Douma POV:

"Blood Demon Art: Freezing Clouds!" I sliced through the air with my newly regained golden war fans, scattering numbingly cold clouds of ice in the direction of the two Hashiras. One of them, the hotheaded Wind Pillar, leaped up and began yelling out a breathing technique. In response, I sprinted over to the white haired man, and aimed my fans at his neck. He immediately kicked me in the stomach and backflipped off of me, switching the roles and aiming for my neck. 

I ducked, inadvertently nearly taking a hit from the attack of the Sound Pillar, whose neck I grazed with my fan. This damaged his vocal cords enough to temporarily mute him, which led to him unable to use a breathing technique. 

Just then, my nose picked up a strange smell and I noticed the knowing smirk on the face of the scarred Hashira. Seconds after smelling the sweet scent of the Wind Pillar's blood, the marechi blood, I began to feel intoxicated.

"Not so strong now, are you, demon!?" The man hissed, walking towards me and increasing the effect of the blood. In return, I stumbled backwards and regained my footing, giggling at the Hashira's tactics.

"Your attempts at defeating me really are quite comical, you know that? Well, except for the marechi, that caught me off guard. Unfortunately for you rep though, I'm quite bored of this fight, so I'll end it quickly." I started to breathe through my mouth instead, avoiding the smell as I charged towards the Wind Hashira. 

"Blood Demon Art: Barren Hanging Garden!" Suddenly I backflipped, surprising the Sound Hashira who had been attacking me from behind since I had first seen him earlier that night. He deflected the majority of my attacks by countering it with his own two swords, and jabbed me between the legs with his foot. 

"Ouch. That actually hurt more than my arms being cut off!" I laughed once more and glanced towards the lightening sky. 

'I have about twenty minutes until sunrise, so there's time for a couple more attacks. Then I'll find wherever (Y/N) is and we'll leave.' 

"Blood Demon Art: Lotus Vines." I swung my fans forward, and ice vines shot towards both of the swordsmen, wrapping around their bodies and raising them into the air. The Sound Hashira used his swords to cut through the vines, and I noticed him throwing several small black beads in my direction. 

Curious on what it was, I sliced one in half and it exploded, causing a chain reaction of explosions around me. Each one shot splintering pain through my body, and was amused how much it hurt. 

"Ara, explosives? I would've never thought of that, how creative!" I purred, already regenerated from the effect of the detonations. The sky was lightening with only ten minutes left before sunrise, so I knew that I had the time for one last attack.

"Blood Demon Art: Cold White Princesses!" I aimed the attack towards the Wind Hashira, who hadn't been able to break free from the vines, due to the lack of his katana. Before running away, the earsplitting yell of the scarred pillar ensured that I caused fatal damage to at least one of the Hashiras. 

'The Sound Hashira was probably affected by my freezing clouds, so I won't worry about him. The other female slayer is likely dead as well.' I thought to myself as I looked at what (Y/N) had been occupying herself with while I had been dealing with the two pillars. 

The human girl was kneeling in front of the mangled corpse of Shinobu, praying quietly. A deep hole in the ground was next to her, revealing that (Y/N) was planning to bury the slayer. This was one of the many aspects of the strange (e/c) eyed girl that I did not understand. 

'First she murdered someone on her own accord, then she buried them as a sign of respect? I don't understand humans...' I waited about five seconds for (Y/N) to stop talking, then scooped her into my arms gently. 

"I'm not done though." She pouted and pointed at the half-eaten body. I deadpanned and put her down on the ground before picking Shinobu up and dropping her in the dirt hole. After a quick nod from (Y/N), I lifted the girl up for the second time and returned to the cult. 

"I think I broke a rib." The girl stated while I tried not to smell the blood that was on her.

"You definitely broke more than just a rib, (Y/N)-chan!" I laughed at the girl, shaking my head as I entered her room without being seen. "I'll send in the other girl, Taku I believe was her name, to treat your injuries." I placed her on her futon, dirtying the sheets. She noticed this and shifted uncomfortably, attempting to stand up, so I pushed her back down onto the bed firmly.

"Okay, thank you Douma-sama. Her name's Touko by the way." I nodded distractedly, not fully paying attention as I closed my eyes. She visibly relaxed as her body was healed.

"Stay in bed. I can make someone bring us another set of bedsheets." I waved off her concerns, knowing what she had been planning to say. Standing up, I opened the door to retrieve Touko.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y/N POV: 

Tilting my head up, I watched from my place lying down on the futon as Douma waltzed out the door, seemingly unharmed from the bloodbath. After his soft footsteps had faded away, I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Why did you do it? Why did you kill that girl? ' A velvety voice whispered. 

'Simple. I killed her because it was helpful for Douma-sama not to have to deal with another slayer.' I replied, my own voice unwavering as I stared into 

'We both know you were fully aware she was not a slayer; she was far too weak for that.' The voice laughed lightly.

'She screamed too much, and it was painful for my ears. She was an annoyance.'

'Wrong again. You know exactly the reason you committed such a crime.'

'I murdered the girl because she was weak.'

'Stop lying to yourself.'

'I allowed Douma-sama eat her. That is a clear sign of disrespect, is it not?'

'Yes, that is correct. However, you are not in a position to argue about respect. You dug her a grave and gave her a funeral after she died. That cancels out any disrespect from the action Douma had taken beforehand. Now please, admit the real reason.'

'I killed her because I understood it would make her sister angry, which would increase the intensity of the battle, which means that it would be more interesting to watch.'

'No, no, no. You killed that young girl for the sole reason that she was in pain, and we are both aware that you were fully aware. You wanted to end the pain that she was in. You cared for that girl and you knew that she wouldn't have survived no matter what she tried to do. You wanted her not to suffer from the torture that Douma would've put her through.'

'That is incorrect, I don't care if people suffer. I don't care if she suffered. I am incapable of that, much like a demon.'

'Wrong again. If that were truly the case, why would you even bother to remember the names of people around you? You are regaining your lost human emotions, please do not deny it.'

'...'

'(Y/N). Having emotions does not make you weak. Is that why you are refusing to accept this?'

'I don't want to die.'

'Oh? What do you mean, I am unsure if I understand what you are referring to.'

'What exactly I mean is, if Douma finds out that I have emotions, he'll kill me. I know this for a fact, since the only reason he let me live was because he knew I wouldn't tell anyone about him being...what he is.'

'But how do you really know he'd kill you?'

'I remember him saying that it was curious that I didn't have emotions, and that's what made me interesting. Nakime-san also mentioned that Douma-sama keeps humans alive for the sole reason of him finding interest in them.'

'Oh, I see. I unfortunately do not know how to help, for this is a matter only you yourself can resolve. Good luck (Y/N)...'

"(Y/N)-sama? (Y/N), can you hear me? Wake up please, (Y/N)-sama."

With that, I jolted awake, seeing Touko's worried golden eyes looking into mine. The silver haired girl hesitantly opened her mouth to speak, and shook her head before closing it again. She took a deep breath and looked at her hands, clenching them tightly as she unwrapped the bandages.

"If I may ask, w-what did you mean by 'I murdered that girl'?"

I began to hear ringing in my ears as I mentally took in what the silverette had said to me. Tears stung my eyes as I realized what Touko had gotten herself into by simply overhearing me talking in my sleep.

"Touko-chan, I'm sorry. You won't want to hear this, but you're now in severe danger. You heard too much, and I have no choice but to either take you with me, or kill you." Touko stiffened and stopped wrapping my bandages, but I placed a hand up in defense.

"Kill me? Take me where? What do you mean, (Y/N)-sama? I'm so confused, please tell me what's happening!"

"I promise I'll tell you every detail of what's going on, but not now. Right now, I need you to do a few things for me. First, pack the necessities among your belongings into a bag that you'll bring with you." The girl nodded slowly. "Then you need to wait for me at the entrance, and if anyone sees you, you say that you're waiting for a friend to leave on a night at the town."

"W-why do I need to leave? Is this a joke? It's not funny, because I'm scared! Is someone following you?" I stared at Touko, who was on the verge of tears.

"No, this isn't a joke. We need to leave today and hide. Hide somewhere he won't find us. The reason is, I know for a fact that he'll kill you if he finds out you know about the girl. I'm not fully sure if he'll kill me if I stay, but I don't want to take the chance. Now, go pack your belongings, since you're finished with the bandages." I shooed off the frightened silver haired girl, and she scurried out of the small bedroom. 

"Now I pack my things." I stood up shakily, pain burning in my lungs. Walking over to the closet, I heard a chilling voice behind me. 

"Pack? Where are you going, (Y/N)-chan?" 

Word Count: 1871