Makomo was raised in a lovely place.
As lovely as an orphanage could get.
She had friends but there was no one she considered as family.
10 years she lived her life like any normal girl.
Until a demon appeared at their front door on a summer night.
Nothing was the same before.
She ran as far away as possible, leaving everyone behind, the smallest children had already been in eaten by the demon's hands.
Through the forest she escaped and stayed there until morning, crying over her new knowledge.
That happiness was a fragile thing in this world, and the weak had no choice in the matter of keeping it or not.
Yet she still wanted to survive, to live in that ignorant world like before.
The next day she met the face of the same demon, and just as she was about to be eaten, a man in a tengu mask came to save her from death.
His name was Urokodaki, he was strict but kind, always giving a caring pat on her head everytime she felt sad. Telling her that everything will turn around so there was no reason to cry.
She lived with him for the next two years.
Once again feeling like a normal girl and cherishing the moments she spend with 2 other kids, 2 and 3 years older than her at the time.
Kouta and Kazumi.
Kouta was 13 when she first met him he was really kind and always making sweets for her.
Kouta unlike the other kids at the orphanage would protect her from other boys and teach her to write. Often times calling her his little sister and praising her for the little things.
One day Kouta shared his story with her.
Kouta had 3 little sisters in his life, he never cared about them and would often be jealous that they got more love than him from his parents. However the little sisters would love him anyway.
He tought himself how to make sweets like mochi and dango. It was quite ironic considering he took an interest in pastry to make his parents proud.
"And since I didn't like my sisters, they would be my secret food tasters." he said, letting a small set of giggles before the boys tears fell down.
"I didn't want them to die by demons, I just wanted them to... I wanted to feel like I was a part of the family." Makomo hugged him for a moment, she didn't know what else to do.
"I guess I'm just trying to make up for my mistakes by doting on you huh, that sound like a stupid way to cover my problems."
"I like it though." Kouta turned back her, tears still in his eyes.
"I like it that you dote on me, I never had anyone done that for me." Makomo smiled.
He replied with another smile. "I'm glad."
The next summer he went off to the final selection alone, leaving her with an anmitsu on her hands. Promising to come with alot more sweets after that.
But he never came back.
Makomo cried for a day and a half.
Now only Kazumi was left.
Kazumi was the complete opposite to Kouta.
He would train for days, for hours to no end.
He was cold towards any other person apart from Urokodaki San, and even at some point he wouldn't care to talk at all or just ignore the other two.
But after Kouta's death it got worse.
He was older than her by 2 years, but the mental difference was larger than that.
Makomo attempted to talk to him at every possible chance.
Calmly walking around him and striking conversations as much as possible.
It was hard but by the end she was able to get him to open up more frequently. Urokodaki was secretly thankful for that.
When they went to the river close by their house is when he opened up, as the sounds of the water and some birds chirping created a natural background music, the sun in a clear sky while the green grass tickled her feet as Kazumi went inside the river to catch fish with a basket at hand.
"I fell in love with a demon."
Makomo was caught by surprise.
"She was a shape-shifting demon, everyone else tought she was the most beautiful girl in our village. So did I..."
He kept looking at the water, the place was silent for a moment and the currents in the river seemed to sound louder. Kazumi grabbed a rock nearby and threw it with his right hand, making a few jumps before drowning in the water. When the rock hit it's bottom, he spoke again, Makomo paying attention this time.
"When she told me that she wanted to spend her life with me I was excited like any other boy who had been confessed to their crush and accepted. I felt like the luckiest boy in the world, as if I was living in a fairy tail..."
It must have been sad.
She only watched from behind as he kept telling the story. Sitting in the field of grass, as the wind blew softer to his face, slightly picking up his strands of hair and waving them against themselves.
"When I came home she had turned into her true form... a pale.. and ugly woman....she was standing there looking at me with such creepy eyes and smiling as... my parents just layed there... dead." His mind went back to the buried scene of his past, how he remembers the blood scattered from wall to wall, and in the middle of the room was the woman as she bit down one of his parents hands.
Just then Makomo gathered herself up as she went inside the river, her feet reacting to the cold waters and smooth stones as she entered, freezing up for a moment only to coma back to the same temperature with the sun's heat.
Makomo touched his back, he didn't back away her hand so she started to rub circles as he looked surprised at first, but later came to accept the comfort, though he still kept looking away from her.
It was clear for the girl he didn't want to be seen crying, she went along with his wishes, looking into the distance, not mentioning a word about it.
"That creepy demon is dead now and that's what matters."
Kazumi nodded as they stayed in silence for a while, and then heading back to their main task which was catching fish for the celebration in him slicing down the rock. Makomo helping this time as she made most of the talk.
Before they got back to Urokodaki's house, Kazumi smiled back to Makomo, with a small "Thank you." as they headed inside.
The next three months it was time for him to go, he hugged her one last time before leaving, promising to come back with a gift.
And just like last time she never saw him again.
Makomo wanted to stop this spree of death that had fallen over Urokodaki's students. So she picked up a sword at eleven and started to train.
She was so close to failing at her test. Were it not for the work that she had been doing and her playing with Kouta or the short fights with Kazumi, she wouldn't have even arrived halfway.
Then when she did pass it only got harder and harder as the days went by, Urokodaki making them more dangerous than what the others had gone through, but she still wouldn't give in no matter what.
The water breath suited her, but not as much as she would like, it felt like something was missing, like her style of fighting could improve in some sort. But just in what?
A year passed by, her strongest tests were now a usual to face, even if Urokodaki San would make them more dangerous, she was confident in her ability to dodge and move in such a delicate way or attack with an immense speed and accuracy.
She almost had no openings or disadvantages. Except one.
Her emotions got the better of her and it showed.
But seven months before the final exam another boy appeared, his hair strikingly peachy, a mess of a hair as it reached farther than her own, with lavander eyes examining everything as he walked behind Urokodaki San through the road that lead to the mountain.
Makomo just came from the store a while back, he noticed her and would only nod before looking back at Urokodaki San, expecting him to get the fruits from the girl.
"Are you also going to train to be a demon slayer."
The peached boy was caught off guard.
"There are more?" He turned back to Urokodaki San
"She's one on them." he said with no care whatsoever, the boy was dumbfounded.
"Makomo, show him where the test is." "Of course!" And with that the old man left, leaving the two in the middle of a path with the forest surrounding them on both sides of the road.
"Well then, follow me uh..."
"Sabito."
"Just Sabito?"
"Yeah."
"Alright."
She put the basket in her hands to the back.
"Do you want me to carry it?"
"Nah I'm alright, even so, you will have your test soon so it's better you relax yourself, since it might be that last time you ever feel calm." She smirked, stepping out of the dirt road and into the woods.
"I don't mind that--- hey aren't we going to the mountain for the test?" Sabito said as he pointed to the road.
"Yes, and we are already here, so follow me because the exam just started." She replied pointing to the sun setting down on the west.
"You only have until sunrise to finish the test."
For the first few steps she walked with him, and then stopped, Sabito would have asked what's wrong but a rock was thrown at his head before he could speak.
"Good luck Sabito." She too disappeared like a ghost. Looking ata such fast display, he felt annoyed at how inferior he was.
The test felt like a breeze to her, really showing just how much process had been made, watching from afar as she pointed to herself the obvious traps that Sabito stepped in and were to go instead.
Once Sabito had arrived halfway, Makomo grabbed her basket closely as she ran to the mountain, moving from tree to tree without dropping a single thing.
Just half an hour later and she was already on top.
"How is Sabito doing?" The first thing that Urokodaki San said as he finished the cup of tea in his hands, the tengu mask only half removed.
"He's doing better than I expected!" Makomo went to sit down on the other side after setting aside the basket on her hands in the kitchen.
"Hm. That's good to hear." He took another cup of tea.
Not 4 hours later Sabito had arrived whilst Makomo was already in deep sleep.
"Makomo!" He was the first one to get up. Exited for his first day of training.
"I passed Makomo! And soon enough I will beat you!"
"Uh-hu....." She said half sleepy and half mockingly towards the statement.
"We'll see."
5 months passed by after that, and she was only two months away from the final selection.
He was gifted without a doubt, his stanima and speed was more than that of a normal boy. Not to forget his appearance wasn't as normal, one would say.
Maybe he was a foreigner? But Sabito didn't seem to know other places apart from Japan.
Though his personality was quite... rash.
He would often try to appear manly and strong, and if she were to strike at his ego, only the gods know how much pain would he put himself through to cover up that weakness of his. Meaning she will have to get that fixed from him.
One of her funniest examples was when Makomo called his hair girly and proceeded to have an entire lecture on why his hair would be the manliest of them all in every period in history, only for him to ask Urokodaki in the middle of the night if he has black hair dye.
"Hey Sabito... what happened to your family?" The boy looked conflicted and sad at the question.
"It's alright if you don't want to talk about it "
"No, I just..." He sighed for a moment.
"I never got to meet my parents, I always lived with my brother, going from town to town, finding jobs and well... exploring."
"He was the manliest guy, protecting others, always charismatic and a lot of girls loved him to the point it was annoying for a long time..." he laughed at the last part.
"Then he was killed by a demon while letting me run away, the only thing I have left is this haori, and since I was the only one who saw him die, no one believed in me... they later send me to an orphanage where I would spend my time doubting what was true and wasn't."
"And then... did Urokodaki San adopt you?" Makomo questioned again.
"No, I would spend my time running from orphanage to orphanage, stealing and getting beaten, and then just as they were about to punish me Urokodaki San appeared."
"Ah~ such a bad boy you were." She giggled
"It wasn't my fault, they wouldn't even feed me some days." Her giggles stopped.
"Hmmm." Makomo patted his head to calm him down, even if Sabito wouldn't admit it, he liked it.
"You really got through a lot." She said before ruffling his hair faster this time.
"But you never gave up! That's the manliest part about you Sabito... your brother would surely agree with me." he looked somewhere else hiding a small blush on his cheeks.
"Thank you." A small mutter on his part, Makomo smiled again with a small laughter escaping her lips.
One month later and it was time. She had sliced the rock in half.
They celebrated, and the next month she would have to leave.
The day before that she told Sabito about Kouta and Kazumi.
"And before them was also Yuki, Yuno, Megumi, Tonyo, Ritsu, Hairo, Ryuu, Sanji and the first apprentice, Mizuki. At least, that is what I heard from them"
"...Eleven died, then--"
"I will stop that curse, I promise."
This time the promise will come true.
This time the promise won't be broken.
She looked back at the sky. Every night hoping this will finally end and no one else will go through another loss.
Please gods if you are listening.
Please let me live.
The gods never responded in another world, and she would go back to the mountain, dead and with another broken promise, another strike to Urokodaki's heart.
However, this was a rewind now, a new white canvas before all the blood had spilled.
And Giyuu wasn't going to let the white canvas be full of red thus time.
She had an option, she didn't know how but now she had an choice, and her choice was to let them live, to let them smile, she will see the end of all demons with her family behind.
And the moment Makomo entered her small world.
Giyuu's family had expanded by one more.
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Yall smell that? It's the smell of a hiatus~~
I'll probably be back by summer cuz then I will have more 'free time' and will finally put the final ship...or not im still undecided about who she would most likely be paired with in this story were Giyuu finally gets some loving hours with the pillars.
Also yes the lore, it's uhhh..... it's running in places.... like it's fitting and will get explained later on in greater detail.
So yeah this was just the first part, and introduction part. The second part will reaaaaally focus on the ships and friendships at hand.
Bye~
Have a pic of fem Giyuu before you leave. (Sadly I can never find the artists cuz The closest i can get is a Twitter account that's gone or in japanese-- also i just take them from pintrest so it's double hard to find the original artist)