Caught By Flames (Kyojuro Rengoku x Reader)

26 : Divided and Connected

A/N: Bruh- that is such a cool image ^^

A few days passed since your date with Kyojuro, but he seemed to grow distant. He didn't spend nearly as much time with you, nor was he as affectionate. It upset you slightly, but you figured if something was wrong, he should have his time to sort things through before telling you. In other words, you allowed him to act so cold and distant. Tengen had asked what was wrong with him, but you didn't know.

"He seemed so happy a few nights ago..." Suma shyly said, but you gave a wide smile.

"It's okay, I don't mind it all that much. Sure I miss him, but I'll give him some space if something's wrong." You were worried sick, but you didn't want to say anything about that. If Kyojuro knew you were worried he'd apologize nonstop for 2 days straight. Tengen narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but waved it off. You then noticed something shining on his wrist. It was a bracelet, and his three wives seemed to have a matching one. You smiled to yourself and touched the necklace Kyojuro had got you.

Putting on a serious face once more, you began training and making up on all the time you lost while being stuck in a bed. Your muscles were finally starting to get stronger, not that they had weakened much... but your flexibility took a major blow. You had the girls help you with retraining your body in flexibility, and were almost as good as before the fight with Akaza. That meant you were almost ready to be put back on the field.

You closed your eyes and swung your sword around your body like Shinobu occasionally did when putting her's back in it's sheath. She told you that if you used your left hand enough, you might feel pain once again, but even if you couldn't, you were still able to move and use it, so it didn't matter much to you. When your eyes opened you saw Kyojuro walking alongside the building with his normal energetic smile. He didn't ever bat an eye towards which pissed you off slightly. You turned your gaze and began running towards him, then past him. He glanced at you while you passed him, but didn't even try to stop you. He only watched you run off with a frown on his face. It was almost dark, he figured he would talk to you before you went to sleep, so he didn't bother interrupting your training. If he was being honest, seeing you run off without stopping to talk to him put him in a fowl mood, but he tried to hide it behind his smile. He was going to go check up on Tanjiro before he went to his room he had been staying at.

You on the other hand ran towards the wooded area and began cutting the bushes in your way. You stopped when you realized you were close to the area Kyojuro had showed you. Putting your sword up safely, you began walking towards it. You slowly walked through the bushes and approached the river that ran through the small area. Clearly, you saw your reflection and realized tears had begun to fall as it became distorted and looked less like a mirror. You shakily inhaled and wiped the tears you didn't know had fallen away. Did it hurt worse than you thought? You couldn't tell how lonely it felt without him until now, you had nothing to do but sit there. Steadying your breath, you smiled at the water and looked at the sun.

"Even the sun is hidden behind clouds sometimes." You said to yourself, hoping to reassure your worried heart, and laid your back against a tree watching the water move slowly downhill.

It was past dark before you finally decided to start heading back, and on the way a demon showed up. "Sorry, I'm not in the mood." You smiled and easily sliced him into bits, leaving before he even disappeared. You entered the estate and saw Kyojuro by the door, obviously waiting.

A small smile formed on your lips when he looked up at you. "Welcome back, I was about to go look for you, (Y/N)." He calmly said. You walked up to him and placed your hand on his shoulder, squeezing it slightly, before walking inside. Silently, you laid in your bed and faced away from him before he got the chance to say anything. He slightly frowned once again, "(Y/N), are you mad at me?" He asked sitting on his own bed. You shook your head, but didn't speak. "Did I do something wrong? I need to know if I did so I can fix it and I can see your smile again." He whined softly at your cold shoulder attitude.