Archive of Our Own

Blue, webby eyes look around. The faint chill of the change in surrounding has last been upon his skin hundreds of years ago. From a quaint town destined to be his hunting ground, it is replaced with a cluster of rooms, all clumped and traditional and smelled of carnage. It almost looked magnificent, yet the sense of eery is not to be ignored. The place is far from normal. Then again, none who enter here are.

Ting. Bodies, familiar faces appear beside him one by one. He didn't want to see them again, nor did they oppose to the thought. He bites back a growl when a blindingly infuriating cobble waves at him rather excitedly.

"Akaza-dono!" Douma says cheerfully, walking towards him with his arms outstretched, as to give him a hug. But he knew, and with his right hand he cut both of the latter's arms in disgust. A resonating slash. Blood splatters on the tatami as it stains crimson, and in his peripheral he could see Nakime's bangs move slightly.

"Aww, that's how you greet me?" Skin stitching as the demon blood began to morph into veins, stitching up newly regenerated arms in a speed, he frowns. "We haven't seen each other in decades, at least act like you're happy to see me."

"Repulsive. I'd never be happy to see you." He spat out with a slight shrug of his hand to rid the filthy blood. The woman-eating asshole just grins, rainbow-studded eyes brimming with what he saw as unhinged malice. "Still with the harsh tongue, I see."

Akaza resists the urge to roll his eyes, his legs tense and actively ready to kick Douma's head off clean once he says another word.

"Why have we been called here, actually?" Fortunately for both sides, he opted to ask. Hantengu glances at the place, taking in the visual of their headquarters as he nodded. "Maybe an Uppermoon has died?"

"But look, we're complete here." He chides, curious. Hantengu just shrugs, because honestly, he was just as clueless.

"Kneel." At the sharp command, all of the monsters are on their knees. Standing before them is a demon, their master, whose power exceeds all of theirs. His powerful blood runs in their veins, giving them the ecstasy to run free and wild and deadly.

Kibutsuji Muzan glowers down at them, crimson eyes glowing and veined with concealed rage and skin pale in contrast to his dark suit. "Decades and still no blue spider lily," he drawled with indent, walking in front of the line of the Uppermoons, hand outstretched to seemingly crush a skull, or all. "All of you are damned useless. Should I get rid of the Uppermoons now, too?"

The strength to look up comes back to Akaza, but he is beaten to it.

"Now now, Master." Douma says with a smile. "I feel like we're all getting closer to it. Besides, we did a good job of eating, have we not?"

"Besides eating women, what more can you even do?" Muzan replies coldly, gaze leering over the demons in front of him. Useless. Useless, all of them.

The others do not speak, and he reads that it is because of fear. Some, respect. The loss of these demons, although replaceable, will critically hinder his plans. They've had centuries of experience, and he will benefit from that when the final comes.

And it was near, so near that Muzan feels the back of his neck prickle in anticipation.

"If it is not found by the next century," his eyes rake all of them, "I will kill all of you." He said finally. Wisp of cold wind, and Akaza is back where he was taken. The gusts of earthly wind is upon his skin, and his stomach grumbles.

Her bangs move. Nakime notices that her master hasn't left yet. He still had unfinished business, and her suspicion is proven true once his narrowed gaze lands at her.

"Nakime."

"Yes, Master?"

"Bring him here."

"You're here." Is what comes out of her quaint lips, forming a small smile. Muichiro closes the door behind him, and slowly places a small sack in front of her, on the table she keeps by the windowsill. It is slightly open, and the wind makes the fragrance waft in the room. Shinobu basks in it, an all familiar feeling.

The Mist Pillar watches her, apathetic yet confused. It was a bit of a surprise when the Insect Pillar's crow went to him as he was training near the mountain, asking for an amount of wisteria flowers. Which, with other people he'd just ignore. But he, as an injury-prone slayer due to his small body, regards the Insect Pillar as someone worth his respect.

"What do you need this for?"

She remembers that he was still there, and gives him another smile. "Demon repellent, Tokito-kun. To give to the inns."

He scans the woman's face, her expressions and gestures. There was something off about her smile, and the way she clutches the tiny sack in her hands. The setting sun could be seen from outside her window, and the light illuminates her face with something akin to secrecy.

Something is going to happen.

"Okay." He replied, and trudges towards the door. It was clear as a day that Shinobu was hiding a possibility, yet the pillar prides herself on being always serene and unreadable.

"Muichiro..." he hears her call, and his feet stop. She sighs. "Thank you."

Alarming.

Muichiro nods and leaves the Butterfly Mansion, dread unknowingly spinning on the pits of his stomach. He shakes his head.

It doesn't matter. I'm going to forget this later anyway.

It hurts. Make it stop.

His cold body shakes, his head throbbing. Foreign blood works it way to the deepest of his veins, corrupting every ounce of humanity he had struggled to rebuild.

It burns. Everything burns.

Eyelids feel like they're on fire, and his legs had given out multiple as he clutches at his chest, clawing with hope that the pain is replaced by new one he had caused himself, yet he kept regenerating.

. 

"Hakuryu."

He doesn't look up at the recognition, nor does he recognize the name. He could feel the caller's eyes bore through his skull, and he is all but pleased at his presented defiance.

Kibutsuji Muzan's hand latches tightly at his chin, and made him look up. "I do not like being ignored, Hakuryu." His grip tightens he felt like his jaw will disintegrate.

"I," he says through gritted teeth, "am not your pawn!"

He exclaims defiantly, basically spitting it at the other's emotionless face. Memories that made his head ache for nights ever since he had battled that woman and unknowingly left her alive had made him question his true morality.

Tomioka-san.

What she had called him left a pang on the deepest parts of his hollow soul, and for the first time in years, he had felt something other than the lust for blood.

His blue eyes glint with unprecedented regret and rage. He was a noble man who had once saved lives, but now he was the one taking it. All because of this monster before him.

The man just leers, finding his words of conviction stupidly amusing. "Really, now?" And shoves his finger up the demon's forehead.

Flashbacks, of when Muzan started to feel his connection to Hakuryu fading. He sees it all through his blood. A vast field. Swords clashing. The moon. A butterfly?

Tomioka squirms in pain under his hold as the memories uncover. A woman. He squints, he recognized her from one of Rui's linked memories. A Pillar.

The woman is kicked. Bloody. Unconscious.

Hakuryu must've killed her, Kibutsuji muses. Good.

Hands gently place her on the ground near gates with a symbol. Muzan's blood rises in bewilderment.

The Headquarters! Where is it?!

He sees no travel. A man with snow hair, infuriated. The demon leaving the night, not a trail and the woman still bloody, yet very much alive.

What the hell was he doing?!

He pulls his hand off, and blood trickles down Tomioka's pale face. His eyebrows knit in appalled frustration as he once again looks at the demon who had the gall to do what he just saw. His hands clutch his neck.

"You," he growls, voice low and laced with murder, "let a Pillar live?"

The demon doesn't speak, tight-lipped as one a breath away from death can be. Muzan's eyes flicker towards his sword, then to his face. "Do you know where the headquarters are? Answer me, filth."

None. And the enemy himself was also having none of this charade, for Ubuyashiki was only a memory away to kill and remove the nuisance to his immortality once and for all.

Fangs glistened, he now knew why Hakuryu had fought back.

That woman. That damned woman.

Tomioka seemed to have read his mind, for his eyes have widened and shown the tiniest twinge of emotion he didn't desire for demons to ever have. Tilting his chin harshly, he spoke once more.

"If that woman's the connection that makes you cling pathetically to your humanity," his finger makes its way and plunges directly to the demon's chest, sending his demonic blood to the heart. He screams, flailing relentlessly but is rendered weak in front of this manipulative, millenia-old threat. Muzan's eyes glow crimson, and this time he will make sure that he is never to be defied again.

"I will make you sever that connection yourself."

He fights back against the blood, every cell of his body throbs as if licked by the fires of hell, but he is more pained at the underlying meaning of his last words. "No-!"

Air, he gasps, his lungs are light for he is falling, lastly remembering the master's lasting glare as he hit the solid, grassy ground.

The atmosphere is somber, even under the radiating light of the sun.

"I'm sure all of you have heard," Ubuyashiki Kiriya spoke, ever so calmly. "That various towns around are having cases of massacres."

"Tch." It is Tengen. "Yes, we've heard of it. I went to its next target as fast as I can but still missed it."

"Means you're slow as hell." Sanemi remarks flatly. There is a rustle at the back as the Sound Pillar didn't take it lightly. "What was that?!"

"Shinazugawa-"

"Both of you, st-"

The master puts a quaint finger on his lips and in a second, all of them are once again bowing. Tengen sighs. "I am sorry for my impudence."

The latter says the same, and the meeting continues for Rengoku breaks the ice. "But Master, I thought demons don't group together? Why do these slaughter clusters in different places? Were they fighting over dominance?"

Which, is what the rest would also like to know. It is unlikely for demons to form groups, as their bloodlust gets the better of them than any shred of camaraderie they may have.

"Maybe they coincidentally met there?" Kanroji suggests, uncertain. "You know, they fought over those poor humans and ended up killing?"

The others could only look back at them, contemplating each of their own conclusions regarding the matter in their heads.

"No." Master speaks, surely. The air in the room turns heavier. "There is only one demon responsible for all the recent killings."

. 

The Hashiras stare at him, aghast, bewildered and frighteningly appalled. "What?!"

"That's..." Obanai mutters in perplexity.

"Impossible." The Wind Pillar finishes his sentence.

"Master," the Love Pillar starts with a shaky voice, and one can tell she is close to crying, "how is that possible?"

"I beg your pardon, Master," Gyomei speaks up, tears running down his stoic face, "but the kill count has been over hundreds. And it has been just a little past a week. It is nearly unheard of for a single demon to eat that much, unless it was Kibutsuji Muzan."

"Or a demon who survived a tremendous amount of blood from him." The Master comments regarding his observation to the outrageousness of the situation, and the Hashiras are once again submerged in deep thought. "The more blood a demon is given, the stronger its bond to Kibutsuji himself. When he wishes it, a demon can lose control of itself and go on a mindless rampage."

Silence. The master continues to speak. "Do you know what it means now, my children?"

"That we should flamboyantly kill it as soon as possible."

"I'll cut the damned thing's head off no problem."

"But how do we track it, exactly?"

Ubuyashiki smiles. "It comes in when one least expects. It is aware of its surroundings, so Hashiras or slayers teaming up will alarm it."

"It sounds highly intelligent. Namu." Gyomei remarks. Shinobu listens intently, for it seems like another formidable foe. The Hashiras are the strongest among the entirety of the Corps, but even they would have a hard time against a demon of that caliber.

"It seems to be. It disappears as quickly as a blink," he tells them, and the violet-haired woman feels the warm yet deep gaze on her. "just like a drop of water."

She stiffens, but in the dimly lit room, no one has noticed. Master's words are sending her into another turmoil, as the description fits her past enemy very well. She felt that he knew, maybe Shinazugawa told him, and she could do nothing but dreadfully expect an uncomfortable interrogation that will dig back up her confused feelings.

"Listen up, my children." Ubuyashiki calls, serene as one can be. "You are the strongest warriors of our history, your powers are boundless but your lives are not. Do good in utmost caution, and prosper with the gratitude of people you have saved."

His pale lips formed a smile.

"I wish you all fare well."

"How cruel fate can be." Mitsuri says with a pout, munching on a cookie. "I joined the Corps at a pretense to find someone who will marry me, but now my life is on the line when I fight." She chugs a cup of what she called iced tea (Shinobu is still confused by the concept of cold tea), and frowns at the air. "Crazy, right?"

"Seems like it." She replies simply, chuckling as the Love Pillar squirms as if impatient in her seat. It was quite a comfort, seeing her usual quirkiness amidst the raging enemies they'd have to face and Shinobu finds it quite envious how one can be so optimistic towards this kind of life.

"How about you, Shinobu-chan?" She faces her friend as the questions are now directed at her. Mitsuri blinks at her, and she thought she was seeing some excitement in her eyes for whatever she was going to ask. "Have you ever thought about getting married?"

Oh.

Had she not expected such a question, her tea would've spilt.

Shinobu sets down the cup on the table, and smiles at Mitsuri's expectant face. "Well," a beat, "I once did."

Her companion gasps, a hand over her smiling mouth. "Really?!"

"Mmm hmm."

"With whooo?" She asks, lightly shaking her shoulders in poorly hidden giddiness. "Is he handsome? Kind? Strong? Likes snakes? Has two colors of eyes? Do you still meet him?"

Her barrage of questions made her not uncomfortable, but mischievously suspicious as her eyes narrow playfully.

"Woah, that sounds oddly specific." The Insect Pillar remarks laughingly. "Are those perhaps your preferences?"

Mitsuri's face, at the memory of what had just slipped out from her mouth, flushes a deep shade of red and hides her face behind her hands. Why did I say that why why why- "Oh my god."

The violet-haired lady just chuckles. "You're lucky to have been so sure of what you want." Sighing, she glances on to the garden, seeing a few butterflies flit around the flowers. The Love Pillar watches her, and saw that her gaze was unfathomable yet... serene.

"Every woman has that conviction that they would marry, have children, a family..." her mind goes back to the childhood when she and Kanae were like those butterflies, flitting and playing around their garden happily while their father watered and mother cooked.

"But not every woman is fortunate enough to do so."

Her fists clench. Times like that were long gone. She cannot be selfish to even bring that up to herself when her own big sister died at the hands of a demon who took everything away from them. Ever since, she has changed, trained, vowed to slay any demon that crosses her path so that no more children experience the harsh world the same way they did.

"This world is cruel, Mitsuri-san. And so is our path."

Shinobu smiles a little, eyes locked on the butterfly with striking blue wings who had successfully got out of its cocoon. The sakura-haired woman stared at her like she was some sort of amusing mosaic.

"I know..." she drawls, lonely for what her friend said was correct. In this world of kill or be killed, someone like her, a Pillar for humanity, fantasizing about marriage was pretentious, considering their lives were not guaranteed to even last long.

"But if we were, let's say, reborn into a world without demons and we were just normal humans, would you marry him? Like, isn't a life like that so precious?" She says in hopeful askance, eyes glimmering with fleeting hope for her dream.

Shinobu finds herself mirroring the other's thoughts. If Kanroji was born in a different time, maybe she could have made her dream come true. Maybe they all would have, complete with their families.

Her heart flutters silently and she mutters. "That sounds very nice."

The crow gives off a shrill caw. Moonlight peeks from behind the clouds, and the cold night is her only comfort. She sits by the veranda, glancing up at the celestial beauty that gives light.

It's beautiful, she muses. It is, it always has been. Compared to it, she is inferior. It is looking at her, serving as a light to the dark world she has trapped herself in.

Holding the packet in her hands, Shinobu poured the contents in her mouth carefully. Years of it have made her mouth accustomed, for she no longer winced at its strong smell and taste. Looking around to make sure no one was there, she crumpled the piece of parchment and put it in the back pocket of her uniform.

A flake of white falls on her lap. It is soon followed by another, until the warm earth is enveloped in a snowy blanket. The cold has come, it is here for the season. People will soon take cover inside their houses, families huddled around the fire warmly while they spill blood, demon after demon, on the white snow.

Her goal is clear. Ever since that fateful, gloomy noon, Kocho Shinobu has made up her mind. She knew that the day would have to happen. Her sword and her will become one, and serve one purpose.

She hates how much she's awaited yet also despised her will for the time to come.

It all happens so suddenly.

Footsteps deep into the snow, she is walking in a forest back to the Estate, new materials on her side and the moon as her guide. Her mission finished early, but she had to make a delivery for the Blacksmiths to let hers know about her new planned poison sheath. Her breathing is controlled and light, the only sound besides the crickets is the whispering wind.

Then there it was. A shrill, ear-piercing scream from the northeast.

Without hesitation she rushes towards the source of distress. A house at least half a kilometer away from the village, and she could see children run away from it with tears in their eyes. She is quick to get to its doorstep, and saw the fading light in a woman's amber eyes as she went limp, blood dripping down her chest.

The demon turned to the intruder, hand clutching a heart that was neither his nor hers
Her lips purse thinly, left hand already unsheathed her sword.

"So I was right, the massacre demon was you," her eyes glint steely, "Tomioka-san."

The demon wearing the half haori looked at her, gazes at her with no fear or recognition. "Who... are you?"

Her grip tightened. "The one who's going to kill you."

Shinobu jumps high as the enemy unleashed his own sword, slashing it towards her initial spot. The tip of her sword is aimed on the top of his head. Yet before she could plunge it in, the demon bare handedly grabs the blade and throws it, sending her outside. She managed  cartwheel away to avoid any impact.

He soon follows after, ignoring the door and making a large dent on the wooden wall, which leaves no room for question that he was quite ready to tear her head off.

"My, you've certainly gone stronger." She muses, using his second of confusion to sneak a slash on his arm. She watches intently. Is this poison going to work?

Little did she know, someone is watching through those blue eyes.

The demon feels his head throb, his already blurry vision turning dark until he had lost control of his own self, completely to the monster.

I will make sure... he could still feel the cold yet punishing hand on his chin as the blood made its way, unwelcome and hell, into his veins, that you never defy me again.

Her eyes widen when the cut flesh turns blue, but she is disappointed when it heals as quickly as it was infected. The demon glances down at his regenerated arm, and back to the woman who had wounded him. "Was that supposed to be lethal?" He gestures his arm towards her mockingly. "Look, healed."

His eyes, lighter and not what she had known, had turn a shade of crimson when she realizes that this was not him.

Tomioka Giyuu himself was not the one responsible for the countless killings that happened. Even after fighting him as a demon, she knew that his will was strong, and that was what had led him to be controlled against it now. By this man.

Kibutsuji Muzan.

Repulsive. How dare you.

Her sword is once again discreetly laced with a new kind of poison as she pulls it off. Her teeth grit inwardly. "Well, I half expected this to happen."

The Insect Pillar lunges, going in with her sword. Holding his own, the demon swordsman countered her barrage of attacks with his own blade, managing to almost pry it off her hands a few times had she not dodged. Seizing the opportunity, she lunges high above his head, retractable blades also laced with poison revealed from her shoes as she gave an axe kick with her free right leg to the back of his head, sending the knife tearing down his face as she lands.

He growls, steam coming out of him as his skin stitched back together slowly with the poison hindering it. In a hapless effort, the demon swung his sword and she jumps. It was clearly weakened, Shinobu wasn't going to let the chance slip away, and if she gets a big wound on her whole bloody arm in exchange for her success she's as hell going to kill it.

Wait for me, Tomioka-san. Her thoughts whisper to her, giving her strength. Her feet land on a tree branch briefly, and she launches herself to the enemy's direction once more.

I will free you.

Her violet eyes shine, repressing what she had felt as she watched her blade give his body the largest, poisonous slash she'd done that night. She had used her most lethal poison. As her feet gracefully hit solid ground she gazes at the demon as his bloody eyes turn back blue, and he fell onto his knees, twitching. It was working.

Her gaze hardens, as hard as she can muster yet her knees wanted so badly to give out. Her sword pierces the snow, and she is holding on to the handle for support. "Please die." Shinobu pleads, and at the tremble of her voice she could not stop one drop from escaping her eye. "Please."

Shinobu's gaze meets his, and she thinks she had seen agreement within his, glistening under the night because the moon had never been so beautiful before.

Giyuu smiles at her, the woman who was risking her life to free his.

Thank you.

"Hah." Her head snapped back up, because suddenly his eyes turn red again with a harsh jolt of his resisting body. Tomioka feels the bind to hell grow stronger, and he is dreadful knowing that he's going to be controlled again. Let go of me, bastard!

No can do. The unwelcome voice in his head leers. Watch her die.

The Insect Pillar is appalled when she sees that his right arm had secretly disappeared into the ground. Without warning the ground in front of her opens, snow hindering her vision but not the pain as she felt something run from her right hip up to her left shoulder. Her sword collides with metal, slipping out of her hand.

Then, blood.

She coughs, blood spilling like water from her mouth as her knees fall to the snow.

Her crow flies away.

He keeps on fighting back, his pupils constricted with self-loathing at what his own hand has done. No... stop! Kocho!

What have I done?!

Muzan grins evilly, triumphant. One more mistake, Hakuryu. And I will end everyone of them using your body in front of you.

Now, yield.

The bond doesn't change, nor did his will. What...?

How many times have I told you, the bond is thinning, impossible! His soul is fighting back against his blood, and his hold is losing control. What the hell do you think you're doing, Hakuryu? Yield!

I. Am. Not. Your. Pawn!

His shackles break, and Muzan's connection to his sight dissipates completely, eyes fading back into blue. His own control is now seeping back into his limbs, when he sees the woman twitch. She's still alive, he has never felt more grateful.

Her vision is blurry, Shinobu notes. Her frontal body feels numb, and something wet is on her hand. Her blood. Muzan had slashed her using Tomioka-san's sword. Facing left, her own sword's blade is snapped in half, yet she is certain that he is still alive. She wills herself, pushing up with her hands to kneel. The demon lies on the ground, motionless yet she could feel his stare as she crawled.

I can't give up. Not like this.

With shaking hands, she clutches the broken blade and plunges it into her palm.

"CAW! Reinforcement! Kocho Shinobu is in critical condition on the mountain! CAW! Reinforcement!"

The glass shatters under his grip. Shinazugawa's blood went cold at what his kasugai had just relayed. He stands up. Mindlessly. And is now running, so fast that he almost collides with a strolling Mitsuri who, in shock, tripped as she stepped aside.

He faces her back as he continued to ran. "Mountain. Now!"

Shit, shit! The mountain was miles away, what was she thinking walking around at night!? Then again, she wouldn't have expected meeting him there.

He is about to lose his shit. Fuck. Run. Faster!

Someone is running after him. He'd recognize that flashy hair anywhere.

"Shinazugawa," Rengoku says, smiling as he ran beside him. "Are you going to the mountain too?"

"Your crow relayed something?"

"Yes, and I am seriously worried for Kocho!"

"I'm going on ahead." He says, and picked up the pace. It was gonna happen again, and it made him sick to the stomach. He doesn't want to lift up another bloody body. He has had enough of it-!

"CAW! Kocho Shinobu is in critical condition!"

Fuck it, run! RUN, you stupid legs! He could now see the mountain's silhouette. His feet crunch against the thousand particles of snow with every step, and it had made running harder. Where the hell was Uzui?!

"KOCHO!"

A trail of blood on the snow. Tomioka-san sits before her, his eyes now an unfathomable blue. She doesn't know if he was looking at her with pity, or apology before finishing her off. She sits up. Coughs out blood. The blade in her hand shook and she dropped it, landing on the snow with a soft thud. Her body had failed her, she had went limp.

Someone catches her, and she is in the arms of the enemy. Flailing, Shinobu punches his chest fruitlessly, strength having gone away as breathing became difficult. "Just... eat me. If you must." Eat me, and my final poison will kill you.

Silence.

Then he spoke. "... I'm sorry, Kocho."

Her breath hitches as she looked up. Her name. He- "Tomioka-san?" She calls, voice cracking.

He remembers. It's- It must be, it has to be-

Giyuu nods quietly, confirming her greatest hope. "It's me. I'm back."

Tears fall without restraint, Shinobu clutches onto his haori, his presence she now finds comforting. She wants to scream, yet talking seems already painful enough. "Tomioka-san... I'm sorry, I-" she retches once more, blood seeping out of both her mouth and body. Giyuu shushes her, voice rough. "Don't... talk. I will bring you to the headquarters. Just... let me heal first."

"No," she whispers, shaking her head. She hasn't achieved anything. This was a failure. "I haven't freed your life yet. I-"

"You already did." He whispers back, leaning his cold forehead against hers, and all words die at her throat as she gasps. "At the cost of your own."

Arms reaching for his head she pulls him closer, an action that her prideful, shy and confused self would never have done in the past. Tomioka can hear her heart beat softening, and he is crestfallen, heart turning gray.

"Kocho."

"I'm... tired." She says at him, lips curling softly. "Can you stay with me until morning? Or are you gonna leave me again, Tomioka-san?" Her words turn soft whispers.

This woman... he finds himself smiling painfully at her. Weird. "No... I'll stay. It'd be a shame to leave. After all..."

"Hmm?"

The demon gestures up, to the sky, stars watching. "The moon is beautiful."

Shinobu laughs weakly, drops of her own rain still staining her cheeks. "You are very unfair, Tomioka-san."

He was. He knew. This is excruciating. She was dying, yet those simple words had made her flutter. You stupid moron. Asshat. I hate you.

You really had to say that hopeless promise after I convinced myself I was ready to die.

She chuckles to herself. He was always an idiot. Her partner, enemy, and one who she secretly considered one of the most important people in her life.

"Tomioka-san?"

"Hm?"

Her eyes crinkle with mirth, and he thinks she has never been brighter. "I can die happy."

His ears pick up a flurry of rapid, heavy footsteps. Different colors of hair, and an aura he knew well. The Pillars.

"Shinobu-chan!"

They are appalled as they see blood staining the pristine white ground. It didn't evaporate. A human's.

"Kocho!"

"Isn't that-?!"

Muichiro's emotionless eyes changed. This was what she hid. He should've asked more. 

The Wind Pillar is enraged, pulling his sword like a whirlpool. "You asshole! What did you do to her?!" He gets ready to attack, when a hand grips on his arm.

"Stop, Shinazugawa." Iguro says, baffled. "Look at them."

The Insect Pillar's eyes are now weak, yet she smiles. Glances at them, as if the violet orbs are saying farewell, and those kind eyes slowly close. Shining, something falls from the demon's eye as he holds her body closer, her arms that once enveloped him falling limp to the side. Giyuu is in despair, as if he was still locked up in mindless carnage.

His sight lands at them, tense and frozen and confused, eyes familiar yet so different. These were people he knew and had times with, even briefly. He and Kocho were part of the Pillars, and having them there to give her a burial befitting of the best was reassuring.

Giyuu smiles.

It was sunrise.

"Farewell."

The butterfly loses her wings and falls into the water, deep, yet she wishes to be in it forever.