Chapter Text
With the sunset, winter had come, in the form of the first snowflakes.
Akaza liked the snow, although he didn't know exactly why - just as he couldn't fully understand why he also liked fireworks -, but as with everything in his existence, Akaza couldn’t do anything but accept it in order to be able to concentrate on his only goal: training to become stronger.
On the other hand, as well as for an inherent personal satisfaction and need, for him training was also the only way to appease his hunger and his thoughts which, sometimes, ran very fast and turned out to be too annoying to be controlled or understood.
That night however, it was immediately impossible for him to succeed in his intent, because his ears picked up something much more irritating than his usual unanswered questions: the screams of a woman.
A familiar shiver ran down his back, distracting him from his workouts, and when the smell of blood was added to those screams, Akaza couldn't help but start running with the silly and senseless thought of: “I'll never make it in time!”
He wouldn't make it in time… for what?
A feeling of anger, mixed with helplessness, drove him to run faster, at the same time helping him to ignore that question that brought with it countless and now familiar doubts.
The demon leapt onto the branches of a tree tree to propel himself forward, while a whistling sound began to grow in his ears, which made him deaf to all but the woman's pleas and wails.
Akaza's eyes, accustomed to the dark, immediately spotted a small house at the edge of the forest. From there came the smell of blood and the cries of pain and fear, and that led him to not hesitate to carelessly break through a window with his body, interrupting what was happening within those four walls.
Three green eyes, with elongated black pupils, rested on his. Surprised and angry at first, and finally frightened.
«U-Upper Moon Three!» the demon stammered, after noticing the kanji that Akaza wore in his eyes.
His mouth, inside which long sharp canines were visible, was covered in blood. That same liquid smeared a light green kimono, worn and ruined.
In his hand, the demon clutched a pale human limb, from which more blood was flowing copiously.
Akaza gave him a look of disgust, which turned into anger at seeing the bodies lying at the other demon's feet.
A little further from the demon and near the door, was the body of a man whose neck was clearly broken due to the unnatural position of the head. The second body, which instead attracted all the attention of the Third Crescent Moon, was that of a young woman with black hair that fell disheveled over her face. The pale blue kimono she was wearing was bloodied, and that red stain grew dramatically starting from the right arm that had been torn off.
The smell of blood was even stronger inside the house.
It was sweet and inviting — it was probable that the woman was a marechi — but Akaza didn't feel the saliva increase, nor the urge to sink his teeth into that flesh. He felt only disgust and anger, especially when the woman's body, shaking with pain, slowly became still. The heavy breathing faded, leaving only the deafening whistling in Akaza's ears and a heavy knot in his stomach.
Once again he hadn't arrived in time.
He clenched his fists, and his gaze flashed in anger as he turned it back to the demon.
«Get out of my sight,» Akaza hissed, and the demon, devoid of any fighting spirit or utility, immediately showed himself terrified at the idea of having somehow offended the Upper Moon.
In fact, he mumbled an apology and instantly jumped out of a hole in the roof, probably previously created by that same demon to cause disorder and panic in the family he had attacked.
Akaza stood his ground, eyes suddenly closed and hands balled into fists. He tried to calm the blind fury that had begun to burn in his body, driving him to feel an absurd thirst for unmotivated revenge.
It was a strange, almost anomalous anger that didn't seem to have a real source, yet it was there to make him tremble. To make him feel like a failure .
It didn't make sense, but the more he stared at the woman's corpse, the more that feeling grew, making his stomach twist. Akaza needed to let off steam, at that moment more than ever, but at the same time he felt he had to calm down first.
He reopened his fisted hands, trying to let the tension slip away, and finally took a deep breath.
The whistling that had made him deaf until that moment slowly faded away, allowing Akaza to hear the silence of the house broken by a new, sudden and unexpected noise.
Akaza stiffened and his gaze immediately turned towards the fusuma[1] that served as a closet in the room, and from which muffled cries were now audible.
He approached the sliding door and carefully opened it. A small pile of sheets moved under his gaze - now more curious than angry as a few moments before -, and finally a loud cry began to fill the room.
An infant.
The Upper Moon wrinkled his nose and turned to look again at the woman's body lying on the ground.
A new wave of anger hit him as he laid eyes on the woman, but that didn't stop him from partially reconstructing what had happened inside that house.
The demon's attack and the family shutting themselves up in one of the innermost rooms of the house.TThe frightened woman must have hidden the child inside the fusuma to try to protect them in the only way she could think of, and finally death. But Akaza knew well that any action would prove useless against a demon.
He walked away a few steps, deciding to ignore that little human who was continuing to cry with increasing intensity.
It was none of his business.
Just as it shouldn't be intervening to try to save that woman, he considered. But like every time his body had moved without being able to stop it, guided by a need that had cradled in his being since he could remember.
That infant, however, was a completely different story. Akaza didn't care about them.
He jumped out the window and with another long leaps he climbed up one of the nearby trees. The snow had now covered the entrance to the house, and it was enough for Akaza to sit on a branch to see large chunks of snow fall towards the ground.
It was continuing to snow and probably would have continued throughout the night.
He liked the snow but it was annoying to train in that weather, so it would have been more logical to find shelter, at least until the snow stopped. Yet the Upper Moon stood still, his lips drawn into a thin line of disappointment and his nose wrinkled in a frown.
What were the odds that that little human would be found? , he wondered for no real reason.
It was cold and the demon that had entered that house, killing first the man and then the woman, had destroyed the roof without too many problems - he had done the same with the window, but the greatest damage was on the roof.
"Someone will come sooner or later, " Akaza said to himself, glancing towards the hole in the roof of the house - it was snowing inside as well.
He clenched his fists, the cries of the infant still reaching his ears.
It was an isolated house, extremely poor, it was clear that its inhabitants weren’t swimming in gold.
How many people would have realized the absence of that family?
"Maybe nobody," he considered.
Because the poor were never noticed by others, by the luckiest and richest people.
Akaza cursed to himself, unnerved by that thought and by the certainty that he was right. That little human would die there, like his parents, because no one would ever arrive in time to help them. No one would remember them.
Besides, how many would have ventured outdoors with that snow that promised to last even through the night? Nobody .
It was annoying and unfair , but on the other hand, it wasn't his place to worry about it. That was just the useless life of an infant.
Yet even though he was fully aware of his duties and obligations, Akaza couldn’t budge from his position. He stood still on that tree, towering over the little house without doing anything: as if he were really undecided about intervening or not.
To do what?
He could have killed them and spared them the needless agony of dying of cold and starvation. That would have been a magnanimous act even for a demon.
However, just the thought of touching that intant, hurting or killing him, made Akaza's stomach twist annoyingly because he had never killed any child before.
It seemed to him a vile and reprehensible act, causing him nausea and pain as when he had tried to hurt women, before receiving Muzan's permission to not kill or devour them. Akaza had kept that detail to himself and, fortunately, he had never been involved in missions involving the death of any child.
He stood upright on the branch, perfectly balanced, then even before Akaza could continue to reason to convince himself to leave that place, his feet moved by themselves causing him to jump back towards the house, crossing the hole in the roof created by the other demon.
A light blanket of snow had already formed on the floor, and although Akaza couldn't be disturbed by the cold, he couldn't help but notice the icy air that was breathed within those four walls.
The little human's cry was still strong, and he could see his little hands clenched into fists waving upwards.
They had some pretty good lungs, and by the way they were screaming it was clear they were trying to get attention with their crying. The infant seemed to want to fight for survival, yet possessed no fighting spirit.
Akaza approached the fusuma again to take a closer look at the little human. They were wrapped in blankets, but the demon could clearly see a small orange robe wrapping around their bodies.
Their faces were ruddy from tears and their hair was short and black as night. The Upper Moon wasn't an expert on babies, let alone humans, but they certainly weren't a newborn. In any case, they were nothing special: they were a normal baby.
However, Akaza could no longer take his eyes off that little body.
He tried to reach out a hand, touching the infant's fist, jolting when the little human's little hand instinctively tightened around his finger, squeezing it tightly without stopping crying.
«Sounds like you don't want to die, huh?» Akaza asked blankly, aware that he would never receive an answer.
He sighed. Akaza was getting into trouble, in a situation that he wouldn't be able to handle, because he was actually considering saving that tiny life.
If he had taken the infant with him, what would have happened next?
Could he have left them in some other house, hoping they would take them? It was possible, but risky. No one did anything for nothing, and get a new mouth to feed like that? Impossible .
What was the use of saving them now, if in the end their fates would have been the same?
Carrying them along was just as out of the question. Akaza had neither a home nor the skills to care for a child. Not to mention the fact that he was a demon, the fourth strongest in the world: that's why he couldn't bear the hassle .
He tried to free his finger from the baby's grip who, continuing to cry, didn't seem to want to let go. It was hard to be delicate, one wrong move and that little body would have destroyed in his hands.
Akaza pursed his lips in another grimace and, with a little effort, managed to move his hand away with the help of the other.
Time was passing inexorably and if for a demon that frost was neither annoying nor deadly, for that infant it could actually be fatal, and Akaza had felt how cold their little hands had become.
«What do I do with you?» he asked again in the solitude of that house.
Try his luck with some well-to-do family? He ruled out that hypothesis almost immediately. He didn't trust rich people, it was something Akaza felt boiling in his blood.
But he had to be honest: Akaza didn't trust anyone .
Rich or poor, humans or demons. More often than not, he trusted only himself and that was quickly leading him to the conclusion that he would never have found a place to leave that infant, whose hours were numbered.
Where could he take them? And above all by whom?
He needed someone so good as to put the well-being of others before his own, who would never leave a child in the middle of the street and who, on the contrary, would go out of his way to look after them.
Akaza knew of no such humans and, of course, excluded all members of the Kizuki - the child would never even make it to Infinity Castle alive.
But that thought made him pause for a moment.
Akaza actually knew a human , albeit not friendly towards him. Someone who had caught his attention for his fighting spirit and his foolish obsession with protecting the weakest.
Akaza was certain that if Rengoku Kyojuro had found that little human in front of him, he would have taken them with him without too many questions, because Kyojuro was a good person.
The Upper Moon couldn't stop a smile from forming on his lips. He was thrilled to be able to see the Flame Pillar again after those weeks.
He had spied on his slow rehabilitation from afar, hoping to be able to challenge him again, and for a moment Akaza seriously thought about taking advantage of that opportunity to fight against Kyojuro again.
The cry of the little human, however, brought him back to reality: first of all he had to take care of them.
«You’re lucky. You will surely live for a long time to come,» he commented almost cheerfully, extending his arms to better cover the little body of the child. Then he took them in his arms, in the most delicate way possible. The demon felt really embarrassed, but he instinctively hugged the little creature to his chest, rocking his body a bit to calm them down.
It didn't help much, perhaps because the infant felt his tension and for that reason it wasn’t possible to calm them down. Furthermore, children and the elderly were often the most receptive when it came to sensing the presence of demons. It was likely that they felt a fear rooted in the depths of their being from that early age.
«At least you have some brains,» he spoke again, but still rocking them awkwardly.
He eyed them critically for a few moments. The demon wasn't sure they were covered enough to face the cold outside. The blanket that wrapped them was soft and warm, but it wouldn't have been enough to protect them from the snow. Not to mention the fact that by keeping them close to him, Akaza knew that his body would never emit heat that was pleasant and reassuring enough for a human being
In those conditions he couldn't really protect them, and they would have died even before reaching Kyojuro.
That child was proving to be a continuous problem, but by now Akaza had made his decision and didn't intend to back down.
He moved around the room and, holding the little human with one arm, he began to open the various drawers looking for something useful for the trip outside - it was night and it was snowing, he needed something really heavy.
His searches led the demon to find a heavy cotton haori and other blankets. They were the only useful things he had found in that brief search, and with some difficulty Akaza tried to put the garment on to avoid the baby being in direct contact with his skin.
The infant’s crying, with that continuous movement, had finally calmed down, and looking down Akaza noticed that the little one had finally fallen asleep with their fists close to their red and round face. Big tears hung on their thick dark eyelashes and their lips were parted in a regular and almost reassuring breath - they were still alive, that was a good sign.
With the other blankets he had found, Akaza wrapped the baby up and attempted to create a support to carry the little human on his chest. He found himself in quite a bit of difficulty, but in the end he succeeded in his intent.
The child slept leaning against his chest, protected by two blankets, including the one used as a support for transport, and by the heavy cotton haori. Akaza was ready, and even ridiculous enough to leave the house.
He was awkward, not at all used to wearing all those layers of clothes, and above all to having to pay attention to such a small and fragile creature. However, he tried to not give too much weight to his clothes, and after going out the window, he glanced at the sky covered by snow-covered clouds, to be able to guess how much time he still had before dawn.
Running at top speed he would have reached the Rengoku Estate in less than an hour, but he couldn't afford a wild ride, so… an hour and a half maybe? At most two.
Did he have enough time?
Probably yes, at least that was what his body, now accustomed to running away from the sun, was suggesting to him, but he still had no time to waste.
With one arm around the sleeping little human, the Upper Moon began to run at high speed, trying to avoid too violent jolts.
Several times in the last month and a half he had already traveled that road. In reality, in the early days Akaza had headed towards what he had discovered to be the Insect Pillar’s house, and which served as a hospital for Slayers, and only after a few weeks his attention had moved towards Rengoku’s home, when Kyojuro had finally been allowed to continue his rehabilitation at his house.
In both cases, Akaza had always kept away from Kyojuro, limiting himself to observing him from a distance and discovering the strange domestic dynamics of the Flame Pillar family when he was discharged.
The first thing he had noticed was the similarity between all the family members, which, however, seemed limited only to the physical aspect. While Kyojuro was a flame capable of lighting up every room, that of his younger brother was almost non-existent. Then there was the father, who possessed a remarkable fighting spirit, Akaza couldn’t ignore it, but he was unstable and choked on alcohol - the Upper Moon didn’t need to spend the daylight hours hiding in the vicinity of the house to know that this man consumed alcohol regularly.
He found him reprehensible and without honour, and above all blind to the perfection and talent of his eldest son. In fact, one night, Akaza had even had to hold back from forcibly entering that house precisely because of his father's attitude towards Kyojuro.
The Pillar was having dinner with his brother when the man had joined them. The demon was hidden quite far from the house, and for that he couldn't peek inside, but his ears were sensitive enough to hear what was happening.
There was the sound of a plate breaking, Kyojuro apologizing about still having to get used to the loss of his left eye, and the man had spoken harsh and cruel words to him that had strained Akaza's control.
Only in order not to break that almost daily routine, the demon had managed to remain aloof, concealing his presence without incurring in unpleasant encounters... perhaps also due to the fact that during his visits he had never had homicidal or malignant instincts, but only curiosity.
However, Akaza was almost certain that Kyojuro had realized he was being spied on, but he hadn't mentioned it to anyone or tried to act. It was likely he was studying him, just as the Upper Moon was studying him.
In any case, that truce was surely destined to end tonight. Because Akaza had no other way than to enter the Rengoku Estate to deliver that infant to Kyojuro.
He looked down again at the little human he carried hanging from his chest - always supported by his arm. Their cheeks were slightly paler and they were still sleeping, their heart was also beating a bit fast - should he be concerned or was this normal in children?
Akaza pursed his lips, and aiming his eyes straight ahead again, he tried to increase his pace a little without however waking them.
Kyojuro would surely know what to do. He didn't know whether or not the Pillar had experience with children, but Akaza assumed that a great person like Kyojuro would be able to cope even in that situation, just as he had managed to survive him on the other hand.
He couldn't help but think back to their clash and how the stubbornness of the Flame Pillar had led him to survive... or rather: to urge Akaza to not deliver a fatal blow to him.
Kyojuro didn't have to die. He had to become a demon, and Akaza knew he could convince him one way or the other. It would have been a waste of talent to kill him now.
For that reason after witnessing the latest attack of the Pillar - Akaza trembled with excitement just remembering -, the Upper Moon had held back the instinct to plunge his fist into Kyojuro's weak human flesh, preferring instead to break the Pillar's sword to leave him unarmed.
He had then hit him with a kick in the stomach to put distance between them, and in the end it was the first rays of the sun that ended the fight completely.
His silly stance had led him to receive a painful punishment from his master, but in the end Akaza had not repented.
Kyojuro, broken as he was from his injuries, had managed to heal. He was receiving more than adequate care to be able to resume his work as a Pillar. Kyojuro was truly an out of the ordinary person and not 'talentless' as his father seemed to claim.
Soon the snowy horizon stopped showing him trees to open up to the familiar area where the Rengoku Estate was. Akaza slowed down and in a few minutes he reached his goal.
The excitement made him shiver and smile almost stupidly.
He still tried to calm down so as to not upset the more sensitive people - or the Pillar himself - with his presence and, with extreme care, he jumped over the wall of the Rengoku property in order to reach Kyojuro's room.
He wanted to say surprised when, about to reach the engawa[2] of the house, he saw the reflection of a katana... but in reality it was just what he expected from Kyojuro.
It was obvious that he would sense him. His senses were sharpened by training, alert and ready for anything, they weren't drowned out by alcohol like his father's.
Akaza smiled to himself, and finally stepping onto the engawa with a small jump, he turned to face the Pillar.
«Kyojuro~»
«You have finally decided to show yourself, demon ,» the Flame Pillar hissed, and Akaza cocked his head to one side, his lips still curling into a smirk.
His eyes roamed the Slayer's body, studying his appearance with ill-concealed curiosity. After all, he had only spied on him from afar, and that was the first time he was face to face with him again.
Kyojuro wore his nightgown, which fell slightly open on his chest - the bandages that his brother helped him change every night before retiring to sleep were visible. He stood normally, but his breathing wasn't as regular as when they first met. Kyojuro seemed to be having difficulty controlling it, perhaps due to his still healing internal wounds.
But that wasn't stopping the Flame Pillar from firmly gripping his newly reforged nichirin , his one good eye flashing in a flurry of feelings that ranged from anger to fear .
Kyojuro was scared , suddenly noticed the Upper Moon.
It was understandable, conceded Akaza immediately afterwards, unable to hide a hint of disappointment. Until that moment he had almost idealized the strength and courage of the Pillar , he had almost convinced himself that Kyojuro wasn’t afraid of him and that he didn't even fear death.
Was he wrong?
The demon wasn't sure, because the anger he saw burning in the Pillar's gaze told a different story altogether. Perhaps he feared that he would harm someone in that house?
Akaza opened his mouth as if to inform him that it wasn’t his intention to attack the inhabitants of that place, but remained silent when he noticed the surprise flash in the eye of the Pillar when Kyojuro laid his eyes on what the demon wore hanging from his chest - and perhaps also the way in which Akaza had dressed, certainly anomalous and stupid.
Kyojuro didn't lower his guard position, however, showing himself further suspicious and frightened at the same time.
«What… what are you holding, demon?» he asked.
The Pillar already had an answer, Akaza could tell through his tone of voice.
«You don't even recognize a child of your own species? You surprise me, Kyojuro,» he replied, untying the support created with the blanket to hold the little human more firmly in his arms.
Anger and fear grew in intensity in the Pillar's flaming iris, and his grip on the katana became much firmer.
«Leave them immediately! I won't let you kill them!» he roared, not bothering to keep his voice low.
Akaza grimaced in disgust, especially when the baby - jolting due to Kyojuro's angry exclamation - woke up and started crying with all the strength they had in their lungs.
«I didn't go to all this trouble to bring them here to you just to kill them,» Akaza exclaimed, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. «Also… I don't feed on children. Nor women, if that helps you sleep at night.»
Kyojuro couldn't answer, but his eye was still fixed on the demon and the crying infant.
«What does it mean?» he managed to say with a hint of confusion in his voice, standing still. He seemed ready to lunge, though, perhaps calculating the risks of using some form of his Breathing to try and wrest the baby from his arms.
He seemed ready to do anything to save them.
For a moment the demon was almost tempted to let him do it, intrigued by Kyojuro's strength even in those conditions, but at the same time Akaza knew he wasn't there to fight.
«You choose the meaning,» Akaza shrugged, kneeling to carefully place the infant on the engawa .
It was snowing there too, and he was a little worried about leaving them on the ground... but he was sure that Kyojuro would come to their aid in less than a minute.
The little human's face was ruddy again and big tears were running down their chubby face. He watched them for a moment to silence doubts, desires and uncertainties, then stood up, looking at Kyojuro still standing a few meters away from him.
Noises began to be heard inside the house, it was probable that the inhabitants were waking up due to the crying of the child, and that put the demon in a bit of a hurry, who had no intention of crossing the father of the Pillar.
«I entrust them to you, Kyojuro,» Akaza only said, and leapt off into the night, allowing himself, however, one last glance over his shoulder. He saw the Pillar sheath his katana and rush to rescue the crying infant.
He had made the right choice. He knew that Kyojuro would protect them to death if necessary.