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Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning:
Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Category:
Gen
Fandoms:
鬼滅の刃 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Anime)鬼滅の刃 | Kimetsu no Yaiba (Manga)
Characters:
Tsuyuri KanaoDouma (Kimetsu no Yaiba)Hashibira InosukeKotoha (Kimetsu no Yaiba)Kimetsu no Yaiba EnsembleTwelve Demon Moons Ensemble (Kimetsu no Yaiba)Original CharactersDaki | Ume (Kimetsu no Yaiba)Gyutaro (Kimetsu no Yaiba)Kochou KanaeAkaza | Hakuji (Kimetsu no Yaiba)Kokushibou | Tsugikuni Michikatsu
Additional Tags:
Alternate UniverseFluff and AngstCanon-Typical ViolenceCannibalismDouma is a Little Shit (Kimetsu no Yaiba)BAMF Tsuyuri KanaoDysfunctional FamilyBad ParentingDouma grabs Kanao instead of the Kochou siblingsAnd grabs Inosuke before Kotoha can chuck him off a cliffDouma: I'm not like a regular dad I'm a cool dadSwordfightingDubious MoralityConditioningKanao and Inosuke as siblingsBlood and GoreLoyaltyFamily Bondingno beta we die like the KamadosCultsTsuyuri Kanao-centricCanonical Character DeathHashibira Inosuke Being Hashibira InosukeTsuyuri 'if anything happens to my family I'll kill everyone in this room and then myself' KanaoPast Child AbuseMorally Neutral KanaoProtective KanaoVivisectionAnimal Abuse
Language:
English
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Published:2021-11-21Updated:2026-04-06Words:154,514Chapters:39/?Comments:1,970Kudos:3,614Bookmarks:794Hits:129,333
Iron and Ice
SkilledWarriorKiwi
Chapter 17: Amaryllis
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Yoshiwara was very colourful.
The district was still busy yet Kanao could see how many places were winding down with dawn approaching. Lanterns strung across the streets, the jingle of bells and chimes, the rattle of carts and calls from the various women within the buildings. None looked like Daki, with her flowery facial tattoos and glowing eyes and those long dexterous talons.
She did find it a bit odd as she walked, having her hair still styled in the elaborate up-do Daki had twisted it into. The various hairpins and ridged form, when she was used to being able to see the swing of her ponytail out of the corner of her eye. She kept Inosuke's silken wrapped present close, pleased Daki had used her pretty fabrics and ribbons.
Otousan told her about the district, how most of the workers had been young girls sold to the owners of each House. But there were many jobs in the district from ones like Daki- even if Kanao still did not know what the demoness really did -to dancers, comedians, painters, rakes and even tea shops. Kanao wondered if not for Otousan perhaps that man from so long ago would have sold her to a place like Yoshiwara.
Apparently there were contracts for a certain number of years but the debt the women incurred while working there would typically keep them working there until they died of disease or someone brought them out. According to Otousan there was even a specific district at Yoshiwara where the dying were left to waste away. There was also a temple nearby called Jōkan-ji, where dead workers without enough money would be left at the temple for burial. There had also been a mass burial of over five hundred women after an earthquake many decades ago, to avoid the spread of disease.
Kanao found that fascinating, surrounded by light and music how death was still very much present as with all things. It just reminded her about Otousan's habits- at least he ate the people he killed, like how a fox must eat a rabbit. Kanao's old parents, in that life so long ago, would sometimes kill her siblings for no reason and hit her for no reason.
They did get approached at several different instances as Otousan showed her some of the tea shops, as older women- or House Mistresses, as he would call them -who would inquire if Kanao was for sale. Each time Douma would laugh and decline, shooing the women away. Some were very persistent, especially one with white-streaked hair that reminded her of Rojin who complimented Kanao's eyes, and Kanao was unsure what the numbers they were offering Otousan meant. But nonetheless he declined them all and as always she was glad he was her father and tightened her grip on his hand.
Otousan also told her more about Daki and Gyutaro; he had been the one to turn them into demons many years ago, when the siblings were near death. Apparently that meant he had a 'special place' in his heart for them even if he remarked they'd gotten wild with age and were already very independent when he transformed them. But he still insisted on visiting them quite regularly. Kanao wondered if things had been different perhaps Gyutaro and Daki would have been her elder siblings. An interesting thought, especially after Daki had taught her how to walk in those very high shoes and Gyutaro said if she were a demon then they could be friends.
Though Kanao was busy enough with Inosuke, she wasn't sure how she would cope with two other siblings. Beside, Daki and Gyutaro had each other and Kanao did not want to share Inosuke either.
Even if she still liked the idea of being able to carry Inosuke around in her skin, as it seemed quite convenient. Like the magic doors. As it was, Douma was easily able to carry her as he did so once done with showing her Yoshiwara.
As they left through the great archway of the district, he said, "Maybe you and Inosuke can visit here as customers one day, hm? After puberty of course. As a birthday present or something."
Kanao didn't know what puberty was but would not mind seeing Daki and Gyutaro again. She could ask what their magic was and she could show Inosuke Gyutaro's teeth. She felt her otouto would like them.
But she did like sightseeing, especially when Otousan picked her up and carried her against his chest. She kept her grip tight on Inosuke's present, especially when he would move so quickly she would blink and they were somewhere new. Running around the rooftops was also quite fun.
He showed her one of the rivers running through Tokyo, the waterway lined with great sakura blossom trees. The powerlines crisscrossing the streets and buildings like spiderwebs. A man and woman shouting at each other in a corner store. A fox tentatively foraging through a spilled rubbish bin, bushy tail puffed up. A group of people repairing a flat tyre on one of the automobiles. A crow tucked up in the tangled branches of a tree. Someone being mugged in a back alley.
They would also play a game while crossing over the rooftops, and Kanao found herself enjoying their game of 'I Spy' especially when Douma praised how quickly she could spot things.
"Like a hawk," he had joked, after she spotted the dead rat tucked down in a narrow sidestreet within ten seconds.
Though as fascinating as she found Tokyo she still declined when Otousan asked her if she wished she could live in the city. She did not mind visiting the city but it was very busy and noisy compared to Paradise Faith. Festivals did happen yet they were set in specific times, not like the endless chaos of Tokyo. Inosuke also wouldn't like such a place.
Even the edges of the city was steadily growing, Otousan telling her how much the city was spreading over the decades. How much it had grown in only a century and how much more would it do so in the future?
It was very big and bright, and Kanao had to wonder how bigger and brighter a city could get.
She did not mind when Douma took her along the edges, seeing how the sprawling city grew more lax and calm compared to the busy centre. Otousan could be very sneaky when he wanted to- 'hunting' as he called it, even if he didn't eat anyone while carrying her -but following the people going along the paths, or starting to prepare their shops was interesting. Much like the woman in her house, many were oblivious when being watched. As Otousan said, humans were very stupid creatures and very easy to trick. Considering Douma was able to pluck a woman's hairpin right out of her ponytail as she was scrubbing out a pail without her even noticing, Kanao understood what he meant. No wonder she and Inosuke still lost every game of tag with him.
Then there was a great lake, the softly roiling water looking black in the night and lined with stone paths and great trees swaying in the soft wind. Already there were people awake around the fishing ports along the lake edge, no doubt preparing for the day swiftly approaching. Lanterns hung from posts, street lights lining the stony path as Otousan carried her easily. Kanao saw some boats tied to the docks, with great white sails and there was a smell of fish.
"It's nice and quiet here, isn't it?" he asked her.
Kanao nodded.
"It's second largest lake in Japan. So most people who live nearby are the fishermen so they are either still asleep or about to prepare for the day. See, in the distance all the way over there? The mountain with two peaks? That's Mount Tsukuba."
Kanao nodded again, able to see the dark, nearly invisible humped form of the great mountain in the far distance.
They walked by a great shrine near the lake, much like those at Paradise Faith with stone steps leading towards the shrine and the wafting scent of incense ash. She could hear the wind chimes within and the numerous ribbons and good luck charms dangling from the rafters and caught a brief glimpse of a trio of people within. Otousan said there was even one at the top of Mount Tsukuba, the purple mountain.
"For all those idiots to pray to their imaginary mystic saviours," he said with a laugh. He gave the shrine a considering look and Kanao could feel how his arms tightened slightly around her before relaxing just as quickly.
Kanao knew that there were no gods, Her father had taught her that. But he also said it was a secret to his commune, as they adored their ignorance and it was his job to make them happy. Inosuke had eagerly accepted the idea of the gods being myths as well, even if she had to pinky promise him to stop berating the other members about it. People got very mad about that type of thing, Kanao noticed.
"Though there is a story about Mount Tsukuba," Douma said, tree branches swaying softly overhead and Kanao still in his arms like a teddy bear. "Would you like to hear it, little mouse?"
Kanao nodded.
"Many thousands of years ago, a deity descended from the heavens. He asked the two mountains, Fuiji and Tsukuba, for hospitality. To spend the night as their honoured guest. Fuji laughed and rejected him, believing with arrogance it did not need a deity's blessing. Tsukuba meanwhile immediately welcome its guest, even offering food and water to the deity. That's why Mount Fuji is a barren, cold and lonely place while Tsukuba is rich with flora and filled with every colour as the season changes."
Kanao looked across the lake but in the dark she could not see any detail of the distant mountain beyond its shadowy twin peaks.
"There's also the legend that the progenitors of humanity are enshrined on each peak of Mount Tsukuba," Otousan continued, his deep voice reverberated against Kanao from where she was leaning against his chest. "Either peak has its own name; Nyotai-san and Nantai-san. Female and male. Named for the two kami, Izanagi-no-Mikoto and his sister-wife Izanami-no-Mikoto. Mount Nyotai is a site for the kagai, a festival devoted to fertility. They say the two deities wed and gave birth to many others, including Japan."
"And the moon rabbit?"
"Well as you remember the rabbit was moreso blessed, rather than being a god itself. Though I know in China the rabbit is a companion of the moon goddess Chang'e and instead of making mochi its making the elixir of life."
"Have you ever left Japan?"
"No, That Man does no allow it. And in all honesty I never wanted to. Though it could be the cells not letting me think like that, who knows!"
Kanao didn't know but she did not like the idea of That Man not letting her Otousan do something, despite Douma's jovial tone. Though since he was the strongest maybe he was allowed to order the other Moons around? Kanao was unsure and Otousan did not speak often of That Man.
But the lake was nice, the water dark like squid ink, but even with dawn still not yet appearing people were awake and getting ready for the coming day. But mostly they were alone and Otousan always spoke enough for many people. In the distance she spotted a crow take off into the sky, black feathers making it near invisible against the dark.
They did come across another shrine tucked within a cluster of greens with an overgrown stony path, though this one was located within a dilapidated courtyard surrounded by several abandoned houses and partially devoured by flora. Small and forgettable, both the shrine and houses, just filled with spiders and a dead tanuki. Otousan set her down, Kanao still keeping the silken package tight in her arms, and then he asked her what she thought the spirit the shrine was dedicated to.
Kanao guessed a kitsune spirit, from the little stone foxes lying by the edge of the shrine. Neglected, covered in moss and with most having missing tails and one even deheaded, but still recognizable. A few ema remained nailed there as well, even if the blessings they originally asked for had long since been erased in the wind and rain.
"Kitsunes are tricksters more than anything, not exactly exciting but adorable enough," Otousan said, a long claw dragging a deep gouge down the wall bracket of the shrine.
"Are kitsune real?" Kanao asked as she studied one of the crumbling walls. It looked like rats had been nesting within it. Upon the sagging awning of one of the shacks a lone wind-chime was struggling to sing.
"I don't think so. Only oni are in my experience. But then again, maybe they just hide very well? Or who knows, maybe there'll be a demon one day who'll be mistaken for one since humans aren't that bright. I doubt they could even tell the difference. They're not special like you, little mouse."
Otousan inspected one of the ema closely, running a clawed thumb over the washed out kanji before snapping the small wooden token in half. A moment later the other remaining wishing plaques crumbled to the ground in tiny little shards like toothpicks.
"Oopsie," he said turning to her with a laugh.
Then Kanao's nose was filled with the sweet scent of flowers as strong arms wrapped firmly around her. She caught a brief glimpse of Douma's rainbow eyes widening before she was swept away in someone's arms.
The person landed several yards away, Kanao still held tight as long hair tickled her nose.
"Are you alright?" a soft voice murmured in Kanao's ear. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe. Stay behind me."
With swift yet gentle movements the person shepherded Kanao behind them, taking up a ready stance facing Douma who was still standing over by the shrine, though he had his gleaming golden fans in hand as he watched the new comer intently. Kanao was tense and confused, clutching the silken package to her chest as she stared at the stranger.
The strange woman had thick straight black hair that flowed down to her waist and pale violet eyes. Kanao was tense as she stared at the stranger, the woman wearing a dark uniform with a haori that had the flowing sleeves and hem edged in green and pink. But Kanao could see the well defined muscles beneath her uniform, her form controlled and fluid. The familiar way she unsheathed a sword in a flash of light, the blade a soft pink like sakura blossoms. Standing between Kanao and Douma, protective.
And there were two butterfly clips in her long hair, coloured in green and pink just like her haori.
There was something profoundly familiar about the woman that Kanao could not place, something nagging at her like a forgotten dream. But she didn't have time to dwell on that as the woman spoke, voice calm and sweet.
"I am Kochou Kanae, the Flower Hashira of the Demon Slaying Corps," the woman said, her stare never dropping from Douma's. "And I won't let you hurt anyone else."
"My, what an arrogant statement. And from such a pretty lady! You're so fast and quiet, I didn't notice you move until you had already grabbed Kanao," Otousan replied, tone friendly. "There haven't been many women Pillars. Such a shame, they taste the most delicious. I'm so happy I'm able to meet you!"
The woman's stance didn't change, even at Otousan's goading. Instead she asked, "What are you doing with this little girl? You had her with you when you arrived. What are your intentions with her?"
The woman's tone, curiously enough, matched Douma's own; having a soft, calm manner to it. Despite the fact Kanao could see how the woman's hands were tight around the hilt of her sword, enough the strain of her knuckles pushed the skin white. She was angry but hiding it well and not letting it bleed into her voice. Kanao clutched the present tighter to her chest, unsure and confused.
Douma waved a hand dismissively at the woman, the golden fan glittering, "Yes, yes, you've been following us for a while haven't you? You were being very sneaky my dear, a Lesser Moon wouldn't have even noticed you. You took such pains to be stealthy before stealing away dear Kanao. Though quite frankly I should be demanding answers from you since you're the one who stole her."
Kanao's breathing was calm and even but her skin felt too hot, too tight. The woman was standing between her and her father, with a sword that shone with an unnatural light and the woman intended on hurting him. Kanao could tell from her body language, the woman leaning forward on the balls of her feet and the way her calloused fingers flexed around the sword's hilt.
"Kanao?" Douma called out to her and Kanao's gaze instantly shot to him. He smiled, making a slight shooing gesture at her, "Stay back, would you? I don't want to hurt you by accident, as I think me and Kanae-chan are going to have a rather strong conversation."
"Don't you dare speak to her," the woman snapped.
"I'll speak to her however I like-"
This time he was interrupted by the woman attacking him, moving across the stones in a flash as her sword came down in a slashing curve towards his face. There was a sharp clang as his golden fan collided with it, the blade cutting through his shoulder instead of his neck in a spray of red.
"Oooh, so fast! I'm going to enjoy this."
Kanao backed away, eyes wide as the two began to fight in earnest. She knew Otousan had ice magic but she had never seen him attack someone with it besides those lotus vines. But the woman was fast, she seemed just as fast as Douma and her sword was a shimmering pink and she was hurting him.
A sweep of his fan and a great gust of glittering ice blossoms burst into being, slicing through the stone and wood of their surroundings like flying shards of glass. The woman wielded her sword in several rotating slashes, knocking aside the flurry with only several cuts upon her haori. The air was so cold Kanao could see the frost beginning to coat the ground, staining the shrine blue and white as snowflakes fluttered through the air.
Kanao could see strange ripples flowing around the woman as she attacked again, like pink and white ribbons laced with blossoms were stringing forth from the shining metal of her sword. It seemed almost like a mirage, compared to the gusts of icy wind and snow Otousan's fans streaked across the air.
Great spears of ice punctured through stone and Kanao backed away even further as the ice crept towards her. The woman was so fast as she avoided the icicles- Kanao did not know normal people could move that quickly -and her pink sword was stained with red that quickly evaporated to nothing.
A part of Kanao desperately wanted to intervene, to stop the woman from hurting her father. But she knew with the sheer speed both were moving she would only get in the way. But still, she felt her jaw tighten and fists clench as the woman's sword sliced through her father's arm, cutting the limb off completely. The smell of his blood thick and coppery and such a vivid crimson she felt her stomach lurch. He healed the instant the woman managed to hurt him, arm snapping back into being the moment it was cut off, but still, seeing him being injured left a cold, horrible tension burning in Kanao's gut.
She had always assumed her father was invincible; the lady who stole the skull from her had tried to stab him with a kitchen knife and the blade had broken. The pink sword, was it magic as well? It seemed too bright, flashing as the woman beheaded an ice sculpture shaped like a delicate princess and swept into a series of rotating slashes that batted aside more lotus vines that sought to seize her.
"You can't reach my neck if you're all the way over there!" Otousan called out playfully from where he was standing before the shrine, a sharp fanged smile on his face. Kanao wished he would stop laughing and just kill the woman so she would stop hurting him.
The woman's serene expression was tight, lips a thin line and eyes narrowed. Kanao flinched as several lotus vines burst from the ground and nearly seized the woman's ankles but she leapt, nearly bounding across the small clearing in a single jump with her sword coming down in a spinning arc. Douma dodged, sparks flying as his fan collided with the sword.
As she did so, the woman overextended her arm and without pause Douma slammed an elbow down on it and snapped the bone in half.
Barely a grunt from the woman as she dodged to the side, avoiding a clawed hand that tried to seize a handful of her hair and instead all he got was her haori which she easily slipped out of. Despite her broken arm and steadily growing injuries, Kanao noted how the woman was still breathing deep and steadily and still gripping her sword and how imprinted upon the back of her uniform, in stark white kanji, was Destroy.
Tossing aside the haori, Douma snapped open his fan with a flourish and a massive cloud of ice swelled forth. The ground and walls of the surrounding area was instantly caked in a glittering cover of frost and snow as Kanao skittered behind the tree by the edge of the dilapidated buildings just in time to see the woman batter aside another cluster of frozen petals. Though this time her face and chest was sliced open, narrow yet deep cuts that bled heavily. The blood that dropped to the ground quickly froze, glittering like rubies.
"Aw, you're reaching your limit aren't you?" Douma called out to the woman, easily stepping across the ice. "Such a shame, I was having so much fun with a lovely lady like yourself. But my Blood Art absorbed your blood so your lungs are already dying. And you Slayers are all about that, aren't you? Your poor dear, you must be suffering so. But don't worry, when I eat people they're with me forever. You won't feel pain or fear any more, instead all you will feel is paradise."
The woman bristled, her stance hunched slightly but despite her broken arm and injuries her grip didn't falter on her sword. Her voice however was slightly strained as she said, "It doesn't matter if I die here. It was a promise, to fight you demons. To keep others safe from you and your mindless violence. To protect their happiness, their safety, so they never suffer loss like we have."
"Ahhh, are you talking about Kanao again?" Otousan laughed at the woman. "How funny, she's been far safer with me than she ever has been with you worthless humans."
"I won't let you touch her!"
Another clash, this time even faster than the rest. Kanao was too fixed on watching the fight from her hiding place to notice how the pitch black of night above was slowly ebbing as distant birdsong crept through the trees.
A twist and Douma parried the sword as it lashed out for his neck, taking advantage of the woman's broken limb to twist her wrist and throwing her over. His fan cut through her chest, spraying blood across his face before she grabbed his wrist with her uninjured arm and then kicked up, slamming her heel against the underside of his chin and snapping his head back. He stumbled and with a flash her sword slammed into his shoulder, her foot skidding on the ice and missing his neck.
He slapped her away, hard enough the woman went crashing through the wall of one of the nearby houses in a burst of wood and snowflakes. His shoulder healed while the woman's blood rapidly absorbed into his body. Kanao had to wonder if he was immune to pain or just determined to ignore it.
"I can hear your lungs struggling from here yet you're still trying! How valiant, you are certainly one of the more talented Hashira I've encountered," Douma said, laughing behind his fan as the woman emerged from the house.
She looked tired, breathing still deep but with slight, wheezing hitching Kanao could hear all the way near the trees. Blood stained the woman's front, dripping to the ground at her feet, and she was favouring one of her legs while her broken arm would not stop trembling. Yet still her pale violet eyes were determined, jaw set.
"Dear sweet thing, I will stop the pain," Otousan taunted. "I can hardly waste a beautiful treat such as you. You fought so well!"
The woman didn't even reply, simply taking another of those strange deep breaths and moving. Swirling ribbons traced her movements as she shot forward with a burst of speed, ice splintering beneath her feet. Douma seemed surprised, a glittering golden fan flashing out. She ducked, the sharp edges of the fan slicing through her ends of her hair, and her sword weaved upwards to cut off his arm at the elbow only to be stopped a hairsbreadth from his sinking into his neck with the shut fan of his opposite hand.
A great swirl of icy air engulfed them both and even with Kanao's keen eyesight she could barely see as they traded a flurry of blows in the pale mist. Snowflakes billowed forward, twisting and swirling in the air as the strange pink ribbons emanating from the woman's gleaming sword streaked through the air as hoarfrost slid up the shining metal.
More lotus vines sprouted from the ground, twisting and lashing like serpents as they ripped at the woman's legs, her hair, her arms. She hopped back, slicing through several of them and then Douma lunged forward, both fans flicking open as he intercepted her blade.
With a noise like crystal shattering, the woman's pink sword snapped in half and she stumbled away with blood spilling from her mouth.
Then the sun finally crested over the horizon, apricot streaking the sky as the weak pale rays spread across the land.
And a thin gleaming slice of sunlight shone through the dilapidated buildings between them, making Douma shy away as the women lurched backwards, clutching the hilt of her broken sword.
Otousan growled, a low animalistic noise and Kanao remembered how he couldn't step into sunlight. Even the narrow path now glowing between the ruined houses was now enough to prevent him from getting to the dying woman. Even with her breath being wet and wheezing, eyes growing glassy from her injuries and blood dripping steadily from her wounded frame, the woman did not fall.
"I....feel sorry for you," she rasped, bloody bubbles growing at the corner of her mouth as she spoke. With a spasm, she dropped the remains of her sword onto the frosty ground.
Douma just bared his teeth at her, "I really wanted to eat you. That's so rude, not letting me get my reward for winning. Especially since you women Pillars are so rare."
Kanao's body was tense, breath tight and uneven as the sky continued to brighten. The woman had seen Kanao's face, knew who Otousan was. She wasn't dead, Douma was unable to kill her with that barrier of sunlight barring the way. The woman was a Slayer, there were others. They tried to hurt people like Otousan. She wasn't dead. Another Slayer might be nearby, Kanao didn't know, or the woman could recover from her injuries. She could tell people about Kanao, about her father. What he looked like, what they both looked like.
They would kill her father and take Inosuke away from her.
Kanao found herself moving, dropping the wrapped present to the ground with a clatter as she sprinted across the icy ground right towards the woman. She hit the Hashira right in the small of her back, slamming into her like a cannon ball. The woman, already grievously injured and exhausted, lurched and skidded forward as she slipped in a puddle of her own blood.
And she stumbled over the patch of sunlight.
And right into Douma's waiting arms.
He seized a fistful of her fringe and his fangs were buried gum-deep in her throat before she could even make a noise. His other arm wrapped around her in an embrace, crushing her tight against his broad chest.
Kanao skidded to a halt, nearly stumbling over in her zori upon the frosty ground. But Otousan had the woman, was tightening his grip upon her as blood stained his jaws from where they were locked tight around her throat. She let out a strangled, gurgling noise before a sharp snap sounded through the air, her body going limp and and beginning to seep into Douma's. Being sucked into his very flesh with strange, wet noises.
Around them hundreds of glittering snowflakes floated in the gentle breeze, some settling within Kanao's dark hair. The woman's own hair was coated in blood and frost, one of her butterfly hairpins falling free as slowly, steadily, her body was fully absorbed into Douma's own as if there had been nothing there at all.
A moment later after the woman was swallowed into nothing, Kanao got snatched up in Douma's arms and her father pressed numerous tiny, enthused kisses across her face while saying, "My precious daughter! You're such a good girl Kanao, such a wonderful marvelous girl!"
Kanao felt herself slump in relief, ignoring the red wet stains Douma's lips were leaving upon her skin. She found herself patting at Otousan's chest and shoulders, nothing showing the woman had been there, nothing showing the injuries from that strange sword had ever happened. He was healthy and whole and the strange twisting tension in her stomach finally released with the realization.
"Oh I'm fine," Douma pulled back, grinning at her with bloody fangs and rainbow eyes sparkling. "You did so good! So brave, my precious daughter."
Leaning forward Kanao tucked her arms around his neck in a hug, feeling him reciprocate with a tight squeeze around her. The scent of blood was thick in her nose.
"Well then I think that's it for our trip to Tokyo," he said, voice muffled against her hair. "Now that the sun is up and that Hashira is mine, let's say we get back home hmm? Before anyone else decides to be a nuisance."
Kanao nodded before tensing, tugging at Douma's hair until he let her down. Quickly she ran back to where she had dropped Inosuke's present, nearly slipping in the ice that was starting to melt in the growing sun as it rose higher and higher. Swiftly she unwrapped the silken ribbon, feeling a bite of disappointment when she noticed one of the tusks on the skull had cracked when she dropped it. But other than that it was intact, so Kanao wrapped it back up, trying to remember how Daki had done so.
When she hurried back to Otousan, he opened his arms to her and she jumped into them with him easily hoisting her up against his chest as he pressed another kiss against her brow. With a low twang one of the magic shoji doors appeared in the shadowy side of the nearby building and without a backwards glance the two went through it and then door disappeared as if it had never been there.
Nearly several minutes later when a panicking young Slayer arrived, desperately calling her sister's name, all she found in the wreckage of the shrine was a blood splattered haori and a single butterfly hairpin.
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