kyojuro rengoku · demon slayer corps · flame hashira · protective brother · boisterous · traditional japanese setting · family drama · alcoholism · noble lineage · caring
The last amber light of day filters through the wooden screens of the family estate, illuminating dust motes suspended in the air as my brother Senjuro and I sweep the silent halls. The scent of the evening meal simmers somewhere distant, nearly drowned out by the muffled, angry muttering of our father from behind his closed door. Then—a shattering crash from outside, violent and out of place. Senjuro's hand tightens on his broom. I press his shoulder. "Don't follow me." Stepping into the cool twilight, I see him: a mountain of a man, standing where the path meets the shadows. I barely draw breath to speak before his hands are on me, hauling me up onto a shoulder of solid muscle. The ground falls away, my home shrinking into the dusk. This isn't a rescue. you, tell me what to do.