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******************️⚠️Warning: •Blood and gore scenes.

•And of course, slight smut ✨. The real smut will be in the next chapter so, you're in the clear here.Enjoy 🖤.

***3rd POV****

" And how the hell was it possible, for this to happen?"

Fear.

That was all the demons knew at this point.

️Five of them, in the infinity castle. On a lower podium, dangling in the air, giving them a clear view of their master on a much higher podium.He had shape shifted to his female form, but he still looked so pissed.

Their heads were bowed, with their hands behind their back. Cold sweat ran down their faces and their backs, contrasting to the amount of heat coming from their skin.

"Never" Muzan begun, rubbing his temple slowly, "Never, in a million years, has a member of the twelve kizuki ever died at the hands of demon slayers"

The atmosphere was so thick with his killing intent that no one dared to even let out a breath, "Do you know how preposterous that sounds, coming from my lips?"

No one answered, or even made an attempt to. But when he looked into their thoughts, he was irritated by the absolute rubbish swarming in their heads.

Blood splattered everywhere.

Legs, fingers, torsos, all over the levitating floors of the infinity castle. A particular lower moon tried to escape, but he was caught.Muzan forcefully squished the head in his hands, making it pop open and burst out in the process.

Silence. Only one demon was still there, watching everything with a sickening type of glee.

Muzan narrowed his eyes at him.

He will have to do.......I cannot have that child living at this point.

The demon was stabbed, quite harshly, with a needle protruding out one of his fleshy appendages. He pumped his blood into the demon's system and left, not even bothering about the way he convulsed on the floor.(A/N: Poor Enmu though. I don't think he found that shit painful, he's just a masochist like that)

Muzan was in his quarters, resting in his office. He had a few books in front of him, all from botanical backgrounds.He needed to find that spider lily, no matter what it takes.

And the fact that that kid helped in killing the Lowermoon six......It was frightening for him.

Muzan's body started to shake unwillingly. His palm trembled, making the book in his hand fall and land on the table.

One heart beating out of fear was troubling, but seven felt like getting stabbed by millions of swords.(A/N: Anti-spiral 😂. Ok, I'll stop ....)

"Hanafuda earrings..." He whispered out frightfully, resting his head in his palm.

As if the universe loved seeing him suffer, Yoriichi quietly walked in, narrowing his eyes.

"A problem, Kibutsuji? "

Muzan nearly convulsed and experienced a stroke at the same time. He looked up at the burgundy haired man that was watching him with suspicious eyes.

"Nothing, everything's fine"

Yoriichi hums, not buying shit but decides to take in the explanation. Even if he wanted to pulverize this guy where he stood, he knew he couldn't, because of his brother.

He didn't want to betray his trust. And he didn't know what would happen to him if Muzan died.

"Have you ever tried sleeping? The eye bags makes you look like even more of an irritating asshole"

Muzan's eye twitched as he glared at him, "Thanks so much"

Yoriichi scoffed and sat on one of the chairs in front of Muzan's table, crossing one leg over the other."Michikatsu, how is he?"

Muzan smiles a little and stands up, placing the books he was occupied with in their shelves, "Not really. I haven't heard a word from him."

With that reply, Yoriichi scoffed."I thought you could read minds, Kibutsuji"

"And I thought, you didn't want me reading your brother's mind" Muzan says, smirking when he looked away, "I clearly remember that conversation quite well"

"Whatever" He says and folds his arms, "If you do hear from them, you let me know"

"Mm" Muzan hums in agreement, swallowing the urge to sprint when Yoriichi stands up.

Even without his sword, he knew that this man could do a thousand things to him that would end up with him dying.

Just as Yoriichi reached the door, a raven landed by Muzan's window, pecking on it eagerly.

He raised an eyebrow at this but opened the door when he realized there was only person that owned ravens.

"It's a letter from Kokushibou"

Yoriichi immediately appears by his side and snatches the piece of paper from him. A small grunt came from him as he opens it up, "Don't call him that. It's Michikatsu"

Muzan raised his hands in defense and moved a few feet from the other, peeking at the letter, "What does it say?"

"Untwist your panties and be patient" Yoriichi says and Muzan growls at him.

"I don't wear panties"

"The female Kibutsuji begs to differ"

Muzan's eyes widen in embarrassment and horror as Yoriichi gives him a knowing smirk before opening the letter.

Muzan-sama,

The Yūjo lily is showing progress. It's already sprouted one of its luscious white petals, as written in the botany book you gave us. We'll continue to water it and update you on its growth. As for our privacy, we haven't been outed yet. I spotted a few slayers on the way, but they weren't Hashira. I will do my best to protest the lily as well as Nakime. She says 'hi' by the way.

Kokushibou.

Muzan felt a smile form on his face. Much to Yoriichi's disgust.

"Don't grin at my brother's letter like some old pervert, which you are"

"Can you just be chill for three seconds?!"

"Yell at me one more time and see where that takes you"

Muzan 'tsk'ed' but obeyed, reluctantly sitting in his chair and keeping quiet. He then snatched the letter from Yoriichi, ignoring the absolutely terrifying glare, and read through it again.

"Can't believe he actually wrote he was going to protect her"

"Michikatsu is a straight forward gentleman. I bet he's getting some right now" Yoriichi says with a coy smile making Muzan gag.

"Please, stop"

Yoriichi scoffed at this and snatched the letter from him again, "Stop your bitch whining. I know you ship them too"

"Of course I do, but you don't see me thinking about them in such a way, do you??" Muzan says and the two lock up in a glaring contest.

"I think I'll pay them a visit" Yoriichi says, folding the letter neatly before shoving it in Muzan's mouth.

The latter coughs and lunges forward, spitting the paper out and giving him a look of disbelief. Yoriichi only smirked and folded his arms, "What do you think?"

"I think you should go fuck yourself"

"What was that?"

"Nothing" Muzan says, avoiding his pointed gaze, "It's your choice to go see them. Just don't blame me if your eyes get scarred in the process"

Yoriichi only smirks at this, "If it's my brother getting some action, then I won't be bothered"

"Whatever you say" Muzan replies and goes back to an unfinished file on his desk.Yoriichi turns to leave but hisses when he feels a sharp pain in his chest.

Muzan jumps up when he hears him groan and immediately rushes to his side, helping him so he wouldn't fall.

His eyes widen when Yoriichi faces up. His iris (in both eyes) was slowly turning white and a black colouring of some sort went down from the mark on his forehead to right cheek.

"The effects" Muzan says with a frown, "They're wearing off"

"Yeah, no shit, Kibutsuji" He says, hissing again and gripping his chest in pain.Muzan helped him up and sat him down in a chair. He then left through the door behind his desk and came back with a syringe.

"No" Yoriichi says, stopping him before he could stick it in his wrist.

Muzan raised an eyebrow at him, "You need a dosage, Yoriichi. You're in pain."

Yoriichi gave him an annoyed glare despite being in agony, "Just give it a moment. It'll wear down"

Muzan didn't want to listen but was forced to. After a few minutes, the black mark slowly disappeared and the color returned to Yoriichi's eyes. He watched silently as he took a few breaths to calm himself and then he slowly sat up in the chair.

"Told you"

"You still need the dosage, Yoriichi. You're going to die....."

"Aren't I already dead?"

The question left the both of them silent.Yoriichi smiled a bit before he managed standing up,"I'm not supposed to be in the living, Kibutsuji, and you know this"

Muzan looked down to the floor, "I do know. But Kokushibou doesn't want to know"

Yoriichi gives another smile at this and places a hand on Muzan's shoulder.This shocks him and he looks up, seeing the genuine smile on Yoriichi's face.

"I know how much you care for Michikatsu. But deep down, he knows that I'm supposed to be long gone"

Muzan lets out a sigh and rubs his temples.

The bond he had with Kokushibou, was unexplainable to him.

He was his first Uppermoon after all. But besides that, the amount of care he had for the man, ran deep. And Yoriichi knew it.

"Thank you for being there for my brother, I hope you'll continue to be there for him, with or without my presence"

Muzan gives him a small nod and Yoriichi removes his hand, before leaving the room.

He walks up to his seat and collapses in it, letting out a puff of heavy air.

He then smiles a bit and writes a letter, to be sent straight to the other Uppermoons.

*************

Nakime carefully tied up the long midnight hair into a neat bun. Small moon clips as well as the Kanzashi, were placed at the sides, giving it such an attractive posture.

She patted the sides a bit and rolled the long ends, forming the bun. And then she pulled away, grinning sheepishly when Kokushibou's image from the mirror gave her a look.

"Do you like it?"

He chuckled a bit and turned around, resting in between her legs, "I look like a courtesan"

"Well, you do look like one"

"What was that?" He asks and she giggles, yelping when he pushes her down to the floor. She tries to push him off, but gives up when she gives him a few shoves and he doesn't budge.Her breath hitches when his hands go down to her hips and gives them a light squeeze.

"You were saying?"

Nakime pouts at this and manages to slither out of his grip and sit up. He smiles to himself and watches her as she gets up and glares at him, before walking into the kitchen. He follows suit and leans on the door post, watching her start to concoct something on the firewood.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer"

Kokushibou smirks and walks up to her, wrapping his hands around her waist,"Trust me, it's deep in my memory already"

"Good to know" She chuckles, leaning to the side when he started peppering kisses at the side of her neck.

It was a very quiet and peaceful evening.The two decided they would stay in the house and not walk out today. Partly because of the fact that Nakime didn't want him anywhere close to any woman at this point( he found this very adorable).

"The Yūjo lily needs some more humus"

He detached from her neck and gives her a confused look, "Hmm?"

"The lily in the shed" She repeats.

"Why?"

Nakime sighs and turns to face him, "It's growing a lot faster, and its roots are occupying basically everywhere in the flower pot, so much that it's going to break. So I'm doing a little relocation, and I need more soil"

He slowly nods at this and then goes back to burying his face in her neck.

"Kokushibou, no" She whines and tries to shake him off. When he doesn't budge, she grabs her wooden ladle and bonks it on his head.

"Ow"

"I need it now" She says, emphasizing on the now.

He glares at her a little and then sighs, letting go of her waist and walking out of the kitchen. She lets out a 'thank you' receiving a very grumpy grunt in return.

After a while, she saw his tall figure, from the door, walk into the living room and out of the door.

Nakime smiles and then goes back to cooking.

When she was done, she covers up the food and then blows out the lanterns lighting up the kitchen. She goes to her room and sighs, sitting on her bed.

And then she squeals and falls in it, hugging her pillows tightly. If you told her, about a month ago, that she'd be in a relationship with the man she had been crushing on for eons, she would call you mad.

But now, she was here. With Kokushibou, and the giddy butterflies in her stomach never stopped.

Everytime he kissed her, she'd try to pinch herself to see if it was some sort of dream. But she'd be so happy when she realized it wasn't.

When she gave him the gifts she barely managed to afford, he looked so genuinely touched. And the next day, her reward was gentle kisses and hugs everywhere.

Another thing that racked her was how the all powerful, so 'super' scary Uppermoon one was just.....a big teddy bear.You heard her right, he absolutely loved hugs.

From her mostly.

He'd just come out of nowhere at anytime, and just latch onto her like some baby.She was not complaining.

"I kind of wish Daki was here" She murmurs and plays with the hem of her pillows casing. She almost felt like gossiping, which was so unlike her.She could imagine the squeals Daki would scream out as she rambled on about how they make such a cute couple.

I'll just tell her when I get back.

"Yeah" She sighs and jumps when she hears a noise from the kitchen. She grins, thinking it's Kokushibou back from his soil hunt.She then walks out of her room and goes downstairs, ready to tell him off if the soil wasn't the right color.

"Kokushibou, you're back too early. Are you sure th-"

The words get stuck in her throat as she locks eyes with the people in the living room.They were men,........human men.

Demon slayer corps.

It falls silent for a while until she sees one carefully grip the hilt of his sword. She looks around and spots her biwa at the far end of the room, quite close to the door.

And then she sprints.

A few slashes hit her face and her legs but she manages to dodge the fatal ones, reaching the door and grabbing her biwa. Just as she lifted her fingers to strum, the sharp shink of metal was heard.

And her hands fell to the floor, her biwa following suit.

She opened her mouth to scream but choked when a sword came so close to her neck, it got a good cut bleeding out. She managed to jump back a little but paid the price when her feet got cut off as well, in mid-air.

Five on one was such an unfair fight anyways. But as a demon, this should be child's play.

The way these men moved and attacked, she was now aware that they weren't just normal slayers.

They attacked like Kinoe, and gave hits like Hashira. The sting in her wounds said so.

"Get the biwa"

Nakime's eye widened at this statement and she quickly regenerated her feet, jumping to her biwa and grabbing it before one of them could. She ducked under his slice and jumped on his neck, twisting it with her feet, and killing him.

She tried playing her biwa again but she was punched so hard, she landed on the floor with a harsh thud.

Her biwa slid out of her arms and went over to the stairs, out of her reach.

She looked up and choked when a sword ran right into her throat, popping out the other side, doused in blood.Her eye widened in fear when the slayers surrounded her, each with a different scowl but with the same look of disgust in their eyes.

"She must've been the one that killed the new recruits Imu was training"

The slayer shoving with the sword in Nakime's neck frowned and twisted the metal to the right making her scream and claw at the steel, trying to break it off.

One hissed and slapped her in the face before slicing off her arms so she would stop clawing at them. Her eyes filled with tears of fear when the one referred to as 'Imu' brought out another sword from his second hilt.She couldn't die like this.

"Go back to hell, you demonic scum"

Nakime flinched as the sword came swinging down. Her head was spinning but she realized,.....she still had her head on.

She opened her eyes and gaped when she saw the lifeless body of the man in front of her. His head wasn't attached to his shoulders and his carcass fell down to the floor.

The slayer behind him looked petrified and turned back to see Kokushibou standing there, a ferocious look in his eyes.

As Nakime blinked, all their heads were sliced up into different pieces and their bodies fell to the floor, headless.Blood splashed all over the hardwood of the floor, staining it crimson red.

The smell of iron filled her nostrils and she coughed, slowly regenerating her arms to try to pull off the sword still attached in her neck.

**Kokushibou's POV***

I had a small bag in my hand, filled to the brim with loamy soil. Kami-sama knows how hard it was to find this, there were only so much buildings and so little trees.

As I approached the house, I smirked, knowing that Nakime would most definitely tell me something like it was too thick or the 'soil wasn't soil'ing'. Normal accusations to piss me off.

I could only laugh at the giddy feeling I got, whenever I thought of her waiting for me in the house.

My plan to avoid emotion at all costs failed successfully, and I couldn't be more happy with that failure.

I stopped at the door though, when I see footprints.

They were too big to be Nakime's, and there were too many.

My worry increased when I felt more than one presence in the living room. I quickly opened the door and my blood ran cold at the sight.

What made my blood heat up and start boiling was when I saw Nakime on the floor, surrounded, covered in her own blood, and with a sword in her throat.

My body moved by itself as I grabbed my sword with the speed of light and sliced off each of their heads with ease.

As their bodies fell to the floor, my gaze softened when I saw her, trying to regenerate her arms to pull the sword out.

I immediately rushed to her side and held her close, letting her rest her head in my shoulder. My heart shattered to pieces when she started to sob, clutching at my haori.

"K-kokushibou.." She drawls out and I pull her head from my shoulder, letting her rest her back on my chest instead.I placed her hand on my thigh and held her close, not wanting to let her go for even the slightest second.

"This is going to hurt, Nakime.....Just squeeze my leg if it gets too much" I whisper, hearing how cracked and drained my voice was.

She nodded and then I carefully gripped the hilt of the sword, frowning when she let out a small whimper. I stayed still for a while, letting her try to prepare before I forcefully yanked it out.She screamed and started coughing out blood and I immediately hugged her, pressing a hand on her neck to stop the bleeding.

She started to cry, burying her face in my hair. I held her as close as I could, rubbing her stomach comfortingly as my other hand applied pressure on the wound so it would heal faster.

"It h-hurts" She sobbed and I held her closer, letting her cry even more.

"I'm sorry" I muttered, my voice breaking as she continued to sob, "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you..."

We stayed like that until I finally felt blood stop trickling down my fingers. Her sobs reduced to sniffles and she snuggled deeper into me.

I carefully lifted her up and took her to her room, glaring at the bodies on the floor as I passed them.

I wished I hadn't killed them so quickly. They deserved to be eaten alive.

I placed her on her bed and went to the bathroom, turning on the water and filling the tub. I went back to the room and saw her hugging her knees, staring at her bed in a daze.

My heart continued to twist at her state and I carefully sat in front of her, catching her attention.

She leaned into my touch as I softly caressed her face. The thought of her actually dying because I wasn't there....

I picked her up and took her to the bathroom, making her sit on the toilet. I started filling the tub with soap and when I was done, I stood up to leave so she could undress privately.

"No" She says and I stop in my tracks.

I look down at her and the pleading, yet fear filled gaze in her eyes had me weak.

I knelt down in front of her and sighed when she hugged me. I wrapped my arms around her and picked her up, setting her down at the head of the bathtub.The sight of her blood all over her was something that twisted my insides, I wanted the stains gone .

"Nakime, you need to undress so you can wash yourself" I say softly and she looks at me, "I'll just be outside if you need me"

"No" She says again and I pull a worried look. She then blushes and holds my haori tighter, "Want you.....to undress me "

I blinked several times, not fully grasping what she just said. She then looks at me again and the look in her eyes confirms it for me, "Nakime...."

"Please" She adds and I give in, letting out a small sigh.

I cautiously reach for the short sleeves of her yukata and place my hands on them, looking at her again for permission.She gives me a small smile and places her hands on mine, pushing it down making the yukata sleeves go lower until it was completely off her chest and trunk.

My breath hitches when the porcelain skin comes out, shining under the light of the lanterns of the room. I slowly look away and then pull off the rest of the yukata, folding it and placing it on the door knob.

She stares at me intently, as if she was urging me to go on.

I internally gulped and knelt down in front of her again. My hands went to her back and I felt around for the clips of her bra, unhooking them. The inner wear fell off, releasing two beautiful lumps of flesh I had ever gotten the pleasure of seeing.

Her two rosy nipples stared back at me and I immediately looked away, pushing down all nasty thoughts.

Calm the fuck down, Kokushibou. Just one more inner wear and then you can leave before you do something that frightens her.

I reached down for her underwear and she raised her legs up, helping me to grab the sides and pull it off.

Great Kami-sama.

I let out a breath, forcing my eyes away from the pleasant folds of red in between her legs. The moment my pants started to tighten, I stood up, picking her and placing her into the water.

I kissed her forehead and walked out of the bathroom, shutting the door and moving as far away from it as possible. I placed her things on her bed and decided to stay by a window in the room, to wait for her if she needed something.

The sounds of crickets chirping as well as the evening breeze supported my calm state as I stood by the window, looking out of it.

The memory of her covered in her own blood replayed in my mind and I growled, running a hand through my hair.

If I was a second later, then......

I grit my teeth and rubbed my forehead.

How corps even knew the location of the house was above me. It was well hidden, and the routes to get there was also very complex.I had to keep my guard up.

This should, and will, never repeat itself.

My thoughts overwhelmed me, so much that I didn't notice the bathroom door open and close after.

I only picked up when I felt arms wrap around my waist, and the feel of soft flesh press against my back.

My eyes widened, "Nakime?"

The hands around my waist tightened and I felt her rest her head close to my shoulder.

" Kokushibou, please touch me..."

________________

A/N:Yes.Ladies and gentlemen, Kokunaki fans everywhere, the time is nigh.

I'm going to enjoy writing the next chapter so damn much.See you then, my peeps ❤️.__________________