At the edge of the courtyard, several members of the Kakushi dressed in all-black uniforms and face coverings were busy preparing for departure.
Sunlight poured mercilessly across the grounds, and to Kiyohiko, that comforting warmth was no different from a deadly poison.
Forced to remain beneath the shade of a tree, he watched the companions who were about to be taken away.
“Tanjiro, Zenitsu… if I die, remember to burn some paper offerings for me on this day next year.”
Kiyohiko wore an expression of utter despair, his voice so tragic that one might have thought he was being led toward the execution grounds.
“No, wait.
There might not even be a body left to mourn.
That horrible woman—Shinobu Kocho—will definitely slice me into pieces and subject me to unspeakable experiments where the sun never shines!”
Tanjiro looked thoroughly confused.
His clear, dark-red eyes were filled with incomprehension, as though he were observing a patient babbling nonsense through a fever.
“Huh?
What are you talking about, Kiyohiko?
Miss Shinobu seems like a very gentle person.”
Tanjiro thought back seriously before continuing, “There is a faint scent of anger around her, but she volunteered to take care of you.
That must mean she wants to heal you, doesn’t it?
You should be happy.”
“Happy, my ass!
That smile is hiding a knife!
Cut that woman open and she’ll be black all the way through!”
“Shut up, you bastard!
Stop acting dissatisfied when you’ve already gotten everything you could possibly want!!”
A heart-wrenching scream shattered the melancholy atmosphere of their farewell.
Zenitsu still had tears and snot running down his face, but the eyes he directed at Kiyohiko now burned with enough jealousy to set a person on fire.
“She’s beautiful!
She’s an incredibly—unbelievably—beautiful older woman!
Her voice sounds like wind chimes, and she smells wonderful!”
Zenitsu flailed his arms in excitement before pointing directly at Kiyohiko’s nose and launching into an enraged tirade.
“I heard it!
She leaned right beside your ear and whispered to you, didn’t she?!
That’s the kind of distance only couples use!
And you still have the nerve to call her a demon?!
I want a beautiful demon like that to turn me into a specimen too!
I want her to lock me up!
Just die already and trade places with me!”
Looking at Zenitsu as though he wanted to swallow him whole, Kiyohiko’s lips twitched.
As expected of Zenitsu.
The moment a beautiful woman enters the conversation, he becomes a completely different person. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
“I cannot agree with such perverted desires.”
“All right, all right.
Esteemed sirs, it is getting rather late.”
A Kakushi member carrying a specially designed lightproof box approached and interrupted their argument.
He cast a nervous glance toward Kiyohiko, who remained hidden beneath the shade.
“Um… Lord Kiyohiko, although the Master has given his orders, the sunlight is currently too strong for us to transport you directly.
Could you perhaps…”
“I know, I know.
You want me to get inside the box.”
Kiyohiko inhaled deeply and circulated the blood within his body.
A faint grinding of bones sounded beneath a cloud of white smoke as his youthful frame rapidly began to shrink.
When the smoke dispersed, the nearly six-foot-tall young man had transformed into a child-sized Kiyohiko who appeared no older than eight or nine.
His oversized hospital robe hung around him like a sack, its sleeves dragging across the ground and leaving only two tiny hands visible.
“S-So adorable…”
Tanjiro murmured instinctively, his expression becoming even gentler.
“Gyaaah!!
Why is even your demon transformation so unfair?!
Isn’t that form designed specifically to win sympathy from girls?!
You’re cheating!”
Zenitsu became even more hysterical.
He could already imagine Shinobu cradling the miniature Kiyohiko in her arms and calling him cute, and the mere image was enough to destroy what remained of his composure.
Kiyohiko ignored Zenitsu’s breakdown.
Clumsily lifting the hem of his overlong robe, he waddled forward on short legs and climbed into the box the Kakushi had placed upon the ground.
“Well then… until next time, Tanjiro, Zenitsu.”
He poked his small head out through the opening and gave them one final look.
[Current Bond Level with Tanjiro Kamado: Lv.
2.]
[Current Bond Value: 34.]
[Current Bond Level with Zenitsu Agatsuma: Lv.
2.]
[Current Bond Value: 21.]
This is nice.
We can simply talk, joke around, and spend time together, and their Bond Values keep rising naturally.
Unlike a certain enormous fluttering moth.
“Make sure you both stay alive.”
“Yeah!
Until next time!
Take care of yourself too, Kiyohiko!”
Tanjiro waved vigorously. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“If you haven’t been turned into a specimen by the next time we meet, remember to introduce me to that beautiful woman!”
Zenitsu was still shouting.
Click.
The door closed, plunging Kiyohiko’s world into darkness.
A gentle rocking sensation began as the Kakushi member lifted the box onto his back and started running.
Within that cramped and dark but secure space, Kiyohiko closed his eyes.
For some reason, the purple figure and that softly whispered moshi moshi once again surfaced uncontrollably within his thoughts.
Several dozen minutes later, the movement finally stopped.
Click.
The lock was released.
The tightly fitted wooden panel slowly opened, allowing a sliver of painfully bright daylight to squeeze into the darkness.
Kiyohiko instinctively shrank backward and covered his eyes with his small, chubby hands.
“Moshi moshi.
It’s time for your examination, Mr.
Demon.”
The familiar voice that never failed to make his scalp tingle sounded above him.
It carried a hint of amusement and playful lightness, like a delicate butterfly landing directly upon his heart.
Kiyohiko lowered his hands and narrowed his eyes.
The first thing he saw was the colorful butterfly-wing haori swaying gently in the breeze.
Above it was a beautiful, flawless face wearing the same smile that always sent a chill down his spine.
Shinobu was crouched in front of the box with her chin resting between both hands, her violet eyes sparkling with curiosity as she stared without blinking at the tiny figure curled up inside.
“My, you look even more like a harmless little creature after shrinking.”
Shinobu extended one slender finger and gently poked Kiyohiko’s round cheek, speaking in the soothing voice one might use with a small child.
“How was it?
Were you comfortable inside the box?
Did you experience any urges to eat the person carrying you?”
“Stop poking me.
You’ll ruin my face.”
The child-form Kiyohiko slapped away her restless hand, but the soft, childish voice that emerged from his mouth made even him feel deeply embarrassed.
“We’re in the shade, aren’t we?
I’m changing back.
I’m not used to hearing myself talk like this.”
As he spoke, his tiny body began expanding as though being inflated.
A faint series of shifting bones accompanied another cloud of white smoke, and the absurdly oversized hospital robe gradually filled out once more.
When the smoke dispersed, the young man had returned beneath the shaded corridor.
His body remained slightly stiff from the sudden transformation, and his clothes had become disheveled from repeatedly shrinking and expanding.
The collar hung loosely from one shoulder, exposing a small portion of his collarbone.