Cherry Blossom petals scattered about as a hooded young girl stood in front of a sword imprinted into the ground that was placed on a cliff. "What...should I do?" she asked it, hoping for a response as she stood there.

The girl started to walk back towards the forest, seemingly unaware of the shifting shadows all around her in this forest.

A clearing was finally reached as the hooded girl stopped and looked all around her, a pack of men with grey skin and piercing cat-like eyes surrounded her.

One of the men launched himself at the girl before she vanished in a blur of petals and appeared now hovering above it.

The tip of a pink blade started to shine as the girl now floated above the man and swung her blade in the air, slicing his head off. She landed as the decapitated man's body fell to the ground and started to turn to ash. The other men ran at the girl and she started to slice every person that came her way, cutting off any limb that came near her.

She swung her sword overhead and sliced downward at a man, pushing down and cutting further into their body till it was completely bisected from the top down in a vertical slash.

The beast-like men kept rushing at this girl as she now swung her sword upward through another one and then spun it around downward, swinging it out a couple of times and cutting through more before a man clawed at her from behind, knocking her back.

She proceeded to stab her sword into the ground to keep herself from falling. One of the men managed to close the distance and in response, the girl jumped up, in the air, she flipped and sliced the beast's head off, where she then kicked off of another man's head.

As she ducked under the arm of a man that attempted to flank her, she inhaled. The girl spun her body around and delivered several slashes up the man's body until she severed his head from its body, before she again took a claw to the face, knocking her to her back.

Breathing heavily now, the girl wiped the blood from her face and swung her blade to free it of the blood covering it before inhaling once again.

Flower Breathing, Fifth Form: Peonies of Futility!

Aiming her sword behind her, the girl rushed forward, slicing through all those that got in her way. Limbs were flying everywhere as she then thrust the tip of her blade at the head of a man that lay on the ground, the force of the thrust blasting his head clean off. She landed right down in the center of the clearing in view of the night sky and the moon as ash and petals fell all around her.

The Next Day

The morning arises as the sun peeks into a room. Inside was a young woman. She had messy black hair, peachy pale skin, and a very goofy expression on her face. She snored loudly as she slept, trying to ignore the sunlight.

She grumbled before pulling the blanket up to hide away the sunlight that was entering the room.

"Kotoha! It's time to get up!" A man's voice called out.

She groaned before moving the blanket away, revealing herself once again as she yawns. "I'm up…" She grumbled. Getting out of bed, she stood up and stretched, hearing a pop that made her sigh in relief. She opened her eyes, showing she had bright blue eyes that shined from the sunlight in her room.

She turned her head, looking at the stack of books on her desk. The title of the book on top read, 'Legend Of Zenitsu' on it. She sighed softly, looking at her calendar to see that it was the day that she comes to town.

"I'll return them when she stops by" She muttered softly. She placed it into her backpack before she got dressed, wearing a yellow and orange gradient shirt under a black jacket, grey jean shorts, black leggings, and orange sneakers.

And as soon as she walked downstairs, she's tackled by a small boy with short black hair and a bright smile.

"Heh, good morning to you too Yuji-Kun." She smiled, patting his head gently. "You sure are happy today."

"Of course!" He smiled, nuzzling into her chest, "Toko-nee is coming home today!"

"Oh right." She smiled,

As the two went into the dining room, standing there making breakfast was a man, with short black hair, green eyes, and wearing a business suit.

"Morning Otō-san!" She smiled.

"About time you woke up. It's almost noon." He sighed, "You seriously need to stop staying up so late…"

"S-Sorry…" She apologized.

"It's alright. Just try to be more responsible for now?" He smiled softly, handing his children their breakfast. "Now, I'm going to be gone for the rest of the day. You need to watch and take good care of Yuji for now. And don't get him any sweets, he has school tomorrow and I don't want him to be hyped up on sugar."

"That sucks.." the youngest sibling pouted.

"And don't try to pass the responsibility onto Toko just because she's coming to visit. You will need to be responsible for Yuji. Just….Be cautious okay? There have been a lot of odd things around town lately…." He warned.

"I will," Kotoha nodded.

"Good." He smiled, hugging Kotoha and ruffling Yuji's hair as he headed out for work. "Don't bug Toko too much about her job!"

"We won't…." Kotoha frowned, "Just wish we could know what she does..."

"Yeah… She never tells us much about her job…" Yuji said

Kotoha patted her brother's head, a soft smile on her face, "I'm sure she has a reason…. She'll tell us what it is, someday." She said to him. "Now let's finish our food. I know you want to check out the new stuff at the park."

"Yes!" Yuji hugged Kotoha before eating his food.

Later That Day...

Somewhere in the city, there was a shopping district, where all sorts of people were rooming around. Among them was a crying young boy talking to a young woman.

"So you lost your mommy?" She asked.

The boy nodded in response.

The girl was taller, she possessed gentle pink eyes, her black hair came down to her waist. Her name was Agatsuma Toko. She was wearing a dark hoodie, a white shirt, jeans, and yellow sneakers.

"Well, sometimes life is hard, and you wanna cry. But you can't let it beat you." Toko said as she knelt to the boy's level. "You gotta take it on like a game." She said.

"If you cry, that's it. You lose." Toko said. "You can win by finding a way out without crying. No matter what happens, everyone has the strength to put up a fight. So what's the first thing you're gonna do?"

"Find my mommy…" He answered.

"Good!" Toko then decided to come with the boy to help him find his mom.

"Hey, mom!"

"Mommy!"

"Mommy, your son is lost!" Toko called. Just then…

"Keiichi!" A young woman called and the boy ran to her before hugging her. "Thank goodness!" She said with relief.

"You see that? You won!" Toko said.

"Thanks, miss!" The boy said.

"No problem!" Toko said before leaving. She approached a scooter with a box tied to the back.

"Uh…" The woman started, getting Toko's attention. "I'm sorry, were you delivering something?"

"No, I'm meeting my family and wanted to bring something to eat. But don't worry, the curry is still warm and good!" Toko assured her before driving off.

After eating breakfast, Kotoha and Yuji made their way to the park as Kotoha promised her little brother. Yuji was extremely happy as he saw the park. "Thank you!" He hugged his sister tightly.

Kotoha smiled, hugging him back. "Anytime. Now, go have fun, I'll be nearby." She pointed to the small outdoor cafe, "I'll even get you some ice cream."

"Okay!" Yuji beamed before heading to the area where there were other kids his age while Kotoha made her way to the cafe that was across from the park. As she was walking to the cafe, she accidentally bumped into someone, making them drop a deck of cards. "Sorry about that," She apologized as she knelt to pick up the cards.

"It's okay Miss." Standing in front of her was a tall man in a black suit that looked like red vines were running along its side. He had short white hair under his black fedora hat. The man smiled as he knelt in front of Kotoha and handed her a card. "Take this" He offered.

She took the card, it was a black joker card with red lettering, "Huh? I don't get it. Why do you-" But as soon as Kotoha looked up, she noticed the man was gone, as if he was never there. "Uh…" She looked around and saw that he was nowhere to be seen. "Weird…"

She shrugged, placing the card in her pocket before heading to the cafe and entered the building. She relaxed for a moment in there, looking over to see the news talking about the odd occurrences. People missing, random attacks that cause many casualties, and more. It was like some kind of omen or curse. But it wasn't just Japan affected by this, the whole world was and it was causing a small panic.

She shook her head, wanting to get these things out of her mind as she walked up to the counter and ordered two ice creams. She started licking her ice cream as she began to walk out of the cafe, only to notice that Yuji was gone. She looked around before walking up to one of the parents nearby.

"Excuse me, miss? Have you seen my little brother?" She asked, "He's ten years old, short black hair and brown eyes."

"Yes, I believe he went that way, although it was strange. Some of his friends tried to call him but he ignored them." The woman pointed at the forest.

Kotoha frowned, tossing the ice cream into the trash can as she rushed off towards the forest. She had a very terrible feeling. 'Yuji-Kun… please be alright….' She thought with worry.

Deep in the forest, Yuji continued his walk. His eyes seemed hazy as he kept walking. A soft voice that sounded close, but felt so far kept calling to him. He didn't know why he followed it, he just knew he had to.

He kept walking more and more until he heard.

"YUJI-KUN! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

The boy blinked a little before his eyes regained focus and looked around. "W-Where am I?"

Kotoha rushed over in the forest until she saw Yuji who was looking around. Relief washed over her body as she approached her brother. "Thank goodness… Why did you walk away? I told you to stay close to the park." She asked.

"I… I'm sorry." Yuji apologized, "Some…. Someone was calling to me… I don't remember what they said… but…. I… felt like I needed to follow it." He lowered his head,

Kotoha knelt to look at him. "Just…stay close, please…" She said. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself if something bad ever happened to you"

Yuji nodded, "I'm sorry… I-I…. didn't mean to scare you…." He said

"It's okay…" Kotoha assured him before standing up. "Come on, let's head home. Nee-San is probably waiting for us"

Yuji nods once more, taking his sister's hand as they begin to walk.

Hu...man….

Kotoha stopped, her eyes widen as she looked around, 'What… was that?' She thought.

She looked around more, now freaked out. "Did you hear that, Yuji-Kun?"

"You…. heard it too?" He asked, holding onto his sister's arm, a terrified look dawning his face.

The two searched around more, trying to find the source as rustling was heard, making Kotoha look back then it was heard on the other bush, causing her to dart her head to the right. "Yuji-Kun… Run to the park…" She whispered.

Out of the bushes, it revealed what was a scary-looking man in a clown costume. His yellow teeth looked sharp as razors, his eyes were catlike with yellow sclera and the skin on his face that wasn't covered in makeup was an extremely pale grey. "I'm hungry…" The clown slowly pointed its claw-like finger at Yuji. "Give it to me…"

Kotoha's eyes widen, turning to her brother, "Yuji, go now!" She shouted to him.

"B-But…"

"Just go!" She shouted as she looked at the clown. She slowly moved away, the creature moving to the side as if it changed its focus to Kotoha and not Yuji. 'I'm guessing it's after me now since I'm bigger?' She wondered as she moved to the side a little more, the clown doing the same. Before it knew it, she quickly made a run for it, making the creature follow after her.

"Nee-chan!" Yuji shouted out, scared and worried. What was strange was that the creature slowly became invisible as it chased Kotoha.

Kotoha rushed through the forest, running through as much debris, trees, bushes, and more, hoping it would be enough to stop the creature's movements. But she turns only to see several lines before everything behind him turned into rubble, the creature was still on its pursuit.

"Seriously?!" She shouted, pushing herself to run faster from it.

"Stop running damnit!" It demanded again. "I'm hungry!"

Kotoha quickly avoided another swing as she ran but the next strike made a tree fall in front of her, making her stop before looking back, seeing the clown as it had its claw out. "Time to eat!"

She dodged another swipe from the clown's claw, running more and more until she made an abrupt stop in her tracks. It was a dead end. Only a large cliff and shadowed bottom. It was unknown how far it would be if someone dropped. "Not good…." She muttered.

"Nee-chan!" Kotoha looked up, not too far from her was Yuji.

"Yuji! I thought I told you to run!" She shouted at her brother. "You're going to get hurt!"

"But I don't want you to get hurt!"

"Just go!" She demanded.

"O-Okay…. " Yuji nodded, "Behind you!" He barely saw it but he could see the outline of the clown as it was barely visible for a moment.

Kotoha turned around, only to see the creature. "Time. To. Eat~" The clown's mouth formed a smile that terrified Kotoha.

She looked down in the cavern below her, only to look back at her brother, "YUJI-KUN RUN!…I'll catch up with you, just go" She shouted, only to see a quick swipe, her shirt ripped in two as blood pooled out. She slowly fell to her knees and collapsed onto the ground, her blood staining the plants.

"Dinner time~"

The clown smirked down at Kotoha and stabbed her in the stomach with its claw-like fingers causing her to yell out in pain.

"NEE-CHAN!" Yuji yelled before picking up a large stick and charging forward with tears in his eyes.

"No... Don't... Please..." Kotoha whimpered while weakly holding her hand out towards Yuji.

"Get away from her!" Yuji yelled.

The clown smiled at it swung its arm, slicing clean through Yuji's arm before it could make contact with him.

"YUJI-KUN!"

Yuji collapsed to the ground, blood coming out of the wound as the clown turned its attention back to Kotoha and approached her while she stood herself up with a fallen tree branch, preparing to finish her off.

"Grr!" The clown growled before lunging towards Kotoha, trying to bite her.

Out of reflex, Kotoha barely managed to dodge the first bite, then used the tree branch and placed it between the next one.

The clown bit down on it and pushed until Kotoha was forced to the ground.

'This guy, h-he's… a demon!' Kotoha realized.

He had two sets of fangs and the hands that were on her shoulders had claw-like fingernails. 'This clown is a man-eating demon…? No! That can't be the case, demons only existed in those books!' She is certain of it. 'But…Even if it what was in this books were true, demons shouldn't exist anymore.' Kotoha continued to try to make sense of the situation.

"GRR!" Her thoughts were interrupted as the clown growled once again before his body grew.

'He grew in size and… he's getting stronger.' But even in this situation, she couldn't help but think of something else.

'What do I do?! There's no way I can beat this thing! Are we about to die?' Tears began to form in her eyes. 'I'm so sorry.' She said, to Yuji and the rest of her family 'I have to help Yuji-Kun somehow but- ngh, this clown is too strong for me to push back!' Realizing that trying to overpower him was impossible, she only had one other option.

"Yuji-Kun!" She called out to him. "Hang in there, Yuji-Kun! Don't give up!" She didn't even realize when the tears began to fall, blurring her vision, but she didn't care. "I know you're in a lot of pain but you have to run away! Don't worry about me! You gotta stay strong!" Right now, the only thing occupying her mind was to save her brother, nothing else mattered. "Just run!" She continued to call out.

"Hang in-" She stopped what she was about to say when she saw someone behind the clown with a sword poised to strike.

The clown noticed it too and turned its attention towards the new arrival, the distraction was enough for Kotoha to momentarily overpower the clown and push its hands off of her. Allowing the sword-bearer to kick the clown off of her.

Kotoha didn't realize at the time that the clown still had a hand on her as he was kicked by the person who put an abnormal amount of strength in their kick, sending Kotoha and the clown rolling, the clown managed to stop rolling and stand up but Kotoha didn't stop until she hit a tree.

'What..Who's that?' Kotoha asked in her mind, trying to ignore the pain in her back after hitting the tree.

As she looked up she realized that the person standing in front of her and the clown was her older sister Toko, wearing a black uniform with a pink haori and wielding a pink bladed sword.

"Nee-san?"

"Kotoha," Toko said, her eyes and sword still pointed at the clown "Can you move?"

"B-Barely"

"Y-You're a…." The clown growled, stepping back. "That sword! You're a Demon Hunter!"

"Huh?" Kotoha blinked.

"Yes, and this girl. Is now under my protection." She said,

"Toko...Nee" Yuji whimpered.

"Yuji?" Not noticing her brother was there, Toko became distracted and took her gaze off of the clown, giving it an opening.

"You will pay for that!" It roared. "Die like any other Hunter!" It lunged in Toko's direction, intent to shred her body with his claws but his arms were suddenly cut off and Toko was now standing behind him.

"Nice try but I'm not going to be easy to kill" Toko declared

While this happened, Kotoha could only stare in astonishment, since she didn't even realize her sister had moved.

Ten Minutes Later...

'That was amazing...' That's the only thing Kotoha could think as she laid down face-up on the grass. 'Nee-san, she didn't get hit once, she just kept moving around, dodging everything before completely dominating the clown with her sword.' Kotoha replayed what she saw in her head, not that she saw much, Toko was almost too fast for her eyes to follow. 'I hope...She's alright.' She remembered how the clown managed to escape Toko and she declared she was going after him.

Kotoha barely stood herself up and tried to convince her sister to stop but Toko came up to her and tripped Kotoha so she was back on the ground, one of her hands on her sister's shoulder as she looked down at her. "I have to slay that demon before anyone else gets hurt."

"Stay here and rest, help will be here soon" She ordered her younger sibling before turning around and disappearing in the same direction the clown had gone.

'Be safe.' That's the last thought that came to Kotoha before she fell unconscious.

Kotoha groaned as she woke up in her bedroom. She looked around in surprise.

"I'm... Home?" she asked and looked down to see she was wearing her pajamas.

Her father was sleeping beside her bed.

"Otō-san?" Kotoha called out as her father finally woke up.

"Kotoha!" he hugged her tightly. "I'm glad you're finally awake."

"W-What happened?" she asked as a man in a black uniform similar to Toko's peered into the room.

"You've been out for the past 2 days." He explained.

"W-Who are you? What's going on?" Kotoha asked looking towards her father and the stranger.

"I'm sorry..." Her father stood up. "I'll go make you some hot food." he walked out of the room.

"I'll catch you up on what happened." The stranger sat down in the chair Kotoha's father was sitting at.

"You're also a..." Kotoha took notice of his uniform

"Yes, I'm also a Demon Slayer." He scratched the back of his head. "I'm Ogami Hajime, I work with your sister"

"What about Nee-san? Did she beat the demon?! Is she okay? Is Yuji-Kun alright?"

"Your brother lost his arm but he's still breathing. And you're sister...The demon was nowhere to be found when I caught up with Toko-san and she... Was on the ground, unresponsive when I found her." Hajime answered as Kotoha looked down.

"She...Nee-san is." Kotoha felt tears well up in her eyes as Hajime put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry... you're sister is still alive," he assured her.

"She is?"

"But she is in a coma," Hajime explained. "We believe whatever demon she was hunting is responsible for it"

"A coma? How?" Kotoha asked. "I could barely see the fight but from what I was looking at, the clown barely managed to escape Nee-san"

"I'm not sure, I was surprised to see someone like Toko-san in a state like that as well." Hajime shook his head. "But from what our doctors tell us, her condition is not natural..."

"But you guys can help her...right?" Kotoha asked.

"We..." Hajime looked down. "Are doing the best we can to wake Toko-san," he explained simply. "But it seems the only way to know any more about her condition is to find the demon that did this to her and..." His hand went to the sheathed blade on his hip. "Anyway, I wanted to assure you that Toko-san will not be in that state for long...not if I have anything to do with it." he left the room as Kotoha's father walked in with the food tray.

The second Kotoha started eating she threw up. It was likely going to take some time for her to fully get back on her feet.

The next day...

Yuji sat in bed, looking despondent as he stared out the window.

"Yuji-Kun..." Kotoha's voice called out to her brother from the doorway.

"Nee-chan," Yuji stated flatly while Kotoha sat at Yuji's bedside.

"I'm... I'm glad you're okay." she hugged Yuji but he didn't move.

"I'm not though," Yuji responded. "It's... It's gone." Yuji looked to his stump of an arm. "My arm... Toko-nee...gone."

"But Nee-san isn't-" Kotoha was cut off before she could finish.

"You didn't hear those guys when they found us." Yuji grit his teeth.

"What?" Kotoha asked.

"I can't exactly remember what they said but," tears streamed down Yuji's face. "I could tell that they knew there was no hope for Toko-nee..."

"Yuji-Kun-" Kotoha reached her hand out.

"Just leave me alone Nee-chan." he scoffed.

"But..." Kotoha stood up now. "I'm going to join the Demon Slayer Corps! I want to find the demon that did this to Nee-san."

Yuji clenched his fist, and it was clearly shaking a lot. "That doesn't matter, Nee-chan. From what they were saying, Toko-nee was one of their best and was still put in that condition."

"That doesn't mean we can just give up on-"

"Just shut up!" Yuji turned towards Kotoha. "You can go wherever you want. I'm just going to lay here." Yuji leaned back against the headrest of his bed.

Kotoha hung her head as she started towards the door before stopping and turning towards Yuji. "I..." she choked on her own words for a second. "I love you." Kotoha stood for a moment, but when she realized no answer would come, she turned and left.

Yuji held his head down, more tears streaming down his face as he wept silently to himself.

A crow perched outside his window looked down at her before it flew off.

"What do I do, Okā-san?" Kotoha asked as she looked to a Grave Marker perched on top of a cliff near her home. The Marker was engraved with the name.

Agatsuma Hana

"A lot's happened since I last visited. Nee-san has been in a coma and isn't showing any signs of waking up. Dad is hoping she'll get up soon but I'm... I'm not sure myself." she shook her head. "Yuji-Kun has been bedridden and refuses to do anything. I'm hoping he'll get on his feet eventually but the look in his eyes... Everything's just in so much disarray."

"I'm the worst sister." Kotoha scoffed. "Both of my siblings are in such terrible conditions and I couldn't do anything to help them..." she sat down now in front of the marker.

"I wish you were here Okā-san... I wish you were here so badly. You'd know what to do." Kotoha curled up. "Everyone's in so much pain right now and I don't know how I can help anyone. I sat there and watched that demon take Yuji-Kun's arm in front of me and I was useless. I wish you could tell me 'everything is going to be fine'. There's so much I wish you could tell me."

Otō-san,

It's been a few months since Nee-san went into her coma and Yuji-Kun lost his arm. And I can't just sit back and do nothing anymore. I just keep seeing the demon attack play out over and over again in my head, and it just makes me angrier and angrier. I've never wanted to hurt anyone of anything before, but I want to hunt down the demon that did this to Nee-san and Yuji-Kun. I'd like to say, if I ever see it again, I'd be able to control myself. And maybe I will be, but not if I just stay here and let my anger fester. Ever since Ogami-san told me about the Demon Slayer Corps, I knew there was something I could do to get rid of the anger in me. I can help save Nee-san. Wherever that demon is or whatever it's planning, I want to help make sure other families are terrorized like ours. I know Okā-san dying made you sad. But I also know that you were proud of her. That she gave her life protecting Nee-san. And I know that my leaving will make you sad too, and maybe a little angry. But I hope you'll be just as proud of me, as you are in Okā-san. I love you, Otō-san. And I'm sorry. Tell Yuji that I'm sorry and that I love him too.

Kotoha had spent the better part of the last week trying to write this note. She had already written five versions with different variations of the same sentiments. She still wasn't sure if everything in this note properly conveyed what she wanted to say, but she didn't want to waste any more time, she needed to finish this.

For all the different ways she thought about this letter going, there was one thing she knew had to go in:

For everyone we care for, I'll make sure we get a Happy Ending.

Love, Kotoha.

Fall soon gave way to Winter as snow fell around the marker and Kotoha stood in front of it again.

"Hey, Okā-san..." Kotoha, with a hood over her head and wearing a new outfit, knelt in front of the marker. "I finally finished my recovery."

"I know you wouldn't want me to give up my hope. I know that you wouldn't want me to quit so I won't quit." Kotoha turned towards the path leading away from the grave.

"I'll visit you again someday Okā-san." Kotoha smiled, glancing back and starting down the path. A flock of birds flew in front of the sun as she left.

A crow followed behind the Kotoha in the distance as she began to walk away from the house. Kotoha remembered the instructions that Ogami had given her and smiled a bit. Her mind was made up, she was going to become stronger and take down the demon that caused her siblings so much pain. She had no idea what the future held for her, but Kotoha knew that nothing behind where she stood could make things better.

So forward she ran, towards the future.