Caught By Flames (Kyojuro Rengoku x Reader)

16 : The Truth and Emotions

As your mind wandered, your feet carried you away from the butterfly mansion and towards the busy town. You had to do something, but no one could disturb you while you did it. So to prevent anyone from worrying, you left a note explaining where you were headed to, letting them decide for themselves if you were well enough to go or not. If they decided not, they could intercept you and take you back, or they could leave you be and let you do what needed to be done.

After a few hours of walking, you finally made it to your destination. It had been years since the last time you saw this place, but it looked just how your remembered it. Immediately, you heard something fall on the rock patio and pointed your gaze in the direction it came from. You noticed Senjuro standing there with a teary look on his face and a broom on the ground beside him. "Senjuro...!" You weakly shouted. Your arms flew open as your eyes closed and your knees hit the ground waiting for him to hug you back. He ran into you hard and pushed you off your feet, quickly hitting the ground with a loud thud. He wailed, finally recognizing the sweet and lovable gaze that befell him.

"(Y/N)!" He yelled through his sobs. It warmed your heart, almost literally. His sobs slowly became quieter as he pulled himself off of you, "You look ill, and you're hot to the touch... are you okay...?" He asked noticing your heavy breathing.

You sweetly smiled and gave him a pat on the head, "Nothing I can't handle, kiddo. Where..." you hesitated, "is Shinjuro-san?"

"Father? Is that why you're here? He should be in his room, right now..." Senjuro sounded hurt by your question but you reassured him with a bright smile.

"Thank you, once I'm done speaking with him, I wouldn't mind spending time with you if... you can spare me your time, that is." You offered. Immediately, his shy face lit up with excitement, he wondered how you always seemed to be able to say the right things at the right time to cheer him up. It was a characteristic you and his brother had.

After he helped you back to your feet his face shifted, "Where is Kyojuro? Usually when you come over, he's with you..."

You shrugged it off and told him, "He's recovery from a fight with Upper Moon 3. I would say he's still sleeping at the butterfly mansion." Your words seemed to catch him off guard, but he quickly covered his surprise with a nod.

"Were you with him?" He looked up at your face. He regretted asking when he saw guilt take a more prominent role in your expression as you averted your gaze with lowered eyes.

Before he could retract his sentence, you spoke up, "I was, indeed." Your hand nervously touched the back of your neck, "If he were the one explaining this to you... he would have told you... I was the one who saved him."

Senjuro heard the fakeness of the chuckle and grabbed your hands instinctively, "If brother says you saved him, then you did! There's no doubt about it!"

Your eyes landed on him once again in surprise, "You've got it wrong- I wasn't saying I didn't save him... it was just a team effort, that's all..." you didn't know who was more loyal to their brother, Senjuro or Kyojuro. It was truly astonishing how close the two were. "Anyways... I should probably hurry up before Shinobu-san gets here." You shuddered and headed into the house. It hadn't changed much since the last time, so you knew where everything was, thankfully.

Finally, you approached the door that Shinjuro was supposedly behind. You wanted to speak with him, but it's been so long, you both have changed. It was going to be strange, that's for sure. You stood there for a moment wondering how to approach the subject you wanted to speak with him about, but it was cut off.

"Don't just stand there, dumbass! Come in already!" He growled through the door. With a heavy sigh, you slid the door open to reveal his robe covered body. He had a bottle of what you could only guess to be sake, "What do you want, I'm in the mi-" he turned around, not expecting to see you. Especially not as ill and sickly as you looked. "- (Y/N)?" His eyes went wide as he realized how long it had truly been since he'd seen you. "I heard you didn't remember any of us-"

With a bit of guilt left within your expression you slid the door closed quietly, "Things... have changed... Truthfully... I didn't remember any of you... Not until a few days ago when I... when Kyojuro... fought Akaza, Upper Moon 3..." Shinjuro narrowed his eyes in disbelief. No pillar, for years, had come back from a fight against an Upper Moon, not in one piece at least.

"You and my good for nothing son?" He saw the sharp glare sent his way and shrugged waving you over. "Even with two pillars, I don't believe you escaped that fight alive without some kind of upper hand or advantage."

You tapped your index finger on your knee nervously, "Well, you see... I was the advantage... Akaza... 1, doesn't hurt or eat women... and 2, everyone thought I was dead... in fact, my heart stopped beating for a few minutes I'm told... and 3, it was almost dawn..."

He nodded knowing there was more to this than you were letting on. He was perceptive and knew a lot just by reading the situation. "If you were dead, how are you here now?"

"Oh, um... well... I used one of my breathing forms... to fix what a sleep demon had caused..."

"Your breathing form?"

You gave a small nod, "I used the twelfth and final form of my breathing techniques. It can pull things together and make my threads sick like glue to the object. In my case... my spiritual core was shattered... so I used the technique and mended it..."

"But...?"

Your eyes shifted to his curious ones, "But because it isn't completely fixed I have a high fever, and I feel more vulnerable to my emotions than ever... I even worried and made Kyojuro cry..."

Shinjuro scoffed at the mention of his son, but sighed placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder. He always had a weak spot for you, even after his sudden change. He didn't ever seem to raise his voice at you intentionally. "Welcome to the world of normal humans. This vulnerability is what makes us, us. I say it's probably better that you've become more vulnerable to these strong feelings you've hidden from yourself subconsciously. What did you come here to speak about, (Y/N)?" He spoke softly.

"It was... actually about... something more... personal..."

Meanwhile, at the butterfly estate, Aoi dropped the plate of food she had brought into the room you once resided. What she found was Kyojuro sitting on your empty bed with a note in his trembling hands. His expression showed anger, but immediately changed after he heard the plate shatter. "Aoi-san." He said plainly with a wide smile, almost as if he wasn't distressed at your sudden disappearance. "Would you mind sending Shinobu to the Rengoku house? If not, then I must ask that you go in her place. (Y/N) seems to have snuck out and went to speak with father." Aoi gulped at the worry laced in his words, but nodded.

"Have one of the girls change your eye bandages while I'm doing as you asked, though. And don't worry to much about her, your family physician is good at what she does." Aoi reassured and left the room.

Kyojuro just sat there for a moment, what did you need to speak with him about? Why didn't you go to him first? It made him slightly jealous.