History: 30's & Up

By his thirties, Hiyashi was no longer being hunted as ruthlessly as he was before and, though it still took several years, he was able to slowly let people in again.

When he was in his late-thirties, he met a man named Ryoichi, who had flirted with the wrong woman in a tavern he was staying at, and started a bar fight. Hiyashi had stepped in right before it began, trying to help de-escalate the situation, but the people Ryoichi had pissed off just assumed Hiyashi was with the man and so they started swinging at him too.

After the tavern brawl, the two ended up becoming friends, and Ryoichi then introduced Hiyashi to his "niece", Riyame. They would occasionally run into each other or meet up, and Ryoichi would sometimes leave Riyame with Hiyashi if he were to ever go out on a more dangerous adventuring mission.

Being left in charge of a child after the 8 year gap between her and Yuzu left Hiyashi anxious at first, but when he saw how Riyame could take care of herself, his worry lessened overtime. About a year and a half ago, Ryoichi left her with him for the last time, saying that he was going on to a dungeon and would be gone for a month, maybe two at max. Then he never came back. Hiyashi has been doing his best to take care of Riyame in that time, and help her look for Ryoichi.

About six years ago, while Hiyashi was wandering through a village, he fell asleep on a bench and awoke to find a young girl, no older than 12, trying to pickpocket him. Instead of turning her in, Hiyashi offered to buy her a meal, and they got to talking. He learned the girl's name was Amara and that she'd been on her own ever since her parents disappeared when she was eleven.

She ended up asking if he would want to help her become an adventurer and, in that moment all he could see was Yuzu, so despite his gut telling him this was a bad idea, he agreed. The two have been together ever since, and she has become his daughter through and through.

Some time after that, he met Kuro, who was looking for Riyame in her shrine when Hiyashi happened to be there. Finding out he just wanted food, Hiyashi offered to buy him a meal, and they got to talking. Kuro made it known he wanted to become the #1 Diamond Rank Adventurer, and asked if Hiyashi wanted to join his team (along with Riyame and Amara). Hiyashi agreed, and he met Yama from there.

Hiyashi took to teaching Kuro martially, as the other girls were all magically gifted so he was of no help there, and got to know Kuro as a sassy kid with a lot of heart. Hiyashi quite enjoys taking Kuro out to meals after training, and is the kid he has the most fun subtly messing with.

Kuro did bring home a talking raccoon one day. Hiyashi has yet to fully understand how this happened.

Hiyashi and Yama's relationship is a bit more serious and on equal terms compared to the others. This is both because she is the oldest out of the four and Hiyashi recognizes that she's seen hell and deserves to be respected for it. All of the kids do. After learning what happened between her and her family, Hiyashi promised Yama that, so long as he is able, he would help her go home and save her brothers.

Now Hiyashi travels around with the kids, following instead of leading, to do whatever it is they want. This is their adventure, not his. He's just there to help them up if they fall, not tell them how to run.