Demon Slayer: My breathing technique went awry after Nezuko pushed me down.

Because that eyesore is finally gone! From today onwards, I will continue to protect Lady Tamayo and wholeheartedly assist your research!

Okay! Then I'll have to trouble you for four or five days.

Four...wait...four or five days! ! ?

Why four or five days?

How could it be four or five days?!

I was puzzled, so I went to ask.

Ms. Tamayo's answer struck me like a bolt from the blue.

Yes, there has been a breakthrough in research on sunlight exposure.

But sunbathing is too dangerous, and we can't let you or Nezuko do this experiment.

Therefore, when Chuan Yu went to Spider Mountain this time, he planned to catch a few ghosts as test subjects.

They said they would be back in three or four days, or at most a week.

They'll be back in three or four days... a week...

I...I...

No!!!

(Snowflakes fluttering down, north wind howling... BGM)

Chapter 53 Kid? Visiting his sister-in-law?

At the foot of Natagumo Mountain.

Zenitsu Agatsuma, dressed in a golden haori, squatted by the roadside, hugging his knees, shivering.

(〒︿〒)

"Waaah...they just went in like that...and left me here like that..."

He would occasionally look up at the entrance to the mountain where Tanjiro and Inosuke had disappeared, sniffling with tears in his eyes.

"Please, at least say a few more words of encouragement! If only you had given me a little more encouragement, a little more courage, maybe...maybe I could have..."

He became more and more aggrieved as he spoke, his voice trembling with fear in addition to its sobbing tone.

"Why did you leave me alone in this creepy place?! What if a ghost pops out from behind me?! What if—"

"Hey, good evening, kid!"

Suddenly! A faint voice sounded from behind him.

"Alas--!!!!"

Zenitsu's hair stood on end instantly, and he bounced up three meters high like a spring!

"A ghost really did appear from behind me!!!"

He screamed in mid-air, and the moment he landed, his legs gave way and he collapsed to his knees with a thud.

"I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!!!"

Seeing the person lying on the ground in a black and white style, with half of their soul floating out of their mouth, Bai Chuanyu helplessly touched his nose.

I was just teasing him a little, I didn't expect him to react so strongly.

To prevent well-intentioned people from prematurely opening their accounts, Shirakawa Yu quickly spoke up.

"Just kidding. I heard you mention Tanjiro earlier. You two know each other, right?"

Tanjiro! ?

Upon hearing this name, Zenitsu, who had been rolling his eyes, barely regained some of his senses.

He remained in the dogeza posture, stiffly and slowly raising his head.

Under the moonlight, a handsome young man dressed in a white haori and a soldier's uniform was smiling at him.

The young man wore two straight long swords at his waist, and his black eyes appeared gentle yet... a little wicked in the night.

What's most eye-catching is that a beautiful little girl is sitting on his neck, clinging to his head, tilting her head, and curiously looking at him with her big, round pink eyes.

"You you you you you!!!"

Upon recognizing the Demon Slayer Corps uniform on the other person and realizing he was human rather than a demon, Zenitsu was instantly enraged and jumped up to unleash a barrage of attacks.

"Why do you walk so quietly?! Don't you know that suddenly appearing behind someone and talking can be terrifying?!"

Shirakawa Yu suppressed his mischievous laughter and feigned innocence, "Sorry, sorry~ I couldn't help but come closer when I heard you mentioning my junior brother Tanjiro's name."

"Junior Brother...?"

Zenitsu paused for a moment, then looked Shirakawa Yu up and down again.

...Looks familiar...

"Oh!!!"

He suddenly slapped his thigh. "I remember now! You're the one who participated in the final selection in the same year as us!"

Shirakawa Yu's eyes lit up. "Hey, I thought you'd forgotten!"

"I really don't remember you..."

Zenitsu muttered under his breath, but then suddenly perked up, "But there was a really pretty girl next to you! A girl in a pink kimono, with black hair, and she had such a great presence!"

Bai Chuanyu: "..."

Okay, that's very convenient.

Or rather, this is very blond...

It seems that in my memory, all blond-haired people are like this.

"My name is Shirakawa Yu." He introduced himself simply and patted his little feet resting on his chest. "This is Tanjiro's sister, Nezuko."

Zenitsu looked at the little bean on Shirakawa Hare's neck, blinked, and had a slightly strange expression, but he didn't show it.

"Oh, so she's the little sister Tanjiro's been talking about..."

Clearly, Tanjiro must have mentioned to Zenitsu his purpose for joining the Demon Slayer Corps.

It's about helping my sister, who was turned into a ghost, to return to human form.

Skipping over this difficult-to-judge matter, Zenitsu asked.

"By the way, what are you doing here?"

Shirakawa Yu shrugged. "It's a mission, you guys were sent to Spider Mountain too, right? Where's my junior brother? Is he already inside?"

Mentioning this, Zenitsu wilted again, looking at the entrance with a pitiful expression, "Um... Tanjiro and Inosuke both went in,"

As he spoke, he became aggrieved again, "Leaving me here all alone..."

"Oh, I see... You got left behind?"

Hearing the slightly mocking tone behind him, Sun-il turned around angrily.

He noticed that Shirakawa Yu was looking at him with a very ambiguous gaze, and even patted his head with pity.

Shirakawa Yu (っ'ω｀)ノ: "As expected, is a relationship between three people still too crowded?"

Zenitsu instantly exploded: "It's not what you think!!!"

"Yes, yes, I understand~" Bai Chuanyu waved his hand dismissively, his expression clearly saying, "The relationships between you young people are really complicated."

Zenitsu: "..."

He felt that he couldn't clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

Shirakawa Yu looked up at the entrance to Spider Mountain, where it was pitch black, with only the moonlight barely illuminating the winding path.

"Since you're already here, you really aren't planning to go in?" He turned to Zenitsu and asked, "Are you just going to stand outside and watch?"

Zenitsu remained silent.

He certainly didn't want to be alone in such a gloomy place.

But... there must be ghosts in the mountains! Very powerful ghosts! The kind that eat people all the time!

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't utter a word.

Bai Chuanyu sighed as he looked at his conflicted expression.

"Alright, it's fate that we met." He patted Zenitsu on the shoulder. "I'll go in with you, okay?"

Zenitsu's eyes lit up instantly: "Really!?"

He had heard Tanjiro say that this senior brother was very strong!

Super strong!

With him there... wouldn't he be able to protect himself?

"Let's go." Bai Chuanyu turned around and walked towards the mountain path.

Zenitsu quickly followed, but he kept turning his head back every few steps, looking around nervously like a thief.

The three of them walked up the narrow mountain path.

This road is obviously rarely used; the tree trunks and branches on both sides are untrimmed and grow haphazardly, often stretching into the middle of the road.

Nezuko sat on Shirakawa Hayao's neck. At first, it was fine, but after a short while, a horizontal tree branch snagged her hair.

"Hmm?" She tilted her head and raised her hand to brush her hair aside.

She hadn't walked more than a few steps when another branch nearly poked her face.

Nezuko: (!_!)

She wrinkled her little nose, clearly a little unhappy.

Further on, more tree branches blocked the way, some so low that you had to bend over to pass.

"Ugh!" Nezuko protested, patting Shirakawa Yu's head with her little hand.

"What's wrong?" Shirakawa Yu asked, looking up.