My Brightest Flame (Rengoku X Reader)

Chapter 13 - Sparring

A/N: Sorry for being slow with updates! The next few chapters might be a bit shorter, but there will be a lot of reader/Kyojuro moments in them. I'm currently in the process of thinking about where the fic is going to go, so please bear with me. I hope you enjoy!

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"Aw! He must have been too shy to say how he felt!" The high pitched voice sung sweetly through the air. "It's so cute! My heart can't take it!" Mitsuri blushed with happiness and excitement at the information given to her. Y/N had taken the love hashira up on her offer to spend time together, not that she had much of a choice since she couldn't go against her superiors. But she didn't mind, she was learning to socialise better within the country. Casual conversation felt easy now.

"I...I don't think that's the case..." Y/N tried to hide the blush that forced itself onto her face by staring to her lap, her stomach doing flips as she was forced to consider the idea. She was talking to the love hashira after all.

"There's no way it isn't!" She squealed, holding fisted hands to her face as she moved left and right.

"I..." Y/N didn't know what to say. Her companion for the morning as they had tea was making her think over everything that happened. The way he would look at her, almost longing and how his words would even occasionally falter. Towards the end his demeanour had changed too, his courage had gone, she could barely tell. She only realised now that maybe he was nervous to say something..."It couldn't be...could it?"

"Of course it could be!" The hashira stared to y/n with admiration, happy and excited but finally calming down. "I've trained with him for years, Kyojuro and Senjuro are like brothers to me. Trust me."

"Am I overhearing a conversation about my buddy Kyojuro?" Y/N's eyes met the pink ones of the Sound hashira, before she quickly glanced away. "Oh, it's you."

"Oh, it's the best news!" Mitsuri couldn't contain her excitement, relaying the information and her own conclusion to her fellow hashira as he listened with entertainment. Y/N didn't dare to look away from the ground. The love hashira had insisted on showing her where the hashira often spent time when they weren't busy, persuading her that it was the area with the most beauty. By all means, she was right, but y/n feared a situation like this would occur.

"Hmm..." Y/N gasped as she felt her face grabbed, her embarrassment revealed as she was forced to stare into the eyes of the male hashira. He analysed her features as he gripped her chin, stepping back after a moment. "A flamboyant choice...or unflamboyant... Kyojuro does have some unique tastes." He smirked. E/C eyes narrowed to watch his cocky smile, she didn't know if that was a compliment or not. But she had already made the mistake of talking back to him before, she couldn't risk doing it again. She needed to keep quiet. Respect was very important, she'd learned in detail from Senjuro how lucky she was to avoid repercussions.

"Don't be rude Tengen!"

"I'm just looking out for my best bud! I don't want him to make a bad choice..."

"You can't be his best friend if you don't trust his decisions!"

"No, he's right..." Y/N admitted, submitting. "I should also thank you..."

"Thank me? For what?" His smile left as he looked down to y/n in confusion.

"For...not punishing me for being disrespectful...earlier..." Apologising wasn't y/n's best suit, especially when she realised that Senjuro's happiness should come first.

"Oh? I completely forgot about it!" He laughed. Y/N's mouth opened in shock as the love hashira giggled into her tea, finishing it.

"You...forgot?"