And so it begins, my sixth series, this time based off the highly popular and recent hit anime, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba. My story will follow the format of almost all that's come before it and that's implementing my own OC into the traditional story, meaning the normal story you may know will be altered and adjusted so my OC can fit in. And i'll just say this now, but it'll be a few chapters until we meet your more normal characters such as Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Zenitsu. Now, with everything out of the way, let's kick this story off with a bang! Enjoy!

-Taisho Period: Japan, 1920-

Late into the year on a cold Winters night, the sun peaks over a mountain top to signal the beginning of a new day. I awoke from my slumber as anyone would and slipped into my clothes, letting out a yawn to let the rest of my family know I was awake now.

"Setsuna, is that you? I hope it is because I've made your breakfast." I heard my mother call to me as I exited my room and sat down at our kitchen table.

"Good morning...." I said, still in a bit of a daze since i'd just woken up.

"Oh my, you look like you're still asleep. Don't go back to bed on us now, my little zombie." Mother said as she placed my breakfast down in front of me and then kissed my forehead.

"How's dad doing this morning?" I asked my mother as she let out a heavy sigh.

"He hasn't gotten any better yet. I gave him some more medicine but he still has to stay in bed." Mother explained to me as I also let out a sigh.

My father has recently come down with a terrible illness. Luckily for everyone else in my family, he can't spread it to us. But it's caused him to become bed ridden and unable to work. My mother can't venture out to work for him as she must stay and care for him, and my little brother is far too young to have a job, so it comes down to me to support my family and acquire money.

"Are you gonna catch a big one today, Setsu!?" My little brother asked me as he came running over to the table to steal a piece off of one of my eggs.

"Hey! You thief, I was about to eat that!" I said to him as he did nothing more than chuckle and smile at me. I couldn't really be mad at him though, he was just so cute.

"We'll see how today goes. I got a decent sized Sea Bass and some eels yesterday. I'm hoping I can find some carp today. I heard from a vender that they're all the craze lately." I explained as my mother seemed interested.

"Some carp, eh? Well, if you find some today, can you save some and bring them back here? I know some good dishes I can make out of them. And, maybe it'll help your father heal at little quicker." Mother suggested as I gave her a nod. I then finished eating my breakfast and prepped everything so I could head out for work. I put on a furry boar coat my father made for me a few years ago to fend from the cold. It snowed pretty badly last night so I figured there'd be quite a bit i'd have to trek through.

"Okay, i'll be back later tonight! Take care!" I said as I grabbed my fishing rod and my basket which I strapped to my back.

"See you later, and good luck!" Mother and my little brother said as I left my home. Our house rested at the foot of a mountain, not too far from the nearest village which was about a thirty minute walk. But walking through lots of snow almost doubled that time. But I've become used to it at this point so the cold never really bothered me anymore.

After about an hours walk, I finally arrived at the fishing village. All the men were already out on the huge lake here, shoveling out new holes so they could ice fish.

"Hey, Setsuna! How's it going today!?" A worker said to me as I walked out onto the frozen lake. With my father not being able to work now, I've become a regular around this place so everyone knows me. I was one of a very small handful of girls to actually come out and fish here.

"Not too bad today!? Any bites yet!?" I replied as I saw the worker give me a nod.

"There's lots this morning! I've almost got my quota already, so if you want you can take over my spot! I'm sure i'll be done soon at this point!" The worker said to me as I gladly took his offer. I walked over, nearly falling from all the ice but I kept my footing. I then set down all my supplies and sat on a small stool in the mans bamboo hut he had. I readied my fishing rod and then dropped my bait and line into the hole.

My worker friend left a few minutes later and not too long after, I got my first bite. I pulled up a small sized catfish, nothing too impressive but it may bring me in a little bit of money. I reset my line and bait and then dunked it back into the hole to see if anything else was swimming around down in the lake.

About a half an hour later, I was raking in dozens of fish. More catfish, some bass, eels, taimen, and even a few Japanese carp that were pretty good in size.

"Man, today's just been on fire for everyone! All the fish are really running this morning!" I said as I pulled up yet another carp, giving me a total of 6 for them and an overall of 25 fish.

"That should do it for now. Let's see if I can sell any of these guys off to anyone." I said to myself as I placed all my fish into my basket and slung it over my left shoulder. I packed away my fishing rod and then headed off to the market place. I found my fathers stand he typically worked at and set everything up. I filleted some of my fish, leaving two of my medium sized carp in tact for me to take home later. And, when all my fish were cut up, I opened up my stand.

"Fresh fish, caught this morning!! Cut to perfection and ready to cook and serve!! I've got it all for you right here!!" I called out into the crowd of people that walked through the marketplace.

"Whatcha got here, dear? What would you recommend?" An older man asked me as he came to inspect my catch.

"Well, the carp here are really running these days so they're probably your best choice in terms of flavour and protein. The taimen is said to be good for your health and for cleansing the soul. But, my personal favourite is the catfish here. Easiest to prepare, not too many bones, and it's got some real rich and juicy meat." I said to the man as he looked at everything I had on display.

"I'll take two of the taimen, please." The man said to me.

"Alright, let's see here..... that'll be 1,000 yen, please." I said to him as he happily handed me the right amount. I packaged up his fish and then he was off. And, it wasn't too long before more and more people started to come and buy my catch for today.

"Man..... am I beat....." I said, exhausted from a long work day as the sun was now beginning to set. I was able to sell all of my fish except for the two carp I kept, making around 10,000 yen in total. That might be enough to last my family for the next week if we conserve it right.

I now trekked back through the thick snow to my home where i'm sure my mother would have great joy in seeing I brought her back some of the fish she requested.

"Hey, what're these....?" I questioned as I noticed some paw prints in the snow on my way back. Judging by its size and the amount of claws it had, it was most likely a black bear. By the way the tracks were facing, this bear was headed in the same direction I was, but I hoped I didn't run into it. Even though bears rarely do attack people, i'd still rather not chance the encounter.

I moved on and eventually, right as the sun disappeared from the sky, I arrived at my home. No bears were met on my way back and a successful day at the market, I was feeling pretty good overall.

"How'd today go, sweetie?" My mother asked me as I entered my home and removed my boar coat.

"Fantastic. A lot of fish were schooling in the shallows of the lake today. I got over 20 and some of them were the carp. I brought home 2 big ones for us." I told her as she grew a smile.

"Oh, that's so great! Here, let me see them." My mother said as I handed her my basket of fish. I also gave her my earnings for today.

"Oh my goodness, you made so much for us! Thank you, dear." My mother said as she hugged me tightly, looking like she may also cry.

"Just doing what I can to support my family." I said with a cheery attitude as my mother went into the kitchen to prep the fish for dinner. And, in the meantime, my little brother decided to sneak up on me and jump onto my back.

"Hey, Setsu! Did you catch a big one today!?" He asked me as I pulled him off of my back and now held him in front of me.

"Heck yeah, I did! A got an eleven pound taimen! And a few seven pound carp and bass!" I said to him as he looked ecstatic.

"Can I come with you tomorrow!? Please!?" My little brother asked me as I put him back down on the ground and shook up his hair.

"Sorry, buddy. You can't come with me until the snow melts, okay? I don't want you getting sick on me and making me have to carry you back in the middle of work." I said to him as kindly as possible as he gave me a pouty face.

"Okay...." He said in a mix of a sad and angry tone as he went into the kitchen to help mother cook. I then went to have a nice warm bath while dinner was being prepared.

Once dinner was finished, I helped wash the dishes and put away everything before going to bed. I was just so tired from today that I just couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. My little brother joined me as his bed was also in my room. Mother still had a few things left to do so she stayed up for a little while longer.

"Goodnight, Setsu...." My little brother said to me as he dozed off.

"Goodnight...." I said to him as I blew out the candle that was lighting up our room.

Not much time went by for us as we were quickly woken up by the sound of a loud *THUD.*

"What was that?" I questioned as I woke up my brother.

"What's wrong, Setsu?" He asked me as he rubbed his eyes.

"I heard something from one of the other rooms. Stay here while I check it out." I said as I stood up and walked over to my door.

"Mother probably just dropped something again. Go back to sleep..." My brother said to me as I slid my door open a crack to peer through and see what was in our living room. My eyes shot open when I saw two unknown people standing over both our mother and father. And.... most horrifying.... one of the two people was eating our parents. He'd torn off my mothers right arm and was devouring it. Blood seeped everywhere along the floor.

"We..... we have to go..... right now...." I whispered in fear to my little brother as the second man seemed to hear me. He was dressed in an all black suit and black dress pants and he wore a white fedora on his head. He had these blood red pupils in his eyes and he glared daggers at me. I quickly shut my door and ran over to grab my brother.

"We need to leave!" I said as I removed some loose floor boards in my room.

"Why, what's wrong?" My little brother asked me as I pushed him down underneath our home.

"I can't explain. We don't have the time. Just go." I said to him as I went to follow him. But, I grabbed my fillet knife just before I dropped down and sealed up the floor again. And, once I sealed it back up, we heard one of the two men break into our room.

"Two people were here. I can smell their scent on these beds." One of the men said as me and my brother laid in silence right below where the men walked, hoping they'd leave without finding us.

"They didn't escape by running past us, nor is there any sign of them breaking through any windows or walls. So, where could they have gone, I wonder?" The second of the two men said as we heard the floor creak right above us.

"I have some business to attend to in the nearby village. Take care of the rest here. And enjoy your little snack." The same man said as we heard him walk away.

"Are they gone?" My little brother whispered to me as I quickly covered up his mouth with my right hand.

I wasn't sure if the other man heard us or if he already knew we were hear, but he suddenly burst one of his arms through the floor boards and started reaching for us. His skin was pale and his hands had these sharp claws on them. Me and my brother screamed in fear as we began to crawl away from the man and out of an entrance at the side of our house.

"RUN!!" I screamed as me and my little brother took off into the forest. The man attacking us broke down our front door and then went down on all four arms, taking off after us and quickly catching up.

"Come here!!" The man said as he leaped for me. He grabbed onto my long black hair and pulled it hard, stopping me for a moment.

"Don't stop running!!" I shouted to my little brother as he kept on going. I then pulled out my fillet knife and swung it behind my head. With all the force I had, I chopped off the mans arm that was holding my hair and I continued to flee. The man roared in pain as he grasped where his arm used to be. I made a quick escape but, the only thing was that his severed arm was still grasping onto my hair.

"Get off of me!" I wailed as I yanked the arm away, pulling out some of my hair in the process. I quickly caught up to my little brother and it looked like he was struggling to run in the deep snow.

"Here, get onto my back! Hurry!" I said as I picked him up and he crawled onto my back. We sprinted through the snow as fast as we could but we could still hear the man right behind us.

"Hurry! He's right there!!" My brother cried as I suddenly felt a weight be taken off of me. I spun around to see the man take away my little brother and leap up into some tall trees.

"NOOOOOOO!!!!" I screamed as all I could do was listen to my brother panic and struggle. His screams got quieter and quieter as everything finally went silent with the sound of a quick slash. Blood began to rain down from the trees above me as I couldn't hear my little brother anymore.

"no....." I said with pure sadness and despair in my voice as the man from before jumped down from the trees and landed in front of me. In his mouth was the left hand of my little brother and I watched as he swallowed it whole.

I now had a better look at this man now too. He wore a black gi with black pants. He had long gray hair, the palest skin, clawed hands, and his eyes were blood red with no pupils in them at all. This man wasn't human. And it was clearly evident by the fact he had both arms again, despite me chopping one off before.

"That kid and those two older folk gave me a decent snack, but someone like you is more of my type. Ripe meat...." The man said as he licked his bloody lips.

"Oh my.... No!!!" I screamed as I turned and ran away from him.

"Get back here! It's no fun if you run away!!" The man shouted as he came running after me again.

"No, stay away from me!!" I shouted as the man jumped high into the air and came crashing down on me, flatting me in the snow. He then rolled me over and sat down on me with his knees.

"Finally, the main course!!" The man shouted as he reached down and grabbed the sides of my head with his hands. He squeezed me tightly but I retaliated by holding my fillet knife across my body and then thrusting it straight up. But the man bit down on my knifes blade and held it there.

"Don't worry. This'll all be over in just a few seconds. I promise your death will be quick and painless." The man giggled as he raised up both of his thumbs and hovered them above my eyes. He was going to stab through them with his claws and kill me in an instant.

"You killed my brother...... and my mother and father...... I will not let you kill me too!!" I shouted with determination as I pushed harder on my knife, beginning to slice through the mans skin within his mouth. And, with one mighty push, I severed the top portion of his head from his upper lip clean off. The severed head fell onto me and blood from it and his body spewed all over me. It was a dark black colour and the smell was utterly disgusting. I pushed it all off of me as I crawled away from the mans corpse.

And shortly after, something strange occurred. The mans body began to turn into dust for some reason. I watched as he simply blew away in the wind.

"What.... was that thing....?" I questioned as I dropped to my hands and knees. I began to cry at the thought that everyone in my family was just murdered by those two men. I couldn't go looking for help in the fishing village either because the second man was headed there.

I had no choice but to head to the next closest village for safety. But, it was on the other side of the nearby mountain and I had no hope of climbing it. I had to go around and it would easily take me over a day to reach it. I placed my hands together in front of my body and began to pray for my fallen family members.

"May your souls pass on and forever be at peace...." I spoke as I stood back up and wiped away my tears. I didn't want to go back home in case that other man returned and since I couldn't go to the fishing village either, I had no choice but to travel to the next village. I didn't have my boar coat with me now so it was much more difficult to withstand the freezing temperatures of the air and the snow.

"So..... c-cold....." I said as I trudged through deep snow, the blood on me now freezing and making it harder to move my upper body. There was no way I was making it to the village at all at this rate, so I decided to try and find some shelter.

"F-F-Find.... somew-w-where...... w-warm....." I said to myself as the snow fall began to pick up and become more violent. A blizzard was starting to come through the region.

"T-T-There.....!" I said as I found my best shot at surviving through this weather. It was incredibly dark out but I could just see three large boulders ahead of me. It didn't give me any cover above my head but it would at least somewhat guard me from the blowing snow.

I marched over to the boulders and laid down in a ball in between them all. I covered myself in some snow as it can actually warm you up a bit. I then tried my best to stay warm, hiding my hands inside my clothes so they wouldn't freeze. And, if I was incredibly lucky, I wouldn't catch frostbite.

But, as I was trying to heat up, I felt something move and touch my right arm. I turned my head and saw one of the boulders was closer to me now.

"D-Did it.... m-m-move....?" I asked myself as something else then caught my attention. The part of the boulder that was touching me wasn't hard like a rock. It was actually softer and had.... fur.

"Uh..... oh......" I said as I looked around to the other two boulders. And that's when I realized none of them were boulders at all. I had just plunked myself down in the snow between three large black bears.

*RUUUU!* I heard one of the bears briefly roar as they all suddenly got up. One of them saw me laying in the snow and walked over to sniff me. As quietly and as gently as I could, I moved my hands out of my clothes and covered up my neck, just in case they decided to attack me.

Two of the bears began to walk off somewhere but the third that was sniffing me decided to bite down onto the back of my kimono and drag me away with it.

"P-Please.... just l-let me g-go...." I cried to myself as I was taken far away from the spot they took me from. Through the snow and up a small hill we went as these bears returned back to the cave which I assumed which was their home. The one dragging me let go when we reached the end and all three of them began sniffing me again. It was nice to be out of the snow and in this cave but having three bears right in front of you was utterly terrifying.

"A girl?" I heard a person say as the three bears looked up to the entrance of the cave. I slowly turned my head and saw someone standing there. It was a woman with long red hair, wearing a white tiger mask on her face, a red kimono, a bear coat, and black hakama.

The three bears roared at the woman as one of them charged her. But the woman unsheathed a katana from her left side and slashed away at the bear. With just three swings, she struck the bears neck, front claws, and chest. The bear slumped over onto the cave floor and it was clear that it wasn't breathing. She killed it so easily. The other two bears around me began to whimper as they backed away from me and this woman.

"That's what I like to see." The woman said in a calm voice as she approached me and crouched down next to me. She felt my body and then inspected the blood all over me.

"Is this your blood?" She asked me as I tried my best to shake my head no.

"I see. Then they've reached this region then." The woman said as she then picked me up and slung me over her right shoulder. She sheathed her katana and then she took me out of the cave. But, before leaving she grabbed onto the back right leg of the bear she killed and began dragging it away with us. This woman's strength was unbelievable, to be able to pull along a 300-400 pound bear.

"Just hold on for a little while, child. You will live to see another day." The woman said to me as I took her word. We reentered the blizzard and the woman stopped when we reached a large gathering of trees which gave us some more cover. She then let go of the dead bear and laid me gently down on the ground.

"The smell will be quite rancid but this will ensure you survive." The woman said as she unsheathed her katana again and cut open the entire chest portion of the black bear. The woman then dragged me over and stuffed me inside the innards of the dead bear. I nearly threw up from the smell alone but the warmth felt so incredible right now.

"Sleep for now. I will wake you when the sun rises." The woman said as I gave her a slow nod before drifting off to sleep inside this bear.

"If that blood is what I think it is, then we all may be in greater danger then we realize. I just hope, for everyone's safety that i'm wrong." The woman said to herself as she began to drag the dead bear away with me still inside it, trekking through the harsh environment to who knows where.