Anime/Manga: Bankai Starting with Demon Slayer

It's a pity she couldn't hold on for that long, otherwise she could have served as a protective charm.

The sound of the raccoon rang in her heart, making the bird's expression turn somewhat ugly.

“Talkative fellow.” He patted the hilt of his knife.

Chapter 117 The Place Where the Gale Returns (Part 2)

That evening, Inosuke, who was trimming weeds in the yard, suddenly sensed a sneaky atmosphere and turned around abruptly.

At this moment, Asuka was carrying Shinobu Kocho on her back, carefully navigating around the water tank in the yard.

"Hey! Toritaro! Where are you going!"

He was shirtless, glaring fiercely at the bird with his beautiful, delicate features.

He had placed the badly worn pig mask in the dojo, and even though the Demon Slayer Corps had disbanded, he still lived in Hayama.

In his words, he wanted to dominate the mountains here.

"Fireworks festival," Asuka replied without turning her head.

"Huh? What's so interesting about that noisy stuff! Why don't you come and have a tree-chopping contest with me!" Inosuke jumped over with a loud voice.

"Inosuke, stop making noise!" Kanzaki Aoi, who was brewing medicine in the backyard, came out, holding a fan in her hand, and glared at him helplessly.

She looked at Asuka and Shinobu with some concern: "Asuka-sama, Shinobu-sama, are you sure it's okay for your bodies to go down the mountain like this?"

"Should I let Xiaoqing and the others come along...?"

After all, the birds these days look rather terrifying.

After the final battle, due to the excessive erosion of his body by spiritual pressure, large patches of blackish-purple appeared on his body, making him look like rotting dead flesh.

The woman on his back, Shinobu Kocho, also had a pale face and lifeless eyes.

A grotesque, one-armed man carries a blind, sickly woman on his back.

No matter how you look at it, it makes you uneasy.

"It's alright." Asuka weighed Shinobu Kocho on her back.

Her weight was ridiculously light, as if she were carrying not a person, but a feather that could drift away at any moment.

"I want to go see, Aoi." Shinobu Kocho rested on Asuka's shoulder, giving a weak but bright smile in the direction of the voice: "It's such a rare treat for the weather, Asuka has been begging me for so long."

"...You were the one who said that last night..."

"Mr. Asuka, please remain silent at times like this."

The bird closed its mouth.

Shinobu Kocho gave a mischievous smile and had Asuka pull her closer. She then whispered to Aoi Kanzaki, "I deliberately sent Kanao away, otherwise we definitely wouldn't be able to get out... Please, have some mercy and help your sister."

Feeling the warm breath on her ear, Kanzaki Aoi blushed and her voice stammered:

"Then... then you must be careful! Come back soon!"

Inosuke snorted and silently kicked away a piece of gravel blocking the bird's path in the middle of the road.

Asuka nodded to the two of them and slowly walked down the mountain with Shinobu on her back.

The town below the mountain was brightly lit.

This is probably the most lively spring at the foot of Hayama.

People shed their heavy winter clothes and put on brightly colored yukatas, and all sorts of stalls lined both sides of the street.

The sweet aroma of apple candy, the caramelized scent of grilled squid, and the laughter of children filled the air.

No more man-eating demons haunted the nights, and everyone enjoyed this peaceful life.

However, when the bird entered the crowd, the surrounding air became noticeably colder.

People instinctively avoided the tall, one-armed man with a terrifying face.

The once noisy vendors would involuntarily fall silent when they met the bird's calm, single eye.

"Look at that person...it's terrifying."

"Hey, don't look! What's all that stuff on his body? Is he sick?"

"That woman must be blind too, right? So pitiful..."

The whispers of conversation reached Feiniao's ears, but he paid them no heed, for they were all true.

He turned his head and found Shinobu Kocho gripping his shoulder, tilting her head excitedly.

She couldn't hear the comments; she was completely absorbed in breathing in the lively atmosphere...

"Hey, Asuka, I smell apple candy."

"...I saw it, it's over there."

I want to eat it.

"it is good."

The bird paid no heed to the disgusted or pitying glances and quickly passed through the crowd.

He asked Shinobu Kocho to hand him a coin, and bought a bright red apple candy.

Shinobu nibbled on the butterfly, content as a child.

"Asuka, everyone must be watching us, right?" she suddenly asked in a low voice.

"....Um."

"They must think we're a strange monster duo."

"I am a monster, you are not," Asuka corrected earnestly.

Shinobu chuckled softly, the sound fleeting through the crowd:

"If I were a monster, I would definitely be the kind of butterfly fairy who would eat bad guys like Mr. Asuka."

"Butterflies don't eat people, do they?"

"...This is a metaphor, a metaphor."

He carried her across the long stone steps to a secluded hillside behind the shrine.

This place is far from the crowds, with a wide view overlooking the entire town and the fireworks that are about to take off.

Due to visual impairment, Shinobu Kocho sees only a blurry, constantly shifting gray shadow in her eyes.

"Hasn't it started yet?" She looked up, her empty gaze fixed on the dark night sky.

"Almost there." Asuka put her down and let her sit on her feathers.

Bang-!

Just then, the first loud bang ripped through the night sky.

A burst of dazzling golden light exploded in the sky, like a blooming chrysanthemum.

Next came purple, red, and green.

A faint glimmer of light finally appeared in Shinobu Kocho's lifeless pupils.

"Did you see that?" Asuka asked.

"Hmm... a little bit. It's blurry, but I can feel it."

Shinobu Kocho reached out, as if trying to catch the fleeting light: "This color reminds me of the fireworks festivals I attended with my sister when I was little."

The bird silently gazed at the sky.

The fireworks weren't particularly beautiful to him; he only saw the burst and dissipation of energy.

Just like the lives of the pillars, the more dazzling the burning, the shorter it is, leaving him feeling somewhat powerless.

"Birds."

"I'm here."

"Where do you think people go after they die?"

Shinobu Kocho's voice was very soft, sounding somewhat ethereal amidst the explosions of fireworks.

Asuka withdrew her gaze and looked at the woman beside her.

This should be the last time he reveals his secrets to the world.

"We'll be going to a place called Soul Society."

The bird narrated calmly, as if telling an ancient legend.

"It's huge there, I heard there are 360,000 districts. Most people live in the outer Rukongai, which is similar to here, with houses and streets, but it's not as peaceful as here..."

"At the heart of Soul Society lies a white city called Seireitei. The people there wield swords capable of severing souls..."

He described the sunset over Rukongai, the Shinigami dressed in black Shinigami uniforms, and the place that evoked complex emotions in him.

Butterfly listened so attentively that she even forgot to eat her apple candy.

"It sounds like a really lively place," she murmured. "Are there ghosts there too?"

"...It's full of ghosts there."

"Will there be flowers there?"

"Yes, even deep in Rukongai, there are wildflowers blooming all over the hillsides."

Shinobu turned her head. Although she couldn't see Asuka's face clearly, she seemed to be able to sense the complex thoughts in his eyes at that moment.

"So, Mr. Asuka, are you going back there in the future?"

Asuka remained silent for a long time regarding this question.

"Hmm," he finally replied.

"That's great..."

Shinobu leaned against Asuka's shoulder again and sighed softly.

She knew, of course, that Asuka was no ordinary person, from his extraordinary recovery from death, from his unbelievable fighting skills...

She hesitated for a long time before speaking again:

"Then... could you take me with you?"

Upon hearing Shinobu's request, Asuka frowned and carefully analyzed the situation, resting her chin on her hand:

"...I'm not sure if your soul can reach the other side of Soul Society, and even if it does, it might not be a good thing."

“It’s also brutal there, and everything may have to start all over again, and I don’t know if you’ll still remember me.”

"The most terrifying thing is that there exists in the Soul Society..."

"Fool...."

Butterfly muttered something under her breath.

".....what?"

"You really are a complete idiot, Mr. Asuka."

Shinobu Kocho reached out and touched Asuka's cheek for a while before finally pinching it. Although she didn't use much force, she made him unable to move. "You're actually seriously considering whether taking me there will make me suffer... Don't you understand what girls are saying?"

Fireworks celebrated their final festivities in the sky, bathing the entire mountain in a magnificent purple glow.

Shinobu's lips moved slightly, but her soft voice was masked by the fireworks and almost disappeared into the wind.

But Asuka still understood what she meant.

"The place I want to go is where you are."

Chapter 118 Let's Go Together

Late spring in Hayama should be a vibrant time of year, but the dojo is shrouded in an inescapable gloom.

Shinobu Kocho was completely unable to get up. It was sudden, yet it seemed to be within everyone's expectations.

"Shinobu-neechan..." Kanao knelt by the bed, gripping Shinobu's cold hand tightly.

This girl, who rarely showed any emotion, now had red eyes and large tears falling onto the bedding.

"Lord Shinobu... please drink some more medicine."