The Descendant (A Retelling and love story of Demon Slayer)

One

 A light breeze brushed through fields of wheat that expanded behind a small Japanese village and rustled the leaves of a large oak tree overlooking a gentle river. The songs of birds filled the calm air with expressive sounds of life. A bright orange tabby cat sat on a boulder nearby, stretching itself out as it basked in the warm afternoon sunlight and yawned. It was incredibly peaceful as not a single unpleasant sound could be heard.

"UMAI!" The peace was shattered suddenly. The birds stopped their singing and the cat launched up in surprise, ducking away into the wheat field to hide at the sudden loud shout.

"UMAI!" A male voice, powerful and expressive, shouted to the heavens just how much he was enjoying the bento he had bought at a vendor in the nearby village.

"Uh, Is that really necessary, Rengoku-Sama?" A black-haired teen stared in shock at one of his companions, pausing in bringing his drink to his lips.

"You asking that is proof of just how unflashy you really are." A young man stated as he dug into his own lunch from up on a thick tree branch. His snow-white hair was tied back under a very ornate headband, keeping the breeze from blowing it around.

"Wha- How does that make me unflashy!?"

"UMAI!" The boy sweat dropped at another shout. "IT IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT TO SAVOR EVERY BITE!" The young man exclaimed loudly with a bright smile. "YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN IT COULD BE YOUR LAST!" The breeze combed through his long yellow/red mane as he brought another bite to his mouth. "UMAI!"

"I-I guess that makes sense, I just don't get why you have to shout it out loud..." The boy placed the cork back into his bamboo water canister with a heavy sigh. "I'm going to go on ahead Uzui-Sama, with your guys' speed I'm sure it won't be long before you catch up..." With that, he started out along the path without his two older comrades. With a raised brow, Uzui watched him leave from atop the branch.

"What's up with him I wonder? So not flashy."

"HA! I ADMIRE HIS ENTHUSIASM!" The two continued to eat their meals in relative silence, save for the moments when the blonde would shout his appreciation. Uzui didn't mind, he was used to it after spending so long getting to know the younger man.

"Oi, Rengoku-San..." The blonde glanced up at the man sitting above him in the tree, catching a corked bottle of sake with ease. "Since we couldn't stay long in that village, I thought I'd get us some for the road." He smirked down at the blonde receiving a bright smile in return.

"Arigatou, Hashira-Sama!" Taking out the cork, he swung the white ceramic bottle up to his lips, but paused before being able to taste it. Out of the corner of his reddish gold gaze he noticed something floating down the gentle river.

"Oh right, speaking of Hashira, your Hashira ceremony is coming up, am I right?" Uzui remembered when he had heard not that long ago about how the seventeen year old had defeated a lower ranking member of the twelve kizuki. He had been ecstatic about the news, even going as far as to say the kid was almost as flashy as himself. Rengoku gave a small affirmative, but he was obviously distracted. With a furrowed brow he stood, re-corking the bottle before setting it down on the grass.

"What do you see, Rengoku-San?" Uzui called down to him, straining his own eyes to see what the blonde had caught onto. Giving up only a moment later, he reached out with his sense of hearing instead. Rengoku might have had a god given gift of extraordinary sight, but he himself also had a gift that was granted to him, his hearing. He wasn't named the Sound Hashira for nothing. Uzui focused his senses on the river. The gentle flow of the water was calming, but he could hear a faint disturbance in the water that differed from the normal wildlife one would find in there. "What is that?" His voice was soft as he landed next to Rengoku whose gaze was fixed on the disturbance in the large river.