As an Upper Moon, Douma was able to see through the senses of weaker demons the closer they were to him or the more he focused. Usually, he used the ability when he became curious of a fight going on nearby, sometimes it was an accident. Other times it was to try and talk to Akaza in the previous timeline, though Muzan had put a stop to that.
He knew something was off when he began to see the area around his temple in his mind's eye. Doubled.
Other demons were lurking around his home. Douma didn't consider himself very territorial, but he did have weak humans and his lifestyle to protect. A simple warning should suffice.
Strangely, he couldn't sense them getting too close to his village. As he borrowed their vision, he was also able to tell they were together, which most demons didn't do except…
Douma pinned their location and rushed towards them.
They had grown a little but were still easily recognizable.
"Gyutaro! Ume! How did you know where I lived?"
"That's how you say hello?" Ume snapped, startled, but still offended. She crossed her arms and glared at him.
"We just searched all the mountains," Gyutaro explained. "What? You didn't want to be found?"
"I'm just surprised! And very happy you did find me! I love visitors!" Douma gestured widely in the direction of his temple. "Join me inside! Come on!"
Gyutaro scowled in the direction of Douma's village. "Over there? Don't you feel that?"
"Feel what?"
"It's… kinda a smell? Maybe?" Ume said. "It's… dangerous."
"Oh, that's just my wisteria!" Douma said, waving a hand. "It'll be better inside!"
They drew closer to the village where everyone was thankfully asleep. Douma had eagerly gone to the door of his temple, but Gyutaro and Ume hadn't followed. He looked over at them curiously.
The siblings looked as though they were going to throw up. Ume bravely took a step forward, only to double over and cough so loudly it sounded like she was going to lose a lung. This was… alarming. Douma frowned and instead ushered them to the other side of the temple before she could draw anyone's attention.
Was the wisteria really so bad? It grew and spread on his tree in front of his temple, and he hadn't noticed any side effects for a while now. He had begun to think growing it himself had caused it to lose its effectiveness but if Gyutaro and Ume had such a strong reaction to it that wasn't the case. Though they were young… they had just passed their fourth anniversary as demons.
They both still looked rather unfortunately ill even when they entered the temple through the back.
"What the hell does wisteria do?" Gyutaro asked. "How can you stand that?"
"It's a poison some demon slayers use to immobilize or kill us," Douma explained. "The flower itself is used to ward demons off. It won't kill you in that state. As for me… well, I suppose I got used to it."
He couldn't quite keep the disappointment out of his voice. Not even eating them affected him anymore.
"Is that why you have it? To get stronger against it?" Ume asked. Her voice was muffled by her hands cupping over her mouth and nose. It wasn't that bad, surely?
Douma shrugged. "That's one use."
"What about the other flowers?" Gyutaro asked, nudging a vase with a lily. Douma noticed he was straying farther from the side of the temple with the wisteria.
Douma brightened. "I just like them!"
Gyutaro cackled. "You? A demon? Liking flowers that thrive in the day? Do you realize how stupid that is?"
"So mean!"
"Gyutaro, not all flowers bloom in the day!" Ume said, hands on her hips.
Douma snapped his fingers. "Oh, that's true! You can see my wisteria in the morning, yes, but it bloomed for the first time at night! It was such a nice surprise, I hadn't expected it!" He looked around at the few pots of flowers he had on display. "Hm, I don't have any others that bloom at night, but I'm sure to get one at some point. My followers almost enjoy them as much as I do! They really brighten up the place."
"You mean make it a deathtrap? You have less partitions blocking the sun," Gyutaro said. If Douma didn't know any better he'd think he was concerned.
Douma waved a hand dismissively. "A lot of them don't require direct sunlight and my temple is large, its plenty safe for me." He looked up and down the halls of his temple. "We should move to my room. Sometimes my attendants will get up and roam about at night but they're forbidden from going in there. Unless you can look more human, perhaps?"
"Eh? We can do that? Change shape?"
"With practice, I think. His Lordship does it. I've seen a few other demons as well."
Gyutaro's form was still misshapen but clearly stronger. Ume's cracks along her skin had mostly receded, but she still didn't look entirely human. He wasn't sure at what point Ume began to seamlessly blend in with the humans and live amongst them.
"Is that what you do?" Ume asked.
Douma looked down at his form. "Oh, no, I've always looks like this." He tilted his head. "Huh, that's… actually strange now that I think about it."
"Lucky guy," Gyutaro murmured.
Douma led them to his room, hand idly going up to the top of his head where the only truly off feature about him was. His hair. The bloodspot where Muzan had pulled his roots and sunk his fingers into his skull. Hot, dizzying blood pumping into his brain, leaking out of his eyes and nose and mouth. Pushing and pushing until Douma was on his hands and knees and—
"-my skin and eyes. My hair too," Ume said. Had she been speaking the whole time?
"What's wrong with your hair?" Douma asked faintly, lowering his hand.
Ume flipped a few loose locks over her shoulder. "This isn't a natural color. Human hair is darker."
Oh, that's right. Ume probably didn't even remember what she used to look like. Douma slowed when they reached his room and he opened the door, gesturing them to go inside. "That's the color hair you had as a human!"
Ume puffed out her cheeks. "Liar."
"It was! It's rare, but I was born with rainbow eyes and silver hair, like you!" Douma cooed. "Oh, how my parents worshipped me! They thought it made me special." He went to the corner of his room and opened a drawer, pulling out some incense. A few seconds later and he had it lit so that the scent was enough to overpower the wisteria. "You and Gyutaro had the prettiest blue eyes too! I was jealous, you know!"
Ume clearly still didn't believe him, but she didn't argue. At least the incense was helping! Gyutaro and Ume had started to relax in the room, the older sibling prodding Douma's cushions and the younger admiring his collection of skulls. Her fingers brushed against one that still had hair. She pulled back abruptly.
"Oh, right! Look at this!" Ume said. She reached into her kimono and pulled out a very familiar rainbow pin to hand Douma.
"You still have one!" Douma cried excitedly.
Ume's smile was sharp with a cruel twist to it. "Some whore had stolen them. I ripped her head off when I remembered what they were. The other one was broken so Gyutaro said he'd keep it."
Douma held the pin up to admire it. It warmed him to know Ume had remembered it belonged to her and that it was a gift from him. He hoped there'd be a night where he could go shopping for them again. He'd buy them everything they didn't need and more! He couldn't go shopping now, but he did have plenty of accessories to play with.
Without a word he took her by the hand and had her sit on one of his cushions close to his drawers and cabinets. He opened and closed them all, collecting ribbons and fabrics he hoarded because he found them pretty, as well as pins and combs; a fraction of the trinkets from followers that he had eaten over the years.
He spent the next hour or so pinning Ume's now much longer hair up into different styles as she told him about what she and Gyutaro had been up to. He refrained from asking why they came to visit – he knew there was a reason. The siblings might have some fondness for him, but he knew them well enough that they likely wanted something. He would take his time though. If it was urgent, it would have been the first thing they said and he wanted to spend time with them!
"Does Gyutaro ever do your hair?" Douma asked.
"Sometimes, if I ask," Ume said. "He's really good at it too. There's some he can do perfectly."
"Oh! Gyutaro, maybe you can show me—" Douma turned around. "Er…"
Gyutaro was curled up on his cushions with his eyes closed. His chest was rising and falling slowly in an even rhythm, a habit from when he was human, surely. It looked a lot like he was…
"Gyutaro? Gyutaro, are you sleeping?" Douma asked, amused. "Demons don't sleep!"
Ume snickered. "He does!"
"I would, if there weren't two loudmouths in the room," Gyutaro grumbled, cracking an eye open. He rolled over and grabbed another one of Douma's cushions and stuffed it under himself. "Why the fuck is everything so soft. Why do you get soft stuff? All these pillows and you don't even sleep… Privileged bastard…" He yawned and crossed his arms over a cushion to lazily observe them.
Douma raised his eyebrows. That yawn was involuntary. Gyutaro really did sleep? Was it a habit? Or did he need to? From what Douma remembered, he hardly got any rest in his human life. What an odd quirk to develop. Maybe it had something to do with the siblings being linked to each other. Perhaps lying dormant inside Ume had kept him from losing strength between meals?
…But sleeping?
"Rest as long as you need, then," Douma said, baffled. He looked back over Ume's shoulder where she had been fiddling with some of his ribbons. "And just what are you doing over there with my things?"
Ume lifted her project.
It was one of several flowers folded from his collection of ribbons and pinned together. Douma had seen such items before, mostly in Yoshiwara, but he'd never witnessed someone folding them himself! Ume must have learned it when she was human at some point. They weren't all perfect, some had petals that were too big, and he could see a few creases in the ribbons where Ume had redone them, but they were still beautiful!
"These are wonderful," Douma said, awed. "Can I have one? Please?"
"They're already your ribbons," Ume said, shrugging. Still, she looked through her small collection carefully and then picked one up, placing it in his outstretched palm. Douma cupped it in his hands and held it close.
"A present from Ume, this is special!" The last time she had given him something, he couldn't eat and had to return. This was something he could keep forever.
"It's just some dumb flower," Ume said, flushing.
"I'd love anything you give me!"
"Tch, hear that, Ume? I'll just go dig up some weeds. He'll love them."
A present from Gyutaro? That'd be earth shattering!
"I'll love them because you gave them to me!" Douma said honestly.
Gyutaro stared at him and then looked away quickly with a weak scoff. Douma laughed and went over Ume's hair one more time to make sure it was perfect. When he was done, he let her admire it and stood to place the small flower she gave him at the very top of his drawer. There were still a few hours until dawn…
"Now, I've made it clear I love visitors! But I know you wouldn't come here without a reason. You've let me have my fun so... what is it?" Douma asked.
The siblings exchanged glances with each other. Gyutaro straightened up.
"We want to join the Twelve Kizuki," Gyutaro said. "There was a Hashira—"
Douma snapped to attention immediately. "In Yoshiwara?"
"We escaped," Ume said. She looked furious. "It was embarrassing, Douma! We killed some demon slayers and then she showed up and Gyutaro knew we couldn't beat her so we ran!"
Gyutaro sneered. "If she was stronger than the other demon slayers we were already having trouble with we wouldn't stand a chance. I can't let that happen again. We need to get stronger! I want to kill Hashira! The Twelve Kizuki are the strongest demons in existence, right? How do we join? What are the odds?"
Douma observed the siblings carefully. They were strong. Gyutaro had developed a Blood Demon Art already so he alone would be able to reach the Lower Ranks. Ume though…
"It's difficult, but let's see…" Douma said, cupping his chin as he thought. "If it was just Gyutaro I'd say he'd reach… Lower Six. Maybe Five."
"Seriously?" Ume snapped disbelievingly. "What about me!" Douma smiled. He wondered how strong she thought she was. Or perhaps how weak Douma was if she thought their strength was in any way close to his. Gyutaro accepted the answer more readily with a scowl.
"You'll need to eat more humans and develop a Blood Demon Art. Gyutaro is the strongest of you two, so Ume, you'll have to practice and get more experience if you want to reach his level. Then two things can happen." Douma held up a finger. "The first is to be recognized by His Lordship. Lower Moons die often. He finds replacements immediately afterwards." He held up a second. "The second is to challenge a Lower Moon to a Blood Battle. If you win, you get their rank. Whichever happens, you'll often be rewarded with His blood which will strengthen you generously."
"And even as Lower Moons we'll still be weak," Gyutaro growled.
"I have met dozens of Lower Moons in my existence as a demon and only a handful have killed a Hashira," Douma agreed. "Still, to beat a Lower Moon you'll have to be stronger than one so you shouldn't underestimate them."
"How do you win a Blood Battle?"
This was Douma's least favorite option for the siblings. The only reason he was answering was because he had told himself he'd guide them. "Weak demons and lower ranks can't kill each other in a fight so it is often until your opponent yields. You are also allowed to restrain your opponent somewhere the sun will hit. Most will either yield then or die. Often both. Demons are not known to show mercy.
"Blood Demon Art can be the deciding factor in the fight since there's such a large range of them. In fact, my Blood Demon Art is mostly ineffective in causing damage to demons, but I can still overwhelm them with my abilities and restrain them if I need to."
Gyutaro frowned at this. His Blood Demon Art was all offense.
"So, the loser of the Blood Battle is strung up to die? That Man allows that? Isn't that just killing off his ranks?"
"His Lordship has no use for a Lower Moon who loses a Blood Battle or fools who think they can win one. It's different for Upper Moons, though, depending on his mood or favor."
"Do you know any of the Lower Moons? And their Blood Demon Arts?"
Douma gasped, covering his mouth in horror. Gyutaro stiffened. He lowered it and smiled.
"Gyutaro! Are you asking for me to give out their secrets? That's cheating! How naughty! Unfortunately, I know nothing. The Lower Moons are replaced so often it's difficult to keep track. If I could help, I would…"
Both siblings looked frustrated and Douma could see the disappointment just beneath it. He really did want to help…
Oh, there was one thing he could do. It might give them an idea of what was instore for them.
"I'm long overdue to initiate a Blood Battle. If His Lordship allows it, I'll bring you," Douma said. "Maybe you can learn something, hm?"
