Demon Slayer (Rengoku x OC) The Tale of Moriyama

Extra Chapter: Bonding Final

Moriyama sat down in front of the flame-colored hair man as his back faces her, drinking away his problems. If only it was that easy. She and her sister had visited the Rengoku residence to give their congratulations after Rengoku and his student, Mitsuri had defeated the Lower two demon. They should be on the way home today after getting treated for their wounds at the Butterfly estate. She had hoped that by doing this his father would at least be woken up by his drunken self and be grateful to his sons, after all, he himself had fought against this particular demon a few years back but failed to kill him. She remembered her mother telling her about it and it was the time when she had first noticed the change in her mentor's behavior of justice, adding the part where he was practically torturing the demon while holding his drink.

Mother always regretted not taking this mission in his place. It's one of the things I wanted to complete so she could be at peace. 

It was only when his son eagerly wanted to prove his worth then she suggested the Master give him the mission.

"You know," she started, " Shinazugawa-san may be onto something."

She earned some glances from everyone as she continued, "There's information about a demon in the capital. I suspect it's one of the Lower moons."

The Master caught on quickly and agreed to give Rengoku the mission.

As he walked out with determination, the Pillars turned to Moriyama. "You know you're most likely sending him to his death. There's no way he's going to defeat a Lower moon," mocked Uzui, "I on the other hand would've finished him with flamboyance."

"I just have a feeling this mission is perfect for him," she replied, turning to the Sound Pillar and tapping her index finger on her head.

She sighed softly as the memory faded away. Now she was sitting in the room with the same man who mentored her mother. A pile of jars took up a corner of the room and some books were scattered. 

"Why have you come here, Moriyama-san?"

The sounds of a half-dead, low, raspy, and rough voice came together and had a child as soon as the senior man opened his mouth. The scent of alcohol was now stronger and its stale odor stung her sense of smell. If it wasn't for the fact that she needed to confirm something about her mother she wouldn't have come a bit earlier in the morning. There was always one thing she was curious about ever since she was reunited with her mother. The fact that she took time to do research and was always coming here for answers but to no avail. She silently cursed the matriarch. If only she was curious about it while she was still training with him but after he had become depressed he doesn't talk much about it and just rants about the breathing styles until one day she stopped coming. However, Moriyama was determined to complete her mother's wish.

After gathering her courage, she finally opened her mouth. "I wanted to-"

"If you wish to ask me about those notes again then you can leave," said Rengoku, taking another sip of his drink and sighed.

Notes?

He then threw a bowl at her at the distracted Air Hashira but her senses were quicker and her instincts caught the flying bowl just in time before it reached her face.

 "Useless! They're all useless anyway, Akira. The Flame is just a waste of time!"

She put down the bowl. Wait. Akira is my mother's name. Does he think she's alive? 

Clutching her mother's letter tighter with her other hand, she fought the tears as she remembered what happened to her. The letter contains her last words. Akira had one prepared for both her daughters and the Rengokus and was planning to give him it but now that he has mistaken her for her mother, an idea struck her. It wasn't the first time she had been mistaken for her mother. Is it a bad idea...

Before she could reply, voices were heard outside. "They must be back already." She watched as the drunkard stood up and slowly walked towards the veranda, leaning against the post. She sighed in defeat and followed, bowing before going towards the gate. But not before telling him one thing, "Trust In your sons, Rengoku-sama. They will make you and the Rengoku name proud."

She walked past the gates and stopped to admire the scene. There was Rengoku and Mitsuri with Senjuro and Moriko buried in their arms laughing and crying. "Big sis! Ko-san came back!" she chimed with hints of tears.

She laughed at her sister's nickname. "Ko-san?"

Rengoku looked up at the confused Pillar and made his way to her. Before she could introduce herself properly he suddenly said, "The flower chain complimented your eyes well." This made the Hashira froze at the sudden compliment and chuckled a bit. 

She quickly thanked him followed by proper introductions.

"I have no doubt that the Master would make you a Hashira after this mission. Let's do our best as Pillars!" she added, giving him a smile.

A memory she didn't know she had suddenly came up.

"Mother!"

"Ah, Mura-chan," her mother turned around to see her ten year old running towards her. "Why did you follow me here?"

"I got a bad feeling that a demon was here and was worried. My senses were going crazy. You even left as if you were going forever."

The Hashira laughed, "Well there's no demon here anymore. I've already defeated it. Besides, I was just chatting with someone."

Murasaki tilted her head to see a boy a bit shorter than her with golden hair.

"Why don't you say hello? He too is training to be a demon slayer," she said kneeling down to her level and spoke in her ear.

This got Murasaki's attention that she had excitedly grabbed the boy's hand, "Let's do our best as demon slayers!"

No way...

It wasn't long before the Master had given the Flame Pillar position to Rengoku and after that Murasaki had grown accustomed to his presence. Visits to his home were a regular thing and the mystery of her mother's research gave her the confidence to properly talk with Rengoku's father when he was in his less bad moods. The bonds between her sister, the Rengoku brothers, and Kanorji grew stronger by the minute that they were practically family.

Almost after every mission, they would gather together for a meal while talking about the mission and everyday worries which often ended with Mitsuri eating more than three times the meal leading to Moriyama cooking more food while they chat but this didn't bother her as she always loved the company. But the bond between her sister and her was the one she favored the most as Moriko gave her the drive to be the type of person anyone would be happy to be around.