A/N: Bruh- that is such a cool image ^^
A few days passed since your date with Kyojuro, but he seemed to grow distant. He didn't spend nearly as much time with you, nor was he as affectionate. It upset you slightly, but you figured if something was wrong, he should have his time to sort things through before telling you. In other words, you allowed him to act so cold and distant. Tengen had asked what was wrong with him, but you didn't know.
"He seemed so happy a few nights ago..." Suma shyly said, but you gave a wide smile.
"It's okay, I don't mind it all that much. Sure I miss him, but I'll give him some space if something's wrong." You were worried sick, but you didn't want to say anything about that. If Kyojuro knew you were worried he'd apologize nonstop for 2 days straight. Tengen narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but waved it off. You then noticed something shining on his wrist. It was a bracelet, and his three wives seemed to have a matching one. You smiled to yourself and touched the necklace Kyojuro had got you.
Putting on a serious face once more, you began training and making up on all the time you lost while being stuck in a bed. Your muscles were finally starting to get stronger, not that they had weakened much... but your flexibility took a major blow. You had the girls help you with retraining your body in flexibility, and were almost as good as before the fight with Akaza. That meant you were almost ready to be put back on the field.
You closed your eyes and swung your sword around your body like Shinobu occasionally did when putting her's back in it's sheath. She told you that if you used your left hand enough, you might feel pain once again, but even if you couldn't, you were still able to move and use it, so it didn't matter much to you. When your eyes opened you saw Kyojuro walking alongside the building with his normal energetic smile. He didn't ever bat an eye towards which pissed you off slightly. You turned your gaze and began running towards him, then past him. He glanced at you while you passed him, but didn't even try to stop you. He only watched you run off with a frown on his face. It was almost dark, he figured he would talk to you before you went to sleep, so he didn't bother interrupting your training. If he was being honest, seeing you run off without stopping to talk to him put him in a fowl mood, but he tried to hide it behind his smile. He was going to go check up on Tanjiro before he went to his room he had been staying at.
You on the other hand ran towards the wooded area and began cutting the bushes in your way. You stopped when you realized you were close to the area Kyojuro had showed you. Putting your sword up safely, you began walking towards it. You slowly walked through the bushes and approached the river that ran through the small area. Clearly, you saw your reflection and realized tears had begun to fall as it became distorted and looked less like a mirror. You shakily inhaled and wiped the tears you didn't know had fallen away. Did it hurt worse than you thought? You couldn't tell how lonely it felt without him until now, you had nothing to do but sit there. Steadying your breath, you smiled at the water and looked at the sun.
"Even the sun is hidden behind clouds sometimes." You said to yourself, hoping to reassure your worried heart, and laid your back against a tree watching the water move slowly downhill.
It was past dark before you finally decided to start heading back, and on the way a demon showed up. "Sorry, I'm not in the mood." You smiled and easily sliced him into bits, leaving before he even disappeared. You entered the estate and saw Kyojuro by the door, obviously waiting.
A small smile formed on your lips when he looked up at you. "Welcome back, I was about to go look for you, (Y/N)." He calmly said. You walked up to him and placed your hand on his shoulder, squeezing it slightly, before walking inside. Silently, you laid in your bed and faced away from him before he got the chance to say anything. He slightly frowned once again, "(Y/N), are you mad at me?" He asked sitting on his own bed. You shook your head, but didn't speak. "Did I do something wrong? I need to know if I did so I can fix it and I can see your smile again." He whined softly at your cold shoulder attitude.
You sat up and looked at him with a small smile and raised brow, "It's nothing, just go to sleep." You spoke softly and laid back down. His frown deepened, but you shushed him before he could say anything, "I mean it. You're always so worried about others. Worry about yourself sometimes." Your gentle voice never faltered, not even once. He watched you for a moment before laying down facing the wall, 'what did you mean by that?' He wondered to himself, trying to sleep. Not long after, he heard small snores coming from your side of the room, and looked over to see you fast asleep. 'She must have been tired...'
The next morning, you were awake before Kyojuro, which was rare, and decided to go ahead and start training. You went outside and begun moving in difficult turns that you had incorporated into your technique. It had minimal movement and maximum output, which is why you had to be perfect at it, or it would fail miserably in battle.
Aoi had walked out to gather the laundry hung up, just to find you practicing so early in the morning seeing that you were covered in dirt. It wasn't even a second after she noticed the dirt that she saw why the dirt was there as you fell face first into the ground. "Dammit!" You shouted and pulled yourself up preforming it more angrily than before. Aoi sighed and walked back inside to speak with Kyojuro.
"Rengoku-san..." she knocked softly on the door. Kyojuro quickly opened it with a small frown. "Is everything alright?" She asked a bit worriedly.
He shook his head but gave a smile, "Did you need something?" He questioned sounding like his normal happy self.
"I, uh, well... I saw (Y/N)-san practicing early today... and she's covered in dirt and getting angry... I'm worried she'll get hurt..." Aoi explained. She sounded out of character, and wasn't screaming at you, so she was obviously worried about a lashing out from you. He softened his smile and reassured her.
"I'll go talk to her, I tried to last night, but she just shrugged me off. But I won't let that happen this time! Go prepare some food for her, please!" He shouted happily, walking past Aoi with long strides towards the practice area.
You didn't know why it was pissing you off so much, and that fact that it was pissing you off so much only pissed you off more. It only made it harder to complete the fluid motions that the technique required. It needed a calm mind and a flexible body, but your mind wasn't calm, and your body was tense. You were slowly getting angrier at yourself for not being able to do it.
"You need fluid motions to complete that and you seem really stiff, (Y/N)." Sabito said walking up to you and dusting off your shoulders.
"If I can't do then I can't do it." You said angrily and walked off surprising the pink haired boy. Kyojuro soon walked out of the door seeing the stunned man.
He hummed, "Have you seen (Y/N)? I need to speak with her."
Sabito turned slowly, "I don't... think you want to talk to her right now, man." He informed and patted Kyojuro's shoulder. "I would wait until later, she seemed pretty upset about not getting her technique right."
"Thank you, but I told Aoi-chan that I'd speak with her!" Kyojuro said brightly forcing the boy to point in the direction you went. Kyojuro began running towards you so he could catch up faster, but immediately stopped when he saw your expression. It pained him to see such a frustrated look on your beautiful features. He walked up to you slowly with a small but sad smile. "Snowball..." he whispered and wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you close to his back. You just stood there with your forehead against his toned chest "You're tense. Try a different form that doesn't require loose muscles. You're setting yourself up for failure." He insisted and pulled away rubbing your arms soothingly.
"I don't care if I am or not." You growled.
He shook his head, "Try it again, but loosen up, even if it's just a little. You'll see a difference, I promise!" He cheerfully spoke.
You sheepishly nodded and mumbled an apology then began performing your technique again. It still wasn't perfect, but at least you didn't fall this time. Did Kyojuro do that, did he calm you just enough you performed it without falling? Kyojuro smiled and touched your skin softly, moving your body slowly to remind you how fluid the movements had to be. You blushed slightly, but let him continue to move your now relaxed body. You closed your eyes and sighed, letting him guide your still tired limbs.
"Feel better?" He asked sounding happy. You gave a nod, it had reminded you that he was your sun. Nothing could change that, you didn't want it to change. "I'm sorry, (Y/N), about seeming distant. I can only assume that is what upset you, but I wasn't doing it on purpose... I was just so busy with Senjuro and my assignments..."
You smiled and put your hand to his cheek, watching him lean into your gentle touch. "Don't worry, I'm okay now. It's okay, thanks to you." You sweetly hummed. He smiled brightly and kissed the top of your head.
"Try to do the technique now." He whispered and stepped back giving you space. You gave a heavenly smile with a nod and closed your eyes, mimicking the steps you had committed to memory long ago. You relaxed every muscle, and ended up performing it perfectly. When you stopped and opened your eyes, you looked back at Kyojuro with a proud expression. "See? All you needed to do is loosen up! If you get frustrated, take a break and come back to it later. Don't force it!" He spoke as if he were your teacher. You giggled remembering the days you and he would spar. He had the upper hand in strength, but you had it in mobility and unpredictability.
"Have you eaten yet?" You asked with a slightly tilted head. He shook his in return causing you to grab his hand, "Then let's go bother Aoi-san! It's been a few days since we shared a meal together!" You practically skipped towards the building. Sabito had seen the whole thing and wondered how he could get you to let your walls down like that. But as long as you were okay, though, it didn't matter. He just hoped Kyojuro knew he would kill him should he hurt you in any way.
Kyojuro knocked on the door to the small kitchen, alerting Aoi who came out soon after he had knocked. She saw the two bright smiles of the people she had seen the most of in the past few months. She sighed knowing Kyojuro had calmed you down somehow. "Is it ready?" He asked loudly.
Aoi nodded and brought two plates out, both already fully prepared and cooked. You looked shocked but bowed deeply, "Thank you, Aoi-san! You do so much for us, I hope to repay your kindness and hard work back someday!"
"I-it really isn't that big of a deal, (Y/N)-san...! Please, lift your head! You do enough as it is, fighting all those tough battles...!" She exclaimed a bit nervously. "Besides, I wouldn't have made the food so early had Rengoku-san not asked me to. It's thanks to him it's ready right now."
You turned your gaze to the now blushing man who had turned his head to hide it. A small smirk appeared on your lips, "I suppose I owe thanks to you as well!! However may I repay you for what you've done for me, kind sir?" You chuckled at his red ears and turned your attention back to Aoi. "I really do appreciate everything you do for me. I suspect if not for you, Kyojuro and I would still be separated." You smiled kindly and waved goodbye, pulling the embarrassed man by the sleeve.
Aoi just smiled, happy the two of you were getting along once again. If she had to be honest, Kyojuro's and yours strange behavior towards one another had changed the mood of the entire place. Some people thought something bad had happened between the two, but now it seems everything is okay. Was it really because of her? Aoi couldn't believe it was her doing. It was yours and Kyojuro's. You were the ones who made the decision to be happy...
Happy...
A/N: sorry for such a strange and out of the blue chapter! The next one is a special one, so buckle up your pants and hold onto your hats, we going on one hell of a ride tonight, my friends!
P.S. hope you enjoyed!!