burning for you - rengoku k.

twenty-five.

Kyojuro snapped his head at my direction, staring at me with wide eyes. "Father?"

I couldn't take my eyes off the demon. I was not mistaken. The facial features, the little scar on the chin, the way his hair looked even if it was wet from the water.

His iris an unnatural yellowish green, and it looked like there were kanjis written on his eyes, but I couldn't read them from that distance. Blue and green scales covered his arms and legs.

But it was him.

The demon grinned with his sharp teeth, tilting his head to the side.

"You look just like her" he said. "Are you Kagemi-chan?"

"You know my name?" I asked with complete honesty. I had no clue about when he left my mother.

"Of course" he chuckled. "I gave you that name"

Kyojuro grabbed my arm, not taking his eyes off my father.

"It is not him anymore" he said. "Kagemi, he will try to trick you. Maybe once he was your father, but now he is a Lower Moon"

I snapped out of my trance for a second. A lower moon? So that is written in his eyes?

"And who are you...?" asked my father, lifting his chin, staring at Kyojuro. "Are you my daughter's husband or something?"

"No" he shook his head.

"Then don't interrupt the reunion with my daughter" he grinned menacingly.

"You are not my father anymore, right?" I asked shakily. "What happened to you?"

"As I see it, we are enemies for now" he said calmly. "That haori... she made it right? But you infused it with wisteria perfume. I see your weapon too. You came here to kill me" he made a step forward, I instinctively stepped back.

"Relax, I am not trying to hurt you" he lifted his hands.

"He is lying, Kagemi" said Kyojuro, wary of my father's movements.

"I will not do anything" he said. "I just want to take a look at my grown-up daughter"

I was not foolish. I knew that he can't be trusted. I have seen enough demons to know that he was trying to trick us.

But he didn't know what type of person I was. He left us latest when I was still a baby. Maybe he thought I resembled my mother a lot. She was gentle. She was caring. She was sensitive. She would have already ran into his arm begging him to come back to her.

But I had someone who was more of a father to me than the demon in front of me. He was strong. He knew his duty. And he tried to show me the reality of this world.

Of course I reacted the way I reacted. I thought I had no relative left. And suddenly, I was facing my father who became a demon. A lower moon.

I squeezed Kyojuro's hand. He knew what I tried to tell him through this little touch.

I knew what I was doing.

I can trick him too.

He was my father, yes. But he only gave me his blood. I never knew him. I had no emotional ties to him.

But, at the same time, I wanted to understand him. I wanted to know how he got to this point of his life. Why he became a demon. Why he was not present in my life.

I took off my haori, showing that I mean no harm for him and walked closer to him.

He was a tall man. I wasn't really short, I think I had an average height, but my father towered over me.

He smirked. "You look exactly like your mother" he noted and opened his arms. I accepted his embrace. His skin was cold and the whole situation felt so unnatural to me.

"You left us to protect us?" I asked with naivety and softness in my voice. "You turned to a demon and didn't want to hurt us?"

His embrace tightened. His voice turned dark. "Don't make me laugh" he said. I heard Kyojuro taking out his sword. I lifted my arm, gesturing him to stop.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I did love your mother" he said. "But we were not married for a reason" he huffed. "Do you really think I would marry a girl from a lower class?" his embrace tightened even more, it started to be painful but I made no sound. "I wanted power, Kagemi-chan" he stated. "I turned to a demon willingly"

"W-what?" it did surprise me a little. Who would turn to a monster by their own free will?

"But I did love that woman. And you remind me of her. How about that, Kagemi-chan? I can take you to Muzan-sama and he can turn you a demon. Then I can be your father forever. We can take your mother too. We can be a family again"

I gritted my teeth. So he didn't know that she was dead? "Like hell" I chuckled darkly.

"Well, too bad" he said, holding me even tighter, I felt my joints popping. If he tightened even more, he would broke some of my bones. He started dragging me towards the water. "I am taking you anyway"

Beforehand, I hid some poison capsules in my sleeve. Shinobu made them, they had no scent, but they were made of wisteria flowers. The small capsules were not enough to kill a demon, but they could be enough to cause injuries. At the same time I heard the flames appearing on Kyojuro's blade, I broke a capsule in my palm with my nails, then dug my nails deeply into his back, leaving a scratch.

"You bitch!" he let go of me immediately, I could sense the disgusting smell of his injured flesh, he grimaced in pain.

He groaned at us, showing his sharp teeth. I took out my sword, taking a fighting stance, waiting for his next move.

"You deceived me, Kagemi-chan" he chuckled darkly. "Good job. I bet your mother didn't teach you that"

"She died when I was eight" I said. I saw a moment of shock appearing in his eyes. "A demon killed her"

He straightened his position, I couldn't read the emotions on his face. "Well, humans are inferior to us after all"

"What did you say?" I narrowed my eyes, anger taking over me.

"If you are not willing to join me, then I will kill you" he stated simply.

"Kyojuro" I called.

"Hm?"

"He is mine. Don't interfere" I stated simply.

"Oh?" the demon raised an eyebrow. "You think you can defeat me?" he shook his head. "No, I mean... are you capable to kill your own father?"

"You were never my father" I spat as I lunged forward.