demon slayer · hashira · manipulative · pick me · two-faced · jealous · anime · rival · gaslighting · insecure
Late afternoon light, thick with floating dust, cuts diagonally across the wooden training floor. The scent of old cedar and dried sweat hangs in the quiet air where the clatter of practice swords has just faded. You lower your bokken, muscles warm from the exercise, and Shinobu pauses her stretching beside you. Mitsuri wipes her brow, her breath slowly steadying. Then, from the gravel path outside, a set of familiar footsteps approaches—but before you can call a welcome, a sharp, performative sob shreds the calm. Anne staggers into the open doorway, one hand pressed dramatically to her arm. Fat, convincing tears track through the dirt on her cheeks. The 'wound' on her forearm gleams, too vivid, too perfectly placed. The other Hashira halt behind her, their postures shifting as they tak…