Kyojuro X Reader - Blog Posts

I woke up and chose to torture myself 😍🤞🏻

A Letter.....Long Lost!

kyojuro rengoku x fem!reader

word count- 12.2k

synopsis- the discovery of an old letter from kyojuro rengoku's room shakes the world of tanjiro. he thought he fulfilled every wish of rengoku. however he missed one. tanjiro needs to deliver it to the one it was written for; but the letter has nothing written except a name 'y/n'. who is y/n and how will tanjiro find her?

genre/warnings- post war timeline/ mentions of death/ slice of life/ angst/ fluff/ lots of flashbacks/ kamaboko trio going on a quest to find reader/ emotionally unavailable parents/ just read it i swear it wont disappoint/ comfort/ scenes of rengoku and mitsuri training/ mentions of mugen train

a/n- i had this idea in my head and i literally wrote this in two days. Loosely based off a film I'm obsessed with...this is my first time writing a long fic. im hella nervous. it will have a sequel with a reincarnation au and smut. not fully proof read, ignore small errors.

Nezuko chimed in as urokodaki made his appearance. Soon more people will join in. Kanao and aoi are helping in the kitchen, making several dishes while inosuke is trying to get aoi give him some to taste.

Tanjiro and zenitsu are spreading out the mats for people to sit and get comfy.

“urokodaki sensei! Please come and join.” tanjiro said noticing his former teacher, carrying a huge basket wrapped in a cloth with water patterns similar to his haori. Nezuko trails behind him bringing another basket.

“i brought some mitarashi dango and some hanami-zake for everyone.” said urokodaki with a soft voice, that made nezuko wonder if he was smiling under his tengu mask.

It's been 2 years since the war ended. People lost their dear ones with a pain bearing smile. Some endured injuries that would sustain through out their life marking them as ‘crippled’; while some sacrificed themselves for the greater good.

Seasons changed since then.

So did several people.

People who turned their hearts into stone, heavy from guilt of their family dying; who suffered from the culpability of being protected…

“giyuu san’s here too, please sit inside with the others while we get the stuff ready.”

“yeah how's your sister? I brought her some new kimonos”

A mild smile forming on his lips.

Tanjiro’s eyes widened a bit. It's kinda still new to him seeing such a soft side of the guy who barely used to smile.

……have let their guard down, allowing themselves to move on, now that there's no more threat hanging in the air.

People who had been afflicted by the remorseful long sleepless nights of trauma; killing the one who once bore them in her womb; whose eyes had become dull and frantic, dying inside in agony…..

“oi tomioka! Move outta my way!” grumbled sanemi, throwing a box wrapped in a delicate green cloth in tanjiro's direction as he catches it with difficulty. Having a hand crippled like an old man is sure a poor thing, not that tanjiro minds that.

“ahh the scary guy's here again! Don't touch the box tanjiro. It must've been poisoned!!!” shouted zenitsu, panicking around, hiding himself behind tanjiro.

“What did you just say?” Sanemi’s eyes narrowed at zenitsu, veins becoming more prominent, ready to throw a first at the blonde head's face.

“Goddamn shinazugawa! Don't scare the kid…” said giyu, grabbing his wrist and pulling him inside. “Wh-you’re such a creep tomioka!”

“Kk.”

“Stop giving me that kanroji face!” sanemi said as shivers ran down his spine. Somehow a smiling tomioka was scarier than muzan to him.

…have let go of their distraught, accepting the dreams which they wanted for their loved ones. Fulfilling it in their place.

“Both of them are creeps!” Zenitsu said digging his nails into tanjiro's skin as he spit curses on them. “Zenitsu they are gone now, can you please give this box to kanao san, it smells of fresh ohagi.”

“I'm telling you…it's fuckin poisoned”

“It's not, zenitsu…don't be like that” tanjiro pushed him away with the box. He then took up a broom and started sweeping any other leaves that fell down from the trees.

Pink flowers blossomed everywhere, now that another peaceful season had arrived.

Kanao had suggested nezuko and aoi that they should spend time together this hanami festival. Nezuko and aoi agreed to that instantly. Thus this is how they ended up inviting everyone at tanjiro's, whose house was surrounded by a lots of cherry blossoms.

Kiyo chan naho chan and sumi chan were playing with tengen’s baby as Suma kept pestering urokodaki san for loosening his face mask (I can't blame my lil curious mommy). Makio was sure annoyed at her behavior while hinatsuru just chuckled. Murata sat stiff in the presence of four former hashiras.

Almost all of them had arrived. Except the rengokus.

Aoi brought them some appetizers, as they kept on chatting. After decorating the food all of them would join outside admiring the moment of bliss.

“Senjuro Kun and shinjuro san ain't here yet right?” Asked tengen.

“They haven't made their arrival yet” announced aoi, “however tanjiro san is waiting outside for them, the food is almost done, we can start after they get here”

“HAHAHAHA…. RUSHING IN LIKE A BOAR!!!” inosuke dashed in with a sakura onigiri in his mouth, from the kitchen. “WAhahhh scar guy!! Fight me!” As expected from inosuke, nothing could ever stop him. At first he was a bit spooked seeing a lot of people at once and sticked to aoi till his normal composure returned.

“Still that dumb boar head! Will he ever get mature?” Sanemi grumbled lazily. “I agree” said giyu, smiling at sanemi, which almost made his stomach churn. Tengen bursted out in laughter, “I see you are still in spirit huh? Quite flamboyant of you.”

“YEAH THE GOD OF MOUNTAINS INOSUKE SAMA IS ALWAY—” Aoi smacked him on his head and dragged him away while muttering some apologies to the hashiras.

“He's still much of energy…and his voice has become much hoarse ain't it? I still remember taking those kids on that mission. And this kid in particular was such a ruckus.” Said tengen, stretching his arms.

“Isn't it good to see all of us after so long without having to fear losing someone?” Said hinatsuru, makio and Suma smiled at each other.

“But we had already lost many people.” Sanemi sighed. He wished he could apologize to genya. If life ever gives him another chance he would like to be a little less aggressive.

“If you keep sulking like that, your brother will definitely curse you from heaven.” giyu took a gulp of the matcha tea, sanemi sent at tanjiro's a month ago.

“Now that there are no demons, you two get along with each other quite well don't you think so?” Tengen threw the snarky question at them.

“what the—”

“I wish rengoku could have seen you guys like this…remember the one time himejima san told us that oyakata sama wanted to see giyu smile….”

“See me smile?”

“Yeah, what a waste of time i swear.”

“Rengoku disappeared for a while to buy glasses in order to make giyu smile.” laughed tengen.

“It didn't work though and then kochou emotionally blackmail me to make him laugh.”

“Oh so this is why you wanted to have sake daikon with me?” Giyu smiled again at sanemi.

“I swear if you make that kanroji face again at me, I will kick you on your balls.”

“Everyone food’s ready, let's go and sit outside!!” Said nezuko halting the heated nostalgic conversation of the two.

Murata finally lets himself relax a bit as the hashiras start moving out. Urokodaki slammed a hand at his back, as he felt his stiff posture return. “Don't be so stiff we aren't gonna ask you to duel.” murata’s cheeks reddened in embarrassment as urokodaki laughed off at the kid's nervousness.

These days are indeed peaceful.

Senjuro made his appearance a bit late. He apologized for his fathers absence, blaming on his health. It's not been that best for a few days.

“Oh goodness, is he really going to be fine, we can go run a check up on him you know?” Kanao offered an idea, worried about the shinjuro’s health.

“Thanks a lot. Actually there's something that has been troubling us for a while.”

“Is everything okay?” Tanjiro's asked with concern lacing his eyes. Sanemi noticed, he had always been kind. He was kind to his brother. During hashira training when tanjiro stepped over the line, it actually made sanemi kinda happy and relaxed. Atleast genya had someone in life he could rely on.

Shinjuro's put down his bowl and chopstick on the mats as he brought his hand to his knees.

“There's something we found a month ago….while cleaning aniki’s room.”

Not only tanjiro but tengen, giyu, sanemi, zenitsu and inosuke froze for a second. The untimely death of the young guy was such a sad event that has ached their hearts for a long time.

Tanjiro could smell senjuro’s emotions and it was odd. It wasn't sadness, or guilt, or anger. It was pity. And somehow it stinged tanjiro, the same way it did years ago.

Senjuro took out some bunch of old papers from the sleeves of his yukata.

Tanjiro's throat felt dry and uneasy. It were a bunch of letters.

All of them looked like they were forgotten for months. The letter envelopes had stained yellow and some even have their edges teared off. But it sure emitted a strong smell. The smell of kyojuro rengoku. Tanjiro's still remembers the distinct hints of his aura. And it somehow still lingered around these letters. Especially the one which was sealed.

“What is it?” asked aoi, finally breaking the deafening silence. A strong gust of wind blew the pink petals along with the letters from senjuro's hand. It's scattered around the mats as all of them tried to collect them.

“Y….y/n?” read nezuko aloud. She hold the sealed letter in her hand as tanjiro extended his palm to grab it. It had tear stains. One side of it had brush marks written ‘to y/n’. The ink has now blurred a bit. But it was still readable.

“What's the meaning of all this?” Tengen asked, grabbing one of the opened letters in his hand. Giyu had hold of one reading in pure shock, while sanemi pondered from the side. Eyes as shocked as giyu’s.

“What happened tengen-sama?” asked makio, seeing all of their disturbed expressions. Zenitsu tried to snatch away the papers from inosuke who was trying to eat it.

“We found these letters from aniki’s room. A lady named y/n had sent those letters to him. An—?”

“And that lady was his lover?” asked giyu.

“What nonsense!”

“He never mentioned any of that to me.” frowned tengen.

“Nor did aniki said anything about it at home. At that time our father didn't pay us any attention. He was drowned totally in despair from the death of our mother. Seeing us only infuriated his anger and sorrow. Aniki would train or be at missions and he was rarely at home. He never told me anything about that….”

‘A letter?’ thought tanjiro. He started sweating all of a sudden. He thought he fulfilled all his wishes but—

“Rengoku san! Please think about yourself, can you stop the bleeding with your breathing technique?” Tanjiro has muttered those words back then, panickingly, devastatingly.

He wanted rengoku to say yes. He wanted him to live beside him, fight beside him, eat beside him. But he didn't get that as an answer.

“No, very soon i'll be dead. Before that happens, i need you to hear me out. I have a younger brother named senjuro. Please tell him to follow his heart. And walk down the path he feels is right.” Rengoku’s face had the same content smile, which warmed their hearts up. He continued, “And tell my father to look after himself…and lastly…”

Rengoku went on and expressed his views on nezuko. It felt like a warm hug. Someone has accepted nezuko. Not because they pitied her but since they saw her true potential and that she was no harm to humans. And now when he remembers it clearly, there was something rengoku whispered before his heart stopped pumping.

It was a faint whisper. So subtle that tanjiro thought it was his ears ringing. But now that he recalls, after he said he trusted them as a slayers, he whispered a few words

“and the lette—”

Rengoku stopped mid sentence as tanjiro kept weeping. He wasn't looking at tanjiro but something behind him. It made him smile as he took his last breath.

“Oni-chan? What happened? Are you okay?” Nezuko pulled tanjiro out of his daze. Everyone was looking at him worriedly. Even sanemi was worried.

“I've not fulfilled rengoku san’s last wishes. I- i haven't. I haven't delivered…how can I be so dumb!!”

“What? Tanjiro san! Calm down! You told us everything aniki wanted to say to us.” Senjuro tried to comfort tanjiro.

“No…before dying he whispered something. I thought my ears were ringing but he did whispered something. It was about a letter.” tanjiro kept on babbling as everyone felt dead silent even senjuro couldn't move his hands.

The sealed letter stayed in tanjiro's hands.

Something that belonged to the girl named y/n.

Something probably dear to kyojuro rengoku.

Some words which were waiting since 3 years.

But…..who is y/n?

The rest of hanami festival gathering went by silent. Senjuro entrusted the letter to tanjiro as per as his request before leaving early since he need to be home before sunset to check upon his father. Murata and urokodaki san accompanied him on the way.

“That's completely ridiculous. None of us have any idea who the fuck this y/n is? how are the fuck are you even planning to find her?” Sanemi spit out bitter words at tanjiro, sitting on the porch, watching the sun slowly turn a deep shade of orange. It reminded him of rengoku’s odd hair colour. It's funny how not only he, but his tsugoku also had weird hair colour— a colour which was dear to Iguro obanai.

Tanjiro lowered his head, smiling a bit. Sanemi changed a lot, even if he speaks harshly, he can only smell pure concern. “But I can't start a new life without paying my debts. Rengoku san saved my life. Whoever lady y/n is….I need to deliver this letter to her.”

“I get what you're saying…but there's no address in any part of the letter. Moreover you are being hesitant on opening it. How do you think you will find her then?” Tengen spoke from the back, alerting the former wind hashira and tanjiro. Both wondered how long he's been eavesdropping them. They expect nothing less. He was a hashira and before that he was a ninja. Even after losing one arm and one eye, he still holds the same power.

“Honestly, I've no idea. But I just can't sit and let it slide.” said tanjiro.

“you’re getting married to kanao next year. Better focus on that. Don't get into useless troubles hanging her off.” sanemi said lazily, yawning and getting up to his feet, stretching a bit. “I will be leaving then. Take care.” Tanjiro didn't reply to him.

Tengen shared a look with sanemi. His eyes shooting a mischievous look filled with pride. Tengen has been in a mission with tanjiro and he knows how stubborn he can be. He knows how pure of a heart he had. And how he even had empathy for demons. He knows sanemi have to surrender infront of him.

Annoyed, sanemi rolled his eyes, “if you're that insistent on finding the girl, then why not refer to kasugai crows. Rengoku's crow might know something about the girl.” He suggested as tengen was in literal awe. He never thought sanemi could ever think logically with his brain. Tanjiro’s head perked up in joy at his idea. Now he finally has a path to look up. Sanemi felt awkward and took his leave, avoiding to look in their eyes.

“Ah! Shinazugawa san! Thanks for the idea!!”

“That brat finally seems to work a bit humane ain't he ?!” A deep laugh bubbled up tengen’s throat.

“I’m happy that he has softened a little now that demons have perished. However, about rengoku san’s kasugai crow, do you know where do I get in contact with it?”

“About that, i would recommend writting letter to kiriya sama. I'm sure he would know.” Tengen patted his head with a reassuring smile.

Soon he took his leave with his wives and giyu, since they were going to an onsen. Basically makio Suma and hinatsuru dragged him along forcefully. Giyu looked a bit tired but he was happy.

Things changed and improved rapidly in a short time. Zenitsu and nezuko got married last year. Murata also got engaged. Tanjiro couldn't help but wonder if the lady named y/n had moved on or not? Will rengoku san be happy if she found someone else? Will he be sad? He looked at nezuko smiling at zenitsu as he played with kiyo, naho and sumi. He looked at inosuke giving his shiniest acorns to aoi. He looked at kanao, smiling delicately, just like shinobu did.

He was happy.

But was the lady named y/n happy in her life?

Kanao looked at him and smiled. She came near him and took his wrinkled hand in hers. “Tanjiro san, you know I would really like you to deliver this letter to y/n san before we start a new life.”

“Even if it takes time?”

“Even if it does. I will wait for you for an eternity.” Tanjiro chuckled as red tints his cheeks. How pure kanao’s heart is? How did he get so lucky to have her in his life? God knows.

“Then I will write a letter to kiriya.”

After a few days, a letter arrived from ubuyashiki's. Along with that two kasugai crows were found circling over the house. Among them one belonged to tanjiro, when he was a demon slayer— tennoji.

The other was the one who accompanied rengoku till his last breath. Kiriya felt sad for rengoku and wrote his kind regards to tanjiro sending the crow to him. His name was kaname.

The crow looked pretty much normal and wasn't as hot -tempered as tennoji.

This was the first time tanjiro had seen him. “Hello, kaname san. Sorry for summoning you all of a sudden. But I wanted to ask you something…” the crow didn't reply, but tilted his head at tanjiro.

“I-ahh- do you know anything about a lady named y/n?”

The crow remained quite for a while, as if reminiscing the days which followed great sorrow. “Master's…y/n sama…master's lover…letters…”

His words were what tanjiro was expecting. Tanjiro finally saw a path clear.

“Can you tell me where she lives?” Asked tanjiro hopefully.

The crow shaked his head,“i don't know.”

Slightly disappointed, tanjiro started asking how she looked. The crow wasn't exactly able to describe her. Accepting his defeat, he asked the crow where he saw her for the first time. Maybe if he goes there, he will be able to find her.

“tokyo…capital…mission..”

the crow wasn't that helpful, they only got to know two things.

First- whoever this y/n is, she was rengoku's lover.

Second- rengoku's crow saw her in tokyo, the capital.

This indicates maybe rengoku and the people who went to the mission in tokyo as said by the crow, if alive, they might know something about it. Tanjiro wrote updates to the others.

A few days later, giyu’s letter came along with some sweets. In that he wrote that rengoku went to tokyo for a battle with lower moon 2 back then. Oyakata sama had assigned him to that mission, before he was a hashira. There were a bunch of people accompanying him, one of them being kanroji mitsuri.

Oh! Mitsuri kanroji was his tsugoku, tanjiro almost forgot about that, he got excited to ask her when reality struck him down. She died after the war. Even if she knew y/n tanjiro couldn't ask her.

He continued reading the letter from giyu as the path which formed in his mind started getting blurry.

Upon hearing from tanjiro, kanao dropped by at the kamado’s. She said she might have one way to get to know about y/n. Tanjiro's eyes perked up at kanao’s remark, which almost made kanao’s heart jolt since he was so cute.

Kanao explained, when shinobu was alive, she had once told her that mitsuri was close to a kakushi couple. She further said that mitsuri used to write letters to them about her missions on a regular basis. Those two even came to congratulate her when she was promoted to hashira. She said it was nice to see that a girl around her age so lively.

Tanjiro wrote a letter to kiriya again. And next week when tanjiro went out with inosuke to sell some charcoal in the city, a couple came to visit them.

Nezuko welcomed them, while zenitsu narrowed his eyes on them, especially upon the male.

When tanjiro returned home he was delighted to find the kakushi couple still waiting for him. They didn't hide their faces anymore. Dressed normally as regular citizens. Honestly they were pretty young, and tanjiro admired how they served the corps group keeping them intact.

“I'm so glad you both came.” Tanjiro bowed infront of them in gratitude.

“Oh no, that's completely fine. We are happy to be of any help. Oyakata sama said you wanted to know about mitsuri.” said the woman.

“Ahh not exactly about her, but for instance, do you have any idea if she ever mentioned a name called ‘y/n’?” tanjiro said pulling inosuke back beside him as he kept munching on the snacks for the guests. The guy gave him a creeped stare as he focused back on tanjiro's words.

“y/n? No I don't think so….she ever mentioned that name. Did she tanaka san?” The woman said.

Tanjiro felt anxious as the guy named tanaka tilted his head to think a bit.

“Nope I don't think she did.”, he clarified.

“Oh….” Tanjiro's voice was barely a whisper, that even inosuke sat straight checking if he's alright.

“Is there something else we can do, tanjiro kun? You look upset.”

“No no…it's fine. I was just trying to deliver a letter to rengoku san's love—”

“Rengoku san? Kanroji san’s master ain't it?” Tanaka spoke before tanjiro could finish his sentence.

“Yeah.”

“Oh my god? The one whom rengoku san loves was y/n?”

“You guys know her?” Hope shined bright in tanjiro's eyes. So did a fervent fear. Fear of disappointment. Fear of not being able to pay his debts. Fear of not fulfilling rengoku san's last wish.

“We didn't know about her name but kanroji san used to tell us about her…isn't it shimi san?” The guy turned to his wife with a fuzzy smile on his face.

“Yeah, she seemed so happy, wanting to have a love like them.” Said the wife.

And for the first time till now tanjiro wasn't let down. “Really? Did she lived in tokyo? Rengoku san's crow said he saw her for the first time during a mission.”

“A mission? No.” The wife let out a chuckle, “it started way before that. Kanroji san said….. ”

“Ahh! Master! Can we please have a break! I'm tired from hitting the sword, my limbs are sore.” Mitsuri cried barely holding another strike from her master.

“Haha you got tired this fast, we haven't even started.” the blazing hair resembling fire, moved swiftly as the guy attempted another strike on mitsuri, but thanks to a call outside, he stopped midway.

“Wait a bit, I will be back in a while.” Said kyojuro rengoku, her master. ‘i will be happy if you don't come back for a while.’ she thought as she collapsed on her knees, to exhausted to move.

“Ahh senjuro kun! Bring me some snacks please!!!” She shouted hoping for the little kid to hear.

A bit later, rengoku comes back. Senjuro looked at his elder brother, frowning while holding a letter. Mitsuri sat beside senjuro, who brought her some onigiris.

“What's that master?” She asked, stuffing another onigiri in her mouth.

“Even I'm confused. It's a letter but it wasn't delivered by a kasugai crow but by a postman.”

“Huh? Maybe it's from some neighbour wanting to lower your voice while eating.” Senjuro said shrugged off his shoulders as mitsuri suppress her laugh bubbling on her throat, almost choking on rice. It wasn't an irregular thing that neighbors anonymously complained about kyojuro shouting ‘umai’ every time he ate.

“Open it.” Said senjuro, curious what type of sarcastic words they might have chosen now.

Kyojuro did as his little brother requested. However kyojuro didn't reacted after reading the letter.

“Today's practice is over. You can relax.” He, then ordered senjuro to boil him some bathwater, shooing him away.

Senjuro obeyed his brother, while mitsuri felt kinda odd, yet she was happy to have a day off.

As soon as both of them left the backyard, rengoku blushed like crazy. The letter was still in his hand as he tried to digest the words.

“A love lett—” a big palm shut mitsuri’s mouth, preventing her from shouting. Yet she was squealing. “I thought you left! You've gotten quite quick in sly footing didn't ya? I'm impressed.” He finally removed his hand from mitsuri's mouth.

“Ofcourse you made me practice for 23 hours without sleep. Anyways, what's written in that?”

“Do you want me to make you practice for 2 days straight?”

“Naah I'm fine! But master, I'm happy.”

“Okay.”

“And curious too. Please let me read it.”

“No!”

After shooing mitsuri out of the backyard he tucked the letter in his sleeves. This letter was sure weird.

“Rengoku san thought that she didn't read the letter, but she had a strong memory and could remember each word after seeing it once. She was so excited telling us about that.” said the wife, looking outside the window at the moon.

The flame of the lantern flickered a bit. “So that might mean that the letter should be among those papers…”

“Woah zenitsu! I thought you were asleep?!”

“How am I supposed to sleep if you're talking that loudly idiot!”

Yeah the paper. There were a lot of papers. Some were smudged and unreadable, so they didn't read all of them. Tanjiro went over their cupboard and brought the bunch of papers.

“Can you identify the letter among them?” He asked the guy to inspect. The couple looked at each other. “Maybe we can try but the writings aren't clear.”

“Please if you can. I need to deliver that letter.” tanjiro bowed his head down begging to the couple.

“You're a nice kid, Tanjiro kun. We will surely help you.”

It's been more than twenty minutes since they are reading each and every paper. Inosuke got bored and slept on the tatami mats. Nezuko was already asleep so they didn't wanted to bother her.

“Yeah maybe this one. From what Kanroji san had explained, this seems to be the one.” The guy tanaka handed the delicate piece of paper to tanjiro.

“However, in each of these letters, she referred herself as his wife…I didn't know he was married…?”

“Huh?” Tanjiro frowned upon the man's words. ‘what?’ he checked the letters again. And the guy was right, y/n did refer herself as his wife. They didn't read the papers as carefully since they were long, they just assumed she was his lover. But rengoku san wasn't the one to hide such crucial information.

Tanjiro was confused, they were so focused on finding the address of y/n that they ignored reading the letters, which could provide information about her.

Tanjiro spent the entire night reading each word carefully. Fingers running across elegant handwriting and smudged ink. As he kept reading those with a pain in his heart. There were in total 7 of those letters, which were written to rengoku. And the one which tanjiro kept seemingly in care— the sealed one; one which has a strong smell of rengoku’s aura; one with tear stains.

The couple spent the night in their house and left the next morning after breakfast.

This helped but not that much. However the path had become clearer.

He knew that the girl was from a nice family who had hands in education from the curves in each characters of her words.

Second, she had mentioned that he had saved her and her friends from a fire, in yokaichi.

“I'm leaving for yokaichi.” Said tanjiro during breakfast.

“Eh? Oni- chan?”

“Don't worry nezuko, oni-chan will be back soon.”

“I will also go!” Said inosuke, “inosuke-sama will protect kamaboko gonpachiro, his minon from any harm.”

Tanjiro chuckled at how inosuke shows his care for him, “fine then.”

“Zenitsu san you also go with them…”

“Ehh, but nezuko chan won't you be lonely without me? I know you will be lonely without m—”

“I won't. You guys will be back soon. Till then I will be at butterfly mansion.”

“B-but nezuko channn!!!!” Inosuke dragged him away as nezuko watched the poor soul. She felt bad but she wanted him to be with her brother. She just felt that the three of them should go together.

The three of them finally reached yokaichi town. It was small but quite dense in population. Tanjiro felt that this was an advantage for them since they stories and folks might spread fast in a vast social surroundings.

“Inosuke, zenitsu let's ask the older citizens first, since they might be living here for a while, they must have known about any fire incidents.”

“I was about to say the same thing as you.” Snorted the board masked guy rushing off in the east direction. Zenitsu simply nodded and went in the opposite direction, sulking. He has been giving tanjiro silent treatment since he had to leave nezuko alone.

Tanjiro sighed as he started finding old citizens nearby asking about a fire incident.

After asking a few of them, he sighed, it didn't really do any help, since many weren't able to hear and some weren't able to remember. When he asked the youngsters, they ran away seeing his old crippled hand.

Tanjiro, let down, returned to the spot where they had started searching. Inosuke was already there tapping his feet as he was waiting for the others.

“Did you find anything?” Asked tanjiro.

“Nahh! They were mere cowards. Running way from me. Though I liked it! Everyone should fear the great inosuke sama.” As expected from inosuke, zenitsu was yet to return. Both of them decided to wait till he comes back.

After a while, zenitsu came back. His sulking still hasn't tailed off. “Ahh zenitsu! Did you find anything? You took so long!!”

Zenitsu didn't reply.

He stared at him with dead eyes.

Oh god! Zenitsu’s moody phases are the worst, especially if it's an urgent task. The whining and sulking from a few years ago flashed in front of tanjiro’s eyes.

“You turned mute or what?” said inosuke, already having enough of zenitsu’s tantrums.

But the only reply that came from the blonde was an eye roll. Inosuke got pissed, ready to throw hands at him if not stopped by tanjiro.

“Zenitsu, I will get nezuko chan make sweet washagis for you when we get back home.”

“Really!! You better do that. I can't even explain how much I've missed my dear wife nezuko chan. She must be so lonely without me.” Babbled zenitsu, finally speaking for the first time till they left home.

“She won't.”

“Stop making snarky comments you stupid boar head. What do you even know about pure love between me and nezuko chan?!!!”

“Ahh zenitsu! Did you get to know anything?”

Zenitsu considered tanjiro a while, before giving in, “At the very west of this town, there's an inn. People said it almost burned down about four years ago…I looked for its owner but they said he will be back late.”

Tanjiro let out a breath. If that's the case, then the owner might remember the incident clearly. If only he could provide any useful information.

“Btw do you really believe whoever this y/n is…she's still alive?” Zenitsu scratched the back of his neck, shooing away the mosquitos ready to feed upon his blood. It's been long three of them are waiting in front of the inn for its owner to arrive.

“Let's just not lose hope.” The inn did looked like it suffered severe consequences from whatever happened 4 years ago. Most of it has been repaired but the aura and the smell can still be recognised. There are still some wooden planks with burn marks which are yet to be repaired.

“May I ask who you three are?”

A chilly voice turned their attention. There stood a thin, frail boy, barely an adult. His eyes were small with hair falling down on his brows. He speculated about them with a suspicious look in his eyes(especially on the boat masked guy). Was he the owner? He looked too young for that.

“Ahh good evening! I'm tan—”

“If you're wanting to stay the night, go somewhere else, I'm not opening the inn today.” He replied coldly before tanjiro could even introduce himself.

“Ahh no, you're misunderstanding…. actually we are here to ask you something about the incident four years ago…”

The look on the boy’s face changed from suspicion to disgust.

“Well…I don't wanna talk about it. You guys can leave.”

“No please, at least hear our questions. It's really important.”

“As if I care.”

“Hey fucker! If you don't answer I'll break each and every bone in your body.”

“Stop it inosuke!” This isn't going any better. It's almost night, they also need to find a place to stay.

“tanjiro can you move aside a bit” said zenitsu, without waiting for his reply, he went to the kid. Apparently he whispered something in his ears which seemed to have creeped the guy out.

Tanjiro gulped. He must be desperate to go home and see nezuko. Sometimes he forgets that their coward friend can be hell scary when it comes to nezuko.

“Okay. He's ready to spill anything he knows.” The look on the kids face made it clear he didn't wanted to recall anything about that incident. However tanjiro had no choice but to push him off the edge.

“Hey I'm sorry if we're causing you any trouble, but you know we really need to know anything you know about a girl named y/n.”

“Y/n?”

“Yeah. Heard it before?”

“No. There were none with this name.”

“Eh? Can you try to recall. There must be someone. A girl who was saved by rengoku san. A guy whose hair was similar to fire.”

“Kyojuro rengoku you mean? He pretty much saved everyone. The inn you see here, is small. Before the incident also it was small and not that popular. Only a few people stayed here occasionally. So I can be sure there was no one named y/n.”

An ‘oh’ is just what tanjiro could manage. The boy got inside the house behind the inn. The night fell and they were still in the same position as before.

Inosuke was throwing tantrums in hunger, so they decided to go to an udon shop nearby. Perhaps they should not lose hope. Thinking empty stomach is not always the best option. This they were sitting in the shop waiting for their order to come.

“But she did mention in those letters that she was saved by him. How come the owner doesn't know anything about that?”

“I already told you we should have broken his bones, monjiro.”

“I think it's useless, let's just go back home to my nezuko chan.”

“Zenitsu! What if you were in place of rengoku san? Would you be happy if your last words don't reach nezuko?” zenitsu went silent at that.

They stayed silent till three bowls of hot udon were placed infront of them. Tanjiro and zenitsu thanked the server for the food whereas inosuke just shoved his head into the hot udon bowl. “You guys seem a bit tense, is everything okay? Asked the old man, the owner of the udon restaurant.

“Yeah we're just a bit disappointed.” Said tanjiro. “Haha and why so? Got rejected by a girl? Can't blame her, it's your hand.” The old man pointed at tanjiro's crippled hand. “What happened that's it's such in a bad condition?”

“Oh! It's…from…from a fight.” Tanjiro smiled, it's hard to offend him anyway,“ i already have a fiance and we are getting married soon.”

“Oh my god! Please forgive my mean words then. I wish you both happiness.”

“Thank you.”

“Then why pull a sad face. My udon tastes the best when you eat it with a good mood, ya know?!”

“Haha, I'm sure it will still taste good. Actually we were here wanting to acquire some information about the fire incident 4 years ago.”

“Oh that was such a bad one. If there wasn't that guy everyone would have lost their life…”

“Rengoku san? You mean?” Tanjiro's eyes perked up. “I see, you know kyojuro. Yeah, that boy was a regular in my shop. Although it's been more than three years since he last visited, i wonder how he's doing? Tell him to visit once, the old man misses him.” the man bursted in laughter while the three of them couldn't even managed to smile even once.

How are they even supposed to tell him, tell him that, “rengoku san died three years ago while saving us from…” zenitsu's voice trailed down into nothingness. So did the old man's. They didn't knew if he's aware about demons so they didn't exaggerated it anymore.

No one spoke for a while.

“I see. What did you guys want to know then? I'm sure you were close to him if he gave up on his life for you all…”

“do you know anyone named y/n? I need to deliver this letter to her.” tanjiro took out the yellow stained letter and handed it to the old man, who squinted his eyes on the writings, drawing a wrinkled finger tracing it's shapes.

“Y…y/n…..yeah she asked me to send some letters to his residence. The kid was young and beautiful.” he returned the letter back to tanjiro.

“She did?!”

“Yeah…that kid almost begged me to not tell kyojuro anything about that.”

The three of them looked at each other. “Can you tell us more about her?” “Do you know where she lives?” “Can I get a refill?” The three of them threw questions at the old man's face, whose lips creaked a bit. “Hmm, I don't know where she lives but I can tell you about her.” He said taking inosuke’s bowl to the counter for another refill.

The restaurant was almost empty so they went and sat on the round seats opposite of the counter.

“It was about four years ago when she appeared in my shop after kyojuro left….”

“umm excuse me…” you said

“Yeah young lady, what would you prefer?” asked the owner pointing at the chart hung on the wall which displayed all the items on the menu.

“I will take a hot tempura udon please.” said the girl beside you.

“And you miss?” The owner directed the question towards you. “Umm I will take anything you prefer.” “Ehh is that so? Fine, I'll make you the tastiest bowl of my special udon.”

“Just tell already…!” The girl beside you whispered into your ear, which was audible to the owner, he chuckled a bit. “Can you shut up….!!”

“I will if you say it…!”

“Okay fine!”

“Umm…if you don't mind, is there any way you can ask the address of the man who just left a while ago?” you asked hesitantly, fiddling with your fingers.

“Kyojuro you mean? I already know his residence, he made me deliver udon to his place before.” the owner said trying to keep his composure, young kids are just so bold nowadays.

“Is that so?” your eyes shined dreamily.

“Why harbored a crush on the man you saw a few mins ago? Hahaha!!” you felt blood rush to your cheeks as you couldn't find words to answer his question.

“She wants to thank him for saving her.” said the girl beside you. “Atsuko!” Atsuko just gave a smirk, ignoring how she threw you in such humiliation.

“Ah…if you don't mind then can you please deliver this letter to him anonymously. Don't tell him I asked you to send it. Please…I can pay you for that..”

“I don't need any payment. I will do that. You can just come and enjoy my special udon sometimes.” the owner accepted the letter from your hands, tucking it in his sleeves. “And maybe watch that man you talked about…he comes here around weekends.” The man hinted you the place which kyojuro normal has his lunch. And if you weren't blushing any harder, you felt your entire face burn with embarrassment. But you want to do it anyway.

Atsuko giggled beside you excited to see what happens next.

“So you delivered the letters in her stead?” asked zenitsu.

“Yeah…she kept coming back with letters for a good six months, if i remember correctly. Maybe kyojuro replied to them…”

It fell silent for a while. The only sound echoing was of inosuke slurping on the noodles.

“So, while you delivered letters rengoku san didn't knew her?” The guy with red eyes pointed the question at the owner.

“No i don't think so, she never came when he used to visit, that is, the weekends.”

“Can you tell us what was the name of her friend again?”

“Atsuko…if I remember correctly..”

“Can you describe how she looked?”

“Ehh? I can't really remember people's faces clearly, but she was very beautiful, big eyes with a nice soft skin. Her hair was long and dark. She had a soft voice. She looked like she belonged from a privileged family. So did her friend.”

“Oh is there anything specific you remember about her?”

“Hmm…let me think…if I'm not wrong rengoku once mentioned her name to a boy who tagged along with him. If you go to him i believe he could provide you some answers.”

“Really? Who was he?”

“His name was….daisuke I guess. He used to wear a similar black sort of uniform like kyojuro.”

After finishing their meal, tanjiro payed for everyone and thanked the old man for all that information. They went to a nearby inn and spent the night.

Tanjiro wrote some letters updating each one of their current status. And he sent a crow to kiriya requesting him to take a look if there's any former slayer named Daisuke and used to frequent his missions with rengoku.

The next day around afternoon, tennoji returned from ubuyashiki's. He said there was indeed a slayer named Daisuke. He had suffered severe injuries from the war and now lives in his village.

As directed by tennoji, tanjiro's crow, they went to the south east from their current position. After two days and one night of sleeping in the jungle without the fear of demons, a village appeared. It wasn't that populated. After asking a few kids, they showed the path which led to Daisuke’s hut.

“Umm excuse me? Daisuke san?”

“Yes, wh— ta…tanjiro….aren't you tanjiro?” the guy said, he was blind from one eye similar to tanjiro, with a missing arm and a limp leg. Tanjiro felt sorry for him.

“Yes, they are inosuke and zenitsu. Sorry for being a bother….”

“Oh no please come inside. I will get tea for you…” he said excited.

“Oh, you don't have to. It's fine. Actually we wanted to ask something….”

“Yeah? Please come in. I will surely help you as much as possible.”

They entered the hut and sat on the tatami mats. Even after pleading not to bring any snacks, Daisuke brought some rice crackers for them.

“Please have them.”

“You didn't have to.”

“Oh it's nothing. Now what did you wanted to ask about?”

“It's about y/n.” Tanjiro said as the rest simply focused on rice crackers. A hint of familiarity glistened in Daisuke's eyes. “Y/n? You mean the one rengoku san was madly in love with?”

Madly in love with? Tanjiro felt a pinch in his heart. Rengoku san must have adored you. The sealed letter had tear stains. Did rengoku cried while writing that?

“Ah…yeah…I need to deliver this letter to y/n but I don't know where she lives. Did rengoku san ever mentioned where she lived?”

“A letter? Why sent a letter when he was so adamant about that?”

“Adamant?”

“Yeah…he said that the pages limited his words to her. He was so desperate wanting to see her that he spent like 2 weeks searching for her without taking rest after his missions.”

“Seriously? So how are you supposed to recover from those injuries?” Daisuke said to his senior with an exasperated expression.

“It will heal when I get to see her face.” Said rengoku, bandaging the cut from a demon's blood arts whom he just killed.

“You're gonna exhaust yourself from build up fatigue.” The sun rays kissed the soil painted in crimson from the shedded blood.

“I will be fine. You go and take rest.”

“I can't believe you're going to find the creepy girl sending you creepy letters claiming herself as your wife.” Daisuke let you a sigh at rengoku's stubborness.

“In that case I gotta meet my wife.” Rengoku's laughter echoed among the vast field.

It still echoed in Daisuke's memories.

“So rengoku wasn't married…?”

“Naah. Honestly I think, after rengoku san’s mother died, he had faced severe neglect from his father. He was the oldest son of the family, so he had to be strong for his sibling. But sometimes we forget, even the strong needs someone to back for them. Even they need some kind words to let go all their tiredness and have a tight sleep. Even they need someone who assured them that they have a bright future…”

That's right. Tanjiro had seen how shinjuro, rengoku san's father, disrespected his sacrifice. He was so lost and depressed in his wife's loss that he forgot about the ones who need the most care— his kids.

Daisuke continued, “when the letter came from y/n, rengoku san must have read comforting words for the first time since that. He used to reread those letters a thousand times when he was free. Sometimes I wondered if he ever got bored doing that…but I knew he didn't. A starved man will eat anything. And I knew he was emotionally starving.”

Zenitsu and inosuke stopped eating rice crackers. Rengoku's death solely hurted them as much as it did to tanjiro, but they never thought it was that deep. That it was something beyond his life as a demon slayer.

Zenitsu could relate. After all he was an orphan. And rengoku was too, being in a situation similar to him, where his only parent was emotionally unavailable for him. He felt sorry for him.

No one dared to say anything. The silence was piercing their hearts like splinters of iron.

“Fun fact was that he did find her,” Daisuke chorted a bit before continuing, “and he literally begged her to marry him…”

Rengoku searched from cabin to cabin in the steam train. In the last letter you mentioned you were going to aomori to visit your relatives by train.

After a bit of negotiation he learned that there was only one train which was going to stop at aomori. This is how he ended up buying tickets at the last moment getting in the train, to find you.

He hasn't seen you before. He wondered how you would look. Even more beautiful and kind than your letters. Even more beautiful than the slight hooks of the curved kanjis you had written his name. Even more beautiful than the blazing sun.

He had checked almost the entire train. The content smile on his face has now thinned into pursed lips. He was nervous. What if he fails to find you? What if he never gets to find you? What if he never gets to see your face?

What if he didn't recognise you?

He flashed all the passengers in his head before lowering his head. None of them carried the same demeanor your letters did. He couldn't imagine any one of them being you.

He entered the last cabin. It was empty. However this cabin seemed a bit different. It had a narrow passage on the right with doors while the opposite side had small rooms. It seemed private. One previously booked by someone.

Rengoku turned back to return to his cabin when the door beside him shot open.

Inside was a girl, who seemed to have frozen for a while.

“Y/n?”

The girl’s eyes widened at the name which left rengoku's lips. She shut the door close, but it didn't closed, something was blocking it. The girl looked down, realizing rengoku had slipped his feet in to prevent her from doing that.

He barged the door open. “Y/n right?”

The girl remained silent for some time.

“I apologize to you with all my might rengoku san. Please forgive my intrusiveness.” you said, lowering your head, nervous at the sudden appearance of him.

“God you're even more beautiful than I thought…” you shoot your head up only to see him looking with such dreamy eyes at you as if you're the only thing he's ever wanted to look at. And it made your stomach churn. Guilt rushed in each of your veins.

“Rengoku san, i shouldn't have wrote those letters to you.” You say. Your friend had warned you before. You didn't listen.

“Why?” He took a step closer.

You gulped before answering,“i wrote nonsense, pretending to be your wife I'm very sorry yo—”

“Then don't pretend anymore.”

“Huh?”

“Be my wife.” Rengoku suggested. His face now inches away from yours.

“And then she ran away?” Said daisuke, barely containing his laugh.

“Yeah…did I do something wrong?” Rengoku said with visible confusion plastered on his face. It was rare to see any expression other than his smiling face.

“Of course she would run away.”

“and why so?”

“Rengoku san, a girl thinks about her future first after marriage. She knows nothing about you.”

“But she wrote me lett—”

“Which you didn't answered….since you thought you couldn't fit your words in papers.” Rengoku couldn't say anything in his defense. It was true rengoku never replied to any of your letters. When he received the first one he thought someone was pranking him. But then the letters came continuously, one each month. He slowly fell in love with those. He fell in love with your letters. And somehow, he fell in love with you.

“Then what do I do?”

“Be honest, tell her about your salary and your job, tel her you can take care of her needs.”

“Yeah? Kk I'm going then…”

Rengoku stood at the aomori station waiting for you to get on the train for your return. Upon spotting you, he called out for you. The train had a delay and he had a good 1 hour to make things clear.

“Eh? R-rengoku san!”

“I work in demon slayer corps. And currently I'm in the highest rank which is kinoe. I get a decent salary of 42,500 yen. I live with my younger brother and father. My mother died a few years ago from illness. I spend my day training, slaying demons and rereading your letters,” guilt rushed through your veins again. “I promise, I will fulfill all your needs and treat you like my queen.”

“rengoku san...”

“sorry i didn't replied to any of those, I just couldn't express myself much in writing. If possible I would like to crawl into a hole. However you don't need to worry. I will make sure that I keep you happy.”

You frowned at his words, unable to explain him. How could you do that to him?

“Y/n san, let's make the words on the letters true. Let's be husband and wife. I know that I work in an organization that isn't approved by governm—”

“Rengoku san, shall we walk while talking? We are blocking the road.” you change the topic, not wanting to talk about it.

“Sure.”

Rengoku continued telling you everything…everything about him. From his childhood till his mother's death. From his father's neglect, to his way up to kinoe, from his sword to the number of demons he slayed. You didn't believe in demons before, but now that rengoku tells you about this, demon folks is something you want to believe. You wanted to believe in everything he said. Even if he's telling the dumbest thing, far from reality, you wanted to believe it.

“Y/n san! Look here!” You turn back to rengoku.

Click.

“And did she said yes?”

“Maybe. He didn't mention her answer. He was so happy that finally he met her.”

“You must have seen her then…can you tell us how she looked?”

“I think I might have a photo of her. Rengoku san, asked to recieve a photo delivery, since he had a mission from the previous oyakata sama.” Daisuke got up limping to the one of the backrooms of his hut. He returned a few minutes later, handling a black and white photo to tanjiro.

Inosuke and zenitsu peeped from the sides to take a look at the long awaited moment, when they finally get to see y/n.

The photo was black and white, but tanjiro felt it was still colorful to rengoku san. In the photo there was a girl, young, with long beautiful hair, in a loose braid. She wore a flower hair ornament, which must have shone in gold back then. She was just how the udon owner described her, big doe eyes, pretty mouth, she looked educated. She was dressed in a floral patterned kimono. Zenitsu wondered what sort of colour the kimono would have been. He wondered if he could get a similar one for nezuko as a souvenir.

The girl was beautiful. Inosuke thought, she had similar smile to shinobu, he wondered if his mom’s smile was like that.

The girl's reflection reflected in several mirrors behind her, and one of the mirror had caught the reflection of the one clicking the photo— kyojuro rengoku.

“The last I heard from rengoku san, he said she wanted to meet him before taking the mugen train mission. He seemed happy, maybe she agreed eventually to marry him….if only he didn't…” Daisuke didn't finished the sentence, considering his surroundings.

They sit in deafening silence for a bit.

A bit later tanjiro thanked Daisuke for the rice crackers and his help. He asked if it were okay to take the photo with him. Daisuke had no problem with that. After bidding farewell they continued their journey, unsure what to do next.

After two days of staying at an inn, cluelessly with no idea how to find y/n, inosuke suggests to go to the station from where they got on mugen train.

“If we go to that lord's land and ask the people over there and show this painting of this long haired girl, then some might recognize her.” He had said.

“First of all that's a train station, second it's a photo. How can you still be the same stupid even after 3 years?” zenitsu cringed hard.

“wha—”

“Inosuke’s right zenitsu, we should go there and ask the people over there.” tanjiro said halting the cat and mouse fight which was about to start between the two.

Daisuke had said rengoku was about to meet her before the mission, which means before getting on the mugen train. Even if it is difficult, some locals must have seen even one glance of her.

The next morning, as per inosuke's idea, three of them left for the station.

“Umm excuse me…” said tanjiro, forwarding the photo in front of the local he stopped on his way, “can you tell me if you've seen this girl?”

The man gave a disgusted look at tanjiro. “no I haven't.”

“Ehh? Are you sure you haven—”

“I don't have time for bullshit.” He went off ignoring tanjiro. Strange. People here are less friendly, some even get irritated if stopped on their way.

It's almost lunch time, zenitsu and inosuke had tried to stop the locals as tanjiro asked them about you. It was clear that this ain't ending soon. Especially when they've got nothing good in hand.

“Let's go buy something to eat.”

“YEAH! I'M HECK HUNGRY!!”

“I saw a kid wearing glasses, selling bentos…let's buy some then…she went in that direction.”

Upon seeing the kid, tanjiro asked her to give them three boxes of bentos. It seemed similar to the ones they had three years ago. The girl was about to leave after receiving her payment, but tanjiro's instinct told him to stop her.

“Wait!” The girl turned back to him as zenitsu and inosuke watched him, confused. Tanjiro put his hand inside the sleeves of yukata, taking out the only photo they had of you.

“Have you ever seen this girl around here?”

The girl squinted her eyes behind the round glass frames,“y/n san! Isn't she y/n san…”

Zenitsu’s eyes popped out, he wondered if tanjiro's a mind reader or something, how can he be so quick?

“Yes! You know her? Can you tell us where she lives?” Tanjiro asked desperately.

“She never mentioned that to us…” the girl said frowning her eyebrows.

“Oh…how did you know her then?”

“Well, a demon slayer who saved us three years ago, requested…”

You waited for kyojuro to come. The sun shone brightly above you. The empty roadway started getting crowdy. You've had enough.

“Y/n san. You wanted to see me?” kyojuro had become a hashira now, and amongst his tight schedule he barely had time for you. It's not like you were disappointed, but still…you and kyojuro often talked through phone booths, after you've suggested that casually one day while strolling with him. Last week when he called you, after what felt like years, you said you wanted to meet him soon. ‘fine meet me at the near hinakawa station, I will be waiting.’ he'd said.

Though it was you, waiting for him to come. You've felt distant from him. And you didn't like it.

“I ran away.” You announced looking in his honey drizzled eyes. Though you aren't sure if it were your overthinking but those eyes seemed a bit dull today.

Kyojuro didn't say anything, maybe confused how to interpret your words.

“my family's against us. And I'm against them. I left the old relations to form a new one. With whom I love. Let's get married.” You said taking his hand in yours.

Kyojuro said nothing but wrapped you in his arms. You hugged him tighter, never wanting to let go. “I'm not alone anymore.” He said before nuzzling his face on the crook of your neck.

Yes. You've always wanted to hear these words from his lips. You've wanted to let him know that he's not alone even when he thinks he is. You wanted him to know that there's someone who will always support him even if he's father thinks he has no talent. This was the reason you wrote him letters in first place. This was the reason you let yourself get tangled in a world far different from yours— in the world of kyojuro rengoku.

He left soon saying he will be back after completing a mission. He said he will send someone to you and asked you to wait for him till then. And you agreed gladly. About half an hour later a girl wearing round steel rimmed glasses along with her grandmother appeared.

“Y/n?” You nodded your head at them. “Rengoku sama asked us to keep you safe till he gets back. If you don't mind then you can come home with us.”

You got to know from the grandmother, how the rengokus had saved their lives two times. You've never seen kyojuro fight, but you knew he was hella strong. Still your heart sinks into your stomach whenever he mentions a mission. You've never encountered demons, once you didn't even believed in them, and now here you are nodding at each of those demon tales of the grandmother.

It didn't mattered anyway as long as he comes back safe. You have to wait for a while for him to comeback….after all you weren't done….you still had an important thing to say.

“Then?”

“Then days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, the slayer never made its return. She left eventually, thanking us. We told her to wait for a while more…but she was too stubborn.” said the girl, fixing her specks again.

Tanjiro couldn't believe what he heard. Rengoku had so many things going on in his life. He had more priorities than him and his friends. Someone who was more important. Someone who left her entire family for him.

Yet.

And yet.

He chose to save them sacrificing himself.

He wondered if the you hate him now.

Zenitsu and inosuke were too stunned to speak. All of them were on the verge of crying. To think…that he couldn't return because of them. To think that they played a role in ruining you happiness. That he died saving them.

“She said she was going to asakusa at her friend’s house, named atsuko.”

Tanjiro bowed at the girl, he couldn't manage thanking her, since he knew if he draws one more breath trying to talk, he would break down right there.

The three of them took a train to asakusa after eating those bentos. They looked similar because rengoku had bought the same boxes from that bento girl 3 years ago.

Inosuke was oddly quiet inside the train. The other two also barely chatted before reaching their destination.

Tanjiro had visited asakusa before and he didn't liked that experience very much. Especially the narrow lanes. This time the city looked more developed than before. And it was more crowdy too. They made their way as the girl has previously informed, that atsuko works as a teacher in a big school for aristocrats.

Coincidentally, tanjiro found the same vendor from his last visit. Back then nezuko wasn't able to savor his ramens since she was a demon. He wished he brought her along. They ordered a steaming bowl of ramen, as the vendor was delighted seeing tanjiro again.

“Where that bamboo girl you carried along with you?”

“She's at home right now.”

“Don't give my wife stupid Nicknames.” ,shouted the blonde at the vendor. Tanjiro apologized in his stead as he kept fuming. “So why are you three here all of a sudden? It's been long ain't it?”

“Yeah we're looking for a girl named y/n. She has a friend who teaches in a big school named atsuko.”

“Y/n never heard that sort of peculiar name…”

“are there any big schools in this area, where aristocrats study?”

“Umm…there are a lot of big schools, you could go and ask at the library. There's only one library here and all the school students or teachers borrow books from there. They must know something about that.”

“Oh really! Thankyou very much.”

Without any further do, the three of them went to the public library after eating.

“Woah this is so big.” Tanjiro said.

“It has so many books shall I borrow some for nezuko chan” zenitsu got lost in his dream world. Inosuke was quite whenever he gets in a new environment with a lots of people, so tanjiro didn't bother checking at him.

However, inosuke tugged on tanjiro's yukata pointing at something with his boar mask tugged on his head. Tanjiro could see his eyes popping out.

“What happened tanji—” zenitsu choked on his spit. Tanjiro’s jaw dropped, his mouth open wide. Inosuke was pointing at a picture hung on the wall. Tanjiro took out the photo hurriedly from his sleeves.

There's no mistake. This was indeed the same girl. Underneath the painting was written ‘princess akiko’ in bold letters carved carefully on metal.

“But isn't her name y/n?” Said zenitsu. What's going on? Before tanjiro could say anything, a woman in her twenties bumped into them while rushing.

The photo slipped out from tanjiro’s fingers.

“I'm so sorr—” the women's words halted as she looked at the photo lying on the ground in front of her. She picked it up before tanjiro could.

“Where did you get this picture from?” She asked as if it were a taboo to have this.

“Ahh you know y/n?”

“Y/n?”

“She looks similar to the girl in that painting” the boy with the boar mask declared.

“For the hundredth time inosuke it's a photo.” said zenitsu.

“She doesn't looks like her. She is her. She is princess akiko. The youngest daughter of the imperial family.”

What?

Three of them couldn't believe their ears. “But her name is y/n…” whispered tanjiro in a low voice.

“Just who are you?” She looked at the picture carefully, as if hiding it from the world, “isn't this rengoku?”

“You know rengoku san?”

“That's the man who saved us from a fire incident in an old town. And then became the main reason of the storms in akiko’s life.”

Tanjiro's eyes widened at the mention of the fire incident “Are you atsuko?”

The women nodded, surprised they know her name. Tanjiro, then explained the whole matter.

“I see.”

“This isn't right akiko…you shouldn't have continued writing letters to him in first place.” Atsuko said trying to persuade her not to run away.

“I can't. I can't live here. They will never accept him. And I can't live without him.”

“Akiko, try to understand…rengoku loves y/n.”

“And i am y/n!” The sound of the rain pouring down increased.

“You are princess akiko. Y/n is just a fake name, you created to hide your real identity when decided to write him letters. I supported you then since i thought it was a one time thing.” Atsuko shook the girl's shoulders trying to bring her to the path she considered right.

“But I don't wanna be akiko. I wanna be y/n…y/n rengoku.” Tears fell from the eyes in front of her as sobs escaped her lips.

“You're playing with rengoku’s feelings. Even if you run away, how do you intend to tell him the truth? You can't pretend to be y/n your entire life akiko.”

The girl didn't answered atsuko. That day slowly came to an end along with the rain. And Akiko did run away to rengoku, away from her pointless life, being a puppet in her family's hands.

“She returned a month after she ran away. When I asked him about rengoku she said nothing. Soon her brother came and took her away.” Whispered atsuko in a voice so doleful, that it was clear, it hurted.

“Did rengoku san knew she was a princess?” Zenitsu asked.

“He probably didn't. Akiko's family arranged several politicians later to set her up but she caused such a ruckus that her family gave up at last.”

“Do you know where she is now…i need to deliver this letter to her.” Each word tasted like bile to him. He couldn't even imagine how miserable it had been. You literally rejected a crystal palace only to live a normal life with him. Which didn't even come true. How feverishly would it have hurt? How apathetic fate was…

“She lives in osaka, running an orphanage. You would find her there. Shall I get someone two drive you three over there?”

“That will be very thoughtful of you” said tanjiro.

Atsuko arranged a driver, who would drive them to the orphanage, they expect to find you in. The car ride was even more silent than the train one. Inosuke, even, didn't make any fuss seeing a car for the first time.

‘So this is where princess akiko lives.’ thought tanjiro. The building was similar to butterfly mansion, nothing that luxurious but quite spacious. The driver left soon after dropping them.

They crossed several corridors of children buzzing like bees. Laughter echoed among the hallways. How wonderful of a place for someone who lost their parents. Similar to them. They wondered if they would have grown up in this orphanage if they were born here.

Finally they reached to what seemed like an office. Similar to one shinobu used when researching herbs, the one which kanao uses now. They entered with a knock.

“Y/n san?”

Your head perked up at the name, which once your beloved used to refer. That beloved who never came.

Your heart ached a bit expecting kyojuro. A melancholic smile forms on your face seeing three kids infront of you. Of Course it wasn't him.

“yes?” you said gently, trying not to give in to your emotions.

But tanjiro could smell it. He smelled the intense grief bubbling within you. He could imagine how long you've bottled up your emotions.

Without saying much, he took the letter out of his sleeve placing it on your desk.

“It's been waiting for 3 years.”

“Huh?”

“Rengoku san wanted me to deliver this to you. Sorry this took so long.” your hands froze at his name. Your chest heaved without even you realizing as you grab the letter.

A single drop of tear fell on the spot which had been previously stained with tears. Tears of kyojuro rengoku.

Your fingers shaked tracing your name on the letter. The name which he used to call. Y/n not Akiko.

You teared the seal, taking out a paper. It was filled with words. Words, he never thought he could express on paper.

Dear y/n,

If you're reading this, then I'm sorry. I might have broken my promise of protecting you forever because by the time you read it— I will be dead.

Y/n i wanted to tell you, that I've loved you. I have loved you from the very beginning. Before even I saw you. You were the one who protected the flame in my heart. While others told me to set it ablaze, you made me learn how to keep the flame burning.

You were as beautiful to me as the rising sun. So bright, so clear. You were the epitome of my life. I wanted to live a peaceful life with you, in which my father let's go of his depression. In which your family accepts us. In which we don't have to hide from others. I wanted you to have my surname.

Your words were like the first rain of summer to me. You saved me from quenching my thirst by your words. I have been starved…. starved for so long that I forgot what being hungry for love feels like. Until you came into my life. you healed my heart, handled it as if it's porcelain.

I thought papers were something I would never choose to express myself with. But look at me now. Haha. I don't know why I'm writing it now, but I just feel like, the time’s soon going to be over. And I feel like I will be gone without seeing your face.

Please don't hate me for that.

If I get to spend my life with you I will probably burn this off, but if this letter somehow unfortunately finds you…I want you to know, I gave my best. I gave my very best to save the ones surrounding me. That I fullfilled my duty till the end. So don't feel sad.

I still can't believe you chose to love me. If possible I would like to meet you in another birth, in another universe without demons, where I will be yours, completely yours. You're the best thing that happened to me, y/n. You're just perfect.

But I must say….you’re dumb for choosing a man who bets his life for others, leaving the silver spoon you had in your mouth.

Sadly, our time was limited in this birth. Good bye princess akiko.

~ your kyojuro

The letter fell from your hands. Your lips quivering as you barely contained your tears, which stained the letter.

You just managed a smile at the kids who brought you this letter. He was no more. And you couldn't believe that. He knew you were Akiko not y/n. The truth you weren't able to tell him.

“I'm sorry for making this long. Rengoku san died saving us from a demon, 3 years ago” said tanjiro, tears staining his cheeks. So do the others, barely containing their emotions.

“oh! But i-im glad you all are safe. H-he fulfilled his duties right?”

“Does it hurts?” Tanjiro asked.

“A lot.” And if he wasn't seeing things, he saw rengoku for one second with a silly smile on his face, maybe wondering how to comfort you.

The second he blinked his eyes he was gone. What remained was his letter. Tanjiro handed the photo to you before leaving. He wondered if in another birth he gets to see the both of you reconcile.

He took a deep breath wanting to return to kanao. Maybe he would just ask her to marry him this year. He doesn't want to waste anymore time away from her.

“Where were you?” Asked zenitsu to inosuke, who went missing for a while. They are currently waiting for a train to go back home.

“To buy this.” Inosuke showed a butterfly hair pin decorated with blue crystals. It was beautiful.

“Woah. Who did you buy it for?”

“Aoi.” Tanjiro chuckled at his bluntness, while zenitsu smirked. It's funny how inosuke still gets both of their names incorrect but he never made a mistake in saying aoi’s name correctly. Who knows they might have two weddings…

Now that tanjiro had finally payed off the debt, he wished you happiness as he looked forward to a happier future. He will remember you, not as princess akiko, but as y/n.

“Let's go! I can't wait to see nezuko!!”

“Zenitsu watch out your way!!”

© strawberrymochin 24 | plagiarism won't be tolerated | comments are reblogs are appreciated | banners are by me |

I enjoy writing Y/n as a obsessed and lovesick person who'll devote themself to those they care about 🙂

Miscellaneous 

Legend: ♠︎ = Fluff ♥︎ = Smut ♦︎ = Angst ♣︎ = Dark

♠︎ Tired, your favorites: your boyfriend wants to go to sleep but can't seem to without you, his occupied spouse, by his side

− Tired

✎ your fav x reader

♦︎summary: your boyfriend is tired after a long day, and tries to convince you to come to bed

♦︎word count: 300+

♦︎warnings: none, short

Men who like to hug you from behind while you're busy. Their scent overwhelming you and simultaneously calming you. You can feel their chest against you back, rising and falling with each breath they take. Their warm arms wrapped around your waist, snugly, as if they were make to be placed there. Your face shifts to an expression of amusement, mind being taken off of your current task.

,,and just what do you think you're doing, Sir?,,

,,mmm... just seeing what you're up to, was getting lonely without you,, His husky voice sending vibrations through your upper back and chest. From the low pitch of his voice alone, you could tell he was about five minutes from collapsing in exhaustion.

,,you sound tired baby, why haven't you gone to bed yet?,, You questioned him, but continued with your task at hand. You felt him squeeze lightly at your waist, rubbing small circles where one of his hands rest on your stomach. You release a content hum, relaxing every more into his hold.

,,come t' bed with me, please?,, He rasps out, anyone who didn't know him well, wouldn't be able to notice the whine in his voice. You take pride in how much you know your man, quirks, ambitions and all, there was nothing he could do that would get past you.

Not even his light manipulation; he knew the affect his voice laced with sleep had on you. Knew you couldn't resist him, especially when he was in the mood for cuddles which was few and far between.

,,okay, just let me finish this and I'll be right with you-,, he cut you off, pulling you impossibly closer to his body, as if trying to fuse you into becoming one.

,,you can finish t'morrow, you always over work 'ya self,, His words began to slur together, his tiredness getting the better of him. You supposed it would be better to abide by his wishes, before he falls asleep where you both stand and traps you here; a common occurrence.

,,alright big guy, come on, you win,, Your hand intertwines with his as you pull him with you to your shared bedroom. Your eyes growing heavy as you make your way to that sweet mattress where you could bundle up with your love under warm comforters.

♦︎note: This is really me just testing out the waters before I really start writing. I haven't written in a long time, so I'd really love if you all would send me any requests you have! 😊

THIS IS THE FUNNIEST SHIT I'VE EVER READ 😭

✿ : annoying sex habits; pillars

synopsis: annoying (?) things that come up when you have sex with your respective hashira

pairings: tomioka giyuu x f!reader, shinazugawa sanemi x f!reader, rengoku kyojuro x f!reader, uzui tengen x f!reader, iguro obanai x f!reader, himejima gyomei x f!reader

warnings: minors dni, explicit smut, rough sex, cursing, no beta

notes: slander, just slander. and crack. i apologize for spelling/grammatical errors !

GIYUU:

awkwardly quiet from start to finish

like damn, mf, not even a grunt? A GASP? 😭

his breathing doesn’t even pick up

he’s just silently hovering above, swiftly thrusting into you

even when he cums—NOTHING!!

LIKE CAN YOU AT LEAST SIGH??

and to top it off, after he cums he just sorta rolls over and pets you on the head? like he wants to smooth your hair back but he’s too afraid to commit??? like he wasn’t all up in your guts like two seconds ago?? ✋😐

you genuinely have no clue if he’s enjoying himself or not

you have to sit him down and admit to him that you feel a lil insecure because he doesn’t seem to be enjoying himself

giyuu feels TERRIBLE because he loves you deeply and is affected by you sm but he just can’t stand hearing himself moaning

his moans are kinda high-pitched, almost keening, and it’s so embarrassing to him

to YOU, giyuu, not to us 😫

“i...sound...weird” is all he says, frowning in the complete opposite direction from you

he slipped up once tho and y’all weren’t even having sex

you were straddling his lap, both fully clothed, kissing each other fervently, after he’d return to his estate after a very long mission

he was already feeling a little frayed from not seeing you for so long

so that with the way your grinding down against his bulging cock, mewling and moaning as you plant sloppy kisses against his mouth, his cheeks, the neck; sighing “missed you, missed you so much” into his ear

he starts to feel himself unravel at a rate that concerns him, you feel so good and sound so sweet —it’s all too much for him

his breathing kinda stutters, but you’re too engrossed to notice

giyuu is like “nope, nuh uh, absolutely not” as he tries to gather himself together, blinking away the white spots in his vision

but then you drag your crotch against his clothed cock so good, so deliciously that he can’t help the shaky, high pitched moan that escapes from his lips

you glance up at him in shock while he shuts his eyes and hangs his head in shame

“wait...wait, giyuu did you—”

“stop”

“no wait! that was so hot!”

almost kicks you out of his room 😭

like i’m sorry, it’d take a while for him to actually let loose but at least he’s sorta sighing into your ear now? 😅

SANEMI:

talks a huge f*cking game about how big his cock is and how he’s gonna tear your sh*t up

bitch...we weren’t being LITERAL

he’s actually thrusting into you like he wants to square up with your cervix

LIKE BRO RELAX???

i do think sanemi enjoys rougher sex but sometimes i think it’s a lil performative

i also think he feels that he needs to overcompensate bc he thinks he’s not as experienced

y’all he canonically has a pet rhinoceros beetle,,,he ain’t as big and bad as he seems💀

also he doesn’t know how to be truly intimate with anyone but we can get into that later

BUT ANYWAYS!

no foreplay, just dives into the pussy

literally throws you onto the bed, sucks at you neck for a bit and then all of sudden you hear a “hpwuah! 💦”

and you sit up like “ikyfl” just to see he’s spat onto the shaft of his cock, pumping his fist along his shaft to spread the saliva

babe that’s when you should’ve sat up and left 😟

HIS COCK IS TOO FCKIN THICK AND BIG TO BE DOIN STUPID SH*T LIKE THAT

between the lack of foreplay and the way he’s just slamming his hips into yours...you are in PAINNN

and he keeps grunting shit like “yeah, you like that? gonna tear your f* ckin uterus into half” WHAT?(???$;@3&:

you slam your fists against his chest and choke out a “sanemi, stop”

he stills instantly, panting as his facial expression morphs into one of confusion and concern

“what’s wrong?” he asks gruffly, gently placing his hand on your arm and giving you a tiny squeeze there

once you tell him that he’s hurting you way more than you’d like, he’d feel bad almost immediately

sanemi sits back, his shoulders tense with shame and he gives a terse, “sorry “

willing to learn but y’all might argue here and there bc he refuses to believe that he isn’t the pussy destroyer he claims to be

KYOJURO

okay he’s actually got the mechanics down

has no problem pleasuring you/making you cum

HOWEVER!

HE’S LIKE MFIN DRILL SERGEANT

like y’all can’t have sex leisurely 😭

and it’s not so much a sexual thing as it is that kyojuro just wants you to be the best version of yourself possible,,,in every aspect of your life 😐

it starts off as like kyojuro being like “ONE MORE ROUND!” and you thought it was hot that his stamina was through the roof

but then it quickly turns into “omg WHEN DOES THIS END?!’cc”

you’ve been bouncing on his cock FOR GOD KNOWS HOW LONG trying to get him to cum

but you’re tiring quickly, your thighs burning as they tremble against kyojuro’s waist

you’re place your hands on his lower stomach for SOME sort of stability as your hips stutter

kyojuro feels you tremble against him and from the way you’re panting, he knows it’s from exhaustion

he has his hands on your waist to help you keep balance, but he isn’t assisting you 💀he wants you to work for it

you’re sweaty af, struggling to lift your hips off his cock as you pout up at him

“i-i’m getting tired, kyojuro—”

“you are? but it’s only been sixteen minutes?” he smiles up at you, face flushed as his hair spills around the pillow.

“i’m not fit like you” you pant, face screwed up as your calves begin to cramp up.

kyojuro’s face falls slightly “ah, don’t say that! you’re just as fit! here, let’s try for ten more minutes, i believe in you! 🏋️ 😃”

and he looks up at you so earnestly,,,you’re like “godDAMNIT”

he holds both of your hands in his to keep you balanced and he literally starts shouting encouragements at you jskziwkuss

shouts a variation of like “try harder!” and “7 more minutes! you can do this!”

MF, NO I CAN’T 🧎🏾‍♀️😭

you know when you’re doing an intense workout and you get so tired your life flashes before your eyes? YEAH,,,YOU ARE DYINGGGG RN

of course you don’t complete the full 10 minutes but kyojuro doesn’t get on your ass completely about it

he just flips your listless body over and adjusts himself before he starts slowly thrusting into you

“don’t worry, my love! all that matters is that you tried! i’m sure you can do it next time!” he beams down at your whimpering form, before kissing your forehead

he’s cute but LIKE WHY DOES SEX HAVE TO BE A MFIN WORKOUT?? ✋😭

you have to tell him that you’re down to workout with him (RIP to you 💀) OUTSIDE the bedroom but you want sex with him to be slow paced and intimate...not him yelling at you like he’s your coach

he’ll ease up immediately, don’t worry!

OBANAI

mf said “the snake stays ON during sex! 😤💯”

jk

no i’m not

obanai is like “can kaburamaru stay in the room? 😐”

and you’re like “i—um, that would be cool but i feel like he’d be uncomfortable”

and he’s like “omg ur right...i wouldn’t want to watch him have sex either i guess 😕”

so y’all have to PLAN AHEAD TO FIND A BABYSITTER FOR HIS SNAKE IF YALL WANNA— 🤦🏾‍♀️

obanai thinks of kaburamaru as a friend, not so much as a pet so he’s feel guilty for “abandoning” him because he has a S/O now

that’s his mfin bestie 😌

okay real talk, obanai loves you, he is bewitched, body and soul—

maybe a bit TOO much because he’ll literally cum during foreplay and then pass out right after 🙁

HKSHDIDJEI HE CAN’T HELP IT!!

he tries to continue after cumming, but it’s like he’s been drugged

his eyes are struggling to stay open, barely holding himself up as he keeps slurring on his words, like omg baby,,,just sleep, it’s okay

he tries tries tries to make you cum before he finishes, BUT EVERYTHING YOU DO GETS HIS COCK ROCKHARD

obanai was laying between your legs, lip suctioned around your clit, dragging his tongue over the little nub

all while he’s languidly thrusting two fingers in and out your slick pussy

and baby his head game is *CHEF KISS*

you’re mewling and whining, grinding your hips against his face as he laps his tongue up and down your folds

the sounds your making, the taste of your cunt, the way he can feel you throbbing against his mouth—it has HIM trembling and whimpering

he’s unconsciously rutting his hips against the mattress, squeezing his eyes shut as he attempts to control himself

but then you make this sound that’s caught between a whimper and grunt, and it catches so prettily in the back of your throat—

he blows his load, unbeknownst to you, as gasps against your heat

he literally knocks out between your legs, with his mouth smushed against your pussy 💀

TENGEN

not a single f*cking thing

look at that man and tell me he doesn’t give you the best pipe of your life

okay wait actually there maybe ONE THING ☝️

he talks wayyyy too fucking much during sex

and it’s mostly outlandish sh*t

okay, when he asked “whose pussy is this? 😩” it was all fine and dandy BUT THEN HE TAKES IT UP A NOTCH—

“you’d die by this dick, huh 😏”

my pride won’t let me say yes, but yes...i would 🧎🏾‍♀️

like he says the most strange sh*t ever and it draws you out of the sex head space to be like “...WAIT WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?”

he does it on purpose though 💀

he’s lining himself up to your entrance and he looks up at you smirking and is all like “im gonna make you a single mother”

AYOO???? 😭

BITCH.WHAT.THE.FUCK??!!

you literally shoot up, scrunching your legs up to your chest

while he laughs at your horrified look

BRO DON’T PLAY LIKE THAT 😭

that and i feel like he’s so fckin heavy handed omg

slaps your ass while you’re riding him and your whole skeleton rattles for like 5 minutes after 😭

yeah other than that...there is no way he’d be bad at sex

GYOMEI

very...very...gentle

he’s genuinely afraid of hurting you during sex

like he’s so MASSIVE and he’s convinced there is no way you can take all of him

he feels the way your pussy barely accommodates two of his fingers and he’s like “hm maybe not...🥲”

when he’s fingering you, he just barely squirms his fingers around while he winces in fear that he’s hurting you

you tell him “gyomei, go harder”

and he’s like “no”

!;&;&/&/7,$;7)/)/

and you’re like “but i barely feel you moving?”

and he’s like “trust me this is for your own good”

YOU DON’T KNOW MY LIFE!

when he finally finally agrees to f*ck you with his cock, the whole process takes almost three hours because he takes his time lubing you up and stretching you out with his fingers

it takes him the whole last hour to actually bottom out just from out how slow he’s easing into you

and everytime your breath catches in your throat, he slides his cock from out of your pussy and he’s like “ahh, i knew this was a bad idea!”

and then y’all have to start all over again

he can barely feel you squeeze around his cock from just how you’re stretched around him and he starts to freak out

you have to assure him that he’s not hurting you so he doesn’t pull out again

he’s so sweet tho 🥺

Rengoku x older brother reader

Short fic

Angst

♛┈⛧┈┈•༶༶•┈┈⛧┈♛

You weren't a hashira nor did you want to be but you were a swordsman.

You and rengoku did basically everything together including missions.

-------

After Emnu was defeated you helped people out from the rubble of the train while Rengoku was fighting another demon. Akaza. (RIP)

You weren't worried at first until you saw kyo's movements get sloppy. You tied to pay attention the people you were helping but you just couldn't.

Then you saw Akaza get close. You couldn't watch anymore.

You reached them just in time to take the blow to the stomach for him.

"Y/n" he said in disbelief.

"What are you standing there for. Your a demon slayer aren't you." You said through your teeth doing you best to hold him in place.

Rengoku hesitated for a second before going around you and raising his sword to akaza's neck but akaza's free hand blocked the sword.

The sun was coming up.

In desperation akaza severed his arm, pushed Rengoku back and fled into the forest.

Rengoku didn't go after him, he was to busy having his last conversation with you.

♛┈⛧┈┈•༶༶•┈┈⛧┈♛

A/n: if anyone is good with naming things can you help me make names for my first that don't have one. I'm struggling 😭

Hi I Liked The Big Brother Figure Request So Can I Order The Hashiras With A Reader that they see as a father figure like a father or something (Platonic Please I Need This)

Coming right up (I fell asleep reading this and it didn't save. I was so mad)

Tengen

Considering the home he came from you were now the closest thing he had to a father (his father was just super traditional and tengen didn't like that, caused some problems)

You were always there for him

You were the first to meet his wife's and will be the first to meet the future children

Sanemi

If you take one you take both

Even though you try you can't fix what happened

Sanemi is never rude to you or around you

When Genya is around he bites back even things he wants to say cause he can feel you staring at him

Nothing he does never gets past you

in some way he is grateful for that cause he is constantly being put in check

Shinobu

When you met her sister died in her arms

You helped her give a proper burial

You didn't want to leave a kid by themselves whether they were a slayer or not so you accompanied her back home

In the village you were in you were a doctor

Little did you know you picked up where her sister left off and taught her

And for that she is forever grateful

Muchiro

You can do no wrong in his eyes

he might not remember when you met but he knows who you are to him and he cherishes it

He comes home to a scolding by you cause he was gone for so long without saying where he was

He found it annoying but deep down he was glad to have you there for him

Kyojuro

You are a retired hashira who happened to be in the middle of a scolding by Shinjiro when Kyo first saw you

Before his father wasn't too far gone he trained you

Him and Shinjiro would come to talk to you when you were taking breaks

From then on those two were stuck to you like glue

You were their second father

Up until the moment he died he admired you

Gyomei

You were his second hand at the orphanage

you never blamed him for what happened

You would always tell him its not his fault

You arent a fighter so he fights for you

Mitsuri

You own a bakery in her hometown

You would catch her staring at the snacks and give them to her

once you noticed she was getting bullied you would run them off or charge them more for your delectables

You would always tell her to ignore them cause they don't know what their talking about

Giyuu

he's known you for as long as he can remember

he treats you as his own father ( a little attitude and all)

you are more extroverted to him

You might not be a dad but you say dad jokes like its no tomorrow

when Giyuu said he'd vouch for Tanjiro you stood by him and did the same

Obanai

He barely had a father to begin with so when you came he felt he kinda had a family

He stuck to you when you helped escape his sisters

Your his #1 ObaMitsu shipper and makes sure he knows it no matter how much it embarrasses him

Your also his #1 supporter

Hello! Only if you could, can i request some headcanons of the hashiras (if it's possible all of them, if not, you can choose whoever you want!) seeing reader (who's also a hashira) as an older sibling figure?? Please and thank you :D

I hope you are having an excellent day! <3

◡̈⋆ʜᴇʟʟᴏ(●’◡’●)ﾉ thank you for requesting. I hope your day is excellent as well.

*Some Spoilers*

Kyojuro

You trained him (along with his father) before he became a hashira

Kyojuro would have so much respect for you

He would do anything you told him to

As sweet as a puppy

Shinjuro doesn't mind having you around

To him it's like he has another child but he hates the fact that your a hashira

Senjuro is the same as Kyo.

Whenever you two are partnered for a mission Senjuro sends you off with snacks he made

Sanemi

He would ignore you the best he could

You helped him and genya after their family died

He treats you almost the same as genya once he realized how much he cared

He tries to dial it back on how rude he is around you cause you don't tolerate it

Genya on the other hand comes to you for almost eveything

You scold him a lot b/c of how he treats genya

Acts as if he doesn't care but he does

Giyuu

This man can finally keep someone who he cares about alive long enough to call them family

He feels as if he can talk to you about anything and everything

He would give his life for you if he had to

You try to get him to talk to the others more

Doesn't always work but at least he tries

Gyomei

Tries not to cry and much around you but he can't help it

You've done so much for him with little to no reward out of the kindness of your heart

It's enough to make a grown man cry

He although gyomei can't see he imagines you as an angel in human form

Shinobu

Along with her late sister you were always with her

You worked in the butterfly estate

She doesn't keep her fake smile around you

She knows she doesn't have to

You are one of the few who have seen her mad

Tengen

His wives love having you over after hearing many stories of his sibling hashira

He calls you his sibling

He acts like you are siblings

He fights you like you are his siblings

He brags to others that you are his strong sibling

You ARE his sibling no matter what

Mistsuri

Bone crushing hugs

Absolute sweetheart

Shares any snack she has and constantly invites you to eat with her, sometimes with rengoku or obani

You are her scary dog privileges

She admires evey thing you do and praises you to no end

Muchiro

Smiles like how he does in the manga

He remembers everything you tell him

He is often around you

If someone has the balls to be rude to you he will put them in their place even if you tell him not he

Constantly forgets your also a hashira and can take care of yourself

Obani

Emo guy and his snake plus cinnamon roll reader

You were the first person he ran in to after he escaped his family

You've been together every since

He takes anything you say to heart

You secretly try to get him and mitsuri together

Whenever he can't find Kaburamaru it's because you have him

He knows he's not the easiest person to talk to and that's why he appreciates you sticking around so long

AYO what have you done to my three favorite Hashiras? 👀

Hellooo, Im not sure if ur requests are open, so ignore this if they aren’t, but could i request Obanai x Reader that is like, his adopted little sister, they have similar background etc, act similar (shes a lil softer but yk)? Like, u could really mistaken them for siblings if u didnt know, and all platonic ofc [: Also, If u have the time and want to, you can also make hcs abt what the other hashira think of u, but thats alot of work so i understand if u dont.

Anyways- I hope u have a nice day/night, and dw for not doing this, I fully understand. [[[:

I got this request on November 4, 2023, and started writing it today (June 18, 2024). Man, I am so sorry 😭

I also subconsciously made the reader a teenager, around the ages of 12-14

Tengen's part includes his wives, because I love them and needed to include them some way.

I think I just suddenly forgot how to write Gyomei and Shinobu??? so, their parts are rather short and they only have a few bullet points.

Warnings ;; None.

Relationship ;; Platonic

Type ;; Headcanons

Iguro Obanai ;; The Snake Hashira

Obanai is very protective of you, and even that's an understatement.

He knows you're strong, especially for a kid, after all, you're his Tsuguko.

Surprisingly, you didn't become his Tsuguko just because you're like a sibling to him, you became his Tsuguko because he could recognize your strength. (And you wouldn't stop pestering him)

You're very close to Kaburamaru, and he likes to be near you, just like with Iguro.

When you're not training with Iguro, you're more than likely taking missions here and there, or you're at home.

He didn't really like the idea of you meeting the other Hashira, besides Mitsuri, mostly because he doesn't exactly care for any of them.

He holds very high expectations for you, but at the same time, his expectations are also very low.

Giyuu Tomioka ;; The Water Hashira

Tomioka wouldn't exactly bother getting to know you, or bother talking to you, unless you initially started a conversation.

At first, it would seem like he was ignoring you, but if you kept pestering, he'd slowly open up, day by day, and start talking to you.

If you didn't happen to start a conversation upon meeting him, he may give you a wave upon seeing you, but besides that, you won't get much else.

He's very awkward around other people, especially children.

Even if you don't exactly talk, or if you aren't exactly friends, he'll get you a snake keychain for your birthday every year.

He may not know much about you, but he knows how much you hang around Obanai, so he assumed you liked snakes.

Mitsuri Kanroji ;; The Love Hashira

Mitsuri absolutely loves you.

She loves taking you out to lunches, when she's able to.

No matter the length of your hair, she absolutely loves to put your hair up, or do your hair.

She has a tendency to buy you things from random markets. If she happens to be there, and see something you may like, she's buying it and giving it to you the next time she sees you, with the widest smile on her face.

Sleepovers with Mitsuri are a must. She manages to convince Obanai to let you stay with her for a night or two while you just have a girls night.

Muichiro Tokito ;; The Mist Hashira

This mostly depends on when you meet Muichiro.

If you meet him before he regains his memory, he constantly forgets who you are, just like with everyone else.

He doesn't much care for you, and if you strike up a conversation with him, he's not very into the conversation.

If you meet him after he regains his memory, that also depends on who you are to Tanjiro.

If you're close to Tanjiro, he'll start up conversation with you occasionally, and you'll basically be acquaintances, or friends, if you happen to be lucky.

If you're not, he talks to you occasionally around the base, but doesn't actively try to start up conversation with you.

Tengen Uzui ;; The Sound Hashira

Tengen believes you're Obanai's little sister, even if you tell him otherwise.

Maybe a year and a half after you meet him, he'll slowly start to accept that you're not.

But even then, he still calls you "Obanai's Flashy Little Sis"

Suma frantically worries about you, due to the fact that you're a child, and taking on important missions.

Makio acts like she couldn't care less, but is still kind of worried for the same reason Suma is. You're just a kid, and a Tsuguko at that.

Hinatsuru, just like the other two, tends to worry, for all the same reasons, but she's very sweet about them.

After Tengen's retirement, if you're about to head out on a mission, they'll stop by and give you a few snacks for the road.

They kind of act like protective family members.

Like your uncle and three aunts, in a sense.

Gyomei Himejima ;; The Stone Hashira

Gyomei treats you like one of the children he used to care for.

He, like Obanai, is rather protective, but he's quite lenient about it.

He even gifts you one of his spare beads, hoping they'll protect you on your journeys, given how young you are.

He's almost like a father figure.

Sanemi Shinazugawa ;; The Wind Hashira

Sanemi doesn't much care for you at first.

That's an understatement, he doesn't say a single word to you and simply walks away.

In an odd way, you remind him of Genya. He's also just.. not good with children so he has no clue what to say, or how to act.

If you, some how, some way, get him to talk to you, he's very stiff and very rude at first.

He wouldn't be able to get rid of the thought of Genya while talking to you, so that's how he reacts, as if he's talking to Genya.

Over time, he loosens up and begins to talk to you more often.

Kyōjurō Rengoku ;; The Flame Hashira

Your first meeting with Kyōjurō is very, very loud.

You might think you're deaf for a few hours afterwards.

He will bring you food entirely unwarranted, you have zero (0) choice in the matter.

He'll also ask if you'd like to eat with him, which you do have a choice in the matter there.

He's a rather silent eater, besides the occasional "Umai!" after every bite.

If you'd like to have a conversation with him, he can talk about anything and everything, and is always willing to.

You tend to remind him of Senjuro from time to time, and when it happens, the widest smile appears on his face.

Shinobu Kochō ;; The Insect Hashira

Shinobu is very sweet towards you, especially when you first meet her.

You remind her of Kanao, in a sense.

If you manage to grow close to her, in some way, she may let her guard down here and there.

She'll never fully let down her guard around you, because she knows you're a kid, and you don't need to know the truths of her life.

She makes it known, very often, that if you ever get injured, she's willing to patch you up, good as new.

No matter how bad the wound is.

Kyojuro with a blind s/o maybe :3?

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞

𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜

𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞: 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬

𝐊𝐲𝐨𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐤𝐮

Kyojuro is very welcoming, despite your blindness.

If you need it, he's perfectly willing to help you around and won't be angry or offended if you accidentally bump into him.

If you're insecure about it, he'll press soft kisses to your eyelids, showing that he's always there and despite your faulty eyes, he still loves you.

In the mornings, he'll wake you up with breakfast in bed every morning, without fail.

He's a wonderful cook, but if he's cooking things for the first time, he'll tend to burn them.

If you have parents who shame you or get angry at you for your blindness, he's ready, and willing, to stand up for you.

Please, he'd jump off a cliff for you if you asked.

Considering the fact he has faulty eardrums, you two go hand in hand.

In the sense he knows what it's like to have an extra difficulty in life.

But no matter who, or what, you are, he loves you, very much.

Hello! Heard you are looking for requests so here is one! How about one of the hashiras (or all of them saperated) + kagaya (platonic) x ubuyashiki daughter reader? In which reader is kagaya daughter and they are in love with her but haven't told her yet because her health is getting worse from the curse how would they react to finding her passed out on the floor with blood coming out of her mouth?

𝐀𝐰𝐰𝐰.. :(

𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐲𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 :(

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐊𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐣𝐢 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 (?), 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭-𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐮'𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬

𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜?

𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞: 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬

𝐊𝐲𝐨𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐤𝐮

Kyojuro's heart would set itself ablaze, and not in a good way.

He'd run to your side, gently lifting you up and gently holding your head in his lap.

"..𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞? 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞?" He'd ask in a panicked manner.

Your only response was more blood pooling from your lips.

He'd gently lift you up, taking off his haori and gently wiping your lips before gently holding it under your chin.

He didn't care if it became stained with blood, he could get another one.

He'd only care about your health, and your ability to move as you used to.

𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐔𝐳𝐮𝐢

Tengen's usual flashiness disappeared.

Panic would cover him, head to toe.

Once regulating himself, he'd come closer to you, gently lifting you up in order for you to not choke on your blood.

For once, he'd be silent. Not a singular word would come from him.

His free hand would gently run through your hair as he'd watch you get the rest of it out.

You could've sworn he wasn't breathing the entire time.

Because when you stopped coughing things up, you could hear him taking a long, hard breath.

𝐌𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐢 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐢

Mitsuri's heart broke as she saw you.

She would be at your side before you could even process that she was there.

She'd hold you close, whispering soft things to you as she gently rubbed your back.

She'd stay by your side the entire time.

She'd pat your back every now and again, making sure you were getting it all out.

She'd be silently sobbing, hoping you'd be okay in the end.

Once you stopped, she'd take her haori off, resting it on your shoulders.

𝐈𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐨 𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐢

Obanai would freeze up, panicking internally.

He didn't know whether to get Shinobu or do something himself.

Kaburamaru would notice this and gently slither off his shoulders to the ground.

He'd slither over to you, using almost all of his snake-like strength to push you up.

Once this happened, Obanai would snap out of it before running to you.

He was trembling, but held you up, as Kaburamaru gently slithered back to Obanai's shoulders.

Fright would be evident in his eyes even after you were okay.

𝐆𝐲𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐢 𝐇𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐣𝐢𝐦𝐚

Gyomei wouldn't be able to.. see you.

So he'd hear your coughing, and the liquid escaping your lips and put two (2) and two (2) together.

Tears would spill from his eyes as he'd make his way toward you, lifting you up.

He'd set his beads to the side, gently holding your hair back as he let you let it all out.

Like some of the others, he'd wrap his haori around you.

He'd feel terrible, causing more tears to spill.

As soon as he heard the blood stop hitting the ground, he'd pull you close, gently rubbing your back.

𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐳𝐚𝐰𝐚

His fists would tighten, and his eyes would widen.

His footing would become unsteady as a gasp released from him.

Now, he wasn't particularly... inept in the whole physical health thing, but he could tell something was clearly wrong.

A small growl would come from him as he'd run to you, gently (well, gently for him) pushing your head downward with one hand and holding you up with the other.

He sat in front of you, a victim to the blood that spewed from you,

But that was fine, nothing he hadn't experienced before.

As soon as you calmed down, he'd pull you close, his arms wrapping around you tightly as he gently rocked the two of you back and forth.

𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐮 𝐊𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐨

She'd freeze up.

Despite her intellect in the field of the human body, she wouldn't move.

Seeing you like this, reminded her so much of her sister.

Instead of staying to help you, she could help but.. leave.

She ran, as fast as she could back to the butterfly mansion.

She'd breathe heavily, her mind foggy with tears pooling in her eyes.

Her body would tremble as she'd slide down the wall, stopping when she sat on the floor.

𝐆𝐢𝐲𝐮𝐮 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐨𝐤𝐚

He'd gasp lightly, his usual calm and stoic demeanor disappearing.

For the first time in forever, tears would pool in his eyes and gently slip from them.

He'd slowly make his way to you, lifting you up slightly and letting you cough it up.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see his soft expression and the tears fall from his eyes.

It hurt him so bad to see you like this,

So bad that all he could think of doing was crying as he held you up.

His love for you was so intense, that it could cause him to do things he hadn't done in years.

𝐌𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐨 𝐓𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐨

Muichiro's face wouldn't change.

He wouldn't know what to do.

He loved you, of course, but... how was he to help?

He watched as you choked on your own blood, feeling horrible that he didn't know what to do.

He was only fourteen, would you expect him to know?

He was trained to fight to protect humans from demons, but when it came to protecting the one he loved most?

He didn't know what to do.

I heard KNY requests were in season and I came running. Hear me out.

Modern college AU Rengoku/Reader fluff where you drop your phone on your way to class (with the student id and everything) while listening to music (so it's open). You're a wreck when you realize, only to find you get an email from "yourself" saying that they picked up your phone and want to meet up with you at X building.

You can draw out the pre-reveal banter as long as you want, but yada yada, you go after class all frazzled to be met with the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous man you've ever seen. He apologizes for going through your phone to get to your email but you're too overwhelmed with gratitude and awe to care. Thus, meet-cute.

You can end it however you wish, but this has been rattling in my head for a while XD

𝐍𝐅𝐇𝐃𝐉𝐒𝐁𝐅𝐊𝐅𝐊𝐒𝐇𝐃𝐇𝐃𝐍 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 /𝐏

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞

𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 (𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝?)

𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞: 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

"𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞!"

𝐊𝐲𝐨𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐤𝐮

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭.

𝐀𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐠. "𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭.." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡.

𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐩, 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦.. 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟? 𝐈𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, "𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐈 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 407, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐊𝐲𝐨𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐤𝐮"

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐀𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐊𝐲𝐨𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐤𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 407. "𝐀𝐡, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦.

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭... 𝐣𝐚𝐰-𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, "𝐀-𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐊𝐲𝐨𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐤𝐮?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐝. "𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥!" 𝐇𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐰, 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐰... 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬. "𝐎𝐡, 𝐧𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞! 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐨!"

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. "𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐡- 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝.. 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐥𝐲. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭.

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬. 𝐀𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬, 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝. "𝐈 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭!" 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦.