Doom & Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Xover

Chapter 26

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It had been a rather slow day for Kanao as she performed her usual daily routine with Shinobu: train, learn about medicine, do some chores, and the other essentials that are needed throughout the day. Occasionally, some wounded demon slayer would come in and they would have to patch him up but they were out as quickly as they showed up. Despite all of this, none of them quite intrigued her as much as Tanjiro did. Everyone dismissed Kanao's presence as she was usually behind Shinobu most of the time, doing as she was told. She's gotten a lot more comfortable with talking openly but now it was a matter of if she wanted to talk at all. Nothing quite compelled her to talk unless it was with the other residents of the mansion. She remained silent towards the patients she helped treat. Tanjiro was the only patient who acknowledged her and treated her as an equal. He was the one who helped her open up to the idea of having a free will. She wasn't quite sure if she missed him or just wanted someone else to talk to.

It was approaching dusk and the sun was slowly setting when Kanao decided it was time for her to go to bed. She was making her way to Shinobu's room, first, to tell her "goodnight" before heading off. As she approached her adoptive older sister's room, she heard the woman curse to herself, "Damn it, none of this is making sense!" Kanao had never heard Shinobu swear since she was a child. Shinobu used to be a lot more stern when she was younger and very easy to irritate. However, she seemingly discarded those traits upon Kanae's death and has tried to maintain Kanae's image by acting like her. Perhaps she had been fooling everyone for the longest time and she only gets to act like herself in isolation. Kanao peaked into the woman's office to see Shinobu resting her head on her hand as she sorted through an assortment of papers spread across her desk.

Shinobu looked irritated, and not playfully so like she does around some of the Hashira. Kanao called out, "Uhh, is everything okay?" The woman almost jumped out of her seat when she heard Kanao, looking towards the young girl and calming down upon realizing who was at the door. Shinobu immediately tried to cover up her irritated expression with her usual, cheerful one as she called out:

"Kanao, you could've knocked." before giggling. Kanao could see through the act but thought it best not to pry the woman about the situation. The girl entered the office and took a closer look at all of the papers. It was like Shinobu was trying to uncover a mystery with ink marks connecting different sections of various papers; certain parts were highlighted as well. It reminded Kanao of a detective agency. The girl gave her adoptive older sister a puzzled expression to which Shinobu decided to answer, "Oh, this? I've been gathering reports from across the country, trying to find the demon responsible for Kanae's death. So far, I've had no luck. Sorry for startling you like that, I was very focused." Kanao did a simple nod of acknowledgement before looking around and finding something she hasn't seen in quite some time at the edge of the desk: An old romance novel that Kanae used to read when she was around.

Shinobu took notice of Kanao's little discovery and said, "You recognize it, huh? It's not the same exact book Kanae had but it's close enough. I read it here and there to feel a bit closer to Kanae. I don't understand how she's into that stuff, it all feels so fake and forced, definitely not my kind of story to read. However, I keep it around for sentimental value, I feel like if I got rid of it, I would be willingly tossing aside an important part of my life."

Kanao commented, "She used to read this to me when I was younger but I didn't understand what any of it meant."

Shinobu couldn't help but chuckle at Kanao's innocence and joked, "That's romance novels for you. Even after reading it several times, it still doesn't make sense to me." Shinobu couldn't watch Kanao stand while she was sitting so she pulled a chair close to her and urged her younger sister to take a seat. The girl did as told and asked: