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Chapter 116: Kocho Kanae: I Hope You Can Marry Shinobu
Later that night, inside his room after dinner.
Looking at the candy wrappers piled up on the table like a small mountain, Suyan was absolutely certain—Makomo was a greedy little kitten.
Earlier that afternoon, when he was handing out candy to the three Butterfly Mansion girls and the Kamado sisters, Makomo had been watching him pitifully from the sidelines like a stray kitten. Her eyes had been brimming with curiosity and an intense craving for the sweets.
However, because she was in a spirit state, she couldn't interact with physical objects. Suyan also couldn't just feed her Nen in front of everyone and have her suddenly materialize out of thin air.
So, he dragged it out until after dinner. Once they returned to the private room provided by the Butterfly Mansion, he finally supplied Makomo with a dose of Conjuration-type Nen, granting her a temporary physical body so she could eat.
But once she started, she simply couldn't stop. It was exactly like a kitten experiencing catnip for the very first time—she was completely hooked.
Not only did she quickly devour all the candy Suyan had on him, but after she finished, she looked up at him with those big, pitiful eyes.
"Big Brother Suyan, Big Brother Suyan, I want more," Makomo pleaded, grabbing his hand and acting spoiled. Under the temptation of sugar, she had shamelessly switched her usual respectful address to a much sweeter moniker.
Suyan spread his hands and sighed with an expression of utter helplessness. "There's no more. You ate it all."
"How could this happen..."
Makomo's eyes widened in shock. She didn't drop her head in disappointment until Suyan turned his pockets inside out, proving they were completely empty.
Smiling, Suyan placed a hand on Makomo's head, smoothing her soft hair like he was petting a cat. "Little Makomo, how about I take you to a place where you can eat all the candy you want?"
After all, he had transmigrated from a world where the freedom to buy as much candy as one wanted was already a reality. And his first destination after crossing over was the Highschool of the Dead world, which was relatively close in timeline. Because of that, Suyan didn't have much of a sweet tooth.
The only reason he had carried candy with him was that he had stumbled across a convenience store while slaughtering zombies with Busujima Saeko. Recognizing the familiar White Rabbit Creamy Candy brand from his childhood, he had grabbed a stash on a whim.
He had even specifically brought some to share with Kanroji Mitsuri during their date earlier.
"Really!?"
Makomo's eyes lit up instantly. If she had a tail, it would be spinning like a windmill right now.
"Of course it's true," Suyan replied. "Why would I lie to you?"
Although his stash of convenience store candy was almost entirely depleted, it didn't matter. Now that he had awakened Greed Island, the ability could conjure food out of thin air. Even though it functioned like the Greed Island game from Hunter x Hunter—meaning the food couldn't be brought out into the real world—it still basically guaranteed infinite food freedom while inside.
Just as Suyan was about to conjure his Dimensional Gate and take Makomo to Greed Island, a gentle voice from outside the door interrupted him.
"Moshi moshi. May I come in now?"
Despite the polite phrasing, the owner of the voice didn't wait for permission. Before Suyan could even respond, her figure materialized directly inside the room.
"My, did my sudden visit interrupt you two? Sorry, sorry~"
The intruder covered her mouth in feigned surprise as she watched Suyan gently petting Makomo's head.
"You!?"
The moment Makomo saw the newcomer, she immediately pulled away from Suyan and dropped into a combat stance, flashing an adorably fierce expression.
It was obvious that despite Suyan flicking her forehead that afternoon and dubbing her a "clever little ghost," Makomo hadn't forgotten her original goal: she still wanted to help Suyan defeat this woman and turn her into a Nen Beast.
Indeed, the sudden arrival was none other than Kocho Kanae, who had previously fled in a panic after realizing Suyan could see her.
"You can see me too?"
Kanae blinked, slightly taken aback by the bristling Makomo. In the two years since she had died and become an Earth-bound Spirit, countless wounded Demon Slayer Corps members had passed through the Butterfly Mansion. Yet, she had never encountered a single person who could perceive her.
To think she would run into two people who could see her on the exact same day!
"Because she's just like you," Suyan explained softly. "A lingering spirit wandering the living world."
Internally, Suyan was both surprised and not surprised by Kanae's arrival. He wasn't surprised because he knew he was the only one who could see her; she was bound to seek him out eventually without him having to lift a finger. What did surprise him was how quickly she had come knocking.
"I see."
That explanation put Kanae at ease. Since Suyan was already accepting of an entity similar to herself, it might make the request she was about to present much easier to swallow.
Feigning ignorance, Suyan asked, "So? Did you need something from me, Miss Kanae?"
Kanae hesitated for a brief moment. Then, she looked Suyan in the eye and delivered a request that left him completely stunned.
"I want to ask you to marry Shinobu."
"What!?"
Suyan froze. He had considered a multitude of possibilities, but this was the absolute last thing he had expected her to ask.
"I said, I hope you can marry Shinobu."
Kanae repeated her words, her tone resolute.
In truth, when she vanished from Suyan's sight that afternoon, she hadn't gone far. Once she processed the fact that Suyan might be the only person capable of seeing her, she immediately doubled back and watched him from the shadows. She had fully intended to jump out and stop him if he tried to leave the Butterfly Mansion.
Because of this, she had clearly witnessed Suyan's interactions with the three Butterfly Mansion girls, his probing questions directed at Tsuyuri Kanao, and Shinobu's admission that she didn't actually despise him.
Combine that with the little secrets about her sister she had accidentally spilled to Suyan before realizing he could hear her, and Kanae was surprisingly satisfied with this man.
As for why she wanted him to marry Shinobu?
First, she desperately wanted Shinobu to abandon the Demon Slayer Corps and get her life back on track. She wanted her sister to live as a normal girl, get married, have children, and enjoy an ordinary, blissful life.
Second, if Suyan and Shinobu were together, Kanae would have someone intimately connected to her sister who could actually see and hear her. He could act as a permanent bridge of communication between them. That alone would be more than enough for her.
Just as Suyan opened his mouth to reply, another gentle voice drifted in from the hallway.
"Moshi moshi, Mr. Scumbag, may I come in now?"
Aside from the slight difference in vocal timbre, the tone, phrasing, and structure were completely identical to Kanae's arrival.
Without a doubt, the person standing outside the door was her younger sister, Kocho Shinobu.
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