Standing before him was the unit of measurement—eh? No, wait, not a unit of measurement, but Yoshizuru Asato himself. At this moment, he looked nothing like a Demon Slayer.
He had removed his uniform, revealing a white undershirt beneath. In his hand, he held a rice ball, oblivious to the grains of rice stuck to his face.
Combined with his current expression of astonishment, the scene was quite comical.
Takeo gave him a long look before speaking:
"I received a mission stating there have been disappearances here, likely due to a demon, so I came. What about you?"
"Same as you... I happened to be nearby, so I was summoned here. They mentioned another Slayer would be assisting me... Wait, could that 'other Slayer' be you?"
"What do you think, unit of measurement?"
Takeo rolled his eyes at Yoshizuru Asato.
The last time they met, he thought this guy seemed reliable. But now, he seemed completely different...
"Unit... unit of measurement? What do you mean...?"
Yoshizuru Asato couldn't comprehend Takeo's words.
Now possessing the strength of 'eight Asatos,' Takeo chose to ignore Yoshizuru Asato and looked into the room.
Inside the room, a young girl wearing a crimson kimono was seated on the tatami floor, eating.
She had a rather pretty appearance—delicate features, gently arched eyebrows, and a pitifully endearing aura that naturally evoked a protective instinct in others.
Her hair was styled into a bun, neatly secured with a hairpin.
When she saw Takeo enter, she put down her bowl and chopsticks, turned toward him, and gave a small nod in greeting.
After stepping inside, Takeo returned the gesture politely and said:
"You must be Miss Taniguchi Hanako, correct? My name is Kamado Takeo. Like this guy over here, I'm a member of the Demon Slayer Corps."
"Hey! I'm a Rank B Slayer now! At least show some respect for your senior, will you?"
Yoshizuru Asato clearly wasn't pleased by Takeo's casual tone. He walked up beside Takeo, raised his sleeve to show the insignia indicating his current rank, and said: "See that? Rank B!"
"But you still can't beat me."
Takeo chose to speak the plain truth.
Yoshizuru Asato: "…"
"Hehe, you two seem to have a good relationship."
Seeing their interaction, Taniguchi Hanako covered her mouth with a light laugh, then turned to Takeo and said, "Kamado-san, please come in. Have you had dinner yet? If not… come join us. I made a few too many rice balls today."
Hanako brought the basket of rice balls over and held it out toward Takeo.
Takeo didn't stand on ceremony. After giving them a quick sniff, he sat down with a smile and said:
"I actually haven't eaten yet, so thank you for the kind offer, Miss Taniguchi. Oh, and just call me Takeo—there's no need to add any honorifics like '-san.'"
Hearing that, Hanako smiled without saying much.
Yoshizuru Asato, meanwhile, returned after shutting the door, sitting down across from Hanako. He then said to Takeo:
"Hanako-san's cooking is pretty good—you're in for a treat."
That made Takeo glance at him sideways. "You've got some nerve saying that."
"What do you mean?"
"You were supposed to be investigating the demon, but instead you're here loafing around. And you're calling yourself a Rank B Slayer?"
Takeo made no effort to hide the sarcasm in his tone.
That made Asato twitch at the corner of his mouth. "Ha! This guy!… You've really gotten sharp-tongued in the short time we haven't seen each other. And even more disrespectful to your seniors!"
"So, what exactly is going on?"
Takeo looked toward Asato, this time a bit more seriously. Although he had only spent a few days with Yoshizuru Asato, he was certain that Asato wasn't the kind of person who'd slack off when it came to duty.
If he had stayed here, there had to be a reason.
Asato sighed and was just about to explain when Hanako spoke up from the side:
"Yoshizuru-san, allow me to explain."
Asato was momentarily surprised, then nodded in agreement. "Sure, that works."
Takeo turned his attention toward Hanako.
She gave him another respectful bow before speaking: "Here's what happened—yesterday, Yoshizuru-san saved me."
…
Yoshizuru Asato had met Taniguchi Hanako just the day before.
At the time, Hanako had been returning from purchasing silk threads when she ran into a group of local thugs who had been harassing her lately.
Though "thugs" might be too harsh—more accurately, they were some older, single men from around the town who had been trying to marry her.
However, most of them were significantly older, some even old enough to be Hanako's father, so naturally she had no intention of accepting their advances.
Even if those men had been the right age, Hanako wouldn't have agreed to marry any of them. As she put it, she was waiting for her brother to come home.
But those men didn't see it that way.
They believed her brother had been missing for so long that there was no chance he'd return, and that Hanako, living alone, wouldn't be able to support herself much longer. So they pressured her to pick one of them as a "reliable partner."
Naturally, Hanako refused, and the situation turned into a scuffle in the alleyway.
In the end—predictably—Yoshizuru Asato arrived just in time, staging a textbook hero-saves-the-damsel scene and rescuing Hanako.
Grateful for his help, and learning he was investigating the disappearance while also having no place to stay, Hanako invited him to stay at her home.
...
"…And then you just stayed here for a whole day?"
Having understood the full context, Takeo looked toward Asato again.
Asato shook his head. "Of course not. I went out to investigate again today, but I still didn't find any leads. Hanako-san said I could stay here until the investigation ends, so I accepted."
"You really don't hold back, huh?"
"Oh? So that means you already have a place to stay tonight?"
Yoshizuru Asato shot the question right back at Takeo.
Takeo fell silent.
Seeing this, Hanako chuckled softly and said with a gentle voice, "If you don't mind, you're welcome to stay here as well. My brother's room still has some space."
Although the Taniguchi household wasn't large, her older brother Eita had once thoughtfully partitioned their shared bedroom with wooden boards—perhaps because he knew Hanako was growing up and it was no longer appropriate for them to sleep in the same room.
Yoshizuru Asato had stayed in that partitioned room last night, and there was no problem with Takeo joining him there tonight.
"Then thank you very much, Miss Taniguchi."
Takeo politely expressed his gratitude.
Hanako shook her head with a smile and went to prepare the bedding. While she was busy, Takeo took the chance to compare notes with Asato.
"So? Did you manage to find anything these past two days?—And please wipe the rice from your face before speaking."
"Haa, look at this guy! You've officially become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps just now but I've even moved up to Rank B. Can't you show a little more respect?"
Yoshizuru Asato was clearly annoyed, making sure once again to emphasize the fact that he'd advanced from Rank C to Rank B.
Takeo let out a long sigh and replied half-heartedly, "Alright, alright. Then please share with me the intel you've gathered over the past two days… Senior Asato."
"…That sounded so half-hearted."
"You gonna talk or not?"
Irritated by the back-and-forth, Takeo pushed impatiently.
Sensing the danger in Takeo's gaze, Yoshizuru Asato finally stopped joking and turned serious.
"Alright, alright. First, I've got some bad news. The demon we're dealing with this time is crafty—really clever—and very good at hiding."
"What do you mean?"
"In the two days I've been here, that demon hasn't eaten anyone. It knows we're here."
Yoshizuru Asato's expression was grim as he spoke.
The disappearance of Akita Tōichirō had happened three days ago. Asato had arrived yesterday to investigate.
And from the moment he arrived, there hadn't been a single new disappearance in the entire town.
Asato had spent the entire day today investigating, and he hadn't found a single clue related to the demon.
________
o(*￣▽￣*)ブ12 Advance chapters—P@treon/HornyFBI