Izumi Kawagami

A tegaki I did a couple weeks ago when I was feeling the itch to draw or otherwise be cranky.

She's a demon exorcist in the sense she cuts them down with a holy blade that she can communicate with, which causes bystanders to give her the funny look when she mutters words of endearment to her sword.

I came up with an impromptu backstory where she exists in the same fictional world as another OC of mine - Kagoshima no Tsubame.

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Izumi came from a once-prominent samurai family that unabashedly trained their women in marital arts - a societal faux pas at the time. Before they fell further they negotiated an arranged marriage between her and the son of one of the most powerful onmyodo families in the country.

The terms were simple for Izumi: bear a child.

Night and day her family relentlessly trained Izumi on how to be the ideal lady, which ultimately was a waste of time as her fiance liked her as she is - even if his family disagreed vehemently.

On the night they were wed, a pack of wild demons were terrorizing the capital; Izumi's husband rushed to stop them only to have his soul ripped from his body by the head demon. Before his soul could be devoured, Izumi slew the demon with a ceremonial blade she received as a wedding gift and promptly cut down the rest of the pack.

Though his soul was returned to his body, Izumi's husband was unable to wake up from his coma. Izumi tended to him the best she could and when all else failed, her in-law family begged her to kill him as they couldn't bear to see his body waste away.

From that point on, there were various rumours on how that story ended. Some said she loved her sword more than her husband and killing him granted her freedom from her arranged marriage. Some said she went mad with grief and ran away from the capital, sword in hand.

One particular rumour said her husband's spirit appealed to her in a dream to cut him down with her ceremonial blade so his soul will possess it, allowing him to always be with her as long as she kept the blade close. Her grieving in-law family had cast her out as they no longer had a son for her to bear a child with.

And now, Izumi wanders the lands with her husband - now a holy sword - cutting down demons everywhere they go.