Michikatsu Tsugikuni (2024)

Moon Hashira:[]

Personality:[]

Michikatsu is reserved, silent, and aloof, he rarely speaks; when he does, he talks in a slow and emphatic manner that gives more gravitas and authority to his words. He is an adamant rule-follower, punctual. Michikatsu is shown to be humble as well, and he did not hesitate to admit his failure or complain of any difficulty. Though, there seems to be something he was noticed to be having trouble with. Only few people has took a glimpse of this aforementioned problem Michikatsu held. There are rumors that Michikatsu is perhaps jealous of his twin brother; Yoriichi Tsugikuni. It is not yet to be confirmed.

Background:[]

Born in the Sengoku Period, Kokushibo's birth name was Michikatsu Tsugikuni. When he and his brother Yoriichi were born, twins were considered a bad omen, and when their father saw that Yoriichi had a strange birthmark on his forehead, he declared that he would kill Yoriichi. However, their mother Akeno Tsugikuni was outraged at his announcement, and an agreement was made that instead of being killed, Yoriichi would be sent to the temple and become a priest upon turning ten. Yoriichi and Michikatsu grew up very differently, Yoriichi being confined to a three-tatami room separate from the rest of the house and kept away from his brother. Michikatsu, who snuck around behind their father's back to see his brother, pitied Yoriichi, who was thought to be deaf until he was seven and clung to his mother's side at all time. At some point, he gave Yoriichi a flute he made as a gift.

Around when Michikatsu was seven, he was practicing sword swings while his brother watched. It was then that Yoriichi spoke for the first time, shocking Michikatsu; however, Yoriichi's declaration of his goal to become a samurai like his brother was dismissed, as he would be sent to the temple when he was ten. Nonetheless, Yoriichi continued to watch Michikatsu's training, and one day, one of their father's men offered to give Yoriichi some instruction. Though he only showed Yoriichi a basic stance, the boy was able to quickly land four blows on the man. This incident bewildered Michikatsu, who had never before landed a successful blow, and he begged his brother to teach him his secret.

To Michikatsu's disappointment, Yoriichi only expressed his distaste for combat and stated that he no longer wanted to become a samurai. However, during one occasion, Yoriichi mentioned that before he took a stance, he breathed deeply, examining his bone alignment, muscle contraction, and blood flow, implying an early form of the Sun Breathing style that Yoriichi would later adopt. This conversation caused Michikatsu to realize that for Yoriichi, the bodies of living things were transparent, causing him to pursue mastery of the blade with renewed intensity.

As Michikatsu continued training, he felt envious of his brother, believing he was squandering his natural physical talent. He also feared that, now that their father likely knew about Yoriichi's immense potential, their roles would be changed and he would be the one sent to the temple in Yoriichi's place. The night that their mother finally succumbed to her illness, he came to Michikatsu's room at three in the morning to tell his brother the news and bid goodbye to Michikatsu. Yoriichi expressed gratitude to his brother for giving him heart and fondly held the flute that Michikatsu had given him earlier. Michikatsu, however, was irritated, wondering how Yoriichi could treasure a flute that couldn't even play in tune, and watched his brother depart while saying nothing.

His jealousy of his brother only grew when he read his mother's diary following her death, which revealed that Yoriichi had known everything about their mother's illness from when she would die and the increasing weakness of the left side of her body, and had planned accordingly. From then, Michikatsu resented Yoriichi, who he realized to be not only physically gifted, but a genius as well. He wished for his brother's death and for the next few years, not hearing anything from him, he believed it to be true.

Ten years later, Michikatsu became a samurai and married a woman who gave birth to two of his children. One night, a demon attacked his camp and left him the only survivor, but was quickly killed by Yoriichi who came to his rescue and apologized for not being able to save his subordinates. Seeing the object of his hatred again and twisted by jealousy, Michikatsu abandoned his family and became a Demon Slayer to train with Yoriichi. He saw his brother attempt to teach the other Demon Slayers his own Breathing technique without success.

Regardless, he altered them to suit their own strength, creating the first Breathing Techniques. During that time, he trained alongside a Wind Breathing user and polished his sword skills together with them. Eventually, Michikatsu awakened a Demon Slayer Mark and developed a Breathing Style derived from Sun Breathing, later known as Moon Breathing. Despite this accomplishment, it left a bitter taste as it was still not as powerful as Yoriichi's own Sun Breathing.

As a Demon Slayer, Michikatsu was often prideful in the uniqueness of their generation, but was irritated by his brother's optimism when he brought up the fact that the pair had no successors in line for their unique Breathing Styles, Sun Breathing and Moon Breathing.

Trivia:[]

• Michikatsu's name contains the Kun'yomi/reading of the kanji for "to inherit, succeed" ( tsugi^?) and "country" ( kuni^?), while his first name contains the Nanori of the kanji for "sterness, severity" ( michi^?) and the Kun'yomi reading for "to prevail, victory" ( katsu^?). His father was the one who named him, as he believed Michikatsu would be strong and successful.
• Michikatsu finds bugs very unpleasant, when he often sees them. He'd go the opposite way or either try to find a person to hide it away. For context; Michikatsu is scared of bugs.
• Michikatsu once spoke to Yusuke about his fears about the demon slayer mark; death.

Michikatsu viewed the other Hashira as follows:[]

• "He hangs around me and Yoriichi alot, and is very optimistic. He invited us to lunch with him and Yusuke a few times. He seems very at-peace around Yusuke." - about the Flame Hashira.
• "We don't really talk." - about the Mist Hashira.
• "His dad and brother tried to kill me, but they failed. He's very weird around women." - about the Thunder Hashira.
• "He's...decent. I try to avoid chatting with him sometimes, but still respectable." - about the Stone Hashira.
• "She once referred to me as the younger twin by mistake. I have no opinion about her." - about the Flower Hashira.

• "I don't interact with him." - about the Shadow Hashira.

• "She compliments almost everybody she passes by, all the time. If there was such thing as perhaps...a 'Love' hashira, then that would fit her personality perfectly." - about the Phoenix Hashira.
• "He has a huge tendency of lashing out, and can get kind of rude sometimes. But I guess I could say he's decent, and really great to train with." - about the Wind Hashira.
• "I respect him. He always compliments me and my breathing style, and sometimes try to get me to open up about my envy towards...Yoriichi. He seems pretty content around Enjuro and Hanae. Mostly Enjuro though." - about the Water Hashira.
• "A nobody." - about Yoriichi Tsugikuni.