Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Hinokami Flames

Prelude: Muichiro Tokito

People always come from happy or miserable families. But those ties are what makes someone stronger. Unfortunately for one soon to be Mist Hashira, he was happy until tragedy struck him. Muichiro was born from a woodcutter and his wife. He would always help his father with cutting wood thanks to his strength. He got enough love that would make him happy. But nothing lasts forever.

On one stormy night, his mother caught a cold, that slowly developed into bronchitis that was slowly killing her. "Mother! Please hang on! Father went out to find medicine herbs!" He feels her forehead, and her fever spiked up. Muichiro then went to grab a wet rag and an extra futon to keep her comfortable. "Please, just hang on mother! Father will be home soon!"

In the severe weather, Muichiro's father walk through hoping to find a miracle to save his wife's life. And he does as he walks on a narrow cliff. He reaches with all of his might and struggles to grab them; but then the ground beneath his feet breaks and he then falls to his death, just as he had the herbs in his hand. It wasn't long after his mother would succumb to her illness.

Muichiro at the age of ten... no eleven, lost both of his parents leaving him alone. But he wasn't alone. He had a twin, an older brother named Yuichiro. As they walk back home, Yuichiro decides to give Muichiro a hard lesson. "They say that being compassionate to others, you'll only be helping yourself. Which means it meaningless to offer a helping hand."

"Don't say that." Muichiro replied. "When you help others, you will receive gratitude from those you help. That's what father told us."

"Are you seriously using the words of a dead man who died trying to save someone only to meet his fate?"

"That's not fair! Mother was sick and father was-"

"Trying to find herbs that couldn't cure her condition. He was nothing but foolish."

"You don't have to be so harsh."

"We would've still had one parent had he not gone out in that storm."

"I hate it when you talk like that! You're just being cruel!"

"I'm only saying the truth. And the truth can be cruel. Now keep quiet! You'll attract the boars."

"You're just selfish. I bet that's what 'Yu' in Yuichiro means, selfish!"

"Then I guess the 'Mu' in Muichiro means incompetent. Kind of like this conversation. We have to accept what's been done. There's no changing the past. Meaningless, that's where the 'Mu' also comes from."

Yuichiro's harsh words made Muichiro cry. They continued with life. Their living style soon became stifling. Muichiro honestly thought that Yuichiro hated him. And then two seasons later, while filling up buckets of water from the river, Muichiro saw two individuals. He was stunned at the white-haired woman, Amane Ubuyashiki and he believed that she was a forest spirit. He then looked at the hulking man who appeared blind.

"Greetings." the man said. "My name is Gyomei Himejima and this is Lady Amane. We have come all this way seeking an audience with a pair of identical twins."

Muichiro invited them in, much to Yuichiro's chagrin. "I am the wife of the master of the Demon Slayer Corps." Amane introduced herself. "This man who has escorted me is a Hashira one of eight. Now if you would take the time to listen, I would like to give you both an offer."

After hearing about the said offer, Yuichiro violently turned them away. 

"She said that we're descendants of swordsmen!" Muichiro said in excitement. "Our family comes from powerful people who can use the first breathing techniques!"