𝙠𝙣𝙮, 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣

❈ 08. ᴡᴇ ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ɪɪ

Rengoku Kyojuro was seen standing in his room, right in front of the mirror that was present in the living room as he buttoned up his uniform. His lips parted as his golden eyes shined brightly as always, without fail, as he continued to button up his shirt. He could only soon let out a soft sigh instead as he slowly tilts his head back to relieve himself of the strain on the back of his neck.

"You are heading out already?" Shinjuro asked as he staggered into the living room, clearly a sign of him just waking up not too long ago. Kyojuro nodded his head in response as he soon pulled his haori over his shoulders and strapped his nichirin blade against his white belt.

"I'm going to pay a visit to [name], hopefully, I can get more information," Kyojuro spoke out as he turned to look and noticed how Senjuro was standing right behind him the entire time, with a worried look on his face.

"This is a huge task, even for a Hashira," Shinjuro spoke out as he let out a sigh then.

"Don't worry, Father. I intend to bring glory to the Rengoku name," Kyojuro spoke out and Shinjuro could only softly chuckle then as he watched his eldest son taking his leave. Shaking his head a little then as his lips pressed into a fine thin line.

How the immense sense of guilt was overwhelming him when he failed to protect [name] back then, and now, his eldest son was in charge of bringing her back. He would never forget how many of the demon slayers blamed Shinjuro for being weak.

Except for Sakonji and Jigoro.

"Emergency alert! Emergency alert! Ubuyashiki [name] has been kidnapped by Kibutsuji Muzan! All demon slayers to deploy and search the grounds! Repeat! Ubuyashiki [name] has been kidnapped by Kibutsuji Muzan! All demon slayers to deploy and search the grounds!" the crows started to send out commands and eventually all demon slayers who were present quickly grabbed hold of their nichirin blades and strapped them against their white belts.

"Oyakata-sama's daughter has been kidnapped?!" Jigoro spoke out as he looked at Shinjuro who had lowered his head slightly as he realized he was part of the reason why [name] was kidnapped.

"Oi! No time to be feeling down, right, Sakonji?!" Jigoro spoke out and Sakonji nodded his head in response as the duo slapped Shinjuro harshly on the back as they went their separate ways, trying to detect where [name] had disappeared to.

Only to have Sakonji returning, for the scent of [name] disappeared halfway through the route he was following. And that's when he returned to the courtyard, only to have demon slayers pointing their fingers towards Shinjuro.

Blaming him.

"Flame Hashira?! You can't even protect Oyakata-sama's daughter! A shame! A disgrace! A disgrace to the Rengoku Family!" they yelled out and only quiet down the moment Sakonji and Jigoro stood by the Flame Hashira's side.

--

Kokushibo sighed as he walked through the dark hallway of the house that [name] lived in with Muzan. He was holding onto his usual purple-and-black-patterned kimono and tried to find [name]. Only to have his ears perked up as he could hear the faint sound of her grunting and the sound of water splashing as well.

He proceeded to where the sound was being heard, and he stood under the shade where he could see her. He watched as her back was facing him as she continued to scrub harshly against the laundry she had accumulated over the last three days, believing it was time to wash them before the pile gets bigger.

"[name]..." he mumbled out and was rather surprised that [name] stopped with what she was doing and she turned. Her lavender eyes lit up upon realizing that Kokushibo had come to visit, but it soon narrowed as she noticed how he wasn't wearing his kimono.