Candles || Kokushibo

🖤30: ʀᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴsʜɪᴘs🖤

      "What's a hot spring?" Mabel inquires as Akaza carries her up the stone path with the group. She is so engrossed in playing with Kokushibo's sleeve that he reaches for her. "It's a spring with calming hot water. If you're feeling unwell, the one we're heading to will help." Tanjiro beams as he advances sideways, noting the joy on her face. As soon as he detects a new aroma, his smile fades. He notices the scent and turns his head. "Tanjiro-kun!!" Mitsuri screams, tears in her eyes, and dashes towards the group. Akaza tenses up as a result of her chests' excessive motion. "Stop running like that, please!" He clamps one hand over his eyes while Kokushibo pats his head for reassurance. Mitsuri clings to the young Kamado's clothing as she sobs and her tears get progressively heavier. Sumiyoshi pats her head as he remains still next to the teen boy, unsure of what to do. "I got ignored! I greeted him and he ignored me!" She hollers, her fingers tangled in his demon slayer gear as she cries out more. Tanjiro's head begins to perspire as he fixes his gaze on the pillar. "Who did?" She gestures in the direction of the stairs she ran off of. "I don't know! I asked him his name and he ignored me!" Her pink and green hair is touched softly by Yoriichi as he moves forward and sighs behind the Kamado, causing her to gaze up at him. "Dinner is nearly finished. Why don't you go eat something while we finish up at the hot spring?" She brightens and puts her palms on her cheeks while flashing a dazzling smile. She squeals and her tears rapidly dry up. "You serious?!" The others start to sweat as she skips off while singing aloud to herself.

      They finally reach the hotspring after climbing the stone stairs, and Mabel can't help but shriek as the heat builds on her skin. She flies free of Akaza's grasp, startling him, and dips one palm into the boiling water. Tanjiro grins at the little girl while bending over and pressing his hands against his knees. "Would you like to get in?" She leaps up rapidly and hops around while excitedly waving her arms. "I do, I do!" Kokushibo takes her up and prepares to assist her, but Tanjiro recoils as a little object unexpectedly slaps his head. When he extends his hand to grasp the hard thing, he discovers that it is just a single tooth. "That's really unhygienic." The older Kamado murmurs while placing his hand on his sibling's shoulder.

      Tanjiro looks up and recognizes a man he had already met twice. "Genya Shinazugawa!" The aforementioned guy turns his head away and briefly focuses on the teen, failing to see that an adult Kamado is standing next to him, and that the others are standing to the side, getting ready for the hotspring. Sumiyoshi flinches when he glares at him. "Drop dead!" A sudden surge of murderous intent floods over their bodies before Tanjiro can react. When he turns to the side, he notices that his father has stopped covering his six eyes and has darkened his face as he glares at Genya. He places Mabel to the ground, but Akaza and Tanjiro stop him before the demon can do anything. "Dad, please don't!" When Genya establishes eye contact with the two demons there, he instantly freezes. Although it is sweltering hot all around them, his body suddenly feels frigid. "It's you two!" The two demons halt as he speaks while he gestures at them. "The stone pillar told me about you two! Why would higher ranking demons decide to unexpectedly change sides?" He swings his arm to his side and shouts at them. Akaza sighs and extends his arms in the direction of the five-year-old girl who is clinging on Kokushibo's clothing. Genya frowns at the girl, perplexed by their silent explanation. "A child?" He gives her a brief moment of attention before grabbing his clothes and leaving.

      Akaza arranges Mabel's long black hair into a high messy bun while she grins and plays with Nezuko, who suddenly chooses to get out of the box that Tanjiro has laid down. She glances at her uncle after picking up her demon sister's hair. "Uncle Yoriichi." Her high-pitched voice compels him to gaze into her matching eyes as he tries to put his hair up. "How can a hotspring be hot when it's outside?" She tilts her head, and he smiles. He knots his hair one more before lowering his arms and placing them on one of his knees. "It is heated by a process known as 'geothermal heat.' It's heat from within the Earth." His knowledge causes her brows to furrow, and although she gently lowers her head, her gaze are still fixed upward in his direction. "That sounds dangerous." Yoriichi sighs and gradually eases his back into the back of his twin. He extends his legs and brushes some of Mabel's long hair away from her face. "Some can be harmful, but this one is completely safe."

      Mabel's body tenses as a startling sensation sweeps across her. She was experiencing another gut instinct, but now that she can really feel it, she finds that her breathing has become hollow and little unpleasant. Something was going to happen, and she was mindful of it. She didn't know if the water was too hot or if anything was approaching, so she was really relieved when her dad assisted her out of the spring. She may have been overreacting, but she recalls her uncle telling her that she had a special quality about her. As a result, when she says she doesn't feel right, he takes her comments into consideration. He had informed her about her "unique quality," which she never really understood, but she wasn't the kind of person who would take joy in it. She really always had the reverse of pride—a sense of exclusion. She disliked standing out from the crowd because she believed that people would consider her abnormal. Although she is aware that her family wouldn't, that doesn't mean she just casually discusses it with others. Yoriichi only knows since she and Nezuko were the only ones who could see him at the time; as a result, only the two of them are aware of her strange feelings.

      Mabel sits on the floor, one hand on Yoriichi's hand and the other on Kokushibo's. She doesn't move as she stares at the tall stacks of filthy dishes and plates. Why is she the only one in the room who senses danger when everyone else seems to be doing just fine? She nearly feels as though her flesh is being scratched and burned. Her father's palm tightens in hers, causing her to gasp quietly. "You're quieter than usual." Yoriichi is also staring down at her as he makes note of her unusual conduct. She exhales a sigh of exhaustion. "I have a feeling something bad is going to happen." Even though Kokushibo wasn't used to treating his daughter seriously at particular times, the sight of her pale, terrified face and slightly sweating body bothered him a lot. He recalls Yoriichi informing the six-eyed demon that Mabel was smarter than average, and that this was only because she was pushed to study more before Kokushibo adopted her. Back then, her blindness wasn't a defense.

      Mabel wasn't really thrilled about Mitsuri leaving. She admires this brilliant and gorgeous woman and occasionally wishes she had her beauty. But her dejected demeanor just made her feel worse when she remarked that she might not be alive the next time they met. What makes her say that? Mitsuri can't feel what Mabel feels because if she could, there is no question that she would have expressed it. Mitsuri knelt down and pats Nezuko and Mabel on the heads. "You're definitely stronger than when I last saw you, Tanjiro-kun." She rises up while grinning broadly. Her hands are clenched into fists.

"Mitsuri Kanroji fully supports the Tsugikuni family!"

🖤Secrets/Extras🖤

~After Akaza covered his eyes when Mitsuri was running to the group, he buried his face in Kokushibo's chest and was mumbling "cover her up."

~Douma has already left the forest where his cult is.

~~He's running to the village with tears streaming from his eyes

~Genya was going to insult Mabel when he figured out why Akaza and Kokushibo switched sides, but she looked way too young and innocent. He won't admit that he found her adorable.

~Mabel's biological dad is a demon, but he's also lived in Japan his entire life.

~~His mom is American, who moved to Japan many years ago

~There was a small slip of paper inside of Mabel's aunt's journal that was written in another language. He can't read it, so he's wondering if Mabel can since he knows that she can speak Japanese, English, and Spanish perfectly.

~~She knows one more, but she's not fluent

~~~Her aunt knew 6 languages: which are Japanese ,English, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese.

~Mabel's biological dad loved her biological mom, but he never really loved Mabel. He found her antics too childish

~Mabel actually has a little bit of some martial art experience. However, Kokushibo refuses to train her just yet since he believes that she's still too young.

~Muzan used to want Mabel dead, but now he wants to turn her into a demon and stay with him for all of eternity.