Work Text:
You don't hate demons. Well, not really.
Demons aren't very different from humans; their biology is their only divergence. Demons, just like humans, fight to survive in a world that hates them. You can't hate them for that; the only real reason to hate a demon is their tendency to take pleasure in one's suffering.
Because you could understand a demon killing people to survive without starving, humans feed off animals too after all. But a demon taking pleasure in fighting humans and killing them deserves none of your recognition or respect.
At least that's your opinion.
That's why ever since you saw Akaza for the first time, it was on sight.
After the Mugen train had crashed, your left ankle was shattered, and you were a beginner; you couldn't dream of helping in the fight against him. So that night, you had to watch helplessly as Kyojuro Rengoku, your father figure, the man who had saved your life countless times, had his guts stabbed by that demon's fist.
You were desperate. As soon as Akaza started running off, the pain in your ankle disappeared and you ran to the edge of the forest, still bathed in sunlight, followed by Tanjiro. You yelled every insult you knew at the running upper moon, called him every name, cursed him over and over again. But most importantly, you called him a coward.
And that, Akaza didn't appreciate at all.
Thankfully, after the demon ran off, you put your heart and soul into keeping Kyojuro alive. Your father was a surgeon, your mother an apothecary, so they both taught you many things while they were alive. You used every bit of that knowledge to save him.
He stayed in a coma for a good six months. You went to see him everyday, bawling your eyes out as you kept apologizing, until he woke up. Master Kagaya forced him to resign from his position as a Hashira, and to focus on training his little brother Senjuro. You're well aware he still goes on some missions occasionally, but he never takes too many risks.
Time passed since the Mugen train incident and you got increasingly better at sword fighting, although you still found it hard to keep total concentration constant active all the time. Your ankle never completely recovered; on bad days, it hurts when you run, and it became extremely fragile. So much that you learnt how to walk even though the pain of a broken ankle. Very practical.
You were on a mission with three other slayers. An apparently tough demon has been killing people near a village.
Said village was located in the middle of large fields, so the chances of the demon hiding anywhere near there are very low. The only possible hiding spot is the forest located not too far. It goes all the way up a mountain; a perfect hideout for a demon.
You and your three comrades walked all the way up the mountain. The path was rough, stones fell easily and small cliffs covered the facade of the mountain. One wrong step could end up pretty bad.
But the road soon became your least preoccupation. Because you found the demon pretty easily, and discovered why nobody managed to behead it before.
.
.
.
You watch in horror as one of the slayers accompanying you screams in pain right before her body quite literally explodes, her flesh, bones, oranges and blood splattering around the place where she was standing just a moment ago, staining your uniform and those of the two remaining slayers next to you.
One of them, another girl, turned around and ran the fuck away. You can't blame her; but right now, you're furious that she abandoned you and the other, a boy probably younger than you.
The demon snickers darkly, and shakes the blood off his hands. "Ah, yet another group of reckless beginners. I'm growing tired of you all, so much I don't even think I'll take the time to eat you !~"
You're panicked. His blood demon art must be what just killed your friend. But how ? Think-
"His touch ! His blood demon art works through his touch ! If he touches us, he'll have full control of our cells !" You yell, getting in a fighting stance, looking at the boy next to you. Your eyes widen when you see he's practically crying. His eyes scream « I don't want to die », and your heart clenches at the sight.
The demon looks irritated "my my, such a smart slayer. Yes, my blood demon art allows me to control the flesh of those I touch~ it's a shame you won't live to tell the tale" he said, right before lunging at you.
Your eyes widen, and you dodge. You manage to block all his attack, but this won't keep going for long. You block another hit when suddenly, the demon changes pray, and jumps on the other slayer. You barely had time to react before his body basically melted in a scream of agony after the demon grabbed his arm.
Your eyes are wide open in fear. You're the last one left. You're next. No. I refuse to die like this- not right now, not after everything I've done to get here- You thought panicked.
Then, the demon pulled what appears to be some sort of fleshy spear out of its throat. "Let's finish this quickly, slayer~" he chuckled sinisterly before attacking you.
You blocked the first three hits, before he landed a hit on your right arm. Your eyes widen as you expect to die; but nothing happens. It appears that the spear is not connected to his bda, thanks gods.
You fight the demon off for a good twenty minutes, and are already getting tired. This isn't good. So you do what anyone in your situation would do; you throw your blade in the demon's chest, taking him by surprise, grab one of your deceased friends' blade and run away.
You're already pretty injured from the fight, but you barely feel it from the sheer fear in your body. You ran down the path you had taken earlier, gravity helping you. Except at some point you slip and fall from one of the cliffs. You feel your ankle snap again, and your nose starts bleeding. Yet you get up and keep running.
That is until something —or rather someone— grabs you by the neck and slams you against a tree.
"Well well well, look who we got here ! If it isn't the little bastard who called me a coward ! You're very unlucky, I've been having a very frustrating night and definitely need to let some steam out !" Said Akaza, an evil grin plastered on his face.
Shit- he had to arrive right now !- you thought, trying to gasp for air as he squeezed your neck tighter.
Then, you heard another voice. "Ah, how fortunate, you caught my prey, upper three !~"
The demon from earlier has caught up. Akaza furrows his brows looking at him. "Back off. I caught her, and I happen to have a few things to tell her," he said calmly.
The demon smirks. You're panicked, and your vision darkens from lack of oxygen. Now you're either dying from that bitch, or from upper three. Talk about choosing between the plague and cholera...
"How about we settle this with a fair fight then ? The first one to give up or die loses, the other gets the girl," said the demon cockily.
Akaza smirked. "Now that's a language I understand. I find it hard to catch why a worm like you would want to fight me; you'll regret underestimating me."
He dropped your neck, and you fell to your knees coughing and gasping for air. You stood up again difficulty. Akaza steps away from you, speaking lowly: "I'm not done with you. If you even attempt to flee, I'll make your death even worse than I originally intended."
He then turns towards the other demon. Something's wrong. Akaza is a lot stronger than the other one in battle, and his bda alllows him to fight without touching him, why would that moron offer such a stupid deal-
"How about we shake our hands before we start fighting ? I don't like to fight someone without paying them my respect first~" said the other demon, still grinning.
As Akaza walks towards him, hand extended, it hits you; upper three has no idea this guy's touch is deadly. If he shakes that other demon's hand, said demon will have full control of his body, and absorb him without any difficulty.
You now have a choice to make. Run away and hope the other demon will be content with absorbing an upper rank, or save him. Why would I even do that ? You thought. But then you realized that this unnamed demon is already overpowered while being unranked. If he got Akaza's strength on top of that, he'd be unstoppable. Besides, the memory of your comrades' agonizing screams of pain are enough to push you over the edge.
Right before Akaza grabs the other demon's hand, In two long and lightning speed strides, you reach him and pull him back by the collar of his sleeveless pink haori with all your might. Upper three didn't expect that, and stumbled back. He's visibly furious, but before he can even utter a word, you yell: "This demon's blood demon art uses touch ! Touching him would give him full control over your body, he wants to absorb you after immobilizing you !"
For a second, Akaza doesn't move. He wonders if you're tricking him. But considering the look on your face, and the furious gaze of that other demon, it's not hard to tell you're sincere. "You little bitch ! Youre seriously getting on my nerves here ! You're gonna pay for ruining my moment !" The unnamed demon yelled
Akaza slowly turns his head towards said demon, and speaks lowly. "So that was your plan, huh. You offer me to fight fair, and try to stab me in the back ? Bastards like you deserve none of my respect."
Within the next second, the battle started. A clash between the two incredibly strong demons started, and you realized you wouldn't have ever won against that death-touching monster, since he's probably at Akaza's level. Why isn't he part of the Kizuki yet ? Did he wait on purpose ?
You don't know, but you just watch as the battle unfolds. Maybe I should run while they're both fighting-
Just as you thought that, the unnamed demon jumps behind upper three and lunges at him, hand extended, to touch his back. Almost by reflex, you grab your sword and cut the demon's arm in less than a second using your breathing technique.
You and Akaza jump out of the furious demon's reach. Akaza eyes you, confused, and scoffs. "...I just got saved by that bratty human" he muttered, almost to himself.
"You bitch ! I'm gonna tear you apart piece by piece and reassemble you so you feel every bit of pain you can !" The unnamed demon screeched while regenerating his arm. He visibly finds it hard. So that's why he isn't part of the Kizuki; his regeneration is shit. I couldn't notice before because while I was fighting him, I was fully focused on my defense.
The monster then lunged towards you, faster than you could dodge. You're saved by little by one of Akaza's blows that sent the demon flying into a tree. He got up right after, and started to fight you both.
"I hate to admit it, but you're not as useless as I thought you were back at the train wreck !" Akaza exclaimed, visibly thrilled by the fight. You clench your jaw. "Shut up and focus on that bastard. Try to give me an opening so I can behead him; otherwise the fight will go on forever !"
Akaza laughs, as the demon tries to hit him again. Looks like he memorized his attack patterns. Or maybe he uses some other technique; regardless, I don't have to worry about him getting hit anymore, I just have to focus on that bastard's neck !
The fight goes on for a few more minutes until finally, you use your best breathing technique to behead the demon. He yelled in anger as his head fell to the ground, crying about how he had potential, about how if his regeneration was even slightly better he would've been an upper rank, about how this couldn't be over.
You almost felt pity for him, but were too tired to care. You let yourself slump against a tree as the demon's voice died out. You closed your eyes, and rested for ten seconds before you felt a shadow looming over you. You opened your eyes and looked up to meet Akaza's golden eyes. There's something oddly beautiful to them, as much as you'd rather die than admit it.
"You're a good fighter. Sure, you have lots of room to improve, but you're not bad, for an average slayer," he said calmly. "I won't kill you today, because I want to fight you in the future. But don't think that I forgot about the offense you did to me."
The truth is, he's confused by you. You saved him twice, willingly. He doesn't quite understand why, but deep down, he can't help but refuse to kill you after that. "Fuckass morals" he thought.
You sight and let your head rest against the tree truck. "...sorry for calling you a coward." You reluctantly said. Akaza looks slightly surprised at the sudden apology. "I- I know you didn't have a choice but flee from the sun, you know better than to die stupidly like that. I was just angry and desperate, I needed to take it out on the first person I could blame."
Having to run away from that demon today was quite the eye opener; you hate to admit it, but you definitely owed Akaza an apology. You yourself hate when people insult you on your insecurities, it's not hard to guess the upper three demon isn't keen on being questioned on his strength or bravery.
"...whatever" Akaza muttered, crossing his arms and looking away. After a second, he spoke up again. "Your ankle looks pitiful. I'll help you down the mountain. But don't think I forgave you, I just want you to be able to fight me someday, and I can't fight a disabled moron."
Without asking for your opinion, he effortlessly yanked you up and wrapped his arm under yours to provide support. You're surprised, but don't protest, as your broken ankle always hurts like shit when the adrenaline comes down.
You both walk down the mountain in silence. You see the sky turning a lighter blue through the thick trees. You soon reach the edge of the forest which opens on the large fields. In the middle of those sits the village you just saved from this bastard demon. It's already bathed in sunlight, and it slowly progresses closer to the forest. Akaza lets go of you, and speaks up. "I'll leave you here, alright ?"
You nod and start walking away. You're about twenty meters away when you hear him mumble "...and thanks for saving me." You turn around and smile, before waving him goodbye. Akaza looks surprised, but awkwardly waves back. "Thanks for helping me down the mountain !" You yelled as you turned around and kept walking into the sun.
You kept glancing behind you, and noticed that the upper three demon wasn't leaving the edge of the forest. Is he making sure you're getting back to the village safely ? As the sun is about to reach the forest, he turns around and runs away. You smile softly and keep walking towards the village.
Despite your earlier losses, you can't help but think this fight which had you cooperating with a demon is the beginning of something more.