Hah, good heavens, this guy really does look a bit creepy.
Especially when his eyes are wide, his entire sclera is bloodshot, veins bulging, coupled with the scars on his face and body, and his stern gaze... I really don't know if a demon is scarier or if he is.
Haruto cleared his throat. "I ask you, have you ever asked Genya to his face if he hates you?"
"No."
"When you secretly watched him, did he ever say anything about hating you?"
"...No."
"Then why do you think he hates you, to the point of wanting to sever his brotherly relationship with you?"
Haruto looked at him, exasperated. "What on earth are you imagining every day?"
Sanemi's fists clenched tightly, then he suddenly jumped to the side, raining punches on the trees lining the mountain path.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Startled, Haruto frowned, watching the silver-haired hedgehog go berserk, and reached out to catch a fallen persimmon.
Yay? An unexpected bonus?
Haruto bit into the persimmon skin with his teeth, then spat it out with a "Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey," it was still astringent.
"How could he not hate me! How could he not hate me! I abandoned him when he needed a family most!"
Sanemi roared, his punches smashing the tree bark, also tearing the skin on his own knuckles.
"How could he so easily accept being abandoned! Is he an idiot, that Shinazugawa Genya with a problem in his head!"
"Thud!"
A thrown green persimmon hit Sanemi on the head. Haruto grabbed his neck. "I say... you're really strange.
You're clearly worried about Genya, sneaking over to check on him, and now you're saying such harsh things. You're really contradictory."
"I'm not worried about him!" Sanemi said sharply. "I'm very relieved that he's with you!"
"Ha, are you praising me, thanking me, or scolding me? Really... This is the first time I've met someone stranger than Tomioka Giyu."
"Didn't you say Genya is a good-for-nothing who can't learn a Breathing Technique! Then let him grow up well, and when he can support himself, kick him off the mountain! I'll work hard to earn money and repay you for these past few years of upbringing!"
So that's what he was worried about... Haruto turned his face, saying with some displeasure, "How can you call your own brother a good-for-nothing? You clearly care about him, so why say such hurtful things?!
Who are you trying to strike down with these harsh words? Are you trying to strike down me, who is standing in front of you?
Do you want me to believe that Genya, who trains diligently and works hard, is really a good-for-nothing?"
Sanemi waved his hands anxiously, but didn't know how to explain, his agitated face looking even more terrifying.
"I'm telling you, your brother, my disciple Genya, is not only not a good-for-nothing, but a genius with the extremely rare Ghoul Eater physique!
He will have an infinitely bright future, standing alongside you, me, and all the excellent swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps, to take revenge on the demons who caused his mother's death!"
Haruto's somewhat stern words echoed in his ears, finally breaking through Sanemi's psychological defenses.
"I don't want it! I don't want him to be a genius!" Sanemi roared, twisting his body to grab Haruto's hand. "I don't want him to join the Demon Slayer Corps! I don't want him to stand before those evil demons!"
The silver-haired youth struggled and fell to the ground. He lay prostrate, refusing to look up, howling and furiously pounding the ground with his fists. "Genya... he should learn a skill to survive, get married and have children at the appropriate age, and then work hard to earn money for his wife and children—not be consumed by hatred like me!"
The youth seemed to be crying, but stubbornly didn't want anyone to see his tears.
"I want to kill all the demons in the world, precisely so they won't get close to Genya... Mother died, my younger siblings also died, I only have Genya left..."
Haruto froze.
So it was... because of this?
Not belittling, not disliking, but wanting to use sharp words to provoke his brother into staying away from him, away from the Demon Slayer Corps.
Haruto let out a long breath, wanting to dispel the pent-up frustration in his heart.
"But, that's impossible."
Sanemi looked up, watching the gentleman lower his eyes and shake his head.
"He was also present when that incident happened, wasn't he?"
That's right, that night Genya even felt the death of his younger siblings closer than he did, and his face, like his own, bore the scars of their mother's attack.
"When your mother turned into a demon, he also saw it with his own eyes, didn't he?"
Haruto's mood was a bit low. "Although I don't believe in fate, Sanemi."
He squatted down and gently patted Sanemi's shoulder. "Many people walking this path of demon hunting are destined to do so."
A muffled, uncontrollable cry of pain squeezed out of Sanemi's throat, the blood from his knuckles and his tears seeping into the same ground moistened by his brother's sweat... "Aren't you going to see him?"
A moment later, the silver-haired hedgehog youth tidied his clothes, preparing to leave.
"No, Haruto-sensei." Sanemi hesitated, then shook his head. "Knowing that Genya is doing well now is enough for me."
He didn't want Genya to see so many scars on his body; that kid would surely worry so much he wouldn't eat.
"Do you have a place to stay now? Or rather, do you have a trainer now?"
Thinking of his currently vacant successor position, Haruto had an idea.
Although Sanemi's personality and emotional intelligence were hard to describe, he wasn't a bad-hearted child.
His talent was outstanding, he had a rare blood physique, and being with Genya, the two of them could also look after each other.
Moreover, Haruto had seen people with low emotional intelligence who couldn't express themselves; wasn't there still one limping around in the small cabin?
Sanemi's dry words interrupted Haruto's calculations. "No need, someone I know... Kuwano Masachika of the Demon Slayer Corps, he introduced me to his trainer. Please don't tell Genya about my appearance; I'm worried he'll be distracted."
...Alright, that's good.
Haruto pouted, watching the silver-haired youth's figure disappear at the end of the mountain path.
"...Tch, it's not like I'm desperate for a successor, why reject me so quickly?"
He rubbed his nose, grunting unhappily.
Back in the cabin, the three of them looked at him.
"What happened? Why were you gone so long?"
Seeing that he was fine, Sabito breathed a sigh of relief and put down his nichirin blade.
"Oh..." Haruto nodded towards Genya. "I saw your brother."
Genya's hand, wiping sweat, froze. "My... brother?"
"That's right, his hair was as spiky as a hedgehog's. He was hiding on the mountain, secretly watching you just now."
"He should be gone now." The pompadour-haired boy clenched the towel in his hand, but a brilliant smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "He must be gone! He came to see me just to know if I was suffering."
"You're happy even though he left?" Haruto looked at him, puzzled. "Oh my, what kind of brothers are these? Their thought processes are completely identical."
He shook his head as he walked towards the kitchen. Never mind them, he should fill his own stomach first.
As for that kid who rejected me so bluntly, and still wants me to keep his secret?
Hmph!