Kyojuro Rengoku Ice Heart And Flame Soul

Kyojuro's Surprise ~ { Life With Rika and Kyojuro }

Korin landed on the bamboo stalk and flapped her wings at me. "Kyojuro Rengoku requests you join him!"

I gasped. "He needs help with his mission?" I sheathed my sword and turned to Korin. "Where is he?"

"The flower field to the south of here."

I ran straight to Kyo, and when I arrived, he was standing there in his uniform and inspecting a flower in his hand.

"Hey there Handsome!" I called out.

His head snapped up, and his wide-eyed gaze met mine. I startled him. That was unusual. He was not easily caught by surprise.

"Here." He said, holding out the flower.

"Thanks." I said, taking it in my hand.

"It's been almost two months since my birthday, but I couldn't stop thinking about a conversation we had that day. I had to act." He said, also not in his usually loud tone.

"What do you mean, Kyo?"

He bit his lip. This was very unusual behaviour for Kyojuro. I didn't know what was happening with him. Maybe he had a rough mission. I wanted to help him feel better.

"Kyo? Are you alright?" I asked, stepping forward and putting my arms around his waist.

He put an arm around my shoulders and looked into the distance.

"What did you mean by you had to act?" I asked.

"Walk with me, will you?" He asked, letting go of me.

"I want to know what's happening with you." I said.

He walked forward, and didn't turn back to see if I was following. I took a few steps and caught up with him as he was walking slowly. He stayed silent and wouldn't meet my gaze.

"Kyo? I'm getting worried. What's going on?"

He stopped walking and turned to me. He looked at me intensely and I felt panic building up.

"Kyojuro! What is it?" I asked.

"My love, I am only trying not to change my mind."

There was something going on, and it was bothering me. I was very confused about his behaviour.

"Okay, but what are you talking about?"

"Come with me." He said and turned away again.

We continued to walk, but he stayed ahead of me, guiding me to where he wanted to go.

"Follow the plan..." He mumbled.

He continued to walk, but something on the ground caught my attention.

"Kyo, wait!" I said, changing direction.

I walked toward a blue wrapped package sitting on the ground. "Uh oh." I said. "I think somebody lost something."

"Did they? Oh no. How unfortunate. Yes, quite unfortunate for them."

"Should we leave it? Do you think they will return for it?" I asked.

Silence. I turned and looked at Kyojuro, and he glanced away, biting his lip again.

"Kyo?"

He came back and knelt down. He picked up the package and inspected it. "It says something on it. Look."

I knelt on the ground too and looked. "Alright Kyojuro, what's going on? Why does this say my name?"

He handed it to me. "I don't know. I guess you should open it."

I took it and he stood and walked a few steps away and sat on the ground. He laid back and disappeared into the flowers.

"What is happening?" I mumbled.

"Just open it."

I gently opened the wrapping and inside the package was a lavender coloured fabric. I pulled it out, and it was a haori. The beauty of it caught my eye. On the left sleeve it had the small stitched pattern of frost, and the right sleeve had the pattern of flames along it.

"Kyojuro..." I didn't know what to say.

He sat up out of the flowers and looked at me. "It is a gift from me to you. You needed a new haori, and... I wanted you to have something that reminds you of me whenever you're on a mission. Reminding you that somebody is waiting for you to come home safely..."

"Kyojuro, it's amazing..."

"I wanted it to mean something." He stood and walked back over to me. He grabbed my hand and helped me up. I passed the haori to him after he held his hand out for it. He held it up and said, "Turn around." I put my arm out and he put one sleeve on me.

"I've missed wearing a haori. I love the colour."

"Made specifically for you. The choice of colour was intentional. Add a little red to light blue and you get this."

"Kyojuro, I don't know what to say. This is beautiful. My blue haori is torn to shreds. And I needed a new one badly. I could have continued to go without one, but I do like wearing one. Every time I looked at my blue haori, I avoided it. It was going to be a lot of work to repair it."

"You don't need to do any repairs anymore. Do you like it?" He asked.

"I love it, Kyo! Thank you so much! It's perfect!" I tackled him and hugged him. "I love you. Thank you for your amazing gift."

"I am glad you like it."

"Was this why you were acting strange?" I asked.

"I wasn't aware I was acting strange."

I laughed. "Right. Cause you're always strange."

He laughed and grabbed my waist, pulling me close to him. "I love you. I want you to be mine for the rest of my life."

"I will be. You don't have to be concerned about other men." I told him.

"I know." He snuggled his face into my neck. "I was being ridiculous, allowing jealousy to get the best of me. I can't promise that it won't happen again. However, I can promise that you have my full trust."

At least he was being honest with his feelings. I loved that about Kyojuro; he was completely honest.

"Kyo, lets go sit down and enjoy all these beautiful flowers." I said.

He kissed my neck and then we walked through the flowers, finding a pleasant spot to sit and admire them.

"I will love you for the rest of my life, Rika." He said, leaning his head on my shoulder.

"I'm happy I met you, Kyo."

"A lucky encounter, indeed."

We sat and enjoyed the flowers, while Kyojuro told me about how his mission went. I was happy to spend the day with Kyo, just relaxing. It turned out to be a wonderful day. His gift made me very happy.