'Maybe... I should just go back?'
Standing outside the Butterfly Mansion, Tomioka Giyu hesitated slightly and turned to leave.
But at the thought of a certain someone's threatening words, he silently turned back after only a few steps.
Eating together, bathing together, sleeping together—it was simply too terrifying.
'Should I go in?'
'Maybe... I'll just come back tomorrow?'
"Giyuu-san, do you know how hard it was for me to wait for you?"
A slightly resentful voice sounded behind him. Tomioka Giyu's body stiffened as his shoulder was once again draped by an arm, and he was uncontrollably pushed into the Butterfly Mansion by Kiyokawa Izumi.
"I..."
Tomioka Giyu wanted to say he could walk on his own, but facing such an enthusiastic Kiyokawa Izumi, he was truly unable to resist.
Of course, he didn't actually dislike Kiyokawa Izumi.
He found it hard to dislike anyone who frequently initiated conversation with him.
For example, he actually quite liked the Flame Hashira, because that big brother often talked to him.
He could also feel sad.
The Serpent Hashira often spoke ill of him, which made him feel very sad.
Toward the Stone Hashira, he also felt great respect and affection.
Because this older brother was very kind and always sought him out to talk, never ignoring his presence.
From this, it was clear that Tomioka Giyu did not feel annoyed or disgusted by others' attempts to converse with him.
Facing Kiyokawa Izumi, who always approached him with enthusiasm, he only felt a tiny bit out of his element.
Kiyokawa Izumi, on the other hand, lacked self-awareness. Standing behind him, he sized up the strongest Water Hashira in history, feeling quite a lot of admiration for him—Kiyokawa Izumi could never forget the scene during the battle at the Infinity Castle where he effortlessly manifested his Demon Slayer Mark in an instant.
The Water Hashira had sea-blue eyes and wore his black hair in a low ponytail; his hair was somewhat coarse and slightly wavy, a feature clearly visible from behind.
He wore a half-and-half haori; the left half was yellow-green, inherited from his sacrificed friend Sabito, and the right half was crimson, a memento from his sister.
Always believing he was unworthy of his position, he had been in the same year as Sabito—the latter had killed almost all the demons in the Selection, only to fall to the Hand Demon and sacrifice himself tragically.
In contrast, he, who hadn't killed a single demon, had somehow passed the Selection.
This was the knot in his heart.
What right did a useless person who hadn't truly passed the Selection and had been saved by Sabito have to serve as the Water Hashira?
What right did he have to stand on equal footing with the other Hashira?
The friend he met in his youth was too dazzling, like the sun dispersing all darkness, leaving him with profound memories.
But then again, without Sabito's sacrifice, would Tomioka Giyu have become the strongest Water Hashira in history?
The event had already happened; such hypotheses were meaningless.
Kiyokawa Izumi knew this man's past well—his childhood was very unfortunate, his parents having died early, leaving him to depend on his sister. His sister, however, died at the hands of a demon just before her wedding, and he had witnessed it with his own eyes.
He survived under his sister's protection, leaving a knot in his heart that only loosened when he met Sabito.
But his only friend also died during the Final Selection.
During the previous Hashira Meeting, the taciturn Giyu had actually agreed with some of Kiyokawa Izumi's proposals.
He was thinking at the time that if Sabito hadn't died and had been saved, he would have been much more suitable to serve as the Water Hashira than himself.
As for why he didn't speak up?
Ultimately, he still felt he lacked the right.
No right to sit there, no right to express an opinion.
Nearly pushed into the Butterfly Mansion, he watched as the Official Members trained not far away. Being stared at by two Hashira, the members' scalps tingled and they wore tearful faces, not daring to relax for even a second.
"How are they?"
"Average talent, nothing more," Kiyokawa Izumi said with a smile. His words weren't meant to be belittling but were simply a statement of fact—these members were at a mediocre level with nothing special about them.
Not that pathetic, but nothing to look forward to either.
They were just okay.
"What do you need me to do?"
After a moment of silence, Tomioka Giyu suddenly spoke up.
"Have a fight with me!"
Kiyokawa Izumi smiled and said very directly.
He hadn't become afraid of losing or dared not challenge others just because he became a Hashira.
He was still the same person, still wanting to clash with the other Hashira!
There was no malice, only a deep sense that his own strength was still insufficient.
Hearing such a direct request, Tomioka Giyu did not agree.
He was not the type of person who enjoyed sparring with others to begin with.
Why would he casually agree to Kiyokawa Izumi's request?
"I saw Sabito earlier this year."
Kiyokawa Izumi's brow twitched as he spoke casually.
Upon hearing this, Tomioka Giyu suddenly turned his head to stare at him.
"Fight me. If you win, I'll tell you where I saw him. I'll tell you everything!"
Kiyokawa Izumi said seriously. Perhaps this behavior was a bit underhanded, but he didn't care.
Just as he didn't care how those Official Members evaluated him behind his back.
He only did what he thought was right, regardless of anything else.
Giyuu-san didn't like sparring and didn't want to fight him, so he could only use a small trick—but he personally harbored no ill will toward the man.
"The Sabito you spoke of participated in the Selection in the same year as me. He... already died during the Selection."
"I'm not lying to you. Or rather, are you not interested?"
Kiyokawa Izumi walked to a sword rack nearby, picked up two wooden swords at random, and threw one of them to Tomioka Giyu from a distance.
________
The extra chapter will be coming very soon.
Also, regarding the hidden mission, you can refer to the previous chapter to vote, and then I will tell you about the mission in an hour.