Inside the alley, the air was cold and terribly damp.
Puddles of filthy water pooled on the uneven ground, mingling with discarded garbage.
Yushiro darted through the alley with Tamayo.
Beyond the clack-clack of their geta striking the ground, a third set of footsteps echoed loudly.
Though faint, that sound was approaching incredibly fast from behind.
‘So fast…
we can’t outrun him…’
Yushiro’s jaw tightened.
Without breaking his frantic stride, he pulled two paper talismans from his clothes.
“Forgive me, Lady Tamayo.”
He pressed one paper talisman gently onto Tamayo’s forehead and slapped the other securely onto his own.
He pulled Tamayo against the alley wall, ducking behind a protruding section of cold brick.
This was his Blood Demon Art, called Blindfold.
Attaching this paper talisman to the body shielded them from sight, granting the perfect effect of invisibility.
Beyond this, it could also reveal things normally invisible to the naked eye, and allowed him to perfectly share the field of vision of anyone else carrying one of his paper talismans.
Tamayo soon understood exactly what had put Yushiro on such high alert.
A young boy ran toward them from the direction they had just come.
He was young.
He wore a red haori over the Demon Slayer Corps jet-black uniform, and a long, cloth-wrapped object was slung across his back.
The boy noticed something.
He stopped in his tracks, searching the vicinity intently.
Tamayo and Yushiro tensed with absolute fear.
She and Yushiro were Demons who had broken free from Muzan’s control, they were eternal fugitives.
As fugitives, they were relentlessly hunted by Demons eliminated by Muzan.
Because they were Demons, they would be shown no mercy and struck down by the swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Caught between Demons and the Demon Slayer Corps, she and Yushiro had struggled bitterly to survive until this very day.
Tamayo did not fear death itself.
She knew full well the heavy sins she carried.
If a Demon Slayer Corps swordsman killed her, she would not complain, much less harbor hatred.
What she feared was dying before she could exact her revenge on Muzan.
She worried even more for Yushiro.
Unlike her, he had never harmed a human being.
Sensing Tamayo’s inner turmoil, Yushiro, who always cherished and deeply respected her, squeezed her hand reassuringly.
Tamayo looked at Yushiro.
Yushiro looked right back at her.
‘I will protect you, Lady Tamayo.
No matter the cost, even if my body perishes and my soul is destroyed, I will protect you.’
Tamayo read that exact fierce emotion in his eyes.
The tight knot in her chest eased.
Perhaps heaven itself was on Tamayo’s side today.
The young Demon Slayer searched the area, found nothing, and failed to see through Yushiro’s Blood Demon Art.
After searching in vain, he seemingly drew a conclusion and sprinted off down the alley.
For some time after he vanished, neither Tamayo nor Yushiro had dared take a single deep breath.
Finally, they exhaled sighs of deep relief.
Though slaying Demons was the solemn duty of the Demon Slayer Corps, if she had a choice, Tamayo certainly did not want to die yet.
She wanted to live to see the joyous day Muzan finally bathed in sunlight.
The swordsman could leave on his own.
That was strictly for the best.
She was about to step forward when she realized the young boy still gripped her hand tightly.
She sighed softly.
“Yushiro.”
The boy snapped out of his daze as if waking from a deep dream.
He hurriedly let go of her hand.
“L-Lady Ta-Tamayo, I’m sorry.”
Though he apologized aloud, inside, Yushiro soared straight through the clouds.
*Oooooooh*
He touched Tamayo’s hand!
Amazing!
Absolutely amazing!
Yes, it was firmly settled.
He made a silent decision in his heart.
He would not wash this hand for a full month.
He suppressed his wild excitement, forcing himself to appear composed.
“Lady Tamayo, are you serious…
let’s head back.”
Tamayo nodded, barely sparing it a second thought.
Deep down, she had long considered the boy a younger brother.
They turned around, ready to leave the alley and return to their safe hideout in Tokyo Prefecture.
The two demons froze perfectly still.
Their faces went completely white.
Standing right in front of them was the young Demon Slayer who should have already left.
He had somehow returned and stood right behind them the entire time.
He even wore a faint, knowing smirk at their ghost-pale expressions.
“Found you.”
The boy spoke in an incredibly gentle tone.
A deep chill ran through Tamayo and Yushiro from head to toe.
They did not panic or scream.
They clung desperately to a sliver of hope.
Paper talismans crafted from Yushiro’s Blood Demon Art still clung to their bodies.
The art had not worn off, and the talismans had not been physically removed.
Under normal circumstances, they were perfectly invisible.
The boy should not be able to see them right now.
Perhaps his words were just a deliberate bluff to force them into revealing themselves.
Yushiro quietly shielded Tamayo behind him.
Neither demon made a single sound.
“Do you think you’re hiding flawlessly?
Or are you clinging to hope?
Either way, it doesn’t matter to me.
If you won’t come out, I’ll just drag you out.”
The boy seemed to lose his patience.
He reached behind his back.
The cloth wrapping shredded.
The Nichirin blade hidden within gleamed under the dim light.
He gripped the hilt, thumb pressed securely against the tsuba, and flicked.
A crisp sound rang out.
The blade left its sheath, cold steel flashing brightly.
Every hair on Yushiro’s body stood on end.
Every cell in his body screamed a violent warning.
He shoved the most important woman in his life behind him with all his might.
He chose to stand directly in the path of the sweeping blade.
Blade swept before the boy, severing his hair and slicing the paper talisman on his forehead.
The severed halves drifted through the air, revealing his true form.
The blade swept horizontally, striking the brick wall with remaining force.
The structure crumbled like rice paper, clumps of earth pattering to the ground.
Nichirin wrenched free from the rubble and lunged toward the boy again.
He tried to dodge, but the strike was simply too quick.
Even though his eyes tracked the movement, and his brain commanded his body to evade, his limbs lagged behind.
He was utterly unable to react.
It felt like moving through thick mud.
Facing the fierce attack, Yushiro could only whisper in his heart, ‘I’m sorry, Lady Tamayo.
I cannot stay by your side any longer.
But at least, please stay safe.’
Just as the blade was about to strike him, a strange fragrance suddenly filled the alleyway.
Accompanied by the scent came a massive wave of intricate blossoms.
The petals gathered like a river, flooding the narrow path.
The blade, the brick walls, the street, everything vanished.
Only a vibrant ocean of flowers remained in his vision.
Yushiro felt his hand grabbed.
Someone was pulling him into a sprint.
He asked without thinking, “Lady Tamayo?”
Tamayo hushed him softly, signaling for total silence.
Yushiro looked down.
Long bloodstains marked Tamayo’s pale arms.
That was the price of her technique: Blood Demon Art: Scent of Illusory Blood, Visual Dream.
The technique lacked offensive power.
She had to heavily mutilate her own flesh to activate it.
Its effect was to bewitch anyone who inhaled the fragrance, trapping their minds in vivid hallucinations.
The two demons fled in a panic.
They did not stop, bursting from the alley into the main street before diving into another narrow path.
To run more efficiently, they discarded their cumbersome wooden sandals.
Their white socks became filthy in the mud, but neither cared at all.
Only one desperate thought occupied their minds: run.
Run as far as possible.
Finally, when they stopped, their surroundings had completely changed.
They had arrived at a secluded neighborhood within Tokyo Prefecture.
Unlike the bustling downtown, this area was quiet as a graveyard.
Utterly silent.
Tamayo and Yushiro kept running until they reached a dead end within the quiet district.
Yushiro warily scanned the perimeter.
Had they escaped?
They must have lost him by now, right?
Confirming no one lurked nearby, Tamayo and Yushiro walked straight toward the brick wall at the alley’s end, passing through the solid structure as if it did not exist.
Behind the false barrier, a traditional Japanese courtyard lay hidden.
This was their permanent hideout.
The surrounding walls and the building within were entirely concealed by Yushiro’s Blood Demon Art.
Neither the Demon Slayer Corps nor Muzan’s followers had discovered this sanctuary in all these years.
Returning to the courtyard, both demons breathed a heavy sigh of relief and removed their cloaking talismans.
Since they had returned here, they should be safe.
Believing this, the agonizing tension within their chests finally eased.
Then, a voice casually echoed from behind.
“Oh my goodness, look at what I’ve found.
For God’s sake, such a massive secret is actually hidden here, it’s truly unbelievable.”
The two demons turned instinctively, only to see a boy in a red haori.
With a hand resting on Nichirin blade at his waist, he stepped through the courtyard wall that should have been invisible.
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