With a Flame in my Heart [Rengoku x Fem Reader] -DISCONTINUED-

Eleven - じゅういち

Y/N covered her mouth with her hands. Kyojuro had his sword raised, but Akaza had punched him, hard enough so it would go all the way through. The Flame Hashira was in shock.

'No, I must keep going! I can't die, not now!' he thought, and forced himself to swing his blade. It started to cut through Akaza's neck. Akaza tried to pull his arm out and run, but with his other hand, Kyojuro held him in place. His bright red blade got through a little more. Y/N ran in to cut his neck from the other side, but Akaza tore his arms off to escape Kyojuro's grasp. Out of shock, Y/N backed away and Kyojuro fell down with a gaping hole in his abdomen.

The sun was slowly rising, so Akaza regenerated his arms and jumped into the dark forest to shield himself from the sun. Tanjiro got up, ignoring Kyojuro's instructions, and ran after the demon.

"Coward! Come back here! Don't run away!" he screamed at him. The sun came up, shining on Tanjiro's back. Kyojuro got up and was kneeling. His left eye was closed and that area was bleeding. Akaza's arm disintegrated and a gaping hole was left in Kyojuro's abdomen. Y/N grabbed Tanjiro.

"Stop, Tanjiro-kun. The battle's over. T-talk to Kyojuro while you can," she said, her voice cracking. She ran back to Kyojuro and knelt beside him.

"Kamado-shonen, I don't have much time to live. I might, but there is an incredibly small chance. So, if I die, I want to tell you something. I want you not to mourn for my death, but use my death as an example on how you can improve. Remember my life, not my death. You must continue to push on and set your heart ablaze. You... you must remember that, okay?" he said, and coughed. "L/N-san, if I die, just know that I love you. I know, I know, bad timing. But I'll be waiting for you in the afterlife. I'll be watching you and protecting you, all of you. Don't ever lose faith."

With that, he closed his eyes and his head fell on Y/N's shoulder.

Y/N held his head in her hands, sobbing in his hair. Tanjiro fell to the ground and cried, tears falling to the charred ground. Then, a small breath came from Kyojuro's mouth. Y/N gasped.

"Inosuke-kun! Go get Zenitsu-kun! I think Kyojuro might still be alive!" she yelled with desperation. Tanjiro looked up. Y/N held Kyojuro in her arms and stood up.

"Hey, crow thing! Get your stinky bird ass over here! I want you to send a message to Shinobu-chan, tell her we're going to pay a visit. Tell her to get her medical stuff ready. GO!" she yelled to the shadow that was circling in the sky. It flew away quickly.

"Come on, Tanjiro, Inosuke, Zenitsu! We're leaving! Hurry, there's no time to waste!"

Zenitsu grabbed Nezuko's box and ran over to the group. Y/N held Kyojuro tight.

"You're gonna be okay..." she muttered under her breath, and ran after her crow.

"There! The B-Butterfly Mansion!" Zenitsu said, tired and sweating profusely. Shinobu waited at the entrance with an extremely concerned face."

"Y/N-chan! Bring him in, hurry!" she yelled. Tanjiro and Inosuke collapsed in front of the gate and Aoi Kanzaki, Shinobu's assistant, had to bring them in.

Y/N followed Shinobu at a fast pace down the halls to the infirmary. She laid Kyojuro on the bed. He was taking incredibly shallow breaths.

"Y/N-chan, you might want to leave the room for this part," Shinobu said with a sincere voice.

"I'm trusting you Shinobu-chan. Don't mess up," Y/N said warningly, and left the room.

It was an anxious few months for everyone in the Butterfly Mansion. Every day, Y/N would enter the infirmary and put one piece of raw sweet potato on a large plate neck to Kyojuro to symbolize how long it has been since he woke up. She put a special (and edible) component on each piece so it wouldn't go bad. When Kyojuro woke up, she planned to cook all of it for him... if he woke up in the first place. There were at least a hundred pieces of sweet potato on the plate, and Y/N placed another one. She looked at Kyojuro, who was lying on the bed. His abdomen was wrapped in bandages, and so was his head. He was somehow still using Total Concentration, Constant, though, so that calmed her a little bit knowing that that would speed up the healing process. She sat down on his bed, looking at her sweet potato collection.

Then, Kyojuro stirred. She looked at him, and he opened his eyes a little bit. Y/N was shocked.

"Kyojuro-kun?" she said urgently, shaking him lightly.

"Hmm... what?' he said in a raspy voice. Y/N started to cry, smiling and hugging him.

"How... L/N-san...?" he asked, confused.

She buried her head in his neck. "How dare you scare me like that! This time, I really thought you were dead! It's been over three months... Do you see those sweet potatoes? Each one is a day you were asleep. There are over one hundred potato pieces on that plate! Why did you do that to me?" she cried. Kyojuro put her arm on her weakly.

"Heh, sorry..." he said quietly.

"And on that note, too! You made it sound like you were going to be gone forever!" she sobbed. Shinobu heard her and ran to the room.

"Rengoku-san! You're awake! It's been... three months and nine days. Ara, ara... you really scared Y/N-chan..." she said, giving him some medicinal tea that he was unable to drink because of Umi's embrace.

"Yeah, I know," he grumbled. Shinobu laughed with relief. "Well, thank goodness you're still alive. I'll be here if you need me," she said, and walked out of the room.

"Y/N-san," Kyojuro said gently. She looked up with glossy eyes. "So, you know how I said that I love you?" he asked.

"Yeah..." she mumbled, wiping her tears away with her haori sleeve.

"Well, I do. And I don't want to let my condition stop us. So, I would like to ask you if you... would be interested in courting each other," he said. Y/N was surprised at his sudden proposal, since she was always the one nagging at him.

"You know I can't say no because you're in a state that's close to death... but yes, that would be fantastic!"

Kyojuro sighed in relief. "That's good to know." He closed his eyes again and was sleeping deeply in a few minutes. Y/N laid beside him and fell asleep. 

The next morning, Y/N woke up and wriggled her way out of Kyojuro's grasp. She took the plate of sweet potatoes sitting on the nightstand beside her and brought it to the kitchen.

"Aoi-chan! Don't cook breakfast! Instead, help me cook this giant plate of sweet potatoes!" she exclaimed, and Aoi sighed.

"Why do you have that?" she asked, incredibly confused.

"Just cook!" Y/N said, getting a large pan and putting it on the stove. She lit the fire underneath and started to cook. The potatoes released a delicious aroma that reached Kyojuro's nose, all the way on the other side of the large house.

"Sweet potatoes..." he mumbled, and went back to sleep. Y/N smiled, hearing his voice. She put the cooked sweet potatoes and seasoned them. She flavored the rice with mirin (a Japanese vinegar-oil) and sprinkled sesame seeds on the plate. Aoi smelled it and ate one.

"Wow, that's good. Why did you make such a large plate?" she asked.

"Because he eats a lot," Y/N replied with no context as to who 'he' was. She walked through the hallway with her dish and entered the infirmary. Kyojuro opened his eyes slightly, but when he saw the sweet potatoes, he immediately gained energy. He sat up with some difficulty with his eyes gleaming. He was staring at the sweet potatoes with his mouth dripping.

"For me?" he said, looking intently at the food Y/N was holding. She rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah. Eat up," she said, giving the plate and a pair of chopsticks to Kyojuro. He took a bite of sweet potato.

"UMAI!" he yelled, looking up at Y/N. "Did you make this? It's so... tasty!"

"Yeah, I made it," Y/N said. She ate a bit of rice and widened her eyes.

"UMAI!" she exclaimed with vigor. Kyojuro laughed heartily. He took another bite and highlighted its tastiness.

"This is incredible!" he commented with a full mouth, taking another bite. "Who could imagine such a simple dish could contain so much flavor?"