Candles || Kokushibo

🖤31: ʏᴏʀɪɪᴄʜɪ ᴛʏᴘᴇ ᴢᴇʀᴏ🖤

      The following morning, Kokushibo, who is carrying an umbrella as the sun is bright, travels beside Tanjiro while the rest of the family remains in their dwelling. He looks at Tanjiro while holding the umbrella, who freezes when a fragrance hits his nose. "He stole my key!" The sound of a young man's voice causes both boys to pause. As he approaches Tanjiro, a young child is running up, trembling and terrified. "The pillar stole my key!" Kokushibo hums, closes four of his eyes, and lowers down to meet him at eye level. "Show me." The child recoils at his commanding voice's volume. He moves back from the demon as a sharp chill spreads through him, sending shivers down his spine. Despite his shivering, he continues to run, hoping the two would follow. Tanjiro rushes closely after the boy as he sprints by tall trees and dense shrubs covered in bright green leaves. Instead, Kokushibo continues to travel since he already knows where they are even if he can't quite see them.

      The demon then halts. He raises an eyebrow in his human form as a loud laughter blares in his ears. He hears a second voice, which he identifies as Tanjiro, start to guffaw as well. After removing some thin branches from his line of sight, he is able to make out Muichiro clinging to Tanjiro and laughing while gasping for air. Kokushibo moves in their direction while sighing. "What are you two doing?" The mist pillar lets go of his adoptive brother and grabs hold of his father instead, but the demon doesn't budge at the touch. "Look what they did to Uncle Yoriichi!" Kokushibo chokes on his saliva in disbelief as the teenager gestures behind him. The demon draws a hollow, long breath and smashes his palm over his lips. Muichiro falls on the dirt, gasping for oxygen. "I only wanted to train, but I never expected to see a six-armed doll of my own uncle." The small child with the mask glances at the pillar while shaking his hands in anger and confusion at the teen. "What do you mean by 'uncle?' He died during the Sengoku period!" He shouts in his face, and the fourteen-year-old cannot help but chuckle. He turns his head back to look at Kokushibo, but he only possesses two eyes. "You're that old?" The adult's head develops a vein as his rage increases. He strikes the side of his hand on top of Muichiro's head, pushing him to shriek and elevate his arms to caress his head.

      Kokushibo stares at the doll inconsolably for a while before sensing something that nearly feels like Yoriichi. He squints his eyes and sees a familiar blade through the doll's surface; Yoriichi's sword. A sword he knows should now belong to the youthful Kamado. "Child." He shifts his head towards the small child, making him tremble once again due to his voice. "Why is my brother's sword in that doll?" He flinches, and as his rage spreads outward, veins start to develop on his hands. Tanjiro sighs and covers his left eye with his palm as he nearly feels sorry for him. "My ancestors made this doll! There's no way your brother's sword is in there! You big, ugly jackass!" Indifferent to his taunts, Kokushibo blinks and moves toward the doll. The young man, also known as Kotetsu, rushes forward and reaches for the demon's clothing, but his feet skid on the ground and then slam against a stone, sending him face-first into the soil. Muichiro and Tanjiro try to assist him up by grabbing each of his arms, but the kid merely yanks them off. "Don't touch me!"

      Tanjiro was left with no option but to see his father remove a sizable blade from the doll. The aura emitted by the tall figure caused the teenager to tilt his head. The only swords he has ever seen Yoriichi wield are Tanjiro's and Kokushibo's. However, he remembers Yoriichi informing him that he was once a demon slayer similar to him. Actually, Yoriichi never revealed to him how he died, now that he thinks about it. He never told him anything about his human existence other than the fact that he was acquainted with Sumiyoshi and helped Sumiyoshi's wife find a midwife. Tanjiro never questioned individuals about their private lives unless it was necessary for their safety, yet the idea aroused his curiosity. He wants to question, but his anxiety is keeping him from doing so.

      When Kotetsu discovered that Kokushibo was a Sengoku-era demon, no one believes he heard the bit about him not harming people since he began screaming. Nobody knows where he disappeared to. Kokushibo may, but the other people don't think the demon is actually interested. For him, his family is everything. He is now sitting with his back to the wall, watching Muichiro and Tanjiro converse in peace as Nezuko snoozes on the pillar's lap. The six-eyed demon glances down and notices his youngest kid peacefully dozing off while curled up in his lap with his hand resting on her forehead. His hands twitch as he senses something strange about her. He lays his other hand on her cheek, gently applying additional pressure to ensure that he is experiencing what he believes he is feeling.

'Why is her skin getting colder?'

🖤Secrets/Extras🖤

~When Yoriichi went to light the candle inside of Muichiro's subconscious house, he felt a presence inside of a small comfortable cabin, which he assumed was his subconscious home, but when he opened the door, the presence vanished. 

~Something is happening to Mabel and no one knows what, not even her.

~Yoriichi cried when he saw the doll

~~"I'm not that ugly😭"

~Kotetsu may have called Kokushibo ugly, but he was actually jealous of his good looks

~Muichiro went from being serious and forgetful to remembering all of his memories earlier on and being very childish when he's when Tanjiro. 

~~One time he threw toilet paper at Tanjiro while he was writing a letter to Koinatsu. There wasn't a reason why, he just felt like it.

~~~Yes, Tanjiro threw it back

~Zenitsu once fell asleep on his back with his arms crossed over his chest. Since people's arms are crossed after they die in caskets, Muichiro and Tanjiro took that as an opportunity to set up a fake funeral for Zenitsu while he was sleeping. 

~~Muichiro: *Dressed in a black suit and glasses while holding an open book.* "Here lies the body of someone very special. Zenitsu will always be in our hearts."

~~Tanjiro: *Also wearing a black suit and pretending to cry.*

~~Yoriichi and Kokushibo: *Watching the entire thing, not even bothering to stop them.*

~~~Zenitsu was not happy.

~Two of Author-chan's readers figured out something in the book and she thinks that they are even more angry at Muzan.

~~If you're curious then there is a hint in the last chapter in the "Secrets/Extras."

~We have so many people in the Anti-Muzan Club, but so little in the group. We currently have 18 members in the group. Join our group so that we can torture Muzan together! >:)

(⬇Our group. If you can't press on it, then copy and paste (or just type it out) in Google⬇)

quotev.com/groups/1181542931

~~In the group, some of us planned to torture Muzan by summoning both Yoriichi and Michael Jackson.