Heart Of Fire; Veins Of Ice | Kimetsu No Yaiba Fanfic (Kyojurou's POV)

Chapter 35

He feels the sun's rays on his skin, by the time they reach one of the safe houses nearer the base of the mountain. It leaves a scorching blaze of fire in its wake, as he draws himself into the house. His skin burns, leaving a trail of grey ash on top most surface of his skin, and he enters the house before it can penetrate deeper.

Masahiko closes all of the curtains, as he gets a fire burning in the main living room. This safe house was somewhat smaller, but at the same time more spacious as it lacked furniture, with only two separate rooms, a shared bathroom as well as the living room which only had a single table in the centre and a tatami floor. The kitchen was tiny, having only a stove and an ice box.

"You have a demon's regenerative abilities," Masahiko comments as he prepares some rice to be cooked. Kyojurou casts a glance at the table, wanting to know how he could help.

"Yep!" 

"Do you feel any different?" Masahiko sets the clay pot onto the burner stove, as he lit a fire below in the stove, pulling his blindfold down as he used a fan to fan the flames. 

He could see. 

Well of course he had to. Kyojuro cocks his head at the man's actions. 

Then why did he blindfold himself if he could?

 "Masahiko-san, why do you blindfold yourself when you can see?" Kyojuro blurted out. He hears the sound of wood catching fire, as he can smell the scent of wood and smoke from where he was seated. Masahiko's shoulders seem to stiffen. 

"It's complicated." The reluctance and hesitation is clear in his voice. 

"Oh! It's fine then! You don't have to answer my question!"

"My eyes were tainted by a sickness. That's the simplest way to put it," Masahiko murmurs, but Kyojuro's ears could pick it up despite him not supposed to be able to do as such.

A sickness? Like Oyakata-sama?

He wants to find out more, but he knows his boundaries, and would not overstep them. 

Masahiko stands, as he pulls out several vials of sauces and marinades, one a jar of pickled sour plums, as he sets them on the counter. Reaching over to the ice box, he pulls out a small wooden box, setting it on the counter as he opened it up, pulling out a small tray of raw salted salmon and placed it on the side. 

Moving on to wash his hands, Masahiko picked up the salmon, setting up a small grill which consisted of a square pot as its base, set a top a piece of black marble, and a metal wire rack over the top. 

"How can I help?" Kyojuro offers, even though he was perfectly content to simply watch him cook, because he himself had little to zero knowledge on how to cook. But he couldn't just sit there and do nothing.

"It's fine. Just rest, you will need all the energy you can get," Something tells him that it would be impossible to argue against this man.

So he watches Masahiko place the large piece of salmon over the grill, using a pair of chopsticks to adjust the slice of fish every now and then as he turned to check the progress of the rice. Other than that, he opened the jar of pickled plums, and used a spoon to ladled out several of the fruit within, setting it into a small bowl as he closed the jar and moved on to pull a bag of nori from one of the shelves. 

It's easy to tell that he was going to make onigiri, but it was in times like this where the simplest foods worked the best.

Steam emerges from the rice pot as Masahiko put on some gloves and removed the pot from the stove, setting it out as he poured a mixture of rice vinegar over the rice, using a wooden scoop to mix the rice as he flipped the salmon around atop the grill.

Kyojuro stands and explores the room.

He needed to regain his ability to use his Breathe of Flames without whatever the hell had happened to him in the cabin. Ty and gain an immunity to Wisteria, if possible, since he was not exactly a complete demon. Test out his weakness to sunlight, again because he was not a full demon. Walk normally. Not with a limp. Access his demon blood art, if he even had one. Contact the others.... and maybe try to find a way to return to be a human again. That was his ultimate goal.

"I hope you don't mind making onigiri," Masahiko's voice calls him back to the dinner table as the two of them sit down. This time, he has his blindfold on as he rings the bells on his hand to get a grasp of his location. Kyojuro sits down eagerly at the table.

Across it is a spread of ingredients, including the grilled salmon which had been diced and shredded into smaller, flaky pieces which could be placed inside an onigiri, as well as some bonito flakes which had been soaked inside soy sauce. He can smell each ingredient clearly, even the faint hint of the smell of seaweed, as he cleaned his hands before reaching out to the pot of rice. 

They end up making some onigiri and as they ate the triangular shaped rice balls, he could savour the taste of the rice, which had some vinegar added to it, giving it a a pleasantly sour taste which enhanced the tartness of the pickled plums within. He could hear the soft sounds of snow falling outside, the wind rattling against the wooden boards, and the crunch of the seaweed of his onigiri. His mind calms.

He moulds the onigiri in a giant sphere shape, just stuffing a myriad of ingredients in the centre before closing it with more rice and sealing it with seaweed. It ends up as a giant rice ball, but hey, the more ingredients the better! 

Taking large bites of his amalgamation of rice, salmon, bonito flakes, rice, seaweed and pickled plums, Masahiko pushed a cup of hot tea to him, which he hadn't even noticed was on the tray as well.

"Thanks!" 

The flavours come to life in his mouth, as he glances down at the food in his hands. The salmon tasted soft and yet still held up its form, being grilled and all, while the faint fishy taste of the bonito flakes were enhanced by the soy sauce. The pickled plums by themselves were quite sour, but it paired the rice quite well in this case. The seaweed is crispy.

The food was good.

Life was good in that moment.

Once they were done, Kyojuro helps to clear the dishes, as Masahiko-san made several little neat triangular rice balls and set it in a small box, in preparation for the journey later on. 

Sitting at the table after they were done clearing up, the man across him sipped his tea as Kyojuro poured himself more. 

"Himura should be able to help you with your spine," Masahiko breaks the comfortable silence, and yet his words are smooth and soft. 

"Really? That's great! But isn't she the kind of person who would ask for things in return?" He replies, eyes staring at Masahiko. He always forgets that the man is blindfolded.

"You are right in that aspect. She may ask you for a favour in return, but this favour, will allow you to benefit as well," Masahiko's voice, he finds, is so much like Okayata-sama's. The words may not be the same, but the tone is nearly identical. It's gentle, kind, and lulling. He can't argue. He doesn't want to.

"Would you care to tell me? It would allow me to be more better prepared," Kyojuro asks him. He's tired. He wants sleep. This thought amuses him. Perhaps that was why Nezuko slept a lot.

"It's a surprise. A pleasant one, that's all I'll say. Rest now, both you and I need it," Masahiko crosses over to him, as he passes him a thick blanket as Kyojuro stood up as well, and was directed to one of the empty beds, where the curtains were tightly sealed, as he collapsed on the bed, while Masahiko softly slid the door closed behind him.

And he dreams.

Explanation

NIL

A/N: 2k views! Extra chapters!