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

Chapter 41

Somehow, he finds himself on the bed, a warm towel draped over his body as he faces down at the floor, and Himura digs her hands into his shoulder blades.

It hurts, but in a good way. Her movements and her hands are warm against his own colder skin, which knead and untangle any unused muscles, as she moves down from his shoulders to his collarbone slowly, but by bit. He cannot deny the fact that it is relaxing, but it still keeps him in a state of awareness as he can feel every indentation, every touch when she grazes her touch against his skin, like a trail of warm, dying coals.

He breathes, as he lets his mind wander, but her hands are...distracting. Every now and then, she exerts a crushing force against his limbs, and she only ever stays at his upper body, to which he is hesitant to explain to her the state of his newly healed wound in his stomach.

She moves her hands, using her palms, fingers, knuckles and thumbs expertly as she digs her fingers into specific points of his body. At these points, her movements seemingly unblock pathways which he sees in his mind's eye, just like when Masahiko had used acupuncture on him, and yet, Himura did not require such instruments. With hands coated in a layer of warm scented oil, it brings back feeling to his limbs, against the freezing numbness found in the cold snow.

Sleep attempts to lull him into unconsciousness, as Himura pulls down the towel further, and she lifts her hands to inspect the wound, or where it once was.

The sudden cold jolts him back to reality, as he turns back to look at her, bringing his arms under his chin, as he lays on them.

"Tell me if it hurts," Himura is calm and spoke in a toneless voice, as if uncaring of the fact that from where his wounds on his chest were, were white crystal streaks.

She lays a gloved warm hand on his skin.

It Burns him.

She senses his discomfort, and immediately removes her hand.

Pain is a wildfire on his skin, leaving behind trails of burning ash which sears into his flesh, and he grits his teeth as he tries to focus and tone it down. Himura lays a hand on his neck, soft like a blanket draping over his skin, and the warmth from her hand helps him to focus. He closes his eyes.

"Let's take a break for now," Himura speaks, voice soft and tone calm, as she takes two towels and uses it to cover his bare skin, and she makes sure that they aren't warm so as to not agitate the burning pain. He hears the sound of gloves being removed, as she pulls up a chair and sits across him.

"Just lay down and rest. I have many things I want to ask you," Himura speaks, as she pulls up a notebook and a pen. Kyojurou knows he won't be able to answer some of the questions she would ask him. Particularly how he became a demon, or what the hell was happening to him.

"As much as I would like to answer your questions, I warn you that I do not know a lot of what happened," He replies, as he uses his arms to support his head and look at her. 

Should he tell her? She knew that he was a Hashira, and that he was a demon of sorts, but she was still willing to listen to him. At least after Masahiko had managed to convince her not to kill him on sight. He decides that he would answer as truthfully as he can, seeing how Masahiko trusted her enough to put him in her care, but then again, he was sitting in the next room in case something went wrong.

He knew she was a woman of cold apathy, and false emotions. It was like she was a blank, white wall, in which it could be painted over with colours and facades, but beneath it all, she was nothing but stone and polished marble. 

The fact that he had managed to fall for her false concern was scary, because it told him how naive he was to the intentions of others.

Masahiko was somewhat different, but from him, he got the feel that he was hiding several things from him. However, Masahiko had been kind and gentle to him, warning him and advising him on occasion, and even fighting against Himura for him.