It was only a few months later when Douma felt something familiar within his connection to the rest of the Twelve Kizuki. When he recognized the strengthened bond of Gyutaro and Ume, he almost left the temple immediately to congratulate them on reaching a Lower Moon status. Safely, at that!
Unfortunately, it was still daylight out, so he had to wait a couple of hours before tracking them down outside of Yoshiwara. He found Ume at a slaughtered campsite of at least eight people. She was elbow deep in the last body, alone. Douma could recognize the look in her eyes as a demon who had just earned themselves an additional portion of Muzan's blood. Hungry. He also recognized the ranking. Lower Three.
"Ume!" Douma called. She looked up, hand covering her mouth so that the large bite of flesh and blood wouldn't slip out. He grinned and gave her a moment to compose herself. "Where's Gyutaro?"
Ume braced one hand on the ground and leaned forward, still chewing. Gyutaro's form emerged from her back. He almost oozed onto the ground. He got to his feet with a yawn, to Douma's amusement. In his eyes was also the Lower Three ranking, thankfully.
The siblings had completed their transformations into their prime forms. Full grown and powerful and almost completely identical to the previous timeline. The most notable difference was the lack of a disinterest in their eyes when they looked at Douma and their more relaxed stances.
"That's a neat trick," Douma said. "Were you sleeping, Gyutaro?"
Gyutaro rubbed at his eye and gave him a 'what do you think' glare. "It preserves energy," Gyutaro said. "I don't have to eat as much and Ume can eat all she likes and get stronger."
Douma wondered if that's how they were able to last so long in such close proximity to humans last time. He did sort of wish Gyutaro would take better care of himself though. Receiving Muzan's blood made a demon ravenous for a little while afterwards. He didn't need to save everything for Ume. But Douma didn't have siblings so maybe he just didn't understand.
"That's very clever! No wonder His Lordship acknowledged you," Douma said. "I didn't feel a fight amongst the Lower Moons, so that's what happened, right?"
Ume wiped at her mouth and nodded. "We've been drawing in demon slayers." She gave a cruel smile. "We came up with a trick."
Gyutaro grimaced.
Douma suspected he knew what the trick was already. "A trick?"
"We don't die when our heads get chopped off." Douma widened his eyes appropriately at this incredibly new information he did not see coming at all. "As long as one of us still has it intact, we're still alive! Gyutaro and the Master suspect we'd die if we got them cut off at the same time. So we trick the slayers into thinking they killed the demon in the area, then once they send the message that they slayed the demon, we kill them and do it all over again!"
"And now you're both Lower Three," Douma said. "Well done! How do you feel?"
"Starving," Gyutaro murmured. "It hurt but getting more of his blood felt… Amazing. I'd never felt so strong." Gyutaro looked at the bodies in the campsite and leaned towards the corpse Ume was eating. "But now I feel like this won't be enough to satisfy us. Ume eats more than me."
Ume hissed, insulted. Gyutaro huffed and pat her head.
"Your hunger will go back to normal," Douma assured him. "Your body is adjusting to the new power. Just eat every bite and you should be fine."
"Like I'd let anything go to waste," Gyutaro said, biting clear through a bone to make a point. "'sides, we need to get even stronger if we want to be an Upper Moon."
"Oh, you plan to challenge me?" Douma asked teasingly. Both of their heads shot up. Douma laughed.
He was still Upper Six and, on paper, the weakest so it'd make sense for them to challenge him first.
"How embarrassing it'd be for me if you caught up so easily!" Douma said. He summoned his fan and flipped it open and closed a few times. "It's time for me to issue my challenge, then! Are you ready? If you're whisked away with me then you'll have His Lordship's permission to watch!"
"Right now?" Ume yelped.
"No time like the present! It'll be great! You can meet the other Upper Moons and see how strong we can be! I haven't fought another demon in… well, I haven't fought!" Not in this timeline!
For the first time in Douma's memory, Gyutaro looked nervous. Ume looked panicked.
"I thought you said—!"
"You haven't fought another dem—?!"
Douma blocked out their voices and tugged at his connection with Nakime to make sure he wasn't disturbing her from a meal. He felt the impression of a strung instrument in response and bounced on his toes.
"Nakime! I am initiating a Blood Battle!"
Muzan's dark, suffocating presence enveloped their connection and twisted around them, taking in the information. Douma felt him touch his mind briefly and peer through his eyes at Gyutaro and Ume. He thought he could feel claws flipping through his brain to catch whisps of memory. Recent ones. Just the past discussions to see what led to the challenge. Gauging his strength and how many humans he's eaten.
Muzan, Douma realized, was very nosy for someone who didn't bother checking in on him since his last mission three years ago.
"And who does Upper Six challenge?"
Muzan's voice echoed through the web linking all demons to each other. It was mocking and cold. Even Ume and Gyutaro flinched from his voice. Douma gave them a reassuring look.
Muzan asked a fair question! He couldn't beat Akaza just yet and he hadn't reached Best Friends status with him. He wasn't sure if he could have both. The current Upper Three was a demon named Seimaru and Upper Four was Miura, both of whom he never got to know. Seimaru had been eaten by Akaza and Miura killed by sunlight during a confrontation with a Hashira. Douma was confident he could beat either of them.
However…
"I challenge Upper Moon Five! Please send me and Lower Three to an appropriate arena!"
There was silence on the other end of the connection. Consideration and disbelief at Douma's casual reference to companions. His blatant disrespect in inviting them. His confidence in his challenge.
The strum of the biwa sounded and echoed through the room hauntingly.
The surroundings around them flickered and the world tilted.
Another strum and everything jerked to the side.
Douma's feet found the ground a moment later.
The transportation was smoother as she got stronger, he noted. This had been a little bumpy.
The ground he was stepping on was a beach covered with smooth pebbles and washed-up seaweed. It stunk of salty sea air and rotting fish. Gyutaro and Ume, he was pleased to see, had been allowed to come along and were staring out at the ocean. Likely they had never seen it before as demons or humans.
Douma turned to look further inland at the abandoned fisherman's village. It appeared as though a storm had destroyed all the buildings long ago. What an interesting choice! Plenty of places for Gyokko to hide his pots. He recalled Gyokko liking fish, did he live around here? On second thought, doubtful. The sun would shine longer in this area.
"Where are we?" Gyutaro murmured.
Douma held a finger up to his lips and walked into the abandoned village. He tried to sense any of the other Upper Moons. This was a Blood Battle within the ranks, so they didn't have to come, but some might be bored and watch, especially after Muzan announced it. Douma was curious of whether Akaza or Kokushibo were present. It was unlikely but Akaza had shown interest in Douma's ranking before… Kokushibo only showed up for his own battles or for Akaza's.
Muzan was always watching. Nakime was also present. Hiding.
Ah, there he was!
Akaza did come. He was not within Douma's sight, but he could feel him. He knew the moment Gyutaro and Ume sensed the other Upper Moons. Their heartrates accelerated and he could feel their ache for a confrontation held back by the knowledge that they were not strong enough. Muzan or another Upper Rank seemed to have mentally instructed them to move though. Gyutaro looked irritated but he and Ume obediently went a few buildings down where they could observe without interfering.
Now that they were safely out of the way, Douma turned towards a pretty pot perched on top of a roof.
"Good evening, Lord Gyokko!"
The tiny, stubbed arms of infants gripped at the edge of the pot from the inside, pulling themselves up and out and morphing into the more familiar shape of Gyokko. The half-formed torso turned to face Douma. Gold eyes were narrowed and Douma smiled, not for the first time unsure of which one to look at.
"Eh? How do you know my name? I've never met you before, Upper Six…"
"Who hasn't heard of the Great Gyokko?" Douma said, bowing with a wink. "Word has it you make the most beautiful pots!"
"Heheh. Yes, yes… It is so." Gyokko squinted in the direction of Gyutaro and Ume. "What're those doing there?"
"Don't mind them!" Douma said. "It was I who called for you! I'm Douma!"
"You?" Gyokko coughed. "What business would Upper Six have with I, Gyokko? I'm very busy you see…"
Douma waved his fan with a flourish and a wide grin. "But it should be obvious, Lord Gyokko! A Blood Battle! I'll be taking your ranking tonight!"
Gyokko didn't reply at first. His malformed body instead twisted in place and his eyes rolled, taking in their surroundings more carefully. Was he trying to detect what other Upper Moons were present? Douma could still sense Akaza. This time he could also sense someone else, but he wasn't sure if it was Seimaru or Miura.
"You lack ambition, Upper Six. Moving up only one rank… surely you can try for something higher? Rank Three? Two, perhaps?"
The most logical and advantageous demon to beat would be Seimaru. If Akaza could beat him and Douma could beat Akaza so easily, it made the most sense.
But, quite simply, Douma didn't want to. Previously he had done it because he was bored. He had shot up to Rank Two on accident based on a prank. But now? Now Douma was well entertained. Oh, he had no problem with getting more powerful. The stronger he was, the better he'd defend himself from demon slayers before he met Shinobu again. There were few reasons he'd consider ranking up now and one would be for Akaza's attention and the other Muzan's leniency, both of which he'd work for eventually. He didn't see why he couldn't go up in ranking one at a time as long as he ended up in Upper Two.
And Douma liked Gyokko.
Gyokko was always the one who seemed to get along with Douma the most. He never took his invitations to visit or hang out, but he'd at least talk to him! He'd say hello and he even gave him a gift. Gifts were something Douma was sure he could appreciate even more this time around.
He smiled up at Gyokko.
He wanted to see Gyokko's power. He always did like talking about how amazing he was.
"Just you, Lord Gyokko! It's important to respect the hierarchy, I think! You're more than worth challenging!" It was difficult to tell, but he was pretty sure Gyokko was glaring at him. "Do you disagree?"
"I accept your challenge, Upper Six," Gyokko growled.
"You didn't really have a choice!" Douma laughed.
