Day & Night

Shadow's Lurking

Tsukie's POV

I awoke with a sudden feeling that something was in the apartment that wasn't supposed to be there. The apartment in Hyogo was pretty small, and it was close to the so-called warehouse. It was mainly a gambling shop with a basement which has multiple rooms for interrogation or torture. Sometimes both.

Grabbing my sword, I unsheathed it, ready for whatever was here. I saw a body slumped forward when I made my way to the living room.

"Mosu!" I whispered, kneeling down next to him to check his pulse. I sighed in relief to find that pulse, but what could have knocked him out like this?

There was a shadowy giggle before a coffee cup hovered towards me.

"Godsdamn it, Shadow!" I yelled, standing up before taking the cup and placing my sword on the coffee table.

A shadow emerges from the darkness and shifts into a version of me.

"Change, now," I said.

"Will this be better?" She asked, changing into Kyojuro, causing my eyes to narrow to deadly slits.

"My sword is still out, and I will cut your head off," I said bitterly.

Shadow changed into her true form, which was a black mass and pure white eyes. She was one of the only demons that I trusted enough to work with the demon slayers and even with my work. She also works closely with Lady Tamayo. Shadow is one of those demons that was done with demons after the War in the Castle. It sickens her to be a demon sometimes. Shadow's involvement with Lady Tamayo and I is a lockdown secret so that she can be our eyes and ears in that world.

"You look like you need some sleep; I'm not sure why I made you coffee," Shadow said, a white crescent frown appearing on her face.

"I'll be fine. How's the vegan die?" I asked, looking out the window to the city below.

She laughed before answering. "I don't think deer and cats would be considered vegan, but it's been going well. When I went on that mission for you a while back, speckles of blood fell into my mouth, and I almost threw up."

"So Lady Tamayo's treatment is working?"

"Why are you talking about me? Avoiding something, Kajiura?"

I looked down at my coffee, gathering the warmth from the cup before finally taking a sip.

"I'm always avoiding something," I said, looking at her.

Shadow tilted her head before looking out to the city.

"He's about to strike again, but how he's doing it is going to be towards the Hashira," she said, looking at me as I caught her eyes. Even though she was a black mass, I could still see the faint expressions on her face. "He's going to send the uppers to take you all out. When? I don't know."

"Does he still have the same ones? We lost count a while ago," I said.

"Number Six, the Twins. Number five, Cyst. Number three, Lust. Number Two, Siren. They will be after all of you. Which upper is going after you and the other, I couldn't tell you. I'm sorry," she said.

"It's not your fault; that information will help us prepare,' I said before we fell silent again.

My mind was too busy with life and the long-ass to-do list. No wonder I couldn't sleep these days. As I went down the list, my mind popped into one of those to-dos.

"Has Lady Tamayo told you where she's been? I've been trying to find her, and no one knows where she is," I said.

"I haven't talked to her or that bitchboy following her around in months. Rumor has it she's in India? But there is also a rumor she's in the state. You know her Kajiura; she likes to move around so Akaza doesn't find her," Shadow said, sounding slightly frustrated as well.

"I know that. I just need to get answers for Tanjiro; I told him I would. Kyo and I..." I couldn't even finish the sentence without emotions clogging my throat.

There was an icy touch on my shoulder.

"He'll be ok, I know it; I've been working on that myself with the revenge. You and Rengoku have been so good to me and your families for decades," she said, and the crescent turned to a sweet smile.

"Which brings me to why I needed to call you, but it seems you found me first," I said, taking another sip of coffee, the warmth filling my body. "I need the demons that are with us to be actually with us. I don't need another rat to kill."

I was still pretty pissed off that Sanemi talked me out of killing that piece of shit, but he was right. We could torture him in other ways, and I planned on doing so after the Kocho sisters did their weird ass test on the demons we captured.

"I'll get Akumu right on that," Shadow said, and my body felt frozen.

The demon never scared me; I just saw them as something evil to kill to protect the innocent. I've encountered plenty of demons, and while some of them were creepy-looking, but nothing compared to Akumu. That demon scared me shitless; even Akaza couldn't do that. Akumu was one of those demons that were on our side just to cause other demons chaos. He had many powers, but his specialty was detecting lies. Even as the trained liar that I was, I could never lie to Akumu.

"As long as I don't have to be there for that, I'll be ok with what happens," I said, that chill not going away even though I had the coffee in my hands.

"Aw, Kajiura, but Akumu misses you," she said teasingly.

"Again, sword right there," I said, turning to the coffee table.

"Just a little fun; I have to get a laugh somehow," Shadow said.

"Thank you for all your help. Now go on, I think there is a stray cat somewhere close," I said before her shadowy giggles faded away.