“Oh, it’s Tanjiro.”
Shinsuke didn’t even turn around, completely unfazed by his junior’s aura of barely contained fury.
“This is a new friend I just made.
We’re having a friendly pre-battle chat.”
A vein bulged on Tanjiro’s forehead.
“Frien.
Dly.
Chat?”
He pointed at the gap between Shinsuke and the girl, which was almost close enough to be shoulder to shoulder.
“You call that friendly?!
That’s harassment!
That’s harassment, Senior!!!”
“It’s not that serious.” Shinsuke waved it off and kept smiling at Kanao.
“Look, she hasn’t told me to move either.”
“Anyway.” He turned his head.
“Let’s say hello to our new friend.
What’s your name, pretty girl?”
“You don’t even know her name?” Tanjiro smacked Shinsuke repeatedly on the back, eyes wide as saucers.
“And don’t call her ‘pretty girl,’ that’s so rude!”
“That’s why I’m asking.” Shinsuke shrugged.
“Tanjiro, you really need to watch how you come across…”
Kanao watched the two of them bicker, her pale-purple eyes still as a calm lake.
After a few seconds her fingers moved, and the coin leaped into the air again.
“Flip.”
It fell, was caught.
Heads.
She opened her mouth, her voice soft and light as a falling petal.
“My name is…
Tsuyuri…
Kanao.”
“Kanao.” Shinsuke repeated it naturally, his smile brightening.
“That’s a lovely name.
I’m Shinsuke Bai, and this is my perpetually worried junior, Kamado Tanjiro.”
“I am not perpetually worried!”
Tanjiro bristled, but instinctively straightened up when he turned to Kanao.
“H, hello!
I’m Kamado Tanjiro!”
Kanao looked at him and gave a small nod, and then…
That was it.
She drifted back into her quiet stillness, her gaze moving to the wisteria blooming in the distance, as if their entire exchange had been nothing more than a breeze passing through.
Tanjiro: (￣□￣;)
This girl…
But she really was beautiful.
No wonder his senior had made a beeline for her.
No!
That wasn’t the point right now!
Weren’t they supposed to be focusing on the selection?
“Don’t take it personally.” Shinsuke patted Tanjiro on the shoulder and lowered his voice.
“Kanao is…
well, a little different.”
“She’s not the one who’s different!” Tanjiro dragged Shinsuke off to the side and hissed through gritted teeth.
“Senior!
Have you forgotten why we’re here?
Nezuko is back home waiting!
How could you, how could you show up and immediately…”
“Immediately what?” Shinsuke raised an eyebrow.
“Start flirting with another girl!!!” Tanjiro barely kept his voice under control.
Shinsuke dug a finger in his ear, looking entirely unbothered.
“Tanjiro, you don’t understand.
This is what I call a ‘combat power expansion plan.'”
He pointed to Kanao, then back to himself.
“She’s clearly very strong.
If I stay close to her, my Breathing efficiency goes up.
Higher Breathing, I get stronger.
Stronger means I can better protect you…”
“Protect me?!”
“…and your sister.” Shinsuke added cheerfully.
“See, the logic is airtight.”
Tanjiro opened his mouth and found he had absolutely nothing to say.
That actually…
kind of made sense?
No!
That was completely twisted logic!!!
While Tanjiro’s head was still smoking, two crisp claps rang out from the front of the clearing.
Everyone’s attention snapped toward the sound.
Two girls in wisteria-patterned kimono, one with black hair and one with white, stood there as if they had appeared out of nowhere.
They looked exactly alike, wore identical practiced smiles, and spoke in voices that were perfectly in sync.
“Thank you all for coming tonight to participate in the Demon Slayer Corps’ Final Selection.”
“This mountain, Mt.
Fujikasane, holds demons that have been captured alive by our swordsmen.”
“They cannot leave, because from the base of the mountain to the midpoint, wisteria flowers that demons despise bloom all year round.”
“However, beyond this point, there is no wisteria.”
“Demons are free to move throughout the mountain.”
“Surviving for seven days is the condition for passing the Final Selection.”
“We wish you all the best of luck.”
The moment their words faded, the atmosphere snapped taut.
Participants who had been chatting or drifting in their thoughts almost simultaneously tightened their grips on their hilts.
The crowd began to move.
Some took a deep breath and charged forward, some scanned their surroundings with careful eyes, and others formed small groups and advanced slowly.
Tanjiro gripped his Nichirin Blade and looked to Shinsuke.
“Senior, should we…”
He didn’t get to finish, because Shinsuke had already turned around and was extending a hand toward Kanao, who was still standing quietly beneath her tree.
“Kanao, want to go in together?”
Tanjiro: (╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻
You’re still trying at a time like this?!
Kanao looked at his outstretched hand, and this time she didn’t even flip the coin.
She simply looked at him with those pale-purple eyes, then walked away.
Her steps were light, and she disappeared into the trees without a word.
Shinsuke drooped slightly.
“…Ah.
Rejected.”
Tanjiro watched his senior get shot down and immediately clapped a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.
“Duang.”
Tanjiro sucked in a sharp breath and crouched down, clutching his head.
Shinsuke shook out his fist, which was looking a little red, and bared his teeth.
“Don’t think having a hard head means I won’t hit you.”
He looked in the direction Kanao had gone, drew in a long breath of the faint floral scent she had left behind, and committed it to memory.
“It’s fine.
The mountain’s only so big.
We’re bound to run into each other again~”
[Analysis Resolution: 0.15%]
“SENIOR!!!” The ironheaded Tanjiro shot back to his feet and finally snapped, grabbing Shinsuke by the back of his haori collar.
“She’s already gone!
We need to move too!!!”
“Alright, alright, let’s go, let’s go~”
Shinsuke let himself be dragged along, that lazy smile still on his face.
“Tanjiro, relax, it’s seven whole days.
We have all the time in the world…”
Before the words were even out of his mouth, from somewhere deep in the trees ahead, a bloodcurdling scream tore through the air.
“AAAAAAHHH!!!”
It was followed immediately by the wet, sticky sound of flesh being torn apart, and then a grinding, crunching sound that set teeth on edge.
The air froze.
Tanjiro’s face went white in an instant.
The easy smile faded from Shinsuke’s face as well, and his hand came to rest lightly on the hilt at his hip.
“…Looks like,” he said quietly, “the selection has already begun.”