"Yukiji, Yukiji."
My eyes opened to an excited voice. The room was still dark, with no sign of dawn yet. By my futon was the Leader. Wondering what was happening in the middle of the night, I sat up in my futon. Rubbing my sleepy eyes to look at the Leader──the scream that tried to burst out was blocked along with my mouth.
"Shh! You'll wake the other believers, so be quiet, okay?"
The Leader put an index finger to their lips, but, no, how can I be quiet? Leader, your head is bright red, is that blood? It's blood, right? Leader, you look incredibly lively, but is that someone else's blood?
"I'll take my hand away, so don't make a fuss. Stay quiet, Yukiji."
"Leader what happened to your head where did that blood come from did you kill someone"
"No, this is my blood."
"Is there a doctor among the beliebersbers!"
"I said shh! Shh! The wound has already healed."
Isn't it natural to scream? Am I the weird one? A tremendous amount of blood as if drenched over the head. If all that came from the head, it's impressive how they're maintaining consciousness. Normally, losing that much blood would make you stagger. But looking at the Leader's eyes, consciousness seems clearly present. The pupils are properly focused….
No, wait.
Hold on.
An unpleasant sweat surged from my entire body. I couldn't take my eyes off the Leader's rainbow-colored eyes. I gazed at the vertically split pupils with disbelief.
"Yukiji. You see, I've become a demon."
With demon eyes glowing gently, the Leader said cheerfully, calmly. Sharp fangs showed from the mouth smiling in a crescent moon shape. With my mouth covered, I could only gasp for breath. Before thoughts like 'why' or 'how,' the fear that I'd be eaten if this continued came first. I tried to pull away, wanting to escape immediately, but,
"Ah, don't be afraid."
That one word stopped my movement. I felt an inexplicable nostalgia from those words.
Tracing back the déjà vu rising in my chest, what flashed through my mind like lightning was the promise I once made with Muzan-kun.
──Don't be afraid of me. Don't run away. Don't hate me.
Muzan-kun's sorrowful voice, pained expression, outstretched trembling pinky finger overlapped with the Leader's current line, and I instantly became quiet. Seeing me like that, the Leader, as if reassured, removed the hand covering my mouth.
"The reason I became a demon is, you see, Yukiji, to save you."
"...Me?"
"The one who made me a demon──I can't say the name, but a certain person asked like this. 'Is there a white-haired, red-eyed child here?' Ah, of course I lied saying I don't know, so rest assured. I didn't say a word about Yukiji."
The demon who turned the Leader into a demon.
It's Muzan-kun. Wait, the Leader was human until before sleeping, so does that mean Muzan-kun visited the Leader's room without an appointment? What an incredible missed connection.
If I had slept in the same room as the Leader, could I have met Muzan-kun? And could I have prevented the Leader from becoming a demon? It was like that with my mom too, I'm always like this. My timing is so bad that everything goes wrong. Let's start over from reincarnation.
More importantly, Leader, even though you became a demon, aren't you suffering from the impulse to eat human flesh? Aren't you becoming like my mom?
"He seemed to be looking for a white-haired, red-eyed child, and something called a blue spider lily."
"Blue spider lily..."
I've heard that somewhere before. Desperately retracing my memory, it came to mind quicker than expected.
It's the name of the medicine that doctor, the source of all evil in this world, prescribed to Muzan-kun.
"I don't know why he's looking for such things. But."
The Leader stroked my cheek. Rainbow-colored eyes looked down as if pitying me.
"The reason a demon looks for humans is definitely to eat them. A demon's staple food is humans. Not dogs or cats, there's no way they'd try to keep you by their side and cherish you."
The eyes mixed with seven colors began to grow moist. Tears flowed from the corners of the eyes. The Leader, creating transparent droplets from rainbows, felt like a sacred beauty that might be drawn in a foreign religious painting, as if not of this world.
"Do you think I'd let Yukiji become demon food? I'll never allow such a pitiful thing."
The hand on my face pulled me into an embrace. The Leader pressed their cheek against my forehead and hugged me as if enveloping me.
"Yukiji doesn't need to worry about anything."
Despite crying, the Leader's voice was gentle and calm—this person is incredibly skilled at genuinely reassuring others. It feels like listening to a mother's lullaby.
"That night, Yukiji was attacked by a demon, not a robber. I just realized now."
A palm slowly stroking down my hair as if soothing a child.
"Being targeted by a demon must be so scary. Horrible. You must want to cry. It must have been hard and painful."
The Leader, who should have become a demon, was surprisingly like their usual self, so the wariness I initially felt completely disappeared. Thank goodness. Because the Leader is the usual Leader. Because they haven't fallen to being a demon in their heart. The moment you become a demon, eating people regardless of reason—if you were to regain your senses, that would be too painful a thing.
"But rest assured. All of Yukiji's fear, horror, pain, and hardship, I will."
My mom, who ate my dad and me, must have screamed and despaired after regaining her senses. That's why I felt deep relief toward the Leader who maintained their sanity even after becoming a demon. Come to think of it, Leader, you said you became a demon for me. What does that mean? I haven't heard the proper reason yet.
The arms wrapped around my back gained strength. Enough to make my bones creak.
The Leader wet my shoulder with tears and whispered softly.
In a voice of a person so full of benevolence and salvation, so terribly kind.
"I will, save you."
"Huh?"
C R U N C H
＊
The moment I became a demon, the world appeared in vivid color.
In this black-and-white world without gods, buddhas, or paradise, I believed in something called fate for the first time in my life.
Because words alone had their limits, but I had found the true essence of salvation.
My heart trembled. With this, I can save Yukiji. Perfectly, absolutely, certainly. I can save pitiful Yukiji, targeted by demons, before they become demon food.
It must be hard, it must be painful. When Yukiji learned the fact of being destined to be targeted by demons, they must have felt fear that took their breath away. Living while trembling at the existence of demons must be unbearable. Surely their heart would die first from terror.
But rest assured. I will save Yukiji. I will save you by eating you all up.
This way, Yukiji becomes my blood and flesh and lives eternity together with me. What a wonderful thing.
It's scary. It's scary, the outside is terribly frightening.
So I will protect you. I will save you.
They say if you become a demon, you don't die. So I can stay with you forever. I'm confident I'll grow strong as a demon, so I can keep protecting you.
Don't worry. That pure white hair, those bright red eyes, from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes, every single thing, not a single piece left—I ate it all. There's no way I'd leave anything behind. I cherish Yukiji so much. Yes, even after putting you in my stomach, I'm still thinking of you.
I'm so very happy that I could protect precious Yukiji from demons. Are you happy too? Since you followed me so well. Now wherever we go, we're together. They say if you become a demon, you can't go out into sunlight, but it doesn't matter. You were hated by sunlight. I also hate things that hate you.
...…By the way, it's strange.
Today should be a very hot day, so why is it?
The inside of my chest feels chilly.