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Chapter Text

'This isn't good,' was the understatement of the century. Standing before Muichirou was a strange blond demon. What was most concerning was the lack of a number in either eye, and yet he managed to overpower a Hashira. He waved a fan in front of his face, almost as if cooling down from the fruitless battle. Muichirou found he was impaled from the stomach and neck by freezing ice, and missing his right leg and left arm, and the sheer cold from the ice was beginning to freeze the blood in his body. He coughed blood and struggled like a fish on land trying to break free from the ice. It would surely freeze him completely if he didn't escape soon. What even was this demon? Didn't he say he was... what? A cult leader? Could he have obtained such strong powers from a cult?

"My, my. It really would be a shame if you were to die, y'know? What was your name again, child?" The demon drawled. It was pure evil. Coughing up blood was the only thing he could respond with, so he spit it on the demons face. The demon merely wiped it off with his hands, that annoying smile never leaving his face. His strange multi-coloured eyes glowed in excitement. "How intriguing! Mere moments from death itself, and yet you refuse to give up! Mortals such as you really are special, and you should be proud!" The demon claimed excitedly. "Oh, I can only imagine what you would be like as a demon..." he murmured, his bright eyes darkening menacingly. Muichirou felt his own eyes widening. Him? A demon? No, he'd much rather this demon kill and devour him than turn him into a monster... The colourful eyes flashed before him, revealing crucial information:

'UPPER TWO'.

Upper Rank Two? This must be wrong... How could this demon be Upper Rank Two? The numbers weren't there when he first attacked the demon, nor when the demon completely overpowered and obliterated him. Breathing was becoming a struggle. Was the ice freezing his lungs? Did it travel through the blood in his neck already? This was bad... worse than bad. Ginko was nowhere to be found, how would anyone know what had happened to him?! Struggling more to free himself, he came up with a plan. By now, he realised fighting was futile; this demon was an Upper Rank, and had already weakened Muichirou significantly. There was no hope for him to live if he fought the demon. He could barely get a scratch on it as well, so what more could he do...? He couldn't be blamed!

Using his remaining arm, he grabbed hold of the ice in his neck and painfully started lifting his head away from the ice. By now, the blood loss would kill him in a matter of hours, even with recovery breathing, but he could at least leave his body. This demon would devour his body and he'd needlessly worry the Hashira over his whereabouts. While after a while, they would come to the correct conclusion that he had died, it would still waste their time while they tried to look for him. Removing the ice from his neck hurt. It was so incredibly painful he thought that the pain would kill him instantly. Blood from the hole in his neck poured like a waterfall. So the ice must not have frozen his blood yet... He couldn't stop the bleeding.

There was too much blood. His ears were starting to ring. No... he was just killing himself quicker. It was hopeless, all of it. He was going to die here, in front of this demon and be devoured no matter what. His ears began to ring and his eyes became wet. Was he crying? What would crying do, it wasn't going to save him.

No one was coming to save him. He was doomed from the start.

Every time he closed his eyes, a face identical to his appeared. It seemed to scream at him while crying. He couldn't hear anything it seemed to say to him, all he could hear was ringing and the muffled laughing of the demon. This was how he was going to die. He didn't even do anything useful with himself, and he was already dying. '...chi..ou...' the face screamed at him. What was that going to do? 'Mui...ch...' It wasn't going to save him, it wasn't going to help him. 'Mu...' He was already dead.

'MUICHIROU!'

Huh? The hospital was dark. Was it night? How did he...? Did someone save him? Even though it was dark, Muichirou found he could still see incredibly well. Something in his mouth brought his attention to himself. It seemed to be a piece of bamboo tied around his mouth. It felt familiar somehow, but why did he have it? A door opened but he couldn't find it in him to care. Why did he have this in his mouth? "Muichirou-kun...?" Turning his attention to the voice, he saw Shinobu at the door, looking... timid? How strange. At the sight of her however, he felt something in him stir. A hunger... for blood. A need for violence. Before, he didn't even realise he was hungry. But now, he could hardly focus on anything else. He was going to...

He wanted to...

He needed to...

Eat Shinobu...

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11 people in the room. 8 Hashira. The Master. Him and Nezuko. It was tense, and the air in the room was suffocating. Everyone had a sour scent, and Lady Shinobu had a deep wound on her face. Even the Master, who was usually so calm, seemed tense and on edge. Something like this... had they met Muzan? Or... 8... wasn't there 9 Hashira? Had one... oh god... He felt sick.

"It is with a heavy heart that I inform you all of this..."

Did it really happen?... "It truly is unfortunate, and absolutely nothing could have prevented this..."

Don't say it...

"And I'm sure you've heard a faint rumour amongst yourselves, and I regret to inform you..."

No... no!

"Tokitou Muichirou, the Mist Hashira, has unfortunately been turned into a demon." The room was silent, everyone was tense. A demon? He was turned? Well, that was... was it really a relief? A Hashira was now a demon. There was no doubt he could easily make it into the Twelve Kizuki. This was bad. Almost worse than if he had died. "So what do we do? Kill him? Leave him in the sun?" The angry Hashira, Shinazuawa Sanemi, asked. The Master was quiet before answering. "We must keep him. Even as a demon, it is vital he lives. It may be near impossible, but if he turns out similar to Nezuko-" "Well he won't!" Sanemi blurted out. "Clearly, he won't! He already tried to kill Kochou, there's no hope! He's as good as dead!" The Master was silent at this. Tanjiro looked at the Insect Hashira. She looked regretful and sad, and the wound on her cheek... Did the Mist Hashira really do that?

"Regardless, Tokitou is the last living descendant of Sun Breathing. He may be able to conquer the sun..."

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The circumstances were bad. Lethal, even. Losing a Hashira, let alone such a talented one... maybe he would be better off dead. Subconsciously, he probably wishes he was. All Tomioka could do was watch the boy. His skin was pale, he looked dead. He already was, to an extent. His mouth held a muzzle, courtesy of him, that was now cracked. It was the only thing that prevented him from killing Shinobu. What if he had killed her? Would the Master have let him live then? All he could do was wonder. How will this war play out now?...

Chapter Text

A lot of things passed by, but like a frozen mist rather than a breeze. In the time of Muichirou's prolonged sleep, barely anything had changed in Shinobu's life. From next week, the trio of boys would embark on a mission alongside Rengoku. They had almost fully completed their training, which was the second most interesting thing that had happened. The most interesting thing that happened was her introduction to two demons: Tamayo and Yushiro. According to the Master, they were two demons who worked to take down Muzan. Initially, Shinobu distrusted them, especially once Tamayo met the sleeping Muichirou and requested to help him.

As it turns out, his blood was beginning to mutate a different way to normal demons, similar to Nezuko's - albeit much quicker. Apparently, this meant that it was possible to release him from Kibutsuji's control. 

Another thing was that Tomioka had called the previous Water Hashira to perform some sort of ritual on Muichirou, and said it was a contributing factor to Nezuko's lack of hostility to humans. This, however, couldn't be confirmed until Muichirou himself woke up.

Which he hasn't.

He was most certainly 'alive' because he tended to violently thrash around in his sleep, but he wouldn't open his eyes, nor respond to any disturbances. Tanjiro had mentioned that after his sister turned into a demon, she slept for two years. However, they couldn't afford to let Muichirou sleep for two years, not when there was answers they needed.

Tamayo was once again extracting Muichirou's blood, pouring it into a thin vial and screwing the cork on it. Yushiro silently made faces at the sleeping demon, clearly jealous that he was receiving attention from Tamayo. Shinobu watched soberly. It was unfortunate, she told herself. The boy lost his life, and now he was going to lose himself in this curse. Tamayo thanked Shinobu for her hospitality and left with Yushiro only a few hours before the sun rose. She found herself staring at Muichirou.

With his transformation, not much had changed. Shinobu noted that when he woke up, his eyes appeared to have changed to be much sharper and darker. He also had claw-like nails and sharp teeth, which were put to demonstration on his bamboo muzzle. Other than that, he looked like he always had. Of course, the muzzle was changed to a wooden one, so it wouldn't break as easy as the bamboo muzzle had.

Seeing him in such a state made her queasy. Of course, he had been to the Butterfly Mansion before to receive treatment, and of course he had sustained greater injuries than this. But this... this was different. Now he had become what he hated - what he loathed. Would he succumb to the instincts? What would they do if he did? The Master had previously said they couldn't afford to lose Muichirou - albeit for a reason no-one was pleased with - but... even the thought that this boy who she looked after so often would lose himself and become a monster put an ache in her heart that she couldn't get rid of.

When she left the hospital ward, she missed the way the sleeping demon's lashes fluttered so gently.

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'So lonely... where does it end!?'

He could hear himself cry, listened to it echo around him. It was cold, too cold. He felt like he was going to freeze to death. He was shrouded in mist, thick and threatening to choke him. He ran, as far as he could but nothing changed. There was so much mist, he was convinced he was going in circles.

How long had he been here?

'How much longer?...'

A figure moved behind the mist, catching his attention. He had been here so long, they must be here to help him out!

'Please, help me!'

He felt like a small child, literally and figuratively. He definitely seemed shorter, and lost his muscles. He was weak, that much was obvious with how he cried.

He ran after the figure, chasing them. It burned his lungs, he had run so much, but surely his efforts would pay off? Surely they knew the way out? 

'P-please!' He gasped, falling on his knees. They had been running for an eternity.

The figure stopped, looking back at him. Their eyes were a cold red, staring down at him in disappointment. In an instant, the mist shrouded them and they vanished over again. 'No, please! Stay!' He gasped out, heaving from all the running. He became aware of just how cold it was again, and felt a strange sense of déjà vu. He dropped to his knees and shivered as his tears rolled down his face, becoming more and more aware of how the mist seemed to encase him now, too.

'So lonely...' he cried, 'where does it end!?'

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'He looks despairing,' Tanjiro thought. He stood next to the Mist Hashira's hospital bed, Nezuko next to him. A single tear fell down the sleeping demons face, but it remained as unchanging as ever. Nezuko seemed to agree with his train of thought. She looked down on the other demon with pity, shifting from foot to foot. She huffed and let out a sad whine. Tanjirou held her hand and squeezed it. "It'll be okay, Nezuko," he assured her. His other hand wanderered to the other demon's, holding it too and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Tanjiro!" Zenitsu called, stopping in front of the hospital ward doors. "Hey Nezuko-chan!" Zenitsu chirped. "Tanjiro, come on, we've got training. I think Inosuke might just kill me if I train with him..." Zenitsu said worriedly. Tanjiro smiled at him, nodding. "Okay, I'm coming," he let go of Nezuko's hand. "We're going back to training, you can stay here if you want, Nezuko." Tanjiro said, patting Nezuko's head. She nodded her head and squeezed her eyes shut. Tanjiro smiled before chasing after Zenistu, leaving Nezuko and the other demon alone.

She pulled out a chair and sat next to his bed. Another tear strayed from his eyes, slowly edging down his face. Nezuko sighed. She gently laid her clawed hand on his in a comforting manner, to maybe soothe him in his sleep. Maybe she could try...

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'So lonely... where does it end!?'

He could hear himself cry, listened to it echo around him. It was cold, too cold. He felt like he was going to freeze to death. He was shrouded in mist, thick and threatening to choke him. He ran, as far as he could but nothing changed. There was so much mist, he was convinced he was going in circles.

How long had he been here?

'How much longer?...'

A figure moved behind the mist, catching his attention. He had been here so long, they must be here to help him out!

'Please, help me!'

He felt like a small child, literally and figuratively. He definitely seemed shorter, and lost his muscles. He was weak, that much was obvious with how he cried.

He ran after the figure, chasing them. It burned his lungs, he had run so much, but surely his efforts would pay off? Surely they knew the way out? 

'P-please!' He gasped, falling on his knees. They had been running for an eternity.

The figure stopped, looking back at him. Their eyes were a cold red, staring down at him in disappointment. In an instant, the mist shrouded them and they vanished over again. 'No, please! Stay!' He gasped out, heaving from all the running. He became aware of just how cold it was again, and felt a strange sense of déjà vu. He dropped to his knees and shivered as his tears rolled down his face, becoming more and more aware of how the mist seemed to encase him now, too.

'So lonely...' he cried, 'where does it end!?'

He could hear himself cry, listened to it echo around him. It was cold, too cold. He felt like he was going to freeze to death. A sudden warmth broke his train of thoughts. Maybe this would help him get out...

He appreciated the warmth for a whole of 4 seconds, before it started becoming too warm. Very soon, he found himself wishing for the cold again. It was so warm... Sweat was dripping down his face as the heat further increased. A spark caught his attention. Small and pink, and only there for a split second. Then another, and another. What were these pink sparks? They were becoming frequent, and he found that if he touched them, they burned.

He groaned in pain, feeling overwhelmed. He felt like he was about to burst into flames. As if hearing his thoughts, that is exactly what happened.

The pink sparks collided and burst into flames, swallowing him whole. It hurt, oh fuck it hurt! He could barely hear himself scream in pain. He looked at his arms and watched the flames eat them, burning holes through his skin and bones. The fire burned every inch of him, agonisingly slowly, but so impossibly painful.

"Wake up!" He was trying, he really was! "Wake up!"

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A bright pink light burned his eyes, burning him more. He could hear the faint yells of people in the background, along with his own pained screams. It took only a few more seconds before the burning stopped, but the pain was still unbearable. He felt like he was going to die from the pain. Everything around him was white noise and a blur. He couldn't focus on anything, barely getting basic shapes and colours out of the fleeting figures dancing across his vision.

It took a while for the pain to eventually ebb away, leaving a numb feeling in place. Immediately his first thought was to succumb to sleep, but the mist lurking at the edges of his vision kept him awake, although very reluctantly. It took a while to register that people were still around him, and that his head held someone elses in a vice grip. Easing his grip on their hand was easy, but as soon as he did, a familiar pain shocked his body.

God, he was starving.

"Muichirou-kun..."

Muichirou directed his eyes towards the sound, struggling to keep his composure. Shinobu held his hand, ignoring the way he was bruising it. His claws dug into her skin, drawing blood, and yet she made no move to pull away. She was the only one by him now, all alone, all by herself. He could see in her eyes she was slightly fearful, but a determined glare in her eyes outshined it. Was she... afraid of him?

"Muichirou-kun, please!"

That pained plea rang in his ears, and he found himself staring at the healing scar on her face. He did that...

"Are you okay?" She asked, her thumb stroking his tense hand soothingly. He nodded weakly, but slowly he felt his strength return to him. Shinobu smiled softly at him. He knew someone who smiled at him like that before.

"It's okay now, I'll explain everything soon. Rest up, now..." She assured, gently placing her other hand on top of his. He ignored the faint instinct - the faint desire - to tear her arm off and devour it, letting his head fall to the side and onto the pillow he was resting on. For now, the mist had dissipated. It was safe. He was safe.

For now, at least.

Chapter Text

Shinobu was beginning to think that it was just going to repeat.

It had been 3 days since the incident in which Nezuko used some sort of Blood Demon Art to burn Muichirou awake. Since he fell asleep, he hadn't woken up. Shinobu was about to accept that he was going to stay asleep. But then, he did wake up.

Aoi had run to her, sweating profusely. "Shinobu! He's awake!" She gasped. That was all it took for Shinobu to leave Aoi in the dust, running towards the hospital. She gathered her composure outside, before pushing the door open, revealing the newly-turned demon pacing back and forth robotically. His eyes had a hazy gaze to them, like he was awake but not there mentally. Shinobu noticed him twitching slightly. She breathed a sigh of relief regardless; he could still be asleep, sleeping for months on end again. 

Communicating with him was futile, he was completely unresponsive aside from his twitching. Shinobu decided to leave him be and return with Tamayo and Yushiro that night, and see if she could get any information from that. She relayed her message to En, her kasugai crow, and sent her to Tamayo's location. Now, to play the waiting game.

Shinobu felt herself aging every hour leading up until sundown. Hearing En call out into the deep night relieved her, and a knock sounded on her door. She opened it and graciously welcomed her two guests. Tamayo bowed graciously, Yushiro following suit. Tamayo was dressed in her usual flowery kimono, and Yushiro was dressed in his usual shirt and hakama pants, but he was carrying a black leather bag that Shinobu learned held all of Tamayo's equipment. 

She lead them back to the hospital ward, knocking gently as a warning before pushing the doors open. Muichirou was still awake, and still pacing as he was mere hours ago. He seemed to twitch with more people around, and momentarily seemed hostile for a brief second before stumbling back into his mind and thoughts. 

Tamayo started by taking a syringe from her bag and drawing blood from Muichirou, which she always did first. It was more difficult this time however, as Muichirou seemed intent on continuing his pacing. This bothered Yushiro, as he saw it as disrespectful to Tamayo. However, the second he laid his hands on Muichirou, a small, invisible thread snapped in him.

Muichirou, who had previously been peaceful, had regained his previous hostility. He pounced on Yushiro without a second thought, digging his claws into the demons flesh. Drool dripped onto Yushiro from behind the wooden muzzle, as the other demon started tearing chunks out of his flesh, even ripping off Yushiro's entire hand and dislocating his shoulder. Tamayo pulled Muichirou off of her assistant, urging Shinobu to stand back.

Shinobu felt her heart tear and fall apart at the sight. To see him so... demon-like was a sore sight. She had seen many horrible things in her years as a demon slayer but this? She couldn't look. She turned her head away, ignoring the tears welling up in her eyes and wiping them instantly.

It took a few more minutes for Tamayo to neutralise Muichirou, and eventually he went back to pacing and acting like nothing happened, although he subconsciously kept away from the trio.

Shinobu watched as Tamayo regrew her arm and heal the wounds on her face, ignoring Yushiro who was all over her, mumbling angrily to himself about 'that feral monster'. Hearing him refer to Muichirou that way broke Shinobu. She knew he was more than just a 'monster ', he was a sweet but quiet boy who constantly felt the feeling of inadequacy; that he wasn't good enough, strong enough, fast enough, smart enough, that he wasn't enough . She spent weeks watching him train until he had to be physically restrained to avoid hurting himself more. Calling him a 'feral monster ' made her feel anger.

She threw a nasty glare at Yushiro before redirecting her attention to her medical partner. "So? What do you think?" She asked, praying Tamayo didn't hear the shake in her voice. Tamayo looked back at the pacing boy who kept tripping up on the same bed leg. She turned back to the worried Insect Hashira, running her hypothesis through her head. "I think he's hungry, and in order to ignore it to not hurt anybody, he's ignoring everything." She concluded. Shinobu nodded. This wasn't going to be good.

After more wrestling and having to restrain Muichirou to a bed, Tamayo managed to get enough tests done and get her blood samples. Before leaving, they made sure Muichirou was back to his passive self and thanked Shinobu for her hospitality before leaving, promising to come back the next night. 

As she went to bed, Shinobu kept a straight face, but she felt her heart break apart slowly and agonisingly regardless.

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"What did I do? Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked.

Red eyes stared back at him, emotionlessly.

"It's not what you did..."

"Then WHAT?" He emphasised.

"..."

The silence was ringing in his ears, blurring his senses. The red eyes stared back at him in disappointment. At him, or themselves?

They turned away, sighing inaudibly before leaving. He only watched this time, he made no effort to follow them. It would lead to nowhere, he convinced himself, because he knew no better.

He pretended not to notice the many eyes staring at him out of the corner of his eye.

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The hospital was dark, he noted. Yes, the curtains were pulled. This time the hospital was empty, apart from him. Behind the curtains there was only the faint light of the moon. His feet felt numb, but he couldn't remember why.

His ears picked up faint movement from a source that was further away. It gave him a slight throb in his head but it only pulsed gently, fading in and out of existence. The door to the hospital opened and he focused his attention on the new individuals.

He first saw Shinobu, dressed as usual in her uniform and haori. Next to her was another, taller woman in a flowery kimono with similar purple eyes to Shinobu and dark black hair tied in a neat bun. Next to her was a short (and short tempered) man with white and black hair and lilac eyes who was holding a bag, glaring at him. He had a feeling he knew them, but didn't bother asking about it. 

He felt a strange sense of anger rising in him, and tensed his body subconsciously. He glared back at the group, moving away as they moved closer. It was easy to deduce that the new people were demons, based on his basic instincts. 

"Hello, Tokitou-kun. I'm Tamayo, and this is my assistant, Yushiro." The woman, Tamayo, introduced herself. Her assistant 'Yushiro' just kept glaring at him, and Muichirou glared back, gritting his teeth and ignoring the further cracking in his wooden muzzle. 

"It's okay, Muichirou. They're only here to help." Shinobu assured. If Shinobu was sure... but what if they were deceiving her? And what was with that short demon man glaring at him? He let out a huff and stopped clenching his jaws together, but he didn't let up on his tense posture. 

'Tamayo' made her way closer, careful to make no sudden moves. She stopped just short of him and bowed out of respect before straightening her posture again. "I'm sure you're aware that I am a demon, but I promise I will not hurt you or your friends. While you were in a coma, I was taking blood samples from you and running tests, and I have a few results that I'm sure you would like to know of." She explained. Muichirou huffed again. He did not care for this demon or these tests in any way. Tamayo turned back and nodded at Shinobu, who nodded back and left the room.

"You should sit, Tokitou-kun." She advised, gesturing to a bed. Muichirou made no move to sit down, so Tamayo sighed and motioned her assistant over, opening the bag from his arms and taking out some paper. "If you're sure, Tokitou-kun..."

"You're blood appears to be changing, meaning that at some point in the near future, I theorise that you will be the first demon to walk in the sun..." She started, hesitating slightly. Muichirou stared at her, with a look that appeared to tell her to continue. "However, with such drastic changes that no demon has ever experienced, I am worried that you will be unable to satiate your hunger as your body will need to sustain itself to walk in the sun," she said, looking away. 

'So what? I either eat my friends or not walk in the sun?'  He growled a little, startling himself though he hid it well. Tamayo cleared her throat, a little nervous. "Of course, I am coming up with some solutions which involve the same method Yushiro and I use to stay fed," she said. "Lady Tamayo and I pay poor people large sums of money to extract their blood as 'blood donors', but we use some of it to feed ourselves," the male demon, Yushiro, said rudely, speaking up for the first time. Muichirou just glared at him, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth again.

"However, there is a flaw with this. With such a big change to you, and because you are not yet cured from Kibutsuji's curse, you would require more blood than us, which is hard to supply. Another issue that your friends have brought up is that they're worried that if you do start taking blood, you will eventually give into your demon instincts and you will eventually end up eating a human..."

Muichirou felt himself deflate at that. Did they really think he'd kill someone? Didn't he try to already? He turned away from Tamayo and Yushiro, quietly sulking to himself. Tamayo cleared her throat quietly. "We'll leave you alone for a little bit while we get Shinobu," she said softly, turning and walking out quietly with the ruder demon in tow. 

Another presence had been hovering outside the door, but had no intention of coming in. It was a familiar person, Muichirou noticed, but before he could see them, they disappeared.

He felt his eyes begin to grow heavy, and crawled over to the bed with messy covers and covered himself with them, nestling in to the warmth while waiting for Shinobu to return. Strangely enough, it wasn't Shinobu who entered, it was the person from previously. While he was busy warming himself up, a sweet aroma filled his nostrils, although it was incredibly strong. Blood. It was blood. And something told him it wasn't just normal blood, no. It was Marechi blood. At the quick realisation, Muichirou felt his senses begin to fuzz out, his hearing was distorted, his sight was blurry and his eyes were moving rapidly. His nose blocked out every other scent aside from the sweet fragrance of the blood, and the fabric of the bed covers scratched his skin unpleasantly.

"... your friends have brought up is that they're worried... you will eventually give into your demon instincts... end up eating a human..."  Tamayo's words rang in his ears, gradually growing more and more distorted as the effects of the blood took over his instincts.

Did they... really... think of him like that?

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Loud commotion quickly captured Shinobu, Tamayo and Yushiro's attention. After realising it was coming from the hospital, they all quickly rushed over, ushering the butterfly girls and the kamaboko squad away from the area. 'This isn't good,' Shinobu thought. 'If he's hurt someone... what will they do?'  However, as they arrived in the hospital, they were met with an unexpected yet gory sight.

Sanemi stood frozen, a large and new cut opened on his arm. He obviously meant to test Muichirou with his blood. However, Muichirou...

He was devouring himself. He had torn his arm clean off and was holding it captive in a vice grip between his jaws, chunks bitten off it with his teeth. His other arm was preoccupied with tearing his face off. His claws were dug deep into his skin, one completely stuck in his left eye and the others ripping gashes into his flesh that cascaded blood like a waterfall. From what they could see of with what was left of Muichirou's face, he had a manic yet terrified look in his eyes.

He was destroying himself to refrain from eating Sanemi. He was afraid of eating Sanemi.

"O-oh my..." Tamayo stuttered. In the few months that Shinobu had known her, not once had she ever stuttered. Shinobu felt vomit gushing up her throat and come out before she could stop it. She turned around and spilt the rest of her dinner on the floor, vomiting profusely until nothing came out. Yushiro had the decency to rub her back and hold back the loose strands of hair from her hair while she puked, although he himself did look a bit disgruntled at the sight.

Tamayo had ushered Sanemi out of the Butterfly Estate immediately, getting him out of the vicinity to release the intense stress on Muichirou. She had to admit, even she found it difficult to control herself around the blood, but she had a job to do.

In all the commotion, Muichirou had begun to cry, eyes fixated on Shinobu's back as she vomited. He refused to let go of the arm in his mouth, or move until eventually he fell over from exhaustion and went to sleep. Tears poured from his face, mixing with the blood and dripped onto the clean wooden floors, staining it. Tamayo forced the arm from his mouth, pushing his mouth open to retrieve the remains of it and pressed it to the torn shoulder that he ripped it from, watching as it ever so slowly began to reattach itself. When the arm had fully stuck back onto him, she moved him to the bed and removed his other arm from his face.

She turned back to Shinobu who had managed to stop heaving and was focusing on calming herself. "I-I'm so sorry I didn't help you..." She mumbled, the back of her hand covering her mouth to stop anything else coming out it. She was pale and looked sickly, clearly shocked from the scene. "It's okay," Tamayo swallowed the lump in her throat. "You should go to bed, we'll clean this up and leave." Shinobu had none of her usual strength to argue, pulling herself to one of the hospital beds before promptly passing out on it.

Tamayo and Yushiro shared a glance. This, certainly, was something that had never happened before.

Chapter Text

"What in gods name were you thinking, Shinazugawa!?" She yelled. She had promptly stormed off to his estate the next morning after waking up and she was sure he wasn't pleased with the fact he was getting yelled at so early on, but he brought this upon himself. He huffed angrily, avoiding eye contact. She paced in front of him muttering angrily.

The aftermath of last night's events left everyone exhausted. Even now, a few hours later, Muichirou had barely regenerated half of his face. Shinobu breathed deeply, trying to calm herself in vain. It didn't work.

Sanemi stared at her before avoiding eye contact once again, staying silent. Shinobu felt pure anger rising through her. "What the FUCK do you have to say for yourself!? Do you have ANY idea how fucking dangerous that was!?" Sanemi shrank in on himself, trying to escape the Insect Hashiras wrath. "Look, I had my reasons so you should just mind your business," he mumbled. "Mind my- mind my business? Sanemi you intentionally provoked him! He could have killed you! How fucking stupid are you? Not only did you provoke my patient, he started eating himself. Whatever you were thinking better have been so fucking smart if you think I'm gonna let you get away without one more scar, DO YOU HEAR ME!?"

Shinobu swore to herself that this was all the cursing she would do for the rest of the year. Sanemi stayed quiet. Suddenly, Sorai, Sanemi's crow, came hurdling towards them, landing as gracefully as a baby giraffe taking its first steps. It gasped for air before squawking out, "The Master wishes to see you ASAP! I repeat, The Master wishes to see you ASAP!" Shinobu's eye twitched, oh how she wished to give Sanemi a piece of her mind which involved her shoes, belt and her katana, but she knew the Master would get the answers out of him, and turned on her heels and left abruptly, back to the Butterfly Estate.

When she got back, Tanjro, Zenistu and Inosuke were training.

"Hello, Lady Koucho!" Tanjiro greeted, swinging his sword for training. They had stopped training with the bokken after Haganezuka had given Tanjiro a new sword. "Good morning, everyone!" She greeted, feigning cheerfulness. She made her way back to the hospital to greet Muichirou.

Muichirou was huddled under the blankets, however she did not know if he was awake or not. The mound of blankets was still, except for when it moved up and down to signify that Muichirou was breathing underneath. "Muichirou... It's me, Shinbou.." she said, sitting on the edge of his bed. There was a slight rustle from underneath the blankets but it was difficult to say if Muichirou was actually listening or moving in his sleep. She moved her hand on to the blankets and shook them gently, and the faint movement of a hand pushed hers away. She smiled. "Can you come out?" The blankets rustled some more, and some of Muichirou's hair spilled out from underneath. He, however, stayed snugly underneath. "Come on..." she playfully teased, poking what was probably his side underneath the blankets. Two clawed hands emerged as well, lifting the blanket up to show his face.

It was still healing, at a much slower rate than the Kamado girl's but then again, he had been asleep for... a while, at least. However, it was more healed than this morning. "How do you feel?" She asked. Muichirou mumbled something, pulling the blankets to rest comfortably on top of his head. After realising Shinobu didn't understand his incoherent mumbles, he grumbled but spoke more clearly, although hoarse. "..'m okay..." Shinbou nodded. "You won't be happy to hear this, but we still need to get you a new muzzle, just to be on the safe side." Muichirou let out something like a growl and shuffled back under the blankets, adjusting himself and probably turning his back to her. 

"I know the situation isn't... ideal but if you ever just want to talk, I'm here, okay?" She rested her hand on his side again. "You're not alone, Muichirou..." Muichirou stayed quiet, but shuffled a bit to change his position. One hand appeared from under the blankets, with his hand in a fist except for the little finger. Shinobu linked them, a silent promise. Muichirou poked his head out again, this time fully and stared at Shinobu almost blankly.

Almost.

A knock on the hospital doors alerted Shinobu of the people outside. "Lady Koucho! Would you mind if we ate in here? We'd like to hang out with Tokitou-kun-"

"That's Tokitou-dono to you, young man!"

Muichirou's attention immediately got drawn to the familiar shrill voice of his crow. The hospital doors opened and the trio of boys piled in, Ginko reluctantly perched on Tanjiro's shoulder. 

"Ginko!" Muichirou exclaimed, coughing at the slight strain in his voice. Ginko squealed in excitement. "Muichirou-kun! How I've missed you! Would you hurry up and take me to him?!" Tanjiro apologised to Ginko, scuttling over to Muichirou's bed. Ginko ordered a few more requests from him before comfortably landing on Muichirou's bed. She immediately hopped over and cuddled into her master, making noises of content to be back with him. "Ginko... what happened to- you?" 

Ginko stopped her noises, making another noise similar to a small cry. "I went to go get help for you after you encountered the demon, but suddenly another one came out of nowhere and crushed one of my wings..." She ruffled her injured wing gently, not stirring the bandages. "And as for the other wing..." Ginko sighed sadly, and some feathers ruffled but nothing else. Muichirou looked closer and then he noticed it. There was no other wing. "The stupid bastard cut it clean off and left me to die... He was so quick I didn't even see his face. I honestly wouldn't have believed it was a demon because it used a katana but..." Ginko went quiet. Muichirou had long since begun to stroke her feathers gently to soothe her. Tanjiro looked remorseful next to her but didn't interrupt her reunion with Muichirou.

"Don't worry..." Muichirou mumbled, yawning. "I'll kill th-that.. mm.. stupid bastard..." Muichirou slurred his words before yawning, pulling Ginko closer to himself and promptly going to sleep. Ginko stomped her feet a little to get more comfortable before snuggling up to Muichirou's warmth. Shinobu pet Ginko's head in sympathy.

"I'm sure you can eat lunch in here. I'll tell Aoi to bring it here," Shinobu whispered, before standing gently and leaving quickly and quietly. Zenitsu, Inosuke and Tanjiro stood next to Muichirou's bed, ignoring Ginko's dirty looks. Inosuke, for once, lacked his boarhead, Zenistu was finally quiet and Tanjiro was without Nezuko. They were entirely silent. "So... this is a bashira?" Inosuke muttered gruffly. "It's a Hashira, Inosuke," Tanjiro corrected.

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Shinobu was finishing her own lunch when the butterfly sisters appeared next to her. They weren't smiling, for once, but looked rather nervous. Sumi took the initiative, speaking up in a quiet voice. "There's a guest here to see you, Shinobu-san..." she mumbled, feet shuffling on the floor. Shinobu smiled at them, only for comfort though, because she knew that her vow of 'no more swearing' was going to have to be extended to starting tomorrow.

She marched to her office, stopping outside it briefly to fix herself up. She'll at least hear him out, she told herself. What harm could it do?

...

"If this is not an apology, I will beat your ass so hard you'll wish Muichirou did eat you, you son of a bitch." Well, there goes hearing him out. Sanemi hung his head, sighing and mentally preparing himself for this conversation. "We need to talk, Shinobu..."

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Tanjiro and his friends all sat around Muichirou's hospital bed, slowly chewing on their food and quietly mumbling to each other. Muichirou shuffled under his sheets, laying quietly. He didn't know why they were all crowded around him, or what they wanted. He decided to simply wait it out, and listen in on their conversation. However, before he could put his eavesdropping-hat on(?), he heard the rushed patter of footsteps heading towards the hospital. He sensed the urgency of them, and quickly sat up, throwing the blankets on to the others in front of them.

Ignoring their cries of shock, and Ginko's questions, he fixated his eyes on the door. Shinobu burst through into the hospital, panting lightly from her excessive speed-walking to the hospital. She seemed a little startled that Muichirou was waiting already, but she remembered that this was natural for him now - however awful that may be for him.

"Muichirou, come with me," she said. She turned immediately on her heels and speed-walked away, taking note that before she even stepped back into the hallway, Muichirou was already by her side and walking with a sense of urgency - one that he was likely copying off of her.

She led him away from the hospital, back to the main building of the Butterfly Mansion and into a somewhat large room that had been neatly decorated with lamps, potted plants and tatami mats. There was a small array of food, meaning a guest was likely going to be occupying here. Shinobu quickly neatened up the room before taking her place on a mat, tapping the one next to her urgently for Muichirou to sit on. Before she could remove her hand from it, he was already sat, brushing through his hair with his fingers quickly to appear more presentable, though Shinobu didn't know how well one could present dressed in hospital garments.

The shoji opened, revealing two young children dressed in purple kimonos, with shoulder length hair - one black, one white. Their large, empty eyes stared with nothing behind them, pushing the shoji open more. As the shoji opened more, it revealed the presence of a well dressed, esteemed yet sickly young man, being led in by two more young children, both with white hair and the same purple kimono and large empty eyes. They led the man in, and one more child appeared behind him, shuffling on her knees. She looked much like the other children. The first two children spoke.

"The Master has arrived."

Shinobu and Muichirou instantly kowtowed before their master, not rising until he had found his place on his own tatami mat. The children sat with him, the two who helped him walk sat either side and the rest behind him. The shoji opened once more and in came Shinobus previous guest, Shinazugawa Sanemi. He took his place on a tatami mat on Shinobus other side, separated from Muichirou, and kowtowed before the master.

Kagaya had a warm, reassuring sort-of smile on his face. "It is wonderful to see you here, my children. I regret that it can't be under different circumstances, however there is nothing we can do now..." he sighed. "What I'm about to say is shocking, and I'll bring it up in a Hashira meeting soon, but for now it's important I tell you all this,"

"The demons that attacked and turned Muichirou into a demon...

...were two uppermoons."

Chapter Text

Tanjiro and Aoi worked on cleaning up all the spilled food, and removing it as much as they could from the bed sheets while Inosuke and Zenitsu cleaned themselves up. The food had been spilled all over them when Muichirou had flung his bedsheets onto them just before Shinobu had arrived. Tanjiro had smelt that Shinobu was panicked, or in a hurry. It seemed that Muichirou had noticed her before him though. As Aoi mumbled about how she had just washed the sheets, Tanjiro noticed that her tone lacked no bite, which was unusual for her. Had he, or Zenitsu or even Inosuke spilled the food on the blanket, she'd have them cleaning it instead, but instead she seemed to not mind so much.

"Eh.. Aoi-san? Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Tanjiro asked, scraping some rice off the sheets. "Hm? Oh, sure, go ahead Tanjiro," she responded, turning her head in his direction to acknowledge him. "Well... you don't seem as bothered by the sheets as you'd normally be- I DON'T MEAN THAT IN A BAD WAY-" Tanjiro stuttered at the mean glare Aoi sent his way, easing up when she sighed and finished folding the blanket. "I respect Muichirou-kun a lot... We went through Final Selection together, and if it weren't for him..." Aoi trailed off, a complicated expression on her face. "I would definitely be dead... Maybe he doesn't remember it, but I do. And I have no right to get mad at anyone who's saved me, whether it be him, Shinobu-san or anyone else," Aoi sighed, and Tanjiro got the hint that she didn't want to talk about it. He placed his hand on her shoulder and sent her a comforting smile, which made her cheer up a bit, before she immediately barked at the other two for not helping and 'being polite like Tanjiro-kun!'

After helping Inosuke clean the rest of his food off him, Aoi left the hospital with the sheets tucked under her arm, promising to make extra dinner for them. Tanjiro and Zenitsu worked on finding a spare sheet for the bed, while Inosuke did typical Inosuke things - running up and down the hospital beds, jumping up and down on the hospital beds, throw pillows at Tanjiro and Zenitsu and demand they fight him, attempt to eat a kasugai crow that had flown in, sulk when it didn't work and- wait, a kasugai crow? Tanjiro immediately dropped the bedsheets he was carrying with Zenitsu and immediately ran over and attempted to retrieve the bird from Inosukes grasp, successfully. 

The bird panted and heaved from its struggle against Inosuke, perching on the floor, while Tanjiro apologised. "I'm so sorry! We've been trying to get him to stop eating the kasugai crows but it's not working! I'm so sorryyyy!!!" Tanjiro wailed while bowing profusely to the bird - what a strange sight they made indeed...

"Cut your yelling, please!" The crow barked. Tanjiro whispered another sorry before covering his hands with his mouth and whispering another sorry. The crow sighed and shook its head before speaking. "I am Yuan, kasugai crow of the Serpent Hashira, Iguro Obanai. I was the one who managed to report Tokito-dono's and Ginko's conditions and retrieve help for them. The Master has asked for me to come here and make my statement on the events that happened, and to invite you and your friends to another Hashira meeting," Yuan reported. The bird spoke with a sense of authority, but managed to be collected and calm and not a total asswipe unlike some crows.

Inosuke kept trying to reach out for the bird, but Tanjiro pushed his hands away and watched the crow hop away from him slowly. "You found Muichirou-kun and Ginko?" Yuan nodded in confirmation, ruffling his feathers to fix them from Inosukes abuse. "I was returning a message to my lord and and spied on the commotion. I managed to get them help by reporting the situation to the closest Hashira, which happened to be Lord Uzui and Lord Gyomei. I have no doubt that Tokito-dono and Ginko surely would have died if they hadn't gotten there. I'm lucky I spotted them," Yuan explained, gently scratching one of his claws on the floor, as if deep in thought. Zenitsu had finished making up the bed again (by himself) and had sat down on the floor and joined Tanjiro and Inosuke. They were silent for a bit.

"What... what did it look like..?" Zenitsu asked, seeming relatively normal for once. The bird turned his head, and his feathers ruffled involuntarily. "Gorey... to put it simply," Yuan muttered. He seemed incredibly uncomfortable rethinking it. "Did you see the demons?" Inosuke asked, jumping forward towards the bird and scaring him again. Tanjiro pulled Inosuke back. "You are not privy to that information young man!.. And also, my lord will be hearing of you! What's this young mans name?! You will not get off easy for my attempted murder!"

━━━━ ◦: ✧✲✧ :◦━━━━

It took a couple more minutes (or maybe even hours) after Yuan had disappeared off to a random room in the Butterfly Mansion for Shinobu and Muichirou to re-appear. They entered the empty hospital and Muichirou got back into his bed. Ginko appeared to have gone off with the Kamaboko squad while they trained (most likely to bully them into improving). Shinobu just sat on the edge of his bed, silent. Muichirou could feel the tension rolling off her body, fidgeting with the sleeves of his clothes. Her usual smile wasn't plastered on her face like usual, instead she wore a complicated expression, one that looked pained and sad. Before Muichirou could say anything, she raised her hand and rested it on his head for a second before briskly walking off. Muichirou just watched her walk off, chewing on the inside of his lip.

He stared for a few more minutes at the door, before Tanjiro and his friends walked in. They flinched a little bit, worrying Muichirou was anticipating them, but he hardly acknowledged them, turning his head away and looking down at his lap. Before they could ask any questions, he got out of his bed and left the hospital, leaving nothing but a small breeze in their hair.

Muichirou didn't know where he was going, but he just needed to think. Uppermoons? Was the bird sure? He had a vague memory... a very vague memory of dread - fear wracking his body in a way he had never felt before. The sun had thankfully set by now, and Muichirou found himself wandering outside, the cold air comforting him. While it was a possibility he'd be able to walk in the sun, he didn't exactly want to test that theory this early on, so it was safer to be out at night. He paced about, not knowing where he was going or if he was even on the Butterfly Mansion grounds anymore, but he'd find his way back if he wasn't. 

His head was swimming. He was turned by an Uppermoon. One of them was told to be Uppermoon 2, according to the crow that found him. An Uppermoon that strong? Why did they not kill him? Surely Muzan would have killed the Uppermoons for letting a Hashira live? Unless this was some sort of plan of theirs? Was turning him into a demon meant to create a rift in the Corps? Weaken them so the demons could attack with an advantage? He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice the downpour of rain assaulting him until it had stopped.

He halted his pacing and looked at the figure he hadn't noticed previously, who was standing next to him now. A man his size, with a striped haori, shoulder length black hair and bandages. The Serpent Hashira, Iguro Obanai. He held out a wagasa that covered them both, not saying anything. He looked back at Muichirou, not saying anything, just gently turning Muichirou around and walking back. Muichirou followed him, mostly so he wouldn't get wet again, but also because he was curious. Why was the Serpent Hashira around here? Did the Master want him? Because he had likely left the Butterfly Mansion by now...

Guessing by how Obanai was letting Muichirou follow him, he had wandered a bit away from the Butterfly Mansion. He noticed how the snake curled around Obanai's neck seemed a little tense, coiling and uncoiling itself as though it was fretting about something. Muichirou held out a finger towards, trying to comfort it, but he noticed his unusually sharp fignernails- no, claws - and retracted his finger quickly in a little shame. His companion looked at him but said nothing. Did he just not want to talk? He was aware that Obanai was known for being 'shy', rarely talking with anyone besides Sanemi, Rengoku and Mitsuri, but when he had been left in the company of Muichirou he struck up a small conversation normally. Ah, oh yeah... he was friends with Shinazugawa, wasn't he? He probably wouldn't be as fond of being around him anymore... now that he was a demon and everything... 

Muichirou shuffled a little bit away, disheartened. He hated this. No-one would look at him the same anymore. Shinobu looked at him like he was about to have a psychotic break at any moment, Tanjiro and his friends looked at him with pity, Shinazugawa looked at him like he was a monster, because he was, the Masters children looked at him like he had cut his hair and dyed it 6 different colours and- that last person... a face he couldn't remember...

Before he knew it, they were at the entrance of the Butterfly Mansion. The rain was really coming down, and a storm was likely approaching. Muichirou turned his head towards the other Hashira, who returned his gaze. His eyes, Muichirou thought absentmindedly, were quite nice to look at. They stared at each other like that for a while, and Muichirou remembered they were standing outside the Butterfly Mansion. Why weren't they going in? The Serpent Hashira made no move of going in, looking ready to stand there all night. Muichirou shifted on his (bare, he now realised) feet, feeling odd about just standing there. Why weren't they going in?

"Oh thank goodness! What are you doing just standing in the rain, come in, come in!" It was Aoi, and she seemed relieved they were there. She ushered the two in to the Butterfly Mansion, not caring for the rain that soaked her too now. They walked in, wetting the floors as they went (well, Muichirou and Aoi were, Obanai was relatively dry). "Kanao! Kanao! Come here, he's back!" There was a quiet patter of footsteps and Kanao showed up. "Get Isuzu to find Shinobu and tell her Muichirou's back," Aoi ordered, wringing her hair out. Kanao nodded, running off to find her crow, Isuzu. "Muichirou-kun, I'll fix a bath for you, don't run off again, okay?" Aoi sighed, patting his shoulder before running off to... do whatever she did to 'fix a bath'.

Muichirou faintly realised Obanai was still there and turned to look at him. The Serpent Hashira was already looking back at him. He tilted his head, just slightly, before bowing and walking off, offering a small wave as he went. 

━━━━ ◦: ✧✲✧ :◦━━━━

Muichirou had long since finished with his bath, and had been given new, dry clothes. Shinobu had returned and was apologising to him. It turns out, after he had disappeared, he had walked for a lot longer than he thought, and scared everyone. Shinobu was blaming herself, thinking it was her fault for being shaken up about the news. Muichirou was trying his best to calm her down, but his speech was still pretty ass with his new teeth-fang-whatever-you-call-ems. All Shinobu could do was reassure him that 'nothing was his fault' and 'she didn't mean to be so distant', and he couldn't quite convince her that it wasn't her fault and he just needed to think. After her whole paragraph he tuned out after he couldn't stop her from talking, she gave him a hug and walked him back to the hospital where they were greeted with quite an interesting sight.

The tough, strong, loud-mouthed Inosuke was being dragged around by none other than Iguro Obanai, while Tanjiro followed them screaming apologies for Inosuke while Zenitsu was hiding under a bed, hoping he wasn't next. Muichirou just watched, because it was quite an amusing sight in his opinion. Shinobu just sighed and pinched her brow.

"Alright, what's going on?" She asked sweetly, a gentle and kind smile on her face that would deceive almost anyone if it weren't for the veins popping on her forehead. "Inosuke tried to eat Mr. Iguro's crow earlier and now he's- well, doing this!" Tanjiro gestured to Obanai who currently had Inosuke in a headlock. Shinobu let out a fond sigh, shaking her head and laughing to herself. "Ah, come now Iguro-san, they have a mission soon, don't be so harsh, hm?" She waved gently in their direction, and he eased up faintly, but Inosuke was still quite trapped in a headlock.

Footsteps dragged Muichirou's attention away from the entertainment, and towards the hallway. He moved back into the hall, staring in the direction of the footsteps. He knew who this was, but not what they wanted. A well-built, scarred young man emerged from the shadows of the hallway, revealing none other than the Wind Hashira, yet again. Shinobu also turned towards him, her expression steeling as she stepped in front of Muichirou. "I'm here to apologise, Koucho..." he explained, a hesitant expression on his face. Shinobu leaned over, closing the doors to the hospital, leaving the boys in the room to go back to their scrap.

Sanemi let out a breath, diverting his eyes. "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry, Tokitou-kun," he started. "I understand that what I did caused you a lot of stress, and even when I think about it now, it really wasn't the best course of action. It's just..." he lowered his head, looking down at his feet and then towards Muichirou, "I really wanted to believe you were different, like that Kamado girl. I really, more than anything, wanted you to turn your head away like she did. Not even for my sake, but for everyone elses. For Shinobu, and the other Hashira, and the Master... I wanted them to have peace of mind knowing you would be okay as you are. I just... I didn't expect that to happen, and I'm sorry for making you hurt yourself like that," he finished. 

Muichirou blinked, mouth slightly open. He really didn't expect a half-decent apology like that, and actually, he really didn't expect the Wind Hashira to apologise at all (or at least, on his own will and not Shinobu's). Shinobu only looked half impressed. Muichirou took his time mulling over the apology, until he started forgetting some of the words and figuring his own out. "It's... okay. I... I'm not s-sure if I f-forgiv-ve you but..." he paused, finding the words.

"Thank you for believing in me..."

Chapter Text

The Butterfly Mansion had quietened down a lot. As the storm picked up outside the visitors were forced to stay overnight, because Shinobu 'didn't want to deal with them coming in sick'. They all sat in a room, playing boring board games and chatting quietly amongst themselves. Inosuke and Sanemi were having an intense round of whatever game they were playing, a string of curses coming from either of their mouths more often than not. Tanjiro and Shinobu played an intense game of chess, both silent aside from small praises to each other, while Nezuko watched. Zenitsu, Obanai and Muichirou sat together and played Snakes and Ladders, but very often got distracted by watching the others play their more interesting board games.

Eventually the board games got left behind in favour of cards, sparking more talk than the board games did, and more competition between each other. It was a nice atmosphere, Muichirou found, and he felt that he was a lot more relaxed than before. He looked at his cards again, rearranging them and looking around the circle of people. Sanemi sat to the left of him, and he kept trying to cheat by looking at Obanai's cards, who sat to the left of the scarred man. On his right, Shinobu would often use her hand to gently push his cards closer to his chest whenever she could spot what was on them. Inosuke sat next to her, often poking her and showing his cards to her for guidance. Nezuko and Tanjiro were next to him, both of them playing together as a small team which Sanemi claimed was 'cheating'. And finally, Zenitsu was next to them two of them, often leaning towards Nezuko and bothering her.

Muichirou was comfortable. Since he had been turned into a demon, he had been stressed and felt out of touch. He felt entirely useless about his situation, often days just wilting in his bed in the hospital and talking to Ginko. This was nice, a good change of pace, calm and peaceful enough for him to mentally keep up with. While occasionally Sanemi would get shoved into him by Obanai for snooping at his cards, he wasn't bothered about it, and it didn't ruin his mood. 

Another small shove of his cards brought him out of his thoughts, as Shinobu pushed them towards his chest again and stared daggers at Sanemi, who appeared to be trying to peak at his cards. At some point Aoi had come in with food and drinks, and decided to join in as well, sliding in between Inosuke and Tanjiro, who gladly moved to make room. 

Muichirou stretched his arms above his head, twisting his hands to keep his cards out of sight before returning to his position. While he listened to the two men next to him bicker about Sanemi's cheating, Aoi and Shinobu helping Inosuke, and Tanjiro, Nezuko and Zenitsu chatting away, he thought about bringing Ginko in to keep her company. He often felt bad whenever she disappeared, a guilt he developed after seeing her injuries after the attack. 

"Shinobu-san, can you hold my cards? I want to go get Ginko," Muichirou requested, awaiting her nod. When she did, she turned his cards face down on the floor and placed them next to her, standing up and leaving. He made sure to stretch when he was out in the hall, working the knots out of his back and knees from sitting for so long. He made his way to the hospital slowly, basking in the moonlight that came in through the windows and listening to the ongoing downpour of the rain. It was a calming combination, one he always liked (at least he thinks he did). As he made his way to the hospital, he felt a wave of dizziness overcome him. Strange. Was he tired?  He shook it off however, continuing to walk. What stopped him, though, was when he started hearing the voices.

People talking, muffled voices that were still loud in his head. His steps faltered, and he leaned against the wall, eyes flickering around to see who was talking. By now the dizziness was getting worse, flashes off different colours fading in and out of his vision. Pinks, reds, whites, yellows, colours that were out of place in the darkness of the Butterfly Mansion. He tried raising his hands, moving his fingers, anything to get it to stop, but he couldn't feel his body anymore, couldn't hear anything other than the muffled voices and a loud ringing in his ears.

'Mu..zan...-do..n..o' 

Muzan? Did this have to do with him? The colours blinded his eyes, but he still couldn't make anything clear out. He felt his head throb, and tried focusing on it to get him out of this mess but it didn't work, and the voices didn't quiet down. 

'Do..uma... Koku...sh..ib..o.... yo..u... do no..t ge..t ..to de...ci..de.. th..a...t.. h..e... sho..ul...d.... be... a.. dem..on..'

What? What does it mean?

'Akaza...'

Akaza? What was that?

'Stop! Cut it out, fuck!'

A new voice, one more familiar. 

Someone... save him...

━━━━ ◦: ✧✲✧ :◦━━━━

"Quit cheating off me, you bastard!" Obanai yelled at him. "I'm not CHEATING, you dickwad! I wasn't doing anything! I was just stretching my head!" Sanemi argued back. "Yeah, in the direction of my cards you shit-eating liar!" Tanjiro desperately tried to break up the two fighting Hashira, ignoring Nezuko who was tugging on his sleeves and whining. Shinobu pulled her back, towards her body and gently rubbed her head, smoothing her hair back. "It's okay, Nezuko. They'll stop fighting," Shinobu reassured, resting her hand on Nezuko's head. The demon girl whined and shook her head, using a clawed finger to point at the downturned cards to Shinobu's left - Muichirou's cards. Huh, Muichirou still wasn't back. A strange feeling twisted itself into Shinobu's gut, but she hoped she was just paranoid.

"Alright, you two. Stop fighting and do me a favour," Shinobu scolded. "Go find Muichirou, he might have gotten a bit distracted while getting Ginko," she said, shooing them off, ignoring their retaliations and pushing them out of the room. Both men sighed once pushed out of the room, quietly continuing their banter. "Why do we have to go get the kid? If she's so bothered by it, why not get him herself?" Sanemi complained. His friend shrugged, paying more attention to the snake on his neck. Kaburamaru seemed on edge, twisting around his neck more and flicking his head around in different directions.

Both men stopped walking when they heard a noise up ahead in the shadows. It was a pained sound - a whimper or a whine of sorts. They rushed forward quickly, once they realised it could only be Muichirou making those noises. When they reached him, they both faltered.

His eyes were blown wide, tears streaming down unconsciously. His lower jaw had been ripped off, in a rather painful manner as well as the skin was ripped unevenly around the wound as blood gushed down onto his torso. A part of his neck had been torn open from the force of the jaw being ripped off, and under it the nerves and bones were completely visible. One of Muichirou's clawed hands was continuously tearing at the wound, tearing it open even more - probably trying to make the pain stop and failing miserably, leading to more blood cascading down his neck. His body was shaking violently, twitching and spasming causing the gashes to tear more. His other hand was gripping tightly onto his leg, tearing it up from the spasms. He was surrounded in a small pool of his blood.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Sanemi yelled, eyes wide in shock. Both Hashira immediately dropped down to the ground, trying to snap Muichirou out of whatever state he was in. His body was entirely stiff, refusing to budge even a little bit. "What the fuck do we do!?" Obanai panicked, desperately trying to tear the boys hand away from his neck. "Why the hell would I know!? Oh fucking god, what's he doing now!?" Sanemi began to freak out even more, watching as Muichirou's eyes rolled back into his head so far that his eyes started to bleed. "Stop! Cut it out, fuck!" Sanemi and Obanai both looked at each other in alarm. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! I'm going to get help!" Sanemi blurted out, before running as fast as he could back to Shinobu. Obanai continued to try and snap the younger boy out of his state, while Kaburamaru was in a frenzy around his neck.

It was barely even a minute, maybe less than half if that, before Sanemi came back with Shinobu. Shinobu nearly tripped over her own feet when she saw what was happening, immediately dropping to her knees and shaking the boy. The others had run out after them, and stood there frozen in shock. "A-Aoi! Get En, now! Tell her to get Tamayo immediately!" Shinobu ordered. She changed her position, now crouched down on her feet and hooked her arms under Muichirou's. "Help me pick him up and take him to the hospital!" Obanai and Sanemi moved immediately, Obanai picking up his ankles and Sanemi securing his arms around Muichirou's middle for extra support. They lifted Muichirou up and as quickly as they could made their way to the hospital, all while blood poured onto the floor, leaving a heavy trail.

It took a while but eventually they got to the hospital, dropping Muichirou on the first bed they saw. Shinobu immediately got to work, getting cloths to soak up the blood but even then, it wasn't enough. Muichirou couldn't concentrate in this state, which made healing himself almost impossible. Obanai and Sanemi held him down on the bed, to stop him from falling off. They didn't know how long it took of this, but eventually the hospital doors were flung open and Tamayo and Yushiro rushed in, drenched from the storm but panicking none the less. Immediately Tamayo yelled at everyone to leave, Yushiro grabbing them and basically flinging them all out of the hospital, and then everything was quiet. 

━━━━ ◦: ✧✲✧ :◦━━━━

It took about half an hour or so until Tamayo let them back in. She and Yushiro were covered in Muichirou's blood, not unlike the other three Hashira. The good news was that Muichirou had stopped shaking, and the bleeding had also stopped. He appeared to be more conscious now, his head turning in their direction slightly as they entered. He had started regenerating slightly, the bone in his neck was covered and slowly healing, although he still looked really roughed up. 

"What the FUCK was that?" Sanemi was the first to speak, breathing slightly heavy from shock. "I'm not sure yet, but I managed to get him back to normal. I'm going to figure this out, don't worry," she reassured, before promptly leaving the hospital. Yushiro stayed to watch over Muichirou. The three Hashira stood in silence, shaken up from the events. Sanemi fell down first landing on his ass on the floor. Obanai followed suit, crossing his legs and holding on to his knees to try and ground himself. Shinobu stumbled her way over to Muichirou before promtly falling down next to the bed, her head barely peaking above the mattress of it.

They sat in silence for a while more, the only noise being their breathing, before Tamayo walked back in. She didn't say anything, just held a couple vials of blood - probably the spilled stuff. She immediately got to work analysing it, but still no-one said anything. 

There were a few more minutes where no-one said anything, and all that could be heard was the noises of Tamayo flipping through books, writing and what not. Eventually the three humans managed to find the strength to stand up again, and pulled over some chairs to Muichirou's bed before collapsing into them. He was still awake, slowly regenerating. Just from the look in his eyes, Shinobu could tell he was terrified. And to think, that earlier he had been completely fine, enjoying the card game and even cracking some jokes and smiles. What could have caused this? Shinobu gently grasped his hand, rubbing it soothingly. The most he did was twitch at the contact, his eyes flickering to hers before fluttering closed. He must be tired.

It was then that she too realised she was exhausted, and when she looked over at her friends, she noticed they were also pretty tired looking, their eyes closing for long periods of time before opening slowly. She let out a shaking sigh before leaning forward, making sure to not lay on Muichirou and used her other arm to act as a cushion before promptly going to sleep.

━━━━ ◦: ✧✲✧ :◦━━━━

It was a few more hours before they woke up. It seems that no matter how hard the other two men had tried, they also fell asleep. Sanemi was still snoring loudly in his seat, but Obanai was awake, although his hair was quite messed up from sleeping. He was nibbling on a small piece of fruit through his bandages, but he didn't seem keen on eating it anyway. He didn't say anything as Shinobu sat up, barely even looking at her. She looked around, noticing neither Tamayo or Yushiro was there. Her clothes felt gross, as they were still covered in blood. "Where are Tamayo and Yushiro?" Shinobu asked. Obanai glanced in her direction, raising an eyebrow. "Ah- right, the lady who was here last night, and her assistant?" Shinobu clarified. Obanai nodded his head slightly and looked away again. "She left. Said she didn't bring enough materials for research or whatever, but she left a letter. I already read through it," he mumbled. He still looked pretty tired, but then again, Shinobu probably didn't look any better. "What does it say?"

'Dear Lady Koucho,

I'm sure you already know that it's me, Tamayo writing this. I'm handing this to one of your colleagues who is still awake. I'm very sorry that at the moment I can't do more for Muichirou, but I promise I will figure it out.

As it happens, I already have a theory about what happened. I remembered that I never attempted to remove Kibutsuji's Curse off of Muichirou because he was previously asleep, or not mentally present enough. I think this may have caused the events of last night to happen, but please don't take my word for it. It's likely that Muzan tried to mentally connect with Muichirou, but again, I'm not too sure if that's the case or if it's something a bit different. I'm doing more research on it as you read this, and I promise you and Muichirou that I'll figure this out.

In the meantime, please keep an eye on the Kamado siblings for me, especially Nezuko. If this is unrelated to Kibutsuji's Curse, I'm worried it might affect Nezuko too. Make sure to keep Muichirou and Nezuko under constant supervision while I'm figuring this out, in case this makes them hostile.

In the meantime, I ask that you bring this up at a Hashira meeting, or at least make the Master aware of this. I wish you the best of luck, and save missions.

- Tamayo (and Yushiro)

Shinobu finished reading it, and she could feel an oncoming headache. Kibutsuji's curse? This wasn't good... Shinobu sighed, her eyes drifting over to the sleeping boy in front of her. His face had mostly healed back, save for a couple of layers of skin. Tamayo had wrapped some sort of fabric around his neck, maybe to protect him from hurting himself again? A timid knock on the hospital doors drew her attention away. "Come in," she called, too tired to fake cheeriness.

Tanjiro came in, looking a little apprehensive. "Is everything okay?" He asked, walking over and looking over Shinobu's shoulder at Muichirou. "Does it look okay?" Obanai responded, throwing a dirty glance at Tanjiro, his snake following up with a mean hiss. Tanjiro flinched, but before he could explain himself, Shinobu butted in. "We know what you mean Tanjiro, but Obanai's still right. It's not really okay..." the woman glanced towards her sleeping friend again. She could see beneath his eyelids that his eyes were still shifting just a little bit, and occasionally he'd twitch. His clothes were drenched in blood, and so were hers, and Sanemi's, and Obanai's. She let out a deep breath, before standing up. "Keep an eye on him, Obanai. I'm going to get us all new clothes. Tanjiro, come with me?" Shinobu requested. Tanjiro nodded and walked out with her.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me, Shinobu-san?" Tanjiro inquired. The Hashira simply nodded, stopping in her tracks and turning to the red head. "Tamayo-san gave me a letter before she left last night. She asked me to tell you to watch over your sister," she started. "She thinks that what happened was related to Kibutsuji's Curse, but she's not sure and still wants to keep in mind the possibility that it might happen to Nezuko too." Tanjiro tensed up, staring at her with worried eyes before nodding. "I promise I will!" He reassured her, bowing slightly. She nodded before they kept walking.

By the time she and Tanjiro returned with the spare clothes, Sanemi had woken up, and both he and Obanai were mumbling quietly to each other, neither taking their eyes off of Muichirou. It relieved her, just a little bit, to see them looking out for him. It was a known fact that both of them despised demons, and they clearly showed this during the Kamado's trial, but to see both of them having faith in their youngest member gave her just a little bit of hope. If they had faith in him, maybe he really would be ok. She handed them the spare yukata's, and Sanemi stood up first to go and change. Tanjiro bowed slightly, and said goodbye quietly before leaving, presumably going to Nezuko's room to look after her.

Shinobu noticed Obanai looked tired, despite having slept. "Are you okay, Obanai?" She asked, turning to look at him. He shook his head slightly, but didn't elaborate further. His eyes were fixed on Muichirou's still frame, as if he were inspecting it. When he didn't elaborate, Shinobu rested her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay, you know? He's strong, he'll get through it. And we will too. All of us," she reassured. Obanai still didn't move, and Shinobu stepped away, also going to go to her room to change, and hopefully write a letter to the Master.

━━━━ ◦: ✧✲✧ :◦━━━━

It had been late at night when he woke up. He found he could never sleep when someone was looking at him, something he developed during his childhood. So when he woke up with the dreaded feeling of someone looking at him, he was naturally on alert. Looking around, he saw that doctor woman and her assistant still working, the young man turning to look at him before turning back to his work. So it didn't appear to be them. He turned towards his colleagues, suspecting them next, but it wasn't. Sanemi's arms were crossed as he leaned back in his chair, an uncomfortable position to sleep in but he managed to snore his way through it. Shinobu was still asleep, her head cushioned by the edge of Muichirou's bed. It wasn't her either. He looked towards Kaburamaru, who was stood pointedly on his neck aswell, staring straight at Muichirou. He looked, too.

Muichirou was twitching as he slept, seeming to border being concious and asleep. Occasionally, his eyes would flicker open just a crack, but he wasn't looking in Obanai's direction. So who was staring. Just as he was about to turn his gaze, he saw it.

Muichirou's eyes were different. Just for a brief second, but he was sure of it.

They were a piercing, glowing yellow, and the sclera was a bleeding red, dark lines indented in it. And briefly, very briefly, those eyes locked with his.

'上弦壱'

'Upper One'

Chapter Text

The sun had risen well into the sky, and the entirety of the Butterfly Estate was awake. Muichirou was still in his hospital bed and bloodstained clothes, though he seemed to have forgotten the state he was in. Ginko (who had returned from the depths of hell, or wherever she had previously been) was perched next to him, her piercing voice fretting over his every move. Shinobu had encouraged Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu to resume their training for their mission tomorrow, under the conditions that she'd keep an eye on Nezuko for Tanjiro.

She had moved the girl back into the hospital with Muichirou, who was being monitored by the three Hashira. They mostly all stayed with him to keep him comfortable, and make it feel less like he was under constant watch. Shinobu had gotten a game of shogi out and let it be passed around by them all to keep them entertained, which seemed to work since none of them could beat Muichirou. They idly discussed random matters, whatever came to mind, just to let time pass. Nezuko occasionally got up to watch them, but a few dirty looks from the boys sent her back to her bed.

Shinobu idly watched the shogi match play out between Sanemi and Muichirou. Despite being incredibly airheaded, he seemed to like the game and excelled at it, which royally pissed off Sanemi. One thing she noticed, while she was chatting with her friends, was that Obanai wasn't talking much. He made a small noise of acknowledgment every once in a while, but his eyes were glued to Muichirou. Something was bothering him, that was obvious, but just how could she bring it up?

"Iguro-san, do you mind coming with me for a minute? I need help with something," she asked. He narrowed his eyes a little at her request, his eyes flitting away from Muichirou for just a second to stare at her suspiciously before locking back on to the boy. "Is it important?" He asked. Shinobu nodded. "Very important, come on now," she grabbed him by his yukata sleeve and dragged him away, mumbling fleeting comments about his stubbornness.

She dragged him out into the corridor, and kept walking, pulling him along. Eventually, she let go of him, and he fell into stride with her. "What do you need help with?" He asked. He sounded very tired, his words slow and dragged out. "Well, I need to get Muichirou a new pair of clothes, because his are dirty. I need to take the washing down to help Aoi and I need you to answer a question for me," she spoke cheerfully. The man just sighed and rolled his eyes, flicking Kaburamaru away from Shinobu when he noticed the snake leaning very close to her. "Well, get on with it."

"What the hell happened last night?"

━━━━ ◦: ✧✲✧ :◦━━━━

Muichirou couldn't help but feel proud at his many wins this morning. Sanemi was currently staring intensely at the board, calculating his next move. His right foot rested on his left knee, and his right arm rested on his right knee, and his hand held up his chin, fingers scratching at it gently. He looked a lot like a grandad, the more Muichirou looked at him. When he eventually made his move, after a couple hard minutes of thinking, Muichirou picked up his piece and moved it, resulting in a string of curses from his playing-partner. A disturbance in the bed next to him caught his attention.

It was Nezuko. She had sat up and was staring over at them, her head tilted to the side. She was in the form of a young girl, maybe 4 or 5. He vaguely remembered her from somewhere, but couldn't put his finger on it. He kept a weary on her, watching her toddle out of her bed and over to his, her small head peeking over the covers to watch the shoji game. He gave her a mean stare, and she flinched away, toddling back to her bed with a dejected look on her face. To be honest, he didn't care, and neither do I. He felt a vague sense of hostility towards her (or maybe jealousy...)

He focused back on the game of shoji, putting the demon girl to the back of his mind. It took a few more minutes for Sanemi to make his move, and when he did, Muichirou immediately counteracted, finishing the game and successfully winning. Sanemi let out some rather colourful language in defeat, flipping the board over and knocking the pieces off. Muichirou reset them, giving a sassy eye roll in response. He was waiting for Shinobu to make her move, because it was her turn to play, but when he looked up for her, she was gone, along with Obanai. He let out a brief noise of confusion, looking around for them. He was hit with a sudden pain in his head, much like a headache, but the pain of it made him hold his head in his hands.

Sanemi looked at him in confusion, then worry, and Nezuko had risen from her bed again, and come to the side of the bed again, but this time with a serious look in her eyes. He let out an uncomfortable grunt of pain, biting his lip as a futile distraction. A deep voice lingered in his head, but he couldn't make out what it said. He couldn't make out what anyone was saying.

"Tokito, look at me. It's okay, you're okay," a voice said. Shinobu's. She had come back. He could feel her gentle hands gently tugging his away from his head. Another pair of bigger, slightly rougher hands gripped his head gently, squeezing it just a bit to alleviate the pain. "Ope..n... your.. ey...es." It was the deep voice in his head, and yet he could hear another one linger around it...

"Do not open your eyes. Do not peak, do not open even one. Not both. Do not open them."

The tone of the voice held urgency, and authority. It was said very briefly, but the weight of those words helped weigh his eyelids down. What would happen if he did open his eyes. His face began to itch, the spaces above and below his eyes. 

"Cover your face. Now."

It was the other voice again. For some reason, he felt compelled to do it. He couldn't tell if it was to follow the orders, or the instinct to itch, but he ripped his hands away from Shinobu's and covered his face, his sharp nails piercing into his skin. "Le..t... go..." "Do not let go." The longer this went on, the more he wanted it to stop. The ongoing war of the voices in his head only made it hurt more. Was he going crazy? It really felt like it. He felt helpless. He couldn't think past these voices, couldn't hear his friends reassuring words. He focused his breath, using Total Concentration Breathing, and it seemed to work very briefly. The voices paused briefly, fading in and out of his head. In the brief pauses, he could hear the voices of his friends. "Keep using your breathign, Muichirou. You're going to be okay." "Hey, don't try ripping yourself apart again, okay? Is he listening? Can he hear us?" "His face... it's ripping.." His face was ripping?

He could feel his concentration slipping, the two contradicting voices getting louder again. They weren't arguing, so they couldn't hear each other it seemed... But what use was it to know if they could hear each other? He attempted to focus his concentration on his breathing again, which helped again, but only briefly. But in that brief moment, something flashed in his mind. 

It took him a couple seconds to realise he had opened his eyes, or that both voices had ceased in his mind. He didn't even realise that there were a few tears slowly streaming down his face. All his friends seemed to stop talking, and just stared at him with weird looks on their faces. "Muichirou, are you okay?" Shinobu asked. He barely even registered that she had said anything, his body shivering gently. One of his hands had moved away from his face, and was reaching out for something, but he couldn't remember what. 

"What happened? Tokito?" Obanai called out for him. He didn't seem to respond, mumbling incoherently. "What the hell was that? Is he going to be okay?" Sanemi asked, trying desperately to listen to what he was saying. He seemed to be repeating the same thing: 'don't let go'.

"What's he saying?" Obanai asked, staring intensely at Muichirou's slightly ripped face. "Don't let go, or something. I don't know what it means," Sanemi responded. Shinobu gently rubbed at the rips on Muichirou's face, watching how the slowly closed up. They didn't seem like injuries, more like something was coming up from beneath the boys skin. She sighed and stood up. "I'm going to write a letter to the Master and Tamayo, you two stay here and watch Muichirou and Nezuko. I'll be back in a while," Shinobu informed, swiftly turning on her heels and walking out of the hospital, leaving the two men alone with the demon children.

"My brother, is your dream to become the strongest samurai in the land?

"It's Uppermoon 1." Obanai muttered seriously. "Huh?" "Uppermoon 1. He has something to do with Muichirou being turned into a demon. I'm sure of it," he affirmed. "Last night, when you guys were asleep, Muichirou's eyes changed. They showed Uppermoon 1. I don't think it's Kibutsuji, I think it has to do with him." Shinobu stared at him in disbelief. Was Uppermoon 1 the other Uppermoon that night? The demon with the katana... was he the one responsible for this? "So, what, you think he's possessing Muichirou?" She asked. Obanai nodded. "Something like that. I know it's not his fault, but this could be dangerous for us. I'm sure the demon saw me. This place might be too dangerous to keep Muichirou. If the demon really can look through his eyes, it puts everyone in danger," he stated. He looked a little guilty saying it, he felt like he was accusing Muichirou of being evil; like other demons. He wasn't like other demons, he knew that. But this was serious. They needed to figure out what this was and soon, or they were all fucked.

I want to be like you. I... want to become the second strongest samurai."

━━━━ ◦: ✧✲✧ :◦━━━━

It had taken a bit more time, but eventually Muichirou returned to his senses. He felt empty - incredibly empty. Like nothing was ever there. Like he had just been born. There were 3 figures surrounded him. He didn't bother to look at them, he's scared he wouldn't recognise their faces if he looked at them. His face felt numb, his sight a little blurry. One of the figures in his line of sight moved away. The other two stayed, and seemed to be looking down at him. He finally mustered the courage to look in their direction, and let out a small puff of breath in relief when their names floated into his mind. Sanemi and Obanai. Yes, he knew them. He remembered them. 

"You okay kid?" Sanemi asked, brow furrowed slightly. Muichirou nodded. The scarred man's face relaxed a bit, and he looked less constipated. "Do you... remember what happened?" There, that was the million dollar question. He racked his brain, and pulled out the faint fragments of what was left.

"There were... voices. One wanted me to open my eyes and the other one told me not to..." The two men in front of him shared a glance. "Voices? In your head?" Obanai asked. Muichirou nodded gently, looking down, fidgeting with his sleeves, which he realised were covered in dry blood. No-one in the room said anything. The air was tense, and more than a bit awkward. It was silent for a few more seconds, before the hospital doors were pushed open. Tanjiro came in, forehead a bit wet with sweat from training. He immediately rushed towards Nezuko, holding her in his arms. "Nezuko! Are you okay?" Nezuko let out a happy noise, muffled by her muzzle. At seeing the two siblings embrace, Muichirou felt a pang of jealousy.

Jealousy?

He shook the thought out of his head, looking away from them. The other two Hashira beside him gave nasty glances at the two for a brief moment, but turned their attention back to Muichirou. The shorter of the men bent down and retrieved two pale green pieces of cloth, handing them to him. The hospital garments. "Some clothes for you to change into, you'll want to get out of those, I imagine," he said, pointing his finger at the blood soaked clothes on his body. Muichirou sighed, nodding.

It didn't take long for him to change out of the clothes, the new hospital garments tailored the way he liked them. He walked out of the spare room he changed in, the bloody clothes in his grip. When he walked out, both of the men turned to look at him. Sanemi let out a mildly humoured chuckle upon seeing him. "They look big on you. Do a spin," he joked.

"They look a bit big for you. Turn around, do a spin!"

"Do we look good, Mom?"

"You look beautiful, my dears,"

Muichirou made a noise of confusion at the odd comment, but he felt compelled to spin regardless. He turned slowly on his feet in a circle for the man's amusement, facing him when he finished. "Do I look good?" He joked back. He wasn't sure if it sounded like a joke, or if he even smiled like he thought he did, but the two men let out a chuckle regardless. He didn't know why he said it. It just came out of his mouth before he could stop it. It felt... right to say.

He made his way towards them, climbing back onto his hospital bed, but stayed on top of the covers. He gently lay the blood stained clothes beside him. The two men sat next to his bed in chairs, and Ginko was nowhere to be seen, because I forgot about her again. 

"Where did Shinobu go?" Muichirou asked, noticing her lack of presence. "She went to go write a letter or something, she'll be back eventually," Sanemi shrugged. Muichirou nodded gently. "There's gonna be a Hashira meeting soon, right?" Muichirou asked. The two men nodded, looking away. Obanai let out a small scoff under his bandages. "I heard that Kamado kid will get to snoop in on it. I don't get how any of this is his business though," he remarked sourly. Sanemi let out a gruff noise of annoyance as well. "Stupid kid, puts that nose of it where it shouldn't be." In the corner, Tanjiro ignored their mean comments in favour of playing with Nezuko.

"Are you feeling okay now?" Obanai asked, keeping his eyes away from everyone, choosing to focus on his snake who was wrapped around his shoulders still. Muichirou let out a hum and a small nod. "Yeah, I'll forget about it soon enough..." 

Just after that remark, the hospital doors swung open again, and Shinobu walked through. She held a scroll and a pen in her hand, and looked mildly stressed. "Oh thank god, you're okay. How are you feeling?" She rushed over, checking on him immediately. "I'm okay, it's all good now, I guess..." he murmured, letting her hands poke and prod at his face. "Well that's good..." she looked relieved, and also a little bit flustered, like she was about to ask something.

"I know this is a bit... soon and all, but... if you remember anything, would you mind writing it all down for me, please? It's for Tamayo-san and the Master..." she held the pen and paper towards him sheepishly, looking guilty about pushing this on him so soon. He nodded and took the utensils off her, scratching down everything he could remember, the two men helping him out with the little information he told them. After putting everything down on the paper, he gave it back to Shinobu, who rolled it up and rushed out, calling out that she'd be back in two minutes. True to her word, she returned shortly without the paper. She came back into the hospital, and took a seat on the edge of his bed, sitting next to him. 

"Anyone up for more shogi?"

━━━━ ◦: ✧✲✧ :◦━━━━

Later that night, they had all met up at the Master's residence. Each of the Hashira, and Tanjiro. Muichirou wasn't wearing his uniform, as it had gotten destroyed during his fight, and he couldn't help but feel slightly self conscious without it. He could hear Uzui's hushed comment about how he looked so tiny and harmless. That annoyed him. He stayed plastered to Shinobu for the night. It was overwhelming. It was all about him, the pitied looks were for him, Gyomei's prayers were for him. He felt himself shrink in on himself at everything that was mentioned, every time his name was mentioned, every time the word 'demon' came out of someone's mouth. It stressed him out a lot.

He was looking forward to the meeting; he'd finally get out of the hospital for once! He could walk with the other Hashira on even ground once again, but his head was a blank slate the entire night. He really wished he was back in the safety of the hospital, huddled under his bedsheets or playing shogi. Shinobu kept gently putting a hand on his shoulder to reassure him, but it only worked for a time.

"Tokito-kun, would you like to go outside for a while?" The Master asked. He had hardly heard the question, raising his head and mumbling 'huh?', but was grateful for the opportunity. He opened the shoji and left the room, making his way to the Master's pristine garden. Even at night, it was beautiful, the moon reflecting on the water. He looked down into the pond, the koi fish sleeping in the water. The clear pond showed the stones at the bottom, each unique pattern of the fish could be made out.

And his reflection. Or rather, their reflection.

Chapter Text

Silence hung around Muichirou. It was something he was familiar with, because he lived alone, but his mind was running a million miles a minute. He hadn't even remembered what had happened in the meeting, and apparently Shinobu had written out a brief description of what was talked about for him, but he didn't feel like looking at it. He wanted to close his eyes, to forget this awful nightmare. After returning back from the Hashira meeting, and being left alone to his own devices, he had promptly snuck out of the Butterfly Mansion to take a walk. He was barefoot, but didn't bother to put footwear on. He was sure everyone was worried about him, but he needed time to think.

The events of the meeting had thoroughly drained him, and he really didn't feel like being around people, although he should head back... He stood in the middle of the small dirt path he was walking down and paused for a couple minutes. He eventually turned around and headed back to where the Butterfly Mansion was, ignoring the slight throbbing in his head from thinking too much.

The walk back was nice, the rustle of leaves in the trees caused by the wind, the calming rhythm of his feet against the ground eased him, even if only slightly. Soon the looming presence of the Butterfly Estate came into view, and he felt a vague sense of emptiness, the comfort from his walk slowly fading away from him. He mustered up the mental strength though, and snuck back into the hospital ward, where there was thankfully no-one waiting for him. He sat on the end of his hospital bed, legs crossed and ignoring the way his feet dirtied the bedsheets.

It took a couple more minutes for anything interesting to happen, but eventually the hospital doors opened to him. Shinobu and the lady demon from before walked in, chatting quietly amongst themselves. Looking up, Shinobu took notice that Muichirou was there, and walked over to him with the demon doctor. "You're back. Are you feeling better?" She asked, standing next to his bed. He nodded, feeling a bit bad that she had noticed he was gone. He hoped she didn't worry about him... "That's good. Do you mind if Tamayo-san does a few tests on you to make sure you're okay?" She asked, pointing towards the lady - Tamayo - next to her. He eyed up the demon carefully, but she looked honest and rather harmless; much unlike a demon. He sighed reluctantly before agreeing. "Fine..." he muttered, shifting himself on the bed to get more comfortable. Shinobu nodded. "Okay, thank you. I have to go patrolling, so I won't be here, but Tamayo won't hurt you, I promise," she reassured. Before leaving, she sent a rather strict look towards her fellow doctor before promptly leaving.

The other demon walked towards him, keeping a safe distance (whether she was apprehensive of him or doing it to make him comfortable, he didn't know). "Hello again, Tokitou-kun. Do you remember me from last night?" Tamayo asked. He vaguely remembered seeing her and another demon last night, they were the ones that helped him, right? "Mmm... you were the one who stopped... whatever was happening, right?" He asked, desperately trying to fish up those memories. Tamayo nodded. "That was me. I heard about what happened earlier today. Are you feeling better?" For a couple minutes Tamayo only asked standard questions: how he was feeling, if it hurt when she pressed here, there, etc. Then came the harder questions.

"Do you remember anything that happened last night? Anything that made you feel that way?" She inquired. Muichirou strained his mind as hard as he could. It was silent for a few minutes as he tried to remember, but Tamayo didn't seem to mind, turning her head away and looking out the window at the night sky. "Douma... and Kokushibo..." he mumbled. He had a slight memory of those words, or names, being mentioned. "And... Akaza, I think... It had something to do with Muzan, too..." he finished with. Tamayo stared at him. "I see..." she looked troubled, turning her head away and thinking. "That's very helpful of you, actually, so thank you for telling me..." she thanked. "Do you know what it means?" He asked, slightly curious. Tamayo nodded slightly.

"Kokushibo... I believe... is an old demon. He's around 400 years old if he really is still alive. He..." Tamayo paused briefly, inhaling and exhaling as if to calm herself. "He was the elder twin brother of the very first Demon Slayer. I never personally met Kokushibo, but I did happen to meet his younger brother, once. He is the one who allowed me to live, and helped me find the right path in my life. I believe that Kokushibo managed to achieve the rank of Uppermoon 1, and if he's still alive, he most likely still holds that position. However, this 'Douma' and 'Akaza' you mention, I have no memory of. Are you able to tell me anything else you remember?"

It took roughly an hour or so for Muichirou to be able to tell Tamayo everything he remembered, from what Muzan said to 'Douma' and 'Kokushibo', how he couldn't feel anything that was happening to him, the colours he saw during his state of delirium, the voices he heard that afternoon, what they were saying, how they couldn't hear each other, his face ripping, all of it. It caused him a massive headache, but Tamayo seemed so relieved he managed to remember so much, and thanked him profusely.

"Thank you so much for telling me all of that, Muichirou-kun. It really is so helpful, and I'm so glad you could remember it. If your head hurts, I'll leave for a bit and give you some time to feel better, is that okay?" Tamayo suggested. Muichirou nodded, and Tamayo whispered more thanks as she quietly left the room, leaving a sweet aroma in her wake that miraculously eased his headache.

One thing he couldn't remember though... what made it stop? When those voices were arguing in his head, Sanemi had mentioned he was mumbling about 'not letting go' of something, but he couldn't remember that at all. He was finally glad he could be of use to something though, Tamayo seemed genuinely thankful that he remembered all of that and it seemed to be a really big breakthrough for her. Eventually, just before the sun rose, Shinobu returned and closed over all the curtains to the hospital again, to keep it shrouded in darkness. She made small talk with Muichirou until Tamayo returned. "Huh? Tamayo-san, you're still here?" Shinobu seemed surprised. Tamayo nodded. "Yes, my apologies for staying but I think I've figured a lot out tonight, and I wanted to tell you both what I believe to have discovered," she announced. She seemed to have a few letters with her, and Shinobu invited her to sit next to Muichirou's bed. "So... you've figured out what's happening?" Shinobu asked. She seemed a little weary, but also hopeful. "Yes, I believe so," Tamayo confirmed. "It's a very long explanation, and it might be confusing, but I really hope this will be of help to you..."

━━━━ ◦: ✧✲✧ :◦━━━━

"The Kasugai Crow that reported the incident managed to give a brief description of the two demons on the night Tokitou-kun was turned. A demon with cryokinesis with two fans that was identified as Uppermoon 2, and the other demon reported with a katana who was the one that attacked Ginko. I believe that demon was Kokushibo, and that he was the one who turned Tokitou-kun with his own blood."

Shinobu's eyes widened, though she managed to keep her composure calm.

"From what I've heard, Tokitou is a descendant of the first breathing style users, the Tsugikuni's. Kokushibo was the elder brother of Tsugikuni Yoriichi, the very first demon slayer. This means that Tokitou is in some way related to Uppermoon 1, and that all of this has been caused by him..."

This time, it was Muichirou's turn to be shocked. He was related to an Uppermoon? No... no way... he wouldn't believe it. There was no way... there was simply no way that was true. Tamayo had briefly stopped her explanation, slightly worried about how he was taking the news. Shinobu's eyes were open wide, staring in disbelief between Tamayo and Muichirou. The look on Muichirou's face was something she didn't like to see on him. It was the most emotion she had ever seen out of him in years. His eyes held anger, resentment, disbelief, shock, and sadness, and she could only imagine what was going on in his head. 

"No... no you're wrong... there's no way I'm related to... to that! There's just no way..." Muichirou mumbled incoherently, eyes losing focus quickly and darting back and forth. This concerned Shinobu and Tamayo. "Tokitou-kun... can you listen to me, please?" Tamayo said softly. She moved towards him gently, stopping just in front of him to examine him slightly. "Tokitou-kun... you're okay... can you hear me?" After no response from him, Tamayo gently moved her hands to his shoulders, but he pushed her off rather violently. He had stopped his mumbling and seemed to be trembling, in fear or anger, but his eyes didn't stop their rapid movement.

"Don't... touch me..." Muichirou blurted out. His voice sounded foreign even to his own ears, and held a lot of emotion - rage, disbelief, hurt. Tamayo regained her composure, and apologised to Muichirou, while Shinobu tried to figure out how to help. Eventually Tamayo raised an arm out, the sleeve of her kimono shuffling down her arm to reveal pale, smooth skin. Lifting her other arm up to it, she dragged her sharp fingers along her skin, tearing it open and letting blood seep out of the wound. A sweet aroma filled the room, and beautiful, colourful flowers swirled around the three of them. Shinobu instantly felt at ease, and looking towards her fellow demon slayer, he seemed to be calming down as well.

Eventually, he simply lay down on his bed curled up with a defeated look in his eye, and the flowers and sweet scent slowly dissipated. During the haze of it, Shinobu managed to figure out that Tamayo was using her blood demon art 'Enchanting Blood' to calm down Muichirou. Tamayo had told Shinobu about it previously, and while she wasn't a huge fan of it being used on her in this moment, she had to admit it was rather beautiful, and stress relieving. 

Tamayo's arm eventually healed up, and the illusion of flowers had since faded away, but there was still a sweet scent in the air that comforted both Shinobu and Muichirou. The latter lay still on his bed, looking very worn out and depressing. "My apologies for using my blood demon art. I'm truly sorry if I made you uncomfortable by using it, but I wanted to help diffuse the situation. Are you okay, Shinobu-san?" Tamayo asked. She looked remorseful, so Shinobu figured her intentions were harmless. "I'm fine, but please do warn me if you plan to do something like that again," she reprimanded. Tamayo nodded and apologised again, turning her attention to Muichirou. He didn't look at her, but she could tell he was conscious.

"I know this is a massive shock to you, Tokitou-kun, but please know that this won't affect how anyone sees you, and you can always talk to us if you feel burdened," Tamayo reassured him. "You don't have to handle this alone, okay, Muichirou-kun? We're you're friends, you can talk to us..." Shinobu backed Tamayo up, reassuring her fellow Pillar. Muichirou was quiet for a moment, before speaking up.

"Just... keep going..." he mumbled. He seemed defeated, and it was a depressing sight to see, but both women nodded at each other and Tamayo continued with her conclusions.

"Reviewing the letter you sent me regarding the statement made by your fellow Hashira, it seems that Kokushibo is able to minorly possess Tokitou-kun, and see through his eyes. However, based off of what Tokitou-kun told me, he can do the same, seeing through Kokushibo's eyes, hearing what he hears and such. I think this can be prevented from both parties, although I'm not quite sure if Kokushibo knows it goes both ways. I think the reason this is happening is because of a mix between the possible blood relation and the fact that Kokushibo used his own blood to turn Muichirou."

Tamayo paused and looked towards the aforementioned Hashira, and he seemed deep in thought. Shinobu also looked at him, hoping he was taking the news well. "Are you feeling okay, or do you want to stop?" She asked. "I'm okay, keep going..." the younger responded. Shinobu and Tamayo nodded to each other.

"I know this is a lot to take in, but I assure you that you're going to be okay, Tokitou-kun," Tamayo comforted him. Shinobu nodded, taking one of his hands in hers and squeezing it gently. He squeezed it back, gentler than hers, but turned his gaze towards her with a sort-of sad but appreciative look. "The previous 'Akaza' that you mentioned, I believe could be a member of the Twelve Kizuki that Kibutsuji is using for a mission, so you should be warned about that," Tamayo forewarned. "We will. Thank you for telling us this, Tamayo-san," Shinobu hummed, standing up and bowing in front of Tamayo. The demon woman flushed slightly, not quite sure how to take the appreciation, but bowed back. "Thank you both for allowing me to help you. I couldn't do any of this without either of your co-operation. I also want to thank you for placing this much trust in me, I understand that this goes against both of your morals and I appreciate that you're willing to put our differences aside even if it's only briefly. You're both such kind people and I hope everything goes smoothly for you."

━━━━ ◦: ✧✲✧ :◦━━━━

Later in the day, after a well deserved nap, Muichirou was folding origami in his hospital bed when Shinobu reappeared. Her usual immaculately worn hair was let down out of it's usual style, and she looked rather relaxed. She must have gone to sleep too, Muichirou thought. I can imagine this is stressful for her as well. 

"Did you sleep well?" Shinobu inquired, standing by Muichirou's bed. "Yeah.. you?" He shot back. She nodded with a calm smile on her lips. "I have a bit of news for you," she hummed enticingly. Muichirou nodded at her to go on.

"I was talking to Rengoku-san, and he said he was going on a mission with Tanjiro-kun and his friends. Lots of people have been reported to be going missing on a train, and he's been sent to check it out," she started. "I figured since you've been stuck here and you must be quite bored, maybe you'd like to go with them. I've already asked the Master and he said if you want to go with them, you're allowed."

Muichirou's eyes widened. He was allowed go on missions? He never told anyone, but he was worried he wouldn't be able to go on missions again. "I... I can go with them? On the mission?" He repeated, a little shocked, but also excited. Shinobu nodded, her smile widening seeing him brighten up. "Yes, I want to go... please," he responded. "Perfect! I'll send En to go inform Rengoku. I'll be back and then we can discuss this some more!" 

For once, in the last couple of days, Muichirou felt relief, excitement even. A few moments later, Shinobu returned, pulling out a chair from seemingly nowhere and sitting down next to his bed. "The boys have already left for the station and will probably arrive at sundown, just before the train leaves. If you leave as soon as the sun is down, and move as quick as you can, you'll be able to make it on time before the train leaves," Shinobu explained. She pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of her pocket and scribbled somethings down on it, before handing it over to him.

"This is the train you're meant to get on, and the station it's at," she clarified. "You'll meet up with Rengoku when you're there." Muichirou nodded, gripping on to the scrap of paper. "Unfortunately, your uniform was destroyed during the fight with Uppermoons 1 and 2, so you won't be able to wear it until a replacement is made, but we're still unsure if the Kakushi will agree to remake your uniform for you..." The short woman trailed off, but seeing that her friends mood wasn't ruined by that fact, she herself cheered up.

"In the meantime, I'll fix you up a nice outfit to wear!" Muichirou nodded at Shinobu, a smile on his face. While it was a small smile, Shinobu could see the happiness radiating from him.

In the meantime, while Shinobu was looking for clothes for Muichirou to wear, he thought up an idea. Rummaging through the hospital, he found a pen and paper, and returned to his hospital bed. Just as he sat back down, the doors flung open again to reveal Aoi. Perched on Aoi's shoulder was Ginko, who seemed elated at seeing Muichirou.

"Muichirou-dono! I'm so glad to see you again!" She squawked, and Aoi rushed over to drop the crow by him before the feathered nuisance pecked her eyeballs out. "Ginko! I missed you, where have you been?" Muichirou cheered (sorta). He held his arms out and allowed his crow to jump into them from Aoi's shoulder, who bowed and left. "Apparently that god awful katana that sliced my wing off had something wrong with it that started to infect me, so I had to get treatment for that. But I've missed you! How have you been? Are you taking care of yourself? Have you been feeling lonely without me?" Ginko cawed on and on for a couple of minutes, Muichirou listening to her talk with enthusiastic hums while he gently stroked her soft feathers. Eventually, she piped down enough to ask what Muichirou was doing.

"I'm going to write a letter to Uzui-san and Himejime-san. They're the ones who brought me back, right?" Muichirou checked. "Oh yeah! Those two big guys. It was them alright," Ginko confirmed. Muichirou nodded before setting the paper on his lap, and racking his brain to think about what he should write.

It took a lot of thinking and consulting with Ginko before he finally finished the letters and folded them up. Then, another thought entered his mind. How am I gonna send this to them? Ginko can't do it... Sighing, Muichirou stood up in the dark hospital and picked Ginko up, perching her on his shoulder. He pushed open the hospital doors and peered out, thankful that the halls were relatively dark. He managed to sneak his way around the Butterfly Mansion while avoiding the sunlight until he came across a girl in the halls. The girl was slightly shorter than him and dressed in the demon slayer uniform with a white cape around her shoulders. Her black hair was tied up one one side of her head in a ponytail with a familiar butterfly pin. Wasn't this... Shinobu's little sister? What was her name again?

The girl stopped walking and stared at him, slightly shocked at seeing him. She looked a little shy. When neither Muichirou nor Shinobu's little sister said anything, Ginko took matters into her own wing. "Hello there miss!" She cawed loudly. Upon recognising the crow was talking to her, and that the young boy standing before her was a Hashira, she cleared her throat and bowed. "Good afternoon," she whispered, face a little red from embarrassment. "Do you mind if we use your crow to send off some letters to two Hashira?" Ginko requested. The girl nodded shyly, unable to deny the request if it was to send a message to other Hashiras.

She lead them to another room where her crow was preening. "Isuzu, can you deliver these letters to other Hashira please?" Kanao whispered to her crow. Isuzu, the crow, stopped preening and nodded her head. Muichirou held up the letters and the bird graciously took them from him. "They're to go the Sound Hashira and the Stone Hashira," Muichirou ordered. The crow nodded and Kanao opened up a window to let the bird fly out of. "Thank you young miss!" The girl nodded bashfully, before walking away and disappearing someplace else.

Muichirou and Ginko began to walk back to the hospital when they ran back in to Shinobu. She held some fabric in her hands, likely the clothes for Muichirou, but wore a complicated expression on her face. Upon seeing Muichirou walking around, she was a bit surprised but quickly smiled at him. "Ah, you're there. The Master sent some clothes for you to wear but..." Shinobu mumbled. Muichirou tilted his head in confusion. "But what? Are they ugly?" Ginko squawked. "The Master said that... you wore these clothes when you were younger, and he wants you to wear them to see if it will help with your memory..." Shinobu explained. Muichirou stared at the fabric she held out to him. He swallowed thickly before nodding his head, taking the fabric from her hands and walking back to the hospital to change.

The yukata was sleeveless and a very light blue colour with darker blue patterns covering it all around. It felt a bit small on him, likely because it was from a couple years ago, but it fit well enough as he hadn't grown that much. Wearing it stirred something in him, and he felt strange in it. He guessed that it was him trying to remember if he knew these clothes or not. He walked out to show Shinobu.

She gave him a weird look. "It's quite short don't you think? Is it meant to be that short? Or have you just really outgrown it?" She asked, her gaze looking him up and down. He shrugged his shoulders. "I think it's meant to be like this, cuz it fits well around my chest..." he murmured. He didn't quite mind the fact it was short, but he wondered if he ever got cold wearing it...

Shinobu hummed while she analysed his outfit. Her finger was on her chin and her eyes squinted, looking for... something. "Ugh... well if Mitsuri can fight in her uniform then you should be able to fight in that... but it's not like what you're used to..." she mumbled, staring off into space. Then, all of a sudden, a devious smirk crossed her face. "It looks plain and boring, but I have an idea..."

━━━━ ◦: ✧✲✧ :◦━━━━

A few hours later, about an hour or so before sunset, two people arrived at the Butterfly Mansion. Shinobu walked outside to greet them, a devious smirk on her face. "Wonderful! Welcome back, Shinazugawa-san... and Iguro-san?" She greeted, turning confused to the Serpent Hashira. He waved absentmindedly at her. "Whatever, come in one and all." She dragged Sanemi in, who seemed very displeased and was holding a basket.

She dragged them back into the hospital while making some talk with them. "So, did you get the stuff?" She cheerfully asked. Sanemi let out a grunt. "Yeah. Why did you ask me to get it?" He retorted. "Consider this making up to Muichirou. I just wanna know why you brought Iguro-san with you," she explained. "I'm colour blind, and apparently have no taste of fashion, so..." Neither does Iguro-san, Shinobu thought, thinking of Mitsuri's odd socks, but chose not to say anything. She dragged both men into the hospital where Muichirou was hanging out with Ginko.

"You slowpokes! You took so long to get here!" Ginko cawed at the two men. The serpent on Obanai's neck hissed meanly at the crow, who then also started yelling at the reptile. Muichirou simply stroked her feathers gently, which worked well in calming her down. Sanemi walked over to Muichirou's bed before dropping the basket at the end of it. "Happy early birthday, or whatever," he grunted, jumping back when he got a loud caw from Ginko. Muichirou tilted his head and looked in the basket, emptying the contents onto the bed.

A black haori spilled onto the sheets, as well as two... other things, that Muichirou would look at in a bit. Picking up the black haori, he admired it. It was rather big, and looked very warm, and there were gold ginkgo leaf patterns at the ends of the sleeves and back. He tugged it on around him and stood up, and he noticed that it went to just below his knees, and covered his hands entirely. It was warm, just like he had guessed. He never wore a haori with his uniform, but he figured it wouldn't be bad to try new things every now and then. "Thanks, it's really nice. I like it," he said, sitting back down. "Yeah I know, I picked it out," Sanemi bragged. "The next one is ugly because Cleopatra over here picked it out," Sanemi explained, pointing behind him to Obanai. "Who the fuck are you calling Cleopatra?"

While the two men bickered to each other playfully, Muichirou picked up the next items of clothing. They seemed to be socks, but were thick and lose, and looked very warm, and also didn't cover his feet. However, that wasn't what drew him into them.

The 'socks' were a dark greeny-blue with a large X pattern in lighter shade of the colour. Muichirou felt a little strange looking at the 'socks'. He felt like he had seen the pattern somewhere, and it brought him a lot of comfort, oddly enough. Upon not hearing anything from him, all the adults in the room focused on him, the two men ceasing their bickering.

"See? He doesn't like them, because they're ugly, and I told you not to buy them and they are a waste of my money!" "Shut the fuck up dandelion head!" My previous sentence was actually a lie, they did keep fighting.

Shinobu went up to them and inspected them briefly. "Hmm... ah. They're leg warmers I think," she clarified. In her head, she did think the pattern clashed with Muichirou's yukata, but upon seeing his face, she decided that she would take that thought to the grave, and never tell a soul.

He looked a little lost staring at them, sad even. She gently rubbed his back comfortingly. "Do you want to try them on?" She asked. Muichirou only nodded, slipping off his zori and pulling the fabric over his tabi and up his legs. The fabric ended just above his knee, which covered most of his leg and just as the name suggested, they were rather warm. Both of the other men looked at him, ceasing their bickering to see his reaction.

"Do you like them?" Ginko squawked. She inspected the fabric very closely but refrained from picking at it with her beak like she normally did. "They're nice," Muichirou mumbled, "...they're warm." 

No-one else said anything, observing how he seemed a little wistful. He slipped the zori back on his feet and stood up, propping Ginko onto his shoulder. "So, you're all ready then?" Shinobu confirmed. Muichirou nodded. "Well, there's still some time to pass, so we'll just make sure you're properly ready then."

For the next hour, the Hashira went over everything with Muichirou - exactly what the goal of the mission was, how to get to the station, where he would need to buy his ticket for the train and other such trivial matters. Shinobu eventually gave him back his katana, which she had gotten re-forged for him. She had reminded him to hide it when he got to the train station, to not startle the civilians.

As a golden hue set over the house, and the sun dipped below the horizon, they had relocated to the front of the house. Shinobu had left quickly because she had left something behind that she needed to give him. Sanemi and Obanai made small talk with him, and Muichirou entertained himself by playing with Kaburamaru, much to Ginko's displeasure. Eventually Shinobu returned holding something in her hand. When she held it up to him with slight apprehension, he felt his mood sour.

"Why do I have to keep wearing this stupid muzzle? I've been fine without it..." Muichirou complained. Seeing Shinobu hold out that awful bamboo muzzle towards him kinda pissed him off. "I know, but you've also only been around us for a while. There'll be many more people at the train station who you'll be unfamiliar with, it's just as a precaution!" She assured him. He refrained from rolling his eyes at her, because she made a somewhat good point. Besides, she was letting him go on this mission, he should at least cooperate. 

"Tomioka-san was kind enough to make this for you. He wishes you well on your missions!" Shinobu explained, bringing the muzzle up to his face. With a disgruntled expression on his face, Muichirou reluctantly allowed her to fasten it to his face. It was green and looked exactly like the demon girls muzzle, and he couldn't help but wonder if this 'Tomioka-san' could have been a little more creative. To his credit though, the bamboo had a slightly sweet taste that lingered on his tongue, so he'd put up with it (he just really hoped it wasn't a coat of paint, or something).

"If you feel like you can go without it on the mission, you can take it off, but only if you're sure. And if you do, don't break it off your face. You never know if you'll need it again," Shinobu assured. "I'm sure he'll be fine, you worry too much," Sanemi addressed to her. She sent him a glare which shut him up promptly. She reached into her sleeve and pulled something else out.

"Here, I got this for you," she showed. It was a butterfly hair pin, in a dark-ish shade of cyan. "You don't have to wear it, but I figured since these two bozo's got you something, I'd give you something too." Looking at the pin, it was very pretty. He took it from her hands and cradled it in his own gently as he admired it, before putting it up his sleeve. He vaguely felt the sense of not wanting to leave, to stay here with his friends. But he also needed to do this, he needed to prove he could still be a demon slayer no matter what, to make his friends, the Master and his wife, to make everyone proud.

When the sun had finally dipped below the horizon, leaving only a faint orange glow, his friends waved him off. He immediately set off towards the direction of the train station. Ginko had stayed perched on his shoulder, helping him with the directions. Eventually she asked to stop briefly for a drink, because she was a bit thirsty. Muichirou complied with her request, taking her over to a still river that reflected the moonlight. He let Ginko hop off his shoulder to drink quickly from the river. While she drank, he once again noticed his reflection.

Well, it wasn't his. But it certainly looked like his.

Chapter Text

The travel to the station passed by in a blur. If Muichirou had anything to be grateful for, it was the increase in speed he got from being a demon. He hadn't taken long at all to get far away from the Butterfly Mansion, and eventually arrive at the train station. He was sceptical about going near, and he stood behind a tree and watched multiple people enter and leave. The overwhelming scent of humans, and more importantly blood, flooded his nostrils. 'Should have given me nose plugs instead, huh...' 

He idly watched, shifting weight from one foot to another. On one hand he was nervous about going near that many people. What if he hurt them by accident? What if he wasn't different from other demons? On the other hand, this was an amazing way to prove that he was different. That yes, he could still protect people regardless of if he was a demon. Ginko sat idly on his shoulder, preening with his hair to comfort him, or something. 

After a couple more minutes of thinking, Muichirou decided he would do it. He took a deep breath through his nostrils before emerging from behind the tree and walking up towards the station entrance. It was a standard train station, the building was made of stone with wooden beams. People were bustling about, some looking at him oddly but most were too busy to care about him. Some women would pull him back and ask if he was okay, or lost, but he usually managed to shake them off. He could feel his senses heighten, and an unusual sense of fear, or anxiety nestled in his stomach. He kept his face blank, concentrating on his breathing which was difficult with the muzzle.

He pushed through crowds of people before emerging on the station platform. There were some trains stationed idly there, some coming in and some others pulling away from the station. 'Now to look for Rengoku,' he thought. When he thought of Rengoku, he could remember bright reds and yellows. Turning his head left and right, and stretching it this way and that, he peeled his eyes for Rengoku. Even though his eyesight had significantly improved since becoming a demon, he unfortunately did NOT acquire the power to see through crowds of people. Eventually, a tall man came up to him. The man had kind eyes and wore simple clothes, a forgettable type of person.

"Hey there, are you looking for someone by any chance?" The man asked. Muichirou nodded, huffing through his stupid muzzle. "It uh... wouldn't happen to be a man with yellow and red hair, would it?" The man asked sheepishly. Red and yellow hair... yes, that sounded like Rengoku. Hopefully... After thinking about what his fellow Hashira looked like, Muichirou took a chance and nodded. He really should get better at remembering what people looked like, he thought absentmindedly. The man smiled down at him. "I had a man ask to keep an eye out for you in case you were lost. You can follow me to him," the man clarified, signalling for the young boy to follow him. Muichirou shuffled his feet after the taller man, keeping pace with him while letting Ginko nip at his hair and whisper something in his ear about following strangers. 

A couple of seconds later, the man stopped and tapped at someone's shoulder. "Hey, this is your friend, right?" The man confirmed, stepping out of the way. It was thankfully Rengoku, still in uniform with his usual flame cape around his shoulders. He also carried a somewhat large cart filled with bento boxes. 'What is all that for...? Is he trying to feed everyone on the train?' Rengoku smiled brightly at the man. "Indeed it is! Thank you, my friend. I was worried he'd get lost, haha!" Rengoku laughed. The man let out a noticeably quieter laugh. "Indeed, good sir. I bid you both goodnight, then. Have a safe journey, you two!" The man bowed before walking back to his platform. Rengoku let out a hum. "What a nice fellow. I was going to pay him, but it would be a bit awkward to chase after him now..." Rengoku's big smile did not fade though as he watched the man walk back to his platform.

"Anyway, Muichirou-kun! How good to see you again! I sincerely hope you've been doing well!" The man boomed. Muichirou simply nodded at the mans statement. He had somehow forgotten how loud the Flame Hashira really was. Not to worry, he could sleep through the mans chatter on the train. Rengoku's hand briefly disappeared behind him, rumagging through his flame patterned cape, before re-emerging with a small slip of paper on it. "I bought your ticket for you, just in case you were late! Shall I hold on to it for you?" The man asked loudly. Muichirou nodded. It was probably for the best the older man hold on to it lest he lose it before even boarding the train. Though, what would they do if he didn't have a ticket? Kick him off a moving train? Not smart at all, he thought in amusement.

Rengoku turned back towards the train boarding. "Our train is running a bit late, so we still have to wait a bit!" He explained. Muichirou nodded along with the mans dialogue, not really listening. He let his mind go blank as he listened to the microphones announce trains incoming or leaving. Ginko stayed perched on his shoulder, nestling behind his thick hair to stay out of sight. Rengoku began to chat mindlessly while they both waited. At times, Muichirou would tune in to listen to the man talk before eventually losing interest again. He noticed the man spoke of trivial matters. Was he simply passing the time while bored?

Muichirou would hum or nod along just to not seem rude. The man often laughed loudly and would sometimes ruffle his hair gently. 'He's a very fond person,' Muichirou noticed. Many people turned their heads in annoyance at Rengoku's loud voice, but the man paid no mind to them. 

After some time of hearing Rengoku's voice, the announcement announced for the train to arrive. 'Mugen Train', it was called. What an interesting train name. Shortly after that announcement, a train did indeed pull up to the station. It was a large black train with the word 'Mugen' framed in gold at the front. Even when the train was still a couple meters away, Muichirou could sense there was a demon nearby it, or possibly on the train. The train stopped at the station, and a minute later the train-car doors were opened and swarms of people emerged. It took about two minutes for everyone to exit before they were allowed on. They entered on to one of the train cars and found an empty seat before sitting side by side, Muichirou next to the window and Rengoku by the aisle with his rather sizeable cart of food stashed into their booth.

Muichirou shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. Yes, there was definitely a demon nearby, but he couldn't pinpoint where. It's presence was both subtle and overwhelming, messing with his senses and annoying him slightly. Fine, then. It will show itself eventually. There are two Hashira here, after all, it can't ignore us.

Rengoku began looking around the car. "Hm... Kochou had said that the Kamado boy and his friends would be joining us. I wonder where they are..." the man murmured quietly (wow!) before perking up. "I'm sure they're on another cart! I look forward to working with them!" He yelled enthusiastically, drawing the attention of some other passengers. Right after that, he pulled his cart of bento's towards him before clasping his hands together and bellowing "Thank you for the food!" very loudly, again drawing stares from other passengers as he started to eat the food. Muichirou could hear Ginko whisper less than kind words about the Flame Hashira to herself, but chose not to call her out on it.

The train took a couple more minutes of rest for maintenance before the train began to slowly pull away from the station. The man next to him had already managed to eat a sizeable amount of the food, and after every bite he'd yell out "Tasty!". If Muichirou was to be honest, he found it rather annoying, but didn't comment on it. To each their own, the man was simply appreciating the food. He sighed and leaned against the window, staring out at the passing scenery. The train began to speed up as it moved further away from the station, and eventually the trees became a dark green blur.

As he turned away from the window, he faintly heard the train car opening. Turning his head, he could make out a boy with red hair, a boy with yellow hair and... a boy with a boar head? He stared in disbelief, reaching underneath his haori to grab at his hidden sword. The boy didn't give off the aura of a demon, but why did he have a boar head then? The boy with the boar head began to look around, banging on windows and scaring other passengers like a feral animal. 'Hm... are these the kids we're meant to be on a mission with? Internal sigh. This is going to be a long mission.' 

Rengoku didn't move to acknowledge the presence of the three boys, continuing to loudly eat his food. Muichirou was thankful he chewed with his mouth closed, at least. The three boys moved towards the two Hashira, the red haired boy very apprehensive of the loud man while the yellow haired boy tried to wrestle the boar headed beast away from a passenger. "Well, they're practically a travelling circus, huh?" Ginko whispered, snickering to herself. Muichirou subtly nodded to appease his crow. The boy with the red hair eventually stood in front of them, watching his fellow Hashira devour his bento. 

At this point Muichirou turned his head away and continued to stare out of the window, tuning the others out. His eyes followed the passing green blur of trees. He faintly registered the quiet conversation that Rengoku and the red headed boy were having. He gently moved himself over when the latter sat down next to Rengoku. The two continued to talk for a couple of minutes, and it seemed the other two clowns had calmed down and were sitting somewhere nearby. A tap on his shoulder made Muichirou turn to his side again.

"Ah, here, Tokitou-kun. The conductor will be coming by to check all our tickets soon, so Rengoku-san asked me to give this to you!" The boy next to him smiled wide. Muichirou took the ticket from him. He could hear Rengoku laugh next to the boy. The boy kept smiling at him, which weirded Muichirou out to an extent. "So, I heard you were allowed on this mission, Tokitou-kun! I'm so glad to be working with you!" The boy beamed. Ginko silently cursed the boy out under her breath about honorifics next to Muichirou's ear. 

Was this someone he knew again..? Oh yeah, wasn't this the boy with the demon sister? Muichirou huffed coldly and waved a hand in the air. The boy looked slightly dejected, and something told Muichirou that maybe he should feel bad, but he didn't really care...

Hearing the train car door open, Muichirou turned and spotted the train conductor. He was a sickly looking man, dark eyebags sagging under his eyes, cheeks sunken in and his face sickly pale. Muichirou got a weird vibe from him, but thought better of immediately assuming the man as a demon. The conductor held his hand out, receiving Rengoku's ticket first. He punched it quietly, a small hole forming in the ticket and a small paper circle fell onto the floor. He quietly handed it back to Rengoku with a nod, who loudly thanked him. The boy next to him then gave his ticket, and the same process took place, but the boy thanked the conductor much quieter. The conductor then held his hand out for Muichirou's ticket. Staring at the man, he handed his ticket over, eyes never leaving his face. The man suddenly seemed weary of Muichirou, or alert. Muichirou could see it in how the mans eyes seemed to quickly dart back to him. The man handed him back his ticket, and Muichirou took it, eyes narrowed.

The conductor then shuffled away to the yellow haired boy and boar headed boy. Muichirou kept his head turned away from the conductor, but turned to his side to see if his company had noticed anything weird, but they both just continued to talk to each other. Muichirou sighed quietly. He turned to look out the window again, hearing the conductor's shocked screams at being assaulted by the boar-headed boy. 

Muichirou's eyes flicker around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, the passengers were all human, the conductor was too apparently... and most importantly, they were all alive, just asleep. Not letting his guard down, Muichirou stared forward, concentrating on... nothing, actually. He was just staying aware. He noticed a box tucked under the bench they were sitting at, under the scar headed boys feet. He gently kicked at it, and heard a muffled but large thump. It was just one big item in the box. He kicked it again, getting the attention of the boy next to him.

"Please don't kick my box... Nezuko's in there," the boy explained. Nezuko? What was a Nezuko? ... His sister? Why would he keep his sister in a box, that seemed very inappropriate... He sighed and rolled his eyes before turning away. 

About an hour into their journey, Muichirou was the only one awake. The boy next to him was asleep on Rengoku's shoulder, who was also asleep, and had miraculously finished all of his food. The train car was now completely silent, everyone was asleep but him. Well, that was nothing out of the ordinary, right? It was late at night. However, his fellow demon slayers should of course have been more diligent.

Ginko was still awake, thankfully, so she emerged from his hair and sat on his lap while talking his ear off. He truthfully didn't listen to much of what she was saying, but he was petting her while she talked so she didn't point out the fact he wasn't listening. Suddenly, Ginko hopped back into his hair and silenced herself immediately. Confused and alert, Muichirou immediately became more aware of his surroundings. The car door opened barely a second after Ginko had jumped into his hair. A girl walked in. She looked tired or annoyed. Her face and kimono were plain and forgettable, but she was a human. She sighed in annoyance before looking around for an empty seat. She found one behind Muichirou, and shuffled herself into it, all the way to the window.

Leaning back, Muichirou didn't know what to think. He didn't exactly know why she had only now come to their car. Maybe her father snored too loudly and she got annoyed? Or there was a crying baby? He couldn't hear anything of the sort though. Did she come from a further car, then? However, he didn't dwell long on it, because the girl also fell asleep, head leaned against the window. Ginko took a few more minutes to emerge again, but when she did she continued talking like before. 

After maybe another hour of her consistent chatter, Muichirou began to feel a bit drowsy. Why was he getting tired now of all times? If he fell asleep, a demon could attack easily! No... he was a Hashira... He could sense if a demon was going to attack. There was nothing to worry about, right...? However, he still stayed awake. The longer he tried to fight off the sleep, the more he felt himself get slightly dizzy. It wasn't anything dangerous, but why would he get dizzy if he was tired...? While he was busy pondering, he forgot to pay attention to his surroundings until it was too late.

He turned around right on time, before getting stabbed right in the eye with something. It was the girl! She wasn't asleep?! The awful feeling of something getting injected into his eye momentarily messed with his senses, before he was on his feet immediately, the needle getting dragged away from his eye. The girl was quick to chase after him, still annoyed as ever. Ginko began to squawk loudly, but still no-one woke up. Muichirou flung the car door open, but before he could even take another step, the girl tackled him. It was a bold move, because she could have knocked them both off the train, effectively killing her...

However, she pinned him down, dragging him to the connecting junction of the train cars. She still held the vial of whatever she injected into him in her hand. She seemed to shake a little. She seemed both a bit nervous, but also annoyed. Closing her eyes, she pushed her hand down onto Muichirou's face, pushing his head down off the connecting junction and-

A loud crush was heard and the girl opened her eyes. The demon under her stopped resisting. Just as she had calculated. His head had gotten stuck under the train wheel closest to the cart, exactly where she had pushed him down to, and had gotten torn off by the friction. Copious amounts of blood oozed onto the tracks and onto the demons clothes but she didn't have much time to care. Lifting the limp body towards her, she shakily brought the needle of liquid to the open wound. She took a breath through her teeth before stabbing the open wound with the needle, pushing down on the end to inject the rest of the liquid into his neck and flesh. She shakily stood up after, holding onto the walls of the car with bloody hands, eyes shaking while she felt bile crawl up her throat at the disgusting sight of the headless body. 'He's a demon, he'll regenerate eventually, but he was messing up the plan!' She thought. She could still hear the loud caws of the crow coming from the other train car, but she steeled herself and walked off into the other one, leaving his body limp and hanging off the junction.

She kept walking up to the very first car, her legs still a bit shaky from adrenaline. She pushed the car door open, and the heads turned to look at her. "I did it. He should stay asleep now," she spat venomously. "It wasn't that hard, you lot are just pathetic..." A shrill laugh was heard. "If it was that easy, why are you covered in blood? You look like a murderer!" It cackled. She looked down at the source of noise. It was just a hand. A hand not attached to a body, a hand with a mouth that could talk... She grit her teeth. "Let's just get this over with... I want to go home!"

The mouth on the hand smirked. "All right... very well then. Oh, how proud Lord Muzan will be of me for doing all this!"

The girl steeled herself, walking over to the talking hand where everyone else was. There was something in her that hoped those demon slayers would wake up and kill this monster, but even if they didn't, at least she got to go home after all this.

Chapter Text

The entire train was silent. All the passengers were sleeping 'peacefully'. Ginko continued to squawk in the train car, but no matter how loud she cawed, nobody would wake up. She picked at their feet, snapped at their ankles, tore the ends of their pants off, but no-one even moved. She couldn't get out of the car, and she had a bad feeling about all of this.

She hopped around aimlessly on the floor, poking and prodding the passengers but they all stayed asleep. What was happening? Were they injected with something? Like that girl tried to do to Muichirou? She huffed more, but didn't stop her pursuit for help. She hopped back over to the seat where Rengoku and the Kamado boy were resting, and once again tried to rouse them, screaming insults at them as they ignored her.

She angrily paced in front of them, her mind racing as it tried to come up with some sort of plan. Everyone was asleep, there was nothing she could do, and none of these lazy imbeciles would wake up!

A sudden movement of the car door caught her attention. A sick feeling settled in her stomach, and her feathers ruffled up in discomfort. 'Whatever this is, I have a bad feeling about it,' she thought. Quickly, she hopped underneath the set and nestled into the shadows, keeping a vigilant eye out for whoever came in. She could hear four footsteps, so four people. She could see the shadows of their feet from beneath the seat, watching as two of the people stopped outside her seat, the other two pairs continuing on for a couple more steps before also halting.

There were whispers and murmurs between them before it went quiet, and from what she could see, the two people by her seat had sat down before counting backwards. Before they had gotten to the end, the whispered numbers also faded off, and it was silent once again. It took a couple moments but eventually she shuffled out from under the seat and observed the people.

They were sleeping, and as much as she picked at their feet too, they didn't wake up. They each had a rope tied to their wrists that lead back to a different slayer; a black haired girl to Rengoku and an ill-looking boy to Tanjiro. 

"Ah, what a waste! While they came in, I could have left! How annoying, I should have thought about that..." she chastised herself. She huffed and stared around at her surroundings, before something caught her eye.

Underneath the seat was a box. She remembered earlier that the Kamado boy had whined about his sister being in there. She pondered for a moment. During her time in the hospital with Muichirou, she had learned that the girl was a demon. Was it safe to get the demon to help? Did she even have much of a choice...? After a moment of contemplating, she let out a resigned grumble before trudging towards the brown box. She poked at it subtly for a second before squawking loudly. 'Wait... why would she open now if she ignored me this whole time?! Goodness, what is with me today, and not thinking properly?' She recalled briefly. She let out an internal sigh, but she couldn't give up hope yet.

She pecked obnoxiously at the box for a couple minutes, making sure to caw loudly every now and then, before there was a small, muffled hum from inside. The box shook lightly, before the door swung open, and Ginko hopped out of the way. Nothing happened for an instant, but then a small girl tumbled out. She pushed herself up and stared at the crow, raising a hand to wave at it.

"You're Nezuko?" Ginko asked. The little girl hummed and nodded, propping herself up to sit more comfortably. "There's a bit of a bad situation, follow me!" Ginko ordered, raising her wing to signal the girl to follow her. Nezuko nodded and crawled out from under the seat. Ginko hopped towards the door, and raised her wing to point at the handle. "Here, I need you to open it." She ordered, but the little girl wasn't behind her anymore. She turned around and watched as the little girl pushed gently at her sleeping brother, shoving him harder the longer he didn't respond. 

"Hey, hey! Over here, girl! Here, here!" Ginko called, and Nezuko turned to look at her, pointing up at her brother with sad and distressed eyes. Ginko heaved. 'This is taking longer than expected, and I still don't know what's happening...' Ginko thought dejectedly. At this point, she'd never reach Muichirou...

The longer she stirred her thoughts, the more agitated hopeless she got.

She wished she could help more. If she had snuck out when those people entered, if she had noticed that girl before she attacked Muichirou...

But it went back further than that, didn't it?

It did.

Ever since she lost her wing, she'd been rather useless at helping her master. She couldn't fly at all, and needed to be chauffeured around like a spoilt girl.

So maybe... if she had gotten help for Muichirou quicker, that demon wouldn't have sliced her wing off, wouldn't have made her a helpless, useless being who couldn't even do what she fulfil the one order she was given.

Was she asking for too much, to just be useful for once? To finally be able to do something to help after all these months, to yell orders at people and actually have it pay off so they could do something? Something she never could? Or was it over after all these years? Would she have to retire, be replaced? Was she just a lost case now? How depressing... 

Nezuko watched the crow deflate, like a balloon. It was hard to figure out what the poor creature was thinking, but it rested against the floor, head tilted down without hope. 'Sad... help! I should help it!' Nezuko concluded. She turned back to her brother. She had mixed feelings about leaving his side, but surely it would only be a moment, she surely could leave his side for a second to help the crow! But a part of her really didn't want to. Like if she left now, he'd slip away or something. Her thoughts were conflicted for a second, and she thought about what her brother would want her to do. Tanjiro would want her to help, right? So she should help!

With resolution, Nezuko stood and toddled over to the crow, scooping her up and coddling her in her arms, much to Ginko's shock. The demon girl cuddled the crow for a minute, rubbing her warm cheek against her feathers in comfort. Ginko found it did make her feel better.

That's right, she couldn't give up! Not until this demon was defeated!

"Girl-... Nezuko-chan! Open the door!" Ginko instructed, and following the command, the girl grew up to an older age and pulled the door open. The wind from the moving train immediately rushed into the train car, but Ginko could see him! He was lying on the connecting junction... covered in blood! Ginko shivered in fear, taking the long jump and plummeting into her master, before scooting up towards his neck. 

His head was missing, blood still excessively pouring from the neck in the wind, and there was still some splattered on one of the wheels by his head that rolled onto the tracks. "Muichirou-dono! Muichirou-dono! Wake up! Wake up, please!" She pleaded. He remained unmoving, his clothes scattering in the wind. Nezuko picked her up again, tucking her on her shoulder before reaching down to the boy. With a bit of complication (trying not to end up losing her own head to the wheels), she managed to get him upright enough to hook her hands under his arms, before turning him around and dragging him back into the car. Blood trailed after them, but still Muichirou didn't wake up.

Back in the safety of the car, the girl dragged Muichirou over to her brother, before leaving him on the floor. She went back to shoving her brother, trying to wake him, while also doing the same with Muichirou. It was no use though, as he didn't wake up or even move aside from the force she used to push him. The sight disturbed Ginko. She knew he was a demon now, so he'd regrow his head eventually but what if this was the end? What if he didn't wake up from this? Had she really failed to keep him safe again?

'No, no, no, no, no! Not now! I have to save him now! I can't give up, I need to help him now! He's strong, he can regrow his head, he just needs help! He needs a push in the right direction!' Ginko determined. But how could she help him best?

She racked her brain as much as she could. Thought back to everything that happened throughout the last couple of months, to anything that could possibly help him. Only two instances came to mind, however.

The first involved Nezuko. She had burned him awake, hadn't she? What if she tried to do that again? If she could... It had hurt Muichirou, left him screaming and tired for more days after and burned a lot of his skin off, but he had reacted. He felt it. If she burnt him again would he react again? It wouldn't grow his head back but if he was at least concious enough to feel the pain, start to heal the burning, maybe he could regrow his head!

The second plan was a bit more difficult.

Back when that idiot Wind Hashira had tried to 'prove' Muichirou, she had vaguely remembered him devouring himself to avoid temptation. Would devouring himself help to heal? Or hinder him even further? Besides, he didn't have a mouth, how could he eat himself without one? Maybe his neck wound would absorb something. She remembered the liquid the girl had injected into him. Would that stop him from regenerating? Was it what was stopping him from regenerating?

At least this time she had some ideas of what to do, instead of being a sitting duck. She looked back at Nezuko seeing if she was willing to help. The girl was still busy trying to wake her brother up, but this time she had began to try wake up Rengoku too, as well as the other two clowns sitting on another seat. No matter how much she even tried, they still wouldn't wake up. Was it some sort of blood demon art keeping them asleep? Or were they poisoned too? But she didn't remember them getting injected!

She could try plan two then... She hopped over Muichirou's lifeless body, pushing up the sleeves of his haori and exposing his forearm. Mentally, she poured out an apology before digging her beak into the pale expanse of his arm. It went in deep, reaching the bone and blood gushed out of the wound. She could taste it on her tongue, the flesh too, but she pushed through it with the hope, the tiny thought of hope, that it would help him. She widened her beak, spreading the puncture open more before grabbing at the flesh in his arm. She probably also picked up nerves and blood vessels at the same time, but maybe those would help him too.

The taste nearly made her wretch, but she pushed through with determination. Ginko hopped up towards his neck, extending her beak and 'offering' the flesh to the neck wound. She watched with unmatched intensity, fascination, disgust, and a glimmer of hope as a vein reached out weakly to the offering, and absorbing it. Slowly, the edges of Muichirou's skin extended, by barely a millimetre but it worked! She leapt up in joy, and she understood this was a weird and, frankly, gross thing to get excited about but her plan worked! She actually did something to help!

With a newfound gusto, she continued to peck into the wound on his arm, watching more blood spill from the puncture and spill over his clothes and the car floor but it didn't deter her. Looking over, Nezuko realised what she was doing. Or at least, understood the concept of it. She shuffled over to the two, and watched intently as Ginko offered more brawn to his neck, watching as it absorbed it and regrew at a snails pace. 

Without much thought, Nezuko immediately reached for one of the boy's fingers, ripping it off and bringing it up to his neck as well. With more caution, another vein reached towards the appendage, wrapping itself around it. Nezuko and Ginko watched in a sick sort of awe as more veins wrapped around the finger, absorbing it and regrowing more of his neck. 

"The bigger we offer, the more regrows! That's good! Good job, gir- Nezuko-chan!" Ginko praised. It felt weird praising someone who wasn't her master, but she needed the girl to help her give more to Muichirou. Nezuko hummed, her eyes squeezing shut in appreciation at the praise. Immediately, Ginko went down to Muichirou's hand and with a bit of strain ripped a finger off, extending it to his neck. Once again, the veins reached forth and wrapped the finger up before digesting it, and regrowing some more of his neck in return.

The two got to work removing Muichirou's fingers, eventually his palms and wrists, up until his elbows when his head had fully regrown. Every now and then, Nezuko got up to toddle over to her brother and attempt to shake him awake but it never worked.

Ginko stared down at Muichirou. Even while he was unconcious (or asleep?) he wore a complex expression on his face. At least that stupid muzzle didn't regrow with his face. Now, to figure out how to wake him up, properly...

━─┉┈┈◈❖◈┈┈┉─━

It was dark. He was here again. Surrounded, confined, suffocated by mist. He had given up crying. Those red, emotionless eyes gave pity, but not answers. In a way, this man seemed familiar. He could only really see a vague outline of him, muted colours and little definition to his figure.

They stared back at one another, no words spoken between them. If he just asked questions, the man would speak back in riddles. It didn't help him at all.

He was still cold, annoyingly cold. His weak frame shivered, but he stared on with little emotion.

"It's... time for you to figure your way out," the man murmured into the air.

"..."

This confined space seemed to only be held by these two. That voice was familiar. 

"Do not let go."

"That was you... wasn't it?" Muichirou breathed. The faint silhouette of the man nodded, seeming to understand what he said. So, deep down, whoever this man was, was trying to help him. But of course, he had to do it in riddles, right...

"You need to figure out how to leave," the man said again.

A part of Muichirou itched to trust him. He had been right before, he could be trying to help him now again, but would they ever meet again? Was he willing to hold on to the off chance they would?

"Who are you?" Muichirou accused. The man did not answer. 

"Why are you here?" The man did not answer.

"How did you get here?" The man was silent, and just as Muichirou was about to ask another question, the man responded.

"I'm not meant to be here. You aren't who I'm meant to see."

"You're stupid riddles piss me off, talk normally." Muichirou demanded. The man did not answer.

"What happens if I don't leave?" He asked this time. 

"...You know what happens if you don't leave." The man answered.

Did he?

"Why don't you want to go?" The man asked this time.

"...You know why I don't want to leave." Muichirou answered.

The man nodded. "I do... but you need to." Muichirou knew that. Of course he knew that.

"Go back, Muichirou..." This time a different voice called out to him. Hearing it instantly made him want to cry, to run and seek comfort, but he couldn't figure out why. Hearing that voice made him want to stay even more.

"...Please... don't make me go back yet..." he mumbled shakily. "You know you should go back, Muichirou." The new voice responded.

"I know... but please don't push me away again... just a bit longer... please?"