Candles || Kokushibo

🖤19: ʀᴇᴅ ʟɪɢʜᴛ ᴅɪsᴛʀɪᴄᴛ🖤

      Tanjiro groans, his body fatigued from fighting the demon on his single expedition, as he returns to the butterfly estate. Akaza and Kokushibo follow closely behind as the towering monster holds a large umbrella tightly. Tanjiro's box makes a faint scratching sound, prompting the pink-haired demon to softly knock on the door. He can hear her muffles as she gently opens the door and looks up at him with her bright eyes. Nezuko extends her arms, forcing Akaza to embrace her. The little group pauses abruptly when they hear shrieking coming from the butterfly estate's entrance. "Let us go!" Tanjiro's tiredness fades as he approaches the building in a hurry. They shout at Uzui to put Aoi and Naho down as their eyes focus on him carrying them. Kanao is clinging on the sound pillar's clothing as he becomes irate about her failure to respond to what he had earlier said. "Just say something, you plain boring person!" Kiyo and Sumi exclaim as the man draws to a halt while yelling at the female demon slayer. He screams at them as they charge at him and start to pounce on him. Tanjiro observes it all and a vein develops on his skull. "What are you doing to those girls? Get your hands off of them!!" As he stares at the group, a single bead of sweat emerges on his brow.

      "It's a kidnapping; save them!" Kiyo starts crying and shouts next to Uzui as tears roll down her cheeks. The pillar glares at the little girl, a vein showing on his face. "You dumb little brat!" The three demons watch in disbelief as Tanjiro rushes forward and fails in his effort to headbutt the taller guy, falling to the hard floor with Kiyo on his back. "You fool." Kokushibo glares up at the pillar in response to the insult he hurled at his kid. Akaza sighs, knowing the six-eyed demon's protectiveness of his children. "I am the 'former shinobi' Uzui Tengen-sama, the most flamboyant man around here." His expression darkens as he crouches on top of the fence, staring at the little gathering in front of him. "Did you think I'd get headbutted by a snot-filled brat like you?"

      "Shut your mouth." Kokushibo's stern voice causes Akaza to flinch, yet the light of the sun prevents him from backing away. As he glares at his six eyes, Uzui tightens his hold on Aoi. "I don't give a damn if you're a demon! You're no longer an upper moon, which means I'm superior! I'm a pillar, you jackass!" Tanjiro crosses his arms as he suddenly senses his dad and older brother standing beside him. "I don't accept you as a pillar!" With a 'hmph,' he turns away, and Uzui's eyes narrow in rage. "Don't 'hmph' me! What the hell do you mean you don't accept me?" He keeps pointing back and forth at the group. Akaza looks up at Aoi, noticing her worried and stressed expression while she stares down at the ground as the pillar crouches on the top of the gate. He almost counts the drops of sweat that roll down her nose before they drip. Uzui continues to shout at the crowd, but the demon dismisses him. "I need a female member, so I'm bringing them along! I don't need Kochou's permission if they aren't successors'!" Kiyo continues to weep as she looks up at the man. "Naho-chan isn't a hunter member! She doesn't have a uniform!" The sound pillar grips the back of Naho's clothing and examines her before hurling her towards Tanjiro. "Don't need her then."

      Akaza's eyes widen as he observes all that is happening in front of him. He looks away from Uzui and toward Naho, who is sobbing in Tanjiro's arm about being abandoned, his glare changing to one of worry. He turns to face Kokushibo with his head raised, but his eyes remain fixed on the crying girl. The previous upper moon three sighs quickly before tossing himself aside, almost too quickly for the others to notice. He can feel the sun searing through his skin as he lunges forward, seizing at the pillar and grabbing the young girl before he realizes what has occurred. Uzui glares at the demon with the pink hair. "What the hell do you think you're doing!"  He turns his attention to the one with the six eyes. "Tell your son that he should mind his own damn business! My irritation with him is growing!" Kokushibo doesn't respond since he sees no reason to after focusing all of his attention on Akaza, who is now standing in the shade beneath a tree. He exhales slowly as he lets Aoi go as his burns instantly heal in less than a second. The three little girls rush up to her, screaming and pleading with her to be alright. Kokushibo draws in a big breath before approaching the man. Akaza looks up at the enormous demon, but he flinches when he feels a little discomfort in his ear. "Ow, let go!"

      The pinkette tries to get away, but Kokushibo pulls on his ear. Tanjiro turns his back to the pillar. "Take us instead!" Uzui raises an eyebrow in response to his statement. "What do you mean by 'us'?" He switches his gaze and sees Zenitsu clutching a giggly Mabel and Inosuke grinning like a loon in each of their sudden appearances on either side of the sound pillar. "I was just on my way back, but I had some strength left!" I can head out!" Fear emerges on Zenitsu's face as he points towards the towering man. "L-leave them alone! Even if you're some kind of muscle monster, y-you're not t-taking a single step." Uzui casts a glance between the teen males before practically rolling his eyes. "Oh, okay. Then I'll have you guys come with me."

      Kokushibo clings to the umbrella with one hand and carries Mabel in the other. Akaza sighs as they lag behind the three males. Inosuke rests his hands on his hips. "So, geezer, where are we going?" Uzui pauses for a moment without responding for a brief period of time. "To the most flamboyant place in all of Japan, filled with lust and greed." The two demons shake their heads, knowing exactly where they were headed.

"The Red Light District, where the demon lives."

🖤Secret's/Extra's🖤

~Yoriichi finally went into Tanjiro's subconscious house and found one of his old friends there

~~There will be a chapter of what happened at some point

~Yoriichi finally figured out that Sanemi stabbed Nezuko three times. Nobody knows what he did after that.

~Yoriichi is just as protective of the kids as Kokushibo

~~Including Akaza

~Since Kyojuro didn't die, Tanjiro never got his sword hilt. He's actually going to receive another hilt that involves the sun and the moon from Kokushibo when he finds Yoriichi's sword in the doll. 

~When Tanjiro was about to send a letter to Senjuro, Nezuko took a small brush and wrote a mini message on the bottom of the paper. She wrote "Come visit! Mabel says hi!" Tanjiro thought it was so cute, he didn't even bother changing the paper. 

~~Senjuro loved the mini message. He just might visit.

~Kyojuro can see Yoriichi now

~~Yoriichi plans on doing the same to Senjuro when he comes to visit

~~~Yoriichi reads all of the letters and Tanjiro doesn't know yet

~Kokushibo scolded Akaza for 30 minutes when he came in contact with the sun for a short amount of time to save Aoi. Tanjiro just watched, not knowing what to do and Nezuko latched herself to Akaza while silently crying with dot eyes.

~The reason why Zenitsu arrived with Mabel was because he's actually a pretty good singer. He was singing her small tunes while cradling her and making his way towards the Butterfly Estate after buying her some sweets.

~~Mabel wanted Zenitsu to be her brother, too, but Kokushibo said no because he knows that Zenitsu likes Nezuko. He knows that they'll end up together and join the family that way. 

~Inosuke can't be mad at Mabel, especially when she compliments his beautiful face. He cares about her too much, he just doesn't realize it yet

~Akaza hasn't seen Inosuke without his pig mask yet