Chapter Nine
「Solace」
꧁꧂
After waving goodbye to the three Hashira (and convincing them not to walk her all the way), (Y/N) made her way back to her home with a new necklace around her neck and a box of sakura mochi at hand.
The sun was almost set and the girl started to limp, the gashes on her legs beginning to open up again and bleed. She was almost there; she tried to push on as she held on to the pain in her waist. Maybe she shouldn't have wasted her energy and movements on spending the day with Shinobu and Mitsuri, she considered. She controlled her breath, trying to stop the bleeding.
Nevertheless, she was strong, and she pushed herself all the way back home until the sun was fully set and the starry sky took over.
Upon reaching the front screen of her house, (Y/N) sensed the aura of her four familiar demon companions inside. It was a rarity for all four to be in her house—the only other time it happened was during her birthday, she remembered—so the girl was a tad confused at the occasion. She curiously slid open the screen.
"I'm home," she called loudly.
The moment (Y/N)'s figure was visible, she was harshly tackled to the ground by Douma before she could even take a step inside. Her back hit the dirt roughly, but before she could attempt to remove the demon from above her, she heard crying.
"(Y/N)-chan!" Douma wailed from on top of her. "Where have you been?" he sobbed recklessly, tears nonstop spilling down from his cheeks and onto the girl's clothes. "I've been crying since you disappeared and I can't control it—please make it stop!" he begged as his arms wrapped around the girl tighter. His arms dug into the bandages above the opened wound on her waist, and she winced in pain.
"Douma-san, that hurts," she grunted from beneath him.
With a panicked "Wah!" Douma immediately let go of her and sat up.
"I smell blood," came Kokushibou's voice from inside, sounding rushed for the first time.
(Y/N) then heard a gasp from Akaza, who picked her up off the ground—gently but panicky, she noted—and brought her inside. The girl suddenly felt at least some level of surprise emitting from all four demons' auras the moment they all saw her state: bloodied bandages around her waist and legs, as well as several cuts on her arms.
"Akaza," Kokushibou started to command, rising from his seat at the tea table and moving to get bandages. "Bring her to her room and lay her on the futon."
"I can walk just fine," (Y/N) sighed in protest. She looked over to Muzan, who still sat quietly at the tea table with an apathetic look—which she knew was just a ruse by feeling his slightly worried aura.
Despite her declaration, Akaza still carried her to her room (putting the box of sakura mochi down on the tea table before doing so) with Douma trailing them—still in nonstop tears, by the way. He put her down as gently as he could muster on top of her futon and sat beside her as Douma sat at her feet. Kokushibou came in moments later and took a seat behind the girl to examine the gash on her waist.
Trailing behind nonchalantly, Muzan strolled into the room with the same, unemotional look on his features, but he sighed in annoyance when he got a full view of the girl's injuries. He sat next to her, opposite of Akaza.
"You all couldn't sense me coming here?" (Y/N) questioned as the bloodied bandage on her waist was unwrapped.
"I was too worried to!" Douma shakily cried, still furiously wiping at his tears.
"Me too," Akaza agreed, doing his best to sit still. Besides worry and panic, the girl also sensed anger from his aura—though she didn't know who it was directed to, she figured his anger why was he stayed mostly silent.
After not receiving a response from the other two demons, she went to ask another question.
"Why are you all here?"
"We were all waiting for you!" Douma replied instantly again. He seemed to just ignore the trailing tears on his face now.
(Y/N) sighed when she felt Kokushibou's hands pat her newly bandaged waist from behind, signalizing he was done. She had gotten used to the Upper Moon One speaking to her without using much of his words. She looked over at the four all around her, and sighed.
"Alright, come here," she breathed out, spreading her arms wide open as an invitation.
Douma was the first to take it, climbing onto the girl's lap—which she winced at since her wounds on her legs were still open—and throwing his arms around her neck. He dug his face into the crook of her neck, and she felt his warm tears stain her skin.
Akaza was second. He took hold of her hand so gently that she barely even noticed it, and intertwined his fingers with hers. He leaned forward, laying his head on the girl's upper arm and hugging it.
From behind, she felt Kokushibou wrap his arms around her waist and lay his head on her back. His hold felt protective and light, almost as if he was scared to hurt her as he made sure not to put pressure on the gash he just bandaged.
At the lack of touch on her other arm, the (H/C) haired girl turned to Muzan, who sat back and watched the four hugging in front of him as if they were the lowest pieces of garbage. When he met her gaze, his eyes practically declined her offer.
"You, too," (Y/N) called to him, gesturing him to join with her arm.
The demon progenitor let out another sigh of annoyance—which, through his aura, (Y/N) knew was actually a sigh of relief—and moved forward in compliance to join. With a not-so-gentle tug on her wrist, he leaned in and held her arm, resting his chin on top of her head.
They five of them stayed like that in comfort for awhile. That strange flower of warmth blossomed inside the girl once again, and she knew it wasn't just from the body heat from the demons all over her—who barely even had body heat, actually. She embraced the soothing warmth, just like she embraced the friends around her.
A few moments later, the demons felt the girl wince from pain in her legs. She let out a quick apology, before having to push Douma off of the deep cuts on her legs. All four of the demons let her go, except for Akaza, who leaned back, but still held her hand in his.
"May I replace the bandages on your legs?" Kokushibou requested from behind.
"Go ahead," she consented.
The demon moved to the side where Muzan sat, who also shifted to trade places with the Upper Moon. As Kokushibou (who was very hesitant to touch her) began to unwrap the red-stained bandages on her legs, she felt two hands place themselves on her shoulders from behind where Muzan now sat. She doubted it was the demon progenitor's touch, though—it felt like a touch so delicately unlike him that it couldn't possibly be his. But when the hands guided her shoulders to lean back, her head coming to rest on his lap, she saw his plum red eyes looking down at her. The moment they made eye contact, his gaze shifted to stare at her necklace, instead.
"Where did you get this?" he asked in a low almost-whisper, taking ahold of the pendant of the new necklace that hung around the girl's throat.
"A new friend," she mumbled simply.
He hummed and let go of the accessory, his fingers soon threading through her hair, and the girl recalled herself doing something similar to his own raven locks on her birthday. She also recalled the feeling of his hand atop her head during the Lower Moon meeting—he really liked head pats, too, didn't he? Though the demon progenitor didn't say anything, (Y/N) was sure she understood that this was just his small, wordless way of showing her that he cared (at least she'd like to think it was).
Akaza, whose fingers were still interlaced with hers, subconsciously began to lightly trace patterns with his thumb on the back of her hand. This is all comforting, the girl thought to herself. They were all caring for her despite her lack of explanation about what happened to her in the past two days. With the warmth of Akaza's hand on hers, and the soothing feeling of Muzan's fingers combing through her hair, the girl closed her eyes in contentment.
She heard a sigh above her, and Muzan began: "Look at you, so torn and beaten," he taunted and slightly degraded. "Everyone told you to stay indoors after what happened Asakusa, didn't we?"
The girl slightly scoffed at this, noticing his barely visible aura still containing a drop of relief. Still egotistical, she figured. She chose not to reply to his little jeer, instead deciding to deliver a message to him.
"The head Ubuyashiki says hello, by the way."
Every demon in the room suddenly halted what they were doing (even Douma's tears stopped, however that worked). After feeling the tension in the room rise, the girl opened her eyes and lifted her head, finding everyone's gaze on her in slight shock.
"You met with Ubuyashiki?" Kokushibou enunciated, his voice laced with disbelief.
"Yes, and all the Hashira," (Y/N) nonchalantly clarified.
"And you made it out of there alive?" Douma gaped.
"I almost took down two of them before a third one took me down and captured me," she explained. Hearing no replies, she continued. "Some were nice to me."
"They better be," Akaza muttered and grumbled, his anger resurfacing.
"Tell us everything," Muzan demanded.
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"I was offered to become a Demon Slayer," (Y/N) continued on with her story, reaching towards the end of her trial.
"You should take it," Kokushibou, who was now relaxing after finishing wrapping her bandages, advised. "I can tell you're at least somewhat interested in becoming one."
"What?" the girl queried, lifting her head from Muzan's lap to look at the Upper Moon. "Need I remind you that you're all demons?"
"Have you gone soft?" Muzan accusingly taunted, guiding her head back down to his lap so she'd look up at him. "When have we, or anyone at all, ever held you back?" he pushed.
His question made the girl think—when has anyone, besides herself, ever held her back? She's freely made decisions for herself her entire life, so what changed? Nothing ever held her back; no morals, no emotions, no people—nothing. If she was curious about becoming a Demon Slayer, then she knew she surely wouldn't let anyone stop her. So what was stopping her now?
"Wait," Douma began to frantically complain. "If (Y/N)-chan becomes a slayer, I'd see her less since she'd be busy!" he fretted.
Why did that pull at something in her chest?
"I'm also opposed," Akaza added. "She'd be exposed to more danger with demons, and threats from the Corps for being tied to us."
Why did they make her not want to join?
"I'll do it," she decided before they could continue to argue—or more accurately: before her thoughts could sway her any more.
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With one last protective look at the sleeping girl, Kokushibou slid the shoji screen closed, leaving her to rest alone. He joined the others at the main room.
"Muzan-sama," Akaza addressed. "Are we really still doing this just to turn her into a strong demon?" He was frowning with reluctance, and Douma was also pouting. Even Kokushibou, who never really showed his emotions, looked somewhat apprehensive.
"Yes"—No—"It will work," Muzan assured. The demon progenitor heard not only doubt, but also protest coming from the thoughts of the three Upper Moons (was their leader only worried about losing another lackey?), and he clenched his teeth in annoyance. "Are you all going against my word?" he challenged, inclining his head in authority. "Have you all forgotten she's just a mere human? Or have you let human emotions get to your heads?"
The three Upper Moons didn't reply, instead immediately prostrating themselves on the mat.
"Good," Muzan hissed, shoving aside his own doubt into the dark corners of his mind.
꧁꧂
【大正の秘密 | TAISHŌ SECRETS】
► Yes, turning her into a strong demon is the plan, and it was Muzan's plan for (Y/N) since the start (and it was mentioned briefly in Chapter One, too; if you haven't noticed, every little detail, conversation, and thought is important in this story).
► No, (Y/N) doesn't know about the plan.
► The four demons would never admit this aloud (maybe Douma would), but the hug they had with (Y/N) was very comforting.
► Muzan doesn't really know why he suddenly led (Y/N) to lay on his lap and then play with her hair, but he did it instinctively.