He was not clear how such a catastrophe had occurred. Was it an act of revenge? Tanjirou watched him writhe, convulse, and shriek in pain and suffering alongside a traumatized Kanao, while the culprit turned to ashes, satisfied and with a relieved smile on his deranged face that melted from a potent poison against demons.
"INOSUKE!" he screamed at the top of his lungs once he was out of the trance, running to his aid. He saw her face and chest tinted red, a piercing expression that covered her features and caused her eyes to go up, blank.
An incompetent father and another deranged
Clarifications.
Normal: current events.
Italic: memories.
Bold: thoughts.
He was not clear how such a catastrophe had occurred. Was it an act of revenge? Tanjirou watched him writhe, convulse, and shriek in pain and suffering alongside a traumatized Kanao, while the culprit turned to ashes, satisfied and with a relieved smile on his deranged face that melted from a potent poison against demons.
"INOSUKE!" he screamed at the top of his lungs once he was out of the trance, running to his aid. He saw her face and chest tinted red, a piercing expression that covered her features and caused her eyes to go up, blank.
But ... What was going on? Kanao, who had listened and fought alongside the wild boy, was so affected that she returned to become mute.
A little while back...
The young apprentice of Shinobu arrived as soon as possible to that hall of corridors surrounded by water. A room similar to a water garden. What she saw left her with her heart in her throat. The Bug Pillar was being absorbed by the demon's body. That damn man with blonde hair and a bloodstain as decoration on his head; Douma, the Second Upper Moon. The most powerful behind the mysterious being and Muzan himself.
It was late. Shinobu was doomed. Kanao was not able to pluck her out of the demon. He died by disappearing inside his body. Filled with rage and hatred, she faced herself alone against him. It was being too tough a fight ... The enemy had taken his sword and was challenging him to approach it. It was suicide ... Until the boar boy appeared like a hurricane, full of energy and positivity, like every time he went to battle. But when he learned of Shinobu's recent death, he promised to cut him to pieces.
In a short showdown, he retrieved the girl's sword, and in duet faced him. Even being two, they were not having anything easy. There was a reason that he was a Superior Moon. In a mistake by Inosuke, the human eater took the head of the boar, leaving the face of the young man unnoticed. He was able to make sure he wasn't wearing it when he noticed more light and freshness on his skin. Douma was curiously inspecting the mask while its owner yelled at him to return it. Subsequently, he rested his rainbow eyes on the boy. There were a few brief seconds of silence, just staring into those green eyes that... he had seen before.
"Ohh... Your face... Have we met before?" he asked in that voice so terribly melodious and gentle, terrifying at how he dared to use it in such a way.
"I don't remember meeting a worm like you! Don't touch my fur with your filthy hands! " He was furious, the veins in his neck and temples were swelling.
"No..." he smiled with amusement and moved his index finger from side to side in a gesture of denial. -Yes, you know.
"I'M SAYING NO, STUPID!" -the demon did not seem to attend to reasons, and that made Inosuke piss off.
"Inosuke, calm down..." his fighting partner intervened. -Just he saying random nonsense to confuse you.
"Random?" Douma crossed her arms. "My only grace is to be serious. Also, I have a good memory. I remember my human time quite well." Without one expecting it, the demon pierced his temple with his finger and began to stir inside. Both young men were sickened by it, although the boar boy expressed rather surprise and anger. -Oh, here it is! Fifteen years ago? That's fairly recent... Let's see what you and I know each other. "He really did have a bad memory, but his memories were kept in a mental chest that he could open whenever he wanted. Without waiting any longer, he began to narrate what his brain showed him. "There is a woman ... about 17 or 18 years old. Oh, she have a baby! Ah yes ... Her husband beat her every day and her mother-in-law also harassed her daily." He paused unconsciously. "She came to me along with her baby. I welcomed her in my palace, my temple. He was so beautiful, well..." He felt lucky that he had the ability not to lose his memories completely. "I was a kind of demigod for people, they adored me. She had no family, there was no other place she could go. Her face was so wounded and swollen that it was difficult to see her true face. I was almost blind from the blows. It was so hard… " He erased his smile for the first time in all his time there. "But when I touched, she returned to normal. She was so beautiful ... She left a perpetual impression on me..." Without realizing it, he had begun to look at infinity for a second. His attention returned and focused on Inosuke. "She had the same face as you. Like two drops of water. Your mother, right? Yes, there is no doubt about that! I can see her in you just by looking into your eyes.
"I have no mother, I was raised by wild boars!" the young man did not want to pay attention to the gibberish he released, he did not want to believe it. "That has nothing to do with me!" or couldn't get something in his head to click.
"Were you given birth by a boar?" Douma was sweating cold with an expression of discomfort and humor. "But you're human, so a human should have given birth to you."
"SHUT UP, STUPID GARBAGE PIECE! GIVE ME MY FUR! -guided by stress, he launched himself blind and with his swords raised.
"Hey... Listen to the end. I think this meeting between you and me is nothing less than a miracle. "or the demon felt it. To stop the impulsive boy, he had to strike two large cuts on his chest, forming a cross. Kanao came and pulled him away from the deranged subject, the two of them kneeling in the shallow water.
"You're good?! Please calm down." She knew that anger was an obstacle.
"Listen to me." repeated the man. "I never intended to eat your mother. Having such a beautiful person by my side... made me feel good. She was the light to me, a demon so lonely and sad back then. Unfortunately, she was not very smart, that was unfortunate. But I did not care. And she had such a beautiful voice when he sang to us. It was that lullaby from Pinkie Promise , epeating over and over again."
The name of the song began to loop in the boy's head, looking without blinking and with an expression of incredulous surprise at Douma. The loop cut to make way for his forgotten memory, hearing his voice for the first time in a long time.
"I will protect you, I promise. Until you become big and strong. Mommy will protect you. Sorry, Inosuke... You may feel lonely now, but your mother is doing her best to fill your father's place with someone who loves us, a real dad to you. Lives can be replaced. But Inosuke, mom ... will protect you.
With those last two words, he could see the woman in his mind. It was her. And he, Douma, was ...
The demon smiled pleased when he realized that the boy was beginning to understand and continued.
"Each time I sang Pinkie Promise the lyrics changed. At some point it became a people's song. It was so charming." He waited a little. "I was not going to eat it, not was I going to put a single finger on it. I planned to be with her, and she by my side until she passed away by nature, along with that baby. With you. Fulfilling her dream at last. The child, mom…" he pointed to himself. "And dad.
Kanao did not finish processing what he heard. She looked at Inosuke, still kneeling in the water and keeping his eyes on Douma. How loud was his heart beating so that the girl could hear him so explicitly? She knew it, the wild boy was about to explode, and no one knew how.
"But Kotoha, your mother... was very consistent and stubborn. "He gave a slight laugh, for he had just realized that the young man had this behavior due to genetics, not because he grew up on a mountain like an animal. "She saw me feed on my worshipers. Despite all the explanations and trust I put in Kotoha, she didn't want to listen to me... It was insult after insult, accusing me of telling horrible lies when everything I said was true. Once discovered, there was no longer any reason to hide it from her. I would never lie, but she did not want to give me a chance to be understood. He left to finish her attacks. She ran out of my temple and took you with her. Something in me broke. I followed to a cliff that bordered by a huge river. When I approached her ... without warning, without a word ... she threw you off the cliff. It was there that I lost my sanity, seeing how you fell towards certain death. For me, Kotoha had murdered my child. I killed her, and in fear, I leaned over the edge. There was nothing there. I cried alone, looking at a void in that cliff. Sadness covered everything. I remembered those tiny little hands and those eyes full of curiosity and light... I loved you as much as she did.
There was no reaction from the boy. Self-absorbed, blocked.
"If I say it as I felt it; Kotoha killed my son. I ate to his bones. If she went home, her husband would possibly kill her. And if she had been left alone she would have died on the road with you. It was very unfortunate. His life was already meaningless." There was a slight hint of rancor in his smile.
"Enough, bastard!" Kanao screamed for the sake of her friend, wanting to prevent him from breaking further inside.
Inosuke looked at the water with his hidden eyes, but spoke.
"Yes, it was a miracle to meet you here..." He cocked his head at Douma with the harshest and most hate infested expression he had ever had. "The demon that killed my mother and my friend... is right before my eyes!" He rose with poisonous energy running through his body and took up position. "I never thank anyone, but I will do it with you for making me remember. Although that is not enough! I will not only cut off your head, I will teach you what true hell is like!"
"Son, you know how to speak. But you have misconceptions about being raised by animals." Let me show you. He toyed a little with one of his two fans, which were also his weapons. -There is no heaven and hell in this world. Those places do not exist as such. They are human fantasies. I know this because humans who live humble and virtuous suffer terrible tragedies while wicked people do what they want because they live insane, interesting lives and drunk with pleasure. Mentally weak people have to think that these evil ones will go to hell when they die or they could not live with themselves. They keep it deep in their minds. Humans are pathetic..."
"Shut up, damn it! IF THERE IS NO HELL THEN I WILL CREATE ONE FOR YOU! And don't talk about my mother like she was unhappy anymore!" He launched himself into an attack again, but the demon defended himself with an icy mist. Said defense was immediately dispersed thanks to Inosuke using his swords as fans. He might not be very smart, but he was imaginative.
"Interesting. If it possible, I would love to continue playing like this with my child until I am bored."
At that moment, Kanao attacked from behind, but was intercepted and launched into the water again. Right afterward, Douma rose into the air, avoiding the fight for some reason. The boy adopted his typical annoying, childish humor and yelled at him.
"Come down, damn it! Or are you afraid?!"
"Sorry, honey. Akaza-dono has been defeated, so I can no longer have time here." He had felt the death of his partner. "But don't worry, I'll give you your fun. You can play with these guys in my place. Dad has serious business to deal with."
"IMBECILE!" he bellowed.
"Ice dolls?" the girl whispered.
Inosuke watched the creations until they were completed and they took battle position. He seemed to calm down quite a bit. He gave a quiet laugh and pointed to the one closest to him.
"What about the little one?"
And without warning, the dolls attacked brutally, baffled the two young men.
"The techniques of these toys are as powerful as mine, so you will not feel my absence as much. I will leave you here." He started to walk towards the door.
"Damn, don't run away!"
"Inosuke!" Kanao warned of a surprise attack on the aforementioned. He was able to dodge it with a back flip.
"STUPID DOLL, DON'T GET IN MY WAY!"
Douma wondered how it was that the boy was not inhaling the frozen and dangerous air he had left. The room began to frost and a huge figure of ice began to chase the boy, who upon seeing this began to run through the corridors of the huge room. "You got to be kidding! Now everything freezes ?! Don't fuck!"
"His senses are very sharp. He can feel even the slightest change in his body right away. Great! That is a true swordsman. I will remind him then, I will not allow him to stay again catching dust on my mind." He thought. That blond demon had not yet left there.
"We have to hold on a little longer, we can't allow him to escape..." Kanao muttered.
"I'm going to get five more dolls. I feel so sorry... But if I don't, they will scold me." It was not going to be easy for them. They couldn't hit any of the creations.
"Fuck, dammit! We are losing against things that are not even the real demon!" Inosuke's head was no longer enough, the stress was increasing. "He will escape! I have to rush! Fuck you, scum! -and launched once more, and again blocked, now by the five new ones the demon had created.
And just then, Douma's face turned purple. It started to crack and melt. His left eye fell and hung from the socket without a support to hold it in place.
"Yes!" It was Kanao then who imitated Inosuke, going after the confused man.
Bad time for Tanjirou to appear through the door as a soul carried by the devil, as he alerted the demon that was almost attached to it and made him walk away, remaining again in the center of the room.
"Kanao, Inosuke!" He had just come out of a battle and had decided to separate to find one of his friends, and he succeeded.
They both turned to the newcomer and for a moment their eyes lit up. An act that would bring the situation to condemnation.
With one of the ice dolls, Douma grabbed the wild boy and pinned him to his side, arms raised and wrists trapped in an icy prison, as were his legs. Their swords had flown in the middle of the journey.
"No!" Tanjirou and Kanao screamed at the same time, about to pounce, albeit exhausted for obvious reasons.
The demon laid a sharp blade of ice on the trapped youth's defenseless jugular, grinning as if it wasn't slowly melting.
"One more movement and he will have no blood left to feed a common and weak demon." He forced the minors to stay in their place, anguished and desperate.
"TAKE ME OUT THAT SHIT, IT GIVES ME COLD!" he screamed like crazy, focusing on how sensitive his skin was and how easy things could feel on it. It was a disadvantage when it came to pain, it was perceived to be three times as strong as a normal person. Extreme temperatures caused the same.
"I'm not going to shut your mouth, but I'm going to get serious with you and your attitude. For your sake, don't challenge me anymore or I'll be forced to punish you.
"YOU ARE SICK OF THE HEAD, IDIOT! DON'T TREAT ME LIKE YOU HAVE POWER ABOUT ME!" He was already bordering on the edge of madness. He was going to continue screaming, but the demon did not keep his word and sealed his lips when the temperature dropped, making them stick together.
"Let him go!" the redhead threatened, nervous to see how this monster was handling his friend. Kanao had entered a kind of dangerous trance.
The demon wanted to hurry or it would be too late. He had realized that he was going to die from Shinobu's poison, that was what was causing his detachment.
"I will as soon as I have fulfilled his dream. Right, Kotoha?" He called him by his mother's name because of the similarity of his faces. Because he fulfilled her dream. And now he was going to fulfilled her child's.
"Kotoha?..." Tanjirou made a strange grimace, not understanding why called him with the name of a woman. He thought that maybe it had been mistaken for his face, it was the most logical thing to think in such a demanding situation.
Inosuke tried to imitate his best friend's famous head hit, but didn't give much results. It was easily dodged by a simple backward movement.
"Even being at my mercy you keep your fighting spirit. You are amazing. That's why I like how you grew up." he smiled with a rare sweetness, posing her rainbow eyes very kindly on the emeralds.
Tanjirou tried with her last strength to help him, to recover him. He quickly approached his target. And he could have done it if it hadn't been for the fact that he decided to ignore the frozen and slippery floor. Douma noticed this without wasting time, he reopened a bit and with his nails the wound that Inosuke had in his chest, causing him excruciating pain that made him complain even with his lips sealed. The scarlet fountain splashed on both faces.
"Your blood is my blood." The demon himself wounded the palm of his hand and touched the wound that was slowly dripping with that crimson liquid, mixing it with his own. In a normal situation there would be no effect, that act was useless even for a demon, there was no sense to do it.
"What do you do?! Wait!" -even knowing that mixing blood like that was useless, Tanjirou somehow smelled something very negative. Something very terrible.
Douma did it over time following his heels, as soon as he touched it, his body collapsed weak and limp to the ground. The ice in the entire room was breaking and disappearing. And with that, he set the wild boy free. But the young man fell to the ground, shrugging on his knees, now able to scream with his mouth wide open and his eyes shedding abundant tears. He went from being shrunk to his body starting to shake and convulse, to writhing in pain.
"INOSUKE!" The redhead ran to him and tried to hold him still in a tight hug. He glared at the demon's head, who had already lost his body, melted from the corrosion of the poison. Douma was smiling, satisfied and happy. "What have you done to him?!"
"He wants to be the strongest of all, never to be defeated. I have fulfilled his dream... like a good dad."
"What?" That monster must be delusional. At the boy's confusion, the demon continued.
"Oh, you just arrived. Let me introduce myself. I am the father of this child since his mother came to me. As a precaution, I decided to inject a tiny drop of my blood into him as a baby. Nothing would have happened if she had not been so stupid and allowed me to continue giving them love and protection. Or at least for the little one... He didn't deserve to die if his mother's neurons crossed. Oh, boy... When she flung him off, my blood still couldn't give him a resistance... I thought he was dead. But here he is now, finally living his desire. I have fulfilled my role as a father in such a dignified and exemplary manner." He spoke as if it were an everyday situation. That drove Tanjirou mad. He was shocked by what he had just heard, pale, rabid. Lots of explosive emotions, he was trying to contain. "I can't stay anymore. That woman's poison ends with me... But I'm not a loss. Muzan will notice my boy and come after him. He is very strong, I am sure he will give him a chance without thinking.
That could not be true. It couldn't, he refused. Not again. Her sister had already been converted, he had already been through the terrible situation at the beginning. He didn't want to believe that Inosuke would be the condemned now. Tears were beginning to jump as his friend continued to writhe, already hoarse.
"I will not allow them to take him away! You will never snatch it from me!" As with Nezuko, I was willing to give everything for him. Now he would want her sister's medicine more vigorously.
"There's nothing to do. He will be truly happy from now on, fighting as much as he wants and without fear of being defeated. Maybe he loses his human consciousness, or maybe he can't transmute the blood mix and die... I don't know, that's something that even we can't guess."
Tanjirou had to tighten his grip on Inosuke, who was convulsing with more and more intensity. He looked at Douma with rejection, disgust. For the first time, he felt no pity for a defeated demon.
"You'll be where you should be, damn..." he received as a last answer a sweet laugh before the whole head vanished between ash and viscosity.