Prologue - The Night of Falling Stars

The winter had been unending.

Snow lay heavy on the mountains, a pale shroud over the world, and the wind howled through the valleys like the voices of the dead. Villagers on the lower slopes of Mount Fujikasane huddled in their homes, praying for warmth that never came.

Then, on a night when the moon was thin and the clouds thick, the wind stopped.

Silence fell—a silence so complete it felt unnatural. The clouds parted, revealing a sky so vast and clear it seemed to stretch into eternity. Then, from that dark ocean above, a single star fell.

It was slow, graceful, trailing a tail of silver light. Then another fell. And another.

Within moments, the heavens were ablaze. Thousands of stars rained down like silver fire, cascading in slow, beautiful arcs across the night. The snow caught their glow, shimmering as if the earth itself had turned to crystal. People emerged from their homes in awe, whispering prayers to the gods, wondering what omen had come upon them.

But far above, in a place no villager could reach, something far greater was unfolding.

At the mountain’s summit stood the Celestial Shrine, a place few mortals had ever seen. Its pale stone steps were worn smooth by centuries of wind, and its vermilion torii gate was faded but unbroken. Tonight, its courtyard glowed brighter than it had in a hundred years.

Shouen, the shrine’s lone keeper, had been tending the sacred fire when the first star fell. Drawn by a strange warmth outside, he stepped through the torii—and stopped.

At the gate’s base, half-buried in untouched snow, lay a basket.

Shouen’s heart pounded as he approached. Inside, wrapped in silk unlike anything he had ever seen, was a newborn girl. The fabric shimmered faintly, as if woven from threads of moonlight and stardust. Her tiny fists were curled, her breath soft and steady despite the cold.

But what truly stole his breath was her hair—longer than any newborn’s, silver-white and faintly glowing in the starlight.

Her eyes opened, and Shouen froze. They were gold, ringed with a halo of soft light that seemed to pulse in rhythm with the falling stars. The heavens themselves reflected in them.

The stars slowed. One, brighter than the rest, streaked directly overhead and bathed the child in a warm, celestial glow. Then it vanished beyond the horizon, and the sky returned to its quiet watch.

Shouen whispered a prayer, his voice trembling. This child is not of this world.

When the Master of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, arrived at the shrine hours later, the stars brightened upon his arrival, casting the newborn in an ethereal glow.

Shouen handed the girl to him with reverence.

“She came with the stars,” he murmured.

Kagaya gazed at her for a long moment, and a faint, knowing smile touched his lips.

“No,” he said softly. “She is the stars.”

And under the fading glow of that miraculous night, he named her:

Amaya Hoshigaki — Night Rain, Fruit of the Stars.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***