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Inosuke padded into the hallway long before the sun woke up over the mountain tops. Small feet, followed by the patter of hooves against the wooden floor.
“I can hear him down the hall,” Kotoha whispered, a small smile forming on her face before she turned to hide her face deeper into her pillow, Douma looked at her, he too could hear the patter of feet coming towards them. “He gets it from you,” She accused.
Douma chuckled, “Where would you ever get that idea?”
“You and your strange sleeping habits.” Douma snorted, not that he had any sleep schedule, finding himself just pretending to sleep most nights. He could deal with it, laying next to her getting drunk off that sweet scent of lotus flowers.
A grunt and a snort from the door, followed by a soft, “Shush, they’re still sleeping.” and the door slid open just enough for the two to slip in. If Inosuke noticed his father awake, he didn’t say anything. The two crawled up on the futon, Tempura curling up against Inosuke’s back as the boy inserted himself in the crook between Kotoha and himself.
It was a morning ritual now.
Inosuke coming in in the early morning to sleep until dawn with them, he’d done it ever since he’d learned to walk. What drove him to it was still a mystery, even years later.
Kotoha’s hand combed into Inosuke’s hair, easily putting him back to sleep.
The demon wouldn’t mind spending the rest of eternity like this, his beautiful mate and their child, all wrapped up in each other.
Dawn was approaching soon enough, pulling him out of his thoughts, Kotoha shifted against him, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her hair flowed and tangled around her, emerald eyes laced with a sleepy bliss. She sat up for a moment before laying back down against him, she mumbled a few words he couldn’t decipher.
Inosuke woke next, his big eyes opening slowly to gaze at them. Douma smiled, “Good morning.”
“No,” Inosuke said before tucking his face back into the blankets.
It was a daunting task truly, to bring them out of their room in the morning. Servants would hesitate upon entry, not because they were afraid, but rather because the scene was too charming to be disturbed. But duties had to be attended to.
The servants were really only there to make sure they got up and take the bedding to be cleaned.
Kotoha sat by a small mirror, brushing the knots from her hair with a golden comb, a gift she’d been hesitant to take. Douma handed her a small rectangular box.
Kotoha turned, “What’s the occasion?” She asked, laying the comb down on the small table.
“No occasion,” Douma smirked, “Just felt like giving you a gift.”
Kotoha turned the box slowly before opening it. It wasn’t unusual for Douma to give her gifts, despite her constant insistence that it was unnecessary, he would not stop showering her in gifts of clothing and jewelry.
She let out a small gasp. A golden hairpin, decorated with crystal flowers. Two pink lotuses bundled at the end. Small emerald droplets hanging from the end like dropping leaves. She lifted the hairpin carefully, nimble hands wrapping around it, afraid to break it. “It’s beautiful.” She whispered as if speaking too loud would break the crystals dangling from it.
She felt his hands in her hair, his long fingers tying her hair up at the back of her head. He’d plucked the pin from her hand before she could blink, fastening it in her hair within minutes. She looked into the mirror catching Douma’s gaze. Small tears prickled in her eyes, “Thank you, it’s beautiful.”
“Shiny.” A dark head of hair interrupted the reflection, “So pretty.” Inosuke said, eyes wide as he studied the hairpin, she was almost surprised when he didn’t attempt to pluck it from her hair.
Kotoha didn’t wear her hair up often, mostly just for special occasions. But now she had an excuse. As Kotoha and Inosuke went to their usual daily activities, as Douma went to his own, she felt the breeze against her neck, the eyes of people on her. The pin was beautiful, it would be a shame if it just wasted away in a jewelry box.
Inosuke and Tempura lead the way to the river, a small stop to gather water and for the two wildlings to play. Kotoha watched from where she filled the bucket on the riverside, Inosuke knew not to go deeper than his waist, Tempura usually not going further than Inosuke did. Kotoha had learned to swim some time go, but fear lingered in her mind every time the water reached further than her thighs.
It’d taken some time to fully recover her memories of that night she’d run from her former husband. How her legs ached as she ran, the terror she’d felt when she heard the slamming of the house doors, how she’d thrown herself from a cliff in hope to get away from him.
And she had gotten away.
She loved her life, her son, his unusual animal friends, the kind people around her, and of course, Douma. The heavens had opened up for her and taken her from hell.
A splash of water drew her attention, the liquid splashed onto her face. Kotoha blinked at her son, her son who pointed at the also frozen boar. Kotoha smirked, picking up the bucket-
Inosuke screamed as the water splashed over him, laughter followed suit from both parties.
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Douma wanted to laugh. Inosuke pressed against his side, a vain attempt to push him over. People filtered in and out of the room.
Inosuke grunted before retrying his efforts, small hands pressed against his ribcage. The boy was struggling. Douma exhaled before leaning. The small inhale before the effort was renewed answered his question.
Douma let Inosuke push him down, but right before he fell against the soft gathering of pillows and plush, he snatched his son by the collar of his dark blue kimono. Inosuke yelped as he left the ground, hands, and feet wrestling against his arm trying to get away from it.
“Let me go!”
“Why should I?” Douma drawled, a sly smirk on his face.
“Fight me!” Inosuke yelled. Douma laughed before dropping Inosuke down on his chest. The boy sat and placed both hands on his face. “Me-I wanna be stronger.”
Douma tilted his head, “Why do you want to be stronger?”
Inosuke pouted, and slumped on his chest, “I wanna protect mommy too.” Douma raised an eyebrow before smirking. Inosuke didn’t catch his smirk before he was thrown into the mountain of pillows. Inosuke let out an offended yelp before racing from the cavern of softness, he let out a war cry before ramming into him.
Douma, actually surprised by the sudden speed, retaliated. Grabbing the child and flipping him onto a pillow before blowing raspberries against his chest.
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Roughhousing with his dad certainly tired him out. Inosuke was practically asleep as dinner ended. The two parents finding themselves breaking from the usual routine as the kid was already out.
They’d tucked in Inosuke, Tempura curling up next to Inosuke’s leg. Before they’d gone back to their own room.
Douma held up his hands in defense as the door closed, “He wanted to fight me.”
Kotoha laughed softly, “I wasn’t asking… I think it’s good for him. You’re usually quite busy during the day so those moments are nice.”
Douma wrapped his arms around Kotoha’s waist, “I don’t mean to be busy.” He kissed her neck softly, his words muffled against her skin.
“I know, and I don’t blame you. I appreciate those moments when they happen instead.” Douma undid the hairpin, Kotoha’s long hair cascaded down her back, falling softly into the wavy length. Kotoha leaned her head against his, “I’m heading to bed, will you be busy tonight?”
It was a full moon. He feasted these nights. A small group of people was asked to join the sermon at midnight. Sometimes he did wonder how Kotoha hadn’t noticed the signs, people vanishing after “ finding paradise ”. How it only happened at night at a certain hour.
Kotoha didn’t join the sermons. Not because she wanted to join them in hopes of finding a paradise , she’d already found it. It was a hole in the ground that Douma was struggling to cover up, but she wasn’t even looking for it.
It just made it easier for him in the end.
“tragically, I’ll be back as soon as it’s finished. I promise.” He kissed her goodnight closing the door and heading towards the sermon room.
Within a blink, his eye dropped the camouflage of a round pupil to the etched in numbers of his status.
Upper Moon Two.
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Inosuke turned in his sleep, sweat covered his body from head to toe. He grumbled and growled in his sleep. Fists tightening and loosening in his sheets. Pain and relief mixed around him. An endless cycle of horrible intensive pain, like lightning across his spine; stretching from his head to his feet. His mouth hurt, his canine pushing in his mouth. His teeth scraped together in an attempt to soothe the pain.
Inosuke’s eyes opened, slit pupils stared up at the ceiling. With a blink, he was sitting up. The next he was falling from the window of his bedroom. Another blink and he was rolling down the sloped roof. And another he was running on all four into the forest.
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Anzu sighed as she leaned against the tree, she and her partner, Takaeo, had been wandering the damned forest for nights, trying to find a small settlement rumored to have a demon among them. But the damned village was impossible to find, no map, one road that they’d gotten lost from, and nothing.
Takaeo stopped as his partner did. “Is something wrong?” He asked.
Anzu slid down the tree, her dark uniform bunching around her. “I’m tired Takaeo-kun. We’ve been on the hunt for days now… I’m starting to think this village doesn’t exist.”
Takaeo sat down next to her, he reached out to fix the girl’s ponytail, knowing full well she wasn’t about to do it herself. “I’m starting to doubt it myself, but we can’t back down. There could be people in need of help.”
Anzu leaned into Takaeo, “Maybe you’re right-”
A twig broke in the darkness. Both demon slayers straightened, hands on their swords.
“What was that?” Takaeo asked.
“An animal perhaps?”
The two wandered into towards where the twig had broken. If it was a demon it would be just their luck for it to find them.
Anzu pushed a bush away with her sword, peeking out from behind the leaves; the scarred and bleeding face of a stag came running at them. The two jumped back, Anzu swung her sword in panic, the stag cried as the blade cut into its neck. The two slayers fell back as the stag landed between them. Dead.
“What the-” Takaeo began.
Another roar echoed into the forest. The two slayers stood, staring into the wide darkness. The mist of the night clouded the leaves. The sound of stomping, followed by grizzly growls surrounded them. -The sound came from everywhere it seemed as the hunters turned in frantic circles to locate the sound.
A person stepped from the haze. Or rather stumbled. Hunched over and growling. Humanoid and not. Glowing green eyes stared at them, slitted pupils locked eyes onto the stag before it pounced.
The demon flew past them, long talons wrapping around the animal’s hide and dragging it off into the darkness. The demon appeared as soon as it came.
Anzu was the first to recover, gripping her sword and her partner as she followed the demons into the night.
The two followed the dragging trail of the stag, cutting bushes and branches in their way.
They came upon the gaping maw of a cavern, a hole in the hill. Stains of blood lead to its entrance. All leading from different angles.
“This has to be the demon, strange that it went for the deer instead of us though,” Anzu said low, Takeo nodded, the grip on his sword tightening around the hilt. “Let’s kill it and get out of here.”
They entered the cave cautiously, each step against the blood-soaked stone near-silent beside squish of their shoes. But the demon had already noticed them. Staring at them with wide green eyes. The demon looked young, child-sized even. With the little light from the moon, and as the demon finally sat still, they could make out the chin-length hair that faded to blue. Fangs peeking out from his mouth, like the tusk of a boar. As the demon heaved, white wolf-like canines peeked from the upper lip. The long claws of the beast scraped against the stone as it growled and bared its fangs at them.
“Poor kid got turned into a monster at such a young age.” Takaeo said, “At least you won’t have to suffer for much longer.” Takaeo raised his sword, running to bring it down on the demon. The demon moved, suddenly gripping Takaeo by the wrist and twisting.
Crack!
Takaeo screeched as the demon broke his wrist. The sword dropped to the ground, Anzu charged. The slayer barely had time to think before she felt the sword leave her hands. The demon grabbed her by the neck, its hands were so small.
The two flew from the cave a second later, crashing into the bushes. The demon slayers rose to the mouth of the cave, seeing the demon child standing there, staring at them. They were unarmed now, incapable of taking it down.
They had no other choice but flee.
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Inosuke woke to a strange feeling in his stomach. That and he suddenly felt unsafe. The ground was cold where he lay, and wet. He was barely clothed. And he was sticky.
When he opened his eyes a knot in his stomach formed. He wasn’t in his home. He wasn’t in his room surrounded by his small forest treasures and Tempura. He was laying on his stomach in a cave, surrounded by sticky water and a disgusting smell.
Inosuke looked around, the light from the cave entrance illuminating the cave just enough for the boy to see what surrounded him.
Dead animals.
Inosuke cried out and stumbled to his feet, only to slip and fall back on his butt. The sticky water had turned red in the light.
Blood.
Blood was never a good thing.
He pushed away from the face of the dead bear. A deer laid next to it, its throat and stomach ripped open. Inosuke bumped into another wet animal. He jerked to see and his heart dropped.
Tempura.
Tempura lay slaughtered among the animals, her head ripped from her body, the body nowhere to be found. Inosuke cried out and reached for the head holding her in his hands before he wrapped himself around it and cried. He didn’t want to move. His best friend was dead, slaughtered by a monster. And he himself was lost in the woods.
He’d never gone too far away from the small village, his father had always said it was dangerous, and he didn’t mean the animals. His mother had also been adamant about Inosuke going too far away, but Inosuke could always remember the way home.
But now he didn’t even know how he’d gotten out there, there was no way to get home.
“Mom?” Inosuke called out, he stared at the maw of the cave, as if his mom would appear around the corner and lightly scold him for going too far.
Still holding the head of his deceased friend Inosuke crept to the entrance. The sun was already high in the sky. It was only in true light that Inosuke noticed the state of Tempura; not only was her head ripped from her body, but her head had been completely cleaned out. Nothing but a skull and the skin remained on her.
Fresh tears formed in the boy’s eyes.
He wanted to go home.
He’d never been alone in the forest before. Or this alone in general, there’d always been people around him. Making sure he didn’t get into too much trouble. His mother had never strayed too far from him. His father had somehow always known he was up to something and would always be around. Or his father’s followers would be around. Even Tempura had never left his side since he’d been allowed to keep her.
And now it was gone.
With the deer hide on his back and the two strange swords he’d found on his sides, Inosuke left the blood-soaked cavern.
Inosuke tumbled through the bushes in a desperate attempt to stumble upon home. But he could only find the river. The river that had once lead his mom home, but would lead him further and further away from the sheltered life in the Eternal Paradise.
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Shinobu waited as the last of the Pillars settled across from their master. The girl sitting among them. Muichiro sat down silently.
Shinobu took a deep breath as she waited for the master’s permission to speak.
“Shinobu Kocho, I understand you had some concerns.” Ubuyashiki said, “Were you attacked in your home?” The pillars looked at her, they’d received the message but probably weren’t informed as Shinobu had purposefully neglected to do so.
“No, but I’m not certain. A demon didn’t attack my home, but a demon did appear there.” Glances were thrown around as she leaned back, “Do you think it is possible to go from human to demon, then back to human?” She knew the answer, no. It shouldn’t be possible.
“What are you talking about?” Sanemi snapped.
“A few nights ago, there was an incident in the hospital wing. While Agatsuma and Kamado were sleeping, they both detected a demonic presence-”
“And they didn’t kill it?” Sanemi snapped again.
“Yeah, why didn’t they kill it? And did it manage to get so close?” Uzui asked. “The Hashira manors are surrounded by Wisteria, it’s impossible.”
“The demon didn’t come from the outside,” Shinobu said, “The demon was already inside-”
“The Kamado demon girl?” Obani asked.
Shinobu shook her head if only these idiots would stop interrupting her. “No-” Shinobu’s fist turned white where she gripped her haori, “Inosuke Hashibira. Inosuke seemingly transformed into a demon, but when the sun rose up he couldn’t remember any of it and he was as human as ever.”
“I knew that kid was weird,” Gyuu whispered just loud enough to be heard.
“Shouldn’t we kill him off then?” Obani asked.
Shinobu jumped to the defense, maybe a bit too quickly. “He hasn’t killed anyone, he didn’t even touch Agatsuma and Kamado when he had the chance to kill them, they were defenseless but instead he killed a deer in the forest instead. Kamado Nezuko was able to subdue him or calm him down, I’m not sure.”
“Interesting,” Ubuyashiki said, the pillars turned to him, either surprised he wasn’t ordering Inosuke’s execution or by his interest. “Shinobu, keep an eye on him if you can. This is a rather extraordinary turn of events.”
“So we’re going to let him live?” Mitsuri asked.
“As it appears, there are demons who don’t seem to bow to the same rules. Shinobu, if you can run some tests. See what he’s capable of.” Ubuyashiki said, Shinobu nodded, holding back the sigh of relief.
She didn’t want Inosuke to killed. He was a weird boy, but he was a child at heart. Scared, bound to the rules of survival and strength. For as much as she knew, Inosuke had lived in the wild for years. Survival was in his core but also in his core lay secrets and information that could be essential in their work to take down Muzan Kibutsuji.
“We’ll see if anything can be found matching your description,” Ubuyashiki said.
“Thank you.”