Ashen Demon

15

This is not what he is expecting.

 Akaza was given a mission from his lord to take care of the Hashira that was here to slay Lower Moon 1, Enmu.

He happened to be in the area at the time, and naturally he went ahead to do just that. Meeting Kyojuro and seeing his performance, he knew right then and there that he is the Hashira that he needed to kill. The battle he had with him was quite thrilling, the human fought well and has such talent, it would be a shame that he had to be put down.

 Of course, Akaza would prefer to have him to be a demon so that way he can keep fighting against him over and over. It's rare to encounter humans who are this good, and he never liked the fact they would easily succumb to their deaths one of these days.

That's why being a demon is a good thing; they wouldn't have to worry about dying so easily.

 So naturally, he offered the position of becoming a demon to the Hashira.

 Kyojuro blatantly refused, obviously.

And so, Akaza has to kill him and just when he was about to do just that, someone had intervened by slicing his arm off, to which he had quickly regenerated another, and whisked away the Hashira to safety. Said male is now currently laying on the ground near Tanjiro and Inosuke, exhausted but conscious enough to see another showdown.

 Akaza, if he had to be honest, was not expecting the person who intervened to be a female demon slayer. A young woman who appeared to be a foreigner, if her mint-green hair doesn't tell him that. A very attractive one at that, he noted to himself with absolute dismay.

 And she claimed to be his next opponent?

 Just his luck.

 "Who are you?" Akaza demands, as Byleth stands couple feet away from the Upper Moon 3. She stands there, being his obstacle from reaching to finish off the Flame Hashira and kill the weakling wearing the hanafuda earrings.

 "Byleth Eisner." Byleth remarks, as she gave an impassive expression to the demon in front of her. "You must be Upper Moon 3 Akaza, the one who specializes in martial arts."

 That made Akaza narrow his eyes; he is sure as hell he never encountered her before. He would've remember right away if she was a familiar face, since she sticks out like a sore thumb. As far as he knew, the Demon Slayer Corps do not know a fact about the Twelve Demon Moons, let alone knowing specifically the demons that holds the ranking.

 And yet, this one does.

 "How did you know who I am?" he questions her.

 "Let's just say I have ways." she remarks, rather a bit sassy which made him click his tongue in distaste.

She then readies herself to fight him, tightening her katana in her dominant hand. Although she noticed he did not get into stance like her.

 "Get out of my way." the pink-haired male tells her firmly.

 "Why should I?" Byleth raised an eyebrow.

 Could it be that he wants to finish Kyojuro off first?

 "I don't fight women." Akaza responds.

 'Nani?' Tanjiro, Inosuke and Kyojuro thought collectively as they looked at Akaza dumbfounded. An Upper Moon, who has slain countless lives for centuries, has a moral code of not hurting women?

 Byleth tilts her head at the striped-demon, a blink of silent bewilderment on her face.

 "....You don't?"

 He shakes his head.

 "Well I hate to disappoint you, but I will not step aside. If I do, you'll harm my comrades and I cannot allow that to happen." Byleth narrows her eyes at the Upper Moon before her. With her keen eyes, she observes the demon before her upon chance since he hasn't moved just yet.