The Demon Queen

The Paper Cranes

It turned out that Muzan decided I needed someone to accompany me when going to see Douma. He suggested that I bring Gyokko along. All in all, it wasn't too bad of an idea, although I could suspect that Muzan wanted someone else there as a witness to report back to him in case Douma and I had an affair. 

Due to his form, Gyokko couldn't go out into the city at night posed as a human to sell his pots. He either had to stay at the castle or go out solely for the purpose of finding food or killing Hashira. These limits would make him rather depressed -- although he still argued that his scaly, deformed appearance was artistically beautiful -- and when he got depressed, he would start to smell more like fish.

Taking Gyokko along to the Eternal Paradise Cult solved the problem of him getting bored and depressed and stinking up the castle. Over time, I had gotten used to his appearance, and it didn't disgust me so much anymore. And even I was more than willing to take Gyokko along if it meant there wouldn't be any residue of a rotten fish-like stench when I came back home.

Little would I have known that Gyokko and Douma would get along quite well. Douma was earnestly impressed by the pot I carried Gyokko's small, shrunken body form in, which made Gyokko more than ecstatic. Douma ended up volunteering to sell his pots at the temple, and so Gyokko was overflowing with creative inspiration, so he would say.

I found myself greatly enjoying both of their company. I spent many wonderful nights talking with them about various topics, and Gyokko too appreciated having a new face around to converse with. He also found it fun to be "in on the secret" of Douma's working on treating my scars, since I told him that I wanted to keep the treatment secret and to surprise Muzan with the change. It would take time for the change to be noticeable, but Douma was slowly succeeding to lighten the scars' appearance. I could already notice the development, but Muzan still hadn't caught on to anything. However, he had also become a bit distant to me for a while, probably out of his resentment towards my preferring Douma's company to his.

One night, I returned to the castle a couple hours before sunrise to find an unexpected surprise awaiting me. Muzan had filled our bedroom with loads of origami decorations.

There were at least ten strands of folded cranes of many colours connected by strings and hanging from the ceiling, as well as various geometric shapes placed throughout the room. On top of our futon lay a crown made out of origami cranes. I stood staring at the creations scattered about the room, not sure what to think of the surprise. I hadn't seen origami made by Muzan since we were waiting for Yoriichi to be reported dead. And even then, he made them out of a lack of anything better to do, not with the intention of decorating.

"Do you like it?" I heard Muzan's voice say from behind me.

I turned to see him standing in the threshold to the bedroom, dressed in a long, silk, dark blue sleepwear robe with ornate golden-stitched designs on it.

"Oh." I smiled a little. "You're wearing that?"

Muzan tended to wear that robe when he had plans of being more intimate in mind.

He snickered a little to my question. "I'm missing you lately." He stepped closer to me. "Does this make me more appealing?"

I never noticed before just how much paler that dark robe made him look.

I must be spoilt by Douma's healthier complexion, I thought.

"I took a bath, too," Muzan said, standing directly in front of me. "Is my scent inviting to you?"

"Of course it is," I replied.

He does smell good. It's just him that gets on my nerves lately.