burning for you - rengoku k.

twenty-two.

I woke up to the rays of the sun warming up my bare back. I stretched and I turned to my other side, but the room was empty, Kyojuro was nowhere to be found, but I saw his cape on the table, so he probably didn't go far.

I dressed up into a comfortable kimono that I used to wear around the house when I lived here and went outside to look for Kyojuro.

I found him on the small hill near the house, sitting calmly.

"Hey" I called out to him. He turned around with a wide smile.

"Good morning, Kagemi" he opened his arms, gesturing me to sit next to him. I sat down, to be immediately wrapped into his warm embrace.

"It is strange to see you without your uniform" he chuckled.

"You saw me without it last night" I pointed out, glancing at him. His cheeks immediately turned pink.

"T-that's n-not what I meant" he stuttered.

"I know" I gave a small peck on his cheek, then I leaned back against him.

"Kagemi..."

"Hm?"

"Are you afraid to die sometimes?" he asked with a serious tone.

I was waiting with the answer, staring at the view in front of me, thinking about what to say.

"No" I stated firmly. "The last time I was afraid to die was when my mother died. Since then, I never cared about my own life. I am only scared of being useless. And scared to not be able to save lifes. My life doesn't matter to me" I shrugged.

"But it matters to me" he said. "I am not scared either to sacrifice my life. But I am scared of losing you. Or leaving you alone"

"Then don't die" I chuckled. "And I promise you I will not do such thing either."

"Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Risking our life is part of our job" he sighed.

"I know" I said, mindlessly picking a single dandelion flower. The petals were only halfway of turning white from yellow. I rolled the flower between my fingers then I started talking.

"Then let's approach it a bit differently" I lifted the flower slightly to my eye level. "I think demon slayers resemble a lot to dandelions.
At the peak of their beauty, instead of drying out like other flowers they decide to scatter in the air" I explained, the thoughts freely flowing out of me. "For dandelions, this is the end of their life circle. Dying when they are the most beautiful. Demon slayers are not growing old. Their soul scatter in the air when they are at their strongest. Don't you think, Kyojuro?"

He didn't answer, so I continued.

"I accepted this fate a long time ago. I just have to pursuit my strongest self. If I reach that and die, then I have no regrets. That's all I could reach" I threw away the flower, then I looked at Kyojuro. He had an unusual gloomy expression on his face.

"If I die, that's my fault. This is the life I chose. And you chose this life as well. I trust you that you are strong enough to live long, okay? But if I die, because I am not strong enough, don't blame yourself"

"But I don't want to lose you" he said, lifting my hand to his face.

"I don't want to lose you either" tears started gathering in my eyes. "I will get stronger, okay? To live."

He nodded gently kissing my fingers. I closed my eyes, enjoying his touch.

But the intimate moment didn't last long as both of our crows flew towards us, alerting us about a new mission, unfortunately not close to each other.

"Where should we meet after we finish?" I asked, knowing that it would not be easy.

"At the butterfly mansion" he said. "I want to introduce you to my family"

My eyes widened and I didn't know what to answer.

"A-are you sure?" I asked eventually.

"Of course" he grinned, pulling me into a hug and kissing the top of my head. "You are important to me, Kagemi"

I wasn't very good with words, so I just tiptoed and kissed his lips softly.

"We should go now" I sighed, letting go of him.

"Yeah" he agreed, leaving one last soft kiss on my forehead.

He left soon and I quickly went back to the house to change into my uniform, it didn't take too long and then I headed to my destination.

The demon was a tough one, but I defeated it with suffering only minor injuries, a few scratches and bruises weren't a big deal.

I arrived at the butterfly mansion the next day.

"Kagemi, it's been a while" Shinobu greeted me with a smile. "Are you alright?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I just agreed to meet Kyojuro here"

"I see" she smiled. "Make yourself comfortable. I need to leave now for a mission. Bye-bye~"

"Take care" I smiled at her then I occupied one of the rooms. I asked Shinobu's disciplines if they needed any help, because I felt bad for staying there when I had no injuries.

But, there was nothing to do, so I decided to stroll the town and get some supplies. I was also considering for a while now to contact my swordsmith for some maintenance, my poor katana didn't get too much rest.

I returned when the sun started setting, but there were still no words from Kyojuro. I helped the butterfly girls preparing dinner for the few patients they had at the mansion, then I went to sleep early.

I was hoping I would finally hear from Kyojuro the next day.