Kinsuko's POV
She didn't mean to follow him.
Truly, she didn't.
But when she sensed Kyoshi walking near the lake instead of heading back to his patrol path, something… pulled at her. She told herself it was strategy. Curiosity. Tactical observation.
Not longing.
Not guilt.
Not that strange, flickering warmth she tried to keep smothered deep inside.
So she followed. Silent. Masked. Hidden in the shadows of the trees.
The wind was soft tonight. Gentle, like her mother's hands used to be. She hated it.
Kyoshi stood by the lake, unmoving, his coat pulled around him. The moonlight bathed him in silver. He hadn't brought food this time. No teasing. No dumb jokes.
Just silence.
And then he said it.
Quiet.
Like a secret.
"I see you, Kuzan. Even if you don't want me to."
Her breath caught in her throat.
She took an unconscious step back, claws twitching as if the name physically struck her. That name—her name—before all of this. Before Askari died. Before Muzan saved her. Before she became Kinsuko, the demon with claws sharp enough to kill the kindness out of her.
Nobody alive should've known that name.
Nobody could.
And yet—he had said it. Gently. Not like a weapon. Not like a threat.
Like a memory being honored.
Like a hand reaching across a chasm she told herself was too wide to cross.
Kinsuko should've left. She should've vanished back into the shadows, erased the sound from her head, and scolded herself for feeling anything.
But she stayed.
Watching him.
Listening to how he didn't say anything else. Didn't call out to her. Didn't demand her presence.
Just stood there—quiet and still—like he knew she was listening, and was leaving the choice up to her.
She hated that.
She hated him for that.
Because no one had ever given her that choice before.
Not Muzan.
Not the world.
Not even Askari.
When she finally left the shadows, her chest ached like it hadn't in centuries.
She didn't cry.
Kinsuko didn't cry.
But that name haunted her all the way back to the Infinity Castle.
Kuzan.
The girl who used to sing at the well.
The girl who used to smile without shame.
The girl who hadn't learned yet that being soft got you killed.