your friends from the present era? Verifying things yourself may be more convincing than anything I say.”
Hiru froze for a mont.
【That’s true. If what he’s saying is real, then these friends probably don’t know much about our past and are only judging based on the Human Hashira. But if he’s lying, they’ll eventually slip up—because what they know is Hiru, not so so-called Human Hashira…】
“So?” Yoriichi asked. “Do you want to et them?”
“Yes. I want to et them,” Hiru replied calmly. “But I’ll write the letters myself.”
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