"Shinichi... Shinichi? Shinichi! Shinichi!"
In the darkness before Shinichi's eyes, faint rays of light gradually reappeared.
Soon, Chinatsu's face, filled with worry, came into view.
She gripped Shinichi's arms and shook him vigorously.
Maru-ni, equally anxious, bit at Shinichi's sleeve, letting out low whimpers from his throat.
"Shinichi, Shinichi, are you okay? Snap out of it!" Chinatsu was starting to regret her decision.
Perhaps she shouldn't have told him such devastating news right after his return.
"Shinobu-san... may have gone missing during a battle with an Upper Rank Demon..."
When Shinichi heard this, he froze completely.
His hand, which had been petting Maru-ni, stiffened mid-air.
After a moment, he finally manage to forced a smile.
"Haha, Chinatsu, that's not a funny joke. I know everyone might be upset about my disappearance, but you can't joke about Shinobu like that. What if that girl finds out? She can be quite devious, you know."
Silence.
A heart-wrenching silence.
Ryukawa Chinatsu didn't respond, only looking at Shinichi with deep regret.
Even Maru-ni, no longer excited from their reunion, drooped his ears and nestled close to Shinichi.
The smile on Shinichi's face completely stiffened.
An indescribable fear began to brew in his heart.
This... wasn't a joke?
Whoosh!
Almost instinctively, Shinichi shot up from the couch.
His pupils uncontrollably contracted violently.
Fear—yes, sheer terror—engulfed him entirely.
He... he couldn't bear the thought that Shinobu might really, truly...
His eyes immediately welled up with stinging tears, blurring his vision.
After the initial wave of fear came overwhelming grief and rage.
His fists clenched involuntarily, and the color of his irises began to change.
The crimson demon eyes Shinichi thought had long vanished seemed to be resurfacing.
The blood coursing through his veins began to boil.
Standing opposite him, Chinatsu suddenly felt as though the tearful young man before her had transformed into a volcano on the verge of eruption.
But just as Shinichi teetered on the edge of explosion, a gentle yet resilient force emerged within him.
Wherever this surge of vibrant life energy passed, his boiling blood gradually calmed, and the crimson fury in his eyes faded away.
In an instant, Shinichi's vision darkened.
His body, which had just risen, immediately lost control and fell backward.
Fortunately, the soft sofa was right behind him—this was precisely why Chinatsu had anxiously called out to him in the first place.
Shaking his still-dazed head, Shinichi looked up at Chinatsu's worried face.
He sighed softly and replied, "I'm... fine, Chinatsu. Please, get me back to the Demon Slayer Corps as soon as possible. If things are as dire as you say, the Corps is in extreme danger. I... I must return immediately!"
Without waiting for Chinatsu's response, Shinichi stood up on his own and strode toward the office door.
Maru-ni also jumped down from the sofa, closely following behind him.
"Shin—" Chinatsu raised her hand, but in the end, she couldn't find the words.
She could only watch as Shinichi's figure disappeared beyond the office doorway.
....
The night was deep, a crescent moon hanging coldly in the dark sky, casting a hazy glow.
The Moriki Conglomerate's compound was far from Tokyo's bustling city center, so the urban clamor couldn't reach this tranquil place.
Yet, precisely because of this, Shinichi, sitting on the rooftop with Maru-ni, appeared even more solitary and forlorn under the moonlight.
Maru-ni lay curled beside Shinichi's leg, chin resting on his front paws, his moist black eyes fixed unblinkingly on Shinichi.
His fluffy tail swayed slowly, and a faint, comforting purr rumbled in his throat.
Shinichi didn't look at Maru-ni, merely reaching out to gently stroke the dog's head.
His gaze stretched beyond the night, toward the vast, star-studded sky.
Those stars—cold, distant, and unchanging—twinkled as if mocking the fleeting yet intense joys and sorrows of the human world.
The shimmering starlight seemed to wash over Shinichi's heart like flowing water, stirring up precious memories that swirled endlessly within him.
When had he first met Shinobu?
Hmm, it must have been at the pharmacy he visited with the old man.
Back then, Shinobu was still a reckless little girl, her boisterous personality surely shocking many Demon Slayers.
After all, in the eyes of many young recruits, their Insect Hashira was as gentle as her elder sister.
"Back then, Shinobu called me... what was it? 'Stone-face'? Yeah, that sounds right."
Recalling the past, Shinichi remembered how he'd once pulled a childish prank, making a scary face that startled Shinobu and earned her a scolding from her father.
The memory tugged at the corners of his lips.
Later, when the Butterfly Pharmacy was attacked, Shinobu had stubbornly clutched his sleeve, tears streaming down her face after Shinichi slew the demon.
Perhaps it was from that moment onward that Shinichi began to hold a deep impression of this girl.
Then came the Demon Slayer Corps selection at Fujikasane Mountain, missions together, encounters with Upper Rank Two, partings, reunions, confessions of feelings...
Looking back, their relationship hadn't been particularly dramatic.
Instead, it was built gradually, layer by layer, through accumulated longing and bonds.
Now, these vivid, warm fragments of memory felt like blunt knives, repeatedly slicing at Shinichi's nerves.
Every smile from Shinobu Kocho, every word she spoke, every brush of her fingertips—all became painfully clear yet unbearably distant.
The girl who called him "Stone-face," "Blockhead Shinichi," "Shinichi-kun," who shouldered heavy responsibilities with her slender frame...
Could she truly have vanished into the darkness, fallen victim to an Upper Moon, swallowed by the endless demon realm?
Maru-ni seemed to sense the overwhelming grief radiating from his master, letting out a worried whimper as he nudged Shinichi's limp hand with his damp nose.
Shinichi looked down into Maru-ni's concerned black eyes.
Finally, a scalding tear broke free, tracing a silent path down Shinichi's cheek before landing softly on Maru-ni's fur.
For now, Shinichi allowed himself—only in front of Maru-ni—to show this fragile side.
But just for this moment.
No matter what, before his comrades and juniors in the Demon Slayer Corps, and especially before those damned demons, he would remain the unshakable Hashira of the Forest, standing tall and unyielding!
He raised his hand and forcefully wiped away the wet traces on his face.
Under the moonlight, those eyes that reopened still brimmed with bottomless grief, yet something was settling, coalescing, and burning deep within—a force more tenacious than sorrow, more composed than rage.
The deeper comprehension of life's energy would no longer allow Shinichi to easily fall into the frenzied Demon Transformation.
This stronger power would only be more effectively utilized to slay Demons!
He refused to believe Shinobu could leave him so easily!
"Shinobu, we will meet again. No matter where, even in the underworld, I will bring you back!"
Whoosh!
His tall, straight figure rose from the rooftop.
"Maru-ni," Shinichi's voice was low and hoarse, carrying an unshakable resolve.
"It's time we returned."
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