Somehow, Shinobu knew when she'd woken that morning that it would be one of those days. She didn't know why or how, but it had her on edge all morning. After it had turned out to be a normal morning – peaceful even – she decided that the uneasiness would probably have something to do with the Hashira meeting that would be held later that evening.
Then the crow had come. One of Oyakata-sama's crows that he kept for himself and used to send missives and orders to each demon slayer's kasugai crow. They also delivered missives when said kasugai crows were unavailable, as Shinobu's was now.
The message asked her to come early and to bring her equipment.
She gave up the rest of the day as a lost cause.
Once she got to the Ubuyashiki estate a couple of hours later, almost three hours before the Hashira meeting would begin, she was almost immediately shown to Ubuyashiki-sama. And his guests. One of which she'd never met before. The other two happened to be Kamado and Kanroji. Interesting.
"Oyakata-sama," she smiled, "I'm here to—" she cut off when she saw the eyes of the newcomer… his golden irises on blue sclera peering at her curiously from under his pink hair… They had kanji written in them. Waxing Three.
Her own eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she immediately went for her sword, gaze searching the room for inconsistencies and other threats. That was when she noticed that everyone else seemed a little nervous (except for Ubuyashiki-sama, of course, because she wasn't sure anything could shake him) but no one looked upset or like they would attack anyone else…
So she didn't actually draw her sword, but her smile made a reappearance. She hoped it didn't come off as too strained.
"Oyakata-sama," she started again, "why is there a Waxing Moon in this room with you?"
An uneasy silence fell over the gathering for a couple of seconds before the Demon Slayer Corps Head spoke with that easy grace of his. "Because I invited him."
Her smile widened by just a hair. "Why would you do that, Oyakata-sama?"
"Because I wanted to meet him."
This was making less sense as they went on. "Oh? My, how reckless of you, Oyakata-sama!" she scolded, never letting that smile leave her face. "So, why are you still alive?"
Before anyone else could answer, the demon himself spoke up. "Former."
She turned her smile on him, uncaring if it became sharp and menacing. Well, more so. "I beg your pardon?"
He just seemed amused at that. "Former Waxing Moon. Muzan would kill me if I went back now."
"Oh?" she asked. "And why is that?"
Any amusement on the demon's face left. "Because I don't answer to him anymore," he said seriously.
She just raised one eyebrow in question. Thankfully, he continued without her having to probe. "I remembered everything. Everything he made me forget about being human and demon. And I didn't like what I found. So I'm gonna help take him down to try and make up for the lives I've taken." His voice quieted and she wasn't entirely sure she was supposed to hear his next words. "Then maybe I can look her in the eye when I see her again…"
Shinobu couldn't help but blink at that. The demon seemed so… genuine. The smile left her face in exchange for sheer shock for a moment before she forced it back.
"And what, exactly, brought on this change of heart?" Because no one changed that quickly. Not like that.
The demon shrugged then stuck a thumb in Kamado's direction. "I ate his hand."
More silence as Shinobu tried to wrap her head around that.
"Could you explain that to me?" she asked, smile growing wider again.
Instead of answering, he just cocked his head at her, then grinned over at Kamado, showing off his own long canines. "I like her. When do I get to fight her?"
Shinobu's smile stretched and she felt a throb begin in her forehead. Her hand went back to her sword hilt.
"Akatsugi, here, has offered to help us train in fighting demons," Oyakata-sama cut in, sounding far too amused for this entire situation.
The Insect Pillar narrowed her eyes at that (still making sure her smile didn't fall for a second – she had a reputation to maintain, after all). "I do not recall the name of the Waxing Third demon to be 'Akatsugi'."
"Yeah," the demon spoke up nonchalantly. "Muzan named me 'Akaza'. Didn't feel right once I remembered everything. I want to go by Akatsugi now. Nice to meet you, I guess."
This… was going nowhere. So she turned to Kamado, smile widening even further. He winced. Smart kid.
"Kamado-san, since I'm sure this is your fault somehow, please explain." It was rather satisfying to see him pale just a bit.
"Well, Akaz— I mean, Akatsugi attacked me on Muzan's orders. He only ate strong people, you know. So we were all like crash and whack and thunk (but louder) and he cut off my arm! With his bare hand…" he paused and then turned to frown at the demon. "Please don't try that again."
The demon just shrugged. "Sorry, I suppose. In my defense, I didn't really know better at the time."
Kamado's expression dried out. "Yes, you did."
"But I had no reason to stop."
The Sun Hashira just rolled his eyes. Then he turned back to Shinobu. "Anyway, apparently his eating my hand – because he thought I was fully human – did something to him. Changed him… um… somehow?"
Her smile grew. Again. It was starting to really hurt her cheeks, but if she didn't keep it as wide as possible, it might slip. "Changed him how?"
Mitsuri giggled again and she spoke up for the first time. "Tanjiro stole Akatsugi."
Kamado looked put out and embarrassed as he shot a glance at Kanroji. "Why do you find that so amusing?"
"You're so adorable, Tanjiro," she returned with a huge grin. "I know it embarrasses you, but it's just so funny! Without even meaning to, you took one of his elite warriors right out from under him."
Shinobu felt her eyebrows lift towards her hairline again. She stared at Mitsuri for several seconds, willing her to take that back, but the girl just continued to giggle demurely. So she stared at Kamado. He didn't seem to even notice.
"It's not like I meant to," the kid muttered, looking down as if to hide his red cheeks (he couldn't).
This… was getting out of hand, and no one seemed inclined to actually give her any answers. Shinobu's lips thinned for a moment before she forced them back into position. She knew she had to get ahold of the situation.
"So," she said loudly, ignoring how her smile had begun to actively ache, "your cells somehow overpowered the demon progenitor's cells and you forcefully recruited one of his most trusted and powerful warriors, Kamado-san?"
Kamado winced. "When you put it like that…"
Meanwhile, Akaza snorted. "'Most trusted', huh? Muzan doesn't trust anyone except himself… and maybe Kokushibo or Nakime if he's particularly desperate."
That just drew Shinobu's attention back to the demon. "And you hold no ill will at this change?"
The demon seemed surprised at that and to his credit, he actually thought about her question. "Not really," he finally answered. "I did at first, but now… well, Kamado didn't mean to. Besides, I like having my memories back… even if they're not exactly all happy. The minor loss of power and motivation is worth the trade off."
"Loss of power?" Oyakata-sama asked.
The demon pursed his lips to one side of his face and rubbed the back of his hair, searching for the right words.
He didn't even bother trying to hide his expressions. His entirely too human expressions.
"Well, I guess I dunno about the loss of power exactly. I don't feel any weaker, but while this kid's great in a fight," he slugged Kamado on the arm (he yelped and rubbed at it, but smiled in exasperation far more genuinely than Shinobu ever could), "I haven't really had to push myself so I dunno for sure.
"But like I said, Kibutsuji demons are angry. Apparently Kamado demons aren't." Kamado groaned as Akatsugi shrugged. "Angry demons are motivated. Lack of motivation, weaker demon." He didn't look too happy with that.
"Not necessarily," Kamado looked up, despite his red face. "I mean, sure I can be motivated when I'm angry, but I'm also motivated when I'm protecting someone or trying to help or save someone. Anger isn't always motivation, and motivation isn't always anger." His eyes shot over to Shinobu for a the barest moment before returning to the pink-haired demon. "But besides that, it's not like it's just a demon thing. Some humans use anger as their motivation, too. Shinazugawa-san, for example. He's strong. Mitsuri isn't usually motivated by anger though, and she's strong too. A lack of anger doesn't necessarily make you weak."
Shinobu knew he hadn't been speaking about Shinazugawa. Her eyes narrowed in warning and her smile practically split her face at this point. It may or may not have twitched.
"So what motivates you then?" the demon asked Kamado, sounding genuinely curious.
The boy blinked, then frowned. "I told you, I fight to protect my family."
The pink-haired demon tipped his head to the side. "It's more than that. The way you talk about Kibutsuji, the way you fight, your dedication… you hate him. There's plenty of anger there, kid."
The boy's friendly demeanor faded and his expression suddenly turned blank. It was… one of the most terrifying expressions Shinobu thought she'd ever seen, if only for the contrast of his exuberance earlier. He continued to stare at the demon, who must have realized he'd overstepped a boundary because he froze, face paling and his body stiffening.
He… was afraid of Kamado. A former Waxing Third… and even if the kid held some kind of power over him… Was this reaction simply how the demon would have reacted had he overstepped with Muzan? Was that just following him into this dynamic as well? Or had Kamado done something to scare him? Had he been purposefully stretching Kamado's patience? And had he only now realized what kind of a mistake he'd made?
The room fell into a tense silence for what felt like an eternity, but was likely only a couple of minutes at the most.
Then Kamado let out a long breath and looked away, nodding. He slumped a little and the expressions returned.
"Well… you're not wrong. I do hate him. And I hate that I hate him as much as I do because he doesn't deserve it. He isn't worth it. He does make me angry. But…" and he looked back at Akatsugi, gaze intense, but it was an expression, and thus an improvement. "I still think the point stands. I've had the most success against him when I am protecting people – when I want to stop them from getting hurt. The arguably strongest pillar currently alive, I'd say Himejima-san – no offense, Mitsuri, Shinobu-san," Shinobu shrugged to say she didn't mind as she'd always known her 'strength' lay in speed and knowledge, not physical prowess, "is almost exclusively driven by the need to protect. Even Kokushibo is mainly driven more by his need to prove himself than any true anger."
Akatsugi, who still seemed a little shaken despite relaxing, snorted. "If you think Kokushibo isn't angry, you really don't know him."
Kamado shrugged. "Agree to disagree."
The demon huffed a short laugh, but didn't look like he'd been entirely convinced. The younger boy must have known that, because he decided to push the subject.
"Fine. Douma then. He isn't driven by anger."
Shinobu suddenly found herself listening very, very closely.
Kamado frowned as he thought about his words. "I don't really know what he's driven by. Some sort of twisted altruism? Sick perversion? Habit? Some unholy combination?"
Akatsugi rolled his eyes. "Douma's insane."
The boy shot a half-dry, half-amused expression at the demon. "Name a Waxing Moon that isn't."
The demon opened his mouth, but paused and seemed to think for a moment. Eventually all he could say was, "Point." Then he shook his head. "Douma's worse than most though. How he keeps converting people to his cult I'll never understand."
Kamado nodded. "I was wondering that myself!"
Shinobu would have happily sat back and allowed the conversation between the two of them to continue, but apparently Oyakata-sama thought they'd gotten off track far enough.
"In any case," he cut in smoothly, voice still cordial, "I have asked Shinobu-san over because she would like to run a few tests, if that is alright, Kamado-san."
The boy blinked, looking taken aback. "Oh… um, sure?" Then he turned to Shinobu. "What kinds of tests? What do you want to find out?"
Shinobu considered that. "Well, I would like to study your blood. If I can take some samples I can even experiment tonight before the meeting. This has so many potential avenues to explore. Can you recruit more demons by injecting them? Or is it just demons with a higher count of Kibutsuji's cells? Could we begin to carry vials of your blood and somehow get it into demons to take from Kibutsuji's control? Could you control an army of demons? What are the limits? And most importantly," she paused and looked him directly in the eye, noting he'd gotten paler and paler as she went on, but she finished on the most pressing question, "can your blood also turn humans into demons?"
He swallowed. "Um… I don't know about… um… humans, but my blood works on weaker demons too."
More silence.
"Kamado-san, where did you learn about that?" And her strained smile was back.
A soft swallow, but one that Shinobu would have enjoyed under any other circumstances. He glanced at Ubuyashiki-sama.
"Oyakata-sama?"
The nearly blind man smiled. "Kamado has been in contact with another friendly demon who also happens to be a doctor and a scientist."
Shinobu completely bypassed the smile to just stare at the man.
What.
"A friendly demon who is a doctor?" she repeated, then turned to Kamado. "My, my, you find the most impossible people and situations."
Kamado blinked and then smiled at her (how did his seem so genuine?!). "I was very lucky to meet her in my first lifetime."
He seemed to believe that… she couldn't see or sense any sort of mask or cover-up expression… and yet, it still seemed rather too coincidental…
"Can I see her results and conclusions? Perhaps speak with her?" And judge for herself as to whether this demon was any good.
Kamado frowned and put a hand to his chin. "I could write to her and ask."
"Or I can," Ubuyashiki-sama volunteered.
Everyone turned to stare at him. His amusement just seemed to grow.
"I've been in contact with her since you mentioned her, Tanjiro. I have no doubt she will be vital to taking Muzan down."
Deciding that she did not have the mental fortitude to deal with that particular revelation at the moment, Shinobu took several deep breaths. Once she felt calmer again, she closed her eyes to emphasize her grin, clapped her hands and said, "Well, then! Shall we go and draw your blood, Kamado-san? You should bring your demon friend too." Because she would not leave a Waxing Moon (former or not) with Ubuyashiki-sama and only one Hashira between them.
Kamado looked around the table, and then focused back on Shinobu, genuine smile still in place. "Sure."
The one full demon in the room rose to his feet and stretched then scratched the back of his head. Then he looked down at the table before focusing on the Insect Pillar. "You bringin' the flowers?" he asked.
Shinobu blinked, then glanced at the many flowers scattered across the table. She had wondered…
"Whatever for?"
The Waxing Moon raised one eyebrow. "Because they're what Muzan is looking for and the main ingredient of what made him into a demon in the first place."
Shinobu really should have just stayed in bed that day…
Because what?!
xXx
"I expected more fights," Akatsugi said in a bored tone as he walked beside Tanjiro towards a receiving room. At least, that's where the demon assumed the girl walking down the hall was taking them. Maybe they'd speak with the sick demon slayer head guy again?
Beside him, Kamado snorted. "Wait until the Hashira meeting. There will be plenty of fights." He glanced over his shoulder at the room they'd just come from and rubbed his arm where the Insect Pillar had drawn his blood. As far as Akatsugi could tell, he'd healed up already, but it still seemed to be bothering him for some reason. He didn't know why. His own withdrawal areas didn't.
"Um… maybe you should avoid Shinobu-san for a while, though…"
The former Waxing Third looked at Kamado in surprise. "Why?"
"Don't get me wrong, Shinobu-san is a great healer and extremely intelligent. She's also strong and deserves her place as a pillar. However, she can be… vindictive. And underhanded. Just… wait for her to cool down and maybe get used to you before challenging her to a spar or a fight."
Ah. One of those fighters. Disappointing. Still, if he could maybe get a good fight out of her…
"Whatever."
They walked along in silence for a couple of minutes before they were shown to an empty receiving room with pillows around a small, square table.
"Please wait here," the girl whose face looked more like a doll than anything else said. And humans thought demons were creepy…
"Thank you, Ubuyashiki-san," Kamado said with a smile before he turned and sat down near the table. Akatsugi watched the door close behind the girl and listened to her light footsteps leading away before he sighed and turned to the table himself.
"Well," he said after a moment, "no fights, no attacks… these guys seem awfully accepting of demons. More than I thought they'd be."
Kamado sighed. "The acceptance is not… a prevailing opinion among the pillars. I don't know why Ubuyashiki-sama is so accepting, but I'm grateful for it."
Akatsugi nodded thoughtfully. They sat there in a strained silence for several seconds before Kamado finally broke it.
"Akatsugi-san… do you know how Demon Blood Arts develop? Or why they manifest as they do?"
The former Waxing Third couldn't help but be taken aback. "Why would I?"
"Waxing Moon."
The demon snorted. "I told you: Muzan doesn't trust anyone, except maybe Kokushibo. And that's just a guess. Not like Samurai-san ever says enough for us to figure anything out."
The boy's face fell. "Oh."
Akatsugi frowned. "Why?"
"When my sister was a demon, the first time, she had a Blood Art like mine. A lot like mine. But I never saw a 'final release' like mine has. I don't know if that's because she was never desperate enough to use it or if my own desires shaped it.
"Yours has such a specific shape – I always see a snowflake when you use your Death Needle – and thought you'd be the best person to ask because of it. Kokushibo's Blood Art compliments his Moon Breathing so well, I figured it had to… um… are you alright?"
Akatsugi had stopped breathing.
His Blood Art took the shape of a snowflake…
Sure, he'd known but…
Koyuki.
Child of Snow. Young Snow. Little Snow.
Snow.
Akatsugi let out a slightly hysterical laugh.
"Okay… I… um… didn't mean to push you like that," he vaguely heard Kamado say in the background.
And so many of his attacks are named after fireworks…
The fireworks that Koyuki and he… before she died…
"Akaza!"
The name brought him out of his spiraling thoughts. He blinked and gazed across at the boy who looked about ready to get up and tackle him.
"Not my name," he said.
Kamado relaxed a little and nodded. "Yeah. Sorry."
They sat in silence for several seconds as Akatsugi calmed himself.
"What was that? Do you want to talk about it?" Kamado asked tentatively.
Akatsugi frowned again. Did he want to talk about it? Absolutely not. He shook his head.
"Okay," Kamado nodded, then turned and looked out a nearby window at the sky outside. The light had become more orange as the evening wore on.
The more Akatsugi got to know the kid, the more he realized just how different he and Muzan were.
So he'd drop the kid a bone. He was intelligent enough to pick it up. Or, well, he'd better be, because he wouldn't be getting any more.
"I forgot my human life when I became a demon," he reiterated to set the context. "But my Fiance's name was Koyuki. The last good memory I have of the two of us, we went to watch fireworks. She'd been sick before and wanted to see them. That was the first time she'd been well enough to."
And even just saying that was almost too much. So he laid down and turned his back to Kamado. Let him draw whatever conclusions he could from that because Akatsugi was done.
He heard the boy's intake of breath, and then a soft, "Oh."
They spent the rest of the time waiting for the Hashira meeting in silence.
Despite feeling some fatigue, Akatsugi couldn't find it in himself to sleep.
xXx
AN: Alternate name for this chapter: Shinobu gets angrier and angrier...
*ahem*
Also, for anyone interested, I posted new content for previous loops if you're interested. Sunlight from the Shadows (and for those of you who didn't know, Tanjiro's Time Loop Summary as an Appendix) in my stories.
In any case, I'd like to thank Quathis, Found and TimeLordTim for their help on this! :D Happy Holidays!
Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)
