stolen time

Ch96 dr

"A-ah, it's nothing"

She replied with an awkward smile.

"Alright then, but I didn't expect your features to change aya chan, is it the only thing that changed?"

Her eyes slightly widened, it had only been a few minutes since she recollected what had happened and didn't take into consideration of the other changes that had happened in her body.

"What do you mean?"

"Well Aya chans demon marks have grown more and it's more visible now, I'm not sure if it's the same case with your hands but you also have some horns growing out of your head"

He gestured a finger towards a side of his own forehead, ayame instantly flicked her head down to look at her own hand with the other raised towards where Douma had pointed to feel the tip of her finger bump into something foreign, utter shock plastered on her face.

Turning her feet backwards she darted towards the nearest mirror within the temple, running through the familiar dim hallways turning left and right with the sound of douma's footsteps following behind. Falling down to her knees before a dressing table, she was bewildered to see her reflection within the mirror.

All of her efforts to at least look human were shattered instantly with the power of one man's cells, cells that no one had been able to successfully fight against before. Douma who was standing outside, was expecting ayame to lash out from such unfavourable changes. Knowing how much she despises being a demon and these new features certainly didn't help, though that was what he had expected it was disturbingly quiet within the room behind him.

Douma turned to the side to peek his rainbow eyes over the shoji.

"Aya chan?"

"Crack!"

A dry crackling sound emerged as douma's eyes slowly widened at the scene he had just witnessed.

"Aya chan?!?"

He quickly rushed over with a expression bathed in worry, bending down on one knee he pulled the hand that held a red knife away from her body, with his other free hand cupping her other that grasped a cut off horn.

"Aya chan what are you doing! What is that going to solve, you're only hurting yourself meaninglessly, especially when Aya chan isnt immune to pain, if you need to blame someone blame me"

She knew doing this was meaningless, but even so it didn't stop her from feeling the impulse of doing it. both the knife and horn dissolved from within her hands, loosening her fists up with her eyes covered by her bangs.

"What do you mean?"

She asked in a low tone.

"The truth is I knew "he" had found out about you much longer than you did, and I didn't say anything and I failed to protect Aya chan like I promised myself, so take your anger out on me and don't hurt yourself ok?"

A tear slid down his pale cheek but this time she couldn't tell if he was faking it like always or if it truly was genuine, she was a little annoyed at how he never mentioned it to her before but she knew it wasn't his fault, it was nobody's fault but her own.

"I'm sure everything will work out somehow Aya chan, it'll be alright..."

He said in a calm and soft voice while holding her in his embrace, it was the only way he knew how to comfort her since he never received comfort himself to know how to.

"Sometimes I wish I had never retained my human emotions, maybe then I wouldn't be struggling so"

"But then Aya chan wouldn't be Aya chan anymore, and I don't want that"

"Is that so..."

*********

A few months have passed since her return, and once ayame calmed down she has been trying to adjust to the unwanted changes to her life, with the occasional visit from muzan to make sure she hadn't escaped.

"Ack!"

"Aya chan?!? What's wrong"

Douma came rushing over upon hearing ayame's groan with a loud bang prior to it, following the sound of her voice he saw the ends of her hair poking out at the corner of hall. Skipping over he saw ayame crouched down with her hand pressed against her forehead as she looked back at him with a tear in her eye, he chuckled behind his fan kneeling down beside her.

"Ara~? Did Aya chan hit her horn again?"

Ayame had decided that she should try to get used to living with two inconveniences that grew on her head instead of trying to temporarily disguise them, and because of it Douma would regularly hear loud thuds or crashing sounds around the temple from ayame walking into something by accident.

"I wish I could permanently rip these off"

"It is quite strange, most demons don't develop new features after receiving blood from "him" and instead we get our power amplified, but it seems Aya chan had a little of both"

Grunting she stood back up to her feet and bent down to dust her kimono while Douma simply watched from the side.

"Hmm? Aya chan what happened to the bell you always have at your waist?"

Douma said after noticing it wasn't at its usual place, since she was somewhat acting as normal as usual he didn't think it wasn't with her, because if it did she would've acted like last time when she didn't have it.

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"You know, the bell that always kept Aya chan calm"

She raised a brow with a lost expression, they stayed silent for a few seconds that felt like hours when it suddenly hit Douma. His smile faltered with his rounding eyes "it can't be, is Aya chans..." he shook his head smiling once more, thinking that he was simply just being paranoid.

"It's nothing I must've mistaken it for something else"

Ayame slightly chuckled, raising a hand she tapped her fingertips at the side of her chin.

"That's unlike you, but you're right it does feel like I'm missing something, I wonder what it is..."

"A-Ahaha I'm sure it's nothing important, let's stop thinking about it alright? Ah right I remembered there was something I wanted to show aya chan once you came back, come on let's go shall we?"

Douma hurriedly stood up in attempt to distract her thoughts, because if the slight chance his guess was correct, if she knew it would only bring her more grief. Grabbing her shoulders from behind he lead her towards his room.