And in the very instant that drop of blood appeared,
Nezuko, who had been about to throw herself into Tanjiro’s arms, froze completely.
The hands pinching her nose went slack, her big pink eyes snapped wide open, and her pupils contracted into thin vertical slits.
She stared straight in the direction of Shinsuke’s hand held behind his back.
It smelled good…
so good!!
The demon instinct inside her, that irresistible craving for rare blood, obliterated in an instant the bond of family that had just been awakened.
The call of her brother, the warmth of those memories, all of it was completely buried under the supreme, overwhelmingly close scent of the finest thing she had ever smelled.
The next second,
Whoosh!
Little Nezuko spun around without a moment’s hesitation, moving faster than she had this entire time.
She threw out her small arms, planted her feet, and launched herself like a small pink cannonball.
“Mm-mm!”
With a cheerful muffled squeal, she flew straight at Shinsuke.
Σ(っ°Д°;)っ “Nezuko?!!”
Tanjiro’s outstretched arms froze in midair, and the smile on his face shattered in an instant, leaving nothing but wide-eyed, open-mouthed disbelief.
Shinsuke turned around in time, spread his arms, and caught the flying little Nezuko cleanly.
“Gotcha!”
Little Nezuko landed precisely in his arms.
Both small arms locked tight around his neck, and she pressed her little face eagerly toward the hand with the bleeding finger, her pink eyes full of desperate longing.
Shinsuke smiled and gently ruffled the soft top of Nezuko’s head with his uninjured hand, then quickly smeared that small trace of blood against his own collar.
(✪ω✪)
Little Nezuko let out a happy little sound and pressed her face in with complete bliss, nuzzling back and forth against Shinsuke’s neck like a small cat that had just found catnip.
Shinsuke held the small, warm, soft little body in his arms, lifted his head, and looked over at Tanjiro, who had been turned to stone where he stood.
He gave the most radiant smile imaginable, tinged with just enough smugness to invite a punch.
“It seems little sister Nezuko has chosen me.”
Watching Nezuko purring contentedly in that man’s arms, Tanjiro felt as though he could hear a cracking sound coming from somewhere deep inside himself.
Urokodaki stood in the doorway and took in every bit of it.
He quietly raised a hand and pressed it against his tengu mask, possibly rubbing the bridge of his nose beneath it.
The days ahead…
Were going to be absolute chaos.
First round of the Nezuko Custody Battle: Shinsuke wins!
On the way back, Sakonji Urokodaki ran ahead, Shinsuke carried little Nezuko’s basket on his back as he had wanted, following behind. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Tanjiro brought up the rear with his mouth hanging open, his face wearing the expression of a man who had lost the will to live, pushing himself desperately to keep up.
As in the original story, this long run from Urokodaki also had something of a test built into it.
Without iron-willed determination, it was very hard to achieve anything, and he wanted to see whether this boy Tanjiro, introduced by Giyu and spoken of so highly, was actually the real thing.
The result was that the long run very nearly took half of Tanjiro’s life.
In the original story, he had barely managed to hold on through the power of memory alone.
But this time was different.
This time, Shinsuke was there.
Not only did Tanjiro hold on, his speed was even a notch faster than it had been in the original story.
As for what method Shinsuke used?
Heh heh heh…
“My young friend, don’t push yourself, if you can’t keep up…
I’ll take good care of Nezuko for you~”
Good grief, those words nearly pressured Tanjiro’s Demon Slayer Mark into emerging on the spot!
In the end, under the light of the setting sun, Tanjiro collapsed to his knees in front of Urokodaki’s small cabin, tongue hanging out, gasping like a dead dog.
To train him properly, Urokodaki had even looped around the area several extra times.
As for Shinsuke,
He had not broken a single sweat.
Urokodaki had already reduced his pace to the bare minimum to accommodate Tanjiro, and this level of exertion was less than a fifth of what their usual runs together demanded.
Naturally there was no strain involved.
On top of that, with Nezuko nearby, Shinsuke had been running Total Concentration Breathing Constant the entire way.
Even though Nezuko was being carried in the basket on his back, his Breathing still managed to draw every faint trace of her scent, which would otherwise have drifted away on the wind, directly into his nose without missing a drop.
The sensation was as though Shinsuke had Nezuko cradled in his arms at every single moment.
Top-tier lung-filling experience!
Outstanding!
Tanjiro: “Did I…
hah…
did I…
hoo…
pass?”
Urokodaki pulled open the door and tilted his head slightly.
“The test is only beginning.
Up the mountain!”
“Huh?!” !!!∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ
Shinsuke was left behind to look after Nezuko.
Even though Tanjiro had a hundred misgivings, Shinsuke spoke up. Visit novelping.com for the full chapter.
“Don’t worry, Master, I’ll take good care of Nezuko, and please do test Tanjiro thoroughly, if he doesn’t have what it takes, I’ll personally throw him out for you.”
(/ω＼) “After all, Nezuko and I will be serving you together from here on!”
Good grief!
That lit a fire under Tanjiro!
He absolutely had to pass this test!
Otherwise he couldn’t beat Shinsuke in a fight, and that bastard would steal Nezuko away for sure!
And so, with his fighting spirit reignited, Tanjiro followed Urokodaki up the mountain.
Inside the cabin, only Shinsuke and Nezuko remained, Nezuko already sunken into deep sleep.
Looking at Nezuko, back to her normal size, her skin luminous and clear, her face full of the freshness of youth, Shinsuke’s throat moved.
His hand, trembling faintly, drifted out without thinking.
He made a tentative touch against Nezuko’s lips.
Something shifted across his expression, and he pulled his hand sharply back.
Looking at the small mark on his finger left from drawing blood to tempt Nezuko earlier, Shinsuke shook his head and set the thought aside for now.
He was not a beast, and he was not about to do anything to a sleeping Nezuko.
What had made him hesitate just now was the question of whether or not to feed Nezuko a little blood.
His own blood.
As someone with a rare blood constitution as exceptional as his, he was completely certain of one thing.
If he chose to, even feeding Nezuko just a small amount once every half month or even once a month would be enough to free her from needing to rely on sleep to replenish her energy.
It would even allow him to forge a connection between himself and Nezuko that no one else could ever sever.
By any measure it seemed like a good thing.
But!
The risk was too great.
On the way back, he had been thinking the whole time about the maximum advantages the system could offer him, and about his plans for the future.
Going by what this indecent system had told him, every female with potential and strength could provide him with four tiers of rewards.
Tier One, boosted combat power.
Tier Two, continuously growing strength.
Tier Three, techniques provided.
Put simply, the more girls he had around him, the higher his physical capability, his growth potential, and the variety of his combat options would be.
And what he needed to do was get close to as many girls as possible.
Stay near them and breathe deep.
As for the reward for completing a full analysis, the one the system called the “conquest complete” bonus, it was genuinely tied closely to his future plans.
First and foremost, there was the reward for demon-type females.
Blood Demon Art Absorption!