Work Text:
After facing dozens of traps and trapdoors, as if crossing through a ninja's secret base, the ice pillar ‘Kaminaga Douma’ of the demon slayer corp finally found a giant door which seemed like an exit. Even if it wasn’t an exit, at least it seemed to be the entrance of something way more entertaining than those boring trapdoors and booby traps.
Douma carefully opened the wooden door, in case another trap awaited him. What actually awaited him weren’t giant rolling rocks or flying knives or massive axes or that kind of thing at all.
Floral scent immediately hit his nose. Behind the door was an exquisite garden with various types of flowers. It was certainly weird to have a garden inside a building. Douma wasn’t that surprised though, this place was created from blood demon art anyway, everything was possible, that’s why he easily lost interest in the garden.
“Wow~, so what he said was true. There really is an interesting guest. Thank you, Uzui-san”
The one who exclaimed with her sweet alluring voice was a petite girl whose eyes were narrowed from smiling, sitting in the middle of the vast room. Her beauty surpassed every single flower in the garden. She was wearing light purple yukata with butterfly-patterned on its hem. Her slender waist wrapped by a pink obi. The obi bow was identical to long-tailed butterfly’s wings. Her dark hair with purple tips was put up with butterfly hairpin. Her slender horns on her front hairline looked like butterfly antennae rather than demon horns.
The maiden and those flowers surrounding her were artistically graceful. Artists would definitely die to set a canvas frame in front of this view and draw them…If only that petite figure wasn’t sitting on piles of the demon slayer corps member bodies and currently eating someone’s bloody flesh. Grass and flowers around the scene were dirty with blood. The stinky metallic smell didn't fill the air as it should though. The only scent around here was floral fragrance. Her blood demon art might be the cause. That’s great, Douma always hated the metallic odor from blood.
Still smiling “Good evening” echoed out of the demon’s plump lips dirty with blood.
Since she greeted him nicely, Douma bowed his head down the way every good-mannered Japanese man would, and greeted her nicely as well. “Good evening”
The demon pulled a handkerchief out of her obi before using it to wipe blood on her lips with graceful manner like a mistress then put it back while asking him.
“The moon is quite lovely tonight, don’t you think?”
Actually, he didn’t know if the moon tonight was lovely or not but he agreed with her as a matter of courtesy.
“yeah, it sure is, what a lovely night~”
“Nice to meet you, my name is Kocho”
“Kocho, that means ‘little butterfly’ huh? Your name suits you perfectly. The demon king is the one who named every demon right? He really has a good naming sense!”
“Did you just imply that I’m short?” A smile remained on her face but the vein on her temple was bulging, showing her actual emotion.
“Sorry~ I didn’t mean to upset you. Forgive me, young lady”
“Young lady? I'm 100 years older than you, boastful human”
“Oh right, we can’t predict demons' age based on their appearance. Kocho-chan should be proud though. You look so young and pretty!”
“Kocho-chan..”
“Nice to meet you anyway, my name-“
“The man who managed to become a pillar one month after touching a sword for the first time. The one people praise as a genius..the ice pillar, Kaminaga Douma”
“You know me, eh? Such an honour!”
Even if demons didn’t have a proficient way to share information, every demon would immediately know who he was from the first second they saw him anyway. Not only because of his wicked breathing technique, his appearance was also very outstanding. His perfect muscular body covered under Demon Slayer corp uniform and a cloak as white as snow. His light blonde long hair tied up in a pony-tail style. The most distinguished feature of his was his eyes which contained seven vivid colours. They were beautiful, but also were a sign of danger, like how a venomous frog had a colourful skin.
Kocho didn’t say what she had in her mind out loud. The only question she asked. The only thing that mattered was..
“Doesn’t this obi ring a bell?”
“Obi?” the pillar tilted his head as his eyes fixed on her pink obi with a long-tailed butterfly bow, before exclaiming loudly. “Ohhhh, is that her obi? That beautiful girl..What’s her name again? Kana-..Kanasomthing! Wait, your face is kinda similar to her, are you girls rela-“
At that moment, the petite demon’s eyes, which narrowed from smiling, widened. Douma could see her eyes clearly for the first time. Her round amethyst eyes had net patterned the same as bug’s eyes. In the middle of those nets contained Kanji syllables that could read as ‘Upper moon 4’.
“Blood demon art: Butterfly caprice” Despite whispering, her voice contained an unbelievable amount of rage. She outstretched her translucent mint green and pink butterfly wings before fluttering them.
“Pardon?”
Before Douma could catch what Kocho said, his surroundings suddenly changed from a flower garden into a dark blank space. Dozens of colourful butterflies were flattering around. A pungent floral scent hit his olfactory nerve.
“I knew it! The aromatic scent in this room really comes from Kocho-chan’s blood demon art~ I guess you used this skill on those slayers either, that’s why this sweet-scented still fills the area, right?..but the scent is too strong now, so let me refresh the air, yes?” The pillar lifted his silver-blue fans engraved with lotus-patterned which seemed like carved from ice but actually made from nichirin ore.
“Ice breathing, first form: frozen lotus~”
After waving his weapons, those butterflies and pit black void disappeared. He was now surrounded by flowers in the garden again. In front of him was Kocho, she was going to slice him with her claws.
She was so small. This fact was crystal clear than before when she was here right in front of him. She was even smaller than most human girls. He still should be cautious though. Her fragile-looking frame certainly didn’t match her real strength, she was an upper moon 4 after all. That’s what in his mind while watching the upper moon swiftly dodged the cold wind from his technique.
“Wow, that was fast indeed! You’re definitely the fastest demon I ever fought. As expected of an upper moon!” Exclaimed Douma while clapping his fans together as a sign of applause then used the tip of his fan to collect a sparkling dust on his shoulder before staring at it closely.
“So this is the dust from your blood demon art. The source of floral scent clearly comes from here. Ahhh~ it smells so good!”
Kocho didn’t listen to the babbling pillar at all. She kinda knew Butterfly caprice wouldn’t work on him, she tried it anyway just in case, the result was as expected so this failure didn't disappoint her. The upper moon planned her next move while flying till she reached the ceiling.
“Blood demon art: Queen bee!”
Blue ornate blood veins of her big translucent wings bulged a swarm of bees popped out from there and went straight to attack the pillar below.
“Ice breathing, second form: Barren hanging garden”
Douma swiftly waving his fans unleashed a sharp wind cutting those bees in pieces.
“K-Kaminaga..sama..”
It seemed that one of the corps members which was lying in the middle of the garden was somehow still alive. He weakly slid himself forward while stretching his feeble hand toward his last hope.
“Please, hel-“
The demon bees crowded around him and stinged the guy till he stopped moving. Bee shouldn’t have fangs but those bees had them and those fangs were very sharp like canine fangs. They used those sharp fangs to tear up and eat every bit of every corpse down there. The remains were quickly gone. Even a pool of blood disappeared. A small bloodstain was the only thing left.
“Wait, your minions snatched all of your nutrients, is that alright?” Douma asked while still unleashing his attack non-stop, constantly slicing bees into pieces.
“Everything those girls eat will go straight to my stomach”
“That’s so cool~ quite convenient isn’t it? Hey, Kocho-chan”
“Stop adding ‘chan’ behind my name, insolent human!”
“But Kocho-chan is very cute and I really want to get along with you! That’s why I add ‘chan’ behind your name. C’mon little butterfly, let’s be friend~”
“Be friends with the bastard who murdered my sister? hell no, NEVER!!”
“Whoa easy girl, easy~ Why are you angry? Actually, I believe you have no right to be upset about this matter, Kocho-chan, you frequently kill someone’s sibling or parent and you even eat them! As for me, I just did my work”
“It’d be totally understandable if you kill me or another demon because of that reason..but my sister never devoured humans!! And you KNEW!”
Usually, that was impossible. Demons couldn’t live without human flesh. However, Kocho’s elder sister was different. She managed to survive without eating. She never even drank a single drop of human blood…
****
Kocho couldn’t recall her time as a human. She couldn’t remember how she turned into a demon either. Her first memory started in a dark forest. Kocho was lying on grass, her older sister gazed at her with a concernful eyes under the crescent moon.
As for her older sister, she could recall some tiny detail from her vague memories. She told her that when they were human, joining the demon slayer corp was their wish. But the corps didn't accept them. They tried so hard. They always roamed around seeking for slayers. They kept asking and begging every slayer they met. One day, a corps member said he would recommend them to a cultivator if they could slay a demon which was currently lurking around a forest.
“How did it go?”
“..I don’t know. My memory ended here”
Well, judging from their current state, Kocho guessed they lost the battle but were somehow lucky enough to survive.
“Why did we desperately want to become a slayer again?”
“I..forget, why indeed..ouch!”
“What’s wrong!? Are you alright?”
“I’m fine..I just suddenly had a headache when I tried to remember”
“Then stop, just forget it”
As time passed, Kocho forgot about their background. As for her older sister, she forgot what she told her little sister after one night passed. She never forgot her love and mercy for humans though.
While Kocho consumed humans for the sake of living, her elder sister never gave in to her instinct and ate them.
Kocho spent every night convincing her sister to consume necessary nutrients. She both begged and scolded her older sister, nothing worked. Her sister always just shook her head while drooling at the sight of bloody human flesh before apologising.
And then one night, her sister just suddenly started her long sleep. Kocho tried several ways to wake her sibling up but she didn’t even budge. She tried to open her sister’s mouth to feed her human flesh, her sleeping sister’s lips shut tightly as if they were sewed though. Kocho must surrender at one point. All she could do was keep checking on her, making sure she was fine.
Kocho knew full well that the demon king, her master, would be very upset with a demon who was just lying around, not devouring any human nor finding any blue spider lily. He could easily kill her sister any moment. Kocho needed to be useful. Very Useful to the point he permitted to keep her sibling which was useless to him alive. Fortunately, Kocho had knowledge about pharmacy. She didn’t remember how or when she learnt about it though, guessing it’s something she learnt when she was human. Whatever, the point was that knowledge saved her sister. Kocho managed to produce topical medication, sunblock cream, a lotion which helped demons to stay safe under the sun for 1 minute. Her master was very satisfied. He allowed her sibling to live and even gave gallons of his blood to her while insisting her to continue developing this topical medication.
Her elder sister hibernated for 1 year. This hibernation changed her body function. She completely lost appetite for human flesh or blood and was fine and healthy without them. She even managed to cut the connection between her and the demon king somehow. He would definitely kill her if Kocho wasn’t very useful to him. However, Kocho still needed to prostrate at her master’s feet and promised him she would keep her eyes on her sister, making sure that she didn’t betray him.
After 100 years or so had passed, Kocho was now a lower moon 1, a lower moon 2 challenged her to a blood battle. She needed to fight him in front of her master and other 12 moon demons. Her sister wasn’t allowed to be there, which meant Kocho needed to leave her alone.
“Take care, sister”
“Of course~ and you too, take care. I roothing for you”
“In case of emergencies, you can always contact me through my bees, okay?”
“Yeah, I know…please, take care and don’t die”
“I’m quite strong so I’m not gonna die easily, sister. I swear I’ll beat that guy to a pulp!”
Her sister giggled as Kocho raised her tiny fist up and down, punching the air to emphasize her words.
Kocho survived, apparently the one who died was her sister…
The challenger was tougher than Kocho expected. The battle occurred over a period of 2 whole days, so she had no spare time to check on her sister through her bees. After winning the battle, she started to realise that something went wrong..her bees were slain. Kocho sensed bad omen. She immediately recalled her minions' memories from her brain cell.
“Please, don’t hurt him. He’s not a slayer. See? He isn't wearing a corp's uniform” her sister begged.
The swarm of bees stopped as she wished. Kocho felt regret, she shouldn’t have ordered those minions to listen to her kind-hearted sister…
In front of her sibling was a man with kaleidoscope eyes in a red yukata. He leaned on a tree, exhausted and bleeding. He might prick his palm on a thorny branch.
“Are you lost?”
“Yeah, nothing has passed my lips for almost 2 days now…Do you have anything to share, pretty please~”
“I’m..sorry”
The demon bees were watching her, meaning her little sister could see her action and that also meant the demon king who connected with her little sister would be able to observe her as well. So she couldn’t openly help a human. She couldn’t treat his wound or give him food but…
But she also couldn’t let him die in front of her..She just couldn’t..
Hence she detailedly told him where he could find water to drink and fruits to eat. She also meticulously explained about every path that could lead him to the forest’s exit.
“That’s all I can help with..sorry”
“It’s totally fine. That’s enough to save my life. Thanks a bunch!” Replied the man as he slowly stood up and walked away.
Next night, while Kocho’s older sister was enjoying herself in a cottage, her home, the door had been knocked. Understanding her little sister had returned, She opened the door only to meet the man with rainbow eyes from before wearing a corp member uniform under a white cloak..his uniform buttons were gold..A pillar!
The pillar!? Why!? How!?..Kocho was always beware. Instead of hunting at a village near the forest where they lived, she flew to hunt humans at farther villages or cities to make sure the corp couldn’t locate their home. So how the hell did he find her elder sister!? A mere fluke!? Ignoring Kocho’s confusion, the flashback continued.
“Good evening, what a nice night out, don’t you think?” The pillar greeted cheerfully but his colourful eyes reflected nothing, the same as a glass orbs in a doll's eye sockets.
The bees immediately attacked the uninvited guest. The sight abruptly blackout. An icy cold wind from those fans slayed all of her minions.
“SISTER!!!”
Kocho rushed back to check on her older sister. The only thing that welcomed her return was emptiness. She was home but felt like she’s not. Without her sister, home wasn’t home, it’s just a house. Her sister was gone..The only remains of her were her clothes…
While hugging her sister’s yukata and long-tailed butterfly obi, Kocho screamed like a wounded wild animal. She cried all her tears. Her heart was broken into pieces. Kocho lost everything since her older sister was the only thing that mattered.
Ever since that moment, Kocho had been devoted to seeking revenge. She devoured a horde of humans, continually eating them even if her stomach was full, even though she felt like puking, she still ate. She always honed her skill and challenged higher-ranked demons to promote her rank. She did everything to please her master, in case her action put him in a good mood, causing him to have some mercy to share her his blood. She gathered the information about her enemy, learnt things she should know about him as much as possible to gain advantage when they fought. Kocho did anything she could to become stronger and well-prepared, to be ready when she had a chance to face the devil that took her everything…
****
“Your hand was bleeding but she reacted to nothing, she didn’t drool. That should make you realise she wasn’t a threat to your kind and she SAVED you! Just why, WHY the hell did you kill her!!!” Kocho screamed furiously while consistently ordering her minions to attack him. She had a strong urge to jump at him then crushed his neck and ripped it out of his body. She knew attacking him from afar gained her advantage though, hence she just continued to order her minions from upward, waiting for her enemy to be overwhelmed and exhausted by quantity.
“Hmmm..Well, that’s true, nothing was guaranteed that your sister would really never eat humans though. It’s my duty as a pillar” Tears spilled from Douma’s kaleidoscope eyes. “I’m so sorry for your loss. I knew your sister was kind and gentle. She actually was my life saver! But I needed to do what needed to be done for the sake of humanity. Please understand me, Kocho-chan”
“….”
“Fufu…ha ha ha!!” Laughter burst out from her lips.
Douma thought her laughter was sweet and melodious, that was until she exclaimed..
“LIAR! You never really care about your own fucking kind! I know, I SAW! I saw you flinched and smoothly moved away from your ally that pleaded for your help! You could have helped him but you didn’t even try! And I know exactly why, I saw the way you held your cloak and moved back, you were afraid his blood would stain your cloak weren’t you!? Despite your ally dying in front of you, all you ever cared about was your clothes!”
The way she phased it made him seem so evil..Well, what she said wasn’t entirely wrong. Douma didn’t think he was in the wrong though. That guy's state was beyond any help. He was surely dead anyway. So there’s no need to waste his time nor sacrifice his cleanliness. After all, that guy’s hand was filthy and Douma’s cloak was white, it was easily stained!
“Why did a guy like you even join the corp? Why did you slay us!?”
“Seeking revenge, a demon killed everyone that matters to me”
“….”
“…fufu. AHA HA HA HA!! Filthy liar, you can’t fool me. I know what eyes look like when they express hate, anger and hunger for revenge. I saw them in some of the corps members that fought me. I see them every time I look in a mirror. I don’t see that in you. Your eyes never express any emotion, NEVER. Even when you faced my blood demon art, Butterfly caprice, which should lure you to see your heart desires, your eyes still reflected nothing! You’re so empty! I might not feel so frustrated if my sister died because of some passionate slayer who swore to protect their own kind! At least, it would be understandable! But why! Why must my sister die because of someone like you!? Why did you kill her!? Why do you kill us!?”
“….”
“Why were you even born, Kaminaga Douma?..”
Why was Douma born?..
****
His parents said Douma was born to guide people, it was his mission as the son of God.
Therefore, he did his duty.
He listened and guided those pathetic grown-ups who complained about their boring life stories to a child. Those cult members, his believers, there were a lot of them but their stories were almost the same as each other. After they finished telling their cliche life story, they would prostrate at his feet, begging a boy 10 or 20 years younger than them to guide them. The reason was they believed the boy connected to God just because his eyes colour was a bit weird. When he cried since these adults were so pathetic, they interpreted as they were content and said he was sympathetic toward them.
The most pathetic one of them all was no one but his own mom. She also believed with all her heart that her son could hear God’s voice. So she often consulted with him about his dad cheating on her with female cult members and hoped he would relay messages from God to her, the messages which suggested her an effective way to stop her husband’s action.
Of course, God didn't actually exist. Douma never heard God’s voice. Every single word, every advice he gave his mom and believers came straight from his brain. Although those consult sessions were ridiculous, Douma always listened and guided those adults thoughtfully, since it was his duty, this was the reason why he was born.
And then one night, while Douma randomly looked around, he saw one of incense which was set around the monastery, causing him to suddenly wonder.
“Mom, why do we have to light up these wisteria incense every night?”
“It’s to chase away man-eating demons, dearie. Wisteria is a poison to them. So we must light these incense up every night to protect ourselves”
A demon..was as real as God, heaven and hell..which meant it wasn’t real. It’s just one of those horror stories parents told their child so those kids wouldn’t dare to play outside during nighttime.
After that night, routine life went on as usual. Today was the same as yesterday. Tomorrow was the same as today. He spent every day guiding his believers. Until one day which was the same as other days, Douma saw an incense then started to stare at it. He began to wonder what would happen if he put all of it out. His mom and cult members would certainly freak out, they were timid after all. But what about his dad? He always smiled. Douma never saw his dad express anything else except smiling. How would he react if Douma put incense out? Would he be scared? Would he be angry? He might express something that wasn’t smiling. No matter how everyone reacted, this might cause tomorrow to be different from today. That’s why he put every single incense out.
The change didn't start tomorrow, it started that night…
Loud crash and screaming woke Douma up in the middle of the night. At first, he thought it was a cockroach that caused this racket and guessed someone was beating that bug with a broom, hence he went back to sleep..But as he tried to sleep, the chaos still continued and had no sign that it would come to an end. Therefore, he got out of his futon then opened the door to see what’s going on.
The metallic odor hit his nose the first second Douma stuck his face outside his bedroom. Next, he noticed that there was a hideous creature with long horns and giant fangs in a hallway. Its arm held someone’s blood-soaked lower part. Judging from the sleep pants, that lower part might be the remains of his dad.
Wow…so demons really did exist. Adults didn’t just make them up. Wait, did that mean hell, heaven and God also exist?..Anyway, blood smelled so awful. Was there a way to get rid of this smell?
That’s what’s in his mind while the massive figure dashed toward him.
As its claws almost reached his face, its ugly head fell off.
“Are you alright!? Did it hurt you?!” Asked a woman in black clothes. Her sword was stained with the demon’s blood.
Douma cried out loud, since he knew this was how a normal kid would react in this situation…
After the situation unfolded, Douma learnt his parents were dead (that gory lower part really was his dad’s). Most of the cult members died as well. Few cult members that managed to survive stop believing in him. Some of them realised God didn’t exist. Some of them were furious at him for not contacting God and asked for his protection to stop the tragedy.
Douma had no relatives left, now he’s an orphan. Fortunately, a retired pillar just lost his son, so he adopted Douma to heal his broken heart. And Douma also happened to be a child from a rich household, he received a large inheritance. He still couldn’t fully look after himself though. Therefore, this was a win-win situation. Douma got someone to take good care of him. His adoptive father was now rich and not lonely.
Soon, his life was back on track, the kind that yesterday, today and tomorrow were all the same. During those days, he started to question himself why he was born. His parents once said he was born to guide people but now that all of them, who needed his guidance, died..all he ever did was live from day to day…
During one of those days when Douma was 14, he picked an old wooden-sword covered with dust up from the storeroom, cleaned and repaired till it looked as new then swung it around because he had nothing better to do.
“You have great potential” praised his adoptive father.
“For real?”
“Yes, I kinda knew all along this day would come, the day you can’t endure a desire for revenge..I’ll teach you everything, are you ready?”
“Yes!”
Douma learnt why he was born. He had a mission to kill demons, a barbaric creature to avenge his parents, his believer and his adoptive father’s real son death and to protect humanity. He became a pillar one month after the day his adoptive father taught him sword technique for the first time. Then he changed his weapon from sword to sharp pair of fans and developed his own breathing style. That’s how his title changed from wind pillar to ice pillar.
Not sure if enjoyment existed or not, if it was, those times would be the closest feeling(?) to enjoyment. It ended so quickly though. He was too talented. His life became a routine yet again.
Yesterday, today, tomorrow, next week, next month, this year, next year things he had to do remained the same…
Joined a conference, slayed demons, consoled surviving victims, slayed demons, consoled surviving victims, Joined a conference, slayed demons, consoled surviving victims
Ah, there was an incident which was more memorable than others. That time, Douma traveled to a small village near a big forest. He wasn’t there to slay a demon though. He heard that the special sake there was very fine. It was very fine indeed. Might be the best sake he drank over the years actually. He was so hammered. The sight of a table, sake cup and villagers in a bar slowly faded away. Before he knew it he was standing in the middle of an unknown forest.
This mistake was a life long lesson he always used to remind himself not to drink too much. He lost and starved and dehydrated in the forest for almost 2 days. His hand was also bleeding from a thorny branch. He might have died if the beautiful demon didn’t help him. Yeah, although she almost seemed like a human he knew she was a demon, judging from her eyes, her fangs, and his experience as a slayer.
After Douma managed to return to the village, he thought long and hard about whether he should slay that beautiful damsel or not. She’s his life-saver but also was a demon, a creature he must slay. He finally decided to return to the forest and slayed her the next night, since it was his duty, it’s what he was born for.
At last, though this incident was more memorable than others, things he must do remained the same, slayed a demon.
consoled surviving victims, slayed demons, consoled surviving victims, Joined a conference, slayed demons, consoled surviving victims, Joined a conference, slayed demons, consoled surviving victims…
Douma turned 20 now but he still continuously joined a conference, slayed demons, consoled surviving victims…
****
Why was he born…Suddenly Douma felt like there was a splinter in his heart even though he wasn’t wounded. The slight pain spread under his chest for some unknown reason.
Usually, Douma always smiled. His smile seemed to be friendly and heartwarming, however, if someone thoroughly explored that smile they would discover his smile looked more like an expression of artistic statue rather than human expression..Perfect yet lifeless. That kind of smile never left his face, until this moment. The smiley mask slipped off his face for the first time in forever.
“Even though Kocho-chan is so cute..I wonder why a cutie like you would say something so cruel?”
At the moment Kocho considered changing her plan since the quantity strategy seemed ineffective..
Douma spread his fans and raised his moderate muscular arms in the air. “Ice breathing, fifth form Blizzard” then thwack them down harshly, creating a giant storm as cold as a blizzard (lived up to its name), causing flowers and grass in the room to fly around all over the place.
“Blood demon art: Dancing dragonfly!”
Kocho’s butterfly wings changed into dragonfly wings to increase her speed. Although felt like attacking him, she didn’t want to be careless, so she focused on dodging for now. But even for an upper moon like her, dodging all those storms wasn’t easy. The storms from ice breathing fifth form were both rapid and harsh and also wide-ranged.
“Oww!..”
Those icy wind storms eventually cut off her right leg. The upper moon’s slender leg, which should immediately regerminate, was still amputated. The healing process was also painfully slow and her wound surface was chilly cold, as if it freezed. As expected of a genius pillar, his breathing style was so wicked. A low-leveled demon wouldn’t even be able to heal their wound, they surely died on spot after the hit.
“Ice breathing, third form: Frozen vines~”
Douma shut his fans, spinning them so the handles pointed at Kocho before harshly lashed his weapons. Ice-cold nichirin chains sprang out off the cold storage fan handles, strangling her thighs and waist. After managing to capture her, he repeatedly knocked her at a wall till her dragonfly wings contorted. Butterfly hairpin fell off, causing her sleek black hair to loosen around her shoulder. So Douma learnt Kocho suited every hairstyle well.
The upper moon quickly discarded her dragonfly wings and sprang back her butterfly wings. The pillar rapidly stabbed her hands brutally so it pierced her wings behind those white hands to pin her at the wall like a taxidermy butterfly. He thought this would be enough to nail her, he still pressed more force on the fan's handles just in case anyway. This action caused the chains to automatically strangle her petite figure tighter. His artistic statue-like smile came back on his lips as his eyes roamed around her body.
Her face was heart shaped. Her white skin was smooth. Now that his weapons strangled her tightly he could see her body more clearly and discovered her breasts were well-developed than he expected. Those horns were small and cute. Those translucent butterfly wings were so elegant. She didn’t look like a demon at all. The unique beauty of her was familiar…Oh yeah, she reminded him of a fairy, a mystical creature from western picture book he read when he was young.
As for Kocho, she didn’t care about how he pinned her on the wall and made her bleed or the way his colourful eyes roamed around vulgarly to explore her features. Her eyes darted to somewhere behind his tall frame. He followed her glanced to see the broken butterfly hairpin lying on the floor.
Tears welled up in her amethyst eyes. She tried so hard to hold them back, causing her round eyes to sparkling with tears like a shiny jewel. Her attempt to hang on was pitifully adorable.
“Aww, I’m sorry Kocho-chan. That hairpin must be so important to you. Was it a present from your sister?”
“Shut up”
Her expression immediately turned aggressive. Her eyes filled with an unbelievable amount of anger, as if flame bursting from a net patterned of her eyes and licking around the kanji syllables. If staring could kill a person, he would surely die a thousand rounds already.
As a slayer, Douma met dozens of demons before. Their appearance might be various but behavior was quite the same as each other since they mostly lived by instinct like a wild animal. They were almost always hungry for human flesh, if not they were likely to be angry or fearful at the slayer who hurt them. The more complicated one would always be a combative type. As for Kocho’s older sister, although was beautiful and different from those barbaric creatures, her personality was boring and her wish was fanciful. But Kocho..Not only was she so different, she was also beautiful and interesting. He never met a demon that wanted to avenge someone's death before. Her expression and light in her eyes were the same as..a slayer who joined the corp to avenge their important one’s death. Despite being a demon, Kocho seemed like a human…much more than Douma ever was..
Interesting..interesting indeed. Foreign little warmth spread under his chest. It's a weird sensation he never sensed before. He thought he liked it though. And in that moment, Douma realised he didn't want her to disappear.
“Hey Kocho-chan, why don’t you join the corp and live with me? I’ll buy you a new hairpin. I promise it’ll be prettier than your old one~”
“What the..”
“You’re cute, pretty and interesting. It’s a shame to kill you! C’mon, let’s be together”
“Are you kidding..”
“No, I’m dead serious. Everyday with you must be very entertaining~ don’t worry about oyakata-sama, he’s kind-“
“Are you out of your mind!!??”
Kocho happened to meet his eyes. Overall, those kaleidoscope eyes were still quite empty like a doll’s eyes. However, at this moment, they weren’t completely empty as usual. There were some dim sparks in those kaleidoscope orbs. She didn’t know what it meant and didn’t care either!
“Oh, are you afraid of your master? That’s understandable but-“
“Even without him it’s still NEVER EVER!!! I better rot in hell!”
“Eh~ don’t say that. Do you know what your sister wished for? Before she died she said ‘how wonderful would it be if humans and demons could all get along’” Funny. Despite always criticising how fanciful this wish was, right now he hoped it was possible, hence he obstinately negotiated. “Don't you think we should fulfil her wish, Kocho-chan!?”
“Even if she never said it out loud, I always have known. I don’t need you to remind me of that, Mr Genius. Although I wanted to fulfil her wish, it’s impossible, especially when you are still alive! Stop using her for making excuses, you bastard!”
At the moment her furiously snarling, he heard ‘bzzz’ noises. It’s too late though. Five bees strung his shoulder. Some of them tore out his flesh.
“Ouch!”
What a blunder, why wasn’t he aware of those bees? His instinct was usually sharp, even if he was so focused on her charm and their conversation he should be able to sense those bees before they were that close…
The floral scent went strong again. Ah, so she used a small amount of her sparkling dust to dull his instinct. What a clever little butterfly. Douma thought while quickly slicing bees with a single fan, the other one remained pressing on one of her hands and wings. She still managed to use that chance to slice some parts of her own body which were bound by chains off and free herself from confinement. Her wounds were immediately healed. Fortunately, her right leg, which was disabled from the pillar’s technique before, was also completely healed.
“Ha ha. What a feisty little butterfly~ I didn't get injured during a fight for such a long time. As expected of an upper moon! Hey Kocho-chan, can you at least tell me how to stuff your corpse?”
“What?”
“I mean, if I slay you, your corpse will turn into dust, yes? That’s a real shame! Since you’re so cute, pretty and interesting, I wish to at least keep your body, you know, like a taxidermy butterfly”
“So you're confident you’ll win?”
“Yeah”
He wasn't being boastful or trying to provoke her at all. Douma just said as he thought because things always ended with his victory. He easily survived without any injury from the final selection, the exam they said caused dozens of participants' death, and his clothes weren’t even stained. He became a pillar, the highest rank slayer they said was very hard to become one, within a month after touching a sword for the first time. He slayed a lower moon demon from 12 moon demons, a member of a group they said was the strongest demon, single-handed with one technique. Therefore, he was sure this time wasn’t any different than before. An event always ended with his victory after all.
“Oopsie daisy, that sounds so rude! Sorry, I really didn’t mean it. Kocho-chan, you’re strong. I’m being extra cautious during our fight. I have never been this careful during a battle before. You’re an upper moon after all. I’ll win though, because I always was. Oh, and I have an edge on you. Kocho-chan is a butterfly. I am the ice pillar..Well, it’s not like I literally freeze you into a block of ice but you know, coldness is harmful to bugs~” Douma confirmed before raising his fans. “Ice breathing, fourth form: Wintery frost”
After releasing cool mist out of fan handles, he waved those mist toward her, freezing those elegant wings…that’s supposed to happen, if the pain on his shoulder didn’t interrupt him. Douma losing his momentum because he had a laceration on his shoulder was understandable, there’s more than that though. He felt pain as if his nerves burned and it didn't stop at his shoulder, the pain also rushed to his arm…Oh, her bees poisoned him.
“Yes, you’re a genius. I must admit your technique troubled me. However, you shouldn’t forget that fundamentally no matter what..demons are stronger than humans”
The petite figure suddenly disappeared from his sight.
“Even if you’re a genius, a single human alone can never win an upper moon. That’s why I asked Uzui-san to separate you from the others. That’s why I devoted myself to become an upper moon, to become stronger so that I can kill you!!”
All he managed to see was a shadow lurking around rapidly.
“Don’t you dare underestimate me or my effort, insolent mortal!”
Where was she?..
“Blood demon art: Centipede hundred-legged zigzag!”
Fast, too fast! Douma couldn’t predict her movement at all. When the shadow showed up at his left, before he knew it, that shadow moved to his right. When he felt the shadow was behind and turned his head back, it reappeared at his front.
“Ouch! Ow!”
At that moment, Douma couldn’t attack or even dodge. He knew by instinct, even if he wasn’t poisoned before, he couldn’t keep up her speed. His back got scratched. His neck got bitten. His weapons fell off as she tore off his arms and legs.
Without any legs, Douma was unable to balance himself and fell down with a loud ‘thud’. After confirming her enemy couldn’t fight any more, Kocho stopped dashing around with inhuman speed.
The upper moon’s lower part turned segmented. Her segmented body was shiny dark purple. Her centipede legs seemed sharp like a blade. Someone (like Ume) might disgust this form of her, but not Douma. In his opinion, Kocho was still gorgeous, just the style was changing from elegant cutie to warrior-like beauty.
“I don’t actually want to use this blood demon art at all, it’s draining my energy. I’m always so exhausted after using this form and my clothes are ruined” complained Kocho as her lower part turned human-like again. A fabric at the hem of her yukata tore from transformation, causing Douma to catch a glimpse of her milky thighs. The sight managed to make him forget the pain for seconds. The nerves under his skin at the lower part were weirdly warm for a short while.
“You’re so talented indeed. I didn’t have to bring this form out for such a long time you know? Well, the wisest man may fall though~” Kocho giggled before gently picking up her broken hairpin and putting it in her obi.
“…Am I…going to..die?”
Not only his shoulder and arm, a burning sensation also rushed toward all nerves under his skin. His whole body was currently screaming from pain. Other slayers ranked lower than pillar definitely losing their mind from this level of pain. So this was her poison. Every part of her was venomous; her bees, her fangs and claws and her blade-like centipede legs. Douma lost the battle, he was-
“Yes, you’re dying. Not so soon though. Usually, you would die on a spot since venom glands of centipede form are very deadly but I purposely diluted my poison to make sure it doesn’t kill you immediately, after all, I must see you suffer” Kocho explained while walking straight toward Douma in his pathetic state before sitting down then pulled him up. “This is your punishment for draining my energy and of course for murdering my sister. It’s time to eat~” After declaring that, she buried her fangs on his already lacerated shoulder.
Hurt! It’s very painful!…That’s all. He felt nothing else, neither fear of death nor felt bitter about losing the battle.
Ever since Douma was born, he never sensed any connection with any person or event. No matter how his surroundings changed, Douma remained watching things from afar. As if there was an invisible wall that blocked him from everyone and everything else. It’s very ridiculous how demons, which seemed like a creature from cheesy horror stories, were more palpable than emotion. Why though…
Why was Douma born?
While he was wondering…his whole world changed because of…
“Um~ you’re quite tasty”
Her smile…Her smile, which stained from his red blood, acted as some twisted lipstick, was different from her usual smile. The smile that appeared on the corner of her plump lips from time to time during their fight was quite similar to his dad's smile or his own smile. However, right now, Kocho’s smile was so lively. It might be the liveliest smile he ever saw. Her smile widened till her cute tiny fangs were visible. She must be so overjoyed that her milky cheeks turned pink from happiness. That’s the smile of the one who was absolutely delighted.
…His heart was beating very fast. Even though it should beat slowly from the poison in his veins, his heart was beating at fastest speed. Something that’s not venom rushed under his skin till it reached his cheeks and turned them red. This..was…
LOVE!
Douma never fell in love nor had any emotion before. He knew how it should feel like though, since mom tended to blabbling about it everyday. So Douma had confidence that the feelings currently occurring inside his chest must be love! Oh, he was finally able to connect with someone. He was born, grew up and lived in this world for 20 years but this was the first time Douma felt he was part of the world…He finally understood his mom, though his dad wasn’t a man who deserved her loyal love, he now knew why she could blabbling about him for the whole day, he wished to blabbling about Kocho for the whole day either.
What a shame. Douma wished he met Kocho sooner. If they met before he slayed her sister and he pleaded hard with her, she might turn him into a demon. Ah, life as a demon with her by his side must be liveliest. What a shame indeed.
Oh well, it’s fine though. At least he managed to feel emotion and the demon who was currently chewing his shoulder wasn’t some hideous guy, she was the most gorgeous grim reaper who he fell in love with…
Thinking of it, this was a win-win situation. Kocho enjoyed eating him and she certainly became stronger from his nutritious flesh. Yeah, he had confidence his flesh must be nutritious since he always exercised by slaying demons and ate fine dishes (he’s rich after all). Oh, but he also loved to drink sake and smoked baraku. Would that affect her health? He hoped not.
As for Douma, although getting eaten alive was indeed painful, his heart warmed from a good feeling. The sensation of her cute white tiny fangs turned red from his blood dragged through his body and the fact that his flesh went through her slender neck to her stomach thrilled him. It might be his first time but he realised this feeling was ‘excitement’.
Fantastic! Not only learnt to love, he also felt excitement! In a short period of time, his grim reaper managed to make him feel things much more than he ever felt during those 20 years of his lifetime. She was so amazing!
“Kaminaga Douma”
“Ye..s?…”
His crush calling his name caused him to be excited. He desired to respond perkily but his vocal cord was ruined by poison, he now lost the ability to speak clearly and cheerfully.
“Are you sure you’re a human? They normally go insane while getting eaten alive, pillars are not an exception. Your mentality is so tough, huh?”
Round amethyst eyes met kaleidoscope one. Those colourful orbs showed fatigue, no sign of fear in them though. There was some spark in those rainbows. Fascinated; might be the best way to describe the light in his eyes…Fascinated? In this situation?…
“Ha..hah..the..e- eater…i..s…cute..”
“I see, you can’t go insane since you already are insane”
Insane? Hakuji always called him annoying, Michikatsu once stated he was a buffoon but no one ever called him insane. Well, he could agree with anything she commented so Douma guessed he was now an insane man who was crazy in love with her.
“What a shame. I really wish to hear you screaming or wailing from pain. Whatever, It seems I can’t hope for the usual reaction from an insane man”
Oh, Kocho should have told him what she wanted since before. He could scream from the top of his lungs just for her. He couldn’t now though, his vocal cord was so ruined.
“If you’re not gonna scream or wail then it's no use to let you live” Kocho concluded while wrapping her hands around his bulky neck. Her hands were so tiny they couldn’t even wrap around his neck fully, however, as slender as they seemed Douma aware there’s an upper moon demon’s strength hidden behind them, she could easily break a human's neck.
So his cutest grim reaper was going to send him to the afterlife…Afterlife, huh?…If demons and feelings were real then life after death might exist either he guessed. If they used the same standard as people’s belief to determine which soul went to heaven or hell, Douma likely burned in hellfires and from the standard above-mentioned Kocho must have ended up in hell either.
That’s great. For Douma, hell which Kocho stayed in was heaven, heaven without her was nothing but hell.
“Any last words?”
Actually, Douma wished to tell Kocho several things. Wishing to describe his feelings toward her. Wishing to thank her for helping him felt emotions for the first time. Wishing to tell her he would look forward to their reunion in the afterlife. Wishing to answer her that he now realised why he was born. Douma was born to love her and be her nutrition to nourish her perfect petite body. His ruined vocal cord didn't allow him to explain everything in his mind though.
Therefore, Douma stared at the most gorgeous grim reaper, making sure her beautiful face was the last view of his sight before his journey to hell, then concluded things he wished to tell her in a short sentence.
“L-Le..t’s…meet..again..i..n..hell…Kocho..chan…I love you…”
What a nice night out. The moon tonight was definitely lovely.
[END]