Bloody Mary referred to a painting of a beautiful woman that was framed with gold. They say that the painting was made by a famous artist in the Meiji period, but the only known story about the artist was how they were found brutally murdered with several body parts missing not long after the painting was finished.
Thus, the origin of the cursed painting.
All the owners of the painting would be found brutally murdered in a similar state to the original artist. Exorcists and priests have been called to 'cleanse' the painting, but every attempt ended in more bloodshed. Even so, the painting was so beautiful that many wanted it, and thus, the cursed painting became a desired house decoration for the rich.
"Why is it that when I get paired up with you, it's always something related to ghosts and curses?" Despite her words, Inori still smiled as she walked beside him toward the extravagant mansion in front of them. "Hey, Shinazugawa-san? Please don't ignore me."
"Shut up, brat." Shoving her head down, Sanemi ruffled her hair, earning a whine from the younger pillar. "If you have time to talk, then talk about the mission."
"But I was talking about the mission." Swatting Sanemi's hand away from her head, Inori clicked her tongue as she redid her hair. "The painting has only been around for a maximum of five decades, but it's pretty desired in the underground auction, so the current owner of this painting is this guy." She pointed her finger at the golden gates of the very luxurious mansion up ahead. "Should we knock?"
"Nah, we're breaking in."
"I would usually agree with you, but we're supposed to be investigating the painting first."
"We can break in and investigate."
"I really wonder how you'll do that."
Because they had chosen the worst time possible to investigate. The crows did warn that the painting was so infamous that many owners have flaunted their wealth with it, and the same applied to the current owner. Thus, an extremely extravagant party was hosted in the mansion. Forget investigating the main attraction of the party, Inori would be glad if they could even sneak inside.
Crouching behind the stone fence of the mansion, the two pillars looked at each other, then at the bodyguards stationed at every corner, then at the guests in fancy Western clothing, then at the mansion, then at each other again.
"We can still break in."
Humming, Inori peeked above the fence, seeing bodyguards checking the guests for their invitations. No matter how she looked at it, she and Sanemi would obviously stand out, and no, it wasn't entirely because of her weird appearance this time. Their swords weren't at fault either. Rather, they just looked very out of place amidst the sea of lavish Western clothing.
"Okay, let's break in."
Breaking in wasn't a problem—she was a shinobi's begrudgingly-made disciple, and she knew how to sneak around a loud mansion—but investigating the painting was. The two pillars padded through the unnecessarily lavish hallway, hands on their swords as they darted their eyes left and right in case there was a demon lurking in the corner.
The mansion was, after all, reeking of a demon.
According to the gossiping maids, the painting would be taken out and displayed in front of the guests at the climax of the party, which was somewhen around nine, which was just half an hour away. Sharing a look, the two pillars decided it was now or never, so they snuck into the gallery where the painting was kept.
"Do rich people like to boobytrap their house?"
"Who knows? I've never been rich."
That was such an ironic thing to say considering the pillars were, in fact, quite rich. They did, after all, get paid as much as they wanted, or as much as the master deemed was worth all their efforts in eradicating demons. And the Ubuyahiki family itself was rich enough to own many 'dead' villages and empty estates.
"Either way, these are mostly installed to alert, not hurt." Inori observed the many bells and alarms connected to the rather invisible strings all over the room. "If we carelessly cut it, we might end up caught. How should we do this, Shinazugawa-san?"
Sanemi looked at her as if she was an idiot, which made Inori look at him as if he was weird for assuming she could do telepathy or whatever it was called. They simply stared at each other, neither moving nor blinking, until Sanemi eventually clicked his tongue. The Wind Pillar took a deep breath, looked at her clueless face, then took another deep breath.
"Who the fuck created a technique specialized in weaving through small gaps?"
"Oh."
The strings were thin and transparent, becoming even more invisible with the lack of light, but Inori was a demon slayer. Her eyes had been trained to function normally in the dark. So, she took off her haori, bunched it into a ball, and handed it over to Sanemi who clicked his tongue and began folding it. Then, she took off her outer uniform and also bunched it into a ball before handing it over to a very irritated Sanemi, who still begrudgingly snatched it and began folding.
Her hakama pants would flare, but it should be fine since they wouldn't flare as much as her haori and outer uniform would. Lightly kicking the floor, Inori weaved through the strings. While the arrangement wasn't particularly intricate or anything, whoever had placed them really didn't want a single bird going through because that was just how small the gaps were. They could've always cut them, but they needed to be discreet. She was somewhat glad it was Sanemi who she got paired with for this mission.
Landing into a silent crouch in front of the covered painting, Inori stood up and shot Sanemi a thumbs up. The Wind Pillar simply grunted, waving at her to hurry up. So, Inori grabbed the silk covering the painting, yanking it to the side.
Sanemi knew something was wrong the second Inori tore the stupid cover away. Her shoulders rose, and the cloth covering the painting slipped from her fingers. Then, she slapped her hands over her mouth and doubled over, muffled screams escaping through her covered mouth.
"Hoshizora? Hoshizora!" Sanemi clicked his tongue, not giving a fuck about the stupid alarms as he sliced the stupid strings off, rushing towards Inori. "Oi, brat! The fuck's wrong with you?" He shook her shoulders while alarms blared all around him. But Inori was still heaving, doubled over on the floor, and clawing her hair out. "Hoshizora! Oi! The fuck happened?!"
It wasn't a blood demon art. If it was, Sanemi would've known. Whatever made Inori like this was herself and that stupid painting. But Sanemi didn't know why that painting of a black-haired woman with red eyes would make her react like this. Was it the spider lilies painted all over the woman's kimono? Or was it the blood moon behind the woman? Or maybe it wasn't the painting and something just happened to her out of nowhere.
"Kill..." Inori's eyes were empty—they looked dead—and Sanemi felt himself getting more confused. As if not realizing he was there, Inori stood to her feet, swaying slightly as she glared at the painting with clenched teeth. "I'll kill you, I...I'll kill you...you, you...I'll fucking kill you!"
Her hands were already on her swords, unsheathing them, and Sanemi didn't need confirmation to know that she was trying to destroy the painting. Gripping her wrists, Sanemi gritted his teeth when she—this fucking brat—grunted and tried to shove him away.
"Oi! The fuck's wrong with you?!"
"Don't stop me, Shinazugawa-san." Well, at least she wasn't so out of it that she didn't recognize him. "I'll kill him. Him, I...I'll kill him!"
"Who the fuck are you talking about?!"
"Kibutsuji Muzan! Who else?!" Inori shouted, wrenching her hands free. Her breathing was loud as she panted, pointing one of her swords at the painting. "Why the fuck is he there?! Why kind...what kind of stupid fucking blood demon art is—"
"The fuck do you mean that's Kibutsuji?!" Sanemi yelled back, looking between the now bewildered pillar and the painting. "Oi, explain it to me with words! You're a good talker, so don't go around spewing weird shit!"
"I...I..."
The door to the gallery slammed open, revealing two dozen or so bodyguards and the owner of the mansion. Sanemi supposed rich people could easily supply their bodyguards with Western guns because there were two dozen or so aimed at them. He clicked his tongue at the situation. He could tell at first glance that while the painting did emit a demonic aura, it wasn't a demon or even a blood demon art. But the awful presence of a demon in the mansion meant there was a demon inside, and they still haven't found it.
"Who are you?!" The owner of the mansion demanded. "No! Who sent you?!"
But the pillars were looking at each other because the demonic presence just got thinner, which meant the demon had either run away, or it was an exceptionally strong demon that could hide its presence from the pillars. Sanemi clicked his tongue, glaring at his fellow pillar while he jabbed his thumb at the painting.
"You sure this is Kibutsuji?"
Inori nodded, much calmer now. "He can change his face, but I won't forget those eyes." She glanced at the guns aimed at them, realizing none of them were shooting because they didn't want the painting to get damaged. But since the owner cared so much for the painting, then the bodyguards should be skilled in using their guns.
"Shinazugawa-san, the painting doesn't matter right now. The demon's presence is getting thinner, but I know it's in this house." Even if the painting was that of Muzan as a woman, as long as it was merely a painting and not the demon himself, then it didn't matter. "I'll bait it out, so can you—Shinazugawa-san!"
"Shut up, brat." Sanemi ignored her shout, letting the blood from his self-inflicted injury trickle to the floor. "A demon who can hide like this is obviously a demon a moon. I knew it would be one when you, of all people, got sent to do the job."
"But Shinazu—" Inori stepped back on instinct, looking at the sizzling black spot on the floor, then at the man who had just pulled the trigger. She clicked her tongue. Not only did they decide to attack them now, but the demon was starting to make itself known. Obviously, Sanemi's rare blood had garnered its attention.
The floor began to shake, rumbling and causing many vases and paintings to fall onto the floor. Sanemi continued to let his blood form a puddle on the floor as the demonic presence grew stronger and stronger.
"Agh! Stop whatever you're doing!"
Gunshots rang in the air, but Inori easily deflected all the bullets, not even stumbling despite how rocky the floor was. Sanemi didn't even bother with the bullets, keeping one hand on the handle of his sword and the other still offering blood to the floor. The floor began to crack, breaking the tiles and swallowing a few artworks, including the prized painting of Muzan.
Sanemi suddenly widened his eyes. He kicked the floor, grabbing Inori by her waist and hopping onto a pedestal just as the entire floor turned into something very black and very gooey. Inori let out a squeak when a demon with droopy antennas emerged from the gooey floor, its head hanging low.
"Oi, brat! Protect those guys!" Then, Sanemi proceeded to throw Inori at the owner of the mansion, causing her to collide with him and crash out of the room. He remained crouched on the pedestal, grinning at the floor. "No wonder this house reeks. You've been staining it with your blood, haven't you?"
"A marechi, a very rare one." The demon's left eye, which has the kanji 'Lower Moon Two' carved into it, glanced at the door. "Silver-rainbow hair and mismatched eyes...the girl my lord wants."
Wind Breathing: Second Form: Claws-Purifying Wind
"Tch." Clicking his tongue when the demon dodged, Sanemi glared at it, relishing in its blood that was flowing down the cut on his neck. "Should've just stayed still, you piece of shit. Would've been less painful that way."
Blood Demon Art: Blood Manipulation, Iron Strings
Wind Breathing: Fourth Form: Rising Dust Storm
The webs of blood got easily snapped off by his blades, and Sanemi kicked the floor. He swung his sword towards the demon's neck, easily decapitating it. But the body refused to crumble, and Sanemi could hear the demon click its tongue as both its body and severed head turned into blood, sinking into the floor.
"Tsk. What an annoying food."
Meanwhile, Inori did not appreciate being thrown out of the room so violently. But with the guns pointed at her head and the hallway that was slowly turning into a literal pool of blood, she didn't have time to care about her rough and unwanted exit. She hastily scrambled to her feet, dodging the bullets shot at her to cut the blood that had solidified into a spear.
Star Breathing: Thirteenth Constellation: Coils of the Serpent Bearer, Four Heads
Just as she sliced off every piece of solidified blood swarming towards her, the door to the gallery was broken down, revealing a very angry Sanemi who screamed, "Search for the fucking main body! Piece of shit demon used its stupid blood to make a fake body!"
"Hah?" Whipping her head towards the men caught up in their crossfire, Inori clicked her tongue. "Shinazugawa-san! I'll evacuate everyone first, so search for the painting! Take care of the demon!"
That painting, whether or not it was Muzan, contained some part of the demon's power or maybe even the demon itself. The painting wasn't a blood demon art since it had survived through sunlight, or so the claims said, but that didn't change the fact that the demon had probably hidden itself in the painting, nor could they dismiss the possibility that the demon was in the painting.
Sanemi was a pillar, and Inori had sparred against him enough times to know that he was one of the strongest in the corps. If this was Sanemi, then she could leave the demon to him and evacuate the civilians. If the demon was smart, which she needed to think it was, then it could crush the house in any second now, or at the very least, it could attack people with its blood, and demon blood was poisonous at best, infectious at worst.
"You!" She sliced yet another piece of solidified blood, not sparing the men a glance. "Follow me if you don't want to die!"
Sanemi's blood was making the demon disoriented, so it was easier to cut through the solidified blood, but just as she skidded around the corner and saw the grand living room where all the guests were, Inori clicked her tongue at all the swinging whips of blood chasing after the screaming guests. Hopping onto the railing of the stairs, she leaped downwards.
Star Breathing: Seventh Constellation, Modified: Celestial Judgement of the Divine Scales
The solidified blood got so mutilated that it resembled rain staining the entire living room a disgusting maroon. Inori landed in the middle of the blobby floor with an echoing thud, digging her nichirin soles to burn through the bloodied floor. But just as quickly, the blood-whips began to regenerate, already back on attacking the guests.
Clicking her tongue, she pulled out a vial of poison and drenched one of her swords with it. She shifted into a stance and kicked the floor until the tiles underneath the blood cracked, slamming the sword into the wall of blood.
Star Breathing: Eighth Constellation: Sting of the Scorpion
The wall of blood exploded, and the blood melted the wall behind it, forming a big enough hole for evacuation. "Get out of here! All of you!"
Seeing as the guests were already rushing towards the makeshift exit and she didn't have time to personally evacuate every one of the people in the mansion, Inori rushed upstairs. It feels the most disgusting upstairs. Taking three steps at a time, Inori scaled the spiraling staircases. Sanemi was already making his way to the top, most likely already feeling where the demon's main body was. Putting more strength into her legs, she kicked the floor, chasing after him.
Wind Breathing: Sixth Form: Black Mountain Mist
As he sliced the ceiling, blood poured like a waterfall, melting through the tiles and creating a hole. Sanemi clicked his tongue. "The demon's not there. Its blood is too fucking annoying."
"Shinazugawa-san, let me."
Then, she proceeded to splash vials and vials of poison all over the place. Sanemi could only watch, absolutely baffled, as the blood around her began to explode and further destroy the house. But Inori seemed to have an infinite supply of poison because she merely dug into her bag, pulled out another vial, popped it open, and emptied its content however far she could splash them to.
"Hoshizora, are those bombs?"
"Something like that." Well, that certainly wasn't the answer he was expecting, and Inori emptied another vial. "This poison makes demon blood explode, though it doesn't really have much lethality. That's why Shinobu-san said she didn't need it and gave it to me, someone who can use this to weaken demons and decapitate them later."
She would've used wisteria bombs if she was confident she could throw them in the right direction, but she wasn't confident, so the poison would do.
"Gah! Stop doing that, you stupid girl!"
Sanemi could only deadpan because, for someone causing so much trouble, it was comical how the demon was literally the painting. And Sanemi didn't think seeing the painting of a woman hopping and talking around was the slightest bit intimidating.
"I am someone who has been granted permission from the—"
Inori splashed a vial of poison onto the painting, causing it to explode.
"Gah! Stupid tramp!" The now smeared and hideous painting sprung into the air. The woman in the painting twisted her face into a snarl. "How dare you destroy my painting!?"
Blood Demon Art—
The blood on the floor suddenly turned into a weird pattern, and they spun in circles under their feet like a rotating carpet. But as Inori tried to dodge, ropes made of blood stabbed into her legs, and the one second it took for her to swing her sword allowed the demon to finish its technique.
Body Manipulation, Paralysis
A zap of electricity rushed from their feet all the way to their heads, and Sanemi felt his knees hitting the floor. Past the ringing in his ears, he could hear Inori screaming at the obvious pain of having electricity in her veins. Biting his tongue until blood was drawn, he gripped his sword and let out a roar, lunging forward toward that stupid painting.
Wind Breathing: First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter
The painting floated higher, and his blade only managed to slice half of it. The woman inside the painting screeched as her lower body got cut off, blood spilling from the sliced canvas onto the floor. Tingles rushed through his veins as he landed, and he needed to clench his sword unless he wanted to drop it.
Hissing, Inori pushed herself to her feet, feeling tingles rushing under her skin with every move she made. Her hands were trembling even though she had clenched her fists, and she realized even Sanemi's body was trembling, though the Wind Pillar managed to stab his sword onto the floor and use it to hold himself up.
"It's this way, officer!"
The two pillars tensed at the thundering footsteps signaling an approaching group. A group of police officers skidded into the area, something the demon immediately took notice of. Sanemi cursed as the blood on the floor turned into whips. His legs were still tingling, and so were his hands. Gritting his teeth, he let out a roar as he forced his legs to move.
Wind Breathing: Fourth Form: Rising Dust Storm
"Shit!" He missed one whip, and it was lunging straight at the group of officers. An array of blood whips slammed at him, forcing him back. Sanemi gritted his teeth because he wouldn't make it. With the electricity in his veins and the stupid whips in his way, he wouldn't make it in time to save all of them.
Pain exploded in her abdomen as she got between the blood whip and the officer. Blood surged up her throat, filling her mouth to the point she had to hack it out. A scream got ripped out of her bloodstained throat as another surge of electricity coursed through her body, this time coming from her abdomen.
"Hoshizora!"
As Sanemi cut the whip electrocuting her, Inori crumpled onto the floor in a convulsing and gasping mess. Despite that, her hand still twitched toward her bag. With practiced movements, she grabbed a vial, gasping as she struggled to lift her head.
"Shi...Shinazu...Shinazugawa-san..."
"Shut the fuck up, brat!" The tingles had lessened, so he didn't need a goddamn antidote. Since the painting liked to dodge so much, then it must be the weak point. No matter how high that stupid painting went, Sanemi could still reach it. Kicking the floor with all his strength, he cut through all the whips. When he was finally underneath that stupid painting, he kicked the floor again.
Wind Breathing: Ninth Form: Idaten Typhoon
Backflipping as high as his tingling body allowed him to, Sanemi swung his sword, successfully decapitating that damned woman in that stupid painting. Even though it was simply a painting of a woman who looked like Muzan, Sanemi couldn't stop himself from grinning at the thought of decapitating something obviously referenced from that bastard.
"Aaah! My painting!"
Clicking his tongue, Sanemi snarled at the stupid man who was crying over a demonic painting that would've killed him had they arrived even a day later. But he didn't have time to care about the idiocy of others because there was currently an even bigger idiot bleeding out on the floor.
"Oi." He glared at the owner of the mansion and the police officers, pointing his sword at them. "Leave before I murder your asses, and don't fucking try me."
Inori, still lying on her stomach because moving hurt, deadpanned at the poor threat. Unnecessarily hurting civilians was against the code of conduct, but making verbal threats or knocking them out for self-defense was pardoned. However, she wondered if the usual threats would work on police officers.
It didn't, and Sanemi had to knock everyone out with the handle of his sword.
"Oi, dumb brat." Sanemi whacked the wheezing girl's head, forcibly rolling her onto her back gently. "The fuck are you doing? Control your goddamn breathing." He clicked his tongue at the sight of the wound. The little whip had pierced into her abdomen, but not out. A wound of this size was still fixable for someone who had mastered Total Concentration Constant.
"It doesn't look like anything vital got pierced." Sanemi had to hand it out to Inori though. Because despite not being able to move freely due to the electrocution, she managed to squeeze her muscles to make sure the whip didn't damage anything important. "Use your breaths to close your broken blood vessels, you stupid girl. Can't you even do that?"
"Shut up." Gritting her teeth, Inori knitted her eyebrows together. Gasps and coughs left her mouth, still feeling remnants of electricity in her body. This would've been easier if she had access to something that could at least help her temporarily heal her wound, but that was what it meant to be a human. "Antidote, I...electricity is..."
"Which one is your antidote and where's the bandages?"
"Bag."
"Yeah, which part of your magical bag, you dumb brat?"
Inori snorted at Sanemi's words. Just because her bag could fit a lot of stuff didn't mean it was magical. She just always refilled it to the brim whenever she got the chance, thus the reason why it was never empty. Besides, Aoi had done a good job in making lots of compartments to make sure none of the vials would break because she moved around a lot.
But Sanemi had already taken her bag off and found the bandages, though she needed to tell him that antidotes were always in red vials while poisons were in the clear ones. The burning tingles in her lungs decreased as soon as the antidote was in her system, allowing her to control her breathing a bit easier.
Sanemi felt his eye twitching at the blood that continued to drip out of her wound. He could tell that Inori was already controlling her breathing, but it wasn't doing its job. "Focus on fixing your insides." He rummaged through her bag again, not even questioning why she had a box of matches and a few vials of oil. "I'm cauterizing your wound."
"Oh, stars."
"Don't complain, you stupid girl." He softly whacked her forehead, collecting some broken furniture parts to start a fire. "That blood whip probably has a poison that's stopping you from using your breaths to stop the bleeding. If you die from something as stupid as blood loss at the hands of a mere Lower Moon Two, you won't be able to go to the stars, don't you know that?"
"Stars, I hate that you're right." The antidote was doing its job, but by the time she regained full control over her breathing, she would've already lost too much blood. As much as she didn't want to admit it, her wound needed to be cauterized and bandaged.
Sanemi unbuttoned the lower buttons of her white blouse, just enough for him to fix the wound on her stomach. "Don't bite your tongue," he warned as he lifted his heated sword—she didn't even realize he had heated it up—and placed it over her stab wound. A rather pitiful whine immediately escaped her throat as she gritted her teeth to stop herself from biting her tongue or screaming.
When both her vision and her mind cleared—she didn't even realize she had blacked out—she was being carried on Sanemi's back. The Wind Pillar stepped down the broken stairs and demolished floors slowly to not jostle her.
"That was the twentieth lower moon I've encountered."
"Demon moon magnet," retorted the Wind Pillar, using the stupid nickname Tengen had teased her with. "And the Lower Moon Six you encountered after escaping Kibutsuji doesn't count. That was my kill, and you weren't even a member back then."
"No, no, I totally hit that demon."
"You got hit by that demon and nearly got kidnapped again."
Snorting because yes, Sanemi was absolutely right. If he hadn't come when he did, she would've most likely been taken back to Muzan's feet, and she would've most likely killed herself a long time ago. Inori really didn't think she was strong enough to survive another night in that horrible castle where the only thing that awaited her was a restless death.
"Thank you, Shinazugawa-san." She let her head fall on his shoulder, and she smiled. "For always taking care of me and helping me, thank you."
"Did you hit your head or something?" Sanemi scoffed. "I've always only been doing my job."
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