The Demon Queen

The Two Humans

The odour from the two humans was horrible. One of them, who seemed to be a young teenager, had raspy breathing and stank of charred, burnt human flesh. The other one, who appeared to be several years older, stank of sour sweat, grime, and flaking, dried human scalp. My nose immediately recognised it as dandruff.

My nose scrunched up from the stench. I stood up from the cushion I was sitting on. "Douma, what the hell are you bringing into my --"

"Sakura-chan, we've got to help them!" Douma interrupted. "Look at them! It's so sad! I couldn't leave them out there. Poor things, they were going to freeze to death in the snow."

"Oh. It's snowing now?"

"How can you be so cold?" Douma asked. "And no, I didn't mean to make a pun with that because of the awful weather. But, look at them!"

The human with the raspy breathing was so burnt that it looked like they had been thrown into a fire. I looked to the other human, who I started to label to myself as 'Dandruff Boy', and saw his angry, yet tormented eyes. He had matted, messy hair and dark markings on his face. The light blue kimono he wore was too large for him. The garment was almost falling off of his body, showing how emaciated he was. His shoulder bones, chest bone, and ribs were so visible that it was as if he were a skin-covered skeleton.

"Hey, you," I said to the "Dandruff Boy". "Do you want some food?"

I wasn't sure if the boy was furious with me or if he was about to burst into tears.

"I don't want anything from you!" he yelled.

I flinched slightly at the sound of his scratchy and squeaky, throaty voice.

"How much do you have, living in a place like this?! And you've got the nerve to --!"

Douma set the boy down from carrying him under his arm. He put a hand over his mouth. "Don't talk to her like that," he said seriously, but calmly. "I gave you and your sister some of my blood to keep you alive. You wanted that, didn't you?" Douma looked towards me. "If it weren't for this woman, I would have never had the power to help you and your sister." He looked back to the boy. "She made me a demon. Learn to respect her."

Gyokko's head popped up from inside his pot. "You there!" he called to the boy. "Don't you address Sakura-sama with such insolence!"

"Gyokko, shut up," I said flatly. I picked up his pot and shoved his head back inside.

The boy's eyes widened in shock, staring at the pot in my hands. "What -- what was that?" he asked.

"Oh, that's just Gyokko. He's one of the demons that lives here."

"He's a great guy once you get to know him!" Douma added with a smile.

The boy's jaw dropped, revealing his mouth of broken and chipped teeth.

I sighed and brought Gyokko's pot to the door. I set it down on the floor outside. "Once I close the door, come out off there and find Akaza and ask him to bring some udon and tea or something." I slid the door shut.

"Oh!" Douma rushed over to me. "Are you sending Gyokko to find Akaza? Can I come, too? I love Akaza-dono! I haven't seen him in such a long time!"

"No."

Douma pouted. "But Sakura-chan --"

"It's best that Muzan doesn't sense you nor see you. You aren't supposed to be here, Douma, until you're able to bring back the --"

"I know, I know, the Blue Spider Lily. But I'm trying!"

I looked to the charred and burnt body he was still carrying under one of his arms. "And you're still toting that human around. If it weren't for that annoying breathing, I'd have assumed it to be dead."

"That's my little sister!" The 'Dandruff Boy' yelled angrily.

I looked at him.

Douma sighed. "My, my, he's acting out again. I really am sorry, Sakura-chan."

The 'Dandruff Boy' pointed at me. "My little sister isn't dead! Take it back!" He grit his teeth and glared at me with fire in his eyes. "Damn you. You have no idea what we went through. You with your fancy clothes and fancy house. You always had that, didn't you? You reek of a filthy noble. You have no idea what it was like for us. You have no idea how much we suffered! You fucking rotten noble! You --! You --!" He shot his hands to the sides of his head and screamed.

I watched, frozen by his outburst. As he fell to his knees, he screamed some more, until his screams transformed into wailing sobs.

"Give me back my sister," he sobbed. "Just give me back my sister. I don't care what you do with me. Just give her back. Give here back!"

"Douma," I said.

He looked at me. "Are you going to kill him?" he asked. "I wouldn't eat him if I were you. He's not very edible."

"I'm not killing anyone," I said and took the smelly, burnt-up human body out of his grasp. Disgusted by the stench, I carried the boy's sister in my arms and walked her over to him. The 'Dandruff Boy' stared at me with tearful eyes in disbelief as I set his sister down on the floor beside him. "You're right, kid," I said to him and squatted down to his level. "I don't have any idea of what you've gone through. I've lived my entire life in fancy clothes, living in a fancy house, and I don't know anything else."

The boy held his sister's body tightly to his.

"I'll make you both demons. If you want. I'll kill you. If you want. I'll let you both go as you are. If you want. You can eat the food that'll be brought for you, or you can throw it out the window. It's your choice, kid, and I'll leave it as your choice because you're right, I don't know at all what kind of life you've had. But for now, you can stay here in this room -- and I mean, in this room only -- and decide what you're going to do."