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Chapter 166: Takagi Yuriko: Let Me Take a Look
Inside Greed Island, Aoi Kanzaki watched the Dimensional Gate slowly close, completely swallowing the retreating figure of Kanae Kocho. Only then did she finally let out a long breath of relief. She picked up the small slippers she had been carrying and slipped them onto her feet, then pinched a corner of her damp clothing, tugging it away from her skin. The soaked fabric clung to her body, leaving her with an indescribably uncomfortable, sticky sensation.
"Sigh..."
Aoi turned around, casting a weary glance at the ground. The two YukimiBotamons had barely twitched their ears at her arrival; after a brief, dismissive look, they closed their eyes and went right back to sleep. Right now, Aoi was in absolutely no mood to try and coax any affection out of the little creatures that were ignoring her anyway. She let out a helpless sigh. "What a complete disaster!?"
She never could have imagined things would turn out like this. Last night, she had only shared a bed with Kanae to ask a few private, sensitive questions. Not only did she fail to get any clear answers, but she ended up dragged into a sticky mess. Just moments ago, she was nearly caught red-handed by Shinobu right outside the door. Thank goodness she reacted in time and escaped into Greed Island through the Dimensional Gate. Otherwise, she would have died of social embarrassment on the spot.
If I eventually do that with Lord Suyan, Aoi couldn't help but wonder, will my body become just as overly sensitive as Sister Kanae's?
Just thinking about it sent a chill down her spine. She shook her head, forcing those chaotic thoughts to the back of her mind.
"Crap!"
As soon as her mind cleared, panic set in. It was already morning. As the head housekeeper of the Butterfly Mansion, she still had a mountain of chores waiting for her.
"Breakfast!" she muttered to herself. "Damn it! I need to hurry back and prepare breakfast for everyone!"
She internally grumbled about Kanae. If the older girl hadn't clung to her so tightly last night, refusing to let her leave, this never would have happened. But what was done was done, and complaining wouldn't change anything. Her top priority was to wash her body clean and change into a fresh set of clothes before rushing back to the Butterfly Mansion to cook.
Since she had already experienced the collateral damage of Suyan's late-night activities once before, and because she had been a frequent visitor to Greed Island lately, she knew exactly where to go. Aoi broke into a brisk walk, heading straight for the hot springs where Suyan had first brought her.
"Oh my~ If it isn't little Aoi." A voice laced with unmistakable teasing drifted over from behind her.
Aoi turned around and saw an elegant, intellectual-looking woman standing a short distance away, eyeing her with a highly suggestive gaze. It was the exact same woman she had encountered during her very first visit to Greed Island: Takagi Yuriko.
Aoi scratched her cheek, offering an awkward greeting. "Miss Yuriko? What are you doing here?"
"Me? I just woke up and thought I'd take a dip in the hot springs to clear my head," Yuriko replied, her eyes curving into amused crescents as she looked Aoi up and down. "What about you? What exactly happened here?"
Aoi couldn't help but mentally complain. Just how much did Yuriko love taking baths? Every time Aoi visited Greed Island, it felt like she found the older woman lounging in the hot springs. But complaints aside, she had absolutely no idea how to answer Yuriko's question.
"This is the second time now, isn't it?" Yuriko asked, the corners of her lips curling into a faint, knowing smile. Though her tone was perfectly calm, the teasing glint in her purple eyes was practically overflowing.
The implication was crystal clear. Yuriko was pointing out how strikingly similar Aoi's current disheveled state was to the day Suyan had first brought her in. Yet, only Aoi knew that these were two completely different situations. The first time truly was her own fault for accidentally triggering Suyan's Nen and forcing him to bind her with a Contract. This time, however, she was purely an innocent victim of collateral damage.
Aoi hurriedly shook her head in denial. "N-No, it's not what you think!"
"Come now, tell big sister. Have you always enjoyed playing with such messy tricks, Aoi?" Yuriko reached out, gently cupping Aoi's cheek with a teasing smile.
Aoi instinctively took a step back from the touch. She opened her mouth but found herself entirely at a loss for words. Even though this woman often gave off a warm, maternal aura similar to Kanae, Yuriko's personality was infinitely more wicked. If Yuriko found out that Kanae was the actual culprit behind this mess, there was no telling how mercilessly she would tease the former Flower Hashira once Kanae finally entered Greed Island.
I've sacrificed far too much for this family, Aoi thought, her head drooping as she let out a defeated sigh. "Sure, Miss Yuriko. Whatever you say."
"Hmm?" Yuriko blinked in surprise. "Are you really not going to try and explain yourself, little Aoi?"
"There's nothing to explain," Aoi muttered.
"Fine, fine." Yuriko immediately lost interest. Teasing someone was only fun if they actually gave an emotional reaction; if the victim just laid down and accepted the mockery, the entertainment value plummeted. Deciding to change the subject, Yuriko asked, "Where is little Suyan? Why didn't he come in with you?"
"I don't know," Aoi answered with a shake of her head.
"You don't know?" Yuriko shot Aoi's messy state a suspicious look. Surely those stains weren't the result of Aoi enjoying some intense solo fun, right? Despite her curiosity, she decided not to press the issue any further. "Well, never mind. Let's hurry up and soak in the hot springs so you can wash all that mess off."
Yuriko threw an arm over Aoi's shoulder, completely unbothered by the sticky state the younger girl was in, and smoothly suggested, "We can use the time to chat about some private women's secrets."
"O-Okay~" Aoi naturally didn't refuse. If Yuriko hadn't stopped her, she would have already been submerged in the water by now.
The two walked toward the hot springs in silence. After a while, Aoi's embarrassment faded enough for her curiosity to win out. She couldn't hold it back any longer.
"Hey, Miss Yuriko..." Aoi spoke up, finally asking the sensitive question that had been burning in her mind. "After you did that with Lord Suyan... did your body become extremely... you know?"
"Which?" Yuriko paused, confused.
"Like... for example... this..." Aoi leaned close to Yuriko's ear and whispered a brief summary of what had happened to Kanae the night before.
"Oh?" Yuriko looked pleasantly surprised, her eyes lighting up with curiosity. "So you have done it with little Suyan? Well? How did it feel?"
"I didn't! I haven't!" Aoi immediately denied it.
"Don't be shy. Tell big sister, I promise I won't laugh," Yuriko coaxed, her wicked sense of humor instantly reigniting. She pressed her body closer to Aoi with a mischievous grin.
"Don't get so close to me!" Aoi pushed at Yuriko's body in mild disgust. But no matter how hard she tried, Yuriko was a proper Nen user who had been bound to Suyan over a year longer than Aoi. Since becoming a full-fledged member of the Demon Slayer Corps, Aoi had barely practiced her Breathing Style, meaning her meager physical strength couldn't even budge the older woman.
"Oh my, little Aoi is blushing! We're all women here, what's there to be embarrassed about?" Yuriko clung to her, looking like an absolute degenerate as she teased, "Come on now, let big sister see exactly how sensitive you've gotten!"
"Nooo~!" Aoi's embarrassed shriek echoed throughout the entire hot spring district.
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Meanwhile, on the outside.
Riding his conjured motorcycle, Suyan spotted the bustling town in the distance. He squeezed the brakes hard, causing the heavy bike to sharply whip to the side. The tires skidded across the dirt road, leaving two beautiful, sweeping drift marks in their wake.
"This should be the destination, right?" Suyan muttered. He was just about to turn his head and ask the Kasugai Crow flying behind him to confirm the location, but before the words left his mouth...
Thud.
Suyan felt a solid impact against his back. He hurriedly looked over his shoulder. Because of his sudden, violent stop, the "chicken", En, had slammed headfirst into his back. The poor bird tumbled down onto the leather seat, bounced once like a rubber ball, and was just about to plummet to the ground when Suyan's hand shot out. He grabbed the chicken right out of the air a split second before she hit the dirt.
"Hey, hey, you alive?" Suyan poked the chicken's soft belly with his index finger. The crow lay completely motionless against his palm, looking very much dead.
Panic flared in Suyan's chest. He gently shook the bird. "En, don't die on me! What am I supposed to do if you die!?"
He didn't care about the Demon Slayer mission or whether the demon lived or died, but this was Shinobu's personal Kasugai Crow. Based on the timeline, Kanae had died two years ago while holding the rank of Flower Hashira. This meant Shinobu had been an official member of the Corps for at least four or five years, and this crow had likely been by her side that entire time. If Shinobu found out he accidentally killed her beloved crow on their very first outing together, she would be absolutely furious. Any hopes of enjoying double the fun with the sisters would be dead in the water.
Suyan couldn't help but regret his actions. As soon as he touched the handlebars, he simply couldn't resist his old habit of twisting the throttle and pushing the vehicle to its absolute limits.
After a long, tense moment, the chicken En suddenly snapped her eyes open. She furiously wriggled out of Suyan's grip, flapped her wings, and hovered right in front of his face. Her feathered brows furrowed in pure rage as she let loose a barrage of aggressive caws. "Caw! Caw! Caw!"
Though Suyan didn't speak bird, the sheer venom in her tone made it very clear that she was cursing him out in the foulest way possible. Still, seeing her so full of energy made Suyan heave a massive sigh of relief.
After finally yelling herself hoarse, En seemed to run out of steam. She fluttered down, landed directly on top of Suyan's head, and nestled into his hair like it was a bird's nest, closing her eyes to rest.
As a highly professional Kasugai Crow trained by the Demon Slayer Corps, En would normally never do something so profoundly disrespectful. But Suyan had crossed the line. A journey that should have taken seven or eight hours by foot had been violently condensed into less than two hours of pure, terrifying speed. And throughout that entire high-speed joyride, he hadn't spared a single thought for the poor bird eating his dust. She had been forced to flap her wings until she was practically coughing up blood just to avoid losing him. If she wasn't so naturally docile, she would have pecked his eyes out.
Suyan didn't mind the chicken using his head as a bed. He knew he was the one at fault here. He could have just let her perch on the handlebars, but instead, he forced her into a desperate marathon sprint for over an hour. Worse still, he realized that after he finished killing the demon, he planned to use the Dimensional Gate to teleport directly back to the Butterfly Mansion. En, however, didn't have access to Greed Island. That meant she would have to fly all the way back by herself. Refusing to let her rest now would just be cruel.
Abandoning his initial plan to immediately use En to sweep the city for the demon, Suyan rubbed his stomach. He decided to give the chicken a break and find a place to grab some lunch.
Suyan walked into the city. He had already noticed how prosperous it looked from a distance, but walking through the streets, he realized it was even more bustling than he had anticipated. The heavy flow of traffic and pedestrians was one thing, but he even spotted a few blonde, blue-eyed foreigners mingling in the crowds.
Marveling at the fact that modern-era Japan had such a thriving metropolis, Suyan followed the flow of the crowd until he stopped in front of a grand building. Two massive red lanterns hung by the entrance, bearing three large, elegantly brushed kanji.
Kyogoku House!
Suyan paused. For some reason, this place looked incredibly familiar. He reached up and poked the sleeping chicken on his head. "Hey, En, remind me what the details were for Shinobu's mission again?"
En sluggishly lifted a wing and swatted Suyan's finger away. Though still clearly furious and annoyed, she dutifully recited the mission briefing. "This city is the most prosperous district in the heart of Edo—the Yoshiwara Entertainment District. According to the Kakushi's intelligence, there has been a recent string of disappearances—"
"Wait!" Suyan interrupted her before she could finish. "Say that again. What is this place called!?"
"Yoshiwara. Entertainment. District." En cawed, even more irritated at being interrupted. She furiously flapped her wings against his scalp before repeating the name.
Realization dawned on Suyan. The Yoshiwara Entertainment District. Japan's famous red-light district. The name alone might have been easy to overlook, but put into context, it meant only one thing: The Entertainment District Arc!
This was exactly where the Sound Hashira, Flashy Guy, and the main trio defeated the Upper Rank Six siblings, Daki and Gyutaro, in the original story. So... his target for this mission was actually Upper Rank Six, Daki!?
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