THE COLOR OF THE WORLD

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Disclaimer: Kimetsu no Yaiba belongs to Koyoharu Gotouge

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Genre(s): Adventure/ Hurt/Comfort

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Warning(s): Typo is my most loyal fan, spelling mistakes because English is not my mother language, Possibly OOC and a lot of Angst. I hope. Not Beta.

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Manga: Chapter 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99

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(A/N): I won't lie and admitted that I'm just…too lazy to write. As I already stated numerous times in my warning, English is not my mother language. So, writing a long a* fic using other people's language took a toll on me. I can finish my other fic (the Bnha one) because it was a drabble story. And the longest chap I've ever written in that thing was, like, 2k or something. Not to mention, I was pretty disappointed with KnY ending. I know the mangaka had a family problem so she had to end the story pretty early, but…the modern time setting threw me off guard that it left a bad taste on my tongue.

She did add new chapters as the alternative ending tho'…

Anyway, enjoy this chapter '3'

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Inosuke was sweating bullets, hesitant to obey the demon's command—he's the king of a mountain! No rug beast had a right to order him around!—but then Tengen was screaming, pleading almost, for Gyuutaro to get that filthy hand off of his wife. Everyone was busy trying to block the wild sash that kept on moving and slicing, even though her head was now within Pig Mask's clutch; it was already established by the Pillar that they need to chop both of their head to finally turned these fiends into dust. Or wait for the sun, though that was way too long of a waiting game. Daki was enraged that she got cut up for the third time within a single night that she decided to just go apeshit towards them. Inosuke's skin crawled as he instinctively ducked, avoided the older woman's hair, who lengthened and pounced like multiple spears. Before the Hot Head swung one of his chipped blades wide, cutting the white lock and stopping her attempt murder immediately.

"HOW DARE YOU TARNISH MY SISTER'S HAIR!" oops, maybe Inosuke should not do that. Now the demon male was angry beyond measure, endangering Hinatsuru even further. But seriously, what should he do anyway?! Daki tried to kill him, of course his first instinct was doing a counter-attack to protect himself! You don't want to get slash, then don't be a demon! Inosuke didn't want to admit that he let out a low eep when Gyuutaro unleashed his SPLATTER SICKLE, he frantically leaned back to evade, not knowing the slash could be freely manipulated by the big brother that his back was now unprotected, Gyuutaro's hold on Hinatsuru's mouth tightened and started to draw blood—

Before Nezuko appeared on his side once more, DANCE OF RAPID CURRENT was used to disperse the red sickle in half—

Then Zenitsu zoomed by with SIX FOLD activated, he escaped to the air along with the frightened Hinatsuru.

Tengen shouted, "Agatsuma Zenitsu! I'm in your debt!" and teleported right behind the startled Gyuutaro, both of apricot Zanbatos swung right at each side of his neck—

Nezuko's ROAR OF THE WAILING DRAGON; RAPID BULLET was dancing around the open sky, directing the attack towards the older brother as well as dicing Daki's sash apart—

But Gyuutaro blocked the swords with his sickles almost easily, threw his head backward, and nicked the Pillar right under his nose, forcing Tengen to stumbled away from his personal space. Gyuutaro then spun in place while ejecting the ROUND SLASHES OF DEATH, causing the deadly whirlpool of sickles to flewin every direction possible—not just to the left or right. Literally to every single direction—that negated Nezuko's water along the way. Not only that, Daki's body sprouted another couple of sashes from her back too, following the brother's attack by contributing her own strike as well. Their vicious retaliation caught everyone off guard that they could only raise their weapon to the front in a feeble attempt of protecting themselves, Zenitsu went so far as to hug Hinatsuru close within his embrace, Inosuke unwillingly drop Daki's head to the roof tile—

A ton of marble bombs was thrown into the air (Breath of Sound, Fourth Style—) and—

SLASH SLASH SLASH

KRAK KRAK

BOOOUUUUMMMMM

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Then silence.

When Nezuko opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the kanji of 'DESTROY', of someone's back crouching in front of her prone body. The next was the white hair flowing freely without the hindrance of the turban. She also vaguely realized that most of the house in her vicinity was nothing but trash, the last attack of Gyuutaro had reduced everything to rubble. A soft thump was heard amidst her silent panic (hurt, hurt. She just fell from two stories building, of course, it's going to be hurt), Nezuko's burgundy orbs slowly tracked the place where the sound was originated from. Before it widened and her stomach dropped.

It was a hand.

A decapitated hand. Still grabbing the handle of a big sword.

And she knew who's that sword belongs to.

"Uzui…san?"

Tengen stayed silent, he was frozen solid in his defensive stance, right arm raised with blade placed horizontally in front of his face, one knee rose to the chest. His face was blank—too blank—and blood dripping from the stump echoing in this silent night. Gyuutaro stepped closer (he didn't realize the demon was closer than she thought. Oh God. Both of us were in a vulnerable position too!) and peered at the still—very still—Pillar, maniacal grin bloomed on his pale face, "oh, look at that. He's finally dead. And in such a cool pose too, protecting his 'successor' till the very end. That bomb of his was loud, though it did a good job anyway. Because, see," his sight flitted to the gaping girl, cracked lips pulled upward even further, "one of them actually survived~"

Nezuko tensed as Gyuutaro walked to her, now crouching instead of standing. The moon on the background painted a very sinister expression on his already deranged complexion, however, that even though they were almost eye-to-eye, he was practically looming over her. His sharp teeth glinted ominously, "you're pretty. Not as pretty as my sister of course, but pretty otherwise. No wonder she wants to eat you," he waved to the nearest roof, a silent order for her to look over the place he pointed. The second Kamado's breath hitched when he saw Daki sitting there, legs swinging by the edge of the house. Her head was attached to her neck, unscathed and well, the woman was giggling at the state of the miserable hunters. And after Inosuke had done a good job in beheading her—. Gyuutaro snatched a clump of her black hair, forcing her to look at him once again, eliciting a whimper from the down pink slayer, "how sad. Everyone else besides you are pretty much useless, man."

"Boar was buried under the wreckage," he said, again making her see towards the direction of her friends without her consent. There, Nezuko stared at a pair of feet sticking out under the rubble (Inosuke. That's Inosuke's sandals), "yellow head smacked his head on a rubble as he tried to save the useless human. I'm pretty sure he's dead on the spot," then she saw Zenitsu lying on the street, body sprawled onto the unconscious Hinatsuru (he protected her. The sight reminded her of the first time she met with the sunny boy. When he covered Tanjiro's box from Inosuke's onslaught with his own body. Even though he's scared, even though these demon's attacks torn his back, he still protected her). Gyuutaro craned her sight back to the front, toward Tengen's form and his own grinning face, "and Pillar here? He was strong, man. But the poison stopped his heart. He's a goner. Pathetic, isn't it? You, in particular."

"Where's your brother? Our Lord wants him. So, tell me where he is," when Nezuko didn't answered—be it because she was too hurt to even talk or because she didn't want to sell her own family out. Maybe a bit of both—the Upper Demon Moon hurled her face to the ground, hard, she was pretty sure her jaw just cracked; not entirely dislocated from its place, fortunately. She felt her nose bleed, tears sprung from her eyelids at the sudden pain, Gyuutaro sneered, "I don't have all day, little girl. I can just search for your pathetic brother myself but I'm feeling a bit generous in keeping you alive for a while longer.

"What's with that glare?" one of his eyebrows rose, noting the flinty stare Nezuko gave him even if she was faceplanted to the ground, "I'm just telling you a fact here. He's a demon, he's stronger than you, but he bequeathed the job to finish us off to the weak, very-much-human little sister? A very irresponsible older brother, if you ask me."

"Frankly, a half-asses demon like him is better off dead, man~"

That sentences alone made her blood boiled. Heart jumped in agitation and Nezuko practically saw red.

How dare he, dismissing her precious brother just like that? He didn't know crap about Tanjiro; not about his caring personality, not his hardworking tendencies that it was borderline workaholic, nor his sacrifices of giving them his precious possession as long as his siblings were happy. If the ginger demon was not indisposed as of now, he'll be here to save everyone in one fell swoop. Just like what he did when Daki almost eats her. A hero everyone deserved rather than the weak sister who was a true coward, waiting for someone to help but didn't ask for one in the first place—

("Nobody will know what you're feeling if you don't speak up, Nezuko. It's okay to lean on someone else's shoulder," She remembered a memory. Of Human Tanjiro humming a small tune, nuzzling her close and calming her down from a nightmare of childish imagination, "But if you're not ready to trust, then that's okay too. As long as you stay kind and won't lash out to someone's undeserving. Because, Nezuko. When you're nice to someone—")

(A familiar fog wafted by, her sight cleared and burgundy orbs widened—)

("—then they won't even hesitate to help you out in the near future.")

Nezuko slowly rose, trembling and exhausted, she managed to sit on the dirty ground after a bit of difficulty. Gyuutaro looked at her in curiosity as the Upper Demon Moon continued to talk (not noticing she was preparing for something), "Hey, dimwit. You useless piece of garbage. Why don't you become a demon instead? For the sake of your brother as well~"

"Wha—oniichan, no!" Daki piped in, her voice felt like it rumbled inside her eardrums, along with the rushing blood she could hear inside her veins, "I don't want that! There is only one beauty in the Upper Demon Moon rank and it's me. What if she tried to usurp my place with that face of hers?"

"Oh, come on, dear stupid sister. Everyone knows you're the prettiest woman in the whole world. This kid will never ever surpass you," Gyuutaro scoffed, the idea of someone having a beautiful complexion than her little siblings was preposterous, "besides, you can torture her as you please if she is a demon. The fun will end in a blink of an eye if she stays in her human form, see?"

Daki contemplated that offer with a small hum. For a demon with a beauty-complex like that, she liked the sounds of that.

"Hey, hey, so what about it?" the brother started smacking her head upside down, rattling her skull and causing her to realized ah, my forehead is bleeding, "if you become a demon, you can get strong in a flash. Bid farewell to your crippled, fleshy body," he nuzzled her hair hard, Nezuko almost felt dizzy, "if you don't, I'll beat your brother to death. It's not like he's gonna die and our Lord never specify us to bring him intact."

"So, what do you say?" he asked once more, face inched closer, she could feel his breath. Nezuko wheezed and blinked her eyes, she was trying to clear off her spinning view. The ponytail hunter didn't answer, but she did tilt her head back, staring right at the dark with lip thinned. Seeing that action made Gyuutaro laughed a deranged laugh, "your mind finally gave in the last second huh? Hehehehe. Your own weakness sickens you, heh?"

"I heard when people grieve, they tend to look up at the sky before the tears come pouring down. I don't know why humans found that action poetic. It's just plain pathetic in my opinion, man," he continued, it was his turn to tilted his head, albeit to the side and watching Nezuko with intense interest, "I haven't seen it myself, though. You want to show me that, little girl? Saying goodbye to your human life before I turn you into a demon?"

"No," Nezuko croaked, burgundy eyes blazing from beneath the loose bangs, "I…"

"Was waiting."

Then he brought her head with quick succession and—

BAM

Rammed her forehead right at Gyuutaro's own.

(Far from her rational thought, she wailed. How in the heck Niichan do this? It hurt so freaking much!)

The Upper Moon Six smirked a little as his body slowly fall, head throbbed in slight pain, "what a desperate headbutt," he chuckled, "that shit ain't gonna work on me—"

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His legs buckled without his consent.

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…what?"

"What are you doing, Onii-chan?!" Gyuutaro heard Daki's voice rang in the silent night. She sounded a bit hysteric, "Stand up now!"

I know that, stupid sister! Of course, he knew. He's the brain in this operative. Not her. But he could not do anything. No matter how he wished it to, his legs won't listen to him. His green orbs flitted to the unresponsive limbs. There's no way a human's headbutt could disorient me this bad. What the hell happe—

Then he saw it. The assassin woman he thought unconscious had her arm outstretched, a feral grin blossomed on her face. She threw that accursed kunai at him, lodged it deep in his thigh. So, that's why I couldn't move. What a cockroach, still trying to stay alive in this kind of situation. And where's that yellow scaredy-cat? Did he abandon the woman?

But he couldn't really question it any longer when Nezuko stood up with the sword swinging down. The blade sunk into his nape, forcing him down to the ground as she let out a mighteous roar. Shit, shit, shit. He tried to stand up. To move his hand. To do anything. Yet everything was futile. Everything was to no avail when the black-orange haired girl pushed her blue sword down with her other blade, right on top of his nape, and forced him down to the cold, hard ground.

When Hinatsuru woke up, everything was over.

What happened, she asked herself, as she rose with a gasp. She couldn't see the kids, especially one with that yellow hair who saved her in a nick of time. The only thing she remembered was Zenitsu—head bleeding and hands trembling though he succeeded to evade the worst hit of that big rubble so it only scraped his forehead instead—told her to stay put while he went for the demon girl. Inosuke, who also appeared from behind Daki's figure (for an absentminded child like him, tricking the enemy by releasing his sandals from its clasp, allowing it to be destroyed by the wreckage of the building, creating an image of himself, being pinned down by the fallen wall, was the smartest thing he did). Nezuko, in the middle of cutting through Gyuutaro's neck, ignoring the black claw that sprouted from the black lock demon, trying to push the hunter away from their beloved master. And her husband—

MY HUSBAND!

Hinatsuru swiveled her head so fast, she almost gave herself whiplash. The previous memory that was blocked to the back of her mind rushed forward like a bull without a leash. Tengen, her husband, he survived somehow. He rose from his shock still status and went to help the second oldest Kamado. They rushed, swung, and slashed. And after an out-of-nowhere suicide bomb Gyuutaro's body did the moment his head was cut off, the battle has ended. The noise dwindled to a stop.

Uzui Tengen was now sprawled with his arms and legs open, drown in his own blood.

Hinatsuru's feet moved by themselves; vaguely, she saw the other wives ran toward him as well. Tengen's condition was worse than imagined. Red liquid flowed from the cracked lips, eyes red and watery. His entire body was full of bruises, cut that was, of course, deeper than a paper cut littered at every corner possible. Then the worse thing that her orbs could ever land upon was his hand.

Or lack thereof.

Hinatsuru was crying. Not in frustrated anger like Makio. Or bawling her eyes out like Suma was doing right now, burrowing the words—final words—Tengen was trying to say. But pure, unadulterated sadness that was full of grief. It was the first time she did this after she was married to a man she looked up to. After she escaped from the hellhole that everyone called 'survivor guilt'. After her first mission where her entire squadron was annihilated by a crazy demon who longed for human blood. After—

After she attained happiness she wished to have for a very, very long time.

It wasn't fair. This is not fair. Hinatsuru admitted she was not a good person by nature, she is a ninja for God sake, but could they not?! Destroying other people's happiness just for the sake of their twisted fun? Removing their pillar—figuratively and literally—from their beautiful, peaceful life in a war of atrocities? Hinatsuru just wants to have that slight light. A light of hope. One, that will keep her up the water, ready to support her whenever she was down on the drain. But now that Tengen was on the verge of his death, breath becoming shallow and shallow, gasping for the air that refused to enter his lung, everything that they've built so far will vanish in an insta—

A small boy, with hair as ginger as a sunset, popped up from between the three wives.

"Uuh…" was Hinatsuru's smart response.

Isn't this Tanjiro? Nezuko's demon older brother? What is he doing here? I was pretty sure he is unconscious and a civilian brought him away from the battlefield. And what is that?

Is that Tengen's severed hand?!

Tanjiro gingerly stuck the chopped off arm in front of the ruined tendons, utter concentration flashed upon his reddish-orange eyes. There was a shift in the air—

And Tengen was engulfed in a fiery blaze of fire.

Suma screamed.

"NOOO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? ISN'T IT WAY TOO EARLY FOR A CREMATIO—ouch!" she recoiled when another flame sprouted from within the demon's body. This time, it shaped itself into a tail of a fox, keeping Suma out of the way.

Makio pulled out a bunch of kunai from under her clothes and Hinatsuru was ready to do the same; just because Tengen is going to kick the bucket, doesn't mean they'll allow someone else to burn the body. But she paused on her track when she heard Tengen's breath evened out, wounds slowly closing. The blood stopped flowing and the severed arm that Gyuutaro had mercilessly cut appeared to connect to its previous place by itself?! She prevented Makio from advancing, shushed Suma's incoherent crying, and told them to watch.

And watch they did as Tanjiro did his magic. Now that they knew the flame won't hurt their beloved, they realized it was actually…kind of warm. Almost like summer came early. It sewed the wounds close using its haze, bringing back the human's natural heat as well. Tengen blinked his right eye–his only functioning eye, as Gyuutaro's crooked sickle was able to nick it when the demon was on a desperate attempt to fight the hunter off—open, quivering tremor was nowhere to be seen. Those beautiful marbles Hinatsuru loved are back. And his skin finally regained its healthy color, "Huh," Tengen then muttered, not realizing how his wives teared up at the sight of his improved condition. Instead, his attention went onto the younger demon, thin eyebrows rose in open curiosity, "Since when did you have yellow hair, kid? You're not an impostor, right?"

(For the first time in Hinatsuru's life, that sad tears turned into immense gladness.)

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"Muzan gave another batch of his blood to me. Forse me to remembered uuh…half of his passh life," Tanjiro—hair color was now back to ginger. It seems that yellow figure of his, half wrapped in reddish orange flame, was his version of 'full demon form'—said, lilted and uncomfortable. He chewed his tongue on accident a couple of times, not used to having sharp fangs as a part of his row of teeth. But it was a considerable change from his previous 'baby talk'. He was more of a five years old kid mimicking adults' sophisticated sentences now, "He read healer books. Teach him…how to connect limb. Now I know how to properrly connect limb too. You can yus that hand…but not well."

The kid was right. Disregarding over the fact of how Muzan could summon his demons from everywhere and at any time—that was a can of worm they were not ready to open. Not before they were healed and safe in a haven that was Butterfly Manor—Tengen's fingers were trembling a little bit. Couldn't even feel any heat nor force from that hand, even though Suma was holding onto it like it was her last lifeline. He was sure he could still be a demon slayer, but he couldn't maintain his Pillar position any longer. Not when his inability to use the other limb can very well be the thing that endangers everyone under his command.

He didn't mind, though. Being alive and surrounded by his lovely wives, not on his deathbed but on the fleeting world, was a miracle enough. If he pushed himself and re-trained every moves that he know—maybe add a couple of new ones as well—he could still help his companion in hunting the rest of the Upper Moon beasts down. He just had to be determined. Even more so than usual.

"Um…" Tanjiro hesitant hum woke Tengen from his inner contemplation. The kid had his head tilted, open concern was palpable as he chewed on his bottom lip, and asked, "Do you know wheres Pink Girl go? I coudnt find her anywhere…"

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, YOU ANNOYING WHORE! DON'T JUST INTERFERED AND STARTED LECTURING US! YOU'RE NOT MY OLDER BROTHER!"

"THEN I'LL BE YOUR OLDER SISTER INSTEAD SO I CAN ORDER YOU TO SHUT THE FUCK UP! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M HURTING? YOUR BROTHER DID A NUMBER ON ME AND NOW I CAN'T EVEN STAND ON MY LEGS! IF HE'S NOT ON THE VERGE OF DISINTEGRATING, I'LL BE GLAD TO KILL HIM FOR THE SECOND TIME, DAMN IT!"

"HOW DARE YOU! FUCKING FIGHT ME INSTEAD, YOU FUCKING BITCH!"

"OOH, I'M NOT THAT MUCH OF A JERK TO BEAT THE DEAD HORSE ON A STOMACH! Oh wait, YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A STOMACH ANYMORE!"

"KAAAHHH! SO ANNOYING!"

Gyuutaro blinked owlishly when Daki and Nezuko started shouting obscenities; if the ex-Oiran had her body, he was pretty sure they'll start pulling each other's hair or something. Just like the girl hunter said a second ago, the demons were just a head without a body now. They were on the way to the afterlife, pale skin shattered and decayed, waiting for the doom to come. Before whatever this…argument shit happened, Gyuutaro was the one who had an intense debate with his blood sister, however. He was lamenting over the fact of how pathetic they look, how regretful he was for having Daki as his younger sibling, how he had to clean up her mess whenever she messed up. Gyuutaro's mouth nearly spat that abhorrent words (that 'I wish you were never born in the first place—'), although that never happened when Nezuko appeared out of nowhere and plopped her body right between the arguing siblings, face first. That was how this situation happened.

Come to think of it, when was the last time Ume was this passionate when she was speaking with another girl?

That's right. Ume. His sister's true name. An ironic one because it was the same name of a disease that killed their late mother. The moment he accepted his defeat, silently and dejectedly as he didn't want his sister to bitch on him anymore than this, he finally remembered everything. His past life, his past self. They were born in Rashoumon-Gashi, the lowest caste of the Red Light District. Gyuutaro was an ugly boy, often mocked with derogatory names such as maggot, dimwit. Coward among dunces. Useless. His mother had tried to kill him multiple times and it was such a lucky thing that he survived otherwise, after all his weakass body. He thought this is all he would ever amount to. A black goat in a flock of sheep. A tiny duck in the middle of majestic gooses. A mere spider consuming other insects to keep himself alive.

Yet something began to change when Ume was born.

Smooth skin and silky hair. Wide, sharp but adorable eyes and tiny lips. Ever since she was young, she was so pretty that even adults would falter. A beautiful sister like her blew Gyuutaro's sense of inferiority away. And with his newfound power, strength that he used for his new job as a debt collector, he felt like they could accelerate themselves to a better life and make a living.

Until the day Ume turned thirteen.

Until she blinded a samurai by poking his eyes out with a hairpin.

Until he came back from work and found his pride and joy was already burnt to crisp.

(STOP! STOP! HOW DARE YOU COLLECT SOMETHING WITHOUT GIVING ANYTHING BACK TO ME?)

(Unforgivable…unforgIvAbLe—)

If only she was at another store, she would've been a proper Oiran.

If only she had normal parents, she would've been a normal girl.

If only she was born into a good family, she would've been an elegant lady.

If only, if only, IF ONLY—

"If only you're not my sister…" Gyuutaro spoke, stopping the argument Daki and Nezuko had started anew; this time, his sister was cussing the yellow hair brat that just came from the horizon, trying to fetch his companion away from the attention of the Upper Moon demon. The older brother of these mismatch relative felt tears run down his eyes, sight growing blurry. Gaze that was full of hatred, longing, regret, and guilt was the last thing Nezuko seen before he, along with Daki, left the land of the living, sorrowful whisper flew over the despondent night.

"If only you're not my sister, maybe you could've lived a different life where you can smile ever so brightly"

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("Hey, Zenitsu. Do you think…do you think they made up?")

("…")

("Nobody's going to forgive them for what they've done. They're hated and despised by all the people they've killed, I'm pretty sure they're disparaging them even now. No one would be their ally, no one would ever support them. So why…")

("Why were they cursing each other? Even till the end, the older brother kept wishing for Daki to never be his younger sister.")

Even if that means he has to suffer through loneliness and self-deprecation, as long as his sibling is happy—

(She wondered if it was this complicated…)

(To have a family.)

OMAKE chapter 98-99

Douma, a demon with pale golden hair and a natural crown painted in red and black existed on top of it, pouted when the Biwa woman ejected him from her complicated maze of stairs and door, phooey.

Gyuutaro and Daki are dead, was the point of their meeting a moment ago. Douma was sorry over that announcement because he was the one who introduced the duo devil to the great Muzan-sama. He was ready to accept his punishment. Maybe by gouging his eyes out? It was pretty, made by the color of the rainbow, he was sure Muzan-sama could use it for an experiment or a bargaining chip for whoever creeps out there. Yet their leader doesn't seem to be that mad. Instead, he looked happy, humming as he concocted some kind of liquid inside a clear tube, brushing over the fact that an Upper Moon fiends had finally been killed by a slayer—a normal one at that—after one hundred and thirteen years had transpired.

"Because you're going to have a new one soon," Muzan then chuckled, "it'll be a while and it'll take time. But he'll be mine to use soon enough."

A new family! And judging from the pronoun Muzan-sama's used, it'll be a boy!

"Is he going to be younger than me? Or older? Ooh, I hope he's younger," Douma silently cooed, he unconsciously gave his follower a sunny smile that could melt the heart, "You see? I, your gracious founder, really want a younger brother to cuddle with~"