Disclaimer: Demon Slayer is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
---
Inside the bushes of the mountain.
Rustle, rustle...
A white figure stopped in its tracks.
It was the eldest sister.
She had intended to take advantage of the family members and Rui going out to hunt, using the same excuse of hunting to gain the right to move freely and secretly run down the mountain.
As a result, she had stumbled upon the scene of the little sister and father being slain just moments ago.
The eldest sister slowly crouched down, her face filled with terror, cold sweat dripping from her forehead.
"...D-dead?"
Her gaze trembled as she stared at the little sister's head on the ground.
"No way... Rui... an Upper Moon's power shared with us... we should be strong by now..."
She swallowed nervously, the corners of her mouth twisting, her face pale as she shook her head.
Having witnessed firsthand the little sister and Father being instantly killed without any chance to fight back, a desire to retreat welled up in the eldest sister's heart.
'I'd better... run away quickly.'
She then planted her hands on the ground behind her, instinctively wanting to flee this place.
Demons who had banded together precisely to avoid demon slayers; at moments like this, they would naturally think of running away.
Tap.
As the eldest sister scrambled backward, the back of her head suddenly bumped into something relatively soft.
Someone is behind her!
The eldest sister froze for a moment, her body stiffening, her pupils contracting sharply.
Her neck stiff, she slowly turned to look behind her.
What came into view was gray fur, beast ears, and a boar's nose.
A boar?
She paused in confusion, her silver-white eyes trembling with terror as they met the gaze of the large boar's head behind her.
"Heh heh heh!"
White vapor snorted from the boar's nostrils.
The eldest sister stood frozen, staring in disbelief at the boar crouched behind her. For a moment, her mind went completely blank.
"Why is there a wild boar here!?"
Her terrified scream rang out from the bushes before she passed out.
Inosuke crouched in the bushes, looking somewhat troubled at the eldest sister who had fainted from fright before him.
An unfamiliar creature, not human.
He scratched his head in confusion.
His brain, which he didn't use much to begin with, had been used far too many times today.
---
"Did you guys hear something?"
Yuichiro gripped his sword, glancing warily left and right, frowning.
The Tokito family had been on high alert, watching the eyes gleaming in the dark forest around them.
Rustle, rustle!
Whoosh!
One of the bushes shook violently. A dark figure shot out from within. "Heh heh hahaha—!!"
A rough laugh echoed from the leaping figure as it spun mid-air.
Thump.
It landed before the startled Tokito family, crouching to absorb the impact, and then slowly straightened up. Two streams of white vapor snorted from its boar nostrils.
It lifted its head, its large blue eyes clearly reflecting Muichiro's stunned expression.
"The Great Me, Inosuke, has arrived!"
As it shouted imposingly, it suddenly spread both arms wide, as if basking in glory.
The unconscious figure on its shoulder nearly tumbled off.
Crack!
Inosuke waved his fist, suddenly standing up straight, clenching it right in front of Muichiro's face, leaning in and shouting. "Let's settle this!"
His boar's head was currently adorned with a few scattered leaves, making him look quite travel-worn.
Behind him, the bushes showed a path where plants had been pushed aside.
"Ah! It's the boar from earlier today..." Muichiro looked at Inosuke before him, his mouth opening and closing speechlessly for a moment. His expression shifted from wariness to surprise.
"Wait!"
As he pointed at Inosuke in surprise, his gaze slowly drifted to the other's shoulder.
Inosuke was carrying a white figure on his shoulder; it seemed unconscious.
"What are you carrying over there?!" Muichiro stepped back in fright, gripping his sword tightly, his gaze wary of the figure on Inosuke's shoulder.
"Huh?!" Inosuke paused upon hearing this, instinctively shouting back, and then waved his hand dismissively.
"That's not important!"
"Our match is what matters!"
With that, he casually dumped the eldest sister from his shoulder onto the ground.
Thump!
"Ugh!" The unconscious demon hit the ground hard.
"Ow ow ow..." Jolted awake by the impact, she groggily opened her eyes and looked around dazedly.
Then, her gaze met Soichiro, who was approaching slowly with a drawn sword and a faint smile.
!!
'It's the guy who killed the little sister!'
"Eeek—!!"
The eldest sister's pupils contracted to pinpoints. Her already pale face lost all remaining color in terror as she scrambled backward on her hands and feet, trying to flee.
'Why am I here?!'
She looked around frantically, her peripheral vision suddenly catching sight of the strange boar standing nearby.
It was that boar!
Seeing the blade getting closer and closer, even clearly seeing her own reflection in the steel,
"I escaped!" She shouted in desperation.
"There's a Twelve Kizuki on this mountain! An Upper Moon!"
"Everyone here was turned by him!" She relayed everything she knew.
Feeling no sensation of her neck being severed, she opened her eyes.
To see Soichiro standing with a wary expression, his blade pointed to someone behind her.
The eldest sister paused. She turned and looked behind her.
In the distance behind her, a childlike figure had appeared, hearing her confession.
"Is that so, Sister?"
The eldest sister's body instantly became rigid and began to tremble.
Rui stood under a tree, his expression indifferent. He fiddled with a cat's cradle made of spider silk between his hands, his gaze never leaving the strings the entire time.
"So that's what you were thinking."
"About the bonds between us, family."
Creak—!
The cat's cradle of spider silk in his hands abruptly pulled taut.
"No."
"A real sister wouldn't say that."
Rui slowly lifted his head, his tone gradually darkening.
"So, you are not my sister."
Under the moonlight, the characters [Upper Moon] were clearly engraved in his silver-white pupils.
"No, that's not it!"
The eldest sister's eyelids trembled. Her body froze in place, her throat instantly choking with fear.
She raised her trembling arm, her eyes panicked as she tried to explain. "Rui! Listen to me, it's not like that. —"
Soichiro kept his blade warily pointed at Rui. The dense aura emanating from him was almost identical to that strange fish he'd encountered in the Swordsmith Village!
"Shut up." Rui didn't express any emotion on his face, his head slightly lowered.
Then, he swung his arm sharply!
Zing!
A piercing sound of something slicing through the air erupted from all around!
Glistening spider silk faintly reflected the moonlight in the pitch-black night.
Soichiro looked up, his pupils contracting. He whipped his head around to look at the two children behind him.
"Fall back!!" He shouted.
At the same time, he leaped, forcefully pushing Muichiro and Yuichiro, who were slightly slower to react than him.
He lunged backward, pulling them down with him.
"What the?!" Inosuke jolted, his body instinctively crouching and twisting backward, retreating rapidly like a wild beast.
Shink!
The razor-sharp spider silk instantly pierced through the eldest sister's body. She jerked violently, faint bloody lines appearing on her raised, pale face.
The eldest sister was frozen in place as tears welled at the corners of her eyes.
Blood burst and splattered from the lines.
She stood there, motionless.
Thump, thump.
Then, her body split apart along the grid-like bloody lines. Neatly sectioned chunks of flesh slid and plopped onto the ground.
Her eyeball rolled on the ground, trembling uncontrollably, letting out a silent wail.
Because she was a demon, she wouldn't die.
But the pain was very real.
"Unbelievable."
Soichiro released the two brothers. He slowly rose from the ground, frowning deeply, glancing at the eldest sister now in pieces on the ground.
His gaze flickered between Rui and the eldest sister.
'Why such an indiscriminate, ruthless attack?'
He looks like a child the same age as Muichiro, yet he's so—
'Right...'
Soichiro understood.
'It's all because he is a demon.'
Soichiro tightened his grip on his sword hilt but still felt compelled to ask. "...Aren't you family?"
His voice was low as he looked at the boy before him, who looked to be barely a teenager.
"Correct." Rui's gaze was cold, agreeing with his thought and affirming it. "We are family."
"A family bound by strong ties..."
He trailed off mid-sentence, his voice slowing. His half-lidded eyes opened wide.
He looked at the Tokito family opposite him with some surprise.
"Wait..."
Rui pointed a finger at Soichiro. As an Upper Moon, he could sense something from Soichiro's blood instantly.
"You..." His finger moved back and forth between the people before him, his voice suddenly sounding a bit perturbed. "Are you all family?"
His gaze settled on Soichiro's back, scraped and bruised from protecting the two brothers.
Without waiting for an answer, he started pointing on his own.
"You are... the Father."
Rui pointed at Soichiro, then his gaze slowly shifted to the Tokito brothers standing up behind him. "Brothers."
Then, he looked at the fourth person.
The fourth person's gaze met Rui's for a fleeting moment.
"Huh? Bastard! What are you looking at?!" Inosuke turned his head, raising his fist angrily and shouting.
He had narrowly avoided the attack just moments ago, blood dripping from a scrape on his arm.
'Damn it!' Inosuke's arm trembled weakly from the injury. He gritted his teeth, warily scanning his surroundings.
He had known there was something off about this mountain when he entered.
But he never imagined that such strange creatures existed in the world!
His gaze shifted to the ground, where the eldest sister was slowly trying to reassemble herself.
"...A boar?" Rui frowned in confusion.
"Well, whatever." He dismisses Inosuke.
Rui looked at the wary Tokito family. Perhaps because he found them quite agreeable, his tone relaxed considerably.
"Hey, you three over there."
Whoosh—!
He waved his hand lightly, and a dense web of spider silk descended from the treetops, hanging over the Tokito family.
The sharp threads gleamed coldly in the moonlight, seeming as if they might cut at any moment.
A strange smile curled at the corner of Rui's mouth, as if an idea had struck him. He spoke to Soichiro.
"You three, be my family."
"What?" Yuichiro frowned, standing behind his father. He looked at Rui in shock at the offer.
Swish!
"Perfect. Since [Father] is dead, you'll be the new father."
Rui raised his hand as he pointed to the spot behind Soichiro where the Father demon had just turned to ash while muttering to himself.
"The other two can be my older brothers."
As he spoke, he took a few deep breaths, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Rui had never tried incorporating a real family into his own before.
Just thinking about it excited him.
However.
"I refuse."
Yuichiro frowned deeply. He clicked his tongue, simultaneously scanning his surroundings.
"Trying to persuade a demon slayer to become a demon."
"Your head must be completely full of that sticky stuff."
He muttered under his breath. "Just like this damn forest."
While Yuichiro was creating a diversion,
His younger brother Muichiro crouched behind him, quietly placing the now-awakened Kasugai crow on the ground.
He tossed it towards a distant bush.
To send word back.
The atmosphere in the air instantly froze solid.
Rui's excited expression stiffened, then slowly darkened with displeasure.
Swish!
"It doesn't matter."
Spider silk extended from his fingertips, connecting to the web above the Tokito family. His voice was sad.
"If I torture you half to death, I can still turn you into demons."
---
Meanwhile.
Within the Infinity Castle.
"Yes, that's it, Nakime."
Muzan's expression was pleased, as if he had forgotten everything before. He sat before Nakime, gesturing proudly.
"I know you can handle more."
"Yes, Muzan-sama."
Nakime sat upright, her head pressed against the wall. Dense, nerve-like flesh tentacles extended from the back of her skull, clinging to the wall, spreading like ivy.
On the branches of these nerve-tentacles hung numerous eyeballs.
Each eye was engraved with the character [Upper Moon] [Four].
Muzan was holding one of the eyeballs to test them. Through shared vision, he casually connected to the roaming eyeballs outside, controlling their movement.
As if he were moving freely outside himself.
On a whim, Muzan decided to check on Rui, whom he had recently elevated to Upper Moon.
He thought highly of that child and, for certain reasons, felt quite fond of him.
"I wonder what Rui is doing."
He muttered to himself.
---
On one of the treetops in Natagumo Mountain.
An eyeball disguised as a fruit slowly opened. Short nerve tentacles at its base coiled around the branch.
Muzan looked down at the scene below.
His gaze searched curiously beneath the tree.
And saw Soichiro holding a sword.
The moment he caught a glimpse of the top of Soichiro's head, with its small braid.
Splat!
The eyeball ruptured as if pricked by a needle. The tentacles contracted, and it tumbled down from the tree.
---
Muzan opened his eyes, his face covered in cold sweat. He took two quick, shallow breaths.
He had only seen the top of a dark blue head and a small braid.
His gaze was fixed on the floor before him, his expression panicked.
He knew deep down that there was a high probability he had misidentified the person.
But.
Thinking back to his previous encounters, which had landed him in trouble, he decided not to take chances.
Better not look.