In the next life, please let me be the one (GiyuShino)

In the next life, please let me be the one

"The moon is so beautiful tonight," she said to him when they were assigned by Oyakata-sama to the mission to to eliminate one of the Twelve .

At that time, he didn't know, he had no idea that it was her first and also her last confession of love. He simply wondered why his colleague could talk so much. Wasn't she thirsty? Talking that much must make her throat dry, right?

But he didn't respond, as he didn't mind being paired up with her. He didn't hate or avoid her either. Perhaps the lord had known this, which was why he often assigned her to work with him for avoid some unnecessary misunderstandings when he on the mission. Otherwise, he might have become a wanted criminal across the country.

Maybe in a moment of being continuously teased by her, he had thought that it was okay. A quiet person like him could benefit from being paired up with a talkative girl like her, as they could balance each other out.

"If things could just stay like this forever," he had thought.

But...

Ah...that's right...there's always a "but" in life.

"Announcement!! Someone has died!! Kochou Shinobu has died!! She fought Douma and sacrificed!!"

The announcement echoed across the battlefield in their final battle against Muzan, hitting him like a punch to the gut, making his blood run cold. Despite his heart skipping a beat from the pain, his eyes remained calm like a still lake.

He was a pillar.

He couldn't falter now.

Oyakata-sama had sacrificed himself, Tamayo-san was currently holding off Muzan, and even she had perished in this battle.

Everyone was giving it their all to end this long war.

He couldn't falter.

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Muzan was defeated.

The final battle had come to an end.

The casualties were not significant, but for those who had fallen in this last battle, it was a huge loss for the Demon Slayer Corps on a spiritual level.

But there was one strange thing that no one could explain: the bodies of the two pillars, Kochou Shinobu and Rengoku Kyojurou, appeared in the rooms where Upper Moon Two and Upper Moon Three were defeated.

No one understood the reason, but at least they felt somewhat comforted that they could give these two former pillars a proper funeral.

Ubuyashiki Kiriya, the 98th leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, presided over the funeral of the two former pillars with the help of his two younger sisters.

The day of the funeral was a rainy one, with the two coffins standing side by side, filled with the wisteria petals to protect the souls of the departed from the demons as they made their way to the heavens. The new recruits who had joined the corps that year wept uncontrollably at the sight of the two former pillars being placed into the coffins. Even the strong pillars shed tears that mixed with the rain, indistinguishable from the raindrops.

Even the former pillar, Shinjurou, cried as he watched his eldest son, who he was most proud of, sleep soundly with a smile on his face. On the other side, the Flower Pillar, Kanao, held onto the boy who was wearing a striped haori, and cried uncontrollably while looking at the serene smile of her master for the last time.