Demon Slayer: Upper 0 seems to be a waste

"Rinko—little Rinko—can't you really see me?"

Douma waved his hand and moved again. As he approached, Akaza's brows gradually frowned, and the annoyance and disgust on his face almost became tangible.

"Don't do this to me, Rinko-chan. I haven't done anything bad. It's too much to just ignore me like this—"

Douma's tone sounded innocent and troubled, and if you listened carefully, it even had a hint of pity.

"But the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was you tying Akaza up."

The boy leaned on Akaza's shoulder. His eyes, though human, were still dazed and unable to fully focus. His whole body was soft as if he had no bones. Even the words he spoke were soft and without any pressure at all.

"So I said it was because Akaza-dono refused to stop. I told him it was almost dawn, but he kept on fighting. I had no choice but to tell him to quiet down, and he even woke up Rinko-chan."

That's not wrong. Lin Guang did open his eyes because of the excessive noise, but if he wasn't dreaming, he probably wouldn't be considered asleep...

If he wasn't asleep, then what happened just now?

Rinko's last memory was that he held the jar and drank it, because the thin blood tasted quite good, but other than that, the world was a blurry black. It seemed that someone came, and something seemed to have happened, but he could not remember clearly. When he opened his eyes again, the house had turned into an ice cellar, and Akaza and Douma were fighting, with the former being tied up tightly in the end.

"So that's why you guys are fighting."

After a brief silence, Lin Guang raised his head and brought the question back to the beginning.

"Because he's a bad mouth."

"Because Akaza-dono is impolite."

The two men's voices sounded almost at the same time, and even their reasons sounded very similar, but both of them seemed to think it was the other's fault.

Rinkou looked at Douma, who had an unchanging smile on his face. He then looked at Akaza, who frowned and turned to look at Douma, with surprise and confusion on his face. After he came to his senses, anger replaced it.

And based on past experience...Rinko felt that their words should all have their merits, but Akaza's was definitely more authentic.

"So what did Akaza say?"

Rinkou then turned his gaze to Douma. As he said this, he silently held Akaza's hand. The cold palm was kneaded in the little hand, and the blood on the joints was wiped away bit by bit by the boy without any expression.

"He said something really harsh, Rinkou-chan. He said that Rinkou-chan and I wouldn't have a close relationship. We're really good friends, aren't we? But he said we wouldn't be as close as Rinkou and him. Isn't that harsh?"

Douma leaned closer, and this action made Akaza sit up straight for a rare time, his back straight and his muscles gradually tensed.

Lin Guang looked at the big eyes in front of him and tilted his head at an angle.

"He said that. That's right."

The atmosphere was completely frozen.

Lin Guang's ears caught the sound of ice breaking for a moment, but there was no ice here, and nothing would break.

What broke the silence was Akaza's trembling shoulders. To be precise, it was not just his shoulders, his entire chest was trembling. The low, intermittent laughter passed through his chest and reached Rinkou's ears, muffled and itchy.

"Rinkou, I'm going to be very sad if you say that... We're good friends after all..."

Douma sat up, the smile on his face still intact, but the folded fan was resting against his chin, and his eyes were slightly narrowed, looking down at the boy condescendingly.

"They're friends, yes. But they're different. Rinko and Akaza, Rinko and Douma, they're different relationships. No relationship between one person and another can be completely replicated in another person... not even a ghost."

Lin Guang caught a glimpse of coldness in those eyes, perhaps even a hint of oppression, but Lin Guang just spoke hesitantly, slowly choosing his words and speaking what he was thinking truthfully.

"So Akaza was right. The one who was wrong was Douma-dono."

He raised his hand and pointed vaguely in the air, in Douma's direction. Douma, unusually, didn't refute or respond, seemingly pondering the meaning of his previous words, and also weighing the rightness of his current statement.

But Rinkou no longer paid attention to him, but looked at Akaza, whose mood had improved.

"So what did Douma say to you? Did I miss anything fun?"

"No, you went to bed at the perfect time and didn't miss anything."

Even his embarrassing defeat was witnessed clearly.

Akaza pulled his hand out of his and rubbed Rinko's head. The boy was no different from what he remembered. If he had to say, he was probably more lively and more willing to talk. His expressions and movements were richer than what he remembered, and he looked more like a living creature.

"Oh, by the way, Akaza can be told without being noticed by humans, right? Something like this."

Rinkou pointed at his own eyes, which were no different from those of a human. Akaza raised his eyebrows, looking a little surprised.

"Of course you can, but why?"

"Because there's a human here, if we were to be discovered..."

"Oh!"

This was the sound of a door that had been frozen shut being violently yanked open.

"Douma-sama, are you okay? I heard some noises last night and thought I was dreaming, but when I woke up in the morning and the person at the door said there were real noises, I realized I wasn't dreaming!"

Qin Ye came very suddenly, and her words came very suddenly too. Only after she finished speaking did she notice that there was one more person in the room.

It was a man with rare short pink hair and a short-sleeved shirt of the same color. The face he turned around looked very young, but his expression did not look happy.

"Good morning, Kotonoha—"

What made her regain her attention was Douma's gentle greeting beside her.

"Good morning! No, are you okay?"

Qin Ye walked into the house and responded to the greeting as usual, but realized something was wrong the next second and continued to ask questions.

"As you can see, he's completely fine—his head wasn't kicked off, and his body wasn't shattered. He's doing fine—"

Douma responded gently, but the profound meaning in his words made the other adult male in the room's veins bulge.

"Don't say such terrible things, Douma-sama. I'm glad you're okay... But who is this...?"

Kotonoha looked Douma up and down and confirmed that there was really nothing wrong. Even the house looked clean and tidy, as if nothing had happened. She finally breathed a sigh of relief and began to care about this strange guest.

She remembered not seeing this man last night? Did he come in the middle of the night?

"Akoza, it's my friend—good morning, Kotonoha."

A familiar face appeared in the arms of an unfamiliar man. Rinko had a bright smile on his face, and his undisguised happiness seemed to prove that the identity of Mr. Akaza was beyond doubt.

"Ah."

Akaza, who was introduced, just nodded and responded sullenly. He didn't seem to be interested in her, and he didn't even seem to be interested in Douma. However, he was seriously hugging Rinko who was lying on his shoulder.

Ah, it seems like they are very good friends.

Qin Ye thought to herself.

He rushed over to see Lin Guang late at night. We have such a good relationship.