“Nezuko needs a bath.”
A light, offhand sentence, but it landed like a drop of water falling onto Tanjiro’s red-hot charcoal head.
He snapped into a state of alert almost instantly, his crimson eyes going perfectly round, his back going rigid.
“Don’t you dare!” Tanjiro blurted out, his voice pitching higher from the tension.
“You’re not bringing that up again, are you!
I’m telling you, it’s impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
There is no way you are giving Nezuko her bath!”
That reaction, as though facing a mortal enemy, made Shinsuke unable to help rolling his eyes.
But you couldn’t really blame Tanjiro for reacting so strongly.
After all, Shinsuke had been negotiating with him about this subject once every two weeks for a year.
By now this reaction was actually one of the milder ones.
Thinking back to the first time he had “innocently and guilelelessly” suggested “little sister Nezuko hasn’t had a bath in so long, I wonder if she’s uncomfortable, how about I help wipe her down,” Tanjiro had nearly performed a live demonstration of “Water Breathing, A Brother’s Wrath” on the spot, chasing Shinsuke from inside the cabin to outside and running three full laps around Mt.
Sagiri.
After that, “bath” had become a trigger word, and bringing it up at any moment could precisely detonate Tanjiro’s sister-obsessed nerve.
But today’s Shinsuke didn’t seem to have any particular appetite for a battle.
He unhurriedly finished the last bite of his meal, then casually ruffled Nezuko’s hair as she slept beside the fire with rosy-flushed cheeks.
“Same as always.” Shinsuke said it in an easy, unremarkable tone.
“I’ll take Nezuko down the mountain to the bathhouse and have the bathhouse lady help out.
Pick up some supplies while I’m at it.
Anything you need?”
“Hm?” Tanjiro blinked, because the stubborn arguing, the outlandish reasoning, and even a fresh round of the Nezuko Custody Battle that he had braced himself for…
none of it materialized.
Shinsuke had just surrendered the offensive that easily?
That wasn’t like him at all!
Tanjiro studied Shinsuke with careful suspicion, his nose quietly twitching as he tried to sniff out the scent of a scheme.
However, all he caught was the smell of rice and pickled vegetables, and a faint trace of…
hm?
This guy’s mood today felt somehow light and drifting, not like his usual smug and scheming readiness to pounce.
“I…
I don’t need anything.” Tanjiro shook his head in the end, though the wariness in his eyes hadn’t fully cleared.
“You… You are reading on g.com, the official source.
are you really just taking Nezuko for a bath?”
“What else would I be doing?” Shinsuke gave him a sidelong look.
“Carrying her off to jump in a river?
Pickling her into vegetables?”
“Don’t talk about Nezuko like that!” Tanjiro protested immediately.
“Alright, alright, I know, you’re the greatest brother in the universe.”
Shinsuke waved him off, too lazy to keep bickering.
“Finish eating and get back up the mountain to make love to your boulder, and try to split it sooner rather than later, don’t go ruining my Final Selection next year.”
At the mention of splitting the boulder, Tanjiro’s expression immediately caved in, and the stubborn hardness of that rock and the numbing rebound it sent up his arms seemed to come back to him all over again.
He gave a muffled grunt and put his head down to finish the rest of his meal quickly.
Watching Tanjiro disappear with dragging steps up the path toward the mountaintop, Shinsuke let out a quiet breath.
He went back inside and began his afternoon “training” as usual.
It was not until the sun had fully sunk behind the mountain ridges that Shinsuke slowly wound down and rose to his feet.
With exceptionally gentle movements, he lifted Nezuko into his arms, carefully adjusted her position so her small head was resting against his shoulder.
The sleeping Nezuko nuzzled his neck without awareness, producing a faint purring sound like a small cat.
The corner of Shinsuke’s mouth curved up without him noticing.
He picked up the empty cloth bag he had prepared earlier, tied it with a rope and slung it over his shoulder, then cradled Nezuko in his arms and set off down the mountain through the deepening night.
He had walked the mountain path so many times it was second nature, and even carrying someone, his steps remained steady and light.
A village sat several miles from the foot of the mountain, and after around ten minutes of walking the lights of the village became faintly visible.
The village was small, only a few dozen households.
Shinsuke made his way without hesitation to a small building at the edge of the village, one that let off a steady curl of warm steam.
The bathhouse lady’s inn and public bath.
“Bathhouse granny, I’m back!” Shinsuke called out from the entrance.
The wooden door slid open with a creak, and a white-haired, slightly round, kindly-smiling old woman poked her head out.
“Oh my, little Hane, come in, come in.”
The bathhouse granny noticed Nezuko in Shinsuke’s arms and her smile deepened.
“Bringing your little sister for a bath?
What a thoughtful and caring big brother you are.”
“Hehe, sorry to trouble you.” Shinsuke smiled and stepped inside, handing Nezuko over to the bathhouse granny with careful deliberateness. This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.
The bathhouse granny was someone Urokodaki had introduced him to, a kind-hearted, tight-lipped old woman living on her own.
She seemed to have a vague sense that Shinsuke and Urokodaki were not ordinary people, since Urokodaki would occasionally come to the village to deal with certain “troubles,” and not only demons but also wandering thugs and troublemakers.
So she had never once asked about Nezuko’s unusual circumstances, simply preparing clean hot water and towels each time and carefully washing Nezuko with gentle hands.
“Leave her to me.”
The bathhouse granny took the soft little Nezuko in her arms, holding her like a small doll.
“Same as always, you go take care of your own things first, I’ll call you when she’s done.”
“Great, thank you, granny!” Shinsuke didn’t linger, he had come enough times to know the routine, and turned and walked back out the door.
He went to the small general goods shop in the village and bought rice, salt, pickled vegetables, some vegetables that would keep, then replenished the needles, thread, and soap.
He thought for a moment, and ended up picking up a small packet of maltose candy for Tanjiro as well, since the kid was training hard and needed a bit of sweetness now and then.
The retirement stipend Kagaya gave Urokodaki was actually quite decent, but between the nutritional needs of two people, equipment wear and replacement, and everything else, life was a little tight.
Purchases complete, he hoisted the bulging cloth bag and headed back to the bathhouse.
The bathhouse granny hadn’t come out yet, and from inside came the faint sound of water and a gentle melody the old woman was humming softly.
Shinsuke decided to strip down himself, stepped into the men’s bath next door, and soaked in the hot water with great contentment.
The warm water drove away the mountain chill and the fatigue of the day, and he leaned against the edge of the pool and let out a long, satisfied breath.
By the time he had dried off and changed into clean inner clothes and stepped out feeling refreshed, the bathhouse granny was just emerging, cradling a Nezuko who had been washed until she was fragrant and sweet, now dressed in a fresh clean pink kimono, one of the spare sets Shinsuke had left here previously.
After her bath, Nezuko’s skin was even more luminous and clear, her small face flushed and rosy, her hair flowing soft and loose, her whole being giving off a warm, clean scent of soap and sun-dried fabric.
“Thank you, granny!” Shinsuke’s eyes lit up and he stepped forward quickly to take her, feeling the even softer and warmer little Nezuko settle into his arms, and his mood soared.
“Don’t mention it.” The bathhouse granny waved with a smile.
“Get home quickly now, it’s late, be careful on the road.”
“Mm!
Goodbye, granny!”
After saying farewell to the bathhouse granny, Shinsuke hung his purchases over one arm, held Nezuko in the other, and set off back up the mountain road.
The moonlight was generous that night, its clear pale radiance spilling across the narrow path and making it easy enough to see the way ahead.
The night breeze carried a light chill, but Nezuko in his arms was like a small warm hearth, chasing the cold away.
Shinsuke was in good spirits and even began humming a tuneless little melody softly to himself.
But that sense of peace didn’t last long.
Not far past the village, as he rounded a bend in the path, an uncomfortable, cold and murky presence, accompanied by rustling movement, drifted toward him from the undergrowth to his front left.
Shinsuke’s footsteps stopped, and his brow furrowed slightly.
The next instant, a twisted figure slowly “crawled” out from the shadows.