Hatsune, dressed in white hospital clothes, sat on the steps, staring intently at the courtyard gate. He looked like a stone statue.
Two days ago, after being severely beaten by Sumi and Kiyo and forcibly dragged back to the hospital bed, Shinobu had re-bandaged his wounds. When he woke up at night, he sat on the steps at the entrance, not eating or drinking, and ignored anyone who tried to talk to him, just staring at the courtyard gate.
No one knew what he was looking at, and no one knew what he was thinking.
The Butterfly Mansion trio avoided him like the plague, but Kanao seemed to find him amusing. After eating, she stood by his side, playing with his snow-white hair.
To outsiders, Hatsune looked like Kanao's doll, motionless. The two of them indeed looked quite similar.
Kanao kept smiling, but no one knew why.
Hatsune kept staring, also not knowing what he was looking at.
Kanao's eyes were empty, so she smiled.
Hatsune's eyes were full of longing, pain, and despair, so he remained dazed because his suffering was so intense that he had lost the most basic emotional expressions.
With twin ponytails, Aoi walked to the steps. A few days ago, she had been searching for traces of demons near Mount Hakuba with her team and had just returned this morning.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, the Butterfly Mansion trio crowded around her, chattering incessantly. Hearing about the boy's strange behavior, Aoi suddenly remembered something that might awaken him.
Aoi patted Kanao's shoulder and winked affectionately, "How is it, Kanao, is it fun?"
Kanao glanced at her, didn't speak, and continued to play with the boy's hair.
Aoi was used to Kanao's behavior. She muttered to herself, "It's rare for Kanao to like something other than butterflies." Then, she looked at the boy.
"Hey, hey."
Aoi called out twice, but as the Butterfly Mansion trio had said, the boy had no reaction.
"Could he really be dumb? If he is, what should we do? Is he going to freeload at the Butterfly Mansion? The thought of it makes my skin crawl."
Aoi continued talking to herself, not noticing that the boy's gaze was drawn to the necklace in her hand. It had a blue pendant shaped like a tear.
Suddenly, Aoi sensed something unusual and looked down. She saw the boy's hand quickly reaching for her wrist.
Aoi thought the boy was trying to attack her. As a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, she had developed rich combat experience through rigorous training and various battles with demons.
Almost simultaneously with the boy's movement, her body reacted automatically. She performed a graceful flip, landing in the center of the courtyard. Her right hand pressed against her sword's hilt, crouching defensively, staring at the boy seriously.
The murderous intent the boy had just released made her feel very threatened.
"Kanao, get away from him. He's dangerous."
Kanao stood still, her hand in mid-air, still holding the boy's hair.
Hearing Aoi's voice, she first looked at Aoi, who was ready to fight, then at Hatsune. She placed her hand on her sword's hilt and jumped back, looking confusedly at Aoi.
Hatsune stood at the bottom of the steps, staring intently at the pendant in his hand.
"Where did you get this pendant?"
Aoi then realized that the pendant in her hand was now in the boy's hand. She was shocked.
Although her rank wasn't high, she was a seasoned Demon Slayer. It was difficult for ordinary people to get close to her, yet this patient had taken her pendant without her noticing. What did this mean? Did it mean he was stronger than her? Was it a coincidence, or…?
"We found it near you the day we met you."
This is my sister's pendant.
Hatsune vaguely remembered his sister putting the pendant in his hand the day she was taken away. He had been in a coma for days and had forgotten about it.
Now that he had the pendant, he suddenly felt like his sister was back by his side.
Hatsune's murderous intent gradually dissipated. He sat back on the steps, now staring at the pendant instead of the courtyard gate.
Kanao walked over and continued to play with his hair.
Seeing these two odd individuals, Aoi was speechless.
She had been ready for a fight, but now she had to reluctantly withdraw her stance, feeling frustrated with nowhere to vent her anger. She could only loudly curse Hatsune as a madman and, before leaving, muttered that he should starve sitting there, then angrily stomped away.
Earlier, there had been only one odd person in the courtyard; now there were two. Two people who could drive others crazy.
Kanao liked being close to Hatsune, probably because she felt she had found a kindred spirit.
From sunrise to sunset, this was the third day, and no one knew how long he would sit there.
Until that evening.
Aoi called Kanao to eat. Kanao dropped the hair she had been playing with and ran inside.
While everyone was eating, Hatsune silently appeared in the room. Except for Kanao, everyone else looked at him with disgust.
Aoi thought he had finally given in to hunger and come to beg for food, feeling a bit smug.
"So, you're finally hungry and want to eat? Let me tell you, we didn't prepare any food for you. Keep starving."
"Yeah, exactly."
"When we gave you food, you didn't eat it. Now you want it when there's none. Hmph."
The Butterfly Mansion trio took turns mocking him, still holding a grudge for him calling them bastards.
"What is the Demon Slayer Corps? And what are demons?"
So, this guy wasn't here for food. What a weirdo. After three days of not eating, he asked these questions.
They looked at each other.
Not wanting to engage with the weirdo, but also worried that if they didn't answer, he would just stand there, which was both creepy and appetite-ruining.
"Demons are man-eating monsters."
"The Demon Slayer Corps is an organization that kills those monsters. How do you not know this? You're so ignorant."
The Butterfly Mansion trio never missed a chance to humiliate Hatsune.
"Who is the strongest in the Demon Slayer Corps?"
"Of course, it's the Stone Hashira."
The Butterfly Mansion trio sneered.
"I want to see him."
"You… you want to see who?"
Sumi pointed at Hatsune as if hearing something funny, struggling to hold back laughter, she looked around at her two sisters, "The Stone Hashira? Did I hear that right? He said he wants to see the Stone Hashira, haha."
The three of them simultaneously burst into laughter.
"The Stone Hashira isn't someone you can just meet because you want to."