I live longer than the incomparable

【Yaobai Inosuke. 】

After waking up from the Demon Slayer Squad's treatment location [Butterfly House], Inosuke lost almost all of his memory, the only thing he could remember was his own name.

When he told the name to the red-haired teenager who seemed to be about his age, and asked if he knew him, the teenager showed a contorted expression as if his face was twitching.

Inosuke, who hadn't fully woken up, was stunned on the hospital bed.

He faintly sensed that there seemed to be some kind of weird thing flowing in the air, and the boy's expression seemed to contain some kind of special meaning.

But at that time, Inosuke had no impression of his identity and past in his mind, nor any direction of progress.

For a long time, Inosuke was thinking about why he joined the Demon Killing Team at that time, and why he picked up the Japanese sword at that time.

When his master, Rinaki Sakino, who was in charge of training the swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Team, noticed his concern for the first time, the other party told him a story.

It is the story of a child who lost his parents since he was a child, has no goal or direction, and does not even know why he is in this world.

"At that time, he met a person." Ling Taki Zuojin sat next to the fire for the first time, the smell of grilled fish mixed in the night wind, which made the originally cold night wind also tinged with a warm scent.

"The winter at that time was more difficult than it is now," Rinaki Sakinji said softly, "When he curled up in a wet corner, even thinking that his life would end that night, that person gave him the answer. "

Inosuke asked, "What answer?"

"The answer to [what do human beings live for]." Rinaki Sakinji's face was covered by the red tengu mask, but his voice was very clear: "She said that she was seeking salvation and trying to find the meaning of her existence .”

Inosuke couldn't understand, this answer even made him think of more questions, what is salvation?How to find it?Aren't these also part of the problem?

But what he doesn't know is that for a person who has nothing in his heart, no matter what it is, it is enough to be the driving force for him to continue living.

When he was young, Zuo Rinaki had wandered on the edge of life and death countless times recently, and every time he felt that he was stepping on the boundary of the underworld, until the eight hundred bhikkhuni passed by him and would fall on her shoulders. The crow handed it to him.

She said: "I know a person. There are many people with the same ideals and beliefs around him. If you just want to find a reason to live, then follow this crow to find him."

So Rinaki Zuojin followed the crow to the head of the Ubuyashiki family at that time, but no one thought that such a thin and ordinary-looking boy would become the later [Water Column] of the Demon Slayer Squad.

He found the meaning of his existence in the Ghost Killing Squad. He gained friends and partners. These people gathered in the Ghost Killing Squad for various reasons, but they all worked hard for the same goal.

If you don't have a dream, then when you guard someone else's dream, you can also get this satisfaction from others - this kind of satisfaction is enough to fill the empty heart that didn't know what you want.

If it is said that Inosuke just listened to him with the mentality of listening to a story at the beginning, and later, when he heard him talk about those things that were too detailed, he had already discovered——

"That boy must be Mr. Ryotaki."

Ryotaki Sato didn't speak for the last time, because he had already told him what he wanted to tell Inosuke.

——*——

Hearing about Mr. Ryotaki's past, Inosuke couldn't fall asleep for a long time at night.He knew that Mr. Ryotaki was comforting him, but Inosuke's mind was in a mess, and even he himself didn't know what he was thinking.

After falling asleep at some point, he seemed to hear a female voice with a soft voice. That voice was probably singing him a lullaby, but the content of the song was particularly weird.

It was not an ordinary song to calm the child to sleep, but words such as hanging hooks were woven into the song. Inosuke felt very strange. Who was the person who sang these songs?

Although some familiar scenes would occasionally appear in the dream, Inosuke's memory still failed to recover, the content of the dream was always blurred, and when he woke up, it was difficult for him to recall the scene in the dream again. What happened.

When he passed the final selection of the Demon Slayer Team, became an official member of the Demon Slayer, and obtained his own Japanese sword, Inosuke still had a sense of lightness and illusion.

Why did he hold the Sun Wheel Saber, and why did he cut off the ghost's head?

Such a question, after pestering him for a long time, suddenly got an answer one day.

When he was at Nata Spider Mountain, he, Zenitsu, and Tanjiro encountered an extremely difficult oni, and it was simply impossible to deal with such an existence with their strength.

But at such moments, I always cry and cry on weekdays, and even cry every time [I'm so scared!I will definitely die in the hands of ghosts! 】The kindness of such words, but there is no intention of shrinking back.

Inosuke suddenly felt doubts arose, and such doubts lasted until after the battle, and they went to Butterfly House to recuperate.

They were arranged in the same room. While lying on the hospital bed, Inosuke suddenly asked Zenyi, who was tightly wrapped in bandages next to him: "Facing such a terrifying ghost, isn't Shanyi afraid?"

My wife Zenitsu was crying, but when he heard such a question, he replied without hesitation: "Of course I'm afraid, but if I run away, Inosuke and Tanjiro will be very sad, right? Aren't we friends? Even a coward like me..."

When talking about this, Shanyi cried and hiccupped, and then continued: "I will definitely never abandon my friends and run away alone."

Inosuke, who was lying on the hospital bed, slowly opened his eyes wide. He suddenly understood Mr. Ryodaki's mood at the time. Perhaps it was because of this reason that the boy who came to the Demon Slayer Squad with nothing had to hold his hand tightly. Sun Wheel Knife.

Because that's how his heart was filled.

Inosuke's palm unconsciously placed on his chest, and he suddenly said, "Thank you, Zenitsu."

My wife Zenitsu was stunned, he didn't quite understand why Inosuke suddenly said such a thing, but...

"It would be great if Inosuke was a girl. Thank you means you have a good impression, right? If you have a good impression, you are in love with each other. If you are in love with each other, you can get married naturally..."

Responding to him was Inosuke's forehead with veins popping out, he grabbed his own pillow and threw it on Zenyi's face.

——*——

Inosuke's heart, which had become empty due to the loss of memory, was filled day by day. The smiles on his face became more and more, and the hand holding the Japanese sword became more and more firm.

Whether it is to protect the companions around him, the friends he has acquired with great difficulty, or to protect those strangers who do not know each other, it is enough to become the reason for the swordsmen of the Ghost Killing Squad to live.

But on the night that Guiwu Tsuji came down miserably, in the infinite city, he met the [ghost] who once knew him.

The ghost named Tong Mo, who has iridescent eyes, knows both him and his mother.

It was clearly a moment of confrontation, but he talked a lot, saying how much Inosuke liked him when he was a child, and how much his mother trusted him.

What I have to admit is that Inosuke's physical instinct told him that everything the other party said was correct.

So what should he do now?Inosuke suddenly fell into a dilemma.

The other person was saying [Inosuke, come behind me quickly, I will protect you. ], while the person next to him was saying [Wake up, Inosuke!Don't believe what he says! ]'s Demon Slayer Squad Swordsman.

Inosuke lowered his head, and suddenly heard a voice.

The voice said to him: "Follow your heart and do what you want to do."

So he raised his face and denied everything Tong Mo said.

Inosuke couldn't have had a calmer moment than this, he found a loophole in Tong Mo's words, and also vaguely noticed something in Tong Mo's words.

So he rejected Tong Mo's extended hand, and chose to stay by Butterfly Shinobi and Lihualuo Kanahu's side—because his current friends and companions are everyone in the Ghost Slayer Squad.

For a long time, Inosuke's grudge against his lost memories seemed to be untied suddenly, and the dreams that haunted him for countless nights and made him unable to sleep peacefully also calmed down at this moment.

A gentle voice sounded beside him, telling him to listen to his heart.

So Inosuke made a choice.

——*——

Butterfly Shinobi is a [Pillar], so he can't waste time with the ice puppets in this kind of place, so Inosuke and Kano made a decision, let them restrain the puppets, and let Shinobu go to the battlefield where Onimai Tsuji is located as soon as possible .

Butterfly gritted her teeth, her courage as a worm pillar made her make a decision in an instant.

After the fall of the Infinite City, Inosuke heard the sound of crows counting down the day. They wanted to help the ghost dance Tsuji, but they couldn't get rid of Tongmo's puppets, so they could only fight with them like this What's more, if the puppet is rashly lured to the place where Onimai Tsuji is, it may also disrupt the rhythm of the Ghost Killing Team.

So it wasn't until after dawn, after everything was over, that they saw the melting of the ice puppet.

And Inosuke and Kano had already passed out in the ruins at the moment when they judged the end of everything due to exhaustion and excessive blood loss.

After waking up, he saw Tanjiro. The boy on the right side whose face was nearly half wrapped in bandages stared at him, and suddenly said, "Inosuke, your mother, I have something to say to you."

She said she would always be proud of him.

Even after the battle, what Inosuke saw was her body.

He didn't know what he was thinking, and he didn't know what he was thinking, but just watched her face silently, seeing the calmness on her face.

He held the hand of Eight Hundred Bhikkhuni and said softly: "...Thank you."

After her funeral, Tanjiro seemed to be struggling with something again. When he managed to organize his words and planned to speak, he got Inosuke's calm smile.

"Tanjiro, needless to say."

It's enough to end everything in the past like this.

There is no need to be entangled in anything, and there is no need to be trapped in the past. Yabai Inosuke has gotten rid of everything in the past, and his empty heart has been filled with everything in the present.

He gave Tanjiro a hug and said, "Thank you, Tanjiro."