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     THE ACTUAL MUZAN was not dead, yet. the real demon king winced, as he felt something odd warm his exposed hand.

fluttering open "his" eyes, he nearly screeched at the fact that the sunlight that was shining through the window was touching his hand.

surprised by his fingers not burning to ashes, muzan suddenly got a better look at his surroundings.

it very much resembled a medical room, one with many beds and open windows in between each one.

glancing down at supposedly his hands, muzan had immediately noticed that his hands were smaller, and his body overall felt weaker — extremely weaker.

"akemi-san, you're awake!! how do you feel??", one of the triplets — naho — questioned.

'akemi? who the hell?!'

"akemi-san, here's some water. shinobu-sama said that you might feel a bit dizzy after waking up", sumi informed.

muzan just stared at the three children, shakily accepting the glass of water, as he brought it up to his utterly shocked and dry lips.

upon seeing a full body mirror propped against the corner of the room, muzan had dropped the glass of water, causing the cup to shatter into pieces. a small puddle had ensued, as muzan gasped at his horrid self.

'maroon eyes...and dark red hair that's nearly black...what in carnation...WHO'S BODY IS THIS?!'

"akemi-san, are you—"

muzan immediately grabbed kiyo by the collar and slammed her onto the bed that he was lying on. furious and absolutely confused, the male glared at the innocent child.

"who...who is this akemi that you keep mentioning? who did this...TELL ME!"

"a-a-akemi-san, please let kiyo go!! we're willing to explain everything! we know that you might be feeling a little odd after taking the potion, but you shouldn't—"

"who are you to command me?!", muzan interrupted, causing the two girls that were beside the bed to ever so slightly flinch.

the two held onto each other's hands, as they started tearing up.

muzan had then heard an, "ahem!", causing him to glance up and witness a hashira.

"S-SHINOBU-SAMA!! YOU'RE HERE!! PLEASE HELP KIYO!!", naho cried.

"ara, ara~ akemi-san, I'd appreciate if you let my comrade go. after all, this isn't very like you at all", shinobu fake smiled.

"command me again and I'll—"

shinobu had then immediately knocked the girl out, causing akemi's body to flop on top of poor kiyo.

'why's this girl's body...so...weak...', was muzan's last conscious thought before meeting the darkness once again.

after shinobu had saved kiyo from getting even more squished, the insect hashira had hummed to herself, seemingly to ponder about the potion that she had given to akemi previously.

'did I perhaps miss a step?? the poison was supposed to swap the person's soul with the demon that I injected the other half of the serum with. however...the demon that has escaped has yet to come back. and akemi-san would've definitely came back...'

     "ah, well it's still sunny outside, so perhaps she can't. I suppose that I'll just have to be a little more patient", shinobu mumbled to herself.

     "s-shinobu-sama, what should we do about akemi-san??", sumi questioned, as kiyo childishly pinched the unconscious girl's arm as revenge.

     "hmm, just pretend that it never happened. akemi-san's going through some mood changes due to my newest tonic. apologies about that".

     "n-no worries, shinobu-sama!! we'll make sure to take great care of akemi-san, until she returns back to normal!", naho promised.

     "thank you~ but do let me know if she gets too violent. akemi-san can be a little unpredictable starting from now on", the insect pillar warned, as the triplets just nodded in understanding.

     sparing the passed out akemi one last glance, shinobu had left the medical room, leaving the new akemi in the care of the triplets.

     "now, let's make sure that akemi-san wakes up to a good mood!", sumi exclaimed, as her two sisters had agreed with a determined nod.

     "hai, hai!!"

°✧°

     rui has never been more confused in his entire life.

     here he was, in muzan's room, sitting in front of a mirror with the demon king brushing his hair in a motherly manner.

     akemi made sure to gently comb through all the knots, as she had placed the brush down once she was done.

     placing her hands on rui's shoulders, akemi lowered her upper body so that her head was right beside lower moon five's.

     the two looked at themselves in the mirror's reflection: one was smiling, and the other was slightly sweating.

     "rui..."

     "yes...akemi-sama?", the child demon hesitated.

     'YOU'RE THE CUTEST LITTLE SHIT EVER!'

     "would you like to come outside with me? the sun has set", akemi suggested.

     "of course, akemi-sama", rui responded, as akemi stood up straight and extended her hand out.

     rui stupidly stared at the open palm for a moment, before akemi had snatched the child's hand and guided him out the door.

     the child demon's eyes ever so slightly widened at the physical contact, never would've thought that the kibutsuji muzan would hold his hand so tenderly.

     "nakime, send us outside into the barren fields please!", akemi requested.

     the biwa lady strummed her instrument without a second thought, sending the two demons out into a snowy field that barely had any trees or people around.

     "akemi-sama, this is..."

     "have you ever made a snow angel, rui?", the dark-haired woman asked.

"...once...", rui replied, for he had briefly recalled playing out in the snow as a human, before his mother had hauled him back inside the house due to his poor health.

"well, come on now. don't be shy! LET'S FILL THIS ENTIRE FIELD UP WITH OUR SNOW ANGELS!!", akemi exclaimed, falling onto her back, as she was the first to wave her legs and arms sporadically.

rui nervously curled up his fists, only watching the supposed demon king sillily make a snow angel with the purest smile that his face has ever displayed.

     "come on rui!!", akemi encouraged, watching the child demon slowly sit down and fall onto his back, as he hesitantly waved his arms and legs back and forth.

     the lower moon stared up at the grayish-bluish sky, to which it was a similar scene to the day that he was able to sneak out during his human days.

     he could not run without tripping. he could not even step out of the house without one of his parents worrying. he could not do anything by himself without struggling.

     zoning out, rui's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a face that protruded into his peaceful view.

     "need some help getting up, rui?", akemi smiled, her hair draping over her shoulder and nearly falling onto the child's face.

for a split second, rui was certain that he had seen his mother — his actual mother.

     "here. take my hand", akemi offered, as rui begrudgingly complied.

     sitting up, rui simply allowed akemi to brush away all the flakes of snow that had lingered in his pale locks of hair.

     "feels nice doesn't it?", akemi asked, causing rui to boldly look up and nod.

     "say, if you ever get tired of your crusty fam—I mean, get tired of your spider family, you can always come to me. I'll be your new mother", akemi proclaimed.

rui just stared at the dark-haired girl, not sure how to respond.

"if that is what you desire, ake—"

"it's what YOU desire, rui", akemi corrected.

"ya know, we could totally have that mother and son bond that'll make everybody jealous. we can braid each other's hair, take morning naps together, read about vegan opti—what we can eat in order to make our bodies healthier!"

"but we're demons...our bodies are already—"

"my point is, I'd love to adopt you if you just wanna...ya know, ditch your family and just come live with me instead", the demoness smiled, patting rui's head.

"no pressure though!", she exclaimed.

"okay...", rui muttered in acknowledgment, as akemi prayed that he would accept her offer.

after all, she was going to save rui first, and then her favorite pair of siblings: daki and gyūtarō.

     AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'M SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED,, hopefully my humor pulled thru and made y'all laugh @ some point <33