Lower Moon

Shin stared at the slayer ignoring his piercing gaze. He looked him over a couple of times before making a small understanding sound. 

"You're disliked by people aren't you?" He bluntly asked.

The slayer in front of him was silent for a moment before answering in a calm resolute tone. "I'm not disliked by people."

The two stared at each other in silence until a cough interrupted them at their side. "Tomioka, you shouldn't listen to demons."

The two looked over to see a young man with a large scar running from the right corner of his mouth to his right ear and cat-like eyes of a grayish lavender color, he had thick, spiked, peach colored hair of varying lengths with a fox mask on the side of his head.

The slayer wore the demon slayer corps outfit with a green haori over it that had a yellow hexagon pattern. He held a blue sword in hand the same as the slayer named Tomioka.

"Sabito, I'm not disliked by anyone am I?" His expression was calm and so was his voice yet there was a hint of worry in it.

Sabito shook his head with an awkward laugh. "Haha, of course not. The demon is just spouting nonsense!" 

Tomioka nodded his head then turned back to Shin. "I will slay you for trying to mislead me."

"That's the spirit!" Sabito laughed out loud then walked to his friend's side.

Tomioka ran towards Shin at speeds he wasn't able to see and slashed towards his neck. Shin quickly brought up his broken sword and blocked the strike.

Tomioka's strength completely overwhelmed him. Shin was sent a couple of feet back but Sabito appeared behind him.

He hurriedly flipped over him yet Tomioka flashed in front of him and kicked him down to the ground. 

Once he landed Sabito dashed towards his side and attempted to cut off his head. Shin kicked himself off the ground before bringing his sword up to block it.

Shin was sent flying once they clashed. The two slayers were moving in sync, every time he would block or move away the other would appear to continue.

Shin tried his best to remain calm. He stood his ground and moved around their attacks.

Tomioka was already hard enough to deal with but Sabito was outright impossible at his current strength and the current shape of his sword, the only thing he could do was run or somehow manage until their stamina ran out.

He pushed all of his strength into his legs and dashed back into the forest but the two were still keeping up.

Tomioka rushed ahead and swung his sword at high speeds, Shin quickly brought back up his sword before the attack could hit.

*Clang!*

Their swords connected, Shin was sent further back as Sabito took the lead proceeding to slash towards his neck. Shin couldn't react, he was going to die.

*Bwum!*

Before Sabito's sword could reach him Shin heard the sound of a biwa and began to fall into a door that had appeared beneath him. The door instantly closed and disappeared the moment he passed through it.

*Thud!*

Shin hit the ground hard with a loud thud, his surroundings had changed completely as he found himself lying on the cold ground with the night sky above him.

As he was just about to stand, an elegant woman wearing a long black yukata with red cat-like eyes and long black hair in a bun appeared above him.

He didn't need to be told who this was and kowtowed. Shin could recognize those sharp eyes asking for obedience even if the person In front of him had changed their form. 

"My lord."  Even though his relative didn't show it. He could tell he was absolutely loyal to this person so he should do the same.

He was also doing this to survive as well, the aura the 'woman' in front of him was giving off would make anyone despair on the spot, but Shin could only think of how admirable it was.

A small smile formed on the woman's face as she looked down at Shin. "Congratulations on becoming a lower moon, it would be a lie to say I wasn't at least a little disappointed in Rui but I see more potential in you."

Shin didn't look her in the eyes or think of doing so, he didn't plan to speak either yet the woman remained quiet as if waiting for his response. "Thank you for your praise."

"Mn, let's keep this short I have things to do. If you survive this consider yourself a kizuki." A grotesque tentacle expanded and extended from the woman's back with a needle-like appendage attached to it.

The tentacle shot out towards Shin and the needle at the end penetrated his neck. He sensed no ill intent so he didn't move an inch to stop it.

The tentacle pulsated before pumping the woman's blood into him. The blood didn't stop flowing until it was a bit over the amount Rui had. 

Once it was enough the needle detached from him and the woman disappeared.

Shin couldn't breathe. He held onto his neck as veins became visible from his head to his neck. 

*Bwum!*

The biwa was heard again. A door appeared underneath Shin and closed behind him like it did before, this time he found himself back on the mountain laying on the rock he found that spider woman.

The amount of pain Shin was in was indescribable, still, he remained quiet and laid where he was until it ended.

***

Two hours had gone by since Shin took in a large portion of blood. The pain was finally going down, once he was able to stand he stood from his spot and let out a sigh. 'That was something.'

Shin's left eye in the middle row began to sting. It wasn't as bad as processing the blood so he wasn't worried about it much.

He felt something running down his cheek and one of his bottom row of eyes. He wiped it away only to see blood. 

If he had a mirror at that moment he would've been able to see something being engraved into the eye bothering him.

Shin only let out a heated sigh and ran towards where his servants were.

As he ran through the forest he felt faster. He wasn't giving it his all at that moment either, yet he was surpassing his old speed.

When he arrived at the location the first thing he noticed was Susamaru, the number of corpses around the girls, and a giant demon with a spider head replacing where a normal one should've been. 

Instead of wearing her orange Kimono, Susamaru was wearing the female version of the demon slayer outfit with an orange haori over it and a tamari in hand.

She went as far as to have a sword on her hip. Shin thought of how adorable she looked even with the corpses around them.

The girls seem to have not noticed his arrival either. He walked behind Susamaru then placed his hand on her head.

The girl slightly jumped and turned to punch whoever was behind her, but instead her eyes lit up when she saw her master and hopped onto him. "Master!"

The others turned towards the two, they noticed Shin's torn clothes and how his presence had become more intense. The two decided to stay where they were for a bit before walking over.

The spider demon was beyond happy seeing that he had managed to come back, and from the shape of his clothes she could tell he fought Rui.

Makomo was the first to notice the kanji and number in his eyes.

Shin got Susamaru off of him then asked something he wanted to know. "Where and why did you get that outfit?"

Susamaru did a small spin with a light laugh once she was on the ground. "On my way back I found this dead slayer girl. I liked her outfit so I decided to take it!"

Shin sighed hearing her answer, he nodded his head and ruffled the girl's hair causing her to giggle, Shin didn't know why but each time he ruffled her hair he heard a squeaking sound in his head.

He took back his hand and looked towards Makomo, she had her mask to the side of her face and was giving the temari demon a small look of envy that was covered by her usual calm smile. 

Shin couldn't help but go over to her and place his hand on her chin before raising her head until they were looking each other in the eyes, or until she was looking into his middle row of eyes.

He slightly bent down and pressed his lips against hers. Makomo's face became bright red, her eyes widened when Shin's tongue invaded her mouth but her gaze soon softened, she closed her eyes and let his tongue swirl around hers.

Susamaru covered her eyes with her hands but there were clear holes for her to look out of, the spider woman only looked on with small hints of red on her cheeks.

After a few moments their lips parted. Makomo opened her eyes and her face was still red, yet a beautiful bright smile appeared.

Shin gave her another small kiss seeing this. He turned towards the giant demon they brought back and the slight hunger he had before he ate Rui returned.