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Chapter 97: Leaving an Exclusive Mark on Kanroji Mitsuri
The sun was already high in the sky.
In front of the gates to the Kanroji family estate, a naturally beautiful girl with black hair styled in three thick braids stood motionless, waiting like a statue devotedly watching for her husband's return.
A mixture of anxiety and eager anticipation colored her face. She practically stood on her tiptoes, craning her neck to try and extend her line of sight down the street.
It wasn't until a familiar male figure finally appeared in the distance that a joyous, irrepressible smile bloomed across her features.
"Mr. Suyan~"
The girl enthusiastically waved her hand at the approaching man. Breaking into a brisk, lighthearted jog, she closed the distance between them in seconds. Her eyes sparkled with sheer excitement as she asked, "Say, say, Mr. Suyan! Where are we going for our date today?"
This raven-haired girl was naturally the future Love Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kanroji Mitsuri, who had gone on a blind date with Suyan just a few days prior.
Mitsuri had never experienced anything quite so magical in her entire life. To have found such an outstanding man she deeply liked—one who didn't care that she possessed freakish physical strength, didn't bat an eye at her massive appetite, and never once looked at her with the strange, judgmental gazes of others.
He was even willing to spend every single day going on dates with her and eating all sorts of delicious food. In the past, this was a fantasy she wouldn't have even dared to dream of.
Mitsuri swore that these past few days spent with Suyan were unequivocally the happiest moments of her entire life. She was practically vibrating with excitement to start today's date.
Suyan looked at her gently. "Little Mitsuri, I'm actually here today to say goodbye."
"Ah? W-Why…?"
Mitsuri looked as though she had been struck by lightning.
It was as if her very soul had been ripped from her body. Her entire being seemed to drain of color, turning into a grayscale sketch as all the light and vibrance vanished from her world in an instant.
Her legs gave out, and she nearly collapsed onto the dirt street, forcing herself to stay upright through sheer willpower as she mumbled in devastation. "H-How could this happen? I finally found a boy I really like…"
Then, the girl—whose eyes had previously only held Suyan—finally noticed the petite, incredibly beautiful young woman standing a short distance away. The new girl's gaze kept shifting back and forth between Mitsuri and Suyan, clearly waiting for him.
A wave of crushing realization washed over Mitsuri.
Of course. That girl was extraordinarily beautiful, and more importantly, she clearly didn't look like a freakish glutton with monstrous strength. It was perfectly normal for a man like Suyan to prefer a girl like her.
"Mr. Suyan, I… I wish you both the best!" Mitsuri choked out. Tears were already pooling rapidly in her eyes, threatening to spill over, but she forced her voice to remain resolute.
"Little Mitsuri, do you mind telling me exactly what kind of wild misunderstanding you've concocted in your head this time?" Suyan sighed, reaching out to lightly tap her forehead with his index finger.
This was the first time he realized that Mitsuri was secretly a massive drama queen. Now that he thought about it, she had been a bit like this during their initial blind date, too. She always seemed to jump to the most chaotic, self-deprecating conclusions imaginable. It was honestly a bit hilarious.
The beautiful girl waiting for him nearby was, of course, the Insect Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kocho Shinobu. In reality, barely a few hours had passed since his initial encounter with the Corps.
Suyan had indeed promised Tomioka Giyuu that he would travel with them to meet the Master of the Demon Slayer Corps. And beyond that meeting, he still needed to visit the Butterfly Mansion and Urokodaki's secluded home on Mt. Sagiri. It was even highly probable that he'd need to make a trip to Mt. Fujikasane—the site of the Final Selection—to personally butcher the Hand Demon that specifically hunted down Water Breathing disciples.
On top of all of that, he still needed to track down Miss Tamayo.
Juggling all these tasks back-to-back was going to take him half a month, at the bare minimum. If he didn't return to explain the situation to Mitsuri and simply vanished without a word, wouldn't that solidify him as a literal scumbag who abandoned girls after successfully flirting with them?
Because of this, Suyan had arranged for Saeko to temporarily separate from him. She was currently escorting the Kamado family and Giyuu, heading straight for the Demon Slayer Corps' headquarters to meet their Master.
Suyan, on the other hand, had taken Shinobu with him. He had returned specifically to bid Mitsuri a brief farewell. Afterward, Shinobu would act as his guide to escort him to the headquarters so he could rendezvous with his team.
If it were entirely up to him, Suyan wouldn't have wanted to pause his dates with Mitsuri either. Even though they hadn't done anything particularly groundbreaking over the last few days—mostly just wandering the city and gorging themselves on food—it had still been a rather novel and enjoyable experience for him.
"Eh?" Mitsuri blinked her large eyes, looking up at him with sheer utter confusion.
"I'm just leaving town for a few days to handle some business. I never said I didn't want you anymore. What exactly were you panicking about?" Suyan explained, amused.
"R-Really?" Mitsuri's eyes widened to the size of saucers, desperately searching Suyan's expression for absolute confirmation.
Suyan gently ran his fingers through her silky hair and chuckled softly. "Of course it's true. With a girl as cute as my Little Mitsuri, how could I ever bear to throw you away?"
"Hehe… C-Cute or whatever…" Mitsuri giggled foolishly. She clasped her hands tightly together, shifting her weight bashfully. "I'm really not all that…"
Despite her denial, her eyes kept darting up to steal glances at Suyan, silently screaming the question: Do you really think I'm cute?
Suyan didn't offer a verbal reply, simply continuing to lovingly stroke her hair. But for the deeply insecure girl, that gentle, affectionate action was the greatest answer she could have possibly received.
Her heart fully satisfied, Mitsuri nervously asked, "When are you leaving, Mr. Suyan? How long will you be gone? You really will come back, right?"
"It should take roughly half a month to a full month," Suyan said thoughtfully, his tone incredibly soft. "So, when I return next time, I'm hoping to see the truest, most authentic Kanroji Mitsuri. Can you promise me that?"
"H-How did you know…?" Mitsuri froze.
Feeling the warm, comforting touch of Suyan's palm against her hair, it suddenly dawned on her. Her hair wasn't naturally black. Before every single date with him, she had painstakingly used an expensive, high-quality dye to hide her true colors.
She hadn't expected him to see through her disguise so effortlessly. A deep wave of anxiety crashed into her chest. "B-But… my real hair color is incredibly ugly."
"No, you're completely wrong," Suyan countered firmly. "Because Little Mitsuri is cute, no matter what color her hair is, she will always be my cute Little Mitsuri. Nothing will ever change that."
Years of enduring the strange, repulsed glares of everyone around her had completely shattered Mitsuri's self-confidence regarding her hair color. Even hearing Suyan's heartfelt reassurance wasn't enough to immediately reverse a lifetime of deep-seated trauma.
Seeing her hesitation, Suyan didn't waste any more time with words. He gently pinched her chin, tilting her face upward, and slowly leaned in.
Eh?!
What is Mr. Suyan trying to do?
W-Wait, don't tell me?!
Mitsuri squeezed her eyes shut in sheer panic, completely terrified to look at his face. But she could acutely feel the radiating heat drawing closer and closer to her skin.
We're gonna… we're gonna kiss!!
The exact second their lips met, Mitsuri's mind went entirely blank. A current of pure electricity seemed to jolt through her spine, sparking an indescribable, tingling numbness that melted her to her core.
"Mr… Mr. Suyan… we k-kissed…"
By the time they finally parted, Mitsuri's face was the color of a ripe tomato. She stared at him, dazed, the words tumbling out of her mouth in an incoherent, breathless string.
"Do you believe me now, Little Mitsuri?" Suyan asked.
Mitsuri's gaze was entirely unfocused. She felt as though steam was actively whistling out of her ears. She hadn't comprehended a single word he had just said, her body merely functioning on pure, bewildered instinct.
"Alright, I really need to go now." Suyan glanced over his shoulder at Shinobu, noting the increasingly impatient look crossing the young Hashira's face. "Don't forget. When I come back, I expect to see the real you."
"O-Okay…" Mitsuri mumbled in a dizzy, love-struck stupor.
"Let's go, Shinobu," Suyan said calmly as he walked over to the waiting Hashira.
"Say, is this exactly how you scammed my older sister back in the day, Mr. Scumbag?"
Watching Suyan approach, Shinobu simply couldn't restrain her venomous tongue. She had watched the entire exchange between him and Mitsuri with crystal clarity.
And seeing it firsthand had only cemented her absolute certainty: the man walking toward her was a certified, undeniable scumbag.
Tragically, she also realized that if he had truly pursued her sister with this same level of overwhelming, flawless charm, the famously gentle and kindhearted Kanae likely wouldn't have stood a chance at resisting him.
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