The Moon and The Sun Shared The Sky (akaren/renkaza)

Chapter Three

Akaza's eyes roll as he puts his hand up and he walks away dismissively. Kyojuro gets a bad feeling about this and takes the situation into his own hands— " Where might you be going on such a late night, you know of the existence of demons so I ask that you please go back inside and wait till morning! " Kyojuro exclaims in a demanding manner, coming off as almost threatening. Akaza becomes more annoyed by this hashira— why does he have to bother him— Akaza turns back to face him " I have a sunlight allergy, dwelling with demons and risking my life is the only time I can be out? " Akaza's tone seems tempered but with a large overlay of questions, almost like he's hiding his actual mood. Kyojuros hand shifts to the hilt of his sword resting there, this man does no good to help his case by making Kyojuro believe he's even somewhat human.

Akaza catches the movement but makes no effort to point it out since any human wouldn't be able to catch such a miniscule detail. Akaza calms himself down, realizing he needs to play his cards a bit better with this guy since he's not normal. Akaza shakes himself out of his anxious thoughts and directs his attention to the hashira— " My name's Hakuji Soyama, I've been having a bad day. I sincerely apologize for my previous words- if it's so dangerous, might you accompany me? " Akaza's words become more delicate and spoken with care as if he is trying to get the favor of this demon slayer.

Kyojuro is taken back by the words of this human. Kyojuros arm promptly retracts from the hilt of his sword and back crossed against his chest as he gives a heavy sigh. His breathing forms more from his chest so as he sighs, his build seems larger and he looks like he's puffing out his chest like an angry bird, a very scary angry bird at that. " I cannot accompany you! I must patrol and even if what you say is true then I'm sure you have your ways. I will be going now Hakuji! " His voice speaks out like he's never heard it before as he turns and disappears into the night.

Akaza lets out a lengthy sigh of relief since it has been a rather long while since he's eaten, but if he patrols, that could change things. Akaza would have to pull off a perfect kill in order to not be caught. Akaza, in turn, could also pin it on another demon since more are bound to come. Akaza begins walking in the loosely illuminated streets, having poorly attended to oil based lamps to give a light. It's eerie and offsets Akaza's stomach; Akaza is actually a rather picky fellow so it's hard for him to eat at times. One thing though that has always put him in the mood is fireworks.

Akaza has an unnatural attraction to fireworks and he can't remember why— why was a violent demon such as himself so attracted to fireworks. Not only was it a fondness but he was known for involuntarily crying sometimes during them— was it a suppressed memory— sometimes Akaza wished for the memory douma had. Why did Akaza have permanent tattoos; let alone those of theft— he wasn't a thief, was he? Akaza regains a headache from all this thinking, this always happens when he tries to remember anything.

Akazas body shifts swiftly, punching an unsuspecting wooden beam. His hands bleed and stop bleeding at the same time. He hadn't hit the beam hard enough to knock it down or make noise, just enough to hurt him. Akaza has a tendency for unbearable violent urges that he despises— he's never felt it though towards women or young girls, possibly kids too though that's mostly him not being a cold hearted monster. Akaza slightly hits his head to the beam and sighs, the pain in his stomach becoming more evident.

Akaza hears some rustling towards the back of the alley he had found the beam in and decides investigating would be the best course of action. Akaza takes it slow since it's probably a demon— the smell of blood is quite evident. Akaza rounds the corner and sees a bloodied demon huddled over a human, the humans seem alive for the most part just the demon latched to their side. Akaza shifts into his demon form which he feels more comfortable in as he throws a rock at the lesser demon. Akaza's presence is still low since there's a hashira here but just from his eyes the demon scuttles away like an insect. Akaza now sees the face of the victim this demon has claimed—female— she looks out cold from blood loss.

Akaza turns to the terrified demon as his eyes practically plead for him to take his food but luck isn't on his side. Akaza swiftly takes off the bug-like demon's head and crushes him beyond his healing capabilities, caving in the demon's skull in the process. Akaza sighs having gotten out the urges he had earlier and he turns to the girl and props her up; Akaza tends to her wounds just enough so she wont die and has a higher chance of recovery if he wasn't too late. Akazas appearance once more changes as he leaves the alley hoping to never see her again.

Akaza continues his night stroll a bit more and eventually, he does find a male human he decides to make his victim. Demons are naturally sloppy eaters so most don't like others disturbing them. Which is why you will actually see most demons leave each other alone during meals; once again another reason to hate Douma— he's the sloppiest out of all of us yet he shows it around like it's a sport. Demons need food just like humans so there is a demon eating it. Akaza's victims were two drunk males who went out the wrong exit to the bar they were drinking at. Akaza had wasted no time killing them, one he had skewed right through the face and the other's guts had moved to the exterior of his body. All humans have a seven second interval before they die meaning that anything he tries to do there isn't a peaceful death; just like how demons disintegrate we feel all of that up until we are completely gone.

Akaza gets up from the mutilated corpses quickly cleaning himself off in the alleyway and leaving it entirely. Akazas preference isn't really drunk dudes but it's much better than no food— if Akaza didn't get food that night he was sure he would have gone insane— That wouldn't be a very pleasing experience for him and the ones around him. Akaza picks at his teeth a bit realizing his claws are out; Akaza is one of the very few demons who don't have their claws out constantly, he believes he's only seen or met three others. He promptly puts his claws away so he doesnt hurt himself.

Kyojuro's nightly patrol was going rather well for the most part. He however was still mildly upset at his encounter with the human he had met. Kyojuro doesn't understand why that human makes him so irritated and irrationally annoyed—not to mention the demonic aura— Kyojuro frowns to himself and decides to double back— there has to be something. Kyojuro hops around and bolts down the way he came; The entire Rengoku household has insanely high stamina so learning to run faster came naturally.

Kyojuro stops when he spots trails of blood riding up the alley wall— Kyojuro checks it out and sees only a grotesque scene and mangled male bodies. Kyojuro has been able to hold his stomach to most demon platers left behind but this one almost got him. Kyojuro leaves the alley before he inherently throws up. He leaves the bodies for tomorrow and whichever unlucky citizen has to clean that mess up.

Kyojuro makes his way downtown at a vastly slower pace slightly shaken up from the scene he had just witnessed. Kyojuro had a strong hatred for demons and this added to his long list of reasons why Kyojuro hated them— why had they even been created— Kyojuro shuts his eyes as he breathes out so he can keep his emotions in check; to be a strong demon slayer is to be in check with all of your emotions, if you aren't, it will be your downfall.

Kyojuro sees a slightly bloodied beam supporting nothing. Kyojuros initial thought was that it's the same demon and he was late to once more another scene— some poor humans lost their lives because of his carelessness— Kyojuro rushes down the alley. What Kyojuro comes across is not what he expected; Some girl propped against the wall and a demon mangled sprawled out on the floor. Kyojuro lets out a hefty sigh exponentially happy with the situation. The demon wasn't dead yet meaning this was done by another demon— Why?— Kyojuro was confused by the two scenes, had a demon had a change of heart? Kyojuro doesn't question it further and finishes the demon off so it doesn't have to suffer any longer.

Kyojuro checks over the girl's wounds though they had already been tended to so he hoists her onto his back; he is going to take her back for extra care. Kyojuro doesn't rush though since the situation wasn't too dire and the girl's wounds were already half closed— opening them farther would be more dire than the current situation. Kyojuro takes off in a slow paced run hoping to get there sooner rather than later. Kyojuro passes a familiar face though— Hakuji? He was still out— Kyojuro finds this mildly suspicious but leaves it be for the time being, currently he has a human he must attend to— however he did catch a glimpse of the inn he is staying in now.

~

1665 words