The Demon Queen

Gyutaro's Choice

"Susumaru and Yahaba are dead."

...

...

"Rui is dead."

The two pieces of news seemed to come one right after the other. Although Muzan wasn't incredibly surprised about Susumaru and Yahaba, he was certainly affected by Rui's death.

Muzan had an obvious soft spot for Rui and favoured him greatly. He would regularly invite Rui to the Castle for tea and was generous with endowing him with extra doses of his blood. Besides Kokushibou, Rui was the member of the 12 Kizuki that Muzan had grown closest too.

Once Rui was killed, Muzan set the situation on high alert. He could sense through his blood connection with Rui how he died, and knew that the boy with the Hanafuda earrings was a contributor, though not the one to deliver the final blow.

That one was the Water Hashira.

However, through sensing Rui's memories, Muzan was able to figure out that the boy with the Hanafuda earrings was named Kamado Tanjiro, and that his turned-demon sister, Nezuko, was somehow "domesticated" and travelled along with him.

Neither of us understood how this Tanjiro survived the slaughter at Mt. Kumotori. Well, of course the answer was that he wasn't there, but Muzan and I were sure that there were the same amount of children as there were the day we spied on the New Year's Ritual. This meant that either we miscalculated -- which Muzan absolutely denied the possibility of -- or that the toddler boy was born after we had spied on the New Year's Ritual -- which was very likely, given the number of years we had waited for Kamado Tanjuro to die.

Muzan was not one to be reckoned with at this time. His energy became one of a constant sharp, eruptive, and shaking nature. Even the slightest off comment or glance at him would snap him into a trigger, resulting in the death of whoever set him off.

The only exception to this was me, and perhaps Kokushibou, too.

The Castle became a place of a tomb-like silence with fragile eggshells for floors. Because of this, Gyutaro and Daki decided to stay at the Red Light District at all times until Muzan would settle down. Gyokko decided to stay with Douma, and Akaza and Hantengu were continuously out on missions. I was no longer staying for extended periods in my own wing because Muzan's paranoia caused him to urge me to stay beside him as much as possible. He was particularly anxious because I didn't have the ability to change my aura and appearance as he could. While he could shapeshift himself into a geisha-like woman and tweak his aura, I could only change my clothing and hairstyle if I chose to do so.

I was relieved when Muzan didn't try to pressure me into wearing different clothes. He could sense that I was more comfortable in what I had grown accustomed to wearing. Because of that, I would have an easier time fighting in my normal clothes. Muzan wasn't going to disrupt that comfort.

One evening, Muzan told me that he was sick of always having to replace the Lower Moons, and was going to remove them as a unit entirely. He asked me if I wanted to watch him kill them.

"Not really."

"Then what do you plan to do?" he asked as he used my lipstick to redden his lips.

"I'll check over at the Red Light District."

Muzan put down my lipstick. He turned to me. "Am I prettier than the oirans there?" he asked with an eye that he meant to be seductive.

"No."

Muzan's eyebrows narrowed at me. "No?"

"No."

He stepped over to me. He got so close that his chest was touching mine. The fact that he had grown breasts in his shapeshift made me uncomfortable.