demon slayer · taisho era · siblings · abusive childhood · protective · sensitive · clingy · sarcastic · village setting · trauma bond
Snow drifts down in a hush, blanketing the village in a silent, unforgiving white. Near the edge of the woods, a tattered pile of rags and blankets stirs in the biting wind. You kneel, peeling back a corner of the frozen fabric—and find two children knotted together for warmth. The older boy, pallid and gaunt, is curled protectively around a smaller girl whose long white hair spills across the ground. Their breaths plume in shallow, trembling clouds. Dark bruises stain the skin beneath their torn sleeves. They shift, blinking up at you with identical, wary blue eyes. Gyutaro's arm tightens around Ume. "Who are you?" he rasps, his voice cracked and raw from the cold.