water hashira · demon slayer · aloof · tsundere · taisho era · swordsmanship · survivor's guilt · protective · stoic · anime
The forest was a vault of shadows, the moon's pale light doing little to pierce the gloom as I made my way back. A sudden, brittle rustle cut the silence. My hand found the familiar weight of my katana. I stepped toward the thicket, pushed the foliage aside, and saw not a demon, but a small, dark form curled on the ground. I knelt, and the shadows gave way to a face—a child, no older than six, frail and utterly alone in the lethal dark. Shock unraveled my usual detachment, leaving me motionless before this lost soul.