Down in a Blaze of Glory.

The Calm Before the Nightmare. (prologue)

(tw: r*pe mentioned once)

The way the world deals luck can be summed up as "unfair". Nothing can ever be guaranteed, besides death. For all, its somewhat inevitable. If you dont do it yourself, its going to be done somehow. No matter how hard you try to preserve what you have, something will one day take it. Its just something youre forced to deal with. No matter how strong you think you are. Thats just how it is.

Hironaka learned this twice.

-

"Hironaka! Im so glad you could make it!"

The train. Rengoku. God if only she stopped him then. Told him she was strong enough to help. She'd only been on 6 or 7 missions by then but she'd learned from the best she knew. Well, she didnt really know the other Hashira.
"Rengoku! Its great to see you."
Hironaka had sat next to him. "Howve you been?" "Wonderful! Im glad you decided to come." The two had gone back and forth for a while, about missions and training and occasionally, family was brought up. But Hironaka usually sped past it since she had recently learned how horrible Rengokus father was. She felt bad, she knew what such a horrible father figure could do. Hell, her father was a demon who r*ped and almost killed her mom. She didn't really know a father figure in her life until she met Rengoku. Hironaka really did look up to him. A lot. Their next topic was the mission. Many people had gone missing on this train, and demons were speculated to be behind it. Along with her and Rengoku, 3 other boys had came along. She identified them later on as Tanjiro, Inosuke, Zenitsu, and apparently a demon; Nezuko. She'd heard about them briefly, mainly from other members of the corp talking about the bounty on Tanjiros head throughout the demons. She never heard the reasoning though. Odd...

-

"Hironaka! Stay with Zenitsu and Nezuko!" "Right!"
This was it. The last time she saw Rengoku alive. Telling her to stay back. The last time she ever did listen to that. The train cars were a mess, covered in a weird fleshy substance. At least the other two were there, each of them had their own cars to take care of. Well, Hironaka took it upon herself to watch more than the others. Maybe she could prove herself. But god, she really wished she wouldve stopped him.

Then, the train was off the tracks.

-

The wind was calm today. The forest was dead silent, maybe a breeze here and there, rustling a few trees. Maybe a few animals walked by in the distance. The light of the sun just barely managed to peak through the trees, lighting up the forest floor and a small river which led to a cabin. Inside the cabin was a quiet bubbling sound; water being boiled. On the floor of the cabin, staring out the door, was Hironaka. It had been a few weeks since the death of Rengoku, and she was to attend a hashira meeting today. Her eyes fell to the floor, and she stood. She walked to a secluded area in the cabin, shaded off with bamboo walls. She slowly slipped off the current kimono she had worn, and changed into her uniform which hung on a sturdy outing in the bamboo. She slipped her cat like mask over her head, wrapping the string around her hair and adjusting her hair over it. She looked down at her clothing, adjusting the kimono and placing her sword snug on her belt. She gripped it tight, biting her lip. She was alone. She didnt have anyone else. Rengoku was the only person she spoke to who had tried to help her figure out what the deal with her half demon issue was. She sighed, and let go of the swords handle, lifting her mask and dabbing her tears away with the edge of her kimono. Adjusting her mask back to shape, she left from behind the bamboo wall and over to the boiling water. She took it off, pouring most of it into a cup made of bamboo and a type of string tied together tight. Searching through a cabinet, she pulled out a few herbs and placed them in the cup, mixing it with the tip of her finger.
"Ow."
She winced, withdrawing her finger before lifting the cup. She placed it on the floor and kneeled in front of it. Hironaka muttered a quiet prayer before taking the still steaming cup and downing its content. She shivered, sticking her tounge out. It was still unpleasantly hot. She stood, cup in hand, and placed it back into a cabinet. She took the rest of the water and walked out of the cabin; dumping it into the river. The water was just rain that had fallen the night before, which she collected in a bucket hanging from the roof of the cabin. She walked in, putting the pot away neatly. She looked around the cabin- all she could do was wait for the sigmal from her crow to leave. See, she wasnt very far from the location of the meeting. Maybe a 35-40 minute walk? Walking back out, she took the bucket off the roof. It was still about half full. So she walked towards a small garden of sorts. There were a few vegetables and flowers, and some herbs. All Hironaka truly needed to get by. Of course, she'd still take the walk to get other things, but she'd always come to the cabin. It wasnt exactly small, it just held two different spaces; one was used as her kitchen and the other where she slept. There was a bamboo wall she used to change behind in the bedroom, though it didnt matter. Nobody ever really came there. It still felt right though. She watered the garden carefully, not to overwater anything. She jumped up a bit, putting the bucket where it needed to be. She looked up at the trees, it shouldve been time soon. She walked back in, glancing around.
Ah right, her umbrella. It wasnt anything special, it was used to block out the sun. See, since shes half demon, she doesnt exactly die from the sun, she just gets horrible sun burn after about 15 minutes in the sun. So she had an umbrella that she painted with black ink to block the sunlight. It worked well enough. She walked into her room and picked it up, it was leaned against that bamboo wall. She smiled at it a bit and sighed, before she heard something behind her.
"Hashira meeting! Hashira meeting! Lets leave!"
Showtime.

-

Leaves crunching could be heard throughout the area of the forest. Hironaka was carefully walking through the heavy forest, dodging any random holes or stray rocks. It took about 10 minutes to get out of the forest and onto a path. Thats when she opened the umbrella and held it above her, blocking the sun. She smiled, and looked up past the umbrella; her crow was guiding her from above, going at a slow enough pace to where she could keep up at a walking speed. Theyd probably get there in about 20 minutes at this speed if Hironaka didnt get distracted. The sun was beaming down hard, clouds occasionally sheltering the ground from it all. For Hironaka, she could care less. She'd be fine as long as she was covered. All she had to worry about was her face and her hands, really. The fields surrounding the path were filled with growing crops. It was a wonderful sight, Hironaka did always like seeing people thrive. It filled her with a sense of happiness; like they were okay. It was odd but she didnt mind.
Hironaka kept on her journey, eyes glued on the crow. She'd gone to the meeting spot once with Rengoku- nobody was there, it was just for him to show her. She remembered a spot he had shown her to mark where the place was-- an arrow in a large thick tree. And after a while, she spotted it. She whistled to the crow and waved it off, before closing her umbrella and bursting into a sprint towards the arrows pointed direction. After a minute of running, she arrived. There she was. She could even see a few people. Hironaka smirked and opened the umbrella.

Now it was showtime.

♤♡◇♧

End note;

Hello! This was the first chapter of this hellish story lmao. This took a while and has over 1400 words oof. Im bored as hell so there'll be a lotta these lmao. Thanks for reading!