Demon Slayer: Histories Past

Chapter One - Constant

I never had much as child, I realize. Of course, it never really bothered me. 

If I'm being honest, the only constant in my life has been my older twin brother, Zenitsu. For as long I I can remember, everything around me has changed, except my brother.

Though, I always vaguely remember a time when things were constant. Back when our parents were around, and I felt secure at home.

Sometimes, when I sleep, I can picture my mother's soft embrace and kind smile. I can remember my father's rough hands and charming smile.

We were happy.

And yet, one day, after Ōnisama and I went came back from the forest from collecting some firewood, they vanished without a trace. Not a note, not even a single object that proved their existence. I remember Ōnisama running around the village asking what happened to our parents, only for them to question our own sanity.

After our mother and father abandoned us, Ōnisama changed.

Of course, he was always a bit of a coward, always jumping at the sight of a bug or reptile. Not that I blame him, I was always the same. But now, he seems so determined, underneath his antics and escapades. There was a light in his eyes I'd never really seen before.

After that day, Ōnisama and I packed what was left of our stuff and travelled alone several days north, eventually settling into an abandoned cabin on the outskirts of the nearby town.

The cabin wasn't big, not that we needed it to be. Despite its dusty grounds, after cleaning it up a bit, it became homey. It had all the basic utilities, a small table crumbling with age, two chairs, a bed, and a ratty old futon with lots of holes.

It took a few weeks to fix up the utilities, sewing up the holes in the futon, fixing the table, fixing up the blanket. But, we got there eventually. 

The first few weeks were hard, while we had had enough food to last us, it would only last so long. It was hard for me to convince Ōnisama to go into town without me, but I managed to do it eventually.

Since then, he found work to sell wood to the nearby town. Ōnisama works on selling wood to the town, venturing into the forest four times a week and venturing into town to sell it the other three days.

I know he's trying his hardest to support us, journeying into town everyday and always coming back with something. He never comes back without anything, even if it's only a flower. And I love him for that.

So, I wanted to help support him too.

I began to go into town looking for work in order to support us too. I couldn't just let him to everything by himself, despite his own urgings that I should just stay home, and that it was his job to support me.

I ended up working as an assistance tailor at the local outfitter, fixing clothing and clothes, making blankets, fixing them. Anything a normal tailor would do. The main tailor, Miyazaki Junpei-san, taught me a lot about fixing clothing and blankets, which allowed me to fix up the blankets and futons better than before.

Miyazaki-san was very kind to me and Ōnisama, letting us stay at his home for dinner or even the night when the day work ended up going for longer than usual. He also had a daughter, Megumi-san, who was two years older than me and my brother and worked at the town's local bakery.

Megumi-san taught me how to braid my hair, and would even give Ōnisama and I some dorayaki on our way home if the day was particularly hard.

A few months after I started working with Miyazaki-san and met Megumi-san, I could tell Ōnisama started to crush on Megumi-san. And if there's one thing I regret the most in my thirteen years of existence, it's my regret that I pushed him to pursue Megumi-san.

I wished he didn't listen to me.

I wished I notice how Megumi-san changed sooner.

I wish I never met Megumi-san. I wish I never accepted any of Miyazaki-san's offers to eat dinner with them. I wish I had kept it more professional.

Once Ōnisama began actively pursing Megumi-san, she began asking for gifts and presents. Each time becoming more elaborate and expensive than the last.

I knew Ōnisama could never say no to a girl, not a girl a pretty as Megumi-san. He had always been a little girl-crazy.

Soon enough, the gifts that were quickly becoming too expensive for us to afford changed to money. Sometime, Megumi-san began flirting with the other boys in the village, while still actively asking for money and gifts from Ōnisama.

I think she stopped asking eventually, but Ōnisama had already fallen too deep to stop I suppose. I guess by the time she stopped asking, Ōnisama had stopped working, in favor of finding gifts and presents.

We eventually went bankrupt after Megumi married another boy in the village, running off with him with all our money and all the gifts Ōnisama had given her in an attempt to appeal to her more.

After that, no one in the village bought wood from Ōnisama once he started working again. Maybe it was because he stopped workin, and they no longer found him reliable anymore.

I still worked under Miyazaki-san, helping him run the shop after his daughter up and ran. Though, the money I made barely helped support us at all.

Despite our lack of funds, Ōnisama continued to purchase us food, slowly once yen extra became ten, and that then became a hundred and it just kept going up.

We fell into debt.

I was fired by Miyazaki-san. He said I was a liability. Being in debt and all.

Despite our best efforts, no one in the village would hire two children in debt.

And then, the debt collectors came.

Once again, everything in my life changed.

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NOTES:

-san - similar to the English "Mr.", "Miss", "Ms.", or "Mrs."

-kun -  used for a very close friend or family member.

Ōnisama - older brother

dorayaki - a Japanese confection with two small pancake-like patties made from castella wrapped around a filling of sweet azuki bean paste, or red bean paste.

Miyazaki Junpei - father of Miyazaki Megumi. He is thirty years old and has waist length, black hair pulled into a ponytail with sharp piercing blue eyes.

Miyazaki Megumi - daughter of Miyazaki Junpei. She is two years older than Karin and Zenitsu, being 15 by the end of this chapter. She has long, shiny hair tossed over her shoulder with large, piercing blue eyes.