The Shrine Maiden (A Demon Slayer OC Fanfic)

Chapter 1

Rei Suzuki was never thrilled to clean up the family shrine, so the heavy sigh and the groan that followed didn't surprise her older brother and sister, Kenta and Namiko, in the slightest. They each gave her mildly amused glances as she swept the traditional wooden floors of the temple.

"Rei, you know how mom and dad hate it when you complain about your job," Namiko commented, voice even yet playfully reprimanding in a way only a sibling could.

"Yeah, this is our duty as owners of a shrine to keep it as tidy as possible," Kenta replied with a little more firmness than Namiko.

If Rei didn't know any better she'd think the two of them were twins as much as they parroted each other, especially about how important the shrine was even when no one visited such an out of the way old temple.

They lived on a remote hill in a small and rural town with barely over a few hundred residents, most of which were old people who wouldn't risk their fragile health to venture that far up the mountain just to visit a tiny temple in the middle of nowhere.

It would be different if they had any regular visitors or people who hired their services. Rei would happily keep things all nice and clean then. But when they struggled to make enough money to feed themselves everyday, it was a major problem. No one hired their services, and the charms Rei and Namiko had poured their hearts into making just weren't selling. They could move to a nice flourishing city like Tokyo, but her parents wanted to be Shinto priests up in the mountains instead of finding a more lucrative career.

"Yeah, well I don't know why you guys have to leave all the work to me if it's so important! Pick up a broom or a sponge and help me if it's such an important job!"

A vein popped out of Rei's head when she gazed at her two siblings, the two of them standing expectantly without so much as picking up a broom to help. She growled through clenched teeth when all she got was a devious chuckle from her sister and a scoff from her brother. Oh, how she hated being related to them at times!

"Are you kidding? That's the youngest child in the family's job, which would be you."

Namiko turned her nose to the side, shrugging her shoulders. The smug air she gave off made Rei want to smack that shit-eating grin right off her face with the broom she was holding. However, that would only serve to make her clean up job even harder with all the splinters. Rei's eyebrow twitched as she groaned out her annoyance at that statement.

"Yeah, we always had to clean by ourselves when we were your age, and I don't remember you ever pitching into help."

Rei was stuck. She did have brief images of her teasing them for having to waste their time cleaning up flash through her memory. She heaved a heavy sigh, regretting her childish antics of the past. Why would they be holding that over her shoulder now? That was three years ago! Time to get over it!

"Now it comes full circle," the playful chuckle of Namiko came from behind her after she had begrudgingly went back to her daily tasks to which she had left neglected for the past week.

"I was ten! Give me a break, would 'ya? I would help you guys if you needed it now! I can't believe how mean you guys are to your kid sister!"

The two held their sides from the laughter caused by her outburst which made Rei expel steam from her ears, leaving her to hiss, sounding more akin to an agitated serpent rather than a human. Namiko and Kenta were actually starting to worry whether or not their younger sister's head might explode. They wouldn't even know how to begin explaining that to their parents. At least, that's what Rei's imagination came up with after what happened next.

"Oh, I think we've let her suffer enough, don't you?" Namiko winked at Kenta, Rei's ear twitching as she paused her movements. They couldn't possibly be putting their incessant teasing on hold long enough to actually assist her in cleaning the shrine, were they?