A/N so I wasn't going to update this until a whole week had passed but I'm bored so here's another chapter.

Rengoku and you had watched the stars for a brief moment before parting ways. You watch as he slowly walked away, probably inhibited by his injuries, and fought the urge to help him.

He was just starting to leave your sight when he turned and waved goodbye to you. You smiled and waved back, jubilant at the step forward in the relationship between the two of you. You saw a smile peeking over his face as he turned and continued to walk away.

A feeling of tranquility washed over your being. Being in Rengoku's presence made you feel calm. You couldn't quite explain it, but it had been an uncountable amount of years since you'd felt that way around someone who wasn't one of your children.

You took a deep breath, feeling the oxygen fill your lungs and expand. You slowly exhaled allowing any tension to leave your body. Now you'd just have to wait for both Kaname and Arelis to return. After that, it would be time to face the Hashira and their commander.

◼◼◼

It had only been two days before Kaname returned. He cawed as he flew overhead, swooping down and landing on a branch next to your resting body. He returned at night and you were posting up in a tree ready to watch over the sleeping slayers.

He hopped closer, extending his head towards you. You smiled, thanking the bird and taking the paper away from him. "You may return to Rengoku. Thank you again, Kaname." You took a small bundle of Kyoho and gave them to Kaname. He crooned happily, excited at being given the fruit, and took off towards the estate.

You opened the letter, seeing Yushinro's handwriting first. That puzzled you but you moved past it.

Miss (Y/n),

Your children are well, however annoying considering they are taking away my Tamayo's time. Still, as soon as we receive a letter that someone will be coming to guarantee their safe travel they will be swiftly ready to go and meet you again.

We look forward to your next letter.

There was a blank line, a few scribbles and then it turned to Tamayo's writing.

The children miss you very much and can't wait to see you again. They haven't been causing any trouble but they are a handful. I hope to see you when it is safe for them to return to you, we send you our best wishes.

With Love,

Your children.

You were overwhelmed by relief. Your children were well, and they were safe. It was all you could ask for. You greatly hoped that this conference would go well. You couldn't keep endangering your children, both new and old, the way you were.

Failure was the second overwhelming feeling. You felt like a failure of a mother for not being able to properly care for your children. You knew you'd never be perfect, but you rarely felt like you had so blatantly failed your children.

You knew you'd sometimes fall short of your children's needs and expectations, but you'd never thought that ensuring their safety is where'd you'd lack. You grit your teeth, clenching your jaw to try and prevent any outward displays of emotion. You were a mother for goodness sake. You needed to be strong, for your children, for the people that relied on you, and for the ones you failed.

Taking a deep and shaky breath, you gathered yourself, steeling your nerves, and began to watch the butterfly estate. You wished something would happen so that it could take your mind off of your shortcomings.

But the world was not kind and nothing of serious note happened. You sighed, exasperated, flopping back against the trunk of the tree you were resting on. This is absolutely no fun you grumbled to yourself.

No fun at all., you huffed as you crossed your arms. You were looking off into the distance, seeing the sun beginning to brighten the sky. "Well, shit, guess I gotta hide now," you spoke to no one in particular.

You hopped down from the tree, scurrying away to a cave you had been able to locate. You had dug it out more to make it more comfortable for yourself, now able to stand within it.

You huddled up against one of the walls, the first rays of sunshine now peaking over the horizon. You disliked the sun, especially now that it would kill you. You had seen demons be killed because of the sun. It looked painful, and that made you not want to experience something similar.

You decided you ought to sleep the day away as there was nothing better for you to do as a demon. You missed being a human, especially when it came to eating. You missed eating sushi, soba, and much more. You could eat it, but it was useless to your body.

You missed being human, you missed your family, your children. You wished you could go back to that, but you couldn't. All you could do was fight against the man that did this to you and fight to keep the children that surrounded you safe. All you could do was keep the children you still had alive and well.

◼◼◼

Rengoku was anxious. He had finished his training, but he knew he'd have to face the other Hashira soon. And he didn't want to deal with negative comments that would be thrown at him.

He was an adult, however, and he would deal with any backlash that may come. But he couldn't find it within himself to deny that he was more worried about how you would fare against the other slayers.

He was almost 100% sure you would survive, knowing that he would step in if things got out of hand. He did owe you his life, so it only made sense to repay you in the same way.

His thoughts were interrupted by his stomach rumbling loudly. He couldn't help but laugh, rubbing his stomach and going to enter the dining room. His food sat there waiting for him.

He had been putting that odd herb in his food since you had given it to him. He noticed that his wounds had started to heal faster, but he had also noticed how his clothes no longer fit as well.

He had looked at himself in the mirror recently, noticing how much wider he had become in his shoulders and chest. He was surprised by how much he was bulking, but it was a welcome change.

He would have to ask Aoi to get in contact with the Kakushi that made their uniforms so he could get one that allowed him better movement. With his added bulk he couldn't move as freely in his uniform, and for the most efficient demon slaying, he needed as much freedom of movement as possible.

He sprinkled the herb in his food, stirring it, and then brought the food to his mouth. "Delicious," he mumbled as he continued to shovel food into his mouth.

He finished all of his food, still not quite full. He'd have to start asking for more food, must be because of his added mass. He got up, heading towards his room. Shinobu said it wouldn't be much longer until he was able to return to full-time slaying.

He was happy that he would be able to return to his duties as a Hashira. Denying that he wanted to work with you during his Hashira duties. He hoped that all would go well because he knew how helpful you would be to the slayers, and he could only hope that everyone else would be able to see it too.

He closed the door behind himself, setting his sword beside his bed. He removed his uniform, which he'd taken back to training in it but would have to stop doing so because of how tight everything had become. He sat in the middle of his room, a thin shirt and pants on, and he took a few deep breaths. His window was cracked, the breeze flowing over his warm body. It chilled him at first but he grew used to it quickly.

The cold air felt good, cooling him down easily. He usually struggled with his body temperature, always running hotter because of his breathing style. He debated for a moment on asking if you had anything that would help with his higher body temperature but ultimately decided against it until after your "trial".

The sun was almost completely set, a bit of its light still showing, he assumed you would be out and about soon. He knew you could handle more sun than most demons, but he hoped for your sake that you stayed as far away from the sun as possible.

◼◼◼

You awoke just before the sun finished setting, the sun's light still barely being shown. A deep breath, a stretch, and then you stood up to go further into the forest. You were hungry, and while you hoped you'd be able to last longer without food it would take a while to extend how often you needed to eat.

It had been a few weeks since you'd last eaten, and while you weren't terribly hungry, you didn't want to get to the point where your stomach was trying to eat itself. When you got to that point it was hard to resist when a human came around. You, at this point, would never eat a human. But hungry often overruled any morals you may have.

It didn't take you long to make it to the center of the huge forest. You stood there, trying to sniff for a good animal to prey upon. You stood silently, slowing your heart rate as much as possible.

You heard a rustle, smelling one of your favorite meals, deer. You stood still for a few more moments, finally catching a good whiff of the animals. It wasn't far, if you looked to your left you'd be able to see it, but you didn't want to scare it away.

It stepped on a branch, a large snap reverberating through the forest. You could hear it freeze, its own heart rate elevating. That was the opening you needed.

Catching the deer had been easy, it was a good-sized buck, and you had eaten heartily. It should tide you over for a few more weeks, and give you plenty of time to work with Ubuyashiki and your children before you'd need to hunt again. Cooked meat didn't offer you any nutrition, it did have to be raw.

But considering you could eat any animal, as long as it was raw, made your life as a demon that much easier. It had been decades since you had wanted to eat a human. The last time that happened you had pushed yourself too hard and were starved. They always say a hungry animal is a dangerous animal, and they were right.

You shuddered, not enjoying the memory, wishing you could forget that moment. But it was something that reminded you to be better, you would never put your children in danger the way you had that man. You would never eat one of your children, never again.

You would be an example for other demons to follow, you reformed them, that was your whole purpose, to help end the pain and suffering you had seen, caused, and experienced.

You walked back towards your cave, a river being close to it. You wanted to wash up, and get more clothes. You didn't have much money, but it should be enough to get you some nice clothes. You didn't want to look like a bum when meeting the other Hashira.

You wanted to make sure you looked your best, hoping maybe they'd go easier on Rengoku for not being able to defeat you. You didn't think a single one of them could defeat you, but together they could. But you knew Rengoku's defeat would not go over easy for some of the Hashira.

You'd heard about some of them, some being rude, while others were polite. But there was one demon slayer. You wanted to find him and you wanted to hurt him. He'd been seen eating demons. He had been seen, killing one of your children and then eating them.

You would not stand for such a thing against your children. They were all under your protection, and you have failed to prepare them for the real world. You failed to prepare them for a slayer that would attack them for an unforeseeable reason. You had to find them, and you were going to show them how deeply they had hurt you.

You'd come about this information when Arelis had swooped down hooting loudly, not leaving you alone until you had acknowledged her.

"Arelis!? What is going on?" She hooted loudly, swooping down and trying to clip your head. "Okay! What do you want?!" You yelled back, shielding your head. She screeched, taking off towards a forest.

You sighed, running off after her. You hadn't been running long when you saw one of your newer reformed demons, Kiyoko, on the ground. She had been beheaded, but there was someone hovering over her.

"What are you doing!" You screamed, rushing towards them. You were barely able to see their face, but they took off before you could do anything more than smell them. They reeked of demon blood, and while you could have chased them, Kiyoko was more important.

All you could see was their back as they ran away, a sword swinging at their side. "I'll find you! I swear it, you bastard!" You called after the retreating form, holding Kiyoko to your chest.

"Kiyoko... Kiyoko, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry." Your voice broke, rocking back and forth, holding her close to your body. You felt empty at the loss. While you hadn't been able to establish much of a relationship with her, she didn't want to eat another human, and that was commendable.

That day you swore you would find that person, and make them know the pain you felt at Kiyoko's death. She was innocent and didn't deserve to die. She didn't smell of human blood either, so there wasn't a reason for her to have been targeted. She wasn't physically strong, she had only been able to kill one human before becoming disgusted with herself and coming to find you.

You had assumed whoever attacked Kiyoki had been the same person to attack other demons, and because of that you also assumed that they were a slayer. There was no reason for a non-slayer to attack demons. A non-slayer also shouldn't have been able to defeat a demon.

It was still confusing, but you hope that being able to work with the other slayers would help you find them and expose them, you couldn't let them kill any more of your children.