~*Kyojuro's POV*~
The hallway... once heated and warm round the room of the orange-haired demon fills with a cold chill that runs over my skin. Its whispers are hateful, malicious, and so very poisonous that; I hate to say, but it almost makes me scared to open this door and check on the slayer that's still inside. Things sound like they've calmed down, but that thought isn't helping me very much, not when so many other things are going off in this head.
"ᴸᵉᵃᵛᵉ."
The flinch that rocked me when I saw her face among the blizzard is still affecting me, long after I got out of the danger zone. I've never quite come off this way when being around (y,n)'s technique.
Sure, she frightens me sometimes, but I've gotten so used to her chosen breathing style that earlier couldn't have shocked me more. Why? ... It didn't feel like (y,n), not the comrade I've known for over a year. That dark blizzard looked at me like I was a stranger, an unfamiliar face I couldn't recognize. I gave it a similar sense of unfamiliarity, not getting even a glimpse of the (h,c)-haired woman anymore, even if she was right in front of me-
"Huh??" I backed up from the entrance locked shut with ice when feeling my socks getting wet. I raised my foot away from the hallway floor while blowing my blonde locks away from my face-... I didn't need a fitting expression to show the surprise when seeing a puddle of jet-black seeping through the cracks of the shoji door.
The ice... it's melting already? But that would have to mean that... (y,n)...
Taking action on the dot, I cracked the melting ice open to squeeze myself into the space of the giant room. The cold front greeted me on the other side... less harsh that what I normally feel from (y,n), I'm usually reverted into just another block of ice when I encounter her freeze.
"(y,n)? Where are you??" I trudged through the snow and slush on the ground with those first few steps into the terrain, calling out to the woman as I searched around what's left of the inside. Once a fiery place filled with embers and branches has faded off in the black storm, the tree I was worried about before; now entirely dead and crumbled away. The Ice Pillar really did a number with that attack... It was almost guaranteed that our enemy wouldn't be coming out victorious on the other side.
My gaze made its way back down on the black ice, finally locating my comrade after looking around in my shivering condition.
A tributary of crimson flows from her face and into the hand she hovered under the blood- the victim of the bloody nose stays crumpled on the floor with her other arm barely holding her up; wobbling, and cascading her haori sleeves down to her elbows. I didn't immediately run to her side, too cold and stunned for my feet to properly move towards.
-I also don't want to slip.
"(y,n)..." I said the woman's name to her as her body quavered, her eyes making it to me. They look tired, very, very tired, a little watery with that exhaustion to them. She took a moment to breathe, shaking her head to push away the last of the blood.
"Kyojuro..." She wiped the blood from her nostrils and sent my name back at me, trying to get up. The Pillar stumbled to the side to the support of a pier of ice, the frozen water melting underneath her hands and sending strokes of black crawling onto her fingers. It took some effort from her to look at me again, still very depleted
"Everything ok?" I asked in my next shallow breath when seeing her fatigue loud and clear. I don't wish to alarm her by going to help right away, I'd rather not elicit a bad reaction from her, not in the state that she's currently in.
My ally thought to herself about the question, rubbing her dreary lids as she panted a little.
"Let's..." She took a more broad breath, "Let's just get the fuck outta here." I think I would say the same if I was like that too, especially having to move forwards afterwards, shuffling back- - dragging oneself back to the beaten hallway where this all started.
The Ice Slayer didn't look back when taking her haori off and throwing it over her shoulder as I tottered across the ice and to more steady grounds of flooring, closing the door behind me to what's been left of the ember demon.
Back there, that's the type of trouble we're going to be facing in this hotel? I knew not to get too faithful about the enemies that might be scouring around her, though we haven't gotten a real understanding of the trouble we're playing towards until we got into that mess. We've already seen some concerning foes during this mission, the type to put off most, if not all Hashira in their right mind.
I shouldn't get myself all caught up in that thought, even to just think that their might be even stronger beings is already too much...
~~~
The two of us slayers, we don't make a sound, a PEEP of our own while we go through the walkways, more slow now than the pace we were at before. We've come across a few extra demons, mediocre, at best, nothing we couldn't handle, even with how drained our bodies are.
I gave a glance to (y,n) when she turned to me, looking closely at my ruffled appearance- I would've frozen right here in my steps if not for noticing all those thoughts in her eyes, the ease of seeing them putting my immediate worry to rest. It's no glare, just a... really long ogling. "... You need to tie your hair back when you get the chance." I knew they were going to burst out at any second, there's no way she could've kept all that thinking to herself, not by the looks of it.
"My hair? Why do you say that?" I blew away some of the long sections of my locks when the warrior mentioned that. I understand why she'd say such, It has been in my face ever since we were at square one of the hotel, I haven't had the time or thought to fix it back up into the hairstyle it usually keeps. It's been annoying me, but even with that so;
"I can't... actually fix it. Not now, at least." I raised my hand with a weak laugh to show the dilemma, the hole that was punctured into my palm almost being large enough for her to see my eye through it. Not too shabby now that I look at it, just a stab-wound the size of a yen coin with burning skin at the site (I'm just glad it wasn't my dominant hand, that would've been a lot more difficult to deal with in the long run).
"Getting stabbed in the hand... it doesn't feel the best for moving." That sigh came next. I still have to wield my sword and whatnot, but doing unnecessary things isn't in my power or mind right now... It already hurts as much as it does, I don't want to cause any more pain or bleeding than what I've endured.
My teammate turned her view to my unruly hair after she peered through the hole I displayed to her. She stopped in front of a closed door that's been down the hallway we've traversed, then going to place one of her scored hands on the surface of the entrance... "Are there any demons in there?" My feet brought me up to her left as I looked upon the same entrance, waiting for her answer as she concentrated. She lifted her head up and reached for the handle soon after.
"Empty- it's perfect." (y,n) opened up the screen to an empty room, futon yet to be unrolled quiet, and practically untouched by any guests. It's a relief... a chance to breathe when I see there isn't another enemy around.
The Hashira gazed at the room sparsely while she motioned me in, locking the entrance afterwards. "This should be good for now, give us some time to recoup until further notice." The (h,c)-haired woman mumbled as she caught my sight. She closed her own, exhaled, and made the first few steps closer to me.
"You're gonna have to sit down if I'm to help, it'll be more comfortable for the both of us."
"Are you sure you want to? I could manage something easy with my good hand." I offered as I pulled at the hair tie still keeping my locks up, letting the rest of my blonde mane down across my shoulders. I fluffed out my hair, blowing the bangs away from my face to get a clear view of her reaction to my suggestion. I'm not even going to try to detangle it on my own right now, it's an absolute mess that'll be sure to get my fingers trapped.
"Do you want it to stay up or not?" She raised her brow line at the messiness of my hair.
"Fair point..." I sighed happily while plopping down on the tatami matting, crossing my legs with a wince. The woman dropped her dirty haori off to the side, cracking some of her knuckles as she slowly walked up behind me and to my spot. She took some of my hair into her hands, looking at all that she has to tend to.
"Sorry, I know it's a lot to handle..." I chuckled to my comrade as she started at the base of my messy locks, combing her digits through it carefully and moving further on the scale.
"It's... quite long..." She said for a moment and held it out in her hands, looking to see how far it reaches. I glanced behind me to see her perplexity, feeling her fingers through it carefully this time.
"My brother says I should cut it, save me the trouble and time... I can't bring myself to it!"
"... What the hell-" She had to stop herself there, bringing her hand over her mouth while the other assessed my locks more. Finally, the last one of the Hashira to feel my hair. I've had to live through this before, 8 other times, everyone having a similar response to my hair. It's as if they can't fathom the thought that my mane has this texture. It isn't silky like other Japanese people, but fluffy. It's not until you touch it that you notice the difference. It gets out of hand sometimes... it tangles so easily when I'm not careful
"What do you use in your hair?!"
"It's hereditary..." I stated as she went back to what she was doing.
"No wonder... ᴵᵗ'ˢ ᶦⁿᶜʳᵉᵈᶦᵇˡᵉ..." -Didn't think I'd get this type of reaction from (y,n), of all people...
After I chuckled, I turned back to the front and stayed still, straightened my back the more her hands crawled up my mane, loosening tangles, smoothing parts out.
Her hands went down the line to my jaw occasionally and motion the way she wished- I followed her lead and leaned my neck back so she could get the harder areas of my hair. My eyes can't make it to her face, staying modest and going elsewhere in the room while I went far enough for the back of my head to nearly be touching her legs, but my mind stays here, processing and walking along everything that her hands do and proceed on with
A... gentle experience. No reluctance or hurry to the patience those fingers strum across each string. Makes me wanna relax my shoulders, close my eyes... take my mind and return it' to a time when I've felt this before. It... doesn't make this any better that they act so similar to each other sometimes that the resemblance makes my head hurt when I think about it for too long...
Never thought I'd be making the comparison- "...You and my mother... you two do my hair almost exactly the same." I said softly after such a long stretch of stillness, bringing on yet another interval that made (y,n) stop midway through brushing out my top bangs. I didn't absolutely mind the awkwardness while I smiled to myself, waiting on what she might have to say- or even, nothing at all, back pressed into a corner she never wished to be in. Will she answer, go along with the invitation she's been given, ignore it like many others that I've sent before.
Some people might claim I like the pain at this point, being rejected so many times that I should expect it again.
"... How so?" She replies. I didn't think she'd want to know why I said such.., I wasn't expecting her to continue with this talk, I was almost starting to regret saying what I did at all with how long it took her to say anything whatsoever! Though, I guess this is better than what I was anticipating!!
"Before I knew how to do it myself, my mother would sit me down in front of a mirror every morning and do my hair, showing me along the way how it's done!" I leaned back to where I'm sitting to smirk at the (h,c)-headed Hashira whilst she dragged my locks all together into a high ponytail, leaving out the bangs that can't be pulled up.
"And you said what you did because...?"
"The way you're doing it, it just... really reminded me of when she would do it for me! It's a little uncanny, I thought I would've forgotten the feeling by now!!" I handed the woman my hair tie for her to finish what she's doing, my hair taken out of the way from my eyes.
Better, I've been fiddling with my bangs for far too long...
The slayer pulled her hands back from me once she was done, processing everything I've told her. She took a moment to herself and said; "I'm humbled..." She breathed softly with that exhausted voice of hers. Humbled, to be compared to my mother? I don't know what extent that statement goes to, but just hearing it makes me a lot happier, especially involving my mother. It touches my heart, to say the least, brings a good grin on.
"We should get a move on... can't be here for too long." My ally picked her patterned clothing up from the floor and draped it back over her shoulders. ... There's still a weave to her moves.
I'd love to continue going with the objective, but she looks worn out, barely able to keep up talking for long. She's worse off than before we'd encountered the ember demon, I can't make her waste her remaining stamina with my shenanigans. We mustn't keep up this journey if she's in no state to. Ice Breathing stems from the use of energy, and seeing how much trouble (y,n) was having to steady herself during battle, it's concerning. We need to rest, she needs to rest.
"(y,n), we should take a break, settle down for a bit." I caught her in her place as I stood up before she could unlock the shoji door. She stopped, looked over her shoulder and to my calm face, hand dropping from the handle.
"We don't have the privilege to take any breaks on the way, have you seen the goddamn place we're in, Kyojuro? We got lucky the last time, there's no saying of how we'll turn out the next."
"I know, I know, but have you seen yourself?" I gestured to the warrior at her bloodied, dirtied image.
"You're losing energy, you already have, and it was you who told me that... when that reaches it's limit-"
"Yes, I get it. I know what I said.." The Ice Hashira went back on her feet to sit down against the wall next to her, her head leaning into her hands and allowing herself to shudder.
"Dammit, I'm already so close to that point, my ice was too fragile, earlier..." She whispered dejectedly as I backed up to the farthest part of the room away from her while watching her unmount her blade. I sat there, much to her surprise, just now realizing the distance I've put in between us all.
"... What are you doing? Why'd you move over there?" She waved a motion of her hand to me, glaring at my smile as I crossed my legs underneath me.
"I... understand that having to sleep in the same room as me is probably unnerving enough, and I don't want to jeopardize your rest by not keeping my distance. So, I'll be here the entire time!" I remarked and crossed my arms over my chest as her drooping eyes looked on at me.
"I'll be sure to stay awake and keep a lookout for any danger, don't hesitate to recoup." This is all the rest I really need, I wouldn't bother to sleep as well, we can't risk another moment of us both being unconscious. Letting our guard completely down would be a horrible idea, the aura running throughout these halls says so. If I stay on watch, not only will we stay safe, but she'll (hopefully) have no worries!
I stayed respectful and quiet with what time (y,n) took to settle in her spot on the other side of the hotel room, finally... closing her eyes after some reluctant moments passed. "Thanks..." She said at last, nothing else to mention.
Seeing her tranquil state, I relaxed myself up on the wall in my position, playing with the high ponytail she put my hair into with a sigh. Getting a break from the torture, couldn't have come any sooner, after everything we've already faced. We still don't know exactly where we are, what this place is, and so forth, but... at least we get to have a little peace of mind.