A/N: This just came to my mind in a spur of moment. Yeah, I totally did not have any plan to write this. Criticism is appreciated.
Every breath she took, it felt like her lungs were about to burst out of her chest. Her panting grew harsher, fatigue slowly catching up to her as she locked eyes with the Upper Moon, who was still completely unharmed and smiling emptily in her direction.
"Aw, you poor thing. Why do you struggle so hard, dear, when we can make it easier and less painful for you?" His voice was airy, almost featherlight as if they were old buddies having run into each other after a decade of separation.
Kanae gritted her teeth as she forced her body to move, to attack and lop off his head. But, the injuries and blood loss were preventing her from doing so, sharp bolts of pain shooting through her body. She stood on wobbly legs, hands gripping the hilt of her sword tightly.
"You are quite a determined one, aren't you? I'm sure you will taste quite good. The stronger a woman, the more nutritious their flesh is, the taste equivalent to a grand cuisine prepared by an excellent chef."
His tongue flicked out, licking his lips. Never once did his smile drop.
Kanae took her stance again. It was now or never. As much as she sympathized with demons, her duty as a Pillar came first. This demon had devoured a lot of innocents and he could not be left to roam around freely.
"Breath of Flower, Fifth Form: Peonies of Futility!" Kanae dashed forward, multiple slashes cutting through the demon's defenses. A few hit him, the others met thin air.
Needless to say, Douma did not even need to use his full strength as he successfully avoided her strikes and with a swipe of his fan, she was sent stumbling backwards, coughing out blood as a large, horizontal slash from his metal fan grazed her chest. The cut was deep, blood oozing out of it rapidly, further staining her haori. Breathing became much more difficult than before.
Kanae did not even have to wonder about the damage her ribcage took. There had to be at least five ribs broken by now.
'Don't inhale the air. Don't. Just concentrate on your Total Concentration Breathing and -'Kanae froze midway through her inner turmoil as Douma materialized right in front of her. She could not believe it. In a moment of weakness she had let her guard down, and now Douma had the upper hand.
"Poor Pillar-chan," he sighed. "You have suffered so much. Don't worry, dear. After this you will we be liberated from all the hardships you had to suffer through. You will be staying with me. From now on, the two of us will be together forever~"
'Move!' Her instincts screamed, but all Kanae could do was watch in frozen terror as Douma cupped her face between his icy palms and opened his mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth, ready to devour her completely and leave behind nothing of her remains.
Kanae closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face at the complete helplessness of being unable to fight back. She was going to die and her last memory before death would be that of agonizing pain as sharp fangs were buried into her soft skin. She cried for her sisters, Shinobu and Kanao, as they would be left alone grieving her death. She cried for Douma, a miserable, pitiful creature who was turned into a demon against his will.
The foul stench of his breath hit her nostrils with full force. Kanae gagged as she waited for the inevitable.
It never came.
One second she was nearing death's door, and the next thing she knew, the icy palms on her face were gone. She was pulled back by an unknown force, a loud crash and the sound of several bones breaking rang in her ears.
She gasped, only to come face-to-face with a pale back with blue markings, pink hair, and a firm but gentle grip on her slender wrist. She blinked at her savior.
Who?
"Douma," the voice was surprisingly young, but it was impossible not to notice the sheer disgust and hatred lacing the tone of 'whatever-his-name-was'.
"Ah, Akaza-dono. This is quite a surprise. What brings you here?" Kanae turned to face where Douma's voice was coming from. There was a large depression on the wall where Akaza had probably punched the rainbow-eyed demon. The left side of Douma's face began to regenerate at a rapid pace as he blinked owlishly at Akaza with a wide, surprised smile that further served to irk the younger demon.
"I was passing by," Akaza greeted, practically spitting out the words with forced calmness. Douma made a sound of exclamation as if he understood how Akaza even got there in the first place.
"That doesn't answer why you interrupted from having my fill, Akaza-dono. Clearly you know not to disturb others when they are trying to eat in peace, don't you? I knew you were rude, but never thought you would cross the boundary."
"Douma." Akaza was nearly seething by now. Kanae worried over his blood pressure. She had already figured it out by now that Akaza was a demon, and if he knew Douma, then he had to be an Upper Moon as well. No ordinary demon had that much strength to actually land a hit on Upper Moon Two. Akaza was a demon, but seriously this much anger was bad for his health.
(Yeah, let's disregard the fact that demons don't get ill. But, that was how Kanae was. Her sympathy towards demons was just that much.)
"You are disgusting."
"Eh?" Douma blinked, clearly not having expected that level of harshness coming from the rosette demon.
"Leave at this instant. Now."
"But, Akaza-dono -"
"I said." A step forward. "Leave now. Or I will tear you limb by limb and throw your carcasses out into the sun."
A sigh. "Akaza-dono, if you really wanted to eat her, then you could have just said so. She's a Pillar, you know? And a very strong one. I wouldn't mind sharing."
As the sentence was completed, Akaza's fist collided with Douma's face, the latter's head getting detached from the body and flying meters away from where they stood. Kanae gaped at the sight. What in the world...?!
Akaza growled out, "I. Don't. Eat. Women. Is your memory that terrible? You should know about it by now."
He doesn't? Kanae could not even understand how things went from worst to bizarre in a few seconds. Was this demon lying or was he telling the truth? A small part of Kanae, that foolish little part, hoped that it was true.
It wasn't really the best discovery, but a demon who refused to attack or eat women was a first. Maybe, maybe, this demon still had little humanity left in his cold, dead heart. Maybe, he could still be redeemed...
"Ah, youngsters these days are so rude," Douma's headless body reattached the head as Akaza took a protective stance before Kanae, ready to fight tooth and nail to save the Flower Pillar from falling into Douma's clutches.
"Fine, fine." Douma was still smiling but it was nowhere as big as his earlier smiles. "She is all yours, Akaza-dono." The demon turned to stare at the horizon as the sun began to rise slowly.
Dawn was approaching.
"Pillar-chan, you're quite lucky that Akaza-dono came to your rescue. But next time, luck won't be on your side. I look forward to our next meeting. Bye then!" And with that Douma was gone, leaving behind absolutely no traces of whereabouts.
For a few seconds, the only sound that echoed through the tense atmosphere was the chirping of the birds. Once he was sure that Douma was gone for good, Akaza turned his gaze towards Kanae. The kanji for 'three' reflected in his blue sclera.
Kanae would be lying if she didn't say she found the Upper Moon Three's eyes more captivating than Douma's. Maybe she was a bit biased, given that Akaza had just saved her life.
The staring contest was broken by Akaza as he turned his gaze away, scowling as the first rays of the sun began to touch the dark skies. He prepared to leave, but not before sparing her a backward glance and nodding his head in what could be called as a 'farewell'. Kanae never got the chance to even thank the demon for giving her the chance to be able to see the next sunrise, to get another chance to see her family and comrades before he vanished into thin air, leaving behind nothing but fragments of tiny snowflakes in his wake.