Heart Of Fire; Veins Of Ice | Kimetsu No Yaiba Fanfic (Kyojurou's POV)

Chapter 40

Everything seems to still.

Her lips were as red as her mask, as she brought up a gloved hand to her face, placing an index finger over her lips, lips that were curved in an all knowing smile, behind it hid hidden intent and cruelty, as her demon slitted eyes peered into the depths of his soul.  

He hears the sounds of everyone's footsteps around him, as if he were standing in the middle of a lake, when it was in the middle of a heavy rain, and he could physically feel and identify each sound, from every single person. Every person's presence seemed to echo like rippled across the water, or cracks travelling on thin ice.

Every movement, every scent, every action, every sound.

In that moment, he can feel everything around him.

And it is overwhelming, blaring, sharp, burning, thrown at him all at once. It stuns him momentarily, as he tries to block out everything around him, taking in a deep breathe as he silences the world around him.

And just like thin ice falling away into the dark, cold depths below, he could feel nothing around him.

Nothing but her. 

She is the only thing he cannot remove from his mind, because she was part of him.  

A bell rings in the distance. 

The sound snaps him out of his trance, as she disappears as softly, as silently as the snow which fell all around them. 

Masahiko speaks to him, but his words are dulled, insignificant, forgotten as he scans the crowd.

"Kyojuro-kun!" There's a hand on his shoulder. Ren nudges him with his beak.

"Are you alright? We need to get moving," His voice is filled with concern to him, as Kyojuro shook his head as if trying to clear away everything he had just experienced, or in the very least, pushing it away to be sorted out later.   

"Yeah! I just dozed off!" He replies, but he knows that Masahiko-san was not convinced, but nevertheless, goes along with it. The two of them continue walking, trailing behind the dog. 

The dog, or the Kai Ken, hates him.

With every chance it gets, its growls, barks, snarls, or even nearly lunges at him, and its especially cunning to do so when Masahiko isn't looking or was listening hard to their surroundings. It's eyes are lit with undying loyalty and hatred, as he makes sure to keep his distance from it. 

At some point of time as a child, he had wanted a pet dog, but since his father loathed all animals with a burning passion, he never let him or Senjuro ever keep a pet. That does lead him to wonder how his dad managed to live with a messenger crow though...

Ren occasionally emerges from the folds of his cloak and caws back angrily at the dog, as if telling it to shut up and keep it down, but of course, in animal speech, so he couldn't tell what he was actually saying to the dog. 

Masahiko had said that it was their guide, sent to them by Himura.

He doesn't know whether he should feel amused or not. The dog hates him so much already, that at that point, he was certain it was trying to make his life hell. It kept on crossing his path, trying to make him trip, or otherwise led Masahiko in a direction away from him, trying to purposely separate them in the crowd.

But he understood why it behaved as such.

He was a demon, and animals of any and all kind, hated demons with a passion.

"Masahiko-san. My apologies, I...lost control of Daichi would run away so quickly," The girl, who had her light brown hair tied up neatly in a neat bun, bowed to the two of them as the Kai Ken ran up to her and she bent down to pet it. She was dressed in a simple winter kimono of deep blue and white, as her hands were gloved to protect her from the cold. The Kai Ken shoots him a glare as it enjoys being patted by the girl.