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.
