The more he thought about it, the weirder it got!
He shook those thouDghts off before they could take root and turned his gaze back to Spider Mom, still curled up in a ball in front of him, and scratched his chin. "I'm going to give you a name."
"…A name?"
Marcus nodded. "Mmh… How about 'Ivy'?"
"I… Ivy?" She repeated it as if the word burned on her tongue, and something lit up deep in her eyes. "I… have a name?"
"Yeah…" Marcus ruffled her hair. "Starting today, you're Ivy, my personal servant. Are we clear?"
"C-Crystal clear!" Ivy nodded vigorously, cracking a smile through her tears.
"…"
Tanjiro, who had watched everything in silence, felt the last bit of resistance he had left give way without a sound.
She reminded him of Nezuko. Right after she was turned… she was just like this.
"Miss Ivy." He crouched down to her eye level and looked at her seriously. "If you truly want to make amends… I'm willing to trust you."
Tanjiro's eyes were so sincere that Ivy's nose started burning again.
"Th… thank you…"
"Alright, the talking ends here." Marcus stood up. "Ivy, bring him up to speed. Besides you, what else is on this mountain?"
Ivy's face froze instantly.
Her fingers searched for other fingers and tangled into each other. "There's still the 'Sister'… the 'Brother'… and the 'Father'… But the strongest one is Rui. He's the 'Youngest Son,' except…" She swallowed hard. "…he's actually the one who controls all of us."
"Rui?" Tanjiro frowned.
"Lower Moon Five," Marcus said, flat. "One of the Twelve Kizuki."
!
Tanjiro's breath caught. Inosuke, still hanging in the air, stopped struggling on the spot.
TWELVE KIZUKI
Demons the entire Corps had to tread carefully around. Creatures only a Hashira was supposed to face.
"Are you going to… kill Rui?" Ivy's voice cracked halfway through. "Y-You can't… He'll kill you. His threads are… they're nothing like mine, much harder, much more cruel, and on top of that…"
"And on top of that, what?" Marcus asked.
"And on top of that, when he gets angry, he…" Ivy clutched her head, unable to continue.
Looking at her terrified expression, Marcus didn't push further.
He raised his head and released his hold on Inosuke.
Thud
"YOU BASTARD!!" Inosuke fell, rolled, and launched himself at Marcus with everything he had. "I'M GONNA DESTROY YOU!!!"
"Inosuke, stop!" Tanjiro barely managed to hold him back. "He knows what he's doing, just lis—"
"He knows what he's doing?! He's RAISING demons! You saw it with your own eyes!" He jabbed his finger at Ivy. "That thing needs to be CUT DOWN! Hey, you, the white-haired one! Fight me! If I lose, I'll shut up! If you lose, I'm taking your head!"
Ivy let out a strangled shriek and hid behind Marcus at full speed.
Sighing, Marcus dropped his hand on top of Inosuke's head.
"Listen up, boar."
"Since you like settling everything with brute force, I'll put it in a language you understand."
"This demon is my spoils. Mine. And she's under my protection now." He narrowed his eyes. "If you want to lay a finger on her, you're gonna have to ask my swords first if they'll let you."
!
Inosuke went stiff.
He was reckless, not stupid. What had just happened—his body suspended in midair—had made the gap in strength crystal clear.
"Tch!" He smacked Marcus's hand away with a sharp swat and crossed his arms. "Then tell me what we're doing! There's still more demons out there!"
Marcus scanned the ground with his eyes.
Among the tangle of trampled footprints, he isolated a trail: a small set, light, feminine.
"Follow me." He started walking without waiting for an answer. "Ivy, stick close. Tanjiro, watch Nezuko. Inosuke, if you want to come, fine, but keep your mouth shut."
"WHO'S GONNA—?!" He bit his tongue halfway and followed them, grumbling under his breath.
Ivy hesitated for an instant. Then she ran after Marcus and, with trembling fingers, grabbed the edge of his haori.
Marcus glanced down at her.
"If you're scared, hold on." He turned his gaze back ahead. "Just don't fall behind."
Ivy nodded hard and gripped the fabric like it was the only thing holding her together.
…
They walked for a quarter of an hour following the trail. The forest gradually opened up, the trees thinning out, until the murmur of running water reached them from ahead.
A stream.
And on the other bank, a silhouette tensed up the moment she detected them.
She was a young, stunning girl.
White hair fell long and heavy over her chest, the tips speckled with green beads that caught the moonlight and threw it back in cold glints. She wore a moon-white kimono identical to Ivy's. And above that, a face with fine, delicate features—a beauty that hurt to look at.
At that moment she was studying the four people on the opposite bank.
In her gaze, beyond surprise, there was above all caution. Until her eyes landed on Ivy, crouched behind Marcus.
And then she smiled.
A gorgeous smile that made your blood run cold.
"Mom… You brought guests."
!
Ivy shuddered head to toe, clinging to Marcus's haori even tighter.
"I…"
"Don't stutter." Daughter's voice came down like a whip crack. "I'm asking you a question. What are these people doing here? Why are you following them?"
"…"
Ivy opened her mouth, but no words came out.
'For God's sake, who's the mom of who here?' Marcus swallowed the complaint and stepped forward, putting himself between them.
"We're here to clean house." He smiled with all the calm in the world. "This mountain reeks. Needs to be swept top to bottom."
Daughter arched an eyebrow and looked him over from head to toe again.
"Demon Slayers?" She tilted her head toward Ivy. "Mom, did you switch sides? That can't be. Rui's not going to like that."
"I-I didn't do that!" Ivy peeked out from behind Marcus. "I-I just…"
"Just what?" The temperature of her voice dropped several degrees. "You think crawling behind a bunch of insignificant humans is better than being with us?"
She took a step toward the bank. "Dear mother… have you already forgotten who gave you a home? Who took you in when other demons were hunting you?"
Ivy bit her lip until it bled, and tears pooled in her eyes again.
Marcus felt the hand gripping his haori trembling like a leaf in a storm.
He'd heard enough.
"Took her in?" He laughed coldly. "You call torturing her until she's afraid to breathe 'taking her in'? What a goddamn shithole of a home you've got."
Daughter's smile evaporated.
"You don't understand, human." She walked to the very edge of the stream, the water lapping at her bare feet. "The demon world works like this: the strong devour the weak. Mom is too weak. That's why Rui has to discipline her. It's for her own good."
"Bullshit."
"…"
Daughter's expression darkened.
She stopped looking at Marcus and fixed her eyes directly on Ivy.
"Mother. I'm giving you one last chance. Kill these humans. Or at least hold them off while I go get Rui."
"If you do that, I can still intercede for you. I'll tell him you were simply being controlled… That it wasn't your fault."
Ivy's breathing spiraled out of control. Because she could see it… she could see the scene with terrifying clarity: Rui arriving. Rui seeing her with the Slayers. The threads. The pain. The punishment that would come after, worse than all the ones before combined.
No. No, no, no, NO.
"I-I won't do it!"
She screamed, her voice tearing apart. "I don't want to go back! I don't want to be anyone's Mom! And my name ISN'T Mom either!"
She gripped Marcus's haori with both hands and planted her feet on the ground. "My name is IVY now!"
"…"
Daughter was dumbfounded.
She stared at her for several seconds…
And then she laughed.
She laughed heartily, throwing her head back, her shoulders shaking.
"Well…" She wiped a tear from her eye, still smiling. "Ivy? What an ugly name. Seems like you've made up your mind to betray your family."
"THIS IS NOT A FAMILY!"
Ivy stepped forward, eyes bloodshot, voice in shreds, tears streaming down her face unchecked.
"A family doesn't beat you every day! A family doesn't rip your face off just because they don't like you! A family doesn't cut you to pieces and force you to regenerate so they can cut you up again!"
"I NEVER WANTED THIS FAMILY!!!"
_____
Tanjiro is full of empathy, Inosuke is full of rage, and Marcus just decided to keep a demon. Thoughts on the new team dynamic?
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