The cold air entered the ice hashira's lungs, slowly freezing his being, a familiar and enjoyable sensation. He was walking in the middle of a forest, with snow falling and just a few hours before nightfall, he was returning from a mission in which he had taken care of a low-ranking demon whose behavior had implied that it was an upper moon.

It was really weak and boring, the fight hadn't even lasted ten minutes before the demon had his head rolling on the floor and fading into ashes. They had spent months sending young hunters only for none to return, who would say, the more generations entered the corps the weaker it became.

You couldn't exactly blame the boys, most of the good hunters out there, most of the hashiras are people who have some special resentment against demons or who really hope to help innocent people... although Hakuji was a separate case.

"Those incompetents..." Muzan, (the head of the demon hunters) cursed in a low voice but loud enough for the hashiras present to hear him, perhaps on purpose, Douma would not know clearly. With a sudden movement of his hand he scared away the crow that had just given his message. It was well known that Muzan lacked patience, he was a man who got angry easily and would explode at anyone who was nearby. He wasn't a bad person, no matter how much he vented his fury on anyone around him, he just had a very explosive character, maybe too much so at times. Due to the sudden movement and his momentary fury Muzan completely lost his balance and before either of them could do anything Tamayo-san already had Muzan in his arms, his face was calm except for his eyebrows that were raised in concern. Muzan's young wife was always alert and caring for her husband, according to Nakime and Daki it was something really touching even if they didn't have any other real interaction, at least not in front of the Hashiras, not that Douma had seen, and even if it was touching it was none of his or their business, he would still be involved in some conversation where the two would bring up the topic tough.

Muzan was a man of fragile health, any kind of force would raise his pulse enough to cause a heart attack.

Since he was a child his days were numbered, his health worsened over time, at first he was somewhat slow but in the last two years his health worsened at a worrying speed. At age 8 he had to take command of the entire body because the same illness took his father's last breath, just as it did with his grandfather and great-grandfather and many of his ancestors. He married when he was just 15 years old as his health had reached a point where he could not take care of himself.

Tamayo knelt with her husband as he caught his breath and coughed too hard. Their eyes met for a moment, or rather

, she was looking at Muzan. It was only a few seconds until Tamayo began to help Muzan get up and approach the door of the room.

If he thought about it, it was normal for Muzan-sama and Tamayo-san to have those silent conversations, in fact the strange thing would be to see them speak to each other nowadays, I mean at some point they did, they had to do it, but not in front of the hashiras, or not in what he had been a hashira, they did not have any type of significant action no matter how much he thought about it. At first it was kind of weird but eventually he got used to it.

"Forgive my outburst." That brought Douma out of his thoughts, Muzan's voice was calm again, he did not show any emotion, he never did, Muzan was careful not to show emotion in his voice unless he wanted to. "I have sent several hunters to defeat this demon, it has been months but..." Coincidentally, a butterfly landed on his hand and although Muzan could not see it, a small smile appeared on his face as he turned his head to where the small animal was and repeated his prayer "...No one returns."

"Maybe there's an upper moon there." The one who spoke was Michikatsu, he was at least 8 years older than Douma, the oldest of the hashiras, in addition to being probably the strongest of all the pillars.

"Maybe..." Muzan sounded thoughtful that time. "In that case I should send the hashiras."

'Please not with him,' Douma prayed to himself without letting his discomfort show, he stayed still with the same smile he kept all the time, he didn't want to have to spend more than necessary with Michikatsu he had only had a couple of missions with him and that had been more than enough for probably his entire life.

"Douma, do you mind?"

"Of course not, Muzan-sama." Douma was grateful that he didn't go with him, Michikatsu wasn't a bad partner but..., who to lie to? Douma couldn't stand his presence. "Michikatsu, there is another mission for you."

"Of course Muzan-sama." Michikatsu also remained calm although he turned his gaze to Douma, "Douma, don't you think it would be amazing if all humans and demons didn't have to fight each other. If peace would finally come to this world without demons eating people and people hunting demons." Douma held back a laugh at that, Michikatsu had too big an imagination.

"That will be impossible as long as the demons keep humans as the main course." Was what Douma answered, standing up with that hateful smile that was obviously fake. "It's a shame... I really wish this nonsense would end." Douma now felt like hitting the guy.

"Well Michikatsu-dono, it's a real shame you can't come with me." Douma said with one hand on the handle of his sword. "Excuse me, Muzan-sama." He finished, bowing.

Perhaps the only thing he could really take away as a positive was that he didn't have to bring Michikatsu with him for such a boring mission. Douma still wondered how so many slayers had died because of such a weak demon.

The air was getting colder as night fell, Douma had passed a small town before but just passing through it he knew that it was not going to be a good idea to stay there. It was just dusk when he entered the town, he had the idea of spending the night there and leaving the next morning. The town seemed to be preparing for some festival, there were many tents, some in operation selling both food and accessories or handmade things, others were just being erected, there were children running through the streets, playing, there were happy couples (so much tat could sick you), almost anywhere it would be a beautiful place in general, but if you looked closely you would see the old houses that threatened to fall apart at any minute, there were rats running in the public streets (apparently something normal because everyone was ignoring it), there were couples arguing fiercely, some even went so far as to throwing stones at each other having to be separated by other people who were nearby, there were criminals on almost every corner or alley you could look in, some had already started stealing. There were children with a poor appearance and clothes that didn't fit asking for money from anyone they would meet.

He met a little girl who looked like she was about 7 years old. She stood in his way, extending her hands. The girl's clothes were really dirty and worn out. Her hands were full of blisters and her face was a little bruised. 'Poor creature' was what Douma thought at that moment.

This girl was happy, her face shone despite the dirt, she made a bow that would have easily made her lose her balance.

"Thank you!" She was almost screaming, Douma didn't even know how much money he had given the girl and she hadn't bothered to count it either and yet she was so happy that she could jump out at that moment. "God bless you!" She said and ran away. What was people's problem with including gods in everything? If there was one thing Douma knew well, it was that there were no gods and if they did exist, they were really cruel beings who had no appreciation for human, mainly by allowing a race as destructive and problematic as demons to exist. Now that he remembered, he had just promised Daki that he would bring her a hair ornament; if he passed through another town on his way back he would remember to buy it. At some point in the night when the cold was too much to bear and it seemed that a big snow storm was approaching, Douma resigned himself to finding a cave in which to make a bonfire and spend the night, he almost hoped that some demon wa araund so he could entertain himself with something. It didn't and he spent one of the most boring nights of his life, he didn't sleep at any time, he was never good at sleeping even before he was a hashira, he was used to going days without sleeping and not suffering any effects.

_

At the same moment that the sun rose Douma walked again, the forest was so dense that the sun's rays did not penetrate under the branches of the trees, who knows, maybe he could find a demon to fight after all. At some point he heard screams and the sound of something heavy falling to the ground, a body, probably lifeless. He ran in the same direction as the one who had heard the noise. It wasn't that he was happy that another human-eater was around (although maybe he was, BUT NOT THAT WAY!), he had probably already killed hundreds of people on his way there. So no, he wasn't happy because he was going to find a demon, just because he was going to fight and probably get over a little bit of the boredom he had from his previous fight. Fights were one of the only and few ways that Douma had to feel something, the other would be music (he felt emotions under other circumstances but they were the least amount of times) since he met Kotoha music became something special for him, mostly Kotoha's music, but Kotoha was no longer there and he was about to have a fight (or so he hoped)

He approached something resembling a clearing, yet the sky was cloudy and the trees towering and blocking the sunlight. "Nee-san!" A girl, young by her voice "Don't stand up, you're very hurt!" It was getting closer. The girl seemed desperate, although she didn't seem to be in contact with a demon. "I can carry you to town! Please!" Did her brother become a demon? Quite possibly, he had seen things like that happen before and, to be honest, humans tend to live unaware of the dangers around them.

When he saw the small figures (which were getting bigger and bigger) he held the hilt of his sword firmly and prepared to draw it. There was a girl with dark hair, loose, covered in snow around her, she was lying on the ground and on top of her a boy with red hair, messy but gently tied in a bun who was struggling not to let go, a demon to be exact, he was trying to reach the poor girl slowly increasing in size until he was the height of an average adult man, the poor girl was about to give in, her only defense was the handle of an axe.

How tragic! How sad! Poor girl!

"Ice Breath, Second Stance..."

Douma was already right next to the brothers when the girl had a brief eye contact with him and so did the demon who stopped trying to reach the girl almost thought he saw tears in the demon's eyes, suddenly she pulled the demon to the opposite side and was right in his angle of attack, great. It wasn't a crime to try to protect him, probably the girl had no idea what a demon was. So Douma had to cancel his stance and raise the attack a little more cutting only a few strands of her hair.

Suddenly a blizzard blocked Douma's vision and when he recovered it he noticed the little girl holding back the demon that was trying to get away, apparently he had decreased in height again, what a naive girl.

"Leave him alone, he's a demon." That was an order, he hoped the girl would understand, while Douma prepared his sword, again. "Please..!" The girl was on the verge of tears, whatever she was going to ask was interrupted by her brother who escaped from her arms. "Tanjiro!" That was more than enough for Douma to catch the demon, he hadn't be transformed for long, it was remarkable.

"Please don't hurt him!" The girl was kneeling on the ground looking at him with pleading eyes, if Douma was a better person he would have felt bad for her, but he wasn't, so instead he held his sword tighter and put on that atypical smile he had perfected over the years.

"I'm sorry but..." She looked back at the boy who had his mouth open, saliva dripping from it, roaring and shaking wildly trying to get away. "... He's a demon so I can't just let him go."

"P-please, he-he..." She said standing up in a... very dangerous way, staggering wildly. "Tanjiro hasn't done anything to anyone, he wasn't the demon that killed my family, there was another smell there. It was another demon!" So they had killed his entire family, poor creature... "Still, he may not have killed anyone yet, but trust me girl, it won't be long before he succumbs to hunger, this isn't your brother, not anymore."

"I-I!" It would probably take a few days before she could speak again if she kept screaming like that, Douma was actually afraid that she would become dehydrated from crying so much. "I can stop it, I'll find a way to turn him back into a human, I promise!"

"How can you do that if you're not even able to help him right now?" And with that he threw the boy forward and placed his foot on top of him to keep him there, he raised his sword menacingly, all he had to do was cut off his head, it didn't matter if another person hated him for merely saving their life, he was used to it by now. He was interrupted by a rock heading straight for him, very slowly, he deflected it with his sword, his smile wouldn't disappear because of a random brat, three more rocks were thrown at him, all too slow and small to do any damage. To his bad luck another lash of the wind raised too much snow blocking his vision, when it dispersed he saw the girl lifting another rock, larger and that would be a problem if it hit him, and he launched himself at that very moment, but, Douma was not going to lose against a rock, (I mean he's a hashira,) he destroyed the rock with a cut and in fact it fell on the demon lying on the ground, very bad, he underestimated the girl who just happened to have the old axe fall into her hands and jumped towards Douma, that girl would not be a bigger problem if it were not because he totally disagreed with hurting any human apart from the fact that it was against the code of the slayers, so he put his sword back in its sheath and removed his foot from on top of the demon to be able to take a step back to avoid an angry girl who was trying to hit him with the axe, although no, the girl was not an expert but the axe was still sharp.

He knocked her out with a blow to the neck and the girl fell unconscious immediately, the axe fell from her hands and her body fell gently to the side, 'do not hurt your fellow man' he reminded himself, the poor creature had surely been through a lot so he grabbed her with the arm opposite the one holding his sword, letting the young woman's body rest on his arm and gently lowering her to the snowy ground, his smile never stopped until he realized that he had been ignoring the demon those few minutes that he held the girl (he really wanted to know her name, he was tired of calling her 'girl').

Looking up he could see the demon boy running towards him, he was running too fast for a demon that hadn't fed for the first time, still it wasn't anything special. Douma quickly swung his sword making sure the demon wouldn't hurt the now unconscious girl, it was remarkable that the demon had a lot of brute strength but didn't know how to do anything else than throw punches, he managed to make Douma separate from his sister, too bad, the demon jumped to the girl's side directing his attention to her, 'damn it'.

"Ice Breathing, Third Stance..." Once again he was getting closer to where the demon was, he was already right next to his sister, his sister, damn it, it was impossible to reach her before the demon did, it was going to be impossible, he would eat her, he was going to... protect her?

The demon knelt down, extending his hands protectively in front of the girl's body, roaring menacingly and showing all his fangs, why? That... had never happened before, a hungry demon would even devour his family to satisfy himself, Douma knew it, he had seen and experienced it many times, he must have been hungry, he had transformed very recently and had not eaten, of course, he must have been hungry if not even his wounds were healing (although perhaps they were but very slowly). Still, he directed his full attention towards him, ignoring the girl.

Interesting and in fact, it made something strange stand out in Douma, he was feeling, again, every time he felt it was a total displeasure, he didn't understand what the feeling was, sometimes it wasn't just one but several, they were fleeting moments, feelings were just confusing, they always were. For the second time that day he canceled his stance and sheathed his sword, he already knew that feelings didn't listen to logic and he hated not being able to fight them but... 'Maybe, just maybe, you were right, maybe they can be different.' He couldn't act based on logic, his body acted faster than his head processed.

Now an angry demon was heading towards him, he didn't hesitate and knocked him out just like his sister and he fell to the ground. Now there was only one problem, what was he supposed to do from there? His "emotions" definitely wouldn't let him kill the demon and in fact his logic wouldn't either.

--

Just to clarify a few things without giving spoilers, Douma is not 100% emotionless, he has them but with certain people and under certain circumstances, sometimes he has them but ignores them or pretends otherwise.

I just hope you have realized that I have taken creative liberties because nobody is here to see everyone do the same thing as in canon but with changed names. (And if so, I think you should leave) If anyone wants to leave a comment or some advice I'm happy to read it just remember to be friendly.