Two years had passed since Douma's travel back in time and he had gotten accustomed to it quite well. His temple, now flooded with wisteria trees was attractive to humans and deterring to demons.
Weak demons, at least.
As Douma was gently brushing his hair, he sensed the presence of two demons approaching and smiled. Knowing they'd have difficulty entering, he went out to welcome them.
"Aiyo~ Gyutaro! Daki! It's been a while!"
Looking at the polar opposite siblings, he smiled and pulled them into a hug—at least he tried to.
Slice!
Gyutaro's sickles cut off his arms which regenerated instantly. Unsurprised, he pouted.
"So mean... It's been a while since I've seen you."
Well, they did have a bit of history. He was the one who had made them demons.
"Unfair. Look at your face. Beautiful and unfair." Gyutaro groaned, scratching his face with his claws in irritation.
"Stop it brother. We're not here to bad-mouth him." Daki snorted, turning her sensual body towards him.
"Why do you have Wisteria around your territory? It's disgusting."
She wrinkled her nose.
"Disgusting?" Douma felt himself frown. Rare. "No, it's not."
Gyutaro and Daki seemed surprised he had disagreed but didn't pursue the matter. Instead, they got straight to the point.
"His Lordship asked us to investigate a certain village with you." Gyutaro said, his tone solemn.
Immediately, Douma sensed something amiss. Not with the mission but with the siblings.
"Did something happen when you became Upper Moons?"
He asked, striking the spot.
Gyutaro growled softly while Daki turned away.
Walking towards them, he placed his hands on their shoulders. Gyutaro sliced them off but another set replaced them instantly, startling him. This man's regeneration abilities were monstrous.
"What happened?"
He asked, his voice dropping lower than he expected.
Since his return, he'd only cared about three things: Shinobu, Daki and Gyutaro. Since the latter two had died in the future, he wanted to prevent that and live happily with them like a family. So, he was really curious... what had Muzan done to them?
Daki gave in first.
Collapsing into his embrace, she stuttered.
"He—he took away some of our precious memories with you. I don't know why a-and it's not a good feeling."
Hearing this, Douma forced himself not to think about killing Muzan—a thing he couldn't even attempt.
"Ah," straining a smile, he hugged her gently. "Don't worry, we'll simply make more memories alright?"
Stunned, Daki raised her head to look at him with a teary expression.
"Really?"
Immediately, he was reminded of the little girl Ume she was when they were humans.
"That aside, let's head to the village immediately alright?"
Under the night moon, the three Upper Moon demons quietly departed the temple in a blur.
.....
In Yamibana Village...
The streets were empty as three inhuman beings leaped from roof to roof, scouring the whole village in a few minutes. Before long, they regrouped—disappointed.
"Couldn't find it."
Daki pursed, displeased.
"Same here. Well, we couldn't have expected much." Douma smiled comfortingly.
'I guess Muzan had a reason for sending us together.'
"Let's go report to him and get this done."
Gyutaro scowled, struggling to contain his hunger in the presence of sleeping food.
"You can eat before we leave you know..." Douma smiled, then blurred. By the time his image re-solidified, he was holding the fresh corpses of three humans—his body stained with blood.
"Here."
He handed one each to the siblings then peacefully chomped on the last one—enjoying the taste in his mouth.
"Why do you always absorb most of your victims?" Daki asked curiously as she tore out her food's intestines and liver.
"Ah, it's just a more painless way of killing them. You must learn to be merciful to everyone."
Douma replied, already done absorbing his prey.
"Alright, round up, let's get going."
...
Thrumm!
The sound of the biwa string being struck echoed in their ears as a golden door appeared beneath their feet and dropped them before 'him'.
"Failure?"
Hearing the familiar, dangerous voice, the three bowed down immediately.
"Greetings, your Lordship." They chorused.
Douma raised his head to reply. "We weren't able to find the Blue spi—"
Then, he lost his head.
'Here we go again.'
His body landed in a thud beside the siblings who were frozen in fear.
Was he dead? They thought, but they didn't dare to look.
"I will remind you again Douma, you are not to raise your head before me until I say so."
Although Douma had lost his head, he could still feel Muzan's words slithering into his mind.
And regenerating? It was painfully slow since Muzan was controlling that. Really! That man hated him.
Well, he couldn't be blamed.
In Muzan's perspective, Douma had grown significantly fearless of him over the past two years. Although the Upper Two demon lacked fear naturally, he was growing more and more fearless.
'It disturbs me.'
Muzan hated it but he had to admit it.
Finally, Douma regenerated his head and bowed deeply, smiling.
"Of course, your Lordship."
Muzan nodded, satisfied.
"Raise your heads."
The trio complied.
"Douma, I heard you've become immune to wisteria. How?"
Muzan asked authoritatively, his voice not condoning any lies.
"Well, I just use my Blood Demon Arts to suppress it." Douma lied confidently. As long as he controlled his thoughts, he could always mislead Muzan whenever he was searching through his memories. Still, there was no reason for animosity right now. Not when it was the man who made him a demon.
Muzan hummed, believing Douma would not even attempt to lie.
"Very well, you're all dismissed."
Just as the biwa string was struck, Douma found himself facing someone unexpected. Someone with authority only less than Muzan.
Kokushibo.
"Ah? Lord Kokushibo? It's been a while." He smiled fondly despite how unnerving it was being scrutinized by six eyes.
Instead of answering, Kokushibo turned away and drew his sword out of its sheath by a bit.
Immediately, Douma was sliced into pieces which squirmed disgustingly to reform his body.
Maintaining his smile, he crawled up to him and asked. "Lord Kokushibo, have I done any wrong? Please let me know."
This time, Kokushibo answered him.
"You're stronger than before. Even better than Akaza. However, you should know, that nothing can deceive my eyes. Be warned."
Douma kept smiling... but as Kokushibo vanished, a faint tremble passed through his regenerated fingers.
"Not even you can deceive his eyes..." he whispered to himself, voice empty.
Still, he smiled.