Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for just $7 to get early access to all upcoming chapters!
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations
─────
Chapter 134: Kocho Kanae: "Please Become Suyan's Women!"
"Hello there, are you alright?"
A pale, elegant hand waved in front of Nezuko's face, pulling her back from her daze.
"I'm fine," Nezuko replied instinctively.
"Is that so?" the beautiful figure in front of her spoke gently. "That's wonderful to hear."
Nezuko finally regained her senses and looked up. She was instantly captivated by a pair of eyes that radiated pure, unadulterated gentleness.
The owner of those gentle purple eyes possessed a stunningly beautiful face that perfectly matched them. She stood right in front of her, looking at Nezuko with genuine concern.
Nezuko stared blankly at the beautiful, tender woman. "Who are you?"
"Me?" Kocho Kanae brought her hands together, a warm smile blooming on her face. "Let me officially introduce myself. I am Kocho Kanae, Kocho Shinobu's older sister."
"Shinobu's older sister?" Nezuko scratched her head, unable to stop herself from looking Kanae up and down one more time.
Now that she mentioned it, she really did look a lot like Shinobu. They had the same delicate facial features, the same gentle purple eyes, and even wore identical butterfly hairpins.
But for some reason, this woman named Kocho Kanae felt much more approachable than Shinobu. Was it because Shinobu had attacked Suyan yesterday afternoon, causing her to subconsciously put up a wall against her? Nezuko wondered blankly.
"Oh my, what an adorable child." Seeing Nezuko's dazed and cute expression, Kanae immediately pulled her into a tight hug. "Say, do you want to be my little sister?"
"Mmph~ So... so big..."
Before Nezuko could even react, she found herself engulfed in the woman's embrace. A soft, enveloping sensation pressed against her cheeks. In that fleeting moment, Nezuko almost felt like she could smell her mother's scent on the woman.
"Sister!!"
Seeing this, Shinobu felt a massive headache coming on. She couldn't help but yell at her sister, who was going around randomly adopting people.
Kanae looked at her younger sister with a devilish glint in her eye. "Oh my, is little Shinobu jealous?"
"Jealous my foot! Going around randomly claiming people as your sisters is just going to cause trouble for them!" Shinobu clenched her fists, a visible vein popping on her forehead.
This stupid sister is exactly the same as before. Hasn't changed one bit. She still loves randomly adopting sisters.
Kanao was one thing, since she had a hand in taking the girl in back then. But Kanzaki Aoi and the three little girls of the Butterfly Mansion had all been taken in by Kanae and treated as little sisters after their parents were killed by demons. Whenever she saw a cute girl, Kanae couldn't resist going up and asking if they wanted to be her little sister.
It was completely unrelated, but for some reason, watching this made Shinobu immediately think of Suyan, that playboy scumbag.
"But this child is just so incredibly cute." Kanae pursed her lips, gently stroking the head of the deeply entrenched Nezuko. She turned to the girl beside her. "Right, Aoi?"
"Uh... I suppose so," Kanzaki Aoi mumbled, her eyes darting away nervously.
"Regardless, no means no!" Shinobu glared at Aoi before putting her hands on her hips, ruthlessly shutting her sister down.
"Wow, Shinobu is so scary," Kanae said with a look of mock terror. She turned to the blank-faced Kanao and advised, "Kanao, you must never learn from big sister Shinobu."
Tsuyuri Kanao looked blankly at Kanae, then back at Shinobu. Although she desperately wanted to flip her coin to decide, she remembered her promise to Shinobu yesterday afternoon—when it came to anything regarding Kocho Kanae, she was not allowed to flip her coin.
So, she simply offered a quiet, obedient "Mm" in response.
Shinobu completely missed the nuance, only thinking her sister was going to corrupt the poor girl. She puffed her cheeks angrily. "Sister! Please don't teach this child such ridiculous things."
"What's the harm? I think Kanao is learning beautifully. Isn't she just so cute like this?"
"Sister!" Shinobu stomped her foot, threateningly. "If you keep doing this, I'm going to..."
Kanae quickly raised her hands in surrender, releasing Nezuko from her embrace. She pouted and complained in a low voice, "Shinobu is getting less and less cute."
Watching the scene unfold from the side, Kanzaki Aoi felt tears welling up in her eyes.
Why had she stayed at the Butterfly Mansion in the beginning? Wasn't it because she was drawn to Kanae's overflowing gentleness? And after her death, even though psychological trauma left her paralyzed with fear at the thought of facing demons, didn't she stay because she couldn't bear to leave Shinobu alone?
But now... she was back. Everything was back!
Not only was the gentle Kanae alive again, but the old Shinobu—the one who would blow her top at a moment's notice—was back too.
Kanae noticed the crystalline tears swirling in Aoi's eyes. "Oh my, Aoi, why are you crying?" she asked with genuine concern.
Before Aoi could even wipe her tears to respond, Kanae shifted the blame entirely onto Shinobu, saying righteously, "Shinobu, look what you did. You bullied Aoi again. You actually made her cry this time."
"???"
Shinobu opened her mouth, staring at her sister with a face full of question marks.
"N-No, that's not it," Aoi quickly wiped her arm across her face, frantically explaining. "I... I'm just so happy."
"I see."
Kanae looked at Aoi, then back at Kanao. She pulled both of them into a warm, gentle embrace. "I'm sorry, Aoi, and Kanao. Even though it wasn't my intention, I promise... I will never leave you behind again."
"Sister..."
"Kanae..."
Buried in Kanae's embrace, Aoi and Kanao deeply savored the unique, comforting warmth that belonged solely to her.
Kanae gently released them and suddenly asked a very particular question. "Aoi, Kanao, can you promise to be my sisters for the rest of your lives?"
Without a second thought, Aoi and Kanao both nodded eagerly.
Kanae's voice turned incredibly calm. "Then, please become Suyan's women!"
─────
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comments, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters:
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations