Disclaimer (only doing this once): I do not own Kimetsu no Yaiba. I only own my original character and my original storyline.
Warning (also only doing this once): gore, blood, the usual for a story involving man-eating demons.
Have fun!
He found her in the middle of the road, not too far from his estate. Her pristine white kimono was splattered with red, and over a dozen of mangled corpses were scattered around her. And yet, despite the gruesome scene, she was calmly sitting at the very center of the carnage, seemingly unperturbed by the blood dying her hair and soaking her hands. Her eyes lingered into the nothingness of the night, her pale irises reflecting the moonlight without really seeing it, and she didn't even flinch when he suddenly appeared before her.
What a pretty little one I've just stumbled onto…
She was young, probably no older than sixteen, but her traits were already gracious and defined, just like a perfect little doll made out of porcelain.
"Good evening."
Her voice, somewhat eerie, broke him out of his thoughts. Crouching before her, he easily noticed how her eyes didn't follow him and came to the logical conclusion that she simply couldn't see him, as unfortunate as the notion was.
"Good evening," he replied, offering her a pleasant smile. He had gotten into the habit of smiling whenever he met someone since it was expected. "Are you the one who did this?"
"If by this, you mean the bloodbath, then no," she replied evenly, offering a light shrug. "These men did this to themselves—quite literally."
"Yet you are still alive. Why not leave?" he asked, sitting down more comfortably. He was bored, and he wasn't in a rush, either. What was the harm in playing around with his food for a bit? "Surely you have better things to do than keep company to dead men."
"Do I?" she replied, a tad dryly. She then shook her head, heaving out a sigh. "Trust me, I would if I could. The stench of blood, wastes, and decay is simply atrocious if you couldn't tell, and sitting amongst corpses isn't exactly a preferred hobby of mine."
"What's stopping you, then?"
For only answer, she lifted the edge of her red-stained kimono, revealing her legs. It was quite the perturbing sight, what with the limbs so mangled and atrophied, and the numerous scars marring her skin was a distinct proof that this wasn't merely a disability she was born with.
"They can't support my weight, and I can barely move them, let alone use them to walk," she revealed, putting the kimono back in place. "Now that I've answered your questions, do you mind answering one of mine?"
"What is it that you wish to ask?"
"Are you going to kill me?"
He stilled, before offering another smile. "What makes you think that, Little Blossom?"
"Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't see anything," she replied, a tad cryptically. "I can see your aura from miles away—quite a beautiful shade of red, might I add—and I can see beyond your fake smiles, too. Your emotions are… lacking, for a lack of better words." Suddenly, it felt as if her unseeing eyes could pierce his very soul—ironic, considering he wasn't supposed to have one. "You're a demon, a very powerful one. So, are you going to kill me?"
"Eventually." He tilted his head, now genuinely curious—and wasn't that surprising? When was I ever curious about something? I can't remember… "Are you not scared? Sad? Miserable?"
"I'm not."
He could tell she wasn't lying. "And why is that?"
"Because, even if you were to kill me now, at least I'll have died free." She offered him a small, bitter smile. "My father was not a kind man. He was consumed by greed, and he was obsessed with keeping me safe, or so he said. He kept me locked away in the same little room for years, treating me more like a doll than a person and I think that, eventually, he even forgot that I was his daughter. He used all sorts of treatment to render my legs weak and useless and, as time passed, the years spent in the darkness of my room took their toll on my sight and I gradually became blind." At that, she turned her head left and right, as if taking in the landscape she couldn't see. "I know I'm in a forest, yet I can't see the trees, and I feel the blood drying on my skin, yet I can't distinguish its shade. It's quite frustrating, if I'm to be honest. But scared? Sad? Miserable? If anything, I'm happy to be dying here and not there."
What a strange little human… "Then, why are you here, and not there?"
"Oh, I was kidnapped," she answered, a tad too casually. "I am, technically, the heiress of a rich, ancient, and powerful family. As soon as word of my father's death got out, that bunch of guys dropped out of nowhere and kidnapped me. Probably hoping for a ransom or something."
"So your father's dead?"
"Yeah, he was eaten by a demon," she confirmed, smiling dryly. "It broke into the mansion and practically tore his arms off. Father did beg me to run and fetch help, but…" She gestured to her useless legs. "No could do, obviously. It was rather ironic, really."
"I can imagine," he mused, honestly entertained by her odd tale. "Though, I must admit, I still fail to understand how all of these men died, yet you didn't."
"Their greed. Their selfishness. They turned against one another, their emotions spurred by unsettled quarrels and old conflicts." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Humans are such stupid creatures… I'm sure you can agree, what with being a greater being and all that jazz." She then shook her head, scrunching up her nose. "Say, the smell is really starting to get to me, so do you mind if we wrap up our business here?"
"Eager to die, are you?"
"Eager to get away from that mess," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "If anything, I suppose I should be grateful. You coming along to eat me saves me the trouble of suffering through a slow and painful death due to starvation, hypothermia, and the likes."
He was used to people crying and suffering. He was used to people begging for their lives. Hell, he was even used to people threatening him and calling him a monster! What he wasn't used to was for one of his preys to give up and say thank you, of all things.
"… You really are a strange human," he finally said, tilting his head in wonder. "Do you not have any regrets, then?"
"I… suppose there is one." She offered him a small, wistful smile. "I've always dreamt of exploring this world from which I've been kept away for so long. To see it with my own eyes… Though, that's not going to happen any time soon, is it?" She gestured to her eyes and her legs, letting out a humorless laugh. "I'm obviously not going anywhere, and I'm obviously not going to see anything. So, might as well get this over with."
He spoke without thinking. "And what if we made a deal?"
She paused, before snorting. "A deal with a devil? How cliché… Though, it's not like I have anything to lose. What do you have in mind?"
"I find you… amusing, Little Blossom," he then admitted, reaching out to her. His sharp nails just shy of piercing her fine skin, he pushed aside a few strands of hair. "Also, I believe it would truly be a shame if your beauty didn't get a chance to bloom in its entirety. I'm quite fond of beautiful people myself, you see?" He grasped her chin so he could get a proper look at her now unhidden face. "Tell me, how old are you, Little Blossom?"
"I believe I turned fourteen last week. Why?"
"Then, let's say… six years." He released her chin, his hand sliding upward to stroke her blood-splattered cheek. "Yes, six years. In those six years, we will go everywhere you wish to go, experience everything you wish to experience, and I will show you everything you long to see. Then, in exchange, on your twentieth birthday, when your beauty has fully blossomed… I'll eat you!" He beamed like a child would at the thought of receiving a birthday present early. "Doesn't that sound just wonderful, Little Blossom?"
"… it does." She offered him a bright smile, placing her hand over his. "You're rather kind for a demon, aren't you? Thank you."
He didn't answer right away, however, too focused on where their hands were now touching.
He could feel something.
What is this feeling?
"It's my warmth," she suddenly said, as if reading his mind. "And my hope. You've never felt either of those before, have you?"
"How…?"
"I'm an empath," she answered simply, fully grasping his hand with her owns. "I'm not nearly powerful enough to manipulate other people by creating artificial emotions, but I can enhance emotions they are already feeling… and, most importantly, I can share what I feel." She brought his hand against her heart, closing her eyes. "I could tell from the beginning, you know? It's not that you don't feel anything… it's just that your emotions are too weak for you to take notice of them. So, I'll share everything with you. In those six years that we will be together, I will share all of it, and you will finally feel those emotions that have always denied you. What do you think?"
"I think… that eating you is quite worth the wait, Little Blossom." Without any warning, he suddenly lifted her off the ground, an arm supporting her back and the other supporting her useless legs. "What's your name, dear one?"
"I don't have one." She frowned, thinking over it. "I think I had one… but then Father stopped using it, so I eventually forgot."
"Well, that won't do at all, will it?" he mused as he started to walk. "I'll find you a suitable name later. Right now, we'll return to my estate so you can have a proper bath. After all, while I am a demon, I'm not that fond of the stench of blood myself."
"Well, sounds like we'll get along just fine," she replied, amused. "So? What do I call you?"
"You may call me Doma, Little Blossom. Now, off we go~!"
I cracked. That's really all there is to this random story.
This is a story composed of very short chapters (something I've never done in my life) and will focus on romance (another thing I've never done before, God help me). I'm just writing this for fun because I love Douma and he deserves some love back (I've got a thing for psychopaths, apparently). Also, I'm not planning on interfering with the original plot. This story is really meant as nothing more than a way to vent my overwhelming emotions because Chapter 200 literally killed me and I need to write something happy to heal my poor heart.
PS. Normally, there won't be any spoilers. If there are, though, I'll put a warning at the beginning of the chapter.