The Demon Slayers turned the instant they sensed danger, facing the evil presence that prowled the night.
Humans were, after all, slower to react than demons. Akaza and Rinko had been observing them from the trees for quite some time, yet it was only when Akaza appeared directly behind them that someone finally realized the threat lurking in the darkness.
Carried by the night wind, Rinko caught fragments of shocked voices. They were reacting to the realization that they had encountered an Upper Rank.
"Hm. Figures. Characters in the eyes are a lot scarier than pupils that are just… not human."
Demon Slayers behaved differently when facing demons with characters engraved in their eyes compared to ordinary demons. Lower Moons were stronger than common demons, and Upper Moons were stronger still.
Rinko did not truly understand human fear. He simply assumed that humans found the idea of words appearing inside someone's eyes unsettling on a fundamental level.
Much like how humans struggled to accept demons who still bore human traits, despite originating from humanity itself.
Watching Akaza fight was a pleasure. Far more interesting than watching scenery.
Before Akaza, Rinko had encountered Demon Slayers before. But Kokushibo killed too quickly. Most of the time, there were barely a few words spoken before heads and bodies parted ways. He had never had the chance to listen to actual conversation during battle like this.
Which only reinforced Rinko's conclusion.
Akaza was a cat.
Golden eyes. A preference for using "claws." A habit of playing with prey. Killing, but not necessarily eating.
Battles between the strong were not something those on a different level could participate in. When Akaza fought, Rinko's greatest contribution was to hide and watch, not to step in and become a burden.
The same applied to the three Demon Slayers who had followed along. Even if they wanted to join and assist, they simply lacked the strength.
A shockwave blasted outward, knocking a Nichirin blade from a Demon Slayer's grip just as he tried to join the fight. The sword flew cleanly out of the battlefield and embedded itself into a tree trunk.
The world was like that. The more you wished something would not happen, the more inevitably it did.
The swordsman went to retrieve his blade, as if guided by fate itself. The moon tilted. The wind whispered through leaves. Shadows closed in around him.
He looked up instinctively.
Moonlight filtering through branches was blocked by the silhouette of a child. What stared back at him were gray-blue eyes that clearly belonged to a demon.
Coincidence after coincidence stacked together, forming an ending that was never meant to be pleasant.
"There's another demon here. Come over and deal with this one first."
No characters in the eyes. Hiding off to the side. Just a child. Almost no sense of demonic pressure at all.
Confusion flickered through his mind. Why was there a demon this young? Why was it hiding here?
But right now, this demon was clearly a more suitable target than the one on the battlefield.
The man felt a surge of satisfaction at his discovery.
The demon being targeted blinked, as if equally confused about why it had been found.
The swordsman raised his blade, gathered strength, and thrust upward, trying to knock the small demon down from the branches.
The child sensed his intent and arched backward, hanging upside down from the tree with ease. His eyes scanned the surroundings, searching for the next suitable foothold.
"Evil demon. Don't think you can escape."
One person watched from below. Another shadow lunged from the branches nearby.
After a brief moment of surprise, the demon swept his gaze around and made a decision without hesitation. He released his grip and dropped from the tree.
The instant his feet touched the ground, he vanished into the underbrush in the blink of an eye.
By the time they drew breath again, the small demon was gone, as if he had never existed.
They were just about to give chase when a cold male voice sounded behind them.
"If you want to fight, pick an opponent on your level. Bullying a child isn't something to brag about."
At the moment the final syllable fell, the swordsman felt his body lose all control. He was flung sideways through the air.
Straining, he turned his head back toward the battlefield.
The leader lay on the ground. Blood covered everything he could see.
Just moments ago, they had been evenly matched.
How did it suddenly become this?
He could not understand.
And he no longer had time to.
The last thing he saw was a teammate's head flying out of his field of vision.
—
"Tch. Annoying. Finally ran into someone who could last a few exchanges, and he had to bring trash like that."
Akaza's anger radiated outward. Veins bulged along his neck and forehead, his words ground out through clenched teeth.
He had trusted Rinko to hide properly, which was why he allowed himself to enjoy a long overdue bout, partly to prove that he had never feared battle.
He had only meant to swat away a few flies.
Instead, he had led them straight to where Rinko was hiding.
Out of the corner of his eye, he had seen three Demon Slayers surround that tree like jackals that had found prey.
Three grown men, hunting a child that weak.
Still, the kid's reactions were decent. He hadn't just handed over his head the moment he was surrounded.
"Don't be angry. At least now you know that even if I'm not as strong as you, I won't lose my head that easily."
The voice came from above.
Akaza looked up to see Rinko crouched on a branch like a small cat, his eyes glowing faintly in the shadows.
Unbelievable.
Until Rinko spoke, Akaza had been unable to lock onto him at all.
Their eyes met.
Akaza extended a hand. Rinko dropped without hesitation, landing neatly in his arms.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. But I figured if I tried to explain on my own, you wouldn't believe a single word."
Rinko seized the moment, apologizing and explaining quickly before Akaza could respond.
The next second, his head was struck.
Hard.
The force bent him forward at the waist.
"Akaza-dono, you look happiest when you're fighting. I don't want to become your burden."
With sincerity in his voice, Rinko lifted his head again despite the hand pressing it down.
"Don't do it again."
Akaza exhaled sharply, displeased. In the end, he lifted his hand, then immediately messed Rinko's hair into a bird's nest anyway, still irritated at being outplayed by a child.
That one brave attempt gave Rinko a new pastime, something that brought amusement to both of them.
Unfortunately, the fun did not last long.
For reasons unknown, Akaza's ideas soon turned toward Rinko himself.
"Want to fight?"
"No. Fighting wouldn't mean anything."
One tall demon and one small demon crouched on a rooftop, leisurely watching Demon Slayers on patrol in the distance.
Akaza had no interest in the weak, no interest in women, and no interest in children. Those criteria filtered out a large portion of potential opponents.
"But you'd be perfect to practice with."
The light in Rinko's eyes dimmed.
"I have no interest in combat, Akaza-dono. Please don't force me."
He tried to negotiate.
"Just try."
Negotiating with Akaza rarely changed the outcome.
Rinko was grabbed by the back of his collar, swung, and tossed, landing precisely in the street below.
It wasn't the first time.
And it definitely wouldn't be the last.
Rinko disliked fighting, but his reaction speed and predictive instincts were exceptional. They were the result of a full year of forced sparring with Kokushibo.
Akaza didn't care.
In his view, having the ability but refusing to train it was a waste.
So this scene unfolded, much like a lioness pushing her cub off a cliff.
Akaza threw Rinko at Demon Slayers who were not strong enough to truly threaten him, forcing him to hone his abilities.
Two members of the Demon Slayer Corps stared in shock at the child who suddenly appeared before them. They raised their blades cautiously, approaching while demanding his identity.
The moment Rinko turned and looked at them with eyes unmistakably belonging to a demon, the questions stopped.
The standoff ended instantly.
The alley was narrow, with nowhere to hide. Rinko stood in the center of the road and slowly spread his hands to show that he carried no weapons, no claws meant for attack.
"If I say I don't want to fight you, can you let me go?"
He made the request calmly.
"Don't even think about it. Tonight is your death, demon. Don't think pretending to be a child will spare you."
Blades slashed toward him.
Rinko leapt back to evade. The alley was not ideal terrain for his talents, but running was still possible.
A chase, nothing more.
Who the cat was did not matter.
After all, Kokushibo had caught him before. There was no way these people were faster than Kokushibo.
Decision made, Rinko broke into a sprint. He did not intend to lose them entirely. After a few turns to break line of sight, he slipped into someone's courtyard.
Bushes. Beneath a veranda. Narrow corners that no one paid attention to.
Any place could become Rinko's new home.
Only after the Demon Slayers gave up did Akaza reach in and fish Rinko out of a water jar he had hidden in.
"So in the end, all you know how to do is run."
Rinko dripped water onto the ground and answered with silence.
He had said it.
There was no way he and Akaza could ever truly get along.