Interlude Gyutaro - A Place to Belong

Gyutaro had underestimated opponents before. Most of the time, he had killed and eaten them as they weren't really opponents in the first place. However, his and his sister's deaths at the hands of some random demon slayers and a single hashira put it into perspective for him.

This time –this life– he had already vowed to make sure he would raise his sister happily. As such, he had thought he had put a fair amount of thought into his estimation on the average strength of a mage. Something he never had thought he needed to do.

Perhaps that was his first mistake. He had thought his… guild master or whatever, Locki, was a good representation of mages. Abilities that seemed impossible with a body that was a little stronger than a regular human.

How horribly was he wrong.

Gyutaro bit back a curse as he flew through the air. His back smashed through a building, flying right through a room and creating a dent in the ground as he landed on the ground. Blood pooled in his mouth, but he coughed hard as he felt the uncomfortable shift as his ribcage ripped itself out of his lungs as his chest returned to normal.

At this point, he had gotten used to that feeling. It was painful, but he couldn't spare a second to think about that. He knew his natural regeneration would stop him from the worst.

The main problem was not the injuries, though.

Hurriedly, the demon manipulated the blood that he had nearby to form large, head-sized balls of red spikes. They floated around him as he stared at the crumbling building he had just been sent through.

The debris cloud curled around a figure as they rushed through it, rushing as Gyutaro. His eyes narrowed as a couple of the spiked blood balls formed a wall in front of him, and the figure instantly stopped, turned right and zigzagged through the rest of the spiked balls at a blinding speed.

Gyutaro's hands rose up as a new pair of red kama met the attack of the approaching figure. He easily met the attack, catching it with his weapons. Almost instantly, his hand scythes began to distort and bubble as if they were boiling.

The demon clicked his tongue, manipulating the weapons to explode in a blast of sharp, blood arcs. His opponent jumped, flipped and twisted out of most of them, coming out of the instant counterattack with only a few nics and tiny cuts. He then proceeded to escape the few balls of spikes that Gyutaro tried to nail him with.

After they got away, they jumped up and landed on a nearby rooftop. Their footing slipped for a moment, but they caught themselves by stabbing their spear into the tiles. The man then carefully prodded their wounds with a finger.

"Poison?" he said aloud with a sigh. One of those weird magic circles appeared around his finger, pressing into the wound. "[Infection Magic – Targeted Microbes]."

Gyutaro grit his teeth at that weird ability. His poison was something he depended on regularly to handle harder opponents, and this weird mage in pajamas could easily counter it. Not to mention that his magic seemed to actively counter his own regeneration. The spear they wielded wasn't even a problem; he knew he wouldn't even get a deep cut from its edge. It was the magic he used that was the problem, acting like a superpowered version of wisteria.

Suddenly, his instincts flared, and Gyutaro's back snapped as he leaned out of the way of a claw that threatened to tear out his heart. He knew he had been distracted by the other mage's ability, but he hadn't expected the larger human to dash straight through the building, his own wall of blood spikes and still had enough speed to almost catch him off guard.

The man's entire upper body was coated in a series of holes that slowly steamed and closed. However, despite his bone-deep injuries, the larger human had a wide grin on his face.

Gyutaro had already been moving before the man reacted, forming another pair of hand scythes as he moved. He used his momentum to slice into the man's arm, but the larger human – Gyutaro wondered what his name was again– pulled away before Gyutaro could cut his arm off. Two large sections of flesh parted, spilling blood as the large, bloody man leaped away.

He landed awkwardly, laughing. "Hahaha, this is great! Don't you agree?"

Gyutaro licked the blood that had spilled on him, feeling a bit better from the long fight. He already knew what it was like to fight with a slowed regeneration, and as he had not eaten lately, he felt his abilities were a little slower.

"Boss, can I take a break? He heals from everything; I just wanna go back to sleep." The spear-wielder mage asked as he leaned on his spear lethargically.

Gyutaro bit back the curse at the man who was treating this like a normal thing. Like Gyutaro was only a minor nuisance. He understood that he had underestimated mages a bit, but he didn't think the abilities he cultivated over his hundred plus years were simply disregarded by some humans. It pissed him off just as much as it humbled him.

"Shut up, Ryzot!" the larger human snarled, baring his teeth like an animal. "Just keep him on his toes. This is the best fight I've had in a while." he offered a smile to the demon. "Sorry 'bout that. You should know how hard it is to wrangle in the weaker mages around you, right?"

Gyutaro shrugged, silently gathering blood on his weapon's edges. "Sure, whatever."

"Come on, don't be like that. I think I've got a good grasp of you after fighting for a while." he grinned. "You're holding back like me. You just want to go crazy and lash out at everyone. A chained animal."

Gyutaro idly cleaned his ears, wondering just what he was hearing. Sure, he felt he was chained to his current… guild master, but that was only because he was a demon. He couldn't get rid of his habits he built up in his time before he came here; humans in general were normally his food, so now it was a little weird to consider himself part of an organization that actively helped others. There was some reason in the mage's words, though. The rest was just hot air.

"Are you just going to stand there?" Gyutaro asked, ignoring what the man was trying to say.

In a quick movement, Gyutaro swung his arm upwards, releasing the blood he had been gathering. A massive arc of blood left his weapon, growing larger as it traveled and absorbed the surrounding blood spikes until it towered above the buildings and was wide enough to swallow the man in one go.

"Perfect!" the man's –Has, Gyutaro remembered the stupid name– manic yells echoed out as Gyutaro quickly followed behind his attack. He had already seen a familiar magic circle appear behind the muscular mage, and knew that his chimera elephant or whatever was coming out.

That magic had been terrifying enough. The demon had seen quite a bit in his time, but the raw power that the mage could bring to the table actively destroyed any techniques he brought to the table. Has, in that form, weathered everything Gyutaro had done to him, laughing all the way. It forced the demon to understand just how unprepared he had been to face real mages.

A massive explosion signaled Gyutaro's blood blade making contact with Has. A deep gouge in the streets marked its path as a bit of it trailed off and cut into a building, destroying a section of its upper floors as they tumbled down into the streets. Another debris cloud bloomed into the streets, covering up the large clearing their fight had caused. Off in the distance, Gyutaro could hear the panicked screams of people finally taking note of the fight, but he ignored them.

The demon's eyes widened as he saw a massive, grey-colored fist headed straight at him through the smoke cloud. He spun inside it, stabbing the thumb and pulling his body out of the way of the impact. With his momentum, Gyutaro pulled himself on top of the massive arm and ran up it.

Suddenly, the dust swept aside, and Gyutaro coughed up blood as a long, ivory tusk ripped through his hardened skin, tore open his stomach and broke through his back. A wave of pain and vertigo swept through the demon's thoughts for a split second before he regained himself. The warped features of Has' Chimera elephant form appeared through the cloud of debris.

"This hurts…" Gyutaro grabbed the tusk as Has lifted him up in the air before he slammed his tusks into the ground with the demon still attached. Gyutaro spat more blood out of his mouth as he repeatedly slammed into the ground, driving him further onto the tusk.

The demon felt a bit dizzy as the assault continued. Has lifted him up as the tusk pulled more and more of Gyutaro's guts out before the mage dropped him further into the ground with a thunderous boom.

Finally, after a minute or two, Has lifted up the demon, leaving him dangling. Gyutaro's legs were twisted out of shape, constantly fixing themselves with his insane regeneration. His arms were clearly broken, but he held fast to the tusk that impaled him. The massive man regarded Gyutaro's mangled body with a toothy grin.

"What an insane regeneration… can you even be killed?" Has asked, impressed. "Why are you partnered with that dumb brat? Surely a mage as interesting as you has better things to do."

Gyutaro coughed up another glob of blood, bearing his sharp, inhuman teeth. "You… talk too much."

"What are you–"

The demon saw the human's eyes widen, and he couldn't help but grin wildly. The two of them were inside a giant cage of blood that Gyutaro had been manipulating to surround them slowly. Blood formed into long blades that interlocked to form the bars of the cage.

Gyutaro grinned wildly as the arcs of blood all rushed the two of them before the human could react. He felt the sting of his own attacks slice into him, but paid more attention to the elephant man.

The second Has learned he was trapped, he crouched down and used his large hands to cover his neck and head right before Gyutaro's blood blades hit. They slashed into the animal mage, cutting him deeply as more and more blades forced themselves into the human.

Gyutaro didn't waste this opportunity, and manipulated the blood that continuously pooled around the tusk that impaled him to become a large spear. It shot straight at the human's face.

However, right as it was about to hit, Gyutaro's instincts began to go haywire. His pupils narrowed into pinpricks as he hurriedly pulled himself off the tusk in a spray of gore and blood right as the tip of a spear reached his chest, scratching him right above his heart.

Agony blossomed along his flesh as his skin stretched. Boils grew and popped, leaking blood and yellow pus as his pallid skin turned yellowed and sickly. Almost instantly, the disease seemed to spread, gnawing deeper into his body like a parasite.

Gyutaro hurriedly leaped further back, losing his control of the blood spear and the rain of blood swords. He focused entirely on the deadly poison that coursed through his veins, and the demon's chest exploded in a spray of blood and pus. The entire portion of his chest ripped open, exposing his ribs and destroyed muscles before his regeneration kicked in and covered him.

He gave a shaky breath, eying the annoying human who casually waited next to his boss. The damage done seemed severe, but the animal human's wounds were already steaming as they closed rapidly.

"Boss… he's so tiring to fight." The annoying human complained, igniting Gyutaro's anger again. He wasn't even a threat in that human's eyes.

Has just laughed as a white magic circle appeared behind him, causing the human to lose his elephant features and return into the tiger hybrid. Gyutaro clenched his teeth as he saw the damage he had done simply disappear from the human. Even his poison didn't seem to have any effect.

Impatiently, he glanced up at the night sky. He couldn't see the moon above the clouds, but he grew increasingly annoyed as time continued to pass without a definite victor. This was just the only other mage he ever came in contact with and he was already having trouble.

Suddenly, Gyutaro's confidence waned. He had always dealt with humans who, while impressive, were not his superior. Even in the fight that cost him his life, Gyutaro didn't believe he would lose a second time.

However, these seemingly random mages in a world full of humans like them were stronger and faster than him. More than anything, he felt a bit of worry begin to worm its way into his mind when he thought about his sister. She was weaker than him, and if she ran into humans like these, all she had was that girl to help her.

"Dammit…" Gyutaro cursed, digging his teeth into his lips hard enough to draw blood. He wasn't used to this feeling; of being completely outclassed.

"You seem to be going through it right now." The animal human said, wearing a smirk on his face. A long cut that dragged across the human's face steamed as it healed, yet he showed no sign of it bothering him. "What do you say about joining me. Ditch the brat; he's obviously useless. Besides, I am sure I can provide you a better place to do whatever you want; I'll even throw in a deal for that girl, too."

"Girl?" It would be a lie to say that Gyutaro wasn't a little swayed by the human's words. As much as didn't care for humans in general, he knew that he wouldn't be able to beat these two before the sun came back up.

"That white haired one in the cloak, too. She someone important to you?"

Gyutaro stared at the man hard as he called out his sister. He knew they had someone keeping tabs on his guild master's place, but the idea that they knew about Ume was something that chilled his heart.

When Locki had explained that mages might want to capture him and his sister, he didn't really think much about it. He was strong and his sister could handle threats, too. However, his first run-in with other mages was sobering. They were most definitely a threat. And if someone strong wanted to kidnap Ume and put her in chains without him around, Gyutaro felt that they had a good chance of it.

"She's not important." Gyutaro denied instantly. He had been trying to kill them, after all. While Locki could say some things that seemed well intentioned, that didn't mean Gyutaro trusted him fully. If he didn't trust Locki, it shouldn't even need to be explained for the two mages in front of him.

"That so…" Has smiled widely. "Then, you don't mind that after we recapture that kid, we can take the other girl, too?"

Gyutaro narrowed his eyes. The human definitely knew he lied, and now he was simply provoking him. He knew he couldn't win over Gyutaro, so he switched over to the fight.

For once, the demon felt what it might be like to go up against himself. Someone who infuriated him to no end, who outclassed him, and who didn't seem to go down no matter how much he injured them. He instinctively reached out to team up with Daki, but froze when he remembered he was alone.

He had never… been alone. He always had his sister. They were one; in combat and in life. They lived, fought and died together. Gyutaro grew annoyed once again.

He had promised to protect her this time, but now he couldn't even beat these two humans. For a moment, the demon remembered the helplessness he felt when his sister had been gravely injured by those samurai. Where no one rose up to help them, seeking to shun the two children like they were the plague. It was why Gyutaro didn't regret taking the offer to go under Muzan. To throw away his humanity.

Now, he couldn't even protect himself…

"Gyutaro!" A familiar voice occupied Gyutaro's thoughts for a moment.

Locki came running into the scene a second later. The armored blonde had a deep, purple bruise that settled on his right cheek as a little dribble of blood leaked from his split lip. His blonde locks were in disarray, but Gyutaro caught the human's red eyes. They were focused and… confident?

"I've come to support you." The blonde said.

"Haunt!" A large purple… thing hovered behind the boy. Two, three-fingered hands rested on the boy's armored shoulders.

Gyutaro felt something well up within him. He never really expected anyone to come to his aid. Even demons never helped him when he and his sister were killed, and he felt that Muzan would only be mildly disappointed in their demise. Yet… this human, a human who seemed to know how much wrong he did, had rushed to his side to help him against an opponent he felt was Locki's superior.

Gyutaro turned away from Locki, focusing on the Has and the annoying human. The larger human began to yell at the mage Locki said he'd deal with as he ran over to them.

"Where's that ball thing?" Gyutaro asked carefully, not fully confident that he'd give away the rollercoaster of emotions he was feeling. He was a demon; he already knew he was evil– the worst of the worst. A simple action shouldn't have affected him this much.

"I am not sure." Locki said, thumbing over to the weird purple thing over his shoulder. "There was a bright light and Gastly turned into uh…" his eyes unfocused as he seemed to look at something. "Haunter? Geez, who comes up with these names?"

"It… changed?" Gyutaro asked. He wanted to sneak an attack in on the other mages while they talked, but he didn't see any openings. That annoying spear human had watched them like a hawk as soon as Locki entered the clearing.

"Yeah… honestly, let's just leave it at the fact that Pokemon are weird. We need to focus on this." Locki said, moving directly behind Gyutaro. "How are you holding up?"

Gyutaro froze a bit as his… ally pressed a hand on his back. He resisted the urge to turn around and slice the hand off, but he just stopped. Oddly, he felt a little like he was fighting alongside Daki. Quickly, the demon squashed down that feeling.

"I'm… annoyed. I know I can kill them, but I can't get an opening without the other covering for him." Gyutaro threw his chin at the other very much alive mage who Locki said he could take. "What happened with them?"

"Well, I ran into some problems. He can support a bunch of people, so I figured it was best to have someone who can hit harder than me."

Gyutaro grunted. "And now he's going to help those humans."

"I know. Which is why I am planning right now." Locki said. "What do you have on the other two?"

"The spear human has some poison or something. Called it infection magic. Animal human only has the tiger and elephant forms, but heals from pretty much anything. Not at my level, so I can probably kill him… though, that spear human always gets in the way." Gyutaro said, shrugging.

"Got it." Locki nodded. "I have an idea."

"Okay. What is it–" Gyutaro instantly pushed Locki's head down as a claw swipe narrowly removed a couple blonde hairs from the teen's head. The arm, however, was removed from the elbow down, but Gyutaro couldn't care about that.

Another arm grew out of the stump without another second to spare before the handles of two scythes fit into the demon's hands. One stopped the tip of a spear from impaling his guild master through the heart while Gyutaro grunted as Has' clawed hand dug into his side.

"Gast– Wis– er, Haunter! Cover now!" Locki fumbled as everything happened so fast, and Gyutaro ripped himself out of the tiger human's claws, tearing open the wound in his side to stop the spear wielding human from continuing to attack Locki.

However, the purple thing behind Locki opened its mouth to spew out a flood of midnight smoke. Almost instantly, the ruined street they fought in was obscured by a thick cloud of smoke. Gyutaro held his breath as the smoke curled around his mouth and nose, and even with his superior vision and senses, he couldn't make out a single thing around him.

The only thing he knew was that his guild master's hand still was connected to his back throughout the whole conflict. Miraculously, the teen hadn't let go even through all that fight. Now, Gyutaro understood just what was going on.

"Coming fast, right side. Chest height, [strike on my command]." Locki's voice filtered into the demon's ears, and Gyutaro tensed. The smoke constantly swirled, concealing anyone moving through it.

"Duck and strike upwards!" Gyutaro did so, crouching low to the ground and swinging both his kama upwards. He felt wind whistle past the top of his head, catching a clawed hand right as it swung above him.

His weapons found flesh.

The demon felt the shock travel through his arms as he forced his blades deeper into whatever he hit, twisting them in his hands. A grunt of pain was music to his ears, and for the first time, he felt like the fight was going in his favor.

"Move back now. Follow me." Gyutaro wanted to ignore Locki's commands, looking to finally finish off his enemy.

A spear flew into Gyutaro's vision right at the moment. The demon released his weapons, hurriedly bringing up his arms right as the spear sliced into his forearms. He trapped the blade in his flesh, stopping it from going further.

"Shit!" Gyutaro recoiled as his arms began to burn from the magic that boiled his very flesh. He quickly manipulated his blood to rip out the infection, feeling the phantom sore of the magic linger a couple seconds after.

A little embarrassed, Gyutaro hurried after Locki.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine…" Gyutaro wondered why he felt guilty. He followed Muzan's orders because the guy had both him and his sister's lives in his hands. Locki did too, but the demon never felt guilty about putting off or failing to complete a task given by Muzan. It was a little off putting.

"Good, let's circle around. I can't slow them down now, but we need to take out Redson before we can handle them." Locki said, and Gyutaro nodded. He wondered if that purple creature could see through this smoke.

Slowly, the two made their way through the smoke, traveling to wherever Locki decided. They had to dodge attacks from the other two mages that seemed to cross their paths every now and again. This time, Gyutaro followed Locki's instructions, attacking, backing off and positioning how his guild master ordered.

It felt a bit weird. The demon was a bit opposed to following the teen's orders, but the longer he did so the more he fell into rhythm beside the human. Locki just seemed to know how to respond to each threat, dodge every blow and predict just where and how each enemy moved.

"We've reached Redson, I need you to atta–"

Gyutaro shielded his eyes as a wall of wind seemed to blow out from nearby, blowing away the cover of the smoke. Sharp pebbles and stones struck him, and the demon felt Locki rush behind him.

"Stall them!" Locki's order reached his ears right as Gyutaro noticed Has and the spear human rush at him from his left and right. Has had changed into his elephant form at one point in time as he left a large crater that the human left, letting Gyutaro know just how the human had cleared the cover.

However, the mage moved slower than usual. Gyutaro grinned madly as he caught the large amount of deep cuts and wounds along the human's torso and legs. They healed slowly, but the demon knew that Has' mobility took a huge dip.

The demon turned over to the larger threat, finding the spear human rushing at him fast enough to be a blur. Right before he could react, the human slowed down. They were still fast, but nowhere near the blinding speeds that they had been going at.

"Wha–" the human stumbled at the sudden decrease in speed, and that cost him. Gyutaro caught the weird purple thing hovering behind the human's shadow, cackling as it thrust a hand into the shadow. Its fingers seemed to dig into the dark silhouette, and suddenly, the human froze for a fraction of a second.

He broke free, but the combination of distractions was all Gyutaro needed.

Gyutaro never was one for prolonged combat. That was what his poison was used for. He always struck fast, without warning. At the most opportune moment.

In a flash, Gyutaro had already arrived in front of the human. The human also showed his reaction, thrusting forward in the hopes to ward off Gyutaro. Yet, Gyutaro met the strike, letting the spear pass through his chest as he continued forwards. The shaft of the spear grinded against his spine as his scythes ripped through the human's neck like a pair of scissors.

Blood sprayed into the demon's mouth as the human's incredulous expression flew through the air before it landed with a wet thud along the ground.

"Nooo– arg!"

Gyutaro yanked the rest of the spear from his chest, feeling the burning pain of the human's magic in his body. It was not as potent as before, so he easily forced it out of his body violently.

He offered a nod to… Haunter as it cackled over the body of the infuriating human. The demon turned back to his guild master, and found the teen standing over the kneeling figure of the other mage. The human didn't seem to have any large wounds, but Gyuatro saw the human's fingers were bent and broken. Despite that being his only discernible injury, the man looked distraught and defeated as he stared at the headless body of the spear-wielder.

"You fucking brat! I'll kill you!" Has finally healed most of his injuries, and had changed back into his tiger form to charge the two.

Gyutaro felt a bit of uncharacteristic panic settle in as he watched the human rush Locki, but just like the spear human, Has slowed down drastically. The human struggled to move even a few feet; his veins popped out as he desperately tried to force himself to go faster.

The demon grinned as he casually walked in front of his guild master. Locki stood still, regarding the final mage with as much attention as one would a pig set for slaughter.

"You fucking– how dare you bring your shitty magic into our fight! How dare you ruin this for us!" Has spat, glaring at Locki and Gyutaro.

Gyutaro stepped forwards and put a scythe through the human's throat, yanking it forwards to tear out his adam's apple. Has' eyes bulged as a hand slowly went up to grasp the new hole in his neck. Frothy blood bubbled along his lips, seemingly confused at the sudden action.

"Just die." Gyutaro spat, feeling that he finally got all the grievances off his chest after the human mentioned his sister.

"Y– you killed them…" the last mage muttered from his spot on the ground.

Gyutaro raised his scythe, looking over to Locki.

The teen shook his head. "He's not a threat now. Plus, we need one to prove that they are linked to a Zeref Cult."

Gyutaro paused, pursing his lips. He normally didn't care about how his actions affected someone else; mainly because he never really needed to consider the problems he caused. However, this new world seemed to hold a very firm stance on murder, and he… actually, what was he feeling?

Locki was someone who threatened both him and his sister. The teen never sugarcoated the fact that he had the two by the throat, yet the demon remembered how the blonde had promised to help him and his sister no matter what. Then, during a fight against two opponents that Gyutaro felt outmatched him, Locki had come to his side and seemed to thrash them easily.

For a second, Locki's figure overlapped with the weak Demon Slayer who stopped him and his sister from fighting in their last moments. A tinge of gratitude wormed its way into Gyutaro's heart, and slowly, the demon decided that maybe this magic guild nonsense wasn't so bad.

Maybe.

"Go, the sun is about to come up." His guild master said calmly.

Gyutaro recognized the signs of the sunrise on the horizon. "Will…" the demon felt his tongue was lead. He wondered just what went through his head as he asked, "You be okay?"

"Yeah yeah, you handle the harder stuff." he said with a dismissive wave. "Besides, I can handle the Magic Council bullshit. [I am your guild master], after all."

Gyutaro nodded, leaving to go back to his guild's house.