Candles || Kokushibo

🖤33: ᴍᴀʙᴇʟ's sᴀғᴇᴛʏ 🖤

      Everything happened too quickly, and before Muichiro realized it, the upper moon's head was smashed into pieces on the ground. When he glances up, he sees his father peering down at Gyokko with six eyes and a menacing look on his face. He turns to face his son. "Go help the others before I murder the rest. I have to stay with Mabel." ​Although he didn't want to, he realized that his father was right. What counts most right now is ensuring Mabel's safety. Muichiro might not fully get Muzan's intense desire for her, but his father and possibly his uncle do. Since they have lived here for a while, they are intelligent—smarter than the majority, notably Kokushibo.

      When Muichiro's tears eventually decide to slip down his grimy skin, he is unable to stop them from doing so. He rushes over tall trees, seeking to quiet his racing heart as he makes his way to the rest of his family. His entire body freezes when he hears sudden, thunderous roars that shriek through the air. His ears start to ring from the approaching demon, and he smashes his palms over them. Just a little bit more, and he will be there. He will then be able to aid his siblings. He simply regrets not being present for his youngest sister. They are chasing her after all, though he is still curious as to why. Why is Muzan so desperate to have her?

      He still hurries towards Tanjiro and Nezuko, his hands still pressed firmly against his ears, hoping and praying that the two are well. Muichiro tries desperately to calm himself down, but when he sees his two siblings, Genya, and a dangerous scenario, his pulse races again. Nezuko is dangling from the upper moon's demon technique when what looks to be a massive, fantastical-looking beast bites into her arm and starts a significant blood loss. Genya is firmly around its body, constricting him while his lone arm strives to free itself. Tanjiro is being pressed against one section of the creature's lengthy body while another part tries to crush him. His feet are firmly planted on the earth, and his breath stops at the sight. He inhales deeply as he observes Nezuko looking into the mist pillar with tears running from her eyes. His body fills with rage, but before he could act, a surprising figure emerges, slices the beast into pieces, and snatches Tanjiro. Muichiro chases after the figure, only to witness Mitsuri place the Kamado down, causing the pillar to weep. "Tanjiro, Mitsuri, they came here for Mabel! They're trying to take her to Muzan!" The love pillar's eyes widen as her brows furrow in anger at his words. She gets to her feet and glares up at the upper moon.

      "You, upper moon! Why does Muzan want baby Mabel so badly? She's just a little girl!" Her pupils contract as she steps forward, readying herself to strike. The upper moon four keeps his position and gives Mitsuri a bored-looking glare. She raises her blade in front of her and points it at the demon, but he doesn't appear alarmed. "Don't you realize she's a valued human being?"

      Valuable? Why is she valued in this way? What can she do when she is only five years old? All three of them are convinced that he is not revealing the whole truth, but regardless of whether he has informed them, they won't allow him to take her. "You're not telling us the whole story!" Muichiro yells, tears flowing down his cheeks unnoticed. With his hands clenched and his nails driving into his flesh, he springs to his feet. The demon smirks, amused by his antics. "Does it matter? You'll be dead any way," he says, crossing his arms and deepening his grin. "That kid's going to turn Master Muzan invincible."

      Oh, how the demon regretted saying what he did. How he wishes he had remained quiet and avoided disclosing so much about the plans involving Mabel. Nothing would happen to her little, helpless self under anyone's watch, especially Kokushibo's. He should be relieved that it wasn't his own body, since he would have long since vanished if it had been. "Papa!" Mitsuri shouts and slams her eyes shut with a tight grin on her face. She laughs heartily and leaps up and down, flailing her arms around excitedly. Tanjiro gently lowers her to the ground by grabbing her sleeve. The upper moon four slowly turns his head, his eyes filled with horror as he recognizes the aura. "You should've just shut your fucking mouth." Kokushibo lifts his arm, laying a hand on the face of the upper moon. He digs his claws deep into his skin, then clenches his palm into a fist and rips off his entire face. He gets up from the demon and gradually makes his way into the forest, where the actual body is still running.

      Tanjiro has witnessed his father go insane while fighting other demons, but the other people around him are at a loss for words after seeing such a horrific act. He glances at his little sister, who is standing on her legs, cleaning her pink kimono as she pursues the six-eyed demon. Perhaps she can recall what occurred, or perhaps Akaza told her. In any case, Tanjiro wouldn't be surprised. He jumps a little as he feels an unexpectedly kind touch on his shoulder. When he turns around, he sees Akaza with Mabel, as well as Yoriichi and Sumiyoshi standing behind the demon. "Are you alright?" He kneels and places Mabel on his knee. She stares at her injured brother, and the sight of his blood makes her cry. The fragrance that was emanating from his youngest sister is back. He still had trouble identifying it, which irritated him much. What if she's ill? No, he does not smell an illness. He leans out and touches her hand, causing her to hold his hand back. Her skin is really cold—colder than usual—and if she were ill, rather than the other way around, it would certainly warm up. Sumiyoshi lifts Tanjiro and Muichiro up by placing his hand under their arms, and Yoriichi does the same for Mitsuri and Genya. "We need to keep the swordsmiths away from dad before they witness what he's about to do to that upper moon." Standing in front of the Kamado, Akaza remarks.

      By the time the others arrived at Kokushibo, they were in an open field, and the demon was trembling from the former upper moon's powerful glare. Muichiro holds onto Tanjiro's haori and glances rapidly toward the horizon before returning to his father. "Dad, the sun is going to rise!" Screaming and lunging forward, he is restrained by Genya as the demon approaches the upper moon. The demon squeaks when Kokushibo abruptly vanishes and resurface in front of him. He pierces his arm through his chest and out of his back while holding his throbbing heart in one hand. He slowly crushes the heart until the pressure causes it to burst. Kokushibo takes his arm out and rests it beside him, sighing with exhaustion. He hums as Nezuko is seen helping the swordsmiths as he stares further into the field. "Dad, the sun!" As he moves away from the gathering and toward his demon daughter, he hears Tanjiro shouting but ignores him. He lays his palm on her head, causing her dark pink eyes to glance up at him. "Are you willing to try?" She nods while seeming determined. He turns his head aside, his face expressionless as he faces the rest of his family. "Don't worry, she'll give it a go!" Genya and Sumiyoshi furrow their brows in confusion at what he is saying.

      The six-eyed demon tightened his hold on the umbrella Yoriichi had given him as he stood in front of a tree to shield himself from the rising sun. He is facing Nezuko, who is in the sun's direct rays and out of the shadows. He takes her hand when she extends it out for him to, and he puts his other hand on top of it. Her skin starts to gently sizzle as the sun comes up, but her wounds are starting to mend, which makes her father smile. "Nezuko!" Kokushibo doesn't bother to glance at the group approaching them as the mentioned demon takes the bamboo out of her mouth. "Papa!" Kokushibo cannot help but chuckle as the female Kamado continually leaps up and down. However, when he hears his smallest kid whimpering, which swiftly turns to a scream, he turns his sight to Mabel, and her appearance causes his eyes to widen.

"Daddy, my skin is burning!"

🖤Secrets/Extras🖤

~Kokushibo wasn't planning to kill Gyokko and was planning to have Muichiro kill him, but when he realized that they came here to take Mabel to Muzan, he became so enraged that even Yoriichi couldn't calm him down.

~Tanjiro and Muichiro never got their demon slayer mark.

~Yoriichi and Sumiyoshi went in Genya's subconscious house after they left the hot-spring.

~Akaza and Sumoyoshi finally started calling Kokushibo 'dad.'

~The group was being watched by a certain female demon.

~Muzan is more then pissed

~~He said that he has had enough