Chapter Text
There were tales of a demon lord that once had a lover, a long, long time ago. And he lost her just as fast as he fell in love with her, a tragedy.
Some say this is why he turned evil, why he used his immortality for the worst. But some say she made him that way.
And some..
Some say if you so much as resemble his past lover.. he will kill or take you on the spot.
Were these tales true? You didn’t know.
Did you heed the warnings these tales held anyway?
Absolutely!
What you did know was that this so called demon lord existed. In fact, you’re currently working in an organization against him.
You ended up in this line of work and was quite careful as to what you chose. You already knew no way in hell you’re becoming a slayer.
So you became a kakushi.
One that goes into the battlefield to clean up? No, some demons may decide they have unfinished business and will come back to slaughter some more innocent lives. One that serves as a medic for the brave slayers? No, you can’t deal all that much with blood. A chef?
..Seemed safe.
You became a cook for the corp. And after a long period, your cooking skills developed and you rose.
Overtime you discovered being the head chef for the demon slayer organization isn’t so bad.
..If you ignored the vast amount of demon eyes that lingered over your trembling body, like you were nothing.
You opened your mouth to speak until a sword slammed down onto the floor, a warning. You flinched.
Shall you start saying goodbye to your loved ones?
“The hierarchy.. must be not be interrupted.” The demon spoke. His hair was a deep maroon, dressed in a purple haori and a swordsman uniform. His most prominent feature were his six eyes, with upper moon one written in the middle two irises. You hiccuped.
“It’s okay Kokushibo~! Let her speak. After all, isn’t this what we brought her here for?” A tall white haired demon said, he held two fans while sporting blood designs over his clothing. He wore baggy hakama striped pants with a compressed red shirt. You’ve never seen polychromatic eyes like his, that held upper moon two in them.
“I’m telling you now, she’s worthless like all the others. Just throw her in the infinity castle until she plummets to her death.” This demon was pale, with blue lines circulating around his entire body. He wears a cropped, sleeveless purple haori and lazy baggy white pants.
Three more demons were present. Before they could speak on the issue, the leader hummed. “Well.. since this one obviously knows more than the last, we can’t just kill her.” The demon lord had wavy hair complimented with a white fedora, seemed like he wore a clean black suit. He tapped on his chin, thinking. “Daki, rip off her mask.. I can’t see her face well.”
You were in the kakushi uniform. As apart of the supporting members, you were required to mask your face, non-slayers were easy targets. You put your hand up for defense just as the only demoness present made her way to you.
“Wait-!” Before you could protect yourself, she moved past your slow human speed and grabbed your collar, hauling you close enough until you heard her voice in your ear.
“You’re lucky I’m prettier than you, because you would’ve been dead .” She then rips off your kakushi head piece. The cold air of the surrounding area washed over your face, you immediately shiver at this exposure.
The demon lord’s eyes slowly widened, the realization hitting him, he then began laughing in his palm. “I knew your aura felt familiar..” The demon leaned forward before he spoke.
“Everyone will take turns looking over this vessel, we’ve learned our mistakes from the past.”
Mistakes? Vessel?
“We will crack her open with what she knows.” He straightened his posture when his eyes met yours, “And you will tell me.” He cracked a smile.
You gulped, the inhumane look in his eyes is something that will haunt you for the rest of your life and each time you sleep.
Being the head chef for the demon slayer corp isn’t so bad. For one, it’s safe from the tales of the evil demon lord- you even made sure to never go out at night! Your life is guaranteed and rumors of your skill has spread quite a bit among the hashira and master of the corp, sparing you the harsh words from the wind pillar, or dirty looks from the snake pillar. You could even make minimal conversation with the water pillar- who talked to no one!
So…
You looked among the demons that looked like they wanted to rip open the flesh from your body and drain the marrow from your bones for dessert.
Why the hell were you in this situation?!
You walked over to the counter, setting down the first four plates for the Love Pillar, who was with the Snake Pillar. “Here you go, Miss Kanroji!” You smiled, she squealed at the food, thanking you endlessly. Iguro merely nodded as a thanks before you went back into the kitchen.
It’s a good thing you were not born a male, your head would’ve been chopped off by the Snake Pillar by now. The Flower Pillar entered the shop and bowed, she brought a new child with her. Her name was much similar to hers- to be honest, you forgot what it was.
You quickly whipped something up for them and handed the child a box filled with the food. The child began walking off before Kocho gently pulled her back. “Say thank you, Kanao!” Ah yes. Kanao, that’s her name.
Kanao stiffened before bowing deeply, almost dropping the container and then scurried off. “Haa.. that child.” Kanae breathed. You laughed her off.
“Don’t worry, she’ll come around!” You replied until you heard someone enter the kitchen and call out your name from afar.
“Yo! I was told Lord Oyakata is calling for you.” It was Goto, one of your closest friends you met while working as a kakushi, except unlike him, you never went out to the battlefield to clean up (thankfully).
You nodded, “Did he want a meal, or..?”
Goto shook his head. “Just you.” Hm. That was weird. Most of the time, the only reason Lord Oyakata would call you over was if he had a particular dish in mind that he wanted to eat.
You untied your apron, making your way to the headquarters by trolley. Good thing it was still daytime, you might have been scared shitless if you went during the night.
You approached the entrance to the mansion. Before you could even knock, Lady Amane opened the huge doors.
Oh, wow. You knew she was unearthly beautiful but you didn’t know she was unearthly psychic as well.
You greeted her with a deep bow, “Hello, Lady Amane.”
She returned the gesture, “Hello, dear. Follow me.” And you did. You followed her through the corridors of the Ubuyashiki mansion, feeling a strange sense of deja vu.
Once she opened the door to Lord Oyakata’s resting quarters, you walked in. The master of the demon slayer corp was sitting with his window open, basking in the sun. He turned back to you with his developing-blind eyes and comforting smile.
“Come, sit down next to me.” His soft voice bloomed in the deep parts of your chest, like a mother coddling their baby for the first time. You obliged, taking a seat next to him in the sun.
He stares out into the scenery, the moving trees whistling in the background. “You’ll be on a mission with the a pillar.” That’s all he had to tell you? You’re usually sent with a letter.
“The stone pillar.” He finished. You jerked your head at him.
“What?” Your palms began growing damp. You’ve accompanied slayers and pillars on prolonged missions assigned as their chef, but the stone pillar meant another thing. The mission you’re going on with him will be dangerous as hell. He met your gaze, a reassuring smile as always.
“Don’t worry.” Just the thought of going on a mission made the hairs on the back of your neck rise.
“What if the demon finds us at our camp! What if I’m killed in my sleep? What if-”
Lord Oyakata shushed you with a finger to his lips, your mouth clicked shut.
“Worry not, my child. You are strong. Up here-“ He put his finger to your forehead, “And in here.” He trailed his finger down to your heart.
“To be a top chef is to be sharp and agile.” The master comforted. After steadying your hands you lifted your gaze from the ground to him, releasing a shaky breath. “I believe in you. The universe has tested you many, many times, and you’ve proven capable each time.” He finishes.
“Okay.” How could you ever say no to the one who housed you off the streets? “But.. if something goes wrong what shall I do?” You ask, barely above a whisper.
Lord Oyakata smiles, “What you must.”
You press your lips into a thin line before releasing another shaky “Okay”. “Is that.. all?”
The master of the corp nods, “Take care of yourself, my child.”
Well, you’ll try. This is basically death awaiting your future. You stand to see Lady Amane waiting for you to escort you out of the premises.
After you left, Lady Amane walked in the room, just the two of them and the sound of nature.
“Sending that child was very last minute, what changed?” She asks, taking a seat next to him. His eyes were unmoving, still outlining the trees.
“I have a feeling.. something revolutionary is about to take place.”
You finished packing most of your belongings, it wasn’t much, but still something. You began making your way towards the district train both you and the stone pillar are taking. It was easy to spot him, he towers over every single person in the waiting area.
“Hello, you’re Master Himejima right?” You walked up next to him, bag in hand. He looked down at you and nodded.
“And you are?” Himejima looked you up and down as if he could see through his eyes. You shifted on your feet, he’s more intimidating than you expected.
“Im your chef, the one Master Oyakata assigned to you.” You paused momentarily, “It’s cause it was a last minute thing, right?” He nodded once.
Silence encapsulates the air between you two, you half expected this but also wished it wasn’t as awkward as this. A voice pulls you out of your mind.
“My apologies, it is quite rare for Lord Oyakata to send members with me, especially the kakushi.” When you didn’t reply, the stone pillar looked at you again before nudging down your headpiece and messing it up a bit, almost covering your vision completely. His mere touch caused you to flinch.
“Sunglasses at night?” He questioned, almost a bit of humor in his tone. The train howling its engines caught both of you off guard, signaling it was closer.
“I like the look..” You muttered, stepping onto the train with the pillar, the train dipped with his first step, causing you to stumble a bit. The surrounding people around him were squished trying to get on the train, some of them even gawked at his size. You took your seat across from him, with practically no leg room for you.
“You’re.. quite the impressionable person.” You awkwardly chuckled, scratching your cheek. Himejima hummed, with his usual hands in a prayer position.
“Am I?” His voice boomed, his beads shifting with the movement of the train.
“..Yeah.” Was all you could say in response. Jesus, this was the most awkward train ride you’ve ever been on. Then again, who wouldn’t be intimidated by a guy who could squash an average person like a pesky vermin.
The next hour and a half was filled with silence along with you trying to make small talk, in which failed almost every time. You anxiously opened your mouth to begin another conversation before you could hear bangs on top of the roof top of the train. The wheels screeched with the sudden movement.
“Woah. You think it’s hail, or what?” You peered out the window before seeing a flash of someone or something. You jumped back in your seat, nervous of what you might have just saw.
“Uh- Master Himejima I think there’s-“
“A demon.” He finished.
“A demon? ” You harshly whispered, more for yourself than to ask him the question. No, no, no! You’ve never seen one in person and you weren’t planning to!
“Go in the back with the crowd, you’ll be of no help with the battle.” The stone pillar ordered, and you followed. Don’t mind if you do! What the hell are you going to do with your skills? Cook the demons?
The crowd of civilians and travelers were beginning to stand, questioning as to why the train stopped. The chatter turned into slight yelps to full on screams when the roof was being punched through.
You could feel yourself trembling. Why were you so scared? You had the strongest demon slayer of modern history by your side!
A demon came crashing down onto the train floor and all your previous confidence was thrown out the window along with some of your soul when you saw lower moon three carved in the eyes. You were hiding among the crowd in the corner of the train, this cart was the last connecting one from the rest of the body and the demon just so happened to block the way.
The demon was smiling until it seemed like a smell hit his nose for a split second.
“Lady Shinseina?” The name sounded from his chest when Himejima’s weapons came crashing down onto the demon. Your heart thudded in your chest, like a punch, reacting in a way as if that name was yours. But it wasn’t. Why? Why did you feel a sense of familiarity?
Your thoughts were snapped by the battle unfolding in front of you, the other civilians huddled together.
The demon was fast in reaction speed, but slow in attack speed. Each time Himejima made the effort to slice its neck, it would dodge. You noticed the cramped space of the train didn’t help in the stone pillar’s case either. After all, he took up an entire aisle to himself.
Each time the demon was cut, its blood would splatter everywhere, some landing on Himejima’s face, your face, the frightened passengers, even the train doors.. almost like it was intentional.
It seemed you caught onto his technique a bit too late, because a second later the demon began menacingly cackling.
“Time for my grand reveal, right? Right ?” The demon giggled, “Oh boy, you’re in big trouble now!” He held out a hand, “Blood demon art!” All the blood of the demon that was scattered all over Himejima was sucked right back into his body and his body mass was increased by ten fold.
“Each time my blood lands on my enemy, it grants me knowledge of their power. It seems you’re quite the strong fellow, it makes you the perfect opponent!” The demon praised. You sucked in a sharp breath.
“It saddens me to see how ecstatic you are over this.” Himejima said his first words to the demon, swinging down his axe. He couldn’t use his spiked ball, it was far too heavy for the train to sustain such force.
The demon leapt onto the ceiling this time, digging his own nails into the skin of his forearm. Throwing his blood onto Himejima, sucking it back in, and growing in size.
“Once I become more powerful than you, I’ll kill you and eat everyone on board!” The demon spat.
You chewed your thumb, what can you do? You don’t have any strength to help! All that demon has to do is continue evading Himejima’s attacks and grow stronger until he’s stronger than the stone pillar himself!
You looked around and tried spotting something that may be of use to Himejima. Suitcases, blankets, hats- nothing looked like it could help.
Out of the corner of your eye, you saw someone shivering with an umbrella in their hand, huddled under the seat.
That’s it!
You grabbed the umbrella from the civilian, and immediately opened it.
Hopefully you won’t get bad luck for this.
Once the demon clawed his own skin to splatter more blood, you rushed in with the umbrella in front of Himejima, a battle cry ringing out from your chest. The blood landed on the umbrella, successfully shielding the pillar.
Himejima was taken aback for a second, then subtly nodded. “Thank you.”
The demon was caught off by this, you used the opportunity to stab the demon through the chest with the sharp top of the umbrella, pinning him to the wall behind. The demon grunted, visibly panicking, his panic ceased once he saw, or sensed a clear view of your person over the umbrella.
“Master Himejima, cut his head off!” You yelled, forgotting just how fast this demon was.
The next second, you were in the middle of the cart, a tight hand on your forearm with no umbrella in sight. The demon was looking down at you with wide eyes as if you had killed his entire family, his mouth quivering. You had no time to process what you were looking at, you were frozen, you couldn’t feel yourself breathing. What you were staring at were not the eyes of the demon Himejima was battling, you saw something else- someone else.
“You.” He started, his grip tightening.
“You’re coming with me. La-“
In a fast motion, he was decapitated before he could finish his sentence.
Cries rang out throughout the cart.
After a few second of processing that you’re safe now, you could you feel your legs give out, before you hit the ground, Himejima caught you by your bicep and hauled you up.
“Are you okay?” He asked, you silently nodded, your eyes still on the demon’s face. The stone pillar frowned before he began checking up on the rest of the passengers, where he was thanked endlessly with cries of women and men alike.
The attendants made sure everyone was accommodated with free drinks and snacks, offering a free train cart service in return for their traumatic experience.
You found yourself in the bathroom, staring at yourself.
“You’re coming with me, La-“
The demon’s words repeated in your head. “La-“? What was he going to say? He must have recognized the wrong person. Your eyes trailed towards your kakushi uniform and mask, Himejima suggested for you to change into another pair of your uniform, as your old one was bloodied.
He also suggested for you to put those glasses back on. It was a wise decision.
You don’t want to be mistaken for someone else.
No matter what.