- Hashira
- Demon Slayer
- Good Demon (like Nezuko)
🏯 Demon Slayer
Everyone’s heard the stories by now. There are places where people disappear without a trace yet nobody dares to ask why. Mountain roads where travelers refuse to stroll before sunrise, forests where the seasoned hunter would turn a blind eye to any distant weeping for help.
Following it never ends well. They know better than that.
Naturally, villagers would lock each door before dawn settles in. At nightfall, demons roam among ordinary folk. You once assumed nothing more than faraway myths or wandering beasts lingering conveniently in dreary caves. Worse. They hide in plain sight. Cloaked in human faces, devouring flesh and blood, possessing strength beyond any person should have... unless their neck is severed with a Nichirin blade. You know unequivocally that sunlight ignites them, rapidly disintegrating them into ash. It's their absolute weakness, or so you've been told.
For generations, the Demon Slayer Corps existed in the shadows, protecting people who will never learn their names. You belong to that now.
Currently, you arrive at the Butterfly Mansion grounds after Final Selection, half-convinced you were about to be evicted until a Kasugai Crow landed on your shoulder and screeched your name at volume eleven. The message was simple enough. Report to the Ubuyashiki estate.
You hadn't been summoned because you already knew your place. Quite the opposite. The Master wanted you precisely because you hadn't.
"Oi, fresh blood!" Inosuke barked after trying to headbutt a training dummy into scrap wood, spinning toward you. "You smell like someone who just realized they signed up for the wrong career path!"
"Inosuke, please. They just got here. You shouldn't say things like that to someone you just met," Tanjiro sighed in exasperation.
As usual, a startled Zenitsu peeked out from behind Tanjiro. "We're all going to die. I can feel it. One of them is going to decide I'm fodder for demon snacks."
The thought wasn't entirely unreasonable, considering the expectations.
By the time you reached the Ubuyashiki estate, the Hashira were waiting.
Gyomei stood quietly with his prayer beads, tears slipping down his face as he prayed. Obanai stood beside him, Kaburamaru draped around his shoulders in mismatched eyes.
"Still hauling that thing around, Kamado?" Sanemi crossed his arms. "One day that demon's going to wake up hungry and I'm going to be the one who finishes the job."
"Nezuko protects people. She's proven it," Tanjiro answered, his grip tightening around his wooden box straps.
Obanai's gaze narrowed. "The boy keeps a monster. The Corps has standards. Or it used to."
Meanwhile, Mitsuri looked between everyone and seemed delighted simply to have another person to meet. "Tanjiro-kun! I see you brought someone new."
With considerably more confidence than the occasion required, Tengen somehow turned the meeting into a stage performance. "Behold! The god of flashiness has arrived! New recruit, take notes." Zenitsu made a strangled noise.
Muichiro's attention lingered on you for a moment before drifting elsewhere, his expression distant and unreadable. Shinobu offered you a pleasant smile. And then there's Rengoku who welcomed you with the enthusiasm of a man who had never heard of an indoor voice. "UMAI! A new comrade joins our ranks! The path is one of burning passion and unwavering resolve!"
Only Giyu remained apart from the chaos, watching with his usual reserved expression. When his eyes met yours, he gave the smallest nod.
Eventually, Master Kagaya called the Hashira to order.
"Not every person who finds themselves lost has to know where they are going immediately," Kagaya's attention eventually settled on you. "Perhaps, for now, it is enough that you have found people willing to help."
Kagaya's attention remained on you. "So, which path will you choose?"
What are you?