I.

The pink-eyed demon blinks, canting her pretty face to the side.

The bamboo piece tied around her mouth prevented her from speaking, so the occasional noises and head tilts were the only way to truly understand her. She huddled closes under her haori as an attempt to hide away from the sunlight, but the linen cloth wasn't doing a great job.

It was strange.

The female demon had an abrupt awakening in such a sunny place. Every step she took the ground rippled like a droplet of water hitting the surface. Her claw-like nails traced the ground, which reflected the bright dots in the sky that were called 'stars' .

("Ni-chan, look!" Many twinkling stars decorated the dark sky. The little girl that hugged the side of a boy pointed to the night sky, to one star in particular.

"There are so many stars tonight." The red-eyed girl sighs, marveling every twinkling speck. The boy laughed, patting her head. "I like that one! It's the brightest of all, Tanjiro!")

The petite girl inclines her head, the brown strips of her hair swaying, and her blank eyes stare aimlessly at the specks that ever so glittered cross the rippling ground.

That boy—Ni-chan!—she saw when she opened her eyes. He protected her, recklessly. Jumping in between her and the slayer. Though somewhere inside her mind, the emotions in her chest rose with love and protection.

That was what she last remembered, with the man in the tengu mask appeared before she drifted off to sleep.

Nezuko buries herself further under her clothes, shrinking.

"The sunlight here isn't real. It won't hurt you." Nezuko gingerly lifts the haori out of her vision, peeking out. She hums in question.

A much taller figure with its hands behind its back lingers over her. It wore foreign garments and the air around it screamed royalty. The claws and talon-like feet that moved were inhuman, like a demon.

Powerful, her instincts cowered, dangerous.

"I wonder if your ancestors did the right choice of staying behind in Human territory… Evolving into beings that hold mystical powers."

It kneels, lifting the hem of the robe that shielded her. Nezuko glared in warning, her veins beginning to pop. It tilts its head, the huge eye in the middle watches her unblinkingly.

"You are welcome to come back here," It speaks, the playful koi swimming around it. "If you dare."

A floating koi swims towards her. She blinks. Her hands automatically reach towards the whimsical fish that swam in the air.

Home, her demonic instincts bounced in excitement. Reluctance and uneasiness then swelled up in her stomach, so Nezuko couldn't help but cower away from the koi that went to her.

(... "I promise I'll buy you beautiful clothes when you turn back, Nezuko." …)

Where's home? Home. Auburn eyes flashed in her mind, many of them. Young and old.

But they're gone.

No, no. He's not gone. She saw him.

"Ni-chan!"

"Will you go home, to the Human World? Or the home of your many ancestors. The Demon World?"

A bright flash occurs.

II.

A few days have passed ever since they've escaped from Grace Field.

Emma walked up to Mujika, who was cutting up the food with Jemima and Chris. The 11-year-old was curious about the extra guest among the group ever since she woke up.

The extra guest, as Emma's curiosity got the better of her, was a demon like Mujika. Though, this one didn't wear a mask like them. They looked human, but the inhuman vertical line the eyes were set in said otherwise.

"Mujika?" Emma called out to get the female demon's attention from a few feet away.

"Yes?" Mujika said with a smile, putting the sliced greens into the boiling pot. Some of the children were out with Sonju who was teaching them how to hunt, among them was Ray, Don, and Gilda. The rest of the younger ones, including Emma, were here with Mujika.

"I've been meaning to ask!" Her mind wandered back to the tiny form of a demon child wrapped in a big robe sleeping in the caves. She, the tiny child, never woke up ever since they came into the care of Sonju and Mujika.

Was she related to them? Their child perhaps?

"Who's the child demon, the one that sleeps in the other room? Is she related to you?"

Mujika shakes her head, "No, she's not. Sonju found her unconscious in the forest before we found you all. She's been sleeping for more than five days now, so we've been taking care of her since, but I have hope."

The orange-haired girl nodded, still curious about the slumbering guest around the corner, offering to help the children with the food.

If the child demon wasn't related to Mujika and Sonju, then would that mean they too ate humans?

It wasn't a pleasant thought but it probably explained why they were separated from everyone else.

But what happened to you? Why are you sleeping for so long?

"We're back!" Don calls out, running back to where the group finished with cooking the supper.

"We've caught dinner!" Thoma and Lani hold up two dead birds proudly.

Family, peace, and a warm meal.

take a deep breath is also on ao3! I'll leave this here for now until the next update.

Or, well, when the next update comes.