The Demon Queen

Kokushibou

"Well, that was pretty lucky," I said and patted the man on the back. "That drunk was tripping over himself in the street just as you survived your transformation!"

"Ehm ..." he said and touched his face. "Ow!" he let out after accidentally poking himself in one of the new eyes that formed on his upper cheek. He looked at me. "What is this, anyway? How many eyes do I have?"

"Three pairs," I replied.

"And why?" he asked.

"I don't know." I looked to Muzan, who was walking in front of us. "Hey, Muzan, why did he end up with extra eyes? I thought you were going to be careful not to deform him."

"I told him to clear his mind and apparently he didn't," Muzan said. "He was thinking of those two children looking at him while the process was going on. That's the impression I got." He glanced back at us. "Is that true?"

The man lowered his chin some. "Yes."

"You'll have to live with it now," Muzan said and looked back forward. "Sakura, did you get his name?"

"No." I looked at the man, who was adjusting his bangs so they wouldn't hang over the eyes that formed where his eyebrows had been. "So, what's your name?"

"Tsugikuni Michikatsu."

"It's a mouthful," Muzan said. "Are you attached to that name?"

"Not in the least," the man named Michikatsu replied. "I feel he's dead now. Tsugikuni Michikatsu was a demon slayer. I'm a demon."

"With three pairs of eyes," I added.

"With three pairs of eyes ..." he repeated and rubbed his head.

Muzan thought for a moment. "I'll call you Kokushibou. If you don't mind."

There was the sound of our footsteps against the ground as we continued with a few steps.

Kokushibou? I thought. Didn't he give that name to a rabbit we kept for some years a long time ago?

"You may call me whatever you like, Muzan-sama," Kokushibou said. "You saved my life."

Muzan and I brought Kokushibou back to the castle, explaining to him along the way the lifestyle conditions of being a demon, though it seemed Kokushibou already knew all of that. Muzan also told him about Tamayo, though he didn't disclose that we didn't trust her or that we planned to kill her. He only said that she was there as a housekeeping servant and not very useful besides that.

"It's you I have high hopes for, Kokushibou," Muzan had added. "You are a very important demon to us."

When we got to the castle, Muzan briefly introduced Kokushibou to Tamayo and proceeded to do a quality check of the cleaning. I followed at a distance with Kokushibou, biding time silently with him until Muzan was finished with Tamayo.

"Sakura, I'll be sealing her in her quarters, now," Muzan said to me. "Wait here with Kokushibou. I'll be back to show him to his quarters in a bit."

I nodded. "Sure, all right."

I watched Muzan leave the room with Tamayo. Kokushibou stood silently behind me, staring off in the direction they went in. I looked back at him, noticing how when he blinked, all six of his eyes blinked at the same time. It was weird.

"Sakura-sama?" Kokushibo suddenly said in a pensive voice.

"Yes?"

"How long have you had that woman here?"

"Tamayo?" I asked. "About eighty years, more ore less. Why?"

"I'm not fond of her energy. She smells bad, too," he replied, still staring at the doorway Muzan and Tamayo left from.

Well, well, someone else senses what I have for all this time, I thought.

"Eighty years," Kokushibou continued. "Sakura-sama, is it a long time to be a demon?"

I didn't know how to answer that.

"I'm around 500 years old now," I said. "Eighty years is quite a short time. At least for Muzan and I."

Kokushibou nodded. "I see ..." he said, sounding like he was halfway immersed in his own thoughts. "Then maybe it's not so strange that she has this human-like essence about her."

Human-like essence? I thought curiously.

I couldn't say myself that I noticed anything of the sort. But I had become so accustomed to Tamayo herself that perhaps I couldn't notice such details. Tamayo was Tamayo, similarly to how Muzan was Muzan. Over the years of eating humans, I knew that our powers as demons became stronger, and thus our energies also weren't the same as a few hundred years ago. But I never actively sensed anything different in Muzan from that. He was just Muzan.

"Sakura-sama?" Kokushibou asked.

"Hm?"

He looked at me. "Do you come from a family of monks?"

"What?"

He bowed to me. "I apologise if my question was beyond my position to pose --"

"You really don't have to bow to me."

My comment slipped past him. "But as a former demon slayer, I can sense in your energy that you come from a spiritual family. If you were a slayer, you would have mastered breathing, and you would have become marked very soon."

"Ehm ... well, my family were exorcists. Extortionists and exorcists. So, you're right." I stared at Kokushibou, who was still bowing to me. "Can you stop that?" I asked dully. "Really, you don't need to do that. Maybe just when Muzan's around, because he's into that sort of thing."

Kokushibou looked at me. "If you insist, Sakura-sama." He rose up to standing normally.

"Think of it this way, Kokushibou," I said. "In actuality, Muzan is your master, not me. So, give him that extra respect because it's his to have. But, in front of him, be sure to share that respect with me, because it's important to him. When he's not around, though ..." I shrugged. "There's no need. Get it? I hope I'm not confusing you."

Kokushibou smiled a little. It was the first twist of his mouth resembling a smile that I ever saw on his face. "I understand," he said. "Thank you."

I started to sense Muzan coming back. Some seconds later, he came through the doorway and over to us.

"How is he?" Muzan asked me.

"Fine," I replied. "His body is adjusting to the changes well."

"Excellent," Muzan said. He took my hand and then looked at Kokushibou. "We'll be bringing you to your quarters now. Follow."

Kokushibou bowed his head. "Yes, Muzan-sama."

As we led Kokushibou to his quarters, Muzan gripped my hand tighter and lightly tugged me closer to his side. I was about to ask "What?" when he put a finger to his lips and leant in close to my ear.

"We'll kill Tamayo next weekend," he whispered very quietly.

Already? I thought.

It was sooner than I would have guessed it to be.

Muzan kissed me at my ear and brought his mouth away from my head. He smiled and swung his arm with mine a little as we walked.

So, you just wanted a servant to replace her first ... I thought flatly. Muzan, you ...

I glanced over my shoulder back at Kokushibou.

You really can be an idiot.

I saw Kokushibou adjusting his bangs, flinching a little when he accidentally touched his upper eyes.

At least he doesn't like her, either, I thought as I looked back forward. That's a good thing. So, fine. He can't be that bad.