Kyojuro Rengoku Ice Heart And Flame Soul

| Chapter Eleven | The Rengoku Family

Kyojuro stepped forward, with me by his side. I didn't think meeting Kyo's father was going to be such a scary experience. When I noticed him at headquarters, he was stumbling. He seemed to have been drinking. Giyu advised me not to interact with him. Now I was going to meet him.

"He's normally in his room, alone." Kyo said.

"What did you do, Kyo? Why is he so angry?" I asked.

"I wish I knew. I-" Kyo started, but was cut off.

"Why are you here!? And why would you bring someone here!?" He shouted.

"Father, this is Rika, she's my-"

"I don't care who she is, she's nothing to me! Get out of here!"

I looked over at Kyojuro. He was just looking at his father, and he seemed to be troubled. I was angry. What kind of father treats his son like that? I didn't care about what he said about me, but I was outraged with the way he talked to his son.

I looked back at Shinjuro and he was watching me, like he was waiting for me to leave. I took a step forward, and Kyojuro did as well, staying one step in front of me.

How would the Rika Fuji from over a year ago handle this? I knew that right now I wanted to get angry and tell him off. Back then I probably wouldn't have responded, ignored him.

"What do you want? You're here because you want something from my son, don't you? Well, you're out of luck! He's worth nothing!" He said.

"You have no idea what you're talking about! I don't know you, but I know your son, and he is an amazing person!" I shouted.

I took another step forward. He may have been a Hashira, but that was nothing new to me. His attitude toward me couldn't be worse than Shinazugawa when we spoke. He didn't scare me anymore.

"You can't say that Kyo isn't worth anything! Because to me, he's worth it all! He is a wonderful person who deserves to be treated with respect!" Not that I did that when I first met him.

"Forget you. Kyojuro! I'm leaving. Neither of you are worth my time." He said.

He jumped from the porch and walked toward us. I didn't move, and he was going to shove past me. Kyojuro grabbed my shoulders and pulled me close to him, preventing me from being shoved over.

Kyojuro guided me toward the house and we went inside. He didn't look back at his father. I wondered, if that was how he spoke to Kyo, how did he speak to Senjuro? Senjuro had also been nothing but kind to me.

"Where is Senjuro?" I asked.

"I'm right here." His soft voice came as he rounded the corner into the room. He found me and came in for a hug. Senjuro Rengoku is the only person other than Kyo that I have allowed to hug me. I think of Senjuro as my little brother after all these visits I've made to the Rengoku residence.

"Hi there, Senj. How are you doing?"

"Thank you for asking, Rika. I'm good. It looks like you've met Father. After all your visits, it's funny you haven't come across him yet." Senjuro said.

"Rika stood her ground. Though that isn't a surprise." Kyojuro said. He walked over to me and put his arm around me.

Senjuro looked at Kyo's arm around me and smiled. He walked out of the room and we followed him to the sitting room. Kyojuro turned to me and put his forehead to mine.

"I'll be back. I have to go to my room for a moment." He said.

He leaned a little closer and put his arms around my waist and kissed me gently. Then he walked to the doorway and turned back and winked at me with a smile, and I died a little inside.