Kanao Tsuyuri looked at Hanayuki Ichika, who was lying inside the room on the bed of her adoptive elder sister and master, Kochou Shinobu.
She was completely shocked!!!
Even her usually expressionless and calm little face showed a hint of surprise and daze…
[How could this demon appear in Master’s room?]
[And even lying on Master’s bed??]
[He’s even sniffing Master’s quilt deeply…]
[…while stealing and eating Master’s sweets and pastries?]
Kanao Tsuyuri’s eyes widened like copper bells as she stared at Hanayuki Ichika without blinking.
Her small world view was undergoing a major reconstruction…
“Um… don’t scream! Big brother isn’t a bad person!”
Hanayuki Ichika instantly lunged in front of Kanao Tsuyuri.
While hugging her delicate and soft body, he reached out and firmly covered her mouth…
But remembering her personality, Hanayuki Ichika released his hand.
After closing the door again, he patted her head.
“There, there, don’t be afraid. Big brother isn’t a man-eating demon; I’m a good demon.”
Hanayuki Ichika gave what he thought was a very friendly and gentle smile.
But…
Kanao, trembling in his arms, clearly didn’t believe his nonsense!!
Just then, the door was pushed open again…
“Kanao, are you there? I heard Shinobu made some sweets. Can I have a taste?”
Love Hashira Kanroji Mitsuri pushed the door open with a smile and anticipation, but when she saw the scene inside the room…
her expression immediately became extremely shocked and strange!
Her small mouth opened slightly, and she covered it with her hand, utterly stunned:
“Ara-ra-ra??? Mr. Demon, why are you in Shinobu-san’s room?”
As she spoke, Kanroji Mitsuri slowly drew her unique, ribbon-like, nichirin sword that looked over ten meters long and weighed more than a hundred pounds…
After the initial shock,
Kanroji Mitsuri clearly saw Kanao being held tightly in the arms of the handsome, white-haired Demon Youth…
Although the child’s usually calm face was expressionless, the slight trembling of her body could not escape the eyes of a Hashira.
A strong protective instinct surged in Mitsuri’s heart, her grass-green eyes filled with anxiety and concern.
“Mr. Demon, let go of Kanao right now! If you want something, come at me!”
Her voice was loud, carrying her usual straightforwardness.
But facing such a handsome Demon Youth who didn’t look like a demon at all, a hint of fluster unconsciously crept into her tone.
After all, this white-haired Demon Youth’s appearance was simply too outstanding.
If not for those sky-white eyes and the dark demon patterns on his body…
he would look just like a handsome protagonist from a storybook.
He really hit all her soft spots!
“I’m not! I didn’t!” Hanayuki Ichika hurriedly released Kanao and raised both hands above his head.
“I’m really not a man-eating demon! Look, she’s fine. I haven’t even touched a single hair on her head!”
The defense was weak and powerless.
Kanao stumbled back two steps after regaining her freedom.
Although her face remained expressionless, those large purple eyes clearly reflected her lingering fear.
She silently stood by Mitsuri’s side, her fingers quietly resting on the hilt of the nichirin sword at her waist.
In Mitsuri’s eyes, this scene…
was clearly a weak girl who had just escaped danger after being toyed with by a demon, still wearing the traumatized expression of someone broken by a demon!!
“I won’t believe the words of a Mr. Demon!”
Mitsuri’s blade still pointed at Hanayuki Ichika.
Her tone, rather than pure killing intent, held more admonishment and vigilance.
“I-If you surrender quietly now and explain the situation… maybe… Ah! What am I saying!”
She suddenly realized she was trying to communicate with a demon, and her face turned slightly red.
She then tried to put on a stern face again.
“A-Anyway! Surrender immediately! As the Love Hashira, I, Kanroji Mitsuri… will try my best to let you die without pain! This is my responsibility as a Hashira, and also… mercy for the lost!”
Hanayuki Ichika’s pupils shrank.
It’s over!!
He knew the Love Hashira’s combat power all too well…
With his mediocre skills after being demonized for only two days, he probably couldn’t even withstand a single move.
In a flash, his survival instinct overrode all sense of shame—
Swoosh!
He lunged forward suddenly—not to attack, but to slide directly into a kneel before Kanroji Mitsuri!
Under the astonished gazes of Mitsuri and Kanao, he grabbed Mitsuri’s legs, which had beautiful muscle lines yet remained flexible, with both hands, and pressed his face tightly against them, even rubbing against them.
“Mommy! Mommy!” Using the most sincere tone of his life, Hanayuki Ichika cried out.
He looked up, his sky-white eyes blinking, trying hard to squeeze out a few pitiful tears.
“Mitsuri-san, I’ll call you Mommy! Can you pretend you didn’t see anything? Mommy! Watashi really am a good baby demon, really not some bad man-eating demon… Mommy, please believe me, Mommy!”
“Eek—!!!”
Kanroji Mitsuri immediately let out a scream full of girlish panic, not at all like a Hashira-level expert!!
Her entire face, along with her neck and ears, instantly turned the color of a ripe tomato.
Steam actually started rising from the top of her head, and she began to sweat all over her body and cheeks from embarrassment.
“Y-Y-You… what are you saying?! Why did you suddenly call me Mommy, Mr. Demon?! No! The point is… let go of me!”
Her hand holding the blade trembled violently, the tip of the sword drawing irregular circles in the air.
“S-So strange! This is too strange! I-I’m not even married yet! And Mr. Demon, you’re a demon! You’re a boy! Hugging me like this… Aaaah!”
To have her legs hugged so intimately by a member of the opposite sex—even if it was a demon—and have his face rub against her…
In her eighteen years of life, Kanroji Mitsuri had never encountered such a direct and absurd shock!
She should have kicked him away; she should have swung her blade immediately!
But her body felt as if it were under a binding spell, frozen in place and unable to move.
Her heart drummed wildly in her chest, as if it were about to jump out.
Embarrassment, panic, helplessness, and a hint of…
maternal love that shouldn’t have existed, arising from her heart softening inexplicably when being so relied upon and called out to?
This handsome Demon Youth looked up…
with nothing but sincerity and kindness in his sky-white eyes, devoid of any evil.
The way he called her Mommy with such pure eyes…
actually reminded her of the innocent children living next door to her home…
No!
That’s not right!
He’s a demon!
A monster that, in theory, should devour human flesh and blood!!!
An existence that should be killed without hesitation!!
No matter if he was a kind demon or an evil one…
they generally could not resist the instinctive urge to eat people and would eventually commit acts of cannibalism and destruction…
Whether it was to judge an evil demon early and end them, or to send a good demon into reincarnation early to relieve their suffering…
she should swing her blade without hesitation!
[But… but he really looks… so pitiful?]
Mitsuri’s mind fell into an unprecedented brainstorm.
Beside them, Kanao Tsuyuri was completely petrified…
On that always calm and delicate face, the corner of her mouth actually twitched imperceptibly…
Her purple eyes widened slightly, filled with astonishment.
She looked at the handsome, white-haired Demon Youth who was hugging Mitsuri’s legs like a madman and calling her Mommy, and then at the Love Hashira, who was so embarrassed that steam was rising from her head, speaking incoherently, and completely lacking her usual reliable senior appearance…
This scene was too surreal!
So much so that even she temporarily forgot her fear and hostility, leaving only pure confusion.
“Kanroji! What happened? Why such a commotion!” A deep, gloomy male voice rang out with suppressed anger.
“The scent of a demon! In the Butterfly Mansion?!” Another loud voice was full of vigilance.
Footsteps approached from all directions.
The doorway was instantly blocked by several tall figures of the Hashira.
After sensing the demon’s presence…
one cold, glinting nichirin sword after another was drawn from its scabbard, and countless waves of killing intent immediately swept through the entire Butterfly Mansion…
…
Seeing this, Hanayuki Ichika’s heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died:
[Kochou!!! Where are you, Kochou…]
[If you don’t come back and help me explain soon,]
[I’m really going to be hacked into a bloody mist by these Hashira who hate demons to their very core!!!]