My life was simple, and I had thought that it was always going to be simple, but little did I know that soon my whole life would change because of one event. My name is Akatsuki Hikaru, and I am thirteen years old. I lived by myself up in the mountains with no one around other than the neighbors, the Kamado family. They had always looked after me and I tried to do the same for them though since I was only thirteen there wasn't much I could do. Most would find it hard to be able to survive by themselves when they were only thirteen but before my father died, he had been teaching me how to be a blacksmith so I could make a few trinkets out of scrap metal that I had to sell in the city. I was also training myself to be able to treat injuries as well since I was forever getting cuts, burns and blisters all over my hands and arms from doing my blacksmith work but all I could do at the moment was find a few medical plants that Mrs. Kamado had taught me about. The last thing that I was doing to support myself was drawing charcoal pictures that I could sell in the city, the city that I was talking about was an hours walk from the town that I lived near so it took me two hours to get the city each time I made the trip there but it was worth it since it meant that I could afford to feed myself and I might even be able to afford to buy that new kimono that Nezuko had been needing for a while. Nezuko was one of the Kamado's; they were a pretty big family. There was Kie the mother, Tanjiro the eldest son, Nezuko the eldest daughter, Takeo another son, Hanako another daughter, Shigeru a son and finally little Rokuta was the youngest boy. They all treated me like family, and I did the same to them. I even put time aside each week to play with the young ones and managed to slip them some food when they needed it. When Tanjuro the father had been alive he had even joked that maybe I should marry Nezuko but I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I had never thought of a woman in the romantic sense and would rather marry Tanjiro then Nezuko.
"Hikaru is that you dear. Back from the city?" A voice called out and I snapped out of my thoughts, and I saw that it was Kie, I had made it to the Kamado house but mine was a little further up the mountain.
"Yes ma'am, I have some extra food here that you can have" I smiled as I moved my hair so that it wouldn't get in the way and took the box that I carried on my back off and placed it down.
"Oh, I couldn't possibly take your food" She protested.
"It's okay I have plenty of food, I would like you to have it" I assured her.
"Yay! Hikaru is back'' Hanako cheered as she spotted me and came running out closely followed by Shigeru and Rokuta while Nezuko smiled brightly, and Takeo huffed but I could see the happiness dancing around them. See I was born with unique eyes, not only were they a golden yellow but I could spot things that most couldn't, including an aura that everyone had around them which I had come to understand was their emotions, each emotion has its own color, and I had a journal that had all of them written down. At the moment all of them were glowing a bright yellow showing their happiness, but Kie also had a deep orange around her which meant that she was feeling fond.
"I'm glad that you are back, you missed Tanjiro. He went into town to sell some charcoal, but he should be back soon," Nezuko smiled.
"Careful there Rokuta, wouldn't want to get hurt now, would we?" I asked as I gently moved my hair and wrapped it back around my neck so the little one wouldn't trip on it. My hair was really long reaching the back of my knees while it was braided but when it was untied it nearly touched my heels and it was the crimson red color of the sky at dawn.
"Don't you think that it is time for you to cut your hair? It is so long" Takeo asked.
"No see in the Akatsuki family it is a disgrace if we cut our hair unless it is to get rid of dead ends, so my hair is only going to get longer not shorter" I explained before I grabbed my box and put it back on my back before straightening from where I was kneeled down.
"I should probably head home since it is starting to get late" I said, and the little ones started to pout and whine, and I could see the sadness around Nezuko as well.
"Don't worry I will be sure to come back tomorrow and show you all the goodies I got from the city as well as play as much as you want" I promised to cheer them up. Waving goodbye, I continued my hike up the mountain to my own small house that wasn't that far. If the Kamado's were the scream, I was sure that I would hear it but the kids were always well behaved so I knew that I would never have to worry about that but even if they weren't I wouldn't mind it since it was lonely all the way up here by myself. If I had known what my words had meant I would have never thought about them.
Jolting up in bed I looked around wondering where the noise was coming from. There it was again, a scream and not a normal scream. It was a scream filled with pain, agony and sorrow. That's when my heart dropped, the only ones close enough for me to be able to hear them screaming were the Kamados. Grabbing one of the swords that my father had forged before he died, I raced down the hill not caring that I was still in my sleeping kimono and nothing else. When I got to the house, I saw a man standing above Nezuko who was covering Rokuta and there was blood all over the ground.
"Get away from them!" I screamed as I charged the man with my sword, but he dodged out of the way like it was nothing.
"H-H-Hikaru" whispered Nezuko before she passed out, making me turn to the man.
"What the fuck do you think that you are doing! Answer me!" I yelled pointing my blade at him, but he just narrowed his red eyes at me. That's when I realized that this man, he was no normal man. He had an aura around him that was filled with anger, hatred, bloodlust, fury and something I couldn't put my finger on, it made me want to heave but I held back, Nezuko was alive, so I had to make sure that this man didn't go anywhere near her.
"Another bug" The man said before he appeared before me, making me stumble back a little. Gaining my footing again I ground my teeth together and swung the sword down as hard as I could, but the man just dodged out of the way and grabbed a hold of my hair and ripped my head backwards making me scream out. I couldn't let the pain stop me though seeing as the people that I saw as a family needed me. Clenching my hands around the blade I swung the blade cutting straight through my hair and towards the man that didn't even try to dodge this time. He didn't need to dodge either since as soon as my blade made contact with his chest the blade shattered sending the pieces flying back at me making me cry out as most of them leaving large cuts all over my face.
"Trash" The man said, picking me up by the neck, making me struggle against his hold and grab onto his hand. The man scowled and before I knew what had happened, I was slamming into a nearby tree and crying out as I felt one of my ribs break. Even though I pushed myself up with the help of the tree, I had to help Nezuko. I couldn't let this monster get away.
"You're an Akatsuki," He snarled before walking over. Suddenly I was coughing up a mouthful of blood and there was a large gash from my left shoulder to my right hip. Dropping to the ground I gasped knowing that if I didn't do anything then I would die but there was nothing I could do. My vision was getting blurry from the blood that I was losing, and I could only watch the man disappear from my sight, the man that had no weapon, how had he made the large gash on my chest that was killing me? That's when it hit me, he was not a normal man at all.
"Demon" I whispered to no one. Somehow, I managed to roll myself over onto my stomach so that I could stop some of the bleeding before I reached up to my sleeves. If I didn't try and stop the bleeding, then I wouldn't be moving from this patch of snow so with what little strength I had I crawled to the hilt of the sword I had dropped and grabbed it. I used it to cut up the top half of my kimono into bandages and wrapped my chest and one of the main cuts on my face. They weren't the best, but they would have to do it for now, until.... Until what? I could barely move anymore from the pain and with how cold I was I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up with frostbite. Cursing in my head I felt my eyes starting to droop and I could no longer hold back the sleep that wanted to claim me. Making one more try I tried to move my arms and legs towards Nezuko but nothing happened making me whimper before everything went black.
"UWAAA!" I heard screams and I cracked my tired eyes open, and I was Tanjiro crouched near Nezuko and Rokuta. I wanted to yell out to him and tell him not to look, to turn away from the house before it was too late but all that came out was a puff of air.
"What is.... How did this happen?! What happened...." Tanjiro asked trailing off as he looked into the house and saw what I didn't want him to see.
"Mother, Hanako, Takeo, Shigeru, Nezuko, Rokuta and even Hikaru, who would do this?!" Tanjiro screamed out before he seemed to check all of the bodies for pulses that I knew that he wouldn't find except for Nezuko, I could still see a bit of her aura around her.
"Don't worry Nezuko, big brother is going to get you help" Tanjiro said, picking Nezuko up before hurrying over to me.
"Hikaru, you're alive," Tanjiro cried out upon seeing me awake.
"-Iro....Tan..." I tried but I still didn't have the strength to even say his name. I had lost a lot of blood and I was freezing as well as trying to control my breathing to stop most of the blood flow.
'Don't worry I will get both of you to safety,' Tanjiro promised before managing to pick me up like a bride while also having Nezuko on his back. It surprises me at his strength he began to run down the mountain, more than likely trying to get us to a doctor and I couldn't help but hope that he makes it, if not for our sakes for his own sake since I knew that Tanjiro wouldn't be able to bare losing all of his family. Luckily for me before he left, he had grabbed an extra haori and threw it over my shoulders and with what little strength I had I clutched it to me trying to stop the shivers that were over taking my body.
"Gahh!" Nezuko let out a sound that sounded like a growl and I heard Tanjiro grunt before I felt that we were falling since my eyes were closed again. Luckily for us there was a deep layer of snow on the ground that we fell so I didn't get injured any more than I already was, and Tanjiro didn't get injured.
"Nezuko! Hikaru!" Tanjiro yelled before he spotted me as I managed to push myself up so I was sitting against a tree, but I couldn't do any more than that as I panted heavily.
"I'll be right back, Nezuko, are you okay? You don't have to walk; I can carry both you and Hikaru to the village" Tanjiro explained but I could tell something was wrong. Nezuko's aura was all wrong; it had a deep red, nearly black just like that man last night, Nezuko had somehow become a demon. I wanted to open my mouth to yell at Tanjiro, but I didn't get the chance before Nezuko growled once again and tackled him down, making my heart throb. Nezuko would never hurt Tanjiro no matter what happened, but her aura had a tinge of starvation, she was starving and that was why she was attacking Tanjiro, she didn't mean it. She would never willingly eat a human; she was being driven by her instincts, so it was lucky that Tanjiro used the handle of the hatchet he had picked up to stop her from biting him. I watched slightly amazed as her body grew to that of an adult and I realized I had to do something so I started to try and crawl my way towards them, hoping that I would be able to stop Nezuko from doing something that she would regret.
"Nezuko! Hang in there! Don't give in! You gotta hang in there, don't turn into a demon! You gotta stay strong, hang in there, hang in there!" Tanjiro screamed and I saw tears dripping down Nezuko's face making me tear up as well. Which was a bad idea seeing as it stung the cuts on my face. Suddenly I saw a glint out of the corner of my eyes, and I saw a man jumping through the air with a sword in his hand.
"Look...Look out!" I yelled out with all the strength I had, and Tanjiro noticed the man swinging Nezuko around so that his hair was cut off instead of Nezuko's head being cut off. His swing was powerful enough to make snow fly up and Nezuko and Tanjiro slammed into a tree while I got covered in more snow making shivers break out all over my body again from how cold it was, all I had on was a battered bottom of my kimono held up by the sash around my hips and a loose haori.
The man had black hair and dull ocean blue eyes and the sword that he had in his hand had a blue blade with the words destroy demons carved into it. His aura was harder to read then most like he was trying to hide his emotions away but could see one of them, his hatred towards Nezuko for some reason or perhaps it was his hatred towards any demon.
"Why did you protect it?" He questioned.
"She's, my sister. She's my younger sister!" Tanjiro answered while Nezuko growled and fought against him trying to get to me and I could tell that it was to try and eat me.
"You call that thing your sister?" The man asked.
"No!" I yelled out and I saw the man dash towards them stealing Nezuko from Tanjiro's arms. I saw the slight spike of surprise in the man's aura so that must mean that he hadn't realized that I had been here.
"Let...Let her" I tried to get out as I tried to move only to cry out in pain as I reopened the wound on my chest.
"Hikaru!" Tanjiro cried looking at me and I tried my best to smile at him only for it to come out as a grimace.
"Don't move, my job is to slay Oni. Needless to say, I'm going to decapitate your sister" The man said.
"Wait a moment, Nezuko hasn't killed anyone. Back at my house, there was another scent one that I'd never smelled before. That's probably the one who killed my family. Hikaru was there he can tell you that Nezuko didn't kill anyone" Tanjiro said looking at me and I tried to talk to tell them that it was a different person, a man with glowing red eyes, black hair and pale skin but all that came out was a mouthful of blood.
"Hikaru! I don't know why my sister was turned into something like this or why my friend was hurt like this but still" Tanjiro tried looking frantically at me, he probably realized that I wouldn't survive if my wounds were treated soon.
"It's quite simple, because her wounds were exposed to demon blood, she turned into a demon. That's how a man-eating demon multiplies, you are lucky that your friend hasn't turned into one as well" The man explained.
"Nezuko would never eat humans!" Tanjiro yelled out.
"You have to be kidding, were you not about to devour just now?" He asked.
"You're wrong, I'm sure she knows who I am, and she will know who Hikaru is as well. We won't let her hurt any humans. We will find a way to turn Nezuko back into a human. I swear we will heal her" Tanjiro vowed.
"She can't be healed, once you become a demon you can never go back to being a human" he said.
"We will find a way no matter what! So please, please don't hurt her. I'll hunt down the one who slaughtered my family and hurt my friend! I'll make everything all right! Please! Please" Tanjiro screamed, pleading for Nezuko's life.
'No, don't take her away, don't take anyone else away from us! I was too weak, but I'll get stronger, I'll train, I'll do anything just don't take her away from us' I thought as I reached my arm out and tried to get to the man that had Nezuko.
"Don't ever give others a chance to murder you! Stop that pathetic groveling! If it was the least bit effective your family wouldn't be dead, and your friend wouldn't be on death's door! Can a weakling who can't take the initiative in such a situation heal his sister?! Or even save his friend?! Or hunt down an enemy?! Don't make me laugh! The weak have no rights or choices! Their only fate is to be relentlessly crushed by the strong!" He roared in anger as Tanjiro begged for Nezuko's life to be spared.
"The demons might know how to cure your sister but don't think that a demon would respect your will or wishes! Naturally I have no respect for you either! That's reality! Why did you throw yourself over your sister earlier? Was that your way of protecting her? Why didn't you swing your hatchet? Why did you show your back to me? All those blunders led to your sister's capture! I could've skewered her along with you and then killed your friend" He continued to lecture.
'You're wrong we aren't weak; we are stronger than you know' I thought before I heard Nezuko's scream as he stabbed her.
'If you dare to hurt them, I'll hunt you down, I won't stop until I take your own head!' I thought as I clenched my hand and with a growl of pain, I pushed myself up to my hands and knees while Tanjiro threw a rock at him. I watched Tanjiro run amongst the trees throwing another rock and the hatchet into the air before faking a front attack. The man knocked Tanjiro out only to realize that the hatchet was in the air.
"Tanjiro......Tanjiro," I whispered as I crawled towards him, not caring about the blood trail that I was leaving. Nezuko let out a growl kicking the man away from her before dashing towards me and Tanjiro making me smile knowing that it was all going to be okay now, Nezuko would protect us. With that thought in mind I once more lost consciousness in the snow hoping that I would once again wake up and not perish here.
Just as I hoped I once more opened my eyes to see that my wounds were wrapped in fresh bandages, and I had a new kimono wrapped around me with the haori that Tanjiro gave me over it.
"You're both awake now" The man said, and I looked to see I was lying next to Nezuko that now had a bamboo piece strapped to her mouth, probably to make sure that she didn't eat anyone though I was sure that she wouldn't. Hearing the man's voice Tanjiro grabbed both me and Nezuko and held us tight to him so that he couldn't take us away.
"Go see an old man named Sakonji Urokodaki who lives at the foot of Mt Sagiri, tell him that Tomioka Giyu sent you. She seems to be alright since it's cloudy now, but never let her be exposed to the sunlight, okay? Also make sure to replace the bandages around your friends' wounds once a day so they don't get infected" The man, Tomioka Giyu said before he jumped up into the trees and left. Most would have thought he disappeared but with my eyesight it was easy to see his moves.
"Hikaru are you okay?" Tanjiro asked, looking at me.
"Yeah.... I'm sorry" I whispered; my voice was still weak, but I felt a lot better now that I wasn't pouring out blood everywhere.
"What are you apologizing for?" Tanjiro asked.
"I couldn't protect them, that demon.... He was too strong, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" I whispered, tearing up again but the bandages that were on my face absorbed the tears.
"Hikaru, you have nothing to apologize for you tried your best and it is thanks to you that Nezuko is still alive, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I wasn't there to help you and because of that you, you almost died and....and your hair" Tanjiro whispered and I reached my hair up and realized that most of my hair only just reached past my ears now making more tears gather in my eyes as I held back a sob. I had broken a sacred rule of the Akatsuki family, I had dishonored my ancestors, I was a disgrace to the family name, and I could never call myself by Akatsuki anymore. Even though I was holding back sobs I still got to my feet, careful of my wound and followed Tanjiro who headed back to his house.
While he and Nezuko dug holes for his family to be buried I went to where my hair was still laying on the ground and gathered it up before heading to my own house. When I arrived there, I used a knife to even my hair out so that it was all short before using the fire in the blacksmith workshop to burn my cut off hair. I then grabbed my art supplies, the few medical elixirs and plants I had and a few different sets of clothes before I went back down to Tanjiro's. I wanted to take one of my father's swords with me, but I did not have that right now that I was disgraced so all I have was a short sword no bigger than my forearm that I had created so it wasn't very good since I had only just started to work on bigger projects.
"Ready to go?" Tanjiro asked, he and Nezuko had been waiting for me and I nodded my head before taking his other hand and we began to walk. I wouldn't cry anymore tears since even though I had been disgraced I had a new goal. I was going to hunt down that demon and make sure that he could not hurt anyone else like he had done to me, Nezuko and Tanjiro. I was going to stop any demon that we came across from hurting another human being. But most importantly I was going to make sure that what was left of my family was safe even if it cost me my life.