Lefty awoke once again, in the mirror plane. He groaned, rubbing his wound-less arms. It seemed the damage didn't transfer from the real world. He realized why he was there and sat up, looking around frantically. He saw that Ume was only a few feet away, still trying to process where she was.
"Where the hell are we...?" Ume asked.
"...Where you'll find the truth." Lefty got up and brushed himself off.
"Took you long enough!" She barked. "So how does this work?" She stared at the wall of glass-like shards in front of her.
"You just have to touch it, and you'll experience your entire life story from an outside perspective." Lefty said.
"Oh, well that sounds easy! What were you so afraid of-" Ume went to touch it willy-nilly, but Lefty grabbed her wrist and stopped her in her tracks.
"Wait." Lefty lowered his voice into a fierce growl, and Ume froze. "I'm not gonna lie, what you're gonna see won't be pretty." He said. "Just know that whatever you see in there, she isn't you." Lefty stared her dead in the eye as he said it.
"Well if that isn't fucking ominous..." Ume wiggled her wrist out of Lefty's loosening grasp as they both went to touch the wall.
"Last chance-"
"One, two, three!!!" Lefty was cut off when Ume rushed to touch the wall, leaping to touch it at the same time so as not to lose her.
----------
Lefty woke up in the red-light district. He sighed reluctantly, knowing that whatever happened in here would lead to utter insanity once they woke up.
"I've never known what happens if you get lost in here, so it's best that we stay... close..." Lefty turned around to find no one behind him. He tore his gaze to his sides and saw nothing. "Oh shit..." Lefty whispered. "Ume? Ume!" Lefty called out for her with no answer. He took in a deep breath, and relief washed over him as he picked up on her scent.
That relief was washed away when he smelled ash as well.
"Ume!" Lefty yelled and turned in the direction the scent had come from. He finally noticed a pillar of smoke billowing up from far away. He gritted his teeth and zoomed into the location in an instant, screeching to a halt as he saw the sight in front of him.
A half-dug grave, littered with ash and the smell of burnt meat.
The corpse of a samurai, head split in half by a rusty tool. Judging by the messiness of the cut.
A set of footsteps leading away from the scene, tears and clumps of burnt... pieces among the footsteps.
He took off along the trail, only running for a moment before he caught up to Ume.
And caught up to them.
He slowed down and slowly came up to Ume's side as they stared at the sight in front of them.
A sickly little boy, holding the charred remains of his only reason for living, cried his eyes out as snow began to fall. The doors of the houses surrounding him were shut and locked, and not a light could be seen from inside any of the houses.
He was surrounded by people, but he might as well have been alone.
"That's... me..." Ume whispered.
"Well well well..."
Lefty and Ume whipped around and were met with a blonde man dressed in a luxurious kimono, fanning himself with a metal fan, despite the cold snow falling around them. In his other hand, he clung to the leg of the woman that had partnered with the samurai, casually biting a chunk out of her calf muscle.
"Douma!!!" Lefty jumped in front of Ume and shielded her as he got in a fighting stance. He didn't know how Douma had gotten here, but he was ready to-
"What a pitiable sight we have here!" Douma passed straight through them like they were ghosts, and Lefty finally remembered.
This is when Ume and Gyutaro became demons.
"What... What just happened...?" Ume muttered.
"That guy's part of your memories. In this place we're like ghosts, we can move around and see things, but we're completely invisible and intangible to this inner world." Lefty explained.
"I was just passing by and you showed some potential by splitting a man's skull in half with a dull sickle." Douma began. "So let's strike a deal:"
"Wh-Wha-" The young Gyutaro was cut off.
"I'll feed my blood to you and your dear sister, and if He accepts you, you'll become demons." Douma explained as he carved a cut into his finger with his fan. "So what do ya say? Be quick, however, because your sister only had about a minute left..." Douma chuckled at Gyutaro's desperate face.
"Yes!!! Anything, please!!!" Gyutaro cried out before the cry was cut off as a drop of blood was flicked into his mouth. Gyutaro immediately collapsed, seizing in pain as black veins sprouted across his body. Douma walked over to the two bodies on the ground and held his hand above the desecrated corpse of Ume, letting a drop of his blood fall into her mouth.
"He saved us!" Ume smiled, and Lefty frowned.
"I wouldn't say saved..." Lefty muttered as Gyutartro and the memory Ume began to seize violently, their bodies contorting and their bones snapping as their cells were consumed and replaced. The night was filled with their screams as the transformation was completed.
Douma clapped at their new forms. Gyutaro had become the spitting image of his modern demonic form, and Ume had morphed into the Daki that would become the bane of his nightmares.
"Wow! Now those are results!" Douma clapped and cheered with feigned excitement. "You guys may actually turn out pretty good!" He laughed. "Now..." His face immediately settled into a cold deadpan. "Settle in this area, and await further instructions." Douma ordered in a rough hiss.
"Yes, master." Gyutaro and Daki knelt to Douma, before disappearing into the shadows.
...
...
...
"What the fuck?" Ume muttered. "He turned us into demons?"
"Yes." Lefty was still glaring at Douma.
They both jumped as the space began to change, flashing forward through dozens of memories, following Daki in her century-long rampage in the red-light district. Flashes of fellow prostitutes and male 'clients' having their throats ripped out and their flesh torn by Daki's sashes filled their vision.
"I... I did this...?" Ume's enthusiasm at the transformation died as she saw what Daki had become.
"She wasn't you." Lefty reminded her. "He takes strips away your humanity and leaves only the worst and most useful aspects left." Lefty explained.
"Who the hell is 'He'?" Ume asked, briefly wincing as Daki ripped the head off of another Oiran.
"Muzan Kibutsuji." Lefty said. He decided to omit the fact that Muzan was his uncle. "The first and the progenitor to all demons."
Coincidently, a flash of Muzan showed itself just as Lefty said this. It was of him caressing Daki's cheek, establishing his manipulation.
A few more memories flashed by, this time it showcased her battles with previous generations of demon slayers.
"Ugh..." Lefty closed his eyes as he saw slayers from all ranks torn to pieces by Daki and Gyutaro. Not a single one of them had gotten close to beating them.
"We killed all those people..." Ume whispered. "For what...?"
"..." Lefty didn't have an answer for that question.
The memories finally settled on a scene.
"Here we go..." Lefty sighed as he recognized his room. It was the place where Akai and Daki had officially 'met'. They had settled on the moment when Daki had tried to seduce Akai.
"Is that us!?" Ume shrieked as Lefty chuckled dryly. She quieted as Daki's sashes revealed themselves. Their brief exchange of combat flashed by as it cut to Akai restrained in Daki's hideout. Lefty clenched his fists as he saw the condition of his former self, closing his eyes as Daki had her way with Akai.
"I did that to you?" Ume looked at Akai with remorse on her face.
"Yup." Lefty's face was deadpan, averting his gaze from hers.
*squeak*
"AHHHHHHH!!!!"
"No way! You're a squeaky toy!"
*squeak*
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
"This is hilarious!"
"Ugh..." Lefty closed his eyes and groaned.
"How long did I-"
"Give or take a couple of days." Lefty answered, eyes still closed to his former self's torture.
The memories flashed through Akai's release, regrouping with the other slayers, and battle with Daki and Gyutaro. Ume was having trouble comprehending such a battle while Lefty held a look of indifference. The battle followed its predicted outcome, ending in every slayer dying in a pile of rubble. Ume's face lit up with horror as she saw her brother torture Tanjiro, as Akai rose from the rubble.
Ume was speechless as she saw Akai go from a bleeding corpse to a genuine demon. It was terrifying watching Akai dismantle her and her brother, tearing into them with sheer brutality. The Upper Moons that had been unchallenged in their multiple centuries of life were nothing to Akai's fury. This beatdown only lasted for a minute, ending with the Akai that would become Lefty standing above the dissolving heads of Daki and Gyutaro with a smile plastered on his face.
"I HATE YOU!!!!"
"I NEVER LOVED YOU!!!"
Lefty walked up and stared into the face of his former self. Ume could only see his back he stared unmoving at the sight in front of him.
Akai grabbed their heads and smiled an evil grin.
"Gyutaro, you said you hate her, correct? Let's test that."
Ume began to shake as Akai gripped Daki's head. Ume let out a shocked gasp as she saw the clawed hands of Akai glow orange with heat. She was on the verge of breaking down as she heard Daki's wails of pain. Lefty crumpled to his knees.
"You're... You're killing me... You killed me to torture Gyutaro!!! You bastard!!!" Ume was filled with rage, finally knowing her history with this demon. "All this time, you were getting cozy with your victim, you fucking freak!?!?" She screamed as tears began to pour. Her breathing only grew more erratic as Lefty refused to answer her, his back turned to her as he continued to stare into the face of Akai. "SAY SOMETHING, YOU MONSTER!!!" She stood over Lefty, wailing at his unmoving form.
"You. Fucking. Animal."
Ume stopped as she heard those words come from Lefty. She slowly walked to his side and finally saw his face.
Lefty cried quietly through gritted teeth. His fists were balled so tightly that blood poured from between his fingers, and tears flowed from his eyes unyieldingly. "You damn monster!!!" Lefty punched the ground as Akai laughed in the face of Gyutaro, hand was covered in the ash hat that was once Ume's skull. "Their love for one another was the last bit of humanity they had... and you... and I..." Lefty buried his face in his hands as he let out a rage-filled wail. "WHY DID YOU DO IT!? WHY DID YOU DO IT!?!?!? WHY!? WHY!? WHY DID I DO IT!!!!!!" Lefty roared as he punched the ground repeatedly. "YOU NEVER CHANGED!!! I NEVER-"
Lefty froze as he felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind. His shaking hands came up to his chest and met the soft hands of Ume.
"What-"
"Don't look..." She said from behind him.
"Who..."
"Look away..." Ume whispered.
"U...me...? What are you... Get away!!!" Lefty cried out. "What are you still doing here, I murdered you for god's sake!!!" He choked on his tears and tried to pull her off, but she didn't budge.
"Don't... look at it!!!" Ume pulled him away as Akai's maniacal laughter filled the night. She heaved with all her might and flung him to the side, finally tearing his gaze from that hellish sight. "Get a grip." She said to him as he wiped the tears from his face.
"But I-"
"GET A FUCKING GRIP!!!" Ume screamed into his face, and the memories suddenly disappeared, leaving the two in a black void. "That person wasn't me! And that wasn't you!!!" She poked his chest with her finger.
"You're wrong!!! That was me! I-"
"You gave that bitch what she deserved!!!"
"...Wha-"
"That... thing that got off at the deaths of so many people and tortured you for two straight days!" Ume wasn't sure herself what she was saying now.
"..." Lefty was more confused at this point.
"You've changed! I don't need to know what happened next to know that you were trying to make things right!!!" She reassured Lefty as she clasped his head in her hands.
"A-Alrigh-"
"So get a grip, you fucking wuss!!!" Lefty was caught off guard when Ume slapped him.
"I'm calm! I'm calm!" He shied away from her.
"See? You couldn't hurt me now even if you wanted to!" She used his fear for more reassurance.
"Okay! Okay... I get it..." He settled down, and Ume came to sit next to him. After all of that, they were left in a justifiable silence.
"I thought you wouldn't be able to handle this... But the truth was... It was me that couldn't... I just couldn't handle seeing that side of myself again..." Lefty's voice was a trembling whisper as he said that.
"What happened to Gyutaro after that?" Ume asked.
"He split me in half, creating two people. One of those people were me... Then he died..." Lefty muttered as the memories showcasing the event flashed.
"But then-"
"You were revived by Muzan along with the other Upper Moons around three months ago." He explained. The memories of Lefty's two encounters with Daki flashed as he explained.
"Man, she didn't learn her lesson..." Ume muttered as she saw the two times Daki tried to seduce Lefty.
"Anyways, I made Daki human, she became who you are now, Gyutaro is still a demon and we're gonna have a big war in about two months.
"...Wow..."
"Yea." Lefty chuckled.
"Wait why did Muzan give you guys three months?"
"He's my uncle." Lefty answered nonchalantly.
"HUH!?" Ume shouted.
"Crazy, right?" Lefty chuckled.
"But-But you look nothing like him!" Ume was trying to understand.
"Well, his sister was my mom, and I mostly took after my dad." Lefty explained.
"Oh... Wait, something's changing with the-"
"That's normal. We reached the present, so we're waking up now."
----------
Lefty sighed and rolled off of Ume and onto the floor. Ume was startled awake and sat up on the bed.
"So that's how you got here." Lefty said.
"What a mess..." Ume muttered.
"This is rich considering I had a mental breakdown five minutes ago, but I know it's a lot to take in-"
"Gyutaro..." Ume said quietly. "In two months... You'll have to fight him, won't you...?" She asked.
"..." Lefty went quiet. "If he tries to stop me." Lefty answered with a conflicted look.
"Can't you just... turn him human like you did with me?" She asked.
"...It's possible, but that would mean putting other people at risk trying to subdue him." Lefty explained. Ume looked like she was going to cry. "Ume... Look, when the time comes, I'll try." Lefty at least gave her that. "Now, let's get you your medici-" Lefty looked to where Yushiro was standing five minutes ago.
"Oh no..." Lefty whispered.
"What? What's happening?" Ume asked as she got up from her bed.
"I swear if he-" Lefty opened the door to Ume's room-cell and looked outside to see that the perimeter was surrounded by the pillars, their weapons drawn.
"THAT FUCKING IDIOT!!!" Lefty yelled as he slammed the door.