Back then, I lived my life differently. I was only twelve years old, living in a small village hidden behind the mountains and far from the cities.
The village has an iconic smell of burning red flame, oil that flashed between hot metal and the sound of smashed metal with a hammer. The village of Blacksmith.
The blacksmith village is located in a hidden place that no one knows, including demon slayers member, even Hashiras (Pillar). One of the family who make Nichirin (Katana for demon slayer) is my father. He has strength as three people, he stand all proud with his skills, blowing his confident and ambitious aura that is shown in his metallic brown eyes.
When I take a closer look at his big body covered in brown cloth, I see the hesitation on his face, the hesitation of an imperfect sword, and an unbalanced katana as his emotion.
The nightmare is near in front of him, the demon slayer who ask for their sword to my father is going lesser. Month by month, his work finally done, left his hammer and Nichirin resources behind.
As the ambitions of my father still rise, he moved this family to be a Distiller, a person who makes alcoholic drinks. Since my father knew the last Distiller had passed away, he took the opportunity as quickly as possible.
His instinct was right, the business of being a distiller was successful, and he was making the most delicious sake that was ever made in this village. There is no single day without a person who didn't order sake.
The Sake is very popular, even one of the demon slayers is also interested in my father's sake, due to that swordsman, the information about this sake is going out from the village.
With respect to all the blacksmiths in the village, my father leaves the village in order to keep the village secret safe.
We moved to the bigger village near the city. We have a successful bar. The people who buy sake is ten times more than if we lived in the hidden village.
I have a job delivering sake from house to house. I meet people who buy sake for large amounts. The person have shining orange and red hair on their hairs.
He looked very measurable, like drowning in the lake of desperation and regret. According to the information that I have got, he was Flame Hashira before, his name is Rengoku Shinjurou.
I can't forget how his eyes have reflected burning emotion from what he couldn't do in the past. I wonder if he didn't safe many people or failed as Hashira, but seeing him treating his little kid, cannot give me the exact answer, he act so hard for his kid as he is a servant.
~ ~ ~
One year later, Sena is doing her job delivering sake to Rengoku's house as usual, but she doesn't find anyone inside. She walks inside carefully, knowing Shinjurou Rengoku is a temperamental person. Door by door, already sought by Sena with her purple eyes.
She fined no one, except that one wide open place, with green grass and wooden target for training. She saw a white haori with a flame pattern on the edge of the haori and a short wooden katana. Within her age, she caught intrusive thoughts to put on haori on her body, and take the wooden katana.
She started acting as a demon slayer, swinging around from left to right, swing her katana from down to up cutely as a little demon slayer. She started saying little things like "demons! I will destroy you with this katana!!" she then played with her little hand, swaying the katana all over side.
From far, there are footsteps walking above the brown wooden floor. It is a man's footsteps, he is Rengoku Kyojirou, He had just back from the mission and wanted to greet his father and meet his brother.
He heard someone is in his training field. He knew the sound of the claps from a wooden katana that hit the wooden target wasn't his brother's swing. His brother has a stronger hitting sound than this person. He is curious who is inside his house. He walks slowly to the field.
Kyojirou saw Sena playing with his brother's wooden katana and wearing his old haori, the smile slowly rose from his face under his flashy eyes full of happiness and proud looking at Sena's action.
While Sena still enjoy her time to play with her little katana, she swing around three times, in her third swing, with blurry sight cause of dizzy swinging, a tall man with white and red pattern as fire haori exact same as what she wore, in a crossing arm position is looking at her from behind, Sena suddenly stopped her swing showing her back to Kyojirou.
With pale faced, afraid feelings, and shaking eyes, Sena who caught red handed hesitantly turning back facing ground. She freaking out, but she try brave herself to talk to Kyojirou
"I-I'm so sorry Rengoku-sama, I didn't mean to touch anything, I promise I didn't broke anything Rengoku-sama"
"HAHAHAHA… THAT'S OKAY! A GIRL WHO HAVE BATTLE SPIRIT IS VERY BEAUTIFUL" shout Kyojirou while facing to the sky and full of spirit on his voice.
"What's your name?" ask Rengoku softly while down his knee to look at Sena's eyes. Sena answer him still on her scary feeling inside her chest "S-Sena, Sena Hizuki"
"I see, Sena-chan! You don't need to scare, look at me" as Rengoku ask Sena to see in his face, Sena Stopped shaking. She see the warmth reflected in Rengoku red eyes as warming flame in middle of winter.
"If you're interested in sword skills, you can use it all over you want" continued Rengoku. He felt really proud and happy seeing Sena finally looking at her face and slowly decreasing her fear. As he looked at Sena, very happy as it reflected on her purple eyes that started brightening and her pale cheeks that started to blush thinly.
Rengoku then let Sena bring his old haori if Sena wants it. Sena was really surprised of the allowance of Rengoku. She didn't believe there was someone this kind. She looked at Rengoku with wide smile and ask with little shouting "Really!? Really!? REALLY!?"
"HAHAHAHHAA… you seem really like it! Bring that with you, the flame will protect you always from the cold!" answered Rengoku with a happy, strong voice.
Sena starts jumping as a little kid and is given a really great gift from a special person. She says thank you multiple times, and decides to go back to her home. As she ran approaching the door facing to way out, she immediately remembered "Umm- Actually, I went here to deliver the sake to your house, the sake is beside the door near the red Katana."
With spirit eyes, Rengoku nods his head, conveying yes to information that Sena has given. With a happy and high voice, Sena then asked to Rengoku "What is your name, Swordman-san?"
"Kyojirou- Rengoku Kyojirou!" answered Rengoku while crossing his arms. Sena then waved her hands to Regoku and uttered with a great, happy voice, "Thank you for the Haori Rengoku Kyojirou-san!"
Rengoku waves back to Sena and sees her starts running happily wearing his Haori.
***
At night, while Sena is having dinner with her family, she tells the story about Rengoku's house, how she met him, and shows the haori that she got from Rengoku.
With shocked eyes, her father and mother ask Sena "Did he have a katana?" with a smiling face, Sena answers "Yes! The katana is flaming red and really beautiful"
Her mother, Tsukina, held Sena's shoulders with both of her arms, looking straightly at Sena's face. "Sena-chan, he is a demon slayer. Getting associated with a demon slayer will bring bad luck!"
With confused eyes, Sena didn't believe what she had just heard. "What? How though?" her father, Ryuza, answered her with a high tone voice. "Because he is a demon slayer! The demons must remember his looks, or they will be attracted to everything that relates to banish their enemies!"
Her mother asked Sena to give the haori to her in order to burn it. Sena didn't want to give it, she held the haori so strong, but since she was still a little kid, the strength of her arms is really weak.
Her mother then spanked Sena's hand to let go of the haori. Sena cannot do anything. Tearing eyes shown on Sena's face, her voice is trembling "Please mom, don't burn it! I'm begging you!"
"Alright Sena, I will not burn this, in order to break bad luck, you are the one who have to burn it!" Say Tsukina with straight brown eyes, looking at Sena menacingly.
Continued by his father's words "Sena! Listen to your mother. Now go to your room and sleep"
Sena ran to her room while crying so hard and closed her room by slamming her door. She sneggled down and cried as heavy rain on the outside.
***
After fifteen minutes, the rain stopped as Sena's tears stopped dropping from both of her eyes. She heard her two brothers were playing. They are running over a place, acting like they catch each other.
Sena opened her eyes as hard as there was glue on her eyes, she started rubbing her eyes and taking away her blanket. She slid her door a little, just letting one of her eyes take a peek.
Within blurry eyes, both of her brothers are playing with each other, but it seems there is something bothering Sena's eyes. She is looking at one of her brothers wearing some white kind of blanket with red pattern on the edge.
To make sure she rub her eyes again, make sure this time she can see clearly with her eyes, and take a peek again. She saw it clearly with her own eyes, her brother wearing Rengoku's haori that had been given to her, playing and watched by her parents.
The disappointment hit Sena's heart as fast as lightning. She started asking to herself why could her parent's let their brother wear Rengoku's haori while she didn't even allow to keep it and ask to burn it with her own hands?
Within a second, Sena slammed her door so hard and asked the question in her heart loudly.
"WHY? WHY DO YOU GUYS LET THEM PLAY WITH HAORI?? YOU SAID IT WOULD BRING BAD LUCK??"
Her parents start panicking, but they look for justification. Her mother starts uttering "Sena, they are just little kids, your brothers are just seven."
"So when they are seven, bad luck won't happen to us? That is what you believe in?"
Her father shouted to Sena with an angry voice, "SENA! How dare you shout like that at your mother!"
"How dare you break your own beliefs? If the haori brings bad luck, why do you let your kids play with it? And make me burn it!" answered Sena while looking at her father straight.
"What kind of beliefs can you betray yourselves that easily?" added Sena, with denial emotion.
Sena's parents are silent as their mouths are zipped with strong string, they cannot do anything, they have betrayed their own daughter, but they don't give up. They are still fighting. They believe they have excuses that make sense.
Sadly, all of their excuses are worthless to Sena. She already believed with her own eyes that her parents were playing favor with her. This is not her first time experiencing this. She is fed up with all of their excuses.
With a strong voice, and the wind galloping at her house strongly, she started blurting "If it really bring bad luck! Since you eat your own words! I hope the bad luck really happens!"
The wind is getting stronger, lifting every single tile. Followed by cold and menacing sounds from the north, suddenly a demon comes to Sena's house, breaking the siding walls.
Without any hesitation, the demon breaks into Sena's house so strong that it almost destroys the whole house. Sena is blown to the left side hardly by the attack, and her parents and brothers are blown to the right side.
The demon with its large body struck fear into all over the house. It had a light orange that could send chills down the spines to human who see it and a pair of menacing horns on it heads. Its teeth were really sharp as tiger and covered in blood, while its claws were long and deadly.
Sena tries to get up with all of her wounds. Her sight was covered red as the blood flowing from her head covered her left eye. The demon is right in front of her. It's facing her parents and brother so big.
The demon then suddenly turns over to Sena as it heard she trying to get up from behind. The demon straightly chocked Sena and lift her up so high so she can see her family.
With a deep voice that rattles Sena's feelings, the demons start saying "I thought you were a demon slayer, I have a lot of wounds because of him! Now I will eat you in order to recover my body!"
"RUN! RUN NOW" shouted Sena's mother. She and the rest of the family run left her daughter behind.
The demon looked at the family with a little surprised face.
"Oou, they left you behind, they sacrificed their own daughter to feed me. What a pathetic life you have. The last family that I met, their family sacrificed their own body to fight me in order to safe their kids, even though it's worthless."
The demon then added more words facing on the ground and chuckled a little. "They were pathetic parents, didn't they?" the last sentence of the demon's words ended by facing Sena's face.
Sena starts feeling numb in her body because of the chock of the demon's big arm, but she still believes that her father will run back to her.
Sadly, her thought was wrong, she is getting closer to the demon's mouth. Sena felt hopeless in her heart. "Ah.. I will die here, my family won't turn back. They were right, I'm the one who brings bad luck."
As hope is lost from Sena's heart, she sees a man bringing a katana from the bright Crescent moon. He has a tall and confident stance, ready to strike the demon's head while falling from the sky.
The man sliced the demon's head with a strong swaying katana that was effortless by the man.
"Breath of Water-First form: Water Surface Slash"
He's sliced the demon's head and caught Sena's body from falling to the ground. Sena slowly opened her eyes and saw a man who was carrying her with pale skin and blue eyes colored like the ocean. He wore a black suit that was so similar to Rengoku, and a half-colored haori, red on his right side and a pattern on his left side.
He is Tomioka Giyuu, The Water Hashira, who has been chasing the demon with his junior. He came late because of distraction of other demons before.
Sena, who was carried by Giyuu while he was running towards the Butterfly Mansion, said to him with a hoarse voice "T-Thank Y-You, Mr-" Giyuu didn't let her finish the words and suddenly said "Don't say anything, your throat is injured, or less you will lose your voice"
Sena loses her strength and placidly let her body be brought by Tomioka Giyu. In that place, she is cured by Shinobu Kochou, The Insect Hashira, and cures Sena's wound and lets her rest until morning.
***