Midnight's Reign

Chapter 16

Sweat drips down the side of his face, the sun beams down on him in its full glory. Kyojuro grips the wood sword tighter as he circles his opponent. Tengen mimics his movements, the two of them slowly circle each other.

Both men ditched their shirts, their exposed upper bodies glisten as their sweat covered muscles ripple under the sun's rays.

"Just give up now, Kyojuro. There's no shame in forfeiting." Tengen taunts. Kyojuro's hearty laugh fills the air.

"You're wasting your breath, my friend. I would never give up."

Tengen lunges forward. To a lesser Demon Slayer, his speed would be impossible to see with the naked eye, but Kyojuro was no novice. Anticipating his lunge, Kyojuro easily blocks the slew of attacks. He dodges, easily escaping the wooden blade that seeked to land a blow against his body. The dirt beneath their feet crunches as their movements quicken. One lunges, the other evades. Their bodies are tense, but their expressions were joyful. They both enjoyed training with each other; it was always a fun challenge.

Tengen delivers a hard blow to Kyojuro's ribs, and in return, Kyo drills him hard in the chest. Both men have acquired monstrous welts as they continue to spar.

"You've grown sluggish in your old age, Uzui!" Kyojuro taunts, dodging an attack aimed for his head.

"Old age?!"

Tengen turns up his speed a notch. He sends a flurry of attacks towards the Flame Hashira. Kyojuro was fast, but Tengen was faster. He managed to give him three more bruises on his torso.

"Looks like you're the slow one. Who you calling an old man now?" Tengen mocks.

Kyojuro leaps into the air, avoiding a leg sweep from his friend. As soon as his feet touched back to the ground, he rushed forward, locking his sword against Tengen's as they face each other.

"My mistake, your white hair just makes you look old."

Tengen lets out a boisterous laugh, "You've been spending too much time around Asami."

Kyojuro smiles at the mention of her. He wonders what she's doing right now. He sees something fly towards him from the corner of his eye. Tengen's foot connects with his face, causing him to stagger back a few steps. Tengen takes advantage of his stagger and rushes him. Kyojuro only had time to block a blow to his face before Tengen managed to disarm him. His training sword goes flying and he's tackled roughly to the ground.

He grunts from the impact, his eyes squint from the glaring sun that's now shining in his eyes. Tengen stands up and chuckles triumphantly, allowing himself to bask in his victory before offering him a hand. Glady taking it, Kyojuro stands and dusts off the dirt from his hands.

"Well done!" Kyojuro says.

Tengen swipes the water canister from the ground and takes a swig. "The match could've gone on longer, but you got distracted." He says, throwing his friend the water. Catching it, Kyojuro takes several gulps of the cool drink.

Lately, he's been distracted more than usual. His thoughts have been engrossed by an exciting, yet nerve wracking idea. Ever since this seed of thought has been planted in his head, he's been unable to think about anything else. He turns to face his friend, who has a knowing look on his face.

"A certain woman wouldn't happen to be the cause of your distracted mind, would it?" Tengen says with a smirk.

Kyojuro smiles and tosses the water back to him before replying.

"Where's a good place to get a ring?"

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