Tenma Taiga [ Chihara ]

From his memories as his early life as a human, Taiga is shown to be a boy desperate to survive. His father is shown to have died when Taiga was too young to remember him and his mother worked very hard to raise him before she succumbed to whatever illness she posessed. Taiga threw himself into doing whatever he needed to survive. He stole, lied, and cheated. But his life would change one day when he picked the pocket of the wrong man. This man would grab him by the wrist but, instead of turning in, would comment how skilled Taiga was at picking pockets. In fact, if he were not a master himself, he's certain Taiga would have succeeded. Taiga responded to this confrontation by punching the master in the gut and fleeing as fast as his legs could carry him.

Said swordsmaster would later track him down at his temporary abode and take Taiga in. Taiga quickly became the son his master never had, throwing himself into every study his master threw at him. It was often his master would leave his estate and leave Taiga unattended. He never once got into trouble while being left to his own devices. Taiga was so obsessed with his studies that he had no time to get into trouble. Eventually, one day while his master was gone, he would slip into his master's room and find a book detailing something called "thunder breathing forms." He would take this book and study it religiously. His master would return to find Taiga practicing with one of his wooden swords. Taiga was eight when his master would take him under his wing and teach him the basics, though it quickly became clear that Taiga was a prodigy. Taiga would practice every form until it was perfection before moving on to the next. His hair grew out, matching his masters. He would begin to tie it up.

Taiga's master loved him wholeheartedly as a son, and told him one day that he would pass his sword to Taiga, and Taiga would take his family name, Tenma. Taiga felt reborn under his master's care and his master told him he was destined for greatness. It was never enough for Taiga, he wanted to slay Muzan Kibutsuji. His master would smile at him and remind him that no great battle was won alone. Taiga always reminded his master that it was going to be fine; They had each other, after all. He was sure that was all the demon slayer corps needed, after all.

Taiga would slowly grow from an over-excited, energetic boy to a prideful, driven teen.

Taiga would be well into his teens before his master would even consider allowing him to join the demon slayer corps. This was nnot because Taiga didn't ask, as he persistently asked every single day if he could be allowed to join the demon slayer corps. Every day, his master would respond the same way, declining to allow him to join. This frustrated Taiga, as he misunderstood his master's statements to mean he wasn't good enough and had to prove himself harder. He trained himself until his bones cracked and stayed up for nights and nights to study the journal more, wondering what he was missing. He eventually came to the conclusion that the reason he wasn't allowed to join the corps was because thunder breathing wasn't enough - he had to do more, be better.

Slowly, on nights his master was asleep and the days his master was gone, he would develop a never-before-seen breathing style. He had no idea what to name this explosive, spark-ridden style, but decided that one day, when he perfected it, he would show it to his master and let him know that he was ready.

On the day he finally thought his breathing style was perfect, he asked his master for a bit of his time. His master said yes, he had the time to give Taiga, but first he wanted to show him something. He took Taiga on a journey that lasted several days and nights. Taiga thought they were going nowhere, but every so often a crow would come to guide them the right direction. Taiga asked several times where they were going, but his master would only respond that he would see. They eventually came across an abandoned village, the likes of which Taiga had never seen before. From what he could tell, everyone who used to live in this village suffered greatly before their end, as the village held a great air of despair. His master would stop at the mansion in the middle of the village in the middle of the night and tell Taiga that he was going to be tested. He would enter the mansion where a demon lurked. If he survived, he would be allowed to join the demon corps. If he did not, his master would avenge him without hesitation.

Taiga would take this test in stride and tell his master that he would prove himself, only for his master to insist that he wasn't going in with him. Taiga had to take this journey alone. Taiga said he would slay the demon without hesitation and after he became a hashira in his own right, he would have something to show his master. Internally, he hoped to give his master a reason to be proud of him, though he would never admit as much to the older man. Taiga would enter the house alone and return covered in the demon's blood. His master would give him a sad smile and tell him that he was finally ready to join the demon slayer corps. Though he passed the test his master had proposed, there would be an even more rigorous test before he could join the corps. His master explained that he could not join him for this test, either, so he wanted to make sure that Taiga was emotionally prepared enough to slay something that looked almost human. Taiga accepted the responsibility and assured his master that he would bring honor to his legacy. His master smiled again, but did not respond.

Taiga's final selection would be unremarkable to him. He would slay every demon he encountered using both forms of breathing, though switching back and forth between the two breathing forms made him more exhausted than just using one.

Taiga would become a hashira before he turned 17. His new breathing form became more refined and he finally unleashed his breathing style upon the poor demon who crossed his path. She cried as he cut off her head, but he did not feel the least bit sorry for her. In fact, he hated most demons he came across with a burning passion for destroying the lives regular people were allowed to have.

He would be nineteen when his master would get the news that an upper moon was nearby. Against his master's wishes, Taiga went about tracking this demon down and found him in the middle of battlefield. He decleared that this would be the last night this demon hunted, but would be easily defeated by Kokushibo and partially devoured. Unable to accept defeat, he felt incredibly vulnerable and asked himself how could this happen? How could he fail? Yet, Kokushibo seemed to take pity on the half of the demon slayer that remained and asked if he would become a demon. If he did, those lost parts of him would regenerate and he would live as a demon. If he did not accept, Kokushibo would kill him and anyone who came to try and avenge him. Desperately, as he lay dying, Taiga would realize that he didn't want to die. He would hang his head and accept to be a demon, though he had no intention to bow his head to Muzan.

He still thought it his destiny to one day slay Muzan, even if that would cost him his life. He would slowly lose this ideology as his demon transformation slowly sapped him of his memories of his human life. He devolved further and further as his hunger forced him to eat more and more people. He would develop a blood demon art.

However, the hunger of becoming a newly-turned demon would disolve his inhibitions, and he would ransack a nearby town. Recognized by his unusual haori, word would eventually reach back to his master, who swore that he would defeat Taiga himself and fix the shame that Taiga brought to the Tenma name.

Chihara would be 34 in human years by the time his master tracked him down. He would be disolved in self-hatred with an inability to end his own life when he still considered it his destiny to end Muzan. His master would confront him during a new moon. Taiga, outraged by his master's seeming betrayal, would kill his master while declaring everything he did was to make him proud, and he wondered just how proud he was. His master, on his dying breath, would confess that he had always been proud of Taiga, and nothing would ever change that. Taiga cried and found himself unable to eat his master. He would, however, take his nichirin sword and use it to slay lesser demons. Tenma would seemingly remember his entire duty as a demon slayer, and decided to live his life again as his master once taught him.

One day, as he borrowed a room from a lovely couple, there was a woman who worked there with white and blue hair who lamented his inability to join her in the sun, thinking it some type of illness. She changed his life forever by stating that sins may be eternal, but it was his duty to do what he could to correct his ways. She, with eyes that saw right through him, stated that it must be hard to live life hating one's self as much as he seemed to. She wished him every happiness and invited him to stay as long as he needed. She hoped they could grow closer, even if Chihara could not enjoy the sunlight anymore. They gew closer every day and she confessed to him, once, that he was the only person who'd ever been able to make her smile. He knew that they could never hope to have a normal life, but he hoped hers would be a happy one, at the very least. He vowed to her that he would pay for every single drop of blood he ever spilled and live his life right by her. She would die later that night when a demon attacked the village and Chihara would mourn her loss with every fiber of his being and vowed that he would help Kill Muzan, if only to guarantee her next life be a better one.

He determines that he will test every Hashira he comes across until they are able to slay Muzan. Because, even if he, himself, does not live to see it, he will be paying for every one of his sins committed in his life as a demon.

Her wish comes true shortly after her broken limbs heal. When Tanjiro returns to the butterfly estate after his next mission, Yukime is waiting for him. She greets him warmly while bidding goodbye to Kaiya, who's assigned to go on a mission with Zenitsu. Tanjiro and Yukime set off and head to an abandoned village. They almost become separated when Yukime sees something suspicious and darts forward without warning Tanjiro. He's astounded at her speed and likens it to Tengen Uzui, though he knows she's a bit easier to keep up with.

When they enter the main estate, the shift in the atmosphere is drastic. Tanjiro senses malicious intent from seemingly every direction. Warily, they proceed deeper into the midst of the demon's trap. They spend the next several days wrapped in what feels like a hall of mirrors, a trap set by a group of demons working in tandem with one another. Though the trap initally tricks Tanjiro, Yuki's special eyes are capable of seeing right through the illusions and to the demon's aura. Defeating the first small-time demon was easy work, but the demon creating the illusions then realized that Yukime could see them and kept their distance.

The demons intended to wear them down by having them traverse the same hallways for days and days on end, but given that Yukime can see through the illusions and Tanjiro can smell what's real and what isn't, they make rather quick work of dispatching lesser demons. At this time, three days have passed. Yukime shows no signs of wearing down, but will not leave until the demon is dealt with. Kaiya, on a mission with Zenitsu, realizes she hasn't heard from them and decides to finish their mission early and go to check on Tanjiro and Yukime.

When Tanjiro begins to tire of fighting demons all day and night for three days, the shapeshifter demon approaches them. Initially, she tries to use the younger demon slayer's memories against him by transforming into Hanako Kamado, but when Tanjiro reacts negatively and tries to slay them despite that, she transforms into Yoshie. Seeing through the demon's aura to reveal that ugly red color that only demons have, Yukime flings herself foward and tries to slice the demon's head from it's torso. It panics, fleeing the room. It shifts forms, leaving behind a husk of Yoshie and becoming Sakura.

When Tanjiro attempts to kill this demon in her new form, on instinct, Yukime throws herself between Tanjiro and the demon, who laughs in glee. Her fantasy world and reality collide, as she feels a great need to protect her sister for the final time though she sees that red, mucky aura that denotes a demon. Tanjiro begs Yukime to realize that this demon isn't whomever she thinks it is. However, it isn't until the demon goes after Kaiya that Yukime's reality and fantasy finally collide - she beheads the demon with tears in her eyes.

This arc draws to a close when Yukime finally says goodbye to that fantasy world in her head and accepts her sister is dead. She promises herself to keep her alive in her memory always.

When they return to the butterfly estate, Tanjiro is accosted by an unusually burly swordsmith, whom he recognizes from when Yukime picked up her spear and sword at the village. He, blushing despite wearing a mask, asks Tanjiro for his permission to marry Yukime. Tanjiro is confused to hear this, and has the smith repeat himself three times before stating he doesn't really have the authority to make that call and asking Masamune to ask Yukime directly. Masamune swears to him that he will do everything in his power to convince Tanjiro to give him permission, as Urokodaki and Giyuu told him no outright.

Yuki appears after Masamune leaves and offers Tanjiro more candy while thanking him for looking after her while she mourned the loss of her sister anew. She compliments him on how impossibly kind he is.

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Yukime shows up late to the battle between Gyomei, Sanemi, Genya, Kaiya, Muichiro, and Kokushibo. She defends her fellow demon slayers at great personal risk. Both her achillese tendons are severed in the battley, and she is impaled with her own Katana. Due to her mental separation ability, she does not register the pain. She does, wisely, leave the sword impaled in her abdomen and begin fighting with her spear. One of her feet becomes mutilated in the fight, though she doesn't so much as react.

When Muzan finally shows his face, Yukime's pin-point focus is drawn on battle. Her mutilated foot slows her fighting down, so she chops it off at the Ankle and continues fighting despite other's protests that she should give it up. She continues fighting, ignoring every reasonable sign that she should stop.

When Tanjiro becomes a demon himself, she cannot bring it upon herself to sever his head from his shoulders. She tries, but the blade always hesitates, and she curses herself for her own weakness. Blood loss begins getting to her, and she falters before falling down and not getting up, presumed dead by her fellow demon slayers.

When the Kakushi swarm the fallen demon slayers and Yuki is revived, the first thing she asks is whether her younger brother is alright. The second thing she asks is for the Kakushi to help her stand. She states she has people she needs to let know that the fighting is over. They refuse to let her stand on her own and she stays laying down, smiling up at the sky. Very softly, she thanks Sakura for her journey with her to slay demons and proclaims that her promise is fulfilled.

Due to all the severe injuries incurred in the final battle, Yukime is taken from the battlefield to the butterfly estate, where they carefully extract her katana from her stomach and clean up her self-inflicted amputation. She is there bedridden and unconscious for all of three days before she suddenly wakes. Without so much as a word to anyone else, she leaves her bed and trudges from the Butterfly estate to the flame pillar's estate, where she tells Senjuro that their battles are over, and her promises kept as he is the only Rengoku she can find at their estate. For the first time in years, she smiles genuinely and pats his head. After telling him this, she promptly passes back out and remains unconscious for the next three months.

When she wakes after healing her wounds, her body is weakened from months of immobility. She also finds out that she was pregnant and expecting twins.

Yukime lives a long life with a prosthetic and, after passing, spends a long period of time walking her sister through hell until they are both reincarnated.

Describe how Yukime treats their relationships...
Yukime values her relationships above all else and will happily risk life and limb for them.

Masahiko Mikami - Father

Her father's relationship with them is strained due to his violent temper. He continued to take things out on them in fits of rage, leaving Yukime to throw herself between Sakura and her father in order to protect her younger sister.

Though she claims to have forgiven him, she believes he is the reason Sakura became a demon.

Sakura Mikami - Sister

Sakura becoming a demon was the kickstart of Yukime becoming a demon slayer. She would do anything to protect her sister from the world and promised her as her sister burned to death in her arms that she would make sure she had a happy next life, no matter what it cost her.

Yoshiko Mikami - Mother

Shortly after her sister's birth, her mother would pack up all her belongings and leave in the dead of night, presumably to live her life with another man.

Kamado Tanjiro - Adopted Brother

Though it initially seems that Yukime has no interest or care for Tanjiro and his sister, her mind is seemingly changed after the entertainment district arc. She begins to carry around candy, waiting for their paths to cross and even offers some Nezuko, seemingly forgetting the younger girl is a demon and cannot partake in the sweet treats. She later informs Tanjiro that she considers them siblings after they trained under the same master, and she had no idea that he was the boy Urokodaki wrote to her about when they had the hashira meeting to dictacte he and Nezuko's fate. She admits that he hopes he can forgive her and continues to try and protect Nezuko and Tanjiro well past the limits of a normal human being.

Giyuu Tomioka - Adopted Brother

Though Giyuu and Yukime's interactions are limited, it's clear she thinks very highly of him. She is known to carry about candy that she has heard to be one of his favorites. She doesn't think that Giyuu reciprocates her sibling feelings, but cares for him nonetheless.

Kamado Nezuko - Adopted Sister

Though Nezuko is a demon and will regenerate from any damage inflicted upon her, Yukime can still be seen regularly flinging herself between Nezuko and imminent danger. She does not consider Nezuko to truly be a demon without humanity, as she sees something in her aura that she never has seen in another demon. Though Nezuko did not train under the same master as Yukime, she was in Urokodaki's care, and is Tanjiro's sister, so Yukime considers her a sister of her own.

Miyazaki Kaiya - Best Friends

Kaiya and Yukime weren't friends at first meeting, but they have learned to grow in each other's presence. If Yukime is winter, Kaiya is fall. They have matching talisman as a promise to return to each other after every battle.

Tsugikuni Hiyori - Best Friends

Yukime struggles to elaborate to Hiyori just how much she cares, but likens spending time with Hiyori to living in the sun. If it means she will be burned alive, then she will be glad to do it.

Rengoku Kyojuro - Married

Despite Yukime's difficulty creating relationships after all the losses in her life, the freezing touch of winter always melts under the first touch of spring. Somehow, since meeting Kyojuro, some of that life has returned to her eyes.

Masamune Hisoka

Through years of dedicated service to her weapons, Yukime has a very high opinion of Masamune. She is rather oblivious to his inner fantasies and thinks of him as a just and honest person. She tells Tanjiro she admires his pink aura and wishes she could be a little more like her swordsmith when it came to things that matter to her. It is unlcear whether or not she realizes Masamune's fantasies about their future life together and likes him in spite of this or not.

Hashibara Inosuke

Yukime acknowledges that the wild and unkempt Inosuke is precious to Tanjiro and, as such, she deems him precious to her. She is regularly seen offering Inosuke candy in reward for doing his best. She thinks the young man will become an excellente hashira if he continues to perservere.

Zenitsu Agatsuma

Though Zenitsu's behavior has entirely soured his relationship with Kaiya, Yuki's best friend, Yuki doesn't appear to rise to anger as easily as her best friend. She greets Zenitsu with a cold frost and ignores any pathetic behavior she thinks is unfitting for a demon slayer. She truthfully thinks Zenitsu is disgusting, and has openly told him as much.

Tengen Uzui

Despite the fact that Tengen finds Yukime's introduction to be subpar, she thinks highly of the sound hashira and congratulates him in his defeat of upper moon six, though she watches on in silence as Obanai interrogates the Hashira on when he will be returning to duty. It's unclear if she does so because she agrees with the snake Hashira, or because she has nothing else to say.

Shinazugawa Sanemi

Sanemi and Yukime are like water and oil. Her disconnected mentality means she often gets lost on her way to missions, which Sanemi thinks is a waste of time and talent. He tells her outright that she's going to be eaten by a demon and no one will no the difference, because she's never had a cohesive thought in her entire life. Despite this, she doesn't mind working with him and doesn't correct mistaken civilians who think the two of them might be siblings. Their relationship continues to sour after the swordsmith village arc when Sanemi learns she chucked his younger brother, Genya, and herself off a cliff to save Nezuko from the morning sun.

Ubuyashiki Kagaya

Like the other Hashira, her relationship to Ubuyashiki is very important to her. She considers him the father she never had and maintains her focus when she hears his voice. His unending kindness opposes what she knows a father ought to be like. She expresses great grief at knowing he is going to pass, and begs him to fight on for them so that she may deliver a world to he and her sister, one without the demons and strife they know so well. Upon his death, she blames Muzan for his constant suffering and vows to take revenge and create that perfect world.

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