To the Flames of the Sun

Chapter Four

"I'm fine now, Daddy."

I whispered, and I heard him sigh softly as he tightened his hold around me.

"Thank God you are. Thank God I arrived here on time. If I had not..."

Daddy didn't say anything after that, but the quivering of his fingers on my back had increased. My lower lip trembled as I tried my best to hold back more tears. Katsuro-san was already failing to live tonight, and on top of that, I had stressed out my father even further. We remained in that position for a few moments longer, absolutely silent, before Daddy finally loosened his grip on me and muttered something along the lines of how it was best if we headed back to the Rengoku estate. After that, I couldn't register what kind of speed he used, but I discovered myself to be scurrying towards Katsuro-san's room within minutes; Daddy right behind me. When we were a few feet away from the door, from which the light filtering out had grown somewhat dimmer, Uncle Michi stepped out, and I halted in my tracks.

He had returned from his mission already?

Uncle Michi only passed me a sad smile, which was not something I usually saw on his otherwise cheerful or sarcastic face, and then turned a grave expression towards Daddy.

"Any moment now."

"Midori."

I looked up at Daddy and found him to be procuring the flowers I had collected from the folds of his kimono, before kneeling down to hand them to me.

"Go on."

I nodded and slowly walked into the room, the tears returning to my eyes. This time, now that one of the two lanterns had been extinguished, Kasumi-san was weeping as well, with Zenshirou-san sobbing into her shoulder, while Hina-san was fully bawling, her head splayed across her husband's chest. The others stood around the futon bed in silence, though anyone could tell by looking at their faces that they were trying their best to hold back their own tears.

"Katsuro-san?"

I whispered as I sat beside his head, right next to Kaito and Daichi. The man turned to look at me, face as white as a ghost, and I sniffed once before placing the flowers on his chest, above where I believed his heart was supposed to be.

"I brought these for you."

Katsuro-san produced a small smile and placed a shaking hand on my head, before moving it to Daichi's head and finally to Kaito's head.

"Take care...of Midori and Daichi...of your mother. You will...become the Flame Hashira in...a few years...from now. So, set your heart ablaze."

Then his hand fell to the floor and his eyes shut close. A soft sob echoed from behind me, probably from where the Master was standing, before I heard the Master speak as well.

"Rest in peace, Rengoku Katsuro. We salute you."

Every Hashira present in the room lowered their heads while kneeling on one knee, and the remaining lantern in the room was slowly put out.

Five months had passed since then, autumn transitioning to spring, and last month, Gakuto-san had succumbed to the same fate as Katsuro-san. He was succeeded only by a tsuguko, apparently a student, who was supposed inherit the position of the Stone Hashira next year and preserve the technique of Stone Breathing. Yes, I knew about the different breathing styles. Kaito began his training immediately after his father's death, quoting that he had no time to spare and had to become the Flame Hashira as soon as possible. According to him, the gap created by Katsuro-san's death was too crucial to be left empty for long and needed to be filled by him as quickly as possible, preferably before Muzan Kibutsuji found out. Now that another gap had been created by the demise of Gakuto-san, he needed to train harder and faster, even if Gakuto-san's tsuguko was way closer to becoming the Stone Hashira than he was to becoming the Flame Hashira. All these terms and sentences he had used in front of us, which was why Daichi and I had asked him if we could also take a look at the new books he was expected to study to become a demon slayer.