Kibutsuji Muzan was impatient. He had devised all sorts of schemes to stimulate his friend's cannibalistic urges, but none had borne fruit.
Whenever he went out, he diligently placed pitiful little demons around, and upon seeing his friend take them all without fail, he would grin and think, "As planned!"
Kibutsuji Muzan, with a sinister face like a god of the new world, was convinced of his victory, but what exactly was going as planned? A retort flew from the true god of the new world.
Even though his friend was continuously being eaten by the little demons to the point where regeneration was becoming difficult, there was no sign of him losing his reason.
His will was as solid as diamond. The highest level on the Mohs scale, you could say. Diamonds don't break!
Kibutsuji Muzan wanted to drag his friend onto the path of a demon by any means necessary, but he had already mobilized all the little demons that his friend might like.
He thought about creating new demons, but he feared the consequences of breaking the promise with his friend. He was completely cornered.
Damn it, he regretted accepting that promise so easily back then.
Since he had obtained a demon capable of turning animals into demons, he thought it would be fine not to turn humans into demons—but looking back now, it was too hasty a decision.
After becoming a demon, Kibutsuji Muzan's thought process was like a missile that heads straight forward when in a hurry. He was fully aware that by taking shortcuts, he was skipping over necessary parts.
──Having Sairo as a subordinate, he learned one thing.
Turning beasts into demons actually had a lower success rate than turning humans into demons.
If they adapted, more powerful beast demons were born, but most died before that. As a result, the overall military strength of the demons wasn't much different from before.
He had hoped to mass-produce beast demons and annihilate the Demon Slayer Corps, but with this, the path to extinction was still far away.
Faced with reality where nothing went as intended, Kibutsuji Muzan let out a deep sigh.
Leaving beasts aside, was there no other way with his friend? His friend, who refused not only human flesh but even blood, and rejected animal meat, chewing only the offered pomegranates, was gradually—really gradually—losing his regeneration power.
His family, Rui and the others, hadn't noticed yet, and perhaps his friend himself didn't know. Only Kibutsuji Muzan alone had noticed it.
Kibutsuji Muzan had never fasted. He had never seen a demon do such a thing before.
Thus, what final outcome a demon who suppressed its appetite to the end would face was a complete unknown, even to his knowledge.
Where would his friend, walking that unknown path with an iron will, ultimately arrive?
The word 'starvation' flashed through his mind. He wanted to laugh it off, thinking 'no way,' but once the possibility crossed his mind, he couldn't.
But there was something even more frightening than starving to death.
His friend, losing his regeneration power bit by bit like this, eventually never recovering again.
Just the thought sent a chill down his spine. If he were targeted by demon hunters in that state—the ominous imagination had no end.
He had to make him eat human flesh by any means necessary.
Feeding him little by little with the small demons wasn't enough. He had to evoke a cannibalistic urge so strong that his friend's will could no longer suppress it.
It was right then, as he was pondering this.
"(Lord Muzan... no, Lord Muzan. I have a very brazen request...)"
His friend sent a message through the Blood Demon Art in such a low posture that he seemed about to bury his head in the ground. Thinking it was probably nothing serious, he urged him to speak, and as expected, it was an absurd request.
He wanted to help a human girl. According to what he heard, the girl was being abused by her family.
"(Lord Muzan, you usually mingle among humans, don't you? I'd like to borrow a bit of that network. I know it's unreasonable, but if you could find a family willing to adopt a white-haired girl...)"
"(Do you think I would?)"
"(I thought so~!)"
He wanted to grant his friend's wish as much as possible, but this was Lord Muzan of the Kibutsuji family, not someone who would move personally for some insignificant little girl he had no connection with.
His friend, who knew Kibutsuji Muzan's demon nature well, didn't cling on further, as if he hadn't expected it from the start.
"(Leave it. Girls in such situations are a dime a dozen in this world. Do you plan to reach out to every one of them? Admirable, but also foolish.)"
"(But...)"
A sulky voice. It was such an easy-to-understand voice that he could vividly imagine his friend pouting his lips on the other side of the Blood Demon Art.
"(It's hard to pretend not to know when a suffering child is right in front of me.)"
This guy had always been like this since the old days. He had no sense of tact.
"(If you want to help that much, just turn her into a demon. I'll give you special permission.)"
"(I won't.)"
A remark thrown as if to say 'let it be.' It was just a joke.
Neither his friend nor himself could have imagined that such an insignificant conversation would become reality.
＊
The next day too, Dad and Brother didn't notice that the barn wall was broken.
When night fell, I secretly went to where Rei was and helped him look for the blue spider lily.
Rei resembled Mom. A kind person. Everything from his voice to his expressions and gestures was gentle. When we went for walks, he put straw sandals on my bare feet so I wouldn't get hurt, so even if I accidentally stepped on a stone, it didn't hurt that much.
Mom said that when someone does something for you, you should thank them, and if you receive something, you should return it in kind. But I had nothing to give back to Rei.
Instead, I looked hard for the blue spider lily, but morning came again without finding it. I returned to the empty barn once more.
What should I do? In this situation, maybe I should save the food delivered to the barn and give it to him as a return gift.
But even if Dad is one thing, Brother always scatters my food on the ground. Giving dirt-covered food as a return gift is a bit...
Hmm, let's not. Mom in heaven would probably stop that too, maybe.
After worrying so much about what to give back to Rei that my head hurt, and eventually not coming up with anything, the next day too, I roamed the mountain with Rei.
We still couldn't find the blue flower, but small white flowers were blooming here and there. When I absentmindedly said, "Pretty flowers," Rei plucked a few of those flowers and wove them into a large ring to hang around my neck. Calling it a necklace, smiling.
I was happy. Happy but troubled. I had received something again.
Troubled, but I couldn't hold back my laughter. Could Rei be a genius at gifts?
──After Mom passed away, nights were scary.
Being alone in the dark barn was lonely. But now, my nights are this joyful.
I wished the nights spent with Rei would continue forever. Tomorrow, the day after, and beyond—
But my happiness lasted only a few days, as brief as the sound of cicadas.
"...You're going back tomorrow? We haven't found the blue flower yet?"
Mom who disappeared without a word, and Rei who tells me in advance that he's leaving. Which one is kinder?
Rei stroked my head, saying, "I'm sorry." I know what 'I'm sorry' means. It's a word used when you've done something bad. Rei hasn't done anything wrong, so why is he apologizing?
Come to think of it, Mom often said she was sorry to me too. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Mukago. I'm sorry I couldn't help you." Saying that, she hugged me tightly and cried.
That night, I couldn't smile even once. I had no strength in my mouth, so I couldn't even lift the corners of my lips.
When I returned to the barn, morning came quickly. Thinking that I would part with Rei tonight, it felt like tears were soaking damply into my chest.
I still haven't given anything back to Rei. What should I give? No matter how much I thought about what would really make Rei happy, only the blue spider lily came to mind.
I couldn't stay still at all.
After Brother left the meal in the barn, I secretly rushed out into the daytime world.
Brother and Dad are out working during the day, so it should be fine. Since I wasn't caught even when I was out all night, it should be okay for a little while during the day too. I just need to return before the sky turns red.
Even though Rei and I had thoroughly searched the mountain, maybe I missed something in the darkness of night. During the day, I might be able to find the flower. With an earnest heart, I ran through the bright world.
──But in my hand returning to the barn, there was no blue flower. Instead, I held a bunch of small white flower blossoms. The same flowers Rei had made into a necklace.
I didn't want to return empty-handed without finding the spider lily. So I decided to make the same thing and give it to Rei.
I don't really know how to make it, but if I weave it, it might turn out decently. I hope it's completed before night comes.
"...If I say I want to go with him, will he take me?"
No, I can't.
I'm a useless bug-eater, so I'll only be a burden to Rei.
"Will he come back here again..."
I'll ask him tonight. If he says he'll come back—I'll live.
Even though I thought it was okay to die, seeing how I want to live over such trivial things, I'm really simple.
But Mom would say it's okay, probably.
Now, I need to hurry back and make the necklace. I'll give the necklace with a "thank you."
Will Rei be happy? If he isn't happy, I'll have to apologize with "I'm sorry." But Rei is kind, so even if it's a lie, he'll probably act happy.
Imagining Rei's reaction with a pounding heart, I slipped out through the gap in the trees. And in front of the barn I had to return to—my feet stopped.
My nest, decaying like a ghost.
Brother's gaze, standing at its entrance,
pierced me like a sharp blade.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I apologized many times, but Brother.
Did not stop hitting me.
＊
Okay, I've decided. I'll take Mukago away from here.
The last resort, the Eternal Paradise Cult, is out since I don't know the temple's location.
I'll kneel and beg Shunjo and Yuriko in the village to take care of Mukago.
Being penniless and unemployed, financial support is difficult, but I'll really put effort into food procurement. Whether it's deer, wild boar, or even a bear, I'll catch them. I won't hesitate to change my profession from demon hunter to bear hunter.
As night deepened, I left the cave and headed to the meeting place with Mukago. But no matter how long I waited, not even Mukago's shadow or her light footsteps could be heard.
Strange. We definitely promised to see each other again tomorrow. Did something happen on the way?
Recalling the direction Mukago went last night, waving her hand with a smile, I climbed the mountain path, wrapped in anxiety and impatience.
Then, a strange sound grazed my eardrum.
Scratch, scratch, scratch—
A sound of digging soil, as if scraping or cultivating.
But this regular sound wasn't from an animal. It was a distant, small sound that faintly shook the winter stillness, but to a demon's hearing, it was clearly audible.
I followed the sound with my steps. Because I thought it might be Mukago. In this night where even breath would freeze, the only human wandering around, as far as I knew, was that child.
But the source of the sound wasn't Mukago.
A shadow muttering like a madman—it wasn't a girl but a man.
"I'm... not bad—this brat... it's her fault—she went outside... disobeying orders—"
"Just hitting a little—that much—and she becomes... immobile—"
"Dad will scold me—I'll tell Dad... this brat ran away on her own—"
Spilling unpleasant monologues, the man swung a hoe. He was digging a hole large enough for a person to fit in.
Beside it, a shabby burlap sack was placed. Through the torn seams like rags, something like a thin stick was poking out.
At first, I thought it was a birch branch. But it wasn't a branch—
"...Ah,"
A bruised left arm.
The oddly bent shape of that little finger looked familiar.
*
"Mukago!!"
At my shout, the man who turned his head saw my hair and screamed as if he had seen a ghost. Ignoring the man who threw down the hoe and ran away, I collapsed to my knees in front of the burlap sack.
"Mukago, Mukago, Mukago...!"
Inside the forcibly torn sack was exactly what I had expected.
Limbs engraved with brutal violence, too horrific to even speak of. If it weren't for that strangely shaped little finger, if it weren't for the pure white hair, I wouldn't have recognized it as Mukago.
In Mukago's current appearance, there was no trace left of that lovely girl.
"Re...i?"
Swollen eyelids slowly lifted. The girl was still alive.
"...Hehe, during the day... I went out secretly, got... caught..."
Mukago laughed. Murmuring with broken teeth, she gave an awkward smile.
"Wanted to find... blue flower... for you... cough!!"
Coughing up blood seeping from ruptured internal organs, I couldn't tell her not to speak.
Whether she spoke or not—the outcome this child would face was the same.
The fact that she was still alive like this was a miracle; Mukago's life was nothing but a fleeting illusion. I didn't know what to say to this girl who would soon die, already seized by the afterlife.
"Mukago, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...!"
Only self-centered apologies flowed from my mouth.
I should have taken her away not tonight but yesterday. No, I should have helped her the day we first met.
If I hadn't come here in the first place, if I hadn't told Mukago about the blue spider lily, this child wouldn't have gone outside during the day and been caught by her brother.
"Rei, why... are you apologizing...? Why... are you crying...?"
Mukago's death was my fault. Now, an irreversible regret endlessly chases me. I never thought of running away from the start. I was prepared to willingly accept all the blame.
I will carry Mukago's death with me for the rest of my life. Forever bearing on my back the smile of this child, as if gathered all the purity of the world.
If I were an ordinary human, I might have just resigned myself to that.
＊
Kibutsuji Muzan contacted his friend at that moment not for any particular reason. He was just bored.
The negotiation that day ended earlier than expected, and he had finished all the work brought from the company. Alone in the mansion he occasionally visited to live disguised as a human, he couldn't bear the boredom.
"(...Sorry, Lord Muzan. Just a moment... later, please.)"
The friend's voice responding through the Blood Demon Art was terribly subdued. He asked to do it later, but upon hearing such a voice, Kibutsuji Muzan wasn't so heartless as to follow that request.
"(What's wrong? Don't tell me that girl died or something?)"
It was a joke. A malicious joke hoping for a reaction where his friend would snap back with "No way!" and then excitedly list trivial reasons like "I tripped over a tree root" or "I stepped in dog poop."
But contrary to expectations, his friend said nothing. A long, deep silence filled the space between them. Finally, his friend spoke in a suppressed voice.
"(.........She's alive, still.)"
He realized.
The fact that the girl his friend was concerned about was now being swallowed by death.
Kibutsuji Muzan couldn't see through his friend's vision. He didn't know what state the girl was in now, why, or under what circumstances she was dying.
But he could clearly tell that it was an irreversible fate of death to the point where his friend, once a doctor, would let go.
Right now, his friend was watching the girl's death.
Upon realizing that, what filled Kibutsuji Muzan's chest wasn't pity for that girl. Nor was it empathy for his friend's sorrow.
It was anger.
"You fool, what are you doing just standing there blankly?"
Pouring his boiling thoughts directly into his voice, Kibutsuji Muzan bared his fangs, swept up in passion.
"Why aren't you saving her? Why aren't you turning her into a demon? Why—are you just watching and doing nothing?"
There was no answer to that anger.
His friend didn't even make a single excuse.
"Don't tell me you're thinking of spouting nonsense like it's better to let her die as a human than live as a demon."
That was a denial of the very existence of Kibutsuji Muzan.
It was tantamount to silently judging that a demon's life is more vile than a human's, devaluing it.
"Did that girl want to die as a human? Did she say she doesn't want to become a demon?"
Kibutsuji Muzan knew almost nothing about that girl. Just that she had white hair. What her personality was like, what face she smiled with, or what voice she used to call his friend. Nothing.
But he had conviction.
It wasn't delusion. It was conviction born from experience.
What kind of heart a person who lived with this man, who received his sun-like smile, would have.
This man always makes people want to live. His mere existence makes people's lives shine brightly.
That girl must have also wished for tomorrow, the day after, and beyond—with him. She must have undoubtedly painted that future in her heart.
In unwavering conviction, Kibutsuji Muzan's voice trembled with passion.
"She wants to live, that girl does!"
I don't want to die.
Just like how, from the day I met you, my desperate struggle to breathe with that one reason alone changed into a dazzling wish to live.
＊
I had it.
Exactly one way to save this child. From the start, I knew.
"Mukago."
Please let me turn away like this.
Shake your head for this question.
"Do you... think you want to live?"
Even though I want to save you, blame me for not wanting to.
While thinking I want to remain silent and turn away, curse me to your heart's content for ultimately not doing so.
"Even if you become not human, even if you become a demon... do you think you want to live?"
Faintly, faintly, Mukago nodded her head.
Was the sigh that escaped these lips disappointment or relief?
Ah, both, perhaps.
＊
Nakime, and.
How long had it been since he called my name like that? My heart fluttered at the long-unheard voice, but outwardly, I acted nonchalant and raised the biwa plectrum to greet him.
At that moment, my head spun dizzyingly. Because of the sweet fragrance that instantly spread throughout the Infinity Castle.
It was the smell of blood. A sweet, deep, subtly permeating aroma. But it wasn't a human's rare blood—the sense of smell accurately distinguished it. Demon's blood.
"Long time no see... Nakime."
The source of the fragrance sweeter than flowers, deeper than honey, was him. The scent of blood, his very smell.
A crimson-stained upper body. My gaze lingered briefly on the shoulder still sluggishly healing, then shifted to something he held in his arms.
He was holding a red haori. As if telling of a horrifying amount of bleeding, the cloth soaked red was still not dry, and blood dripped from it; wrapped in the haori was a small, frail girl.
The girl was asleep. Too peacefully, incongruous with the situation.
"This child... fell asleep... could you let her... rest for a while..."
Drip, drip, drip.
Saliva flowed from lips that couldn't even regulate breath, panting, but it seemed he didn't even have the strength left to wipe it.
I played the biwa to lead him to a sleeping area. He carefully laid the child on the futon he used mainly until not long ago. As soon as I confirmed that, I swung the biwa plectrum again to summon the man here.
If he intended to rest with the child, sorry—but for some reason, I didn't want that.
"Thank... you... Nakime."
With a face devoid of any color, he smiled weakly. Pale and trembling, he forced a smile.
"...Please rest comfortably. You must be exhausted."
It was only natural to suggest that upon seeing this pitiful state. He slowly sank to the spot as if even standing was difficult.
Right next to me, close enough to reach out and touch.
I had heard stories that he was giving his blood and flesh to demons. I also knew that while feeding quite a number of little demons, he himself wasn't eating human flesh and enduring.
For someone with such strong mental fortitude to be weakened to this extent meant that child must have been quite a glutton.
How many times did that child bite his shoulder, how much did she crave that flesh, and how much of his blood did she drink?
Just thinking about that, really just that—
I bit my lip in jealousy.
I don't want to eat him. I've never even thought about it.
I just felt envious. That she could fill her hungry stomach with only this man. That she could devour this man's cells whole, staking her entire body's cells.
Was it because of a woman's nature to desire so ardently to become one with the man she loves? Or was it because of the distorted lust of a demon who eats people?
I quietly set down the biwa plectrum. I pushed the biwa resting on my lap aside and offered my hand, empty of anything, to him who was crouching.
At the touch of fingertips on his crown, he slowly raised his head. Our eyes met. His red gaze was terribly weary, yet it was the eyes of one too hungry to forget sleep.
Nakime stroked his head along the strands of his hair. The white hair, as if holding moonlight, accepted the touch as smoothly as silk, and his cheek was no different. My fingers slid over his skin, unbelievably fine for a man.
Was his skin like this even when he was human? Before getting an answer to that question, my fingertips reached the man's dry lips and stopped there.
"Lord Rei."
Nakime didn't know what voice a woman uses to call a man at such a moment.
With a resolve to rot and crumble along with a first love that had become too late to fulfill, she whispered.
"How about tasting me?"
I wanted to fill completely—the mouth that doesn't know the taste of people, the stomach that doesn't know human flesh, the cells that don't know human nourishment, and himself tormented by hunger—with this demon body.
"The thirst won't be quenched, but the hunger can be endured."
Demon flesh isn't as tasty as human flesh. Rather, the taste of one's own kind is more dreadful than anything.
But I didn't care if it tasted bad. If it was a taste so disgusting I'd never forget it my whole life, that was even better.
A beautiful love that would remain in the man's memory—something like that was impossible for me, a demon, from the start.
"Now, come on."
I stroked his lips as if tempting him. The man's shoulders trembled slightly. His crimson pupils, as if ripening, gradually narrowed.
They were hungry eyes. He seemed to have no strength left to resist a woman's clumsy teasing, as if he would collapse to the floor if he leaned in.
With a pounding heart, I watched as his lips slowly parted. My vision grew hazy from the heat of his breath seeping through the gap.
I earnestly wished—for him to bite my finger, chew my hand, devour my arm, and then invade the body beyond, to drink the flowing drops of blood—but.
"—Could you... play the biwa for me?"
His lips didn't bite Nakime's finger. A hand with thick knuckles gently took Nakime's hand and returned it to her lap. An action filled only with gentleness, as if handling something fragile.
"Please. For me... that works best."
A sincere voice. His face, tinged with pain, smiled. I couldn't refuse that plea.
With the hand I was about to feed him, I picked up the biwa plectrum again.
The melody of the biwa spreading through the Infinity Castle, he listened not only with his ears but with his whole body, eyes closed. Seeing him tasting the sound with a faint smile made me, the player, feel embarrassed instead.
Even though it was a familiar piece played hundreds, thousands of times, I played several songs in a row, anxious that my hands might slip—
"Thank you, Nakime."
He bowed his head. It wasn't a forced smile but his usual one. The eyes that had been colored by hunger were completely rounded, and the beast-like glint had almost disappeared.
Should I be happy or disappointed? A strange emotion passed, but.
"As thanks... I want to give you something."
Since he said that, I decided to be happy for now.
Now, what should I ask for?
Last time I heard the same words, I cheekily replied that I didn't need anything.
"What would you like?"
Even seeing him tilting his head, what I desire doesn't immediately come to mind. What I truly want is right in front of me, but I still lacked a bit of courage to say it.
Silence flowed. Through a silence that felt like minutes in an instant, the answer that barely came out was.
"...You."
"Me?"
"...What you want to give to me."
It was an answer too vague and formless, something that couldn't even be called an object.
Hearing a response more unclear than a riddle, he opened his eyes wide in surprise.
"Saying that is unfair of you."
You who laugh like that—are much more unfair.
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