Growth and Malady

4 - Kokushibo

Finding Daki and Gyutaro's reborn selves was certainly surprising. I hadn't expected to come across them so easily, or that Rui had already found them.

I wonder if I'll ever find Yoriichi's reincarnation. I shook my head. I'm four hundred years too late for that. What would it prove, anyways? He's probably just as powerful now as he was in the Sengoku Period.

He wouldn't know me, wouldn't recognize me. Not everyone is as lucky as those siblings, he could be in another part of the world.

I can't dwell on this, not right now.

My hand brushed subconsciously over a small pocket in the fabric of my haori, sending a stab of remorse through me. Continuing to walk up the street, I reached inside and pulled out a small wooden flute, the two pieces held together with a small cloth tie. A long sigh escaped me.

"Why'd you keep this little thing," I wondered aloud, my voice barely loud enough to hear.

I turned it over once between my fingers before returning it to my pocket with care. My eyes scanned the shops lining the sides of the now-crowded road, looking for something I could bring back for Kibutsuji to eat. Picky idiot didn't want to eat anything we had in the house.

"Hello sir! You looking for something? I can help you if that's the case!"

The kid standing next to me had long black hair tied back in a neat braid, light skin and a white yukata under his dark gray haori. He was tall for his age, which I assumed was around eleven years. Identical cross earrings hung from his ears.

I looked down at him with little interest, trying to figure out whether it was worth it to ask where I could buy some food. Before I could open my mouth to ask, an older girl, maybe nineteen years old, ran up to him and pulled the boy behind her, muttering an apology to me. Turning to him, her pink eyes grew serious.

"Hinoto, stop bothering random people!" She whispered sternly to him, moving to lead the boy away.

"Actually," I started, "if you know where I could get food for my picky friend, that would be helpful."

The kid, Hinoto, grinned and stepped around the girl. "Sure! What does your friend like to eat?"

Have I actually ever seen Muzan eat something without hating it? I wracked my brain for a memory I could use. "I suppose he likes meat." Human flesh, but close enough. He despises vegetables.

"There's a bunch of stores futher down that way on the left side that have a huge selection of stuff like that! I can show you if you'd like," he offered.

"I can find my way. Thank you for your help," I bowed my head ever so slightly, heading off in the direction he had pointed. I could hear the duo in the background, talking about something along the lines of annoying the wrong people and getting into trouble eventually.

As promised, after only a minute of walking, I was greeted with the smell of roasted and grilled meats. The scents of spices and grease filled my nose, and I wandered up to a stall to start my search.

Mini Timeskip.

I slid the door shut behind me, stepping out of the threshold and into the kitchen to set down the ingredients I had bought. The next order of business was to check up on Kibutsuji.

First, I checked the living area. Empty. Then I walked down the small hallway and glanced into the open bathroom, also empty. The door to the bedroom was shut, so I opened it quietly, just in case he was asleep.  The former demon king was sitting on his mattress silently, toying with a knife from the kitchen.

I plucked it out of his grasp, holding it safely at my side. "No weapons, remember?"

He glared up at me with his lighter red eyes.

"Would you rather be put down by the demon slayers, Kibutsuji?" I asked.

The threat was met with silence.

"As I thought."

I returned to the kitchen, shoving the blade back into it's block alongside the others. As I began prepping the ingredients to cook the meal I wanted, Muzan wandered out of the room into the living area, sitting down on the couch.

"I'm not an idiot, Kokushibo."

"I never said you were."

"I'm sure you didn't."

We had many exchanges like this, when he would say something out of the blue that I had thought of, and I would deny it while he remained cryptic and mysterious. I always brushed it off that he knew what I had thought of him or something else, but it was beginning to confuse me.

"How do you always know what I think of, Kibutsuji?"

"I just do."

I put down the knife I had been using to cut up the meat. "You owe me a better answer than that."

He looked out the window at the mid-day sunlight. "I owe you nothing."

Returning to cooking, I let an exasperated sigh escape me. I should just focus on making us something to eat.

"You should," Muzan spoke. "Maybe this time it'll be something worth eating."

I nearly chopped off my finger.

Slowly, I turned my head to look directly at him. "You can still read my mind."

Plot?

Two new characters in this chapter! Credit for both OC s goes to Marumakua who let me use them in this story 😁