Introducing Chapter 4, sitting at a whopping 19000 words (43 pages in Word), the longest of any story I've written so far. I kind of got carried away writing this, then got lazy and didn't bother trimming down the fat of this chapter.

Incidentally, while reading through my past notes of this fanfic and other fanfics in my folder, I realised that my writing has a very formulaic structure. Character from one series goes to another at a semi-pivotal moment, promptly becomes a mentor-like figure and then followed closely by a second arc of character development and laying down the strings for future twisting of the plot, before immediately crashing and burning. If you're looking for something similar, the Worm x BNHA crossover on another account of mine (What the Hell, Hero?) certainly follows the exact same structure, and even my non-crossover FE3H fanfic (In Time's Flow) on yet another account throws the protagonist into the role of a mentor. Speaking of, I really should get to updating those stories (among the other ones still on this account)...

Maybe I should rethink my career options, eh?

Anyway, without further ado, here's Chapter 4, otherwise known as the chapter in which I read the localised in-game descriptions of every damn arte, mix in canon and fanon Tales/Berseria lore in equal part, and watch a cooking video for content's sake.

Also, I really need to start reading the manga soon rather than just relying on the wiki to keep things accurate.

Hope you enjoy!

"Home, sweet home! Oh, look! There's Aoi!"

Kanae grinned widely, rejoining by Velvet's side, looking around as though an excited child all the while. Velvet resisted the urge to sigh. The entire trip back, Kanae had been chatting relentlessly at her, despite the fact that Velvet was hardly going to engage in conversation while the escorts were still with their party.

The moment they had arrived at the Butterfly Estate, Kanae had squealed excitedly, running around to explore her old home. Meanwhile, Velvet had been forced to trudge along with her Kakushi escorts, following them to the infirmary where the injured Demon Slayers from the battle on the mountain were being treated.

Apparently, the downside of being a guest of Kagaya's was that they wouldn't take her word that she was uninjured, demon or not. Aneko was still feeling nervous, despite Kagaya's reassurances, but Velvet couldn't blame her. Many of the Demon Slayers they had passed by both during the trek and now in the estate proper were shooting both of them dark looks.

Even though their leader guaranteed their safety, it didn't mean that the organisation's members would willingly accept them as guests.

They were handed over to one of the estate's helpers, apparently a support member of the Demon Slayer Corps. Kanzaki Aoi was a short, twin-tailed girl, with what seemed to be a strict, no-nonsense attitude. The moment the Kakushi had passed their party over to her care, she had immediately begun directing them to the infirmary.

To be honest, she reminded Velvet slightly of Eleanor.

"I was told to expect injured personnel," she said briskly as they walked, frowning as she looked over their group. "You don't look to be in too bad shape to me."

"Ah! Velvet gave me medication that cured my aches instantly!" Tanjiro bobbed his head rapidly, chatting animatedly. "I could barely walk at all after the battle on the mountain, but now there's only some mild pains left."

"Medication?" the girl asked, curious. Then, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Are you a doctor? It's not safe to dispense medication randomly, you know?"

"Oh no, it's not Velvet's fault!" Tanjiro quickly waved the blame aside, before Velvet could respond. "Trust me, it's the best medication I've ever received!"

"Hmmm." She still seemed unconvinced, but let it slide. "And you two?"

"Uninjured," Velvet said flatly. "Do you people even treat demons?"

"Demon physiology should be similar enough to human physiology," she said. "Not that any demon would let us try."

Her words were laced with a hint of bitterness, but Velvet could understand why. From what she knew, most Demon Slayers only joined the organisation because their families were killed by demons.

Again, she couldn't help the comparison to Eleanor.

"You're being oddly civil with us, considering that we're demons," Velvet said nonchalantly. "Most of the others just glare at us."

"Lady Kocho has informed us to treat you as guests, despite your status as demons. I will not go against her wishes."

Right. Velvet was convinced that Aoi Kanzaki was this world's version of Eleanor.

"Come to think of it, it's strange that your injuries have healed so quickly after taking that unknown – and unlicensed – medication," Aoi mused, while still taking the opportunity to berate Velvet's distribution of apple gel despite her lack of medical expertise. "There was another Demon Slayer who was poisoned by one of the demons. It turned the rest into spiders, but Lady Kocho made a concoction to counteract the poison. Even then, we thought it would have been too late to save him, or at the very least we would have to give him medication for a prolonged period, but he seemed to be completely healthy by the time we recovered and examined him."

"That's the Older Brother Spider Demon's poison –" Aneko spoke, but cut herself off mid-sentence as some of the other attendants in the estate glared at her. "Sorry…"

Eh, she would learn to live with it. Velvet had her fair share of such treatment in the past.

A poison that turned people into spiders, though? That was new.

Wait a second…

"Did this person have yellow hair, yellow katana, yellow haori –"

"Zenitsu?" Tanjiro gasped loudly. "You know Zenitsu?"

"Little pet sparrow as well?"

"That sparrow is his Kasugai crow," Aoi stressed, then looked at her curiously, guiding them through to another corridor. "And yes. How did you know?"

Velvet smiled wryly. "Seems like my unlicensed medication treated him well, then."

Aoi and Tanjiro paused mid-step. Velvet and Aneko turned, wondering why they had stopped.

"You saved Zenitsu's life?" Tanjiro's voice choked, and Velvet was mildly alarmed to note that there were tears in his life. He bowed rapidly. "Thank you! Thank you!"

"Uhh… you're welcome?" Velvet said uncertainly, wondering what she was supposed to do when an overly-enthusiastic teenager offered their thanks. By the side, Kanae was openly laughing at her misfortune.

"You gave more medication without medical advice?" Aoi warned dangerously. For a few seconds, she didn't speak. Then, her face reddened slightly, swallowing her pride. "Please, how did you prepare it?"

"I didn't prepare it –"

"You gave unlicensed medication you didn't prepare, for a poison you have no experience with?!"

"Yes?" Velvet asked, unsure why she was so vexed. "What's wrong?"

Didn't panacea bottles just cure all poisons and other ailments, anyway? What else did she expect her to do?

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Despite her small stature, Aoi was beginning to build up a fiery temper. "Giving wrong medication can be toxic! Do you have it with you now? We need to make sure there aren't any side effects we haven't noticed yet!"

"Just what did you give him, Velvet?" Kanae asked, leaning in closer. "You didn't mention any of this to me – ah, wait, we haven't had a chance to talk yet. No acting like a lunatic, right?"

Kanae giggled to herself, while Velvet dug around in her pouch. If they just wanted to study her medication, they shouldn't have to use up too much of her limited supply of panacea bottles, right?

"Here," she said, handing it over.

Aoi took it gingerly, scrunching up her brows as she raised it to her eyes, peering at the clear fluid. "What is it supposed to be?"

"Panacea bottle," she said.

Aoi blinked. "What?"

Kanae blinked. "What?"

Tanjiro and Aneko stared at it, seemingly nonplussed.

"It… heals people?" Velvet said, unsure about why they were so confused. "You take it when you get poisoned?"

"What do you mean? You just take it without finding the harmful components first?"

"Yes?"

"You would use it to treat any poison?"

"Yes?"

Aoi inhaled deeply. Kanae was still staring at the bottle.

"Are you telling me," she began saying, "that this medication heals all poisons?"

"Yes?"

No one moved for several seconds. Velvet was getting worried.

Then, Kanae chuckled, slowly at first, before entering a full-blown cackle.

"Only you," she said between peals of laughter. "Only you wouldn't realise just how valuable this is."

"How did you get it? Do you know what's inside?" Aoi said quickly, grabbing a parchment and writing implement from somewhere in her robes. "If what you're saying is true, we need to know immediately!"

"Uhh…" Velvet thought back to what Celica had told her ages ago.

Actually, now that she thought about it…

"I'm not sure if the materials will be easy to find…"

"You do know what's inside?" Aoi snapped excitedly, waving her parchment about. "Please, tell us! Rarity doesn't matter, we can find them."

Well, there wasn't any backing down now.

"Magic resin, eggbear claw, soulgrass, and herbs."

Aoi blinked. "Come again?"

Kanae only laughed harder.

"Some of the names may have been lost in translation. I come from very far away," she half-lied. "I'm not from Japan, as you can probably tell from my name."

Tanjiro's face was red, cheeks puffed up, as though controlling an urge to laugh. Aneko still didn't seem to be completely there, her vision unfocused and dazed. Velvet knew she was on edge, but did she truly feel that threatened?

She really needed to find a way to deal with that soon…

"We'll check against some other references," Aoi said with a frown. "Do you mind if we take this sample and see if we can work from there?"

"Go ahead," Velvet said, shrugging. That had been her plan, anyway. Her supply was limited, and sacrificing one bottle if it meant potentially having more available in the future seemed to be a good plan.

She wondered if they would have any luck with finding any of the components, though. Did this world have anything similar?

"Thank you!" Reverently, she placed it inside her robes, taking extra care not to damage it. "Really!"

Well, that at least seemed to have thawed the ice that had formed between them a little. Aoi now walked with a slight bounce in her step, no longer gazing coldly at herself or Aneko each time their eyes met.

Still, it didn't seem to improve Aneko's spirits. She still hid behind the rest of them, merely trudging along in their shadow. Rui must have had a deeper impact into her psyche than she initially thought, if she had such a fragile sense of self. Compounded by the number of Demon Slayers around, even Tanjiro's and Velvet's supportive presences couldn't help to overcome her funk.

"The infirmary is just ahead," Aoi pointed out cheerfully.

It seemed to be fairly lively inside. Already, they could hear the sounds of people talking.

"I told you that I'm fine already," a voice whined. "I don't need more medication –"

"No buts! Lady Kocho developed the formula herself after studying the poison! Five times a day for three months, that's an order!"

Then, there was the sound of stomping feet, before a fuming attendant left the room. He paused fractionally as he saw their party, nodded at Aoi, then narrowed his eyes once he saw the obviously-demon Aneko, and Velvet beside her. No doubt he had been informed of the nature of their 'guests'. He turned his head away quickly, moving away in a different direction.

"We've got more staff here than normal to help treat those injured in Natagumo Mountain," Aoi explained quickly. "They're a bit agitated because of overwork, so –"

"It's because I'm a demon, isn't it?" Aneko sighed.

"Uhh…" Aoi squirmed slightly, unsure of whether or not to answer the question honestly.

Well, at least it meant that she at least liked them a little. And to think that all it took was a little bribery.

If she knew panacea bottles were so valuable, she really should have stocked up on more of them.

"I understand," Aneko said glumly. "I've killed people. I know you Demon Slayers would kill me if it wasn't for Velvet, but even still…"

"Like I said, you'll get used to it," Velvet brushed the matter aside. "If they keep pestering you, just threaten to eat them."

Three heads turned to stare at her. She shrugged.

"What? It works." Then, she thought back to how Magilou continued incessantly tormenting her with all her quips, despite repeated threats, some of which Velvet had actually carried out. "Most of the time, at least."

"L- let's just go in," Aoi said, changing the topic, moving forward quickly. "I'm sure that boy will be happy to meet all of you again."

"Right!" Tanjiro nodded, then moved past them to enter the room, greeting his friend enthusiastically. "Zenitsu!"

"Tanjiro?" he spoke. "Tanjiro! You're here! And you have Nezuko with you!"

At that point, she and Aneko stepped in, her fellow demon staying some distance away, looking uncomfortably at the infirmary filled with injured Demon Slayers.

They made no effort to conceal the hatred in their gazes.

Ah. This could be problematic.

Gently, Velvet steered Aneko closer toward Tanjiro from where she had frozen in place, forcing her to face away from the vast majority of the room. Aoi had gone on to see to the wounded in the room, dispensing her duties with the same diligence that Eleanor had.

"Zenitsu!" Tanjiro repeated his greeting enthusiastically. "I was so worried about you!"

"Me?" His face reddened, embarrassed. He coughed. "Well, truth be told, I thought I was going to die, but the thought of cute Nezuko spurred me on!"

Velvet blinked. Tanjiro moved the box on his back protectively, as Zenitsu's gaze followed it, his eyes dreamy and lost, his head moving around as Tanjiro shied away from him. From what she understood of his rambling as they made their way to the Butterfly Estate, Nezuko only ever really voluntarily came out of her box when they were in private, or with those she trusted.

Zenitsu continued whatever it was he was doing, chasing Tanjiro around. That, of course, was when his sight came upon her and Aneko, and his eyes widened.

She narrowed her eyes, moving a hand toward Aneko protectively. If this Demon Slayer was going to attack her –

"You're the angel!" In an instant, he zipped across to stand in front of her, abandoning what he had been doing with Tanjiro. "I told them that an angel gave me special medicine, but no one believed me!"

Oh. So it wasn't an attack, then.

"Zenitsu!" Tanjiro pried him away, looking at her apologetically. "This is Velvet and Aneko! We met at Nagatumo Mountain, and then went together to see the Hashira and Master Ubuyashiki!"

There was a violent cough from one of the wounded Demon Slayers in the infirmary. Tanjiro looked in that direction, concerned and confused, but Velvet simply ignored him, opting to study Zenitsu instead.

She didn't miss the way his eyes had narrowed slightly as Tanjiro pointed out Aneko, or the way his body had stiffened and tightened. There was some confusion in his eyes, but then he seemed to shrug it off, smiling brightly at them both.

"Agatsuma Zenitsu," he introduced himself, straightening his uniform. "It is my pleasure to meet both of you delightful ladies."

Um. What?

"Zenitsu!" Tanjiro whined. "Stop that!"

"You know we're demons, right?" she asked dryly.

"Demon or human, when you're both around me, I feel like I'm in heaven," he spoke without missing a beat, his eyes shining with hope.

There was a moment of silence. Aneko coughed.

Zenitsu's face fell.

Kanae snorted. "Looks like someone likes you, Velvet."

"Wait, Tanjiro…" the tone of his voice lowered. "Are you telling me that this whole time, you've been in the company of this angel? You… you ruffian! You traitor!"

He grabbed at Tanjiro's uniform, while the trapped boy looked haplessly at Velvet and Aneko.

The sight looked so intimately familiar. Zenitsu was alternating between harassing Tanjiro and attempting to grab Nezuko's box, simultaneously sounding angry and yet lost in his own world.

Then, it clicked.

This was the equivalent of Bienfu, then.

What was that little normin doing now? Were he and Magilou up to some devilish mischief at this very moment? Or was he being his usual bizarre, perverted self, finding ways to get closer to Eleanor?

She would not entertain the possibility that he was corrupting Phi again, like the time she had discovered him sharing his collection of 'books' with the young malak. 'How to Talk a Human Female into Becoming Your Vessel' and 'Physically Escalating with Cuties' were not appropriate reading material for any malak, never mind one as innocent as Phi.

"Is something wrong, Velvet?" Tanjiro's voice cut through the haze of her thoughts. "You're staring at Zenitsu pretty intensely, there."

Was she? Now that she thought about it, they had stopped tussling around a few seconds ago.

"Ah!" Zenitsu snapped his fingers, sliding a little closer toward her. She stepped back, but he wasn't deterred in the least. "The angel must have been attracted to my charm! I knew that fate had you saving me for a reason!"

"I told you, I'm a demon," she stressed, shoving him away to sit back on his infirmary bed. "You reminded me of a friend of mine, that's all."

"Oh?" His eyes sparked. "Are we alike? Perhaps we are destined to be friends at least, then!"

"Zenitsu, stop it!"

…yup. Total Bienfu.

"You tell me," she said, hiding a sly smile. "Perverted?"

He gasped.

"Annoying?"

He looked at her, eyes wide.

"Cowardly?"

There were some tears in there, now. Tanjiro's head was whirling between them both.

"Hey, umm… Velvet, isn't that a bit much?" Kanae said worriedly, her phantom hands tugging on her shirt.

Velvet sighed. Fine.

Though Bienfu shied from danger most of the time, little Normin Breyve had been the one to hold open the earthpulse rift in the aftermath of her group's first encounter with Artorius at the Empyrean's Throne, pushing his frail little body to its limits.

She remembered how Zenitsu had been lying there, his breath agonisingly slowed to reduce the spread of the poison. From the craters around the battlefield that spoke of a grand battle, it was obvious that he had fought valiantly.

"When the time comes, though, you can count on him to be the bravest one of all."

His eyes snapped to face Velvet, shining brightly, a small trail of tears running down from them.

"Hey, that's totally Zenitsu!" Tanjiro clapped his hands once. "He's really strong once he stops running away!"

"Tanjiro!" Zenitsu whined, then dragged him into a bone-crushing hug. "You're so kind!"

"Oi, shut up!" a hoarse voice spoke up weakly from the bed next over.

Velvet turned to see who had been listening in –

She blinked in confusion.

Why was he wearing a boar's head?

"I- Inosuke?!" Tanjiro broke away from Zenitsu's grip. "You're here! What happened to your voice?"

"They said he had his throat crushed," Zenitsu explained helpfully, when Inosuke just slumped back over, facing the ceiling with his arms and legs spread out. "He fought a really strong demon."

"You got injured because of me?" Tanjiro grabbed one of his friend's hand with both of his own, shaking with emotion. "I'm so sorry that I left! I didn't think that he would have sent me flying away!"

"It's okay," he groaned out weakly. "Don't worry."

"It's so funny, really," Zenitsu said cheerfully, having somehow gotten over his previous brief melancholy. Much like Bienfu, really. "He becomes so gentle when he's depressed, it cracks me up!"

"I'm sorry for being so weak." He seemed entirely dispirited, although Velvet had no reference to compare him against.

"Come now, Inosuke!" Tanjiro consoled him, repositioning to place a palm over the back of his hand. "You're really strong! You fought the demon by yourself! It's not like you to get depressed!"

He looked around for support. Zenitsu had stopped laughing, looking guiltily back at Tanjiro. Aneko was standing furthest away, keeping her distance from the Demon Slayers. When he came across Velvet, though, an idea seemed to spark in his mind.

Welp. Looks like she was going to burn through yet another gel.

Denying Tanjiro's inevitable request felt worse than kicking a lost puppy. He and Phi were alike in that way.

"Velvet…"

"I know, I know," she sighed. She dug into her pouch, taking out another apple gel, passing it over to Tanjiro. He took it gratefully, then placed it in Inosuke's mouth.

"Eat this, Inosuke! You'll feel better in no time! It's really good!"

She couldn't see his expression, hidden under his mask as it was. He paused for only a moment, then chewed excruciatingly slowly before swallowing.

Tanjiro looked on with anticipation. Zenitsu had crept closer, watching with clear curiosity. Nearby, some of the Demon Slayers were eavesdropping too, caught by the lively mood that their three peers were demonstrating.

Oh, and probably also to make sure that the demon guest didn't poison one of their own.

A moment passed.

Two.

"Uhh…" Tanjiro said first. "Do you feel different?"

"Oi… Tanjiro…"

Then, he bolted upright, tossing the sheets covering his body away violently, exposing his body.

Wait. Why was he topless when everyone else had their gowns on?

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CRAP!"

His voice boomed loudly, rattling the tables and beds in the room.

Heathen.

Who could stand to hate apple gel?

"THE TEXTURE IS ALL RUBBERY! THE FLAVOUR IS TOO SWEET!"

"Inosuke –"

"I ATE IT BECAUSE YOU SAID IT'S GOOD MEDICINE, BUT –"

Abruptly, he stopped speaking. The boar-head turned to face Velvet.

"Thank you."

Then, cackling maniacally, he ran straight out of the room.

"COMING THROUGH! COMING THROUGH!"

Everyone within the infirmary stared at the door, Aneko included, as his voice gradually trailed away into the distance.

"Interesting things really happen to you, huh?" Kanae commented, perching herself on the vacated bed. Velvet sent a silent glare toward her.

"Ah…" Tanjiro scratched the back of his head. "That's Inosuke for you."

"He's going to train again, isn't he?" Zenitsu shook his head. "He really needs to learn how to relax."

Ah. Now it made sense.

What did Bienfu say about his gel personality test again? Those who hated all gels were battle maniacs, right?

At that point, Aoi came stomping over. "What was that?!"

She shrugged. "Another one of my unlicensed medication works, it seems."

"You…" she fumed. She drew herself to her full height, glaring at Velvet. Then, she scrunched her eyes tightly, as though forcing herself to ask her next request. "Can you give us the formula for that too?"

Ah… that would be a bit of a problem.

Though fruit, appropriate herbs and a gelatinous base seemed to be in abundance here, she could hardly describe the process of infusing mana into the mashed herbal and fruity mix without giving away her origins. It didn't even really matter which herbs were used, Celica had told her, since it was mana-receptiveness itself that truly did the job.

"It's a bit of a secret. I don't actually have permission to give it away," she explained. Aoi looked indignant, so Velvet continued with what her original plan had been. "How about this – I help you prepare more of that medication instead?"

"Really?" Aoi seemed uncertain. "Lady Kocho has asked to treat you as guests here…"

Come to think of it…

"Actually, maybe Aneko could assist me as well?"

"Huh?" Aneko started. She had been completely silent, not meeting the eyes of Demon Slayers who could kill her at any moment. "Wait, you want me to help?"

"Why does she get to know your formula?" Aoi asked, her eyes narrowed.

Damn. She needed to think fast. Infusing mana was an excellent exercise in control, that paved the way for future usage of artes. Besides, making gels was ridiculously boring, since it involved sending a steady stream of mana into the boiling pot for well over two hours.

Two birds with one stone, really. All she needed was a good excuse.

An excuse… What would Magilou do? She always had the best ideas at times like these –

'Act. Like. A. Dove.'

– that memory wasn't helping…

…wait.

As much as she hated to admit it, it did help.

"She's my apprentice, obviously," Velvet lied.

"Wait, what?" Tanjiro, Aoi and Zenitsu asked in unison.

"I'm your apprentice?" She sounded confused.

Velvet glared at her. Realisation sunk in moments later.

"Right! Silly me! That I am! I completely forgot! Hahaha…"

Wow.

She was a terrible liar. How had she thought that she could get away with lying about the number of people she killed, just the night before?

"…if you say so," Aoi said in obvious disbelief, but didn't raise an objection. "I'll show you to our medicinal stocks later. Can you begin making it today? We have a lot of injured here."

"Sure," Velvet agreed. "If Aneko's up for it, I don't mind."

"I will!" Aneko said immediately, keen to make up for her previous blunder. "Of course I –"

"This is ridiculous!"

The outburst was accompanied by a thunderous slam. At once, all conversation fell silent, heads turning to where it had originated from.

One Demon Slayer sat upright at the head of his bed, his body covered in bandages, glaring vehemently at their group with a bloody fist against the wall. Underneath, cracks trailed from the wooden surface, and chips of wood had been sent scattering away.

"Are all of you blind?!" he spat, eyes wild with rage. "How can you… how can allof you just stand there and act like nothing's wrong? How can you talk to these demons like they're one of us?"

"Oi, Kenjiro, you know we're not supposed to –" the one in the next bed over hissed urgently.

"I won't stand for this!" He removed his fist from the wall, blood flowing freely down his palm. Aneko stirred, but maintained better control than back at the headquarters. "I became a Demon Slayer to kill demons, not to act like friends with one of them! Are you idiots blind?! They obviously hope to poison us all, or worse!"

"Kenjiro!"

"That demon over there looks different, but I know who she really is! She used her twisted art to wrap one of our comrades in a ball of yarn! He was stuck there, shouting for help! When Lady Kocho finally came to get him out, all that was left was liquified remains!"

Spittle was flying from his mouth with every word. "Am I the only one who can see what they're doing? They want to destroy us from within!"

"Kenjiro!"

"My family was killed by demons; all of them slaughtered to the last! How many of us here have lost loved ones to demons? How many of us became Demon Slayers to kill scum like them?" Despite his injuries, he leaned forward, pointing at her and Aneko. "How can you just stand there, and pretend that you don't see these monsters in front of you? Do your duty as Demon Slayers and kill them!"

"Kenjiro, you know that Lady Kocho herself –"

"To hell with Lady Kocho!"

There was a loud gasp at that.

Oh, wait, that was Kanae.

Everyone else was simply silent, watching as he panted rapidly, his face burning with anger.

"Kenjiro…"

"What the hell do you want?" He whirled to face a Demon Slayer a few beds away. "Got something to say?"

"Demon..." he coughed weakly. "Demon or not, that – that person saved my life."

Velvet studied him more carefully. There was a lot less blood, but now that he mentioned it…

"You're Usui, right?"

"You –" Again, he wheezed, having moved too rapidly at her intrusion. "You remember my name?"

"My memory isn't that bad," she commented dryly. "You look terrible. Still, your bones seem to at least be in the right place now."

He gave a feeble rasping chuckle. "All thanks to you."

"Are the rest of your group around?" She gave a sweeping glance across the room, looking for any familiar faces.

One of them stiffened as she looked at him. Where had she –

Oh, right, that was the one that tried crawling away from her.

"Seems like you're still scared of me, Kenta."

Again, Usui burst into a coughing fit. Kenta's face reddened, adamantly looking down at his own hands, refusing to meet her eyes. She sighed, continuing her search, but didn't see anyone she recognised.

There was that one girl who had seemed decent enough. At least she prioritised her group's safety over attempting to fight against her own ally, demon though Velvet may be. She'd also taken the initiative of helping to evacuate the injured, although she seemed to have a deathwish, given that she had tried to continue her mission in the mountain.

"Is Ozaki around?"

"You remember her, too?" Usui sounded surprised. "Her injuries weren't as severe. She's having – she's having recovery training somewhere else in the Estate, now."

Hmm. Looks like there was a chance Velvet could bump into her again, then. There was one more Demon Slayer she remembered distinctly, the other less injured one who had helped Ozaki in their evacuation, and then promptly tried attacking her on his own.

"And Eiji? That was his name, right? The one that tried attacking me?"

"Ah… he was here earlier… but I haven't seen him since a few hours ago…"

"Shame."

"Actually, he requested to transfer when he heard you were coming," Aoi interrupted the conversation between the pair.

"Huh. Seems like he has a sense of self-preservation after all."

Usui laughed, then grimaced immediately.

"Alright, that's enough," Aoi cut off any further exchange of words. "Unlicensed medication or not, you're harming my patients."

"Fine," Velvet said.

Just one more matter. She turned to the one who had started this all.

"Kenjiro, right?"

"I don't speak to demons," he spat, his rage not at all having diminished.

"Alright, then. You can listen." Velvet stepped closer, stopping just at the foot of his bed. His defiant glare only intensified. "We're not so different, you know."

"You dare? You dare to compare yourself to me?" He roared, enraged, forgetting his previous declaration. "Do you even know what it feels like to lose your entire family to demons? Do you monsters even have feelings?"

"Of course I do." She shrugged. "I lost my whole family, too. My sister was killed by demons."

Abruptly, his face slackened, ceasing his outburst. Good thing, too. Her ears would start hurting if he carried on.

"A few years after that, my entire village turned into demons, you know," she said calmly, betraying none of her true emotions. "All of them became mindless creatures. I was the only one who remained in control."

'A daemon that feeds on daemons. A therion.'

Nearby, Kanae gasped. Velvet ignored her.

"They tried to attack me. I killed them. I killed my best friend, too. Her name was Niko."

'…You didn't forget, did you? You promised to teach me how to make your special quiche.'

"You want to know something special about my claw, Kenjiro?" She tapped at her bandaged arm. "When I kill a demon with it, for a few moments before they disappear forever, their bodies turn into humans."

'Take a look around.'

Up above, the Scarlet Night lit the sky a deep crimson. Down below, by her feet, there was only blood. Pools and pools of blood, slowly congealing, deep gouges rent in the bodies of her victims.

"I saw her. Niko. Then the village elder. The shopkeeper. Everyone in my village, slain by my hand."

All, except the one responsible for it all. Artorius.

"You want to know why I didn't lose control?" she asked needlessly. "There was only one thing that kept my mind focused, you know."

'But even in the depths of my despair, only two things mattered to me. The taste of blood-soaked flesh…'

"Can you guess? It's something you should know well."

'…and revenge upon one man.'

He remained silent.

'…and for three long years, I sat in that pit of darkness, and fed. Devouring demons, so I could live long enough to kill him.'

"Vengeance." With that, she released her arm in all its malicious glory, the tip of her claws resting just at the foot of the bed. "And vengeance I found. So, Kenjiro, trust me when I say that I do know what it feels like. If you want revenge against demons, seize it with your own damn hands."

Just as quickly, she deactivated her therion arm, then turned around.

"I'll make my way to your medicine stocks on my own," she told Aoi.

Not waiting for a response, she began walking to the door.

"Come, Aneko. We're leaving."

She paused at the threshold, giving a final parting message without facing the Demon Slayers in the room.

"Oh, I almost forgot. If any of you even so much as threaten Aneko or Nezuko again, know that this demon has claws. This is your only warning."

Silently, Aneko trailed behind her, Kanae hurrying by her side.

"Oi, Kenjiro! Apologise!" She heard Tanjiro shout just moments later. Still, she didn't turn back, continuing on out of the room.

As they stepped into the corridor, Velvet came across the sight of Shinobu Kocho standing there, staring at her impassively, the usual friendly smile she kept on like a mask just a little too stiff.

Had she been listening in the whole time?

Well, it hardly mattered.

"You're back early."

With that, she continued walking. Making some gels seemed like it would be a cathartic experience, right about now.

-o-o-o-

"Velvet…"

"I know," she sighed. "I shouldn't have done that. His family was killed by demons."

"Who cares about him?" Kanae snapped, her usual lively mood lost. It was such a contrast to her normal self, that Velvet paused from where she was picking and choosing herbs from the self. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," she brushed her off, then turned to Aneko. The demon had been silently listening to her half of the conversation. Ever since Kenjiro had gone off on his tirade, she had been dazed and rigid, as though afraid of an attack at any time. "Aneko, hold these for me."

She handed her the herbs she had selected. Though she didn't know just what they were, the experimental pulses of mana she sent through them suggested that they would be fine for the job.

"Do you have any fruits?"

"In the kitchen. That direction," she pointed, when Velvet had been about to ask where it was. "And don't change the subject! What was that back there?"

"It was nothing," she said, then turned to her apprentice-in-name-only. "Come."

"It was most certainly not nothing! Velvet, I'm worried about you!"

She snorted, losing none of her stride. "It happened a long time ago, Kanae. I'm over it."

"Kitchen is that way." Kanae tilted her head slightly, gesturing down a corridor. Then, hesitantly, she finally broached the topic. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, walking through a door. "Trust me, I deal with that all the time."

"That's horrible!"

"Welcome to the life of a demon." Velvet entered the kitchen, gesturing for Aneko to set down the herbs on the table-top while she searched for the remaining ingredients. "Huh. You've already got gelatin and plenty of apples, it seems. Guess we'll make apple gel, then."

How fortunate. Before she'd lost her taste, apple gels were always her favourite.

"Damn it, Velvet!" the normally demure Hashira cursed. "I've got half a mind to get over there and slap that rude Mizunoto myself!"

"Be my guest." She shrugged. "Who knows, maybe you can get a wind arte to work or something."

"You know what? I'll do just that!"

Velvet paused from where she'd been grabbing a frankly ridiculous number of apples, turning to watch incredulously as Kanae stomped out of the room, walking with determination. She stood there, listening to the sound of her phantom footsteps fading down the hallway.

She shook her head. What did Kanae seriously expect?

In his shoes, Velvet might even have tried to kill someone like herself, even if she didn't have a chance in hell of succeeding. She remembered just how completely outclassed they had been during their first visit to the Empyrean's Throne, utterly defeated by Artorius even with the help of Phi's healing artes. It had only been his serendipitous opening of an earthpulse rift that allowed their escape.

Besides, did Kanae actually believe that she would be able to do anything to the boy? For years, she hadn't been able to so much as touch an object, up until Velvet's arrival to Japan.

"Is the Hashira gone?" Aneko spoke up timidly.

"Yeah," Velvet said, laying down her choice materials on the table. "You know that she'd much rather you call her by her name, right?

"She's a Hashira –" she stammered quickly, then stopped, as though she had just offended Velvet in some way.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine…" she said unconvincingly. "It's just that there's all the Demon Slayers here…"

Oh, boy. Dealing with her seemed like it would take the same amount of effort it took to get Phi out of the mindset he'd been in when he had been Number Two.

"If anyone gives you any trouble, come find me."

"You don't have to help me," Aneko said immediately. "I'll be fine on my own."

"Whatever suits you," Velvet said, shrugging. She'd keep an eye out for Aneko, regardless. "Anyway, we're going to start making gels. You're assisting me."

"Wait, you were serious about teaching me?" Aneko asked, surprised.

"What else did you expect?"

"I thought you just wanted me to stay away from the Demon Slayers…"

Velvet snorted. "Trust me, if that's all I wanted, I'd have a better excuse. Making apple gels will help teach you the fundamentals of mana control."

For a moment, she was quiet, then stepped toward the kitchen table. "What do you want me to do?"

"First, we need to prepare the mixture." She looked around, looking for suitable utensils. "Seems like we'll have to pulp these apples by hand. Start working on that, please. I'll begin boiling the water."

Velvet took one of the pots lying nearby, filled it with water, and then set it on the stove. A spark of fire mana later, the firewood ignited, and she left the pot there to heat up.

Satisfied, she turned back to start chopping the herbs, when she noticed that Aneko was still standing there, looking hesitantly as she stared at the apples in front of her. They were entirely untouched, the bowls set before her completely empty. She held the kitchen knife in her hands, but didn't make any move to begin.

"Something the matter?"

"Umm…" Aneko spoke uncertainly.

Velvet made her way over, inspecting the knife Aneko had been given. Its edge was sharp enough for the job, and it wasn't as though there was rust or dirt on its surface.

She frowned. Why wasn't Aneko starting? Was she still thinking about what that Demon Slayer had been saying? Was she still afraid about an attack when Velvet wasn't looking?

"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned. "If it's the Demon Slayers –"

"No! It's not that!" she denied. Then, very quietly, she admitted, "I… I don't know how to start."

Velvet stared at her. Aneko's pale cheeks darkened.

"No one ever taught you?"

"If they did, I lost my memories of that time when I became a demon…"

"Have you at least washed the apples?"

"…no?"

She looked so guilty and embarrassed, with such an uncanny resemblance to Phi, that Velvet took pity on her.

She sighed. "I'll demonstrate once, and you can repeat it afterwards."

Wordlessly, Aneko watched from the side, as Velvet began explaining the process to her.

"Start by washing the apples. Then, we'll cut them down into smaller pieces, and put them into a pot. Add water to cover them completely, and leave them to boil in order to soften the flesh up. Then, we use a spoon or spatula to mash them up, and strain down to remove the seeds and skin."

She hummed quietly to herself as she set to work, following the steps that Celica had passed down to her, and that she had in turn learned from her mother when Velvet was too young to remember. Much like their cooking recipes and techniques, it was a secret passed down within the women in the family.

It was funny. Here she was now, teaching a demon how to make apple gels.

Once she had finished with the first set of fruit, leaving them to boil, she bid Aneko to start working on another set, silently observing her.

And thus, they worked at that rhythm, Velvet demonstrating once, followed closely by Aneko. For a first timer, she certainly learned fast.

Then again, she was comparing Aneko to the likes of her past companions. Eizen frequently went off tangent, adding more and more complicated ingredients to each dish he prepared, somehow ending up with bizarre dishes never-before having been invented. Rokurou's rendition of Rangetsu-style cooking simply involved chopping everything into fine pieces, even going so far as to making juice with his knives. And Magilou –

– oh, don't even get her started on Magilou. That witch thought that salted radish jam on fried eggs was an actual delicacy.

At long last, the gelatinous mixture of herbs and herbs was set to boil, and she could finally begin the part she wanted to teach Aneko.

"Alright, Aneko. Now, we'll start infusing the mixture with mana as it cooks."

"Right!" she wiped a bead of sweat that had built up from the humidity in the kitchen. "How do I do that?"

"Think of mana as the energy that sustains all life. You've already heard of the earthpulses, earlier. Energy of the world flows through it, and is carried up above. There, it becomes mana, and is part of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat." Velvet began the explanation Celica had taught her. Aneko frowned in confusion, listening to her words carefully.

"Your body naturally stores mana, up to a certain limit. While most humans can barely consciously make use of it at all, as demons we are more able to channel mana through us without our bodies reaching their limits. In fact, from what I can tell, Blood Demon Arts appear to already make use of mana in their composition."

"Huh? Really?"

"Rui's silk, at the very least, seemed to be made of an actual physical component that might have been blood or flesh, charged with both malevolence and mana." She frowned, considering more carefully. "Come to think of it, it's almost similar to a formal arte, bounded by a certain formula."

"What do you mean by a 'formal arte'?" Aneko asked, confused.

"I suppose it's easier to answer that by saying what it's not," Velvet considered. "Watch closely."

She held a hand out, sending a pulse of mana down her arm, shaping and invoking it into a small plume of flame.

"All I'm doing here is expelling mana and converting its nature to something called fire mana," Velvet explained. "By increasing the amount of mana expended, I can go from this, to this." The flame doubled in size. "It's crude and inefficient, but it works for me. We call these unshaped or unstructured artes."

She closed her palm, and the flame extinguished itself. Aneko stared at her hand as the last vapours of smoke trailed off from it.

"Formal artes work differently. Some people also call them structured artes. They are bound by a formula, into which mana can be concentrated in order to achieve a desired effect. Through this formula, more diverse effects can be obtained than by an unshaped arte," Velvet continued. "For example, rather than simply launching lightning from his hands, one of my companions could summon divine lightning from the heavens itself to burn his enemies."

Indignation was about as impressive as artes got, as far as she was concerned. There was nothing quite as awe-inspiring as watching those magical sigils appearing high above the ground, rotating endlessly, before a massive lightning bolt struck down their foes with an accompanying clap of thunder.

That favoured incantation of Phi's alone had been enough to send their enemies scurrying away, more than once.

"What do you mean by a formula?" Aneko asked curiously, still trying to wrap her head around what seemed like archaic knowledge.

"That's a bit of a hard question," Velvet sighed. "Truthfully, I'm no expert in it myself, but my understanding is that the formula can be an object in itself, a way of shaping and organising the flow of mana, or even something as simple as bodily gestures that alter the way mana behaves."

"I…" she scrunched her eyebrows. "I'm not quite sure I understand…"

"Think of it this way," Velvet backtracked. "The sounds coming out when you blow into a flute and a trumpet are different, right?"

"Uhh…" Aneko looked uncertain.

Velvet sighed. "It's not a trick question, you know."

"Yes?"

"Think of a formal arte as the instrument, and air as mana," she said. "By passing in the same input mana through different formulae, you get different outcomes. Hell, someone somewhere probably already devised and inscribed an arte formula into a flute to make it start playing just by feeding in mana."

"So, you're saying that a formula is a… device, of some sort?"

"That's one possibility. A formula can also be entirely mental in nature, requiring expert control over the shaping of mana into specific structures known as sigils," Velvet explained further. "Often, these are accompanied by incantations that help with concentrating and organising mana. I suspect that your Blood Demon Arts fall into much the same category, actually."

"Why do you say that?"

"Something as complex as generating threads from blood, mana and malevolence needs a defined structure," she explained. "For me, summoning semi-corporeal swords as you saw back when I fought Rui is as far as I can go without a formula."

"Why don't you make use of them, then?" she asked, seeming to understand more about the topic now. "From what you're saying, it seems like formal artes are better in every way."

"I can't use them," she grimaced slightly. That had always been a sore point with her. "You need a certain instinctual understanding over mana, a firm grasp of mana theory, or be something born of mana like a malak in order to make use of them properly."

"But I never needed to think to form my acid cocoon, before," Aneko said, frowning.

"It's possible that somehow, Muzan's blood or Rui's blood mixed into your body to give rise to an intrinsic arte formula, that was lost after being burned away with the rest of your malevolence," Velvet suggested. "Still, I doubt that your capability to use mana will have changed. Who knows, maybe you even retain an instinctive ability to shape structured artes."

"But how do I use mana?"

"How do you use your Blood Demon Arts?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"I just sort of… focus, and push… something," Aneko said, gesturing helplessly as she tried to verbalise her thoughts. "It just happens."

"That's probably mana," Velvet said, nodding. She gave a wry smirk. "Don't worry. I can't give a much better description of how to control mana, myself."

"Hmm…" Aneko mused, deep in thought. "You also mentioned something about gestures?"

"A friend of mine made use of seals to shape his mana," Velvet said, thinking back to just how Rokurou's hidden artes worked. "Form 1: Fire Burst, for example, involved him invoking a seal that concentrated fire mana he generated, resulting in an explosion."

"Couldn't you just make use of that? If it's just an action, it shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

"I could," she agreed. "Rokurou taught me some of them, even. The problem with it is that it's inefficient for me."

"Why?" Aneko questioned with confusion. "It sounds to me like concentrating mana gives stronger effects?"

"It does. It also means that your body's limits get strained more. Think of it like this," Velvet said, remembering just how her brief forays into mana theory had went. "If you have a pipe with twice the cross-sectional area as another one, you can achieve the same total flow by doubling the velocity in the narrower pipe, correct?"

Aneko nodded. Velvet continued.

"That's what a seal does, really. It concentrates mana without making it disperse, allowing you to reach a desired effect where you normally can't, based on how much and how fast you can naturally expel and condense mana."

"I still don't get it, though," Aneko pondered. "If you use a seal, wouldn't you be more powerful?"

"A seal will let me concentrate mana, but my body will quite literally explode," she said dryly. Aneko seemed taken aback at that. "Using mana taxes your body, and this increases exponentially with the desired effect."

"I still don't follow…"

"Let's try this," she sighed. "Celica taught it to me this way. So, imagine you're buying some gels from the store, okay?"

"Gels? Why gels?"

"You're buying gels," she repeated, glaring at Aneko, who cowered slightly. "The first gel costs a hundred gald. The second costs two hundred. The third costs four hundred, the fourth eight hundred, and so on."

"And it becomes harder and harder to use mana the more of it you put into an arte," Aneko reasoned.

Velvet nodded. "Exactly. A powerful arte may have ten times the effect of a weaker one, but it will strain your body many times more than that."

"So if you try using a seal, that concentration of mana will break your body apart? Am I understanding that right?"

"Yeah. Even without seals, I can make use of my unstructured artes by expelling and converting mana. Invoking a seal doesn't serve any benefit, since I'm able to condense mana on my own to an amount that my body can just handle, and trying to use seals to condense mana that I expel at a slower rate only wastes precious time in combat."

"Then a formula…" Aneko thought for a moment, mulling over her brief lecture that Velvet really had no business giving. "It disperses the mana? By spreading it out over a wider area, or by changing the way that mana flows, it reduces the strain to your body while still allowing the same final effect?"

Velvet blinked at the remarkably well thought out description. It seemed that Aneko was paying more attention than she'd thought.

"That's quite accurate, actually. It's more nuanced than that, I think, since most of it involves visualisation and making mana flow through sigils, but I think you get the gist of it." She stared at Aneko for a moment. "You're quite a fast learner, you know."

"Ah…" she muttered, abashed. "How do you convert the nature of the mana you expel, then?"

"If you're using an unstructured arte like myself, your own will is insufficient. Formulae, including seals, convert mana into distinct forms directly, like the flute analogy I mentioned earlier. There are more complexities still, for example imbuing mana with malevolence to bolster an arte, but I think you've learnt enough for a day."

"Then…" Aneko frowned, pointing at the mixture that had been left to boil while they talked. "How am I supposed to infuse mana into the gels?"

Velvet smirked. "That, Aneko, is precisely why making gels is an excellent exercise in mana control."

Celica, and Arthur after her death, had made use of this exercise to teach her how to wield mana, clumsy though she may be. She had been able to make use of Searing Edge without breaking her body into smithereens even before she became a therion, after all.

Besides, it was always cheaper to make their own gels than to buy them, if one didn't care much for time.

"Watch closely, now."

She held a hand out, idly sending a steady stream of mana at the mixture. Pure mana drifted out, invisible to the eye, not converted as an arte would have done. Had she not directed it directly at the pot, it would simply have permeated the air, and diffused away into nothingness.

Now, though, it was being absorbed into the gelatinous mixture. The herbs drew on her mana readily, and all of a sudden, the mixture started to bubble even more than it had been.

"What the –" Aneko jumped back for a moment, startled, before eventually drawing closer, peering into the red fluid.

"As you can see, you'll know immediately if you're doing it right," she said. "The herbs I've chosen are able to absorb mana. They react with it, and through ways that even I don't understand, give rise to healing properties after infusing it for long enough."

"What happens if you stop the flow now?"

"You can stop the infusion for brief periods of time, but do so too long and it won't become apple gel. If nothing else, you'll just end up with a tasty snack." Velvet shrugged. "No other properties, though."

"How long do you need to keep this up for?"

"Two hours, give or take. When the herbs are consumed, the bubbling stops, and the mixture naturally breaks into small pieces the size of the gels I've given away."

"How many can this amount make?" Aneko asked, peering over at the bubbling mixture.

"Probably around fifteen. While you can make them in larger batches, it's not recommended, because the mixture is a lot more unstable. The slightest of mistakes will ruin it completely, and you won't get any healing benefits."

Aneko was holding her hand out in front of her, a frown on her pale face, face contorted in concentration. Velvet smiled. Was this how Celica had felt all those years ago, when she had been teaching Velvet the same thing?

She had been a terrible student, after all. Her first attempt at making apple gel had somehow exploded, something both Arthur and Celica said was technically impossible. Arthur had even gone so far as to claim that she must have had invented a new arte to achieve that effect.

How life was so much simpler back then, when Arthur had been Arthur, a man of laughs and smiles.

"Ready to try?"

Startled, Aneko whirled to face her, almost knocking over a chair in the process. "Are you sure?" she asked uncertainly. "I don't want to ruin it…"

"If the stream of mana stops for too long, I'll take over again until the mixture stabilises," she reassured Aneko. "There's no other way to try, really. Just do what you do with your Blood Demon Arts."

"If you're sure, then."

They swapped places. Aneko placed both her hands over the pot, closing her eyes, while Velvet watched both her newfound student and the brewing pot of nascent apple gel.

"Focus," she encouraged. "Remember, it's all about concentration and force of will. It should be similar enough to your Blood Demon Arts."

"Hrnngk," Aneko grunted, her entire face twisting as she strained. "HRNNGK…"

Velvet suppressed the urge to laugh. With how hard she was trying, and how low her confidence already was after having had to serve under Rui and now quite literally being trapped in the lion's den, doing so would hardly be appropriate.

Still, though, it was almost cute, although she doubted the Demon Slayers would see it that way.

Velvet glanced over at the mixture, then started feeding a bit of mana to it, causing it to bubble once more before it became destabilised.

"Keep going at it," she said. "It takes a bit of practice."

Wordlessly, Aneko nodded, but was otherwise fully immersed in the task at hand. Excellent.

It took another two cycles of her stepping in before something happened. All of a sudden, the mixture began boiling rapidly as Aneko held her palms over it.

"I did it!" Aneko exclaimed.

That, of course, broke her concentration, and it reverted to how it had been.

"…oops."

Velvet smiled softly. She was pretty sure she had made the same blunder as her all those years ago, Celica laughing at her all the while. Then, her sister had…

Velvet patted Aneko's head, the smaller demon almost jumping with fright. "Good job," she said, mimicking the actions and words her sister had told her during her first experience with the craft of gel-cooking. "Keep it up."

Velvet stepped away, taking a seat now that it seemed Aneko was starting to get things under control.

"Right!" Aneko affirmed, determined, and the mixture began to boil once more.

Huh. She was really taking to this faster than she thought. Did her past exposure to Blood Demon Arts help matters here? Or was it simply the fact that she was a demon? Velvet had, after all, still been a human when she first began learning how to wield mana.

There was a chance, of course, that Aneko was simply talented, or Velvet just untalented. She hoped it was the former.

About ten minutes of silently watching Aneko grunt and heave later, she became aware of a set of footsteps approaching. Kanae had returned, a jovial smile on her face. Velvet quirked up an eyebrow as she plopped down onto a chair.

"You look happy."

Aneko lost her concentration once more, saw that Velvet was talking to empty air, and realised what was going on. Wordlessly, she returned to her assigned task.

"Of course I'm happy! The boy who thought he could insult two of my newest friends got just what he deserved!"

"Somehow, I don't think that a former Hashira is supposed to put the well-being of two demons over one of her juniors." Velvet stared at her pointedly, then remembered just what Kanae had set out to do. "You don't mean to tell me that you actually used a malak arte on him?"

"Oh, I wish I could." The fire returned to her eyes. "Luckily for me, I didn't even have to move a muscle. Tanjiro and Shinobu did all the work for me."

"They did?" Velvet's brows rose in surprise. "Tanjiro and Shinobu?"

"Yeah! You missed quite a good show! Poor boy was in tears after they were both done."

"I find it hard to imagine that Shinobu would even so much as raise her voice."

"Oh, but that's the best part!" Her grin widened. "Tanjiro had given him such a dressing down to begin with, but sister finally chose that moment to make her grand entrance once he was done. She just gave him such a disappointed look, shook her head, told him that he had let the Corps down by disobeying orders and demoted him on the spot!"

"Isn't he already a Mizunoto? Isn't that the lowest rank of your Corps?"

"There's always cleaning duty." She shrugged. "Anyway, Shinobu really mastered the art of being gently scary in the time since I died, huh? I stuck around for a while after she left, and trust me when I say that those boys were star-struck."

Kanae sat there dreamily, staring off into empty space, as though seeing something invisible. Rather ironic, considering that she was a malak. It was a sight Velvet had become familiar with, ever since Kanae had begun devising her nonsensical plan of trying to adopt Tanjiro, Nezuko and Aneko.

"You've got that look in your eye again…"

"Do you think Shinobu will find a good husband soon? Oh, maybe Kyojuro? Do you think he's her type?" She considered for a moment, then frowned. "No, maybe he's a little too eccentric for her. What about Giyu?"

"How am I supposed to know about your sister's love life?" Velvet sighed in frustration. A small giggle escaped Aneko's lips, although this time she didn't lose concentration over her mana.

Damn it. Velvet was both proud and annoyed of her now.

"It's strange how I still haven't seen adorable little Kanao around," Kanae mused. "Maybe she's over in the main building?"

"Kanao?"

"Oh, right! I didn't tell you yet, did I? I've got a younger sister, Tsuyuri Kanao." Kanae smiled fondly.

"Tsuyuri?" Velvet asked. "Not Kocho?"

"We took her into our family," Kanae explained. "She was being sold by a slaver at the time –"

"A slaver?" Velvet narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Yeah… don't worry, though, Shinobu made a fool of him," Kanae said, face twisting in momentary anger. "She was… well, there's no easy way to put it. She suffered a lot during her childhood. Do you know she never cried? Shinobu always claimed that she was expressionless, but I always knew that there was a part of Kanao deep within just waiting to come to the surface."

"Sounds complicated."

"Yeah… for the longest time, she wouldn't even so much as talk to anyone, but she got a bit better over the years. She wouldn't even budge until we phrased something as an order. Shinobu and I were the only ones she really ever talked to, and even then she would barely say anything." She stared into the air wistfully, lost in her memories. "I wonder how she's changed since then?"

Actually, it sounded a little like how Phi had been initially, come to think of it. Hadn't he interpreted her order for him to keep his mouth shut literally, all the way until he had almost died back in the Laban Tunnels, when they had just met Eizen and the rest of Aifread's pirates?

"I gave her a coin and told her to flip it whenever she needed to make a decision where she didn't know what to do, you know?" Kanae sighed. "I wonder if she ever outgrew that phase? Maybe she found a boy somewhere and fell in love?"

…the second half of Kanae's statement, Velvet would ignore, but the first…

Man, would Eizen have a fit if he heard about someone like that.

'But if the Reaper learns to grasp the wheel of his life, even he may find his creed, his path through stormy waters.'

"You're really cute when you smile like that, you know, Velvet?" Kanae said suddenly.

Velvet scowled. "You know I can eat you, right?"

"Aww, you're becoming more and more adorable!" Kanae swooned.

"Say that again, and I will eat you," Velvet threatened, pointing at her bandage.

"Fine, fine," the Hashira said placatingly, holding her palms up. "What were you thinking about, anyway?"

"Nothing important."

"Come on, tell me!" Then, she gasped, covering her mouth with one hand. "Were you thinking about a boy you fell in love with?"

Velvet snorted. Eizen?

Not a chance in hell.

"I was just thinking about Eizen, if you must know."

Kanae's eyes widened further, stepping closer to Velvet than she really had any business to, grabbing at her hands. "So you and Eizen, then?"

"Not a chance," she said, snatching her hands back. Kanae pouted. "What you said about Kanao just reminded me of him, that's all."

"How so?"

"Let's just say that if Eizen and her were ever to meet, he would have some very strong choice words for her."

"Why would he?" Kanae gasped. "Kanao's the sweetest girl you'll ever meet!"

"It's not about that," Velvet sighed. "I told you about Eizen's Reaper's Curse, right? Misfortune follows him and those around him wherever he goes."

"That sounds horrible!"

"It didn't deter him in the slightest. He never let his curse dictate his life. He lived life the way he wanted." Velvet smiled faintly, remembering how the headstrong malak had always been the anchor of their little group. "He rubbed off on the rest of us. He steered the wheel of his own life, and we sort of adopted that into our own little creed."

"He seems like a very determined person."

"You bet he is. As an earth malak, he couldn't swim, but he still tried to learn how. The first time he stepped into a river, a flood sent him down a landslide from the mountains and swallowed him up. When he tried going into a lake, seaweed suddenly tangled around him and tried drowning him. Then, when he tried jumping into the ocean, a whirlpool formed right around him."

"Are you serious?"

"Oh, very serious." She chuckled. At times, his passionate adherence to his own creed could go past plain zeal straight into overbearing.

"He sounds like the opposite of Kanao," Kanae noted.

"In more ways than one, really." Velvet dug around in her pouch, searching for one of those special gag coins that Rokurou had Kurogane create. "See this?"

"It's… a coin?"

"Look. Both sides are heads." She held the coin out to show Kanae. "Part of his Reaper's Curse meant that he could never get heads when he tossed a coin."

"Never?" Kanae asked sceptically. "Surely that's impossible?"

"Trust me on that. We tried to get him to land on heads for once with coins like that," Velvet said. "The first coin was blown away by the wind. The second was eaten by a seagull. The third broke into pieces the moment he caught it."

Kanae blinked. "No way."

"You best believe it," Velvet said, smiling wistfully. "Like your sister, he had a coin he tossed all the time. It always came back tails, but he never let it define him. 'If you can't hold something in your hand, then make a fist and take it by force,' he told us."

In the corner of her vision, she noticed how Aneko reacted slightly to those words, but continued working on her exercise in mana control. It hadn't been Velvet's idea to share Eizen's story in order to help Aneko get over the downcast state she'd been in, but hopefully it had somehow worked out well.

Despite Kanae's penchant to dig her nose into matters she really didn't need to, Velvet would begrudgingly admit that there were certain positives to it.

"To live life by his own rules, huh?" Kanae sounded impressed. Then, she leaned in, a speculative smirk on her face. "Are you sure you two didn't have a thing going on?"

"Tch." She swatted Kanae away. "I told you, it's not like that. Besides, he's over a thousand years old, you know."

"Ah, I see!" Kanae nodded sagely. "So you do like older men, then!"

"There's no arguing with you, is there?" Velvet shook her head, then turned back to her new protégé in the finer arts of gel-crafting. "How's the gel looking, Aneko?"

She flinched slightly, startled at being addressed, but the bubbling of the mixture didn't change. Velvet raised an eyebrow, impressed. To maintain such constant control in her first conscious use of mana spoke volumes of her talent.

"It's going alright, I think. It's starting to feel a little like my Blood Demon Arts," Aneko informed her. Already, she wasn't having to grunt out her words while still releasing a continuous, steady flow of mana. "You and the Hashira had a really long chat, huh?"

"Pfft, call me Kanae, dear!"

A second passed, as Velvet simply stared at Kanae.

"I forgot that Aneko couldn't hear me! Wait, this whole time we were talking… I'm so sorry, that was so rude of me!" Kanae gasped. There was a beat, then she glared at Velvet. "Help me say that I'm sorry!"

"Kanae says that she really hates you and that –"

"I did not!" The Hashira kicked at Velvet's shin angrily. "Look, she looks so shocked and sad now! Tell her!"

"Fine, fine," Velvet sighed, then turned to face Aneko, jabbing her thumb back toward where Kanae was sheepishly looking apologetically at Aneko. "She says that she's really sorry that she forgot you couldn't hear her, and to just call her Kanae."

"Huh? The Hashira did?" Aneko asked, surprised. ('Kanae!' the aforementioned Hashira shouted in her ear.) "Oh… it's okay?"

"Tell her to call me Kanae!"

"Can you please call her Kanae so she would stop shouting in my ear?" Velvet sighed tiredly.

"Kanae?" Aneko spoke slowly, very understandably confused.

"Good girl!" Kanae praised. "See? Was that so hard, Velvet?"

She rubbed at her temple slowly. "I swear, I have no idea how anyone ever dealt with you while you were alive."

"Meh, death changes your perspective on things. After years of having no one to talk to, anyone would turn into a chatterbox, really. I was a lot more like how Shinobu is now when I was alive," she said nonchalantly, never once pausing in her speech. "Come to think of it, why is she like that, now?"

"What was Shinobu like before?"

"She was a lot more brash and straightforward, for one," Kanae reminisced. "She would always speak her mind, and challenge you directly whenever she felt something was wrong."

…it was painfully obvious why Shinobu had changed.

"Do you really not know why she changed?" Velvet asked disbelievingly.

"Wait, you do?" Kanae zipped over by her side. "How do you know? Tell me!"

"It's a mask," Velvet said. She remembered how cold and calculating the woman had been, hidden underneath that smile of hers with eyes that betrayed the yearning for vengeance within. "She's emulating you."

"There's no way that can be true," Kanae scoffed. "Shinobu would never change the way she is just to imitate me, even if I died. That just isn't who she is."

For a few seconds, Velvet didn't speak. Then, without looking at Kanae in the eyes, she told her about the deep, fundamental truth that only one who experienced loss like they had could understand.

"Trust me on this, Kanae, I know." She stared at her bandaged arm that hid her true self from the world. "When someone you love and care for dies, your entire world changes."

"What are you talking about now?" Kanae asked, concerned at her behaviour.

"I'm saying that I understand your sister's desire for vengeance, and the need to honour your memory," Velvet sighed. She could understand where Shinobu was coming from now, at least. Velvet's entire quest for revenge had been born out a desire to convince herself that Laphi's death wasn't for nothing. "She's going about it in a different way from me, but I know vengeance when I see it."

"It can't be true…"

"Believe what you want." Velvet stood up, bringing the matter to a conclusion. "Anyway, it's almost sundown. You haven't eaten anything since lunch yesterday, have you?"

"Velvet…" Kanae's voice trailed away.

"I'll prepare dinner for you two. Why don't you two have a chat while I cook?"

"Oh, that's an excellent idea! Hey, Aneko –" Kanae paused, then groaned as Velvet smirked openly. "Why do you have to do this to me?"

"Huh?" Aneko asked in confusion.

"Nothing. Jokes aside, you did miss my brief introduction to mana and artes that I gave Aneko earlier." Velvet made her way over to the shelves and cupboards, glancing over what ingredients were available. "Aneko, why don't you tell her what I told you?"

"I won't be able to listen to her speak," Aneko said slowly.

"Trust me, it's best for your sanity's sake that you can't." Velvet ignored the indignant 'hey!' that Kanae gave her. "Eventually, though, you'll probably be able to see her once she becomes more like the other malakhim from my world. I don't think there were daemons who couldn't see malakhim."

Even before the Opening and Advent, she added mentally. They didn't need to know about those, though.

"Wait, you're saying that I can talk to Aneko in the future?" Kanae gaped, following Velvet as she took inventory of the kitchen.

"Just begin the lesson, Aneko. She's standing right next to you."

"Oh… alright. So, mana is the energy that sustains all life –"

"Wait up! Velvet lied! I'm not there yet!" Kanae hurriedly rushed over, shooting a final parting glare at Velvet. Unfortunately for her, Aneko couldn't hear a word she'd said, causing her to miss part of the explanation.

"– earthpulse. Our bodies store mana, that can be unleashed as artes…"

Velvet tuned her out. It seemed to her that Aneko had at least a good grasp on what limited theory she had been taught so far.

Right, then. Flour, butter, salt and pepper, eggs, pork belly, cheese, leeks, mushrooms, onions, parsley, cream, garlic, soy sauce, olive oil, sesame oil.

Excellent. All the ingredients were in place.

She hoped that Aneko would like the little reward she had planned for taking to mana control that quickly. She certainly had, back when Celica had done the same thing for her more than a decade ago.

-o-o-o-

"What's this?"

"Quiche," Velvet said, setting the plate down. "It's a family secret recipe. Tell me if you like it."

They had better. The recipe for Crowe's Special Quiche passed down from Celica to her had never failed to send mouths watering, no matter who she cooked it for.

"It looks delicious," Kanae gushed. "Can I eat it now?"

"One second. Aneko, let me take a look at the gel," she said, stepping over to inspect the pot.

"It stopped bubbling a while ago, but it hasn't yet broken into smaller chunks like you said it would," Aneko said worriedly. "Did I mess it up?"

"Oh, you need to send a larger pulse of mana at the end to break it up. Here, I'll show –"

She watched, fascinated, as the gel mixture spontaneously broke apart, Aneko having taken the initiative to experimentally pulse her own mana into the mixture. She looked over at Velvet, an excited and hopeful expression on her face.

"- never mind. Looks like you have things under control." She took the pot off from the flame, covering it back up with the lid. "Good job. Sit down; I've made you some dinner."

"What would have happened if it didn't work?" Aneko asked as she moved toward the table.

"Who knows? Maybe that's how my first batch of gels exploded," Velvet mused. "Not that chair, by the way. Kanae's sitting there."

Aneko gave a small 'eep' as she scurried to the chair opposite the malak, who cooed at the demon girl.

"Aww, she's so shy around me!"

"She's shy because you're a Hashira would could kill her at any moment, you know."

"Aneko! Don't be so scared!" Kanae wailed. "Tell her!"

"I'm not going to play translator for you, Kanae," Velvet sighed. "Ask me to do that one more time and I'll tell her the exact opposite of everything you say."

Gently, she scooped the finalised spheres of apple gel from the pot, placing them on a tray. "Eat up, Aneko," she said, bringing the pot to the basin. "You must be tired after two hours of that, and having to explain all about mana to Kanae."

"I don't actually need to eat –"

"You can still taste, can't you?" She raised an eyebrow, while Aneko nodded meekly. "Then eat."

Hesitantly, she took a bite of the quiche. Velvet watched expectantly, searching for that familiar reaction everyone who had ever tasted Celica's special quiche made –

"It's good!" Aneko's eyes grew wide, taking a second large mouthful. "It's actually really good!"

"Actually?" Velvet quoted. "Are you implying something there?"

"I mean – "

"Relax, Aneko. I'm just joking."

She wouldn't ever have joked just a few months back, when she was still hell-bent on her quest for revenge.

Alas, now, when she could finally see past the veil of hatred and her single-minded focus on dragging Artorius to the grave along with herself, the only ones privy to her humour were a demon who was constantly on edge and a malak who never shut up.

"Stop teasing her, Velvet!"

She sat down between the pair, cutting a small slice of the quiche she'd made. With how many ingredients she had available, there was quite a fair amount of extra food that they definitely wouldn't be able to finish.

Hopefully, Tanjiro and his friends would appreciate that little gesture.

Who knows, perhaps if she told them Aneko made it, they would at least like her just a little bit more?

"Velvet ..."

"Yes, Kanae, I'll feed you," she groaned, bringing the slice that she'd cut over to Kanae's waiting mouth. "I swear, you're just like a little baby."

She smiled brightly as she bit down on the tip of the triangular slice. Then, she paused for a second, unmoving as though a statue. Her eyes grew comically large, then without warning, she lunged forward, devouring the rest of the slice.

Velvet withdrew her hand quickly, but alas she was too late. Her fingers came back damp with Kanae's saliva. Her face twitched, while Kanae chewed innocently, her expression one of absolute bliss. Aneko just watched on, in mixed amazement and disgust, as in front of her eyes the quiche disappeared into nothingness while small flecks flew across the table.

"Man, this is really good, Velvet!" she praised after swallowing the large mouthful she had taken.

Very slowly, almost excruciatingly so, Velvet wiped her fingers down on the tablecloth, glaring intensely at the malak all the while.

It was only then that Kanae realised just what she had done, and she blushed heavily.

Velvet shook her head. "You're actually a little baby, aren't you?"

"Hey, you try dying and going without food for years and tell me that you won't do the same thing!" Kanae tried defending herself.

"I think I've seen daemons eat flesh in a more civilised fashion than that," Velvet said. "Hell, I think even my brother wasn't that bad when he was a baby."

"Wait, you have a younger brother?" Kanae questioned. "You never told me that!"

"Wasn't relevant."

Laphi... Laphi was a complicated matter. She loved the memory of him, but after learning about how he had willingly acted as a sacrifice for Artorius...

It was difficult reconciling the Laphi she knew and who he really was. Sure, she knew that they both loved each other, but still there was a mild sting of betrayal that she couldn't shake off that he would throw his life away like that.

Then again, she really wasn't one to judge. She had been about to do the same; killing Artorius even if it meant her own death to avenge Laphi.

Crowes really were a dysfunctional bunch.

"H- hey, don't look so glum, Velvet!" Kanae hurriedly added, waving her hands about. "You've got us now!"

"Pretty sure that only makes things worse," she retorted without missing a beat. Had her expression actually changed, anyway? "Sometimes, I don't know who is more annoying between you or Magilou."

"Magilou?"

"Mazhigigika Miludin do Din Nolurun Dou," she recited.

"Pardon?"

"Never mind. Just eat."

Silently, she fed Kanae another slice. This time, she at least had the decency to slow down her frankly phenomenal rate of devouring the pastry, but the spark in her eyes as she chewed just made her look like a really grown up baby.

"Aren't you eating at all, Velvet?" Aneko finally spoke up.

"Oh, right. I haven't told you yet. I can't taste anything," she said.

"You can't taste?"

"See, that's what I said!"

"Quiet, Kanae. Grown-ups are talking," she shushed the Hashira, feeding her another bit of quiche as though a pacifier. "And yes. It happened shortly after I became a therion."

"How in the world can you cook something like this without your taste intact?" Aneko featured wildly at the now half-eaten dish. "It's amazing! It's better than blood, even!"

Unseen by Aneko, Kanae flinched.

"Like I said, my sister taught me."

"She taught you how to make gels too, right?"

Velvet nodded. "That, and many other things."

"An older sister, huh?" Aneko mused to herself. "I wonder how that's like?"

Kanae chortled suddenly, sending bits of crumbs flying from her mouth, right into the face of a shell-shocked Aneko. Velvet couldn't blame her; being pelted by partially chewed food appearing from thin air wasn't an everyday occurrence, even for her.

"Hah!" she giggled. "The Older Sister doesn't know what an older sister is like!

Velvet groaned at the weak pun. Aneko looked at her curiously, but Velvet simply shook her head.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Then, she sent an icy glare at Kanae, withholding the slice of quiche in her hands. "If you don't behave, I'm not feeding you."

"No! I take it back! Please, don't –"

Suddenly, she fell silent. Velvet knew exactly why; she was feeling that same sense of shock.

Aneko was laughing.

Once again, Velvet was suddenly reminded of Phi, how he had broken out from being the emotionless tool into the opinionated malak that came to adopt Eizen's creed. From being a malak they had technically kidnapped, he had become Velvet's closest friend. A brother, almost.

By her side, Kanae looked on with a faint smile as Aneko finally relaxed for the first time since entering the mansion.

"You're like a mom disciplining her child," she said between giggles. "Is the Hashira really that bad?"

"Yes." "No!" Two voices called in unison.

"How old is she, anyway?"

"She claims to be nineteen, although I'm starting to suspect that was a lie."

"I am nineteen!"

"Could you –" Aneko hesitated for a moment, but then continued with what she wanted to say. "Could you tell me how the Hashira – how Kanae is like?"

Huh. What an odd question.

"Hey! She said my name!" Kanae stretched her hand out, her fingers slipping through Aneko's hair as she pat the girl. "Good girl, Aneko!"

"How can I put it…" Velvet tapped a finger at her chin idly. "Appearance wise, she looks like Shinobu, but her behaviour is the complete opposite. She never shuts up, either. The whole time we were walking from the headquarters, she was telling me how once she learned to perform malak artes, she would go around pranking people."

"Hey! Setting people up isn't pranking! Consider me an agent of love!"

"Your Love Hashira has got that covered, I think. Ironic, considering your first plan was to send a gust of wind to sweep her into Obanai's arms." Velvet rolled her eyes. "Why do you even think they would fit well together, anyway? They don't seem like they would make a good pair."

"Uhh… what?" Aneko asked, lost in the one-sided conversation.

"Treasure your sanity while it lasts. One of these days, she might just find out how to act like a proper malak and probably be seen by you."

"You best believe that day is coming soon! I'll adopt Aneko, Tanjiro and Nezuko into my family!" Kanae swooned.

"I think you need to prove that you're not actually a little child before you can do that, Kanae."

"Yes, mom," she droned mockingly. Then, a calculating look appeared in her eyes. "Wait… mom…"

Uh-oh. Warning bells were ringing.

"You cook really well, Velvet…" She leaned in close. "And you knew exactly how to teach Aneko to use her mana, and then even fed me while I ate…" She gasped. "Are you a mother?"

"Of course not," she scoffed. "Besides, can demons even become mothers?"

"The Mother Spider Demon was a mother –"

"Her name was Miyuki, and that mockery of a family you were a part of was anything but," she growled. "Rui's vision of a family was twisted. That's all there is to it."

"But then what is a family like?"

"You don't know?" Velvet asked, both surprised and shocked, with an undercurrent of anger.

"I forgot my memories of the time I was a human… Rui's family was all I had…"

Damn it. Whether or not he had a tragic story of his own, Velvet really wished she had made Rui suffer just a little bit more. Perhaps if she were more like Rokurou, she could have cut him up finely enough to near-transparent slices.

"Alright, Velvet! New plan!" Kanae suddenly exclaimed. "I'll be Aneko's new sister!"

"I thought you wanted to be Aneko's mother?"

"What are you two even talking about?"

"Oh, no! See, that's where you come in!" Kanae grinned smugly. "You can cook, you can fight, you can teach; you can do everything! You're practically mother material!"

"I'm not going to be a mother –"

"WAAAAH!" Kanae wailed loudly, attempting to clutch on to a bewildered Aneko. "Mother's bullying me, sister!"

Right. Best that she take her leave before she truly becomes insane from this nonsense.

"I'm going to bring these up to Tanjiro and the rest." She gestured at the vaguely half-eaten quiche. "Aneko, are you coming along?"

"I'm lost about what you and Kanae are talking about…"

"Don't worry, you're missing nothing important. Let's go."

Kanae tried to continue pestering Velvet, but gave up after a while once it was clear that she wasn't about to respond any time soon. Instead, she began to walk alongside them, looking searchingly at the pair as though appraising them for something.

Knowing Kanae, Velvet wasn't sure if that was really the better alternative.

"What are we going to do now, anyway?" Aneko asked as they made their way through the corridors. "I know you said you wanted us to work on artes, but how long do you plan for us to stay here?"

"I'm not sure," Velvet replied honestly. "Kagaya did raise a good point that Muzan would try to hunt us down. I might be able to handle myself, but there's no way that you can hold your own against him." Then, she asked Kanae a question. "How do I compare against Muzan, anyway?"

"No one knows," she said, grimacing. "The last one of us to fight him must have been during the Sengoku period." Finally serious for once, she regarded Velvet gravely. "You fought impressively well against Rui on Natagumo Mountain, but Muzan is entire orders of magnitude above his strength."

"Not to mention durability, too," Velvet mused. Though she had power in spades, her vulnerability had always been one of her big weaknesses. If she had taken tens of seconds to drain Rui of his malevolence, she could only imagine how much more of it Muzan possessed, since by all accounts all it had taken was a small gift of blood to transmit malevolence to his subordinates.

"Do you remember anything about him, Aneko?"

She flinched for a moment, a knee-jerk reaction to the past forbidden topic of talking about Kibutsuji Muzan. "I don't know," she said slowly. "All the memories I have are hazy. All I remember is the sheer sense of power I felt from him."

Hmm. That didn't bode well. Velvet liked to think that she at least matched him in the malevolence department, if not outright overshadowed him, since she was one of Innominat's seven mouths. If she treated him as one of the daemons of Desolation that she was used to, she might be able to outmatch him in terms of pure destructive capability, but that regenerative ability of his would undoubtedly make a prolonged fight difficult for her.

Further thought would have to wait, though. They were now in front of the infirmary. Velvet gave a slight nod to Aneko, who steeled herself, before they entered the room, Velvet carrying a tray of apple gels while Aneko carried a half-eaten quiche.

She should probably have baked an extra, now that she thought about it. Kanae was a messy eater.

The room fell silent as they stepped in. No guesses as to why.

Kenjiro was still there, although his eyes had lost the fire in them. He looked defeated and humiliated, only regarding her for a second before staring back at his sheets. Tanjiro and Shinobu must have done a better job than she'd thought.

"Tanjiro, Zenitsu," she greeted. It seemed that the boar-headed one – Inosuke? – still wasn't back. "We've brought food."

Aneko sent a final worried glance at her. Velvet nodded encouragingly, and she made to step forward toward Tanjiro's bed, placing the bed on the bedside table.

"Quiche," she explained to Tanjiro's unasked question. "We made some extras."

"Oh! An offering of food from an angel!" Zenitsu rushed over to Tanjiro's side, snatching a slice before his friend could take one.

Was it just her imagination, or was his voice just a little too stiff now? Was he as apprehensive about their presence as the rest of his peers now, after the manner in which she had previously exited the infirmary?

"Zenitsu! Don't be rude!" Tanjiro scolded, before he stood up and gave a slight bow toward Velvet and Aneko. "Thank you very much!"

"Don't worry about it. Why are the two of two even still here, anyway?"

"Ah… they said they wanted to do some final examinations to make sure that our injuries are gone," Tanjiro explained. "Tomorrow, we will begin recovery training."

She ignored the loud cries of delight that Zenitsu gave after taking the first bite, as he promptly began devouring the quiche. She cocked her head to the side, gesturing at Nezuko's box that was placed by the side. "Does Nezuko want to eat, too?"

"Huh?" He seemed startled for a moment, then frowned glumly. "Nezuko… Nezuko doesn't eat. She hasn't eaten anything since she became a demon."

"Aneko's eaten it too, you know."

"Wait, really?" Tanjiro asked, incredulous, his head whirling toward the smaller demon. "You eat food?" His head fell. "Oh no… I'm a terrible brother…"

"Ah, actually…" Aneko said hastily, simultaneously startled and bewildered at the attention suddenly directed at her. "I haven't eaten anything but flesh up until Velvet saved me…"

Velvet didn't miss the ripple of tension that spread across the room as she spoke about her past as one of Muzan's demons, and she doubted Aneko would either. Nonetheless, Tanjiro hurriedly opened the box, taking out a drowsy Nezuko that was slowly rubbing at her eyes, perplexed at the interruption.

"Nezuko! Nezuko! I'm so sorry!" Tanjiro's head bobbed rapidly. "I'm a terrible brother! No, a terrible person! Do you want some food?"

Nezuko blinked, confused, staring up uncomprehendingly at her brother.

"Here!" He cut another small slice of quiche, holding it out to her. "For you! Aneko and Velvet made it!"

She just stared at him, hard, tilting her head to one side.

"Oh, right! You can't eat with that on! Umm…"

He paused for a moment, as though uncertain about whether or not to remove the bamboo gag.

"Why does Nezuko even have that on, anyway?" Velvet asked.

"It's so that she doesn't accidentally bite a human if she ever loses control," Tanjiro hurriedly explained. "Tomioka-san put it on her when he spared her life two years ago."

"Take it off." Velvet snorted at the look of surprise that Tanjiro shot her. "She refrained from drinking the blood of the Wind Hashira. Two years ago she might have lost control, but that was a long time ago."

Hell, to have survived for two years without eating anything? Velvet knew that sort of hunger well, but even she at least had a constant supply of demons being thrown into her pit on Titania to at least stem the tide somewhat at the very beginning.

Besides, being gagged like that was something she disapproved of heavily. It reminded her of how Phi had been but a tool during his time as Malak Number Two, stripped of all individuality.

"Uhh…"

"I think that Aneko or myself would sooner lose control than Nezuko," Velvet said truthfully. "Take it off, or I'll do it myself."

Tanjiro was still uncertain, but complied nonetheless. "Be good, okay, Nezuko?" he cajoled gently. "Big brother is going to take off your gag now."

Nezuko still seemed to be unaware of what was going on around her, dazed from being untimely woken up from her sleep. When at last the strap was removed from her head, she just looked around with plain confusion at everyone present, entirely harmless.

"Come now, Nezuko!" Tanjiro seemed encouraged by the fact that she hadn't immediately become berserk. "Big brother's going to feed you some food now, okay?"

With that, he began feeding her; Nezuko taking slow, tentative bites initially, before picking up the pace and nibbling rapidly through the slice with a contented smile.

"Aww, she's so cute!" Kanae swooned in an instant. "How could Giyu bear to do that to her?"

"How did you know Nezuko wouldn't lose control of herself?" Tanjiro asked, curious, as he cut another slice for his sister.

Velvet shrugged. "I know hunger," she said simply.

Watching the still-bemused Nezuko being frantically fed by her doting brother made her recall the times she had done the same with Laphi. Even just prior to his death, she had continued feeding him medicines and his favourite food in the days where his frail body just couldn't support himself, no matter how much he adamantly claimed that he would be fine on his own.

Laphi… she could understand why he sided with Artorius, knowing now about the inevitable death by the age of twelve that would come from his affliction. Still, with the bittersweet memories of the times they had spent together, she couldn't help but feel the contradictory pang of betrayal and doting love she had always felt for him.

At least this sibling pair would hopefully have a better future than the dysfunctional Crowe family.

"Y…" Nezuko made a sound. Instantly, they all fell silent, watching her as she stared with determination at Aneko and Velvet.

"Yum!"

Velvet snorted, as Zenitsu promptly tackled Tanjiro once more, moaning all the while about how he had, she would quote, 'cruelly kept Nezuko's cuteness hidden from the world'. She had no idea why Nezuko couldn't speak properly, but demons of this world were bizarre enough as they were. She would accept this as yet another oddity that came with those transformed by Muzan's blood.

She left them to their devices, turning her attention now to Aoi, who had been respectfully standing aside. "We've made gels like you requested," she said, pointing to the tray that had been set aside. "Fifteen apple gels. Their effectiveness decreases if taken consecutively, so make sure to stagger them apart."

"Thank you!" Aoi abandoned her usual stoic demeanour, carefully inspecting the finished products. "I'll start distributing them right away!"

"If you think that I'll eat something made by demons –"

Kenjiro was silenced immediately by the venomous looks sent over by not only Tanjiro, but also Zenitsu, Aoi and even several of the Demon Slayers Velvet had come across on the mountain. His head fell, his indignation dying before its flames could even be rekindled.

"Remember Lady Kocho's words, Kenjiro," Aoi warned. He blanched, nodding hurriedly.

There were ten beds in the infirmary. The most injured of the lot was Usui, who even with Velvet's initial life-saving apple gel back on the mountain was still much worse off than the rest. He accepted the apple gel offered by Aoi gratefully, as she went continued on her rounds to the rest of the beds.

One by one, they ate their new medication dutifully, its effects invigorating them within a matter of seconds to minutes. Some of them offered their thanks, but many more did not.

It didn't matter to her, anyway. She never expected any gratitude from them.

"Did Shinobu assign any place for Aneko and I to stay?" she asked Aoi once she returned.

"Lady Kocho has told us to prepare the guest rooms for both of you," she replied, only slightly miffed at the overly-familiar way Velvet had addressed the Hashira. "Please, follow me."

"Alright. Aneko, we're leaving."

Out they went from the infirmary again, Kanae navigating through the corridors of her former home with familiarity. Aneko wasn't as tense as she'd been at the start of the day, after having seen at least some of the Demon Slayers quelling Kenjiro's (albeit justifiable) blind anger.

Her life really did get more and more interesting with each day, Velvet mused. In the three days she'd been in this world, she had met so many people that reminded her of her past companions, either because of their similarities or because they were so completely opposite in nature it was almost bizarre.

Unbeknownst to her, one of those people had been listening in to their conversation just before they entered the infirmary, gifted with extraordinary hearing as he was.

Agatsuma Zenitsu was understandably confused, bewildered, and more than a little uneasy regarding Velvet Crowe. He had been too far away to eavesdrop on them while they had been preparing gels, but he had caught the last portion of their conversation at they walked along the corridors of the Butterfly Estate. She and Aneko had made mention of something they called 'artes', Muzan Kibutsuji apparently wanting to hunt the pair of demons down, and Velvet talking and responding to someone he couldn't hear.

She was a demon, that much was clear. She had also saved his and Tanjiro's lives, as well as many other Demon Slayers, as Usui had loudly proclaimed after she had already left the room. Tanjiro had shifted uneasily in the wake of her parting – he was never any good at concealing anything, the poor honest boy – but Zenitsu didn't think it was his place to pry. If whatever secret of Velvet and Aneko he was keeping was worth him going against his honest nature, then it had to be something important indeed.

Zenitsu's ears followed as the sound of her footsteps faded into the distance, across the corridors of the Estate. He could hear a difference in the way she walked and carried herself compared to most demons he met. Velvet was not gentle and pure like Nezuko was, and yet there was no mistaking the resolute determination in her footsteps or the slight fondness she displayed toward Tanjiro and Nezuko. There was sorrow and a sense of purposeless uncertainty, but also passion and determination. She spoke of her and Aneko's past history of having killed humans with regret, and yet no guilt.

In short, she was a mess of contradictions. He had his misgivings, but if Tanjiro trusted her, then perhaps he would too.

Besides, she made an excellent quiche. She would be a wife any hot-blooded male would be glad to have (Tanjiro and Inosuke didn't count – those dunces wouldn't know a woman's affection even if directly confronted with it), if she wasn't so overwhelmingly scary. Yet another contradiction for the mysterious demon-angel known as Velvet Crowe, he supposed.

-o-o-o-

Velvet watched over Aneko's sleeping form silently. Her chest rose and fell, and with how she had immediately curled up and fallen asleep on the cushioned mattresses provided by the Estate's attendants, she knew that the smaller demon had to have been tired out by the long day she'd had. Being part of Rui's family couldn't have been easy, and there hadn't been a moment of rest for her since the fighting on the mountain.

Velvet was much more accustomed to sleepless nights, after her long days ever on the move. Artorius may be dead, but now she had other priorities on her mind. Silently, she gestured for Kanae to follow her toward the window, further away from Aneko.

"Kanae," she asked quietly, not wanting to rouse Aneko from her sleep. "Just how powerful are Muzan and his Twelve Moons, really?"

"You killed the Lower Moon Five, but the difference between an Upper and Lower Moon is astoundingly great," Kanae answered. "Any Hashira could probably triumph over a Lower Moon, but fall short against the Upper Moons. It probably wouldn't be far-fetched to say that any of the Upper Moons could defeat all the Lower Moons combined."

"That bad, huh?" she mused absently. "Six Upper Moons and Muzan, against Nine Hashira. The odds don't favour you."

Sure, Rui hadn't been a challenge, but she simply didn't have a basis to compare him against. Sanemi hadn't been too impressive in their duel, since she had been more than easily able to parry his attacks without the use of her claw or empowering her artes with malevolence, but had he been holding back like her?

"Please tell me that you're not considering fighting him," Kanae urged. "I died to the Upper Moon Two. Muzan has to be many, many times stronger than him."

"Upper Moon Two? That's the second top position of the twelve, right?"

Come to think of it, there was an idea there…

"Kanae." The malak sensed the seriousness in her voice, listening to her next words closely. "I want you to tell me how I match up against that demon you died to."

"Well, from what I can tell in your fight against Rui… you were impressive, but –"

"I was holding back." She smiled mirthlessly, as Kanae started at that admission. "What? I couldn't exactly use my malevolence and risk transforming you into a daemon, could I? Besides, I couldn't pack too much mana into my artes, otherwise there would be a risk of collateral damage to you, Tanjiro and Nezuko."

"Just how strong are you?" Kanae gaped.

"Wouldn't we both like to know," she muttered, staring out the window. Now a few days after the Scarlet Night, the moon was starting to wane. It was an entirely different moon from Desolation's own, but the sight was as beautiful as it had been in their days out at sea on the Van Eltia.

She hadn't been able to use her artes to their fullest potential. She could hardly launch a Scarlet Edge or set the entire damned forest ablaze with Blue Inferno with her maximum capabilities, lest she kill those she was trying to protect. Even Innumerable Wounds had been severely handicapped without Phi's glyphs and paper charms, being used more for the principle of how it worked than its truest potential.

Then there was still more uncertainty yet. How would the Scarlet Night change the demons of this world? Why and how did she arrive in Japan? Were there any others who might have been transported from Desolation to Japan?

Would there be any hope that she would ever find her companions again?

She knew, though, that there was likely no way for her to return to Desolation. Even if she could, she wasn't certain if she wanted to. She had been the cause of far too much devastation in her time as Lord of Calamity, and the Shepherd's teachings too ingrained among the populace, that there was no way she would ever be welcomed back.

For now, her place was in this world.

"Tomorrow, I'll start training with Aneko. If she's ever going to learn how to be independent, she needs to get strong enough to at least have a shot of shaking off Muzan on her own," she decided. "You can work on trying some malak artes too, now that Aneko's explained how mana works."

"Of course. I'm dying to have a chance to actually do something, anyway. Figuratively speaking, of course, since I'm already dead." Kanae's eyes narrowed, noting that Velvet hadn't made mention of what she would be doing. "What about you?"

"Training, of course." She took off her gauntlet and boots, setting them aside, but of course still within reach in the event of an ambush. "In the morning, I want you to tell me just how I compare against the demon you died to. I need to know how I fare up against Muzan."

"You can't possibly mean to fight him!" Kanae was aghast. "There's no way you can win!"

"Maybe." She shrugged, unrolling the mattress she'd been given. "It's never stopped me in the past."

Besides, Muzan was, as far as she could tell, someone she would have no moral dilemma going up against. She hated anyone who lorded over others as he had, who had gone so far as to build in a mechanism with which he could kill his underlings if they so much as tried saying his name. He was someone who saw everything in the world as his tools.

And, well, if Kanae was going to lecture her on the impossibility of her task, Velvet hadn't yet revealed the fact that she and her companions had went up against an Empyrean, in all respects practically a god worshipped among those of Desolation. Sure, he may have only just awakened his true power by taking in Artorius' despair when they armatised up in Innominat's domain, but for that final fight he had been a true Empyrean.

"…good night, Velvet," Kanae finally said.

"…good night."

There was to be no restful sleep for her. The only sweet dreams she had were during her time locked together with Innominat, in what felt like both days and years ago.

-o-o-o-

Rui was dead. He had felt it.

He had also felt the deaths of the other dispensable minions that had been part of his silly idea of a family. Still, Muzan had allowed his former useless Lower Moon to have that particular bit of freedom, if only so that he would at least be easier to control. Weak though they may be, his Lower Moons at least served some purposes in the times where he needed an effective distraction.

There was one among those demons on the mountain, though, that he had lost a connection to, and yet he knew without a fact that she was not dead. It was both so much like and yet very different from Tamayo, who had escaped from him in ages past, rescued by that damned accursed swordsman who –

There was the sound of a flesh and bones breaking, a loud popping sound, as an explosion of gore coated the street he was standing in.

Tsk. Just the thought of that damned Tsugikuni Yoriichi alone was enough to send his blood boiling. Now he had just ruined a shirt, yet again.

There was a scream, promptly silenced as a throat was ripped from the man's body.

He sighed. Even killing these nameless fools didn't provide any entertainment anymore. That was the last of the lot in this village, too.

At least this visit had brought some leads, unlike the other eight villages he had visited.

He stepped through a window of one of the buildings in the village he had paid a visit to, appearing once more within his Dimensional Fortress. The merest of thoughts, and the form he took changed from that of a small boy to the one he had taken to wearing in recent years.

He didn't know how that nameless demon had managed to sever their connection. She certainly was nowhere near as capable like that traitorous Tamayo. Still, though, he would make sure that she would die painfully for ever thinking that she could break apart from him, after receiving his gift of blood.

Nakime's eye was covered by her long hair, but he could still feel the burning curiosity raging within her. As always, her silence was her best virtue, followed closely by her loyalty.

"Something different in that village, actually," he spoke mildly. "They mentioned having been rescued by a so-called Red-Armed Demon from other demons."

And there was the matter that now perplexed him. The other villages had mentioned being saved by those damned Demon Slayers, but this Red-Armed Demon Girl had somehow arrived in that village before them. They had claimed that for the briefest moments, they had seen her leaving just as dawn began to break.

At long last, he had found what he had been looking for. A demon had survived sunlight.

The village was, coincidentally, remarkably close to Natagumo Mountain where he had ordered Rui to engage in capturing and killing nearby humans to serve as a distraction.

Was this 'demon', then, responsible for everything? Had she caused that crimson moon, and yet somehow allied with the Demon Slayers against Rui?

Was she one of the doctor's past patients? Did she have the secret of the Blue Spider Lily, that allowed her to thrive in sunlight?

Was she even truly a demon?

The questions he had only grew.

He had his doubts, but it was nonetheless a lead to finally achieving perfection. He had embarked on more dubious searches in his mission to find the Blue Spider Lily.

Regardless of what the truth was, whoever this person was, she was clearly making herself out to be an enemy. It didn't matter to him, he supposed, since he would have killed her anyway. All that these events changed was how much she would suffer before he finally took and assimilated her as part of himself, overcoming the last weakness that remained of his otherwise perfect body if she was a demon.

If she wasn't, then… well, that was one less Demon Slayer to worry about.

He had initially planned to remove all his remaining Lower Moons entirely, but plans had to change. Weak though they may be, they at least provided suitable means by which he could test her capabilities and those of the Demon Slayers, beyond their uses in information-gathering and throwing off the swordsmen that dogged his every move. No doubt they would soon learn of the villages attacked by demons on that night having been ravaged to the ground.

It was time for a report. He nodded at Nakime, but before he had even done so, she had already taken the initiative to strum at her biwa.

Capable lieutenants were so very rare, indeed.

"M- my lord!" Daki immediately knelt down before him, still in her oiran guise, head bowed deeply. Doma had been the one to turn her, but she still knew her place within their hierarchy. Excellent.

"Rise, Daki." She started at being addressed, but her eyes burned with undying loyalty and passion. "Any news?"

"Yes, my lord!" she affirmed immediately. Truly? Now even he was curious. She spoke quickly, seeing how his interest had temporarily been roused. "One of my girls mentioned that a client travelled from further north, my lord! He spoke of how on the night of the red moon, he had heard the cries of demons in the woods while traveling south from Miyagi prefecture to Tokyo!"

"Demons, you say?" he pondered. "I trust you have verified these claims before reporting them?"

"Of course!" she affirmed immediately. "I immediately checked with the other oirans in the district, and the businessmen traveling from that direction reported similar stories! One even claimed that he saw demons fighting one another!"

"Truly?" he mused. "He says that they are demons?"

"Yes! He claims that he fled from them on his carriage, and personally saw monsters with the heads of wolves, the bodies of lizards, the hides of dragons and fangs sharper than any beast he'd seen before! They were mindless and savage beasts that fought relentlessly against each other!"

"Hmm," he hummed, pondering over what he had just been told. Demons fighting one another? It hadn't been near one of the villages he had been told was involved in the events of that night, either. Had there been more demons forming without his blood than he'd thought?

"And the men?"

"Dead, of course." Daki bobbed her head rapidly.

"There is nothing to link the deed back to you?"

"None, my lord!" A trace of fear entered her voice. "I made certain of that."

"Excellent." He nodded once at her, and saw how her face lit up. "You are a special demon indeed, Daki. You and your brother deserve your place among my trusted Upper Moons."

"I – I live to serve!"

"Continue listening for information. You have done well, Daki."

With that, he stepped back, entering his Dimensional Fortress again.

Demons fighting one another. A Demon Girl that saved a village.

More and more mysteries were piling up, all stemming from the night of the scarlet moon. He would need more information.

Thankfully, then, that he hadn't yet killed his Lower Moons. If they couldn't handle a task like this, then they were truly useless.

"Gather them."

Within moments, they appeared, summoned by Nakime from where they had claimed their own nests. There was clear uncertainty on their faces, and a defiance that he didn't like. At least they still knew their place, prostrating themselves before himself immediately.

Ah, well. He couldn't ask for much from tools such as these. They hadn't lived for centuries like his more capable lieutenants had done.

"Rui is dead," he said plainly.

To their credit, they did not show any visible reaction to that declaration.

"I have one question to ask of the five of you," he spoke with a mild tone. "Why are you Lower Moons so utterly pathetic?"

Some of them flinched at that.

"For over a century, none of the upper ranks of the Twelve Moons have been replaced," he continued. "Unlike them, members of the lower ranks have constantly been recycled. Unlike them, none of you have ever managed to kill a Hashira. Your sole purpose is to kill and devour humans, to gain power, that you may be useful to me."

He tilted his head slightly, releasing just a pulse of his power, but enough to send them trembling. "Tell me, then. What use have I of you five?"

You say that, but what the hell do you expect that we –

"Oh, Kamanue? Were you going to finish that thought?" He stepped closer. "Could it be that you five are so worthless that you don't know what I expect?"

He can read –

"Yes, Kamanue. I know your every thought. I know you've only recently joined as Lower Moon Six, but please do try to keep up." He sighed with disappointment. How pathetic. "To be frank, I had every intention of killing every last one of you and simply relying on my more capable Upper Moons."

Now, there were cries of outrage and immediate protest from four of the five. Only Enmu remained silent, his head still bowed, calmly listening to everything that was being said.

He had potential.

"Silence." A flash of Muzan's aura, and they couldn't so much as budge, prostrated before him. "Rui died a pathetic death. Weak though each of you may be, I offer you a chance at redemption."

"How may we serve?" Wakuraba immediately asked, not daring to look him in the eye.

"I trust that all of you are aware of the events that occurred on the night of the crimson moon?"

"Yes, my lord." Rokuro, Lower Moon Two, spoke. "I have caught word that some demons appeared and destroyed several villages."

"Accurate." Muzan nodded. "It appears that some demons have been born without my blood."

Born without his blood? But how –

"Silence your thoughts, Mukago." Her thoughts were grating to his ears. At least she had the self-control to stop herself. "I have received word of different reports, my Lower Moon. It appears that there has been a Red-Armed Demon Girl who saved a village from demons, and who I believe to now be allied with the Demon Slayers."

"Impossible! No demon would –"

"Are you questioning me, Kamanue?" Abruptly, the Lower Moon Six paused, and Muzan nodded. "Good."

He cast his gaze across all five once more. "It also appears that one of the demons in Rui's little family has turned against me. I want her eliminated."

"It will be done! I will –"

"I am not finished, Wakuraba. I want her and the Red-Armed Demon to be brought to me, preferably alive, that I may learn just what they know. I want them to suffer for thinking they can stand up against me." He paused fractionally. "I have also received word that some of the demons that transformed on that night have been gathered somewhere within Miyagi prefecture, and have begun to fight among themselves."

At least this time, all five of them knew enough not to interrupt him before he finished speaking.

"I want you to locate and study them. Find out what these demons are, and their capabilities. I do not expect much of them, given that those attacking the other villages were dispatched by Demon Slayers, but I nonetheless wish to know how they could have been transformed without my gift of blood."

"It will be done!"

"I'm still not finished." One more damned interruption, and he would kill the next one of his minions that dared to speak. "The five of you are to proceed with these tasks. Locate these rogue demons, study them, and report their capabilities to me. Find out about these two demons and capture them. The means of how you achieve this doesn't matter so long as they remain alive."

He gave a final parting warning. "I expect results from the five of you within two months. The one who achieves both of these tasks shall receive my favour, and be promoted to my upper ranks."

Hopeful gazes were shot toward him, and even the calm façade that Enmu held faded, being replaced by a sheer sense of yearning. There was just one last message to motivate them to succeed.

"Of course, I will have no more need for the remaining ones who fail to complete either objective. You will be killed and replaced, like many others before you."

With that, Nakime plucked at her instrument, and they disappeared from sight.

He wouldn't just rely on his worthless minions, of course. When the time came that he knew more, he would take matters into his own hands. He wouldn't run any risk of other demons of his becoming traitors like Tamayo.

For now, all he had to do was wait, just as he had done for centuries.

Sooner or later, he would defeat sunlight.

This arc will probably stretch on for another two or three chapters, assuming I can hold my two remaining brain cells together long enough to crunch out something legible. Thinking of introducing Ozaki as yet another secondary Demon Slayer character, in the place of Genya who I still have no idea anything about, having not yet read the manga. The plan is for Velvet to contribute something in the way of mentoring to both the original cast and her smaller crew, keeping the flavour of canon characters while still having her presence be influential on their development.

As for stuff from the Berseria world... I have plans for more characters and elements to come in, but they are still rather hazy at the moment and not clearly planned out. Oh well.