บท 27: 27. Mitsuri, the Heavy Hitter
The demon cracked his fists and slowly walked toward Kotaro. With his hazy vision, he couldn't see a clear image, just a rough silhouette—but that was enough. His hearing was superhuman, allowing him to detect sounds from far away. In some ways, the loss of his sight only made him more cautious and a more difficult opponent because the demon no longer underestimated Kotaro.
Kotaro also moved sideways, trying to stay out of the demon's range. In every respect, he was outmatched by the demon. It was only his luck that the demon had initially looked down on him, allowing him to land that surprise poison attack. It was successful, but it seemed it would take more than that to bring this demon down.
Thud!
"Huh?"
Kotaro looked and realized that his shoulder had hit the wall of a house, and then the color drained from his face. 'Shit!' At that moment, Kotaro quickly ducked down and soon…
Boom!
A fist slammed into the wall, smashing it down with a huge sound. The demon, realizing Kotaro had been cornered while moving sideways, wasted no time and punched.
"Damn!"
'Barely safe!' One hit and he wouldn't have come out unscathed. Kotaro, who had dodged it, was sweating buckets.
"Dodged? But… you're now in my range!"
The demon moved his leg and kicked at the figure squatting beneath him. Kotaro, unable to dodge, did the best thing he could think of—he lifted his arms in defense. He pushed himself backwards and lifted his arms in front to reduce the impact of the kick. The kick slammed into his chest, blocked by his hands, but the sheer force sent him flying backwards.
Crack!
"Ack!"
He heard a loud sound—the sound of his bone fracturing from that kick. His forearm, which had blocked the kick, cracked from the immense impact. His chest also hurt a lot, but his act of pushing himself backwards to reduce the impact of the kick at least kept it from fracturing further.
"I heard it! The sound of bones cracking!"
The demon, hearing the sound of the fracture, didn't stop and moved toward Kotaro at high speed, aiming another kick at him. Now that he had injured Kotaro, he just needed to keep attacking and finish him off. But Kotaro anticipated this. Holding his broken arm, he rolled away, dodging the kick.
The kick smashed into the ground instead of Kotaro, sending dust flying into the air. Kotaro continued rolling to get out of the demon's range.
"Huh? Dodged again? How?"
The demon was stronger in all aspects. So how was Kotaro managing to dodge? The answer was simple: anticipation. Kotaro moved even before the demon attacked.
When he was cornered against the wall, he knew the demon would strike. That's why he moved even before the demon did, allowing him to dodge the attack. The same thing happened now. In his injured state, Kotaro knew the demon would definitely attack again, so he moved preemptively to avoid it.
But still, this anticipation couldn't make Kotaro able to fight the demon. The demon was just too strong.
Kotaro rolled away, but the demon closed the distance in a couple of seconds and reached him. Now, the demon was standing in front of him, fist clenched, ready to strike.
"Didn't I tell you? I will kill you before I die!"
With a smile, the demon aimed his punch at Kotaro. In that moment, Kotaro's whole life flashed before his eyes—from his childhood to his marriage. In that brief instant, he saw it all. He turned his head toward Aiko, who lay there, tearfully stretching her hands toward him.
'I'm going to die.'
If he had one regret, it was that he didn't have enough time to spend with Mitsuri. Why did he marry her? If he hadn't, she wouldn't have to endure the sorrow of losing her husband. Now, it seemed his death might drive Mitsuri to join the demon slayers to seek revenge.
'Was this the world's plot?'
He closed his eyes, waiting for the punch to land on his face. But he was wrong. This wasn't the world's plot.
"KOTARO-SAMA!"
"Huh? You're that woma—!"
Before he could complete his words, a huge force fell on his face.
Boom! Crack!
A loud sound of bone cracking echoed in the night. But it wasn't from Kotaro—it was from the demon. Kotaro, hearing that familiar shout, opened his eyes.
The demon that had been about to punch him was no longer in front of him. The demon had been sent flying backwards, his jaw cracked again. In front of Kotaro stood a crying figure with her fist still outstretched.
Finding the demon out of the way, she turned and hugged him, big tears falling from her eyes.
"Kotaro-sama!"
"M-Mitsuri!"
Mitsuri Kanroji, the future Hashira, had come to save the day! Kotaro was shocked and a bit happy that Mitsuri had come to save him, but then he remembered that he had told her not to come.
"You—why are you here? Didn't I tell you to stay at home?"
With one hand fractured, Kotaro held Mitsuri's shoulder with his left hand and shook her as he asked. But unlike usual, this time Mitsuri's reply was different.
"That's my question, Kotaro-sama! Why did you come to face the demon alone?!"
"O-Of course, that's because if something happened to y—"
"And if something happened to Kotaro-sama?!"
With tears streaming down her face, Mitsuri shouted at Kotaro, silencing him. She just kept her head on his chest and cried, letting her true feelings out in front of him.
"I-If something happens to you, I won't be able to live, Kotaro-sama!"
"Mitsuri… It's the same for me. I wouldn't be able to live if something happened to you either. And that's why I can't let you fight that demon."
===
A/N:
Mitsuri arrives and knocks the demon away! As expected of Kotaro's wife.
In the next chapter, it's time for Kotaro's cheat ability to be revealed. When Mitsuri is in a predicament, he steps in and then...
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See you tomorrow!
By the way, I forgot to ask—how did you like this chapter?
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