Higashikuze Akiho's very existence was thought to be taboo among demons and humans alike: she was a half-demon, the first of her kind. But being taken in and rasied by a former pillar with a strong sense of justice and a hatred for Kibutsuji Muzan...
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第六话
Human blood.
There was a part of her that craved the smell, and in her childhood it got her into quite a bit of trouble with the village kids. She never bit anyone and certainly never tried to eat anyone, but human blood had some effect on her. Everyone already thought she was weird to begin with, so that only intensified their discrimination of her further.
Akiho was the lone freak who loved blood.
Musashi told her to use her heightened senses for human blood to aid her for when she became a demon slayer, and she's routed her body's natural desire to gravitate towards blood as an advantage throughout the years of training. But she still couldn't control her body's reaction when it came to one thing...
Marechi.
She remembers the day she went into the village with Musashi and watched with envy as other kids ran around to play. She remembers the mean kid with a chipped tooth who fell that day and scrapped his knee right in front of her. She remembers his scream as she gripped his knee with uncontrolled fascination and scrambled senses.
"..."
She didn't desire to eat him, but she was just so drawn to his marechi blood and activated her demon characteristics—her sooty hair turned purple and a red four-petaled flower appeared under her right eye. It scared the boy greatly, and she couldn't blame him.
When the other kids gathered around, they had mistook the situation and thought she outright attacked the boy. Her hand was covered in blood, after all, and she had changed before their very eyes.
"F-Freak!"
"There's definitely something wrong with you!"
"...Demon!"
All she wanted to do that day was make sure that the boy was okay and apologize, but she never got the chance because they threw stones at her and drove her out. She was so scared that she never went back into the village with Musashi.
"Mmm..." Akiho mumbled herself awake from the nap she was taking. Ah. Unpleasant memories...
Perched on a large tree with a thick branch that supported her leaning form against the trunk, she blinked through the shade of the leaves and saw that noon had passed which means she can resume her travels. She took a peek towards the ground and saw with surprise that Genya was still dozing at the base of the trunk; she had half-expected him to leave her, but they had traveled all night and he hadn't complained about her midday situation. Day time was the only time demon slayers can afford to sleep during missions, anyway.
