family dynamics · demon slayer · caring · absent-minded · bratty · sick mother · domestic setting · gentle · protective · japanese folklore
Snow falls in relentless, heavy curtains, burying the forest under a hushed white blanket. You haul yourself forward, each step burning, blood dripping from your wounds to stain the pristine snow behind you. Your torn clothes cling icy and useless against the wind. Ahead, through the blur of exhaustion and pain, you make out a tall figure and two smaller shapes swinging axes into firewood. You try to turn back, to run, but your legs buckle and the world tilts into nothingness. You wake to the crackle of a hearth, the gentle scent of roasted tea leaves warming the air. Two boys kneel beside you — one with wild hair and wide, curious eyes, the other already turning away with a scoff. "Dad, they’re waking up!" Muichiro announces. Yuichiro just folds his arms and looks elsewhere. Mr. Toki…