|•| 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚂𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 |•| 𝕂𝕟𝕪 𝔽𝕒𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

XXXX

    Gyomei's Backstory (If y'all aren't interested just scroll down 😃)

  Before Gyomei was a Demon Slayer and Hashira, he lived with nine other children who were orphans and raised them in a temple. The area was well known for demon attacks so Gyomei had always burned Wisteria Incense to ward off any demons that would harm him and the children.

One night, one of the nine children disobeyed the temple rules and traveled beyond its borders. He is immediately accosted by a demon, and in order to save his own life, he tells the demon to eat the other children including Gyomei. After night fell, the child invited the demon into the temple after putting out the Wisteria Incense.

Four children were immediately killed by the demon and the remaining children insisted on escaping the temple, ignoring Gyomei's orders. His frail stature and blindness fueled the distrust the children had in Gyomei's ability to protect them, which led them to abandon him and ultimately getting killed by the demon.

In the end, only one child—the youngest, Sayo—had listened and stayed behind in fear of the demon.

Gyomei killing the demon with his barefists.
Though it is unknown how the exchange went down, Gyomei had been cut across the forehead by the demon but soon reversed the situation and began attacking the demon mercilessly after realizing he had a "frightening amount of power."

    He went on and beat the demon's head until the sun arose.
Soon after, people came to the scene of the incident to help but due to a misunderstanding with Sayo saying "That man's a monster. He killed them. He killed everyone.", The villagers thought she meant Gyomei and not the demon.

He was later imprisoned and charged with the murder of the seven children but Kagaya Ubuyashiki, a.k.a "Oyakata-sama", intervened and released him before he would've been executed for his false crimes.

Later on, Gyomei became a Demon Slayer and after only two months, the Stone Hashira.

  End of Backstory

   Gyomei finished telling his backstory to Kiyomi, who was crying despite already knowing it. Kanao was beside her, looking with a concerned expression.

  "I-I'm so sorry about that, Himejima-san..", Kiyomi cried out.

  "It's fine, it's all in the past.", Gyomei said as he patted the girl's head.

  "... Maybe you've misunderstood them, Himejima-san..", Kiyomi spoke.

  "What have I misunderstood?", Gyomei replied, a little confused.

   "Well, have you ever thought of the positive ways? I mean, maybe the kids didn't run away to ditch you? Maybe they wanted to help you?", Kiyomi said, surprising the stone hashira.

  "What do you mean, Takahashi-san?", Gyomei asked.

  "Think about it, maybe the orphans left the temple to lure the demon away, take weapons to kill the demon, or call for help? It is possible, right?", Kiyomi explained, surprising the hashira even more.

   "And about the little girl named Sayo, maybe when she was saying 'That man's a monster. He killed them. He killed everyone.', she was talking about the demon, but the villagers thought she was talking about you and punished you.", Himejima's eyes widened as it started to tear up.

   "Maybe that's what it truly happened..? I don't know...", Gyomei started to cry.

   "P-p-please don't cry, Himejima-san!", Kiyomi panicked as she waved her hands.

   "Thank you for thinking that way, Takahashi-san.", Gyomei gently smiled as he patted the girl once more.

  "It's fine, I was just helping you to not misunderstand them.", Kiyomi smiled back.

  "But how did you know that I misunderstood them?", Gyomei said, making Kiyomi tense up.

  'What should I say?! Should I let him know I'm from another dimension?', Kiyomi mentally panicked.

   "I-it's just my opinion! It could be true, right? My instincts also tell me I'm right!", Kiyomi replied confidently, as if she'd done something cool.

   "It could be true, but I still don't know. Thank you again for listening to my story. You girls can go now, you have both finished my training.", Gyomei said.

   "Thank you for training us, Himejima-san!", Kiyomi beamed as she bowed along with Kanao.

---------

   After Kiyomi and Kanao bid goodbye to the stone hashira, they were on their way to the butterfly estate to take a rest, but while walking, someone suddenly hugged Kiyomi from the back, almost making her fall face-first.

   "Huh?! Zenitsu? Why are you crying like that?!", Kiyomi looked at the person, who was Zenitsu, crying, not like a crybaby as usual, but like a gentle cry.

   "T-T-THANK YOU FOR SAVING MY GRAMPS, KIYOMI-CHAN!!!", Zenitsu cried out as it clicked Kiyomi. She smiled softly as she turned around and hugged the crying boy back.

  "You're welcome, Zenitsu.", Kiyomi replied.

   She sent Zenitsu a letter, saying that she saved his grandfather, also known as the former thunder hashira, from commiting seppuku.

   Flashback...

  Before the hashira training started, Kiyomi went to the estate of the former thunder hashira, Kuwajima Jigoro, secretly.

   While Kuwajima was writing a letter, Kiyomi waited for the time he was gonna kill himself.

   When he took a knife, Kiyomi then barged in, startling the grandpa.

   "Please do not kill yourself!", Kiyomi immediately took the knife.

  "Are you Takahashi-san's daughter? And how did you know?", Kuwajima said as he looked at the slightly teary girl.

  "Yes! I am Takahashi Kiyomi! And I came here to stop you from commiting seppuku!", Kiyomi introduced herself.

  "It should be done. One of my students have become a demon, and to that I have to do seppuku.", Kuwajima said, clearly upset.

   "It's not your fault your student has became a demon, and what would Zenitsu think if you, his gramps who was the first person to care for him, died?", Kiyomi said, shocking Kuwajima.

   "You know him?", Kuwajima asked and Kiyomi nodded, making him smile softly.

   "I'm glad to know he finally has someone other than me to care for him..", Kuwajima also began to tear up.

   "P-please don't cry..", Kiyomi said as she gently patted the former hashira's back.

  'You're gonna make me cry..', Kiyomi thought as she bursted out crying like a baby in her mind.

   "I am going to ask Oyakata-sama to not let you perform seppuku, even though your student broke the rules, you don't have to pay for it.", Kiyomi said.

   Kuwajima chuckled, "You're just like your father.", he said.

   Kiyomi giggled, "Then I shall go now, please don't ever kill yourself. I am gonna tell Oyakata-sama of what happened, see you later, Jigoro-san!", She stood up from her sitting form and bowed. Kuwajima bid back as she left his estate and went to the Ubuyashiki estate before the hashira training started.

   "How did she know, though..?"

  End of Flashback...

   "Oh right! I have to go to somewhere! You can go ahead and rest, Kanao-chan! See you guys later!", Kiyomi said as she waved her hand while running after she released from Zenitsu's hug. The two also waved back, with Zenitsu still crying and Kanao with a blank smile.
__________

   See you lovelies at the next chapter! 👋😊