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

Chapter 43

The door opens.

It's not Himura who walks in. It's Hiromi.

Considering the fact that he was nearly fully naked baring a towel, her face turned into one of shock and astonishment, as her cheeks turned red with a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

He freezes like a deer caught in the headlights, and promptly has a stack of clothes thrown in his face.

"Put on some clothes for god's sake!" She shrieks at him, before the door slams shut behind her.

Well shit.

She now probably had a poor impression of him, but then again, Himura didn't tell any of them that she was going to give him treatment. He needed to apologise to her so as to avoid any potential misunderstandings.

He hurriedly puts on the thick winter robes she had thrown at him, and took a clean towel and bound it around his left eye, before he opened the room and went out to search for Hiromi.

He had a mental map of the building, but he had to be careful of which doors he opened, since his position was still quite precarious and he was in disguise. But it didn't seem like any of them had recognised him as the Flame Hashira, which was surprisingly, a relief in this situation considering the fact that he was supposed to be dead.

He catches a glimpse of Hiromi's blue kimono, and he calls out to her.

"Hiromi-san!" He didn't actually know if she was older or younger than him... well.... time to take some chances. He lunges forward with inhuman speed, as he tries to catch up to her. He looks at her from her side.

And he's mesmerised.

It's not Hiromi, but someone else entirely. It was a man with long, deep blue hair, with black streaks, with his hair tied and pinned up, as his eyes are swirling orbs of azure and crystal blue. His eyes widen, as they meet his own. He immediately slows down in his pacing, to stay on the pace as him.

"Hiromi-san is in the room on your right," He smiles at him, with much interest and curiosity as he raises a sleeve to direct him to the room behind him. His eyes are lit with a calm, yet seemingly sparkling with soft curiosity, as was his smile. Kyojuro was once again, embarrassed for mistaking him for a woman, as he felt his face heat up slightly at assuming from his clothes and body figure that he was one.

He was seriously going to make an utter fool of himself by the end of the day.

"You must be Himura's guest. It is a pleasure to meet you," The man smiles at him, calm, like soft rhythmic waves against the beach, as his eyes are equally as soft and gentle. Welcoming. He bows to him.

"As I, you!" Kyojuro replies with enthusiasm and bows back swiftly. The man seemingly laughs at his eccentricity, but it is not mocking, instead, welcoming, with gentle and kind amusement, soft and friendly.

"I assume you're the one whom she as grumbling about being improperly dressed, so I'll leave you to her," God no.

"It....was.....an....accident....." He coughs as he tries to explain. The man waves him off.

"Thank you for your help!" The man smiles before he disappears, and Kyojuro doesn't think he would be able to live this down. He turns around to open the door, only to find that it is already open and Hiromi is trying to contain her laughter.

Ah. She had heard the entirety of their conversation.

After some explaining, Hiromi simply smiles at him, clearly amused and showing him a side he'd never thought she would have, compared to when he had first seen her. He smiles back as well, since the entire situation had been somewhat hilarious, but more of sheer embarrassment on his part.

"The Director has informed me that she has some urgent matters to tend to at this point of time. She will return tomorrow to check up on you, so in the meantime you should take the time to rest and explore the town," Hiromi conveys, as she manages to re-contain her laughter. Urgent matters? This had his interest.

"I see. What kind of matters does she have to deal with?" Hiromi looks at him with a suspicious gaze, before it relaxes.

"The townspeople are unwilling to believe that there will be an avalanche in the next few days or so. The Director has tried her best to convince the people to leave, and so far she has managed to persuade a third of the people to evacuate and leave, but the rest will not. She's already asked the majority of us to shift and move on to the next town, but she wants to try and help prevent the townspeople from suffering such a cold, cruel fate," Hiromi sighs, as the two of them sit down at a table.

Hiromi clearly seemed like she was trying to sew an elaborate piece of clothing, lacing it with silver thread, but she had set it aside for the time being to talk with him. He drinks his cup of warm tea, and even then, it was hot enough to scald his tongue.

"I see." He never thought Himura would be the sort of person to do such a thing. Maybe she really did truly mean well by the end of everything.

"Some of the others are assisting her in trying to evacuate those who were more willing to leave, but the head of the town has refused to believe her. Good thing it's election year, and his competitor was more willing to listen to us. The difference between a man of religion, and a man of science...." Hiromi leans back, as she stares at the ceiling.

"Most of our equipment has been shifted, barring a few of the lighter things, so we are safe. The same can't be said for the village," Hiromi continues talking. Kyojuro gets a feeling she's highly talkative when she wants to.

"Oh! I nearly forgot, but do you want to head out and grab dinner with me and Yousuke? I know that you are the Director's guest and it's only right that you have dinner with your host. but both her and Masahiko-san are occupied with their matters. It'll just be the two of us and Yousuke-san, who hasn't eaten yet, but I'm sure I can pull him into eating dinner with us!" Kyojuro blinks at her.

"Sure! What good places are there to eat here? And who's Yousuke-san by the way?" He asks, and Hiromi smiles at his tone and expression.

She giggles.

"He's the man who you were talking to earlier,"

Her eyes twinkle with laughter as his face heats up. 

A/N: First, I realised I forgot to publish on Sun, second, was Christmas Eve. And then there's Christmas. I owe a lot of chapters to everyone. Sorry for the delay!