Akai stood alone with his sword on the ground. Sanemi was lying near him. Akai noticed a flare of rage in the wind pillar's aura. So he grabbed his ugly sword and lept back. He was now around 20 feet from Sanemi. The other pillars had stopped staring and began running forward to back up their comrade.
"Look a what you did. They're gonna kill you now." Akai said internally. He had walked straight into a powerful force's headquarters, started trouble and kicked a dude in the balls.
Akai grabbed his sword with two hands and snapped it in two with his knee. He then ground his fang against both halves, turning them into Nichiren knives. He didn't want to fight. but he'd probably die if he didn't try to escape.
"You can't kill me with your swords. I'll just grow back. Ask Gyoumei." Akai said and got into a defensive pose. The Hashiras all turned to Gyoumei. He nodded and the slayers all froze.
"Grind him into a paste and burn him in a fire!!!" Sanemi shouted and got ready to attack again.
"Fuck!" Akai thought in panic.
"WAIT!!!!!!!!!!" A familiar face ran forward with Kakushi right behind her. They tackled her to the ground right before she could reach Akai.
"DONT KILL HIM!!!! HE SAVED ME! AT THE FINAL SELECTION!!!" The girl screamed.
That girl would be none other than Aoi. The girl from two years ago.
"Wait, If she vouches for me I might survive!" Akai thought of the solution. "Oh wait. If it doesn't work. I die. and she dies for sympathizing with a demon!" Akai suddenly panicked.
"No, please kill me! I didn't help her, I tried to eat her!" Akai lied. "She's obviously lying, if she were to side with me she'd BE EXECUTED after all!" Akai shouted the 'be executed part', directing it to Aoi.
"No, He's lying!. He saved me and three other slayers by guarding us during the night!" Aoi continued to defend Akai. Akai suddenly remembered three other dudes hunkering down with him during the night.
"Stop!" Akai hissed through his teeth.
"He's a good demon! He refuses to eat humans and has conquered the sun!" Aoi yelled. Shinobu lowered her sword slightly, unsure of what to do.
"No no no! Kill me! Just don't do anything to her!" Akai grew desperate, not wanting the idiot that would defend a demon to be executed.
All the pillars were dumbfounded beyond dumbfounded, not knowing whether to attack or withdraw.
"Stop." Ubuyashiki's voice rang out from behind everyone. The pillars whipped around and sheathed their blades. " I will talk to the red comet on my own." Ubuyashiki declared.
"You can't trust him! he can just kill you!" Sanemi yelled in protest.
"You're grounded." Ubuyashiki said. Sanemi lowered his head in shame and walked away to his home.
*later*
Akai sat alone with Ubuyashiki in the main building. They were stuck in that awkward silence again. "Will... Will Aoi be alright?" Akai asked anxiously.
"I can assure you, she'll be fine." Ubuyashiki nodded with a calm smile.
"Good. Good." Akai closed his eyes and sighed. He felt a lot more relieved knowing she'd be alright.
"What is your story?" Ubuyashiki asked.
"I met Muzan when he was injured, he scratched my cheek and infected me. but it was such a small amount of blood he never got control of me. I'm still me. Anyways, I learned he had killed my father earlier in the day. So I mourned for the whole night. but I started to transform over the night. soon, I had become this. I fought my first demon and killed him. I then went straight to Muzan, where he'd murdered an entire large village. I confronted him and he easily defeated me and bound me to the mountain for 1000 years. The people blamed me and built the wisteria forest around me. Then your family built the final selection around the forest holding me. My thousand-year imprisonment ended today. I saved a merchant and got these clothes. I then met upper moon 3. He ran off and I was spotted by Gyoumei. The rest is what happened here." Akai explained his story up until the very end.
"Hmmm..." Ubuyashiki trailed off.
"How do you nourish yourself?" Ubuyashiki asked.
"I drink my own blood." Akai answered. "I don't know how, or why. but it works." Akai said, staring at his arm.
"...You're a good child Akai. You are welcome here. You may begin training wherever you like, as long as it won't affect the hashiras' work." Ubuyashiki decided.
"Thank you Mist... er... Master? Sir?"
"Mr. Ubuyashiki will be alright." Ubuyashiki told Akai.
"Alright, then thank you Mr. Ubuyashiki!"
"Which estate would you like to go to?" Ubuyashiki asked.
"...Where does Aoi go?" Akai asked.
"Butter-"
"The butterfly estate." Akai cut off Ubuyashiki.
*later*
Shinobu sat in her medicinal room. She was mixing different concoctions of poisons and creating antidotes to said poisons. She wondered if one of these could bring down the red comet. She paused when she heard the quick footsteps of the kakushis. They dropped someone off at their doorstep, the person dropped off knocked and Shinobu grumbled. She turned her grouchy face to her cheerful smile.
"Coming!" She said bubbly. Though faking.
Shinobu walked to the door and grabbed the side to slide it open.
"Hello-" Shinobu opened the door and greeted the guest. Only to be met with the Red Comet. Face to face, she realized he was nearly a head or two taller than her, nearly as tall as Giyu.
"Hello!" Akai smiled widely.
"Well hello, Red Comet! What brings you here?"
"Mr. Ubuyashiki said I would be staying here." Akai said with a smile.
"Oh really? I'll be right back" Shinobu said cheerfully and closed the door.
Akai stood in front of the door. He heard loud stomping and angry rambling. She was clearly pissed off.
"Okay! I'll show you around!" Shinobu opened the door again with her signature smile.
Shinobu proceeded to show him around the butterfly estate. Showing him the infirmary, along with where people stayed, the bathhouse, and where they trained.
After which. Shinobi brought him back to her medicine room.
"Please take a seat!" Shinobu gestured towards a small table with chairs.
"Okay." Akai sat down and Shinobu brought over two plates with hot cups of tea on them. She set them on the table and gestured for Akai to drink. Akai picked up the teacup and sipped from it. It tasted fucking horrible, but he decided to bear it so Shinobu wouldn't feel bad.
"Do you have anything to talk about?" Akai said, and then stopped to take a big gulp of his tea.
"Do you smell it?" Shinobu asked.
"Well, I do smell the wisteria you tried to poison me with. But it's alright, I understand." Akai smiled innocently.
"Do you feel it?" Shinobu's gaze darkened.
"...What?" Akai asked before feeling a sudden TWANG in his arms and legs. Something else layed in the poison.
"Wisteria weakens a demon's body enough so that secondary poisons can take effect as well. Your nerves will be destroyed in minutes." Shinobu said with that same smile and tone.
"That's fair. But FUCK THAT HURTS!!!" Akai roared.
"I also introduced a drug that severely damages cognative functions and causes the person under its effect to answer all questions truthfully." Shinobu explained.
"Cool."
"It should take effect right... about... now." Shinobu said.
"Woahhhh..." Akai's pupils dilated and his lip drooped.
"Are you affiliated with Muzan Kibutsuji?" Shinobu asked.
"Nah, that guy can go to hellllll... hehe..." Akai said with a slurred chuckle.
"...How many people have you devoured?" Shinobu asked her second question.
"No one. Nada. No peeps in my tum tum. I'm all natural!" Akai exclaimed with his eyes pointed at the ceiling.
"...what do you think of the slayers?"
"Wellllll... I think Sanemi's kinda a meanie.... and that Rengoku looks like a puppet..... I also think you're quite cute.... like kitten cute." Akai began.
"I uh.... Think Giyuu could use a friend, that poor, quiet, half and half waterboy..." Akai went more and more into his thoughts on the Hashiras.
"I also think..." Akai suddenly sat up straight. "That I deserve your trust." Akai wiggled his fingers. Almost taunting Shinobu. He was now completely sober.
"What? The poison..." Shinobu muttered.
"I got a really strong immune system. It flushes everything out in minutes." Akai smiled. "I had poisons thrown at and injected into me by angry demons and people alike." Akai chuckled.
Shinobu sat, she stared daggers while holding that signature smile.
Akai returned that smile, but he did feel sad. He doubted there was a way to make her trust him.
She was hiding anger behind a smile. Akai hid his sadness behind his.
Shinobu continued glaring, Akai noticed a random piece of debris on the side of her forehead.
"Oh, let me get that for you." Akai reached for her forehead. The second he made contact with it, everything went black.