Life's Cursed Breathing 1

Prologue: The start of a cursed era

[The dairy of Namami Kento]

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20th May 1897.

That is when I was born, before the Taisho era of Japan. I know this because of the setting demon slayer takes place, not that like that is relevant to my current situation right now.

Why is that you may ask?

The reason being is that my birth name is Kento Nanami.

Yes, the very same one as from Gege's Character killing fetish. Blond hair and all, a little weird considering American soldiers wouldn't have been into the gene pool based on the era. Then again, I don't really know much about when Japan's possible gene pool increased.

 But I digress, the life of living as a child in a rural part of Tokyo means that your family has a trade, one that has been part of the family for generations.

Mine just so happens to be the something that I was good at in life but never really pursued. Teaching, my parents, and by extension my family, are the ones that have taught the villagers here for generations.

My father being from the western continent just meant that the content was better in being grounded and more practical by virtue of being a colony. He, of course, could have gone to the inner city of Tokyo and taught there to get rich and live a lavish life, but apparently, he liked living the brief rural life he lived as child before the industrial revolution.

Honesty? Understandable and based move.

Having a new lease on life, and in the past of a different country, I decided to for the teaching route. I have did my best to instruct, teach, and show my students how to apply what they've learnt from me.

Most, if not all, would go back to doing what their fathers and forefathers did for generations. But, I hope that with the creativity that I've encouraged them to use will help them succeed and be better at what they've chosen to do, more than their forefathers at least.

Nevertheless, I've reached the age of 18 and have made a nice sum of money being both a tutor and teacher. I've provided my services as a tutor since I was 15, and a teacher for roughly a year or so.

Life in a rural village has it's ups and downs, mainly the cost of living is not very high and that there's lots of children that need to be educated. This makes savings very easy in comparison with the future's living cost, plus the teaching material is significantly easier for me to introduce.

Overall, life is good, although… I'm not sure if it's Nanami's remnant or my own remnant from my past life. One thing is certain, I long to visit Malaysia's beaches and perhaps live there. Build a small house and write down all the dream inspired stories and non-dream inspired stories I've always wanted to.

Of course, that was just one of the things that I wanted to do in the future. If there's one thing that I've wondered about in this… Second? Third? Let's go with third, life is if I have cursed energy, the most obvious thing that says I have CE is being able to see cursed spirits.

But the thing is, I've yet to see one at all. One would take that as proof that I don't have CE, but I'm not one to accept something so easily. I don't feel anything different around my abdomen, the place where CE is supposed to be, but it could just be locked away.

Regardless, I'll just take things slowly and see how everything plays out.

-End of Entry 1.

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[Nanami Pov] [Time: 5:30pm]

*RINGING*

"And that marks the end of this session, Have a good weekend with your families, class!"

As one, the whole class stands up from their seat and bows to their teacher.

"THANK YOU, NANAMI-SENSEI!"

With class now over, the children excitedly ran back home to eat dinner and share what they learned in school with their parents. Their parents, while not educated with the contents of the school, understood that it was valuable to learn and was the key to making sure that their children led a successful life.

Of course, there were some that remained behind. They were the unfortunate few that was orphaned, living near the school compound, and being taken care of by the Nanami family.

These few orphans were taken in out of symphony by his parents, they knew and saw what it was like to grew up without a parent or parents. The experiences of orphans were passed down through the family for generations, it was the rite of passage that the scholarly family made sure to pass down.

They did it so that their children would understand the hardship and feelings of those without guardianship, of course, they made sure to properly take care of their psychology afterwards.

Another day of lessons are over, now all that is left is to take care of the children in the school and get them ready for bed.

Taking them to the kitchen, Nanami began to cook a simple meal but large in quality for them to eat.

Having them clean the kitchen is a bit of a chore but helping them and guiding them to do it is quite important. I'm worried they might become dependent on whoever they might marry, it's better for them to learn now and keep the discipline.

With the kitchen now clean of dishes, Nanami began to lead them to the house where the orphaned children and his family live in.

*Slide*

"We're back~!"

All the children shouted out as one and began to run back to their rooms to get ready for bed while showing their progress to the head of the household.

*Slide*

*Sigh*

It's times like this that it makes me glad that they think of me as a brother and not like a father. That, while flattering and stirs my heart with glee, would be a bit troublesome for me to handle.

Nevertheless, it's good that they're growing up cheerfully, it means that we're doing right by them. I wonder what they'll be when they grow up… I hope it's something that won't make them into a soulless husk like most of the people in the modern age.

Looking at the wall clock, he saw that it was close to 630pm. Despite feeling a bit of fatigue and a little unwillingness to follow through his routine, he went to the bathroom to wash his face and get ready.

==============================================

[7:00pm]

Standing in the backyard of the house was a blonde-haired young man, he was stretching for a moment and then started to do push-ups, sit-ups, squats.

Once he was done, he took a small water break and started jog-running to build up speed and stamina.

*HUFF* *HUFF* *HUFF*

Just…Thirty… more… minutes…. Bear, the pain Nanami!

After 30 long and excruciating more minutes, took a 10-minute break. Then moved on to practicing what looked to be a mixture of Boxing and Muay Thai, punching the wooden dummy with his fists and kicking with his legs, striking it in the various vital places that would be in a human body.

A punch to the heart.

*THUNK*

A kick to the neck

*THWACK*

An elbow to the face.

*THWACK*

*Huff* *Huff* *Huff*

Despite his exhaustion, Nanami maintained his hitman stance, shuffling around, building his strength for one last rush of flicker jabs.

 *THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD*

*PHEW*

Dropping his stance, Nanami turned around to sit on the wooden floor when he noticed some of the kids were still up and looking at him in awe. Looking at the clock on the wall, he saw that it was 8 pm, past their bedtime.

"Yuji, Ichiro, Aiko, Haruko."

Hearing their names being called out, snapped the kids out of their awe and stiffened up at being called out individually.

"What are you doing not in your beds? You should be sleeping right now."

His words while soft, came out stern, making them feel bashful and timid at his question and his stare. 

Good grief, it's way too late for them to be up, they better have a good reason for not being in bed right now or else I'll have to give a reason for them to be sleepy in the morning.

Just as Nanami was about to reprimand the children, he heard something land on the ground behind him.

What is with this pressure?! It's almost like the first time Nanami faced a grade 1 cursed spirit! Shit! If I'm feeling something like this, then the kids that are probably feeling something even worse!

Quickly glancing at the kids at the backyard-porch of the house, he saw what he suspected and saw that they were on their knees, shaking and afraid of the monster that was behind him.

I need to get them out of here! NOW!

Swiftly turning around and backstepping, Nanami got into his practiced hitman stance. On guard for the intruder and the threat that he posed to him and the scared children.

Despite it being night, he could still see the vaguely human figure that near the edge of the fence. He kept his eyes focused on any movement that the shadowy figure tried to make, any slight movement of his feet, hands, even his eyes.

"Yuji!"

Briefly snapping out of his fear, he looked towards his teacher who, in his eyes, was fearlessly protecting them from this malevolent figure that he could feel was eying them like prey.

Good, I can feel that he's trying to pay attention.

"Get all your siblings out of here and into the house. Hide in the Safety hole, don't open the door unless I tell you to."

Hearing his father-figure telling him to run and hide, it made Yuji act. He started carrying his 3 siblings and went back inside the house, walking as fast as he could while carrying the 3 of them to the bunker.

Good, He understood and what I wanted him to do. He's a bright kid, I think he'll go far in this life if he reaches grows past this.

"KUFUFUFU… How admirable for a human, sending away kids, giving them a fake hope that you would beat me and save them~"

Stepping out of the shadows and into the moonlight, Nanami could now see who had intruded into the backyard and scared his kids.

His body an ashen gray colour that looked like it would evaporate in the sun, muscles that looked like belonged to a strong lumberjack, his height was taller than the average Japanese people. The figure's hauntingly mad violet eyes staring at him like prey on the slauther.

Tch, bastard looks strong, this won't be an easy fight based on what I'm feeling and seeing. Need to play the keep away strategy and not accrue any damage, just by looking at his muscles, it looks like I wouldn't be able to take more than one hit.

If I had to guess his strength, it'd probably be close to a heavyweight boxer, he's a little taller than me too, about 2-3 centimetres taller than me.

"Of course, a teacher is responsible for their kids, the first thing an adult should do when their kids are in trouble."

"Oh my~ how responsible~, you'll be a nice main course! Those kids' fear will be delicious, just like their flesh!"

The shadowy figure pounced at Nanami, crossing the distance between them in a few seconds. His arms stretched out in front of him, hands in a claw like form.

Surprised at his speed, but ready, Nanami side-stepped leaping the foe. Taking a deep breath

*INHALES*

*TWIP* *TWIP**TWIP**TWIP**TWIP**TWIP*

Flickering his left hand, Nanami punches the inhuman man in the eyes, throat, heart, and abdomen. Disengaging right after landing those hits, missing the claw swipe that was aimed at his throat.

*Cough*

Tch, that claw swipe felt like it could tear out my throat. No, it can, his hands feel like they've been steeped in blood of dozens of innocents.

Seizing the opportunity, Nanami threw a corkscrew right hook to his heart-

*PHEEEEE* *THUD* *SWIPE*

Breaking away immediately with a backstep, the insane man missing yet another of his lethal claw swipe.

*THUD* *SWIPE*

*THUD* *SWIPE*

*THUD* *SWIPE*

*THUD* *SWIPE*

*THUD* *SWIPE*

*THUD* *SWIPE*

After 10 minutes of this song and dance, the insane man missing his attacks and Nanami hitting his chest where his heart was. They were at a stand-off, Nanami, while untouched, was nearly at the limits of his stamina, dodging every attack that was thrown at him whilst capitalizing every opening that the man had after every attack.

*HUFF* *HUFF* *HUFF*

Shit! I'm nearly at the end of my stamina and this guy still doesn't look any worse for ware, the heart punches doesn't even look like it's leaving any bruises or affecting his performance either! That can't be possible! I've been training in boxing and muay thai since I was able to, how hard is this guy?!

"Kekekeke~ You've been fun, human. But, I think it's time that I show you why demons are the superior to you insects in every way!"

This time, instead of swiping with his claws, the self-proclaimed demon man threw a punch.

Tch, bastard thinks that punch of his is any good, here's my chance!

Taking this opportunity, Nanami counters the demon's left sloppy punch with a right hook. Stepping inside his guard just to put in extra force behind his punch.

*CRACK*

MNPH

However, that was a trap set by the demon, Nanami's fist collided into the demon's elbow. Fracturing his right fist-

"MNGH"

But the pain didn't stop him, recovering faster than the demon anticipated, Nanami was unwilling to surrender this opportunity. So, put his all into this attack, his fastest and strongest straight-right punch…

*WHOOSH* *SNK*

"Fine~ I'll show you how worthless and powerless you really are, human!"

Releasing his guard and puffing out his chest, assured that he wouldn't suffer much damage, the demon showed no signs of dodging. Confident that the idiot human would only harm himself and make it even easier for him to eat, he could just imagine the test of this strong human now!

This move from the demon, upon anyone else would have worked regardless of how tough and strong the human body was, in comparison to the demon physique, A human's punch would never do any lasting damage…

*…bzt*

However, the earth and luck smiled upon him that day.

*BZZZ-CRAKOOOM*

*MNGHHH-GAAAAAAA*

Flashes of black lighting emerged from his fist, the noise attracting everyone who could hear it. The impact of this supercharged punch caved in the chest of the demon and destroyed his heart.

This injury wouldn't normally have a significant effect on a demon, however, this punch was infused with cursed energy amplified by a black flash. Unleashed upon a person without cursed energy, even with a supernatural physique and healing factor, would cause untold amounts of harm to anyone.

The demon, now without a heart and was punched with cursed energy, was killed. His corpse, now lied there, not moving a single inch nor was it showing any signs of crumbling to ash. 

Seeing that the threat was no longer there, Nanami, exhausted more than he had ever been, fell to his knees. Breathing heavily to alleviate the fatigue and reduce the pain coming from his, most likely, fractured left hand.

"-rry! It came from Nanami-sensei's House!"

Turning his head to the incoming voice, he looked and saw neighbours rushing over to his house to investigate the noise. His mind still cloudy from exhaustion but still working due to the high of unlocking his Cursed Energy and the effects of the black flashing boosting his sub-conscious control of CE to enhance his body.

*CREACK*

Mustering the last of his strength, he spoke to the neighbours that had come to his backyard.

"…H-Help, the…Children…Inside…The bunker!"

*THUD*

Finally unable to bear it anymore, Nanami collapsed under the gaze of the villagers. Seeing the dead body inside the backyard and the exhausted state of their resident teacher, they came to the conclusion that the dead man had tried to cause harm to both Nanami and the orphans that was living here.

Unsure of what to do, a villager spoke his mind.

"What do we do now?"

*BONK*

Annoyed by the question, a village elder punched the one who asked the question. Regardless of his mood, he relayed his instructions to the other villagers present.

"We clean and carry Nanami-sensei to his bed, get the children from the bunker he said and call the guards."