As Things Should Be

- 34 - Grief

There was a great commotion pulling at Nakime - but three other commotions were demanding her more pressing attention: Upper One was in the midst of his fight and Nakime was trying her best to keep that as deep in the infinity fortress as she could - as far away from her as she could. Doma was ripping through the levels, beelining it for his chimera which, speaking of, was currently outrunning. Muzan.

Nakime had traitorous, traitorous questions as to how that was even possible, but she swallowed them and did her best to keep Doma from his daughter and bring Muzan closer to the demonic spawn.

Then Kaigaku returned, screeching in her head like a petulant child as he whined and begged for attention. For teleportation. For help! For assistance! For something. He was fine. Nakime closed the gate behind him, relocating it to Gyokko's pottery shop. 

Doubtlessly, the pot demon would have new inspiration when he returned and would whine and gripe or worse - giggle.

Speaking of which, Hantengu and Gyokko had been away a concerningly long time. Surely eliminating the swordsmith village wasn't too difficult; then again it was likely that they had found entertainment or trouble. Either way, she was paying acute attention to the doorway leading to that damned village in case any mortals tried to enter or her superior moons call for her.

Kaigaku had returned though, in a fairly timely manner, so he'd likely completed his task which meant he could shut. up.

It grated on Nakime's skull as she juggled seven other responsibilities and expectations. The gate to the swordsmith village was still open but hadn't been touched. She'd closed the gate where Doma had entered from, relocating it to Muzan's residence. She hadn't meant for Akaza or that second hashira to slip in and that had been a mistake on her part... it wouldn't happen again.

It couldn't.

Kokushibo was a suffocating presence as he held off the powerhouses that were two hashiras and Akaza. The hounds were once again nipping at her heels and if she wasn't careful she'd lose focus. Doma would get Nakime and tear her apart, or he'd retrieve his spawn and Muzan would lose the child. Then it would be Muzan rending Nakime into slivers of flesh. If she wasn't cautious, Kokushibo and Akaza's battle would draw closer and she'd be in danger if any of the hashira sensed her.

All things considered, a young obnoxious brat of an Upper Moon was at the bottom of her priority list. The only reason she had to suffer his presence was Kokushibo's favor of the slayer and Muzan's word. He was at the bottom of the pecking order and he needed to learn his place.

But he just kept screaming. Begging for a teleportation. Pleading with Nakime to help him.

Help him what?

Nakime began to tune into the insufferable creature's complaints, strumming her shamisen as she teleported Doma away from his spawn once more. It was obnoxious how the ex-Upper Two just kept going straight for the child - regardless of walls or hallways. How was he so infuriatingly accurate? Nakime couldn't teleport him too far away or she'd put herself in between Doma and his child, and it wouldn't take much for the ex-upper two to realize she was the better target.

Kaigaku was still screaming.

With a hiss, Nakime strummed a string and the brat appeared at her side, gasping and heaving needlessly - he was a demon, he needed to start remembering that.

"Disrupt my work once more and I shall expel you into the light of day," she threatened lowly.

"Th - They were gonna fucking kill me!" Kaigaku cried, holding his neck. Nakime looked over at him and realized with a start that he had a gash in his neck that was healing. He was missing an eye and donned a thick laceration down his left leg.