WHEN THE INFINITY CASTLE was just kanna and nakime, which happened more often than not, kanna would ask for nakime to accompany her by performing on her biwa.

     to nakime, it was an honor, for she appreciated having someone listen to her playing.

and to kanna, it was a calming experience while she worked on some of her unfinished projects.

"lady kanna", nakime suddenly spoke.

     though the biwa demoness rarely initiated conversations, she was more inclined to when it was just her and kanna. after all, they were the only two in this castle.

"hm?", kanna answered, continuously embroidering on a haori in hopes of gifting it to daki in a month or two.

"pardon if this is overstepping my boundaries, but...what made you pick up sewing?"

kanna's hand stopped before completing the next stitch, her expression faltering for just a split second.

     "my father", kanna smiled, seemingly to be reminiscing on a fond memory.

"he was a doctor back in the heian era. although skilled, he truly wanted to save people. hence, he often treated people without charging them", kanna explained.

"my mother passed away when I was young, so I did everything that I could to help my father. cooking, tidying our small but cozy home, and sewing.

despite not making much of a profit, he would always bring home a present for me from his endeavors. even if his shoes had holes in them, he'd always choose to get me something new".

"that's...certainly very admirable of him", nakime chimed in, for she never though kanna would share something from her human past with her.

though she supposed that despite how close she was to the upper moons, kanna rarely mentioned anything about her past to them, and vice versa.

"so I learned how to sew, to help refurbish my father's clothes. I embroidered so that it would hide away my ugly stitches, so that he'd look like the honorable doctor that he was", kanna laughed.

nakime hummed in response, as kanna had then shifted her focus back onto her project.

"then...what prompted you to become a demon?"

     kanna's answer was quick, almost as if she were expecting that question.

     "would you believe me if I had told you that I fell in love with muzan-sama at first sight?", kanna joked.

     nakime's lips parted ever so slightly, curious as to whether kanna was being truthful or not. often times, it was hard to decipher kanna's true feelings.

     muzan was attractive, nakime could not deny. however, that's as far as she could really say about him. perhaps kanna had a better grasp of his personality since she's been with him since the very beginning.

     "love at...first sight?"

     "you should've seen muzan-sama back in the heian era. his hair was longer", kanna stated.

'I wonder if that's why lady kanna prefers hanging around upper moon one and two'.

nakime simply nodded, for she felt a warm, bubbly feeling numbing her heart. all her life, she'd been focusing on her biwa performances, never really having any other social interactions besides her and her audience — well, if that even counted.

talking about kanna's past and attraction to muzan made her feel just like any of the other women out there. it was similar to gossiping to a friend about the men you fancied.

"enough about me, nakime. how about you?"

"you already know my past, lady kanna", the biwa demoness answered.

it was true. kanna did know nakime's past. in fact, she knew everybody in the twelve kizuki's past. despite not physically being there to witness them being turned into a demon, she was always the first to meet them after they awaken as their new selves.

which goes to show that, that was just how much muzan trusted her.

"indeed. however, you never told me about why you married your husband in the first place".

     nakime seemed to hesitate on answering, to which kanna had reassured the woman that she needn't speak on it if it resurfaced some uneasy memories.

     "it was arranged", nakime exposed, "nothing more and nothing less".

     "hm, with a gambling husband like that, I would've ended up murdering him too", kanna scoffed.

     nakime cracked a slight smile, one that most would miss if they didn't look carefully.

     though their conversation ended quite morbidly compared to most, the two demonesses didn't particularly mind.

     one continued threading in between the layers of fabric while the other started strumming her biwa once more.

     a comfortable silence ensued, for at least the next few weeks or so.

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

kanna marveled at her finished piece of work, as she neatly folded it up and placed it into a thin square box. tying a ribbon around it, she had proceeded to do the same with another project that she had just completed.

"I'll be back soon, nakime", kanna smiled, as the biwa woman strummed the cords, successfully transporting kanna into a dark alleyway.

the alleyway of the entertainment district was never a place a woman who was alone would want to stay for long. even for kanna as a demon, she knew she'd better make her way towards the streets that are lit up first before anything else.

it has been a while since kanna had visited the entertainment district. after all, she much preferred other places than here.

nevertheless, the demoness was quick to find the brothel that upper moon five resided at.

upon entering the building that was bustling with men and flirtatious courtesans, kanna was soon hit with a strong whiff of alcohol mixed with sweat and perfume.

"have you come to sell yourself?", a woman who held a kiseru (smoking pipe), had greeted.

     "you must be the mother of the brothel", kanna deduced, "while I appreciate your straightforwardness, I'm actually here to look for someone".

     mother cocked a brow, curious as to what a woman would be looking for here. though perhaps she was into that.

     "who is it?"

     "I believe warabihime is her current stage name", kanna answered.

     "w-warabihime?! she's not someone you can just see at your own pleasure! choose someone else", mother immediately denied.

     "I'm a friend of hers. tell her kanna is here. she'll understand".

     "you don't seem to understand here. I'm the mother of this brothel. I choose when and who somebody gets to see my courtesans!"

     kanna sighed, for she didn't wish to just hand her gift that she worked so hard on off to some stranger. she feared that if she gave mother the boxes, she might not even deliver it straight to daki.

     taking out a pouch of coins, kanna had offered it to mother.

     "will this change your mind?", the dark-haired demoness bribed.

     mother pried open the pouch, scoffing as she begrudgingly accepted it.

     "third floor, last door of the hall. don't say that I didn't warn you, but she hasn't been in a particularly good mood recently", mother mumbled.

     "when is she ever?", kanna chuckled, maneuvering past the stunned woman, as she made her way upstairs.

     fortunately for her, she was able to swiftly bypass most drunkards, and get straight to daki's door.

     after knocking three times, the door aggressively slid open, revealing an extremely vexed daki.

     "I thought I told you idiots to leave me alo—"

     "even me?", kanna mused.

"l-lady kanna!"

hastily, daki pulled the woman into her room, shutting the door behind her so that no one could disturb them.

"lady kanna, what are you doing here?! is master muzan with you as well?", daki excitedly asked.

"unfortunately it's just me this time", kanna sighed, "though I did bring gifts".

daki's eyes lit up, as she immediately snatched the boxes from kanna's grasp.

"the bigger box is for you, daki. the smaller one is for gyūtarō".

upon hearing the mentioning of his name, the other upper moon six had appeared, greeting kanna with slightly more respect.

"lady kanna, what brings you here?", gyūtarō kneeled.

"no need to be so formal, gyūtarō. I'm simply here to bring presents and to check up on my favorite siblings", kanna chuckled.

     "presents..."

     kanna was perhaps the only other being that's ever gifted him and daki something. other than dōma, who gave them some of his blood, gyūtarō couldn't remember the last time someone gave him something that wasn't a fist in the face or rocks being thrown at him.

     and while daki did receive nicer gifts, such as accessories and silk clothing, it was always from men who wished to sleep with her.

     "open it and see whether you like it or not", kanna offered, as daki had already popped open her box.

     "a new haori!", daki exclaimed, immediately throwing the box to the side as she slipped it over her magenta-colored kimono.

     "you look darling as always, daki".

daki simply grinned in the mirror as she turned from side to side, observing how her new haori looked on her from every angle. gyūtarō often times wondered whether daki would've turned out differently had kanna been in their lives earlier.

perhaps that's why he admired her, for kanna's patience with them was as strong as steel when they had first became demons — never faltering, never changing.

"who are you?", young daki had asked, her eyes scanning kanna up and down.

     dōma's eye twitched, about to kill the demon he had just created due to her level of disrespect towards kanna.

     however, kanna had simply put on her usual smile, one that softened people's hearts, if they still had one at least.

     "I'm kanna, another servant of muzan-sama's. I heard you and your brother have recently claimed the position of a lower moon?"

"what about it?", daki questioned.

dōma was about to step forward before kanna had stopped him.

"nothing much. I just wanted to meet you both and congratulate you two, as I've never met siblings that became demons together", kanna explained.

the white-haired demoness raised a brow in suspicion, for kanna may have seemed nice on the outside, but nobody knew what she was actually thinking internally.

what's worse is that she was probably one of muzan's mistresses, and daki didn't like the sound of that idea.

"well you've seen me. can I go now?"

"actually, I was wondering if you'd like some of my old hairpins that I don't wear anymore", kanna offered.

     "what?"

     "nakime doesn't wear any either...but the reason I don't anymore is because I'm getting old", kanna sighed, feigning distress.

     "I'm too attached to them to throw it all away, but I've heard from dōma that lower moon four was a pretty and young lady. hence, I thought why not pass all my jewelry down to her?"

     daki couldn't help but be slightly intrigued by what the woman owned. although she's always had men buy her priceless jewelry, she's never gotten to actually choose what she liked nor disliked.

     "fine. only because you asked nicely", daki scowled, following kanna to her room, as dōma was eventually dismissed.

     as kanna neared her vanity mirror, she had pulled out a drawer full of pearl necklaces, gold and silver hairpins, hand-crafted earrings, and many more.

     daki's eyes were immediately drawn to a pair of golden fox hairpins that had miniature fans and beads dangling on each side.

     kanna smiled upon seeing that daki perhaps did have a more childish side, and that she favored cuter things rather than beautiful per say.

     "you like them?", kanna asked.

     "ye—t-they're okay", daki muttered, clearing her throat halfway.

     "how about I help you put them on so you have a better idea of how they look on you?"

     daki seemed quite hesitant, though nevertheless, allowed it. she knew that if kanna was going to hurt her, she always had her brother's protection as well.

brushing out daki's pure white hair, kanna styled it in a more youthful manner.

only half of daki's hair was bundled up, allowing kanna to easily stick the hairpins into the bun.

daki stared at her own reflection, admiring how cute the two fox pins looked.

shifting her gaze slightly, daki could also make out the sincere expression plastered onto kanna's face. had she been born with a present mother, daki would assume that that's the face her mother would make when seeing her being dressed up.

"I'll just take these", daki stated, abruptly standing up as she was about to make her departure.

"be careful now", kanna waved.

"and perhaps I could meet your brother next time".

"yeah right", the young demoness scoffed, "he doesn't like being around others except for me".

"well I do hope you would come back and visit soon. I've got a lot more kimonos to get rid of as well", kanna added on.

"I-I'll think about it!", daki huffed, before disappearing into the night.

kanna only chuckled, for she found the white-haired demoness extremely cute. though she did not believe working at a brothel was the best choice for daki, it wasn't her call to make after all.

     all she could do was encourage the siblings to do their best and survive.

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

     AUTHOR'S NOTE: i know it's not technically canonical that daki & gyūtarō were lower moons before becoming the new UM 6,,

however, i feel like all demons had to start somewhere right😭like how dōma was UM 6 before becoming UM 2.

anyways,, hope y'all enjoyed it🥰thank you all for the funny comments & sweet support!!