After that, Hiru continued gathering information alongside Himejima Gyomei. Though Himejima tried hard to hide it, Hiru could still sense the man's wariness toward him.
[Did I give something away? Or does he have some unpleasant memory I accidentally reminded him of?]
Watching Himejima question people with such careful method and structure, Hiru kept following him, eyes subtly fixed on the man's back.
Himejima couldn't see, but he was unusually sensitive to being watched. Hiru's constant staring had clearly caught his attention. "May I ask… is there something wrong with me?"
"Huh?" Hiru blinked and quickly shook his head. But after meeting Himejima's pale eyes, he hurried to add, "No, nothing at all."
"Then why have you been staring at me this entire time?"
"Oh, that…" Hiru scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "You seemed wary of me, so I kept wondering if I'd done something wrong… or violated some taboo…"
Himejima bowed his head slightly. His pale, unseeing eyes somehow still made Hiru feel as though he was being looked at directly.
"No. You've done nothing wrong." Himejima gently rolled his prayer beads between his fingers. "It's simply a knot in my own heart."
"I see…" Hiru nodded. "Got it."
"...You're not curious, Hiru?"
"I mean, saying I'm not curious would be a lie. But if it's a 'knot,' it must be something you'd rather not recall." Hiru reached out and patted Himejima's shoulder. "I've had my own knots too. From experience, those are things I wouldn't want to talk about—definitely not something I'd want to revisit. So I kind of understand how you feel.
Also, sorry for making you uncomfortable."
"...No, it's fine." Himejima paused in his bead-rolling. "Would you mind if I said a little more?"
"Ah, go ahead. I'm listening."
"Truth is, just a year ago, I was nothing more than a blind monk who knew nothing about the world and simply looked after orphans." Himejima turned, walking slowly as he spoke. "But when the wisteria incense at the temple stopped working, a demon broke in.
Though blind, I had the strength to fight. I shouted for the children to come to me, but they were terrified and ran everywhere.
Only the youngest girl, who was frail and sickly, stayed behind me. In the end, she was the only one who survived."
As Himejima spoke, Hiru couldn't help recalling the first user of the Breath of Stone he had learned about—Iwayuki Ritsugawa, who had also once been a teacher.
Was Himejima the same? Someone who stepped onto the path of slaying demons because he couldn't bear to see children harmed?
"But when dawn came and the officials arrived, the demon had already been killed by the sun. In her fear, the surviving child pointed at me as the murderer. I was thrown into prison."
"...Huh?" Hiru froze. "But little kids get confused when they're scared. Shouldn't checking the corpses have solved everything?"
"There was another child."
"I thought only the youngest survived?"
Himejima fell silent for a long moment. "He wasn't really one of the temple's children. I had taken him in, raised him—but he kept stealing money and never repented, so eventually I expelled him.
That night, he returned crying outside the temple gates, begging me to let him in. He said it was too dark, he was scared, and pleaded for me to shelter him for just one more night…
Later, during interrogation, he also insisted I was the one who killed the children. They found that the wisteria incense had been deliberately broken. I was the only one strong enough to do something like that—and the only person in charge of the incense.
So the authorities concluded I had done everything."
"So…" Hiru lowered his eyes, voice steady, though his furrowed brows gave away his anger. "In truth, that child lured in the demon, broke the incense, and then blamed everything on you?"
"Perhaps because I cannot see, they thought I was a dark-hearted man venting his emotions on children…" Himejima rolled the beads again, chanting softly rather than answering directly. "After that, though Oyakata-sama saved me from execution and brought me into the Demon Slayer Corps, I've never been able to trust children again. They are fickle creatures by nature."
"Yeah… after going through something like that, I can see why—" Hiru's nod suddenly froze. He snapped his head up and stared at Himejima. "I'm not a child!"
"I heard that among those who passed the Final Selection this year, there were two brothers—and that the older one had only just come of age…"
Hiru: …
"And judging by your speech patterns, eating habits, and general behavior—even if your age meets the requirement, you are still undeniably a child."
Hiru: …Tsk. It's all Sabito's fault for putting ideas in people's heads!
Hiru was already imagining challenging Sabito to a fight the next time they met, but Himejima remained oblivious to his internal fury and spoke earnestly. "Even with my reservations, I will place trust in my Demon Slayer comrades when it comes to missions."
"...That didn't comfort me at all." Hiru pouted, muttering, "Why are all my teammates so composed? I just want to work with my big brother…"
Himejima: …Truly a child.
Though still wary, he earnestly continued discussing the mission with Hiru.
"Even though the people in this city know disappearances have been happening, they firmly believe the Maiden Deity protects them. They insist no demon would enter the city, and that the missing people must have been punished for lacking faith…" Himejima pressed his palms together and chanted a Buddhist prayer. "In my view, this 'Maiden Deity' is most likely the demon causing all this."
"Agreed," Hiru nodded, eyeing the heavily guarded small shrine with its long line of worshippers. "But we can't get in there."
"There is a way," Himejima said, gently stroking the crow on his shoulder. "Yoshika mentioned a path up the mountain behind the shrine."
"…Who is Yoshika?"
"One of my kasugai crows." Himejima resumed rolling his prayer beads. "Because I cannot see, I have two crows who stay near me and guide the way."
"…These crows have names?"
"You mean you never knew?"
"Who would know that?! Seriously, who goes around asking a bird for its name?! Who has that kind of free time?!"
Himejima listened to Hiru's rapid-fire complaints in silence, beads softly clicking between his fingers.
[A child who has been dearly cherished, no doubt.]