Iniyhei Backstory {KNY/Demon Slayer}

Iniyhei is a gullible yet intelligent young woman. Even when she speaks nonsense it'll send people into deep thought. Though with her bright, silly, and hospitable calm and reassuring nature, she was not always this way.

Iniyhei was born in Ezochi, what is now known as Hokkaido, Japan, in a small village in XXXX to a small family, the Niketsa family to be exact. A family consisting of her father, mother, older brother and sister. They were average compared to other classes and got by the best they could. Equally compared to comfortable at times. They usually went out into the fields or mountains to find or haunt for food. Iniyhei being so very young would often stay home with her father or mother while her Brother and sister would go out to seek supper.

Her father worked as a farmer, making sure the crops grew and selling an abundance of goods to passerby’s, which were not many, so he'd often go into the bustling village across the waters, which would often require him to travel and be away from his family for periods on end. Her mother was a housewife however decided to work due to struggling in the long winters. She became a gatherer often going into the mountains and forests to harvest things to sell such as fruits, nuts, fish, and vegetables to the small towns up and down the road.

During one evening a storm festered over their land and while her sister and mother were harvesting crops they were bombarded by the weather so they sought shelter in a nearby cave. As the father was away her brother was watching over her, playing games with her in the filed until the weather changed. He took her inside but worried for his mother and sister who were nowhere in sight. He told Ini to stay put while he went out and searched for them. As Ini waited seconds, seconds turned into minutes ,and minutes into hours.

Wondering where her family had gone she decided to wonder the area. Walking past crops she began to be accommodated by a faint yet foul odor; however this did not stop her from roaming. "CRUNNCH...MUNCH...CRACK..SNAP" Thinking this was either one of her family members just harvesting goods she peeked from behind a tree only to see her sister being torn apart gruesomely by one demon, and the head of her mother in another demons mouth. Horrified was not even the word. Her eyes widened in fear and her vision became blurry as tears started to assemble. She could not look away. It was like a force was making her stare. But where was her brother? She stepped back slowly only to bump into something. No, someone... It was her brother. He slowly bent down and whispered for her not to make a sound, picking her up and slowly walking backward.

As soon as he was about to run he bumped into something tough and before him stood a demon. This demon had eyes across its body, a snake like tongue, and wings. Baffled by the sight the siblings screamed and before you knew it they were both swept away. However the storm was subsiding and the area was beginning to light from the sun, which means the demon would surely vanish. They were both struggling so much Iniyhei ended up falling from Inari's back, leading her to fall in a nearby river. Inari however not as small as Iniyhei was not able to break free from the demons grasp and was carried off only to be assumed to eaten by the monster.

Days had passed as Ini woke up from being unconscious. She'd seem to be near a river bank lying beside the river on the dirt. She was disheveled; her hair in her face and no one was in sight. It was such a peaceful day despite what she witnessed last night. As an elderly couple picked rice from the paddy field, they noticed her. They decided to go to her aid where she would tell them a story they did not believe. For a few days they took her in but became weary as she would not eat or talk. In the nights she'd often break out into cold sweats and scream "DEMONS"

This frightened them as they believed in no such thing. They grew tired of these outbreaks and decided they could not deal with the child, it was best to send her to an orphanage, after all they saw themselves as too old to care for her. However this was not best idea as the orphanage was twisted and would often get donations or rations they would not share with the kids. Kids were starved, beaten and sometimes would often go missing. Ini became frail and to get away she would sit outside in the night praying for something to take away the pain of being alone in the world with no family, even if that meant being annihilated by a demon. She felt so alienated because no one of the town would believe what she had to say. All she could do was praying to the heavens it heard her. Her bangs covered her face deciding it was best to hide her eyes from the cruel sights of the world.

However the incident, she'd feel so at peace in the night waiting for said demise. Nothing came. Though with her wait she'd notice how pretty the stars were. Her eyesight was almost inhumanly as she could see more than them at times. She took a fondness towards this being her everyday escape so she did so often.

While stargazing one night she heard screams from the orphanage. A turn out the founder of the orphanage was a demon! She had disguised herself as a human to gain trust in unwanted children. She’d also pick the children off one by one and feed them to the lesser demons. She watched as the demon mercilessly devoured the children. This demon was a woman with long hair and dripping wet clothes. She held...a baby. "Come here my child'' she called out to Ini. A light shined from the back of demon almost heavenly, and the wicked demons face turned into her mothers. Being in trance this must be her mother calling for her to join her in the heavens right? This is what she had prayed for. Wrong. Just in the nick of time before the last child of the orphanage, Iniyhei, was subdued by the demon, the demons head was sliced off and Ini dropped to the floor only to notice a tall figure standing above her.

A Large man about the size of a bear compared to her stood over her in a protective manner. As she snapped out of the demon art spell she noticed she was unharmed only to see a man who resembled her father. Screaming thinking she must’ve been stuck in said spell she wriggled dropping to the floor. The man assured her safety and introduced himself as Yinzoco. He wrapped the girl up in a cloth sack and placed the youngster on his back only to quickly disappear from the area. As quiet as he appeared, he quickly disappeared. They arrived at residence where sat an elderly man, a little boy, and a young woman sitting at a kotastu. They stopped their conversation abruptly as the door flung open and they saw the child on Yinzoco's back.

He cleared his throat and laughed whole heartedly. "Well! Time to eat" After being scolded by his wife, the young lady, they had a quiet yet weird dinner. The table was silent as they all observed the girl who was paper thin and messy.

The little boy stared at her. "Mom I thought you said if I were messy I couldn’t eat at the table no fair! She's filthy" he was a child but outspoken so it came off rude. "Yinaske!!" she screamed as she cleared her throat and went over to comfort the little girl. After pleading with Ini to eat, the woman gently picked her up and ran her a bath. Through the fighting Ini put up she was able to cleanse the girl. "All better.'' she smiled pinching her cheek. “We will do your hair and make you well in the morning" she gave a gentle smile before leading the girl to a vacant room. Tucking her in she blew out the candle and shut the door.

Next morning came. "Nakiko!" The old man called. Nakiko was busy brushing up Inyhei's hair but once she tried to cut the bangs the girl pulled away. It was obvious she did not want them to be tampered with. Understandingly Nakiko nodded and let the girl free into the yard to get acquainted with the younger boy. Nakiko went to the elder man who sat by Yinzoco. With saddened faces they told her that Iniyhei was the daughter of a man who had been found slaughtered the night Yinzoco returned from a mission in an alleyway. The village where Iniyhei was found. At the same time the man who was murdered was Yinzoco's brother. Intei. His last words that he was looking for his family, specifically a baby girl with unusual pink and red hair no one had. Confirming the child was Iniyhei it was assumed he had went to the orphanage in search of her only to be met with a terrible fate. Indeed she was of their bloodline and Ynzoco decided they would take her in. Though grieved he was happy he still had a piece of his brother living through Iniyhei. They all agreed and so Iniyhei was no longer alone in the world.

[Yinaske] The sun shined and the light blue haired boy swung a bamboo sword. Out the corner of his eyes he noticed the girl sitting by the peach tree playing with stick figures. Walking over to her he bopped her softly on the head with the bamboo flashing a bright smile. "Cheer up! Play hashira with me!" No words came from the girl. "Play hashira with me!" He was silly and kept repeating while laughing. "One day, I'll become a great hashira like my dad! No demons will ever hurt anyone as long as Yinaske's here!!" He struck the tree with the sword and peaches tumbled down at plenty, hitting him on the head and surrounding him. As his head popped his mom shouted "Yinaske!!" in worry. Iniyhei stared and then they immediately started to die of laughter. And so did the adults around.

Yinaske had finally heard a sound from Ini. And with it being a month he decided to do more things that would make her smile like playing hashira, watching the stars and praying. Not to mention hurting himself. Until he actually hurt himself to the point where he cried and was babied by Naniko, who, was scolded by her father and husband for making Yinaske soft. But she didn’t care this was her baby. Ini saw this and suddenly missed her home and she began to care for and baby Yinaske when he was hurt and he appreciated it, he did the same for her. Naniko and Yinzoco would often welcome her into hugs and include her in family functions like she was their own daughter.

Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days, days turned into months, and months turned into years, since iniyhei had been adopted by her uncle Yinzoco. These were happy times but that would soon fade when the child turned 9.

Amidst the dark night Iniyhei sat and watched the stars with her grandfather Inoruko. The breeze was gentle and all was silent besides Naniko and yinaske in the kitchen making supper. Yinzoco had been out on a mission and was scheduled to return home that night where they’d celebrate. Minutes later he appeared and they all had an amazing dinner. Everything was well so it seemed. When everyone had went to bed Iniyhei became restless deciding to step out for fresh air and a star gaze. It had been years since she'd heard of demon sightings so the corps had to be doing great. However stepping a bit too far in her strolls she encountered a demon. She stopped and tried her best not to make a sound. However it smelled her presence and turned towards her causing her to immediately flee.

Yinzoco who had been awoken at a sudden feeling walked to Ini's room only to find her not there. He stepped outside to her usual spot on the roof only to look up and not find her there either. With shrieks arriving from the distance he caught chills as he would always do when a demon was around. And with that he heard faint screams becoming louder as he saw Ini running for her life out of the woods. "Uncle!!!" she screamed as she ran towards the house barely making it taking cover behind Yinozco who held a sword in fighting stance. The shouting woke up the other family members and they rushed outside. Standing before them was a demon taller than the house glaring and salivating. It seemed long but the old man eventually came out with a sword shielding naniko and yinaske.

It was time to fight and so Yinzoco and Inoruko did. The battle was long but the demon was a highly ranked demon. And unfortunately took out Inoruko by piercing him through the heart, Naniko by ripping her to shreds and devouring her right in front of Yinaske. With Yinzoco on his last breaths he mustered to send his last strongest powerful move and wounded the demon before it could eat the kids. Enough to flee before daylight.

As Yinzoco was on his last dying breath he wrapped the children in his strong arms and held them dearly as blood trickled down his lips. His eyes filled with sorrow yet a smile as he said the final words to his children. "Breathe with the living and not of the dead" (Yinaske finally learning what it meant later in his youth. "To fight hard and live for others, than to regret the past of what’s already gone “)

Paralyzed by what happened Yinaske lay by his father weeping. He wept of how he was not strong, how he couldn’t do anything to protect anyone and how he lied that he would become a great Hashira like his father. He wept and wept as Ini did the same. All of a sudden his weeps slowly haltered as his breath shook. With malice, hate and resentment he yelled at Iniyhei "Your parents are dead, you didn’t have to kill mine!" he shrieked "It's your fault grandpa was slain it's your fault mother was ripped to shreds and devoured in front of my own eyes, father is dead because of YOU, YOU.KILLED. EVERYONE" Losing his voice in screeching he continued to mourn over his family. And soon after feeling nothing his soul became numb and drained as he buried the family. Joyful Yinaske was gone.

Shocked and heartbroken by his words Ini held still as she watched. By the time Yinaske finished burying them that morning he looked around only to see Ini gone. She had left without a word. "Good riddance" From that day he vowed he'd slay all demons and protect the many from meeting this fate. Taking his father’s sword he kept it alongside him at all times. And just as he said he would do, he ventured out to train to become a great Hashira.

Iniyhei: It had been 2 years since once again losing everything. By this time Iniyhei was 11. She had been living in an abandoned hut, despite doing well for herself. She lived by a sea side where she would be able to get fish for food. Sometimes in the night she would swear she'd see a beautiful lady with flowing lavender hair walking in the water, and shortly, a bucket of fish and other goods would appear in front of the door the next day. . She had never gotten the chance to meet this good Samaritan. A long time she thought to herself. Life was horrid and her eyes would often cover her face to hide the world. Anger boiled in her. She decided to do something and like her cousin she decided she would try to work in the demon corps, there was no time to be scared and miserable but to put an end to what had been happening to people for years. Little did she know she would be greeted by a familiar face upon training.

[Training in short cuz i lazy] So they both trained and did well. To Yinaskes surprise his sword turned gray. Yinaske's technique is Breath of necromancy. No one knows what this branches from but they either assume breath of stone or breath of beasts. Iniyhei’s sword turned into a lighter red-pink. She accumulated the Breath of constellation, which no one knows where it branches from but most assume Moon breathing

[Final selection in short] For months they trained and when entering final selection there they met again. Yinaske at the time 13 and Inire who'd just turned 11, also being one of the youngest to participate in final selection. Despite this her skills were satisfactory and they both made it through, however determined by the corps leader he feared she was a bit too young to carry out missions to where she would spend time at the butterfly mansion as an intern studying medicine and maturing. Exceptionally Yinaskes hate towards demons led him to train hard and become a hashira in just 3 months. He was only 13 and being the youngest he casually got into fights with the older members. This abuse caused him to become more stoic and with the memories of his late mother father and grandfather he started to drink.

With Yinaskes strong disdain towards his younger cousin he pleads with the leader to let him take Ini under his wing as his tsugoko. To which after years of begging the leader decides to take upon the offer since he'd lost two of his hashira at the time. By this time Yinaske was 17 and Ini 15. From then on Ini has been trying to get into good graces with Yinaske, who is slowly but surely giving in. Deep down he sees her as an annoying sister though she is his cousin. And as his dislike towards her start to fade he promises he will protect herand make her stronger as she is his last family member. And more so become the great Hashira who breathes with the living and not with the dead.