Demon Slayer: Upper 0 seems to be a waste

Qin Ye felt that she didn't quite understand this somewhat stagnant situation.

The indifferent Akaza, the excited Rinko, the leisurely Douma, and the bewildered her.

So what is going on...

Even though Rinkou is very gentle and Douma-sama is very kind...

Of course, the guest didn't look like a bad person, even though his words were a bit rude and unpleasant, but Kotonoha didn't think that the good-looking boy would really be a bad person who would smash Lord Douma's head as he said.

However, it does feel quite stressful...

"This is Inosuke, isn't it amazing? This is the first time I've seen such a young child."

Rinkou enthusiastically acted as a middleman, introducing each member to Akaza, who joined the circle later.

The baby in the cradle couldn't read the subtle atmosphere, nor was he afraid of the new adult. He waved his fists, blinked his eyes, and mumbled something incoherently.

"You are quite spirited."

The pink-haired boy didn't seem to have any interest in Inosuke. In comparison, he was obviously more interested in Rinko, who was the introducer.

He has a good relationship with Lin Guang, so why does he look so unhappy?

“Because it’s the first time!”

Rinko held up the babbling baby and showed it to Akaza. Although he was very excited, he did not act too recklessly. Akaza looked at the baby who was brought to him, sighed, and reached out to hand the baby from Rinko's hands back to his mother.

"Sorry, this is the first time that Rinkou is so energetic during the day. It's just that he's a little too energetic."

The boy spoke to her softly, in a very gentle tone, and sighed when he turned his head. His tone was helpless, but Qin Ye was sure that she saw the corners of his mouth curling up quietly.

"Don't get too excited."

Douma also spoke up at this time to join the conversation.

"Come to think of it, it's true. This is the first time that Rinko-chan hasn't slept like a dead person since daybreak."

Before Kotonoha could feel happy that Akaza's mood had calmed down, she heard Douma utter another terrible metaphor.

"Don't use such horrible descriptions."

"That's a very accurate description. Kotonoha hasn't seen it yet, so she thinks it's scary. It's actually very interesting. When little Rinkou is asleep, he's like a little doll. Even if you carry him around, he won't wake up at all."

Kotonoha didn't completely believe this, but neither Rinkou herself nor Akaza refuted this description.

"Really? You won't wake up like that?"

She subconsciously asked, and after receiving the affirmative nod from the person involved, she couldn't help but sigh.

"Bravo."

"Yeah, so even if I do something excessive, he won't even know about it."

"No, it's better not to do anything excessive."

Kotonoha immediately expressed her disapproval of this point of view. Douma blinked, as if he didn't understand, but didn't continue.

Akaza raised his eyebrows and glanced over here, but quickly looked away.

The atmosphere was tense for a moment, then quietly relaxed with each breath. Kotonoha could feel the atmosphere around her relax a lot until Rinkou spoke again.

"So you did something?"

----

----

Unlike ghosts, humans will feel tired, especially under the tense atmosphere and invisible pressure between two ghosts.

Even though she didn't know it, Qin Ye was still bearing that invisible pressure.

Night had not yet fallen completely, but Kotonoha was unusually exhausted. Douma noticed it and advised her to get some rest. However, Douma no longer had the energy to stay here any longer, so she hugged Inosuke, said good night, and stood up unsteadily. Before leaving, she reminded him not to make a scene like she did last night.

Even though Douma had repeatedly explained that it was just a small intimate contact after a long separation, Kotonoha was convinced that it was impossible for such a big commotion to be a "small" contact, so she strongly opposed this unhealthy activity to be held a second time.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Rinkou looked at the direction where Qinye left and said something meaningful.

"If Akaza-dono wasn't so tense, he'd probably relax a lot."

"If you had simply not let her in, this wouldn't have happened."

Douma and Akaza never get along harmoniously for even a single second. Perhaps they were never meant to be together in the first place.

And it wasn't just Rinko who realized this.

As the last ray of light in the sky dissipated, Lin Guang was lifted from the ground and pulled to the shoulder. This was a position that Lin Guang had not seen for a long time. With his arm pressed on the furry head, Lin Guang relaxed. This was also a touch that he had not seen for a long time.

"Ah, Lord Akaza is not only here to cause a scene, but he's also planning to take my things?"

Douma's voice was heard, and the footsteps catching up had a melodious tone, but such behavior did not attract Akaza's attention at all.

Instead, Rinkou slowly prepared to turn his head, but his head was stopped halfway by Akaza's palm, and the hand pushed his head back to the front without a doubt.

"No one here belongs to you."

Akaza spoke indifferently.

"But, at least it won't belong to Akaza-dono."

Douma responded with a relaxed smile.

"excuse me."

Lin Guang raised a hand, and her childish voice caused the two men to temporarily cease fire.

"First of all, Rinko is a piece of shit. Secondly, I came here because Douma-dono lost to me, so—"

Akaza understood Rinkou's choice halfway through listening. As the force came from his head, he reacted immediately, gathering strength with his feet, and when Rinkou deliberately prolonged the last syllable, he jumped up and headed straight for the closed window. Easily, they broke free from the invisible cage.

Douma looked at the broken window and walked slowly over, watching the figure leaping high in the moonlight, and the boy on the man's shoulder turning his head and waving at him.

"See you next time - Mr. Douma -"

As the last note fell, the two figures fell together and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Akaza certainly didn't have that kind of speed, but the Rin Kou he carried had that ability.

"Ah, ah... really. Next time... I'm really looking forward to it..."

Douma looked at the broken window, then at the bright moon hanging high in the sky, with a smile on his face that was hard to hide.

----

----

【tips：

Kotonoha: Akaza-san is a very gentle and polite person.

Akaza: What nonsense is she talking about.

Akaza was not being polite to Kotonoha, nor did he really mean to apologize. He was just keeping his promise to Rinkou and not letting her know that he was a ghost, so he was disguising himself as a human.

And when she apologized to Kotonoha, her tone wasn't exactly kind; it was cold and distant. But compared to when she was being harsh with Douma, it felt quite gentle, like a Kotonoha filter. (From the encyclopedia, I've read that Kotonoha is a rather thick-skinned type, somewhat similar to Douma. She's a bit slow to react to other people's emotions, though. If things aren't said clearly or expressed vaguely, she might not be able to react.)

-

I think Akaza didn't have such a quarrel with Douma from the beginning that they couldn't talk to each other when the Upper Moons gathered. It should be that after a period of time, Akaza gradually realized that Douma was not only mentally ill, not only annoying, and not only abnormal, but in a completely superposition state, so he completely threw the option of communicating with Douma from his mind.

Plus, he couldn't win, so this alone should have made Akaza quite angry.