Demon Falls (Gravity Falls x Demon Slayer AU)

HH: Part Two

"Determined was the biggest annoyance of our town."

Wow, what a great start. Bill had just made her first question about the disappearance of Toby Determined and that was how the man replied. What did this man do to get people to hate him? Well, that was his second question (not with the same exact words), which earned the reply: "He was a gossiper, of the worst type, and sometimes, a liar too. He stalked people, invaded houses, spread rumours and chased the most useless ones just to get fame."

That's what almost everyone in the news industry does, isn't it?

"Is there anything specific he's done to you, or someone else in particular?" Bill asked.

"Who has he not?" the man replied with a question. "Well, maybe not you, because you're new in town, but you can ask everyone around this town and you'll hear of something he did, either little, or big."

"Excuse me," a waitress said. "Here are the pastries you asked for." she put the plates on the table, serving each one of the pillars and the man. She bowed to them and turned to leave.

"Wait, Mrs." Jack called. The waitress turned to him with confusion in her face. "What do you think about Determined Toby?"

She frowned. "You're new in town, aren't you?"

"Yes, why?" Jack asked.

She looked away. "Well, Determined. . ." she clicked her tongue. "Is not someone good to be around." she left after she said.

The man took a piece of the cake he was served with the fork. "See?" he put it in his mouth and ate the cake. "No one likes the man." he said while chewing.

Lilith frowned. Bill glanced at her, knowing how much she hated people chewing with their mouth opened, or people talking while chewing. He turned to the man. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"At the Gravity Falls Gossiper's entrance, while I was walking to work."

The pillars shared a look. "Well, we know where to go."

"Wait, you're actually going to investigate his disappearance?"

"Yes, we are," Pyronica said.

The man scoffed and chuckled. "Just let him be wherever he is," he said. "It's better for everyone."

Lilith frowned. She slammed the table while standing up. "If it was a family member, would you react the same way?!" she asked. The man hit his back on the chair. "No, right? He surely has a family too, someone who's worried for him back at home, and if his own family doesn't care, then this is a desperate call for help!"

"Lilith, I know you're mad, I understand, but please, sit down." Jack said.

"Shut up, Jack!" Lilith demanded.

"Yes, ma'am." Jack quieted up.

"Lilith, everyone's looking at us." Pyronica said.

Bill snorted. Lilith noticed all heads and eyes were turned to her. She sighed and sat down, smiling at the man. "Thank you for the treats and the answers," she said. "Sorry for my outburst."

"It's. . . Okay," the man said. "You're actually right, I'm sorry."

"Welp, great start we had on our investigation." Bill said.

"Can we finish eating before we go?" Buriana asked. "This is delicious! What is it called, again?"

"Coffee jelly." Norio replied.

"Coffee jelly, good to know," Buriana's smile grew a bit.

"I'm already done eating while you're all arguing." Bill said.

"You're just a gluttonous beast." Lilith teased.

"No, I'm not!"

Jack chuckled. "How are we all friends, again?"

Pyronica looked at her hand; she held one finger up. "Lilith and Bill met when they were kids," she held a second finger up. "Lilith caught you making fashion outfits and brought Bill along to play dressing up," she held a third (and last of the counting) finger up. "Bill challenged himself to become friends with the quietest slayer he could find in the corps, that being me," she looked at Jack. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

Jack blinked twice. "I was just being facetious, but thanks for reminding me and telling me your story, I was actually curious about that."

Pyronica rolled her eyes. "I didn't tell you my story,"

"Yes you did." Jack said with a mischievous smile.

"You practically did, Pyronica," Lilith agreed.

"May I ask where are you from and why you're here?"

The slayers turned to the man. "We're from England," Bill replied. "We're demon slayers, four pillars, two successors."

The man's eyes went wide. "T—The rumours were true?"

"Rumours?"

"There were rumours of the new hope being in our town! I didn't really believe it at first, but now that you said it, I know it's true!" he held out his hand. "It's wonderful to meet you all! It's been years since our town had any slayers."

Bill shook his hand, then Lilith, then Jack, then Pyronica, then Buriana, then Eve. "We're also very glad to be here," Jack said.

"What happened to the previous slayers?" Lilith asked.

The man was quiet for a moment. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. "I don't know all the details, but I know. . . They're all dead." he said. "Consumed by the new upper moons, the high hierarchy demons, most specifically, the strongest pair."

Bill raised an eyebrow. "Who is this pair?"

"We cannot say their name," the man said. "He has eyes everywhere." he looked around with a sweat on his forehead. "All I can say is, they were old enough to fight, and with the help of the demon king, they managed to devour much more slayers than the other demons, making them stronger than any other demon." he explained. "The Pines' twins are ruthless, brutal, cruel, and—"

He slapped his hands in his mouth to cover it; eyes wide in fear. "I—I shouldn't have said that. . ."

The pillars were confused, but knew that the man felt in danger just by mentioning the surname of this pair. Wait, the surnames are like the first names in Japan, so that's the curse, he shouldn't have said it. Pines is a cursed word in Gravity Falls. The man stood up and ran screaming for his like; the pillars didn't manage to stop him before he was out of sight. They turned to look at the sky, it was still daylight, the man was still safe as long as he didn't come out in the moonlight. Murmurs filled the café, they were loud enough for some of the sentences to be understood by the pillars. "Poor man.", "He's dead.", "I feel bad for his family.", "Is he dumb? Why did he say that name?!"

"We should leave," Pyronica suggested.

"Great idea! Let's get outta here!" Bill jumped to stand.

"Oh, look at the time, we gotta work," Lilith said, looking at an invisible clock in her hand. "Let's take Norio back to his home and then we can get to searching Determined."

"Brilliant as always!" Jack said. "Let's go, Buriana, Norio, Eve, we're going back to the Ikari family."