Demon Slayer: Upper 0 seems to be a waste

"Rinko. My name is Rinko, Rin for winter, light for night."

This was the first sentence Lin Guang said to him.

----

Lei had met this boy once before.

He shouldn't have been there during the rare Upper Moon meeting, but Lord Muzan suddenly summoned the Lower Moons over. A group of demons who should never meet each other until they die gathered in one space, creating this exception.

It's the boy named Rinko.

At that meeting, he became Upper Moon Zero and was not allowed to participate in the bloody battle for position change. In other words, his position would not be changed until he was unfortunately beheaded by a demon hunter or until Lord Muzan changed his mind.

Rui is not really clear about what Upper Rank Zero represents, nor is he very curious. Upper Rank and Lower Rank are nothing more than a group of more powerful demons, but that has nothing to do with him. As a demon, being powerful is a matter of course, and that is not what he cares about.

What he cares about and pursues are other things.

Some desires that have begun to blur in memory but still exist clearly in the heart.

It was like a person who had fallen off a cliff clinging desperately to a vine. No matter how hard he tried to hold on, he couldn't climb up anymore. But neither his instinct nor his reason would allow him to let go.

All of this was supposed to be what he pursued, what Lord Muzan allowed, and what he could not let go of, but that was all.

Until the boy's name appeared in Lord Muzan's mouth.

"Tired. Rinko, remember that boy? I plan to leave him with you for a while."

I have heard that as a ghost, Rinkou also has privileges that other ghosts cannot reach. He has always been with other ghosts and got along with them. No one knows why, and no one dares to ask the Upper Moon, let alone ask Muzan.

"I need. To do anything."

"No... no. You don't have to do anything. You don't have to do anything special. You'll understand when you see Rinkou in person."

This was not easy to understand, but Lei understood that it also meant not to ask any further questions, so he remained silent.

Just wait.

Waiting for a 'guest' to come.

The boy in his memory was still a child with tears of blood and an expressionless face. He remembered that the boy had talked to the upper ranks without any scruples, but he did not dare to look up at them at that time.

So this was the first time he saw the boy smile.

"My name is Rinko. Nice to meet you, please be kind."

The boy brought by Master Muzan fell to the ground. His attire was different from before, but still too big. It didn't fit his body size at all.

Those eyes had Upper Zero written on them.

Then there was the smile on his face, gentle and brilliant, a smile he had never seen before, never seen on a ghost or his 'family', a very pure smile.

The boy was delighted. He could tell at a glance why.

What was Rinkou so happy about...that was something he didn't know.

"tired."

"I'm tired. I'll leave Rinko to you for now. Rinko, be obedient."

Muzan simply gave a few instructions and then disappeared from the spot. Just as no one knew when he had arrived, Lei also didn't know when he disappeared.

"Let's go."

He stretched out his hand, and the boy's small hand fell into his palm. It was the first time he held a hand smaller than his own. It was small, soft, and cold, and even the strength was light, just like Lin Guang himself.

----

I know how family members get along. But I don't quite understand how to get along with guests. I can kick out rude guests, kill those who cause trouble, and make dinner of those who stray from my path.

But Lingguang is neither of them, he is a guest who needs to be welcomed into the house.

"This is father, mother, and this is my brother, sister, and younger brother."

He introduced his 'family' to the 'guests'.

Where is Rinko? He pondered in his heart.

Muzan-sama would not allow him to tear off Rinko's face, and Rinko was not his "family". So why did Muzan-sama send this boy to him?

This confusion had existed in Lei's mind for a long time. He had been thinking about it before Lin Guang came, but he still hadn't come up with an answer until the boy sat in the main hall and became a part of this place.

"What about you? Are you the older brother? Or the younger brother?"

The boy's childish voice made Lei look up. The boy sitting in the corridor was swinging his legs and looking at him with his head raised.

“I am the child of this family.”

Lei responded to him calmly, but the boy did not give up. He tilted his head to one side, just looked at him, shook his head, and asked again.

"So are you the older brother or the younger brother?"

"What's the meaning."

"That's my father, that's my mother, that's my sister, that's my brother, what about Tired?"

The boy stretched out his hand, pointed here and there, turned around the family members, and finally pointed at Lei.

Lei blinked slowly, not quite understanding what the boy was saying. But the other man saw through it, and a smile broke out on his face again. His petite body held a strength that belied his appearance. The boy lowered his head and bent at the waist, as if gathering strength. The next second, he disappeared from sight, and the sound echoed behind him.

"Is Lei an 'older brother' or a 'younger brother'..."

But when I turned around, there was nothing behind me.

When he turned his head back, the person who had disappeared from his sight appeared in his field of vision again. The boy was standing with his hands behind his back, his head held high, staring at him.

"They said you're my age. You do look older than me. What should I call you, brother?"

What nonsense is he talking about. ?

Lei looked at the boy in front of him, looked at his face, looked at his smile, looked at the words in his eyes, and asked in his heart.

Is this kid crazy?

They don't have similar looks, the same abilities, or anything in common. They are completely different beings, even the difference between an upper moon and a lower moon.

An Upper Rank Zero who had lived for who knows how many hundreds of years, definitely much longer than him.

But you want to call him brother?

----

----

Lei did not agree to the boy's request, nor did he agree to call him brother. They lived in the same "home", calling the same people father, mother, and sister, but they were more like strangers to each other.

It’s weird.

Even if it were a ghost, it would be strange enough.

However, the boy seemed to have never realized that there was anything wrong with all this, and still called every member by the name he was taught, as if he was already a member of the group.

Muzan-sama said that when he saw Rinkou in person, he would understand. But now, the boy was right before his eyes, they saw each other every day, and he couldn't understand. He didn't understand why he had sent this boy to him. Muzan-sama's decision was certainly correct, but Lei didn't think he was wrong.

He could only assume that there was something wrong with the boy.

Lord Muzan said that Rinkou is very obedient and sensible. He is obedient, but to a limited extent.

The boy's energy is almost unlimited. He can still rely on sleep to keep quiet during the day, but when night falls, he is no longer a boy. He is more like a wild dog that has been released from its chains, with endless energy.

"Then what should we do?"

Even now, the boy was following his 'mother' to study how the strings controlled the puppet's body. The two voices were chattering nearby.

It's so noisy.