January 15, 1914
As Mukago held the twins in her arms, she talked to a pregnant Mitsuri and Susamaru, the two of whom were both expecting their own children in late March and early May respectively. Mitsuri was gushing over how cute the twins looked, remarking in a hushed tone, "Wow, they look so cute, Mukago-chan!"
"They really do," Susamaru gushed quietly as well.
"Thank you," she replied. "They've been pretty good, not too loud yet." As one of the babies began to slightly cry, she remarked, "I think it's time for this one to eat. Kanroji-san, can you hold Michio for me for a second? Yasuo has to get breastfed."
"Absolutely," Mitsuri replied as she gently took hold of Michio and Mukago adjusted her clothes to breastfeed Yasuo. "I have to ask. How do you tell them apart?"
"I was wondering the same," Susamaru asked. "Is it hard?"
"I tied little ribbons to their right hands," Mukago pointed out as Michio began to suckle on her and quiet down. "Michio's is red and Yasuo's is blue." She then turned to Michio and softly told him, "There, there, little one."
Almost on cue, Yasuo began to cry as well. "I think he wants to eat too," Mitsuri commented as she handed Yasuo back to his mother.
"Of course," she chuckled as she held Yasuo up to her other breast and he began to suckle. "This is like the third time they've done this simultaneously since they've been born. I think they're subconsciously doing it together to mess with me." She, Susamaru, and Mitsuri laughed in response. "So far, I've had zero trouble breastfeeding, so Susamaru-san, you should be fine when you have your child."
"That's good," she replied. "You know, you were kinda the pioneer in this regard, being the first demon any of us have heard about at least to have a child naturally. Seeing that everything's going well for you really puts me at ease."
"I'm glad," Mukago nodded. She then told both of her sons, "Hear that? We're the first. I won't ever let you two forget it."
"I forgot," Susamaru then asked. "Are they demons or humans?"
"Humans," Mukago answered. "We still aren't sure of what determines which species they belong to."
"Then I'll probably be the first demon in Japan to have a child that's a demon."
"Oh yeah," Mitsuri remembered. "Since you and Colby-san are both demons! Sometimes, I forget Colby-san is a demon."
"It's okay. Between the three of us, sometimes, I do too." All three shared another laugh at the remark Susamaru made.
As they all finished laughing, Mukago thought to herself, "I want to enjoy the time I have left before I head out to find Daki-senpai."
"So," Susamaru then asked her, snapping her out of her inner thoughts. "How's the postpartum recovery? I heard for humans, it can take weeks."
"Well I'm almost back to 100%," Mukago answered. "Kocho-sama said that I healed a lot faster than any human woman she's ever worked on. Even so, I'm not quite there yet. Give it a few more days."
"Damn, I wish humans recovered that fast," Mitsuri remarked. "My mom apparently was not feeling well for like six weeks after I was born. I kinda feel bad for it sometimes, even though she tells me it's not really my fault."
…
January 18, 1914
"A secret?" Muichiro wondered why Mukago was being so serious with him as the two had dinner with the twins. "What kind of secret are you talking about?"
"Mui," she urged him. "Whatever you do, you cannot tell anyone, not even the Oyakata-sama."
Realizing the mother of his children was adamant in her demand, he conceded. "Alright. I can accept that. This sounds pretty important. What is it?"
"Uzui-san got a mission to kill a demon I knew well a long time ago," she explained. "At least… I think it's that demon. If it is, she and her brother share an Upper Moon rank together."
"Share an Upper Moon rank?! What rank?!"
"Upper Moon Six." Mukago then set both of the twins down and adjusted her clothes again to cover her chest back up. "It's a brother-sister duo named Daki and Gyutaro, the same ones I mentioned last year. They live in Yoshiwara over in Tokyo."
"How do you know them again? It's been a while since you brought them up."
"It's fine," Mukago nodded before she began to explain her connection to the siblings. "You see… When I was appointed to the Lower Moon ranks, Daki-senpai saw that I was once a prostitute like she was and still is. She was made an oiran around the same age I began working at the tea house, one of the youngest in Yoshiwara. She took some pity on me, I suppose, so she began training me and looking after me. It was so odd, because she could be such an asshole to most other people, especially the other Lower Moons, but she was really kind to me, and so was her brother. Daki-senpai and Gyutaro-niisan stood up for me a few times when other Upper Moons tried fucking with me."
"You two must have been pretty close, then."
"Yeah." Mukago then sighed, trying her hardest not to get emotional. "The two of us were best friends at one point, and I was close with her brother, too. They've been through so much together, and I was there for a good chunk of it. I would give anything for either of them to leave Muzan behind. I know they've done so much wrong, but I also know there's a chance they can redeem themselves somehow, Mui! There has to be!"
"You're really passionate about this," Muichiro commented. "When is Uzui-san going out to kill them?"
"By the end of the month," she confirmed. "I need to find them before he does."
"Wait… You're gonna leave the twins here with me?"
"I have no choice. I wish there was another way, but there isn't." She then hugged Muichiro and told him, "If something happens to me… Tell Yasuo and Michio their mother will always love them… Please."
Muichiro returned the hug, realizing that Mukago was going to leave to find Daki and Gyutaro no matter what he said or did. "I will… I'll be waiting right here for you when you come back. If need be, I'll stick up for you if anyone accuses you of betraying us."
"Thank you…" Mukago then kissed him before splitting from the hug and holding the twins in her arms. She then whispered in each of their ears, "I love you. I love you."
"So when will you leave?"
"In two days," Mukago told him. "Before I leave, I…"
"You what?"
"Well, we haven't, you know…"
"Oh, that," Muichiro remembered. "We haven't had sex since you had the twins. Let me guess, you want to change that before you head out? I'm all for it."
"Yeah," she replied as she got up. "I'm gonna put the twins to sleep. After that, we can have sex, okay?"
"Sounds good to me," Muichiro replied as she headed to put the twins to bed. Once she left the room, Muichiro remarked to himself as he stared at the ceiling, "The clouds weren't too interesting today… It was too cold to focus on them anyway. Maybe tomorrow will be a bit warmer." Suddenly, however, he saw a flash of an unknown memory in his head and gasped. "Huh? What?! What the Hell was that?" He looked around and remarked to himself, "When I thought about the twins on my own, I had that vision again…"
…
January 20, 1914
Mukago had boarded a train to Tokyo early in the morning by herself at a rural train station, being careful by concealing her sword and her revolver. As she stowed away a luggage container above her, she saw a small child look at her with confusion in his eyes. "Who are you?"
"Me?" Mukago was confused on how to respond. "Um… I'm Tokito Mukago."
"What are you?"
"What am I?" Mukago was stumped on how to tell a small boy what a demon was. "I'm a person. I'm Japanese like you."
"Horns… You have horns…"
"Eh?" Mukago was taken aback by how blunt the boy was. "Heh… Yeah, um… I do…" She thought to herself, "For fuck's sake, kid, do you have to be this blunt?!"
"Come on, Takeo," remarked a woman, presumably the boy's mother, as she grabbed the child. "Don't pester the others so much." She then looked at Mukago, her eyes widening as she realized why her son was so curious. "Wait a minute… What the-…"
Mukago sighed and pulled back a black coat Muichiro had given her to reveal a complete Demon Slayer Corps uniform shirt and pants underneath. "I'm on your side."
"A demon hunting demons? What in the world…?"
"Would you rather me hunt you down instead of my own kind?" Mukago by now was not happy with the attention she was getting.
"Okay, okay, fair," the woman replied. "I was just shocked by your appearance. I'm sorry."
As she and her son left, Mukago sat down in the seat and sighed. "This is getting annoying…"
…
January 21, 1914
Mukago was standing in front of the entrance to Yoshiwara in the early evening, having changed out of her Demon Slayer Corps uniform at a nearby hotel. She had changed into her original long red kimono from her days as a Lower Moon to better conceal herself, but still carried her weapons just in case. As she stepped forward into the crowded and bustling red light district of Tokyo, she could feel the winter breeze as the various brothels offered their services to anyone who passed by, both sexual and otherwise of course. The weather was thankfully a bit warmer than usual, not that Tokyo got so cold anyway compared to other areas of Japan. "The sex work here is far more elegant and advanced than anything I did in the past," she thought to herself. "Tea waitresses were nothing compared to the oiran."
She knew exactly where to find Daki and Gyutaro, or at least she knew where she used to be since they changed houses every decade, and made sure to make a beeline right for the last oiran house they had established she could remember. As she walked along the street, she noticed a foreigner dressed in a grey soldier's uniform and became curious as to why he was here. "Excuse me," she asked the soldier in Japanese. "Do you know where I can find the house Yatamahime belongs to?"
The soldier replied in broken Japanese, "Yatamahime? No person Yatamahime."
Another soldier, this time bearing a grey uniform more reminiscent of a general, then came forward, asking in more fluent Japanese, "What can I do for yo-?" Upon seeing Mukago, he paused and reached for his cutlass. "Wait… Wait a minute! You're one of the traitors!"
Mukago, shocked he pulled out a sword so quickly, exclaimed, "Wait, wait, wait! Put the God damn sword down! For fuck's sake, come on! I just want to know where Yatamahime is! Is that too much to fucking ask?!"
"I recognize you," the general said to her as a small crowd began forming around the confrontation. "Muzan said to look out for you since you're a traitor!"
"Who the Hell are you guys?! Why are you here in Yoshiwara of all places?!"
"I'm Jubal Early," the man explained to her. "The 3rd Knight of the Moon. Now, come with me or I'll kill you. I'm surprised you're mentioning my partner's old name."
"Wait… You're partnered with Da-?!"
The soldier and Jubal quickly restrained her to prevent her from saying her name out loud despite Mukago trying to fight back. "Shut up," Jubal yelled at her. "Shut the Hell up and come with us! We'll take you to her so you can talk!"
"Let go of me! Get off of me, asshole!" Mukago then bit the soldier on the arm and ripped a chunk of flesh off of it, causing the soldier to scream in pain and retreat a few feet away from her. "Fuck you! You can't heal from that until night time!"
"Damn it," the soldier yelled in English. "She fuckin' bit me!"
"Stop fighting! Stop it!"
Finally, Mukago stopped struggling and told Jubal, "Alright, alright, alright! Look, I'll go with you, but on one condition."
As he let her go, Jubal asked her, "Are you in the right position to be making demands of me?"
Mukago then pulled a gun from her waistband and told him, "Maybe I am. If you try anything, I'll yell for help. If I shoot you or that soldier of your's, you won't be able to heal."
"I can just shoot you," Jubal replied as he pulled a gun of his own and pointed it at her. "I assume you've been treated with American blood, so you can die in the sunlight a lot easier than in the moonlight."
An unknown voice nearby then shouted, "Hey! What's going on over there?! What's with the fighting?!"
The sound of a police whistle caused both of them to quickly holster their guns and run away. "Damn it," Jubal muttered. "Fine, what's your condition?"
"You don't turn me over to Muzan as soon as I arrive," Mukago told him as they raced around a corner to avoid the police. "I'm gonna talk to Daki privately with no interference or visitors. If you say no, I'll hand you over to the police."
"I'll take that," Jubal replied. "For now, at least."
…
In the Kyogoku House, Daki, under her current disguise of Warabihime, had just finished entertaining some guests in a windowless room free of any and all sunlight when she heard a knock at the door. Annoyed that someone was interrupting her work on her makeup, she asked in a somewhat harsh tone, "Ugh, who is it?"
"It's Omitsu," an older woman, the owner of the house, replied. "You have a visitor, Warabihime."
"You gotta be fucking kidding me," she muttered to herself before turning around to face the door. "Who is this visitor? If it's nobody important, they can wait as long as I please."
"It's a young woman," Omitsu replied. "Her name is… Uh… I think it's Mukago. I think."
The mere mention of her name causes Daki to drop a case of makeup onto the floor and stand up in shock. She immediately changed her tone and said back to Omitsu in a somewhat panicked voice, "Let her in immediately! What does she want?!"
"She wants to speak to you privately," she replied.
"What the fuck are you waiting for, then?! Let her in here now! By the way, I won't be available tonight!"
"Of course!" Omitsu was then heard running away to find Mukago and bring her into the room. "I'll bring her right to you, Warabihime-sama!"
"What the fuck… I never thought I'd see her again after she left us…" Daki was conflicted on how to approach meeting with her former best friend. Gyutaro then emerged from her back just as she said, "Oniichan, Mukago's back."
"So she is, huh?" As he took full form in the room, he scratched his face and remarked, "Maybe she finally saw the light, or in our case the darkness, and decided to come back to us, you know?"
"I hope so," Daki replied in a somber tone. "Apparently, she wants to speak to me privately."
"Alright then," he replied as he walked out of the room. "I'll be across the hallway if you need me, Daki. If she gives you any trouble, reach out to me."
Once Daki was truly alone in the room, she began to clean off her makeup and take her oiran outfit off to go down to her normal appearance as a demon, muttering to herself, "Fuck, this is gonna be interesting…" Once she was finished, she set her clothes down and cleaned up the spilled makeup as best as she could with a ripped-off part of her obi sash that quickly grew back, indicating it was a part of herself and not just clothes. Once she heard knocking on the door, she asked, "Who is it?"
"Daki-senpai," Mukago said through the door. "We need to talk."
