In another life

Rengoku

Just as Kagaya had said, the next morning Rengoku Shinjuro came to pick up (Y/N) from the Ubuyashiki estate. Shinjuro offered to carry the girl on his back for the long travel, but she seemed against letting go of his hand.

"I have a son your age." He says, leading her to the entrance of his home, "I think you two would get along well."

The house was beautiful, looking bigger than what she could see from outside the gate. She didn't have much time to see the outside, being tugged into the home by the older man.

"I'm home!" He exclaimed, cupping a hand over his mouth to stretch his voice further. Not a second layer, the patter of feet came thundering towards them. (Y/N) absentmindedly stared at the direction where the noise came from, sensing two other humans.

"Father!" A boy exclaimed, popping out from around the corner. The boy had the exact same hair colors as Shinjuro's, same eyes, eyebrows— (Y/N) thought he had cloned himself into a mini version, "Ah.." The boy muttered looking at the girl, returning the dumb expression that she bore.

"Kyoujurou! This is the young girl I told you about." Shinjuro explained, motioning his free hand to her, "Her name is, (Y/N). (Y/N), this is my son, Kyoujurou."

Her gaze didn't stray from the mini rengoku, and she didn't give any reaction either. But Kyoujurou grinned widely at her, his hand shooting out and taking her own to shake it enthusiastically, "It's wonderful to meet you, (Y/N)-San! I'm very excited to be living with you!"

Her (E/C) gaze dragged from his face down to their shaking palms. She had no idea what he was doing, but she shook back, much to Kyoujurou's delight.

The second human that she had sensed came out from the same hallway Kyoujurou had appeared from. It was a woman, with dark black hair and a strong gaze.

"Hello there." She greeted, waving to (Y/N) with a small smile.

Shinjuro let go of the girl's hand and wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulders, "And this is my beautiful wife, Ruka. Ruka, (Y/N)."

'Ruka' looked down and smiled kindly to the young girl, "Hello, (Y/N). It's very nice to meet you."

The young girl didn't know what to do. So copying what the younger Rengoku had done earlier, she grabbed Ruka's hand and shook it.

——————

"So this is the restroom— OH and here's where we eat!"

Shinjuro and Ruka had asked Kyoujurou to busy himself with (Y/N), while they worked on preparing a room for her to sleep in. He took the request with enthusiasm, and immediately dragged the (H/C) girl away.

He led her outside onto the engawa, "This is where I usually play," Kyoujurou explains, tugging on the girl's hand to step out onto the garden, "..Father trains me here too!"

Trains? Training?

Thoughts of her own 'training' resurface in (Y/N)'s mind unpleasantly, the boy doesn't miss the frown that pulled the corners of her lips. He stopped walking and turned to her, "Are you okay?"

She bites the inside of her cheek, nodding slowly. As a child, he naively accepts her answer without any suspicion and continues his tour.

——————

(Y/N) stares up at the ceiling, brows furrowed in deep thought. The futon she was provided with was soft, much like the one that Kagaya had. It was a great contrast to what she usually slept on; hard flooring. But she was grateful nonetheless.