chapter 3

Kokushibo had never realised how annoying a relative visiting him could be. As soon as he saw Muichiro he knew he was his relative, and he honestly was getting so tired of the rest of the upper moons that he was prepared to get in touch with his family's family. He assumed that there weren't many people that could top the chaotic childishness of the other demons. Kokushibo didn't know for sure if Muichiro was a demon or not, he believed he was probably human but as soon as he agreed to come with them to a meeting, well according to both Douma and Daki they had told him it was a party, he'd actually been ahead of them and wasn't listening to the exact words. But he had a feeling something was going on as soon as they both started giggling. He hated his fellow demons sometimes. Apparently, he was quite sarcastic though. Either way he had tested Muichiro to see if he was a demon or not. He first made sure to watch to see if he reacted to seeing Muzan, Muichiro didn't try to kill him and seemed to admire him so he'd passed the first test, but really it could be an act. He also took a bit of a note that he wasn't surprised by Nakimes blood demon art, and he had no questions about their non-human looks. unless you counted his later reaction to Kokushibo's eyes up close. Sadly, after that all tests had to be halted after Muichiro vanished then there was… an incident. Kokushibo did not want to talk about it.

The next test. Okay, well actually Kokushibo wasn't there to witness it happen but according to Nakime, who was one of the most reliable sources of information in this place, he had gotten hungry, and she'd sent him over to get human meat from Daki, after Douma got hauled off by Muzan, who was a little annoyed by him for about a million reasons. He checked this with Daki. Apparently, him and Rui had devoured a woman she'd had in her stash, and obviously she started demanding compensation from him as it was apparently so hard finding people pretty enough to match her belts high standard. This was nice news and according to Muzan himself Muichiro had walked in on Douma eating a woman and didn't even try to help her. This gave Kokushibo some much needed faith. Although he still had his doubts. By the end of the night, he wanted to make sure there wasn't a chance in hell Muichiro was a human. Rui had spent the day with him and was completely and utterly sure that Muichiro was a demon just like him, although Rui was still a child, Kokushibo had some trust in him, he wasn't a liar.

It was only shortly after Muichiro had recovered from the very confusing six eyes that Kokushibo realised how much trouble he could be. He almost immediately had to stop Muzan from killing him. Anyone that had met Muzan knew he wasn't the most forgiving kind and certainly didn't like children playing about, Muichiro was lucky, if Kokushibo wasn't there then he'd be dead, and if he wasn't a relative Kokushibo in all honesty wouldn't have defended him. Muichiro was lucky Muzan so desperately needed all the hep he could help from any demon that was slightly useful. Although Muzan did seem sure that he didn't remember turning him into a demon, but he promised that he'd make sure Muichiro was a demon later.

Just after he'd convinced Muzan that Muichiro deserved a second chance Muichiro used it up. the whole infinity fortress heard the scream that echoed through it, no matter how 'infinite' the place was. Kokushibo knew immediately who must be the cause of such commotion. He arrived to see Gyyoko attempting to kill Muichiro, of course those two had to be involved. Muzan remained neutral, not helping one of his upper moons but also not stopping him, it wasn't his job to pick sides. However, it was Kokushibo job to make sure that he hadn't just argued with Muzan just for it to go to waste, which would have defeated the whole point. So Kokushibo drew out his sword right as Muichiro and Rui ran, clearly acknowledging they were outmatched here. At first Kokushibo wasn't sure if he should protect the two younger demons with reasoning with Gyyoko or should just jump straight to murder. He looked quickly over at Muzan, he knew that Muzan was disappointed with Gyyoko lately, and really was about to demote him. Still, getting rid of him completely was drastic, however, Muzan nodded. Kokushibo defeated Gyyoko instantly. One thing that Kokushibo did not agree with was the first demons care for Rui, personally, Kokushibo had never cared much about him, but Muzan seemed to have a personal attachment. Apparently Muzan wasn't prepared to let Rui die just yet, and so with them both having gotten fed up with Gyyoko that was the end of him.

After the fight, if it could be called that, Kokushibo went to have a quiet minute to himself. That did not last long. Almost seconds after he sat down, he was interrupted by Muichiro and Rui, they wanted to know the time. As a demon Kokushibo never knew the time, why would he need to know the time other than: day, night, almost sunrise, almost sunset. That was it. but Muichiro seemed to need to know, and one thing Kokushibo did know was it was night currently, and so it was almost the time he needed to leave to go grab something to eat. He invited the two to come out with him, mostly to keep an eye on them before more chaos ensued, but also as Muichiro was one of his only family members left he wanted to get to know him a bit better, and at the same time see how Rui was doing lately. They were surprisingly excited, maybe they assumed he'd know the best place to get lots of meat or would end up in a battle with a Hashira? Honestly, he couldn't care less but he did want something easy after any meeting.

They left the infinity castle and headed to a nearby little town, it was a good place to get something to eat. They strolled through the deserted centre of the town, everyone was asleep as they were every night. He decided on a random house, he could sense quite a few people sleeping peacefully inside, it was an easy meal. Still, his doubts about Muichiro continued as he watched his reaction to being told they were going to eat in there. Muichiro wasn't the slightest but shocked or horrified, although he looked as if he was permanently confused, he put that down to the six eyes thing. He even confirmed he'd like to eat, that made Kokushibo smile unintentionally. They all went in the silent house and immediately both him and Rui went for the people sleeping, finishing them all off. It took Kokushibo a moment to notice Muichiro wasn't with them, he wondered briefly if Muichiro had legged it, Rui went to see if anyone else remained in the house, and Kokushibo felt relived when he heard Rui and Muichiro chatting. He walked in just on time to see Muichiro finishing off his meal, licking it off his fingers, he'd clearly cleaned his plate, many demons did that, it wasn't too rare, just a bit unexpected for such a small demon.

By the end of the visit to the town Kokushibo was completely sure Muichiro was a demon just like him. It was a nice dinner and by the end of it he knew Muichiro was a big eater, Rui was an easy crier and Muichiro had a habit off passing out for some unknown reasons. He hoped Muichiro didn't do that in fights too often or he wouldn't last too long.

After a brief chat he helped Muichiro get home, sadly the quickest way to get home before the sun came up was to take the train and now that his spending money was undoubtedly going to be reduced since Gyyoko's death, he had no choice but to take Enmu's train since he wouldn't need to pay. He'd been on a train driven by Enmu before and he remembered how awful it was, he had no doubts that Muichiro would struggle to not pass out as he already struggled when he wasn't being flung about or going at way too high speeds. Fortunately he was proven wrong, Muichiro didn't pass out once, although he clearly had trouble staying on the train, which was to be expected on his first time riding on top of a train, or maybe even being on a train at all, Kokushibo hadn't been updated on how common it was to get a ride on a train, he certainly knew it was rare to ever even touch the top of a train and standing on it wasn't something most people ever even saw. Still the fact he was in one piece after it was a good sign.

He then left Muichiro, knowing full well that he was going to have to return to the other annoying demons. now his new side mission was to find a good time for another meeting, and maybe defeat one of his least favourite lower moons for another meeting to take place. Or he could just tell Muzan that they needed another meeting, just for a catchup, or he could even try see if he could just find Muichiro's address and meet him there one day. He had time to think about it, especially considering he should have a few years to come up with a plan. First though he had to deal with a few irritating Hashira, and some boy with the same earrings as his brother, Muzan did have some strange beefs sometimes.