"Mom?"
Nezuko's face lit up the second she saw her mother regain her senses. The tension in her shoulders eased, and she finally let some of the wariness toward Shuya slip away.
She started to lead her little brother and sister toward Kie.
"Stay back! Nezuko, don't come any closer!" Kie shouted, voice cracking with panic.
"Mom?"
Everyone stared at her, confused.
"Sir, please—keep me and the boys tied up. Don't let us go, no matter what. I'm begging you."
Kie ignored the kids and turned straight to Shuya first, eyes pleading.
Even though her mind was clear again, she knew exactly what she had become. She was a man-eating monster now. Just looking at her own children made her throat tighten and her mouth water. If Nezuko and the others got too close, she wasn't sure she could stop herself. And the two younger ones had even less self-control.
"No problem," Shuya said. "But now that you're thinking straight, you should be the one to explain what happened."
"Understood. Thank you."
Kie gave him a grateful look, then turned to her daughter. "Nezuko, listen. This is what happened—"
She told them everything: how she had begged Shuya to feed her and the boys Muzan's blood so they could survive as demons.
"How… how is that even possible?" Nezuko's mouth fell open. Man-eating demons were supposed to be fairy-tale monsters parents made up to scare kids into behaving. How could they be real?
But seeing her mother willingly stay bound, she had no choice but to accept the truth.
She turned to Shuya and bowed deeply. "Sir, thank you for saving my family."
Even though they had become demons, they were still alive. That alone deserved her thanks.
Takeo, who had finally calmed down, scratched the back of his head like a kid who knew he'd screwed up. "Sorry… I got carried away earlier—"
"It's fine," Shuya said, waving it off. He looked at Nezuko. "I didn't just happen to be passing by. I came here specifically for the Kamado family. If you'd all died tonight, that would've been a real pain for me."
Nezuko blinked, momentarily at a loss for words, then quickly recovered. "Still… thank you. If you hadn't shown up, Mom and the boys would be…" She took a breath. "Whatever your reason is, just tell us. If we can help you, we will."
"Miss Nezuko—" Shuya started.
But she cut him off with a serious look. "My name is Nezuko Kamado. You can just call me Nezuko."
Shuya smiled at the earnest girl. "All right, Nezuko. You know your family isn't exactly ordinary, right?"
"Ordinary?" She tilted her head. They were just poor charcoal sellers—what could be special about them?
Shuya explained, "For over four hundred years, the Kamado family has passed down a ritual dance called Hinokami Kagura—the Dance of the Fire God."
"A ritual dance?!" Nezuko's eyes sparkled. A thought flashed through her mind. If demons existed, then people who fought them had to exist too. And gods…
Her big brother Tanjiro had inherited that exact dance, the one used to worship the gods.
So this man was someone who fought demons? He wanted to learn their family's dance to use against them?
Before her innocent fantasy could run any further, Shuya's next words shattered it.
"Exactly," he said with a nod. "It's actually a sword style created by the strongest swordsman of the Sengoku era. It was made specifically to kill demons. After he died of old age, and because the Demon King started hunting down anyone who knew it, the style almost disappeared. Right now, the only person left who can use it is probably your older brother, Tanjiro."
"Oh…" Nezuko's shoulders slumped. The romantic idea of a sacred ritual dance crumbled into just another sword technique. But hearing that demons were actively hunting people who knew it made her heart clench with worry for her brother.
"What should we do?" She looked at Shuya, panicked, and without thinking grabbed his arm. "Can you help us?"
She didn't even realize the faint, pleading tone in her voice sounded almost like she was acting spoiled.
Shuya reached out and gently ruffled her hair. "Didn't I already say it? That's exactly why I'm here."
"Thank you…" Nezuko said again, voice soft. "So what do we do now?"
"Let's wait for your brother Tanjiro to get home first."
Looking at the adorable girl in front of him, Shuya couldn't help but think: aside from Muzan's blood, the Kamado family was probably the biggest treasure trove in the entire Demon Slayer world.
First, there was Tanjiro's Sun Breathing.
Then Nezuko herself—the first demon in the story who could walk in sunlight.
And finally, the Blue Spider Lily.
There was a story behind that flower. Four hundred years ago, this house had actually belonged to Yoriichi Tsugikuni. The Kamado ancestor, Sumiyoshi, had moved in while Yoriichi was away and simply never left. When Yoriichi returned and found squatters, he didn't kick them out. He let them stay and even taught Sumiyoshi the Sun Breathing style.
Because this happened after Yoriichi had already been expelled from the Demon Slayer Corps, no one else ever knew.
That's why the Kamado family had managed to stay hidden from Muzan and Kokushibo all this time.
So here was the real question:
Why had Muzan searched for a thousand years and still never found the Blue Spider Lily?
Why had the Kamado family survived for centuries without a single demon attack?
Why had both Kie and young Tanjiro seen the flower with their own eyes?
The answer was simple.
The Blue Spider Lily wasn't some rare mountain bloom.
It was just ordinary graveyard grass growing around the grave of Yoriichi Tsugikuni's dead wife.
Muzan Kibutsuji: Tragic!!!