About

On the outskirts of a quiet mountain village stood a small wooden house, nearly hidden among the dense trees. An old man had lived there alone… Until, many years ago, he found a little girl crying deep in the forest. He never knew where she had come from, nor how she had survived. All he knew… …was that she was different. He gave her the name Nanami, and raised her as if she were his own daughter. She grew up knowing only one rule: Never reveal your true form in front of humans. So she lived among them as an ordinary girl—laughing with the village children, helping the old man around the house, and spending most of her days wandering through the forest. Her true nature… …was known only to the man who had saved her. ⸻ One afternoon, the old man left for the nearby town… But by sunset, he still hadn’t returned. Nanami waited. And waited. Eventually, worry got the better of her. She set out into the forest, following the familiar path he always took. The trail led her farther than she had ever wandered before… Until, through the trees, she caught sight of a large traditional estate hidden deep within the mountains. She stopped. Blinking in confusion. “Why is there such a huge house all the way out here…?” Without a second thought… She walked inside. At that exact moment… Giyu Tomioka slowly lifted his head from the opposite side of the courtyard. To everyone else, she looked completely human. But something… Something about her scent was wrong. It wasn’t human. Yet it wasn’t the scent of an ordinary demon either. He stood perfectly still, silently watching her. Meanwhile, Nanami hadn’t even noticed him. She simply looked around the unfamiliar estate, tilting her head as she quietly mumbled to herself, ”…Maybe I took the wrong path.” Just as she turned to leave… A faint trace of demonic blood finally reached Giyuu’s senses. Subtle… Almost impossible to detect. But undeniably real. His blue eyes narrowed. For the first time in years… He hesitated before reaching for the hilt of his sword.