Tanjiro was so furious his hair was practically standing on end, his face as red as a boiled shrimp, his fists clenched like hammers.
Gentle?
Only someone who kept a proper distance from his sister deserved his gentleness!
From Urokodaki’s perspective, this kid had some wire crossed in his brain again and was truly out of his mind.
The little bastard had clearly come back to his senses just moments ago, and shown he was capable of fear!
And yet he had the audacity to pull that girl demon into another bear hug, right in front of him!
With a look of absolute bliss on his face no less!
At this moment, even the tengu mask couldn’t hide the furiously twitching vein at his temple.
“Shinsuke!” Urokodaki’s low growl escalated into a full shout, and he released Tanjiro, who had long since stopped holding himself back, then strode forward.
“You!
Right now!
Let!
Go!”
Tanjiro sprinted straight at the two of them with such force that each footfall sent a clump of dirt flying.
Watching his master bearing down with murderous intent, and Tanjiro charging like a small rabid beast, Shinsuke panicked.
But the arms holding Nezuko were welded in place, without the slightest intention of loosening.
The system’s analysis rate counter was still ticking along cheerfully!
He could not let go!
He would not let go even if it killed him!
“M, Master!
Hear me out!
This is training!
It’s essential for Breathing!
It really is!”
Shinsuke explained uselessly while trying to scoot backward, but with Nezuko still pressed down on top of him he couldn’t move an inch.
“Training requires holding that tight?!
Requires burying your face in like that?!” Tanjiro hopped in place as he accused him, his eyes practically shooting flames.
“I’m…
I’m sensing her aura!
Yes!
Sensing the rhythm of her breathing!” Shinsuke improvised wildly.
“You’re sensing nothing!
She has a bamboo tube in her mouth, she can’t breathe normally at all!”
Urokodaki had already closed the distance, looming over the two of them tangled on the ground, his shadow falling across them both.
“Let go.”
Glug.
Shinsuke swallowed, but his head shook back and forth like a rattle drum.
“Fine, if you’re so capable, keep holding on.”
Seeing that words were useless, Urokodaki moved to forcible measures without hesitation.
He had no intention of actually drawing a blade, but he was perfectly capable of grabbing this little wretch by the scruff and prying him loose.
Sakonji Urokodaki, former Water Hashira, seasoned veteran of formidable agility, lunged down and clamped both large hands around Shinsuke’s ankles with precise accuracy.
Kamado Tanjiro, future top Hashira, little young man with his sibling-obsession in full eruption, seized his moment and clamped both hands around Nezuko’s ankles with equal precision.
“Pull!”
At Urokodaki’s barked command, both of them heaved at the same time.
In an instant, Shinsuke and Nezuko were lifted into the air.
Even so, Shinsuke did not let go, and neither did Nezuko, and even suspended in midair the two of them clung tightly to each other’s necks.
Both faces remained pressed stubbornly together.
A tug of war.
A proper, textbook tug of war.
The unfortunate part was that Shinsuke and Nezuko were the rope in the middle.
“Ahhh!
Master, stop!
My neck is going to snap!” Shinsuke screamed in terror.
“Let go and it won’t hurt!”
“I won’t!”
And what of Nezuko, held so tightly in the middle of all this?
She didn’t quite understand what was happening.
But she understood that the person holding her, the person whose scent was so pleasant and so calming, seemed to be getting pulled away.
That would not do.
“Mm!”
Nezuko let out a displeased, muffled protest.
The two hands that had been resting loosely against Shinsuke’s back suddenly clamped down, and those slender little arms unleashed a startling amount of force, locking around his neck in an iron grip, vowing to share his fate no matter what came.
“Ugh…”
The choke hold Nezuko had him in nearly made Shinsuke’s tongue pop out, and Urokodaki immediately eased his pull at the sight.
When he eased, so did Nezuko, and when he pulled hard, so did Nezuko.
Well then.
The standoff held.
Neither Urokodaki nor Tanjiro dared exert full strength, for fear of actually injuring the person they were pulling.
But these two stubborn creatures, clinging to each other like a pair of lovesick fools, absolutely refused to release.
Urokodaki: “Let go, you little wretch!” (╬￣皿￣)
Tanjiro: “Let go of my sister!!” o(▼皿▼メ;)o
Shinsuke: “Master!
This is necessary contact!
Trust me!” ┗(T﹏T)┛
“Mm!
Mm mm!!” (Nezuko’s protesting muffled cries) o(≧口≦)o
All four of them, one demon included, strung together in the dark forest clearing, staging the strangest tug of war in the dead of night.
The Temple Demon’s head, still pinned to the tree, slowly regained consciousness.
“…”
Who am I?
Where am I?
Why is no one paying attention to me anymore?
What are they doing?
Have things between humans and demons really gotten this complicated?
Time ticked by second by second, and Shinsuke endured the pain of the tug of war while quietly reveling in it.
[Analysis progress: 10%…
16%…
27%…]
[Ding!
Congratulations, Host’s analysis resolution of Kamado Nezuko has reached thirty percent, unlocking Tier One, First Taste of Love.]
[Based on analysis of Kamado Nezuko’s strength and potential, Host currently gains a thirty percent all-round boost to physical capabilities while in her presence, this value can stack and will scale upward as her strength increases.]
[Analysis progress: 33%…
45%…
57%…]
[Ding!
Congratulations, Host’s analysis resolution of Kamado Nezuko has reached sixty percent, unlocking Tier Two, Love That Follows You Everywhere.]
[While within a five meter radius of Kamado Nezuko, Host may automatically enter Total Concentration Breathing Constant state, continuously strengthening the body at a seventy percent enhancement rate, this value can stack and will scale upward as her strength increases.]
[Trait analysis progress: 66%…
72%…
87%…]
[Ding!
Congratulations, Host’s analysis resolution of Kamado Nezuko has reached ninety percent, unlocking Tier Three, Love’s Combination.]
[Exclusive technique unlocked: Harem Breathing, First Form, Valor of the Heroine!]
[Note: when this technique is used while the analysis target is nearby, technique power is boosted to two hundred percent; if the target is not nearby, no power boost is applied.]
[System Notice: standard analysis is now fully complete; the range from ninety percent to one hundred percent cannot be advanced through standard contact; Host is encouraged to “explore” the specific method on their own.]
When a surge of technique information flooded into his mind, Shinsuke, whose arms ached and whose neck was sore, finally let out a breath and dropped his arms in exhaustion.
The four of them had gone from dangling in midair at the start to being hauled down to the ground as Tanjiro lost his strength, and the standoff had continued from there.
Now that Shinsuke released his hold, one of the two locks was gone, and Nezuko could not hold on alone, so she was finally blinked at him with confused, slightly aggrieved pink eyes as her brother Tanjiro dragged her away.
The instant the two were separated, Tanjiro sprang in front of Nezuko with his arms spread wide like a mother hen shielding her chick, though his own arms ached just as badly.
A pair of bright red eyes full of wariness fixed themselves on Shinsuke, who lay face-down on the ground without moving.
Shinsuke ignored the hopeless sister-obsessed Tanjiro and rolled over weakly, calling out, “Master, I think I figured out a technique.”
“Don’t try to change the subject.”
Urokodaki gave a cold snort and crossed his arms over his chest.
“With your level of talent, you just figured out Breathing, and now you want to tell me you invented a technique?
Don’t think that saying so means I won’t deal with you when we get back.”
Shinsuke rolled his eyes, sat up, and held his palm out toward Urokodaki.
Urokodaki glanced down at it with undisguised irritation.
“What?”
“Lend me your blade for a moment.” Shinsuke’s tone was entirely matter-of-fact.
“I’ll demonstrate.”