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Death was the easy way out. No not for him, never for him. He fought hard to stay alive, he fought hard to defeat that demon and it still was never enough. Kyojuro Rengoku, former Flame Haishira of the Demon Slayer Corp. Former. Because he was gone. There was never going to be anyone saying Kyojuro Rengoku, Flame Haishira. It was now going to be former.
In his absence left his father who nearly drank himself to death after learning the news of his son’s passing. His brother who learned to cope without his older brother to guide and protect him while learning a new way of life that did not involve the Demon Slayer Corp. And his wife who was left with heartbreak and grief in the wake of his death. Who clutched Senjuro as he cried even more and who did not know her place in the world, not without him.
“Kyojuro, why did you leave?” She whispered at night. His ghost haunted her in his many things at their home and his memory was ingrained in her mind. After a couple of days, the Demon Slayer Corp. had summoned her for the ceremony they would hold in his honor.
When she arrived everyone stared at her with such loss and depression. As if she would help them and know what he would have wanted. She looked down and did not know what to do, life was sad and empty without him.
She sat on a bench overlooking a simple pond. Their stares burned like knives but she continued to look down at the pond filled with fish and lily pads. She smiled at the pond.
“Hi,” a boy with red hair said. He was short compared to those here. He had a worn look on his face and his head was turned downwards.
“Hello,” she said, her eyes still downcast at the pond. Everyone around them held their breath at the interaction. She beckoned him to sit next to her, and the boy obliged and sat down.
“Are you Rengoku-san’s wife?” He said, looking directly at the side of her head.
“Yes, I am. Who would you be?”
“Tanjiro Kamado”
“You were there then”
“Yes, he told me to tell you something”
At this, she looked toward Tanjiro. His eyes looked saddened and he looked like he was on the verge of tears as well. She beckoned him to continue, fearing that if they waited any longer both of them would burst into tears.
“Focus on the future,” Tanjiro whispered. At this she let her tears fall, her surroundings changed to when she fell in love with him. There he stood right in front of her, with the same bruise on his head and the same smile.
“What happened to take care of yourself!” She watched as her younger self berated Kyojuro. Back then she was always angry at Kyojuro for getting injured and tried to get him to not join the Demon Slayer Corp. Of course, he never listened and followed his own path, that was Kyojuro.
“I tried! But the demon was big!” Kyojuro yelled back with a smile on his face, clearly dazzled by the girl in front of him who worked quickly at his wounds.
“I’m not always going to be there to fix you up, you know!”
“I know,” He whispered as she quickly cleaned his bruises. At that statement he frowned, Kyojuro back then was even more whipped than he was in their marriage.
“Get that frown off your face,” she whispered as her face got even closer to his to examine his facial wound. Kyojuro looked directly into her eyes and his breath stilled.
“Ok,” Kyojuro instead looked in contemplation at the closeness they were in. She was whispering details of the injury to herself in order to figure out how to deal with it. Her breath fanned onto him, which caused Kyojuro’s blush to deepen.
“Listen, Rengoku-san now is not always determined so we just have to focus on the future!”
“Got it,” Kyojuro whispered.
At this, she realized the position they were in. It was then she realized the burning she felt in her chest was never because he annoyed or infuriated her, it was because she loved him.
The scene faded and the girl was transformed into a woman who had just lost her husband, the love of her life.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Everyone around them let out a collective breath and continued what they were doing. Focus on the future, and listen to her own advice that was what she had to do.