A Great White Serpent.
In the dark expanse of the Infinity Castle, Muzan Kibutsuji sat on his throne, the flicker of pale blue light casting jagged shadows across the intricate, ever-shifting architecture of the realm. His crimson eyes were narrowed in suspicion as the man approached—a figure who looked ordinary enough but moved with a strange, unsettling grace. Muzan's gaze bored into him, piercing through the surface, sensing the presence lurking beneath.
The man who had unwittingly entered Muzan’s domain, wore a black Kimono with blue diagonal stripes, and had black hair. Yet his eyes, were not his own. His eyes were a golden brown with slitted pupils.
“So, the serpent has finally slithered into my domain,” Muzan sneered. “Who are you to walk forward in my presence? Give me one reason as to why I should even hear you out instead of destroying you where you stand?”
A silky chuckle came from the man’s mouth… it was not his own voice. “You really are a cruel one, Muzan-sama.” The honorific was spoken with a mocking formality. “I’ve borrowed this man’s body right after his daughter’s first day of school. Would you really destroy such precious memories merely to inconvenience me?” Muzan's sneer deepened. "My name, is Orochimaru. It is an honor to make your acquaintance. A little over a month ago, an experiment of mine had… enlightened me,” Orochimaru continued. “Your world exists, as do you, with your fascinating pursuits. So do humor me a bit?” He chuckled mirthfully, and Muzan’s claws dug into the armrests of his throne.
“Speak then,” he said, each syllable a pronounced threat. “But if you bore me, I will find your real body, and make sure that you regret your impertinence.”
“Please do not be hasty,’ came the voice of Orochimaru. “The boundaries between dimensions, they are fragile things, and I have only made this breakthrough rather recently. But anything cam be made possible when one knows where to press. Soon, I will come in person, and when I do, I believe I will have something that you would be interested in, Muzan-sama."
“Do not presume to appease me!” Muzan hissed. “I am seconds away from killing you.”
“You cannot kill me,” Orochimaru said calmly. “And you and I will meet again, for you desire conquests over the sun.”
Muzan knew, that this was no ordinary specter. “What I desire,” he said controlling his voice, “is an elimination of the detestable demon slayers. After which, one of my demons will find the blue spider lily in only a matter of time. I do not need your petty assistance!”
“Oh but you will,” Orochimaru said, as his form began to disappear, transported somewhere else. “I will return to meet you in person Muzan-sama, and when that time comes, you and I will discuss the terms of an alliance.”
Muzan gritted his teeth as Orochimaru vanished.
***
“This may sting a bit, Muichiro-kun,” Kanae said softly, as she applied an alcohol-wipe to the child’s scraped knees and thighs. Muichiro winced, and his face contorted with discomfort, but his eyes remained vacant, distant. He was reacting to the physical pain, and nothing more. “Your doing very well Muichiro-kun,” she said gently. “Would you please lift up your arms for me?”
Muichiro did as instructed, and Kanae’s heart was pained anew. This was not the first time she had seen the bruises that covered his thin frame. This was the result of a boy pushing his own body beyond its limits on a daily basis, just as Shinobu had done. But Shinobu, still had her. She still had her sister, and her memories. Muichiro was driven by the fear of confusion, and not knowing where, or who he was, as much as he was driven by anger.
As Kanae continued her examination, she found reason for a small amount of relief. Muichiro’s ribs were not broken this time. She took the balm that Sasori had taught her how to make, and began applying it to where it was most needed, but there were so many smaller injuries, each a sign of the pain this boy carried. His fingernails were thin, and in danger of falling off due to a training regiment that his diet could not keep up with, not to mention the state of his stomach, which was so strained from his intense training that it caused him to vomit blood on at least one occasion, and Kanae feared that without his mind being healed, there would be many more.
“Your doing so well Muichiro,” she said, forgetting the formality between physician and patient along with his honorifics. “Your injuries will heal quickly, just like before.” Muichiro remained silent, his gaze fixed somewhere beyond Kanae, as if searching for something he could never quite grasp. Kanae paused, gently tilting his chin so that his eyes met hers. "It's okay to rest, you know," she continued, her tone filled with a quiet compassion. "You don’t have to push yourself so hard. We’re all here to help you, no matter how much or how little you remember.”
Muichiro nodded silently, as if merely acknowledging what was said. Kanae sat down in her swivel chair, and wheeled herself a short distance to her desk. “I am sending you back to Oyakata-sama with this letter, and these multi-vitamins. Like someone else I know, your diet does not match your exercise routine.” She said this with a hint of fondness, and at the mention of ‘Oyakata-sama’ Muichiro seemed to perk up just a little bit.
“Are you friends with Oyakata-sama?” he asked innocently.
“Of course,” Kanae chirped as she spun around in her chair and handed him the paper bag. “Oyakata-sama is like a second father to all of us in the Demon slayers”
“‘Second father’…” Muichiro pondered.
“Kiriya and Kanata are waiting for you outside,” Kanae said. “They’ll see to it that you get there.”
Muichiro nodded, hopped off the table, thanked Kanae, and left.
Kanae watched from the window, as Kiriya and Kanata took him by the hands, and began to lead him back to the Ubuyashiki mansion, just as Shinobu returned from her training. Kanae returned to her seat, and sighed pensively, as Shinobu lightly tapped at the door to her office. “Nee-san, may I come in?”
“Of course!” Kanae cried happily, “Welcome back Shinobu,” she smiled as Shinobu entered her office.
“How did your training go today?”
“The same as usual,” Shinobu said. Sasori-san is working tirelessly, we are learning so many new things about the demons that we didn’t know before, but as usual, I learned nothing of his past. He never speaks sentimentally at all, he only occasionally grumbles of his irritation, either with me when I’ve made a mistake, or with his own need for rest now that he is flesh and blood. But…” She paused. She had seen Muichiro exiting on her way in… one of the few things she had known about Sasori, was that he was deployed to war when he was Muichiro’s age. It was hard for her to imagine Sasori as a boy, yet, the thought of what Kanae had told her, that Sasori was once just like any other human, but at the back of her mind like a fish bone stuck in one’s throat. “How is Muichiro-kun’s condition?” she finally asked.
Kanae turned thoughtfully to the examination table where Muichiro sat mere minutes ago… “The same as usual,” She answered sadly.
***
Sasori lay awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had thought to himself that he’d take a nap to sleep off his exhaustion, yet, sleep never came. “Just a little while longer…” he said to himself. “Just a little while longer, and I’ll escape this damn body.” A faint knock sounded on his door. Sasori grumbled, and got up to answer it, having now resigned himself to the fact that sleep would not come anytime soon...
“Delivery,” the Kakushi mumbled, offering the box gingerly. Sasori grunted and took it, immediately aware of the faint movement inside. Kraits, venomous and elegant.
“Finally,” he muttered. The Kakushi made a hasty retreat. Sasori wasted no time in taking the Kraits to his lab! He still had an hour before nightfall, and decided to milk them for their venom now, when they were in their more docile diurnal state. As he began to unpack the parcel, his hands paused when he saw one of the Kraits, pale as snow... an albino.
For a moment, a flash of nostalgia hit him, followed by a twinge of animosity....
A bitter, venomous chuckle escaped Sasori's throat, as his hands gripped the table. "You're probably the reason I'm stuck in in the first place, isn't it?.... Orochimaru..." He took one of the Kraits in his hand, and allowed the serpent to slither through his fingers. "Whatever the reason is," he mused. "I expect I'll see you here soon enough... I can't wait... I can't wait to kill you."