1st POV
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I stared blankly.
What do I say. I spoke too fast. A little more and I would've thought that it was too good to be true. Four months of me wandering around without, at least, encountering any important characters to the point where I grew complacent about the likelihood of any random encounter off-Canon.
And now, here I am in a hot spring, in the middle of nowhere, at night, in my Eve outfit, staring at three pairs of eyes that could only belong to one man- demon in this case.
Purple and black bee-hive kimono shirt and black hakama pants tied with a white belt...they call uwa-obi I think. A rather tall and muscular frame followed by black hair with red tips kept in a ponytail. Kokushibo, Upper Moon 1, the second most powerful demon just behind Muzan, had just intruded my bath like in those cliché anime moments that It was ridiculous. And here I was naked, having a staring contest with him like it was perfectly normal.
"Are those eyes of yours seeing the same thing or can you look into different directions at once?" wow Colith, you just met an upper moon, a threat to humanity, and that's the first thing you ask?
This seemed to bring him back to earth, as if...He had been in a daze of sort. The fuck-
The demon blinked which was kind of unsettling since he had six eyes before his gazes all focused on me at once. He didn't say anything as he observed me for a while as if trying to understand how on earth he got here.
I tilted my head to the side, blinking slowly, unafraid that he could see me since rocks were in front of my figure and it wasn't like I'd suddenly stand and flash him so I was chill. I was...pretty curious as to what he was gonna do. Would he attack me? That seemed unlikely but it wasn't impossible, he was a demon after all. If that was Douma who stumbled upon me though, that rainbow-eyed cockroach would've done so without hesitation! Tch!
Moving on, I didn't know much about Kokushibo to be frank, only some basic stuff like him being resentful of his brother or some shit and being the Mist Hashira ancestor. Wonder what he's thinking about though. Has he ever seen someone like me before? It could be, knowing how long he lived, but there's a possibility of him not? Who knows? so...why isn't he saying anything?
"Hey, are you alright?" I decided to ask, finding the silence a bit awkward.
The demon stared."You...what is a human doing here? Who are you?"Ah!
I blinked quickly, not having expected him to speak, and goodness gracious his voice-though I rapidly kept my composure. "You, who are you. I'm not the one intruding on someone else's bath that I know."
His eyes shifted to the folded clothes and thankfully the mask was placed sideways so he couldn't see what it looked like. I didn't plan for any of the main cast to see my appearance yet. A yawn, due to the coziness of the water broke through my lips, getting the demon's attention back to me.
"You do not seem afraid...do you not know what I am?"He wasn't oozing aggressiveness, his aura was more...puzzled than anything else so I wasn't on guard.
"If I had to guess, a demon obviously." I scoffed leaning on the rocks to stare right back at him. "an eye candy one at that." I mumble in the end.
Kokushibo seemed to try and decipher what was just said to him and just settled on a plain,"What."
"Oh, nothing." I laid my head on my folded arms, admiring his features. Not gonna lie but he was handsome. "so what brings you there, mister demon?" I nearly chuckled when his moon-like aura shimmered with confusion and uncertainty, though I must applaud the deadpan! He must've not expected to stumble upon such a strange human I guess. One unafraid of him at that.
"You are...odd."he uttered blankly, his posture relaxing just a tad bit as he noticed the lack of weapons, probably assuming that I was no demon slayer, thus didn't need to be wary. Not that he needed to in the first place. No humans could even think of defeating him. He wasn't upper moon one for naught.
"I know right? People told me." I smiled, "I'm Lith by the way, nice to meet you I guess...?" He didn't bother introducing himself. Bummer, though I came to a realization and promptly perked up, "Ah, don't tell me you wanted to use the hot spring too?! My bad, I'll get out...!"
The speed at which he closed his eyes and swiveled his head to the side as I pretended to pull myself out of the water almost made me cackle! So he was a gentleman!
"...What is the meaning of this?"
"OH, I wanted to see if you were a pervert! Turns out you're not!" I chuckled jocosely.
This seemed to annoy him, reminding him of a certain rainbow-eyed demon. Being compared to him made him slightly irate though he refused to look my way."You...must not understand the situation you're in at the moment. Tell me, woman, do you not fear death?"
I thought for a second before shrugging, "Meh, not really. If you wanted you could just kill me like nobody's business but seeing as you're not, you must be a pretty decent person. Plus you're pretty handsome!" I shamefully revealed with a shit-eating grin plastered on my face.
I think he wasn't expecting such forwardness because his aura spiked in surprise. The demon didn't say anything before turning around and walking away. My eyes bulged out at his sudden departure.
'Did I scare him off?!'
I scrambled out to follow before remembering that I was butt naked and promptly made a simple yukata-egh, it's green- whatever, appear and quickly scurried after him, "AH WAIT UP!" my man was already a fair distance away, though I easily caught up with little hisses since I was barefooted, "freaking rocks-did I scare you? My bad?"
Kokushibo paused in his tracks,"How...did you get here so fast...?"his eyes then fell on my slightly damp yukata which seemed to further puzzle him while my eyes quickly flickered to the hand he had on the hilt of his sword. Was he debating whether or not to kill me? It was subtle but I noticed how his grip slightly tightened around it -holy shit, eyes- though I opted for the oblivious act as I skipped in front of him with an innocent smile while shrugging at his question, 'unaware' of his sudden caution.
"Hmm...that's not important, you still didn't tell me your name though! Whoa! Are those tattoos?" I took a step closer to look, "They're neat! And upon closer look, are those kanjis in your eyes? Whaa... I can't read it! What does it mean?" had to tiptoes a bit while squinting since he was a head taller. Honestly stunned that he hasn't smoked me yet! Ain't he known for his no-nonsense attitude?
The demon slightly leaned back but didn't back away with a small but noticeable frown"What are you doing?"
"admiring, You're quite beautiful." I eye smiled genuinely.
His eyes narrowed,"I...do not appreciate being made fun of, woman."
"I'm telling the truth man, you're attractive. I'm not going to lie about this." I scoffed like it was obvious then tilted my head to the side. We stared at each other, my relaxed posture and behavior must've been quite a shock to him. Was he used to his victims usually screeching their heads off whenever he was around? Well, not today. "so why aren't you killing me yet?" I decided to inquire, quite curious about it.
A beat of silence passed as he scrutinized me. His gaze shifted from my eyes to the rest of my features. What was he thinking about?"Your smell...it is quite...different from regular humans..."he finally settled for that.
That wasn't the first time a demon told me this, though I played the oblivious card by scrunching my nose up as if it was the first time I was told this. "huh, so I'm alive and kicking because I'm...intriguing?"
A frown came across his face but he nodded slightly nonetheless. He couldn't understand but...something was...odd with me. The demon couldn't determine what exactly but he was certain that...I was no human being... He is sure he has never seen such...eyes before, not even among his kind. They were quite...ethereal, a heavenly gold even that reminds him of...the glistening sun. Although he highly loathed the mere mention of it-for reasons mostly known by him- this, he strangely found...appealing as they seemed to glow with life and purpose like there's no tomorrow. They somehow...gave him a sudden sense of...safety and ease...something he's sure he's...ever experienced before. What was going on? What exactly was I?
He didn't feelThat Man's blood flowing through me so it left him quite... perplexed about what I could be. Should he...eliminate me? Would I become...a hindrance, a risk tothat man's plan? Yet, I seemed...rather harmless at the moment. Were his worries for naught in the end...?
He was brought back to earth when he felt his hand being clasped by warm far darker ones.
"how cold..." I marveled as I delicately held his palm open, his fingers lacking those long nails usually seen on other demons, brushing soft fingers on the few calluses and scars, a testimony of all his years perfecting swordsmanship, uncaring if that might push him to attack me, signing my death warrant but hey, it wasn't every day that I meet an upper moon! Plus it was drastically different from Nezuko's palm since she retained some of her humanity, thus making it warmer, unlike him whose hand was dead cold!
His yellow sets of eyes were lost in thought as he let me fumble with his palm to my surprise but I wasn't gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.
The touch was so...
'...warm..'
The demon thought before halting, stunned by his own train of thoughts,
'what'.
Unaware of his thoughts, I concluded with a smile, "hm... I see why you wanna use the onsen. You should go, I'm done with it!", releasing his grasp as I didn't wanna push it and proceeded to head back toward the spring only to yelp in surprise as I felt a strong grip on my wrist which stopped my march. I glanced up at him, puzzled. The grip was quite firm yet not enough to literally rip my hand off which would've been sweet if I was a regular human, therefore weak, though he must think of me as one so I didn't see fit to point it out.
"...You...What are you exactly..?"His tone was low as he carefully observed me, trying to decipher what I was and why I wasn't afraid of him. Didn't I know what demons were? Wasn't I aware of their cruelty? It was foolish of me to blindly trust that he wouldn't simply deceive then kill me, after all, nothing except mere curiosity and this strange presence of mine was what stopped him from beheading me the moment we met eyes.
I thought over it for a second before shrugging, "no clue!"
"...Do you not...value your own life?"
"of course I do! You think I'm weak or something?" I laughed. This didn't seem to amuse the demon as he blankly stared at me like I was dumb. I sweatdropped, "A-Anyway ! It's not like I could stop you from killing me, you seem strong! I'd rather go with a bang than cry for mercy, ya feel?!" I grinned cheekily then placed a hand atop his with a coy smile, water dripping down my face from the earlier bath. "plus I wouldn't mind dying at the hands of such a charming man. By the way, I love your eyes, they're gorgeous!"
Was I in a flirty mood? Yeh. Was I ashamed of it? Absolutely not. I chuckled, unfortunately missing the barely noticeable reddening of his ears as I whirled to go back.
He didn't move to follow and instead watched me take a few steps forward before halting, a loud gasp leaving my lips as if I just got an epiphany, "Ah I know!" I exclaimed, whirling to him about to announce what I just 'discovered' only to be interrupted by a wet cough.
'Huh?'
I watched in confusion as Kokushibo's eyes seemed to widen, seeing something I couldn't which left me wondering why he was staring at my belly. Another cough sounded and I realized that it was coming from me.'the fuck...'I brought a hand to my mouth only to see blood on my fingers before glancing down.
"What the fu-"
The sound of ripped flesh resounded as whatever was impaling my belly retracted its arm, resulting in my legs giving up, sending me tumbling to the ground like a puppet whose strings were cut short.
"kekeke...foolish human..."
A demon with chameleon-looking features, somewhat reminding me of Meleoron from HxH but with long silky dark hair instead gradually appeared out of nowhere after using some sort of invisible ability, his blood demon art perhaps? He stood over me with a wicked grin, my blood covering his arm as he stood admiring my bleeding form.
"How stupid can one be to think of walking alone at night and weaponless at that! hehehehe!"he laughs, crouching down to my level to squint as I panted and held my stomach in a desperate attempt to stop the blood,"Oh a foreigner no less? I have never tasted any..."he uttered, licking some blood off his fingers before pausing once his tongue met the liquid, eyes widening in pure delight. Uh oh.
"W-WHAT SCRUMPTIOUS BLOOD!! HOW LUCKY! GYAHAHA!! A MARECHI! AN UNKNOWN ONE AT THAT!"he threw his head back in a hysterical cackle, eyes crazed over with lust, probably thinking of the amount of power he might obtain after consuming me. That is...if the looming six-eyed demon behind allowed him. Ouh he didn't seem happy. Yep.
He was violently ripped out of his power-crazed thoughts as his body was flung to a bunch of trees, smashing them in the process,"GHAARG-!!"some of his limbs were ripped apart by the force of the impacts. The demon finally skids to a stop 500 meters away, landing face-first with a cry, confused by his predicament. One moment he was in front of his soon-to-be meal, and the next he was a mess of bloody limbs.
"WHAT THE-"
he coughed blood as he tried to straighten up, his body slowly regenerating, still floored over the situation."What just happened?! Who the fuck did this?!"he snarled, promising vengeance to whoever had the guts to crash his meal! He got up and started looking around in search of the culprit before he perked up at the sound of approaching footsteps coming from his left. He roared,"BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU THROW-"only to falter once he realized who he just insulted.
Kokushibo didn't utter a single word and slowly drew his sword out as he approached the petrified demon who at this point had forgotten his previous wrath and was now trembling profusely like a wet kitten.
'W-W-WHAT IS A KIZUKI DOING HERE?!'he noticed the Kanji, adding more to his horror'U-UPPER M-MOON O-O-ONE?!'
The demon immediately realized what he might have done to provoke the ire of the swordsman because the bloodlust oozing his way was too real and just too much for him to handle to the point where he did a dogeza, forehand plunged into the ground, too frightened to even think of crossing the much more imposing demon's gaze. It was common knowledge that demons were territorial creatures and wouldn't take lightly any intrusion from another one in said territory, be it accidental or not, this would lead to clashes of powers between the two parties. So what kind of shit luck does one has to have to stumble upon a freaking kizuki?! An upper moon no less! They were as rare as that man's blue spider lily for kami's sake!!
"Stand."the voice...kami, it sent chills through his spine, though he quickly did so, too terrified to further anger the six-eyed demon.
'm-maybe I-I will get through t-this if I plead...? That's it! I'll offer him the foreigner...! WHAT AM I SAYING! THAT WASPROBABLYHIS PREY TO BEGIN WITH, YOU FUCKTAR-!'he tried to lift his head, thinking that his plan might work only for his vision to be sliced in four.'huh?'he didn't even get time to finish his thoughts that one moment his head was on his shoulders the next it was rolling on the ground, sliced in four pieces.
'Eh..?'
What was left of his body collapsed into pieces on the ground and started turning into ashes before disappearing altogether.
Did he just get slain...? J-just like that?! He didn't even see him move! Him, Sakkaku, who was confident in his power and even almost defeated a wind hashira 96 years ago easily defeated just like that?! The massive gap in power was truly...frightening.
'so this is the power of an Upper moon...terrifying'were the demon's last thought as he vanished from existence with his clothes the only proof of his previous presence.
Kokushibo didn't even bother using his breathing style on such weakling and simply executed quick slashes, though there seemed to be some kind of...animosity behind them. Figures. The demon then sheathed his sword before heading back to where I was laying with an unspoken sense of urgency.
"Oh...you came back for me...? Thanks..." I rasped. The demon stared, an unreadable look in his eyes as he approached my figure. Now that we both knew that I was some kind of ma...whatever, would he eat me? Weird...
"You're dying."
"...Yeah...no shit, honey!" A weak chuckle followed by another cough escaped my lips as Kokushibo crouched to my level. I felt his heavy gaze studying me as if debating whether or not to end my suffering before his eyes fell on the gaping hole in my stomach. "Hey, what's with that...face? Gonna...miss me?"
He didn't bother reacting to the last question,"...you humans are so fragile, it's sickening."he says plainly, eliciting a snort from me.
"heh...don't...act as if you weren't one before.." I glanced up at the sky, missing the contemplative look that briefly flashed through his eyes. "Why...did you come back anyway...? Wanna watch me croak or sum..? Not that I would mind-"
"Become a demon."
"...huh?"
Kokushibo scratched his arm without a flinch, blood dripping out of the self-inflicted wound, and then proceeded to bring it near my mouth to my horror.
"Oï Oï Oï, what's the idea...?"
"You will survive if you accept this...if that man deigns you worthy enough, you will become a demon and no longer suffer from limitations brought to you by your humanity. I am...merely showing you mercy by offering."he stated, demonic blood drops coming in contact with my cheek. A little frown came across his face as I weakly pushed his arm away while chuckling.
"don't bother with this...i'm good."
His frown deepened,"...You'd rather choose death over life?"his confusion intensified as I shook my head before staring right back at him with a soft smile.
"Life...is worth living even if it comes to an...end one day or another. It is...ephemeral and that's..its beauty. Becoming a demon would only prolong the inevitable..." Kokushibo watched as my eyes slowly glazed over, my grip on his arm weakening significantly. "...say...I still don't...know your name..."
Seeing as life seemed to vanish from my eyes, the demon finally conceded,"...Kokushibo." though he didn't shove my hand away and held it instead.
"Koku...shibo, huh...I don't know...what it means but..." I smiled one last time, "it's really a nice name, I must admit that it really suits you!" and proceeded to sit up like nothing happened, "phew...and here I thought I might never learn your name!"
The demon blinked slowly, still crouched to my level."...What."
"hm? Oh don't look at me like that, You wouldn't tell me your name, so had to find a way to get you to spit it out!" the demon was left...speechless. he watched me crack my neck until his eyes focused on my stomach before shifting to my unbothered face.
"What is the meaning of this?"
I made a sound then looked to my stomach where steam was flowing out, whilst the bleeding stopped. I made an O with my mouth, "Oh yeah, that's why I screamed 'ah I know' earlier, wanted to show you this. " I casually motion to the wound beginning to close off. "I was actually gonna ask you to cut my arm off or something, didn't expect to get donut'ed but I guess that it's the results that count!" I chuckled, thinking of the donut gang. Whilst it was no laughing matter, I couldn't help but snicker at the thought of joining all these characters who got donu-
"You tricked me."I snapped out of my thoughts.
"now now, I wouldn't call it that, see it like an impromptu...surprise..? Ayo no need to grip your sword like that haha!"
For the first time, Kokushibo showed signs of shock and wariness. He couldn't believe it. Wasn't I just dying earlier? This leads him to one conclusion.
"You're...not human.."his eyes narrowed. The percentage of him attacking me was now quickly raising but his intrigue kept him from acting on it. Oblivious to his burning stare, I proceeded to get up, brushing some leaves from my back and hair, grumbling once realizing that the bath was basically useless since I was now covered in blood, though to my credit, it began evaporating. Kokushibo mirrors me minus the whole leaves stuff while he observed the whole process."What are you? This...this is unlike anything I've ever seen before..."
Cocking my head to the side, I hummed as the steam stopped emitting, an indication of the healing's end. He followed its path until its disappearance in the air before focusing back on me with a squint.
I didn't feel like saying too much since he might end up informing Muzan. Who knows what that bitch might do just to find me or it could lead to a major modification in the story, granted I didn't know where he was at the moment, but the thought of a new threat might push him to go into hiding once more as he did after Tanjiro found him. Hmmm...that would be problematic.
Acting with nonchalance, I decided to evade the question. "Hum...that's not important, anyway I'll have to get out of those, oh yeah, the onsen is yours." I whirled to him, purposely avoiding answering him.
Before the upper moon could further press me for answers, he halted as I got in front of him. His hand instantly found his sword, ready to cut me down only to halt when he felt something soft and warm press the corner of his lips and stiffened. His three sets of eyes widened.
I pulled back, "it was nice meeting you, Koku-kun, hope to see you one day! Or night...heh" I smirked, tapped his shoulder amicably then dipped the hell away before he could think of unaliving me for real by using instant transmission, leaving a dumbstruck demon standing in the woods.
The upper moon stood there for a while, dazed before he blinked quickly to regain his sense and looked around for me only to see nothing. My presence had vanished completely, even the blood on the floor was no longer there. He stood, rooted on his spot with a frown then appeared near the hot spring where he found me earlier only to see nothing. The place now looked untouched, there was no trace of my presence here, and even the folded clothes had disappeared as though I had never been here in the first place.
'...what...just happened...'
This led Kokushibo to believe that maybe...the encounter never happened, that he could've imagined it. Yes...it could be a possibility but...
For the first time in centuries...the upper moon found himself...lost.
He didn't know what to think of this situation. I didn't seem like a threat at all but somehow...his instincts were telling him to be cautious. There was definitely something to be wary of, yet, he couldn't precisely explain why as I didn't, outright show any animosity toward him, therefore wasn't considered a threat.
There was no explanation coming to his mind about what just occurred. He slowly brought his fingers near his mouth, a slight red tint, as small as it was appeared on his pale skin.
He wondered, still feeling the warmth of my lips near his mouth. Could I have been some sort of...
'...Yokai?'
The demon frowned as he felt something wet near his lips, he brought a finger to wipe it and discovered that it was...
'Blood...?' Here goes the Yokai explanation.
He observed it, it must've been from the-
"..."It is best if he does not bring this up. However, a thought entered his mind.
"A MARECHI! AN UNKNOWN ONE AT THAT!"
He brought the bloody finger to his nose.
'No particular smell... it's just...blood.' He concluded. This further confused him as it smelled nothing like the usual marechi blood so what on earth was the demon yapping abou-
The moment his tongue came in contact with the red liquid, his eyes comically widened. This...this was unlike anything he's ever tasted...! It...it was...
Veins bulged instantly around his face while an uncharacteristic thirst for blood took over him as drool escaped his mouth where sharp teeth were bared in hunger, the menacing aura radiating from him caused every animal in the vicinity to scatter in fright as far away as possible. Though, the demon quickly snapped back into reality. The previous feeling vanished as soon as it came, leaving a quite flustered and disorientated upper moon.
A sense of deep shame took hold of him due to his loss of control. That was...quite unlike him to lose focus this way over blood. He stood there for a while, observing the scenery as he pondered over what the hell just happened. This...wasn't good.
He uttered a quiet,"Nakime."and as soon as the name left his lips, he disappeared from the woods, instantly re-appearing in a traditional-looking room in an unknown location, debating whether or not to informThat manof what just transpired.
Using the hot springs would be left to another time then...
Whoever I was...he needed to keep an eye out for me.
'Lith...'
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Meanwhile, I was flying the fuck away with a startled Seppen in my arms and a little vial of blood, unaware of what I just caused. Only God knew how I managed to snatch this-
