In the quiet tea room, only Shinichi and Kagaya Ubuyashiki sat facing each other.
The air was filled with the faint, clean scent of medicine and an indescribable atmosphere of peaceful compassion.
At a subtle signal from Kagaya, his wife, Amane, gave a small bow and gracefully exit the room, leaving the two of them in private.
"Shinichi," Kagaya began, his voice gentle. "How is Shinobu?"
Shinichi nodded, a measure of relief in his own tone.
"She is doing well. The potions Lady Tamayo has developed are remarkably effective, and Shinobu herself is a brilliant medicinal master. With the two of them working together, their research is progressing at an incredible pace. It may not be long before they can create a true cure."
"Lady Tamayo… yes, her presence here is a blessing," Kagaya said, a hint of hope in his voice.
"Two of the world's finest medical minds working as one. Perhaps… perhaps they truly can create a miracle." He seemed to be speaking not just to Shinichi, but to himself, or perhaps to fate.
After a brief, contemplative silence, Kagaya shifted the topic.
"Shinichi, the intelligence you brought back confirms our worst fears. The demons' infiltration runs deeper and is far more insidious than we imagined. From what we've gathered, with the help of Chinatsu-san, the current leadership of this country is… vulnerable."
Kagaya's tone was calm, yet carried a profound sadness.
"Human weakness has always been the most delectable meal for demons. Because of this, the position of our Demon Slayer Corps has become truly perilous… cough, cough!"
A sudden, violent coughing fit seized him, rattling his frail body.
Shinichi was on his feet in an instant.
He took a step forward, his hand raised as he activated his Breath of the Forest.
A rich, verdant vitality flowed from him into Kagaya body.
The effect on the curse was minimal, but it could, at least, soothe the pain.
"Oyakata-sama, your health…" Shinichi left the sentence unfinished, his deep frown conveying the weight in his heart.
Kagaya's condition had worsened significantly in the short time he had been away.
"Thank you, Shinichi. I feel… much better," Kagaya breathed after a moment, the vitality easing his coughing fit.
A faint hint of color returned to his pale lips, but his breathing seemed even shallower than before.
"Shinichi… in the days to come, you may notice some… unusual changes at headquarters. No matter what happens, I need you, and all the slayers as loyal as you, to hold fast to your beliefs. Trust that the final dawn will come."
His words were slow, carrying a strange weight, as if he were giving a final testament, yet they remained infuriatingly vague.
Shinichi's senses screamed that something was wrong.
While the words were meant to be encouraging, they felt like a carefully constructed farewell.
He felt with certainty that his lord was hiding something from him, a thought so foreign and unsettling he was reluctant to even entertain it.
The slayers' trust in their master was absolute.
What could Kagaya possibly need to hide?
"Oyakata-sama, what do you mean by—"
Kagaya simply shook his head, his voice still gentle.
"Some things… are a heavy burden to know. You only need to remember that the will of the Demon Slayer Corps, passed down for a thousand years, will not be broken here."
The cryptic words left Shinichi at a loss.
Just as he was about to press further, the door slid open.
Amane stepped back into the room with perfect timing.
"Shinichi-kun," she said, her voice soft but firm, "Oyakata-sama needs his rest. You have also had a long journey. Please, go and rest as well."
Seeing her, Shinichi knew the conversation was over.
He swallowed the questions on the tip of his tongue and looked at the frail man being helped to lie down by his wife, his heart a tangle of worry and doubt.
In the end, all he could do was bow deeply.
"Oyakata-sama, please take care of yourself."
After Shinichi had left, Amane gently wiped her husband's brow with a cool cloth.
"My love," she whispered, "you said yourself that Shinichi is the most trustworthy of your children."
Kagaya offered a faint, sad smile.
"He is. They all are. And it is precisely because they trust me so completely that I cannot tell them this plan. Their trust is a beautiful, powerful thing, but I will not allow it to lead them to a needless death, trying to protect a man who cannot even swing a sword. Their lives, the lives of those who can hunt the darkness, are infinitely more precious than mine."
....
After leaving Kagaya chambers, Shinichi felt a deep unease settling over him.
He walked aimlessly through the manor, his mind replaying Kagaya's strange words.
Before he knew it, he found himself standing before the temporary Butterfly House.
He hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door open and made his way toward the underground laboratory.
As he neared the entrance, he heard a strange sound from within.
It wasn't the clinking of beakers or the bubbling of potions, but a series of… odd, frustrated muttering sounds.
Guarding the door was Yushiro, his expression as cold and hard as ice.
When he saw Shinichi, his face somehow grew even sourer, as if Shinichi had personally stolen his greatest treasure.
"Looking for your little butterfly?" Yushiro sneered, his voice dripping with resentment.
"Hmph, you really know how to dump your problems on others!"
The hostile tone caught Shinichi off guard.
"Yushiro? What's wrong with you? Did you eat gunpowder?"
"It's none of your business!" Yushiro snapped, then seemed to deflate slightly.
"Are you going in or not? If not, then get lost! Don't disturb Lady Tamayo's work!"
As Shinichi moved to pass him, he clearly heard Yushiro grumbling under his breath.
"…how is that damn girl better than me? I've always been Lady Tamayo's assistant… so what if she's a toxicology expert, I can still hand her things… and she had the nerve to ask me to guard the door…"
'Ah so thats it', Shinichi thought while holding back a laugh.
So that's what this is about.
Yushiro's grumbling was so loud, it felt less like a private complaint and more like a public announcement.
Was he hoping Shinichi would pass the message along? Deciding it was best to feign ignorance, he pushed open the lab door.
The scene inside made him pause.
The lab was more crowded than ever with glassware, distillation contraptions, and grinding tools.
The air was a complex symphony of herbs and chemicals.
Lady Tamayo was bent over a microscope, but it was Shinobu who captured his full attention.
She was dressed in a pristine white protective suit, and she moved through the cluttered space with an impossible, otherworldly grace.
Sprouting from her back were a pair of magnificent, real butterfly wings, patterned like her old haori but shimmering with a life of their own.
She used them with startling dexterity, fluttering a few feet into the air to retrieve a vial from a high shelf, their gentle movements creating no disturbance in the delicate setup below.
"Hm?" she said, turning.
A bright, cheerful smile lit up her face.
"Shinichi! What are you doing here?"
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