Kotoha Hashibira

Kotoha was a beautiful young woman who closely resembled her son, though her features were noted to be softer than his. She wore her long black hair gathered into a bun and shared Inosuke's emerald green eyes.

Her attire consisted of a green kimono patterned with flowers, paired with a dark obi finished with an obijime and obiage.

Kotoha was gentle and loving, quick to show gratitude to those around her. She cherished Inosuke above all, singing him lullabies and vowing to protect him no matter the cost. She warmed to Doma at first because he had given her refuge from the abuse she had suffered.

By Doma's account she was naive and innocent, perhaps because her kindness, combined with partial blindness from the beatings she endured, left her slow to grasp his real nature. Even so, he conceded she was perceptive enough to eventually realize that he was a demon preying on his own followers.

Kotoha gave birth to Inosuke at seventeen or eighteen while trapped in an abusive marriage and tormented daily by her mother-in-law. In the middle of a violent fit by her husband, she sank her teeth into his hand, scooped up Inosuke, and fled barefoot through the snow. With nowhere safe to turn, she reached the Eternal Paradise Faith cult and took shelter among Doma's worshippers, while Doma killed her pursuing husband and his mother for being a nuisance.

She lived contentedly with her son until she suspected the followers were being devoured. After confronting Doma, she fled with Inosuke but was trapped against a cliff. In her last moments she apologized to him and threw him into the river to spare his life before Doma killed and consumed her. Years later, during Inosuke's battle with Doma, the demon recognizes his face and recounts her fate, finally revealing to Inosuke that his mother had truly loved him.