The Upper Ranks (KNY X HxH)

Chapter 13

He fought not to make a sound, but Killua couldn't help a pained hiss as his horn grew another three inches and his tail shifted. Not only did it get longer, but thicker and sharper. When the pain faded, he took a deep breath and looked back up at Muzan. He looked Killua in the eye. "Now, for what reason have you not challenged a hashira level demon slayer or killed the boy I told you to?" Killua crossed his legs beneath him, once more ignoring the blood. "Needed more strength. If I died, I wouldn't be able to carry out the order." He curled his tail around his legs. "The...boy. He was on the standard of Hashira, same thing. I wasn't ready to fight someone like that just yet, never fight a battle you can't win"

"I don't get it, what's so special about him?" The male that held the upper 6 spot said, all the moons had made it down to the same floor he was on. His sister spoke as well, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Yeah, he doesn't even seem to have a very developed blood demon art" Muzan chuckled slightly. "at three weeks old, he became a lower moon" The upper moons started muttering to each other. "At only a year old, he requested to challenge an upper moon." The moons weren't just impressed now, they were downright shocked. Each of them had been alive for over a hundred years, yet this young demon only a year old managed to dethrone Muzan's second in command. Killua stood up, suddenly they all started trying to talk to him.

"What does your blood demon art even do?", "Do you eat humans as well?", "your so emotionless", "Wanna fight sometime? It'd be fun-" He tuned out the nonsense for a while, before Doma poked him in the side of the head. "He's not responding, I think something's wrong with him" Killua still didn't speak. "Shiyajū" Killua turned, looking up at Muzan, who was standing on the platform. "Orders are to integrate yourself with the other moons." Killua dipped his head slightly. Yes master. The biwa thrummed, and all 7 of them were transported into a room with comfortable chairs. There were just enough for each of them, and they were teleported into the chairs themselves. "Do you even do anything without direct orders from him?" Upper 5 questioned. Killua blinked, tail draping over his lap. "Not really" Doma gave Daki a look, she shrugged back at him.

"Well...what do you enjoy? I like making beautiful artwork" Gyokko said, a tongue licking his lips slightly. Enjoy... He didn't really find anything pleasurable, he never really had. The only sort of joy he ever felt was the satisfaction of carrying out an order. "Your 'artwork' is stitching dead bodies together gruesomely" Upper Hantengu said. Killua's ears flicked. "Enjoy...pleasing the master" There was an awkward silence. "You don't do anything in your spare time?" Doma said disbelievingly. He shook his head. "What I'm curious about, is how exactly he managed to climb the ranks so fast without experience" Akaza said, eyes narrowing slightly at Killua. "Oh right, you said you met him before" Doma said cheerily. Although, fake. Literally every single emotion he portrayed was fake. Akaza nodded, "He was lower 6 at the time, it was about half a year ago. His strength was only a fiftieth of what it is now"

"Maybe he had fighting experience when he was human? Like Kokushibo?" Gyutaro supplied. They all looked at him for an answer, but he didn't have one. "Do you remember anything from when you were human?" Doma asked. Killua thought on that. Remember... an image came into his mind. He smashed his tail into the ground, then grabbed a large chunk of grey rock. The others watched curiously as he sharpened his claws and started carving into it. It was a knife, with the words 'one kill a day' inscribed in Japanese on the blade near the hilt. "A knife?" Gyokko said with interest. "Was that the knife you were killed with?" Doma said with a bright smile, he seemed to like directing conversation. Killua shook his head, twirling it between his fingers. "It's...my knife." He said.

" 'One kill a day'? Were you a serial killer or something?" Daki said in a vicious tone. Was I? Thinking about his past, before, made his head ache slightly. "I have an idea" Hantengu said. A few of the moons glanced over at him, Akaza was still looking at him with a guarded expression. "The way Shiyajū moves, the way he follows orders to the letter. I think, he might've been an assassin" Something in Killua's chest tugged. Assassin. That seemed...right. Killua stopped twirling the knife, Gyokko was about to respond when Killua spoke. "That is...true." Doma frowned slightly. "I thought you said you didn't remember anything but the knife?" Killua blinked. "Didn't remember until he said it" Doma sighed heavily, fanning himself a little with a roll of his eyes. "Your lack of emotion gets on my nerves"

He turned his head, tail flicking. "Not one of your smiles were real, you've been faking emotion this entire time." A few of the moons looked faintly surprised. Doma tilted his head slightly, an delightedly intrigued expression on his face. "And how exactly do you suppose that?" Killua crossed his legs and rested his hands in his lap. "Just...can tell." He shifted slightly. "It's nearly flawless though" Killua engaged in minimal conversation for the next hour, silently gathering information about his peers and giving away very little about his own abilities and experiences. He found that plenty of the information he had gathered before was incorrect, the most evident of this was Doma and Hantengu.

After much time had passed he heard the familiar thrumming sound of the biwa and the ground was repaired. Killua slipped his stone knife replica in the pocket of his shorts, then it was struck again and Muzan was next to his chair. "Shiyajū" Killua stood up, turning and bowing his head respectfully. "Master" He thought for a moment before speaking. "Your new orders, are to keep gaining power. Kill demon slayers, if you successfully take out fifty low ranks or one Hashira, I will reward you with more of my blood" Killua nodded once. "Yes master" Muzan said a few words to the other upper moons, but he didn't listen. He was already calculating a schedule that would help him achieve this in less than 6 months like his last goal.

One a day... two months. Very unlikely to find that many. Every other day...no that's not likely either. He went through the numbers in his head for a while before finding an answer. Three a week. It should take me around...four months. Then Killua heard the thrumming of the biwa, and he was outside of the infinity fortress. Killua snapped out of his thoughts, looking up. 2 hours until sunrise, the cave's 5 and a half away. So he went off in a random direction, scouting for a new one.

1178 words

To be continued...