Crossover: The Problematic Deity of Arcadia

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"Remember, Kanao—no flipping a coin this time, okay?"

With that, Shinobu gently nudged Kanao forward toward a street stall selling sweets.

Just then, Ryo strolled over with an amused look and said, "You're practically leaking mischief, Shinobu."

"Yeah, bullying your little sister's not cool," Kanae added, chiming in without hesitation.

"Oh, come on!" Shinobu puffed up in mock indignation. "I'm just trying to teach her how to make decisions on her own."

Her voice softened slightly as she added, "She can't rely on a coin for everything forever, right?"

That one left Kanae momentarily speechless.

But Ryo didn't quite agree. "I think it's fine to let her keep using the coin for now. She'll learn at her own pace."

"That's too slow," Shinobu shot back without missing a beat.

She couldn't help thinking about the final battle coming soon—against Muzan Kibutsuji. No one in the Demon Slayer Corps could guarantee they'd come out alive.

If something happened to her or Kanae… what would happen to Kanao, all alone?

So...

'Even if I have to be strict, at least let her be able to live on her own…'

"You're just too impatient," Kanae sighed from beside her.

Ryo, however, had noticed something strange—something just a little off in Shinobu's expression.

Meanwhile, Kanao had already approached the dango stand. She was staring at the different kinds, clearly torn. She pulled out a coin, hesitated… and then tucked it back into her sleeve.

Before she could make up her mind, Kanae was already watching her with sparkling eyes and muttering, "Kanao is just way too cute. Even the way she hesitates is adorable~"

"Big sis!" Shinobu hissed, clearly embarrassed. "We're not at home, you know! Don't say stuff like that here!"

Right at that moment, while Kanao was still deciding, a voice suddenly cut through the crowd—

"Hey! Isn't this the runaway slave I lost a while back? So this is where you ran off to, huh?"

As the drunk voice rang out, a hand reached for Kanao.

And then—was caught mid-air by Ryo.

"The hell do you think you're doing?" he asked coldly.

The drunk, bald man scowled. "Let go of me, brat!"

But Kanae and Shinobu were already rushing over, pulling Kanao protectively into their arms.

Ryo glanced over and saw Kanao shaking slightly in Kanae's embrace. He turned back to the man with a calm smile.

"Who told you it was okay to touch my little sister?"

"Your sister? Don't be ridiculous. She's just some no-name brat I bought. A slave."

From the safety of Kanae's arms, Kanao whispered, "I… I have a name. I'm not a slave."

Shinobu immediately hugged her tighter. "Don't listen to garbage like that, Kanao. You'll get eye infections from looking at trash like him."

Ryo raised an eyebrow at the overwhelming stench of alcohol coming from the man, but his smile only grew wider.

"I'd advise you to shut up now," he said quietly. "Otherwise, this is going to hurt a lot more."

The man froze. Not from the words—but from Ryo's eyes. Eyes that looked at him like he wasn't even human. Cold. Unforgiving.

Just then, a whistle blew. A patrolling officer walked over.

"You two—what's going on here?"

Ryo turned to him and said, "Officer, I caught this man trying to kidnap my sister."

"What?!"

The officer immediately pulled out his baton and stepped forward.

As he got closer, Ryo leaned toward him and whispered, "He'll disappear into the river, won't he?"

The officer blinked—then his eyes went vacant. Slowly, he blew his whistle again and waved over his colleagues.

"You, over here!"

Other officers quickly surrounded the drunk man.

"Let go of me! What the hell—let go!!"

Ryo released him and calmly walked back to Kanae's side.

"Think this'll cause any problems?" Kanae asked quietly.

"You think I'm the type to just kill someone in broad daylight?" Ryo asked back.

Kanae thought about it seriously. "Well, if you did kill him, I'd help you bury the body."

Ryo blinked, then laughed out loud.

"Don't talk about stuff like that in front of Kanao!" Shinobu scolded.

Kanae chuckled and patted Kanao's head before explaining, "She used to belong to that guy, technically. Well, I wouldn't say we bought her. Shinobu threw some money on the ground, and we grabbed Kanao and ran. That's more like a forced trade, right?"

Ryo shrugged. "Call it whatever you want—I don't feel bad for people like him."

"Same here," Kanae smiled.

She looked at Kanao again and asked, "So? Did you pick which dango you liked?"

After a brief pause, Kanae added, "You can use your coin if you want."

Kanao's eyes lit up and she started to reach for it.

But before she could flip it, Ryo spoke up from beside her: "Kanao, which one looks the tastiest to you?"

Kanao froze, eyes flicking between the coin and the dango. Torn again.

"So basically… you like all of them?" Ryo grinned and turned to the vendor. "I'll take three of each kind."

"This is way too much!"

"Ryo-san! There's no way we can finish all that!" Shinobu panicked.

"Then save some for tomorrow," Kanae said cheerfully. "It'll be fine."

"There's still too much!" Shinobu groaned, holding her head in despair. "Just let her pick her favorite one!"

But Ryo had already returned, arms full of skewers. He handed a box of assorted dango to Kanao, rolling his eyes.

"How's she supposed to choose when she's never even tasted any before?"

Shinobu paused. "Huh… I guess you've got a point."

It almost felt like Ryo was using dango to say 'I want to taste everything,' didn't it? …Was that just her imagination.

Kanae gently stroked Kanao's head. "So that's how it is. Well, once you try them all, next time you'll know which one to pick, right?"

"Mm!" Kanao nodded seriously.

---

After the festival, on the walk home—

Kanae and Shinobu walked a little behind, breaking up the dango skewers into smaller portions so Kanao would have more choices.

Up front, Ryo was walking hand-in-hand with Kanao when he suddenly felt her tug on his sleeve.

He looked down at her, curious. "What's up?"

Kanao hesitated for a second, then softly said, "I'm… Kanao."

"Kanao Tsuyuri. That's… my name."

Ryo blinked in surprise—then smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Got it. Nice to meet you, Kanao. I'm Ryo Yagami."

Behind them, Kanae looked up and asked, "Something happen, Ryo-san?"

Ryo glanced back, smiling. "Kanao just introduced herself to me."

"Wait—what?!" Kanae looked like she'd been struck by lightning. "She's never even introduced herself to me, her big sister!"

Meanwhile, Shinobu was on the verge of tears—finally looking relieved. "She did it… she really did it. She's finally learned how to introduce herself. I'm so happy…"

"You guys are being way too dramatic," Ryo muttered, exasperated.

But Kanae raised her hand cheerfully. "To celebrate Kanao's first-ever introduction, how about soba noodles for dessert tonight?"

"Hey! We still have tons of dango left!"

"Soba~ soba~ soba~"

"Ugh, fine! I give up. Even though we literally just ate…"

Ryo chuckled, then glanced to his side—just in time to see Kanao smiling, the corners of her lips gently curved upward.

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