Trouble in Kyoto
(It's so hard coming up with so much for just one character y'know? I also wanted to personally give DCDGojira a shoutout for being so supportive of this humble lil story, means a lot to see your comments even if you're only logged as a guest. Let's get into it. Enjoy)
The sun just set and offered a sweet relief to the traveling Demon. It felt like he could go slightly longer and longer in the direct light of the sun with each step into the light that he took but he didn't want to get overconfident and find out what would happen if that fails on him. 'Last thing I want is to turn into dust cause I thought I was a Demon better than the best demon killer.' He looked into the air and saw his hawk traveling overhead and leading the way even in this darkness, they'd been in the open fields and away from almost any sources of light that weren't the crescent moon in the sky. For the last two hours straight they were traveling fast and with a purpose, Koujo's nearly unending stamina was letting him go at nearly top speed for this journey that so far took a few days travel for him to come over one hundred fifty miles but until yesterday he was just running at a more casual speed.
A simple task of following Noka to get to Kyoto and ask some questions about these disappearances. "Noka! How far away are we?!" There were a few people in their path that had their kimonos blown up and their hair messed up by the wind but embarrassing some strangers was a better option than letting anyone die by wasting time. 'I wonder how Noka can fly so fast. I've gotta be running almost as fast as Jikon can.' His brother was faster but he was easily stronger, and he'd hold that advantage as long as he could. Noka released a few shrill cries that vaguely sounded like a woodwind flute and- "Woah!" Noka started a dive bomb into a forest canopy. "I thought he was fast before! Noka!"
He took a powerful leap into the woods after his kasugai hawk, if there was a reason for that sudden dive then it had to be an emergency! Whatever made Noka go into this forest had to be nothing short of an on sight demon! The demon causing these disappearances in- Wait are they actually in Kyoto yet? He ran past a cluster of trees and right there in an open field he saw- "I'm sorry Koujo but I was famished." His hawk was ripping into a poor rabbit that suffered from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. "Of course as a demon yourself you understand a sudden need to eat."
The Demon rolled his eyes and held his blade hilt tentatively. "Well how far away is Kyoto? We've been going this fast for a few hours now."
Noka tore out some more rabbit meat and scarfed it down like a man in the desert who finally found freshwater. "The town is just past this forest. I only stopped for a fast meal because you could go on without me." That made more sense than it was allowed to and Koujo sighed once he realized that.
"Alright. When you're done watch the skies for me." Koujo ran off and jumped over the canopy and out of Noka's sight towards that town. With a few minutes of searching he came right across the very town he was looking for. 'Nothing looks weird to me. Time to ask around.' Occasional street lamps and people walking the streets in the relaxing moonlight. "Excuse me sir." He stopped a man in a red kimono.
"Something wrong young man?"
"Have you heard anything about people going missing in town lately?" Straight to the point and no nonsense about this. Just like Koujo Itadake when it came to important things.
For a second the man thought about that question but he quickly dropped the inquisitive look. "Sorry but I don't know much about it, maybe ask the east part of town." Damn. More looking around and even worse, he had to walk back towards where he came from. On the upside this town was pretty nice, maybe he'd live in this prefecture when he finally wants to relax and settle down…
He stuck the fox mask onto his face with a definitive scoff. "Psh! As if I would. No time to settle down when Muzan is still running around and making demons. Good thing it's dark out so nobody can see this." He ran up to a building and leapt onto the rooftop. Keep up the search and find some answers to who did this. "Can't use Seitona Tensei in public but I feel a demon nearby… Noka was right." He fell into a narrow alleyway and walked into the street where he saw an old man moving a box into a store, but his foot slipped on the walkway. "Old man!"
Said elder looked over and nearly dropped the box he was trying to carry in his stumbling, luckily there was a spry young person willing to help him out. "Oh thank you. What made you call out to me young man?"
"You look like a wise old man and I need some wisdom." Koujo started carrying the box into the man's store for him and he set it down on a wooden table. "Do you know anything about people going missing in this part of Kyoto?"
The old man sighed a heavy breath and shook his head, but it wasn't in denial of the question. "I've heard some things recently of young people not coming back on nights like these." It was a sad idea for someone who already lived their lives to old age having to picture the young getting snuffed out before they got to fully experience their life. "It's my wild guess but that sword of yours isn't for show. Look I can tell there's something different about you but I can't bear to think that I'd be responsible for sending someone into a bad situation."
Koujo tapped his mask twice in a sign to grab attention. "This mask is a good luck charm from my Master, and he would be angry if I lost to whatever's causing problems around here." His body language bled confidence against whoever wanted to get in his way tonight and the old man saw that firsthand.
'These kids nowadays are growing up too fast.' He relented on the idea of someone sending himself to a possible death and decided that he'd have to hope this boy would come back safely. "People about your age usually go missing at this hour, and they usually were with a friend or two that vanished with them. If you see anyone wandering off alone then maybe they're being taken by a spirit after all."
"Spirit?"
He exhaled once he noticed that he let that slip, so now this whippersnapper would probably call him a crazy old man. "Spirit, Oni, Yokai, whatever you want to call it. I've been around long enough to notice something inhuman happening." Now he just had to wait for the judgement from a kid not experienced in the ways of-
He nodded and went for the door he came in through. "I'll be careful. Thanks old man!" Well it was unexpected that he didn't actually say that it was a crazy idea… maybe it was a start to someone believing him.
"Good luck young man."
Reintroduced to the bright lights and hustle of the prefecture on this night, Koujo walked through the streets and kept an eye out for anything that looked out of the ordinary. 'I can feel a demon in the area.' He turned a corner and laid eyes on people having a good time.
The one that stood out most was a group of boys walking down the street laughing jovially and with an overall happy mood. "Great night for it boys!" So maybe some of that mood was from being drunk.
"Let's have some fun times tonight!" Four boys getting drunk and having a fun night on the town. This sounded like a recipe for disaster but he wasn't here to stop that type of disaster.
"Hey, you four!" They turned around and faced the weirdo wearing a fox mask with a sleeveless uniform. It was really weird to look at this guy decked out like that and- Wow he even had a sword on him, shit they might have to be careful.
"Uh- Hey there. What's your deal? Kinda funny looking with that beard."
Beard? Koujo pressed a hand to his chin and almost facepalmed once he felt the smooth wood of his mask. This was why he didn't like having to talk to anyone who was drunk! Four guys who couldn't even tell he was wearing a mask over his real face and here he was about to ask them for help on this mystery. Just his luck. "Do you guys know anything about people going missing in this part of town? It's serious."
The tallest one there stumbled a bit but he started smiling goofily before long. "For- Come on man don't worry about that serious stuff. It's the weekend! Let's celebrate it!"
The next one was even more drunk than his friends. "Yeah! No shad stuff tonight. Lesh have fun!" Each of the boys stopped to gawk at a group of four girls walking by. One was tall and elegant with silver hair that nearly touched the ground she carefully walked over, almost like she was floating, and a fox mask on her face, but it had a red marking on the forehead, almost like a third eye... no it actually was a third eye shape, sideways but an eye nonetheless. Her kimono was black with white flower patterns. In all her appearance seemed regal.
The tallest of the boys said something that made the woman tense. "I bet she's savory like a peach!" Koujo didn't like the casual disrespect but he stifled that once his senses started catching up to the situation.
Two of the girls were much more normal in comparison to the two most prominent ones. One of them had brown hair tied into a neat bun and a plain blue kimono with red flower patterns, she looked older by a couple years. The other had black hair that went to her back and wore a white kimono, no decorative pattern to stand out but she was clearly the younger one of the plain girls by a few years. "Don't forget the two cuties there. They look fun."
To Koujo there was one who stuck out the most and it was the excitable girl with purple hair tied into twintails. She was wearing a- 'That barely counts as a kimono. It doesn't even go to her knees!' A frilly pink kimono that ended in faded blue, and yes it was oddly short. The sleeves were disconnected from the torso and the orange obi around her waist was long enough to trail behind her. She even had two tessen fans that she'd idly open and fan herself with then put right away in those wide sleeves. She was the bubbliest of the girls and, when Koujo examined closer, was the only one with full bodied expressive movement. The two plain women were stiff, like branches in the wind.
"Hey ladies! Let's all break in the weekend together eh?" The elegant masked one looked at the group of boys and instantly they all stopped moving and sobered up. That was a blood demon art without a doubt in his mind, so now the best thing to do was follow his hunch and-
He watched those four idiots turn and walk away with just a single look from that woman, and her bubbly friend laughed while covering her face with a fan. "It's so funny when you do that to them Masami! Hah!"
"Haia calm down. We can't draw too much attention… and it might be too late for that." Oh great, now she was looking right at Koujo through the eyes of her own fox themed mask.
So this went from a simple investigation to not just one but two demons being present. "I can't start a fight right here. The police would arr-" Have you ever had the feeling of being underwater and holding your breath as long as you could, then you started to resurface and right before you broke the water tension… something yanked you back into the depths. No air. No movement. No freedom. Just panic.
That cheery voice from the violet haired demon started speaking up. "Oh wow you caught him too?" Now she was twirling her tessen like they were toys instead of a casual accessory that may or may not double as a weapon. "Thought we were only getting one for him and one for us?"
Why the hell couldn't he stop walking towards them? His whole body was working against him and he couldn't resist this blood demon art no matter how hard he tried. 'Move away! Move away!' It felt like he was watching his own body move through a window and he couldn't do anything about it.
"This one is a demon slayer, he'd be happy with that." That red eye on her mask was glowing and whatever her blood demon art was it had to relate.
"I dunno, Ryuji doesn't really like eating guys…" Her face scrunched up in thought before her cheerful smile returned. "Hey! I remember that mask!" She got in close and pulled the warding mask right off his face and exposed his face to the four of them. "Yeah! I fixed your mask back in Asakusa. You didn't look so good back there, but I guess you're fine now." She started feeling along his exposed arm and the subsequent markings on the limb. "A little stronger now too!"
Even while stuck watching everything from his own eyes he thought hard about what was going on even as these girls started walking and he unwillingly followed. 'There's no way- Can they not tell I'm a Demon? Susamaru, Kyogai, even Rui and his family knew so… hm.' They were just treating him like a normal Demon Slayer at the moment and even contemplated having, yet another demon with them, eat him. 'And the cute one fixed my- Oh right.' Back when he was painfully dealing with Muzan's blood coursing through his veins he split his mask into pieces. Damn, he actually wondered how the hell it somehow was in one piece. The only masked one among them spoke up during their- When did they get to this shrine?!
"Haia. Take the woman to Ryuji, I'll have the girl for myself." Haia deflated once she heard that she wouldn't be getting anything out of their latest catch, well at least nothing to eat out of it.
Haia tossed the flame themed fox mask into the air and caught it on her face. "I'll keep this cool mask then! Come on you." She took the older looking woman by the hand and led her through a tunnel with dozens upon dozens of torii gates acting as the walls and roof.
Masami looked at the two she was currently influencing with the dead eyes of her vulpine mask, she didn't even say anything to either of them and they started walking through the many gates some minutes after the bubbly demon left. "Don't feel bad for her. She has a weak blood demon art and we felt pity for her, so we let her stay with us instead of dying to slayers like you." They finally stepped out of the tunnel and were welcomed to a beautiful temple with the forefront being a clean courtyard with a calming garden. A fox with orange fur and white eyes ran into view and rubbed against Masami's leg. "You nine can have the slayer, this girl is mine. Play nice now." That fox started growing until it wasn't even recognizable as a fox, now it was the size of a wild wolf and looked just as feral. Its presumable master was gone and so was the woman she planned on eating.
Koujo started fighting the feeling of being trapped in his own body while eight more orange foxes came out of the woodwork and grew in size just like their first compatriot. 'Break out! Let me go! Those are demon foxes and they look hungry!' The nine kitsune definitely looked like they were planning on having a snack out of him but he wasn't letting that happen tonight. 'Seitōna Tensei: Sawayakana Shio!'(Rightful Reincarnation: Refreshing Tide). Instead of a burning rose with four petals, a circle of constantly rushing water formed underneath his feet.
Seitōna Tensei gave Koujo a couple odd abilities: For one it further honed his fighting instincts and let his swordsmanship go further than he was already capable. Secondly he discovered that his water and fire active modes had different benefits; whereas Ember rose's main quality was enhancing his attacks with burning attacks that gave him an additional edge, Refreshing tide increased his fluidity and allowed his attacks to slowly increase in power as well as progressively gaining accuracy.
The nine kitsune dog-piled onto their food and started to bite at anything each of them could land their jaws on, their share only being whatever they could get. In the bloodlusted attack the foxes noticed that they weren't tasting the succulent flesh of a human, but instead were taking chunks out of one another and had a quick regrouping to see that their target wasn't in the pile.
"There's a lot of you but none of you are that strong." Koujo was standing away from the demon foxes and he was unsheathing his sword. "San no kata." Three of the foxes sprinted in without another thought and fell victim into his next attack. He breathed and the water under his stance rippled before he kicked off and ran for the foxes. A flash of metal and his sword was out, water coated the blade as it shifted rose red at the blade and garnet towards the back. "Ryūryū Mai Yoake!" (Flowing Dance Break of Dawn). The blend of blue mixed with red was as beautiful as Koujo's careful footwork and rising circular strikes to decapitate all three fox demons in just as many fluid attacks. 'How've I never had a chance to use that since Mount Sagiri?' Sabito taught them more than what they actually used now that he thought about it.
Three corpses hit the ground and dissolved into ash against the stone while the other six watched them turn to nothing. Three of the foxes took a step forward and shook angrily before releasing high pitched howls into the air and… changing. Their fur turned red and their eyes went white, but most importantly, they grew an extra tail. "This is new. Hm! You got stronger when I killed those three, that means when there's less of you the rest get tougher."
Almost as if they understood what he said, the six kitsune crouched low and snarled at him. One of the red ones made a call out noise to a one tailed subordinate and gave it an order that it couldn't deny. Another fox leapt towards him with its fangs bared and Koujo responded by spinning to avoid the bite, then with his left hand he slammed his fist into the vulpine demon and sent it into the ground below his rock hard fist. Faster than the fox could respond, Koujo's sword was in its neck and he looked up to see the other kitsune falling towards him. 'Roku no kata: Nejire Uzu!' (Sixth Form: Whirlpool). A rapid twist and every oncoming demon fox was sliced apart. A one tail and a two tail were outright decapitated from the attack while the others were just injured.
He watched the foxes regenerate and with even more curiosity he watched the one tailed foxes grow an additional tail and change their appearance while a two tailed fox turned into a three tailed one. They all looked at one another and then back at their adversary… and retreated deeper into the shrine. It might've been surprising but he didn't just stand there with his jaw slack, he chased after them. Even while they ran to a trail on the slowly rising landscape he kept right on them with his blood demon art active, and that let him detect the masked demon in a garden with a hypnotized human in front of her. This must've been the courtyard, at least that's what the giant torii gate centerpiece made him think.
"You're not supposed to be alive." The foxes stood by her as she walked away from the captive girl. "And you put them in this state? Maybe you're a better demon slayer than I thought. I'll have to deal with you myself." She reached for her mask but in the instant that her hand covered her eyes she learned her mistake. Foxes were naturally cowardly but whatever she did to the ones she had proved to be useful since both the two tails jumped in her way and stopped Koujo's sword from getting any closer to her. Granted it killed one of them. 'He's quick!' A backwards leap that almost looked like flying from her elegant kimono's movement and she avoided a follow up attack.
The surviving fox grew an extra two tails and leapt up faster than any of the others managed so far, now there was a four tailed fox, a three tailed fox and a two tailed fox. Masami took her mask off and revealed her pale face. "You do have three eyes…" Two light pink lenses stared back at him and above them was an eye right in her forehead with a ruby red iris and black sclera.
That eye started glowing and Koujo felt the same effect of being forbidden his freedom. "Kekkijutsu: Seishin Yokuatsu."(Blood Demon Art: Spiritual Oppression). A bright flash of red and the foxes froze, Koujo froze, a fly froze, everything in view of the light was paralyzed in place. "So you're a demon as well? Why are you helping those weak humans when they're just our prey?" She started walking towards her unmoving enemy while her normal eyes locked onto the unmoving foxes. "That was a trick question since you can't speak. Fuse and kill him." The foxes unfroze and melded into one another, they grew into a ten foot tall white fox with nine tails and blue eyes.
A mythical yokai creature was standing in front of him. 'Kyubi no kitsune… That old man would be so happy that he was right.' Having his movement taken only left him with his thoughts, but that was already dangerous for anyone wanting to fight him. Now was the harder part of getting out of this and killing that fox and-
"Where am I?" The girl started looking around with unglazed eyes and saw the massive fox spirit across from an unmoving target. She remembered how that masked woman started talking to her and then how her body started drifting then moving against her will. This shrine was based on a particular deity that used foxes as her messengers and there was a nine tailed fox in front of her… you can see why she started running towards it for safety. "Great spirit please protect-" The Kyubi no kitsune looked at the girl with its blue eyes and opened its mouth and a bluish-silver ball of fire started growing from its maw. "Me?"
Shit! The water under him surged and the paralysis broke instantly. "Ku no kata!" (Ninth form). Splashes of water were the only sign of his movement since his entire body was blurring from his speed and his footsteps were rippling across the ground.
She was saying her prayers subconsciously since her mind didn't fully catch up to the fact that death was ready to claim another person in the next few seconds, her body on the other hand recognized the danger and tried to will itself to move, scream, even cry… yet all she did was stand there and wait for the inevitable.
It couldn't articulate words but if the demon fox had the ability to speak it probably would have said something along the lines of, 'Kitsune no hi'(Foxfire). That ball of fire was ready to make a human tempura but it didn't get the chance.
"Suiryū Shibuki Matataki!"(Splashing Water Flow Flash). A vicious upwards slash separated the muzzle from the head, but that wasn't fatal and it wasn't what Koujo intended. 'Fuck! I missed!' The amalgam was so much faster than it was as nine different beings somehow, but it wasn't faster than he was. "You!" The girl tensed. "Get out of here now!" She didn't budge, the fear was still gripped around her heart. Koujo was about to yell again but a pair of freshly healed jaws locked around his left arm and started pulling like a demented tug-of-war match.
That actually sparked her legs to start backing her away from the scene and right into something solid. A slender and ever so delicate hand gently wrapped around her throat from behind, and it forced her to look at Masami's pink eyes. "You can't leave yet. We need to see your savior get overpowered by my kitsune."
Why did this have to happen to her? She was just enjoying the night with her friends and now she was watching a young man raise his sword and cut his own arm off to get away from the white fox. "Why me? Why am I here? I want to go home… please let me go."
"Don't bother with the tears. It won't give you sympathy." She made her stance on this girl's crying very clear and didn't waver in her lack of care for this human's feelings.
And this is why he decided to go sleeveless for now, the explosive regrowth of his arm didn't have to affect his outfit in the slightest. A quick glance towards the innocent girl showed him that she was in a bad situation with that elegant demoness, but once he saw that she was crying his emotions went wild. Koujo Itadake was raised under a specific set of values, morals that he held near and dear to his heart. Koujo learned that chivalry would always be something to value no matter what anyone else said, and that anytime he saw a woman in need- "I'd fucking do something!"
'I don't like that look in his eyes.' Her third eye started to glow red and the fox slammed into the fake demon with an insane level of force. Now that he was pinned down she just had to make sure he'd- Why did her arm feel lighter? And where did the girl go? "You're deceptively fast."
"You need to get out of here, just run and don't look back." Whiplash was a better alternative to being eaten and she decided to get the hell out of this shrine right now… it was a slight struggle to run after going so fast but she was doing her best even as the fox got ready to spit more flames. A flaming yellow rose with five petals was below him and he held his sword firmly. "A man should always be there for a woman in need."
Masami was always a collected one but for some strange reason… that load of shit he just had the nerve to say made her eyes turn blood red. "What would you know about being there for anything?!" The fox moved even faster than before and bit down on his torso, oh but the fun part was when it started thrashing him around like a toy. "Empty words! They don't mean a damn thing if you can't apply yourself!" She was steaming and the fox was portraying that rage in each motion back and forth that it shook Koujo.
On the upside of being shaken like a rag doll his uniform was strong enough to stop the teeth from breaking through it, and the only issue would've been the pressure from the bite force. "If you wanna act like a wild dog…" He raised his fist and slugged the kitsune right between the eyes, forcing it to let him go so he could inhale. "I'll put you down." From a raised stance with full pride in his movements, an arcing slash with an array of red, orange, and yellow flames around his blade. "Nobori en ten!"(Rising Scorching Sun). This time he didn't miss and sliced the head right off that demon fox. Now its body turned to ash and no more foxes got to power up enough to try and rip him into pieces.
Masami's eyes were already red but now they almost looked even more so, although her ruined sleeve added to the aura of rage she was giving off. "Karada Yokuatsu."(Physical Oppression). Goddamn everything this boy did was making her more furious with every passing second! "I don't even know why you make my skin crawl so badly… but you do." Feeling this way was so new to her but in that same token it felt so familiar, and she hated it.
Whatever this form of control was, it left him the ability to speak. "That's coming from the one who made an innocent girl cry. If you were a human you'd be pretty sad about having to be food too." His mouth was free to run even though his body was shaking to wrench control back into himself. She started approaching him and carefully placed her hands onto his face.
"But that's why humans are different from us. We don't have anything to be scared of other than that sword you have in your hand… break it." Against his will he started to lift his weapon and firmly grasped the blade with his other hand. All of his power went into resisting that command to ruin the new tool, he wasn't sure that Haganezuka would make him another one. "I don't know why I couldn't tell you were a demon at first but you can still throw away this fake humanity of yours."
Never… Never. Never!
It happened in an instant. He broke out of the blood demon art with all the physical strength of a raging bull and in the wake of that shock he left the demoness in, he struck fast and he struck hard. Missing arms. Left leg from the knee down. Her central eye gouged out and her left one was tightly closed. There was also a hand around her throat, tightly pinning her to the giant torii gate of the shrine's entrance. Masami felt the burns of where his sword removed parts of her but she couldn't voice that pain with her throat being blocked like it was.
Then something happened between them… Koujo gripped her neck hard enough to break skin and his nails touched her blood… That was enough.
It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair!
"How did I ever end up with a wife like you?" That powerful voice spoke that line so clearly that it almost sounded genuine. Almost. The fact of the matter was how insincere- No that wasn't the word. How ironic those words were, yes that was it, how ironic they were. She was holding her face where a bruise was darkening every second, and the hard wooden floor didn't give her any comfort. "A useless woman like you being stuck as my wife. I must be cursed."
"That's why you were saying it wasn't fair."
Damn. This was a pretty nice house too, and it made it so much worse to see this young woman with lustrous black hair picking herself up from the floor. Unhappy marriage was one matter but an unhappy arranged marriage was a disaster that she wouldn't wish on her worst enemy… if she had any that weren't this awful family.
It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at ALL!
All she could do was sit in the garden and let her injuries heal. Not just the fresh bruise on her face but the ones along her torso, back, and legs had to recover just as much. That wasn't even mentioning the burns from those damned cigarettes he loved so much. "Ku." At least she had a friend. A small fox came into the garden and curled in her lap waiting to be pet. He could tell she wasn't feeling well and he'd stick with her as long as he needed to for his owner to feel better.
"Oh don't tell me that means what I think it does."
Now she remembered what was so different about that evening. A man dressed in a neat outfit with such strange eyes came to visit but- but he wasn't a friend of any of the family? He just showed up and spoke to her. "It's not fair is it? You work so hard to make him happy and he doesn't even care." He- He understands her. He understood her. "How about I help you?" She didn't even get a second to answer him, all she knew was the searing pain in her forehead that spread through her entire body. Even Ku cowered away while it happened to her but once it was done she felt so much different, and her forehead still burned with whatever he did to her but that didn't matter since all her bruises were healed. Now she felt like nothing would put her down again…
It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair! IT WASN'T FAIR! WHY HER?!
He couldn't bruise her. He couldn't hurt her. She wasn't scared. She started acting with some more will. He didn't like that. There had to be a way to put her back in her place… and he found it in the shape of an orange fox. So proud of himself for what he did and she was broken by seeing it. Foxes needed their fur… Foxes needed their paws… A fox needed eyes. Her eyes hurt. Her forehead hurt. He was so proud of himself for mangling an innocent animal.
An orange thread stretched taught between the man and the woman and basic instinct kicked right in for him. He'd done this enough to already pull himself into position and draw his sword.
She never could do anything without him pushing her down like she was trash, taking control of her very body. How would he like it if he couldn't even move? His body frozen like ice. Red.
"Ku didn't deserve it."
It went on for so long that her mind felt like a bird stuck in a cage. If he wanted to treat her like an animal then he wouldn't even get to think for himself! Pink.
"He never hurt you."
All the time she had to endure the pain he put her through just because she didn't meet his standards. Standards that she shouldn't have to know about because of a loveless marriage she didn't have a choice in. He picked away at her and wanted nothing left. Now he had to watch himself do the same. He gouged out his flesh, bare handed, but couldn't even cry out in pain. His wounds were self inflicted even if the glow from her new eye said otherwise. This was all his fault.
Flowing water surrounded his sword and he ran straight at the thread, it wasn't even as tough as Rui's so this would be easy. 'Uchishio!' (Striking Tide).
All his fault. All his fault. All his fault. All his fault.
He connected with the thread and followed through to land between the man killing himself slowly and the demon watching his torture when the air grew still… "Oh no."
The thread was fine.
Koujo jumped back with his hand getting away from her body the second he felt that presence… and he was right to get the fuck away!
A giant hand spouted out of Masami's mouth, made of blackened, disgusting flesh that writhed like worms under a rock and it sprouted even more smaller limbs just like it along its length. Dark veins pulsed along her body and her flesh started rippling to tear open and have even more of the writhing masses break out of her body, and only then did those horrific things start grasping onto different sections of her body… and obliterating her flesh.
All Koujo could do was watch this gruesome display of bodily horror with his eyes locked onto his tingling hand. "I didn't break her away from Kibutsuji. That damn curse is killing her!" Failing to separate a demon from that pale skinned bastard clearly had even worse consequences than what he imagined. 'He must've noticed that something was wrong… it's a backup to kill any demon that wants to betray him!"
Violent grabs and crushing motions that were ripping the poor demon apart and all she could hear was the same mantra over and over, but she wasn't even sure if she was the one saying it anymore. 'It's so unfair…' Bloody tears ran down her face and her skin was marred with ink black spots of corrupt cells.
"It's really not fair to you." This really wasn't fair to her at all from what he saw and maybe- just maybe Tanjiro had a point with that whole mercy thing after all. It'd be his second time using this technique but it was well deserved this time since it was, sorta but not really, his fault. "Go no kata: Kanten no Jiu." (Fifth Form: Blessed Rain after the drought). It was hard to aim for her neck since there wasn't even much of a head left on her body but he managed it just fine and set her free from her suffering. Ash and decaying cells filled the air and Koujo sheathed his sword to watch her physical self vanish. "I get it now. There was no man who saved you from that awful bastard. That's why you got so mad at me."
So unfair. It wasn't fair at all. Why did this have to happen to her? 'Ku… I'm coming for you, I'll see you again sweet fox. Some of her eye was left over but vision was an idea from how much her body just went through, and everything was just a massive dark blur with some slight motion from Koujo's direction. 'The other ones weren't you… just please… please don't hate me for becoming a monster like him.' Now she was gone. Someone who could've used a second chance was really dead just like that. Unfortunately there was no time to be sad for her.
He flared his blood demon art and used his secondary ability to figure out wherever that other demon and the woman went. Of what the two separate deployments did they had the common ground of deceptively increasing his attack range farther than a sword should be allowed to hit, increasing his swordsmanship to its next level, and they both allowed him to detect things nearby. Anything in his vicinity that was alive he could sense, animals, people, even plants… that included demons.
Koujo looked to the temple and ran inside of its confines as quickly as he could to find the other innocent person in all of this, preferably before she got eaten by the third demon he was sensing. "Of course-" He skidded to a stop in front of a small room with the smell of peaches and blood emanating from its walls and floor. "I have to deal with you first. Haia, right?" That circle of water manifested below him, pushing and pulling its waves underfoot. "I want to hurry this up so I can- Are you eating rebasashi and peaches?"
It was a weird sight, a girl in her teens with a mouth covered in blood from a liver and the juice from a sugary fruit but here she was looking at him with wide eyes like he was the one being strange. "Mmh!" A quick swallow of her meal and now she could talk back. "Hey, I'm eating! Wait, where's Masami? You were supposed to…" Her jovial eyes drifted to the circle of water around his tabi and she immediately realized something was wrong. "You're a demon? But you don't smell like one." The adorable movement of her nose didn't match the confusion in her actions and as she slowly stood up things started getting more and more clear to her.
"I'm a Demon Slayer and a Demon. Now I have a question for you, why are you eating rebasashi and peaches?"
With a drag of her left hand across her face she cleaned some of her food from her hand and streaked blood and fructose across her cheek. "Well I was hungry. Don't you eat when you get hungry?" Well he certainly didn't eat like a wild animal and smear his meal all over himself like she did. "I don't really like eating people so I eat animals and stuff."
"And the peaches?"
She started licking the mixture off her fingers like a child with some sweets. "I like em!" Well not every answer was an essay.
"You said you knew me from Asakusa when you fixed my mask. That was almost two months ago so how are you here now?"
She actually pulled out said mask and- Oh gross she got blood and drying fruit juice on it. Fantastic. "Ryuji decided we should move once he spoke to our Master. We came here and-" He waved her off and took his mask back, his deduction skills let him conclude the rest of that story just fine. "Now can I ask you something?" A nod was all she got while he examined his mask. "Are you going to kill Ryuji?"
Okay now he felt cautious. This girl was a part of this Ryuji guy's little gang so loyalty might be her personal choice here. "The only other demon I can sense is a lot stronger than you so he's eaten loads of humans. Right now my only choice is to kill him." He deactivated his blood demon art and lowered his weapon, her smile leading him to the conclusion that this was more than okay.
Haia smiled bright enough to give the sun some competition and picked up one of her fans with a grin that showed her sharp canines. "That's all I want!" She elaborated once she started leading him through the hallways. "I'm not very strong. My blood demon art doesn't help me fight anything, all I can do is fix things that got broken. He and Masami took me in but… they were never my friends." A quick stop at a basin so she could clean her hands and face then they continued their trek.
Although the question burned in his mind. "How old are you?"
That actually made her stop and look at him accusingly, and she even poked that fan into his chest. "I wasn't an old lady when I became a demon, okay?! I wasn't older than seventeen…" Uncertainty. "I think."
"So you're old. I'm kidding, this is what friends do. They say jokes and stuff."
Now she looked at her feet while fanning herself lightly. "Friends… You know my name but I don't know yours."
"I'm Koujo, Koujo Itadake." That actually could be different but it's the name he's gone by for sixteen years now and that probably wasn't going to change.
"Koujo, you and me… we're good friends now right? I kinda remember having a friend like this before but maybe it was a dream."
He was going to say something but he stopped and looked around before drawing his sword. 'Something isn't right. Shi no kata: Uchishio!'(Fourth form: Striking Tide). He crashed through the wall of- Shit he just destroyed part of a temple! This is sacred ground and he just broke down a wall to get to the courtyard! "Haia, don't tell anyone I did that."
"Did what?" He wanted her to play along.
"Exactly." She wasn't playing along with that, she actually didn't understand what was wrong with what just happened. He looked towards another building across from them and saw a figure slowly walking outside, actually no they were hobbling more than walking. "There she is!" The woman had a ripped kimono and she was taking slow steps on the stone, walking on her bare, bloody feet.
"H-Help me… please…" Somehow this human managed to get away from that demonic presence and now she was here in front of them, so Koujo ran right for her to get her out of here right damn now. Suddenly she stopped moving and reached her hands into the air. "No! NO! NOT AGAIN!" Bending over backwards with such flexibility that Koujo was reminded of Inosuke's freaky display from weeks ago. "It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!" This was a normal human pulling off something that only an extraordinary human could- "AAAH!" She wasn't pulling it off at all! Humans don't make those noises normally! A loud snap resounded through the air, that loud snap was followed by a body slinking to the ground like a sack of meat.
Koujo stopped dead in his tracks once he noticed that her shadow was unnaturally dark and it was almost- moving? The shadows jumped and the woman somehow burst up and stood upright to reveal her horrified and gaunt face, then she turned around and started walking back to where she came. "Oh that's the look I love!" That voice sounded so sadistic. A figure walked into the moonlight, dressed in a brown haori with disconnected sleeves with a light blue shirt beneath that. Most noticeably he was wearing pants with yellow and vermillion stripes, but his pinkish red hair stuck out too. "It's so orgasmic!"
Without a doubt in his mind he knew this was the same Ryuji that led this impromptu group. So now he just had to figure out- SHADOWS! If his kekkijutsu were still active then a burning rose would've appeared under him. He took a firm breath. 'Hono no kokyu, shi no kata: Sei en no uneri.' (Flame breathing, fourth form: Blooming flame undulation). With a powerful circular swing and a burst of powerful flames did he protect himself from a series of lashing dark. Not darkly colored objects, not some type of weapon that was abyssal in color. Literal darkness attacked him.
Ryuji stood up straight with a wide smile that revealed his jagged teeth. "A slayer that actually didn't get caught by that? Alright! Let's have a talk, you and me." Koujo hated every second that this fucker spoke, and what's worse is that the poor woman with the snapped spine was still somehow standing in front of this freak.
"Let her go and we can talk all night before I cut your head off." Haia slipped behind him and kept her gaze averted from Ryuji.
"Oh and I never thought I'd see the day! A demon slayer teaming up with a demon? Oh Haia~ I'll have to report this to our Lord once I'm done with him. Kekkijutsu: Jaakuna shin'en haaku!" (Wicked Abyssal Grasp). More darkness lashed out for them but it didn't get close. Koujo leapt out of the way and Haia wasn't targeted, this was a clear one on one. "Fire breathing huh? I can add that to the list." He raised his left arm and with a fast twist dislocated it. The woman beside him let out a gurgled scream as her body did the same and further injured her.
The Blazing Demon heard the noise even in all his evasion and started deducing the reason. That lady's shadow was still darker than it should be and- "Nejire Uzu!" (Whirlpool). Well he was right about that darkness being, somehow, physical enough to cut. 'He stopped…' The snaggletooth stopped sending those black whips out and just stared at him.
"Hey! Hey! Fire and water? That's amazing!" He lifted his leg and slammed his foot into the earth hard enough to split the stone under his foot… and yes, that poor woman had to mimic the motion and slam her foot into the ground. The difference being that as a normal human she could only watch herself shatter the bones in her foot. "You're really making me antsy! I'll-"
In that instant where he dropped his attention Koujo struck. 'San no kata!'(Third form). Ryuji was too surprised to do anything other than back step and nearly lose his arm to a downwards arc from a flaming sword swing. "Kien Banshō!"(Blazing Universe). That attempt to take a limb wasn't the only thing that took place in the moment, the impressive swing severed the spot where his shadow elongated and connected to the woman's. However that had the consequence of the woman falling to the ground with a heavy thud and not even breathing from the look of it. No time to analyze that since the shadows started lunging for him again.
The assault on his eyes that was Ryuji's clothing fluttered with the rapid grab he made for the woman. "Find your own toys friend~ She screams so well!"
"Is this some kinda game to you?!" He landed and watched this fucking creep run his fingers against that woman's face with a discomforting grin.
"The point of a game is to have fun isn't it? Okay maybe it's a game then!" He grabbed her jaw and yanked it from her skull in a spray of gore and incomprehensible pain. "You humans and your 'oh it's wrong' attitudes, why should I stop having fun cause you don't like it?" Adding insult to serious injury, Ryuji took a bite out of her shoulder and quickly swallowed the hunk of flesh. "But I'm done playing with her anyway, now I wanna play with you!" He dropped the woman and slammed his hands onto the ground, the darkness responded and bore towards Koujo at breakneck speed… faster than he could dodge. They didn't even need to touch him, just the shadow he cast. "Jaakuna shin'en kagami."(Wicked Abyssal Mirror).
He was really getting sick of having his freedom taken away like this but he had a more pressing issue that he took as personal. "It's just playing to you…" He unwillingly dropped his sword as he started mimicking the other demon's movements. Ryuji raised his hand and with a twist managed to break every single bone in it, but his anticipation was met by a lack of response from his victim. "Where do you get off saying what you just did was a game?"
"Well that's a good question but it's hard to answer without a tongue!" This one always worked, he stuck his tongue out and bit it right off. He watched with glee as Koujo did the same and bit the organ like it was a snack, but he didn't even flinch from it. Ryuji's tongue regenerated while a vein pulsed on his neck, nobody ever went this long without at least groaning before and he started off by shattering every bone in his hand! "Come on and give me something!" A swift chop to his arm that cracked bone like an egg against a stone and now he waited for that pain to settle in while Koujo did the same to himself, broken bones were always something to go for since it took a moment for the pain to register. "You're really not gonna scream… you've gotta be high ranked to be so tough. My Lord just might let me have my blood battle sooner than I thought." His yellow eyes flashed with joy and he smiled again. "I'll be the next Lower moon one! Maybe I'll even get to be Upper moon six by next month!"
So this fucker's plan was to stay here and eat enough people to be the strongest of the lower moons? He was just gonna skip past every other rank and go right to one? That was presumptuous of him to just try and go that far. "That's what you talked to Kibutsuji about. Jumping every other lower moon?"
"Ah ah ah~ I don't tell things to broken toys." He grabbed the back of his head and his lower jaw. "You weren't any fun so I'll do this fast." A strong pull in two directions and his head was facing backwards. Koujo did the same and snapped his vertebrae without resistance, now a quick meal before he dealt with the traitor. "Oh Haia~ What exactly should I tell our Lord about what you did here? I think it should be about you helping a dem-"
"Nobori en ten!" (Rising Scorching Sun). Ryuji dodged backwards and once he landed on the ground he felt his chest and saw the wound on his torso slowly healing up, indignation over his clothes and body being damaged aside he focused on the somehow living individual in front of him. His head was turning back around with such rage focused in his eyes that for a moment Ryuji lost his lackadaisical temperament. "You're just a sick clown fucker!"
"I'm almost surprised you can tell my outfit is clown based, but more importantly to me-" A point of his sharp nails towards the fully healed slayer with bloodshot eyes giving off his aura. "How are you still alive?! I broke my neck all the way around!"
"Jutsushiki Tenkai, Seitōna Tensei: Hibana Bara!" (Technique Deployment, Rightful Reincarnation: Ember Rose). Waves of heat pushed outwards through the courtyard and pressured Ryuji enough to make his skin tingle.
"Even better! That's two backstabbing demons!" Jaakuna shin'en shōhi."(Wicked Abyssal Swallow). The darkness stopped its assault and cooled around Ryuji in wriggling tendrils that looked as happy as he did. "Let's go!" He didn't take a simple step to start his charge, the shadows under him carried him along the ground with prejudice.
Koujo dashed forward with flames coating his sword. 'Shiranui!' (Unknowing Fire). He ducked below a lashing shadow and with his flames managed to keep the darkness from grasping him again, but his attack didn't land. "Nobori en ten!"(Rising Scorching Sun). Two upward arcs of flames repelled more of the shadows yet just missed the body of the demon controlling them. 'These shadows hide him at the last second… I can't land a clean hit.' The darkness around him was still able to be scared off by light, his flames, and could be sliced like it was living but it gave Ryuji ever so much of a push to avoid an attack at the absolute last moment. Koujo kicked off the ground and spun with his flame blade in a perfect circular slash, similar to the water wheel. 'Kien Banshō!'(Blazing Universe).
"These attacks are something! Using fire to keep my shadows away!" So amazing that someone who was just a demon slayer, even though he wasn't human, could actually repel his shadows like this!
He was still in the air and had the high ground by default. "Go no kata: Enko!" (Fifth form: Flame Tiger). With majestic flames in the shape of a burning tiger following his blade, Koujo slammed back into the ground and dispersed another group of these wriggling shadows but still didn't land a good hit on this fucking clown. Locked in a battle of keepaway until one of them gained an edge, on the upside his breathing style kept those shadows away.
But no matter what there's no light without shadow. "You fucked up!" Shadows caught Koujo from behind, the light of his flames cast a shadow against his body, behind himself. That's what gave Ryuji the darkness he needed to trap him again. "This was fun! Oh if only you weren't a traitor to us. All of my fifty years as a demon and nobody ever beat my blood demon art, even for a few moments." A shudder went through his body but it stopped as fast as it came. "There's no fun trying to torture you, at least not normally. The only thing that kills demons is that sword in your hands." Ryuji held an imaginary sword in his hands and raised it closer to his neck until it would've broken the skin.
'This is what we do to demons?! This hurts so bad!' Well at least now he understood why demons were scared of nichirin swords so badly.
"Give me that pain! I want to see you writhe!" His sadistic will would starve before Koujo gave him that satisfaction.
"You and pain… You and torture… Why? Why do you think it's so fun to mess with other people's lives?" Despite the cold metal of his sword slicing into his neck and giving him a great amount of pain he was disturbingly calm, on the outside at least.
The snaggletooth demon grinned and laughed like a giddy child. "Because I'm a demon! They're just humans, it's our natural right to do whatever we want to them! Don't give me that 'better than you' speech either, I know you feel that same desire to rip and tear-"
"Shut up…" The pain running into his neck wouldn't make him lose his focus.
Haia watched their altercation for the last fifteen minutes. Nothing but the thoughts of how weak she really was to have nothing she could offer but sitting on the sidelines, watching her newest friend fighting for his life and she was just standing there. Well there wasn't any point in doing nothing when you can only die two ways.
"I know you're scared! That feeling of dread from being right next to death can't be resisted by anything, not even demons like us!" Ryuji pushed that imaginary weapon deeper into his neck and to mirror him was Koujo with a real nichirin sword digging into his own neck. He would've winced but he was steadfast in not letting Ryuji win, even if he had to hide the pain he did in fact feel. "Give me that look of-" Even the strongest can be taken off guard sometimes, and Ryuji just got his left arm pinned against his head by a metal tessen. "Haia?!"
Her usually cheerful face didn't look that way right now, her canines were bared and her eyes were slit in focus. "I'm sick of you! You're not killing my new friend!" Even a mouse could kill a giant centipede to protect its family, and even Haia could stand up to someone who saw themselves as ready to be one of the strongest demons aside from their creator.
"So many surprising things tonight… First Masami and those stupid foxes died off, then I meet a demon slayer who's a demon, and now the spineless little Haia's standing up for herself!" Anger? Fury? Rage? None of that, all Ryuji felt was jubilation from all the turns in this night.
"She's not weak!" He was forced into the same position as the annoying clown but his spirit was strong and his anger was still growing.
That momentary distraction was what Ryuji used to grab the fan restraining him with his other hand, then fold and use his legs to grab Haia around the neck and fling her away with only his lower body strength. "Still too weak to actually- Fuck!" A sword ripping through your shoulder is never a good feeling. For a second he lost control over the demon he was controlling but he got that back right when the pain stopped. "Son of a bitch!" He jumped back and ripped the sword out of his body. "Painful as that was, I think that human lady finally slipped into that sweet void of death!"
The woman brought into this situation against her will and tortured so painfully only now got to die. She had her bones broken, some other injuries that happened inside of the temple, and her spine was snapped like a dead twig. "You're so disgusting that it makes my body burn up…" His skin felt itchy, especially on his forehead- Actually his forehead and temples were the most itchy parts of his body right now. Horns of durable bone started protruding through his head and forming a crown.
Haia opened her fan and threw it right at her former superior's hand but all it did was make sparks fly once it collided with the one he still had his hands on. "Almost but not quite there! Say now, have you ever had your head chopped off by a nichirin sword?!" Her heart dropped once she saw his serrated smile matched by him taking a tentative step towards her. "You won't be missed!" It was just a clumsy sword swing but with the physical power that he had it would kill her no problem. "Now go to- Hold on…" When he swung there wasn't even a sword in his hands… his hands also weren't there.
"Master Koujo!"
"Noka!" His hawk was carrying his sword in his bloody talons. Ryuji turned and grinned at Koujo's occasional twitching movements. "Don't give me my sword yet!" Noka held onto the weapon tightly and waited for the right moment to help his partner.
"Never had to nail a bird before! Maybe this stupid fan will-" For the second time Haia showed her resolve and slammed a brick against the sick clown's head, the worst of the damage was a gash but the brick was obliterated. "Now you're fucking annoying me."
Haia undid her sash to grab lengths of it in preparation. "Good! I know how your blood demon art works, I'll use shadows from my obi to stop you!" Right when a shadow lashed out for her she spiraled that orange sash around and evaded its grasp, and Koujo saw that the darkness could be tricked with more darkness that wasn't connected to a person. "Koujo!"
"Can die with you!" Now he leapt for the bubbly demon with his veins pulsing and his fist ready to pierce her body and keep her out of the way.
"Seitōna Tensei…" Now he had the power to break out. 'Just like Korine, I'm not letting an innocent girl get hurt!' The lines spread down to his hands to encompass his fingers, turning them pitch black against his now white nails. He was between Ryuji and Haia in the blink of an eye, but the Kizuki wannabe adjusted his attack to rip through the Slayer long enough to show him how it feels to lose your head.
If this was how it felt to be in a real fight then maybe Ryuji could get into them more. 'Even if you hit me my shadows will catch you like flies to meat!' His smile was about to tear his face in half. "Come on Koujo." In the uppermost part of his vision there was a blotch of purple that nearly distracted him but whether or not he looked wasn't the issue. Faster than he could process, Koujo vanished from sight and a prickle against the back of his head forced him to turn and see the Demon Slayer inverted in the air behind him.
This was something new that he didn't ever get a chance to test before now but field practice is the best way to learn. He breathed and felt his entire body heat up until it started to hurt… then it heated up even more. Every single cell felt like it was on fire and something told him that he was doing it right even though it was agonizing. "Matataki Kyōi." (Miracle Flash).
The only thing that saved the sharp toothed sadist was a mix of his shadows pulling him ever so slightly back and losing his left arm to that brilliant swing. His instincts told him he'd have died otherwise. 'He got behind me and tried to take my head off in one go? I'm really starting to like you Koujo!' Something started to burn and it wasn't just the slowly growing mass of blood on his arm, but his lungs were hurting too. "Wisteria?!" That glass vial was filled with wisteria powder! "That's a cheap trick!"
Stuck the landing and turned back to him. "Great for you… Sick Clown fucker." The ember rose was a little more red right now but that wasn't the issue. 'This breathing really is perfect for killing demons… it hurts so bad just to try and breathe this way and I'm just copying what I heard Tanjiro do back on Natagumo.'
"Slowing down my regeneration with wisteria… Now what I really want to know about is that painful cut you did, your fire didn't hurt that bad until-"
A blitz attack in a downward slash that almost cleaved the clown from shoulder to rib cage. 'That was the Waltz.' A long slash down the clown's chest ruined his undershirt and left Ryuji only in that short brown haori. Orange coiled around his body and with a fast pull went the shadows along with it. Ryuji reeled his fist back right when Koujo closed the distance and slashed downwards again, those annoying shadows really didn't mess around.
Both demons were pushing themselves farther than they expected to tonight and it showed on their faces, even behind Ryuji's wicked smile he was angry and the bulging vessels on his face and arms were testament to his effort. Koujo's new form was costing more energy than he expected himself to even have as a creature with near infinite stamina.
The joy of getting to feel so pushed! He could start liking this! "You know you want to subjugate other people under you! It runs through your blood, you're a demon! Stop acting so human like it'll turn you back!"
Fire, not flames, left his mouth in a heavy exhale and it only made his respiratory system burn even more alongside his entire body. "I'm not a demon like you…" They broke apart and exchanged blazing slashes with hardened tendrils of darkness. "You're a demon that likes hurting other people like it's a game. I'm not a demon like you!" He jumped back and delivered a defensive circular slash to stop a flood of shadows from taking him again.
"Still giving that moral high ground bullshit! Jaakuna shin'en hahen!" (Wicked Abyssal Shards). He slammed a hand on the ground and sent a wave of shadowy spikes across the courtyard. "Quit fucking acting like you're better than me! You're not better than anything!"
Koujo slid against the ground and with an expertly executed push he sent himself over the spikes. "So you really are just a mean little clown."
"I'm taller than you!" He was about to send another wave of those wicked shadows but a flash of orange coiled around his arm. "Get your weak ass-!" She pulled and threw off his balance just long enough for Koujo to fall and make a small slice into the clown fucker's neck. "Ngh!" His hand shot to the burning wound right when Koujo landed on the ground and charged him again. 'That was just to scare me! This is the real attack!' He yanked the obi and pulled Haia right in front of him as a hostage, if he couldn't avoid this next onslaught then he'd use a flesh shield!
Being underestimated like he didn't train like hell for two years straight wasn't something Koujo would stand for. Hit low and hit hard. Koujo slid against the stone and drove his foot into Ryuji's knee, teaching him what it felt like to have a boulder slam into one of the most easily compromised parts of the body. Haia fell to the ground with her now singed obi in her hands. "He cut it? Right, Ryuji would've pulled me in the way again!" She watched the Demon Slayer twist upwards like a flaming whirlwind and perform a vicious cross slash, leaving a perfect 'X' on Ryuji's chest. Something new bloomed in her chest, what was this? It felt good. She hadn't felt this way in so long but Haia knew it was good. She felt hopeful. "Ha! Ha! Go for it!"
Every passing second he used this breathing technique the pain increased exponentially but he ignored it and focused on delivering slash after slash from his flaming sword. 'I know this isn't as good as Tanjiro, but I'll try my best!' Blow after blow, the fire repelled the shadows perfectly to let his heated barrage continue. 'Breathe!' An upwards slash followed by a powerful kick that sent Ryuji into the air and Koujo went right after him. 'A perfect circle to clear the sky! Hi no kokyu!'
Ryuji watched the fire spin into a circle and a sword collided with his neck. It burned! This burned so badly! 'HOW?! I ate so many humans! I was the best demon I could be! I- I-!' Now he remembered everything.
That bird just fell out of its nest. He stood right in front of the poor chirping creature and picked it up carefully. It was important to be careful whenever you had to deal with one of these- And you really had to be careful when you grabbed it's little head and squeezed it with everything your little body could manage! "Ohhh…" He felt tingly, but in a good way.
"Touya! What's that?" That tall man looked so familiar- Oh that was his father asking him what he was holding, he had to make him proud and show off what he did right?
Touya smiled and held the lightly chirping bird proudly. "Look what I did father! Isn't it great?" Pride, joy, acceptance, even simple satisfaction were what he expected but he didn't get any of that. His father smacked the dying bird out of his hands with a scowl.
"What's wrong with you?! Don't ever do this again! Hurting innocent little birds like this isn't something a boy your age should be doing!" With that he turned and walked back towards their house. Touya was upset but that tingle from before was still making him feel so good deep down.
He didn't stop it either. Years went by and every now and then a neighborhood pet would go missing, a cat, someone's bird, sometimes he'd be bold and someone would lose a dog. The trend was the same no matter what and he started learning that the best feeling wasn't just causing harm to these little animals. "The light leaving their eyes… that look when they finally don't breathe anymore. So good~" A fourteen year old boy shouldn't make the noises he was making from what he was doing, and yet here he was in the forest holding a freshly expired sparrow in his left hand.
She was so nervous to do this but he was the most handsome young man in town. The note was very clear and now she was waiting by the river with said note in her hands. The full moon illuminated her brightly blushing face at the idea of such a perfect- "-guk!" A hard hit to the back of her head forced her to the ground with blurry vision.
"Kori~ Kori~ Kori~! You actually came! I didn't think you'd answer my little note." He dropped the branch he used to disorient her and stepped on her foot. Hard. "Birds, mice, cats, even the dogs don't give me that tingle anymore!"
This was not how she wanted this to go. It was the opposite in every single way! "Please let me go! I won't tell anyone!"
"I can't do that before the fun." He grabbed her hand and took one of her soft fingers in his own, oh he'd enjoy this. A rapid pull and her index finger was broken and pointing towards her. She screamed so loud that the wildlife nearby had to be scared away from it. He started doing this to every single finger on her right hand until there weren't any more left for him to break. "That amazing feeling~ I wish you could understand this sensation Kori!"
All she could do was sob and try her best to pull away from him but her easy life left her without the physical strength to fight him off on this riverbank. "Please! I don't want to die!" She actually managed to turn over on her back to try and plead with him directly but that just opened her to something he wanted to actually test on a human, it worked on the girl dogs and cats he tried this on so maybe…
"Let's see!" He reeled his foot back and slammed his tabi into her crotch with all his force, unknowingly striking a very sensitive bundle of nerves on top of cracking her pelvis. Results of that test went even better than expected! Kori vomited on her own chest and started hacking for air. There was a tightening inside of his stomach and he knew that he was getting closer to it. "So amazing! All those shows father took me to could never compare, I've always wanted to be able to give so much joy… even if it's just for me."
"I like to hear that." Touya saw a man dressed in a white overcoat with a black vest and matching white pants with smart black shoes. Those eyes burned through him with solid judgement too, but he was too far in his bliss to care. "You're exactly what a demon should be…" Touya didn't even blink and a finger was stabbing into his throat and filling him with whatever was making his blood boil so painfully. Minutes went by and soon he stood back up with amber eyes and sharp teeth. "Now feel free to finish up here, I'll wait to let you know what you've been enlightened to."
All he heard was finish up and with his mind in a partial haze he shambled to Kori and dropped onto her abdomen. That previously handsome face was nothing but a nightmare now… it matched how he truly was just perfectly. These nails… they were exactly what he needed. He clasped his hand around her throat and closed it with those razor sharp nails tearing through the soft meat. Bile and blood flooded from her throat while her eyes started going dim, it was over quickly but it was more than enough to make his entire body shudder in pleasure. He'd never get this feeling from animals again, he had new things to try this all on.
"Yes you do." That man spoke from just a few meters away with a small smile at this display. It wasn't often he found someone who fit so perfectly into the role before he turned them after all.
'I was wrong?' Koujo's sword chopped all the way through Ryuji's neck with beautiful fire swirling after his swing. 'All these years I thought the best feeling was getting to take the light away from things after making them feel so much blissful pain but- but I was WRONG!' The burning was so painful that it overwhelmed his remaining senses as his body crashed to the ground and his remains started turning to ash. 'The ultimate feeling of orgasmic pleasure wasn't inflicting pain and death… it was dying!' He smiled as the walls of the temple were sliced by the after effects of that powerful attack and fire erupted in giant rings that made the night sky light up like it was the middle of the day. 'So good~'
For his first ever attempt with the ultimate breathing style he had to say it went pretty well, and it ironically cleared away the dark evils of this evil fucking clown. The name of the technique he just used?
"Azure Heaven!"
This Sun Breath is way more troublesome than I like. I think I'll stick to Flame and Water for a while.