🌀 How It Came To Be

Read from left to right.

𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ ˖࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ Wanted to draw a short visual introduction of how Rei looked like as a kid and how she looks like now as a Demon Slayer 🙈 🧡

I'm sneakily attacking both @rosaprincesa and @rea697994 today >:3c

THE COLORS AND THE RENDER. THE RENDER OH MY GOD. did i mention the render. THE LIGHTING TOO IT'S SO ETHEREALLLLLLL.

REI LOOKS AMAZING TOO UGHHHH. i love how their eyelashes are the color of their hair, SO CLEVER. THE NECKLACE TOOOOOO AAUGHHH.

gosh, they look soooo cuteeee... 💗

veilody, this is amazing!! thank you so much. i will keep and cherish this forever!! 💕

Ohhh Hiya!!

Oh my, thanks for asking and letting me yap about them cuties 🙀💜

How they first met~

A moment Otsuyu doesn't remember actually, but Genya treasures all the more.

It was shortly after he lost everything and had to fend for himself. About that time, Otsuyu was already following Tengen to aid him as fresh corps member for the Demon Slayer.

She noticed the boy on a tree, trying to get some fruit to eat from the branches. Since they weren't even ripe for picking, she correctly assumed that this boy only had the choice between those or stealing...

Though she initially didn't want to engage, she found herself asking Tengen if she could buy some food for a kid. It surprised the young man, since she didn't show much care for strangers for a long time. A smile filled with pride and a headpat for her later, they found themselves buying packages of Nikuman and Anman.

Tengen intentionally didn't follow his fosterling, but watched how she handled the situation from afar.

Genya, who was occupied with chewing on the grassy tasting fruit, almost jumped when a box appeared in front of his face. Like a wounded animal he scooted away from it, slowly realising a young person hanging off a higher branch while offering the boxes.

"They'll sate you." She merely said, but didn't gain his trust yet. Something she picked up on, and sat down normally on the branch. The smell of the dumplings were alluring to him, but he wasn't used to kindness from strangers...

Otsuyu had a different idea from his hesitation and parted one of the dumplings, to bite into one of the halves before offering the other by hand, "It's not poisoned, don't worry."

He stared at the filling, the smell making his mouth water and when he couldn't take his hunger anymore, he snatched it away from her. It was gone in a blink and he started to take the rest of the dumplings from the box, eating until his tummy churned from the mix of hunger and eating too quickly.

When he looked up again, the girl was gone. He couldn't even thank the stranger or learn her name... She was one of the very few people who showed compassion to him in this trying time.

---

Years passed and both forgot about that brief interaction. They were all caught up in their own affairs, with no room for distraction.

Genya hardened his feelings on a mission to prove himself worthy and get his chance to make amends with Sanemi.

Otsuyu instead was occupied with the infiltration of Yoshiwara Pleasure Houses together with Hinatsuru, Makio and Suma.

Only after her return and Tengens retirement, they were brought together again. Otsuyu has begged Tengen to still work for the corps, to use her medical knowledge in service of Shinobu from now on. The man was torn between protectiveness after the events in Yoshiwara and endless pride of her growth - latter outweighed his worry, but she had to promise to stay safe.

Shinobu, who was aware of Tengens struggle, assigned the girl to a troublesome patient of the butterfly estate. The guy who strained himself physically and refused to eat at the same time - a dangerous combination, especially because of his plight of eating demons...

For weeks Otsuyu silently studied Genya in his day to day, analysing his routine and habits. His defensive demeanor when Aoi scolded him, how he ignored other corps members and the training he strictly committed to.

Before she realised it, her eyes were glued to him, even without the intention to analyse him. She genuinely wanted to get to know and what drives him.

That was the moment, she decided to announce her task to him.

Knowing his routine made it easy to catch him in his room. Usually around this hour he was writing - instead of eating like others.

She entered his room, announcing she brought him a snack, well aware, that he'd yell at her to get out, because he doesn't want any.

Instead of shrieking, she peacefully set down the plate. Her determination had him turn around, ready to shut her out with the plate, but the sight had him hesitate.

There was only a single Warabimochi but two sets of chopsticks.

Her hands picked up one set of the Chopsticks, "If you won't eat it, then I will." She announced, her voice steadfast. A stark contrast to the trembling of her hand.

Genya had a bad feeling about that, but he couldn't look into her face - it was already hard to bear that a girl was in his private chambers.

She picked up the mochi and announced, "Though I'd prefer if you ate it. I'm not particularly fond of choking on them."

That's when it finally hit him. She tried to coax and force him to eat by putting herself in danger. It pissed him off, and with his own set of chopsticks he snatched the mochi away, but threw it aside.

This girl wouldn't possibly-

She caught it mid-air, surprising him with her reflexes.

"Don't try that, I'll even slurp it off the floor or wall, if I need to." She argued, her voice more steeled than before, "The only way to stop me, is to eat it yourself."

Genya hated it, but armed himself with the Chopsticks.

Although she absolutely wanted him to eat up quick and easy, they found themselves in a chopstick fight. Snatching the edible off each other like it was a competition.

If the situation wasn't as uncomfortable as it was for both of them, it might've even been fun to challenge each other like that.

Once the mochi was in Genyas mouth though, Otsuyu was finally resting her shoulders with a content sigh.

And apologised for stressing him like this.

That was the moment Genya finally looked into her face and noticed the familiarity, albeit from a vague memory at this point.

So happy I got the yearly attack with those girls done and again it has become a pride piece hahah~ (even though I had to reduce the quality a lot for uploading it- )

It's the battle of concepts again, but this time on the beach haha~

Also Otsuyu is probably THE handicap of the group since she's the only one never participating in a volleyball team as a player. She makes up for it with spite and competitiveness though

Sameko belongs to @mandarinasart

Yui belongs to @starri-soul

Shizuki belongs to Styxie ( AF / IG )

My first attack on Art Fight !! 🥳

I'm a bit on and off on Tumblr (sorry about that), but I wish to share my Art Fight profile!! First time participating! https://artfight.net/~rea697994

Hope y'all saved your refs for the character you want to attack because the site is slow currently haha~

Also hmu once the pages load again hehe it’s Veilody as always

Template by @eidolonshiva (<- check her out 💜)

All in all their relationship doesn't last long but also never lacked intensity. And here's some thoughts on the details:

Song

I chose the Song "Let me die" (Soundtrack from the Apothecaries Diaries), because their lovestory is a tragic one. Otsuyu will have a phase in which she completely shuts down and later has to learn to let go to find happiness in her life. Eventually she will come to terms with his passing but she'll never stop loving the first love of her life.

Flavour

Sour and Sweet is a combination that can make you grin imo, but take away the sweetness and you're left with the sour... While usually I'd tend to go for bitter - in their case sour felt more appropriate. Especially since they didn't have much time together.

Time

It's hard to pinpoint how much time exactly passes throughout the series, but she's pretty much assigned to him by the butterfly mansion to monitor his health. From then on she sticks to his side and he can't get rid of the shinobi... Until he doesn't want to get rid of her anymore as they get to know each other better. It's hard to tell when exactly it turned romantic though haha~ they were already on a commitment level before either confessed their feelings. So approx. half a year is a good measure??

Favourite season

I HC Genya to like the summer, because for one: Watermelons! But on a more sad note: the days are longer, nights shorter, which means more safe time from demons (especially during the time he was an orphan) - also I can imagine that he had sweet memories with Sanemi from their childhood like going to catch bugs together. Otsuyu is definitely a spring girl - though her Haori has Plum blossoms (which bloom in January) she loves to see the world come to life. It has something hopeful to her and it actually makes her think of Tengen whose influence gave her hope in her life.

Favourite time of day

In Genyas case it ties to Demons again, but more in the sense, that the rising sun is a sign of survival. Also his smile during the sunrise in the Swordsmith arc is one of the cutest so <3 Despite the danger at night, Otsuyu thinks of the darkness as some sort of comfort to hide. It ties to her origin as Shinobi and the skills for stealth that increase during night-hours.

Attachment style

With Genya I was a bit torn, because I think he's afraid to get attached to anyone but his older brother and Gyomei who earned his trust. But he slowly warms up, but gradually becomes anxious to lose another person in his life. Otsuyu has a more anxious attachment style from the start, since her childhood wasn't filled with love and only after leaving the clan she learned just how precious connections are. So precious, that she's afraid to lose that treasure she's finally get to experience.