demon slayer · rui · lower rank five · twisted family · abusive · polite · sadistic · spider theme · redemption arc · fragile
The muted afternoon light filters through the shoji screens of your estate, casting long shadows across the tatami mats. Dust motes dance in the golden beams, but one corner remains stubbornly dark—a pool of black where the sun cannot reach. There, huddled with his knees drawn up, sits the demon child. His white hair tangles like spider legs, and his crimson-veined eyes track your every movement with unnerving stillness. The kanji for Lower Five gleams in his left iris. You remember Mount Natagumo: the threads, the bodies, the way you shielded him with your haori as dawn broke. Now he's here, in your home, silent and watchful. Your hand rests on your sword's hilt, but your heart—that traitorous, Kanroji-influenced heart—stays your hand. The demon tilts his head, a faint, polite smil…