"Whoa, those are huge! No way they're real?"
Makomo spun around and stared at Saeko Busujima walking toward them. Her eyes locked on the massive chest that easily rivaled the two Snowball Beasts perched on Shuya's shoulders. Her mouth fell open in pure disbelief.
A sudden, ridiculous urge hit her—she actually wanted to reach out and poke them just to check if they were real. In the Taisho era, most people were malnourished, so a body like that was basically unheard of. Only someone like Mitsuri Kanroji, raised in a wealthy family with proper nutrition, would have anything close.
"This is… a new little sister?"
Saeko noticed Makomo's very obvious stare but didn't seem bothered. She smiled warmly, then looked at Shuya and asked, "Who's this?"
"This is Makomo. She's a bit of a dummy, but because of how she exists right now, she's basically a Nen Beast like the Snowball Beasts."
Shuya shook his head and gently pressed his hand on top of Makomo's head to keep her from doing anything embarrassing. He quickly changed the subject. "What about you, Saeko-senpai? Run into any interesting prey after we split up at Corps headquarters?"
Saeko had stepped out of the Crossing Gate behind him—not the zombie world, but the Demon Slayer world full of man-eating demons. Shuya had never restricted the girls from using the gate, and most of them had wandered over to the Taisho-era Japan out of curiosity at first. After a few trips, though, they quickly got bored of the old-fashioned world and preferred exploring the brand-new Greed Island instead.
Only Saeko kept going back, hunting demons purely for the thrill of battle. After leaving headquarters that morning, she had used the Corps' intel to track down stronger demons—exactly what Shuya had asked her to do: keep an eye out for any with Blood Demon Arts.
"Nen Beast?"
Saeko's interest perked up at the mention. She glanced at Makomo, who still looked a little dazed with Shuya's hand on her head, and thought the girl was pretty cute. Then she remembered that every single girl in their group had assets way above average—including herself. A small, teasing thought crossed her mind: Is Shuya finally changing his taste? First Nezuko, now this slightly airheaded girl? She didn't dwell on it.
"Interesting prey? Not really," she answered after a moment. "But thanks to the Corps feeding me locations, my kill count went way up. Most of the demons I found were the kind that actually eat people, so they put up a much better fight than the weak ones hiding in the mountains."
She smirked. "Still no Blood Demon Art users yet, though. While I was using Sun Breathing during the fights, I did stumble across something pretty interesting."
"Interesting?" Shuya raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. He already knew every secret about Sun Breathing—Demon Slayer Marks, Red Blades, Transparent World. There was no way Saeko had discovered something he didn't already know.
Saeko's eyes sparkled with playful mischief. "That's right. But you'll have to figure it out yourself. Consider it payback for not telling me the secret the first time you watched Tanjiro demonstrate it."
She tilted her head and added sweetly, "Of course, if you beg nicely, big sister might just tell you right now."
Shuya glanced at her skin—no Mark. Red Blade was useless to her anyway. That left only one possibility: Transparent World. He knew exactly what she was talking about, but he didn't call her out. Instead, the corner of his mouth curled into a dangerous little smirk.
"Beg you?" he repeated, voice low and teasing. "Are you challenging me, Saeko-senpai?"
"Exactly," she said, smiling like a fox that had already won. "So, Shuya-kouhai… are you going to accept?"
"Same old rules? Winner decides who's on top?"
"Until tomorrow morning. If you don't figure out the secret by then, next time I get to be on top."
Shuya's eyes narrowed with competitive fire. "You think I'm backing down? I accept your challenge."
Saeko's grin widened, pure satisfaction written all over her face. "Then you better hurry, kouhai. Because if the other girls swarm you tonight, you might not even have time to think."