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

Chapter 53

Soft, delicate cold hands caress his face.

Hashira, you don't have to remember what pains you.

Another shakes him awake.

He jolts up, as he looks around. The younger red haired girl looks at him.

God, he didn't even realise he slept. At least there were no dreams this time!

He rubs his eyes, as he immediately gets off of the bed. The red haired girl looks at him expectantly, before she sighs and ushers him out of the room.

What happened to Hiromi, Masahiko and Himura?

As if she could read his thoughts, she spoke.

"They're all busy, sadly. They need to set explosives around the edge of the village. They will be returning shortly, since they set out once the blizzard during the night had stopped, so you should brace yourself. Ane-san gave you the choice to either own up to them within the next two days or she'll do it for you. I'm sorry I couldn't help you much," The girl speaks in a guilty tone, as she placed her hands together in front of her nervously.

"No, no, it's fine. It isn't your fault, so don't feel guilty!" He beams at her, as he tries to cheer her up. She looks at him with innocent, hopeful eyes.

She seemed so young. 16? 17?

Then again, he himself was just twenty years old.

"Are you well enough to go out into the snow? Because I think you would want to come and watch the others train," The girl looks at him shyly, speaking hesitantly as she was afraid of troubling him or seeming too overly pressurising. Kyojuro stretches his arms over his head as he yawns.

"Sure!" He gets off of the bed, and asks her to lead the way.

She hands him two thick layers of clothes, both made of cotton and this strange, seemingly smooth material he couldn't recognise. When he had asked, she had simply smiled at him and told him that they were testing out several new materials for winter gear. The outer layer was a layer made from nylon.

As they walk out, he finally manages to find out what her name is, which was Nagi.

Nearer the doors, his ears pick up the sounds of snow being moved, as he turns to look at Nagi before realising that he was the only one hearing it. Attributing it to the enhanced senses from being turned into a demon? Half demon? He followed her out and into the snow.

It was evening, the sun having just set entirely, to which he watched Yousuke wielding a simple silver katana as he moved across the snow.

All he could see that he was enraptured.

Yousuke swung his arms out as he twirled and pivoted on his right foot over the snow, bringing the sword over his head and down in a gentle, yet powerful blow which carved a hole in the snow, and with his eyes closed, he took a deep breath.

The long ends of his hakamata swirled and danced as he followed up by digging his left foot into the snow, stabilising himself before he twisted his body to the right and kicked high into the air with his right, before suddenly dropping to the ground, and grounding himself, thrusting the blade in his right hand forward and lunging.

The snow around him seemingly swirled around his feet as he brought the bade swiftly in a circle as the rhythm of his movements slowed, and he withdrew his front foot closer to himself gracefully, taking on a different stance as he sheathed the katana in his hands and held up the scabbard diagonally with his arms in front of him. He opens his eyes slowly, as the long sleeves flutter in the wind.