If hell exists—and I should know, I’ve sent plenty of people there—it looks exactly like a high school Cultural Festival preparation night.
The gymnasium was a sensory nightmare. The air smelled of sawdust, unwashed teenage boys, and cheap acrylic paint. The noise level was enough to make my ears bleed. Hammers banging, girls shrieking about costumes, and the brass band practicing out of tune in the corner.
And me? The progenitor of all demons? The Great Muzan Kibutsuji?
I was wearing a black jumpsuit and holding a roll of duct tape. I was a stagehand.
"Kibutsuji-kun! More tape on the castle tower!" shouted the Class Representative.
"Understood," I deadpanned, ripping a strip of tape with my teeth.
I was currently hiding in the shadows of the backstage area, crouched behind a giant cardboard prop of a peach. Our class was performing "Momotaro: The techno-remix," because apparently, traditional folklore isn't suffering enough.
But I had a mission.
I patted my chest pocket. Inside, wrapped in a Kleenex and shoved into a plastic test tube I’d embezzled from the lab, was the Blue Spider Lily petal.
I had the ingredient. Now I just needed the time to synthesize it.
I glanced at the portable Bunsen burner I had hidden behind a stack of costumes. If I could just mix the petal with the reagent I stole from Shinobu, heat it to 80 degrees Celsius, and drink it... I would be invincible. I could walk into the sun tomorrow morning and laugh in the face of UV radiation.
"Kibutsuji-kun?"
I jumped, nearly dropping the tape.
Shinobu Kocho was standing over me. She was wearing a director’s armband and holding a clipboard. In the dim backstage light, her smile looked even more menacing than usual.
"You’re hiding again," she noted, her voice light and airy.
"I am securing the structural integrity of the Giant Peach," I lied smoothly. "Safety first."
"Mm-hmm." She crouched down beside me. The smell of wisteria perfume wafted over, making my nose twitch. "About yesterday... in the lab."
My heart hammered against my ribs. Here it comes. The interrogation. She figured out the blood sample. She knows I’m a monster.
"Tanjiro said you wanted to confess to me," she said, tilting her head.
I blinked. Right. The misunderstanding.
"I..." I swallowed hard. This was my best cover. If she thought I was a lovesick puppy, she wouldn't suspect I was a flesh-eating demon. "I am... shy."
"That’s cute," she said, her eyes narrowing slightly. "But I should warn you. I’m very high maintenance. My last boyfriend? I dissected him."
"Metaphorically?" I squeaked.
"Let’s go with that." She stood up, dusting off her skirt. "Get back to work, Casanova. The dress rehearsal starts in ten minutes. And fix the fog machine. It’s making a weird noise."
She walked away, humming.
I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding. She is terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
ns216.73.216.10da2
and then Add to home screen.