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A young Sanemi Shinazugawa watched the sun rise with an empty gaze. The demon who he had cornered, strung up, and hung to be burned by the sun's rays finally disintegrated. He sighed, and looked down at the slashes he had made on his left forearm.
He found out that, by some devil's luck, demons were intoxicated by the scent of his blood. He wasn't exactly sure why, but some of the creatures had called him something before he proved himself to be far more than easy prey. Marechi. At first he hated the word, but over time grew to relish the proof of power it held. Demons wanted to eat marechi. Demons got drunk off of marechi. Their sloppiness cost them whatever miserable excuse for a life they had.
It was more power than he ever had back at home. Forced to watch as his bastard of a father attacked his mother. When he died, Sanemi really thought things were going to be okay. Not long after that though his kind, beautiful mother had become a demon. Sanemi's grip tightened on the large knife in his hand as his thoughts went on. His mother didn’t deserve any of it. And thanks to this cursed blood, Sanemi was able to save Genya. The sight of Genya cradling her body, looking up at Sanemi with scornful eyes and calling him a murderer… it was too much. So he left.
If Sanemi was a murderer, he was going to be very good at it. He was going to murder all kinds of demons. And only demons. He swore to himself to protect people, and prayed that for each demon he killed, he saved at least one more human life. And he would never stop until every demon on this earth was eradicated.
With a sigh, Sanemi relaxed the tension from his body. He took the rope that had been restraining the demon, now free of its burden, and wrapped it into a neat coil in order to carry back to where he had dropped his pack. As he was finishing up, he heard a small whine to his left.
With a sharp snap of his head, he fixed his gaze to the spot. Another demon, hiding in the bushes? Sanemi gripped the knife again, taking slow steps, raising his still bloodied arm up towards it in challenge. The whine came again, but it wasn’t threatening. With a small frown, Sanemi crept closer until the shape bounced towards him.
A mass of black fur, white paws, and an ever excitedly wagging tail pushed itself at Sanemi, licking his face like he was the first human that the dog had seen in days. With a start Sanemi dropped the knife and brought his hands up, simultaneously petting and pushing the dog off of him good naturedly.
He didn't miss the laugh in his voice, and vaguely wondered how long it had been since he was happy enough to laugh. “Down boy! What are you doing all the way out here? Isn't it dangerous?” The dog responded to “down”, sitting and wagging his tail at the white haired boy.
Sanemi smiled, “Trained, huh? Where are your owners? Did you run off and get lost?” He picked up his things as he asked, slinging the rope coil across his body so he could pet the dog with his free hand while the other held his knife, at least until he got back to where he had set up camp. In lieu of an answer, the dog opted to nuzzle into and lick the friendly hand.
He made no motion to get the dog to follow him, but he did anyway. There was an unmistakable limp in his rear left leg. Unfortunately, this dog had no collar, so Sanemi had no clue what its name was. “If you're gonna stick around, I guess I should call you something. You have a good round face for a shiba, what about Mochi?” The dog let out a squeak of a bark, wagging its tail again at being addressed. Sanemi nodded, “Mochi it is.”
They got to Sanemi's sorry excuse for a camp. He couldn’t afford to stay anywhere, and could not rely on the kindness of strangers all the time. And he carried with him a large pack filled to the brim with his impromptu demon hunting kits. Ropes, blades, oil and matches, even a sturdy piece of wood he had found and hacked into a stake should he need it. He had a flimsy fishing rod he made himself, and some days it was impossible for him to feed himself with it. But he was surviving, and carrying out his goal. It was all he needed.
He frowned a little bit, digging in the bag for his (stolen) medical supplies. Just because he couldn’t afford it doesn’t mean he didn’t need it, and he didn't need anyone to pity him either. He chose to protect people from demons, so it was his own responsibility to take care of his injuries. He simply took a little back from the community he was serving, without their knowledge. He started treating his wounds, idly watching as Mochi sniffed the area before settling to lay down next to him.
When he was satisfied with his work, he offered Mochi a piece of dried trout that he usually kept for emergencies. Mochi happily scarfed it down. Sanemi laid back and let himself start dozing off. He wouldn’t let himself sleep at night any more with the ever lurking threat of demons, so daytime naps were his best opportunity. Mochi cuddled up beside his face, fidgeting a little but it wasn’t enough to keep him awake.
He awoke to the sound of a twig snapping nearby. Sanemi's eyes shot open, and on well learned instinct his body had gotten him up and gripping one of the blades sticking out of that pack. Mochi's fur was bristling as he growled at the man who approached, but Sanemi relaxed his grip. Unless this man was a bandit, there was no reason to harm a fellow human.
He was much bigger than Sanemi, but not as big as his shitty dad had been. And he had a gentle expression as he greeted the teen. “Hello there! Its rare to see another soul in these woods. What might you be doing out here?”
Sanemi's eyes narrowed, realizing he himself looked like a bandit. Covered in scars from his mother, and patched up wounds from the demon. And his arsenal. “I was taught to introduce myself before asking questions. But I'm just passing through.”
The man let out a huff of amusement. “Touchy, aren't we? But you're right. My name is Tanaka Shota. And that’s my dog you have there.”
Sanemi blinked, and his stance turned meek when he realized what it must have looked like. He wasn’t trying to steal the guy's dog. “Oh… sorry, I found him and thought he was lost. I'm Shinazugawa Sanemi. I'm sorry for keeping him from you, Tanaka-san.”
Tanaka laughed, waving his hand as if to dispell Sanemi's worries. “No problem! I guess I should be thanking you for keeping him safe. Sanemi-kun, was it? You should be careful here. People go missing around these parts.” The boy nodded, not going to explain to the man that he had taken care of the demon. Few people believed him on that, and he didn’t need anyone's praises anyway.
Tanaka turned his attention to Mochi with a sharp whistle. “Touma! Get over here!” Even Sanemi flinched at the tone, which elicited a whimper from Mochi- well, Touma, apparently. The black shiba tucked his tail down and approached his master carefully, ears flat and head down. The teen’s eyes narrowed at this behavior, a sickening feeling rising in his gut as he understood the difference in Touma's behavior. He found himself unable to say anything, however, knowing he wasn't in the right to interfere.
He was trapped in his mind suddenly, recalling the days his siblings had reacted similarly to their father. Sanemi did what he could to keep him from beating them and their mother, but some days his rage outlasted Sanemi's smaller body. He cursed himself for being too weak to protect them.
“Alright, well, we're off home now. Take care of yourself.” Tanaka slipped on a rope lead over Touma's neck.
“Yeah, you too.” Sanemi returned in a quiet voice, watching as the man half dragged the unwilling dog back with him. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t in this moment. Instead, he ran the numbers in his head. He would need to eat first, before anything else. And anyway, Touma may be safer with his owner. Unhappy, maybe, but without the constant threat of demons that would be around Sanemi.
It was the same argument he gave himself when he left Genya in the streets. He baby brother could tough it out, but hopefully would never encounter a demon again.
Fishing was, once again, barely successful. He had managed to catch a few small fish with barely any meat on them, but it was better than nothing. Along with a few mushrooms that he was *pretty sure* were safe to eat. They didn’t taste poisonous, at least.
The sun was starting to set, and on a whim Sanemi decided to head out in the direction where Tanaka had taken Touma. Maybe he had decided that when they left, or maybe it was just a gut feeling he had. Either way, the sky was dark by the time he came across a small hut in a clearing.
He wasn't sure about approaching it, though. Something felt weird. The sun had only set about an hour ago, most people didn’t go to sleep this early. Deciding to listen to his instincts, Sanemi set his pack down and drew a blade from it. Whether it was the same weapon as yesterday or not, he didn’t care. He found that these knives didn’t actually kill demons. Only sunlight, destroying the brains, or enough fire to cook them past regenerating would kill them. He had heard rumors of swords that could kill demons, but none in his collection were that kind of magic.
He stashed some oil and matches into his clothing as well. He honestly didn't care about burning down this man's home after he saw the terror in Touma's body language. And he wasn’t going to use the rope unless he found himself outmatched, restraining the demon all the way until sunrise would be too much for the teen considering the night had barely started.
Satisfied with his preparations, Sanemi approached the hut with caution. He wasn’t even sure that there was a demon here, so he wasn’t going to draw his blood yet. As he approached though, he was met with a horrifying sight.
The hut was covered in blood already, and there were 3 bodies. A woman, a child, and Tanaka. Above them was a demon that looked barely bigger than Sanemi himself. It had killed all three of them, and was feasting on the father. Underneath the sound of the demon tearing at the flesh and chewing in between wet swallows, he could hear a slight whimpering sound. Sanemi knew that pitiful whine anywhere. Touma was still alive. His cowardice must have saved him from being attacked, but now he was trapped, unable to sneak out through the only exit.
Sanemi was quick to make the slice on his right arm, avoiding the one he had just patched up. “Oi, demonic scum!” he growled out, drawing the demon's attention. It turned to him with a start, none too pleased about being disturbed, and roared. Sanemi screamed right back at it, rushing forward to make feigned slashes at the beast.
He stayed just out of range, giving the illusion of missing as he waited for the scent of his marechi blood to take effect. This was a tried and true strategy, and it went out just as planned. The demon started underestimating him, and had no qualms about its movements slowing down. Allowing itself to succumb to the scent, thinking of Sanemi as an inexperienced brat who couldn’t even aim a knife.
Sanemi hesitated, though. He couldn’t make up his mind on how to proceed- should he back the demon into the hut and set it alight? That put Touma in danger. Should he lure it outside, giving the dog a chance to escape? That would give the demon more room to use its speed and Sanemi less leverage.
He took too long making up his mind. The demon made a push forward and raked its claws across Sanemi's torso, unleashing a searing cascade of pain onto him. He backed up instinctively, and opted to lead the demon outside with no more choice. The increased amount of his blood exposed to the air made the demon slower at least, and Sanemi watched as it licked up his blood from the floor and then the ground as it followed him outside. He went pale at the sight, the fear factor threatening to put him into a panic.
Sanemi roared again to steel himself, reminding himself that he's taken on plenty of demons already. And this one made a grave mistake of actually ingesting the thing that gave the boy any advantage. He rushed forward, striking at the demon for real this time and making several wounds along its body. Wounds that would patch up if given the chance, so he needed to make this quick.
What he didn’t anticipate, however, was a sudden kick from the demon to his side. He was thrown off balance, and it was on top of him in barely a second. He threw up his blade to keep its jaws off his neck, hissing in pain as its claws dug into his ribs. Sanemi's mind flooded with fear just then. His whole life had been nothing but a fight, and he resolved himself to keep it that way. Of course he was going to die this way… right?
He barely registered the high pitched yapping of Touma, and the growl that followed. The demon paid it no mind. Not until the dog launched itself forward, aiming for a bite at the demon's throat.
However, a dog is no match for a demon.
Sanemi watched in horror as the demon let him go in favor of tearing the dog off its throat. Its claws dug into the fluffy body like butter, and the dog let out the most horrific scream Sanemi had ever heard. He rushed upwards to his feet, knocking the demon down and making it throw Touma out from its grip. Without wasting any more time, Sanemi threw his oil bottles onto the demon and kicked its head in to make it stay down for just as long as he needed. He lit a match and set the demon alight, its screams painting the night.
Sanemi stared at it for a few moments, making sure it wasn’t going to recover. With a start, he realized he hadn't heard Touma crying over the crackling of the rancid flames.
He looked around, and his heart sank before he had even made his way to the dog. With that much blood, there was no way he survived… and Sanemi was correct. Touma had given up his life for the boy, who had only shown him one morning of kindness. Which may have been more than the dog had ever received before. And he was too weak to protect him.
Sanemi wasn't going to cry. Not any more. He patched up his wounds first. Then he got to work on cleaning the place up, digging graves for all four family members. Mother, child, dog, and even their terrifying father. It was an empty task for him, now. Only doing what he was supposed to do. Maybe some day he would lose the will to do even this, but for now he still had the shreds of decency to bury the victims of his sworn enemy. Demons.
Demons. The very bane to Sanemi's existence. All they do is take, and take, and take. Even if he had shown some backbone when Tanaka took Touma away, these people still would have been killed. Humans were terrible, but demons were worse in Sanemi's eyes.
He left that place in a fit of anger. And came upon a town the next day. A town where he was approached by someone, likely curious about his dangerous appearance. The boy had scars on his cheek, and a warm smile. He called himself Masachika Kumeno, of the demon slayer corps.