NOTE: THIS IS THE SECOND CHAPTER I HAVE UPDATED TODAY. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER, PLEASE DO! Thank you.

xXx

Ubuyashiki Kagaya waited patiently for his current guests to arrive. They should be shown in soon.

His wife had given him quite the earful for his reckless decision to greet the two Hashira and the demon they'd escorted here on his request. Amane had not been happy… but he was curious. And he still trusted both Tanjiro and Mitsuri. They'd dutifully kept him updated the entire time, even when it could prove detrimental to one or both of them.

In truth, he wasn't that worried. If, for some reason, the Waxing Third did manage to kill him, Kagaya had plans in place. He hated putting his beloved children in such a position, but it would likely happen sooner rather than later anyway.

Perhaps he'd become a little reckless with his own life recently? Since he didn't have much longer to live anyway…

He felt a pang of regret when Nichika showed the group into the room. He couldn't see well anymore, but he could hear the uneasiness in her tone as she announced the three of them by name: Kanroji Mitsuri, Kamado Tanjiro and Akaza the Demon. Then the blurry shape of his daughter stepped to the side, letting Mitsuri in first.

Then the demon walked in and froze. The blur of color just stood there for several seconds. Kagaya found this more amusing than anything (and a little refreshing seeing as he was still alive after meeting a Waxing Moon). Then again, coming in and finding that this sickly man was the power behind the Corps opposing Muzan must be quite the shock.

"Welcome," the Ubuyashiki head said genially to hide the smile that threatened to break out on his face.

More silence and what looked like some movement from the blur that must be the Waxing Moon's head. Shaking it? Doing double takes? Both, probably.

"You're the guy who runs the Demon Slayer Corps? Really?" a tenor voice Kagaya had never heard before asked incredulously. So, that was the voice of a Waxing Moon. He'd expected… rougher, for some reason. Interesting.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mitsuri asked shortly.

Before Akaza could respond, Ubuyashiki decided to metaphorically step in. "I am. Demon Slaying is a dangerous job, as I am sure you know, and requires financial backing. My family is independently wealthy enough to keep the system going, hence we make many of the decisions for the Corps."

"He's also a very good leader," Tanjiro put in as he stepped out from behind Akaza. At least, Kagaya was pretty sure that blur of color was his Sun Pillar.

Kagaya smiled. "Thank you, Kamado-san."

"I only say it because it's true," Tanjiro replied, smiling widely enough that even Kagaya could tell.

They fell into silence for a couple of seconds before Akaza said, "Huh." Then he strode forward slowly and deliberately (smart man… er, demon) and took a seat across from the head of the Demon Slayer Corps. He reached out and another blur of color ended up on the table. Kagaya was pretty sure he could make out both blue and green.

"What have you brought me?" he asked, curiosity rising as Mitsuri and Tanjiro took a seat on either side of the Waxing Moon and deposited their own armfuls of green and blue onto the table.

"Blue spider lilies," Akaza said.

Kagaya blinked and frowned, still curiously studying the bundles.

"I am a little surprised," he finally said as a way to spur someone into explaining. "I will admit I was expecting a Waxing Moon to attack me, not bring me flowers."

His two Hashira jumped at his comment.

"Oyakata-sama!" Mitsuri exclaimed, distressed, while Kamado just kind of gave a worried sound of disagreement. "You shouldn't talk like that! We'd protect you!"

Kagaya smiled, thankful for such wonderful children. He raised a hand, holding the palm towards them calmly. "Peace, Mitsuri. It is a chance I was willing to take and I have contingency plans in place." Just in case the Waxing Moon got ideas. Also, it sounded like both Mitsuri and Tanjiro needed some reassurance after that.

"You still shouldn't be so reckless, Oyakata-sama," his oldest female pillar replied stubbornly. Tanjiro's blur moved in such a way as to indicate a firm nod.

The nearly blind man only barely held back his amusement… again. "I'm not entirely sure that's fair, coming from the two of you."

Mitsuri seemed like she would protest, but paused and thought better of it. Tanjiro said nothing.

"Former," Akaza said suddenly. All three of the demon slayers paused and looked at the demon in their midst.

"Pardon me?" Kagaya asked.

Akaza's blur moved, but the Corps Head couldn't really tell how.

"I'm a former Waxing Moon… wait," he paused and Kagaya was pretty sure he looked at Tanjiro, "he doesn't know?"

That… was worrisome. "Know what?" Kagaya asked.

The time-traveler sighed a little, and he spoke in a small voice. "I… didn't get time to tell him… yet. I… don't even want to think about it…" he said the last sentence in a small mutter that he may or may not have intended for Kagaya and the others in the room to hear.

"You need to tell him, Tanjiro," Mitsuri said softly.

The boy shifted uneasily. "I know," he replied sullenly. Then he seemed to brace himself.

"We don't know why, but… apparently the demonic cells in my body readily attack and utterly destroy or convert Muzan's demon cells when they both come in contact. Akaza… well, he… um…" the boy faded off again. This must really make him uncomfortable. Kagaya hadn't ever had the impression that the boy was anything but confident and dedicated. It was actually reassuring to hear him acting so unsure. It made him seem more human, despite his slow descent into demonhood.

After a few seconds of uneasy silence, Akaza spoke up, surprising Kagaya. "I used to eat my opponents – only strong ones. It was my preference." He said it so bluntly, but not nonchalantly. He understood the gravitas of his actions at least.

What a pleasant surprise.

From Tanjiro's movement, Kagaya would guess he winced and Mitsuri seemed to be looking down, upset but silent.

Kagaya wondered exactly why Akaza would say something like that in reference to Tanjiro's cells attacking Muzan's…

Oh.

But… what exactly did that particular conclusion imply?

"Um… yeah," Tanjiro went on, still sounding shaky. "He got a hit on me, I lost my hand and he… um… began to eat it."

"I would assume that if your cells attack Muzan's," Kagaya concluded, "it would kill someone with high enough demon cell concentration. However, since our guest here, who has yet to actually introduce himself," it would be rude to call him by a name he had yet to personally give, even if his Pillars had given him the demon's name already, "that cannot be the case."

The red-haired boy audibly swallowed before responding. "No, Oyakata-sama."

"Call me Akatsugi," the demon said suddenly.

The room fell into silence.

"Um… what?" Tanjiro asked.

The Former Moon sighed and Kagaya thought he rubbed the back of his head in agitation. "My name used to be Hakuji, when I was human. I always thought of myself as a Lion Dog more than anything else, but it can also mean 'Porcelain'. I always hated that meaning… but it kinda fits.

"When I lost my memories and became a demon, Muzan named me Akaza. I don't know why. It can mean 'growth' or a 'cage' or a 'seat'… or all three, 'caged growth seat'." He snorted. "Apt. Muzan-s… he always liked his irony."

More silence while Akaza – Akatsugi seemed to gather himself.

"It's like the person I had been shattered. I could barely remember anything about who I was, so maybe 'porcelain' was closer to the real me after all." He shook his head (at least, that's what the motion seemed like, but Kagaya could have been wrong) before going on.

"Kintsugi's a way of putting broken porcelain back together with gold, right? Supposed to make it stronger and all. I dunno about that, but filling the cracks up with red instead of gold…" He faded off for several seconds, but Kagaya had no intention of breaking this silence either. He simply waited patiently and the demon continued speaking.

"I'm not Hakuji. Ever since I remembered that name it's felt both wrong and right. But with those memories, I'm not Akaza either. I'm… kinda both… and neither. So call me Akatsugi."

Surprisingly thoughtful for someone his pillars had described as 'obsessed with fighting'.

Well, Kagaya wasn't here to make enemies, so he smiled. "If that is your wish, Akatsugi-san."

"Yeah," the demon said, sounding a little embarrassed. "Um… thanks," he muttered, voice barely audible with that last word. Kagaya decided not to do anything but smile as warmly as he could to acknowledge the word. It didn't sound like something the man said often and he probably didn't want it openly acknowledged.

"Anyway," the Corps Head decided to bring the conversation back to the initial thread. "You said you ate Kamado-san's hand?"

Akaza seemed to freeze again for a moment before he snapped his fingers. "Oh, right! Yeah. He was strong. I ate my strong opponents. He said he wasn't a demon. So I ate his hand.

"I remember everything going wrong more than hurting. I blacked out pretty fast and woke up with all of my memories as a human intact for the first time in a century," Akaza explained.

Kagaya blinked.

"And… you think that was because of Kamado-san's cells?"

"That's what Tamayo-san said," Tanjiro muttered, voice raspy with unease. "She… she said the cells… um… changed Akaz— er… Akatsugi." Ah, so the demon's decision to change his name had caught Tanjiro off guard too. Definitely worth noting.

"Changed him how?" Kagaya prompted. He'd gotten an inkling, but wasn't sure if his conclusion would be a positive development or not.

Tanjiro cleared his throat. "Tamayo-san called me a Sire…"

At that, Mitsuri finally made a snorting noise and sounded as if she were giggling. When Kagaya raised an eyebrow at her, she answered happily.

"Tanjiro stole Akaz… Akatsugi from Muzan." She sounded amused and… vindictive? Well, the Demon Slayer Corps Head could understand that, he supposed… but still, her words didn't seem to make sense.

Kagaya blinked again. "I beg your pardon, but what?"

Tanjiro raised his voice again, speaking quickly as if hoping to get it all out of the way as fast as he could. "Icanturndemonsintomydemons!"

Kagaya tried to make sense of that, but… really couldn't.

"Please… repeat yourself?" he asked.

Tanjiro groaned softly but conceded.

"I… it seems that I can turn Muzan's demons into… well, my own," he said through obviously gritted teeth, shifting even more as he did so. "Tamayo-san said she'd never come across someone who could do that to Muzan's cells."

The implications of this… could they recruit demons? Begin to take them from Muzan? Help them somehow? That depended, he supposed…

"Can you… control these demons?" he asked, because that would actually make a lot of sense as to why Akatsugi hadn't attacked anyone and seemed so… well… mellow.

"Not really," Tanjiro muttered.

Akatsugi snorted. "He does have some… limited control over me," he corrected, tone dry.

"I don't want to control anyone! I don't control anyone!" Tanjiro denied, but he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than anyone here. He must have realized it too because he slumped a little in defeat. "Although I can stop him from attacking with his full strength and speed as well as monitor his emotions and organ functions." His voice faded off almost to a mumble at the end.

"It's a bit creepy," the demon said, voice almost nonchalant now. "But it's better than someone making our bodies implode if we say their name."

The Demon Slayer Corps had known about that particular curse, but it was difficult to get a demon to say Muzan's full name*, especially in recent decades.

And Akatsugi had a point.

"It's not like I want to," Tanjiro pointed out again, sounding a little desperate.

"I… see," Kagaya finally said, voice soft. He looked at Tanjiro (or in his general direction). "Why a 'Sire'. I have never heard this term in conjunction with demons before."

"She… made the term up," the red-haired boy muttered.

Akatsugi snorted. "In the thousand years since Muzan became a demon, nothing like Kamado Tanjiro has ever come about. New situation and all."

Even though he couldn't really see the boy, Kagaya could practically feel his distress and embarrassment.

"This could be a very good thing, Tanjiro," he said softly. "We can begin to take demons back."

"Or at least away from Muzan," Akatsugi added thoughtfully. "And Kamado has a calming effect instead of an angering one."

"I… what?" Tanjiro asked, voice almost squeaking with surprise.

The Slayer Corps head blinked again. "Please explain," he asked, completely genial.

The blur in front of him moved slightly – a shrug, he supposed – and spoke again. "Dunno if you've noticed, but demons are almost always angry. It isn't just us either. I didn't really realize it until I changed, but there was always an anger there, in the back of my mind, ready and waiting to be used as power. I just assumed it was a demon thing.

"But now that I seem to answer to Kamado, here," and he sounded rather unsure at that, not that Kagaya could blame him, "it's not there. Now it's easier to be calmer." He shrugged again. "Guess it was a Muzan thing."

Tanjiro didn't seem to know how to take that. Eventually he spoke in a low groan. "I'm not even fully demon yet."

"Thought you talked to Tamayo about that," Akatsugi said, almost reproachful.

The boy just groaned again in response, dark hair thumping down on the table.

"Besides, that might be why I can walk in the sun."

Kagaya almost choked.

"Excuse me?" he managed to get out.

"Both Tanjiro and… Akatsugi can walk under the sunlight," Mitsuri said. "Akatsugi's skin becomes red quickly and blisters, as if being burned, but… he doesn't burn away, just like Tanjiro."

That… could be both very good and very bad. Time to find out which.

"Akatsugi-san," the Ubuyashiki head said, still making sure to sound calm and pleasant, "that brings up a question that I wished to ask you in person: what are your goals?"

The demon didn't answer for several seconds and Kagaya got a distinct impression of surprise. Then the demon seemed to slump a little.

"I'm not sure. I used to live for a good fight. Now… that just seems so… small." He paused for a moment, likely collecting himself. "Don't get me wrong, I still love a good fight and I want to get stronger but… I don't really know why yet." He let out a breath and the blur moved, turning to look away perhaps? Into the distance? Sometimes Kagaya really missed his eyesight "Or maybe I do now, but it's just not possible."

"Oh?" Kagaya asked, surprised himself. "May I ask what that impossibility is?"

The demon didn't look back at him. "I want to be the person my Fiance thought I was…"

The former Waxing Moon was chalk-full of surprises.

"But you can be!" Tanjiro butted in, voice firm and unyielding. "I know it!"

Akatsugi turned his head so he was facing the boy and spoke sounding utterly unimpressed. "I've been alive for over a hundred years and I was a Waxing Moon. Do you know how many people I've killed and eaten? And that doesn't even account for the people I killed before I became a demon." He shifted, leaning closer to Tanjiro, who didn't back down.

"Do you know what drew Muzan to me? He heard of a demon killing people in my home town. Killing people with only his fists because they killed the two people closest to me in the most cowardly way possible. But that's no excuse. I killed anyone remotely associated with those people to a point where they couldn't be recognized.

"I told you, I'm not a good person."

"But you could be."

Both Kagaya and Akatsugi seemed taken back by Tanjiro's immediate response. Mitsuri just looked interested from what the Corps Head could see.

"You killed people in the past. A lot of people. I won't lie and say that's okay. It's not. So don't do it again. It's that simple."

It… really wasn't.

And yet…

The demon didn't seem to know how to respond to that. Kagaya could relate.

"Promise me," Tanjiro pressed. "I can tell if you're lying. Promise me right now that you will do everything you can to not kill another human being. That can be your first step to redemption."

Again, silence fell. When Akatsugi spoke, he sounded disbelieving – almost incredulous. "Are you a monk in disguise or something? The rebirth of Genjo Sanzo**?"

It was Tanjiro's turn to be taken aback. Then both Mitsuri and Kagaya tried to hide their amusement.

"O-of course not!" Tanjiro said, flustered. Then he sighed. "Look, promise you won't kill a human and help us take down Muzan. Stopping demons from being created can save so many people. We can't change the past… but we can change the future."

The wisdom in this child.

"Unless you go back in time, apparently," the demon said, still recovering from his surprise, but his voice held no small amount of dryness.

Kagaya stiffened. "You told him?"

Tanjiro sighed. "I… kind of had to."

Well. That… actually said a lot about the demon formerly known as Akaza.

"You… trust him that much, Tanjiro?"

"No. Not yet." That both was and wasn't a relief. But then the boy continued. "But I'd like to get there eventually."

This child…

"You really mean that," Akatsugi muttered, the incredulity back. Then he finally turned his head to look back at Kagaya (or in his general direction), as if to ask for permission… or perhaps validation?

Kagaya thought about it, but eventually decided to back Tanjiro. He'd done so so far and it had turned out rather well, after all.

"If you promise not to kill another human and help us kill Muzan, I would be willing to look past any former… transgressions. However, I cannot say the same for the pillars. You would have to convince them on your own."

More silence.

"You're all insane," Akatsugi muttered. Kagaya couldn't help but smile.

"Of course," he decided to add on, "if you ever break this vow, we will be required to execute you."

"Yeah, yeah," the demon said, not sounding worried at all as his blur moved. Kagaya guessed he was shaking his head.

Then he turned to Tanjiro. "Fine. I'll help you take out Muzan and… I promise I won't kill another human being if I can help it." He said that last part with an audible roll of his eyes, as if to ask what human being could ever pose a threat to him.

Clearly the man had never met Sanemi. Or Himejima.

Tanjiro turned to face Kagaya. "He means it." His smile shown through in the words, loud and clear.

There was only one thing Kagaya could do. "Very well, then."

"Are you certain, Oyakata-sama?" Misturi asked, sounding unsure herself.

Kagaya just smiled at her. "This could be quite the boon for us, and while we also have much to lose, we have too much to gain for me to pass this up." Then he turned his smile on the newest demon in their midst.

This should prove interesting.

"Welcome to the Demon Slayer Corps, Akatsugi."

xXx

Nezuko breathed in as she faced the drum demon, the walls of the room twisting and turning this way and that, doing her best to avoid the multiple invisible air slashes that he kept shooting at her. This… was harder than she thought it would be. If only she hadn't been separated from Zenitsu. She had to keep using breath styles to counter the different movements of the house as gravity kept changing.

Part of her was starting to think that her brother got the short end of the stick when it came to Demon Blood Arts. Being able to burn anything he wanted was certainly useful, but not powerful like this… where the very laws of the planet changed at will with just the beat of a drum…

And then she remembered his 'final form' of that blood art… okay, maybe not.

And then she saw it – the opening she needed if she could just get behind him… She might have a chance with the Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow, but she could improve her chances if she pulled off the move she'd just been working on with Zenitsu that morning…

It was only mildly different in form, and required more flexibility from her back and waist especially, but…

"Sixth Form: Creeping Vine," she whispered as she concentrated on her footwork, her bladework, and the attacks all while kept her eyes on his neck. She'd wanted the form to have a feint, and while she still felt clumsy and awkward doing it, the move worked. He fell for the feint, she managed to dodge around him and slash at him from the back.

His head went rolling.

Nezuko blinked. That… had worked. It had worked!

Except a heavy pain in her chest caused her to fall to her knees, breathing heavily. She'd also switched forms in the middle of a fight… and her body did not like that. She sat there for a couple of seconds, willing her body to stop aching and her lungs to stop burning…

And then she realized the demon was yelling at her, even as he disintegrated.

"Get off it! You're crushing it! Leave it alone!" He then proceeded to call her several extremely unflattering names.

Nezuko, blinking, looked down and saw she was kneeling on some papers. Was that what he meant?

"Oh, sorry," she said automatically, and backed off of them as best she could. It took her a moment to realize that she'd said that to a demon… Well, at least he'd stopped yelling at her.

Wait.

Were those tears in his eyes?

That suddenly, she didn't see the former Waning Six there at all. She saw Tanjiro. And she wanted to stop his tears.

"L-let me pick this up for you," she said, kneeling down and forcing her shaking body to move, grabbing gently at the different pieces of paper and stacking them neatly. Her eyes caught a sentence and she paused to read it. The line described the moon rather poetically. She read on.

"This is pretty good," she said as she set the paper onto a pile.

More silence from the demon.

"You… really think so?" he finally asked.

She blinked and glanced at him. His head was almost gone by now. How he could still speak, she didn't know and chalked it up to it being a demon thing.

The look in his eyes seemed so hopeful and desperate she couldn't help but smile. "I wouldn't have said it otherwise."

The tears fell and just as the head finished disintegrating, he closed his lone visible eye.

"Thank you," he whispered, the words echoing around the now otherwise empty room. Nezuko sighed and finished stacking the papers before standing and striding out, albeit with a limp. She still had a little boy to find, after all. And Zenitsu. Her leg had been scratched pretty badly, but she could treat that outside.

She didn't want to think of how she'd seen her brother in that demon or how sad it was that she'd had to kill him at all.

As much as she didn't want to think about it, her mind also didn't seem to want to focus on anything else.

Which was why she ran straight into someone on the other side of the door. A human torso… with the mask of a pig on their head.

Said Pig's head looked at her and then yelled, "Fight me!"

What.

xXx

AN: *Someone asked me why the demons can seemingly say Muzan's name all the time and be fine – basically why I'm picking and choosing when they can say his name and when they can't. While they often refer to Muzan as 'that man' a lot, they also say "Muzan-sama" or "Lord Muzan", as in showing respect. It's when they say his full name or leave off the respectful title that the curse applies. As I recall, the Kizuki at least call the demon king 'Muzan-sama' and Susumaru only basically implodes when she says Muzan's full name… so yeah, there is precedence for it.

**Genjo Sanzo is the Japanese name for Tripitaka, aka the monk from Journey to the West. It has nothing to do with Sayuki… Yes, I only noticed the similarities when I wrote this despite it being so completely and UTTERLY obvious. *headdesk* I mean, I KNEW Sanzo was supposed to be the monk Tripitaka, but they're just so different… *sigh*

Thank you again to my wonderful beta readers!

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