My Brightest Flame (Rengoku X Reader)

Chapter 48 - Found You

A/N: Sorry for the small delay in getting the last of these chapters out. Just got a lot of things on my mind of what to do and write next xD Enjoy!

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"Well, we'll need to test you for other demon abilities." After learning that she was still a demon, that could now also eat normal food apparently, y/n became stressed beyond belief. The emotions of it overwhelmed her and stopped her from being able to speak past what she had said to Kyojuro. Out of concern, he had left to find Shinobu, to see if there could be some form of solution. "We'll need to see if you can regenerate, are you alright with that?"

With a small nod, Shinobu stepped forward following being given a small blade. Y/N held her arm out, closing her eyes as she found the results hard to watch. Y/N hissed in pain slightly as the knife made a slight cut, deep enough to draw blood. That was already a good sign, as a wound that small should never really cause a demon any pain. Most demons could lose an arm and not feel anything. The feeling of pain was welcomed and encouraged y/n to look down at her wound, expecting it to still be there.

It wasn't.

Y/N's blood ran cold as she stared at her arm in shock and sadness. So she could regenerate. That meant she was still a demon.

"It doesn't look like it worked, I'm afraid." Shinobu sighed, giving y/n a look of empathy. "But, don't let that stop you. When the time comes you will fight with us as a hashira regardless. We are very close." Her supportive way of talking to y/n made the demon smile, even if it did hurt to know she still wasn't human yet.

"But she can eat human food, that has to count for something, right?" The flame hashira was always determined to find his answer, his eyes hopeful.

"It does. I will need to look into it and let Tanjiro know what has happened, his communication with the demon who found the cure is crucial before we take any next steps." With that, Shinobu left silently with corps members following loyally behind her.

Once the coast was clear Kyojuro stepped forward, wrapping y/n in a tight hug. That was the moment that y/n relaxed, trying to hold back her tears as she pressed her face into his chest. So, maybe she had thought that she'd be fine as a demon or a human when it came to the final battle that was very near to them, but part of her really just wanted to be a human. She hoped that at least that could have been part of the experimental drug she was given.

"Well, it's not all bad." The flame hashira offered, his tone comforting as he held her close. "You won't have to worry about losing a limb..." It felt like he was trying to persuade himself more than y/n as he found what could be good about remaining a demon. He had to cut himself short as losing a limb wasn't a worry regardless if y/n was still a demon, the worry was in the fact that if Muzan died, she would die too.

"Uh...I will tell you what, you can eat sweet potatoes again without feeling sick! That's something to be happy about." A joyous laugh left Kyojuro as he spoke of his favourite food, causing y/n to smile back. In response to the idea of food her stomach rumbled, making him tense.

"Are you after human food or human flesh?" Concern leaked from his voice as his gaze went down to the woman he loved.

"Food." Y/N muttered, making both of them smile as they hugged for a small while longer. Kyojuro promised to bring back food for her when he left.

A few days later y/n stood, punching a wall as a form of training. At first the corps had been concerned that this was her attempt to break out of the jail, but she quickly explained that she just wanted to improve her fighting skills. She had always been great with a sword from a young age, thanks to her training back at home. She had never really focused on her weaponless combat skills. That became evident in her battle with Kyojuro on the mountain, where they had badly wanted to not kill each other.

So there she was, working on her skills with her fists. She had improved rapidly, proud of herself for coming so far. She even found it fun hitting the wall. It definitely stung and hurt her knuckles, but in the end she would laugh it off and just keep going. Right now her main focus was on being faster, as she had learned the rest already. The only times she would stop would be when her food came.

She no longer needed a muzzle as she could now eat normal meals, but with that came three healthy meals a day. Shinobu had made sure that the meals were ones that y/n would enjoy and made sure the food wasn't poisoned by entrusting her most trustworthy helpers on the tasks. Which happened to include the three girls that Senjuro had his eyes on. They'd take turns, each of them bringing her one meal on schedule. Y/N got along well with them, better than other members who made it their goal to remind her that she was some kind of freak. Their hatred for demons always revealed itself as they'd blatantly ignore that she was once one of them. Her being locked away also helped them feel more confident in their words, as even though she was a hashira, they were sure they wouldn't get reprimanded for it.

Yep, she definitely preferred the three young girls who each held the sweetness of honey. They were a big part of her motivation to be able to fight and win this big battle that was a one in a million chance. Soon they'd find out how to get to him. She wanted so badly to give Senjuro, as well as all the other young slayers, the future they truly deserved.

Y/N ate quietly after giving her thanks, enjoying the lunch just as much as she could. These meals tasted a lot better after not being able to eat anything but human for the longest time. She still felt guilty about that.

Dinner was late. She wasn't a spoiled person, she didn't really care about things being on time. But this, after such a precise schedule that never let up for any reason, was enough to make her care about it. Everytime people would pass it wouldn't be who she was expecting and they never even noticed she was there. At first she stood, getting as close to the wisteria bars as she could to hopefully see who was approaching. They never spoke to her and so she gave up and sat down, watching as the slayers rushed in increasing numbers.

They were stressed, anxious. She could hear it in their heart beats. For a while after the experiment she hadn't been able to, but her sharp hearing had come back and it helped her read the situation perfectly. Why were they so on edge? She could think of a few reasons and one big reason, but she didn't dare to get her hopes up. It could be anything. A hashira could have gotten hurt. Multiple people could have got hurt at once, or literally anything else could be the answer as to why they were us such a hurry. Whatever it was that was causing this, it was intense. She wanted to know about it.

"Hey." Her tone was sharper than she meant it to be, causing the innocent corps member passing by to jump before looking to her with widened eyes. "What's going on?" The young boy's heart pounded as he watched the trapped demon fearfully for a moment. She let out a loud, annoyed sigh when the slayer ultimately decided to just ignore her and continue his task. The only thing that could annoy her more was the suspense of not knowing.

It wasn't until she heard the familiar light hum of Mitsuri as she happily skipped towards y/n that she finally thought she might be able to get an answer that she wanted. The love hashira wouldn't hide something important from y/n, there was no fear between them. When the pink haired lady stopped with two massive plates of food in her hands the demon's face brightened at the sight of her smile.

"Hey y/n, have you heard the news?" She spoke giddily as she moved both plates onto one arm so that she could unlock the prison and walk in.

"I haven't...No one will tell me." The galaxy Hashira admitted, frowning at the memory of people constantly ignoring her or running away. "What's going on?" Questioned y/n, happily taking one of the two plates practically overflowing with food.

"We found him! We know exactly how to get to Muzan." She spoke gleefully, laughing out in happiness before forming her free hand into a fist, a determined expression crossing her face. "He can't escape now!"

"That's great!" Y/N cheered, excited herself to know it was finally time. She could not wait to get into the fight and give those upper ranks a hard time.

"Yes it is! But I'm worried..." Mitsuri admitted, now fidgeting with her chopsticks as her expression fell. "I'm worried that we won't survive, that we won't be strong enough to kill him."

With a supportive smile, y/n placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, catching her full attention as she looked away from her plate sadly. "We will kill him. He won't be able to get away from us this time, trust me."  That seemed to be all the motivation Mitsuri needed before she once again gave a confident grin.

"You're right!" She agreed, giggling. "Now let's eat!"