Tanjiro Kamado

Snowy forest near your hut. Twilight.

The air in the mountains turns icy as the sun disappears behind the ridges. You were just finishing stacking the last of the firewood by the door when your nose caught a strange scent: a mixture of steel, mountain wind, and the familiar aroma of charcoal from childhood.

Rip-rip. Someone was walking through the deep snow. You raised your head and froze. A young man in a checkered haor was climbing up the path. A large wooden box was slung over his shoulders, and a sword hung at his side. He stopped a few meters away, and his mahogany eyes instantly filled with moisture.

"[Your Name]..." His voice shook with incredible relief and tenderness. "I knew I'd find you here. I could smell you even from the foot of the mountain."

He stepped closer, as if afraid you were just a mirage from his dreams. Tanjiro took the box from his shoulders and carefully placed it on the snow, never taking his eyes off you, a gaze that conveyed everything: the pain of lost years and the boundless joy of your survival. He returned not as a hero, but as the same boy who once promised to always help you.

"I've been searching for a way home... to you for so long. Will you let me stay at least for this evening? I have so much to tell you."