My Brightest Flame (Rengoku X Reader)

Happy Birthday Kyojuro (One Shot)

A/N: So this fic is now a year old, time really does fly! That's right, the first chapter was released on Kyojuro's birthday. I'm so proud of how far this story has come, thank you everyone who has voted, commented or added this book to your reading list! Even the silent readers, you are all appreciated! As a thank you, I'm creating this one shot that will be integrated into the 4th book. I hope you enjoy!

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With cloth and cleaner in hand, y/n wiped away at stubborn sake stains on her bar tables. The night staff could never clean them off properly, but she couldn't blame them. Last night after an evening of traditional sports must have had them exhausted, picking up the slack in the morning after was the least she could do. Besides, today was a great day. She had everything planned months ahead of time for this, over the moon with what day it had been. After giving her bar the deep clean it desperately needed, she felt a lot better. There was more to go however and she needed it done fast before the place opened, and the beer garden still needed some work. Even with the stress pushed onto herself, the smile she wore never tired.

Ten minutes later she had hung up colourful lights around the bar, turning them on so they could flash a beautiful rainbow of colours. It was time for the garlands. 'Mitsuri should be here any minute now...' Y/N thought to herself, jumping slightly with the loud crash that caused the door to open. Her little white Pomeranian puppy, Nova, yelped in her little bed at the intruder in fright.

"Oh, it's only you three." Y/N let out a relieved breath as she looked to the two best friends and little brother of the person they were celebrating.

"I hope you don't mind, Y/N! I thought to invite Tengen to help us!" Mitsuri chimed, giggling happily as she waved.

"Yeah, that's completely fine. Thanks for helping, Tengen." Y/N breathed, a relieved expression crossing her features as she realised that it would now be a lot easier to finish the decorating for Kyojuro's birthday.

"Well of course, you'll need help throwing the flashiest party around!" With confidence, Tengen grinned and walked into the building with the other two following. Together with Mitsuri, he started putting up more decorations and blowing up birthday balloons. While they did, Y/N led Senjuro to the kitchen where he could put all the goodies he baked away, and make more food if he wanted. With the extra help it would be easy to make this a special birthday party.

It wasn't often that y/n closed the bar early, as she had a very strict schedule that she tried to avoid breaking. There were repercussions after all, so with one careful check, she closed down and cleaned up. It had been a quiet day, so it wasn't hard to tidy up the place and prepare it for the birthday party. Senjuro had baked and cooked tons of food for everyone who was attending, which was basically everyone you could think of.

The food was strategically placed on one of the tables after she had been done cleaning. It had been so hard all day not to eat any of it, especially the donuts. A lot of work had gone into the food, especially the cake that had said happy birthday on it with multiple candles. Senjuro really was good at making food, it was impressive. Right now the younger brother had gone off to get his elder sibling and their father, while y/n made it a point to check everything was the way it should be.

Mitsuri and Tengen were persuading everyone to hide behind the bar. The fact that Mitsuri got Obanai to hide before Tengen could get his wives to hide was the most impressive accomplishment, and it could only make people laugh as they tried to organise themselves to fit behind the bar. Y/N was the only one who wouldn't be hiding, as she'd be holding her front door open to welcome the Rengoku family in, and also to keep an eye out. The risk of closing her bar early was riskier than it should have been, but there were a lot of hazards that could threaten her family business.