Work Text:
“Nii-san! I hate this! I hate the forest! It ruins my pretty clothes!”
“Shut up, you whiny baby!” Gyutaro stuck his little finger in his ear, wiggling it around: if it wasn’t for the fact that they were demons, he would've said his ears were ringing with all that screeching. Then again, Daki surely had both the lungs and the stubbornness to manage that. “We can’t stay in the same town forever if you refuse to wear a disguise that looks old! Give humans a little time and those who remember you properly will all be dead.”
“But I hate looking old!” Daki was truly at her temper tantrum peak. “And I hate waiting, hate the forest, and hate those stupid humans!” She stomped a foot on the ground with enough force to fall a couple of nearby trees.
Gyutaro sighed and went to hold her and pet her before she made more of a mess and attracted unwanted attention. Not that a few humans coming to investigate would be a problem by themselves, but then the town would send more people, then the annoying Hashira when too many of them disappeared. It was the same reason why they couldn't just kill everyone in town who would recognize Daki: Gyutaro wanted the best life for his sister, would indulge her every whim, but not when it meant attracting trouble so obviously.
Still, he couldn't stand to see her upset.
“Say,” he told her, pulling back a little so she could no longer hide against his chest, tilting her head up with a finger under her chin, “I heard some clients before we left, talking about a place that apparently houses the most beautiful women in the country, with many houses competing to have the prettiest girl work at their place. Where girls often run away, only for others to reach the place soon after, just as beautiful if not more.”
Daki sneered and tried to wiggle out of his hold. “Nii-san, you’re an ass! I’m already feeling low, and you keep talking about other pretty girls on top of it all!”
Gyutaro couldn't help but cackle, before nuzzling the top of his sister’s head, ignoring her squirming. “Stupid silly sister, I don’t care about any of them. They’re lowly humans, and even if they were demons, there’s no one in the world as beautiful as you.”
Daki stopped trying to get away, instead looking up at him with a pout and her wonderful acid green eyes, shining with hurt and unshed tears. “Why did you bring them up then?”
With a grin, Gyutaro shook his head. “You’re so dumb,” but he gentled his words by kissing her forehead. “It’s not about the girls, but the place. This Entertainment District could be a perfect playground for you, a place where everyone would admire you just like in the tea house in town, but it would be easy and normal to disappear and return with a new disguise. There would never be a shortage of people falling over themselves to worship you as they should, and with so many people coming and going, prey would be easy and abundant.” He cupped Daki’s face between his hands, touching their foreheads together and watching in real time as her eyes widened in understanding. “No more traveling between towns or lying low for months. You would own that place.”
With a smile full of joy, Daki threw her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist. “Nii-san! Thank you, thank you! I love you!” She started peppering kisses all over Gyutaro’s face, and he cackled and spun them around until they were crashing through another tree and into the ground among laughter and kisses.
Ah, that was life. He loved making Daki happy.