"I… I mean… I want to stand…"
"Stand? Oh! But Sister, are you sure? You're still badly hurt…"
When Tanjiro finally understood what Chika meant, he exhaled in relief—but worry still lingered in his eyes. Anyone who looked at her wounds would hesitate.
Chika shook her head. It didn't hurt much; she just couldn't move easily.
After a moment's hesitation, Tanjiro nodded and carefully lowered her from his back. Her feet touched the ground—but her legs gave way immediately. She almost fell again, if not for Tanjiro and Nezuko catching her on each side.
This… this is so embarrassing.
Chika lowered her head, cheeks flushed. Never in her life had she imagined needing someone's support to stand. In her previous world, she could do a standing backflip without breaking a sweat.
"Sister, are you all right?!"
"I'm fine, just… legs are weak."
She panted heavily, struggling to balance herself. Tanjiro and Nezuko assumed it was from pain, but to the watching doctor, the whole scene looked absurd.
He had already decided she wasn't truly injured—just playing a cruel joke on him.
"Kids these days…" the doctor muttered, waving them off. "Fine, I'll let it go this time. Now leave me be."
He turned back into his house and shut the door.
Tanjiro started to knock again, hoping for help, but Chika stopped him.
"Sister?"
"It's fine. I don't think I'll need a doctor."
The words didn't sound convincing, not with her swaying on her feet—but Tanjiro still believed her.Because she was his sister.
After leaving the doctor's house, Tanjiro decided to return to the mountain—to bury their mother and siblings properly. Both Chika and Nezuko agreed. But first, Tanjiro ran off somewhere.
Ten minutes later, he came running out of a carpenter's shop—pushing a handmade wooden wheelchair.
"Sister, use this for now!"
Tanjiro grinned, proud of his solution. Of course he wouldn't let her walk all the way back.
The wheelchair wasn't cheap, and Tanjiro had little money on him. But he was well-liked in the village; the carpenter gladly let him take it on credit.
Seeing that earnest smile, Chika lowered her eyes, her heart warming. Tanjiro really is too kind.
There were many "gentle male leads" in anime—but Tanjiro's kindness stood out even among them.
Her faint smile only made Tanjiro happier. Quietly, he made a vow in his heart: I'll protect both my sisters, no matter what.
Chika sat in the wheelchair, Tanjiro pushed, and Nezuko followed beside them, eyes curved like crescents as they made their slow return up the snowy path.
When they arrived at the cabin, the air grew heavy again.Tanjiro silently entered, carried out his mother and brothers, and buried them near the house.With hands pressed together, he prayed—promising revenge, and to find a way to make Nezuko human again.
After the prayer, he turned to his sisters. He wanted to say let's go, but then remembered—he hadn't told Chika everything yet.
So he recounted what had happened: his encounter with Giyu Tomioka, and what Giyu had told him.
As he spoke, he watched her face carefully, afraid she might not accept it. His sister had always been calm, open-minded, but the word demon could shake anyone's soul.
"That's how it is," he said quietly. "Giyu told me to find an old man named Sakonji Urokodaki. To avenge our family… I have to grow stronger."
His fists clenched as he spoke.
Chika lowered her head, silent. Tanjiro thought she was in pain—or frightened by what she'd heard. He opened his mouth to comfort her—but she took a deep breath and looked up.
"Then go," she said. "Find Sakonji Urokodaki. I'm coming with you."
Her eyes, though shadowed by exhaustion, gleamed with fierce light.
Tanjiro froze. He'd wanted her to rest safely, not to travel through mountains and danger. Not because she'd slow him down—because he couldn't bear seeing her hurt again.
"Sister, you should rest. I'll handle it," he said hastily.
But Chika Kamado wasn't the type to sit idly and watch the protagonist grind levels while she AFK'ed to the ending.Sure, being thrown into this world was sudden, maybe even cruel—but she wasn't about to do nothing.
She could still feel the lingering despair and helplessness of the original Chika—the pain of watching her family die, powerless to stop it, before being slaughtered by Muzan himself.
Muzan had called himself a force of nature—said being killed by him was no different from dying in a storm or an earthquake. That he was simply inevitable.
That surviving him was luck.
What utter nonsense.
The mere thought of it made her want to punch him through a wall.
Chika inhaled, exhaled slowly, and steadied herself. She had to be patient. Right now, she couldn't even stand properly. She needed to adapt, train, and eventually—master the Hinokami Kagura.
I can't wait for the day I meet him again, she thought. I'll hold my red Nichirin blade, lower my head, and ask—"What do you think life is worth?"
His expression, she imagined, would be priceless.
A thin, eerie smile crept across her face.
Tanjiro, watching, blinked nervously.
What's Sister thinking…? That smile looks terrifying…