Wild Flower (Bleach × Demon Slayer)

10 - Truth within the Rain: Foolish Oath

Hey, it's been, uh, two years since the last update here in wattpad. Sorry I'm not really active here since I considered wattpad as some sort of archive for me so the updated chapters are in fanfiction.net and archive of our own, although the updates slowed into a crawl ever since I've entered college.

And also, you guys won't mind if I suddenly dump the rest of the chapters here, right? It's not much but here it is.

Once again, I'm sorry for the lack of updates here in wattpad.

Enjoy.

(Chapter unedited.)

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Truth within the Rain: The Foolish Oath

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Kagaya had respected a lot of people in his life. Both living and dead. Before he became a figure named Oyakata of Flower District, and perhaps even when he was still alive, he had met different kinds of people. He won't brag that he had met all kinds of them but, in their own ways and in their own says, he respected a certain parts of their individuality. Their personality, their goals, their habits. He can't help but give them respect for what they are. For what they sought to be.

If he had to provide an example, he would offer his children as one. Not his biological children, but his children nonetheless. His children of the night who chase after the creatures of the night that seemed to embody the despair of humanity. Monsters, fiends, demons. Under his care, his children chose the life of a slayer, making it into their way of life to annihilate and exterminate and butcher these beasts for them to finally disappear in the world.

This tenacity was what made him respect them. As deeply as the ocean and as fervently as the waves. He truly did so. But like a wide vast ocean, like a sky hanging above them, his guilt was equally as great. Not every sin was always overlooked. His children had to pay the price. Unknowingly, obliviously, as they pass on to the other world, they had to pay the price. And him being involved to it, despite not executing the deed himself, he bears the same sin.

He had respected a lot of people in his life. Yes, he certainly did so. Despite their unpleasant personality, despite their harsh berating words, it's inevitable they are certain parts of them that can be found admirable. Not all people are truly evil and he had believed those words. And because of this belief, he had not hated a single person in his whole life, though not completely. He tried to understand everyone and he did, albeit not completely. Not a single person he had met was open and vulnerable to show themselves what they are to him. After all, he was stranger who seemed look foolish with blinded sight for eyes and fragile frame for a body.

A sickly-looking man. This was a certain person's impression he had also respected back when he was still a simple soul wandering in Rukongai*. His first companion... no, his second companion who was once his child in the world of living but now one of his subjects within his own creation, Garden of Stars.

The Flower District.

"Ubuyashiki... Kagaya...?" came a baffled voice when he had entered the guest room. Kagaya didn't expect she was already awake before he made his entrance. He had intended to wait for her in silence until she would stir in her sleep but it seemed that his plan was immediately thrown away.

"Tsuyuri Kanao." He greeted in return as he groped the air for a nearby chair. His hand bumped a hard wood and grabbed it, running his hands to confirm if it was a chair before he plopped himself to it. He offered her a smile which he thought was where she was lounging to rest. "It has been a long time, isn't it?"

"...yes." She replied after a moment of silence. He heard her shifted, assuming she was changing her position. Either to face him or get up to stretch herself, he doesn't know. "Are you... The Manager of Red Light...?"