Ishida intently looked at the demon girl lying down on the other side, and then at the boy in the middle, still crawling as he finally made it to her.
"You should stay away from the demon..."
Ishida spoke up finally, this time directly to the boy.
But the slayer covered the demon girl with his own body, as if protecting her from anyone trying to harm her. He placed himself in between them, ready to take any blow meant for her.
The demon girl still remained unconscious, and as Ishida stared at the two of them for a few more seconds, he saw the scars and wounds both had on their bodies—even on their faces.
Then, he sensed something else…
"If you didn't hear me the first time, then I can repeat—get away from—"
Before Ishida could finish talking, the boy spoke up...
"I can't… You're completely mistaken here. I can explain—"
"There is nothing to explain. She is a demon. You and I are both Demon Slayers. Our job is to slay demons, not protect them."
"But she is different. She's… she's not like the others. Plus… she's my little sister..."
"Sister!?" Ishida muttered the word ever so slightly, as a small memory of his and his sister flashed before him at the moment, but then brought back his focus back to the moment, clearing his mind, "But, even if she is your sister, she is a demon." Ishida took few steps ahead of him towards the both of them, "It may sound rude , but perhaps, if i don't kill her now, she may become a danger for others."
"No… you're wrong!" The boy's voice trembled, but there was steel beneath the emotion. "She hasn't harmed a single human… not once since the day she became a demon! Even when she was starving… even when she was injured and could barely move—she never gave in to the hunger."
His eyes locked onto the Hashira's with unwavering conviction. "She's my sister. And I will stake my life to prove she's different."
He shifted his body further over the unconscious girl, shielding her completely. "If you think she's a threat… then take my life first. Because I will never let anyone harm her while I'm still breathing."
His fists clenched, bloody and scraped. "Please… if you've ever loved someone with everything you had… don't take her from me."
Ishida stood silent.
The boy's words lingered in the air like smoke—raw, heavy, impossible to ignore.
His grip on the hilt of his blade loosened slightly… just slightly.
He looked down at the two of them, and then… his mind drifted.
For a second, he wasn't standing in a blood-soaked forest, the voices , the faces of his family flashed before his eyes.
Those he would've wanted to protect, just like this boy was protecting his sister, but couldn't.
The last time he saw them—blood, fire, screams, the twisted scent of death choking the air.
Demons had taken them all.
All.
Ishida blinked. Once.
His eyes returned to the boy on the ground, who now shook—more from emotion than fear.
And yet…
That same look.
That look in his eyes—desperate, protective, pure.
It mirrored his own. The look he wore when he was too late to protect what mattered.
Ishida finally let out a quiet breath.
Not anger. Not pity.
Something else.
"…You're staking your life for her," he said, voice low but steady. "Even knowing what she is."
The boy didn't answer. He didn't need to.
Ishida's hand slid away from the hilt.
"I don't know what kind of madness this is… a demon and a slayer. But..." He said sheathing his blade back to it's place, and walked further ahead, "I once had someone I would've protected like that too."
His eyes narrowed. "I don't trust her. I don't trust you. But—for now—I'll stay my blade."
The boy looked up, eyes wide—not with fear, but disbelief.
He had expected resistance. He had braced for pain. But mercy?
He didn't know what to say at first. His mouth opened, but no sound came. Then, slowly, he pushed himself up just enough to sit, still cradling the unconscious girl beside him.
"…Thank you," he breathed at last, voice cracked but honest. "Thank you for… not killing her."
His eyes trembled with emotion, but his words were firm. "I know you don't trust us. And I won't ask you to. But I swear… I will prove it to you. She's different. She's fighting it every day, every breath. I've seen it with my own eyes."
Ishida walked further ahead just above the both of the siblings, "You don't need to prove me anything, you will have to prove her Innocence in front of the master of Demon Slayer corpse. Can you do that?"
The boy nodded without hesitation, eyes blazing with determination.
"…I can. I will."
"Good , then..."
Before Ishida could finish his Sentence, he sensed someone incoming, as he prepared in a fighting stance already.
His eyes went up above , as his eyes met with a new person that emerged out of the branches of trees, it was familiar face him - The Insect Hashira , Shinobu kocho, who had her blade in her hand, and Ishida could tell by her intent and look, her target was the demon girl.
Shinobu's form blurred as she descended from above—graceful as a butterfly, swift as a dagger.
Her blade gleamed in the filtered sunlight between the trees, aimed unerringly for the unconscious demon girl below.
But before the strike could land—
CLANG!
Her hand was caught mid-air—firmly, unyieldingly.
By him.
She looked up sharply, eyes widening in surprise as she found her wrist held fast in the iron grip of the other Hashira.
"…You," Shinobu muttered, her soft voice betraying a flash of tension.
Before she could say another word, the grip tightened—not enough to harm, but more than enough to send a message.
In the next instant, Ishida twisted her wrist slightly and turned with a controlled pivot of his body, redirecting all her forward momentum—
SLAM!
—and threw her clean across the clearing.
Shinobu flipped mid-air to regain control, her body skidding along the forest floor before she gracefully stopped a few meters away, her sandals carving faint lines in the dirt.
Leaves fluttered down around her.
For a moment, there was only silence, pierced only by the wind rustling through the trees.
The boy watched, wide-eyed, still frozen in place. Even the unconscious girl seemed to stir faintly from the rising tension.
Shinobu slowly stood up, brushing off her haori with eerie calm.
"…That was uncalled for," she said quietly, though her usual smile was nowhere to be seen for a second, then the smile appeared again, "Did you just stop me from killing that demon Ishida ?" she said with an playful voice, showing no anger, or frustration.
"I did."
"And i am sure you might have a good reason maybe, but, can you please step aside from them, cause keeping demons alive is not why we are ," She replied
"I can't. At this moment, the both of them are at my
"I can't. At this moment, the both of them are at my mercy… and under my protection."
His voice was quiet—too quiet—but each word struck with weight, with finality.
Shinobu's eyes narrowed slightly, the curve of her smile holding, but her gaze sharpened underneath. "You realize what you're saying, don't you?" she said, tone still gentle, still sweet—but now it carried a pointed edge. "You're going against the very code we live by, the one we swore to uphold."
"I live by that code. I've bled for it. I've killed for it," he replied, stepping fully between her and the two behind him. "But this… this is not just black and white. Not today."
Shinobu tilted her head slightly, observing him, "So you're choosing emotion over duty?"
"No," he said firmly. "I'm choosing judgment over blind obedience."
"Is that your final decision then ?"
"Yes." Ishida simply answered with a settling voice.
But, then, Ishida's sense picked up something else, someone else, he realized, what was going on. Shinobu, standing in front of him was trying to cause distraction for him.
"I said—" Ishida's voice rose, low but edged like steel drawn halfway from its sheath, "—she is my responsibility."
CLANG!!!
A sudden attack came from behind, fast and precise— As if the wind itself had grown a blade. Ishida's instincts kicked in before the sound even registered.
He turned in a single fluid motion, his blade already half unsheathed—
CRACK!
His katana met the incoming strike with thunderous force, and the result was instant.
The girl's sword—delicate, precise, graceful—
shattered from middle.
Half broken part of the blade dropped at the ground at a little distance, like glass under pressure, spiraling away as the force of Ishida's block overwhelmed it with sheer, unrelenting power.
Kanao Tsuyuri stood just a few feet away, still in the stance she had attacked from—but the remains of her broken sword trembled in her hand.
Her wide violet eyes stared in stunned disbelief, though her expression remained calm. Calm… but shaken.
"I think , we should stop fighting and take these two at Demon slayer headquarters and have a proper meeting in the attendance of all the Hashiras and master to determine their Future, I think that would be okay with you ?!"