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     A SELECTION WAS BEING held at what was known as the infinity castle. the infinity castle was the home of kibutsuji muzan — the king of demons.

     the demons resided in the dark lands (south) of japan, meanwhile the humans, with their ruler being ubuyashiki kagaya, resided in the bright lands (north).

though the two kingdoms maintained peace through a contract, everyone knew that it won't be long before the demons would attack and rage war upon the humans.

because after all, demons feasted on humans; it was a necessity to live.

"now as you all know, king muzan has decided to hold a selection in order to elect a queen. the job of the queen is not to give birth, but to maintain order and help our lord achieve ultimate victory against the humans", one of the demons explained.

from the various women that had applied to this position, only one hundred of them (based solely on looks) were chosen to even step foot into the castle — one of them being kaguya.

     the one hundred ladies stood in lines of ten, based on how many humans they've consumed — from most to least.

     kaguya was somewhere in the middle, making sure that she did not stand out. after all, she'd rather have all the others fight it out before she showed her true skills.

     work smarter, not harder.

     "and in front of you, are the twelve kizuki", the demon announced, as the moons all stood in order based on their rank.

     though instead of twelve demons, there were thirteen, since the upper moon six position was shared by a pair of siblings.

     the female — daki — scowled at all the women in the room, casting glares and condescending stares at them.

     "they're all ugly", daki bluntly stated to her brother, "I should be lord muzan's queen!"

     "yes yes, no one's more pretty than my cute little sister", gyūtarō comforted, "however, lord muzan specifically stated that he wanted someone smart".

     daki had then snapped her head towards her older brother in shock.

     "are you calling me dumb?!"

     "hey, you said it, not me", gyūtarō teased.

     after all, they wouldn't be actual siblings if they didn't poke fun at each other once in a while.

     everyone bowed before the twelve kizuki with grace, as kaguya has heard a great deal about them. daringly glancing up, she had quickly accessed who would be the most beneficial to her, and which one would be the most troublesome.

     "since they are lord muzan's most trusted subordinates, they will have their say in who becomes the future queen of demons.

     now, since there are a hundred of you, and only thirteen moons, each moon will be responsible for seven of you, with the exception of sir kokushibo and sir dōma, who will each take in eight".

     the demonesses all whispered amongst themselves, as most prayed to get either akaza or kokushibo. very few wished for either dōma or daki.

     "you will be picking who you wish to stay with, because after one week, you will all compete in a brawl against each other.

     of course, it'll be against the people in your own group, since that's more efficient. the top four that win will stay, so make sure you choose your instructor wisely", the demon explained.

one woman boldly raised her hand, as the demon nodded at her, allowing her to speak.

"may I ask how we are to decide on who we get?", she inquired.

"all of you are going to pick based on the order you're standing in".

     "but that's not fair! those who ate more humans are clearly stronger!", one spoke out.

     "life isn't fair. perhaps you should've ate more before you entered the palace", the demon retorted.

     as the picking process occurred, kaguya was thankful that dōma wasn't a fan favorite.

once it was her turn, she had bowed just like the previous women and confidently declared her decision.

"I'd like to join sir dōma's group please", the woman smiled, causing upper moon two to gasp with delight.

"oh I got another pretty one! aren't you jealous, sir akaza?", dōma fake smiled, only to earn a scoff from upper moon three.

"does it look like I give a shit? this is all a waste of time. they all look weak", akaza bitterly grumbled, wishing that he was off sparing against someone strong instead.

     "aw, don't be so moody. look at all these pretty girls that we get to train. aren't you excited?! it just goes to show how much lord muzan trusts us with his future!!", dōma cheerfully explained.

akaza clicked his tongue in distaste, as the selection process was finally over. when separated into their rightful groups, there was a clear tension amongst each and every one of the women.

after all, only four of each group were going to make it and stay. it was best not to get too close or form a strong bond with the person you're going to surpass later on.

"alright, let's start with the basics first!! what are all your names?", dōma questioned.

no one seemed to want to speak up, until a woman who seemed quite headstrong had decided to break the ice.

"akina, sir dōma".

kaguya briefly glanced over at the poised woman, sensing a great deal of pride and strength coming from her.

'she might just be an obstacle in my path...'

"akina, what a beautiful name! how about you?", upper moon two inquired, pointing his closed fan at the demoness beside akina.

"i-it's shikana, s-sir dōma...", the woman hesitantly replied.

akina mentally judged the demoness for being so soft-spoken, meanwhile kaguya self-introduced herself next.

     "kaguya at your service, sir dōma", the dark-haired woman politely smiled.

     "oh my, what a well-mannered one! and how about you?", dōma asked.

     once each and every one of the demons in rank two's group had spoken, dōma had led them towards his domain.

     every kizuki had their own section in the infinity castle, and dōma's wasn't anything less than impressive.

     a large stadium with miniature stairs leading up to it was shown upon entering the upper moon's domain.

     a never-melting ice sculpture of the demon himself was placed at the center, making kaguya wonder if the guy was a narcissist.

     "behind the curtains of the stage is an abundance of rooms. you may pick and choose whichever one you'd like", dōma gestured with his gloved hand.

"thank you for your benevolence, sir dōma", the female demons bowed in sync, as they headed off.

"ah, once you're done though, meet me out here. we will go over who I'll be training first, and where we shall all dine", upper moon two instructed.

"yes sir".

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

kaguya simply observed from the sidelines as all the women were sat in the same dining room, with ten elongated tables for them to share.

some girls had already made friends with those that were in the same group as them, meanwhile others simply stayed quiet and minded their own business; one of them being kaguya.

     the dark-haired woman emotionlessly cut through the human heart that she was presented with, and chewed with no regrets.

     despite being a human once, she now held no disgust towards eating them. food was food.

     "u-umm...e-excuse me, but c-could you pass me the pitcher please?", a demoness sitting beside kaguya had shyly requested.

     "sure", kaguya immediately responded with a smile, handing the girl the pitcher, as she didn't intend to make enemies nor friends.

     "t-thanks", the girl responded, pouring herself some fresh blood into her cup, as she clenched onto the wineglass.

     seemingly to be internally debating something, kaguya prayed that she wouldn't start speaking to her just because she had done the short-haired demoness a petite favor.

     "u-umm...my n-name's nami...what's yours?", nami questioned with as much courage as she muster.

     'should've said no', kaguya mentally cursed herself.

     "kaguya", the woman simply replied, clearly not interested in making any more conversation.

"I-I see...", nami gulped, clearly uncomfortable with the short and harsh response that was given. however, she promised herself that she'd at least try and make friends while she was here.

"so...why'd you decide to enter the selection?", nami asked, not even daring to look in kaguya's general direction, despite it being her choice to interact with the woman.

     softly sighing, kaguya placed her utensils down, dabbing the corners of her mouth with the provided napkin, as she stood up to leave.

     excusing herself from the table, nami was left without a response, causing her to unintentionally frown at her plate of food.

     'd-did I say something wrong?', nami wondered to herself, as dōma — who was sitting beside the rest of his colleagues — had noticed the absence of one of his group members.

'kaguya, was it? I can't wait to see what they all have to offer!!'

AUTHOR'S NOTE: head empty,, just this mf:

on the next episode of hatred, I present you w/ kaguya intensely flirting w/ dōma💃🏻.

p.s. kaguya's supposed to be kind of a gray character — hated but also loved at the same time.