CHAPTER 44 - Cogs
"You dare show yourselves out here. Without result?" demanded Kibutsuji, glaring down upon his minions, who had returned empty handed.
"Akaza… Kaigaku…"
The mere utterance of their names made them bleed out of their mouths, rupturing their innards.
"Haha… Looks like your boys got beat." said Doflamingo sitting beside Kibutsuji, sipping his wine.
"And you." Kibutsuji demanded of Kaigaku. "You had a mission to bring back Daki alive. I don't see her?"
"Apologies, Master. She was killed during the battle against that pirate Captain." Kaigaku replied through his bleeding mouth.
"Kaigaku!"
Kibutsuji bellowed, much to Kaigaku's sudden angst of pain and suffering.
"Quite a sight. You really care naught for your underlings' failures." Doflamingo laughed.
"Please… Master…" Kaigaku coughed.
"Can't blame them. That bastard Law has been failing others' plans for quite some time now." Doflamingo remarked.
"Him and his friend, the green-haired swordsman must be done with. That three-sword pirate…" Kibutsuji clenched his right fist.
"Is he that fearsome?"
Doflamingo looked behind and observed a fellow with rainbow coloured irises.
The fellow returned an emotionless glare back upon Doflamingo's gaze.
"A human allying himself with the Master and thus, I make no action for the Master's sake. Else, you'd be dead. You and your kind are of subpar intelligence."
Doflamingo chuckled upon the fellow's indifferent reply. Despite the words of murder, there was no intention of hate. He observed the rainbow eyes, etched – No. 2, Upper.
"So, you are finally here, Doma?" said Kibutsuji.
"I kind of looked back into the recent history, considering all the commotion caused by the so-called Demon Slayers; (sigh) Another pathetic group of humans to impede our existence." Doma looked at Doflamingo. "It so happens that I am connected to the woman that managed to wound you in your previous battle."
"Do tell?" Doflamingo asked, grinning in menace, waiting for the revelation.
Kibutsuji listened to the conversation.
"I had murdered her sister a few years back. She called herself the Flower Hashira, now that I recall. A wonderful woman. A shame to have ended her so soon. And a beauty she was."
Doflamingo was continued to be amused observing the Upper Moon talk of human aesthetics without a shred of emotion.
"I'd say the woman you encountered must be as beautiful as the Flower Hashira. I wonder?" Doma went into his thoughts.
"They shouldn't be taken lightly." advised Kokushibo, who remained silent until then. "It's time we head out and take care of this blighted strength within the enemy's forces."
"I'd say." Doma said in a carefree demeanour. "It used be Upper Demon Moons telling tales for centuries of devouring countless Demon Slayer Hashiras and indeed, to their boast. Since those two pirates showed up, we lost two Upper… no three Upper Moons if we consider Daki's beloved brother in the mix. This has happened in a matter of weeks."
"And you find that amusing?" asked Kibutsuji upon Doma's attitude.
"If you don't mind, we'd let ourselves loose to handle the two of them."
"What say you, Master?" asked Kokushibo.
"Very well." Kibutsuji nodded. "I'd as well let you take care of them before things get out of hand."
Doflamingo observed Kibutsuji's reluctance in the decision, despite the latter being revered by Demons and Demon Slayers alike as the Demon King.
"I have been wondering. I have come to realise that you were defeated by the Pirate Hunter and his little pals right before I had shown up that night." Doflamingo enquired.
"It was no defeat but a demonstration."
A laconic reply from the Demon King.
Doflamingo did not add further, as he observed Kokushibo and Doma prepare to leave.
"Get everyone and wreck that Demon Slayer Corps along with that bastard, Ubuyashiki. A thorn for centuries shall finally be removed." Kibutsuji ordered.
"As you wish." replied Kokushibo.
Without further word, actions began to take place. Kibutsuji gave more of his blood to Akaza and Kaigaku. Doflamingo observed the growth of power as both of them gulped in the deplorable Demon King's blood. The drastic Demonic aura emanating became visible to non-Demon Slayers like Doflamingo. He analysed in his own way and could realise the tremendous emanating strength behind it with his Observation Haki.
Kaigaku almost went berserk with the sudden surge of power. He had been upgraded from a Lower Moon into Upper Moon, newly ranked, No.6. As for Akaza he handled the situation better, managing to control his newfound power.
"If you'd allow me Master, I'd like to annihilate the pirate that defeated me. He might be a threat."Akaza urged.
"Did you mishear me or are you unworthy of my blood? I should better strip you of your powers after having lost to a human." Kibutsuji replied.
"M… my deepest apologies. I shall head ahead and follow your plan to the bitter end." Akaza replied, rushing away, terrorised. Kaigaku followed suit.
"I thought you'd be the most eager one to end those two pirates, if I am not mistaken?" Kibutsuji asked, looking back upon the seated Doflamingo.
The latter's brows creased, with veins popping out on his forehead. But instead of exerting rage in the dead of the night, he returned back to his malicious grin.
"Best to keep Law alive should Roronoa and his puny friends fall at the hands of your minions. And I'm not yet convinced they'd be brought down easily." Doflamingo said.
"Understandable. But rest assured, Kokushibo and Doma are more than capable of handling the situation."
"I'll take your word for it. Though I'd like to end both Law and the Pirate Hunter, I have bigger priorities. Especially, with the news of Sengoku and Fujitora out here."
"I have zero tolerance for humans but you might be an exception and with that fact, I am willing to work along. I had a reason to rescue you from your captors. With that, I'm in the mood to accept your request and keep Trafalgar Law alive, despite all the troubles they have done."
"And thus the meaning of this unexpected alliance." Doflamingo chuckled, "But before you'd want to expand your reach, what we'd need is but a ship. This place is pathetic compared to the New World. The real monsters are out there. I'd say Law and Roronoa are planning to head back there the same."
Zoro felt a surge of aura far ahead. He looked upon Kanae, who observed his demeanour with curiosity.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"There's someone out there. I can sense two people." Inosuke added to Zoro's observation.
"Impressive." Zoro nodded. He felt a battle ahead, but unlike Inosuke, Zoro felt the living aura of a single person. Then again, Inosuke's observation was not of error but a different approach. Unlike Zoro's Observation Haki, Inosuke was born with instincts living in the Mountains, as the latter had proclaimed countless times. Added to that, Law had trained him, Zenitsu and Tanjiro in the past week, Inosuke began to grasp the very basics of Observation Haki.
The question remained of the second person whom Zoro couldn't sense the aura.
"I almost forgot." Kanae brightened up, much to everyone's surprise.
She rushed ahead. Another surprise.
"Where's she going?" Zenitsu asked shaken up.
"And who the hell is she?" demanded Inosuke, heaving from his boar head.
"Now that you mention it, her hairpins look very familiar." Zenitsu observed the lady rush into the darkness of the forest.
"Wait, you don't know who she is? I guess you never asked." Zoro said.
"WHAT!" bellowed Zenitsu. Inosuke was shaken up.
"How can that be possible?" Zenitsu demanded.
"You didn't meet Shinobu's sister before?" Zoro asked.
"Never in person. She died before we joined the Corps." Zenitsu replied.
"Well, you have met her now." Zoro said. "Let's move."
He rushed ahead much to the confusion of his juniors.
"Let's go Monitsu! Can't let Shinobu's sister die again!" Inosuke ran after Zoro.
"Don't say that!" Zenitsu being upset, furious and nervous, had no choice but to move ahead.
"Alright, stop!" Kanae bellowed as they cleared the forest outside. She observed the belligerents, and she recognised the both of them.
"You!" The most surprised amongst all was the Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa, who found it hard to believe the lady in sight, standing. Logic told him otherwise. The woman he gazed upon couldn't have been the same person. Nor the person in front him, the one he was battling. Master Kuwajima was prepared with his Nichirin blade.
"What's this devilry?" Shinazugawa demanded.
And much to his angst, he discovered the one person he did not want to meet again. Zoro rushed out of the forest and tried to catch grasp of the situation.
"Uh, it's you." he replied disappointed, observing Shinazugawa.
Shinobu had informed; Kanae observed the both of them and remembered what had transpired in their last meet.
"Wait! Don't do it, Zoro!" she bellowed in the short notice. She held him from drawing his Shusui.
"This isn't the time to fight amongst ourselves." she added.
"Well, that depends on him. A warmonger from his looks. He has even picked a fight with the good old man." Zoro referred to Master Kuwajima, Shinazugawa's opponent before the rest had shown up.
"I was supposed to meet Master Kuwajima back then, but I guess his search for the Upper Moon went a little longer." Kanae mentioned.
"I don't see any Demons. All I see is a bad-tempered swordsman. Maybe he's the one and only Demon we all ought to get rid of." Zoro said in an indifferent tone.
"Hey, I'm serious!" Kanae bellowed.
"I hear you the first time. I'm jesting. This fellah ain't the trouble I need right now." Zoro replied. "I believe the hatchets were laid down for good?" He asked Shinazugawa.
"Hmph. An outsider meddling into Corps matters." the latter chided.
"And yet, this outsider has managed to kill an Upper Demon Moon and defeat Kibutsuji in the same night. That makes him better performed than you, Shinazugawa. Why can't you give the man some credit?" Kanae rebuked.
"This young one is brash for one so talented." Master Kuwajima remarked upon the Wind Hashira.
Shinazugawa mortified, almost seemed to throw a fit, but in the end, his dignity reminded him to stay calm and think with his head.
"Very well." He withdrew his sword much to Kanae's relief. He looked at Zoro, "But I'll need some answers. Since you are the only one I know who's really alive, you tell me swordsman."
At that moment, Inosuke and Zenitsu bashed out of the forest, with their war cry.
"Death to the Demons!" Inosuke bellowed.
They were baffled to find the crowd, observing them with awkwardness.
"Wait! Shinobu's sister, the Master Swordsman!" Inosuke bellowed, looking around. "And that guy, I have seen him! He's a Hashira!" He caught eyes with the mad-looking Shinazugawa.
"He's out for blood. We better stop him." he added, facing the Hashira in an aggressive stance.
"I told you so." Zoro mentioned Kanae.
"Hey, stop this nonsense. He is not an enemy." Kanae clarified.
"What's going on here?" Zenitsu observed Shinazugawa and shrieked the moment they gazed upon each other. He was forced to turn away. At that moment, he discovered someone he had never believed possible.
"G… Grandpa?" he muttered.
"What?" Kanae looked at the boy. Shinazugawa caught attention. Their eyes went towards the old man who was barely recognisable from his previous days, and yet wore the familiar yellow kimono with triangle patterns.
"Imposters!" bellowed Shinazugawa, ready to turn belligerent.
Zenitsu began to shiver.
Master Kuwajima stayed put not moving an inch.
"Wait, I don't get it? That yellow-haired kid is Master Kuwajima's grandson?" Kanae asked, whispering to Zoro.
"I don't know if Shinobu ever mentioned, but I believe the kid used to train under the old man. Back when he was alive." Zoro replied.
"I never knew."
"Grandpa!" Zenitsu bellowed.
The old man turned towards him, much to Zenitsu's sudden shock. Master Kuwajima was hardly recognisable to the kid, who watched back in terror.
"It's been a while, Zenitsu." the Master replied, whilst the silence.
"W… why… how are you… standing…" Zenitsu muttered. Tears began to form on his eyes.
"It's a long story." the Master sighed, understanding Zenitsu's shock.
"Demons be damned. I never thought to find the dead out here." Shinazugawa remarked. "It was a disaster that day. I had never seen Master Ubuyashiki upset and yet, he shed tears that same day we were assembled to discover the empty graves robbed of the deceased Demon Slayers. The younger Kocho's eyes were cold from the reception. She must've taken it into her personal self to find the graverobber and her sister's body."
He turned towards Zoro.
"What's the meaning behind this? This is beyond sacrilege!" Shinazugawa roared. His eye nerves reddened from anger.
Zoro replied with an irritated look, "First of all, I'm tired of your accusations. And second, I don't have the ability to bring back the dead. On the contrary, I can do the otherwise." He drew his Shusui.
"Zoro!" Kanae bellowed.
"I had no reason to interfere in the matter, but Ubuyashiki made that choice from Moria's actions." Zoro said.
"What do you say?" Shinazugawa asked.
Zoro hesitated to say further knowing Kanae was right beside him.
"We are not alive." Kanae replied, much to the former's surprise.
She observed the surprise on Shinazugawa's face.
"She's right." Master Kuwajima told Zenitsu.
"But…" Zenitsu hoped that it wasn't true. He couldn't meet Kuwajima during the latter's funeral and a part of him told him that the old man wasn't dead.
"But how are they standing?" Inosuke demanded.
"Devil Fruit Power. Gecko Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit." Zoro mentioned.
"What's that?" Shinazugawa asked. "Who's this Gecko... Moria?"
"It's a cursed fruit, once eaten gives the user the power to bind the shadows of living humans onto dead bodies. And bring them back to life. Gecko Moria is the user of that fruit."
"I guess we should have been purified the moment we made it back." Kanae regretted.
"You can ask that question to Ubuyashiki. I believe he had a reason to keep the things the way it had been."
"The Master knew about this?" Shinazugawa was surprised.
"No point in thinking much about his motives. Besides, we are not done with our work and that Demon is missing. That Upper Moon." Zoro stated.
Everyone could agree back upon their common objective, forgetting the emotional knot of a conundrum.
"So, what's the plan, Master Swordsman?" Inosuke asked.
"We can head south from jagged-head's story, and try finding the Upper Demon Moon." Zoro replied.
"No, we return back to the Headquarters." Shinazugawa stepped in, observing the disapproval looks of the others. He knew for a fact that he got along with none of them.
"I received a message from the Master. He believes Kibutsuji is planning for an attack, since his defeat against the green-haired swordsman. And I don't mean the usual Demonic raids."
"Give me the letter." Kanae demanded for verification. She was eager to fight the Upper Moon who managed to defeat Kyojuro Rengoku, and was reluctant in returning back without results.
Shinazugawa handed her the paper. Kanae verified the seal and agreed to Shinazugawa's plan.
"I couldn't care either way. If Kibutsuji's planning to send in his whole army, we will cut them up. That will make the job simpler." Zoro said without hesitation. Kanae chuckled.
"I don't believe it's funny. We haven't seen the Upper Moons for a long time, and until their recent activities, there was a reason they didn't show up. Every one of them is capable of mass destruction and not to be taken lightly." Shinazugawa remarked.
"I can guess why my sister's taken a liking for you." Kanae told Zoro, ignoring Shinazugawa's statement.
"I don't know what you mean." Zoro replied, curious.
"Never mind. We should head back since the Master mentions so. And I doubt anyone here's willing to pass the night wondering about in a wild goose chase?" Kanae asked.
"Very well." muttered Master Kuwajima.
Zenitsu and Inosuke nodded without complaint.
The Demon Slayers and the Pirate Hunter began returning back to the Headquarters. Further news await.
TO BE CONTINUED...