Healing and All That Entails

Cleaning up after breakfast is a nice process because he finds it gives him something to do without needing to think too hard. It's easy and practiced, something he's confident he could do with his eyes closed if he needed to. Before he knows it, he's collecting the broom by the front door and heading outside.

Admittedly, he hates this part of his day. Standing in front of his house, broom in hand, the sun shining on his back, it's bitterly familiar. Only this time there's no news that can be delivered to him that will ever hurt as bad. What he loved most in the world is already gone, everything else seems mundane in comparison.

No, that's not true. He shakes his head violently. He still has his friends, the remnants of his family. He has Obanai, who is adopted but no less a brother to him than he was to Kyojuro. He has Mitsuri, someone who might as well be adopted with how close she is to their family. Both siblings to him in every sense of the word but blood, and Kyojuro wouldn't want him to forget about them in his grief. And even besides them, he has more than he leads on. He has Tanjiro, who he's already terribly close to despite the short amount of time that's passed between them. He has Kanao and Genya, both people he met through their similar experience of having Hashira for siblings. And he has-

"KAA!" A shriek from up above pulls Senjuro from his thoughts. "A MESSAGE FOR RENGOKU SENJURO!" A crow informs him.

Instinctive dread runs up Senjuro's spine, once again much too familiar with the scene before him, but he relaxes when he realizes whose crow it is. He juts his elbow out for the bird to land on, smiling gently at the familiar face.

"MIST PILLAR, TOKITO MUICHIRO, IS ON HIS WAY. I REPEAT. MIST PILLAR, TOKITO MUICHIRO, IS ON HIS WAY!"

He has Muichiro. His best friend.

"Good girl, Ginko," he whispers, scratching up the crow's neck how she likes, "good girl."

...

Sweat drips down Muichiro's face as he runs, his heart pounding in his chest so hard he wonders if it'll explode. It's not from exhaustion of course, or any physical limitation. In fact, he's never been stronger, still riding the high of killing an upper moon on his own and living to tell the tale. No, this feeling is from his emotions alone, excitement and anxiety mixed with cloudy confusion, but no longer veiled with forgetfulness. He's never been so determined and so clear headed at the same time. For once he runs and he knows where he's going, for once he keeps his mind on his goal and doesn't lose it.

It occurs to him that maybe he shouldn't be here, and he definitely wouldn't be if Ubuyashiki hadn't given him permission to step away from the Hashira training for a day- even encouraging him to do it- but he still wonders if he's wasting precious time.

No, no. He banishes that thought as soon as it comes. How sickly unfair that would be to deny himself the chance of seeing a dear friend for his job. Not that he doesn't find gratification in being a slayer, but lately he's found himself yearning for something he lost so long ago. Companionship, friends, people to confide in. Happiness, mainly. And as he runs, under the protective shade of flowering trees through the backroads of a comfortable neighborhood, he thinks that this will make him happy.

He sent Ginko ten minutes ago to announce his arrival, but it feels like an eternity as he finally steps foot in front of the Rengoku estate. He's been here many times before, more than he can remember and that's not thanks to his amnesia. In a way, he's been able to remember the feeling of the estate, the warmth it radiates like a fire, the complicated feeling of love touched by tragedy. It hasn't changed, but it manages to take Muichiro's breath away anyway.

Maybe it's because he's looking at it and actually seeing it. Drinking in the specific features of the old house and being able to understand what he's looking at. He can cement the details in his mind and actually hold onto them. For a moment, he worries that they'll slip away from him when he leaves, but even that is a good fear to have because it means he's conscious of it, aware enough to miss a memory even before it's gone.