A few minutes passed as a human boy and a female ghost conversed openly in the hallway of the Butterfly Mansion.
Nobody was there to interrupt, so the conversation flowed smoothly.
"Tanjiro-kun, you want to revert your mother back to human form, right?" Kanae asked, no longer bothered by her nakedness at all. She had come to terms with it.
Earlier, during their exchange of information, Tanjiro had already filled her in on his family and his mother's condition. Though brief, Kanae now had a good grasp of his situation.
"Yes… I'll need Shinobu's help for that. She's the only demon researcher in the organization, so I can only rely on her," he answered honestly, leaning against the wall.
"She is?" Surprise appeared on her face.
Seeing her wide eyes, he nodded. "Hm, yeah. And if I'm informed correctly, she's really good at it, especially making powerful poisons from wisteria extract."
Kanae, levitating in the air, placed a hand on her cheek as a warm smile formed. "Mm, I'm so proud of my sister~ At first, she had me really worried. She was dead serious about killing every demon back then… But now I'm glad she's started thinking rationally — using poison, research, and all… Ah, though I'm still worried… I told her to quit being a Demon Slayer while I was dying, but she didn't listen… Uhh…"
Tanjiro listened silently with closed eyes.
He had already seen more than enough of her body, so he was trying desperately not to let his gaze drift below her face. The reason was simple as hell: looking at her naked form gave him a persistent, throbbing erection, but the ridiculous part was that physical contact was impossible between them. They had already tested and confirmed it.
To put it bluntly, he was deeply disappointed. So he could only look? What kind of bullshit was that?
That was why he tried so hard to avoid staring at her body. Having a boner in broad daylight that refused to go down was beyond frustrating. And he had no desire whatsoever to resort to masturbation. The current him considered such an act beneath him.
His inner self would never accept it.
Suddenly, Kanae's pleading voice sounded right next to his ear, almost begging.
"Say, Tanjiro-kun, will you really not consider quitting the Corps? You're the only one who can see and talk to me right now… If something were to happen to you, I… I don't know how I'll cope. I'll probably lose my mind from loneliness."
He opened his eyes and glanced over his shoulder, where she was gazing at him with emotional eyes.
'You're too close… shit.'
Her lips were only a hand's breadth from his own. If physical contact were possible, he would have already attacked her. The current her was even more gullible than Mitsuri.
His dick hardened instantly inside his pants.
'…'
"I've already told you twice… I can't do that," he replied with an annoyed look.
Hearing his answer, Kanae quieted down for a moment. However, shortly after, her eyebrows raised in revelation as she voiced out excitedly, "Listen, listen…"
"I am," he said. He had enough time to spare, so entertaining this ghost was manageable.
Kanae's face lit up with hope as she began to speak.
"You and Shinobu should totally get married! As her big sister, I'll allow you to seduce her—I'll even help when needed! All you have to do is make Shinobu and Kanao quit the main Corps, and you can spend the rest of your life with my beautiful sister, fufu. How about that? Wouldn't that be great? She could continue her research on demons, and you'd have your mother healed in no time!"
"…"
'Damn, she's cooking…'
Her offer was tempting, but…
"I can't do that either."
Confusion appeared on her face.
"Ehh, why…? Wait, you can't tell me you're into Kanao—"
"Alright, stop. It's not that."
He exhaled a heavy sigh and stared outside before continuing.
"They won't quit the organization, even if you were the one telling them to. To them, it's not a matter of choice anymore. You already know that. Their family was taken by demons… What do you expect them to do? Be content and forget about it?"
A long silence gripped the air.
Kanae seemed lost in thought.
'Let's move on. I have other things to do too.'
Deciding that, he headed toward the room where his siblings slept.
Kanae hovered beside him and stared at his face deeply.
"Say, Tanjiro… Are you really thirteen years old?"
Her large breasts were fully visible in front of his eyes, causing his blood flow to surge sharply.
He showed an evil grin and replied darkly, "No, I'm a thousand-year-old yokai who took over this boy's body."
Kanae's ghostly face froze for a moment before she started giggling cutely.
"Hehe~!"
"Heh, yokai don't exist, Tanjiro…" she said with a smile.
He wore a ludicrous expression.
"Says a ghost. How funny." He chuckled sarcastically.
She immediately puffed out her cheeks in a pout.
"Moh, don't make fun of me."
He kept his gaze carefully away from her body and quickly arrived in front of a large room.
He slid the door open.
Five futons were laid out on the floor; his siblings slept quietly beneath the blankets.
Nezuko was curled up around Hanako like a koala, which made him smile involuntarily.
"Aww~ They're so cute and innocent, unlike a certain someone I know." A soft voice came from behind.
Ignoring her little tantrum, he narrowed his eyes in amusement.
'They're going to live in someone else's home now. They need more discipline…'
Taking a sharp breath, he let out a loud shout.
"The sun is up, you sleepyheads! How long are you going to sleep? Get up!"
"Uhh…!" Several groans came from under the futons.
Kanae's pale purple eyes widened in shock at the scene.
Were they supposed to wake up like this?
Ehh?
Outside the mansion, Shinobu and Kanao stopped moving.
Shinobu's mouth twitched upon hearing the voice.
'What is he doing…'
Kanao tilted her head in confusion.
'Whose voice is that?'
....
An hour later~
"Oh, so Aoi-san will be the one educating you from now on, huh… That's great."
"Um, she will teach all of us…" Hanako nodded cutely. She was sitting comfortably on his lap while he fed her with care.
She was his eight-year-old sister, a bit moody yet deeply dependent on her big brother.
Given how much Tanjiro had spoiled her from the start, she was bound to turn out like this.
Nezuko, on the other side, took care of Rokuta, while Takeo and Shigeru silently devoured the delicious food prepared by Yoru-san, the cook of the Butterfly Mansion.
To put it straight, Yoru-san was an extremely kind grandma. Even though she had retired from her duties a year ago, she willingly remained in the mansion just to pass on her teachings to Aoi, who resembled her late granddaughter.
She had served as cook and nurse in the mansion for a very long time, easily over forty years.
As a senior, she naturally had everyone's respect in the house.
"Thanks for the delicious food, Grandma," Tanjiro said with a warm smile.
Yoru-san showed a happy look and nodded. "Eat a lot. There's plenty more. Young ones should eat without holding back, hoho."
And so he did.
Everyone in the mansion was present in the room at the moment, eating together.
"My, Grandma Yoru is still the same as I remember her," Kanae muttered beside him.
She was finally wearing her old clothes, which Shinobu had preserved safely. After discovering she could touch them, she had been thrilled. Not to mention, once worn, the blue dress became invisible to others along with her body. Weird.
Even Tanjiro had been surprised by this.
He couldn't touch the fabric while she wore it, but once removed it returned to normal.
Maybe ghosts had some kind of supernatural rules too, he guessed.
"Moh, I also want to eat~!" Mumbling to herself, she began hovering around the room in annoyance.
'She's at it again… Uh, what have I gotten myself into…' He sighed inwardly. From what he had learned, she could not leave a ten-meter radius from the mansion.
Though he doubted it.
'It's definitely not the mansion. It's likely me.'
He smiled wryly, cursing the system.
'My privacy is fucked…'
In the corner, Kanao secretly watched him from the corner of her eye, scrutinizing his every move.
'He seems like a caring person, but… there's something unusual about him.'
.....
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