His songbird [R. Kyojuro × Reader]

九 | Patrols

No ones pov

It was great to be back again. It was never boring with Senjuro and Ruka. After being away for some time she felt lonely, she never felt like this before back in her cave but after meeting them, she also changed. She liked company.

Kyojuro continued to train and if he was assigned to a patrol in some villages at night, he will take Natori with him. Until now they only met weak demons. During the patrol in villages, the phoenix choosed only to fly around since her fire might wake the citizens up.

Tonight was another night with no demons, were they aware that they might run into the phoenix who could burn the to death? Nobody knew.

Kyojuro sat on a roof watching the quiet village to scan the area again.

"Everything clear." he heard his female companion's voice beside him who landed next to him.

He started to eat the snacks his mother prepared for him, she handed Natori one asking her if she wanted and she shook her head.

Now the flame hashira thought that it was the perfect timing to know her more.
He was curious about her past, was she always that nice to humans? Was she perhaps different before she met father? What exactly happened that Muzan had to rip her core out form her? What did she do after separating with Iguro?
They had time, so perhaps she was willing to chat with him.

"Say Natori, I don't really know a lot about you." he started.

"Is that important?" she tilted her bird head like a confused owl, "why would you want to know more about me?"

Kyojuro: "We've been working together for a long time, so I thought..."

Natori: "I know you're curious. Ask me whatever you want and I answer."

Kyojuro: "Do you remember when you get turned?"

Natori: "I'm not sure, but it was very long time ago."

Kyojuro: "And you never had human flesh before?"

Natori: "Sound unbelievable but yeah. Maybe because of the environment after I got turned. I don't remember spotting a living being after coming to my senses. Then I just stayed in the cave after traveling for a year or two."

Kyojuro: "you also seem to know a lot from the kizukis, do you know them?"

Natori: "Not really. I just run into them during my travels, that's all."

After a short silence where he thought about asking her why Muzan ripped her core out, he decided not to rush it.

"Father already told us how he found you but I want to hear the story from you view." he began, "What do you think how father and the other people found you?"

The red bird looked up to the sky as she was recalling her memories, "Right, when did it start that so many people know about me?"
She thought for a while before starting, "There was this one guy I helped during my travels, he broke his leg while collecting herbs. Since there was no shelter nearby, he might die there so I helped him before I left. Did he start to talk about me?" she tilted her head, "can't be, one person couldn't affect the rumors... Or was it that one human who wanted to jump off a cliff?"

"I guess all of them started to tell stories about you. Because I myself will do it too if I saw a giant Re bird flying in the air." Kyojuro added, "Did you also told them to ever expose your existence?"

"Of course not." Natori replied, "I mean if you suddenly see me out of nowhere and tell everybody about me, they will think you've gone crazy or you were just dreaming."

"Maybe it was hope that many choosed to believe in your existence." he explained, "remember father's case? He said a doctor told him about you. It might sound unbelievable at first but he still went looking for you."

Natori continued, "and this went on and on for years..."

Kyojuro finished it, "...until your existence was clear to most people, like the village which was near your cave."

"No wonder I see humans so often back then..." Natori's voice turned quiet after a short pause, "to be honest, at first I didn't want to help your father."

"Why?" he asked.

She sighed, "there were consequences. He eventually found out that I was helping humans instead of eating them. He gave me a warning so I stopped for a while. This was before the village knew about me. Yet, I was touched by your father' story so I travelled with him back to your home. And once I returned, he was there."

"Sorry about that." he said.

Natori shook her head, "I'm not angry at him nor did I regret it. I mean look at you and Senjuro, what will happen if you didn't grow up with a complete family? Besides, I like them now. Because of you, your friends and family, I actually felt loneliness for the first time. Now I'm questioning myself how I even manage to stay in that cave."

"You're welcome!" he chuckled, "I still can't believe you have such a kind heart and much empathy. You know, demons aren't like that."

"Another reason why humans like me."

At this both of them laughed under the beautiful moonlight.