Chapter Forty-Six: The King Awakens!
Enjoy~~~
Note: You really did it, we reached 70 Power Stones! So this is the bonus chapter I promised.
Challenge: If we reach 100 Power Stones before the end of the day, I'll publish another bonus chapter! It's hard, but we can do it, right?
---
The morning at the Butterfly Mansion was gloomy, as if the sky itself had decided to share the residents' silent sorrow. Heavy rain poured relentlessly, striking the old wooden roofs with a steady, monotonous rhythm, turning the wide training yard into a muddy pool of water and sludge.
Normally, this yard would be filled with the sounds of wooden swords and training shouts, but today… silence reigned. No one dared challenge nature's fury, except for one small girl.
In the middle of the muddy yard, Yukihara Eri stood firmly. Rain soaked her short black hair and her white training clothes, which clung to her small body. She swung a heavy wooden sword again and again, her movements mechanical and soulless, yet overflowing with suppressed rage.
(The name Yukihara Sakura has been changed to Yukihara Eri 😊👍)
Today, Eri turned ten years old.
For any other child, this day would mean gifts, cake, and celebrations. But for Eri, it was nothing more than a cruel reminder of the passage of time, time that had stopped for one person.
"Nine hundred ninety-eight… nine hundred ninety-nine…"
She whispered the numbers, her voice swallowed by the roar of the rain. Since that fateful day two years ago, when her older brother Ren was declared clinically dead after his legendary battle against the Upper Rank Two, Doma, the world had lost its color in her eyes.
The medical ward of the Butterfly Mansion, where Ren's motionless body lay, had become a sacred shrine for her and her mother, Yumi.
Eri remembered her mother's pale face. Yumi, once full of vitality and warmth, had turned into a ghost. The smile that once melted ice had become a fragile mask she used to reassure her daughter, unaware that Eri, with the sharp intelligence she inherited from her brother, could clearly see the cracks in that mask.
"One thousand!"
Eri shouted as she brought the sword down with force, scattering raindrops in a wide arc.
She knew her mother's smile was fake, just like the smile of her new instructor, the Insect Hashira, Kocho Shinobu.
On the wooden veranda overlooking the yard, Shinobu sat silently, holding a cup of hot tea that had long since gone cold. Her violet eyes watched the small girl with a focus mixed with sorrow.
"She really resembles him…" Shinobu murmured to herself, touching the edge of her haori.
Although the rage boiling in Shinobu's veins toward demons had calmed somewhat after Doma was killed by Ren, the void left behind by that narcissistic boy was far greater than she had expected. Ren was annoying, arrogant, and lazy… but he accomplished what no one else could. He avenged her sister Kanae, even if he never intended to.
Shinobu remembered the day Eri came to her, her emerald eyes burning with the same look Ren once had, asking for training. Yumi refused, and Shinobu refused at first as well, afraid the girl would meet the same fate. But the stubbornness of the Yukihara family was not something easily broken.
"She's talented…" Shinobu admitted quietly. "Not with Ren's catastrophic strength at age ten, but her instincts… the hatred driving her heart will make her a terrifying Hashira one day."
As Shinobu sank into her thoughts, the wooden door behind her opened softly.
A young boy stepped out, wearing loose white patient clothes. His dark red hair leaned toward brown, and his gentle eyes carried silent pain as he looked at the rain-soaked yard.
It was Kamado Tanjiro.
The scent of sorrow emanating from Eri was so strong that it made Tanjiro's nose twitch.
"Shinobu-san…" Tanjiro said softly, bowing respectfully.
Shinobu turned, her usual (fake) smile instantly appearing on her face.
"Ah, Tanjiro-kun. Shouldn't you be in bed? Your wounds haven't healed yet."
Tanjiro ignored the medical remark and looked at Eri, who continued training under the rain.
"I'm sorry…" Tanjiro murmured, his eyes clouding with tears.
"Ren-senpai… I couldn't stop her. If I were stronger, maybe she wouldn't have to carry a sword."
He remembered the boy who preceded him by two years, the boy who smiled arrogantly and said he would end the war alone. Now, his little sister bore his burden.
"Don't blame yourself, Kamado-kun," Shinobu said calmly, setting her teacup aside. "Even I couldn't stop her. This is her decision. She's as stubborn as her brother."
Tanjiro leaned against a wooden pillar and sighed deeply.
"Today is her birthday, isn't it? And yet… it's just another rainy day in her life."
"The anniversary of his clinical death is very close to her birthday," Shinobu explained as she slowly stood up, brushing imaginary dust from her clothes. "For her, celebrating her birthday feels like betraying his memory."
"Hm…" Tanjiro frowned. "I should apologize to her on behalf of Inosuke and Zenitsu. I think they reminded her of her pain when we were talking loudly about Ren-senpai's feats."
"No need," Shinobu said as she gracefully jumped from the veranda into the muddy yard, ignoring the mud that might stain her shoes. "She doesn't feel sadness when people talk about him. She feels pride. Pride that her brother did what he believed in."
Shinobu approached Eri, who was clearly panting, and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder to stop her.
"To die with pride…" Tanjiro whispered to himself as he watched. "But the price… is far too high."
In the yard, Eri stopped. She knew training time was over. She wiped the rain (and perhaps tears) from her face and turned to Shinobu with a perfectly crafted smile, a smile that made Shinobu's eyebrow twitch with subtle discomfort.
"Thank you, Sensei!" Eri said cheerfully, taking the towel Shinobu handed her.
Without wasting a moment, Eri ran toward the veranda, passed Tanjiro with a quick greeting and a wave of her hand, then disappeared into the dark corridors of the mansion.
Tanjiro didn't need his sense of smell to know her destination. Patient Room No. 1. Ren's room.
"What a child…" Shinobu sighed as she returned to the veranda, passing by Tanjiro. "Don't worry about her now. Focus on your recovery. You are the next hope."
Shinobu left Tanjiro alone with his thoughts.
Tanjiro clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white.
"Yes… I can't be satisfied with just killing a Lower Moon with Zenitsu and Inosuke's help. That's not enough!"
He remembered Muzan's face in Asakusa. He remembered Ren-senpai.
"I must become stronger… stronger! No… I must become the strongest!" Tanjiro whispered with resolve that shook his being. "I'll avenge everyone. I'll exterminate demons until the very last one!"
Tanjiro slowly turned around, his mind filled with future training plans, and began walking down the long wooden corridor leading to the shared room with Inosuke and Zenitsu, determined to force them into serious training.
…
In the dark corridors of the mansion, Tanjiro walked like a soulless person, his eyes empty yet filled with sorrow, thinking about that small girl who carried the same hatred for demons and the same grief of losing family at such a young age.
As Tanjiro walked with his eyes fixed on the ground, lost in dark thoughts, he suddenly collided with someone standing in the middle of the corridor.
The collision wasn't strong, but it was unexpected. The other person was about the same height as Tanjiro, perhaps a few centimeters shorter.
"Ah, sorry…" Tanjiro muttered quietly, his eyes vacant, not even lifting his head to see who he had bumped into. The weight of sorrow in his heart dulled his awareness.
Tanjiro continued walking past the stranger.
But before he could get far, a familiar voice reached his ears. A voice that froze his blood.
"Is that Tanjiro…? You seem to have gotten a bit taller," the voice said in a childish, annoyed tone. "Taller than me?! How rude! How dare you grow while I was sleeping?"
Tanjiro stopped.
His heart stopped beating for a full second.
His mind shut down.
Was he imagining things? Had grief driven him to hallucinations?
Slowly… very slowly, as if afraid the image would vanish if he moved too fast, Tanjiro turned around.
And there, stood him.
Skin white and smooth like snow, almost glowing in the dark corridor.
A small body overflowing with hidden power, dressed in white patient clothes.
Long, messy black hair reaching the middle of his back, flowing freely and wildly.
A perfect face, beautiful enough to provoke jealousy, topped with a sarcastic, provoking, yet oddly gentle smile.
And eyes… emerald green eyes, shining with life, intelligence, and that beloved arrogant gaze.
Tanjiro's eyes lit up instantly. An overwhelming feeling, a mix of shock, joy, and disbelief, struck his chest like a cannonball.
His lips trembled as he raised a hand to cover his mouth, hot tears pooling in his eyes, blurring his vision.
"R-… Ren… senpai?"
His voice came out hoarse and trembling, as if he feared saying the name.
Before Ren could answer, hurried footsteps echoed, accompanied by ragged breathing.
Eri arrived at the corridor from the opposite direction. She stopped abruptly, her eyes widening in absolute shock as she stared at the smiling figure.
The boy tilted his head slightly in curiosity, his eyes shining brighter when he saw the small girl. He laughed softly, a clear, bell-like laugh, and opened his arms wide.
"What are you standing there like an idiot for, huh?" Ren said warmly. "Come to your brother's arms!"
Eri didn't need a second invitation.
"Onii-chan!"
She screamed, her voice tearing through the mansion's silence, and shot forward like an arrow. She jumped with all her strength and weight onto Ren, a collision that would have knocked down any patient who had just awakened from a two-year coma.
But Ren didn't budge an inch.
He welcomed her with open arms and strong limbs, hugging her tightly and burying her face in his chest, as if trying to make up for every second of cold she had felt during his absence.
"Onii-chan… onii-chan…" Eri cried hysterically, her words broken and unintelligible between sobs.
"Yes… Eri. I'm back," Ren whispered as he stroked her wet hair, his emerald eyes carrying a warmth he rarely showed.
Earlier, Eri had gone straight to Ren's room and found that her brother's body was no longer there. There were only two possibilities.
The first was that Ren's body had been moved to another room.
The second was that Ren had gone from clinically dead to… dead.
As unrealistic as it was, she had wished for a third possibility. That her older brother Ren had awakened and left the room on his own.
"Onii-chan… don't leave again," Eri cried intensely as she clung to Ren, as if she never wanted to let him go. Ren gently patted her back, answering softly.
Eri continued crying and screaming for several minutes, releasing all the pain, fear, and loneliness she had hidden behind her fake smile. Then, as if her small body could no longer bear the flood of emotions, her grip loosened on his shirt and she fell asleep in his arms. Mental and physical exhaustion finally claimed her after she felt safe.
Ren lifted her easily and gently patted her back.
Then he raised his head and looked directly into Tanjiro's tear-filled eyes.
Tanjiro wiped his tears with his sleeve and smiled widely, a bright, heartfelt smile.
"Welcome back… Ren-senpai!"
Ren smiled, that familiar sideways grin everyone had missed.
"Ah… yeah. I'm back, wide-forehead."
Tanjiro didn't even bother defending his forehead this time. He just laughed, a laugh full of relief and happiness.
Ren walked slowly, carrying his sleeping sister, and passed by Tanjiro, patting his shoulder with his free hand.
Ren paused for a moment, looked at the falling rain outside, and his smile widened, becoming more savage and confident.
"You don't need to exhaust yourself carrying everything anymore, my friend…"
He half-turned, his eyes blazing with terrifying power, the power of someone who returned from death to finish the mission.
"Because I… Yukihara Ren… will exterminate all demons, at the speed of my breathing!"
Thunder roared in the sky at that moment, as if agreeing with the promise of the returning king.
---
End of Chapter 46
Chapter 45 is the end of Volume Two titled "The Great King vs the King of Curses," and this chapter marks the beginning of Volume Three.
And now, we have returned to Yukihara Ren and the Demon Slayer saga. I hope you interact with this chapter and tell me your thoughts.
I want your ideas for the current Demon Slayer scenario, for example:
Do you want me to create new characters in the novel that aren't from the anime, such as a new Upper Rank Six and a new Lower Rank One?
Do you want a crazy scenario like curing demons such as Akaza and returning them to being human, where they fight against Muzan?
(Oh… when Ren fights demons in the upcoming chapters, imagine Yoriichi instead of Ren, since his personality completely changes during demon battles, unlike his usual indifferent self.)
👍😊