"You worked so hard!" Douma cried in ecstasy, pulling Shinobu's bloodied figure into a tight but warm hug. "Even though you are the smallest. Your power, it's so beautiful."
"Kuh—!"
Held intimately by the person she hated the most, Shinobu found herself on the verge of vomiting from disgust.
"Any last words...? Say them. I'll listen." Douma cooed softly, nuzzling his head against hers.
Straining herself, Shinobu spat.
"Go... to hell!"
Then—
She died.
And immediately, Douma froze.
Not from confusion, not from fear, not from anxiety or any feeling... but something foreign.
Loss.
'Loss?'
He wasn't accustomed to feeling loss. Infact, he'd never. Even when he told Akaza he'd be saddened if one of the Upper Moons died, that was a lie. He'd only try to be sad.
But Shinobu's death—it left him with an itchy feeling. Like something was missing.
'It doesn't matter right? By absorbing her, she'd be with me forever. Together.'
Still, a knot was left in his heart as he stroked Shinobu's dead body.
Just then, a small girl, smaller than Shinobu even, burst in with an alarmed expression. Similar to Shinobu, she had a butterfly hairpin on her head and the way her expression shifted from shock to horror showed her connection to Shinobu.
"Hmm? Are you Shinobu-chan's disciple?"
He asked with a polite smile, already absorbing the body.
If the girl was truly Shinobu's disciple, then he'd reunite her with her master painlessly.
He swore.
"Ah, ah, Haaaahhh!!!"
Instead of replying, the girl screamed in raw, primal rage—her hand moving to draw her sword.
"Hold on, please don't slash me when I'm absorbing."
He pleaded, already halfway done.
However, his words only infuriated the girl more as she lunged at him. Just before she reached him though, he finished absorbing Shinobu and then—
White!
'Huh?'
Confused, Douma looked around. Everywhere was white and he couldn't even see his own body.
'Is that a demon slaying technique?'
As if to prove him wrong, the whiteness dimmed softly until he could see his surroundings.
He was in his temple, lounging on the soft mattress in his room.
"What?"
He sat up, startled. Wasn't the showdown between the Demon Slayers and the Demons supposed to be happening? Wasn't he supposed to be in the Infinity Castle?
"Lord Douma, your hot bath is ready."
Just then, he heard the voice of his attendant outside the room. However, this only made him more shocked and uneasy. Because he always gave his followers a chance to paradise, he always changed them regularly. So how was the attendant he'd absorbed years ago still alive?
"Lord Douma?"
Hearing Tsuyu's voice again, he quickly snapped back to reality.
"Ah, yes. I'll be there in a minute."
Although confused, he decided to set things aside and looked at himself in the mirror for any changes. Platinum-blonde hair? Same. Red and black patch of hair? Same. Rainbow eyes? Same. Physique? Same.
All except a purple butterfly hairpin hanging on his clothes.
"Shinobu?"
He muttered, feeling his heart speeding up.
"Ah? Cool down little guy."
He cooed, plucking out his own heart and discarding it. However, the problem persisted. As soon as the heart regenerated, it began beating unnaturally again.
"Again? I think I need the hot bath."
Standing up and discarding his blood stained clothes, he draped himself in a white bathrobe and left the room. Although expected, he was surprised to see many of his absorbed followers walking about in the temple.
"Am I... in the past?"
He asked himself, then went to take the bath as planned.
Half an hour later, he found himself back in his room, staring intently at the butterfly hairpin before him.
"Ah, Shinobu." He spoke, almost a moan.
He really missed her. Her scent, her blade through his head, her poison through his body...
"Wisteria!"
As if receiving an epiphany, he sprang up and called for Tsuyu. The young lady came in a few beats later with a smile on her face.
"Lord Douma... is there something you need?"
Turning to her with a wide smile, he tilted his head.
"I want you and the others to help me get Wisteria flowers. Can you, please?"
Unlike Muzan's authoritative voice, his was enchanting and alluring—making others comply willingly.
"Of course, Lord Douma."
Tsuyu bowed elegantly then left the room in a hurry.
Left alone in the room, Douma curled up on the bed.
"I really miss Shinobu-chan."
...
Meanwhile...
In the flower mansion, Shinobu was busy tending to a patient's injury when she felt a chill run down her spine. She felt like someone had just held her in a longing embrace—a feeling that filled her with dread.
"Hashira? Is something wrong?"
Aoi asked innocently as she studied Shinobu's frozen expression.
"It's nothing. I just remembered something."
She answered, shaking her head with a smile.
...
A few hours later, Tsuyu returned to Douma with a flower vase where a wisteria branch was planted.
"Lord Douma, pardon me but I thought you hated this stuff?" Tsuyu asked politely, voicing her doubts.
"Ah, I once did. But now I love them." Douma smiled as he collected the vase from her and sent her away—politely.
Plucking a flower, he inhaled it, his nose turning purple immediately and itching uncomfortably. However, he ignored the feeling and instead chewed on it, his expression ecstatic.
"Shinobu-chan..."
.....
Outside, Tsuyu gathered the other followers together and spoke to them.
"I think Lord Douma has gotten fond of wisteria. So I thought we should all help and plant many around the temple. What do you think?"
Immediately, everyone was baffled, then agreed.
Just like that, Paradise Temple became populated with wisteria.