章 9: The Young Healer’s Revelation

Fifteen years before the events of the Demon Slayer canon, something strange and not entirely pleasant happened to me: I found myself teleported to the mountains of Japan, near what I soon realized was the **Demon Slayer Corps HQ**. Teleportation is disorienting enough, but Maya—my AI assistant, who clearly thrives on chaos—decided to make things worse.

"Oh, by the way," she chirped in my head as I stumbled to my feet. "You're six years old now."

"Six?!" I glanced down at my tiny hands. "Seriously?"

"Yes! Makes you more adorable. And who doesn't trust a cute kid, right?"

I groaned but didn't have time to argue with Maya. My first order of business was getting my bearings. So, like any newly six-year-old genius would, I climbed the nearest tree.

From my vantage point, I spotted **Kagaya Ubuyashiki**, the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, walking through the forest with his wife. Their elegance and serenity caught my attention, but there was something... off about him. I squinted, observing closely. Even from this distance, I could tell that Kagaya's skin had an unusual paleness, almost translucent, and there was an odd aura around him.

Without hesitation, I dropped down from the tree and marched over to the couple. They both stopped in their tracks, eyeing me with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. I said nothing at first, just circled them, studying Kagaya from head to toe.

After a long moment of awkward silence, I blurted, "You're infected by a virus."

Kagaya blinked, surprised but still calm. His wife, however, took a sharp breath.

I continued, matter-of-factly, "It's not contagious, though. Otherwise, she—" I pointed to his wife—"would be sick too. Hmm, interesting."

The couple exchanged a look, their amusement fading into concern.

Kagaya spoke first, his voice gentle but steady. "You seem to know much for someone so young. How did you come to this conclusion?"

I straightened up, folding my arms proudly. "I am a descendant of the great **Charaka**, the father of medicine in India. My goal is to be like him—travel the world, cure diseases, and concoct remedies."

At this, Kagaya's wife stepped forward slightly, her eyes soft with worry. "And where are your parents, child? How did you come to Japan?"

I hesitated, remembering the story Maya had so helpfully scripted for me. "I became an orphan when I was two. Islamist extremists attacked my village in Kashmir. My parents... didn't survive." I paused dramatically. "I was saved by my master, a sage and medicine practitioner. Under his guidance, I learned the art of healing in just five years. Then, one night, **Lord Shiva** appeared to me in a dream. He told me to come to this island, that my destiny was to save a family cursed by a plague."

The couple exchanged glances, their expressions filled with shock and something deeper—something that made them wonder if my arrival was, indeed, divine intervention.

"Lord Shiva?" Kagaya asked, clearly intrigued. "In Japan, we sometimes call him **Daikokuten**, the god of fortune. It seems we are fortunate to have met you."

I nodded sagely. "Exactly."

His wife stepped forward. "Can you... help my husband?"

I took a deep breath, switching into what Maya liked to call my "serious doctor mode." "I'll need a blood sample to test. I can't promise anything yet, but I'll see what I can find."

Kagaya gave me a small smile. "Very well. Come with us. You may stay the night at our home, and tomorrow, you may perform your tests."

---

The next morning, I was summoned to Kagaya's mansion. His servants greeted me politely, though I could sense their disbelief as I marched in, carrying my medical bag that was almost as big as me. They probably thought it was some kind of toy.

They were wrong.

Kagaya sat calmly, his usual air of quiet authority making him seem much larger than life, despite his frail appearance. He handed me the blood sample, and I got to work. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out modern medical equipment one by one, setting them up as if I did this sort of thing every day (because, well, I did).

A collective gasp echoed through the room. Kagaya's attendants stared, eyes wide in disbelief. Where had I gotten all these advanced tools? One man even dropped the tray he was holding.

Kagaya, ever composed, simply raised his hand to silence them. "Let him work."

I worked diligently, analyzing the blood, scribbling notes on a chalkboard that I had also pulled out from my mysterious bag. Diagrams, calculations, and symbols filled the board as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.

After an hour of intense concentration, I leaned back, cracked my knuckles, and asked for juice. The maid hurriedly brought it over, and I drank it in one go, savoring the relief.

Kagaya watched me with a curious gaze. "What have you found?"

I set the cup down, wiping my mouth like a battle-hardened doctor who had just cracked a major case. "It's not a virus. It's a curse."

Kagaya's calm demeanor faltered slightly. "A curse?"

I nodded. "I ran every test I know, using all my knowledge of viruses and diseases. Nothing makes sense. The symptoms, the lack of contagion, the way it's spreading in your body—it defies logic. So, I came to the most reasonable conclusion: it's a curse."

Kagaya leaned forward, his usually serene expression now touched with concern. "How did you come to this conclusion?"

I smirked. "I trashed all my scientific knowledge and focused on the obvious: someone cursed your bloodline. Whatever your ancestors did, it was bad. I mean, really bad. We're talking worse-than-the-Abrahamic-religions-level bad." I paused for dramatic effect. "So, what exactly did they do? And why is your family still alive? Any other lineage would've ceased to exist by now."

Kagaya's face grew thoughtful. His wife looked pale as he began to speak.

"We've long known that our family bears a curse. It was placed on us long ago, after one of my ancestors sought a cure for death itself. In doing so, they unleashed a great evil—**Muzan Kibutsuji**, the first demon. He has plagued our bloodline ever since."

I listened carefully, nodding as Kagaya explained the horrors his family had endured. When he finished, I leaned back, crossing my arms.

"Well," I said, "I can't cure it."

Kagaya smiled softly, almost as if he expected that answer. "I know. Do not worry about it."

I held up a finger, grinning. "I said I can't cure it, but I didn't say I couldn't treat it."

His eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"First," I began, "I can stop the curse from spreading further in your body."

His wife gasped, and Kagaya's calm expression slipped for the first time.

"Second, I can get rid of any pain or discomfort caused by the curse. You'll feel... normal again."

"And third," I said, holding up three fingers, "I can stop the curse from being passed on to your children."

Kagaya's composure finally cracked, and for the first time, I saw genuine shock on his face. "You can... stop it from being passed on?"

I nodded. "Yup. Can't undo what's been done, but I can stop the chain. Your children will be free from this curse."

For a moment, silence filled the room. Then Kagaya bowed his head slightly, a genuine smile spreading across his face. "You truly are a gift from Daikokuten."

I leaned back, grinning. "Well, Lord Shiva didn't send me here for nothing."