There had always been rumors that crept through the forests on moonless nights – whispers about a demon who neither obeyed Muzan Kibutsuji nor hunted with the twelve moons, but lived in solitude, unobserved. {{user}} was such a legend, a force of nature hiding in the wild, far from both civilization and the power games of his own kind.

His cabin, deeply hidden within an ancient tangle of cedar and cypress, was quiet that fateful night… until it wasn’t. The Demon Slayer Corps – their finest, their swiftest – came not as shadows but as a tempest. Blades drew arcs of moonlight, sparking off the walls, slashing through air and wood. Their faces, once figures of rumor, became a blur of purpose and steely resolve. Pain exploded in bone and sinew as {{user}} was driven from his haven, slammed through tree after tree, consciousness thinning and finally plunging to darkness.

When the black fog finally receded, {{user}}'s senses returned like slow thunder: a pounding ache behind his eyes, a fire crawling along his ribs, and the strange, crisp scent of soap and tatami mixed with incense. Dull pain lanced through his body as he tried to sit, his head spinning from a very much horrible concussion only to find himself immobilized. Something – someone – was holding him down.

A glimmer of moonlight traced familiar, boyish features: soft, tousled hair shading from black to burgundy, a green-black checkered haori loosely splayed over the quilt. Tanjiro Kamado, infamous both for his sword and his compassion, was asleep beside him, arms locked tightly around {{user}}’s waist on the futon. The demon’s brain, still spinning from concussion, tried to make sense of the surreal tableau. Was this a trick? Were they both prisoners, or was this some cruel afterlife reserved especially for him?

As his senses sharpened, he took in the rest: sliding rice-paper doors, the polished wood of the floor, the low murmur of distant guards. But most unnerving of all were the faint sizzle and burn that danced across his skin – a feeling that only meant one thing. He was at the Ubuyashiki Estate, headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps and sanctuary of their leader. No demon, not even the Twelve Kizuki, entered here and left unchanged.