*Swipe* *Swipe*

Kanao continued her job of cleaning Shinobu's back as diligently as she can. Her movements were gradually becoming better. She was learning as she was doing the task.

It has almost been five minutes since she started.

'Just you wait Nee-san. Hehe ~' Shinobu was in a merry mood, her eyes were closed and her thin lips were arcing upwards. 

Among the Kocho sisters, Shinobu was the one who got teased a lot by her older sister, Kanae. Thinking that she might take a deserving payback towards her, she can't help but be happy about it.

Kanao crouched down to dip the cloth in a bucket and squeezed it dry, removing all the excess water just enough to make it damp.

*Splash* *Splash*

'Hehe ~... Hmm?'

Shinobu who was enjoying herself heard a splashing sound. She moved her head and looked toward her side. There was a bucket with water, but in it, she saw a reflection of Kanao's expressionless face. 

Seeing this her mood immediately turned dumped, and her smile formed into a frown. 

Shinobu was staring at the image reflected on the water with a thoughtful expression.

'I hope that one day she will come to learn and be able to show more expressions on her face.' She thought sadly, having an idea about the child's tough childhood.

Shinobu doesn't know the actual details of Kanao's life but she can infer what the child might have experienced with that scum of a man who was acting as her guardian.

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[Flashback]

Some years ago, Shinobu and Kanae were walking on a bridge somewhere in a village. It was their free time away from duty. So they went on a leisurely bonding somewhere.

On the way, they found a child tied up as she was held by the man on a rope like he was putting a leash on an animal. 

Seeing this Shinobu felt angry at the cruel treatment. She was about to do something, but Kanae was faster than her.

When Kanae approached and talked to the child, the man didn't like it and begrudgingly demanded some money for payment for talking with her.

Shinobu was very aggravated at that point and insulted the man by throwing the money scattering it on the ground in front of his face and quickly taking hold of the rope that was holding the child and running away, disappearing from the scene with her sister and Kanao in tow.

[\Flashback]

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'Haaah…'

Shinobu was very relieved that they took the girl away from that scum.

'If we didn't then… !!!" Shinobu shuddered from the thought of how an innocent child would end up at that time. 

If they didn't take (bought) her, the likely thing to happen was that the child would be sold off somewhere as Shinobu remembered that scum had a greed for money. 

'Becoming a prostitute would have been bad…' Shinobu thought that Kanao would've ended up in a brothel somewhere. 

Even though life as a whore isn't illegal, Shinobu was a believer in "Chastity-For-The-Right-Man" so she was against that. 

'But the worst case would be… ' Her face became firm as she remembered her recent mission. 

Shinobu had experienced first-hand how bad humans could actually become. 

Her last mission with Kanae was about exterminating demons who worked with humans who kidnapped children and sell them to a demon. 

"..." Shinobu was currently biting her lips in anger as she was thinking about what happened.

That time, she wanted to kill the humans who were involved with the demon but was stopped by Kanae reminding her that they weren't demons and it wasn't the objective of the mission.

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'Haah' She heaves another sigh in her mind.

'Children should be allowed and continue to live as innocent as they are…'

She wished that children should be granted a life to live happily, playing on the streets, and a family to feed them.

However the situation with the demons added to the circumstances of people who are in 'poverty', her wish just couldn't be granted. It was far and impossible to reach.

'If only there were no lower moons, upper moons, or a 'bad' demon. Or in fact, if only there were no Muzan then things should've been different.' According to the information she found out, she thought that Kibutsuji Muzan was the greatest bane of peace.

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The latest information gathered by the slayers that Shinobu learned after she joined the organization was that their enemy had two special strong classes of demons among their ranks. Respectively the 'Lower Moons' and 'Upper Moons'.

The 'Lower Moon' were numbered at 6 from the weakest to 1 as the strongest.

Upper moon demons were significantly stronger than the rest of the Lower moons. They too started from 6 to 1, weakest to strongest. This class of demons hadn't any circumstance in the past that had been confirmed killed. On the contrary, they had a record for most kills among the 'Hashiras'. 

But there was one, these special demons served as a master. Kibutsuji Muzan, who was allegedly known as the progenitor of these vile creatures. 

There wasn't any information that could trace this demon in particular, they only had the name. His face was unknown. He was like a ghost for the slayers. His entire existence was shrouded in mystery.

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'But there might be actual demons out there that can be reasoned with. There's still hope…' Shinobu thought, her expression became hopeful.

She might not solve the impending poverty but nonetheless, even with the hatred she had for the demons, she had a naive thought, hoping that they could one day coexist with them and achieve a little closer towards 'peace'.

"…" She had a flash of memories of that incident when they, she and her sister Kanae were about to be killed next after their parents, something came and help them as 'It' appeared suddenly out of nowhere and killed the demon who was after their lives.

The help came from a creature who had two sheep-like horns on its head, a pair of bat-like wings stuck on its back, and a tail with a tip that was shaped like a 'spade' from a deck of cards. 

After it was done with its job, possibly the extermination of the 'bad' demon it disappeared as quickly as it first appeared, leaving no trace of its presence.

Shinobu was the only one who saw the 'good' demon. She told her sister about it but Kanae said she didn't see anything about what she described.

Then, minutes later came after Gyomei the Stone Pillar and brought them to the demon slayers and became what they are now currently. 

They trained and became strong together and joined the slayers. 

Her sister, Kanae was now holding one of the highest ranks among the slayers, titled 'Flower Hahira'. While she was now as strong as a 'Vice Captain' and became the right hand of her sister. Shinobu was topping most of the regular demon slayers but her strength was just subpar to Kanae.

Well, there wasn't a term 'Vice Captain' in the ranks of slayers but since she and her sister were a team, she liked to call herself that. 

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…

"..." *Stare* 

"Hmm… Oh? Are you done?" Shinobu felt a presence, staring in front of her, breaking her out of a meditative state.

"..." Kanao gave her a silent stare before she did a small nodding movement which Shinobu noticed.

"Hehe ~ Thanks a lot Kanao. I'm happy with it." Shinobu showed a gentle, gratifying smile to Kanao and patted her head. 

"..." Still having the usual poker face, however, Kanao's hand unconsciously moved to her small chest and heave a sigh of relief. 

She was glad that Shinobu didn't get angry with her but instead showed a happy smile. 

They continued the bath, washed their body with soap, and rinsed themselves clean from the soapy bubbles. 

After everything was done,

"Let's go." Shinobu took the hand of the child and went out of the bathroom.

…

== Dressing Room @Butterfly Mansion ==

"Hmm. Hmm 🎶🎵"

*Rustle* *Rustle*

Shinobu hummed as she was drying Kanao's head with a towel.

"I'm going to the Open Hall to get my new nichirin sword today Kanao. In the meantime, you can practice yourself in our training hall with some dummies. I'll come back immediately and train you after." 

*Nod*

"..." Kanao nodded in reply to that.

"But remember, just the basics of the sword poses okay? I don't want you to practice the breathing technique without me supervising you." Shinobu added. 

She didn't want Kanao to make a mistake in the breathing exercise. 

While it might not be life-threatening, making a certain mistake would cause her stamina to rapidly get exhausted.

She didn't want Kanao to feel tired when she comes back to train her. She believed that time was precious and that every practice counted. Constant practice makes not exactly perfect, but as close as it gets to it.

Shinobu was the diligent type, who with consistent practice and hard work became the way she was now. 

But more importantly, she was a loving older sister who just wanted the best for Kanao.

"Hehe ~" Shinobu came close to Kanao's face and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead before she went away.

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"..."

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*Drip* *Drip*

"..." Kanao, after her sister left, had some tears falling in her eyes. 

It has been a tough life for her. But now she was happy that she had met wonderful, loving, and caring sisters like them.

*Wipe* *Wipe*

"..." Wiping the tears from her eyes, she too went out of the room to go to the training hall heeding her sister's earlier call.

…