Chapter 1: The stranger.
Yuma Kuwajima. The demon slayer that achieved more than you can imagine. Yuma’s story begins on a small rice plantation somewhere in Japan. Yuma was out in the fields picking rice strings. “Akuma!” He called out. “Akuma!” There was no response. He walked back to his house. He slid the door open and saw something he would never forget. It would change his life. He would never be the same. His family lie on the ground, slaughtered by a demon. Yuma had no idea demons were real. He wanted to sink into an abyss and hide his sorrow. At the same time, he wanted vengeance. Not a single survivor was there. Yuma knew he had to leave. He knew that he could never return. “Well, Well, Well. What have we here?” A voice from behind him. It creaked like a coffin lid. “It seems they were just the appetizers.” Yuma spun around. There stood a demon. “YOU!” Yuma yelled “HOW COULD YOU?!” He yelled again. “Look, kid, I’ve seen a lot of things.” The demon paused. “I’ve seen things you can never comprehend.” He continued. Yuma ran outside. Up against a barrel he saw it. He knew what he had to do. It was his father’s old Nichirin sword. It was rusty and cracked, but it would do. Yuma pick up the blade. He ran at the demon. As soon as he swung it, the demon fell to the ground with his head detached from his body and disintegrated. It was over. Yuma looked at what he’d done. He looked at the last bits of the demon he had slain and he left the plantation thinking about it. He had his vengeance but he knew he couldn’t stop there. He walked to town and leaned up against an old wall. He slumped down. People passed by and thought he was a homeless man. They had no idea the pain he just went through. “Hello, citizen.” A voice said. Yuma looked up. A man stood there. He was tall, he had orange eyes and hair that looked like fire. He too carried a Nichirin blade. “Are you injured sir?” He said. Yuma opened his mouth to speak. “No, I am fine. But my entire family was just killed by- by a demon...” He replied. The stranger’s energetic face turned to a concerned and sorry look. He somewhat regretted asking. At the same time, he knew that the only way to help was to ask, and because of that he was grateful. Yuma could sense the change in energy and knew the stranger was genuinely concerned for him.
After the pause and silence, the stranger asked “What is your name?” Yuma looked up. “Yuma Kuwajima.” He said. The name Kuwajima sounded vaguely familiar to the stranger. He decided to not question it though. The stranger looked at Yuma and decided that he would ask one more question. “Have you ever heard of the Demon Slayer Corps?” There was a slight pause. “No.” Yuma said. The stranger spoke, “Well, there’s no point in hiding it from you now, considering you’ve already faced a demon head-to-head. The Demon Slayer Corps is a secret organization that is tasked with hunting and killing demons. Our main end goal is to wipe them off the face of the Earth.” He continued, “The only catch is that the government doesn’t like us and will arrest you on-sight if you have your sword. I’m surprised they haven’t taken you yet considering you have a Nichirin.” A look of confusion swept over the stranger’s face. “Do you know who that blade belonged to?” he asked. “It was my father’s who got it from his father.” Yuma replied. The stranger wondered if Yuma really was what he thought he was. Kuwajima, has a sword, got it from a relative. It means that Yuma was related to the former Thunder breathing Hashira. “Yuma, I’ve pieced together the evidence here and I think your grandfather may have been a member of the Demon Slayers.” he said. “He achieved the highest rank, Hashira.” he continued. He still wasn’t finished, “I am also a Hashira myself. I’m Rengoku, and I see a lot of potential in you. I’d be more than willing to teach you my breathing type. Flame breathing.” Yuma was no longer depressed, he was now inspired and willing to give anything. He wanted to join the slayers. “Alright.” Yuma said. “What is flame breathing?” He asked. Rengoku started to explain. “Flame breathing is a breathing type in which the user uses their sword and their energy to allow flames to burst from their sword and use that as the weapon alongside the blade. It’s hard to master, but once you do you can be a valuble asset to any team.” Rengoku said. He then told Yuma to stand up and they went to where the actual training would take place.
“Come back here first thing tomorrow morning.” Rengoku said. “The priority is to see how good you are with a sword already.” He added. “I want to learn now though.” Yuma said. Rengoku shook his head. “No, daybreak is still a ways off, and I don’t want to risk having an inexperienced swordsman in an actual life or death situation against a demon he may not be skilled enough to face." Yuma nodded and understood. He left the area and stayed at an inn until daybreak.
