IF THERE WAS ONE THING daki loved more than dressing herself up, it would be dressing someone else up to her liking. although, it couldn't be just anyone, it had to be someone she was particularly fond of.

"are you sure I'm not taking time out of your work schedule?", kanna asked.

"even if you are, it's not like anybody's going to say anything to me", daki grinned, pulling out an older kimono for kanna to try on.

kanna sighed, as she decided to humor daki for once, as the infamous oiran known for her nasty temper rarely ever got to have fun.

     "come on, try it!", the young demoness urged.

     kanna shrugged off the first layer of her kimono, neatly folding it and placing it onto the center table before doing the same with the rest of the layers.

     gyūtarō hastily turned around, positioning himself to where his body was facing inwards of the furthest corner of the room.

     "you should definitely wear purple more often, lady kanna! brother, look!"

     as gyūtarō awkwardly turned back around, his eyes wandered from kanna's head and all the way to her socks.

     gyūtarō always thought kanna to be beautiful, similar to his sister. however, unlike his sister, he found it hard to near the woman, who always seemed to try to include him.

     perhaps it was because he was partially intimidated by his lack of beauty, or maybe it was the fact that he was just overly cautious as he's never met someone who's been willingly nice to them without wanting something in return before.

     "what do you think?", daki asked, to which gyūtarō had remained speechless.

     "don't mind him", daki sighed, proceeding to force kanna to sit in front of her vanity as she begun to style kanna's hair.

     "it's just because he secretly likes you, lady kanna", the young demoness whispered.

     although daki was sure that she was being discreet, gyūtarō's ears burned in embarrassment as he yelled at his sister to shut up.

     "you shut up!", daki childishly refuted, causing her brother to start scratching his neck in irritation.

     a soft chuckle erupted from kanna, for she was glad their sibling bond was still as strong as ever.

     gyūtarō avoided the woman's glance, sinking into the corner even more.

     "I like you too, gyūtarō", kanna stated, making gyūtarō wonder whether he was hearing right or not.

     daki flashed her brother a teasing grin, before focusing her attention back on sticking accessories into kanna's hair.

gyūtarō simply pretended he did not hear that, for he knew better than to get his hopes up. he knew better than to touch and think about someone that belonged to muzan kibutsuji.

he knew better than to overstep his boundaries, unlike some of the other upper moons.

"lady kanna..."

"hm?", the woman hummed, closing her eyes as daki painted eyeliner onto kanna's lids.

"perhaps you should work here! you'd be able to become an oiran like me very quickly considering your—"

"daki", gyūtarō interrupted, giving the young demoness a warning look.

"what?! what's wrong with what I said? I'm just saying! if lady kanna's ever bored at the castle, she could always work here with me. and plus, we'll be able to see her more often", daki slyly smiled.

gyūtarō let out an exasperated sigh, whilst kanna had hummed a little, as if considering daki's suggestion.

"I'd have to run it through muzan-sama first", kanna stated.

daki nodded, almost hesitant to let the woman go through with asking, for part of her worried that muzan might dislike the idea and have her punished for even suggesting so.

     "maybe...that could be brought up later. I'm sure muzan-sama has more urgent businesses to attend to at the moment", daki added on.

     kanna hummed in acknowledgment, as she allowed the young demoness to continue dolling her up.

     it wasn't until half past one in the morning that kanna was fully dressed and styled like an oiran would be.

     "what do you think?", daki proudly showcased, having kanna turn towards the vanity's mirror.

     the older demoness couldn't help but marvel at the flawless makeup daki had done on her. the dark eyeliner had truly brought out her ashe gray eyes, and the pop of red eyeshadow with her stained lips really contrasted her demon-pale skin.

kanna never had the luxury of wearing makeup, for when she was a human, she couldn't afford it. and when she had become a demon, she saw no point since she was always holed up in the infinity castle anyways.

she had once believed that the only time she'd get all dolled up was for her marriage, however, that obviously never occurred due to her father's passing.

"I like it", kanna whispered, "I like it a lot".

daki noticed the woman's consistent stare at her own reflection. and through the mirror, the young demoness could almost make out a sort of longing in her eyes — perhaps a bit of sorrow even.

"it's nothing", daki mumbled, as kanna had snapped out of her thoughts and flashed the female upper moon a grateful smile.

taking daki's hands in hers, she gently squeezed it, as if expressing her thanks.

"I do need to start heading back before the sun rises. shall I take this all off and—"

"you can keep it", daki interrupted, avoiding kanna's slightly surprised expression.

even gyūtarō wasn't sure that he had heard right, for his sister has never shared before, unless it was with him.

"I have plenty, and those are just old so I didn't want them anyways", daki explained, "so you can keep them".

kanna pulled daki into a hug, one that the young demoness wasn't expecting. though it was warm, daki couldn't deny.

it wasn't like the hugs of those dirty drunkards that pushed themselves onto her. it felt more like the comfort of a blanket wrapped around her, protecting her.

"thank you, daki. I'll be heading out now", kanna stated, standing up, as daki had stopped the woman momentarily.

"have gyūtarō follow you. it's late out".

seriously, gyūtarō thought daki's brain might've been fried with all the perfumes and such, for she rarely ever let him leave her side, much less for another woman.

     "you're so sweet, daki. I'll see you soon", kanna waved, as she exited daki's room and headed back towards the alleyway.

     "what're you still doing here? aren't you going to follow her?", daki asked.

     "what's wrong with you today? did you get stabbed in the head with one of your hairpins or something?"

     his sister scowled, clearly not impressed with the comment.

     "I simply don't want to get in trouble. if she dies, muzan-sama will have our heads".

     gyūtarō wondered when his sister could actually think about consequences. though nonetheless, she had a point.

     especially with kanna dressed like a oiran, who knew what type of men she'll meet on the way back.

     lo and behold, daki's concerns weren't unnecessary, for as soon as kanna was about to seep into the dark alleyway, two men have stopped her.

     "hey pretty thing, where are you headin' all by yourself?", one called out.

"don't you know it's dangerous being here all by yourself? did you perhaps get lost? tell us which brothel you're from, and we can help you find it with a little reward first of course", the other smirked.

kanna sighed, as she yanked herself out of the man's grasp, about to walk further into the alleyway before they had grabbed ahold of her again.

"HEY! WE'RE TALKING TO YOU, WENCH!"

as soon as that sentence was said, both men ended up with their heads rolling onto the floor.

kanna turned around, only to be met with a slightly piqued gyūtarō that was holding his two sickles.

"apologies for the trouble", kanna had spoke.

gyūtarō wasn't quite sure how to respond, for he was rarely around others, much less aesthetically beautiful women.

sure kanna was close with daki, but that's simply because it had taken kanna at least ten visits before gyūtarō would even come out and meet the woman.

"gyūtarō, your face..."

the lime-haired demon flinched upon watching kanna near him, worried what might come out of that pretty mouth of hers. perhaps he should've tied a cloth around his face or even put on a mask before following her out.

maybe he should've—

"is stained with blood", kanna frowned, carefully tilting gyūtarō's face upwards, as she held his chin in place.

taking out the handkerchief she always carried around with her, kanna dabbed away the blood that had splattered across gyūtarō's face.

the demon had never felt the touch of a woman, other than when he gave his sister piggyback-rides, but truly, the softness of her fingers sent shivers down the upper moon's spine.

as kanna focused on wiping away the blood, gyūtarō felt his heart quicken, not daring to move a single inch in fear of the woman stopping.

she was so close, close enough for gyūtarō to notice that her eyes held not a lick of distaste nor abhorrence. in fact, it was quite the contrary.

could it be that she had meant it when she said she liked him earlier? is that why she's helping him right now? is it possible for him to even breathe in the presence of such a beautiful being?

"you're staring, gyūtarō", kanna smiled, causing the upper moon to immediately take a step back, clearing his throat in the process.

"I-I need to get back to daki", the lime-haired demon stated, taking off extremely quick, as he left the woman chuckling to herself.

upon entering deeper into the alleyway, void of all eyes, kanna had disappeared.

     the older demoness thanked nakime for all her hard work, before attempting to retire for the night.

     "master is back. he wishes to see you in his office", nakime informed.

     kanna nodded, as she made a detour towards muzan's office. gently knocking on the door twice, she had entered upon hearing the man's permission.

     "why're you dressed like a prostitute?"

     "after nearly two months of not seeing each other, that's the first thing you have to say? you sure have a way with women, my lord", kanna teased.

     "answer my question", muzan demanded, not seemingly to be in a joking mood.

"daki dressed me up. she thought it'd suit me", kanna explained.

"you didn't serve customers while you were there were you?"

"no, but the mother of the brothel did seem to be interested in buying me", kanna humored, nearing the demon king, who was in the process of mixing some solutions together.

"hm", he simply acknowledged, not seeming to care too much.

"may I ask what you've summoned me for?", kanna questioned, redirecting the topic.

"need I have a reason?", muzan rebutted.

     kanna hummed, daringly taking the beakers out of muzan's hands and placing them back onto the table.

     "what do you think you're—"

     kanna guided the man towards the couch, where she made him sit up so that she could stand behind him and help massage his shoulders.

     "is this your way of asking for something? what is it this time?", muzan sighed.

"just for your attention. nothing more", kanna sweetly answered.

the demon king melted against kanna's touch, for he wondered how she knew he needed a massage. recently, his fake wife has been getting on his nerves, and with the demons still not being able to find the blue spider lily, he never realized how tense his shoulders actually were.

"shall I run a warm bath for you, my lord?"

     "depends. will you be joining me?"

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

     AUTHOR'S NOTE: gyūtarō is my baby <33

     & next chapter's going to be steamy 🫣 (no but literally,, sorta...).