Ashen Demon

8

"Is he usually that affectionate?" Tanjiro asked with one of his eyebrows twitching at the sight.

While the road of recovery for the boys is going smoothly, it would have been also the perfect time to get to know Byleth better. However, their obstacle was the Upper Moon himself who is nuzzling up against the mint-haired woman, cuddling close to her. Byleth was only petting his silver locks, which made Douma hum happily.

"As far as I know, he is." Byleth nods, before blinking upon Nezuko moving herself on the opposite side of her. Her pink eyes giving the impression of an angry pout, as the unused hand is atop of her head.

Byleth went ahead to give her head-pats too, though she can feel the fact Douma is glaring at the younger Kamado.

"Be nice." she told him sternly, making the rainbow-eyed demon deflate a little in dismay while Nezuko was giving him a victorious look. Douma can easily tear Nezuko to shreds if he wants to, so of course the incarnate of the Fell Star isn't allowing it. Plus, now that it seems like the two will be traveling with them, she wants him to get along with the four.

As much as Zenitsu is feeling veeeery peeved that Byleth is giving attention to a demon, he is not brave enough to dismantle an Upper Moon head on. But he does not hesitate to voice it, clearly taking the whole 'all bark but no bite' attitude. Like seriously, why is she giving some head-pats to a demon who is a bloody killer previously but not much to look at!?

The reddish glow caught the demon girl's eye, and she looks over to see the Sword of the Creator laying beside the futon Byleth will be sleeping in. Of course, it drew her towards it as it looks unique. With a glow like that, she wonders if it'll be warm by touch. Once she is close to it within arm-length, she reaches out to touch the blade of the weapon.

But then Byleth stops her by gently grabbing hold of her wrist and moving her away from the divine weapon.

"Don't touch it; it'll hurt you if you do." Byleth gently tells her, making Nezuko blink her pink eyes at her and hums in acknowledgement.

"Wait, it will?" Tanjiro blinked with surprise, looking over to the unusual weapon.

"From what I noticed, it inflicts serious injury against demons as though it is the nichirin sword itself but much more severe." Byleth explains to them. Then she thought about it, and looks over to Douma, "Did it hurt you when I used it against you?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, it does! It stings so horribly, I thought I might actually have scars on my body!" Douma pouts from memory. Though he is also a bit disappointed that Byleth stopped Nezuko from touching it. He really wanted to see how it goes if she didn't.

"I've never seen a sword designed like that. What kind of material was it used to make it?" Zenitsu asked with a look of wonder. This made Byleth pause, seeing the looks she was getting from everyone in the room. She tries to think of something to make it believable, but couldn't find one.

"It's best if you don't know." it was all she can say.

When Zenitsu tried to detect her emotions through her heart beat, he was confused when he cannot hear anything at first. He concentrates, trying to hear the sound of the heart beat while ignoring everyone else. He couldn't find it, and that made his face start to grow pale when it starts to dawn onto him. There is only one reason why he can't hear it.

Byleth lacks a heart beat.

Which means, in other words, her heart is stopped dead.

Now that he thought about it, he instantly recalls the moment he first met Byleth. When it was only the four of them, he hears their hearts individually. But he was left confused at only hearing three heart beats, his own being excluded. He thought he was just imagining it. But it continues to bother him as the days progressed. Now hearing it and confronting the oddity head on, there was no mistake.