riptide | kyojuro rengoku

XXX | safe

"I KNEW EVERYTHING," 

Kyojuro spoke after a few minutes of silence. He felt your figure tense and he reached an arm around your torso, pulling you closer to him. He wasn't what he was made to be; he was here and he was with you. Rengoku Kyojuro was with you and he needed you to know that. You seemed to understand, leaning into his touch.

He smiled, "When I first realized I had Fire Breathing abilities, I was so excited. I practically ran into my parents' room and screamed my head off. My father scolded it for me but my mother. . . " His voice grew soft and you felt something warm drop onto your shoulder. "She told me to set my heart ablaze."

Your heart plummeted in your chest. You had used the phrase to mock him, but now knowing the origin of it. Along with the tone in his voice, it wasn't hard to piece together that she had passed on by now. "After that it was just intense training; my father had all of these old lore books about the Fire God and whatnot."

Kyojuro quickly changed topics. He knew you felt guilty, but he didn't want to dwell on that. It had hurt like Hell when you had used those words to taunt him, but he knew better than to be furious at you. Kyojuro didn't have very much 'common sense' but he had enough emotional capacity (despite his bluntness).

"And that's when I found out about you," You laughed softly when he pushed his face closer, his nose brushing against the fleshy part of your cheek. "Ocean Seers could withstand all kinds of things. All the creatures you read about and even the Ocean Temple; we thought it was a myth since nobody's ever found it, but I guess whatever you learned had more information on that."

He let out a sigh, "When you ended up arriving, we didn't leave the village until the day after. The storm was harsh and we checked all the bodies; my father ended up collecting the maps which is why I had them. . . I'm sorry," Kyojuro mumbled. You slid your hand up his arm, curling your hand around his cheek.

"Don't be. I think the world just likes playing tricks on us at this point," You smiled in his direction and he laughed. You could practically feel his breath fan your face but you didn't mind. Something about being so close to Kyojuro was comforting; he was comforting. "We knew someone else had come about since there were three sets of footprints."

"Since it's the land of the Fire God, even the sands are scorching. You either need to be someone from the island or wearing protective footwear to wander around there, but we all doubted someone had managed to keep their shoes on in that chaos; especially when the footprints looked so small." 

You listened to him silently. Kyojuro added his own commentary to his stories but you didn't mind; you loved listening to him talk and hearing his story gave you much more insight on the life he had in the Fire Village you were so bitter towards. "We knew of Kagaya and someone had seen his partner with heat-resistant sandals before."

"So, we knew without a doubt that whoever had just arrived was an Ocean Seer,"

You paused, "But the day you picked me up to carry me to the boat. . . "

Kyojuro chuckled, muttering an apology afterward. "That was a test. I was just making sure to see how much you knew about your abilities. I guess you didn't even know your subconscious abilities." He hummed. At this point, you were tired. Having unlocked nearly everything you were sure you were able to do, you were tired of being kept in the dark.

Or rather, hearing about how you were kept in the dark.

And although Kyojuro hadn't said anything yet, you knew he wanted to ask too. How did you suddenly know everything that he had grown up with? "Did your father ever bring up the Ocean Seer book again?" The Flame Pillar paused, muttering years under his breath before shrugging lazily.

You felt the movement flow through his arms, scrunching your nose as you had to change your position to feel comfortable after that. "Senjuro did," The tone of pride returned in his voice and your heart warmed. He really loves his brother, doesn't he? You were happy for him; it's not like you had any siblings to relate to that with.

"But our father got mad. I always believed it was the alcohol that made him angry; I don't hate him for it, I just knew I had to look after Senjuro after that."

"Does that mean—"

"—yes, he's back at the village with him now. I did ask one of the older ladies to watch over him when he was out and about, but Senjuro's always been selfless. He'll look after our father no matter how many times he gets thrown around. Sometimes I wish I had his willpower, maybe then I could be a better older brother."

Kyojuro poured his heart out in front of you and your heart shattered. Even he doesn't realize how amazing he is, huh? You cupped his face, speaking softly. "I'm sure he looks up to you in the same way, Kyo. Maybe you're not as strong-willed as your brother, but that's up to him. You have your own strengths to set your heart ablaze on."

His cheeks grew hot under your hands as he became flustered. You were oblivious to it, but his face was only centimeters away from yours. "The book," You pulled away. His face slowly cooled and Kyojuro's chest rose and fell with relief. He wasn't sure how much longer he could've stayed in that position.

"Kagaya stole it; that's why he left the island. I met him that night in Shinobu's hut-thing. He woke me up in the middle of the night and handed me the book; he translated it into Braille for me. He didn't tell me if he's come to the Ocean Temple before, but there were definitely some details in his rewritten version that weren't included in yours."

Kyojuro stiffened before he broke out into laughter. "Oh, so that's what the footsteps were?!"

"You knew?!" Your jaw fell slack and you sat up, startled.

The Flame Pillar snorted, "I promised to protect you, didn't I? That means staying by your side when you're sick too, ya dork." He nudged his shoulder with yours and you squeaked, managing to catch yourself before bumping his shoulder back. His arms moved around your frame and he pulled you into a hug.

He could feel the tension leave your figure as he relaxed against you too, closing his eyes. 

"Thank you," Kyojuro held you tighter. "I don't think I've felt this safe in a long time."