Muzan: My daughter can't be that weak!

Forget it...

Even a father who is hard of hearing is still your father.

Xue Nai sighed inwardly and decided to indulge her slightly naughty and hard-of-hearing father.

"Dad, I said—"

She turned towards Muzan, raised her voice slightly, and repeated each word carefully, as if afraid he might miss it again, "I've learned everything the teacher taught me today!"

...just fifty sounds.

Is it something to be proud of to learn something so basic?

Kokushibo's teaching pace is far too slow.

Moreover, was the sudden loud noise meant to shatter his ears?

Muzan frowned slightly at her suddenly louder voice and snorted inwardly.

Seeing that her father still didn't speak and was just silently staring at the paper on the table, Xue Nai felt that he must have heard her.

Could it be... that you don't believe you've really learned it?

She's not a lying child!

So she walked to the table, pointed to the pseudonym on the paper, lowered her head, and began to read it.

"あ, い, う, え, お..."

Although Muzan thought to himself, he still leaned back in his chair as he listened to the child reading aloud.

His eyes lowered slightly, and his gaze involuntarily fell on the small figure standing by the table, head bowed.

The warm glow in the room outlined the little guy's soft hair.

She read with great focus, and occasionally when she encountered a slightly complicated pronunciation, her little eyebrows would unconsciously furrow slightly, then relax again as she tried her best to pronounce it correctly.

"Daddy," she suddenly looked up after reading it once, her eyes meeting his, "I can also read it vertically!"

"あ, か, さ, た, な..."

After reading it all, Xue Nai's eyes shone brightly, as if filled with stars. She looked up at him, waiting for his evaluation.

Perhaps it was the child's bright eyes that made Muzan subconsciously turn his head to look at the shadows on the other side of the room.

He pursed his lips slightly and remained silent for a moment.

"Daddy~~"

When she received no response, Yukina lowered her eyes and pretended to be very sad, but in reality she was secretly peeking at him with her eyes slanted to the side.

"……Um."

Muzan turned his head to the side and finally uttered two stingy words, "Not bad."

Although it was just okay, the little figure on the table instantly came to life!

Her little mouth couldn't help but curve upwards, revealing an incredibly happy smile.

hey-hey……

Dad probably thinks he's gotten smarter, but he's too embarrassed to say it...

He really is a stubborn dad!

Yukina circled around the corner of the table, snuggled up to the chair where Muzan was sitting, grabbed his large hand hanging by his side with her two small hands, and started shaking it from side to side.

"Xue Nai loves her dad!"

Muzan felt a gentle, swaying sensation coming from his hand.

He turned his head and looked down.

The child was looking up, laughing like a flower suddenly blooming, her eyebrows and eyes curved, and the corners of her mouth turned up high.

There was no trace of the dejected look she had just given off, as if she had been wilted by the rain.

They change their tune quickly.

He stared at it for two seconds without much expression, then suddenly reached out with his other hand.

With his index finger and thumb, he precisely pinched Yukina's soft cheeks, applying slight pressure to make her smiling little mouth pout.

"No laughing!"

Caught off guard, Xue Nai's eyes widened instantly, like a frightened kitten, staring intently at the large hand so close to her.

His fingers were cold, and his pressure wasn't strong, but it was enough to make her unable to maintain that big smile.

Huh?

Is Daddy... playing with me?

This thought, like a sweet seed, instantly took root and sprouted in her heart.

Despite her cheeks being pinched, her eyes gradually curved back up, even wider than before.

She even tried to make a few muffled "hehe" sounds while being restricted, radiating the feeling that "I'm so happy that Daddy is playing with me."

So stupid and slow to react, he'd probably still be in a daze when those insects from the Demon Slayer Corps chopped off his head.

Muzan was truly at his wit's end.

Forget it.

He was about to release his fingers from her cheek when his gaze inadvertently swept across the gap between the child's lips.

Two sharp teeth were particularly noticeable inside.

This discovery caused him to pause slightly.

Belatedly, he realized that it had been quite a while since he last fed this idiot.

This idiot has never once said he was hungry?

Can't they even express their basic survival needs?

How exactly does the brain work?

"Idiot," he said, his fingers still pinching her cheek, looking down at Yukina with a vicious tone, "you might as well starve to death."

Schnee: ...?

His little head was filled with big question marks.

Why did the topic suddenly jump to starvation?

And then he said he was an idiot...

Before she could figure out this complicated problem, the fingers pinching her cheek loosened.

Immediately afterwards, her whole body felt light.

Muzan reached out and lifted her up from the ground with one hand, like picking up a disobedient kitten. He supported her legs with his arm and turned to walk outside.

Suddenly suspended in mid-air, Yukina instinctively clung tightly to Muzan's neck to maintain her balance.

"Daddy?" she called softly, a little confused. "Where are we going?"

Besides, she really didn't feel hungry.

Although, upon closer reflection, it seems like it's been quite a while since I last drank blood...

But her stomach didn't rumble at all, and her tongue didn't seem to like the taste at all.

"Daddy," she tried to explain again, her voice soft, "I don't want to drink blood, and I'm not hungry..."

Muzan didn't stop walking, nor did he even look down at her; he simply let out a short, cold snort from his nose.

"Oh?" he asked flatly. "Who said you were allowed to drink blood?"

They've already grown teeth, what kind of monster would drink blood like that?

However, he has no intention of leaving Infinite City immediately.

Going out in such dirty clothes, even for a moment, would be completely out of character for him.

He didn't explain to Xue Nai in his arms, but simply held her and turned to walk towards another area of ​​the Infinite City.

That was the room where he stored his clothes.

Upon entering the room, Muzan placed Yukina aside.

"Wait here."

Yukina sat obediently, curiously looking around.

Not long after, Muzan came out wearing a brand new kimono.

As he straightened his cuffs, his gaze swept over Yukina, who was sitting quietly.

Most of her clothes are in her own courtyard, but a small portion is also kept here.

Muzan casually picked out two items from the pile, turned around, and held the clothes up to Yukina.

"Choose one."

Yukina tilted her head up, her gaze shifting back and forth between the two small furisode garments.

One is a light cherry blossom pink, embroidered with tiny floral branches; the other is a slightly darker peach pink, with delicate butterfly patterns along the edges.

They're all beautiful!

Which one should I choose?

Xue Nai was a little conflicted.