Disclaimer: Demon Slayer is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
---
Koyuki tightly gripped Akaza's arms, a hint of confusion in her heart as her thoughts grew increasingly clear.
'Something feels different ever since I grabbed hold of Hakuji.'
'But... I don't have much time left...' Koyuki thought anxiously.
She, who should have gone to heaven, had forcibly lingered in this realm between worlds until now.
She didn't know how much longer she could maintain this state, and even managing to come to Hakuji's side now was only by chance.
'I have to make the most of this time...!'
Unbeknownst to her, specks of cherry-blossom pink light began to glow from Akaza's arms, floating and attaching themselves to her.
Koyuki looked up, her gaze filled with worry as she watched over Hakuji, her lips pressed together slightly.
Her face flushed red, but she keenly caught the subtle change in emotion within Hakuji's eyes.
Pat.
She quickly reached out and tugged at Hakuji's short robe. With a sense of anxious urgency, she spoke in a hopeful tone.
"Hakuji-dono, we made a promise."
Koyuki's ethereal hand clasped Akaza's stiff one, and she gently tightened her grip. "From now on, don't hurt anyone else."
Akaza's neck stiffened. His eyes trembled, emotions of confusion and conflict flickering within them.
He was still in a state of disorientation, perhaps because he hadn't faced a life-or-death crisis.
The memories in his mind were a chaotic blur.
He finally realized who the person before him was.
'Koyuki.'
But aside from understanding that she was incredibly important to him and vaguely grasping how terrible the things he had done as a demon were, he couldn't remember anything else.
He remembered, but not fully.
He himself didn't know why those memories had suddenly surfaced just now.
But seeing Koyuki's anxious expression,
He instinctively nodded.
"Alright."
"You can't eat people anymore either." Koyuki held up one finger, her tone leaving no room for argument.
"I won't."
"Constantly demanding others become demons won't do either; it causes trouble for them." She looked up, closed her eyes, and playfully tapped her own head as if lecturing.
"Yeah." Hakuji's pink eyelashes narrowed slightly as he nodded repeatedly, holding Koyuki's hands with both of his. "Whatever you say."
"...Ah."
Seeing Hakuji agreeing to everything,
'Maybe... I got a little carried away...'
Koyuki was momentarily stunned. A bead of sweat formed on her forehead, her cheeks slightly flushed. She quickly lowered her head again, her eyes darting away as she thought.
"Um... also, there's..."
Pat.
As Tanjuro landed on the street and looked toward Akaza, he simply saw Akaza reaching out into the void as if holding something.
With his back to Tanjuro, a serene smile graced his profile as he slowly nodded repeatedly into the darkness before him.
Click.
Tanjuro slowly sheathed the Kusabimaru at his waist.
He straightened up, his gaze lingering thoughtfully on the street ahead.
It seemed there was no need for him to persuade Akaza.
"Hmph." As if hearing the sound of Tanjuro landing behind him, Akaza's ears twitched. "You're still here."
Akaza whipped his head around, glaring at Tanjuro warily.
He was a demon, while the other was a demon slayer.
He hadn't forgotten that this was the man who had killed Upper Rank One.
Now that he had calmed down, Akaza knew that he, being only Upper Rank Two, was likely no match for him at the moment.
Koyuki's current state was unclear, but for now, it was best to get away from these people.
Holding Koyuki's hand in the void, Akaza cautiously turned around to leave.
As if remembering something, Akaza looked at Tanjuro and called out. "Hey, You! Demon Slayer!"
Tanjuro met Akaza's gaze, his eyes lingering on Akaza's right hand, which was loosely clenched as if holding someone's hand.
Though he couldn't see anything, he still tried to imagine Akaza holding Koyuki's hand.
Then, he raised his hand, smiling as he waved slightly in the direction of where "Koyuki" might be.
Lowering his arm, his expression returned to calm.
That drug might have induced hallucinations, imagination, or comfort to the soul.
But in this world, the souls of the deceased truly exist.
No one could say for sure what exactly was standing there.
"What's your name?" Akaza's voice called out again.
The corner of Tanjuro's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
Why do these Upper Moons always like asking such questions?
But he only thought this to himself, making no outward movement.
"Kamado Tanjuro."
He spoke softly.
Given a demon's hearing, he was sure that even without shouting, Akaza could clearly hear his words.
Akaza saw Tanjuro's lips move slightly from a distance and frowned.
He cocked his head in confusion.
"Kama... what, Juro...?"
"...Whatever."
Noticing Tanjuro wasn't going to say more, Akaza frowned, didn't dwell on it, and shouted back.
"My name is—"
He hesitated.
Having not yet fully recovered his memories from his human days, his own identity felt unimportant to him at this moment, stripped of meaning.
His own name was nothing more than something gathering dust in a forgotten corner.
"...It's Hakuji." Koyuki stood on tiptoe and whispered softly in his ear.
"Hakuji! Remember it, Kama Juro!"
He quickly picked up and shouted back.
Then, he turned around and nonchalantly strode away.
Though the speed at which he turned seemed a bit too quick, as if he were trying to flee.
Akaza checked on Koyuki beside him, holding her hand tightly, afraid to let go.
She looked so ethereal, as if she might disappear with the slightest misstep.
He reached out his other hand, tentatively touching Koyuki's head.
After confirming he could make contact,
As Koyuki blushed and looked at him timidly,
"Hang on tight, we're leaving." Akaza scooped Koyuki into his arms, cradling her bridal style. He bent his knees slightly, aiming towards a distant mountain peak.
"Okay." Koyuki's voice was soft as she wrapped her arms around Akaza's neck, burying her face in the crook of his elbow, nodding slightly.
Akaza pushed off lightly with his feet.
Boom!!
A crater formed where he stood, and he shot off like a cannonball, flying straight away from this place.
Tanjuro squinted, observing the direction Akaza had fled, making no move to stop him.
"Aren't we going after him, Tanjuro-san?"
Kyojuro jumped down from the rooftop after a short run, standing beside Tanjuro and asking loudly.
"That Upper Rank demon is getting away."
Gyomei also jumped down, sharing the same question.
"This outcome... Is it as you envisioned?"
Gyomei asked Tanjuro in a low voice, his massive spiked mace already stowed beneath his monk's robes.
He was asking about the plan to mislead an Upper Moon.
Gyomei pressed his palms together, producing a set of Buddhist prayer beads from somewhere, and began fumbling with them.
"Yes. Though things played out a bit differently, the result is more or less what I imagined." Tanjuro observed and nodded slightly.
"Use Transparent World to see which direction he went."
Gyomei paused for a moment. He slowly looked up, the faint reflection of a distant mountain peak appearing in his pale eyes.
After his "gaze" made contact with a figure speeding through the mountain forest,
His fingers, which had been moving the prayer beads, paused slightly.
"This is..."
...
In the mountains,
Akaza's blurry figure streaked through the trees in mid-air.
The scenery on both sides rushed past in a blur.
Whoosh—Boom!!
He thrust both feet forward, stomping hard into the ground, his legs sinking deep into the earth.
The powerful momentum was difficult to stop. After forcibly carving two deep trenches in the mountainside, Akaza finally managed to steady himself.
The memories from his human days flickered continuously, the fragmented recollections gradually surfacing.
Akaza pulled his legs out of the craters, standing on the mountainside, cradling Koyuki in his arms.
"What... should I do now?" he murmured.
The people he once wanted to protect were long dead.
Koyuki was right. There was no point in becoming stronger anymore.
Even now, Kokushibo, the one he once wanted to challenge,
Was already dead at the hands of—
Drap, Drap, Drap!!
As Akaza hung his head, immersed in his thoughts,
A flurry of hurried footsteps brushed past his ears.
Thump!
In his lowered, dim field of vision, a foot wearing wooden clogs tied with straw rope suddenly appeared.
The newcomer's robe hem fluttered slightly from the rapid running, his foot landing firmly on a large boulder in front of Akaza.
A black, loose hakama hung down, and from his lowered perspective, Akaza could barely see the scabbard strapped to his waist.
His originally dazed gaze focused on this solemn and strictly traditional samurai attire.
Akaza was stunned.
Memories of the Upper Rank meeting in the warm, dimly lit Infinity Castle overlapped intensely with the figure before him, half-illuminated by the pale moonlight.
Among all the demons he knew, only one individual dressed so formally!
Hesitating, he stiffly raised his head, slowly following the figure's feet upwards.
Until he looked up completely.
And met the gaze of the six golden eyes, backlit against the bright moon.
Akaza's pupils constricted sharply. A chill ran down his spine, swiftly climbing upwards!
"Upper Moon One?!" Gritting his teeth, his body trembling uncontrollably, he cried out.
Michikatsu, draped in a serpent-patterned haori, stood atop a rock, looking down. His hand rested casually on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
The bright moon appeared through a gap in the dense forest, shining directly above the man.
His six eyes gazed down at Akaza.
His tone was calm as Michikatsu spoke unhurriedly. "Akaza... you..."
"Aren't you already dead?!" Akaza harshly interrupted him with a loud shout.
Akaza hid Koyuki behind him. He looked up, his mouth agape in astonishment, yelling.
"Why are you here!?"
As he spoke, he hesitated and exchanged a glance with Koyuki behind him.
'Come to think of it, Koyuki also seemed to be...'
Seeing Koyuki's bewildered and innocent expression,
Akaza quickly turned back.
'Koyuki is different! She's special!'
'How could that six-eyed bastard be compared to Koyuki?!'
Michikatsu, who had been feeling somewhat at ease, suddenly darkened. He listened to Akaza's uninterrupted tirade and fell silent for a moment.
Click.
"When did I ever say... that I was dead...?" His hand tightened slightly on the sword hilt at his waist.
Seeing the supposedly deceased Michikatsu speak, Akaza instinctively stepped back, watching him warily.
"...At the last Upper Moon meeting."
"Upper Moon meeting...?" Michikatsu slowly closed his upper and lower eyes. Having grown accustomed to seeing with two, opening all six felt somewhat uncomfortable.
"That's right."
Akaza nodded, slowly retreating. He was nearing the edge of the dense forest behind him.
"Muzan-sa... Muzan said so."
Krr—
Michikatsu raised his darkened, grim face. The blade at his waist was already partially drawn, its polished surface reflecting Akaza's appearance.
"Akaza..."
His voice was low and slow, yet brooked no argument. "Either way, the outcome is already decided..."
Michikatsu's other hand held a test tube.
The liquid inside was unlike any of the previous concoctions.
It was an even more efficient drug developed by Tamayo based on Michikatsu's blood, one that could sever a demon's connection to Muzan.
Its efficiency was incomparably higher than the single case from Yushiro, which Tamayo had only succeeded in creating after centuries of effort.
Michikatsu drew the blade fully, holding it vertically before him, obscuring half his face. His gaze was direct, yet it looked utterly sinister.
"Let me see if you've made any progress..."
---
Meanwhile, in the Infinity Castle,
Wooden structures floated in the air, intersecting and swooping past.
Warm light flickered as the buildings moved and overlapped.
"...Akaza." Muzan's scarlet eyes snapped open. He was lying flat on a wooden floor.
His gaze fixed upwards.
Akaza had addressed him by name recently.
Muzan sat up abruptly, his expression calm. His gaze slowly shifted to the side.
"Nakime, send the view of Aka—"
"No, wait."
His pupils contracted slightly as he hesitated.
Among all the Upper Moons, in Muzan's mind, the most loyal and power-hungry was Akaza.
Unless something unavoidable had happened, Muzan found it hard to believe Akaza would address him by name.
'He must have encountered something...or someone.'
A jolt of alarm went through Muzan. He quickly turned his head, looking towards Nakime, extending an arm and shouting.
"Nakime! Quickly bring Akaza ba—"
His shout stopped abruptly.
Muzan's expression froze in place, his arm still outstretched, motionless.
Nakime glanced at Muzan questioningly, her hand resting on the biwa in her arms.
Clang!
She plucked a string.
"Pfft!" Nakime spat out a mouthful of blood. Once again, she had failed to locate Akaza within the vast network of demons.
Akaza... had severed his connection with Muzan!
Muzan stared blankly. He slowly withdrew his outstretched hand.
Gradually, he stiffly lay back down on the wooden floor.
He lay flat, folding his hands over his chest.
It was as if the color had drained from him.
Muzan slowly closed his eyes.
This time, he no longer even possessed the will to look through his demon minions.