Once again, I found myself resting my head on Mitsuri's lap as she hummed softly and stroked my hair. Several days have passed since I went full Lobotomy Kaisen and gave Akaza the Jogo Special.
It was the most respect I could show for the one 'honourable' demon. Total and complete erasure, the Divine Flames consuming his body before his body could even register it had been minced into a fine paste.
Before you go and screech about how only sunlight or nichirin blades can kill demons. Let me remind you that no one, and I mean ABSOLUTELY no one can survive getting atomised by millions of slashes then getting those atoms incinerated by flames that literally killed a calamity special grade cursed spirit that was born from humanity's fear of fire.
Let's not forget the fact that Black Flash can and will cause damage to someone's soul if they get hit by it. Not to mention, getting hit with multiple Black Flashes is a guaranteed kill for anyone who can't repair soul damage.
Fucking miss me with that; "Muzan and the Twelve Kizuki could speed blitz Sukuna cause they can move at supersonic speeds." Sukuna is more durable if not just as durable as any demon, except he doesn't have a glaring weakness.
"Satoru-kun… you're making that face again." Mitsuri patted my cheeks.
"Hm? Oh, right… I was just thinking of something dumb."
"Ara… what could be so dumb that you'd make such a mean face?" She tilted her head.
"Just people who romanticise evil beings just because they're handsome." I replied, thinking of all the people that glazed Douma because he was 'hot'.
"By the way, Oyakata-sama said he has news from Lady Tamayo." Mitsuri added.
"Right, let's go visit him after dinner." I hummed.
Mitsuri smiled warmly, "What do you think Kie-san made for dinner today?"
I hummed, then sat up. "I heard it was yakitori with some soup."
Mitsuri smiled happily, seemingly already imagining the food. "I hope we get Sakuramochi for dessert today…"
A few hours later, Mitsuri and I walked hand in hand towards HQ. A plate of Sakuramochi floated next to her thanks to careful use of Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue.
'Only I would use what's essentially black holes to feed my girlfriend snacks… totally worth it lmao.'
"What do you think Oyakata-sama wants Satoru?" Mitsuri asked between mouthfuls of mochi.
I shrugged, "Not sure… the Hashira meeting for this month is still a while away."
"Mmm… maybe," she swallowed the mochi, "maybe we're getting a new fellow Hashira?"
I shook my head, "Doubt it… Mei-Mei has been keeping an eye on things, after I killed those Kizuki on the train the demons have been really quiet."
"Moh… I still can't believe you killed two more Moons."
"Hah? Why not? I'm the stronge—
"Good you're here… come on, Ubuyashiki-sama has something interesting to share with you." A Kakushi suddenly interrupted.
I grumbled, "Always getting interrupted… no one lets me say my catchphrase…"
[Scene Break]
Kagaya did have something interesting. Tamayo had sent him documents outlining an old abandoned estate. Specifically it was the Gojo clan's ancestral home, located north west of Kyoto.
He apologised to me after confessing that he had gotten this information weeks ago but wanted to surprise me as well as reward me for my hard work. So he had the Kakushi and some of the Hashira help in clearing the lands in and around while rebuilding the entire estate.
Unfortunately he also assigned me Kyoto as a region, so any good will he earned from putting an end to my homelessness was immediately wiped away by the sudden onset of responsibility.
Not that I minded, Kyoto was nice and I've been meaning to visit the Fushimi Inari Taisha. It was an iconic location in a lot of different shows and movies so I wanted to see it for myself.
'Maybe I'll take Mitsuri there for a date, we haven't been back to Kyoto since I used Hollow Purple on that demon that interrupted our date.'
Mitsuri had stayed behind, Kagaya wanted to discuss a Hashira training camp for the slayers now that we had some breathing room since I scared the demons into hiding. At least for now.
I didn't do boring meetings, thankfully my sweetheart of a girlfriend didn't mind attending for the both of us. In fact, she had insisted on it, I had a feeling she was plotting something.
Thankfully Mitsuri was way too sweet to plan anything harmful. With that in mind I pictured the spot we had our first date in and teleported away.
[Scene Break]
I appeared on the bridge over a small stream. I glanced over to the stretch of land where trees used to be until I blasted them into oblivion along with a demon that interrupted my date.
Humming to myself I walked through Kyoto enjoying the sights and stalls. I even bought a few sweets to munch on while I made my way over to the location Kagaya had mentioned.
It took nearly three hours of walking, and I soon found myself on the outskirts of Kyoto. The city was smaller than it would be in the future.
At the site of the old estate, Kakushi were busy clearing away the last of the rubble. I stepped inside the walls, and some of the Kakushi who noticed me gave me a respectful bow before going back to their jobs.
"AH, MY FRIEND! YOU'VE ARRIVED!" A booming voice called to me.
I turned and spotted Kyojuro waving at me from the room of the main building. He had a hammer in hand and looked like he was in the middle of replacing the roofing tiles.
"Kyojuro, are you the only Hashira here?"
"KOCHO-SAN LEFT AN HOUR AGOSHE HELPED FURNISH THE HOME!"
'Why is he always yelling?' "I see, thanks for all your hard work then." I gave him a small bow.
"IT'S NOTHING! I WILL ALWAYS HELP A FRIEND IN NEED!"
I nodded in appreciation and stepped into the house to let him get back to what he was doing. I was shocked to find that the house was already pretty much habitable. The tatami mat flooring was all replaced with new panels. The wood supports and beams were new and lacquered.
'Hm, if I remember correctly, this type of house was designed specifically so that it could be built relatively quickly and with abundant materials.'
I explored my new home for a bit, it had almost a dozen rooms. Outside there was a separate building that contained a natural hot spring, a wooden bathtub in an adjacent room, and even an outhouse that featured a Japanese style squat toilet.
'Kagaya really is the best boss ever… dude is filthy rich and uses that money to take care of his workers. What a guy…'
Unfortunately the house was a little too far from Kyoto to have access to electricity but that didn't matter, I had plumbing, running water, and a roof over my head. I could always use my space storage technique to store food. Lamps and lanterns also added to the aesthetic experience.
I had a fair amount of money saved up so I could always modernise in the future. For now I was more than satisfied with my new estate, calling it a house would have been like calling Buckingham Palace a shack.
[Scene Break]
As I waited for Mitsuri to arrive, I patrolled Kyoto, the region I had been assigned to watch over. From my vantage point in the sky I could see lower ranked Slayers also patrolling. Though they were more discrete.
I didn't think anyone could see me with how high I was up in the sky. Not that it mattered, no one would believe a random schmuck off the street if they started claiming that they saw a guy floating in the air.
Using blue, I teleported around different areas. Seeing nothing, I got bored and teleported to a random point towards the south.
I appeared over a small cabin with a frail looking old man kneeling on a white sheet with a box in front of him. He was writing what looked like a letter. I frowned when I saw him pick up a wakizashi and prepared to stab himself with it.
In a boom of displaced air I teleported in front of him and flicked the dagger out of his hands. He looked at me confused, before frowning.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"Me?"
"Yes you!" The old man huffed while picking up the wakizashi again.
I realised the old man with a peg leg was the former Hashira that trained Zenitsu. Then I remembered that Zenitsu's master had committed seppuku because another disciple of his had pulled a Kokoshibo.
"Hmm, let me guess… one of you disciples decided that being a stupid vampire was better than being human?"
Jiguro froze, "How do you know that brat!"
I looked down at what I was wearing, black slacks, dress shoes, a white button up shirt, a black haori with little white cats on the hem.
'Huh… I guess without the sword I don't look like a Demon Slayer.'
I flicked the sword out of Jiguro's hands again, much to his annoyance, before replying.
"Listen Old Man, I'm one of the Hashira. I can't let a former Hashira kill himself just cause an idiot kid decided to betray humanity."
He looked at me up and down then scoffed, "You? A Hashira?! Hah!"
'How long has he been away from the corps? Shouldn't a former Hashira keep in touch? I would have expected him to have recognised me at least.'
"Whatever Old Man… listen. How about a bet," I summoned my nichirin blade making Jiguro's eyes widen, "we have a little spar, you beat me and I'll be your second. I win, then you listen to me."
Jiguro didn't wait, he shifted low, the wakizashi in an iaido grip. In a flash of movement much faster than humanly possible he struck. Then he dramatically made the motion of sheathing his blade as if expecting to have hit me.
"You're thirty years too early to challenge me brat." He murmured.
"Ara… was that supposed to be an attack old man?" I responded, making him spin around in shock. "Your speed, even with a peg leg is impressive."
"Nani?!"