Chapter Text
Kokushibou cried that night. His usually calm face broke into tears and a scream tore through the night. He held the corpse of his twin as if his life depended on it — and maybe it really was like that — and sobbed like a child. When was the last time he cried?
Time passed as he held tight Yoriichi’s corpse and tears stopped only after a long time. His six eyes were dry for all the crying. The red moon, a silent witness of what the night bought, was low on the horizon. The dark blue of the sky was starting to fade into a kind azure that didn’t fit with the whirlwind of emotion inside of him. Nevertheless, it was the hour of the tiger. Kokushibou never liked it.
But, perhaps, burning alive in the sun could atone the sins he understood only on that night. It was almost as if Yoriichi killed him indirectly.
«What are you doing, Kokushibou?» a harsh voice asked. It was Muzan, his master, the one who gave him everything. He should have been grateful for all the gifts the demon gave him, yet his presence was not exactly wanted.
«Rejoice. That freak of nature is dead,» a snicker broke out of Muzan’s mouth. It was an unpleasant sound.
But his master was right. Someone gifted like Yoriichi should never have existed. And yet, Kokushibou’s heart was heavy and… offended?
«Why are you holding him like that?» Muzan walked up to him and knelt down. One of his hands found Yoriichi's ear and nearly tore it off with the force he had grabbed it with. «His earrings are gone,» he scoffed.
Kokushibou didn’t say a word.
«Leave him on the side of the road. It’s not as if a monster like him deserves to be buried.»
The first reflex was to let out a huge “no”.
But Kokushibou remained silent and still. His grip tightened a bit.
«Dawn will come soon. We must kill all slayers who know Sun Breathing. Leave your brother and follow me.»
The other demon didn’t move.
Muzan started to grow impatient.
«Kokushibou,» he ordered, «leave him.»
One single word came out of his mouth.
«No.»
The demon king's eyes narrowed. «What do you mean “no”?» venom was dripping from every word. «Have you perhaps forgot what this monster had done?»
Kokushibou swallowed. Yet, the grip remained firm.
«Kokushibou.»
If Kokushibou had not been training every second of every day, the attack would have slashed his head off. Instead, a bit of his black and purple kimono was torn.
«How disappointing,» Muzan hissed. From his right arm black brambles were slightly shaking. «After everything I’ve given you, you repay me like this.»
Kokushibou held his dead brother tight. All of his cells, his demon cells, screamed against him. But he had already decided what to do the second he refused to let Yoriichi go.
«I won’t go… against myself…» he murmured.
Muzan frowned. «“Against myself”? In case you didn’t realize it, you already broke all of the samurai rules you love so much. You’re a demon, Kokushibou. And protecting that monster means going against yourself!»
He held his brother even more tight. «That’s not… my name…» Michikatsu uttered.
Muzan didn’t answer. Instead, he hurled his kekkijutsu at Michikatsu. Even more black brambles, covered in poisonous thorns, erupted from his arm, ready to kill him.
Michikatsu jumped away; the ground where he was seemed to explode under the raw strength of Muzan’s attack. The demon tried to unleash the fury of his sword, but he couldn’t find the time: such was the power of the demon king.
«Don’t you understand, Kokushibou!?» Muzan screamed, shaking the brambles. «You’re a fool if you think you can disobey me!»
“You sound so much like father…” Michikatsu though bitterly. “And I hate that man.”
«So… you admit it,» he said. Muzan paused his attacks for a moment. «All you’ve ever wanted… was a slave!»
Holding his brother in his left arm, he unleashed his sword with the other. «Moon Breathing, First Form: Dark Moon, Evening Palace!»
Michikatsu made a precise horizontal cut. The air seemed to be pierced by a horizontal slash. Immediately, numerous chaotic crescent blades erupted from the slash, all directed towards Muzan.
«You ungrateful bastard!» the demon king exclaimed. «You use what I gifted you against me!?»
«You never… gave me anything. — Third Form! Loathsome Moon, Chains! — All these techniques… are mine alone.»
Muzan growled like a beast. «So you think you can win over me? You think you own even an inch of that monster’s strength? Absolutely not. You’re weak, and today’s defeat will show this.»
Michikatsu closed his six eyes. «Then so be it. Even if I get defeated, I’ll die doing the right thing.»
But, fighting while holding his brother’s corpse was risky. Michikatsu took advantage of the moment of temporary calm to put him on the ground.
Sash
Michikatsu immediately parried the incoming blow and assumed a protective stance in front of Yoriichi's corpse. His face turned even more serious. If he wanted to win, he had to focus, and a lot. Taking advantage of the long range of his kekkijutsu, Michikatsu used the Second Form: Pearl Flower Moongazing. He proceeded to perform three crescent-shaped slashes, and little moons erupted from the techniques. The cuts on Muzan’s body were deep, but they didn’t seem to hurt him.
«Do you not understand?» asked Muzan, with a snarky tone. «Fights between demons are useless. Especially if you’re fighting against me.»
Michikatsu didn’t answer. “He must have a weakness…” he thought.
They exchanged hits, but Michikatsu’s slashes seemed to have no effect.
Suddenly, a human hand covered his. But something was strange. The flesh seemed to glow slightly and was semi-transparent.
«Wha…»
«His entire body is covered in wounds,» his brother’s voice echoed from somewhere. «I inflicted them on him. Sharpen your vision. — the hand tightened its grip — And defeat him.»
Michikatsu wanted to understand where Yoriichi's voice was coming from, but it wasn't the time. Wherever he was, his brother was right: Muzan had to be defeated, and quickly.
So, he focused. He concentrated on parrying the blows and making sure the poisoned thorns did not touch his skin, nor did he allow Muzan to strike his twin. And while he did that, he sharpened his sight. And more. And more. He was already capable of seeing the insides of Muzan’s mutated body, but he needed to see deeper.
Muzan was spouting nonsense and Michikatsu didn’t bother listening to him.
“More… more…”
And then!
Michikatsu and Yoriichi lifted the demonic sword, cutting the brambles. Michikatsu leaped forward: with a speed he had never used before, he used Moon Breathing. «Sixth Form,» he said, «Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon!»
He hit his face. His torso. His arms. All those cuts were extremely precise. Following the scars Yoriichi had inflicted on him years ago, he managed to hit fatally the demon king. Michikatsu then took a few steps back, still keeping his sword at bay.
Muzan was in pieces, literally. His usually fast regeneration wasn’t seeming to work. The flesh was bloated and red, trying to restore itself.
«How did- how did you know!?» he shouted. He was panting heavily.
«…» Michikatsu didn’t answer. He walked calmly towards Muzan. «This morning… we’ll both die!» He then plunged the sword into Muzan, piercing one of his hearts and one of his brains. Muzan gritted his teeth and looked at him with fury… was that fear?
Before Michikatsu could say anything, Muzan’s body exploded in thousands of small pieces.
Moving almost by themselves, his arms cut off several fragments of flesh with the sword. Not all of them, though.
And with that, Muzan was gone.
A bitter taste flooded Michikatsu’s mouth. Did he really...?
«You did splendidly,» said his brother. Michikatsu could feel his hand on his shoulder.
«I should’ve killed him,» he answered.
«It’s enough, brother.»
«I should’ve-»
«You did what you could do. Nobody is angry at you for trying. Unlike me, you weren’t put on this world to kill that monster. You were supposed to live a long, happy life.»
«I ruined everything. Blinded by my own envy, I…»
«You won’t die today, Michikatsu,» Yoriichi said firmly.
Michikatsu turned around, searching for his twin, but only found his corpse lying on the side of the road. Fresh tears gathered in his eyes, but he brushed them off.
«I’ll die with him.»
It was difficult to find a temple worthy of Yoriichi, but Michikatsu succeeded. The Atsuta shrine, home to the sacred sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi, was the house of the venerable kami Atsuta no Ōkami, Amaterasu, Susanoo, Yamatotakeru, Miyazu-hime and Takeinadane. Michikatsu hoped they would accept his brother.
Michikatsu, on the fourth night after Yoriichi’s death, entered the temple. It felt wrong to enter in such a sacred place, but he had to do it for Yoriichi. He hugged his brother’s body and headed inside the temple.
Perhaps attracted by the noise, a monk arrived. «It’s quite late young man, what are y-» The words died in his throat seeing Michikatsu’s face.
«I was… wondering…»
The monk screamed in horror and ran away.
«This… wasn’t supposed to happen…» he murmured. He looked around, an idea on how to convince the monks to honor Yoriichi forming in his mind. He put Yoriichi down on the ground. Sadly, all he had was blood, so he cut himself and poured a little of the red liquid onto his palm; he then dipped his finger in it. When he was about to write on the wall, he stopped. «I mustn’t dishonor the house of the kami.»
Where to write? Another idea came. He swallowed the blood and quickly wiped his hands on his hakama pants. Then, he tore a large piece of his white juban. He knelt on the ground and arranged the torn fabric near his knees.
Please, honor my brother with a funeral. Please, bury him here, he wrote with his blood. He placed the fabric near Yoriichi, made sure his brother was presentable (as much as a dead person could be) and ran out.
«I-- it was the-there!» Just as he was stepping out of the sacred fence, Michikatsu heard the previous monk’s voice, alongside footsteps from multiple people. «It was a demon…!»
«You probably dreamed that,» another replied.
«No! I swear! I saw it! It had six red eyes and-and---! EEK! A corpse!»
Michikatsu stared at the temple. Fear tore at his heart. What if they didn't hold a funeral for Yoriichi? His brother was a worthy, virtuous man. He couldn't let him rot on the side of a road.
A few minutes of silence passed — the monks were probably talking among themselves in lowered voices — when Michikatsu caught the words: “His funeral will be tomorrow morning.”
Relief flooded his heart with a fresh sensation. He smiled without even realizing. It was sad that he could not attend his own brother’s funeral, but things were like that.
At least… he will be buried in a place worthy of him.
Michikatsu turned around and walked away, his heart lighter. All it was left was to avenge Yoriichi and hinder Muzan’s plans.
Thus, centuries passed. Michikatsu discovered that sleeping helped with the hunger, and so he didn’t have to kill humans anymore. Muzan became even more evasive than he was before. Michikatsu was always too late when trying to save Sun Breathing knowers; by the time he arrived, bloodshed had already happened.
He never forgave himself for that. He thought Yoriichi’s sublime technique got lost forever, until one day he discovered a small, happy family living on top of a mountain.
The Kamados.
They sold coal for a living. Nothing extraordinary, except for a small particular: every New Year’s Eve, the father practiced a peculiar dance: the Hinokami Kagura.
It was Sun Breathing.
Michikatsu was beyond happy and relieved. What he thought was lost in time was in front of his very eyes! He wanted to make the man a strong demon slayer, but something about him didn’t convince Michikatsu. His movements were right and precise, but lacked the something that made Yoriichi’s technique extraordinary.
So he waited. The years passed and the family grew. Their firstborn, Tanjirou, after the father’s death, took over the reins of the family. He started to sell coal, to go down and up the mountain regularly — no matter the weather — and his lungs grew stronger.
He wasn’t able yet to complete the whole Hinokami Kagura without stopping, but Michikatsu saw the potential his father lacked.
At age thirteen, he was more than ready to start his journey as a demon slayer. The night before Michikatsu was to finally introduce himself the family, a demon arrived in a nearby village. Nothing too hard to kill with his nichirin sword.
But tragedy struck.