Nao could feel herself floating as if her body weighed nothing more than a feather. This weightless feeling made her feel relaxed for she has never experienced this before.

'When was the last time I felt free from my burdens?'

Nao contentedly kept her eyes closed without moving a single muscle. She felt so at peace that she didn't want to wake up or move from the spot where she was in.

"It didn't work. Why? What went wrong?"

"This isn't possible."

"Mimi..."

"Why..."

Nao frowned slightly as she distantly heard voices from a distance surrounding her. Who is it? She wanted to ask but her body refused to wake up and so she remained eerily still for a long, long time.

After much time has passed, floating in the place where her consciousness resided was becoming quite constricting.

Nao kept hearing voices. Voices of someone familiar that makes her want to wake up to see who it is from.

"Mimi.... wake up.."

Nao really did want to wake up but her body still refused to cooperate after she desperately tried to will her limbs to move.

She couldn't even move her lips or open her eyes which left her in such a vegetative state.

More time has passed and finally, Nao could feel her consciousness waking, could feel her fingers moving and her eyes opening on their own without much difficulty.

"Mimi..?"

Nao slowly opened her eyes, blinking slightly at the flash of light before they finally adjusted to the room's lighting.

Plum red eyes that were vertical like a cat's eyes stared back at her wih intensity.

She blinked some more before recognition flashed in her features.

"...?"

Something slipped in her hand and she looked down to see Muzan caressing them in a gentle manner.

"Mimi, you're finally awake." He told her as if he was relieved from a heavy burden before his calm disposition made its way to his face in the span of a second.

Nao breathed deeply, the sense of relief she felt afterwards made her eyes widened.

"..what...?" Her voice croaked as she breathed deeply again.

Nao couldn't believe it. She could breathe properly without much difficulty now which is a huge contrast to her previous state where breathing took a great deal out of her.

"Mimi.. how are you feeling?"

Nao turned to Muzan and she tried to sit up. He assisted her with the process until she was leaning on him. Her head was resting on his chest as she breathed in and out softly.

He placed a hand on her hair and gently stroke the strands that seemed far too long than before.

Nao stared at her long hair that reached her waist. It was sprawled carelessly against her back and shoulders, a direct result of her prolonged sleep.

Nao knows that her hair was not as long as that when she last looked at the mirror. Nao chopped her own hair in a similar style to her brother.

So why is it that Nao was staring at the exact same dark colored hair but was longer in comparison?

Nao pursed her lips as she reached for a strand, wanting to make sure if it's real.

The silky texture made her frown and she immediately released her hair, letting it go limp.

"...my hair is longer." Nao commented, her eyes closing at the hand that stroked her hair gently. Muzan squeezed her hand softly as he whispered to her.

"Mimi, what do you feel?" He asked her.

Nao slowly pulled herself away from him and looked up to see his face.

"I can breathe easily now. And my hair is longer." After saying that, Nao frowned. "What happened to me?"

Muzan seem to contemplate his words before he spoke to answer her.

"Nao-san fainted after drinking the medicine I made for her. A long time has passed since then. But Nao-san's body seemed to be gradually improving."

"Oh..." Nao responded before she noticed what he told her.

"A long time.. How long exactly..?" Nao worriedly asked as she eyed the length her hair had grown, feeling a deep sense of fear as its dark color glared back at her.

Muzan didn't answer her, instead he leaned towards her and placed his forehead against her.

"Mimi..you finally woke up. I've been waiting for you." He breathed out to her. Nao flushed slightly at their close proximity, making her lean away. She turned her head to the side as she tried not to blush too much.

"Too c-close..." She whispered nervously. Her words only made Muzan chuckle as he continued to stroke her hair.

Nao had almost forgotten so she went to ask him again.

"How long was I asleep?"

"A long time."

Nao frowned. Why was he being vague?

"For how long--"

"Nao-san isn't stupid. I think she knows."

She shook her head at him. "I don't. Please tell me."

Muzan kept quiet, his hand seized to move and he pulled them away from her.

"Like I've said, a long time." He repeated with a blank look on his face as if he had already told her the answer she wanted to hear.

But that wasn't what Nao wanted to hear at all.

"For how long." Nao yelled loudly, not liking the fact that he was avoiding her question thrice that time. Four if you will count her first question.

His eyes narrowed at her tone of voice but Nao glared back at him with the same intensity, demanding an answer.

"Mimi, you're being annoying."

"Don't call me Mimi. I told Muzan to call me Nao. Nao. N-A-O. Nao!" Nao emphasized her name by pronouncing and spelling the letters out, not caring how childish she may seem.

Nao has never been called annoying in her entire life. Rebellious and blunt, but never annoying. Even her friend Giyuu has never been annoyed at her.

It was mostly the other way around.

"And I'm not annoying. Muzan is the one being annoying! Why is Muzan not answering my question?" Nao complained, pointing her index finger at his chest as she shouted. Her face must've looked as red as a tomato with how irritated she felt but Nao could care less about that anymore.

"Mimi.." Nao almost flinched when he growled but she kept her stand and glared with more intensity.

"I've already answered your question."

"You didn't--"

"I did."

Nao's face turned even redder so she snatched her hand away from him before scooting away.

Muzan looked downright irritated at her behavior and so he suddenly stood up.

"Mimi, if you're going to act like a petulant child, then I will leave you alone in your room until you're ready to grow up." After saying those words, Muzan left her alone.

Nao immediately buried her face on her pillow before she screamed loudly.

They've never fought before. It would have been easily avoided if he simply told her the truth.

How long was she asleep? Days? Weeks? Or even months?!

Nao bit her bottom lip as she sulked about the truth.

A long time was too ambiguous for her. For how long was she asleep? It was indeed long since her short hair managed to grow back to its original length but she wanted to know the exact time she was passed out.

"For how long...?" Nao whined to herself as she buried her face once more on her pillow.

"According to Muzan-sama, a very long time has passed."

Nao immediately bolted upright at the voice who seemed to have come from somewhere around the room.

Suddenly, the door opened and she was greeted with a pale gray haired man.

"Hello there! You must be the human that Muzan-sama brought? I never expected a beauty though. But I guess all women are beautiful to begin with!"

The man, no-- demon, slowly approached her while Nao's whole body went rigid.

Before she knew it, the unidentified demon was crouching infront of her, his fan under her chin as his rainbow colored eyes stared at her. The number two written in kanji seemed to be engraved on his eyes. His teeth and fangs showed as he smiled at her.

"It's nice to meet you! My name is Douma. Would you like to be my follower?"