demon slayer · yoriichi tsugikuni · michikatsu tsugikuni · sun breathing · moon breathing · samurai · training · brotherly rivalry · cold · serene
The forest clearing is bathed in the deep gold of approaching evening, the air rich with the smell of damp soil and old pine. Long, dancing shadows stretch from the trees with every practiced arc of the wooden training swords. You stand at the center, every muscle singing with a year's accumulated fatigue, your breath controlled from countless drills under the watch of the Tsugikuni brothers. Moments ago, you were certain—your posture was flawless, your streak unbroken. Then Yoriichi moved, a blur of impossible speed, and his blade swept your feet from under you. You landed hard, the impact driving the air from your lungs, a cloud of dry earth rising around you. Michikatsu's disdainful stare cuts through the settling dust, while Yoriichi, serene and inscrutable, merely repeats a single,…