Giyu Tomioka's Story: Part 1

Giyu slays a pleading demon in the woods, then receives a crow's order to investigate deaths in the snowy mountains. In a northern post town, Shinobu Kocho learns from an old woman about a bear blamed for killing local Matagi hunters and senses something darker behind the rumor.

Outside, a girl named Yae is scolded for wandering into the mountains alone. The orphaned daughter of a hunter named Matazo, she has been seeking revenge ever since her father and his companions died. When Giyu tries to question her about a demon, the villagers mistake him for a suspect in a coal-burner family's murder and move to bind him. Shinobu intervenes, and a feverish Yae collapses.

While unconscious, Yae relives her wish to become a Matagi and the horror of finding her family dead, with her father feeding on a corpse. She wakes in a pharmacy, where Shinobu explains what demons are and offers help. Yae insists on avenging her own, but ventures back onto the mountain with her dog Taro. When Taro is beheaded by the demon, Yae shoots her transformed father, only for Giyu to leap in and sever the demon's arm, shielding her as Shinobu looks on.

Giyu and Shinobu are both drawn to a snowy village haunted by a supposed bear.

Yae's tragic history as the daughter of a murdered Matagi is revealed.

Shinobu explains the nature of demons and the Demon Slayer Corps to Yae.

Yae confronts the demon that was once her father, and Giyu steps in to protect her.

This 45-page chapter is the opening half of a two-part spin-off written by Koyoharu Gotoge and illustrated by Ryoji Hirano. It is the franchise's first spin-off series and is set shortly after Giyu's first meeting with Tanjiro and Nezuko. The story collects in the volume Stories of Water and Flame.