Adopting a Jellyfish Demon

Aww man ive been caught taking care of a child!

Kokushibo arrives home after about an hour of hunting for food, he has severed two arms with him instead of one this time. He makes sure to get a man's arm for Akaza too. He walks in and is unsurprised when Akaza lays completely passed out on the couch. He places the severed arms on the dining room table and grabs Momo from her room upstairs. Akaza will definitely be asleep for a couple more hours, he has to be, he's been asleep for most of the night and a little bit of the evening. That's a lot of time to be asleep for a demon. Kokushibo gently wakes Momo up and she gets excited to see him again, she happily smiles at him and reaches her hands up to him. Kokushibo picks her up and she makes some quiet happy noises. He smiles at her and walks back down the stairs, when he makes it to the bottom of the stairs he notices that Akaza has shifted onto his side. He is a little suspicious but he sees that Akaza is still fast asleep, or at least he looks to be asleep, his breathing is slow and even.

Kokushibo walks by the couch and stops when he hears some movement behind him. He turns and is horrified when he sees that Akaza has woken up and is staring at him wide eyed. "Kokushibo, who's that?" He groggily asks as he points at the young girl in his arms, she makes a face and hides in Kokushibo's large clothing.

He protectively covers her, "Akaza..." Kokushibo begins and Akaza makes a terrified expression at his tone of voice, "You must make me a promise..."

Akaza nods his head quickly, "yes, anything you want." He replies quickly.

"You must keep this girl's existence a secret..." Kokushibo moves his arms a little and Momo looks at Akaza, "Do I make myself clear?..." Kokushibo says.

Akaza nods again and stands up. He seems astonished at her, and inspects her face, "What's her name?" He asks while standing at a distance from Kokushibo.

"Momo." He says while walking a little closer to Akaza so he can see Momo better.

Akaza was never a person who likes spending time with kids but Momo being a demon intrigues him, "Hi Momo." Akaza says while waving at her. Momo puts her hands out and reaches towards him, Akaza comes closer and she grabs his hand and puts his hand on her head. "Oh!" He says in surprise.

Kokushibo watches this happen closely, if Akaza even so much as looks at Momo wrong he will cut him to pieces. "I need to feed her... I brought you back some food too..." Kokushibo walks away with Momo and places her into the high chair sitting in the kitchen.

Akaza follows him, "Uh, thank you.." Akaza seems embarrassed by Kokushibo getting him food but watches as he prepares Momo's food. He takes one of the arms sitting on the table and starts eating it as he watches. Kokushibo follows his typical routine of taking the nails and bones out of it, Akaza is curious about why. Why wouldn't he just give Momo the arm? Whatever, Akaza thinks, maybe Momo is too young for that? Akaza keeps watching as Kokushibo cuts the meat into small pieces and puts them into a bowl, he then walks over and places it into the small table in front of Momo. Kokushibo also has a spoon in his hand and picks up a piece of meat before Akaza decides to speak up, "Momo is a demon, isn't she? Why can't she eat and hunt on her own?" He asks.

"Come here Akaza..." Kokushibo says, Akaza walks over and Akaza hands him the spoon, "Try feeding her yourself..." he says.

"Uh, ok." Akaza says while taking the spoon and holding it up to Momo's face, she opens her mouth and Akaza gasps. He puts the spoon down and whirls around to look at Kokushibo, "What, why? What happened to her?" Akaza says while making a shocked face at him. "Did you do this?" Akaza makes a disgusted face and looks horrified at the idea.

"How dare you... I would not do that to any child..." Kokushibo closes his eyes and angrily shakes his head, "Her parents have done this... not me.." He walks over to Akaza and looks at him.

"Can I keep feeding her?" He asks sheepishly, Kokushibo nods and Akaza feeds her a piece of meat. She smiles and makes happy noises.

"She must've been hungry..." Kokushibo comments.

Akaza nods and keeps feeding her. While Akaza does this he and Kokushibo have this strange silent bonding moment. Akaza smiles while putting another spoonful into her mouth, "She's cute." He says after many minutes of silence.

Kokushibo only nods quietly, "Akaza... I need your input on something..."

"Ok, what is it?" Akaza responds, he feels far more comfortable with Kokushibo after seeing how kind he was towards Momo.

"I am... confused about something..." Kokushibo begins, he takes his time and tries his hardest to find the right words, "Should I... tell Muzan?"

Stupidly Akaza looks towards him while Momo takes another bite and says, "Tell Muzan what?"

"Tell Muzan that I'm taking care of a demon child." A rare moment of complete clarity in his speech catches Akaza's attention. He thinks for a minute, while Momo finishes her meal Akaza puts the spoon down.

"You should let Momo decide." He says finally.

"She's three years old... How could she make such a big decision?" Kokushibo is puzzled by his response.

A long time ago I heard this saying that sometimes kids will have this... intuition. Maybe Momo will make the right choice." Akaza looks towards Kokushibo, "Why don't you just ask her?"

"Alright... Momo, I need you to make a choice for me." Kokushibo addresses her and she nods happily, "Nod your head if I should tell one of my... superiors.. about you..." Momo thinks for a second and then nods.

"There's your answer, how do you feel?" Akaza asks.

"I will... trust.. her." Kokushibo says while picking her up and out of the chair. He starts to walk towards the kitchen sink.

"Ok, let me know how it goes." Akaza follows him and watches Kokushibo place her on the edge of the sink, "What are you doing?" He asks.

"Momo's feet are injured... I need to change the bandages.." Kokushibo slips a roll of bandages out of his pocket and places it on the counter; he then takes off Momo's shoes and puts them next to the fresh bandages. Akaza watches curiously, shouldn't a demon be able to heal their injuries? Kokushibo takes the old bandages off and Akaza looks at her feet curiously. He notices the large gashes in them.

"Shouldn't Momo be able to heal her feet on her own?" Akaza asks.

"Yes... but.. Momo's feet will not heal as quickly as they should..." Kokushibo finishes rinsing off her feet.

"That's strange.." Akaza steps forward, "May I have a look at them?" He asks.

"Be careful... I will cut you down if you even so much as lightly scratch the surface of her skin..." Kokushibo says while stepping back allowing Akaza access to Momo.

"O-of co-course...." He responds as he very gently takes Momo's foot in his hands. After inspecting it for a bit he turns to ask Kokushibo another question, "Does she have any trouble walking?"

"Yes.. she does.. Why?"

"I think that whatever produced these gashes on her feet severed some of the nerves and is making it difficult for her to walk." Akaza concludes this and then grabs the new bandages to rewrap her feet. "May I?" He asks while gesturing to the bandages.

"Ah... that makes sense... Yes.." Kokushibo responds while feeling even more guilty about her issue with walking. When he found her, if he had just been more careful with removing the pieces of glass he could've saved her feet. "Is there... any way that I could help her?"

Akaza thinks for a bit, "I think that a wheelchair could definitely help her. She'd have to be older to get one though." He says while finishing up bandaging her feet. Akaza then picks her up but struggles to hold her properly.

"I do have reason to believe she is growing..." Kokushibo watches as Akaza tries to hold Momo, he walks over after a bit and readjusts her. "Hold her like this.."

"She's growing? Isn't that impossible? She's a demon!" Akaza seems surprised and looks down at Momo's face, she smiles and reaches a hand up to touch his short pink hair.

"Don't pull..." Kokushibo reminds Momo and she nods before lightly taking a piece into her hands, "Yes... She needs to take naps and sleep very often... young children sleep more because they're growing..." Kokushibo shares his reasoning with Akaza.

"Maybe you should measure her, then you can see if she really is growing." Akaza says, he then gets the bright idea to bounce Momo a bit in his arms, she giggles excitedly. Kokushibo can't help but smile at this, shocking Akaza. "Wow... you're-you're smiling." He is astonished at this as Kokushibo hasn't shown any other emotion than anger or distaste in front of him.

"Momo has made me more... empathetic..." Kokushibo decides to change the subject, "How would I measure her?" He asks.

Akaza respects the change in subject and walks over to one of the many hallways in the house, "Do you have a pencil?" He asks while setting Momo down near the wall.

"No.. Let me go get one..." Kokushibo walks away, rifles through some drawers and eventually finds one, comes back and hands it over to Akaza.

He takes it and stands Momo against the wall, "Don't move." He tells her and she stands still in response, he makes a line above her head and turns to ask Kokushibo something, "What day is it?" He thinks for a moment and responds telling him the exact date and time, Akaza makes a confused face but ignores Kokushibo telling him the time and puts down the date. "There you go! Now you know how tall Momo was on this day. So when she grows a bit you can measure her again." Akaza says confidently.

Kokushibo nods, "I see... I was wondering what you were doing..." He walks over and scoops her up.

"You really care a lot about her don't you?" Akaza says while watching Kokushibo.

"Yes, I do... Is that wrong?" Kokushibo gives him a dirty look and Akaza immediately tenses up.

"No! No, of course not.." Akaza says while immediately clasping his hands together and bowing, "I'm sorry.."

"Akaza.." This grabs his attention again, "Relax... I find that there is no reason to discipline you currently... In fact.. I appreciate your help with Momo and your excellent ideas... Thank you, Akaza." Kokushibo says and Momo happily nods her head at this.

"Oh, I'm glad I could help." Akaza pauses, "Can I tell you something?"

"Yes."

"You're... really intimidating."

"Ah... but you're a demon... you shouldn't be scared of me... besides.. I wouldn't kill you... you are useful to Muzan.." Kokushibo concludes, "Although.. I do have an issue with something... Your infighting with Douma is... unprofessional.."

"I'm sorry, I'll try harder to be more civil." Akaza says, "Thank you for letting me meet Momo and trusting me enough to not betray you. I promise I won't tell anyone." Akaza looks Kokushibo in the eyes for the first time in a long while since meeting him. Akaza notices that Kokushibo's expression is much more relaxed, he isn't bloodthirsty, angry, or upset. Akaza catches himself thinking of Kokushibo like some monster from a book, always out to get you and ready to feast on your blood at any moment.

Kokushibo looks at him, "Thank you Akaza... I have a question for you... is there any way you could watch Momo for a day?" He asks him.

Akaza seems a bit shocked, "Uh, I guess so, why?"

"I need to go out and purchase some items... I don't believe that Momo would enjoy shopping..."

"Ok, when do you think I should watch her?"

"Can you come back... tomorrow night?" Momo starts to squirm in Kokushibo's arms and he gently puts her down. The sun is rising soon and she should be getting tired.

"Yeah, I'll do that." Akaza leans against the wall, "What's her schedule? Does she take naps during the day?"

"Yes she does.. I'll write down Momo's schedule for you when you get here tomorrow... I am curious though.. Why are you so knowledgeable on childcare?"

Akaza flushes red, "uh, I um.. I read a lot of books..." Akaza speaks quietly, he thinks that reading is an embarrassing hobby. He thinks that Kokushibo will judge him for reading even though he knows that Kokushibo reads on his own.

"Interesting..." Kokushibo looks towards the window, "I need to go put Momo to sleep now... I'll see you tomorrow.." He walks away and picks Momo back up and turns towards Akaza. He walks towards him and starts talking to Momo, "Say goodbye to Akaza... You'll see him again tomorrow."

Momo opens her mouth and makes a couple noises until she ends up saying "Aka! Aka!"

Akaza can't help but smile and Kokushibo makes a shocked face, "Good job Momo." Akaza says as she waves him goodbye. "I'll be back after sundown tomorrow, see you then." Kokushibo nods and Akaza walks out.

Kokushibo puts Momo in her bed and leaves. He sits on the couch and begins to mentally plan his next day. He's going to go out and purchase a couple books for himself, some toys, blankets, and clothes for Momo, and finally a book so Momo can learn her numbers. Kokushibo decides to write down Momo's schedule before he sleeps, he appreciates Akaza choosing to be secretive about Momo before he's ready to tell Muzan. He has decided to tell him the next time he sees him but he wants to be more prepared. Momo also needs a smaller bed.