Hey guys, I'm just here to leave two quick notes.
First, I put this story as Mature because there will be a lot of gore. I mean, this happens in the Demon Slayer world so it's basically impossible to avoid it. I might end up adding a lemon in the future but i'm not 100% sure I'll do it.
Second, whenever I describe Izuku, I'll leave a few details out, like his own hanafuda earrings, his hair, his family name, his haori and his mark, this is because these things contain info that can be used to find his own breathing style and I want that to remain secret until the moment for him to start to learn it comes.
I almost forgot, the beginning might look quite similar to Tanjiro's but that's because I don't have much knowledge about the era that the anime happens on so, I have no idea how to change it while keeping the same base theme. But it won't happen a lot from then on.
With this said, I hope you enjoy the chapter
Izuku's POV
My name is Izuku, i live with my mother Inko and my two younger siblings. My mother is a beautiful woman with long green hair. My youngest sibling is called Izumi, she's 5 years old while my brother Izuko is 8 years old. Both of them have green hair just like our mother while I, altough I possess green hair too but, I inherited the color of my father's hair in the tips of my hair.
Our family lives in a mountain, with a small village at its' base. Right now, since it's Winter, the mountain is covered in snow. My mother is always busy cooking, cleaning or spending time with the kids. I always try to help wjhen cooking and cleaning, my brother and sister also try to help.
But I'm more often chopping wood and, three times a week I descend into the village to sell some wood to a family that makes charcoal. That family also lives in the village altough, it's just the father and the son, they're both really nice people.
Our life isn't easy but we manage to live as an happy family so there's no reason to complain about it.
Then why? Why is it that things ended up like this? How could this happen to us? With the cold wind hitting me in the face, there's only one thing I can think to say right now. "I'm sorry...".
The previous day, No one's POV
On the side of the house, we now can see Izuku chopping some wood with his brother Izuko by his side.
"Izuku-nii, when can I start chopping wood too?" He asked his older brother who just looked back at him with a smile.
"Izuko, you're still too young for this." Izuku said it in such a calm and gentle tone that Izuko couldn't even get annoyed at being refused to help. Izuku got up before walking towards his little brother.
"What's wrong nii-san?" He stopped when Izuku got in front of him and started ruffling his hair.
"You don't need to worry about it for now Izuko," His little brother tried to push Izuku's hand away from his hair making Izuku smile even more and keep ruffling his hair much to the younger's annoyance altough, he couldn't hide his smile.
After that, Izuku kept chopping wood for another 10 minutes, while Izuko helped by stacking the chopped logs on the side of the house, that was until someone else decided to join them.
"Izuko-nii! Izuku-nii!" Out of the house came their little sister Izumi running, she kept running and running towards Izuku who let his axe down to avoid hurting her. "Onii-chan!" She jumped towards him and at the last moment jumped to hug him.
"Izumi!" He smiled at his little sister while putting her back down. "Where is mother?" He asked not seeing her along with Izumi.
"Mom is sleeping right now, I made sure she got some rest and then I left her alone sleeping so that I wouldn't wake her up."
"Good job taking care of mom Izumi!" Hearing his praise, she puffed her chest out with a smug smile.
"I know so you can praise me more."
"Hai! Hai! Izumi is the best!" He started ruffling his hair while smiling at his little sister's antics. He stopped when he saw his little brother with a pout on his face, noticing he had been seen, Izuko quickly turned his head away with a slight blush of embarassment on his face. Izuku smiled at this and walked closer to him, he then started ruffling his hair too. "Izuko is the best too!"
"Stop that!" Izuko yelled trying to push his older brother's arms away. Izuku however knew that his little brother wasn't even trying which made him start laughing embarassing Izuko even more. After a minute of teasing his little brother, Izuku noticed Izumi being really quiet, when he looked at her, she looked to be ... thinking really hard?
"Izumi? What's wrong!" He asked not knowing what else to say, this however made her look at him.
"Izuku onii-chan..." She looked like she was about to cry making Izuku worried. "... what do I do? I also want to say Izuko onii-chan is the best because he was sad but, you're also the best! So what do I do?" She asked in an innocent tone.
'My little sister is so cute!' He thought shedding a single tear and smiling, he then got close to her and started ruffling her hair. "Then just say it to both of us!"
"I can do that?" She asked looking up to him.
"Of course you can, I just did that:" She quickly got rid of her tears before her attitude turned upside down and with a huge smile she patted both of her brother's legs. "You both are the best!" She praised them making the three laugh.
After that, Izuku kept chopping wood while Izuko continued stacking them on the side of the house, this time however, Izumi was helping.
Izuku's POV
It's been now half an hour since I started chopping wood, today I don't need a lot as it was practically full of the previous days, we only need to refill the amount I took to bring to the village today. I can see Izuko is getting tired from helping already, Izumi isn't that far behind, to be honest, even though I could do it alone it still makes me happy to see both of them helping.
It's as I said before, our life isn't easy but we're happy, it's moments like these when we help each other out that makes me happy. It always makes me think the same thing. I'll always prefer this lifestyle of working hard and being happy with my family than being born in a wealthy family and not have this bonds. As long as I have the three of them, I don't need anything else.
No one's POV
We can now see Izuku, in front of his family outside the house holding a large basket on his back with a lot of chopped wood logs on it, thanks to him doing this three times a week, he got used to descend the mountain with this much wood and even making it look easy.
"Well then, I'll be going now mother, Izumi, Izuko!" He said to his family before noticing the looks of sadness from his siblings at not being able to with him. "What's wrong Izumi, Izuko?" He asked to both of them even though he already knew the answer.
"Nii-san, can we really not go with you?" Izuko asked with Izumi nodding along.
"Kids, you already know you can't, it's already hard enough for your brother to do it alone." Inko for the first time since they were outside had finally spoken, she had a soothing voice and a gentle smile always on her face. She adressed herself to her younger children trying not to make Izuku's job harder however, she stopped when she saw Izuku motioning his younger sibling to come near him. Her smile slightly increased as she knew what he was about to do and so, she let him deal with it.
Both Izumi and Izuko got closer to their older brother curious about what he was going to do, Izuku crouched down to their height and made them stop moving by poking their foreheads with his middle and index fingers. "Sorry Izuko, Izumi, maybe next time."
"You always say that onii-chan!" Izumi said trying to hide her smile when felling Izuku ruffle their hair.
"Izuku..." Hearing his mother's voice he quickly lifted himself up and looked at her. "... please be careful, there's a lot of wild animals around." She said in concern for her older child. No matter how many times he did this, she would always be worried about him, he's her son after all.
"Mother, do not worry, you know I'm used to this, I know where I should go and where I shouldn't!" He wanted to reassure his mother, something he managed to do as she knew her son got used to this routine and never failed to come home without a scratch.
With that said, Izuku started walking down the mountain, he was walking slowly, enjoying the view around him and the calm feeling that he wouldn't get in the village. Living in a mountain had a few perks, one of them being the one of enjoying the ambient without anyone disrupting it. While walking he also saw a few wild animals, not hostile of course. Most of them being Snow Rabbits.
If he was to keep walking at the pace he was going now, he'd take 2 hours to reach the village. Even so he made sure to enjoy everything on his walk, like the cold breeze brushing against his face. 2 hours later, he had indeed reached the village and was now going through the entrance. Not a second later, he had already heard people greeting him.
"Hey Izuku, how are you boy?"
"Izuku, good to see you!"
"Oh, hey there Izuku!"
Izuku greeted them all back with a smile, he was used to it after all. Everytime he descended the mountain, he'd always help around the town, the people were also always nice to him. Whenever he helped they either gave him food or money even though he never asked for it.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw three girls he knew were his age looking at him, as soon as he turned towards them, he waved at them with a smile on his face. He saw the girls giggling while waving back at him, a slight faint shade of pink on their faces before turning arounf and running away making him sigh.
Can you blame them? A young handsome teen, with a lean body and some muscles on along with a nice and gentle personality is not a type of teen you see a lot in such a small village. Most girls their age would act like that.
He knew very well what it was, as the youngest of the village said, those girls had a crush on him, something he faked to not know what it was. Why? Simple, because they're 13 just like him, at this age it's simple for people to misinterpret a silly crush with love so he just ignored that kind of things for now. His father and mother had told him that whenever he fell in love he'd know it on the moment.
He started walking again but didn't take long to make another stop when he saw an old lady carrying a basket on her back that was filled with food, it was small compared to his but it didn't change the fact it looked heavy, Izuku quickly went over to help her.
"Ma'am, please let me help you?" He asked her before acting to not seem rude.
"It's okay young man, there's no need to trouble yourself with this old lady!" She tried to refuse not wanting Izuku to lose his time.
"It's okay ma'am, it's not a problem at all." He said extending his hand asking for permission to help, the old lady ended up accepting his help and let him take the basket on his hands.
"Thank you young man!" Izuku just gave her a smile and started walking alongside her, both starting a conversation between themselves.
Once he helped the old lady getting home, he started walking once again towards his destination. Along the way he stopped a few times to help other people, he helped fixing a door, solving a problem with a teen that had been believed to be guilty of breaking his mother's stuff and so on. It took him an entire hour to get to where he wanted to and now he found himself in front of a small house which belonged to the family he always sold the wood to.
He knocked on the door of the house and waited for someone to open it, he waited for a minute but got no answer so he decided to go around the house to see if either the father or son were there. True to his thoughts, they were both there and as soon as they saw him they greeted Izuku with a smile.
"Izuku, it's good to see you!" Said the sone. He's a man in his early thirties, with black spiky hair and red tips just like his father. He also had a rather bulky body no doubt from the amount of work he did all day.
"We were thinking you wouldn't come today! Commented the father who looked to be in his late fifties, just like his son he had black hair and red tips, however a few white strands were noticeable on his hair due to his age. Even so, he too had a bulky body, well kept for someone his age.
"Ah, sorry about that, I lost track of time."
"Don't worry about that, knowing you, you probably were helping the villagers." The man said making Izuku scratch his head in embarrasement while giving a slight smile not being capable of denying that statement.
After that, the three started to talk between themselves until the family bought the wood from Izuku finally allowing him to get rid of the weight on his back leaving now an empty basket that weighted barely anything.
Soon after, Izuku had to leave and was now at the foot of the mountain. He had wasted more time helping a few other villagers, looking at it on the good side, he had gained a little bit more money from helping them though, because of that it was already dark outside not that it was much of a problem for Izuku.
The reason why is because Izuku had always had a better sight than other people and since he was used to the dark, add that to the slight help that the moonlight slipping through the trees also helped. On top of that, his analytical mind made good use of this increased sight.
As soon as he stepped on the foot of the mountain he stopped as he felt an ominous feeling crept all the way through his spine. He stopped and focused around himself trying to see if it was a wild animal that made him feeling this way. After a few minutes he didn't notice a single animal around and the ominous feeling had disappeared as he couldn't sense it anymore.
He ignored that just like the small thought that passed by his head as if warning him of an incoming danger. He passed that by a dangerous animal that had gone away already and so, he kept walking towards his house after all, he still had an hour and a half of walking ahead of him, now that he had no logs on his back he'd take less time to climb the mountain.
Thirty minutes later he felt once again something ominous making him shiver, the more he climbed the more this feeling increased and the more it increased the worse he felt, when he was halfway through the mountain, he didn't know why but it got harder to breathe and he felt as if his heart was going to be crushed. He was filled with a feeling of anxiety.
Images of his siblings and his mother formed on his head, memories of their time together, and of earlier in the day when he said his goodbyes to them. At that moment, Izuku knew this dark feeling was not from a wild animal, something was telling him that his family was in danger so, without thinking twice, he started running.
He ran faster than he ever had before, the closer to his home he got, the worse that feeling got, his well trained body allowing him to run without making too much damage to himself, the same couldn't be said for his mental state. The closer he got, the more he had an urge to vomit, the more his body started trembling, if he stopped running he didn't think it'd be possible to start running again. Izuku felt like crying but for some reason tears just didn't come out, instead of that he just felt a huge pain in his eyes as if they were burning.
Had he not been so focused on the well being of his family, he'd see his vision slightly changing. It became much easier for him to see in the dark, something he didn't notice because of the situation he was in. Not just that, had he turned his head to his right, he'd have noticed a dark red trail going in direction of his house. A floating dark red trail with a smoke like substance.
Perhaps it was for the best, because had Izuku looked at it, the ominous feeling would have increased by a lot to the point where dispair was all he could think at the moment. It'd have made him fall on his knees and start vomiting, it's have made him start crying. He was still not ready to stand in front of such an aura.
He finally arrived at the top, it took him fifteen minutes for what would have taken forty-five since he was already halfway. He stopped just before being able to see his house and to get ready for whatever was going to happen. By now, the ominous aura he felt disappeared along with the pain in his eyes even so, he still felt uneasy and worried for his family.
He took a step and his worry only increased at the sight in front of him, the moonlight illuminated his house and the open space around it. In front of the house he could see a bit of blood coloring the snow red and at that moment, he knew, that his worries were not in vain and something had indeed happened to his family.
He was filled with fear, sadness at the thought of something happening to his dear family. That thought made images of his family once again appear on his head even so, he kept walking towards the entrance. The quantity of blood only increased and, to make things worse, a severed arm that he was sure belonged to Izuko. His fear, worry and sadness only increased and the thought of his family being dead made its' way into Izuku's mind..
'No Izuku, no. Izuko was only playing with the axe, that's right Izuku, that's all there is to it. He must have been playing with it and in an accident he must've cut his arm. That's right, that's why there is so much blood.' Izuku tried to think positively, not wanting to spend even another second about the possibility of his family being dead and so, he starting walking again.
Once he reached the door that by the was, was broken, whatever feeling of hope he had left just disappeared. The sight in front of him made Izuku want to cry yet, no tears came out, it made him feel like yelling in rage, sadness at the skies but no sound came from his mouth. He once again felt that same sadness and dispair but only stronger now.
But how couldn't he feel like that after what he was seeing, in front of him, were the bodies of his sister and brother, he didn't even need to check on them to know they were dead. Their bodies surrounded by blood, lots of blood. Their arms and legs cut off or well, at least what remained of them which, counting with the arm outside wasn't even half of them. Izumi's head was cut by the half separated from her body, her remaining eye wide open making it look as if she was staring at him.
Izuko's head was separated from his body but unlike Izumi, his head was cut horizontally with only his mouth, cheeks and jaw nowhere to be seen and just like for his sister, Izuko's eyes were wide open as if staring at him.
'Izuko! Izumi!' Izuku couldn't even bring himself to talk and as if punishing him, memories of him with both of them passed by his head.
'Onii-chan! Izuku-nii!' He heard both of his siblings calling for him after every memory of them. Memories of his time spent with Izumi, of when he'd help her with her hair, of when he'd read her stories until she felt asleep, of when she'd sleep with him afraid of the dark or of when he and her cooked together.
The same was for Izuko, the talks they always had when Izuku was chopping wood, how they'd play together, how they'd take care of their mother and sister together, memories of whenever they played together.
All of this only made Izuku feel even worse and not notice the person landing on the trees behind him, he still wanted to cry, to yell, his body wanted to give up but none of that could happen because, in front of him was the proof that this night was just starting.
"M-Mother?"
3694 Words
This chapter ended up being shorter than I thought, I wanted to let it between 4k or 6k words but I just couldn't make it longer than this without leaving it in a sort of cliffhanger.
Also, what did you think of how I described their dead bodies, it was my first time writing something so dark. I'll probably come back in the future to rewrite that part and make it even worse, don't know why.
Before you ask (kny spoiler warning for those who only watch the anime), no Izuku does not have access to the See Through World, that is only possible when someone has the Demon Slayer Mark awakened, Izuku do does have his Mark but not awakened, though I don't know if Yoriichi had his or not, might have to read the manga again.
There's also Izuku's appearance of which I haven't revealed almost anything, that's because parts like the tips of his hair, his Demon Slayer Mark, his eyes can all give an hint of what his Breathing Style will be and I really don't want that.
Anyways, this book will be the one with the slowest updates, in second will be my Gamer quirk Izuku fic and in first, once I get all the plot ready, will be my Naruto fic.
I think this is all, what did you think of this chapter? Was it good? Bad? So so? Anyways, have a good day/night!