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Chapter 117: Kocho Shinobu Offers Herself
Hearing the sudden voice outside the door, both Suyan and Kanae instantly recognized who it belonged to.
Kanae's heart clenched tight. An inexplicable, bizarre feeling washed over her—the distinct guilt of a woman about to be caught stealing her sister's man. Her first instinct was to vanish from the spot immediately.
But she quickly remembered her current state. She was a ghost. Shinobu couldn't see her anyway.
Suppressing the urge to flee, she turned her gaze toward Suyan, curious to see how he would handle this situation.
Outside the door!
Shinobu's internal state was nowhere near as composed as her outward projection. In fact, she was incredibly nervous.
Her objective for seeking Suyan out tonight was straightforward.
She was here to offer herself!
Just as she had resolved earlier, as long as Suyan could eradicate Kibutsuji Muzan and Upper Rank Two to avenge her sister, she was perfectly willing to give herself to him. She didn't even care if she was just a substitute for Kanae.
Suyan's performance at the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters today proved he might actually possess that level of power. At the very least, he was definitively stronger than anyone else in the Corps. That was enough.
Even if offering herself only increased the odds of victory by a fraction of a percent, Shinobu wasn't going to let that chance slip by.
Furthermore, judging by Suyan's attitude toward Kanao that afternoon, he likely had designs on the young girl as well. Shinobu wasn't willing to gamble on that.
Redirection was better than suppression.
Rather than treating Suyan like a thief and aggressively guarding Kanao, it made more sense to satisfy him with her own body, trading herself in exchange for him leaving Kanao alone.
"Is he already asleep?"
Staring at the tightly shut door and hearing no response, Shinobu muttered to herself. Strangely, a tiny sigh of relief escaped her lips, and she actually considered turning around and walking away.
Creak~
Suddenly, the door slid open, and Suyan leaned halfway out into the hall.
The moment Shinobu saw his face, her breath hitched. Her mind completely blanked out, and her heart began to hammer wildly in her chest.
Looking at her, Suyan asked curiously, "Shinobu? It's so late. Do you need something?"
Instead of answering, Shinobu immediately shoved her weight against him, forcing her way into the room alongside him. She quickly reached back and locked the door, her eyes darting around the room in a rapid sweep.
Thankfully, she didn't spot Nezuko or any of the others.
Only then did she finally lock her gaze onto Suyan's face.
However, even after forcing her way in and securing the room, Shinobu's mind was still buzzing. Her knowledge of intimacy was strictly theoretical; she had heard things, but she had absolutely zero practical experience.
For a terrifying moment, she had no idea what to do next.
"Shinobu?" Suyan looked at her, his eyes carrying genuine confusion.
"C-Can you kiss me?"
Faced with the reality of the situation, the typically composed Shinobu couldn't hide the shy, embarrassed nature of a normal teenage girl. She forced the words out, looking utterly mortified.
Suyan was completely baffled. He legitimately wondered if his ears were malfunctioning.
Was this blushing girl—whose face was so red the flush nearly reached her neck—actually the famously venomous and calculating Kocho Shinobu?
"Hurry up and lower your head," Shinobu urged, biting her lip when Suyan didn't take the initiative.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, preparing to pull him into a kiss. But she needed him to meet her halfway. Shinobu was petite, standing at a mere 151 centimeters. If Suyan didn't lean down, there was no way she could reach his face even on her tiptoes.
Unless she literally jumped at him.
Suyan certainly wasn't opposed to kissing a beautiful girl like Shinobu.
Standing off to the side, Kanae watched the scene unfold, her eyes practically shining with excitement. She had just suggested that Suyan marry her sister, and now Shinobu was literally throwing herself at him!
This... this is absolutely fantastic!
On the other side of the room, Makomo—still in her spirit state—watched Shinobu cling to Suyan's neck with intense curiosity. She leaned in so close she was practically hovering right next to their faces.
With an audience like this, how was Suyan supposed to make a move?
Shinobu, completely unaware of the spectral spectators, would likely suffer a total psychological collapse if she knew her beloved sister was enthusiastically cheering her on from two feet away.
Seeing Suyan stand there motionless, Shinobu felt a flash of irritation. Her lips curved into a sharp smile.
With a sudden burst of strength, she shoved Suyan backward onto the bed.
Suyan was genuinely caught off guard. Did I just get reverse-pinned?
Immediately after, a pair of cool, jelly-like lips pressed against his, accompanied by the natural, refreshing scent of medicinal herbs radiating from Shinobu's skin.
The moment their lips met, Shinobu's entire body went rigid. Every hair on her skin stood on end, and a jolt of electricity shot through her spine, bringing an unprecedented, numbing sensation. It felt like something exploded in her brain, wiping away every single coherent thought she had left.
And then... nothing.
Because Shinobu was completely stuck. Having zero experience, she had absolutely no idea how to deepen the kiss or what to do next.
Lifting her head, she glared at Suyan with watery, pleading eyes and complained, "Can you take some initiative, Mr. Scumbag?"
Beside the bed, Kanae was throwing phantom punches in the air like a hype-man. "You can do it, Shinobu! Take this man down!" She then glared at Suyan. "And you! You're a grown man, don't just lie there! Hurry up, I want to see Shinobu become a real woman!"
Ignoring Kanae's running commentary, Suyan gently stroked Shinobu's hair. Perhaps because she had bathed right before coming over, her hair was still slightly damp.
However, rather than just taking advantage of the confused girl, Suyan preferred to understand the why.
"Shinobu," he asked softly. "Can you tell me why you're doing this?"
Looking deeply into Suyan's eyes, Shinobu felt as if she could see the reflection of her sister. Her violet irises trembled.
The aggressive momentum she had built up instantly vanished. Her hands tightened convulsively around his collar, gripping him like a lifeline, treating him as a safe haven to pour out her heart.
"I'm tired."
"Every time... every single time I face those man-eating demons, I force myself to act gentle."
"I constantly try to think of the most peaceful, merciful way to kill them."
"But I have no choice. Because my sister was an incredibly gentle person. She felt sympathy even for the demons that ate humans. Even as she died, she still hoped for a world where humans and demons could live in peace."
"But I can't do it! I can't be as gentle as her, and I can't stop myself from feeling absolute disgust toward those repulsive monsters!"
"Why? Why should I sympathize with them!?"
"Those demons spew nothing but lies to save their own skin. They have no rationality; they only follow their base instincts to slaughter humans. And I'm supposed to pity them after they've murdered people? Isn't that completely absurd!?"
"But I have to do it. Because it was my sister's will. I have to live her life for her."
"Before she died, she told me she loved seeing my smile. So I have no choice but to mimic her. I force this fake smile onto my face every single day."
"But... I'm so tired..."
"So please. Even if you're just lying to me... please promise me. Promise me you'll wipe out Muzan. End all of this. Please?"
As she spoke, two trails of clear tears slid down the young girl's cheeks.
Shinobu herself didn't fully understand why she was spilling all these deeply buried secrets to Suyan. Perhaps, in this brief moment, she truly felt the comforting presence of her sister lingering around him.
Standing nearby, Kanae listened to her sister's tearful confession. All of her previous excitement and matchmaking zeal evaporated instantly.
She was left with nothing but an overwhelming, crushing sense of guilt.
She had never, in her wildest dreams, imagined that her dying words would inflict such immense torment on Shinobu. Her final wish had twisted into a heavy burden, a suffocating shackle locked around her sister's neck.
Seeing this, Suyan finally couldn't hold back. He reached out, grabbed Kanae, and pulled her close. Gathering a dense concentration of Conjuration-type Nen, he channeled the energy directly into Kanae's spectral form.
Under the influence of the aura, Kanae's translucent body slowly began to solidify.
Suyan gently wiped the tears from Shinobu's eyes. Looking at the fragile girl in his arms with profound tenderness, he spoke in a soft, reassuring voice.
"You will find happiness, Shinobu. I promise."
Burying her face into Suyan's chest, Shinobu let out a soft, affirmative "Mm."
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