Chapter 5: Interrogation

Sorry this took so long to update, y'all. I hit some pretty hard writer's block on a certain scene on this fic and couldn't get past it for the longest time. That being said, I feel like I should let you all know that, even if there's long breaks between updates sometimes, until I specify otherwise, there is always a new chapter in the works.

Additionally, I recently started a short, 3 chapter fic that is Obanai/Mitsuri, so if anyone is a fan of that ship and hasn't seen the fic, check out my profile. Forewarning that it has manga spoilers of chapter 200, but the fic is called "Gravity" and should be near the top of my works page. I hope you enjoy it if you read it!

Now, on to the chapter

When Tanjirou came to, the first thing he noticed was the complete lack of light. The only source in the entire area was a small sliver of what he presumed to be sunlight streaming in from a window that had been covered almost completely with a board.

"Where am I?" he muttered, forcing himself to ignore the dull thudding from his temple. He had a huge headache, and his stomach gnawed at his insides. Only when he felt a pang of hunger did everything come rushing back to him, from his family's slaughter to the encounter with the demon slayer in the cave. The last thing he remembered was getting rather unceremoniously beaten across the forehead by the demon slayer's sword hilt.

Explains where the headache came from, he thought, squinting to adjust his eyes to the dark room, How long have I been out?

He tried to pull himself up from where he'd been passed out, but was stopped as a painful burning sensation flared to life around his wrists. Wincing, Tanjirou looked down and finally took in just where he'd been sleeping.

He was laying on what looked like an infirmary bed with the back slightly raised as to let him sit up. Unlike the treatment a normal patient would get, however, he was bound to the frame by thick, leather-like straps around both of his arms and legs. Every time he tried to free himself, a burning pain flared to life wherever his skin came into contact with the straps.

I guess wherever I am isn't very fond of demons, he thought absentmindedly.

"Hello?" he tried to call, but his voice came out coarse and raw. He tried clearing his throat, although it didn't help much. "Is anyone here?"

Luckily, someone must have been posted outside of his door, as it creaked open a moment later. Light from outside shone through the crack just enough to light up a man's face, or at least what Tanjirou could see of his face, as most of it was covered by a black and white hood

"Good…" Tanjirou paused, eyes glancing towards the sunlight, "Morning?"

The person didn't say anything in response, but their eyes widened. They slowly shut the door and a moment later, Tanjirou heard a fleeting call. "Shinobu-sama! The demon is awake!"

"Shinobu-sama!" a very exhausted-sounding Kakushi called, slamming the door to her quarters open quite ungracefully. Shinobu, of course, hadn't been startled by the man's sudden entry; she'd been trained to be keenly aware of all of her senses and had thus heard the screams from halfway across the estate.

"Yes?" she responded cheerfully, not turning away from the batch of poison she was currently preparing.

"Shinobu-sama," the man heaved a breath. "The demon is awake!"

"So I've heard," she said, slowly capping the various bottles of ingredients as she spoke.

"Wait," the Kakushi frowned. "How did you know?"

"I was able to hear you shouting it by the time you got to the courtyard," she responded bluntly, placing the now-sealed vials back where they belonged. She didn't see the man's face, but it wasn't hard to guess that he was bowing.

"Apologies, Shinobu-sama!"

Shinobu sighed, finally turning to the man and standing from her chair. "Which one?"

"The boy."

"Good," she said, grabbing her sword. When she made her exit, the Kakushi stepped aside, although not without hesitation.

"Do you intend to wait for Oyakata-sama, Shinobu-sama?"

Shinobu smiled. "I won't be doing anything drastic, if that's what you're asking," she said. "I just intend on having a short, friendly conversation, is all."

Giyuu had been watching the various colors of butterflies flutter around the foyer when a Kakushi came screaming like a spooked dog through the open area about the demon being awake.

Reluctantly, the Water Hashira turned his attention away from the mesmerizing colors. Whichever demon it was that had awoken, be it Tanjirou or his sister, Giyuu had been the one to bring them to the estate, so he felt like he was responsible for keeping an eye on them until Oyakata-sama arrived.

Without a word to anyone around him, Giyuu headed for the medical wing where the two demons were being held. Of course, he wasn't quite familiar with the butterfly estate and its layout, so he got a little bit lost along the way.

As a consequence of the time he wasted trying to find the right room, Shinobu was already approaching the door to the boy's room when Giyuu got there.

"What are you doing?" he said. It was an honest question, completely devoid of double meaning. He watched as Shinobu froze in place, hand hovering above the door handle.

"Tomioka-san," she said, voice level. "You heard from the Kakushi?"

He just nodded, watching as she lowered her arm and turned to him, flashing a smile. "I was just going to introduce myself to the demon, I don't plan on taking any drastic actions until Oyakata-sama is present."

"Okay." Giyuu said, walking forwards. "I'll reintroduce myself as well."

Shinobu just sighed and nodded. "Yes, yes, of course you are."

She slid open the door carefully, barely opening it enough to slip in. When Giyuu entered the dark room, only then did he remember that opening the door too much could cause sunlight to enter the room and injure or even kill the demon inside.

Without a word, Giyuu shut the door behind him and leaned up against the wooden frame, allowing for his eyes to adjust to the relative lack of light. Inside, Tanjirou and Shinobu seemed to be in a staring contest, or at least, if you could call it that. Shinobu was gazing at Tanjirou with a flat, emotionless smile on her lips and wide eyes that looked like they were looking through the demon boy, rather than at him.

Tanjirou, on the other hand, was staring back at the insect Hashira with a look that could only be described as half-confused, half-frightened. Giyuu found himself becoming lost in the mesmerizing dance of flames inside the demon boy's pupils.

"Good umm...morning?" Tanjirou was the first to break the ice.

"Hmm…" Shinobu hummed in her high-pitched way. "I suppose it is still morning."

She barely missed a beat before jumping right into her next line. "I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Kocho Shinobu, and I am the Insect Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps."

Tanjirou blinked, but quickly bowed as much as his bindings would allow. "Nice to meet you, Kocho-san. My name is Kamado Tanjirou."

Silence fell in the dark room for a moment. As Giyuu leaned against the doorframe, he continued to keep an eye on both Shinobu and Tanjirou, the former because he had no idea what her goal was, and the latter for painfully obvious reasons.

The more Giyuu tried to think of reasons for Shinobu to engage with Tanjirou before Oyakata-sama arrived, the more confused he became. After his initial arrival at the estate the night before and a solid amount of time spent dissuading Shinobu from killing the two demon children on the spot, they'd agreed to notify Oyakata-sama of the situation and ask for his discretion. It hadn't been long before they'd been notified that he was going to be visiting the estate personally and that they should wait for further orders.

Giyuu wasn't good with reading people, especially those who hid all emotion behind a fake smile. So, of course, he picked his next best option.

"What's your goal here?"

Giyuu felt a shudder run down his spine when the other two sets of eyes latched onto him.

Shinobu smiled. "What do you mean, Tomioka-san? I'm introducing myself to Kamado-kun."

"And that couldn't have waited until Oyakata-sama was here?" At this, the corner of Shinobu's lip twitched, but her smile didn't falter.

"I…" she trailed off. She then turned away, breaking eye contact. "I suppose I wanted to see for myself what could have possibly led you to bring not one, but two demons to my home and ask me to shelter them."

Giyuu knew he'd struck a nerve just by the tone of her voice. He was about to explain himself again, for what felt like the fiftieth time since he came to the estate a mere seven hours prior, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he was cutoff.

"Nezuko!" a panicked yell came from Tanjirou, who had bolted upright in his bed. "Where's Nezuko?"

At the sudden movement, Shinobu jumped from the chair she'd been calmly seated in a few moments prior. She now held her arm right above the hilt of her sword, feet spread apart in what Giyuu recognized as a defensive stance.

"Wait," he said, stepping forwards and putting an arm out in front of his comrade. Looking into Tanjirou's eyes, he didn't see a bloodthirsty craze, anger, or anything signifying aggression. That face gave Giyuu that same impression he'd gotten from the boy when he was begging for him to spare his sister. Desperation.

"Nezuko, your sister, right?" Giyuu silently, carefully reached out and pushed down on Shinobu's arm, gently moving it away from her sword.

"Yes!" Tanjirou said, maintaining eye contact. "Where is she? What did you do with her?"

Behind Giyuu, he heard Shinobu let out a breath, and glancing over his shoulder showed him that she was picking back up the chair she'd knocked over.

"Your...sister is in the next room over, bound just as you are. She hasn't woken yet." Shinobu finally said. At this, Tanjirou visibly relaxed, tentatively rolling his shoulders back and slumping against the bed. His head turned to Giyuu.

"I'm sorry if I don't remember, my memory for the moments before you knocked me out are a little fuzzy...what was your name?"

"Tomioka Giyuu." he said flatly, not bothering to note that he hadn't introduced himself in the first place.

"Nice to meet you, Tomioka-san."

"Giyuu is fine," he said on instinct. The only people that called him Tomioka-san were Shinobu and Oyakata-sama, and anytime somebody else said it, he heard it in his fellow Hashira's pitchy voice.

"Then call me Tanjirou!" he said, smiling.

How can he be so upbeat in a situation like this?

"Kamado-kun," Shinobu spoke up. "Do you understand the situation that you're in?"

"Ahh...umm, not really," the boy responded sheepishly. He shifted in his bed, and as he did so, his wrists pressed against the straps and Giyuu heard a soft wince of pain.

"You shouldn't move around or struggle too much. Those straps are laced with a wisteria poison that is toxic to demons. The more you push against the restraints, the more it will hurt." Shinobu tilted her head, ever-present smile still plastered on her face.

"I-" Tanjirou looked like he was about to say something, but he evidently decided against it, dropping his head and nodding silently. "I understand."

The room went quiet again. Giyuu continued to study Shinobu, trying to decipher what her goal or purpose of the entire conversation was, but the fake, unwavering smile she wore didn't help him in his goal. Eventually she stood.

"I had more things to discuss with you outside of just introducing myself, but as Tomioka-san suggested, that can wait until Oyakata-sama is present. There's no point in repeating yourself, right?" With that, she turned, headed for the door.

"Ahh..umm," Tanjirou spoke up just before the Insect Hashira reached the exit. "I know this may be out of line considering the situation and the fact that we just met but...Is something wrong?"

Shinobu froze and turned around slowly. "What do you mean, Kamado-kun?"

"Well," Tanjirou continued, "I'm not sure what it is, I've always had a really good sense of smell and I couldn't help but notice a very...harsh scent coming from you. It's hard to explain what it is, but it gives me a feeling that you're angry. I know it doesn't make sense, you've been nothing but polite since coming in here, and you obviously are nice enough to spare me and Nezuko but…" he trailed off.

Shinobu turned back around and pulled open the door slightly. "Of course I'm angry, what kind of demon slayer would I be if I was content with harboring two demons in my home?"

With that she left, closing the door behind her and plunging the room back into darkness.

Immediately after leaving Tanjirou's room, Shinobu retreated to her quarters, leaving Giyuu to his own devices once again. His colleague seemed to have no intention of making conversation or talking about the matters at hand, and he'd learned by now not to press the issue. For now, he'd just wait out the time until Oyakata-sama arrived at the estate.

Giyuu strode past the Kakushi that were guarding the door and headed for the courtyard, deciding that some time spent relaxing in the foyer would be a good way to ease his mind before Oyakata-sama's impending arrival. If nothing else, it's nice to look at the flowers, he thought.

When he finally got to the open area, he found that he was not alone. Standing in the middle of the garden was a girl wearing a white haori; she was carefully inspecting a butterfly that had landed on her hand.

That's one of Shinobu's girls, Giyuu realized after a moment. He'd been a patient at the butterfly estate more than a few times, so it was natural that he'd become acquainted with most of them. That's the eldest, if I remember correctly.

As far as Giyuu knew, there were five of the girls, all adopted by the butterfly estate after being orphaned in some capacity. For the youngest triplets, it was a demon attack, which he knew because he'd been part of the team that rescued them in the first place. Additionally, as far as he knew, Shinobu had rescued the loud, middle-child in a similar fashion. The oldest girl, however, evaded Giyuu's memory.

Giyuu stopped at the edge of the building, watching her for a few moments. She just stood there almost completely unmoving and looking at the butterfly with blank, staring eyes, and she had a smile on her face that was almost like the one Shinobu wore all the time, but it had a sense of mimicry to it.

A mimicry of an already fake smile. Giyuu thought absentmindedly.

He sighed, finally stepping away from the building and striding out into the open. He slowly meandered through the flowers and other various plants until he finally arrived at the large cherry blossom tree in the middle of the open area.

Giyuu watched as the girl finally looked away from the butterfly, only to gaze at him for a few moments before walking away without so much as a word.

What a weird girl, Giyuu thought, turning to small the tree's flowers.

A few hours later, a Kakushi came to tell him that Oyakata-sama had arrived.

In the few hours that elapsed after his conversation with Kocho and Giyuu, Tanjirou had tried and failed to find some way to entertain himself as he waited for the door to open again. It was really difficult to find something to occupy his mind when the entire room was dark and his arms were bound to the bed, so he was left to his own thoughts, which was one of the last situations he wanted to be in.

Based on Kocho's parting words, it seemed that he was waiting on someone named 'Oyakata-sama' to arrive, and if the impression he'd gotten from the woman held any bearing, it was most likely somebody that outranked even her and Giyuu.

Outside of worrying about what kind of massive, intimidating swordsman he was going to be coming face to face with soon, Tanjirou had to force himself to not constantly think about where Nezuko was and if she was okay. Kocho had said that she was still asleep and one room over, but that didn't help to ease his mind.

With all the negative thoughts swimming in his mind, Tanjirou wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or not when there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" he called, voice a bit raspy from a lack of water.

Slowly, the door creaked open, a soft orange light filtering in through the opening. It must be evening, Tanjirou realized. Two figures Tanjirou recognized stepped through the door, Kocho and Giyuu, both stepping aside and standing next to the doorway. Then, three more figures entered the dark room: a sickly looking man with a face half-covered by wrinkled, off-colored skin who was accompanied by two white-haired children wearing matching kimonos. They stood by the man's side, holding his hands and acting as supports.

"Oyakata-sama has arrived," the two children said, creepily in sync. At this, they helped the man over to one of the seats in front of Tanjirou's bed before retreating from the room.

This is Oyakata-sama?

"Thank you, girls," the man said. At even such a small remark, Tanjirou was instantly drawn in, the man's voice sounding like what could only be described as the auditory equivalent of liquid gold. Past that, Tanjirou found his eyes drawn to the left side of the man's face, where the skin looked like it was withering, and the eye was completely covered by a thick white cataract.

"I'm not what you expected, I presume," Oyakata-sama said, and Tanjirou tore his gaze away immediately.

"Sorry," Tanjirou said, bowing as much as he could given his constraints and winced as the leather strap dug into his wrist again. The man just hummed in response, turning to Kocho and Giyuu, who both had not made so much as a peep since entering the room.

"We should be more accomodating to our guests," he said. "There's no need for restraints right now."

A look Tanjirou couldn't decipher flashed across Kocho's face for the briefest of moments, before being replaced by a smile. "Oyakata-sama, I am not sure if I entirely agree," she said.

"Are you worried he will attack us?"

Kocho opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, as if second guessing her response. It took a moment before she tried again. "I am just worried for your safety, Oyakata-sama."

Oyakata-sama hummed in response, eyes flickering to Tanjirou, then back to Giyuu and Kocho. "I believe two of my Hashira would be more than fast enough to protect me in the case that something goes wrong." He said it like an observation, but with the tone of a command.

There was a long pause where nothing was said but the tension that hung in the air grew. Then, softly, "As you wish, Oyakata-sama."

Kocho broke from her position and walked over to the bed, eyes fixed on the ground in front of her, as if actively avoiding Tanjirou's gaze. Switly, the woman undid the clasps that bound his arms to the bed before returning to her spot by the door as if nothing had even happened.

"That's better," Oyakata-sama said, "Now, Kamado-kun."

Tanjirou gulped as the man's attention turned to him. He'd been rubbing at his wrists, massaging the irritated skin, but the instant the man's gaze fell onto him, he froze. Considering his sickly appearance, Oyakata-sama had an air to him that just drew in any and all attention. Ironically, it made him more imposing. Tanjirou opened his mouth but no words came out.

"I'm sure you're very lost as to what is going on right now," he started. "But I would like to ask you to recite what has happened over the last few days."

"I -" Tanjirou stopped, biting back an onslaught of questions. He had so many things he wanted to ask, from where he was all the way to whether or not the corps had a way to cure demons, but he knew that now was not the right time. If he wanted to stay on Oyakata-sama's good side and actually survive the day, he needed to go along with the flow. "Sure, I can do that." His voice came out uneven, his nervousness showing through the cracks.

For the third time in two days, Tanjirou started from the beginning. He told Oyakata-sama about his family, how they were a large buy happy family who made a living off of selling charcoal, and how his father had died a few years prior. He moved on to the night his family had been slaughtered, not glazing over any details, no matter how much pressure built up in his chest as he relived watching his family dying in his mind's eye.

As he spoke, Oyakata-sama was silent, listening intently without portraying any readable emotions on his face, and as Tanjirou talked, he found his gaze dropping to the bedsheets, unable to maintain eye contact.

He detailed how he had run with Nezuko after waking up, stopping by Old Man Saburo's home before hiding in a cave to wait out the day. Finally, he rounded off the story by telling them about how Nezuko wouldn't wake up and how he'd headed to town to try to get medicine where he'd run into Giyuu and the other demon, before being followed back to the cave he'd left Nezuko in and confronted by Giyuu.

"And next thing I knew, I was here."

Oyakata-sama didn't speak for a moment, and when Tanjirou looked up to meet his eyes, the man was still staring at him with the same contemplating gaze. After what felt like a year, he turned away, looking to Giyuu.

"Tomioka-san, does this line up with your experiences?"

Giyuu simply nodded, which seemed to be enough for Oyakata-sama, as he turned back to Tanjirou and silence fell on the room once again.

"Kamado-kun," he spoke slowly, "Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"

Tanjirou gulped but nodded. Oyakata-sama smiled.

"Kamado-kun, would you ever consider harming a human?"
"Never," he responded without so much as a moment of pause.

"Not even to satisfy the worst hunger you've ever felt?"

"I would rather slit my stomach open," Tanjirou said, dead-serious and meeting Oyakata-sama's eyes.

"And if your sister were to harm a human? Would you still protect her then?"

At this, Tanjirou paused. As far as he knew, Nezuko was still sleeping, but if Saburo's words were anything to go by, she was acting more traditionally demon-like than he himself. He couldn't speak for absolute certainty on how she felt.

Of course, Oyakata-sama knew this, he wouldn't have phrased the question how he did otherwise. He'd asked how Tanjirou would react, not whether or not it would happen.

"I -" Tanjirou paused, unsure how to put his thoughts into words. "I know Nezuko would never hurt a human. She hasn't yet and I know she wouldn't do it. But if she did, I would take the blame, because I am the one advocating to keep her alive." Tanjirou swallowed the lump in his throat.

Silence fell on the room for what felt like an eternity. Once Tanjirou finished talking, he tore his gaze away from Oyakata-sama, feeling like looking the man in the eyes was causing the pressure in the room to intensify.

"Kamado-kun, I believe you are owed a bit of an explanation," Oyakata-sama's voice finally came. "In the last two days, you've been thrown into an entirely new world, so I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

Tanjirou barely missed a beat. "Is there a cure for demons? Is there a way to turn Nezuko back to normal? Why is she acting so weird and why am I normal? What makes it so that demons are such bad people if I was able to resist? Where am I? How can I cure Nezuko? What -"

"Kamado-kun, one at a time, please." Oyataka-sama interrupted.

Tanjirou stopped mid-sentence, instantly flushing. When he spoke, his voice had gone up two octaves. "Sorry."

Oyakata-sama smiled at him softly and nodded as if to encourage him to speak.

"I guess I'll start with asking why Nezuko is acting the way she is."

"Ahh, started with the hard question, I see." Oyakata-sama turned in his chair, looking at Kocho. "Would you care to explain?"

Kocho nodded. "When a demon is created, they are intentionally made in such a way that their mind is clouded. Many demons don't even remember who they were before they became one and that is by design."

Tanjirou frowned. "I thought becoming a demon was like a disease."

Kocho shook her head. "Not quite. See, no ordinary demon can create another demon. Only the most powerful demons can create other demons, and it's done by mixing demon blood with human blood. As far as we know, when a demon is created, some part of the transformation blocks out the victim's mind while the rest of the transformation eats almost all of the body's energy. What's left is a demon who can't think straight and only knows that they're out of energy, which can only be replenished by feasting."

"So...what you're saying is that Nezuko's mind has basically been locked away?" Tanjirou nervously scratched at his wrist, feeling that the tenderness from the bindings had started to fade.

Kocho stopped. "In a way, yes, you could put it that way."

"Is there a way to get it back?" Tanjirou immediately followed up.

"Well, that's a bit more complicated. As demons become more powerful, they slowly begin to regain their cognitive function. Some regain their memories of when they were a human, but most don't. For many demons, when they're turned, it's like starting a new life, and even those that do remember their previous lives usually only do so after they've had a taste of human blood, at which point it's too late, because nothing else can satiate that thirst."

"I -" Tanjirou started, but stopped almost immediately, realizing that he didn't really have anything to add. That is, until he remembered a very particular detail. "But Nezuko remembers! When we both woke up, she remembered our family!"

Before Kocho could respond, Oyakata-sama put one hand up, silencing both instantly. "This is a subject that I'm going to have to put a hold on for now. This is very clearly a special case, and I have a few things I need to research. Kamado-kun, I'm sure you have other questions."

Tanjirou gulped, swallowing a protest. "Yes, is there a cure for demons?"

"No, not that we know of," Oyakata-sama said, bluntly.

Tanjirou's heart sank. When he spoke again, his voice came out soft and barely audible. "Not that you know of?"

"There's been no reason to search for some sort of cure," Giyuu finally spoke up. "Up until now, every single demon has been a murderer that needed to be put down."

Needed to be put down. The sentence echoed in Tanjirou's mind and he realized the gravity of his situation. He was in a meeting - more like interrogation - with the head of the demon slaying corps. Something bigger than even himself was going on here.

"I've got a side question," Tanjirou said a bit apprehensively. "How long has the demon slaying corps been around?"

"A few hundred years," Oyakta-sama responded.

Nezuko and I are the first demons to not kill anyone in a few hundred years? Tanjirou thought, falling back against the soft cushioning behind him. There was most definitely some ulterior motive for Oyakata-sama to even be meeting with him. Logically, the best course of action would be to just kill Tanjirou and Nezuko as to not even run the risk of either of them caving and hurting somebody, but that obviously wasn't happening yet.

Tanjirou gulped, but brought himself back to a sitting position, meeting Oyakata-sama's eyes. "Do you think there is a cure?"

Oyakata-sama nodded, as if he'd been expecting the question. "I'm sure there is. However, the only ones that would know about anything like that would be the demons themselves, and I don't think many would be willing to just talk to a weak demon who refuses to eat humans."

"There has to be a way, right?" Tanjirou said, panicked. There was no way he was going to let an opportunity slip by. "A way for me to help? Or maybe a way for you guys to help me find a cure?"

"As much as I would like to let you go try to find a cure on your own, Kamado-kun, the corps cannot afford to take their eye off of you right now. No matter how much merit your story holds, there is always the risk that you or your sister will kill somebody, and then that blood is on the corps' hands for letting you go." Oyakata-sama said it softly and kindly, but there was a little bit of venom behind the words.

Then, finally, an idea sprung to mind.

"Let me join the demon slaying corps."

Immediately, the air in the room went dead. Any and all fidgeting stopped as three of the four people present took a sharp breath in.

"If I train and become strong, I can ask the demons myself. I'll help the corps while searching for a cure," Tanjirou continued. "Please, if there's nothing else I can do, at least let me try this."

Finally, someone other than Tanjirou made a noise when Oyakata-sama hummed. "I'll admit, Kamado-kun. I did not expect that response. Asking such a thing puts us in an...interesting situation."

Tanjirou gulped, finally looking away from his bedsheets to meet Oyakata-sama's eyes again. Both Giyuu and Kocho were staring at the back of Oyakata-sama's head, an unreadable expression on both of their faces.

"Kamado-kun, you're sure about this? The life of a demon slayer is not easy, and many die young."

Tanjirou kept his gaze transfixed on the older man's eyes. "In the last two days, I've lost my entire family to demons, and the only person left is Nezuko. I have to protect her, which means finding a cure no matter the cost."

Oyakata-sama grinned. "I can't say no to that level of dedication."

"Oyakata-sama I'm not -" Kocho's protesting voice came, but she was cut off immediately when Oyakata-sama held up a single hand.

"We can discuss this outside, if you'd like. I can give you my reasoning there, after I'm done talking to Kamado-kun."

"As you wish, Oyakata-sama." Kocho's tone had shifted entirely by the time she spoke again.

Tanjirou watched, still a bit shocked at Oyakata-sama's response as he slowly rose to his feet and walked towards the exit of the room.

"I'm sorry that this meeting is getting cut short, Kamado-kun," he said on his way out. "I don't have the energy that I used to, so I must retire. I will be here tomorrow morning to go over the plan with you, if you truly wish to support the corps. For now, feel free to get up and move around the room, but be aware that there is a guard at the door."

Tanjirou watched as the man pulled open the door and walked out, followed by both Giyuu and Kocho, the latter giving him an unreadable look before taking her leave.