A hearty chat with Shinobu - Another Hashira descends!

Kai gave her space to breath and observe.

She seemed more relaxed than before, the worst of her horrifying injuries already healed.

With the Emotions Manipulation at his disposal, Kai had sensed the deep anger boiling inside her the moment he had neared her. He didn't know her history, but in this world, what else could it be other than something related to the demons?

She looked at him, her dense purple eyes regarding him with a confused gaze.

"What are you?" she asked slowly. "Why did you save me?"

Kai smiled gently at her, the second contrast of Facelessness bringing out his false Self instantly.

He rubbed a stray drop of soup at the corner of her mouth and put down the bowl. The door of the hut was open, and a damp, red light of a bonfire was seeping in, giving them ample light to see each other.

"I am a Demon, of course," he said, shocking her. "But must I need a reason to save anyone?"

Shinobu's mouth opened and closed at Kai's blatant acceptance. It went against everything she had seen on the cliff and what she had come to know about him.

Kai chuckled merrily, the shadow of weakness due to poison dancing on his face.

"There is much anger in you, Shinobu," he told her. "A strong lady like you must not bury these feelings inside. Not for long. Love temper resolve, refining a person's will. So does hate. But anger…

"… anger brings nothing but haste and weakness."

Shinobu's eyes were already shuddering like two purple pearls at the bottom of the churning ocean.

Kai looked to his right, his gaze deepening at the burning sight of the fire.

"I was a doctor, once," he sighed, weaving a well-planned web of lies. "The so-called and self-named demons and humans were, and still are, patients in my eyes.

"For me, this change in their physiology was nothing but the worst disease that needed meticulous research to curb it out. Disease because it had come too suddenly, bringing with it absurd weaknesses, though the demons called it advancement.

"One day while working in my lab, a freak accident happened, and I became like this. My research kept me from becoming one of them. That's why the sun doesn't burn me, and I don't need to eat human flesh. But it also prevented me from gaining their powers.

"I don't have their absurd regenerative powers and superhuman strength. All I have are these swords, given to me by a mysterious old beggar. So when I heard that there is a demon who had withstood the urge to eat humans, I saw a ray of hope. I have yet to apologize for my actions, I know. I know the pain of Tanjiro, the love of siblings, and your anger.

"So I ask again, must I need a reason to save you?"

Kai brought his gaze back to her, with a distinct obsession about him.

Their eyes matched, the crackling of fire reaching their ears with every other flutter of light.

There was no way to confirm Kai's claim. However, all the facts, and the events that had happened, were in his favor. Mixing truths within lies always served as the strongest foundation for all manipulations, Kai had learned.

"How can you feel sorry for something that's killed humans?" she asked, gritting her teeth. "I've never heard of anything so absurd!"

Kai shook his head. "It's in the nature of living beings to walk on the path of advancement," he told her. "I know there is evil in this world. And such evil, vile, and filth must be purged from the face of this world…"

Kai had said those words with strained breaths, but a brilliant aura of justice exploded out of his hazel eyes, shocking even the Hashira.

 It had appeared only for a moment, but one moment had been enough to send a chilly shiver down Shinobu's spine. Even among Hashiras, this just willpower would have stood at the top.

"… but I can't kill a patient, being ignorant of their sufferings, either," Kai continued, closing his eyes as though recalling distant memories. "I won't say that demons eat humans as humans eat other animals, justifying their actions with this absurd example.

"But let me ask you if eating a chicken would grant one more strength to resist the demons, how many of these creatures would the Demon Slayer Corps have slaughtered by now? Thousands? Ten thousand? It goes against my principles. All I want is to find a cure. A cure to make them feel love again. Is that so wrong?"

Kai's words were whispers, melting into the surrounding silence.

Shinobu looked at him for a long time, color rising to her face with every passing moment.

"You could've just…" she began, her voice weak.

"… come to the Demon Slayers and ask for Nezuko?" Kai completed the question for her, smiling wryly.

"Look at me," he said, pointing at his face. "Who would have given reason to my words before beheading me? I don't have the strength to resist the combined force of the Demon Slayers, much less a Hashira. No. It was the only way. I must carry out a few tests using Nezuko's blood, then I will return her.

"And without my medical assistance, you would have died on that cliff, you know it as well as I. So I had to bring you with me as well. Your internal bleeding and injuries are healed, but your vital organs are still delicate. Your ribs are fractured, along with hairline cracks in many bones. Don't strain yourself and relax."

Shinobu was aware of her state better than Kai, so his pointing it all out with pinpoint accuracy gave the truth to his words.

He truly was a doctor.

The Hashira closed her eyes and looked away. "He's here," she told him. "You will never survive."

Kai laughed, pushing himself to his feet. "I know," he nodded. "If it wasn't for you being unable to move, you would've attacked me already. I know that, too."

Shinobu's head snapped towards him, finding him looking at her with grace in his eyes.

"It's OK," Kai whispered. "You have your path to tread. I have no reason to stop you. Nor have I any reason to stop him, either. This is life, Shinobu. All we can do is live every moment, taking one step after another, because…

"… even if one doesn't know one's way…"

Kai walked towards the door, his figure dark against the fire outside.

"… one must keep moving forward."

Just before walking over the threshold, Kai paused. He took out a red capsule and flicked it towards the Hashira. The tiny capsule came to rest a few meters away from her.

"If I don't return," Kai told her, his smile burning brighter than fire, "then take this tomorrow evening. You will live because you are the strongest woman I've ever met…"

He walked out, laughing, "… and beautiful, too."

Behind him, Shinobu's lips quivered, her eyes straining to follow Kai's disappearing figure, and beside her, the red capsule glinted with a bloody premonition.

Outside, between the hut and the river bank, Kai came to stop with a deathly silence on his face.

On the river bank, a man was standing upright, wearing a white haori with red flame patterns at the ends. His golden hair, ending with a red tinge, was wet.

And there was a just smile on his face.

After 3 days of peace, Kai's bad Luck had finally attracted another top figure, and he recognized him with a heaviness in his heart.

He was Kyojuro Rengoku, the Flame Hashira.

***************

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