"You have a door!" Douma said two weeks and several visits later as he slid the panel back and forth enthusiastically.

"I'm patching up for the winter," Gyutaro explained. He was watching Douma's actions with a slight twitch in his eye from where he was hunched over in front of Ume.

Douma finally walked inside and sat down behind Ume, taking a comb he gifted her at his last visit and brushing it through her hair as she greeted him. Ume was more than capable of brushing it herself, but he didn't mind doing it when she sat still. It was much softer and thicker than the skulls he would brush at his temple.

"He's plugging up the holes too so no cold air or rain can get in," Ume said proudly. She turned her head to meet Douma's eyes with a meaningful look. "And to block out the sun."

Douma smiled. Gyutaro must have told her. "How thoughtful," he said. It was! Though he'd never stay in the daytime. The house was much too small and flimsy for that. He peeked over Ume's shoulder at what the two were working on by candlelight. "What are you doing?"

"Gyutaro's teaching me to write," Ume said, making another careful stroke along the paper.

"Oh! I didn't know you could read and write, Gyutaro."

"I needed to just in case…" Gyutaro averted his eyes. "Ume should know. I'm still learning too."

"It's a useful skill," Douma agreed cheerfully. "I have books you can borrow if you'd like! I brought some with me and others are gifts! Most of the attendants with me are illiterate so they won't be missed."

"Figures your followers are too stupid to read."

Douma gasped. "Gyutaro! They do their best! It's unkind to call them stupid when circumstances simply did not allow them to learn to read!" He shook his head sadly. "You wouldn't call Ume stupid, would you?"

"He would!" Ume cried.

"Eh? When!" Gyutaro snapped, whirling on her.

"All the time!"

"Ah, now, now," Douma said meekly as they began to bicker. Bickering, he had learned, was something siblings did even if they loved each other.

Bickering led to roughhousing and Douma had to flee to the wall to avoid being caught in the crossfire. Unfortunately, a careless misstep had Ume's foot knocking over the candle used to light their work.

The candle was knocked over and rolled, spreading wax and flame over the papers they had been working on. Ume stumbled to avoid the candle itself, but she ended up stepping in the hot wax, letting out a yelp. Gyutaro was on her immediately.

Douma quickly used his hands to snuff out the flames that had spread along the papers, hardly noticing the burns that healed instantly. He turned his attention back to Ume and Gyutaro once the flames were dealt with. Gyutaro had already gotten most of the wax off of Ume's foot but it left behind a patch of pink burned skin. Ume hissed in pain as he finished up.

"Allow me," Douma said. Gyutaro hesitated, then pulled back.

Douma raised a hand, barely cooled with his Blood Demon Art, and rested it on the small burn. Ume flinched at first, then bit her lip and slowly relaxed.

"Does it hurt?" Gyutaro asked.

Ume shook her head. "It did at first. Now it just feels a little cool."

"Is that part of being a demon?" Gyutaro asked, staring at Douma's hand intensely.

Douma hummed. "As demons get stronger, they develop Blood Demon Arts which are special abilities. Mine happens to be mostly ice related. There is a large range of abilities you can have." He removed his hand to reveal Ume's skin clear of any injury. "I have extremely minor healing abilities. It's good on bumps and bruises but if you're stabbed I'm afraid I can't help. I don't know of any demons who can heal lethal wounds without turning them into a demon as well, if that's what you were really asking."

Gyutaro nodded and examined Ume's healed foot. He brushed a finger across it and Ume snorted to cover up a laugh. He looked satisfied. The expression disappeared when he noticed what remained of their writings. Burnt sheets with quickly cooling wax and small piles of ash.

"I have more paper if you need it," Douma said. "I can have it delivered to you in the morning so you don't have to go out and buy more."

"You just have everything, don't you," Gyutaro snapped.

Douma blinked. "I… do have many things, yes," he said. His voice came out awkwardly. He smiled and straightened the burnt papers and candle, then swept the ash away.

He could feel Gyutaro's eyes on him.

Ume had stayed quiet.

Gyutaro sighed.

"Yeah. We'll take it," he said.

"I'm sorry, Gyutaro," Ume said.

"It's fine. We're getting more," Gyutaro said. He paused and added, "And the books. The books would be helpful. I have notes and invoices to read but that's barely anything."

"Of course!"

"We can get them now."

Douma tilted his head at his insistence but agreed anyway.

"I wanna go!" Ume said quickly.

"You need to practice," Gyutaro said, pushing his knuckles on top of her head to redirect her to the few papers left unscathed. "You just want his servants to spoil you. I saw you last time."

"Attendants!" Douma corrected.

Gyutaro rolled his eyes. "Attendants."

He almost pointed out that most of them were asleep by now, but something told him not to. That Gyutaro wanted to come alone.

By now it wasn't too out of place to see Douma taking a walk with at least one of the siblings, but while it was Ume who attracted the most attention, it was Gyutaro who attracted the most whispers. It seemed the locals would not see him as anything other than a menace. It was heartbreaking but at the same time Douma knew Gyutaro didn't want them to see him as anything but. It must have been difficult growing up in Yoshiwara.

One of his followers sleepily greeted them at the door while another fret over Douma being out so late again without telling anyone. This seemed to really amuse Gyutaro, so Douma allowed them to fret over him a little longer before dismissing them.

He took Gyutaro to his room and began pulling a few simple books out. Anything to cement the basics for them. He'd explain what each one contained as he placed them in front of Gyutaro.

"These are copies of writings from when this faith was founded," Douma said, holding up slightly smaller books. "Some were written by my father and others by very devout followers. Mostly fables and poems, but there's some history in them as well."

Gyutaro flipped through one of them, pausing at an inked drawing of Douma as a child. "You're in this," he said, raising his eyebrows.

Douma laughed. "Yes! I am! My birth was a huge turning point! Quite the historic event!"

Gyutaro rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall near a lantern as he very slowly read through the pages. While Douma gathered some books into a pile he saw Gyutaro flip back and forth several times. He approached him with a wrapped bundle of books.

"Did you need help?" he asked.

"You're not named in here," Gyutaro said. He paused. "Right?"

Ah.

He put the bundle down. "Not exactly. My parents didn't name me. I can only imagine it's because they believed it'd bind me to the mortal plane. As you can see, followers of the Eternal Paradise Cult would reference me in their writings." He tapped at one of the characters read as 'child.' "It could be read out loud as 'Douma' and it stuck after my parents died." He smiled. "They'd be very upset if they knew, I think."

Gyutaro frowned at the book, then closed it and added it to the bundle.

"Your parents sound like shit."

"They weren't the greatest," he agreed. He brought a hand up to cover his smile. "They really believed I was magical. Imagine what their response would have been if they lived long enough to see me grow and become a demon!" They'd probably still believe he was a gift from the gods! Would they line up to be eaten? He wondered.

"Why'd you stay with the cult?" Gyutaro asked. He didn't seem very amused. He seemed very chatty, actually. Which was unusual! In Douma's experience, nobody liked to hear him talk.

"I was very little when they died." Douma spread his arms. "And, well, why wouldn't I, Gyutaro! Look at all the luxury and power I'm provided! Isn't this what all men dream of? Food, comfort, women…"

Gyutaro scowled and crossed his arms.

"What do you eat?"

Douma forgot to smile. "…Hm?"

"I've never seen you eat food."

"…Well…"

"It's people, isn't it?"

Douma stared up at the ceiling for a minute, then glanced at Gyutaro from the corner of his eyes. "Why would you think that?"

"Those slayers said you murdered my neighbors. I did notice them missing, you know. No trace left behind. Even the slayers in the forest were gone before daybreak." They were quite delicious, yes. "The only thing is… I can't really make sense of why you would play with your food for so long. I already said we're not gonna be demons."

"You're not food!" Douma said, jumping to attention. "You're Gyutaro! And Ume is Ume! I wouldn't eat you two." They were supposed to be demons! Eating them wouldn't do at all!

He heard Gyutaro's heartrate increase for a second at his sudden movement and diet confirmation before slowing down. He didn't show any fear though, just watching Douma curiously. He seemed very curious tonight.

"Are you scared of me, Gyutaro?" Douma asked, just as curious.

Gyutaro looked torn. "I'm… cautious," he decided. "You're dangerous but I think you like Ume enough to not hurt her."

"I like you too, Gyutaro!" Douma assured quickly.

Gyutaro expression turned skeptical but he let it drop. "Are there a lot of demons? People don't seem to know about them."

"There's quite a few," Douma said. "They're difficult to notice because of how spread out they are. Most demons stay in one place as well and that attracts demon slayers so they get killed. It's mostly the families of victims that are aware of demons existence. As demons get stronger, they can go longer without eating so killings are sparse where they live and harder to track."

"They tracked you here."

Douma fanned his face. "Ah, I may have… overdone it a little!" There were just so many poor souls, he couldn't leave them suffering! He had to eat them all! "But they haven't found where I live yet, so I've grown strong enough that demon slayers are not an issue for me even if they did."

Gyutaro suddenly flinched back. "Wait, your cult. The people you take… They're all going to-"

"No! No, not all of them! Never all of them!" Not again. He stepped forward, imploring Gyutaro to understand. "The help and salvation I offer them is real! It's safe there! I only choose them when they're ready!"

Gyutaro hadn't backed away yet.

It needed to stay that way.

Douma didn't want him to run. If he ran, he'd have to follow.

"Like… cattle," Gyutaro said.

Douma didn't think he liked that comparison.

"I'm helping them," Douma said, the words slipping out before he could think. He didn't know why he would have to think over them. It was true. "I'm helping them. They're happy there. Keeping them happy is why I was born."

"Are Ume and I pets?" Gyutaro asked. He had begun picking at his skin. Rubbing. Scratching.

"You're upset," Douma said. "I didn't mean to make you upset, Gyutaro! You're not pets, I promise! I want to be friends! I was human once too!"

"How the hell," Gyutaro growled. "Is any of this fair."

…He had not expected that.

"Your money, your food, your home, your women. You get it all. All stuff you don't need anyway because you're a demon. You kill and you're rewarded with more strength? With more good fortune? What kind of crap is that? That's not fair. Not fair at all. I had to go through years of abuse for scraps, you come in for one night and we suddenly have enough money to buy food for a week. Our stomachs don't feel like they're trying to eat themselves and we can have a full night's rest. How the hell can a demon bless us more than a damn god?"

It almost sounded like gratitude. It definitely sounded like envy.

More importantly, Gyutaro was beginning to draw blood and while Douma had excellent control over himself, he had not eaten in a few days. He placed a hand over Gyutaro's to stop the scratching and lowered it to his side.

"It's not too late to accept my offer," Douma said soothingly. "You and Ume can turn into demons at any time as long as I'm here. You won't know suffering or pain or death. If you'd like, it can be the last gift I give to you! You can build your life with your own strength and you'll have all the time in the world to do it."

Gyutaro's expression was unreadable. Douma gave him a small smile.

"You know the advantages of taking what's offered to you. Your happiness is the same! It's ok to seize it," Douma said. "Fiercely, if you must, because it is yours!"

Douma pat his head, causing Gyutaro to make a small noise of protest, then picked up the books, sliding a few leaves of paper on top of them. "Please think about it, Gyutaro! For now, take these home and get some rest."

He was sure that Gyutaro had a lot he wanted to think about and discuss with Ume, so he did not go home with him. Instead, he lingered in the hall to watch Gyutaro decline his attendant's offer to escort him.

Would Gyutaro accept his offer? He hoped so.

'You won't know suffering or pain or death.'

Douma's stomach twisted.

That had been a lie, hadn't it?