In this world, there exists beings that lurk in the darkness. Beings that seek to harm others. These are known as demons. They prey on humanity. Feasting on them to gain power to harm more. Wherever they exist, tragedy and sorrow soon follow with the scent of blood. However, there are those that reside in this darkness to fight for humanity. Those that take arms in order to face this evil armed only with blades. These are humans part of a group prepared to risk their lives for the greater good. These are the Demon Slayers. However, this is not a tale of them specifically. It is a tale of a certain boy who holds both demon and human blood in him that will become the world's savior.

The dim sight of a town in the countryside blanketed by snow begins our tale begins. The darkness is of the night is only cut through by the lighting of torches. "BURN THEM!"

"BURN THE FAMILY!" Several villagers pull a family of four to the center with them tied on wooden crosses.

"THERES ANOTHER! WHERE'S THE DEMON BOY!?"

"LEAVE MY LITTLE BROTHER OUT OF THIS! HE'S NOT A DEMON! HE'S JUST DIFFERENT-" A rock was thrown at the head of a teenage boy with green hair.

"TSUBASA!"

"YOU! YOU BORE THE BRAT! WHERE IS HE!?"

"Please. Just let my family be. We aren't trying to harm anyone-" Another rock came at the woman with the family shouting.

"MOTHER/INKO!"

"THIS IS THE LAST TIME, HISASHI! WHERE'S THE DEMON!?"

Hisashi looked at his family strung up. His daughter Izumi was scared out of her mind, his son Tsubasa was angry at the people for attacking his family and his wife was ashamed this was how they came to everything. "I...I don't know what you're talking about. There's only the four of us." 'Izuku. I'm sorry.'

"We're back." Hisashi and Inko walked into their home holding several bags of groceries.

"Hey. Need a hand with those?" A 16 year old boy named Tsubasa asked with him grabbing the bags from his mother.

"Izumi? Can you help us put things away?" Coming down the stairs, a girl that was ten with messy green hair came wearing pajamas.

"On it."

"Can I help with anything?" To the side, a young boy with black hair and red eyes that had slits where the pupils are asked with the family smiling at him.

"Sure. Wanna help me put the cans away?" Inko had asked with the boy smiling at this.

"Ok." The family was able to place everything where it needed to rather quickly with the five soon heading outside and walking towards a stone temple. In all their hands, they had an offering to the god of the moon Tsukuyomi.

"Mighty Tsukuyomi. Please protect our family as you have for generations. As a token of our gratitude, we offer you this as proof of our gratitude." The family prayed together to the shrine with the young child opening his one eye to see if everyone else was done. "Izuku. After this, would you like to go play with your siblings in the forest?"

The young boy named Izuku smiled at this. "Yeah." The family finished their prayers before standing up and heading towards the house.

"I gotcha, little bro." Tsubasa lifted Izuku up on his shoulders and smiled with the two and Izumi heading into the forest.

"Just don't go near the village, ok?" Inko shouted for the three to respond.

"We won't." The three ventured into the forest with smiles on their faces. A few years back, Inko had become pregnant with a boy that wasn't Hisashi's. She explained that she made a deal with a man who wished to harm her family to offer him anything in return for their safety. In that moment, the man asked her an unusual request. He asked for her to raise his child. She reluctantly agreed with the family learning of this deal soon after. From what the mother described of the man, Hisashi only knew one man that could fit this image. He had said that Inko made a deal with a demon known as Muzan Kibutsuji. The family felt bad this happened, but didn't take it out on Izuku. When he was born, the four agreed that they'd raise him as if he was no different than the Midoriya children. However, the family was afraid what the townspeople would think considering many were stricken with grief from the demons that killed their loved ones. As such, Izuku was forbidden from leaving the house during the day and would only leave with his family.

"Hey Izumi, what are you doing?" Izuku asked watching his sister do what looked like a dance.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm practicing what mom teaches me about the Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto Kagura. When I turn 16, I'm going to be responsible for our family's lifelong tradition of dancing under the first full moon of the year for or god."

Tsubasa began to snicker while responding. "The only thing you'll accomplish is probably pissing off Tsukuyomi with that dance."

"Shut it, Tsubasa! If you don't like my dancing that much, find a wife and make her our mother's replacement!"

"Maybe I will."

"I'd love to see that. Especially since you can't talk to girls so easily." The green haired girl began laughing as her brother blushed.

"I-it's not my fault that I get scared and burp fire when I talk to girls!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAH!" Both Izuku and Izumi began laughing to the point their sides hurt for Tsubasa to blush a bit.

"SHUT UP!"

The two slowed down with their laughter for Izuku to notice the village in the distance. The town was dark and quiet with a bit of curiosity plaguing him. "I wonder what the town looks like?"

"Izuku. You know what mom said. We can't go near the town. What do you think would happen if they'd find out? Worse, what do you think mom and dad will do if they found out we did this?"

"Oh, don't be a baby. It's midnight. Who's up at this hour?" Izumi pushed off the concern with no real worry. "C'mon Izuku. A little look at the town won't harm anyone. If we see someone nearby, we'll go. That'll keep Mr. Worrywart over here from blowing a fuse."

"Hmm...But mom said to not go into town."

"Look. You wanna see the town and it's not fair that you can't see what we see. Even though it's not the same that we see, at least you'll have something to place a picture to when we talk about what happened in town at home." Izuku didn't want to disobey his mom, but he did want to know what the town was like that he couldn't see because of his lineage. "As long as nobody sees us, there shouldn't be a problem and we won't tell mom or dad. Nobody has to know and it'll give you closure."

"Well...If it won't be a problem, I guess it won't hurt."

The two began walking down to the town with Tsubasa looking at them trying to get them to stop. "Hey! I'll tell mom!" Seeing that they won't listen, the older brother groaned at this before shouting at them. "IF YOUR GONNA GO, WAIT FOR ME!"

The three journeyed into the town for the cobblestone sidewalk to amaze Izuku. "Wow. It's so cool."

"....Really?" Tsubasa asked with Izumi smacking his side to motion to Izuku. "Oh-I mean, yeah. It's kinda cool."

Izuku immediately went to the center of town with a fountain in it. "Wow! This is a fountain!?"

"Yeah. They say that if you flip a coin in and make a wish, it'll come true." Izumi passed her younger brother a coin with a smile. "Wanna make one?"

Izuku thought about this before nodding. He grabbed the coin and thought for a minute what he should wish for. "I wish-"

"Shhh. You can't tell anyone what you wish for or it won't come true." Izumi pressed her finger on her lips to explain this to Izuku.

He understood to turn back to the fountain and make a wish in his head. 'I wish this town good fortune and that nothing bad happens to it.' He flipped the coin in the water with the sound of it hitting the water breaking the silence.

"Yay." Izumi clapped with Tsubasa looking at them more worried than he was originally.

"Great. You got to see the town. Can we go now before something bad happens?"

"Fine. Fine. Don't worry so much or you'll go bald early." Izumi turned to walk away before noticing Izuku still playing in the water. "Izuku. We gotta head back now. We don't want mom and dad to find out."

"OK." Izuku turned to walk to his siblings, but failed to realize someone on the ground unconscious. "AH!" He fell over and woke the person out of a sound sleep.

"What the hell!?" The man woke up to look at Izuku and him look at the man. The smell of alcohol on his breath could tell he was drunk. A moment of silence came with the man looking deep into the child's crimson red eyes to see the demonic slits to them. His eyes widened and began to panic. "AAAHHHHH!!!"

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" The man shoved Izuku off him and ran as fast as he could.

"A DEMON! A DEMON IS HERE!"

Both Izumi and Tsubasa looked at the direction the man ran to realize that this will without a doubt not end well.

"This is my fault. I put the stupid idea to go into town in Izuku's head and encouraged it." Izumi held her head down crying as Tsubasa tried to ease her burden.

"It's not all your fault. I should've stopped us. If anyone should be to blame, it's me for letting it happen."

"Kids. I don't blame you." Hisashi spoke with tears in his eyes. "You just wanted to make Izuku happy. You aren't to blame here. If anything, I should've sent you all away the second I found out that morning. If anyone deserves to be hung up like this, it's me."

"I FOUND FOOTPRINTS IN THE WOODS!"

"THE DEMON MUST BE TRYING TO GET AWAY ON FOOT! AFTER HIM!"

"LEAVE MY SON ALONE! HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Hisashi shouted in anger as a rock came to strike him in the eye. "ALL IZUKU EVER WANTED IN LIFE WAS A PEACEFUL ONE! HE DIDN'T ASK TO BE WHO HE WAS! SO LEAVE HIM BE!"

The towns people began throwing rocks at the family, battering and bloodying them up before the mayor stopped them. "Save your energy for the demon. He's worth more effort."

"What about them, sir?" The mayor grabbed a torch and lit the area beneath the family.

"Let them burn on their way to hell. It only seems fit. Now, AFTER THE DEMON!"

"YEAH!" The town charged into the forest with the Midoriya family seeing the fire rise up the stake they were on coming closer to them.

"Mom. I'm scared."

"It's ok, Izumi. Your family's here for you."

Tsubasa began crying, hoping this was just a bad nightmare. "Dad. Is Izuku gonna be ok?"

"He's strong. Don't worry about him." The fire began to get closer to the four with Hisashi biting his lip while silently praying. "God. I know that we will die tonight. But even if that is the case, save Izuku. I do not care how, but please just let my son live. He doesn't deserve to die tonight." The fire reached the family with the sounds of their screams reaching into the forest.

As this happened, Izuku rushed as fast as he could through the forest with the snow making it hard for him to move. 'Gotta run....Gotta get help.' Unable to understand what's happening, his father ordered Izuku to run as fast as he could away from the area. He knew that if Izuku was found with them, nobody would live. But if Izuku fled, at least he'd live with him being the only one to escape before the townspeople came for them.

"HE'S CLOSE! AFTER HIM!" Hearing the townsfolk, Izuku was terrified. He ran as fast as he could with the cold starting to get to him. In his panic, the snow under him began shifting with it soon sliding him off of a cliff. He tried to hold onto something, but there was nothing to latch onto for him to fall a notable distance.

"AAHHHH!!!" The snow on the ground beneath the cliff made a small puff from the cliff with the townsfolk seeing the shift.

"He fell down the mountain. GET HIM AND FINISH THE JOB!"

"YEAH!"

The townsfolk stormed back down the mountain in hopes to recover Izuku's corpse as what they thought. However, Izuku miraculously survived the fall, but wasn't able to move so easily. "It...hurts..." Izuku struggled to turn to his stomach. His legs were twisted to indicate they were broken. He began coughing up blood with his entire body aching. "I...I want to...go...home..." He struggled to move with his small arms barely able to push him forward. Knowing that this was going to be the end, the small boy turned his body over to look at the crescent moon in the sky. '...God Tsukuyomi. What did I do to deserve this? What did mom, dad and my siblings do to deserve this? Did you abandon us?' Tears welled in his eyes before the image of what looked like a butterfly showed itself to him. As if his wish to live came true, a woman with butterfly hairbands came to look down at him.

"Oh my. What happened to you, little one?" The woman bent down to touch Izuku's cheek with her hand for him to feel warmth.

"Are...are you a goddess?"

"If that's a complement, thank you." She smiled at him with the sound of villagers coming from a distance.

"Kanae, we need to leave. These people are after something." The woman now named Kanae began to move her hand away from Izuku's cheek with him grabbing her clothing to stare at the woman with her red eyes.

"Oh my, quite a unique set of eyes you have. Are you perhaps a demon?"

"Please....I don't...want to...die." Izuku pleaded at the woman with tears. "Please...take me...with you..."

Kanae looked at Izuku with a pained look. "Sister! If he's a demon, let's finish him now and head home!"

"I'm...not a...demon....I'm...a...human..." Izuku was losing consciousness from the pain he was facing for Kanae to decide what she should do.

"Shinobu, we're taking him with us."

"Are you insane!?"

Kanae picked Izuku up while holding him close to her heart. "This boy. He's not a demon. Then again, I could also say he isn't a human either. But he needs our help."

"Sister!" Understanding that there wasn't time to argue, Shinobu began to groan before accepting this. "Alright. There's a cabin nearby that we can use. Let's head out and use the trees so they can't follow us." The woman agreed with them taking Izuku away before the townsfolk could see where they left.

After treating Izuku's injuries and testing some of his blood on daylight to solidify the fact Izuku wasn't a normal demon if anything, Kanae and Shinobu decided to head into town to find out whatever they could about Izuku. Upon arrival, the two discovered the burned remains of what was the Midoriya family. On each of their remains, townsfolk placed a wooden board with the words 'demon' written on it.

"What a horrible sight."

"Perhaps, but these four had conspired with demons." A woman came to the two women to explain. "The Midoriyas were well liked in the community. However, a man had discovered a demon in the shape of a boy with the son and daughter. Once asked, the father denied ever having a third child with a raid on the house proving this wrong as well as the pictures in them proving the child was without a doubt a demon by his eyes and pale skin."

"So you burned them for that?"

"Better that than risk them being demons as well and killing this village." The woman walked away with no remorse for what had been done. However, both Kanae and Shinobu knew without a doubt that they weren't demons.

"There's still remains."

"That means they killed actual humans. I doubt if we tell them the truth, they'd listen." Kanae looked down before going towards the small cottage Izuku was in. As they tried to leave, the same drunk who sold Izuku and his family out went into the fountain and pulled out a coin.

"Well, lookie what we got here. God's probably rewardin me for finding that demon. Hehehe! Nobody's stupid enough to throw coins in this fountain anymore! Guess I found myself a sucker."

Hearing the fact this man had no care for selling out a child, Shinobu lost her temper and punched the man in the face with all her strength. This forced the man to the ground with the coin dropping to her feet. "Scum like you...I'm amazed that you're a human being. Whoever put this coin in deserves to at least have a wish granted somewhere that won't kill in a barbaric way." Shinobu picked up the coin and walked away towards her sister. "Have fun sobering up."

While walking away, Kanae looked at her sister a bit unhappy with how she handled it. "You're not the type to get angry the way you did that easily."

"The fact he bragged about saying a child's a demon and letting four people die with a fifth fighting for his life now, I was beyond disgusted with that man."

"Perhaps, but you didn't have to punch him and take the coin."

"Maybe, but he didn't need it anyway." The two continued their walk in hopes to get some information from Izuku after everything had settled down.

And that finishes this chapter. See what happens next time when Izuku learns of the two women that saved him. Hope you all enjoyed and thanks for reading.