The road heading north from Tokyo.
Aoi, leading three new members from the front, glanced back.
The three in their embarrassingly revealing Demon Slayer uniforms were walking with calm expressions, as if not even feeling the cold.
Unable to bear the awkward silence, Aoi spoke first.
"Um... it's a bit boring on the way, right? Shall I tell you a little about myself?"
She rubbed her nose shyly and began to spill her past.
"I was originally an orphan. I lost my family to a demon and wandered the streets, but luckily, I was taken in by a kind cultivator. To repay the favor of being given food and shelter, I desperately learned Water Breathing... but to be honest, I had no intention of joining the Demon Slayer Corps."
Aoi's steps slowed a little. A deep shadow fell over her voice.
"Final Selection was... hell. I luckily survived and passed, but the sights I saw in that forest come to me every night as nightmares. The sound of comrades being devoured, the smell of blood.... I realized then. That I'm not cut out to hunt demons."
She smiled a self-deprecating smile.
"I wanted to run away, but I had nowhere to go. And I couldn't do the post-mortem work like the support members, either. Facing dead people, even if someone is being treated, was too much. So, I'm holding onto my sword reluctantly. Fortunately, tasks like guiding newcomers or rear support, which even a coward like me can do, are given, so I'm barely hanging on."
Aoi's confession was honest. It wasn't a heroic tale, but the cowardly yet desperate survival story of an ordinary human struggling to live.
Kanao expressionlessly watched her back. A girl driven to the battlefield in fear. This was the current state of the Demon Slayer Corps.
"Then, how about applying to a medical unit? Treating injured members seems like it would suit your disposition."
At Kanao's suggestion, Aoi tilted her head.
"A medical unit? There's no such separate department in the Demon Slayer Corps."
Instantly, the footsteps of the three stopped simultaneously.
"Huh? There isn't?"
Okita asked back as if she couldn't believe it. Her voice was filled with absurdity.
"Yes. If you get injured, support members provide first aid on-site, or if you're lucky and there's a house with a Wisteria crest nearby, you recuperate there. If you're seriously injured... you have to find a civilian hospital on your own. Well, they do reimburse treatment costs afterward from headquarters."
Aoi shrugged as if it were natural.
That answer was a culture shock in itself.
"..."
Ushiwakamaru let out a deep sigh, pressing her forehead.
"Handing over wounded soldiers to civilian facilities in a wartime situation... No independent medical corps, no specialized military doctors? This is a system that can't even be called an army, just a militia level."
"Wow... this really surpasses imagination. Not to mention handling industrial accidents, but no own medical facilities. If it were our company, the union would have risen up and gone on strike. Truly a vicious corporation, no, the pinnacle of a black company."
Okita clicked her tongue. The Akatsuki Trading Company had not only a dedicated hospital for employees but also top-tier medical staff and hot spring facilities for recovery.
The stark contrast between Akira's benevolence, meticulously caring for even one employee's health, and the Demon Slayer Corps'冷酷冷酷(cold-hearted) treatment of members as disposable consumables was evident.
Kanao's gaze cooled and sank.
'If you get injured, survive on your own. If you die, we'll bury you. We'll remember your name, that's all.'
An organization that has fought demons for hundreds of years is only at this level. It was obvious that more members would die from not receiving timely treatment than from being killed by demons.
'Now I understand painfully why Father detested this place as a group of lunatics. This isn't an organization that saves people. It's just a slaughterhouse waiting for their turn to die.'
In her heart, the aversion to the organization called the Demon Slayer Corps was turning from disgust into hostility.
While moving again in the heavy silence, Aoi changed the topic as if to lighten the mood.
"By the way, what's your relationship? You all seem very close, are you sisters?"
"Family."
Kanao answered without a moment's hesitation. A bond thicker than blood. To her, Akira and the Servants were her real family, irreplaceable by anything in the world.
But Ushiwakamaru, following behind, hastily corrected.
"To be precise, it's a relationship of a young lady we serve and her attendants, you could say. We two are escorting this person."
"What?! Attendants? Oh my, so Kanao-san is a daughter of a super-rich family?"
Aoi's eyes widened. She nodded as she observed Kanao's dignified attitude and the elegance with which she carried even the hideous-looking uniform like a luxury item.
"Well, I did think the atmosphere was special. You said your name is Tsuyuri Kanao, right? Tsuyuri... Tsuyuri..."
Aoi rested her chin and thought hard about something, then suddenly clapped her hands.
"Ah! Could it be that the tycoon of Kyoto and Tokyo, the president of Akatsuki Trading Company, also had the surname Nagao? Nagao Akira-san! I saw it in the newspaper. An incredibly handsome man who does a lot of charity work!"
Kanao's heart sank. Her footsteps halted.
"Perhaps... are you his daughter?"
Aoi's eyes shone with pure curiosity. There was no malice. Just the excitement of possibly meeting a celebrity.
But Kanao knew. That the Demon Slayer Corps leadership was keeping a close watch on Akatsuki Trading Company, and on Father Akira.
If it were discovered that Father is a demon, this old and rigid organization would try to harm Father with all its might.
'If I tell the truth here... it might cause trouble for Father. It could hinder the mission, or Father's plans might go awry.'
Kanao clenched her fist. Her nails dug into her flesh.
"...No."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"Just the same surname, we're completely unrelated. My family... is just a small landowner in the countryside."
"Ah, I see! Haha, I got ahead of myself. Sorry, Kanao-san!"
Aoi laughed and apologized without suspicion. Her clear smile stabbed at Kanao's chest.
'I'm sorry, Father. Daring to say I don't know you...'
Kanao bit her lip. A bloody taste spread in her mouth. Denying with her own mouth the god who saved her, Father who is her everything.
To her, it was a pain akin to violating a heavenly law.
'This guilt... I'll wash it away by slaying demons. I'll atone by exterminating Father's enemies.'
A dark resolve settled in her pupils.
A few days later, they arrived at their destination, a snowy mountain in the north. It was a harsh land with snow piled up to the knees and biting, freezing winds.
"There's a rumor that recently, herb gatherers have been attacked and killed by a bear on this mountain. But judging from the state of the bodies and traces, it's clearly the work of a demon."
Aoi adjusted her scarf and explained with a serious expression.
She was shivering from the cold, but thanks to talismans, Kanao and the two Servants didn't feel the cold at all despite their revealing uniforms.
As night deepened, a bloody beast smell wafted from near a cave on the mountainside.
"Grr... I smell it. The sweet scent of women..."
A giant hairy demon walked out from inside the cave. A hideous figure over two meters tall, covered in white fur like a yeti. Fresh bloodstains were still visible around its mouth.
"It's out! Everyone, step back! I'll take the vanguard!"
Aoi stepped forward, putting strength into her trembling legs. A sense of responsibility as the guide, and not wanting to show a shameful appearance as a senior, drove her.
"Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel!"
Aoi kicked off the snowfield and leaped, rotating her body. The shape of a water stream bloomed from the tip of her sword. But its trajectory was too faint and blurry. Powerless, like a dried-up stream.
'Weak...'
In Kanao's eyes, Aoi's sword strike was too slow and light.
The demon sneered and dodged Aoi's attack with just a tilt of its head.
"Huh?!"
As Aoi lost her balance upon landing with her attack missing, the demon's giant claws flew toward her head.
"Die!!"
It was too late to avoid. Aoi tightly closed her eyes.
Swish!
A crisp metallic sound rang out.
"It's dangerous, Senpai. It's troublesome if you rush in so recklessly."
In front of Aoi, who opened her eyes, Okita was standing with a bored expression that could make one yawn. Her sword was already half-sheathed.
"Huh?"
Thud.
The demon's wrist behind Okita was cleanly severed and fell onto the snowfield. Okita had simply split the demon's bone and flesh.
"Gyaaah! You, you! When?!"
The demon screamed, clutching its severed wrist.
"It's regenerating! Be careful!"
Aoi shouted urgently. The demon's wound area bubbled. But Okita and Ushiwakamaru didn't even think of moving.
At that moment.
Not even the sound of wind was heard.
A pink afterimage brushed past the demon's side. There was no sign of breathing, no killing intent. Kanao, as if taking a stroll, burrowed into the demon's embrace and slipped out behind its back.
It was such a clean and fast single strike that the sword in her hand (disguised as a Nichirin Blade by magecraft) didn't have a single drop of blood on it.
Thump. Roll roll.
The demon's giant head fell onto the snowfield and rolled. The demon, not even knowing it was dead, turned to ash while watching its own torso roll away.
"..."
Aoi blankly watched the scene.
The demon that she couldn't even leave a scratch on despite using all her strength was turning to dust in the blink of an eye.
There wasn't even a breathing effect. It was violence born from a difference in overwhelming physical ability, rather than a technique.
Kanao slowly sheathed her sword.
Click.
Only the sound of the sword closing echoed through the quiet snowy mountain. She looked down at the demon's remains with eyes that had cooled, as if washing away the guilt of denying Father.
"Amazing..."
Aoi muttered unconsciously.
She intuited. That these newcomers who have joined the Demon Slayer Corps are monsters that someone like her, an ordinary talent, could never reach even with a lifetime of effort.
And she had a premonition that the history of the Demon Slayer Corps might be completely changed by them.
By the time they had subjugated the demon on the snowy mountain and descended, it was already late.
"There's no house with a Wisteria crest around here. Let's stay at an inn in the nearest village. We can send the report tomorrow morning."
They entered a shabby but clean inn in a small village at the foot of the mountain.
"Welcome~"
The innkeeper was an old man. He welcomed the group and tried to guide them to a room.
"The rooms... how would you like them? Shall I give you one large room?"
Then, Ushiwakamaru stepped forward. Her pupils flashed a strange red for a very brief moment.
The innkeeper's eyes glazed over.
"Ah... no, that's not right. You should rest comfortably... since there are many rooms left, I'll give you a discount. Use separate rooms each. Yes, that would be good."
The innkeeper muttered as if entranced and took out four room keys. Aoi was a little puzzled, but tired and thinking it would be nice to have space, she accepted without further suspicion.
"Then, see you tomorrow morning. Rest well."
Aoi fell asleep as soon as she entered her room. Only silence remained in the corridor.
Kanao entered her room but couldn't easily fall asleep.
It wasn't because of the exhilaration of battle. Because the lie she told Aoi during the day, the guilt of denying Father, pricked at a corner of her chest.
'Are Okita-san and Ushiwakamaru-san... okay?'
She wanted to see the faces of the two Servants who were like family. Being with them would make her feel connected to Father and put her mind at ease.
Kanao quietly opened the room door and came out into the corridor.
Muffling her footsteps so the floorboards wouldn't creak, she headed to the next room.
When she reached the door. Standing in front of Okita's room.
"Haa... ah, ahh♡! Master... it's too... deep...!"
From beyond the door, a suppressed but leaking intoxicated moan was heard. Kanao held her breath.
'That voice is...?'
She was drawn to bring her eye to the door crack. Through the slightly open door gap, under the faint lamp light, the shadows of two people entangled were visible.
There were Ushiwakamaru and Okita. But not in their usual forms.
Ushiwakamaru's eyes were burning red, and her expression held a strange smile mixed with the arrogance of a ruler and pleasure, instead of her usual demeanor.
And from her lower body... something that shouldn't be on a woman, Akira's thick thing, was protruding.
Akira was possessing Ushiwakamaru's body, transforming it, and directly holding Okita.
"Okita, squeeze a little tighter."
What flowed from Ushiwakamaru's mouth was the low, thick voice of Father Akira that Kanao so longed for.
"Huuung! Masterrr♡! It's good...! With Master's thing... I feel like my brain is melting...♡"
Okita, wrapping her legs around Ushiwakamaru's waist, was panting like a beast and letting out screams.
Every time the sweat-soaked skins of the two collided, the sticky, squelching sound filled the room.
As Akira roughly thrust his hips upward, Ushiwakamaru's possessed body trembled with pleasure.
Ushiwakamaru was shedding tears of joy at the fact that her body had become Akira's tool to violate Okita, and that Akira's pleasure was being shared with her.
Even far away, he was perfectly managing and loving his possessions.
Kanao's eyes, peeking at the scene from outside the door, shook greatly.
Shock? Disgust? No. The emotion that burst from her chest was envy and an unbearable thirst.
'Father... is here.'
Even though borrowing Ushiwakamaru's body, that overwhelming aura, that hot love was clearly Akira's.
Kanao collapsed in front of the door. Her legs lost strength, and she couldn't stand.
The screams coming from inside the room pierced her ears like a song tempting her.
"Ahh♡! Master! I love you♡ I love you♡!"
"Yeah... I love you too."
The words of love. Kanao's lips trembled.
From deep in her stomach, she felt a hot lump drop with a thud.
'Me too... I want to be loved too.'
Thump
'I want to be in that place...'
Thump
'I wish Father's thing would enter me too.'
Reason was paralyzed, only instinct awakened. Kanao slowly pushed her trembling hand into her Demon Slayer uniform skirt. The short skirt wasn't cumbersome.
When her fingers touched over her underwear, her underwear was already damp.
"Ugh..."
Kanao bit her lip to swallow her moan. Matching the rough breathing of Akira coming from inside the room, her fingers began to move.
Imagining her own fingers as Father's, she touched her own thighs.
'Father... Father...♡'
An illusion flickered before her eyes of Akira looking down at her and roughly violating her, just as he did to Ushiwakamaru.
"Haa, haa... uhn♡!"
When Okita inside the room reached climax and screamed, Kanao's waist also jerked up.
"Ah, Daddy... Father!"
She gripped the doorframe and experienced a climax mixed with pleasure and betrayal.
Transparent liquid trickled down between Kanao's thighs, wetting the floorboards.
Gasping for rough breath, Kanao looked at the closed door with a flushed face. Her gaze was no longer the clear eyes of before.
Eyes of a female who has awakened to desire. And eyes tinged with a dangerous, sticky obsession that she would definitely become the protagonist inside that room someday.
The cold corridor, but Kanao's body was hot like a ball of fire. She brought her wet fingers to her mouth and licked them with her tongue, as if tasting Father.
That night, Kanao broke out of her girl's shell and grew one step further into a monster of desire toward Akira.