Chapter Text
Kokushibo sighs and pinches his nose in frustration. With Muzan slaughtering the lower moons and his demand for more in their efforts to aid him in his search for the Blue Spider Lily, the Uppermoon is beginning to feel the pressure. Akaza’s attitude toward the hierarchy and the beheading of Douma was unacceptable, which had not helped the situation.
With a few strums of her biwa, Namike had sent everyone from the fortress, returning them to where they had been prior.
He appreciates the silence and calmness of the clearing he’s found. It’s deep in the forest and humans wouldn't be foolish to enter a forest at night, let alone this deep.
Since the night is young, Kokushibo sits on an old tree stump and takes a deep breath. Air fills his lungs and his body calms. The scent of a lively young forest had always calmed the elder demon, which is why he always searched for the deepest parts. There’s even a hot spring nearby.
A hot bath may help soothe Kokushibo’s stress and that though is tempting to the demon, he decided to stay and listen to his sanctuary.
The feeling of tranquility washes over him like cool water against fevered skin. It could put the demon into a meditative state if long enough.
At least he can decompress in peace…
“We must get to the temple! We have to warn the others!”
Six eyes snap open at the loud voice and the demon growls, face turning into a snarl.
Humans?
Here?
This deep in the forest?
With tranquility shattered, Kokushibo decides that if he can’t calm himself with peace, he’ll do it with violence. It’s been a long time since the demon had sunk his claws into human flesh and ripped them to shreds in pure anger. He doesn’t like wasting a meal, but he’ll allow it. Just this once.
He wants to kill! He wants to hear those pathetic cries of mercy as he tears those who had disturbed his sanctuary. Standing in a quick and silent motion, Kokushibo heads in the direction of the voice that disturbed him.
Following the humans was easy, years of hunting had given him an advantage. By scents alone, Kokushibo can tell there are two women and three men. He didn’t know where they were going, but he’ll know soon enough.
The demon stayed in the shadows as the humans came up to a temple. The temple was rather simple, like many he has seen over the centuries. But, the walls were in shambles, paper coverings in tatters, and greenery had begun to reclaim the building. This one had been abandoned and neglected for some time.
Why did the humans come here?
Kokushibo’s weary about the building. The aura around it was off and this made the demon shutter. Like something unthinkable had happened inside the once-holy place. And the longer he stayed the more uneasy he became.
His spine shivers and his stomach feels heavy. He wants to be sick.
Perhaps killing the humans is not necessary. With discomfort replacing anger, Kokushibo now has second thoughts. In truth, he wants to get away. His instincts scream at him to run!
As he turns to leave, a cacophony of screams erupts from the temple. The sound reminded him of animals being gutted. Turning his attention back to the temple, the demon sees one of the cloaked figures running.
Watching as the cloaked being flees, Kokushibo wonders what’s going on. Turning his attention back to the building the demon listens as the screams die out. As quickly as they had begun, they stopped. Taking a breath, Kokushibo gathers courage and heads to the temple.
The scent of blood is thick. Normally the smell of fresh blood would tempt the demon to feed, but food is the last thing on his mind. Bodies lay about, blood leaking from them and creating a massive pool on the wooden floors. With a quick sniff, Kokushibo knows that there are no other demons in the area. Looking around, Kokushibo spotted bloody footprints and droplets leading into a dark hall. Kokushibo felt his heart quickening, but followed the trail.
He wasn’t understanding why this place is making him act like a scared child. But, he continues to follow the trail. After taking some turns, Kokushibo stops. Titling his head up, the demon sniffs. Confusion dawns on his face and Kokushibo walk on. The scent he picked up confused him, but it seemed familiar.
Kokushibo’s eyes widened and he skidded to a stop.
There’s a figure standing in front of him.
Their back is to him, but they’re wearing a long sleeve knee length white yukata that’s covered in blood. Kokushibo can see that this person has their hair up in a ponytail. In their right hand, there is a blood-covered knife. Looking at their feet, they were covered in blood as well. So, this is where the blood trail came from.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
The voice snaps Kokushibo from his thoughts. Though, it wasn’t from what was said. No, that voice belonged to only one person…
“...Yoriichi?”
The figure turned its head and revealed the face of his twin.
Kokushibo opened his mouth to speak. To ask how this was possible. To ask why he was here. But, Yoriichi interrupted.
“I said you shouldn’t be here.”
The words knock into the demon like he’s been punched in the gut. Yoriichi’s tone was emotionless as he remembered but there was a hint of something else. Something Kokushibo couldn’t put his finger on, but he knows it was there.
“H-how?” Kokushibo’s throat is as dry as sand, but he still managed to speak. “How are—”
“It doesn’t matter.” Yoriichi snapped, a sneer pulled on his lips. “You're not involved. It doesn’t concern you.”
Taken aback by his brother’s temper, Kokushibo blinks. What the hell was Yoriichi’s problem? How Yoriichi had come back from the dead wasn’t his business, Kokushibo felt he at least deserved an explanation of what was going on. One does not find their deceased relative alive every day.
“At least…tell me…how.” Kokushibo slowly says, keeping his voice calm. While he would argue with Yoriichi on what does and doesn’t concern him in this situation, the elder brother had decided to not feed into Yoriichi’s…temperament.
Kokushibo watched as Yoriichi seemed to ponder. Then he turned to face him and sighed.
“I suppose telling you would not…hurt.” Yoriichi monotones, “I don’t remember much. My memories are foggy at best.”
Kokushibo felt himself bristle with how quickly Yoriichi’s tone and expression changed. Back to that emotionless gaze again.
“A ritual was performed to bring me back.” Yoriichi had started, “I don’t know how it was done, but for it to work, twelve people are needed.”
Kokushibo nodded as Yoriichi took a breath, noting how tired his brother seemed. Has he always looked this tired?
“Once I was resurrected, I was held captive for three days. From what I gathered, they needed me for another ritual. But, something… happened…” Yoriichi closed his eyes and rubbed one of his temples.
Instinctively, Kokushibo reached his arms out and placed his hands against his brother’s head. Gently, he massaged Yoriichi’s temples until the younger had placed his hands on his and lowered them.
“I’m ok.” Yoriichi lets go of Kokushibo’s hands.
Drawing his hands back, The Upper Moon shivers at the feeling of Yoriichi’s cold skin. If the demon didn’t know any better, he’d say Yoriichi felt like a corpse. Why was his younger brother so cold?
“You're cold…”
Kokushibo blinks as Yoriichi shrugs.
“It can’t be helped.” Yoriichi says, “The ritual they used to revive me wasn’t complete. Something had gone wrong and I’m—”
Kokushibo lurched forward as his brother suddenly fell. Ignoring the coldness of his skin, Kokushibo lifts Yoriichi bridal style and sighs. He’s grateful the knife the other was holding had fallen before he had caught Yoriichi. This abandoned temple wasn’t the best place to have his brother rest, but it was better than him sleeping outside and unprotected.
“What am I going to do with you?” Kokushibo huffs, looking at his sleeping brother.
Looking around, the demon wonders if there’s any room that’s suitable to allow his brother to rest in. He didn’t want to hold his brother as he slept. Not only would his arms be tired, but the position would give Yoriichi a sore back and neck.
Sighing, the demon decided to head forward and see if he was able to find a suitable room. After using his foot to open door after door, Kokushibo finally found a sustainable room that didn’t have holes and had intact window shades. Smiling, Kokushibo walked to the middle of the room and lay his brother on the floor.
Looking around the room, Kokushibo didn’t find anything to cover his brother. Not even a pillow to lay under his head. Undoing his uwa-obi, Kokushibo shrugged the outermost layer of his kimono off and laid it over his brother’s body.
Turning his gaze to the covered window, Kokushibo can tell that sunrise is soon and that he’ll have to stay here until the sun sets again. At least he’ll be able to have some kind of quiet while Yoriichi sleeps. Sitting next to his resting brother, Kokushibo closes his eyes and tries to relax.
A thump startles the demon from his sleep. Kokushibo blinked his eyes open and rubbed the sleeplessness away. The sound of fabric catches his attention and he finds his kimono wrapped around his shoulders. Looking around, he finds that Yoriichi is up and looking out the window. A corner of the cover is dangling from a few fingers. At least the younger one is looking through the side that Kokushibo had not been sleeping on.
“Sorry if I woke you.” Yoriichi didn’t turn to look at him, but his voice was soft. “I bumped my knee into the wall.”
“It’s… fine.” Kokushibo says rather awkwardly, “Demons… do not… need much sleep.”
Yoriichi didn’t turn to him but hummed. “I woke up warm.”
“The room was cold… you would have fallen ill… if I had not covered you.” Kokushibo turned his head to look at his brother. The other had put the cover down and had turned slightly to the old demon. His brother’s puzzled expression would have had the demon raising an eyebrow… if he still had any.
“But, why?” Yoriichi asks, “There wasn’t a need. I wouldn’t have felt the cold.”
Kokushibo’s expression mirrored Yoriichi’s. Did his younger brother not hear him when he said that he could have gotten sick?
“You could have fallen ill, Yoriichi.” Kokushibo repeats.
The younger twin blinked and cocked his head to the side, like a little kid not understanding what they were being told. And this made Kokushibo wonder what was up with the other. Yoriichi was difficult to get through, but he wasn’t this dense. Did the failed ritual do something to his brother?
“Yoriichi…” Kokushibo says, “Are… you alright?”
The older twin stood up and walked over to Yoriichi. Now standing in front of the other, Kokushibo placed his hands against his brother’s face. One on his cheek and the other on his forehead. Yoriichi is warm, but not unhealthy.
“I’m… fine?” Yoriichi sounded perplexed, “I’ve noticed that I don’t feel the cold.”
“…At all?”
“At all.” Yoriichi conforms, taking his brother’s hands from his face and into his. “I noticed it when I was being held captive. They gave me some sheets. But, I examined them and noticed that they were very thin. But, I never felt cold.”
Kokushibo nodded as Yoriichi explained, allowing the younger to hold onto his hands. “Could the… failed ritual… have done something to you?”
“I assume so. Though, I don’t know what.”
“Do you remember what… you were telling me before you… fainted?”
Yoriichi shook his head, “No. I had tired when I woke up. But I ended up with a massive headache.”
Kokushibo sighed. He had hoped to gather more from Yoriichi, but if the other couldn’t remember then there was no point in forcing at this time. He has no choice but to wait.
“Perhaps you should… lay down.” Kokushibo suggested, “You may not have… gotten enough sleep.”
Yoriichi seemed to ponder what Kokushibo had said. And for a moment, Kokushibo hoped Yoriichi would listen. But, felt himself deflate when the other opened his mouth.
“I’m rather wide awake. I don’t think I could fall asleep.”
With a sigh, Kokushibo nods. He took in his brother’s appearance and hummed. The younger one was very healthy and his eyes were bright. But he can see the shadow of his brother’s frame through the yukata. This told the other that Yoriichi’s clothing is thin and with cold weather coming, he’ll need warmer clothes.
It’s also covered in blood.
“Is there… any other clothing you can… wear?” Kokushibo slipped his kimono from his shoulders and wrapped it around his brother’s. “It’s going to get… colder. You’ll need warmer clothing.”
Yoriichi shook his head. “No, there’s none here.”
“What about the—”
“No.” Yoriichi wrinkled his nose, “I’m not wearing what those cultists have on.”
“Yoriichi…”
“Why are you so concerned?” Yoriichi’s face pulled into an annoyed expression, “I don’t see anything wrong.”
Taking a breath, Kokushibo squats his shoulders.
“I can see through your Yutaka.”
Kokushibo waited for his brother to say something. Though the younger’s startled expression indicated that he may not have known about his clothing issue. Kokushibo didn’t know if he should feel bad for the other or not.
“H-how… um… much—”
“Little is left to the imagination.”
Kokushibo watched the other completely cover himself in his kimono, clearly self-conscious and embarrassed. If the beet red tint to his cheeks is anything to go by. For once, he feels a bit bad for his little brother.
“Keep that on and when night falls… I’ll get you some better clothes.”
Yoriichi took a step and wrapped his arms around Kokushibo’s neck and pulled the other into a hug. He nuzzled his face into the crook of the demon’s neck and mumbled a quick word of thanks.
Kokushibo blinked at the sudden hug, but relaxed when Yoriichi nuzzled him. With a hum, the elder demon slid his arms around his brother and held him. Letting themselves have a moment, Kokushibo does wonder.
What the hell am I getting myself into?