Third Person POV:

Muzan's eyes flitted around the area, studying the appearance and thoughts of the seven Kizuki, who were each stationed on the wooden floors before him. More than half of the said demons were trembling in fright, with the ranks of Upper Two, Lower One, and Lower Five being the exceptions. 

Rui was in a bowed position on the tatami style platform, his head near to but not touching the floor. His spindly white hair hung past his face and annoyingly obstructed his vision, so he shifted his posture to one where he could still see his surroundings.

Both Enmu and Douma were standing up, their backs facing the five bowing demons. The lower ranked of the two was kneeling down slightly, so he would be standing but also show respect to Muzan at the same time. Completely contrasting this, however, was Douma, who was not showing any respect at all, standing up completely straight and maintaining an uncomfortable amount of eye contact.

"Lower One, do you clearly understand what I expect the results of your next mission to be?" The blushing demon nodded, his teal eyes looking at Muzan's facial expression while speaking to him, but immediately stared downwards once it was considered respectful enough.

"Yes of course, Master! I assure you that this will not be a problem in any way!" Muzan smiled at his words, knowing that this new Lower One demon would be a useful tool in the future. His mouth abruptly turned downwards as he stared down the trembling Lower Three, Wakuraba, whose thoughts were as panicked as his appearance seemed.

"Lower Three, you are to accompany Lower One on his mission; he is to explain what to accomplish." Muzan waved them away, wanting the cowardly Lower Three demon out of his sight as soon as possible. Before Wakuraba could have a chance to even respond, Nakime played her instrument twice, causing both him and Enmu to drop through platform-like doors - the latter's exit being far more graceful than the former's, who disappeared with a surprised yelp.

"Upper Two, where is the human you have been sheltering?" He spat out, irked that he needed to speak to yet another overbearing headache of a demon. In turn, a cheery Douma chuckled at him, pondering what answer would be received well.

"Well, I would've preferred my answer to be that she is currently safe and sound at the temple, but I'm afraid I cannot say that. As of this morning, she left. Ever since the sun set, I have attempted to track her down; however, I am still left empty handed, as you can see." Douma sighed in 'disappointment', yet a shit-eating grin was clearly visible on his pale face.

"You are utterly useless." Muzan narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at the blonde before continuing, "But, you're lucky. The girl is currently residing with one of the Lower Moons, alive."

Muzan turned away from Douma to glance at Nakime, to which she bowed her head down slightly and struck her biwa, causing the Upper Moon to dematerialize from the castle with a sharp 'twang'.

"Now, Rui. Do you fully understand what has been assigned of you?" Muzan's tone claimed a much softer approach while speaking to the small spider demon, whom he was extremely fond of.

"Yes Master Muzan, I understand that me and my family are to keep the girl at our home for two weeks, and return her to you here afterwards." Rui sat himself up on the platform so that he would be facing Muzan, reciting the orders of the mission previously set apart for him.

"Good. You may leave now." Nakime's biwa sounded moments later, and he was gone. Muzan glared at the small group of remaining Lower Moons in disdain. He absolutely despised demons he considered to be useless, and these three were the perfect candidates.

One of the remaining Lower Moons - specifically the white haired Lower Moon Four, Mukago - shifted her weight backwards and accidentally caused a loud creaking sound on the wooden flooring. Luckily, it was ignored by the other demons present; she breathed out a quiet sigh of relief.

Silently, he read their thoughts one by one. After disappointedly realizing that the only thing they would be thinking of is staying alive through this, he redirected his attention towards what he was actually there for.

"You three. New mission. Do not mess this up. If you do, I will kill you. On the spot. Painfully." Muzan walked over to a different connecting platform and reached into a wooden drawer.

He brought out a black and white photograph of an older teenage boy with chin length hair, and solemn eyes. He glanced back towards the three weaker demons, letting them take a close look at the picture. 

"Find this boy and kill him; he resides at the same place as the Upper Moon Two." Lower Moon Six, Kamanue, nodded rapidly. Already knowing what Muzan would say next, Nakime struck her biwa three times and the demons disappeared from sight.

Touko POV: 

'I made a big mistake in not telling anyone about (Y/N)'s disappearance. Where is the nearest police station, I wonder?' I searched around for several seconds and caught sight of a brown haired woman who was strolling down the street with another woman. 

I began to approach them and tapped the taller woman on the shoulder. I was so rushed that I started speaking to her before she even turned around to face me.

"Excuse me, do you-" The two women glanced at my face, and when they didn't recognize me, the brown haired one firmly pulled the others hand and led her away from me. I frowned, not expecting that reaction. After that, I saw an older woman holding a young child's hand. 

I gently tapped the grey haired lady on the shoulder, and she stopped walking, turning towards me quizzically. I was about to speak when we both got bumped harshly by a random passerby, so she gestured for me to follow her to the side of the road - it was much less crowded.

"Why hello there, young miss! What do you need?" The lady sat down on the corner of an unoccupied bench, placing the child on her lap carefully. A relieved smile spread across my face, understanding that she clearly lived in this town. 

I bowed my head to show respect for the older woman, before giving the child a brief but friendly grin.

"I apologize for the bother, but do you possibly know where the police station might be?" An expression of deep sadness and regret flashed across her wrinkled face, as if a painful memory had resurfaced.

"Yes, I do. Let me guess, someone you know recently went missing at night, and you are planning to inform the authorities about it." I frowned, curious on how she could've guessed so easily. My golden eyes widened in realization.

"D-does this happen often?" The old lady nodded slowly, and I began to chew on my lip. What if (Y/N) was already dead because I didn't inform the authorities about this situation sooner? What if she was suffering right now because of my stupidity!? I needed to actually start taking action, otherwise she was definitely going to end up dead.

The woman gave me a pat on the shoulder and lifted the fussy child off of her lap, onto the ground. She stood up of the bench with a quiet groan, already being pulled by the kid in the direction of the crowds. After several seconds of continuing with this, she slapped the child's hand gently as a warning, and the pulling ceased immediately.

"I hope you find your missing person, make sure to remember to file a report. To get to the police station, you need to take a left at the next street, and take a right two blocks later. Maybe, just maybe, the police will finally get someone to stop the disappearances!" The gray haired woman crossed her fingers and grinned before waving goodbye and blending with the passing crowd.

I grinned, waving back happily. before refocusing on my present situation. 

"Okay, so the kind woman told me to go down the street and take a left." I started walking, reciting her directions out loud when I arrived at a turn. I took a left, and hurriedly paced down the next to blocks, taking a right after they passed. Immediately, the small station was in clear view. 

"Yes!" I whispered under my breath, grinning in silent gratitude to the woman as I dashed inside the open building. Near the door was a friendly looking man in a police uniform, so I quickly walked towards where he was talking to another officer. 

"U-uhm, excuse me?" The man looked over at me and smiled kindly. 

"What can I do for you, young lady?" I breathed out, returning his gesture.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but where can I find the officer assigned to missing person reports?" The man's smile dropped, and he immediately started rubbing his temples. I was confused on why he responded in such a strange way; was it because of what I said?

"I'm sorry for my reaction, please go down the hall, first door to the left. I hope you get " He looked behind me, and I followed his gaze down the hall. I turned my head back towards him and bowed in respect. I jogged backwards and waved, a small smile on my face. 

"He was nice!" I mumbled under my breath, knocking on the side of the door.  I made out the noise of shuffling from inside, and a loud groan was heard before the person replied.

"Just walk in." A gruff voice replied briefly. I stood there for a moment before pulling on the handle of the door, opening it and peeking inside the room. Sitting at a messy desk was a middle aged man with hazel brown eyes and long stringy white hair - it reminded me of noodles. 

"What do you want. Is it another missing person report? I swear, if it's another missing person report, I'm kicking you out of the building." With that, I deadpan. I was so lucky with the kind people before this, I knew that they all couldn't be so welcoming! Sighing, I reluctantly nodded my head and let go of the doorway, walking towards the rude man.

"Yes, I would like to give you a missing person's report. How do I file that?" The man groaned in disappointment, rubbing his temples. 

"You know what? Just tell me and I'll write it down. I'm kicking you out immediately after."

"Okay!"

"What's the persons name?"

"Where were they last seen."
"In an alleyway, five blocks away."

"Were they with any other people when you last saw them?"
"Yes, a black haired child with faded blue eyes. His name is Muzan Kibutsuji, apparently, and he somehow knew (Y/N)'s name without either of us telling him. (Y/N) told me to leave so that she could help find his parents, and that's when I left."

After several minutes of questioning, the man was done asking me for information. True to his word, he immediately stood up and shoved me out of the door. However, I didn't mind since I had gotten the police informed, so that was basically all I could do to help (Y/N) without getting something I wouldn't be able to get out of.

Feeling happy, I strolled out of the building, waving to the kind policeman on the way. I decided to return to the alleyway I left (Y/N) at, to observe around if any clues were left behind - without touching anything.

I quickly maneuvered through the thinning crowd, noticing the fact that there was significantly less people on the streets. When I arrived near the same alleyway, I slowed down my pace and looked around. There was nothing strange happening that I saw, so I shrugged and trailed down the alley, searching for anything that might have changed.

A purple dragonfly flew around in the alleyway and landed on my nose. I laughed, distracted from my original intent.

Suddenly, I heard a soft voice, and everything went black.

Word Count: 2076

.

.

A/N: I don't know what Japanese police stations look like in this era, let alone a century ago, so this'll likely be wrong. Have some (likely) historically inaccurate information!