Chapter 45: Yoriichi, who has confirmed his relationship with Uta, becomes a demon, and Iwakatsu...

I was trained by Yan Sheng for three whole hours, and he only let me go when the moon was high in the sky. This was only because I had a mission to complete; otherwise, I would have suspected that he was planning to keep me in tutoring until dawn!

That's terrifying! Jiguo, the head of the teaching department, Yansheng, is a nightmare for all underachievers!

Finally freed from Iwakatsu's tutoring hell, I staggered back to my little courtyard. As soon as I entered, I saw Yoriichi standing in the yard, gazing up at the night sky, radiating an indescribable sense of loneliness and solitude.

What's wrong now? I'm already fed up with Iwakatsu getting angry all the time, and Yoriichi is always so down, it's really giving me a hard time!

"Is Yoriichi unhappy?" I walked over and asked with concern. The young swordsman wearing Hanafuda earrings turned to look at me, his expression predictably blank, making me want to sigh. He didn't even know why he was unhappy, so there was no way to comfort him.

Remembering that Yoriichi was fine at noon, I asked softly, "Did something happen this afternoon?"

"No." Yoriichi shook his head gently, which made me frown and think for a moment before asking, "Then did you see something that caused a significant emotional fluctuation?"

Yoriichi, who never lies, thought for a moment and then said truthfully, "I saw my older brother teaching the Breath of the Moon."

Alright, case solved. He was probably upset that Iwakatsu and I couldn't learn Sun Breathing, otherwise the three of us could practice breathing techniques together, instead of me and I forming a Moon Breathing study group and leaving Yoriichi out, as if isolating him. No wonder he was in a bad mood.

"Let's practice swordsmanship together when we have time. Yoriichi can instruct me and Kokushibo on swordsmanship, okay?" I said with a smile. This way, Yoriichi wouldn't feel isolated, which would be perfect.

Yoriichi nodded expectantly, but his mood still seemed low, which puzzled me. Hadn't they agreed to go together as a trio? What was he still disappointed about?

Knowing that it was almost impossible for Yoriichi to open up about his feelings, I gently took his hand and said, "Yoriichi, just tell me what's on your mind. If you don't tell me, I'll never know what you're thinking."

Yoriichi fell silent, and I waited patiently. After what seemed like an eternity, he slowly spoke, somewhat bewildered, "I like my older brother, and I also like Uta. But seeing Uta and my older brother so close makes me feel very sad for some reason."

The young swordsman in front of me unconsciously clutched his heart, looking utterly bewildered. I, too, widened my eyes slightly, experiencing one of life's three great illusions. Then, the next moment, I really wanted to refute Yoriichi: how were I close to Kokusatsu? As a friend, I've always been very careful about boundaries, okay?

However, considering that the Moon Pillar taught me the sword techniques of Moon Breathing step by step, and that some physical contact was unavoidable during sword practice, and that we did seem very close, I really can't deny that.

"If we're talking about closeness, I'm closer to you! I've never held hands with Yansheng before."

I held Yoriichi's hand up to his face, determined to teach him a lesson. Anyway, Yoriichi is seventeen now, and according to the original storyline, he should already have a wife and children. It shouldn't be too much for me to discuss the future with him, right?

"We've known each other for ten years, shouldn't you give me a definite answer?"

"What definite answer?" Yoriichi's warm eyes held a hint of confusion, seemingly puzzled by my words. I replied directly, "It's about dating and marriage. After we kill Muzan and save the world, would you be willing to marry me?"

Yoriichi's eyes lit up instantly, as if stars had fallen into them. Even his usually calm and handsome face showed a rare look of joy. He grasped my hand and exclaimed, "I do! Uta! I want to marry you! I want to be with you forever!"

I smiled sweetly, my eyebrows curving upwards. Great, everything's going as planned! My childhood friend hasn't been defeated by this unexpected turn of events; I can finally put the plan to kidnap Yoriichi and get married in Konoha back on the agenda. So happy!

"Song, can I kiss you?" Yoriichi looked at me intently with warm eyes, his handsome face seemingly calm, but his palms were already sweating as he held my hand.

"Sure!" I smiled shyly, closed my eyes and waited for Yoriichi's kiss. Then I felt a warm touch on my forehead, like a dragonfly skimming the water. It turned out that Yoriichi had kissed my brow, making me feel a sense of happiness and being cherished.

Just as I was about to open my eyes, I suddenly heard a burst of applause and cheers. Realizing that my kiss was being watched, I shyly hid behind Yoriichi, only to find that it was Flame Hashira, Rengoku Juro, leading several lower-ranking members of the Demon Slayer Corps, making a fuss outside the door.

"What are you doing here?" Yoriichi asked calmly, without any sense of embarrassment at being watched.

"We came to discuss swordsmanship with you, but we didn't expect to disturb your poetry!" Rengoku Tachibana Juro laughed heartily. "When are you two getting married? I'll be there for the wedding!"

"We can only set a date after we kill Muzan Kibutsuji." Yoriichi's answer prompted Rengoku to kindly suggest, "But when will that be? Why don't we set a wedding date now?"

Yoriichi turned to look at me, seemingly quite expectant. To be honest, I was a little excited too, but I couldn't just leave such a big deal like getting married without telling my family, especially since I wanted to tag along to my brother and Hinata's wedding!

"No, we can't get married until I kill Muzan Kibutsuji and bring Yoriichi home to get my family's consent."

I spoke very seriously, causing all the Demon Slayer members present, except for the Flame Pillar, to look at Yoriichi with pity, as if his hopes of getting married were extremely slim.

Yoriichi, however, did not think so. Full of confidence and enthusiasm, he said, "I will kill Muzan Kibutsuji as soon as possible and marry Uta!"

I suddenly feel like lighting a candle for Muzan; he's finished! Being targeted by Yoriichi like this, he's definitely going to die!

Upon seeing Yoriichi's attitude, Flame Hashira Tachibana Juro immediately patted him on the shoulder with a hearty laugh, "That's spirited! With that kind of determination, you could definitely kill Muzan Kibutsuji!"

Seeing this, the other Demon Slayer members all wished for good luck, saying that Yoriichi could kill the Demon King. They were all excited and looking forward to fulfilling the long-cherished wish of killing Muzan Kibutsuji, which had been passed down since the Heian period, in their generation.

Because of these people's propaganda, the news that Yoriichi and I would get married after killing the Demon King spread throughout the entire Demon Slayer Corps the next day. People kept coming to congratulate Yoriichi on killing the Demon King and getting married to me smoothly, making our surroundings extremely lively.

The news spread so quickly that Yan Sheng, who had just returned from his mission, naturally learned of it as well.

When I saw him coming, I greeted him as usual, but Yan Sheng didn't even glance at me and walked past me, which made me feel a little disappointed.

Yoriichi, who was beside me, was equally disappointed; he was ignored just like me. You see, although Kokubu harbored resentment towards Yoriichi, he was a perfectly good older brother in their daily interactions and had never given Yoriichi a hard time. It seems that Kokubu was truly angry this time.

"Does my brother disapprove of my marriage to Uta?" Yoriichi, who was usually oblivious, was unusually perceptive for once, and then he fell into deep anxiety. "Could it be that my brother also likes Uta?"

Seeing that Yuan was struggling between me and Yan Sheng, I held his hand and comforted him, "Don't overthink it. Do you know anyone who likes a girl and would drag her to practice swordsmanship all day without giving her any rest time? It's exhausting. Yan Sheng only sees me as a friend. He's probably angry because the three of us have always been together, and now that you and I are dating, he's isolated. Of course, Yan Sheng is unhappy. Just coax him a little."

Yoriichi felt relieved after hearing my words, and then asked, "How do we appease our elder brother?"

"I'll make some snacks to go with the drinks, and when he comes back tonight, we'll have a drink together, and then I'll apologize properly. That should be fine, right?"

I said somewhat uncertainly, "Iwakatsu is ignoring me and Yoriichi these days. I don't know if a drink will calm him down."

That evening, Yoriichi and I waited for a long time, but Iwakatsu did not return to the small courtyard where the three of us lived. When we asked, we found out that he had gone out. I sighed inwardly and thought that I would hold a banquet to apologize when Iwakatsu came back.

Three days passed, and I still hadn't heard from Yan Sheng, which made me increasingly worried. Yan Sheng hadn't left on a mission, so where could he have gone?

It got dark without me noticing. I was absentmindedly grinding medicine in the medical room, wondering if Yansheng would be able to come back today.

Suddenly, a dark shadow flew in through the window like lightning, startling me.

Upon closer inspection, I realized it was Iwakatsu's jay, but it looked a little different from usual. Not only was it much bigger, but its eyes had also turned red. If it weren't for the letter tube I had made on its claws, I wouldn't have recognized it at all.

Although the Kasugai can talk, they can't really carry much information. The three of us use our Kasugai as pigeons. Whenever Yoriichi and Kokushibo are away for a long time, they write letters back. Therefore, each Kasugai has a letter tube about the size of a thumb hanging on its leg. I painted Kokushibo's bamboo tube purple, so you can recognize it at a glance.

The drastically changed appearance of the raven made me very uneasy. I hurriedly took out the letter from the bamboo tube and saw the words "Come here" written in blood on it. It was Yan Sheng's handwriting.

"What happened to Yan Sheng? Is he in danger?"

I hurriedly asked the raven, and it looked at me with its scarlet eyes, cawed twice, and said something that shocked me beyond belief.

"Master, you choose whether or not to become a ghost."

I was completely stunned, almost unable to believe my ears. How could this be? This can't be real!

I remember it clearly: Kokushibo became a demon because he desperately wanted to surpass Yoriichi, and he trained rigorously in the hope of catching up with Yoriichi someday. However, because he had awakened his Demon Slayer Mark, he had no future left, and he had very little time left to train, which is why he was seduced by Muzan and fell into becoming a demon.

I clearly changed his fate of dying at twenty-five! Kokushibo still had plenty of time to train and strive towards his dream of surpassing Yoriichi, so why did he suddenly become so heartless?! What happened to his promise to replace Yoriichi as the savior and kill Muzan?! Why did he end up working for that scumbag boss like in the original story?!

My mind was a mess when the raven suddenly cawed again, "Master, we're waiting for you. If you don't go, I'll go back."

"Wow!"

Without hesitation, I took off my white coat and put on the Demon Slayer Corps uniform, then tucked my Nichirin Blade into my waistband, making sure it would see blood today.

Having gathered all the necessary items, I whistled, and my own jay appeared outside the window. As soon as it saw Iwakatsu's jay, it started cawing loudly, clearly showing its hostility.

I sighed. The two Kasugai crows used to be very close, even preening each other's feathers. But now, Iwakatsu's Kasugai crow has clearly become like this after being infused with the power of a demon, almost as if it foreshadows the relationship between Iwakatsu and me.

“Bring Yoriichi to my side.”

I gave my kasugai crow a command, and it immediately flew into the night sky to find Yoriichi, who was out on a mission. Once it found Yoriichi, it would lead him to follow my scent.

I just hope Yoriichi can come soon. I really don't have the confidence to deal with Iwakatsu, who has become a demon. I can only try to stall for time and wait for Yoriichi to come and help.

Actually, I could choose not to go, but it took Yan Sheng three whole days to transform from a human into a demon. He might not have eaten any humans yet, so there's still hope! I can't just leave him like this!

He's a friend I acknowledge. How can I face my brother if I abandon him because of something like this?

"lead the way!"

I spoke to Yan Sheng's hawk, and it immediately flew into the night sky like lightning. I chased after it, hoping that I could still save Yan Sheng in time.