The stairwell to the roof smelled like old mop water and desperation.
I sprinted up the steps three at a time, my lungs burning. My physical stats were trash—seriously, a grandma with a walker could probably outpace me in a marathon—but adrenaline is a hell of a drug.
I slammed my shoulder against the heavy metal door. It burst open, and I stumbled onto the roof of Kimetsu Academy.
The sky was a bruised purple, bleeding into a terrifying shade of orange on the horizon. The sun. The great, burning eye of judgment was opening.
"Five minutes," I wheezed, checking my watch. "I have five minutes before I turn into a crispy piece of yakitori."
I didn't have time to celebrate my survival in the gym. The "Blue Spider Lily" petal was burning a hole in my pocket. I needed to synthesize it. Now.
I scrambled toward the HVAC units, finding a spot shielded from the wind. I pulled out my stolen loot: the test tube containing the petal, a lighter I’d swiped from the janitor’s closet, and a can of lukewarm coffee from a vending machine (it was the only solvent available).
"Okay, Muzan. Focus," I muttered, my hands shaking. "You are the apex predator. You invented blood curses. You can do high school chemistry."
I popped the cork on the test tube. The blue petal glowed softly, pulsating like a tiny, arrogant heart.
I poured the coffee into the tube. It fizzed.
"Don't explode, don't explode," I chanted.
I clicked the lighter and held the flame under the glass. The liquid began to bubble. A smell wafted up—not the smell of coffee, but something ancient. Like ozone and thunderstorms.
[System Notification: Synthesis in progress. Success rate: 12%.]
"Twelve percent?!" I shrieked at the invisible screen. "I’m the Demon King! Give me a handicap bonus!"
[System Notification: Karma Bonus applied. Success rate: 14%.]
"You are useless."
I watched the mixture turn a sludge-like grey. It looked disgusting. It looked like death. But it was my only hope. If I drank this, my cells might—might—mutate enough to withstand UV radiation.
The horizon flared. The first sliver of the sun peeked over the Tokyo skyline.
Hiss.
My skin started to tingle. Not a sunburn tingle. A "your DNA is unravelling" tingle.
"Bottoms up," I whispered, raising the tube to my lips.
BANG.
The roof door slammed open behind me.
I choked, nearly dropping the cure. I spun around, hiding the tube behind my back.
Tanjiro Kamado stood there, chest heaving, his tie crooked. Next to him was Shinobu, looking uncharacteristically disheveled, her breathing slightly elevated.
"Kibutsuji-kun!" Tanjiro shouted, pointing at me. "Don't jump!"
I blinked. "What?"
"We know you're stressed!" Tanjiro took a step forward, his eyes shimmering with tears. "The cultural festival pressure! The liver and onions! The anemia! But jumping isn't the answer!"
"I wasn't going to jump, you idiot!" I yelled back. "I'm enjoying the view!"
"Liar," Shinobu cut in. She walked past Tanjiro, her eyes locked on my hand behind my back. "You’re hiding something. You ran away from the gym right after saving me. Why?"
"I didn't save you," I denied instantly. "It was the fog machine. It was a mechanical failure."
"Fog machines don't have pulses, Kibutsuji-kun," she said softly. "I felt your pulse when you grabbed the wind blades. It was... incredibly fast."
She took another step. The sunlight was creeping across the roof tiles, inching closer to my feet. A line of fire.
"Who are you?" she asked. The playful tone was gone. Her hand drifted to the pocket of her skirt. I knew what was in there. A scalpel. Or maybe something worse.
"I'm just a student!" I backed away, my heel hitting the edge of the HVAC unit. "I just want to pass chemistry!"
"Then show me your hand," she commanded.
"No!"
"Guys!" Tanjiro interrupted, sniffing the air violently. "Stop! The smell... it's back!"
I froze. The smell?
Suddenly, the shadows behind Shinobu and Tanjiro rippled.
The "Drum Demon" Kyogai had been destroyed by Rengoku's fist, yes. But demons in this world don't die peacefully. Their "Resentment"—the spiritual sludge left behind—lingers.
And it was angry.
A mass of black, inky slime erupted from the shadow of the doorframe. It didn't have a form, just a gaping maw and flailing tendrils of darkness.
[Warning: Residual Miasma detected. Status: Volatile.]
"Look out!" I screamed.
The slime lashed out, wrapping around Tanjiro’s ankle.
"Whoa!" Tanjiro yelped as he was yanked off his feet.
Shinobu spun around, slashing with her scalpel, but the blade passed harmlessly through the liquid. "It's not solid!"
The slime surged, grabbing Shinobu’s wrist. It was dragging them both toward the edge of the roof—toward the dark side of the building, away from the rising sun. It wanted to drag them down into the shade to consume them.
"Let go!" Tanjiro shouted, kicking at the blob.
I stood there, clutching my test tube.
I was safe. I was in the sunlight zone (almost). The monster couldn't touch me here. All I had to do was drink the potion, wait for the sun to rise fully, and let nature take its course. The Slayers would be eaten, or at least injured enough to forget about me.
It was the perfect scenario.
Drink it, Muzan. Drink it and become a god.
I looked at the tube. The grey sludge bubbled.
Then I looked at Tanjiro. The boy who offered me a rice ball. The boy who put burn cream on my finger.
I looked at Shinobu. The girl who gave me a lollipop when my sugar was low.
They were annoying. They were terrifying. They were my natural enemies.
But...
If they die here, the Student Council will investigate. The school will be swarming with Exorcists. My peaceful life will be over.
"Fine!" I roared at the sky. "I'll be the hero! Are you happy now, universe?!"
I didn't drink the potion.
Instead, I sprinted toward the shade.
"Kibutsuji-kun?!" Shinobu’s eyes widened as she saw me running toward the monster.
"Duck!" I commanded.
I didn't have a sword. I didn't have a spell. But I had a test tube full of highly unstable, semi-magical, demon-flower coffee.
I reared back and hurled the test tube like a grenade.
It sailed over Tanjiro’s head and smashed directly into the center of the black slime.
CRASH.
The glass shattered. The grey liquid mixed with the black miasma.
[Chemical Reaction: Blue Spider Lily (Solar Variant) + Demonic Resentment = PURIFICATION.]
For a second, nothing happened.
Then, the blob turned bright, blinding blue.
SCREEEEEEE!
The slime shrieked like a tea kettle from hell. It convulsed, releasing Tanjiro and Shinobu, and then—POOF.
It evaporated into a cloud of steam that smelled vaguely of roasted beans.
Tanjiro scrambled back, coughing. Shinobu fell to her knees, gasping for air.
It was over. I had saved them. Again.
And in doing so, I had wasted the cure. The Blue Spider Lily was gone.
"My flower..." I whispered, falling to my knees. "My beautiful, immortality-giving flower..."
I was so distracted by my loss that I didn't notice the environment.
"Kibutsuji!" Tanjiro shouted.
He was pointing at me. His face was pale with horror.
"The sun!"
I looked up.
While I was mourning my coffee, the sun had cleared the horizon. The shadow of the HVAC unit was gone.
I was kneeling in direct, unfiltered sunlight.
NO.
Panic, primal and overwhelming, seized my brain. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the burning. I waited for my skin to blister, for my flesh to turn to ash, for the agony of a thousand years to end my existence.
Here it comes. The end.
...
...
I waited.
A bird chirped. A car honked in the distance.
I felt... warm?
I slowly opened one eye.
My hand was bathed in golden light. It wasn't burning. It was glowing. A faint, pearlescent shimmer coated my skin, refracting the light like a prism.
[System Notification: Karma Threshold Reached.]
[Act of Selfless Sacrifice confirmed (Sacrificing the Cure to save Enemies).]
[Reward: Title "The Daylightwalker" (Temporary Buff).]
[Duration: Until you do something evil again.]
I stared at my hand. I wasn't dead. I was... sparkling?
I'm sparkling. Like a vampire from a bad YA novel.
"He..." Tanjiro whispered, shielding his eyes. "He's glowing."
I stood up slowly. The fear evaporated, replaced by a rush of absolute, unearned arrogance.
I spread my arms wide. The sun felt amazing. It felt like power.
"Yes!" I laughed, throwing my head back. "Behold! The sun does not reject me! I have conquered the day!"
I looked like a majesty. A deity. The Perfect Being.
"He looks like a detergent commercial," Shinobu deadpanned.
I froze.
Shinobu dusted off her skirt and stood up. She walked over to me, squinting in the glare of my glowing skin.
"So," she said, her voice dry. "You threw a chemical bomb at a ghost, saved our lives, and now you're photosynthesizing."
"It is... a rare skin condition," I said, lowering my arms. The glow was starting to fade as my internal panic returned. "Bioluminescence. Triggered by stress."
"Uh-huh." She stepped closer.
She reached out and poked my cheek. It was warm. Alive.
"You're very weird, Kibutsuji Muzan," she whispered.
For a moment, I thought she was going to stab me. Or hug me. Both options were terrifying.
Instead, she smiled. And for the first time since I met her, the smile reached her eyes. It wasn't a "nice" smile. It was the smile of a scientist who just found a new favorite puzzle.
"But I suppose you're not boring," she said.
"Is that a compliment?"
"Don't push it."
"Kibutsuji-kun!" Tanjiro tackled me in a hug.
"Gah!" I wheezed as his rock-hard forehead slammed into my sternum.
"You were so brave!" Tanjiro cried, snot and tears instantly ruining my blazer. "You charged right at the monster! I smelled your scent—it changed! It went from 'Cowardly Rat' to 'Noble Lion' for a second!"
"Get off me!" I shoved him away. "I am not a lion! I am a very fragile student who needs to go home and sleep for three days!"
"We should get you to the infirmary," Tanjiro insisted, grabbing my arm. "You're still glowing a little bit."
"I'm fine," I snapped, pulling away.
I walked to the edge of the roof—carefully avoiding looking down—and gazed out at the city.
Tokyo woke up below us. Trains rattled on the tracks. Students were walking toward the school gates.
I had no cure. I was still mortal. I was still weak.
But as I looked at my hand, the faint shimmer lingered.
I hadn't conquered the sun through science. I had conquered it by... being a decent person?
Disgusting, I thought. Absolutely revolting.
But as the morning breeze hit my face, I realized something else. The "Yoriichi Migraine" was gone. For the first time in centuries, my head was clear.
"Hey," Shinobu called out from the door.
I turned back.
Tanjiro was holding the door open, beaming like a lighthouse. Shinobu stood next to him, her hands clasped behind her back.
"First period starts in ten minutes," she said. "We have a pop quiz in history. Rengoku-sensei will scream if you're late."
She tilted her head, the butterfly clip catching the sunlight.
"Coming, Hero?"
I adjusted my glasses. I smoothed down my ruined uniform. I looked at the sun one last time, squinting behind my UV lenses.
"I'm not a hero," I muttered to myself, walking toward them. "I'm the Demon King."
But as I stepped into the shadow of the stairwell, walking between the slayer who smelled kindness and the slayer who loved poison, I couldn't help but think:
Maybe high school isn't hell after all.
It's just purgatory. And I might actually graduate.
"Wait," I paused at the door. "Did you say pop quiz?"
"Yes," Tanjiro said happily. "On the Meiji Restoration."
My blood ran cold.
"I didn't study."
Shinobu laughed—a genuine, melodic sound that echoed down the stairs.
"Then you'd better run, Kibutsuji-kun. Survival of the fittest."
I sighed, and followed them down into the dark.
[Chapter 5 End]
[Current Status: Alive.]
[Karma Points: +100.]
[Next Objective: Pass History. Avoid trip to Kyoto.]
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