"Hey… what do you think you're doing to my kids?"
The moment those words reached his ears, Yuichiro felt his body relax on instinct.
But when his eyes landed on Hiru, he froze.
Hiru's hair was still dripping with water. The loose white yukata he wore made his frame look thin and fragile— if one ignored the fact that he stood a full head taller than the demon, and that the arm gripping the demon's shoulder was corded with bulging veins.
[And… aren't demons supposed to be stronger than humans?]
Yuichiro frowned inwardly.
[Then why does this demon's aura feel weaker than Hiru's?]
"Hm? Oh, so there's a swordsman here too," the demon said lazily. "But what can you do without a weapon?"
"What can I do?"
Muichiro watched as Hiru narrowed his eyes. Veins throbbed at his temple. He casually tossed his uniform to the ground, a smile still tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"I'm saying this for your own good," Hiru said mildly. "There's a limit to how much you should provoke someone."
"A swordsman without a Nichirin Blade is just a lamb waiting to be slaughtered!" the demon laughed. "Perfect timing—after I kill you, I'll throw your body into town. Let that newly arrived mad swordsman see that we demons aren't so easy to mess with!"
"Hey! Don't worry about us—run—!"
Yuichiro's shout was cut off mid-sentence.
Hiru tore the demon's head off in a single motion.
The sound was abrupt and final, like a duck having its throat squeezed shut.
"One of the kids here was finally starting to warm up to me," Hiru said calmly, crushing the demon's shoulder with one hand and pinning its body beneath his foot. He lifted the severed head with the other, bringing it up to eye level.
"And then you annoying fly just had to show up and make me lose points in front of them."
He smiled faintly.
"Tell me—what do you gain from making me angry?"
Muichiro clutched tightly at Yuichiro's clothes, staring blankly at the blood splattered in front of him.
"S-so… this is… a demon?"
"That's right," Hiru replied lightly.
He ground down on the demon's joints with his foot, then bent and dragged the body along.
"Sorry about this. I didn't want to work overtime in front of you either. I'll dispose of it right away—and I'll clean up the blood when I come back."
Not long after Hiru stepped outside, a thunderous boom echoed through the night.
"…Brother?"
Yuichiro looked at Muichiro, pressed his lips together, then nodded. He took Muichiro's hand and led him to the doorway.
Outside, Hiru was still holding the demon's head.
The body, however, was gone.
Instead, the ground was covered in a layer of something suspicious.
"Why can't you ever learn?" Hiru said coldly, ignoring the demon's shrill screams. "Wouldn't it be better to hide in some filthy sewer and cling to life?"
He forced the demon's head down onto a sharp tree branch.
Red and white mixed together as the branch pierced through the back of the skull and burst out through the eye socket.
"Why do you insist on coming out just to die?"
"You damned swordsman—damned swordsman! Once I recover, I'll—!"
Hiru tore the demon's jaw clean off.
"Be quiet," he said flatly. "Lie here and wait for death. You should be grateful you get to see the sun one last time."
He sighed.
"…Great. Now I'll have to wash again."
"Y-you… are you okay?"
At the sound of the voice, Hiru immediately tossed the jaw aside and turned back, his expression gentle once more.
"I'm fine. Just a little overtime," he said reassuringly. "You two go to sleep. I'll take care of everything."
Yuichiro couldn't see exactly what Hiru had done to the demon, but the intermittent, tortured screams made one thing clear—it hadn't been merciful.
[So this person is actually scarier than a demon…]
Without another word, Yuichiro pulled Muichiro back inside.
Because of that disturbance, even though it was the height of summer, both Tokito brothers were drenched in cold sweat.
They huddled together in one corner of the room, waiting for Hiru to return.
"Brother… did Brother Hiru just… tear the demon's head off?" Muichiro whispered.
"…Yeah."
"He's really strong."
"Terrifying is more like it."
"But I'm not scared of Brother Hiru," Muichiro said, leaning against Yuichiro. After a moment, he added quietly, "Well… maybe a little. But that demon didn't feel as strong as I imagined."
"…That's true."
"…Brother."
"Hm?"
"I still want to learn swordsmanship. Is that okay?" Muichiro turned to face him.
"Brother Hiru can't protect us forever. Even if we don't join the Demon Slayer Corps, we can at least learn how to protect ourselves, right?"
Yuichiro looked at Muichiro's earnest eyes, then thought of the demon from earlier. It had been far weaker than Hiru—but it was still something they could never hope to face.
And yet…
"Oh? You two aren't asleep yet," Hiru said as he came in carrying a bucket of water, worry evident in his voice. "Did that scare you? I'm sorry—I shouldn't have fought in front of you."
By the moonlight, Yuichiro could clearly see the concern on Hiru's face. He averted his gaze.
"Um…"
"Yes?"
"…Thank you. For today."
"Haha, it's just part of my job," Hiru said, visibly relaxing as he moved to scrub at the remaining bloodstains.
"Still, it looks like I really should've prepared some wisteria incense for you two."
"What's that?" Muichiro asked.
"Something that repels demons. But as a medicinal incense, it can have some effect on the human body. I thought it'd be better not to use it on you—just keeping the area clean should've been enough. But now that I think about it…"
Hiru clicked his tongue and tossed the rag into the bucket.
"No. I'm heading out again."
The Tokito brothers watched as he left once more.
When he returned, his hair—nearly dry before—was dripping with water again.
[…Something bad definitely happened.]
Yuichiro was lost in thought when he felt his sleeve being tugged.
"Brother…" Muichiro said softly. "About what we said earlier…"
"Muichiro, you—"
"Please," Muichiro said. "I want to protect you too."
"But—"
"Brother… please." His expression was tinged with sadness. "Brother Hiru is here too. Just this once… listen to me."
"…Alright."
"Hm?" Hiru looked over, puzzled. "Did I hear my name?"
Yuichiro had planned to deny it, but when he caught sight of Muichiro's hopeful gaze, he steeled himself.
"Um… could we… learn swordsmanship?"
"Huh? That's sudden."
"We need strength to protect ourselves," Yuichiro said, raising his voice when he saw Hiru's surprise. "We can't expect you to protect us forever. Of course—if it's not possible, then forget it—"
"It's fine," Hiru said, rubbing his chin. "I actually know someone who'd be perfect to teach you. And… it's about time I paid him a visit anyway."
"We only want to learn swordsmanship for self-defense," Yuichiro added quickly. "We're not saying we'll join the Demon Slayer Corps."
"That's okay," Hiru said.
After finishing the cleanup, he crouched in front of the brothers and gently ruffled their hair.
"If you don't want to join, then don't," he said warmly. "As long as my children are happy, that's all that matters."