Chapter 225: Pretend Family
"What are you doing?" Tanjiro asked, his gaze flickering briefly toward Rui's "sister," who still knelt, cradling her wounded face. "Aren't you two... allies?"
Rui's eyes flashed with a mocking light as he looked at Tanjiro. "Allies?" he repeated, his tone dripping with disdain. "You misunderstand."
He motioned toward his "sister" with a flick of his fingers, barely acknowledging her presence. "They're not allies. They're... family. My family. And they obey me. There's no room for weakness or disobedience."
Tanjiro's expression softened with empathy as he looked at Rui's "sister," catching the faint fear in her eyes. His heart clenched at the way she flinched under Rui's controlling gaze.
"But family isn't just about obedience or control. It's about caring for each other, supporting each other, not forcing them to be something they're not."
Rui's face twisted with anger. "You know nothing about what true family means!" he snapped, his voice a mix of fury and something darker, a pain he buried under his cruel facade. "Family is created through strength, through power. If you can't understand that, then you don't deserve to lecture me."
Tanjiro held his ground, his grip tightening on his sword. "I may not understand everything about you, Rui," he said calmly, "but forcing your 'family' to obey you through fear... that isn't family. This is counterfeit."
"You..." Rui was about say something, then suddenly one demon slayer emerged from the forest.
"Hey! Look at that, a demon just about the right size. Even I can take down a kid demon like this one....." The slayer couldn't even finish as he turned into chucks of meat by Rui's web.