Yoriichi Tsugikuni/Relationships

Uta
Soon after he ran away from home, Yoriichi encountered Uta in the mountains at a paddy, standing still all by herself, while holding a bucket in her hands. After a while, Yoriichi asked her what she was doing. Uta replied that she was all alone now, as her family had died due to a disease and felt lonely. So, she decided to take some tadpoles to her home, but continued to stand still. As the sun began to set, she lowered her bucket and let the tadpoles go. Yoriichi asked her why she decided not to take them home with her, and Uta responded that she felt bad about separating the tadpoles from their parents and siblings. Then, Yoriichi offered to go with Uta instead, and she agreed.

Uta was very talkative, and contrasted well with Yoriichi's silent personality. She would talk all day and through her, Yoriichi learned for the first time that the rest of the world saw things differently than him. This lead to him discovering that being able to see through other living creatures was not something other people could do. As the pair lived together, they grew quite close and whenever they went out Uta would always grab Yoriichi's hand very tightly, as if holding a kite whose string had been cut loose.

Ten years after they first met, the two got married. The final month of Uta's pregnancy approached, Yoriichi had to leave her at home as he went to fetch a midwife, however upon returning he found that his wife and unborn child had both been slaughtered in cold blood by a Demon. Yoriichi was devastated by this, and spent a full 10 days embracing their corpses until a Demon Slayer passed by and advised him to bury them. Uta meant a great deal to Yoriichi, so he likely never married another woman after her, as he had no heirs. In addition, he would also carry a bag likely made from Uta's kimono with him, for the rest of his life. In his last conversation with Sumiyoshi, he confessed that his only desire was to live a quiet life with Uta and their child, emphasizing how she was the love of his life.

Muzan Kibutsuji
In their initial confrontation with one another for the first and only time, though Yoriichi showed no fighting spirit, hatred, or killing intent, he could perceive through his unique senses that, by destiny, he was born into this world to defeat Muzan and the reason that he held such incredibly gifted strength. Yoriichi was also able to accurately sense the Demon King's aura, which he describes as magma erupting from a volcano.

Despite succeeding in striking him in all his weak spots and cutting off his head using the unnamed thirteenth form of his Sun Breathing, Muzan managed to escape. He was informed by Tamayo that it would be unlikely for him to ever encounter Muzan again, as he would most likely remain in hiding till his eventual death. It was both his failing to killing Muzan and his brother Michikatsu turning into a demon that caused his banishment from the Demon Slayer Corps, which drove him to leave, but not before he left behind his earrings and Breath Style to Sumiyoshi Kamado. The guilt of failing into killing Muzan haunted Yoriichi for the rest of his life, as he knows countless more lives will be destroyed because of his failure.

Even after his natural death, Yoriichi still continued to haunt Muzan. He was severely traumatized from his confrontation with Yoriichi that he no longer faced the Demon Slayer Corps head on, as he feared the possibility of another Demon Slayer like him arising. Nearly five centuries after his death, Yoriichi's legacy guided the modern day Demon Slayers into destroying Muzan and atoning his life's greatest mistake.

Tamayo
Yoriichi met Tamayo at the same time as Muzan, first believing her to be one of his henchmen, but realized that it was incorrect after realizing that she was elated after witnessing that Muzan was close to death. After he escaped through scattering into pieces of flesh, Tamayo though hesitant at first agreed to assist Yoriichi in defeating him. It was due to Yoriichi's near fatal attacks towards Muzan that Tamayo's link to Muzan was finally severed. After informing him of all she knew about the Demon King, he allowed her to leave as he trusted that her unrelenting passion into killing Muzan would one day come to fruition. A prediction that came true centuries afterwards, as it was through her aid that the modern day Demon Slayers finally succeeded in destroying Muzan once and for all.

Michikatsu Tsugikuni/Kokushibo
He was Yoriichi's elder twin brother, who was born only a few moments before him. Due to being older, he was in line to be their father's successor while Yoriichi was to be sent off to a monastery when he was old enough. Yoriichi would be all alone by himself in their house while Michikatsu received all the attention as the heir to their father. Yoriichi would always cling to their mother and his brother found this to be pitiful. Michikatsu made his brother a wooden flute, and Yoriichi kept it with himself until the day he died. Yoriichi attempted to learn sword fighting alongside him and greatly outclassed Michikatsu's teacher, who his elder brother had barely even managed to strike throughout his training. When their mother suddenly died of an illness Michikatsu found out that she had been weak in her left side due to the sickness and deduced that Yoriichi always clinging to their mother was in fact to support her and Yoriichi left home because he knew that their father had been considering to make Yoriichi his heir after learning of his exquisite sword fighting skills. Michikatsu soon became jealous of his younger brother's powers.

After years of separation, he rushed to save Michikatsu when his forces were battling demons. Swiftly dealing with them all, Yoriichi turned around and apologised to his brother for being late and not being able to save any of his men. Michikatsu was greatly jealous of his younger brother and upon seeing him again those feelings reignited and he followed him into the Demon Slayer Corps. He couldn't use Yoriichi's Sun Breathing, so he created a new form of Breathing called Moon Breathing.

Confident in his and his brother's progress, Michikatsu once declared to Yoriichi that they were the greatest swordsmen of all time and that no one else would ever be able to rival them. Yoriichi disagreed and told his brother that they were but small droplets in the vast history of the world and that there would surely come a time where someone who surpassed them would appear and that they should feel secure with this knowledge. Still frustrated at his continued failure to overtake Yoriichi, Michikatsu's jealousy and his fear that death at a young age would rob him of the chance to grow even stronger spurred him into accepting Muzan Kibutsuji's offer to turn him into a demon when the man approached him. Michikatsu became Kokushibo and would eventually gain the position of Upper Moon 1. When Yoriichi learned of his brother's decision in the aftermath of his battle with Muzan, he was greatly saddened. This incident- alongside a number of other factors- led to Yoriichi's exile from the Demon Slayer Corps.

Many decades later, an elder and wizened Yoriichi encounters his brother one last time and prepares to battle him. He felt sorry for Kokushibo with tears in his eyes before steeling himself. The brothers both attack each other but it is Yoriichi who gets the hit in, slicing his brother deeply through the neck, leaving him but one blow away from death. However, Yoriichi lowers his blade and it sinks into the ground, with him leaning on it as he dies before delivering the final strike. Angered at yet another failure to even land a hit on his brother, Kokushibo slices through Yoriichi's dead body in sheer rage. He sees an object fall out of his brother's kimono and upon closer inspection realizes that it is the flute he had made for him in their childhood. Kokushibo tears up, saddened by it but unable to move past his inferiority to his brother. Regardless, the flute would remain with him until his own death centuries later.

Akeno Tsugikuni
As a child, Yoriichi often stuck by his mother's left hand side. This puzzled Michikatsu, whom later found out it was because his mother was nearly paralyzed on the left side of her body. When she died, Yoriichi left immediately. Akeno loved both Michikatsu and Yoriichi dearly as she did not allow her husband to kill Yoriichi, due to his mark. It can also be implied Yoriichi loved her as much as she did.

Sumiyoshi Kamado
Sumiyoshi and Yoriichi met for the first time when Yoriichi saved the latter from a demon attack. After the encounter, it is evident that Yoriichi and Sumiyoshi became good friends, in spite of not seeing each other very often.

After Yoriichi was banished from the Demon Slayers, he decided to visit Sumiyoshi, because he was the first person who came to mind when Yoriichi wanted to talk to someone about how difficult his life has become. He begins to explain his entire story, his beginnings and his life with Uta, as well as the moment where he met Muzan and Tamayo, let them escape, learning how his brother became a demon and his subsequent banishment from the Demon Slaying Corps.

Sumiyoshi was left speechless at the end, with only tears streaming down his face when Yoriichi spoke of his great regret of letting Muzan live. He then saw his daughter give Yoriichi the support he was unable to give, her laughter upon being lifted causing him to break down in tears. His wife came to support him as well, offering a meal to help him feel better. Sumiyoshi would watch intently when Yoriichi perform the forms of his Sun Breathing to entertain Suyako, remembering all the moves in detail. Just before Yoriichi left, he gave Sumiyoshi his Hanafuda earrings, when Sumiyoshi realized he would never see Yoriichi again and as Yoriichi left, Sumiyoshi promised to keep the earrings and told Yoriichi to never think he never accomplished anything and that he would carry on Yoriichi's legacy, to which Yoriichi replied "Thank You" with a happy smile on his face, before leaving.

Suyako Kamado
Suyako, just like her husband, recognizes Yoriichi as both a close friend and a talented swordsman. Upon returning home from the forest, she found and saw Yoriichi crying as he hugged Sumire. She immediately came to his support and told him she would feed him till he was satisfied, asking him to cheer up. Suyako was also amazed at the forms of his Sun Breathing, asking him to perform them. He did so, to her delight. She became saddened when he would never see them again but saw his delighted smile when Sumiyoshi voiced his promise to preserve the Sun Breathing via his descendants.

Sumire Kamado
Due to Yoriichi's quiet nature and Sumire's very young age, the two never closely interacted. But it can be presumed that Yoriichi would have cared for her as a member of his friend's family. Sumire, on the other hand, seemed rather fond of Yoriichi. Because she loved being lifted up and Yoriichi was much taller than her father, she enjoyed being lifted high by him. Unbeknownst to Sumire, her joyful laughter gave Yoriichi the emotional support he needed after telling Sumiyoshi the story of his life and regrets. She kindly offers him a flower later on and happily watched him perform all of the Sun Breathing's forms at her mother's request.