《• ʀ ᴇ ʙ ɪ ʀ ᴛ ʜ •》[ ᴍᴜᴢᴀɴ x ᴏᴄ ]

C52: ☆Perfection is a Loophole☆

News of Rengoku's passing immediately reached Oyakata-sama and the pillars. Each of them felt differently about the matter. Some were shock, some were indifferent and some hated demons even more.

Naturally, Tanjiro and his group found themselves at the Butterfly Estate once more, recovering from their wounds. Zenitsu, who was currently on the way to give buns to Tanjiro was also pondering a lot of things.

'So even a pillar like Rengoku-san died.' It's such a sad and cruel reality that even Inosuke cried a lot. It really sucked. But as humans, you really can't change your heart pattern quickly. It's different from changing clothes because you can't tell your heart to stop feeling grief. It doesn't work that way.

One may appear strong but even strong people can be weak. They feel pain and sadness. But of course, as demon slayers and humans, they can't keep cowering forever. They have stand up once more.

"Tanjiro! I got some buns so let's eat!"

"TANJIRO-SAN ISN'T HERE!" Cried a hysterical Kiyo, immediately tattling about the fact that Tanjiro hasn't healed yet but was training. And now he's suddenly gone!

Zenitsu naturally freaked out alongside her. "He had a huge hole in his belly, right?! AND HE STILL WENT OUT SOMEWHERE?!"

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Contrary to their wild imaginations, Tanjiro is still at the Butterfly Estate, wanting to have a conversation with Nao due to Rengoku's parting words to him. He still plan to go to meet Rengoku's family afterwards.

'Kamado, my boy. To Oyakata-sama, the Demon Slayer Corps is the most important thing to him. But as a brother, Nao-sama, his only younger sister is his most precious person... Listen closely, you must ask Nao-sama the reason why she is being hunted by such powerful demons. Nao-sama may look frail and innocent but she is Oyakata-sama's younger sister. She naturally has the same foresight abilities that he possesses. I believe that she will give you some valuable information that would help prevent deaths in the future. '

Tanjiro forced himself to go to arrive at the workroom where Nao can be found making medicines all day and reading various books and documents.

Upon his entrance, she immediately closed the book she was reading and gave him a scrutinizing glance filled with judgment and criticism. It was a look saying 'Such a wounded patient like you is being a stubborn fool by getting off of bed and wandering around?'

Of course, this were merely Tanjiro's assumption. Those pale lavender eyes were quite intimidating and Nao's presence was like that of a transcendent lotus in bloom during a cold, rainy season. It was very hard to approach her.

"Hah.. Nao-sama..." Tanjiro's pale face wasn't missed by Nao's keen eyes. She stood up and held his arm, guiding him to sit down without a word. The unexpected warmth and softness her palms emitted were not unnoticed by Tanjiro himself and he immediately felt grateful.

"T..that.. Nao-sama..I'd like to ask you something.." Nao moved away from him and grabbed a tea set, placing it on the table and pouring tea on the cup.

She handed him one in silence and only then did Tanjiro bravely confronted her.

"Nao-sama..Nao-sama.. That's..Rengoku-san wanted me to ask you the reason why the demons we encountered were looking for you. One of them is an Upper Moon with pink hair.."He started. "The other one is a white demon with huge claws.."

Instead of answering him, Nao motioned for him to drink his cup of tea. He realized that it was rude of him to not drink it when it was specially given to him by Oyakata-sama's younger sister. He gulped nervously and drank it one go, surprised at the sweet yet medicinal taste. Sure enough, it was a medicinal liquid and not tea.

"You lost a lot of blood and you have a wound on your stomach. That will help you replenish iron in your body. It'll also help you feel warm. "

Touched by her concern, he answered, "Thank you very much..!"

However..

"I heard you met him."

Tanjiro's confused expression was clearly evident when Nao said this so she pursed her lips patiently and after a second or two, opened them to speak again.

"Muzan."

Tanjiro's blood boiled, the hate he felt for the individual who owned that name made his emotions go wild but he could only clench his fist at the moment.

Nao calmly sipped from her cup in an elegant manner.

"Muzan and I met about a year and a half ago." Tanjiro froze. Nao did not pay him any mind.

"I plan to tell my brother about him but I still lack the courage so do you mind if I practice on you? I'm afraid Kochou-san will hate me if I were to tell her. You must know since her hatred for demons... is very deep."

Tanjiro couldn't reply. This was new information and he didn't know if he was worthy to hear about it but remembering Rengoku's face, he steeled himself and listened to her.

"It was a cold summer night during a village festival when I met Muzan." Nao's face didn't betray anything as she spoke in a disinterested voice.

"The first thing I noticed when I saw him was his red eyes. They were vertical like a cat's eyes. I thought they were quite beautiful, like ruby gems of the finest quality. It suited Muzan and his pale complexion. He smiled at me.." She looked like she was reminiscing quite deeply as she said this.

"He looked and acted like a human but I already knew, the moment I saw his eyes, that Muzan is a demon. One would say that it's impossible to tell at first glance but that isn't the case." Nao met Tanjiro's eyes. "You have a strong sense of smell, don't you? So you could tell what he is."

He absentmindedly nodded.

"Perfection is a loophole. No one can be that perfect. I must admit that I was quite naive back then so even though I knew, I befriended him."

These words were like a bullet to the lungs for Tanjiro. A human befriending a demon? And that demon? That monster? He did a quick glance at the paleskin beauty infront of him, wondering why such a beautiful doll-like female would want with a demon.

He was soon enlightened when Nao explained further and told him that she lived separately from her brother. That she lived in a mansion with her handmaiden for years and it was loneliness and desperation that pushed her to do such a crazy thing. She also admitted her mistake in an honest manner without sugarcoating anything.

Even though Tanjiro could see how much she regretted her decision, he couldn't help but notice that Nao-sama still felt deeply for that monster. It was obvious from the sadness in her tone and the faraway look in her eyes when she would say that person's name. It's as if he was looking at a solemn confession of a woman who departed from her lover's side.

Nao tucked a stray hair behind her ear and said in a solemn tone, "As for the white demon... I might know his name."

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A/N: Yey for 210k reads!   \(>○<)/