Hanako was dead.
It was the natural outco.
Her chest had been pierced by scissors, her heart fatally wounded. A human suffering such an injury—unless it was soone like Takeo—would be left with no chance of survival.
The three mbers of the Demon Slayer Corps stood before Hanako's body. Yoshizuru Asato was silent for a long ti before he finally stepped forward and gently closed her eyes.
"…Is it over now?" Sakoma Iori looked at Hanako's lifeless body and quietly asked.
The demon had been slain.
Hanako, who had aided the demon, had t the fate that awaited her.
It seed like everything had co to an end. At the very least, Takeo's mission was complete.
Outside, it was still the middle of the night.
Because Takeo had killed the long-haired demon so swiftly, barely any ti had passed. The town was still shrouded in darkness—many people were still lost in sleep.
And after the heavy downpour, the clouds in the sky had finally dispersed. A beautiful moon peeked out from behind them, casting pale silver light from above, shining gently upon Hanako's ho—
And upon Hanako herself.
Bathed in moonlight, Takeo saw a faint smile on her face.
In her final monts… what had she thought of?
Whom had she seen?
Had she felt any remorse for those who had died because of her?
Had she regretted what happened to Tōichirō?
Takeo didn't know the answers to those questions—and to him, it didn't matter.
He simply stepped forward and tore off a strip of fabric from Hanako's sleeve, holding it in his hand.
Sakoma Iori, puzzled by his actions, asked: "What are you doing?"
"Tōjirō — the younger brother of Tōichirō — asked to find out what happened to his brother. Now that I've found the answer, I need to give him closure."
Takeo spoke quietly.
No matter what the outco was, a promise once made shouldn't be forgotten.
Even if the truth was cruel, Takeo believed Tōjirō deserved to know it.
They couldn't just leave Hanako's body there. But the three of them had no authority to handle the remains, nor the ti to prepare a proper burial—they would be leaving soon.
In the end, Yoshizuru Asato decided to first make sure Hanako's body was respectfully arranged.
Then, he would anonymously report the incident to the local authorities, and find soone who had known Hanako to assist with the burial.
That would be the final conclusion to this story.
And so, by dawn the next morning, the three of them split up to carry out their assigned tasks.
Asato went to notify the local officials.
Iori went to find soone who had been close to Hanako.
As for Takeo—he went to the Akita residence.
There, he found Tōjirō, the one who had asked him to find his brother.
And in silence, he handed Tōjirō the strip of fabric from Hanako's sleeve.
At the sa ti, Takeo told him the truth.
After hearing everything that had happened, Tōjirō didn't say a word... He just stood there, crying.
Then, between sobs, he began to speak—about his brother Tōichirō and Hanako.
Tōichirō had liked Hanako. But sotis, he had a bit of a temper. After Hanako's brother went missing, Tōichirō had gone to her, asking her to marry him.
Perhaps… on the night Tōichirō left ho, he went to see Hanako again. And sowhere along the way, sothing happened—sothing that led Hanako to misunderstand his intentions.
So she brought him to the long-haired demon.
And just like that, tragedy struck.
To Tōjirō, his brother might have been a good person. Maybe even Tōichirō himself had no ill intent.
But to Hanako — who had no family left — Reality had forced her to be cautious. Not to ntion, she still had to "take care" of her brother, who had turned into a demon.
Tōjirō's brother must have fit her criteria of victims.
So on that night when Tōichirō ca looking for her…his fate was likely already sealed.
In the end, Tōjirō thanked Takeo.
He returned ho, still weeping. Whether or not he would share the truth with their father… no one knew.
But that—was no longer Takeo's concern.
Having fulfilled Tōjirō's request, Takeo finally made his way to the edge of town. Outside the village, Yoshizuru Asato and Sakoma Iori had already been waiting for quite so ti.
"…You two… finished already?"
Seeing the two of them there ahead of him—snacking on so rain-soaked rice crackers that Iori had apparently brought—Takeo was visibly surprised.
He had assud he'd be the fastest to finish.
After all, his task was simple: report to Tōjirō.
But Asato and Iori? They had to find people and explain everything. And if soone misunderstood and thought they had killed Hanako, they might've even had to run for it.
Yet sohow, they'd finished ahead of him?
"Munch munch munch… Well, we… munch munch… didn't have to show our faces," Asato explained, cheeks puffed out as he chewed. After swallowing, he turned to Iori and added:
"Sakoma, your cooking's not bad at all!"
"Right?! It's a family recipe!"Sakoma Iori boasted proudly, arms on her hips, nose held so high it was practically pointed at the sky.
Takeo thought that if she had a tail, it'd be wagging so hard it'd fly off.
Ignoring the tail-wagging Iori, Takeo turned toward Asato and asked,
"Everything okay with the local officials? They're not going to mistreat Hanako's remains, right?"
"They won't," Asato replied. "Hanako got along well with most people. A few of her neighbors are willing to handle her burial. Sakoma already confird it."
Ideally, the Demon Slayer Corps themselves should've taken care of Hanako's remains—after all, she was indirectly responsible for several deaths. If any of the victims' families learned the truth, they might not treat her grave kindly.
But they had no choice. They were Demon Slayers—they couldn't stay in one place for long.
Besides, they already had their next mission waiting.
Just as Takeo was thinking that, a Kasugai Crow ca flying toward them from the horizon. This one had a small headband tied around its head—it was Yoshizuru Asato's crow.
The mont it landed, it began squawking in its sharp, urgent voice:
"Dust Mountain!! Trouble on Dust Mountain!! Yoshizuru Asato! Kamado Takeo! And the lost girl Sakoma Iori! Proceed imdiately to Dust Mountain! Urgent dispatch to Dust Mountain!!! Urgent! Urgent! Urgent!"
"!"
At the sound of the crow's panicked cry, all three of them instantly tensed, their expressions turning grim.
Asato stuffed the last bits of his rice cracker into his mouth and looked at the others.
"Let's go. Ti to move out."
"Wait a minute… Dust Mountain—wasn't that supposed to be my assignnt?"Sakoma Iori suddenly rembered. That was where she had originally been headed, but because she'd gotten lost, she had stopped in this town temporarily.
But now, it seed sothing had gone wrong there?
"If the Kasugai Crow is giving the order to all three of us now, it ans this is no longer a solo assignnt," Yoshizuru Asato replied.
When a mission required multiple slayers, the Corps would send a single ssage to all relevant parties.
If the crow had summoned three of them at once, it ant this mission would need more than just Iori to handle it.
And thinking about the team that had already been sent ahead to Dust Mountain…
Asato had a very bad feeling.
So did Takeo. He frowned and looked up at the Kasugai Crow.
"What happened to the team that went to Dust Mountain earlier?"
"Missing!! They've gone missing!! You must provide backup—hurry!! Hurry!! HURRY!!!"
The Kasugai Crow shrieked in its high, urgent tone—but none of the three found it annoying.
They were all too shaken by the news it had delivered.
A team led by a Kanoe-ranked Demon Slayer, with at least four supporting mbers, had vanished… on Dust Mountain?
This place…
Could it be…
A Twelve Kizuki is there?
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