Just as Oniyasha was about to attack her, he froze. Slowly, his eyes turned to look behind Shinobu. Standing there was a vague silhouette. Although he couldn't see clearly who it was, he knew it was a demon. Tall and muscular with menacing red eyes gleaming from the shadows.
Ignoring him, the shadowy figure stepped forward and embraced Shinobu from behind. Their nose dug into her neck, taking a deep breath of her scent.
Shinobu also had frozen. Her mind screamed with confusion—fear, relief, anger, longing—all colliding at once. Was she supposed to hate this? To rejoice? To tremble?
But when those familiar arms held her tighter, it was as if all her burdens dissolved. Against her will, her body leaned into his embrace.
"Shinobu-chan..."
His magnetic voice filled her ears, causing her body to tingle slightly.
Watching the strange romance, Oniyasha felt like he was running mad. He was scared witless. He wanted to run.
This demon's aura alone was crazy. However, his body refused to move, believing that moving meant death.
After an eternity , the demon raised his head. The moonlight illuminated his face. Sharp noble features and neat platinum-blonde hair. However, what truly caught attention was his eyes. No longer bearing Muzan's number, they shimmered with impossible colors—rainbow irises fractured into a crystalline snowflake pattern that glowed faintly in the dark. They looked less like a demon's eyes and more like a piece of art, beautiful and terrifying all at once.
"You..."
Oniyasha choked, he'd heard of this demon. A demon thought to be dead. The former Upper Moon Two. How was he alive? And why? Why was he with that Hashira?
'Lord Muzan must know about this.'
Suddenly, Douma smiled—his usual harmless smile.
"Don't worry, he'll know..."
The words were soft, playful. Yet Oniyasha never heard anything else. His body shattered without warning—skin, flesh, and bone fracturing into crystalline shards of ice that scattered like broken glass, vanishing into the night wind.
Shinobu gasped, stunned by the display. He hadn't even moved, yet he had killed the demon.
Finally, she turned to look at him. Staring at his snowflaked eyes, she suddenly forgot to breathe.
"You've... changed."
Douma smiled, tilting his head foolishly.
"Have I?"
......
That night, Douma carried Shinobu to his temple, ready to hear about the things he missed.
"Lord Douma!"
Saki shouted upon spotting him, her eyes clouded with joy and worry. The other followers were also surprised to see him. He had been missing for two months.
"Ah, Saki." Douma smiled as he rubbed her hair fondly, Shinobu watched from behind with a shocked expression. She didn't expect that his temple would be this lively. Kids, adults and even aged humans roamed about, all joyous about his return. This was no cult of despair. This was a family. Almost a village.
'I guess they don't know he's a demon?'
She sighed, suddenly feeling complicated.
"Lord Douma, your absence really scared me. I almost thought you had abandoned us."
Saki cried as she clung to his clothes. In response, Douma smiled, gently stroking her hair.
"It's fine. I only went on a long trip."
Half an hour later, his followers left him alone, allowing him some private time with Shinobu.
Very quickly, she explained what happened to him. How he had collapsed after the poison and how two Upper Moons came to kill her but failed. Then how Lord Kagaya expelled her from the Demon Slayer Corps and how she'd become a rouge demon slayer on the run with a demon—similar to Tanjiro.
Listening to her with a smile, Douma absorbed the information thoroughly. Still, he sympathized with her. She had gone through a lot. Just for him.
"Sleep, little butterfly... you've worked too hard for me."
He smiled as he lightly tapped her forehead. Shinobu felt her vision go blurry until everything settled into a soothing empty blackness.
After tucking her into the comfort of his bed, Douma's smile slowly receded.
"It's a hassle being hungry among humans." He licked his lips. "Should I consume Saki?"
Thinking for a while, he shook his head.
"No. That doesn't seem right... yet."
A moment later, he was already outside the temple, the cold wind of the night brushing against his skin.
Staring into the distance, his crystalline snowflake eyes spun ever so slowly.
"Found a few prey."
.....
"Hehe, good thing we escaped. The whole village won't see it coming."
A chubby man said as he ran through the woods alongside his four companions.
"Sure thing. I wonder how the village chief will react." Another one laughed, carrying a sack filled with coins.
From the looks of it, they had just done some dirty work.
"He will be sad."
Suddenly, an ethereal voice answered the man's question, causing them all to freeze.
Up ahead, a strikingly handsome man was leaning against a tree casually with a golden fan in his grip. However, what stunned them were his eyes. The rainbow color? Divine! The slowly rotating snowflake? Chilling yet breathtaking!
Suddenly, the young man smiled warmly.
"You look poor. I don't mind saving people like you."
As he lightly swung his fan, a thin line appeared on the necks of the five men as their eyes dimmed—now lifeless.
Without hesitation, he sauntered over to their still standing bodies and tore off their limbs one after the other, savoring the taste as he chewed on them.
'Indeed. Human flesh contains their sins. I'm doing a good job clearing that up, aren't I?'
Once he was done consuming the five of them, he turned around and decided to hunt some demons too. Since he'd killed Lower Moon One, Muzan must have realized that he was alive and kicking—cut away from him just like Tamayo.
Surely there was no harm in gobbling up a few demons right? Cannibalism wasn't exactly forbidden even under Muzan's rule.