Charred Love- Rengoku x Reader

17: Natural Selection

It's been a week since you and Kyojuro entered the cult. So far, everything has been going well, the antidotes provided by Lady Tamayo have been a huge success. Kyojuro's health has improved and your run-ins with Doma have decreased because of his work.

Besides the fact that Doma was a demon, this place almost felt like home. Your little sister seems to be happy here, she even found herself another mother figure! Kyojuro and S/N relationship is so adorable, every time S/N needs a friend or guidance, Kyojuro is always there.

S/N still hasn't gotten the hang of calling you and Kyojuro by the code names. Your afraid that Doma might be around and discover the true identities of the two of you. Currently, Kiyoko was preparing you for a festival hosted in the cult every month.

"This! This is the time when Doma chooses someone who will have eternal paradise! Oh, this is such a blessing, every month I await and yet I still don't get chosen, and I'm close with him too!"
Kiyoko sighed, "Maybe you will get chosen Atsuko!"

You laughed nervously, "Oh, I'm not too sure about that. I would prefer to stay... uh here." You fiddled with your kimono, this festival seems a little suspicious. Once Kiyoko announced she was finished you headed out the door and looked for Kyojuro. As you were about to take a sharp turn, you bumped into Doma.

"𝑶𝒉- 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑨𝒕𝒔𝒖𝒌𝒐, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒌 𝒖𝒑 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖! 𝑰 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔. 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅?"

No matter how hard you tried to look at Doma, his intense stare made you look away. This man is something else... literally.
"Yes! I was actually about to visit Hinata and tell him about it."
Doma flashed his sharp teeth, subtly reminding you of who had the power here. Doma crossed his arms and hummed, "𝑾𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍! 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓. 𝑼𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕~"

You bit your lip awkwardly, "Aw thats a shame... but whatever it is I'm sure it must be quite a surprise!"
You looked behind Doma and saw Kyojuro slowly walk towards the two of you.  Doma seemed to have sensed his presence because he immediately stared at Kyojuro.

"𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅, 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆! 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒇𝒖𝒍."

Doma clapped his hands and then gently grasped Kyojuro's shoulder. Kyojuro smiled, "Hello there Master Doma, Atsuko has been saying a lot of kind things about you. It's an honor to stand in front of the leader himself!"

Doma laughed, "𝑶𝒉- 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒏𝒐 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝑫𝒐𝒎𝒂, 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉."
'What a faker', you thought, Doma isn't who he is, it's so obvious yet the people who worship him are so blind!

The conversation was cut short when one of Doma's maids asked for his assistance. "𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒅𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔~ 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕! 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒌!"
And just like that, it was you and Kyojuro standing alone in the empty hallway.