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Chapter 17

I chuckle and pat Nezuko's head, to which she snuggles in my hand, happily huffing at the affection.
"Of course not! Nezuko is an absolute sweetheart! Just look how cute she is!"

"You're even more of an eyesore. What's with the arrows? And that terrible eye-burning orange robe?"

I feel a vein burst, and I glare absolute daggers at him.
"Excuse me?! I'll have you know these are airbending master tattoos! I could throw you kilometers in the air if I felt like it right now! And this is an authentic airbender robe that's been passed down in my family! It's traditional and sacred, how dare you call it an eyesore!"

I pointed at him, Tanjiro barely holding me back.
"And you're not much to look at either, mister! Even the elders back in my village looked better at eighty years old!"

Tanjiro tried calming me down the entire way, but I kept ranting and mumbling at the demon.
"And Nezuko isn't an eyesore! It's just the stupid muzzle and the lighting! She's an absolute beauty-"

Did...

"Did he just- Go through the fence...?"
I'm startled as he poked his head back out again.

"Hurry up, while nobody's looking."

I'm hesitant, but slowly touch the fence, slipping right through on my knees.

The two of us are taken aback by the rather large house, surprised at just how much space there is! The yard is huge!

"Pay attention! And don't offend the lady in any way."
He crept closer to us, glaring down with quite an ominous expression.
"Because I couldn't care less what happens to you three. I only brought you here because she asked me to, got it?"

"Uhh... Okay, sure."
Tanjiro nodded, and we were welcomed inside.

He took us to a room, knocking before being welcomed in. The house was quite beautiful, and rather well-kept, so it was very pleasant inside.

We saw the lady from before, and on the bed behind her slept the woman from earlier, seemingly better.

I bow politely.
"We're sorry for leaving everything to you. Is the woman okay?"

She gently smiled as she dropped the water from her hands into a bucket. She was a waterbender, and seemed to use it for healing. Just like Makomo while she trained me.

"She'll make a full recovery. But her husband is dangerous and had to be locked up in the basement."

Tanjiro butted in.
"Isn't it difficult treating humans? All that blood-"

The demon that escorted us slammed his fist in Tanjiro's chest, making him choke for a moment.

"Is that what you think? That she holds back her own drool when she treats a human?! Cause demons can't control themselves?!"

"No, no! I'm sure that's not what Tanjiro meant. It was just a question like any other."

She scolded the demon for hitting Tanjiro.
"Don't do that. Why would you resort to violence? And did I ever introduce myself? Apologies."

"My name is Tamayo, and this is Yushiro. I hope you all can be friends."

Considering the way he glared at the floor... I doubt that...

"I'm Y/N. This is Tanjiro, and that's our little sister, Nezuko."

She nods, and actually answers Tanjiro's earlier question.
"It's not that hard. At least not for me, but it's different for other demons. My body's fiziology has gone through considerable changes. And I've managed to remove Kibutsuji's curse."

"What curse? And... what kind of changes?"
I was just as curious as Tanjiro as we listened on.

She took off the medical gown, walking to another room.
"Come with me."

We nod and follow her inside, sitting down. Well, except for Nezuko. She just laid down, uncaring about much else as she rolled around.

"Hey, Nezuko! That's bad manners!"
Tanjiro scolded, earning a small chuckle from Miss Tamayo.

"It's quite alright, make yourselves at home."
She smiles softly at us, and all I do is set down my staff by my side.

"Sorry about that."

"As I was saying, I've made several adjustments to our bodies so we could continue to live without harming any human beings. We can survive on just a small amount of human blood."

"Wait, blood? So you're saying-"
She cut me off.

"I understand if you find it distasteful, but I buy it from those in poverty. I tell them I'll use it for transfusions. But of course, I never take enough blood to impair anyone."

No wonder they seem to easy to trust. And her voice is so gentle, I feel at ease.

"And Yushiro needs even less blood than I do, since I'm the one who turned him into a demon."

"What? But I thought only-"

"That only Kibutsuji could do it? That's more or less accurate. It took me over two hundred years, and after all that, I could only transform Yushiro."

"T-Two hundred years?! It took you two centuries to transform just one person?! How old are you Miss Tamayo-?"
Tanjiro got punched again in the chest by Yushiro, knocking all the air out of him.

"You should know better than to ask a lady her age!"
He yelled at him, hitting him repeatedly.

Tanjiro coughed and leaned on me, to which I patted his back to calm him down.

"Yushiro. If you hit that boy again, I'll make you regret it."
She warned, and Yushiro instantly calmed down, returning to his innocent state before.
"Yes, ma'am!"

Tanjiro coughed, and I offered him more air to help him, to which he smiled.

"Forgive me, I'd like to clarify that further. Creating more demons is not one of my goals, and I only do so when necessary."

"Necessary?"
I ask.

"Yes. The terminally ill or injured, only when they won't survive. And even in those cases, I always ask in advance if they would truly prefer to continue living as a demon."

I see Tanjiro clench his fists, and I already know what he'll ask.
"Miss Tamayo, once someone is turned into a demon, is there a way to turn them back again?"

A sense of dread comes over me, but... Something actually isn't right... I don't know what it is, but it's not good.

《 •|• 《♡》 •|• 》

End
● Chapter 17 : ●
● "The Scent of Enchanted Blood." ●