Yuri Hanae

* Design-1
* Design-2

## Image warning

*This is only a rough appearance to give you an idea of what she might have looked like.*

## **Personality:**

Yuri was a good-natured girl with an easygoing personality; She is almost always seen with a gentle smile on her face. Yuri also had an unrealistic dream of someday being able to live peacefully alongside demons despite all the suffering and death they have inflicted on humans. She also held compassion and sympathy for demons only because they have never hurt her or her family. The fact that she held sympathy for them led to her feeling insecure about what side she was on since it was highly controversial for a demon slayer, especially a Hashira, to feel anything except hatred for demons. Yuri knew she shouldn't, but she did.

## **Background:**

Yuri Hanae was born into a merchant household as its eldest daughter. Three years later, her younger sister was born. Both of them were raised by a loving and caring family. Unfortunately, time is a bastard, and life is a b1tch. When Yuri was 12 years old, her parents were killed by roaming bandits (the Sengoku Era was a lawless period in Japanese history, so bandits were common occurrences). She and her sister were taken captive by them and sold off as slaves.

Yuri and her sister worked as slave girls for two whole years in various places. Life was miserable, and Yuri barely had enough to take care of herself and her sister. She had thought of escaping, but the opportunity never arose. Yuri began to lose hope. But then, one day, a man by the name of **Hideyoshi Ubayashiki** **(產屋敷 秀吉)** arrived at her workplace. Hideyoshi took pity on the two girls and decided to set them free for a large sum. The two girls were finally free from the shackles of oppression. But now they were without direction in life. Their previous life had been destroyed, forsaking any hope of returning to normal. So, Yuri decided to follow the man who set them free around.

Yuri and her sister followed Hideyoshi back to his residence, where Hideyoshi explained his situation: he was the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, a perilous profession, which is why it was a bad idea to follow him. Hideyoshi advised Yuri to return to normal life and not get involved. But Yuri, determined to help in any way she could, refused. Thus, Hideyoshi recommended her to a trainer.

Coincidentally, the trainer Hideyoshi recommended Yuri to was also training someone who would become the Water Hashira of the time. During her training, Yuri developed an interest in creating herbal medicine from red spider lilies. Yuri developed a lively friendship with her senior and passed the final selections together.

In her early days as a demon slayer, Yuri often treated wounded demon slayers with her herbal medicine made from red spider lilies: although its seeds and flowers are poisonous, its other parts are very useful in medicine. Its roots are a treatment for swollen and ulcerated tissue, while its bulb is used to neutralize poisons or as plasters for burns or other cuts. The cure worked surprisingly often and well, and Yuri quickly made a name for herself as a healer. Her younger sister also trained as a demon slayer under her former trainer.

A 17-year-old Yuri was present at the Demon Slayer gathering when Yoriichi arrived at the Demon Slayer Corps HQ to demonstrate his breathing techniques at the request of Hideyoshi Ubayashiki. Yoriichi then began teaching his breathing style to other demon slayers. Yuri was unable to master it, so Yoriichi taught her a modified style that focused on flexible movements (it became Water Breathing later). Yuri modified it further into a graceful combat style she used in conjunction with her vision. She named this breathing style after herself (the 'Hana' in her surname means 'flower'). Thus, Flower Breathing was born.

Because she felt oppression more than enough, Yuri never developed a taste for inflicting it upon anyone, even demons. She focused on using Flower Breathing to kill demons as painlessly as possible. When Hideyoshi Ubayashiki was assembling the first generation of Hashira, Yuri was picked as a candidate (there were almost no female demon slayers at that time, and the fact that she got picked over another male said a lot). She moved into one of the eight Ubayashiki-financed mansions (Enjūro Rengoku already had one) and became the head of the Demon Slayer medical staff based in her Spider Lily Estate (which would eventually become the Butterfly Estate centuries later).

## **Trivia:**

* Yuri's surname contains the kanji for "flower" (花 *Hana*) and "river" (江 *e*). Her first name "Yuri" (百合) meant "lily".

* Because there were barely any female slayers, HQ never felt the need for a special female uniform. Thus, the few female slayers wore male uniforms (black kimono jacket, black hakama). Yuri never seemed to mind this.

* Yuri was the first female Hashira in demon slayer history. She gained a fellow female Hashira when the Phoenix Hashira was picked.

* Her trainer taught her how to cure simple wounds with herbs.

* Red spider lilies were often grown around rice paddies to fend off mice with their poison. Yuri saw it during her time as a slave girl and accidentally discovered its medicinal use when she needed a bandage. This led to Yuri using red spider lilies later.

* Yuri grew a lot of Wisteria around her estate and various medicinal herbs in her gardens, including red spider lilies. Her estate is the largest of the nine Hashira estates as it doubles as a hospital.

* In the middle of the garden, Yuri planted a small cherry blossom tree. She named it "Victory" and cared for it every day (It grew to a magnificent size centuries later and is the same tree to which Kanao reported their success against Muzan in Chapter 204).
* Yuri detested arsonists.
* Yuri might have been more powerful than Kanae Kocho/ Kanao Tsuyuri since she created Flower Breathing and knew it the best.

## **Yuri viewed the other Hashira as follows:**

* *"Hmm... he is a good person at heart, but I think he should reconsider his pace a little."* - about the Flame Hashira.
* *"I almost think that his memory disorder is caused by him ingesting red spider lilies. That's why they're also called "flowers of oblivion."* - about the Mist Hashira.
* *" I often talk to him about how to properly interact with women."* - about the Thunder Hashira.
* *"He is a Buddhist monk, so he has a different definition of red spider lilies than me. I really like his calm demeanor."* - about the Stone Hashira.
* *"Hmm... my senior trainee. Yoriichi taught us two the same combat styles, but I did it differently. I like his ability to adapt. He should be more open about his past life."* - about the Water Hashira.
* *"He is never around when I look for him. He really lives up to his namesake and reputation."* - about the Shadow Hashira.
* *"My fellow female Hashira. She is a kind girl who often visits me for company."* - about the Phoenix Hashira.
* *"Hmm... I hope he doesn't trigger an aneurysm by being angry all the time."* - about the Wind Hashira.
* *" I still get confused about whether he is the older one or the younger one. Twins are often confusing."* - about Michikatsu Tsugikuni.
* *"Hmm... it's surprising how kind he is. He even took the time to modify his breathing style to suit my strengths. I respect him from the bottom of my heart."* - about Yoriichi Tsugikuni.