Gyutaro was supposed to be jealous. He was supposed to be hateful, spiteful, and furious. But he was laughing. He was laughing because Doma's kid just got fucking slapped by Akaza and the kid had just got a face full of dirt! It was hilarious!

"Keep your feet closer together; up, we do it again!" Akaza ordered. Surprisingly, the kid jumped to his feet from where he lay sprawled and roared in anger as he charged the demon. Gyutaro only hummed from where he sat in the trees.  Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic... 

Akaza easily dodged the little kid's futile attempt at a punch and danced around the child, giving him the gentlest punch Gyutaro had ever seen the demon deliver. It still made the kid double over, coughing and rasping as his breath left him. The kid fell to his hands and knees, like the useless little thing he was, and Gyutaro snickered to see that pretty face contort in fury and pain.

"You're too angry. Keep your emotions in check when it comes to your control. Get as angry as you want but use that to perfect your attacks, not weaken them. Understand?" Three's voice was stern and Gyutaro wanted to sneer by how smooth it sounded. Nothing like his own voice... nothing like him...

"I get it! Okay!? I get it!" Inosuke yelled back surprisingly heartily as he pushed himself up again and whirled around, his fists raised.

"Open your palms," Akaza encouraged, his tone always surprisingly strange to Gyutaro. There was something about the way the demons in this strange collection spoke that made something under his skin crawl. It was... wrong; cushioned and dull. Akaza's voice had always been sharp, like a slayer's blade that carved through demon flesh. Doma's had always been light and piercing, like the shrieking sound of two blades when they clashed together. Now both demons spoke with their voices dull and gentle. It was just wrong.

"They're open!" the human boy's snark pulled Gyutaro back to the entertainment at hand. The boy copied Akaza's stance and stood ready, in preparation.

"I'm going to punch, and you're going to block," Akaza stated dangerously, there was the tone Gyutaro was more familiar with.

"Come at me!" the brat challenged.

Akaza did so and the kid went fucking flying. Gyutaro almost fell out of the tree, cackling, as the kid fell backward, sprawling. GOD! Didn't the brat get that it was useless? That was Upper-Fucking-THREE and he was a scrawny lump of flesh! It was too good - 

"Well if you're so prepared, why don't you come down here and try it, Six." 

Gyutaro stopped laughing as that dangerous tone was turned to him. He looked down and saw that Akaza was glaring at him. The damn brat was wiping blood off his nose and his fucking eyes were tearing. Oh, come on - was Three really about to be punished for making a fucking human cry?

He could do so much worse.

"You heard me," Akaza growled and Gyutaro's skin crawled. Akaza wasn't a Muzan level threat, but he wasn't much further down. If push came to shove Gyutaro had a feeling Akaza could rip him apart and stake him to the ground until the sun rose.

Best to obey and get the worst of it over. He climbed out of the tree, sneering as he walked up and glared up at Akaza. He stood perfectly still and invited the blows, get out your fucking anger you emotionally constipated striped idiot.

But there was no punch thrown. Gyutaro cocked his head in confusion as Akaza rolled his eyes.

"You're really going to defend yourself with that stance?" Akaza demanded.

Defend?

You didn't defend when you were being fucking punished. If you had power, you use it. If you didn't, you ate whatever was thrown at you.

"What?" Gyutaro hissed.

"If you think you stand more of a chance than Inosuke, put up your damn hands and let's see how trained you are," Akaza demanded.

"Fuck him up, Akaza," Inosuke grinned, his voice nasally as he held his nose. Gyutaro glanced at the human boy who was staring at the two, seemingly intrigued with a dumb grin on his face.

Gyutaro would give him something to cry about if the brat wasn't careful.

"Language," Akaza retorted as he gestured for Gyutaro to get into position. "And no weapons, Six. This is open-handed combat."

The fuck was open-handed - 

The punch came like a lightning strike and collided into his gut. It was clear Akaza had cushioned his blow because while his insides got scrambled and a rib definitely cracked, the punch didn't go clean through him.

Gyutaro went for Akaza's neck, meaning to pierce it with his claws but Akaza's other hand was there, knocking his hands away and flying for his own face. Gyutaro's jaw shattered under the blow and he stumbled back, his chest still fixing itself as his organs reeled from the pain. Akaza was there again, fist poised for his face once more.

Gyutaro stumbled back and threw up his hands, sickles coming to their position to defend the next blow but again, that never came.

"Put your weapons away and open your damn eyes you idiot," Akaza's voice pulled Gyutaro back and he did so. The striped demon looked exasperated. "Bring your arms away from your face, you've left your chest wide open. Keep one hand by the chest and the other a little higher - yes! Like that. Inosuke - get into position. You're both imbeciles!"

"The fuck are you doing?" Gyutaro demanded as the striped demon turned and gently pulled Inosuke's hand closer to his face to fix his posture.

"Teaching you how to fight, Six. Since you were so eager to make fun of the brat, figured you should get a taste of it. Both of you are pathetic weaklings - amateurs!" Akaza scolded.

"Hey!" Inosuke cried, offended. 

"I was laughing because there's no way that kid's ever getting to your level!" Gyutaro snapped back.

"Neither will you," Akaza stated, though the threat was clear as the fury in the demon's eyes. Don't fuck with him - Gyutaro knew that message well enough. "But here you are, learning. So shut up and fix your posture."

Stunned, Gyutaro stowed his sickles away.. and he obeyed. What else was he supposed to do?

The kid snorted as Gyutaro relented and the demon sneered. It was humiliating, honestly, to have such a low-level human demean him and live. Why would Akaza let the child live? Why would Doma! Were they happy letting this human flesh bag grow up to be so arrogant and wrong? It was like watching a dog eat at the dining room table. Gyutaro glanced at the kid's face and felt the familiar wave of envy seep into his blood as Akaza praised Inosuke's footing before giving the kid another punch to the gut (one the kid was almost prepared to block).

Why was he envious? Was it the brat's natural soft face? How it still held that cute childish stupidity that had never clung to Gyutaro. Was it the boy's innocence even though he was nearly grown? The fact that the human had been spoiled and pampered even though he'd grown up in a cult. No... no, it was something more.

Gyutaro saw how gentle Akaza was with the boy... how tenderly Doma called his name. This boy was loved and that was grossly, disgustingly unfair. Gyutaro squeezed his fists until his nails dug into his skin as he imagined all the wonderful ways he could take out that jealousy. His skin itched and begged to be ripped into so he scratched at his neck, tearing into his own hideous stupid terrifying body. The envy... the envy... Such pretty images came to mind that brought Gyutaro comfort. The pretty eyes could be gouged out. Arrogant tongues could be ripped. Humans were such soft, squishy things. Gyutaro could - 

"One day, I'll be as good as you!"

Gyutaro's mind skidded to a halt and he stared down quizzically at the child who was grinning up at him.

"What?" he sneered, his nails stopping their scratching, his own blood caught beneath them.

"Positions!" Akaza barked and Gyutaro resisted the urge to snark back, but arguing with Three would probably result in his ass getting handed to him... for real, this time.

He and the boy did as Akaza bade but the boy looked up at him again, with something strange in his eyes. No fear... no disgust... just something bright and eager.

"Akaza barely had to pull his punches! You're strong and look like a real badass! And your weapons were so cool! I'll be as good as you one day, just you watch!" the boy grinned.

"Good?" Gyutaro questioned. What was this kid talking about - 

"Focus Inosuke! Go through your forms; now!" Akaza barked again, and the boy obeyed. "Gyutaro! You're with me, we're fixing that horrendous thing you call a stance."

Gyutaro felt almost dazed as he squared up to spar, he was sparring, with Three. Anyway, as Akaza fixed his posture in strange ways and began to teach him how the fuck the guy fought with no hands, Gyutaro dissected the look that the brat had given him. He rolled that expression over in his mind as he tried to ignore the obvious.

The boy... had... admired him. Not only because he was strong (which he wasn't compared to Akaza or Doma... his envy could scream all it wanted but that was true), but also because he, Gyutaro, looked cool.

He looked cool.

Huh... he looked back at the kid and felt himself pick apart the words again as he looked at his twisted form and discolored skin. A real badass...

Who would've thought?

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

Daki nearly puked when Doma handed her the corpse of a bird.

"What the fuck am I supposed to do with that!?" she demanded of Two.

"Eat it," Doma explained flatly. His own lips were stained with scarlet from the damn rodent he'd stuffed in his face. The smell of the bird was curling Daki's stomach - she was supposed to live off this!?

"You expect us to live like this!?" Daki demanded. The memory of sweet blood sat on her tongue like a ghost. All the wonderful tasting women who smelled as tender and sweet as they tasted, the way their blood was a rush of warmth and strength. This... this animal's blood smelled a sewer and Daki had a suspicion it would leave her feeling like one.

"You get used to it," Doma laughed, a fake laugh, of course. He tossed her the grey pheasant-looking thing and Daki caught it, her lip curling as her hand touched the blood of the foul-smelling thing.

She considered just dropping the thing but when she looked up, Two's eyes were boring holes into her head. This was a test, she realized. Maybe her plan to sneak out with Gyutaro later to find some real food wouldn't do her any good. Maybe this whole idea was terrible -

"If you don't want to eat it, you don't have to," Doma shrugged. "I just thought you may be hungry."

And he started walking away.

Daki watched him go warily, glancing between the back of his head and the bird in hand. It was definitely a test... right? To - to see how loyal she could be, how well she obeyed. Yeah, that made sense - 

Oh god, but she had to eat this thing!?

She slowly brought the feathered monstrosity to her lips and crunched downward. It was vile. She sputtered out the feathers and the flesh as the sour, revolting taste of animal blood flooded her mouth. She felt filthy just tasting it.

"Not to your liking?" Doma asked and Daki looked up to find Two staring at her from down the slope. He was unreadable in expression but Daki didn't like the darkness in his eyes. There was a staunch familiarity to the way Muzan held himself right before he snapped. That same sort of calm, cool, callousness that made Daki's legs shake.

"No! No, it's fine!" Daki defended... not desperately, never desperately. She just needed to be better. If she played this charade long enough she and Gyutaro could slip away. This was a stupid idea in the first place and was going to get them both killed! Stupid! Stupid Gyutaro! Why was Gyutaro so stupid! Why did he think this was a good plan!? Why -

"Hey." Clawed hands snatched the bird out of Daki's hands and Daki almost flinched. Doma held the bird in a hand and smiled... not... not a dangerous smile, but a soft one. A sort of smile that curled his colorful eyes and softened his gaze. "No worries, I'm not a bid bird person either - Akaza though, he loves those feathery things. We'll save it for him."

Daki was so shocked she hardly noticed her hands were shaking. He - he wasn't angry with her? She basically spat out the gift he gave her and Two wasn't angry!?

"Do you think you'd prefer something with fur? Or maybe scales? I don't usually eat reptiles but if you'd prefer them I'm sure we could find a few," Doma continued. He continued walking away like he hadn't just left Daki in a crisis.

She forced a sneer to her face and followed Two. She'd watch him, watch for what made him work. What made him tick. She'd learn the boundaries and how to survive. She'd done it with Muzan she could do it with Doma...

Did she really do it with Muzan though? Apparently, the demon lord had hated her enough to make Gyutaro kill her... but, but he had said she was doing wonderfully. He'd called her beautiful!

It had been a lie... All a lie...

She continued trekking after Two, shame and hatred prickling in her blood and on her skin. It had all been lies. Maybe it had always been lies. She wasn't pretty, she wasn't brilliant, she wasn't useful, she wasn't stronger. Maybe she never had a charade to keep up after all.

Muzan had always known what she was... and she hadn't fooled anyone. Not Gyutaro, not Kokushibo, and apparently not Doma...

She wasn't Upper Six... She was just Ume.

A beat. A breath. Branches broke and birds startled. Daki's breath came in heaves as if her still lungs were tasting the air for the first time.

Her ribbons had splayed out, impaling and gripping the trees around her. One had even caught an unsuspecting mouse and squeezed the life out of it, just on instinct. Her vision was white and the air seemed cold. Why was it all so cold and burning!

Ume. She hadn't thought of that name in years and she hated that she still could. The fuzzy memories were beating at the back of her mind. Gyutaro had always remembered - it was his job to remember. Not her's! She could forget! She wanted to forget! Let her forget again!

"Daki! Daki, what happened?" that was a familiar voice, not a good voice but a familiar voice. It was a strange name too... Daki? No, no she was Ume - NO, she was Daki! Daki! Upper Six!

Where was Gyutaro? Gyutaro would know what to do.

"Daki!"

Her eyes flew open and she found herself kneeling on the ground, holding her head, her ribbons still surrounding her in a protective and violent knot. Two stood just outside of it, staring down at her like he had stared down at her in that foggy, fuzzy memory of a cold night when everything in her had burned.

"Where's my brother!?" Ume demanded. No - not Ume. She couldn't be Ume! Ume was weak and worthless and useless and dead!

"Gyutaro is back at the house, do you need me to get him?" the demon asked... softly. Why was he so damn soft!? He was Upper Two! Heartless, creepy, cold, beautiful, a killer! A stone-cold merciless hungry killer! Just like Muzan.

But he seemed so warm and the air was so cold!! Or maybe it was too cold... too cold, it burned...

"He can make the memories go away! Make them go away!" she screamed. Ume, Daki, it didn't matter she just wanted her head to stop tearing itself in two!

"Calm down." An order. Daki was to obey orders - that had kept her alive this long. Except it hadn't! It hadn't because Muzan wanted her dead now for doing nothing! She was to be punished and she hadn't done anything this time! She didn't deserve to burn!!

"You're right," Doma soothed. "You didn't deserve to burn."

Dammit - she'd said some of that aloud.

"Go away! I want Gyutaro!" she demanded. She was acting childish but goddammit she was a child! She and Gyutaro were both kids so give her Gyutaro! He could fix this! He would! He fixed everything!

"You're not going to burn," Doma promised. "I will not let you burn. And you know Gyutaro won't either. Breathe, Daki. He cannot make you burn, not here. You're safe."

But she wasn't. She wasn't safe anywhere... Muzan would hunt her no matter where she went. Both her and Gyutaro - because Gyutaro hadn't been able to kill her! The through cut her like a knife and she slammed her fist into the ground.

"I HATE HIM!" she screamed. "I hate him! I hate him! I hate him! I didn't do anything! Why did he want me dead!? Why!? He wanted Gyutaro, not me! Why!? Why!? Why!?"

Her ribbons fell to the ground and the rage in her blood broiled dangerously. Still, the world was clearer now. She was Daki... she had once been Ume but that was a long, long time ago. The memories were still blurry and she was okay with that, those memories brought nothing but pain.

"He hurts what he can't understand," Doma explained, taking a tentative step forward. "And he can't understand love."

Daki grit her teeth against each other as Two knelt down before her, his eyes gleaming. She saw a strange sort of emotion in those rainbow irises... it wasn't pity, and it wasn't pride. It was something between the two.

"He can't understand the love you and Gyutaro have. He can't understand how someone would be willing to sacrifice everything for someone else because he wouldn't sacrifice anything... for anyone." Doma slowly reached out and placed a hand on Daki's shoulder. She slowly dug her claws into the dirt and felt the rage die away, just the slightest bit.

"He is a sad, pathetic excuse for a creature. If anything, he should be pitied. You, Daki, did nothing wrong, we were damned from the beginning. You can't reason it out because there is no reason. He is just... evil."

"So are we," Daki sneered as she glared into Two's eyes. "I did everything for him!"

"I know," Two soothed... and the worst part was he did. Daki knew he did and she hated that she could see the empathy in this bastard's face. "I know... but you're free now."

That sentence made her pause. Free? Clearly, her confusion showed because Doma smiled.

"You're free to go, whenever you want, wherever you want. I only ask that if you want to stay with us, you don't harm humans," he explained.

"Why do you care so much for those flesh bags anyway?" Daki muttered scornfully. "They'll die in a few years! Why would you tick him off for something so stupid! He actually liked you! You would've stayed safe!"

"Safe? No, no, we were never safe, we were slaves to his whims. And as for why I fell in love with a human? Well, that's the beauty in it, isn't it? Love doesn't really care about all that. It just happens. Besides, humans are strangely beautiful because they don't last as long. Maybe you'll see it soon, but I think humans are far closer to perfection than demons are. Maybe that's why he will never reach perfection... because he strayed too far from humanity too long ago..." Doma's voice tamped off for a moment as he thought before he seemed to snap back into reality, clap his hands together, and smile. "My, my, seems I rambled a bit. Sorry about that, now let's finish up this hunt and head back!"

With that, Ex-Upper Two got to his feet and left Daki to stand on her own and crawl over the shards of truth and realization that were scattered at her feet.

Freedom... she was... free?

She... loved?

Muzan hated her because she... loved? She thought of the little warmth Ume had known and how it was always in the arms of her brother. That was... love?

She loved her brother... he was all she had... but she loved him? Maybe... maybe she did...

Either way, fuck Muzan.

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

"Ta-da!!" The human brat Miku announced as she showed off he mother's new hairstyle which consisted of too many bows and loose strands to be even remotely attractive. It brought a smile to Doma's face and that smile was something strange for Daki to study.

Honestly, it all just made her head hurt.

The door to the cabin they had "temporarily stolen" opened and in walked the three idiots. Doma's male kid ran up to his mother and began to rant about his stance and how he'd gotten better and how 'no mom, the blood was from my nose - no Dad, Akaza didn't hit me that hard!'

Speak of the devil, in walked Three, looking as aggressive and idiotic as ever. After him came Gyutaro who looked... strangely calm.

The night progressed and Daki slipped closer to Gyutaro and the two of them found themselves in a corner of the house.

"So, what do you think? Do we hang around?" he asked softly. Daki only shrugged and listened to Doma telling his two brats a story - one Akaza kept critiquing. Kotoha was laughing... and Daki would bet she still had Miku's horrendous hairstyle up.

"I... don't know," she murmured in response. "It's... weird here."

"Yeah... it is." Gyutaro crouched down and leaned on her leg, a sickle in hand that he fidgeted with.

"It's warm."

He looked up at her, tilting his head like a puppy or a young child. "Warm?"

"It's warmer here, not too hot though... I don't know why," Daki murmured. "It just is."

Gyutaro only hummed in response. 

It seemed... that the two would stay.

Things changed drastically for Gyutaro and Daki after that. Their feeding habits were strictly monitored by Doma and while it was reminiscent of serving Muzan there was definitely a more intimate touch granted, one that might even be mistaken for a sort of bond that sat beyond the definition of an alliance.

No human flesh meant they'd be protected and a month or so with the family delivered them a pint of blood on the back of some cat that wore a paper slip on its forehead and bore an apology for the late delivery. Akaza, Gyutaro, and Daki split it amongst them and were delighted to find it was indeed marechi. It wasn't much, but Daki and Gyutaro felt that this just may be survivable.

They didn't have to walk on eggshells anymore and strangely enough, they seemed to feel themselves change as they hung around gentler, kinder people. Shaped once into monsters it felt like they could be shaped back into humans... how strange...

How strange...

How warm.

(Gyutaro: Yo, Daki... are we traumatized? Doma says we're traumatized.
Daki: What? Nooooo.
Doma: *in tired Dad mode* Daki, you literally remember being burned alive. You BOTH nearly starved to death. Daki, you worked in a brothel. Gyutaro, your mother literally tried to kill you, MULTIPLE TIMES. You both have personality complexes that could make the egomaniac MUZAN hate himself and neither of you can point to a single happy memory that wasn't comprised of the other!
Daki: Yeah? And?? All that - it's not trauma... it builds character.
Gyutaro: *hyping his sis up* Fuck yeah! Look at all this character! We built all the character!
Akaza: I'm sorry, what? 
Doma: I know! And I thought you were the traumatized one, Akaza!
Daki: *dancing*  ALL the character building!
Gyutaro: *also dancing* Look at us go!
Kotoha: *absolutely horrified* Dear. God.)