At the Butterfly Mansion, all the Hashiras except Shinobu had gathered. They stood in tensed silence, awaiting the arrival of Douma and Shinobu.
Surprisingly, Mitsuri and Obanai stuck together, holding hands. The girl's face was bright with a genuine smile while Obanai's eyes weren't as dark as before.
When he woke up, Mitsuri had utilized Douma's advice and confessed to him. The confession came as a genuine surprise, but he gladly returned it, leading to their current relationship.
Giyu glanced at them subtly, then sighed. He knew his chances with Shinobu was at its lowest and would only reduce in the future. Not because of himself, but because of that hateful demon.
"Hello~"
A pleasant male voice drifted in the silence as something flew from the sky and softly landed before the Hashiras. Naturally, that was Douma.
He was still wearing his regular red and black turtleneck and his lined baggy trousers. The wings behind him made him look nothing like a demon, at least until they saw his fangs.
As for Shinobu, she was cradled in his arms in a princess carry while she wrapped her hands around his neck.
Sensing that they had landed, she hesitantly opened her eyes to see the shocked expressions of the Hashiras.
"Is it me… or they look romantic?"
Zenitsu whispered to Tanjiro beside him. However, because of the silence, everyone heard him perfectly.
Giyu… almost collapsed, but didn't. Instead, blood trickled from the side of his mouth as he suppressed his bleeding heart with Total Concentration Technique. As for Obanai, he tightened his grip on Mitsuri's hand and pulled her closer when he saw her looking at Douma for too long.
"You've arrived, Upper—Douma."
Gyomei spoke, correcting himself midway.
The rainbow-eyed demon nodded while releasing Shinobu.
"Of course. Shinobu-chan asked me to come, after all." He smiled, arm slung over her shoulder. His wings had retracted into his back, disappearing from the view.
Gyomei didn't comment on that. Instead, he turned towards the silent Sanemi and nodded.
The scarfaced man growled and unsheathed his sword.
"Get away from Shinobu now. Cos I'm killing you."
Everyone could feel the palpable bloodlust in his voice as veins bulged in his eyes.
The look in Douma's eyes changed to confusion.
"Leave Shinobu-chan? Le…ave?"
For the first time in eternity, his smile disappeared, enveloping the whole mansion in an unpleasant chill.
Shinobu looked at him in surprise. He'd never shown this expression before! In fact, she hadn't seen him without a smiling face before.
However, it seemed like the idea of parting ways with Shinobu really ticked him off to shed his mask.
His eyes and voice were ice cold as he spoke.
"I was actually planning to make our fight legendary and interesting, but… you make my heart hot with something. Is it anger? I think so. If you're ready, you can make the first move."
His sudden change in demeanor and words made the Hashiras unsettled, but Sanemi didn't care.
Sneering, he held his sword and attacked. His movements were a blur of green, well, at least until he reached Douma.
Clang!
The demon blocked the attack with his fans effortlessly. Then, the snowflakes in his eyes rotated.
"Demonic Arts: Snowflake."
Sanemi froze, then dropped his arms like a puppet. Seeing him like this, Shinobu immediately understood what was happening.
"Douma… what are you doing to him?"
Unexpectedly, the demon smiled back as usual.
"Ah? Shinobu-chan shouldn't be too worried. I'm just giving him a light punishment."
The words didn't ease her worries. Instead, it unsettled her more.
.....
Meanwhile, Sanemi was pulled into an illusion of the day Kanae Kocho died. Instead of Shinobu rushing to the scene, he was the one who arrived.
'What? I could swear I was fighting that dem—'
His thoughts were caught off when he saw someone cradling Kanae's body gently. Well, obviously it was Douma.
He didn't know how much Sanemi loved the woman, but knew he really cared. Thus, he held her weak and dying body close, then pecked her head.
"Ara~ You worked so hard. I'm proud of you. No one has ever been able to push me this far. Even your sister would be proud of you."
Of course, the weak Flower Hashira could only cough up blood in helplessness.
The next moment, Douma suddenly lost his head. Sanemi appeared before them, then hurriedly carried Kanae.
"Y-you're alive. You…"
Tears welled up in his eyes as he tried to tend to her wounds. Unfortunately…
"Ara~ I can't let you do that…"
Douma reappeared, snatching the young lady from his arms and holding her before himself. One hand held her throat while another held her waist. He lowered his lips, then sensually sucked on her pale neck.
"Douma!!!"
Samemi's enraged voice could almost be heard all over the world as he attacked Douma again, severing the demon into pieces. As he reached forward to catch the falling Hashira, Douma reappeared again and snatched her midair.
Deftly, he moved to another rooftop while holding Kanae in a princess carry. "Sanemi-san, you shouldn't try to steal another man's prey, y'know…"
Slowly, he licked the blood around the female Hashira's lips with a delighted expression. His eyes became upturned as he shivered.
"Ahn~" He moaned, "Kanae-chan's blood tastes sweet. I wish I kept you alive in the past."
Sanemi continued to watch with a dark expression, realizing that this was an illusion. He immediately tried to find a way to break the illusion but ended up with failure.
He continued to attack Douma several times, only for the demon to reappear and continue his debauched acts with the one he loved. In the end, he could only watch as the Flower Hashira was defiled while she responded to the pleasures weakly. The sight gave him a permanent trauma.
"Aaaaarrrrrrrrr…"
.....
"…rrrrgggggghhhhhh!!!"
In the real world, Sanemi awoke with a heart-rending scream. He clawed at his head and rolled on the ground, desperately trying to forget the things he saw.
Seeing the second strongest Hashira's state, Mitsuri shivered. She understood that the illusion Sanemi had entered must have been enough to break him.
Worried, Shinobu turned to the smiling Douma. "What did you do?"
Unwilling to explain in details, Douma waved indifferently. "You shouldn't worry yourself. He'll be back up soon. Just that, he wouldn't trouble me anymore."
In a few minutes, Samemi's cries subsided until it stopped. Then, he stood up and looked at Douma. His eyes were bloodshot, yet hollow.
"I… I hate you, Douma. And I will continue to."
His voice wavered as he blurred into the distance, disappearing from everyone's sight. Shinobu wanted to follow him, but a single glance from Douma held her back.
Smiling, the demon turned to the other Hashiras. "With that out of the way, what's our next plan…?"