"But didn't you at least save one of them?"
Sanemi turned back in surprise. "You… weren't out handling something?"
"How long does it take to kill a demon that's already exposed itself?" Hiru looked at him strangely. "And the sun's fully up now. If you think about it, quite a bit of time has passed.
Also, didn't I tell you to treat your wounds first? Were you pretending not to hear me?"
"Uh…" Only then did Sanemi take out the medicinal powder and glance at his younger brother. "Genya, come here."
"This one's for you. Your brother uses that." Hiru handed another packet to Genya. "You have Rare Blood. This masks its scent."
Sanemi sprinkled the powder over his wound in a hurry. The burning sting made his cheeks twitch, but he didn't make a sound. He only asked, "What exactly is Rare Blood?"
"Something demons find extremely tempting." Hiru rubbed his nose, frowning as he muttered, "That smell is really strong… Honestly, if you'd been the first Rare Blood I ever ran into, I wouldn't still be alive."
"Huh? What's strong?" Sanemi tilted his head. "I didn't catch the last part."
"It's nothing. Are there others at home? That was your mother, right?" Hiru glanced at the spot where the demon had crumbled into ash. "What about your father? Your younger siblings? Any other relatives?"
"They're all gone." Sanemi lowered his head slightly. "It's just me and Genya now."
"Then let's collect your family's remains first." Hiru's tone stayed calm. "Afterward, I'll explain everything about demons."
"Yeah… and thanks for before."
"No need. It was just something I happened to do." Hiru looked at the battered Sanemi. "Still impressive you managed to fight a demon like that with no training."
"It's nothing. My old man hits about that hard. I'm used to it."
Hiru was about to say more when a faint, unsteady voice spoke up.
"Um… about earlier… I'm sorry."
Hiru turned toward Genya. "What?"
"About what I said…" The spiky-haired boy lowered his head, the nasty wounds on his face now clotted. "I'm sorry."
"No need. I did kill her, and she was human before." Hiru looked away. "Losing your entire family in an instant and breaking down from it is only natural.
The one you should really apologize to is your brother. He fought that monster to protect you all, and he didn't just cut it once."
"…I'm sorry, brother."
Sanemi rested a hand on Genya's shoulder without speaking.
"Come on. Let's go handle the aftermath at your house."
"We can do that ourselves."
"You have Rare Blood. It's inherited. I need to check whether any of your siblings had it too." Hiru followed behind the Shinazugawa brothers. "If they did, I'll treat the remains. Otherwise demons will smell the corpses, dig them up, and eat them."
Hearing that, Sanemi clenched his fists even tighter, his voice filled with hatred. "What are demons, really? Why do they exist at all…"
"Demons were once human. They become demons after being tainted with the blood of the Primordial Demon. And if they can't suppress the urge to eat people the moment they turn… then mercy isn't needed." Hiru looked up at the large section of shattered wall on the second floor. "Is that your house?"
"Yeah." Sanemi nodded, then turned to Genya. "I'll go upstairs and gather everyone. You go find someone who can handle the funeral, and get a doctor."
Hiru ignored the brothers' exchange. After judging the distance, he simply bent his knees and leapt upward, landing on the second floor in an instant—far faster than either of them could have climbed the stairs.
The room was in ruins. What hit Hiru first was the thick, sickly-sweet scent of blood.
"You've gotta be kidding me… what are the odds? A whole family of Rare Blood."
Hiru waved a hand in front of his nose and clicked his tongue. "This is torture…"
A moment later, Sanemi came down the stairs. He had gone up himself, seen the devastation with his own eyes, and now that the initial shock was fading, reality sank in. Tears finally spilled from the eyes of a boy barely into his teens.
Hiru opened several medicine packets and sprinkled powder over the bodies to neutralize the scent.
"For your whole family to make it this far is practically a miracle," Hiru said, glancing at Sanemi. "All of you are Rare Blood, and not a low concentration either."
"What exactly is Rare Blood?" Sanemi wiped his tears. The motion tugged at the wound near his temple, but he didn't seem to mind. "I mean, to demons."
"Hmm… how should I put it?" Hiru brushed off the powder on his hands. "Humans need food. To demons, humans are food—and Rare Blood is premium cuisine. It doesn't just fill their stomachs; it nourishes their bodies. That's why they prefer Rare Blood when feeding… though you're a special case."
"Me?" Sanemi frowned. "Isn't Rare Blood just Rare Blood?"
"It has concentrations. Normal Rare Blood equals about ten or twenty people's worth." Hiru rubbed his nose again. "But yours is at least two hundred. And that's with poor living conditions and an underdeveloped body.
High-concentration Rare Blood is an incredible delicacy to demons. But precisely because it's so strong, low-level demons can get drunk just smelling it—like someone who's never had alcohol getting completely foggy on their first drink.
So even if I hadn't shown up, you probably wouldn't have died. That demon, even after tasting human blood, was still newborn. It wouldn't have been able to handle the scent of your blood and likely would've passed out."
Sanemi stayed silent for a long time, then quietly continued gathering the bodies. After watching him, Hiru stepped in to help, wrapping each one in blankets.
When they finished the last one, Sanemi finally spoke.
"…Can I become someone who kills demons too?"
"You can. But it's going to be hard, and few will understand you." Hiru glanced at the wound on his head, then took out the powder again. "Sit. I'll treat it properly."
"I don't care." Sanemi sat down, expression blank. "Those who only destroy other people's lives shouldn't exist."
"True. Demons should never have existed in the first place." Hiru finished bandaging him, then crouched beside him, propping his cheek in one hand. "Then let me introduce a place. Go to Mount Sagiri. They train demon-slaying swordsmen there."
"Is that where you trained?"
"No. I lived on the mountain with my brother. After we came down, swordsmen from Mount Sagiri randomly dragged me into the Demon Slayer Corps." Hiru stood. "I'll write recommendation letters for you and your brother. If you progress fast enough, you might make it in time for the next assessment."
"No need for my brother." Sanemi looked up at him. "When's the next exam?"
"Once a year, supposedly. But it's only been a little over a month since the last one." Hiru studied him. "Are you sure you're not taking your brother?"
"Yeah. Fighting demons is too dangerous. I just want him to live a normal life."
"I want to respect that…" Hiru sighed lightly. "But once you know demons exist, living normally becomes difficult. Even if he doesn't join the Demon Slayer Corps, training there would at least let him protect himself.
Of course, if you could lure out the Primordial Demon right now and end everything, he wouldn't need to go at all—because there wouldn't be any demons left."
Sanemi fell silent again and didn't speak until the street outside grew lively.
"…Then I'll trouble you."
Hiru's expression stayed flat as always. He nodded lightly. "You're welcome."
Sanemi appreciated how Hiru didn't drown him in sympathy or pity.
Those emotions came from a place of superiority. To an outsider, Hiru's calm detachment might seem cold, but to Sanemi, it was exactly what he needed.
"Hiru… that's your name, right?"
"Hm? Yes."
"Then I'll apologize on Genya's behalf."
"I said it's unnecessary." Hiru leaned against the wall. "In that kind of grief and confusion, no one can think clearly. Falling apart is natural. So I never hold the first time against anyone."
"The first time?"
"Yeah. But if someone still can't get their head straight later and tries to pick a fight with me, I'll send them underground to reunite with their family—why are you making that face?"
"Nothing. I just didn't expect someone with such a gentle-looking face to say something like that…"
"And you've got the face of a bandit, yet you manage to speak politely, don't you?"
Sanemi: …