Candles || Kokushibo

🖤24: ʀᴀᴍᴘᴀɢᴇ 🖤

Who knew it was so difficult to locate a demon with six eyes. Even after an excessively long search, Makio and Suma are still unable to find any other demons. They recall Uzui telling them about the two demons, including their former status as upper moons and how they abandoned Muzan in order to remain in the family. The two demons sought to make peace with one another, and in such a short period of time, their moral standards radically altered. All of a sudden, the others who meant so much to them-including the poor little Mabel they were currently carrying-were more essential than their own lives. The distance between them and the rest is too great, but nobody has yet appeared.

As they race by the buildings, they look inside, but they don't see a single person in any of them. Where did everyone go? Even though there are a significant number of individuals here and there is constant conversation at night, no one can be seen. Was it the demons? They've been assured that they don't eat humans, so they may trust that everyone is still alive. Running alongside Makio, who is clinging to the five-year-old, Suma lets out a loud groan. "Where are they?! It's taking way too long!" The woman with up-do releases one of her arms from Mabel while clamping her teeth together. Suma squeals as Makio forcefully pinches her ear.

An unexpected figure suddenly descends in front of the two females, causing both of them to stop abruptly. Upon seeing Akaza, Suma screams. Makio uses her foot to roughly shove the other woman to the ground while he stands there, uncertain what he should do. Finally, Akaza moves forward and halts the two's pointless dispute. When he turns to look at Mabel, everything in his world slows down. He weakly raises his hand and gestures toward the young child in Makio's arms. "What happened?" His voice is low and weak, shaking at the sight of the five-year-old in her arms. Suma gently tugs on Mabel's hair as her sobbing subsides. "The demon tried to take her!" His eyes widen with hatred, and his fingers quiver as veins pop in his skin. He takes her from Makio's grasp and embraces her while examining her sweating face. Her eyes open and her gaze is drawn to Akaza. "Nii-chan, my head hurts." The pink-haired demon takes a trembling deep breath and studies his surroundings with wavering eyes. He whimpers as he turns his attention back to the young child he is holding. "He's going to be furious when he sees this!"

"See what?" A powerful voice suddenly bursts from behind the previous upper moon three, causing everyone to stop in place. Slowly turning around, Akaza looks straight into the taller demon's six eyes, which seem perplexed by his earlier assertion. His gaze descends before coming to rest on Mabel. His eyes all expand in response to what he is witnessing in front of him. Kokushibo was completely unaware of what was happening to him at that point. Even though his body was heating up and he was suffocated with rage, there was nothing he could do. Only before encountering Mabel did he experience this level of rage, and it was primarily directed at his loving brother, Yoriichi. However, now that a family member was involved, his rage was directed at the demon rather than that family member, and he desired to rip it to pieces. He wanted to sit in the shade and listen to their cries of anguish as they slowly perished while watching them burn in the sun. Was he as attached to his family when he was still a human? He has no memory at all. He can't even recall what their faces looked like.

'Daddy!' Kokushibo straightens at the sound of the familiar voice. It was the tone of a very young male. 'Daddy!' In the area where he assumes the voice is coming from, he turns around and discovers a young child who appears to be about a year younger than Mabel. He couldn't believe it when he realized the child was his son. His son from his previous life as a human. That same boisterous and giddy child he used to adore. The boy's expression was filled with anxiety and sorrow, and tears streamed from his matched eyes. He appeared to be breathing heavily, and his hands were shaking erratically. 'Daddy, save her!' Save her? But Mabel is right here. Akaza is crouching on the floor next to him, clutching her in his arms as if she were a newborn. 'Nezuko nee-chan will lose herself and eat them!' He then realizes what the young child was talking about as his eyes widen.