The Good Demon [KNY]

Part 1: The Night Everything Changed

Akai Suisei was a 16-year-old boy with a normal life. He lived in a small village in the snowy mountains. The year was 916. He lived alone with his Father. His mother died five years prior due to sickness, and Akai's father never remarried.

Akai was in the midst of his normal routine. He'd wake up, tidy himself, and go for a walk, trying to help whoever asked and save up on tips. It wasn't much. But it helped out. His father was the breadwinner of the house, he chopped wood and sold it to other people in the village. Akai strayed to the edge of the treeline where the ground was blanketed by a few inches of snow. He could see a little ways out into the forest, but the rest of the woods layed behind densely packed trees and shrubs.

Something caught his eye.

A figure was limping just along the treeline. Their strides were long and quick, pained yet determined. Akai assumed wherever they were going, they didn't need help. Until the figure collapsed to the ground.

Akai's mind prickled with worry and he jogged toward the figure wanting to help them. It was a mistake Akai would regret for 1000 years. He slowed down as he reached the person, who he saw as a tall man, presumably in his late twenties to mid-thirties. Akai noticed he was riddled with slashes from blades. He also noticed blood covering his long-nailed hands and the corners of his mouth.

"Sir..?" Akai asked hesitantly. He slowly approached the man with his hand slightly outstretched.

The man shot up his gaze and made eye contact with Akai. His eyes were an unnatural pink, like cherry blossoms. 

"Ah... there you are..." The man's lips slowly pulled back in a smile, revealing inch-long canines. His long nails grew even longer, even sharper, and turned purple.  In an instant, the man had closed the distance and was poised to strike. Akai screamed in surprise and made an attempt to evade him, he ducked while throwing his body back. The man's claws barely grazed his cheek. Akai landed on his back and began frantically crab-walking backward. The monster looked like he was about to continue the onslaught, but winced as he reopened his wounds. The man looked to his cuts and back at Akai, before turning and limping away. 

"You will know soon enough." The man said.

...

...

...

"What the hell?" Akai rubbed his barely grazed cheek. He could feel a weird cold tingle on the spot of the scratch. Akai ignored it and cautiously walked back to his house. When he reached it, he saw two men with swords outside of his house. Akai ran over and the two swordsmen turned to him.

"Do you live here boy?" The first asked.

"Yes sir. With my father." Akai answered. The two swordsmen looked at each other and the first swordsman got down on one knee, ready to comfort him after they told him what happened.

"Boy..." the first one began. "Your father... was murdered." The man finished.

Akai felt something snap deep within himself.

"...H-Huh?" Akai's voice was a hushed whisper.

He stood, quiet. Unable to think. To breathe. Trying to process what he had been told.

"I know you're in pain, but we found the demon that did this."

"Demon?" Akai repeated internally.

"We almost got him. Have you seen this man?" The second swordsman held up a picture of the same man he was attached by. "His name is Muzan Kibutsuji."

"That bastard..." The remnants of Akai's soul burned with resentment as he forever engrained that name into his psyche. And for a moment, the tingle in his cheek flared like an inferno. But he didn't mind.

"I- I saw him on the edge of the woods, he ran out north." Akai pointed the direction the man had run from. The men stood up and padded his shoulder.

"We will avenge your father, boy." The swordsmen said in unison and ran to finish the demon.

Akai sniffled and went into his house, he layed down in his bed.

And cried a whole lot more...

----------

The entire day had passed. Yet he was nowhere near coming to terms with his new solitude.

Akai's eyes were encrusted with dry tears. His cheek felt numb. And he was hungry. Very hungry.

He climbed out of bed and went into the kitchen. He used to cook all the time with his dad. But now it didn't feel right. He grabbed the leftovers of the previous night. Rice and pickled fish. Along with a hot cup of tea.

He remembered how delicious it had tasted, and he thought about how his father had made it with him. He held the bit of pickled mackerel and popped it into his mouth. Only to violently gag and spit it out. It tasted like the vilest trash at the bottom of a poisoned sea. He tried again with the rice. He spat it out too. The texture of his once-favorite food so reviled him. They must have gone bad. But at least he could cleanse his pallet with some tea.

"BLEH!!!" Akai choked.

The tea tasted like piss. Everything tasted horrible. His cheek was now throbbing and itching uncontrollably. Akai began scratching his itch while keeping his other hand on the table. He slowly began feeling more angry. The itch grew the more he scratched. He growled and his free hand pressed its fingers on the table. His nails began to grow slightly, and they scraped the wood table. Akai's scratches got more violent as the sharp claws scraped skin raw and bloody, not doing anything to the itch.

Fed up with it. Akai roared and flipped the table with unfathomable strength. The table exploded and splintered the floor. Akai sighed and sat on the ground. What the hell was going on? He looked at his hand, its nails were limed with drops of blood from the violent scratching. He sniffed it out of curiosity.

It smelled delicious. So he licked one of his nails.

It tasted delicious. So he licked it again.

Before he knew it. The hunger was insatiable. He had cleaned out his nails and looked for more delicious blood. He bit down on his own forearm and began lapping away. His body began feeling stronger. He felt the power.

He wanted all the power.