The Butterfly Mansion's morning was quiet. Too quiet. Despite what happened last night, the hallway lay cold and still, as if nothing had occurred at all. Kamado Tanjirou rose from his futon and looked at his hands first. Thin. A woman's hands. He remembered that night—screaming that he couldn't protect everyone with these hands, that he had no confidence. (I should have been stronger.) He clenched his fists. Stood up. Stepped into the hallway. He passed Zenitsu's room. There was a presence beyond the sliding door. He was awake. But even if Tanjirou called out—— "[gentle]Good morning, Zenitsu" "……Yeah" Just a short reply. No sign of him turning toward Tanjirou. Tanjirou waited a moment, but the door didn't open. He walked toward the veranda. Giyu was sitting at the edge, staring intently at the dawn sky. Morning mist drifted thinly, and the distant trees blurred into shadow. Tanjirou approached. Giyu stood up. That was all. Without turning back, he disappeared deeper into the hallway. (Last night's weight... it still hasn't settled.) Tanjirou stopped where he stood. It felt like everyone had gone somewhere because of his weakness, because he'd screamed. He passed Nezuko's room too, but the sliding door was firmly shut from the inside, and she didn't answer when he called her name. A loud clatter came from the kitchen. "[excited]There's not enough food! There's gotta be more!" It was Inosuke. He was trying to devour the entire breakfast Aoi had prepared, all by himself. With the boar's head ornament still on, he was shoveling rice into his mouth. "[surprised]Wait! That's everyone's share too!" "[sarcastic]Then they should come faster, shouldn't they?" Inosuke glanced at Tanjirou and tilted his head ornament slightly. "[surprised]Why's everyone looking so pathetic? Just go fight already" Tanjirou gave a bitter smile. Right. Inosuke didn't understand last night's heavy atmosphere at all. Because he didn't understand, he could keep his usual face. Somehow, that made Tanjirou a little envious. "[gentle]……Yeah, you're right" --- Standing before Shinobu's research room, Tanjirou heard a sound from inside. The clink of medicine bottles touching. Then a sigh. He opened the door quietly. Shinobu was sitting before the compounding table. Her hair was slightly disheveled. Dark circles under her eyes. An all-nighter—he could tell immediately. Since becoming a man's body, Shinobu had grown taller and her voice had deepened, but the way she carried herself in this research room hadn't changed—the careful, methodical movements of her hands as she checked each tool one by one. But those hands had stopped. Powder scattered across a plate. The remains of a failed scent ball. "[sad]……Again" When Tanjirou entered, Shinobu finally looked up. "Kamado" "[gentle]You haven't slept" "I had no intention of sleeping" Shinobu wiped the powder from the plate with cloth. Carefully. But her hands trembled slightly. "[sad]With a man's body... the sensitivity in my fingertips is different. Even adjusting the proportions, no matter how many times I try, it crumbles at the same point" Then silence for a moment. "[sad]With this body, I can't even make medicine properly" Her voice was quiet. Not angry. Not crying. Just... clearly spoken. Tanjirou understood—this was the first weakness Shinobu had ever admitted. "And I'm a Pillar" Tanjirou sat down before her. "[gentle]You too..." There was a pause. "[sad]I'm the same. Scared, blaming my body, just putting on a brave face for everyone" Shinobu looked at him. Tanjirou continued. "[gentle]Last night I screamed in front of everyone... I should have been stronger, but I showed weakness. I've been regretting it ever since" "[gentle]……But" Shinobu waited. "[gentle]When you say it, it makes me feel a little better. That it's okay to be weak" The research room fell silent. A bird's voice came from outside. The gentle sound of morning. Shinobu smiled softly. So very softly. Not her usual manufactured smile. In that tired face, just a hint of genuine warmth mixed through. "[gentle]……I suppose there's no helping it" That was the moment. The window opened. A black crow flew in. Its wings fluttered as it landed on the research room's beam. "KITAAA SHINOMORIKARA ONIGAIDOU! CHIKAKU NO MURA DE MURABITO SANMEI GA ISHIKI FUMEI, ICHIMEI GA JUUSHOU! UBUYASHIKI YASHIKI YORI MEIREI——HAYAYAKA NI TOUBATSU SEYO!!" Tanjirou and Shinobu both looked up at once. Shinobu's eyes went to the compounding table. The scattered powder. The materials of the broken scent ball. "[sad]The scent ball... hasn't been completed yet" Silence filled the research room. --- Everyone gathered in the great hall. Tanjirou announced the extermination order. Zenitsu looked at the floor. "[sad]I'd just be dead weight... If my emotions run wild like yesterday, I'd only get in the way" Tanjirou tried to speak. But Zenitsu wouldn't meet his eyes, curling up in the corner of the room. Those orange eyes stayed fixed on the floor. "[cold]Don't go alone" Giyu said it. A short statement. But something different mixed into his voice. It was rare for Giyu to speak unprompted. Tanjirou turned back. Giyu's eyes were on him. "[gentle]You're not in top condition either, Giyu. Don't push yourself" Tanjirou turned his back and started walking. Giyu's eyes wavered for just an instant. Those deep-colored eyes tried to say something, but couldn't——it didn't reach Tanjirou's back. He moved down the hallway. "Big brother!" Nezuko burst from her room. The voice was a man's now, but the tremor in it was the same Nezuko voice Tanjirou had always known. "[crying]Don't go alone! Everyone fell apart yesterday, and now you're going alone again——" Tanjirou stopped. Tears were gathering in Nezuko's eyes. (Nezuko.) Tanjirou looked directly at her face. His chest ached. But. "[serious]Stay somewhere safe. I don't want you caught up in danger too" He walked past her. He didn't look back. Nezuko's presence lingered in the hallway, growing distant. Tanjirou never turned around. If he had, he wouldn't have been able to go. --- The northwestern forest. Just dozens of steps from the entrance. That's when the white smoke came. His vision narrowed. The outlines of trees blurred. Tanjirou held cloth to his mouth and smelled with his nose. That sweet scent. It seeped in from everywhere. He couldn't tell direction. "You came alone" The voice echoed from somewhere. "Your friends abandoned you. How pitiful" "[angry]That's not true!" He shouted and drew his blade. Water Breathing. He stepped in. He swung. It didn't work. His body was off. His lungs unstable. The power was only half. The smoke he cut regenerated immediately. It spread like mist, then took form again. A clone. Coming from the right. "——" He parried. Coming from the left. He parried. From the front. From behind. Clone after clone appeared. No matter how many he cut, more came. (The form I found in the third encounter——lower the center of gravity, generate power through rotation. I can try it.) He stepped in. Lowered his center. Rotation—— One of the clones flew at him from the side. CRASH!! He was knocked flying. He rolled across the dirt. Fell to his knees. His hands were shaking. His legs wavered. "[sad]I can't protect anyone..." The words spilled from his mouth. The smoke moved. Slowly. Toward the center. Converging. Gathering into a single point. Beyond the white smoke, a silhouette began to emerge. The shape of arms. The shape of shoulders. The shape of a head—— The demon was there. Gradually, that form grew more solid. Still not visible. But it was there. Definitely there. Tanjirou's knees sank into the dirt. He tried to stand, but his body wouldn't move. Beyond the smoke, he heard the demon's footsteps drawing closer.