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Chapter Text

The moonlight shines softly upon the forest floor, the only light in the labyrinth of shaded trees. An ominous rasp echoes ahead of you in the darkness. Unsheathing the sword, you march forward towards the noise ready to fulfill your duty to the Corps, your pace slowing as the groans increase in volume. Your steps reverberate through the eerie, unusually quiet forest. Suddenly, a sharp creak of branches alerts you. Looking up, you see a giant, grotesque mass of pulsating green skin. The blood red eyes of the demon crinkle in glee at seeing new prey and it swipes its tongue across dark red stained teeth. You take a breath and begin.

"Breathe of Storm First Form: Forming Hurricane!," you shout as the breathing technique fills your lungs and sword, pushing you forwards towards the demon's neck. Swinging into the air, the slash of your sword is pulled with the force of a hurricane at the demon's neck.

Your sword reaches the neck of the demon, but instead of cutting through, it bounces off as a yelling fills the air.

"Y/N! Wake up!"

You groan.

"Y/N wake up right this instant!"

Opening your eyes to a brightly lit room, you find yourself staring up at your mother, your very livid mother.

"What is the meaning of this?" she yells, "On the day of such importance you lie in bed? Get ready and join the family immediately!"

Slowly sitting up you begin to rub the sleep from your eyes, listening to your mother grumble about ungrateful, sloppy daughters as she leaves your room.

"Two more fucking minutes of sleep wouldn't kill anyone" you mutter to yourself, beginning to get dressed. While the ceremony today would be one of the highlights of your brother's life, to you, it would be the beginning of the end. The Sayama family, who you were born to, are a very influential and wealthy family. The eldest Sayama child follows their forefathers footsteps, at the age of 15 they participate in the Demon Slayer Corps Final Selection. Once completed they climb Mount Tsurugi to complete the Storm Breathing Katas for the God Raijin who will grant them the ability to perform the technique.

As the eldest Sayama child of your parents, you thought it would be you growing up learning how to wield a sword, you who would have a ceremonial banquet before their Final Selection, and you performing the Katas for the Gods. However, your parents had a different idea.

As more Sayamas became Hashira and prominent Demon Slayers, the wealth of the family grew. Possibly due to this, the recent generations of Sayamas have been extremely conservative, believing that a woman's place in life is to be wed and accumulate more wealth for their family. You, however, still knew the history of your family, knew that for generations this was not the case and knew that women Sayamas had been the Storm Hashira in years before.

And yet, your parents had the final say and you spent your childhood watching your brother, Junichiro, be taught swordsmanship by your father while you were to sit on the engawa and practice "womanly skills". Aka dumb boring shit compared to sword wielding.

Yawning once more, you open your bedroom door and head into the family room to greet the troop of aunts, great aunts, uncles, great uncles, grandmothers, grandfathers, cousins and any other family friend who cascaded into your home today. Junichiro sat in the middle, explaining his strategies for tonight's Final Selection while uncles nodded along and cousins butted in. You glare around the room, jealous.

"Y/N! How are you?" Your grandmother asks.
"As good as I can be." A short reply for your grandmother, but years of jealousy, angst, and sadness are hard to hide.
"Y/N...try not to fight, I know today is hard but you have your whole life ahead of you. Being a Demon Slayer is a hard job, a deadly job, you should be thankful." You try to give her a thankful smile, but a grimace appears.

You sit through the feast almost silently, answering questions as curtly and politely as possible. Finally, before your brother is to depart to Mount Fujikasane for his selection your great aunt calls out,

"Junichiro, perform some katas and moves for us before you go! It will ease our hearts to know you are capable."

While you love your brother, he has never been one to not show off and quickly begins backflipping, spinning his sword, and slicing the air with it. As a child, you carefully watched your father teaching his son. Quietly and softly drawing the katas he performed, etching practice exercises and correct forms into a secret piece of parchment to be pocketed by you and gazed upon on cold nights. Over and over again you stole out of your room towards the shed to steal practice swords and begin your nightly drilling. During quiet hours of the day you practiced in your room, unbeknown to your parents, your sword skills were excelling naturally to the point that, as you notice now, they are better than Junichiro’s.

You have an idea.
"Junichiro!" you yell with your entire chest.
Everyone turns to you.
"I challenge you to a duel! Whoever wins goes to Final Selection!"

"Absolutely not!" your father gasps, surprised and angry. The entire family immediately uproars, some taking your side, most livid at the entire idea.

"Hush!" Yells your grandfather, the patriarch. He has the final say. You stare into his eyes and he turns to your parents. "Why don't we give the girl a chance?"

"No! Absolutely not!" Your mother yells, standing and running over to your grandpa, "This is highly improper!"

Your grandfather continues, "She is the one who challenged him, she is foolish enough to do so and must face the consequences of her actions. Your brother is trained and you are not, do you still wish to fight?" he asks.

You look at your brother, he stands in the yard mid swing stunned. You love him and would lay down your life to protect him, however Storm Breathing is your birthright. Your birthright, this breathing technique, allows your to protect humans from demons. Living your life on the sidelines, letting these creatures massacre your fellow humans daily, is not a life you want to live. You want to take this breathing technique and dedicate your life to eliminating demons and helping others.

You stare at your grandpa.

"Yes, I wish to fight."

Your grandpa nods, your cousin runs to get a sword and you face Junichiro in a fighting stance. He still looks stunned, but resolute.

"Are you sure?" Junichiro asks.

"I'm sorry, but yes." You say.

"At the count of three, begin." Says your grandpa, "3,2,1!".

Junichiro runs full speed at you, swinging wildly. It looks as if he is attempting the third form of Storm Breathing, Thundering Slice. If performed correctly he should jump over you. You wait for him to be airborne, then roll under him. He should have landed behind you, but you are now behind him. He turns around and swings low, you jump, and swipe your sword across his head, hard. He falls to the ground clutching his head, dropping his sword.

Bittersweet victory comes over you, a decade of secret training has not gone to waste apparently.

Your mother gasps and runs towards him.

"Junichiro!" She looks up at you, "You rotten, rotten girl! How could you! How will he go to Final Selection!"

"The deal was that if I win I go." You say softly.

"No. Absolutely not." Your father says, "This has proven nothing except that you know how to hit your brother, you will go to your room and stay there."

Exasperated, you turn to the rest of your family, they look away.

"Y/N. This is extremely improper." Your grandfather scowls at you.

"I am the eldest child and it is my birthright to go to Final Selection!" You angrily scream.

"Y/N ENOUGH! GO TO YOUR ROOM NOW OR YOU WILL BE DISOWNED! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR COMPLAINING. YOU ARE BORN INTO A RICH, POWERFUL FAMILY AND THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT US? GO. TO. YOUR. ROOM." Your mother yells in a voice you've never heard before.

"Sayamas must be put together, Y/N. You are not. Please consider following your mother's orders. Sayamas have been disowned before and will be again." Your grandmother softly calls.

You stand there shocked. Your family shakes their heads at you. Accepting defeat you head to your room and lay on your futon. Outside, you hear claps as your brother seems to be rising and setting off for Final Selection. Some time later, your door opens.

"Y/N." your father says curtly, "it is apparent you are out of control. Your mother and I have decided you are to be betrothed and wedded. No more of this Demon Slayer nonsense, that is Junichiro's path. Not yours. We will decide on your husband tomorrow." He leaves.

You continue to lay on your futon, watching the sun slowly inching towards the horizon. Stay here and marry some random guy or.....what? You begin to think to yourself, at 16 years old you would have three years to be wed...but you know of girls who are married at this age as well. Stay here and live as a housewife, or....

You look out the window and see the sun has not set yet. If you are quick and quiet you can take one of your father's swords, run out the backyard, hop the fence, and run to Mount Fujikasane before sunset. Growing up so close to the mountain meant every day you could dream about going there for Final Selection, it also meant when you needed to sneak out and run there you could easily find it. Putting on your most comfortable but flexible clothes, you listen for your parents.

Soft snores echo through the home, you creep your way out of your room towards the family room. Upon the mantle lies a steel nichirin sword previously wielded by your father. Junichiro was given a new one to take to final selection. You take the sword off the mantle, slide open the backdoor and set off into the night.

Chapter Text

Your soft footsteps pad through the backyard, eventually reaching the fence blocking the road. Jumping up, you grab on and begin climbing before leaping onto the road. You take a glance at the sunset, resolving that you'll have to run the entire way to Mount Fujikasane. You roll up your sleeves and sprint.

Eventually, the foot of the mountain comes into view. You look around and see a path leading up to the summit, thankfully others seem to have lagged behind as well. You begin your arduous ascent to the summit, reaching the top huffing. A large number of others are waiting at the top of Mount Fujikasane as well, each hoping to make it through the night.

Spotting your brother, Junichiro, you duck down and make your way to the opposite side of the gathering. Two small children rise and begin explaining the instructions to the waiting group. You listen intently and follow your fellow hopefuls into the bowels of the demon ridden forest to begin.

The forest reminds you of your dream, quiet, eerie, dark. Most trainees spread out quickly, leaving you alone to softly pad through the underbrush, sword at the ready. After an hour, you become convinced you must have entered out of bounds as no demons have made themselves known to you. Just as you ponder where they might be, a scream erupts from the west.

You stand for a second, shocked. Then more yelling ensues.

"Help! Help! It's after me!" someone shouts.

That voice...

Junichiro.

You sprint west, breaking into a clearing where the scene is grim. A human-like demon is holding Junichiro upside down. The demon has human height, body, and head except for its four extra arms. It begins wrapping its long slimy tongue around your brother as you sprint forward and leap, hoping to cut its head. However, one of the demon's many arms turns around and smacks you out of the way. With the wind knocked out of you, you stand again. The demon turns round to face you, Junichiro stares.

"Y/N....?"

Again, you run forward to fight. The demon focuses on you and drops your brother. You begin sparring, dodging some of the demon's arms and getting punched by the others. While fighting you the demon ignores Junichiro, who grabs his sword and surprises the demon by cutting its head off. You both stare at each other.

"You're not supposed to be here." He says.

"You could say you're welcome, I saved your life, so do me a favor and don't tell mother and father." You reply.

He frowns, shrugs, and walks off.

The rest of the night passes uneventfully. The next morning many of the group from last night have disappeared. A bittersweet start to the day, but you cannot help but feel a bit proud for completing Final Selection against all odds, against your parents wishes as well.

Junichiro departs before you can talk to him further. While you have been given a crow, who told you her name is Perry, she has not given you orders yet. The next step for a Sayama is to head to Mount Tsurugi and perform the katas for Raijin. Unlike other Demon Slayers, this is how Sayama family swords changed color. You assume Junichiro will also be going to Mount Tsurugi, however your brother is not the eldest. By some coincidence, men have been born first for the past few generations of the Sayama family. For the past hundred or so years a woman was never the eldest child and the Demon Slayer of the family, so societal norms were able to be kept in place. You, however, broke that lineage.

You wonder if Raijin will accept Junichiro as the rightful Storm Breather and worry what will happen if not, a younger sibling has never tried. You put on your new uniform and go towards the mountain. Eventually you do make it to Mount Tsurugi where an angry, violent storm seems to be brewing at the summit. Taking a deep breath, you begin to climb.

The arduous climb is completed with plenty of swearing and cursing, out of all families you have been born into the one who has to climb a giant mountain to use their sword? It is a bit outrageous. However, you do reach the summit and look into the sky. The hair on your body stands straight as electricity fills the air around you, clouds rumble, and rain falls.

“We do this to protect humans, this is my birthright, my calling.” You say out loud, “I will protect those weaker than me with the powers you grant me Raijin.” You bow.

Years of practice have etched the katas into your brain. No time like the present, you think to yourself and filled with determination, you begin.

“First Form: Forming Hurricane!” You slash upwards and spin. Loud thunder rumbles from above.
“Second Form: Cyclone!” You dash in a zig-zag swinging your sword. Rain falls harder.
“Third Form: Thundering Slice!” A jump from you and a single slash comes from your sword. You can barely see through the rain.
“Fourth Form: Cutting Gale Winds!” Two slashes fly from your sword, one low and one high. The wind howls.
“Fifth Form: Sweeping Storm’s Rage!” Gripping your sword to the point where your hands ache and bleed, you slash upwards and powerfully as possible. Lightning flashes and booms near you.
“Sixth Form: Twister!” Unleashing many slashes you spin and kick the dust around you. The wind carries it, forming a small tornado around you. More lightning strikes, rain pounds, wind screams, you can barely see.

Gritting your teeth and holding your sword in aching, bleeding hands you begin the final kata.

“Seventh Form: Eye of the Storm!” You enter the transparent world of the kata, dashing around the summit you strike over and over again in the air. Finally, your stamina runs out and you collapse to your knees.

The sounds of the combined wind, lightning, and rain are almost unbearable. You can barely see two feet in front of you. You fall to the ground in a deep, deep bow and pray to Raijin for protection and power.

BOOM

A lightning bolt slams to the Earth in front of you, the wind increases tenfold and knocks you onto your back.

And suddenly….

It’s all gone.

You look up and see yourself in the eye of the storm. The clouds have parted and you can see the clear, blue sky. Wind ceases around you and lightning flashes. Once again, it ends.

The storm has gone.

You look down and see your blade shining bluish gray.

Proud of yourself, you lay down in the dirt again. Too tired to move, you fall asleep and don’t wake up until the morning.

Chapter Text

You wake up to something hitting your head quite hard.
Peck.
Peck.
Peck.
“Wake up!” Squawks Perry “You are being a lazy Demon Slayer!”. Wiping your eyes, you sit and look around the mountain.

“Good morning to you too Perry, maybe in the future you could wake me up in a less painful way?” You ask.

“No, you need to apply yourself!” Says Perry shortly.

“.......What do you think I’ve been doing all last night?” You ask, annoyed. Perry does not reply and you guess this is the start of a rowdy relationship. Thankfully no demons appeared while you rested, you guess Raijin had something to do with their absence. Unsure of what to do now, you ask Perry for orders. She gives you none so you decide to head home.

You are confident now that you have completed Final Selection and appeased Raijin your parents will accept that you are a capable woman who is worthy of being a Demon Slayer. On arrival, you realize your parents may never forget their prejudice.

Walking into the house, you find your mother, father, and brother in the family room. Your father pacing in front of the mantle where you took the sword. Upon entry, everyone stares at each other for a second, and chaos erupts. Everyone is screaming at once. You scream at Junichiro for telling your parents, he yells at you for defying them, both your mother and father shouting in your face about how you've disrespected the family.

It isn’t until you all cease shouting, voices hoarse, that you notice new entities in the room standing behind you. The Takao family from down the street stares at your family in surprise, you see the mother look at your Demon Slayer uniform with big eyes.

“Y/N.” Your father says shortly, “You remember the Takao’s right?”.

You nod, Hideo Takao, the only child and son of the Takao’s was a playmate of yours as a child. While tall and seemingly handsome, Hideo has never been attractive to you. As a child he seemed to pick up on the fact that you two would most likely be engaged one day and even at six years old treated you as a maid. He stares at you, and you think he looks somewhat angry and in awe. You nod your head at your father.

“Good” He says, “You and Hideo are to be married next month, this alliance will bring wealth and prosperity to both of our families. Hideo completed Final Selection last year and his parents promise he will become a fine Demon Slayer, good enough for you to live in comfort Y/N.”

Silence.

“Are you joking?” You say, “How can I marry him and live in comfort if I am a Demon Slayer as well?”

Your mother replies, “You will not be, you will give that sword back to your father and forget any of this happened.”

“What if I don’t?” You ask.

“You will be disowned.” Your mother stares down at you, deadly serious.

Frustration rising, you unsheath your sword and show it to everyone in the room, “I have already completed the Katas for Raijin on Mount Tsurugi! He has chosen me to use the Breath of the Storm and I will do so until the day I die!”

Standing proudly in the center of the room, everyone stares at you, no one says anything. Your brother is furious, your parents livid. The Takao’s look alarmed. Hideo’s father is the first to speak,

“Look…..your daughter is 16 and my son is 17. Why don’t we wait until she is 18, that is a normal age for marriage yes? She is obviously against it. You can have two years to straighten her out, or we will find Hideo and our family another beneficial alliance. I am giving you two years because I believe an alliance between the Sayamana family and Takao family would be greatly beneficial to all of us. Please take this time to consider, we will be leaving now.”

The Takaos depart, before your parents can step forward to take your sword you dash through the open door running down the street towards nowhere. After an hour or so of sprinting, you try to decide what the game plan is. Going home would surely mean your parents would take your sword and force you to marry Hideo, who by your standards is not ideal.

Luckily, Perry swoops down onto your head, pecking furiously.

“Y/N! Travel east and meet with Squad 6! Demons await!” squawks the crow.

“PERRY! OK! Stop pecking! I got it! You’re giving me brain damage with all the pecking!” You shout. Even with the angry pecking, you smile at the prospect of the future. Turning on your heel, you set off away from your family home.

Chapter Text

Once you began missions, your Demon Slaying and swordsmanship only ever increased. It seemed as though you were naturally born to use Storm Breathing and the technique flowed out of you and beheaded demons with ease. You excelled five levels up from Mizunoto rank, to Tsuchinoe, fairly easily. However, here is where your progress began to stall.

More demons, stronger demons, hindered your beheadings. They required faster footwork, better techniques, and higher knowledge of fighting. As a self taught swordsman, you began to have issues.

“FUCK!” You screamed as the demon lashed out and clawed your leg. It had ripped through your uniform and blood began spilling out. This demon was stronger than anything you had previously faced. She lumbered over you, tall and full of muscles. Her fangs dripped with blood of a previous slayer and her blood demon art allowed her to almost teleport. She could be right beside you in seconds before you even noticed.

“Sixth Form: Twister!” You yell, creating a mini tornado around you as the demon teleports next to you, the dust kicked up from your spinning twister impedes her attacks and you manage to finally land some blows on her. Stumbling back, she heavily growls and moves forward,

“Stupid, idiot human! Are you really so dumb you don’t know when to give up? You can’t spin forever!” She laughs.

You grunt, knowing that she is right. She continues her blood demon art, you keep using techniques until your legs become numb.

She’s next to you. The demon’s on top of you. Her claws are near your neck. You trash to no avail.

“First Form: Shivers of First Love!”

What.

You and the demon both look up. Lying on the ground, you have an upside down view of a girl with pink and green hair running forward and whipping the demon with multiple slashes. The demon howls in pain and leaps off of you. The girl runs after it.

“Sixth Form: Cat-Legged Winds of Love!” She twirls upside down in some kind of somersault. Slashing out and retracting once before spinning her sword out once more and beheading the demon.

What. The. Fuck. kind of breathing style is that? You lay on the ground watching her attack. She must be very powerful to behead the demon in two moves…but using cat legs? Confused and dazed from the blood loss you watch and she walks over to you.

“Oh my gosh! Are you ok?!” She asks, worried.

You sigh and shake your head. She grabs your arms and pulls you up with ease, you almost throw up from the speed she pulls you.

“I’m going to take you to a Wisteria House! They’ll take care of you, we’ll have to walk quickly though!” She throws your arm over her shoulder and begins walking, more like dragging you, along with her.

You would have liked to answer her questions, but the blood loss is making you loopy. She carries the conversation herself as you walk. Her name, Kanroji Mitsuri, Her breathing type, Love, her teacher, Kyojuro Rengoku, her rank, Hashira, her favorite food, anything western. You try to smile and nod along, but it just looks as though you’re going to hurl.

Eventually you arrive at the Wisteria House, the caretakers nurse you and apply bandages. The next morning you are happy to see that the girl who saved you is still there, hoping to thank her for helping you. It looks as though she is sitting on the engawa eating breakfast, you head outside to join her.

“Mitsuri-san! May I join you for breakfast?” You call. She turns and nods eagerly.

“Of course!”

You sit next to her and eat slowly, deciding on how to ask your inquiries politely.

“If you don’t mind me asking….I have never heard of love breathing, where did it come from?”

She grins and happily replies, “I made it!”

You stare at her for a second. Made it? You can make breathing styles?

She notices your confusion and continues, “I trained with Rengoku-san in flame breathing, but it never quite worked for me. When I tried doing what I love, it all worked out!”

You continue to stare at her, bewildered. You ask, “and you are a Hashira? Aren’t they the most powerful?”

She continues eating food and nods, you notice she has almost twelve empty bowls surrounding her. You think to yourself that she is certainly an interesting character.

“You are a storm breather?” She asks after a few moments of silence.

“Yes,” you reply and accidentally end up telling her your entire life story. It feels nice to let it all out. She stares at you, mouth open.

“How horrible…forced into a marriage…” She wistfully looks away. You nod and both of you go back to silence. Eventually she breaks it,

“I desperately want to be married myself, that's why I joined the Corps.”
You stare at her, surprised. You reply, “Surely there is at least one dude in the Corps who would want to marry you, and you marry him.”

She giggles, “That’s what I thought too, maybe.”

“You’re a Hashira! People are probably lining up to get with you!”

She laughs once more, then goes serious. You frown, about to ask what you said wrong and apologize.

“You haven’t told me your name yet!” She yells.

“Oh, it’s Y/N rank Tsuchinoe”, you say as she nods.

“Tsuchinoe and you have not started total concentration breathing yet?” she questions, eyebrow raised.

You frown, embarrassed and think to yourself, “Lie and tell her I already started? She’d definitely know right? Hashira’s can tell when you are lying right, or did I make that up? Who told me that? Wait, say something!”

You finally settle on, “honestly I have no idea what that is.”

She smiles, “that’s ok Y/N! It’s a technique that allows you to fill your lungs with maximum air! All the Hashira use it, any efficient Demon Slayer uses it! My master taught me, maybe he can teach you!”

You nod eagerly, “Misturi-san, that would be amazing! Thank you!”

She claps her hands happily, “I’ll definitely send him a letter with your name, so he can find you!”

After another hour of pleasant conversation, Perry finds you and pecks your head ruthlessly.

“Mission Y/N Sayama! Mission! Head north towards Tokyo, then west towards the ocean!” she caws.

“What a cute crow!” Mitsuri laughs as she pets Perry, who does in fact not peck her.

You glare at Perry, “so it’s just me you peck then?”

Perry ignores you, busy being coddled by the Love Hashira. Eventually you part ways, she asks you to visit her at her estate while you bow deeply in thanks for her not only saving your life but reaching out to her master for you. You set off from the Wisteria House, thanking the owners. Perry flies low next to you giving directions towards your next mission.

Chapter Text

It was a few weeks later you got a letter from the one and only Flame Hashira, inviting you to his training grounds. Actually, another letter arrived as well. However, this one originated from your parents who decided to let you know that one year had almost passed since you had run out the front door. In another year's time you were to return home to be wed, if not, you would be disowned. You heavily considered if being disowned would be a bad thing, but that would mean no inheritance, exile from not just your parents but your extended family as well, and possibly if you did choose to get married in the future, who would want a girl who is disowned?

These facts weighed heavily on your mind as you stuff the letter from your parents into your coat pocket to forget about. The letter from the Flame Hashira much more promising. Training with an actual Hashira? Few could say they’ve had the chance, you quickly wrote back accepting the invitation.

When the time came you traveled to the Rengoku family’s training ground, you assumed it was not their regular estate as it was much, much smaller than even your family home and secluded in the woods. A tall bamboo fence ran around the perimeter, in the center a clearing you assumed was used for dueling and a small, quaint house. A small shed sat inside the fence, near the back.

On arrival you walked up to the front sliding door, and knocked.

No reply.

Yelling, “Hello! My name is Y/N Sayama, rank Hinoto!” proudly announcing Hinoto. Even without total concentration breathing you moved up a rank, you continue, “Kanroji Mitsuri wrote a letter, asking for me to come! I am here to learn total concentration breathing!”

Still no reply.

You begin walking around the small estate, looking in the shed where some straw mats lay on the ground. Turning on your heel, you exit the shed and begin trotting towards the back of the house. Suddenly, you stop.

All you can describe it as is….grunting? Heavy breathing? Unsheathing your sword, you begin to tip toe closer with your back against the small house. Peaking around the building into the backyard you see training dummies. Big straw men attached to wood poles inserted into the ground. Someone is standing next to one, wielding a wooden sword.

You assume that someone is the Flame Hashira, before you make yourself known however you stop and stare. The sight is a bit….indecent. While the weather is unusually warm today, you believe it definitely is not hot enough for shirts to be off. But, there he is. Uniform top off swinging his sword with calculated precision in what seems to be katas.

You think he looks just as unusual as Mitsuri, who has pink hair. However, the Flame Hashira has yellow and orange hair, fanning out over his unclothed back. Sweat shining and running down his broad chest, muscled stomach, towards….

WAIT.

What the fuck?

Get a fucking grip! You chastise yourself, slapping your head.

Stepping out from behind the house you make your presence known.

“Hello!” You call again, “I am Y/N, who you sent the letter to?”

The Flame Hashira finally looks up, grinning, “YES! Welcome, I am Kyojuro Rengoku! Mitsuri said you are a capable slayer, but you do not know total concentration breathing yet?!”

You wince a bit at his noise and nod, “I taught myself sword skills, I had never heard of total concentration breathing until a few weeks ago.”

He looks at you thoughtfully, “you are a Hinoto?”

“Yes.”

“Wow! Interesting! Usually without Total Concentration Breathing people do not climb that far. Let’s duel!”

You blink. Wait what? Duel? Right now? Duel a Hashira right now?

“Right now?” You ask.

He grins and nods.

“Um…ok.” You say as you stand across from him in a fighting stance. You wonder if the small backyard will be big enough to accommodate your Storm Breathing.

“OK! 3, 2, 1! GO!” The Flame Hashira yells.

It’s over before you can even move, it seems as if he was in front of you a second after he yelled go. You were quickly thrown to the ground by a wooden practice sword, realizing you had been using your real one and he hadn’t said anything.

“Holy shit.” You say, stunned.

He laughs, grabbing your hand and pulling you back up to stand. You spend the rest of the day learning about Total Concentration Breathing.

Rengoku starts, “Total Concentration Breathing is not just inhaling deeply, but filling your lungs with the most amount of oxygen as possible! Eventually, you will be able to perform Total Concentration: Constant! This is maintaining Total Concentration Breathing at all times!”

He has you blowing into gourds, doing handstands, and running around the estate and forest for the rest of the day. During these exercises you’re supposed to be maintaining your Total Concentration Breathing, however near suppertime you find yourself falling to the ground mid-run. Completely out of breath, you continue to lay in the dirt. You’ve run up a hill in the forest and can see the estate below you, too tired to walk you decide to roll down the hill. Not realizing how tall the hill actually is, you roll down the hill at an alarming speed, landing face first in the dirt right in front of the back door to the estate.

“Ha ha! Interesting way to travel! I will have to try it sometime!” Rengoku laughs as he stands in front of you.

Embarrassed, you stand up and follow him as he turns back into the small house. A massive spread of food awaits you inside the house, you notice as you walk in the house consists of a small sitting room with a large table for food, what looks like a bedroom off to the side, and a kitchen hidden behind doors. He sits at the table and gestures for you to join him.

Before he begins stuffing his face with food Rengoku says, “Please eat! Total Concentration Breathing requires a lot of energy!”

You bow your head and say thank you, then begin eating. As the Flame Harisha eats you watch him carefully, he seems nice, a bit eccentric with all the laughing and loudness, but nice. You think about how you miss having a roof to sleep over that’s not a Wisteria House, your eyes seem to drift away.

“You seem lost in thought!” Rengoku shouts, startling you.

“Oh, yeah.” You elect to lie, “Never thought Total Concentration Breathing would be so difficult.”

“Yes! It is a hard technique!” He replies shortly.

You nod, not sure what else to say. You both eat in silence, once the sun sets he shows you to the shed where mats have been set out for you to sleep. This evening he will be on patrol. Rengoku bids you goodnight and you lie down and immediately fall asleep.

Chapter Text

The next morning you realize Rengoku has not returned from his patrols yet, so you set off on the same training exercises he gave you yesterday. Running, blowing, jumping, all while attempting Total Concentration Breathing. Once mid-morning hits, you decide to begin your breathing techniques while using the new breathing strategy.

“Second Form: Cyclone!” you shout, concentrating on your breath. You dash forward, zig zagging and swinging your sword. You get less swings than you usually do and kneel down to catch your breath. This was going to take a lot of work.

“Excellent!” A shout behind you, “Keep practicing and you will surely get it!”.

“Good morning sensei” you bow as he approaches. He chuckles and replies,

“No need for that! Mitsuri said you were a Storm Breathe user, I must admit, I have never met anyone with that Breathing Style before!”

You grimace, “Yes, it runs in my family. My father retired before reaching a high rank.”

“If you do not mind my inquiry, I have heard the Storm Breathing users must climb Mount Tsurugi?” He looks down at you, you wonder why he looks so interested.

“Yes. I reached the summit about a year ago to perform my katas, it is the duty of those inheriting the Storm Breath. We climb Mount Tsurugi and hope Raijin will give us the breath, which we will then use to defend human kind and eliminate demons. It is our purpose in life to protect humans, especially those weaker than us” you say proudly.

“Wow! That must’ve been that crazy storm then!” He replies in a way that surprises you, “Last year people talked about it for ages! I still remember it!” Not formally like you would expect a Hashira or someone raised in wealth to talk, but in a manner sounding genuinely interested.

It had never occurred to you that others would have been able to see the storm on Mount Tsurugi as well, you duck your head, abashed. Looking up you notice that he is still looking at you. Red and yellow eyes, oddly bright, staring.

“WELL THEN!” He shouts, surprising both you and it seems himself, “Keep practicing total concentration breathing, we shall go on a mission together soon so you can use it in a real fight!”

The thought of this worries you, so you immediately head back to pushing your limits with Total Concentration Breathing. Days turn into weeks and he has still not taken you on a mission. However, you and Rengoku become more familiar with each other as time passes. You ask about the other Hashira and he is more than happy to talk about them, he then tells you about this brother, how he often goes to see him while you go on missions.

You begin sparring daily, or anytime each other is around. Only a few weeks have passed, but you have begun to enjoy it. It seems he is too. Even though you end up with your butt or face in the dirt after every match, Rengoku always helps you up.

One day, pulling you up from your position face first in the dirt, he doesn’t let go of your hand but instead pulls you over to the small engawa running around the perimeter of the small house. He sits you down, kneels in front, and begins wrapping a bandage around your hand and wrist. The Fifth Form of Storm Breathing, which you had been practicing, requires gripping your sword to the point of bleeding.

Shocked and a bit restless, you sit silently as he continues to wrap bandages around your hand. Afterwards, he pats your hand and heads inside for dinner. Both of you are a bit quieter that night.

It’s apparent the Total Concentration Breathing is helping immensely, you are being sent out on missions more and more lately. Often coming home bloody, and often being patched up by Rengoku. After many arduous missions you come back to the little estate a Kinoe, beginning to genuinely consider if you could make it to Hashira eventually. It seems you were naturally born to wield Breath of Storm, it excited you that it felt so natural.

Your missions are going smoothly and sparring with Rengoku, while still being brutal, is getting easier. He is ecstatic on your development as a slayer and orders a giant feast, somehow even bigger than his normal dinner. For the first time in a long time, you’re content. Until, for the first time, he begins to ask things about you.

“Sayama?” He inquires over dinner, you stop stuffing your face to glance at him. It seems he was already looking at you, a soft smile on his face. It quickly changes to his usual boisterous one, “If you do not mind me asking, do you have any family?”.

You immediately grimace, thinking about the events that transpired a little over a year ago,

“Yup.” you reply, short and sweet, hoping he’ll get the message.

“And?” He asks, a playful smile on his face, you sigh knowing that you’re not going to get away that easily.

“I ran away.” Figuring you need to explain further, you continue, “In the Sayama family the eldest child performs the katas on Mount Tsurugi.”

“But you did…?” Rengoku asks, puzzled.

You smile ruefully, “Yup, against my parents wishes. For hundreds of years it was the eldest child, yes, but two hundred years ago my great great great grandfather or something decided that it should only be men. Luckily, the women Sayama’s only had first born boys, so it wasn’t even a problem. Until me.”

“What an asshole.” Rengoku says hotly, eyes narrowed. Unexpecting that sort of reply from a Hashira, you laugh happily and agree. He seems pleased with himself.

“Yeah, I know right?” You continue, explaining how you challenged your brother and snuck out to final selection, “I’m not going to spend my life on the sidelines, people out there need protecting and I want to help,” you say resolutely.

“I agree completely! I think you are very brave!” Rengoku practically shouts. You try to keep your face reddening, but the way he said it so truthfully makes you blush. You notice his face turns quickly red as well. Both sitting in silence, you quickly break it and resolve to tell the whole truth.

“On top of that, I returned from Mount Tsurugi to tell my family of how I completed both Final Selection and the Katas. Upon arrival I saw the family from down the street was there as well because….well, they arranged a marriage between me and their son.
Rengoku stopped chewing, looking surprised, and asked, “You are married?”

You burst out laughing, he looks confused, and you say, “No! That’s when I turned and ran out the door!” He begins chuckling as well.

“The Takao family decided we were to be married in two years, it's been a year already, I’m not sure what they’ll do once they’ve found out I’m not coming back though….” you think hard. You still haven’t considered what would happen if you just never returned home, would they kidnap you? How? Your parents aren’t that ruthless are they?

You sit in silence and continue pondering your parents, until Rengoku declares tonight you will be accompanying him on a mission.

He continues, “It seems your Total Concentration Breathing has excelled to the point where I am not needed as a teacher anymore. I’d like for you to come on this mission with me tomorrow night, so when you leave here I can rest easy knowing you can perform the technique to the fullest.”

“You’re kicking me out?!” You ask hotly.

“What? No! I didn’t mean it like - “ Rengoku starts, but stops with your laughing.

You quickly reply “Sorry, sorry, I figured since you won’t be my teacher anymore I could poke some fun.”

He grins, “Good, now I can make fun of you for falling on your face during sparring!”

You make a fake surprised face and a rude gesture that has you both laughing for the rest of the meal.

Chapter Text

The next morning you gather the little belongings you have from the shed where you have been sleeping and meet Rengoku out front. He told you before bed last night that you would be leaving early in the morning, even though the mission would start later that evening. Walking towards the front gate you wait for him to join you.

“Good morning Sayama!” He yells, you return the greeting, he continues “We will be stopping at my family estate before heading to the mission, I figured since we will be walking right by it, why not stop, ha ha!” You think about how he laughs a lot, at seemingly not funny things and getting lost in your daydream of Rengoku laughing at something you said, you don’t notice him calling your name as he has already started walking.

“Daydreaming Sayama? Not about me I wonder?” He says slyly.

What the hell? That’s pretty fucking forward, you think. Can Hashira even say that?

“I was actually thinking about what I’m going to eat for dinner.” You reply, hoping to change the subject.

He smiles and happily says “Ha ha! That’s why I like you so much Y/N! We are very similar!”

You continue to chat as you approach his family estate, suddenly you feel nervous. Surely his brother would be home, you should try to make a good impression? But still, you are just an acquaintance it’s not like.... you’re Kyojuros lov….. Damn. You think about what it’d be like to call him by his first name. What it’d sound like if he called you Y/N….

“Sayama!” You immediately break from your daydream to look at Rengoku, he has entered the estate grounds and is next to what you can only assume to be his brother. The boy looks exactly like his sibling, just smaller.

“Sayama, this is Rengoku Senjuro, my little brother!” The larger Rengoku shouts happily.

You smile, Senjuro is quite cute, and bow to him, “Hello, Rengoku-kun, my name is Sayama Y/N.”

The boy smiles and bows as well, he seems just as nervous as you are. His older brother leads you both inside, where you all sit. Senjuro immediately runs off, squeaking about getting food.

“I am going to speak to my father, Sayama, I’ll be back.” Rengoku stands and leaves through a different door Senjuro left through.
“Here it is! Strawberry cake!” Senjuro says happily, entering the room. He stops and grows quiet on seeing just you sitting on the floor next to the table. You can tell he’s nervous.

“I have never had strawberry cake before! Thank you for bringing it!” You try to sound as happy as possible, hoping to put the boy at ease. He smiles and puts the cake on the table, proclaiming,

“It took me all day to make it! Mitsuri helped me, do you know her? My brother taught her for a while.”

“Yes!” You happily reply and tell him of how she saved your life previously, and how she is the reason you are here now, “Rengoku-kun, you made this cake all by yourself? It’s absolutely delicious!” you can barely talk with the amount of cake you’re jamming into your mouth. It’s really good.

He seems taken aback and red faced, “Wow…Thanks! I’m really glad you like it!”.

The two of you continue talking, you asking him questions about himself. He seems more talkative after you’ve complimented his cake.

“My brother is training me in Flame Breathing…but I’m no good at it honestly. I mean…I know I’m a Rengoku but sometimes I wonder if I even want to be a Demon Slayer.”

You immediately reply, “That’s ok. Training takes a long, long time. I started training at 6, and it took me ten years until I could go to Final Selection.” You neglect to mention that you snuck out to do so, not wanting to set a bad example for Rengoku’s younger brother.

He stills seems put out, so you continue, “Besides, Rengoku-kun some people aren’t born to be Demon Slayers, you should do what makes you happy.”

“Cooking makes me happy, but that doesn’t help people.” He says, forlorn.

“It does!” You are determined to help him, “The walk here was very arduous, and you providing this cake has made me feel much better! I feel way happier now! You are very, very talented, and you can help people by following your dreams! Making good food and providing it to people is an important job!”

You hope your little motivational speech gets to him, because you had no idea what you just said, but you know you meant it.

Thankfully, he’s smiling now.

“Really, Sayama-san? You think if I became a cook I’d help people?” he asks cautiously.

“Yes, Rengoku-kun! I believe you are a wonderful cook and you could help hundreds of people with your good cooking!” you reply hastily.

He’s bouncing on his feet now, excited. His older brother enters the room.

“Senjuro! You’ve made a cake!” Rengoku says happily and definitely hungrily.

“Yes! Yes, Kyojuro I did! Sayama told me I could help loads of people by cooking! I’m going to be the best cook when I grow up! I’ll help everyone by feeding them good food!” he runs off to the kitchen to grab more things he has prepared.

Rengoku turns to look at you, “You and my brother had a nice talk then?”

You flush, “Sorry, I really didn’t mean to change his entire life course, I just…he just seemed so put out…I don’t know…I just wanted to help?” you stumble over your words trying to explain.

“Well I appreciate it!” Rengoku shouts, you let out a sigh of relief, “Senjuro has struggled with his swordsmanship for a while. I've been trying to convince him cooking is a good career, but he never listens. Maybe an outside opinion helped!”

Senjuro runs back in with an assortment of sweets, you’re shocked at the number of them.

“Rengoku-kun, that’s so many, oh I don’t need that many but thank you!” you try to tell him.

“It’s ok! You can have them all! I want you to be full when you fight demons!” He says as he puts his palms on the table, using his arms to bounce himself up and down in excitement.

“Well…thank you very much Rengoku-kun” you say, meaning it.

“Senjuro!” He shouts.

“What?”

“Call me Senjuro!”

You look from Rengoku back to his little brother, Rengoku has a massive smile on his face, his cheeks red. Is he….?

Senjuro showing you sweets makes you look away and say, “Ok, Senjuro it is.”

The rest of the day passes uneventfully, you show Senjuro some Storm techniques, and the kid becomes more obsessed than you thought possible. Rengoku seems ecstatic all day, switching between talking to his brother to you and making comments that get you both talking to each other.
Eventually, you say a heartfelt goodbye to Senjuro and promise to return so he can teach you how to bake a cake. Waving goodbye as you exit the estate, you and Rengoku tread down the path towards the sunset and mission.

“That was fun.” You say to Rengoku, looking over at him and finding that he is already looking your way.

“Yes, you should come by more often.” He replies, softer than you're used to. You both continue walking, sneaking glances every few steps.

Chapter Text

It’s not lost on you that as a Kinoe, you’re very close to becoming a Hashira. Rengoku has said before that he believes you can do it, all you have to do is kill a Twelve Kizuki or keep growing your kill count to 50. Since you had no home when you became a Demon Slayer, you went on missions almost daily so that you could stay in Wisteria Houses for protection.

You think as you walk with Rengoku, you had been a Demon Slayer for a year when you arrived at the Flame Hashira’s estate for training, by that time you had around 25 kills, even if most were lower level demons. After staying with Rengoku for a few months, your kill count has increased dramatically. You think it’s probably around 40 something by now. Sparring with Rengoku has gotten a lot easier as well.

You and Rengoku quietly approach a village, however you quickly notice it’s been abandoned. Doors eerily creak open to reveal empty houses with blood stained walls. Rengoku is the first to talk,

“A demon has killed the majority of people in this village, the rest have evacuated. Most slayers have been killed or missing as well. The master has concerns it could be a Twelve Kizuki, if so it is probably of the lower rank. This is why he sent us.”

You nod warily, the empty village creeping you out. You both continue to slowly pad forward with swords drawn, listening for any sign of life. Suddenly, a soft crunching sound emanates from up ahead. You both stop looking at each other, then slowly continue forward.

As you approach the sound, you notice the floor around you is littered with bodies. Some wear slayer uniformers, others in regular citizen clothes. All are dead and most have massive bites taken out of them in odd places. It looks almost cartoonish, a huge bite taken out of someone's side or moving on another's leg.

“More Demon Slayers? He sent me more!” A high pitched voice happily yells. You and Rengoku stop and stare.

“Your master keeps sending me more food to eat! He is extremely generous, even after I ate an entire village he sends more food!”

It resembles a giant…..bird-person? Person-bird? You think to yourself. The demon rises, even after eating so many humans it seems to be severely skinny and has an extremely long neck. As it moves to stand it unfurls two massive leathery black grotesque wings protruding out 8 feet in each direction. It’s eerily white eyes boasting a number 4 in the pupil turn to face you, while its beak-like mouth continues talking,

“Two more snacks! Two strong snacks!” it cackles.

“Demon!” Rengoku shouts, “Enough of your talking, prepare to die!”

You assume that’s the queue to start attacking, and it’s a good thing you do, because Rengokue moves at the same time you do.

“First Form: Unknowing Fire!”
“Second Form: Cyclone!”

Rengoku is dashing at the demon head-on, moving to decapitate while you rush in a zig zag back and forth across him slashing at the demon. Your technique makes contact with the demon, who howls and flaps its wings, rising into the sky.

“Sixth Form: Sky-Piercing Fire!”

Rengoku unleashes his thrust attack, reaching up and stabbing the demon who is clawing down at him.

This is it, you think to yourself.

“SEVENTH FORM: EYE OF STORM!”

The world blacks out around you and reappears transparently, you can see the lower 4 demon rising into the sky, Rengoku stabbing at its bottom. Taking your stance, you dash up a tree, hurdling into the sky, slashing its stomach, leaping down onto a tree and back up, you slash its legs, again and again you swipe at different spots on the demon.

On exiting your technique, the world fades back in and Rengoku lands on the ground. The demon, still flapping its wings but only slightly above you, is screeching in pain and annoyance. Before Rengoku moves, you shout,

“First Form: Forming Hurricane!”

Leaping up and hitting the demon with one final upward slash, you finish by spinning with the force of a hurricane and bring your blade down upon the demon's neck on the final rotation. Your blade rips through the neck of the demon who reaches blindly and flaps its wings urgently.

Suddenly, Rengoku is beside you, grabbing you into his arms and falling onto the ground. You’re thankful he caught you, as the seventh form of your technique requires a large amount of energy and you’re sure your legs are about to collapse.

You look up at Rengoku whilst in his arms, he’s beaming down at you.

“Sayama! That was amazing! You killed lower 4!”

He carefully lowers you from his arms, you bashfully look up at him,

“I mean…you helped me. Without you I never would’ve been able to Rengoku-san.”

“Nonsense!” He replies, “Sayama it takes will beyond measure to do what you just did! I may have helped, but in the end it was your hard work and perseverance that brought you here!”

You’re sure that you are grinning like a maniac at those words, how can he be so kind? Overcome with emotion, you tackle him into a large bear hug and happily yell,

“We did it!”

You feel his arms wrap around you and to your delight, a soft sigh. When you step back and look at him, his face is hued red and he wears a sheepish grin. Breaking both of your gazes is Perry, who squawks above you before swooping down and pecking your head.

“PERRY? For real? I just beat lower 4?!” you angrily shout.

Rengoku laughs and puts his hand on your head where Perry just pecked, you two start looking at each other again, but Perry swoops in and breaks you apart once more shouting that,

“Sayama Y/N, Kagaya Ubuyashiki requests your presence at the next Hashira meeting to be held in two weeks time at the Ubuyashiki Mansion!”

You gasp, “so that means….?”

Rengoku shouts and laughs, ‘HA- HA! I knew you could do it! You’ll be a Hashira!” He grabs you once more by the waist and spins you around in the air, you’re both laughing like maniacs until Perry starts pecking you again.

“Sayama is an improper slayer!” Perry squawks shortly.

Both you and Rengoku laugh and begin walking. You come to a crossroads, one way will lead towards his estate, but the other towards your family home. You make your choice and tell him your plan.

“I think I’ll go to my parents, they cannot deny my progress now can they?” You say and look over to Rengoku who replies,

“It’s worth a shot isn’t it? I hope it goes well Sayama, set your heart ablaze!”

Rengoku turns the opposite direction and heads off, waving before he gets too far, you smile and wave back, heading home.

Chapter Text

The sun rises as you finally reach your family home, not sure if you could just walk in after so long and such an improper departure, you decide on knocking on the sliding door.

Before long, the door opens to your mother. You notice she looks a lot older than from when you left, a lot smaller as well. She stares at you, you stare back.

“Why are you here?” she asks, curtly.

“I would like to speak to you and father.”

She continues to stare at you until your father yells,

“Who is at the door?”

“Y/N!’ your mother yells back.

Silence.

Suddenly your father is at the door as well.

“I have something I would like to tell you both.” you say, as they stare at you, “I have killed a member of the Twelve Kizuki, lower 4, I am a Kinoe, and will be made a Hashira soon.”

……

Nobody says anything. You continue to look at them, feeling more and more awkward.

“Um…I came here to tell you in hopes you would accept me as a Demon Slayer.”

More silence.

Finally,

“No.” says your father.

“No? I am a part of the highest rank in the Corps? Not even you were a Hashira!” You yell in your father’s face, which you can immediately tell was a mistake.

He retorts, equally as loud, “YOU DEFIED US, DISRESPECTED US, IF YOU HAD NOT GONE TO MOUNT TSURUGI JUNICHIRO WOULD HAVE, HE WOULD HAVE STORM BREATH, AND HE WOULD BE ALIVE!”

Your mother puts her hand over her mouth to stop herself from sobbing.

“Alive….?” you ask, bewildered.

Your father spits words venomously at you,

“Junichiro went to Mount Tsurugi and was denied storm breathing, so he went and trained under the retired Thunder Hashira instead. He was killed two months ago in battle. So no, I do not care that you are a Hashira, I do not care what rank you are, you were supposed to shut up and marry the Takao boy, you did not, and now our son is dead.”

You’re in complete shock, staring at both of them with your mouth wide open,

“Junichiro….is not the eldest child….he would’ve never…been…able..to…” you try to rationalize to yourself, it is a fact that as the younger sibling Junichiro would never have been able to use Storm Breathing from Raijin, he could have developed it on his on but……now….

“You will be back here in four months to marry Hideo Takao, Y/N. Goodbye.” Your father slams the door in your face after his words.

Silently, you walk back down the road towards the forest, find a tree to sit under, and cry.

Chapter Text

You spend the next two weeks on a single mission with Perry, where you kill a demon unceremoniously. After the news of your brother, you feel completely numb. Moving from town to town uncaring, unfeeling. Finally the day of the Hashira meeting comes and you walk towards the Ubuyashiki Mansion.

“SAYAMA!” A familiar yell from behind, you turn, feeling hopefully and happy for the first time in 14 days.

“Rengoku! Hello!” you call as he runs up to you.
“How are you Sayama?” you knew he would ask this and try to hide your face, “Sayama?” he asks softly. You’re trying to keep your composure, especially in front of Rengoku. He pulls you off the trail into the woods, away from the road and prying eyes, “What happened?” he asks.

“My parents were completely apathetic, they said they don’t care that I’m a Hashira, they don’t care what rank I am at all……on top of that…my brother was killed while fighting.”

Again, you try to keep your composure, but it’s hard when you’re pulled into a bone-crushing hug by the Flame Hashira. You wrap your arms around him, and feel a light kiss pressed onto your head.

After a few moments, you break the embrace and take a step back, feeling better and a bit flustered. He looks at you sadly,

“My father too…does not care for me being a Demon Slayer.” He starts, you look at him surprised. “When I told him I became a Hashira, he said it was worthless, I was worthless.”

You reach out and touch his arm, he looks at you and smiles,

“It doesn’t matter what they say, what anyone says, it is our duty to protect those weaker than us. We will rise above our parents' prejudices and do our duty, no matter what! You and me, Sayama,” he takes both of your hands, “we can do it!”

He looks intensely determined, and on hearing his words you are too. You nod and squeeze his hands. He opens his mouth as if to say more, but instead decides it is time to head to the meeting.

On arrival, you notice that all of the Hashira are just as eccentric as Rengoku and Mitsuri, who is here as well. When she sees you she runs forward and surprises you with an even stronger hug than Rengoku’s, you are absolutely sure your spine will break but she lets go before it does.

“Sayama! You are here?” she questions

Rengoku smiles, “She killed lower demon 4!”

“You are a Kinoe too?” she asks and you nod, Mitsuri squeals and hugs you once more.

A voice calls out, “They just let anyone in nowadays?”

Rengoku starts, “Sayama, this is the Wind Pillar, Sanemi Shinazugawa.”

You think he looks absolutely murderous but nod your head at him nonetheless. Mitsuri introduces the other Hashira, the Insect girl who runs the hospital you’ve been hearing about, the literal child, the guy who calls himself flamboyant, the other dude with a snake who keeps staring at you and Mitsuri, and finally the water and stone Pillar. The Water Hashira says nothing when you introduce yourself, but grunts and turns away, while the Stone Pillar immediately starts crying. You try to say sorry but he cries more, talking about “kind souls.”

Overall, maybe Rengoku and Mitsuri weren’t as weird as you thought compared to these people. Suddenly, two children call out that the Master is about to arrive. Everyone kneels in front of the engawa, you take place a bit further from the rest.

“Good morning, my children.” The Master says, you immediately notice how kind his voice is and how pleasant he seems. In awe, you stare up at him. “We have much to talk about this meeting, however, I would like to welcome our newest Hashira, Sayama Y/N, The Storm Pillar.” He looks directly at you, though it seems he cannot see, you feel yourself bursting with pride, happiness, and joy.

“Thank you master!” You bow deeply to him, full of respect.

“Sayama, you have had a hard time getting to this point, yet you found it nonetheless, welcome.” He says once more, then delves into the rest of the meeting. You learn you’ve been given your own district to patrol and can be paid as much as you want, while tempted to take a large salary, you decide on the average. Just enough to get a small house and food, enough to not worry. You’re also excited to find that your patrol district is next to both Mitsuri’s and Rengoku’s, however it is also near the Wind Pillar’s. You hope you don’t run into him often.

You also find that tonight you and the Flame Hashira will be going on another mission together, you're excited to be around him, however, ever since your brother’s death you have been angrily waiting to meet demons. You want to eliminate them all, to take what they took from you.

Chapter Text

You and Rengoku set off into the sunset, animatedly talking to each other. He tells you of Senjuro and his next cooking project, you set a date for coming over to help taste test. You find it easier and easier to chat with him every time you see him, you also find that your daydreams consist of him more and more. Simple things, like holding his hand or hugging him once more, and other….more…well, probably not best to think of this as you walk next to him, you think.

Eventually, you find yourself at the site of the mission. A dark, dense forest that annoys you, why do demons always choose the forest? Either way, you rendezvous with the Demon Slayers already at the sight, they say so far three demons are believed to be in the forest and their picking off any slayers who dare to enter. You and Rengoku nod at each other, and move forward.

The demon’s, not expecting Hashira, made themselves known very quickly, and found out soon enough why that was a mistake. Angry from your brother’s murder, you showed no mercy to the demons, you considered taking your time with them but figured that is what a demon would do. Your no mercy strategy ended up getting you covered in blood, and you and Rengoku exited the forest to tell the other slayers, him poking fun at you for getting dirty.

“The demons have been beheaded! You are all to move to your next assignments unless you have been directed to stay here with the clean up crew!” Rengoku says, his normal voice loud enough to get the message across to the others. As Hashira you are to stay and make sure the cleanup process goes smoothly and no extra demons come looking for blood.

“Sayama!” You both turn.

Oh shit.

“....Hideo?” you say, confused.

“Y/N! Yes! Hello!” Hideo smiles as he approaches you. Rengoku looks between the both of you, a polite smile on his face. “It’s been so long, Y/N…your parents were so worried about you.”

You frown, “I returned to tell them I am a Hashira and they were horrible to me Hideo, I don’t think they're worried at all.”

“....You’re a Hashira?” Hideo says in awe. Rengoku smiles and slaps you on the back saying,

“Yes! Sayama became a Hashira not too long ago actually, she is the Storm Pillar now!”

Hideo looks between the two of you, looking as if he’s carefully deciding what to say next,

“Y/N….how will it look if we are married and you are higher rank than I? No wonder your parents were mad, this is severely improper….”

The smile quickly drops from Rengoku’s face,

“You two are to be married?” He asks.

“We were.” You say shortly, scowling at Hideo.

He quickly retorts, “I think you mean we ARE, Y/N. Your parents and mine are still under the assumption our marriage would make a beneficial alliance, why can’t you see that?”

“Probably because she does not like you.” Rengoku answers.

You and Hideo both stare up at him, shocked.

Hideo looks scared but says, “It doesn’t matter whether she likes me or not, as a woman it is her place to listen to her parents and marry whom they please. Not run around slaying demons,” Hideo takes a breath, looking annoyed and embarrassed at having to say this and continues, “her place is to have my children and secure the alliance between our families, she will come home with me.”

He reaches out and takes your arm, you pull it back annoyed, ready to shout at him when Rengoku beats you to it. Grabbing Hideo’s arm, Rengoku shouts,

“I think you should leave now!” People on the clean up crew look over, but Rengoku continues in a quiet, serious voice, “Let go or I will have to make you. You will leave here at once.” Hideo looks terrified and drops your arm. He turns to you,

“Be warned, your parents will hear about this and so will mine, don’t be surprised. Why can’t you just make it easier for all of us?” He looks down, seemingly thinking,

“Y/N. Would it be so bad? Remember when we ran through the fields and woods as children? We had so much fun, you and I. My parents would take care of you, I would take care of you.”

“That’s interesting because I remember it more like you bossing me around all day, asking me to wash your clothes, make you food, and rub your back,” you reply angrily, those childhood days were horrible memories to you. Hideo always asking you to make snacks and watch him practice swinging his sword, whenever you asked he would remind you that it’s not your place.

Hideo stares at you once more, then turns and leaves. You notice he turns to look back, and as he does Rengoku slings an arm around your shoulder, pulling you towards him. You look at him questioningly. In an innocent voice he says,

“Good job killing those demons!” You nod and smile, getting lost in his features.

Chapter Text

Ever since the mission in the forest with Rengoku, you notice he’s been writing you letters and inviting you over to his estate often, you wonder if he’s friendly with the other Hashira as well. A part of you hopes he is not. On one of the visits to his estate, you find yourself in the kitchen cooking with Senjuro.

The boy is ecstatic to have someone to help him as his older brother is notoriously terrible in the kitchen. Today is simple, just ramen, but you’re more than happy to help. You begin to set the table while Senjuro garnishes the food and Rengoku walks in to take his place on the floor at the table. You set a plate of tempura on the table to go with the ramen and enter into the kitchen to help Senjuro while Rengoku waits. Senjuro insists on plating the third bowl differently, so you take the other two into the next room towards the table,

“Senjuro! Buddy! I’m sure it’s fine!” You call over your shoulder, walking out of the kitchen only to find his older brother scarfing down the tempura, “Kyojuro!” you shout, “Put down those chopsticks at once!” He looks up and gives you a sheepish look, putting the rest of the tempura down. “Honestly, you and Mitsuri could eat an entire village…” you mumble, and look at Rengoku again.

You expect to find that same sheepish, cute grin, but instead see him staring at you in awe.

“What?” you stare back.

His face turns red and he mumbles, “You called me…You called me by my given name.”

You stop.

Fuck.

“Oh. Um. Sorry. I. Sorry I didn’t mean too Rengo-” you sputter out.

“NO!” he shouts and you stop talking to look at him, you’re becoming very confused , “No, I mean it’s ok. If you want to, If you want to call me that you can,” he finishes.

“Oh. Um. Ok sure.” You say, face turning redder by the second, “If you’d like to call me…Y/N…you could if you want.”

“YES!” He shouts and you flinch, he immediately says quieter, “Yes I would like that…Y/N.”

You both smile at each other dumbly, faces red, before Senjuro enters the room and breaks the spell with the best ramen you’ve ever tasted.

After lunch you, Senjuro, and now his older brother you call Kyojuro, sit on the engawa peacefully, chatting about mundane things. Eventually, the food coma wears off for Senjuro, who excitedly asks you if you can demonstrate Storm Breathing Katas again.

“Sure!” You reply to his request, “Only if you show me some Flame ones!” You both grab practice swords and begin in the yard, Kyojuro contently watching from the engawa. Unbeknownst to you or anyone else, he is lost in a daydream not unlike yours.

As you’re beginning Fourth Form: Cutting Gale Winds, a yell and crash emanate from the house, the door sliding open and a man resembling the two boys in front of you. By the looks of him, you can only assume it’s their father. He stumbles out the door onto the engawa, where Kyojuro stands immediately, facing him.

“What’re you - what the fuck are - what are you doing!” he shouts.

“Father… we are just practicing our techniques.” Kyojuro replies, you notice quieter than his usual, jovial loud voice.
“Breathing tech-” He interrupts himself with a hiccup, “why the fuck would you need those?” he turns to stare at you, “and who the hell is this?”

Kyojuro quickly replies, “This is Y/N Sayama, the Storm Pillar.”

“The Storm Pillar? What a joke!” His father replies, “Senjuro, how stupid are you, listening to both of these idiots.”

“HEY!” Instead of Kyojuro answering his father, two voices pop up. Kyojuro turns to you alarmed, “Y/N -”

You cut him off, “Don’t speak to your son like that! Have some decency!” Whenever you came to the Rengoku estate, his father never showed his face. You knew Kyojuro had issues with him, and knew Senjuro must too. Years of verbal abuse from your parents have caused you to be very protective of Senjuro, wanting to shield him from what you lived through.

“Who do you think you are to tell me how to raise my son? Look at him, he can’t even hold a sword, stupid child!” A surprisingly coherent sentence from a drunk man you think, the words designed to hurt his son as much as possible.

Angrily, you shout, “Look at you! Drunk at midday! Throwing profanities at you son, get a grip!”

You realize their father looks fucking furious, Senjuro covers his face a bit, scared.

“Father, Shinjuro.” Kyojuro starts, “Please, don’t just -”

“SHUT UP!” Shinjuro marches down the engawa towards you, Kyojuro hurriedly runs after him, looking stoic but furious as well.

While Kyojuro is a Hashira, Shinjuro was one too. For much longer. Even while drunk he reaches you faster and swings his hand back, ready to smack you.

SMACK

Everyone stands in silent shock.

Kyojuro is ready to tackle his father when he realizes, it was not his father who smacked you. Growing up in a household like yours, with a temperament like yours, has taught you the signs of an upcoming angry parent smack very well. Before Shinjuro could smack you, your mind reacted in the worst possible way.

You smacked him across the face. Hard.

Everyone stood silently. Kyojuro, Senjuro, even your mouth hung open from what just happened. You smacked his father?! YOU SMACKED HIS FATHER? Goodbye daydreams, goodbye friendship, goodbye whatever it is that’s going on between you two. You smacked his fucking dad?!

Who the fuck does that?

Surprisingly, it was Shinjuro who broke the silence,

“Hpmh…hmm…” he grunts, your terrified face still staring into his drunken eyes, “yes…ok…..well then. At least you showed grit, at least you didn’t take it.” He grumbles, turns on his heels and stumbles back towards the house, slamming the door behind him.

Kyojuro stands a few feet from you, however you drop to the ground in the lowest bow possible, nose touching the ground you shout,

“Please forgive me! I’m sorry! I didn’t know what to do! Please forgive me!”

Sighing Kyojuro bends down and touches the top of your head,

“Please look up Y/N.”

You do as he asks and he pulls you from your knees into his arms, hugging you. You watch as he turns to Senjuro and opens his arms for him as well. Senjuro hurries to join, looking shaken.

“I’m so sorry you both had to see that, I’m sorry you had to do that Y/N, I am ashamed.”

You quickly look up at Kyojuro,

“Please don’t feel that way, it’s out of your control, the responsibility does not rest on you Kyojuro.” After your words he heaves a deep sigh once more and hugs both of you close to him.

Later that evening, Senjuro’s many yawns signaled it was time for him to go to bed. You watched as he hugged Kyojuro goodnight and to your surprise, came to you for one as well.

“Night’ Senjuro, hope you sleep well.” you told him while Kyojuro looked down at the both of you, a soft grin on his face replacing his stoic expression from earlier.

You and Kyojuro both headed to the gate of his estate to leave, he would be heading north for his mission tonight, you would be heading south for a mission tomorrow night.

“Y/N.” He said, in a serious voice unlike him. You looked up, a bit scared of what he was about to say. “I care for you deeply as a friend, but please try to refrain from smacking my father again, unless warranted of course.” Kyojuro said the last part of the sentence with a smile and laugh, showing you that he was joking. You giggled with him and his face seemed to light up.

“I'll give it a shot. Well…see you around Kyojuro.” You say, looking at him before departing.

“Yes…good luck Y/N. Set your heart ablaze.”

Before he could turn to leave you decide to do something both incredibly brave and incredibly stupid after just smacking his father, you quickly press your lips to the side of his cheek and turn. You begin running down the road as fast as possible, yelling behind you,

“Bye Kyojuro!”

When you turned around to yell goodbye, you see him standing in the middle of the road, one hand on his cheek, grinning.

Chapter Text

The next few months are just as eventful as those before, at your second Hashira meeting you are surprised to find the Wind Pillar holding a young boy into the dirt. You’re even more surprised when the Master reveals the boy had been carrying his demon sister everywhere he went. Even though the demon girl did not attack Shinaguzawa, you and most of the other Hashira were reluctant to accept her, though if the Master believed, then you think you could try.

You had been showing Kyojuro around your new “estate”, though you hated calling it that. Hashira were allowed to request any amount of money as there pay, but you preferred to ask on the smaller side. Enough to buy a small home in a village at the center of your patrol district, close to both Kyojuro and Kanroji Mitsuri, who you were becoming fast friends with.

Kyojuro had noted that Senjuro often stays in their family estate, usually only leaving to go to the market. You’ve begun taking him to Kanroji’s, mostly so he can get outside, but also so you can eat large amounts of delicious foods. She’s ecstatic and it seems Senjuro is too.

Your relationship with Kyojuro has also been….developing? Kanroji asks you about him constantly, wondering if you harbor “deep romantic feelings for him,” as she puts it. Often you roll your eyes and deny everything and anything, but when his crow arrives on her kitchen window cawing,

“Y/N! I would like to meet you for a walk in the forest today at noon! Please let me know if you are available!”

Kanroji turns and gives a triumphant grin, she doesn’t even have to say “I knew it!” since her face conveys everything.

As you show Kyojuro the small garden out back of your estate, where you’ve planted some vegetables in your spare time, hoping Senjuro can use them to cook.

“You’re leaving tonight, right?” You ask him,

He smiles, “Yes! I went to investigate and talk to civilians about the Mugen Train this past week. The boy with the demon will join me tonight and we will ride the train together!” You nod, frowning.

You look at him, worried. “Well… I know the Master trusts the demon but….be careful nonetheless.” His smile softens and he puts an arm on your shoulder,

“I will be, please be careful yourself, all right?”

You nod.

He departs that evening to the city, while you go to complete a mission of your own that ends up going…well, not great. As you leave your home, the mailman (an actual mailman, not a crow, to your surprise) stops you.
“Y/N Sayama?” He asks and you confirm, he hands you the letter, waves and walks off.

You look down at the letter, and your stomach immediately drops. The seal on the front is your family’s.

Oh shit. You slap your head.

These past months have been so blissful you’ve completely forgotten about the deal your parents made with the Takao’s. Mornings baking with Senjuro and Mitsuri, afternoons strolling along forest paths with Kyojuro, and evenings spent annihilating demons, protecting others, having completely taken up your thoughts.

The letter reads,

Y/N, one and a half months from now will mark two years since your abandonment of this family. This alliance with the Takao’s will bring wealth, power, and comfort to both of our families. Hideo Takeo says that he met you, and that you have still not given up Demon Slaying. Let me repeat what he told you: Demon Slaying is not and has never been an option for you. Marriage is an alliance, yes, but only when you and Hideo create a child will it be complete. This is your purpose.

If you do not arrive home, we will sign the marriage contract. As your guardians, your mother and I can sign, Hideo will then be responsible for bringing you home.

See you soon.

Your hands shake with rage as you read, tearing the letter into pieces. Perry begins squawking that you’re supposed to be on your mission right now, so you turn and sprint towards it. Like lightning, you flash down the road, rage giving you energy. Once you locate the demon you kill it mercilessly and efficiently, happy to take out your anger.

This mission has taken you up a mountain, and sitting at the summit you catch your breath and think. You thought maybe you could just refuse to marry, how could they stop you? If you had to use force you could, but if they have the power to sign it anyways…. What option do you really have?

Perry had flown off when you reached the mountain, you see her return above you.

Looking up, you hear as she squawks,

“Rengoku Kyojuro has been severely hurt in battle against Upper Moon 3! He has been transferred to the Butterfly Mansion hospital, status currently unknown!”

Holy fucking shit.

Upper Moon THREE?

Holy shit.

“PERRY!” you scream, “Which direction from here is the Butterfly Estate!”

It only takes Perry to say the first syllable of north before you rocket down off the mountain, legs carrying you faster than you’ve ever gone. Storm Breathing is a combination of wind and thunder, and in this moment you elect to use the thunder to its fullest.

Ten minutes later you burst through the door of the estate, shouting for information about Kyojuro. The yard seems full of young girls with butterfly hair pieces, they all stare at you until a woman you recognize exits from the front of the large house.

“Shinobu-san!” You yell to the Insect Hashira, “Where is he? How is he? What happened? Where is the demon girl? What happened to Upper Moon 3?” Your questions come out in rapid fire and she waits for you to finish before speaking, answering each of your questions in return.

“Rengoku-san is in our private ward, we have done all we can. Now all we must do is wait for him to wake.” She continues, “It seems Upper Moon 3 punched a hole through his abdomen,” you gasp, “the demon was able to get away, however the train derailed and no one was killed.”

You stand still, in shock.

“Can I….would it be alright if I see him?” You ask cautiously, Shinobu nods and you follow her into the building, walking up stairs to the second floor.

The room seems to usually hold six beds, but only one is occupied. Girls not as old as Shinobu, but definitely older than the ones outside are cleaning blood from the floor and collecting scraps that look medical. On the bed rests Kyojuro, one eye covered with a patch, the other closed.

You cannot deny he looks rough and bruised, however, you’re thankful to notice a slight rise and fall of his chest. Every few seconds his chest rises a centimeter and falls again.

“We’re not sure when he’ll wake, if ever.” Shinobu says, “We just know he needs plenty of rest.”

You nod and glance at her, giving her your thanks for doing all she can. She allows you a small smile, and you bluntly ask,

“Can I visit often?” Thankfully, she nods.

“Yes, but I’d prefer if it was just you or anyone close to him, I don’t think it would be helpful to his rest if too many people came.”

You immediately nod your head quickly, just happy she said yes.

Pulling up a chair next to him, you sit and cross your arms. Right now, your parents can wait, everything can wait. You sit watching him for hours before your head eventually droops back, and you fall into an uneasy sleep.

Chapter Text

The next morning, the girls at the Butterfly Mansion offer you breakfast and you finally get to talk to the boy with the demon. He sits outside eating with two other young boys, one with…yellow hair? You’d say blonde, but it seems completely bright yellow. The other is wearing some kind of animal head.

Seems everyone in the corps prefers weird outfits, you think.

“Hello!” You say and march over to them with your breakfast, “My name is Y/N Sayama,” You add that you’re the Storm Pillar in case they have no idea who you are, “May I eat with you?”

The trio has different reactions. The one with the mask makes a series of grunts, the boy with yellow hair nods his head so fast he hurts his neck, finally, the boy with the hanafuda earrings happily replies,

“Yes! It is nice to meet you! My name is Tanjiro Kamado, this is Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira!” He says all of their names with such determination you’re a bit shocked.

“Well...nice to meet you all. You were on the mission with Rengoku-san last night?”

They all nod and begin delving into their own stories of what happened. You decide Tanjiro’s is probably the most accurate. Looking at him and Inosuke you ask,

“So, you defeated the lower moon and the upper one arrived?”

They nod. Inosuke leaps up and begins showing how they killed the train demon, he leaps around the yard and almost demonstrates how Tanjiro cut his own neck before you quickly stop him. Inosuke is not stopped easily, and you end up tackling him to get the swords out of his hands. Zenitsu has been quiet the entire time, immediately starts screaming at the top of his at Inosuke,

“YOU’RE DOING THAT SO SHE’LL TOUCH YOU AREN’T YOU PIG?” His eyes bulging out of his head, he yells more and begins chasing the boar kid.

You sit, exasperated, and turn towards Tanjiro,

“Um…sorry, I didn’t know he’d do that.”

Tanjiro laughs, telling you about their usual antics. You ask more about Kyojuro, finding out that he accepted the demon girl, and even offered to take in the boys as Tsugukos. Tanjiro tells you that they will be joining Uzui Tengen on his next mission.

You’re very impressed with the boy and bid them farewell as you leave the Butterfly estate for your own mission.

Another month goes by, you bitterly remind yourself that in half a month your parents would apparently sign a marriage contract for you. However, you’re completely lost on what to do. You spend every waking moment either fighting demons, taking Senjuro to the Butterfly Estate, or visiting Kyojuro. One morning as you arrive, you see Senjuro exiting and wave to him. Oddly enough, Shinjuro exits the Butterfly Mansion after him.

He glances at you, stopping abruptly,

“He’s awake. He asked to see you.” Shinjuro says curtly, before walking away with Senjuro, who smiles and waves goodbye. .

Your body buzzes with excitement and sprinting through the doors of the Mansion, you hurdle upstairs towards the ward with Kyojuro. Your happiness clouds your mind, accidentally slamming open the door with so much force you think for a second it’s been knocked off its hinges.

Kyojuro jumps, staring at you from the bed he sits in. His body has been supported with a multitude of pillows, a small tray table in front of him with a bowl of steaming soup and water.

“Kyojuro!” You shout and pause. You’re not exactly sure what to say, feeling too many emotions at once.

“Y/N!” He replies, smiling.

You stare at him and slowly move towards his bed, sitting on a chair next to it. You scan over his body, finally asking,

“.....How are you feeling?”

“Well, having a hole put through your stomach doesn’t feel the greatest! But Shinobu-san told me I slept for a month ha-ha! I guess that would help!”

“Holy shit Kyojuro…”, You try to chuckle at his joke, but the thought of him almost dying makes you feel queasy.

“Y/N,” He reaches out and takes one of your hands that had been laying on the bed, “I’m ok, I swear, I’m here.” You can only nod, squeezing his hand and looking into his eyes. He continues speaking, “Shinobu-san said you visited often, almost daily?”

You notice a sly smile take over his features and that his face reddens as he asks.

“Well…yes, yeah I did,” You decide to own it, “I mean…I was worried about you,”

The genuineness of your voice makes him flush even redder, you both embarrassedly look down at your hands and let go. Looking anywhere other than him, you sit quietly for a minute before Kyojuro speaks up again, laughter in his voice,

“What have you been up to for the last month besides visiting me?”

You chuckle, “Mostly beating the shit out of demons honestly….” Your voice trails off as you decide whether or not to tell him about your parents.

“Y/N? What is it?” he asks, you sigh knowing that he’d somehow hear the sadness in your voice even with his bad ears.

You look down and get straight to the point, “My parents are signing a marriage contract in half a month, well now it would be two weeks and half. They said that they’ve had enough, since they are my legal guardians apparently they can sign it and it’ll be official. I’m not sure what to do, I’ve thought of running away but….I can’t leave the Corps like that.”

After your short ramble, you finally look up. Kyojuro’s staring at you intently, unblinking.

“Two and a half weeks?” He says, quietly.

You nod glumly and look out the window, so long daydreams of Kyojuro and you lying in bed together, goodbye thoughts of you holding Kyojuro’s hand, so much for any ideas of being with a man who made you happy and didn’t see your sole purpose in life as a baby maker.

“There’s no way to get out of it?” Kyojuro asks.

“I mean….I could run away? But where would I go, and I don’t want to give up my position or duty to the Corps!” You begin frustrated ranting, going on about how you don’t want to leave the Corps, but if you got married to Hideo you’d have to anyway.

Kyojuro silently stares across the room, eyes slitted, thinking as you rant.

“Sorry, Kyojuro,” You huff, “I don’t mean to come in here and rant while you rest.” You stand, ready to leave and give him some peace when he grabs hold of your hand once more, leaning forward. You look down at him,

“Yes? I was going to give you some space.” You say, confused.

“Y/N” He starts, in a serious voice unlike him, it’s so quiet you can barely hear him. You begin panicking, hoping he feels okay and suddenly isn’t dying.

“Y/N” He repeats louder, with more volume than his normal voice, looking directly into your eyes he says,

“What if we got married instead?”

Chapter Text

What.

Did you just make that up?

Did he actually just say….?

What the fuck?

Wait.

What the actual fuck?

Your mind is racing, swears, curses, confusion, happiness, more confusion. While it’s doing so you stare at him dumbly, his eyebrows furrowed together at your prolonged silence.

“Y/N,” He starts, “It, I mean, It was only a suggestion…” he trails off, you hear the sadness in his voice and in your panic yell,

“NO!”

His eyes shoot back to yours, he starts, “Oh. Ok, well like I said it was just a sugg-”

You continue to scream, cutting him off, “NO, NO! I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!”, your hands waving in front of you frantically, “I WOULD,” You consciously decide to lower your volume,

“Kyojuro, that -” suddenly embarrassed you try to continue, softly saying “ I think that’s a good idea.”

Both of you are suddenly overcome with shyness, looking everywhere but each other. Kyojuro takes a deep breath,

“I was thinking, your parents could not sign another marriage contract if you were already legally married?”

You nod, “Yeah, that would work!”

He stops looking around the room and you meet his eyes,

“And, this may be forward of me, Y/N,” he takes another deep breath, it seems like he’s gathering his nerves to say something, “But, I was thinking I’d….I’d quite like to marry you.”

You stare dumbly down at him once more, becoming ecstatic. He….he wants to? You? YOU?

A massive grin forms on your face, your cheeks turning red. Kyojuro looks up at you, beginning to grin happily as well. You sit back down in the chair and carefully pick up his hand, squeezing it, he returns the gesture.

You both stare dumbly at each other for a few more moments, both feeling ecstatic. Your happiness wanes as you try to think of the logistics,

“So, when will we….do it? How will we do it?” you ask.

He nods at your questions, replying, “Well there is a courthouse in my town, we could just get a license to save time, and if we choose to have a wedding do that later.”

The idea of having a wedding with Kyojuro has you blushing all over again.

“When will you be able to walk?” You ask.

“Shinobu-san said I could probably in the next four days?”

Ok. That leaves two weeks to get a marriage license. Probably doable, right?

“How long would it take to be confirmed?”

Kyojuro shakes his head, “I’m not sure, we’d have to ask, but that fact that it’s signed by both of us would be enough…right?”

“Well…it’s worth a shot isn’t it?” You say, smiling at him. He grins back.

“Sayama Y/N! Report south to eliminate a demon, squad 12 needs assistance! Direct clean up crew as needed!” Perry flies in and caws from the window.

“Well…I’ll come back when I’m finished.” You say to Kyojuro, he smiles.

“Good luck! Um, before you go Y/N,” he asks, cautiously.

“What’s up?” You’re still in the clouds from this new development.

“Could I kiss you before you go?”

You feel like the gears in your brain have slowed to a halt.

“Um.” You pause, “Yes.”

He has a small, embarrassed smile on his face. One of his hands leaves the bed and travels up to your face, landing on your cheek softly. Since he’s sitting on the bed, you lean down slowly, watching as his face approaches yours.

Both your eyes close as your lips connect, you can’t believe this is actually happening. Taking your time to feel his lips against yours, your own hand travels to his hair, slowly carting through it. It’s a lot softer than you imagined.

“HEY! WHAT THE? YOU’RE IN HERE KISSING? WHILE WE RUN AROUND DOING CHORES?” The blonde boy from earlier is in the doorway, eyes bulging, face red with anger, screaming at the top of his lungs.

“Zenitsu! It’s ok, they’re adults!” Tanjiro yells, trying to pull him back.

You cover your face, embarrassed, while Kyojuro chuckles,

“Good to see you boys too,” He laughs.

Tanjiro sheepishly smiles at you two, trying to pull Zenitsu out of the room. The boar boy is ignoring the two, picking his nose through his mask.

“Guys! GUYS!” You yell until they stop, “I’m leaving anyways, please watch Rengoku-san for me before you join Uzui-san!”

Tanjiro, happy to be helping, bows excitedly and runs over to Kyojuro. Zenitsu gives you a subtle glare that you laugh at before he follows Inosuke, who is still picking his nose but has now begun shouting at Kyojuro to fight him.

You turn and wave to Kyojuro, still smiling like crazy. His grin is just as big as yours as he waves back.

Chapter Text

The mission took longer than expected, the travel to get there, combined with annoying blood demon techniques, inexperienced slayers, and a late clean up crew meant what you thought a two day mission would be turned into a five day excursion.

“Perry, fly ahead and see if Kyojuro is at the Butterfly Mansion, please.” She pecks you once on the head and complies, after becoming a Hashira she’s done that less, you think.

Luckily, you weren’t given another mission immediately after, you hope that means you have time to meet up with Kyojuro and formulate your plan further.

You’ve just finished escorting some captured villagers home when Perry flies overhead once more, alerting you that Kyojuro is in fact still at the Mansion. You thank her and set off, running.

On arrival, you’re happy to see Kyojuro out in the yard, walking slowly around the garden on the Mansion.

“Kyojuro!” You happily bound up to him, carefully wrapping your arms around him so as to not squeeze his new injury. He slides his arms around you, and you try not to get excited at the content sigh he lets out as he pulls you close to him.

“How did it go?” He asks, and you both sit on the engawa so you can explain the entire annoying mission to him. Shinobu eventually opens the sliding door behind you, saying,

“Rengoku-san is fit to begin going home today, however Sayama-san I would prefer if he stopped at your house halfway for the night. I think it would be better for his recovery.”

You nod and begin discussing with her what to do if something were to happen to his injuries on the way back, her advice is to simply pick him up and haul ass back to the hospital here, making both you and her laugh. You decide it would be best to set out before nightfall, so at midday you and Kyojuro leave the Butterfly Mansion and set out towards your small home.

You wave and say goodbye to every girl you pass leaving the Mansion, Kyojuro watches you with a fond smile.

Even though you left at noon, you still take your time getting back to your estate, especially to make sure Kyojuro doesn’t open any of his injuries.

“Y/N, I am not made of glass! We can walk a teeny bit faster can we not?” He jokes with you, while you resolutely tell him in your own joking manner that you will not be risking your fiance’s health. The second you call him that he turns scarlet and has a small pleased but embarrassed smile on his face, making the joke entirely worth it.

Eventually, you reach your small estate and open the door to let Kyojuro inside. Immediately telling him to sit at the table, you run to the kitchen to begin some sort of dinner. Yakisoba will have to do and you quickly stir fry some up.

You enter back into the family room, seeing Kyojuro sitting on the ground next to the table. Setting the food down in front of him, you take your place adjacent.

“Hope you like yakisoba,” You chuckle and pick up your chopsticks, before you can eat however, he leans over and places a kiss on your cheek replying,

“I do! Thank you for making it!”

Trying not to blush, but failing. You ignore his giggling at your reddening face. After eating, he helps you place the dishes into the wash basin, while doing so he yawns.

“Probably time for bed?” You ask, he nods while you continue speaking, “Um…I have only two futons, I usually shove them together cause like space. I could take one out here for you if you’d like?”

He thinks for a minute, then looks bashful,

“Actually, Y/N, I would be okay with sharing?” He quickly adds, “Only if you are comfortable, of course.”

You are, in fact, very comfortable with that and tell him so a little too quickly causing him to laugh. You both retire to your bedroom, sitting on the futons facing each other cross legged, chatting.

You tell him, embarrassed, of how you watched him for a few seconds training with his shirt off when you first met to learn Total Concentration Breathing. He finds this story hilarious, so you request more stories from him.

“Well, to be honest,” Kyojuro starts, “the first time you came over and met Senjuro, you had cake frosting on your face all day from baking.” You jokingly gasp,

“Why didn’t you say anything!” You laugh and he replies,

“I thought it looked cute!”

The conversation stays gleeful for a while, until you start to delve into both of your closer kept secrets.

“I still wonder if…” You start, then stop. Kyojuro grabs your hands and you continue, “If I had just stepped aside..would my brother have been granted storm breathing? Would he…would he still be alive?”

Kyojuro takes one of his hands and places it on your cheek, “I’m sure it wasn’t your fault Y/N.” You sadly nod, not completely convinced.

A bit later he tells you of his mother, how she passed, and the man he once knew as his father has been different ever since. After he tells you this, you scooch forward, wrapping your arms around him. Kyojuro places his arms around you as well, but pulls you off your futon into his lap, holding you close.

You both sit in this hug for a while, before he leans back and says,

“Y/N. I have an important question for you.”

You look at him with a serious face, ready to answer anything he throws your way.

“Y/N. What is your favorite food?”

“Kyojuro! I thought you were about to ask a serious question!” You laugh and smack him lightly, he laughs with you, waiting expectantly for your answer. “Well… I always, ALWAYS, get dango whenever I see it in town.”

He nods seriously, as if this is the most important part of you. You relay the question back to him, to which he happily yells,

“Sweet potatoes!”

-

You both laugh at his excitement, but grow quiet after. He’s staring into your eyes, you swear his face is getting closer to yours.

Holy shit, you think. You thought would continue moving forward, but it seems he’s stopped. “Fuck it,” You think to yourself.

You decide to reach out and meet him in the middle, your lips intertwining in a soft kiss.

He kisses you carefully at first, slowly breaking the kiss and leaning back to look at you every once in a while, his hands running up and down your back. As much as you enjoy it, you begin to grow impatient and full of desire. When he leans back once more, you tilt forward and connect your lips with his, adding a bit more pressure, slowly leaning into him, careful not to lean too much on his injured stomach.

You feel his lap underneath you push up a bit at your core, so you push back downwards. Both of you gasp at the sensation. Kyojuro leans forward, moving your legs out from under him, laying you down on the futon.

He hovers over you, leaning down to kiss you. He presses his clothed core into yours again, you wrap your arms around his back to press you both closer together.

“Umph-”

You both stop.

“You ok?” you ask.

“Ah- It’s just. My stomach seems -” He sits back up, clutching the area where he was hurt the most.

You rush to say that it’s okay, and that the both of you could just go to sleep. He agrees, and you both lay down on your backs.

“Y/N.” Kyojuro says.

“Yeah?” You ask, rolling over to see him lying on his back.

“That was nice.”

You laugh, “Yeah, yeah it was,” turning on your side to look at him, you watch as he continues talking,

“I’d like to,” He pauses and looks at the ceiling, “I’d like to wrap my arms around you but… my injury, I must rest on my back.” You stare at him and he turns to face you, smiling sheepishly.

“I think we can arrange something.” You say and scooch forward, resting your head on his chest and wrapping an around around him. He gives you one of those contented sighs you’ve begun to love, and you both drift off to sleep.

Chapter Text

The next morning, you awake still lying on his chest. Looking up, you notice that he’s smiling down at you, tracing small circles and shapes on your back. You’re trying to think of something smooth and hopefully romantic to say, but draw blanks.

“Um,” You begin but are cut off by a growling stomach,

Kyojuro laughs, “Breakfast, then?”

You both wander into the kitchen, his arms still finding their way to you no matter where you go. He tries to help with breakfast, but after a few failed attempts you ask him to just hug you while you cook. He’s very happy to oblige.

Once ready, you sit down at the table and begin eating, a bit into the meal, Kyojuro begins talking,

“By the time you drop me off at my estate, three days will have passed. Leaving about a week and a half before your parents sign the marriage agreement, correct?”

You nod and continue, a bit anxious, “That is, if they wait until then……who’s to say they haven’t already….? On top of that, I must go on patrol tonight and tomorrow….so if they haven’t signed it already then we’d have a week.”

Kyojuro leans across the table to put his hand over yours, squeezing,

“You’ll go on your patrols and kick ass Y/N,” Kyojuro says, you laugh, still not used to hearing him use such informal language, “Once at my family estate, I’ll wait for you to arrive and we’ll tell my brother and father together. We will explain the situation and hopefully that day go to the courthouse.”

It sounds easy enough, however your anxiety stemming from your parents begins creeping its way into your mind, invading even the happy thoughts.

“Kyojuro,” you ask, “I never asked…are you okay with this arrangement? I’m sorry we are doing it in such a fast period…” taking a breath, you continue, “If you want a wedding, to be with someone who….” You give a light chuckle, “who hasn’t smacked your father, I would understand.”

He stares at you, red and yellow eyes unblinking. The smile on his face has turned into a small frown, reaching out he grabs your other hand, holding both in his palms. Kyojuro squeezes your hands before saying,

“Y/N, there’s no one else I’d rather get married to. As Demon Slayers, especially Hashira, the odds of us living a long and happy life are small. While I know we both would give our lives to the Corps, these small moments we’ve shared have meant the world to me. I’d love nothing more than to marry you.”

Fuck. Wow. Ok. That’s very sentimental, you definitely weren’t expecting that, you immediately try to rub your eyes, chasing away the tears forming.

You say in a small, watery voice, “Fuck you for making me cry, Kyojuro.” His loud laugh fills the room as he pulls you in for a hug.

After breakfast, Kyojuro and you walk out of your home and head for his estate. It’s a beautiful day outside and the conversation stays light and happy, you holding his hand and swinging it between both of you throughout your slow walk.

Once at his estate, you bid goodbye quickly. Perry has swooped in and begun pecking you, saying to get a move on before the sun sets. A kiss with Kyojuro ends quickly and you dash off into the night to kill demons, a happy skip in your step.

Just like planned, two days and a night pass before you return to the Rengoku Estate. Knowing that you’re about to tell his father of your engagement, you nervously wait by the entrance.

You should just go in, right?, face the conversation head on and deal with the repercussions. However, a small voice in your head blares an alarm at you, asking over and over again what you would do if Shinjuro refuses.

“Y/N! What are you doing? Come in!” Kyojuro’s familiar voice calls out from the engawa that you begin to hurry forward to. Once you get there, he pulls you in a hug and kiss, murmuring,

“I missed you.”

You look up, seeing genuineness swimming in his eyes, and reply that you missed him as well.

“Are you ready?” He asks, you nod, but Kyojuro continues, “To be honest, I have already mentioned the arrangement to Senjuro. I thought he would take it better and thankfully he did. He’s ecstatic to have you in the family.”

You sigh and hug Kyojuro in relief, “Thank fucking goodness, I mean your father’s opinion is important but if Senjuro didn’t like me, I don’t know what I’d do.” Kyojuro lets out a hearty laugh, opening the door and guiding you in.

“After my injury, father has been treating Senjuro and I more kindly than before, I’m hoping he’ll listen to our request. I think we have a better shot.”

You nod, he asks you to sit in the family room while he gets Shinjuro. Kneeling on the ground, you take deep breaths, trying not to freak the fuck out.

After a solid five minutes, you’re not sure he’ll appear and begin to grow frantic. You thought when he did arrive, your nerves would relax a little, happy that he even came into the family room.

However, when he does enter the room, instead of relaxing your entire body fills with nervous energy. Shinjuro looks less drunk than he did the first time you met him and he stomps into the room, sitting down across from you. Kyojuro follows and kneels next to you, both of you facing Shinjuro.

His father looks at both of you, brows furrowed and a frown on his face. He looks as if he’s analyzing you, calculating something.

“Father,” Kyojuro starts, “Y/N Sayama has come with me to our home because I have asked for her hand in marriage, we would like to go to the courthouse today.”

You bow until your nose is touching the floor and decide to add on,

“Rengoku-san, it would be an honor of a lifetime to marry your son.” You say this seriously, meaning every word. Kyojuro looks at you with a surprised smile, not expecting the sentimental words.

Shinjuro, however, has a look of mild surprise on his face when you sit back up from your bow. His eyebrows raised, mouth partly open. He quickly changes his face back to his usual frown and keeps looking at each of you.

“Why go to the courthouse today?” Shinjuro asks, while he says it curtly and in a gruff voice, there’s still an air of curiosity behind the question.

You’re about to explain, but Kyojuro beats you too it,

“Y/N’s parents are going to sign a marriage contract next week, she is arranged to marry a man who she does not care for. Her parents have no regard for her interests, or life. They want her to marry this man and give up her position in the Corps.”

Shinjuro cannot hide his surprised face and looks directly at you,

“You are marrying my son to get out of an arranged marriage?”

Kyojuro moves to speak, but you beat him this time,

“I will admit that I am severely against my parents wishes. Slaying demons, protecting others, has been and will always be my life's purpose.” Shinjuro continues to stare at you, his frown growing deeper, you take a breath and continue, determined,

“However, I dearly love and care for your son. He is the flame of my heart and light of my soul. We all know how lucky it is to stay alive while living this lifestyle and having this job. What time I do have left I want to spend with Kyojuro.”

Kyojuro reaches out, grabbing your hand. You look over at him and see his eyes are wet.

“Do you really mean that?” He asks, your eyes are becoming watery as well, and not sure if your voice will work, you nod your head. Kyojuro’s mouth is upturned in a massive smile, he cheeks rosy. You both stare at each other for a few more moments before Shinjuro finally begins talking,

He looks at both of you, before glancing off towards the side of the room. Shinjuro stares at the wall for a few moments, seemingly deep in thought. You and Kyojuro watch him nervously.

“Kyojuro.” His father begins, he sits up straighter while Shinjuro continues, “You really love her?”

“Yes!” Kyojuro practically shouts.

For the first time, you see a smirk come across Shinjuro’s face. Even more surprising, he begins chuckling, and says good naturedly “Kyojuro, you’re always shouting.”

Both you and Kyojuro are extremely confused, not sure what’s happening.

Shinjuro looks away from the two of you, again staring off into the distance. He begins speaking in a gentle voice, jarringly different from the one you heard him use before,

“I remember when Ruka and I fell in love.” Kyojuro shoots up once more, staring intently at his father. You grab Kyojuro’s hand, squeezing it firmly.

His father continues talking, “I remember…..I remember we couldn’t wait to get married. I would have carried her down to the courthouse myself if our parents made us wait any longer.”

You're completely stunned at the tenderness in his voice, Kyojuro looks ready to cry.

“Y/N.” It’s your turn to sit up straight as Shinjuro directly addresses you, “I would be happy for you to join our family, but please refrain from smacking me further.”

Your mouth falls open in surprise, Kyojuro sits silent, both of you are unsure you just heard that right. Once it clicks, you slam yourself into the deepest bow possible,

“Thank you Rengoku-san! I will not slap you further!” You shout, dumbly. Shinjuro chuckles once more, standing, Kyojuro follows.

You look up to see Kyojuro step forward, hesitant at first. He takes one more step and wraps his arms around his father with force, Shinjuro looks dumbfounded. Kyojuro steps back and says,

“Thank you, father.”

Shinjuro still stands stupidly in the center of the room, shocked. You’re about to stand as well when the sliding door to your right is thrown open, Senjuro sprinting into the room. He doesn’t slow down in time and topples on top of you.

His crash landing doesn’t deter him as he hugs you fiercely, happily yelling congratulations. As he begins excitedly talking about all the things you’ll be able to cook with him, you catch Kyojuro’s still watery eyes. You’ve seen him smile quite a lot, but never that big.

“Senjuro, you’ll crush the girl.” Shinjuro chides softly, with no aggressiveness in his voice. He pats Senjuro’s head once he lets you go from his bear hug.

You eat lunch together outside, Shinjuro is still quiet, but it seems everyones just happy he isn’t drunk and yelling. This will do for now. Kyojuro’s hand rests in your palm, you talk with Senjuro about Flame Breathing when a crow flies down and lands next to the food.

It’s not yours or Kyojuro’s, the crow has landed closest to you, so you reach out and unwrap the letter tied to its legs. Everyone stares quietly, and waits for you to read.

“Y/N and Kyojuro, congratulations on your engagement. May good fortune and happiness come to you both. Kyojuro, please return to the Butterfly Mansion in two weeks for a check up, Shinobu Kocho will determine if you are fit to fight. Y/N, I am sorry to pull you away, but please report to district 5 to assist Kanroji Mitsuri. Best wishes, Kagaya Ubuyashiki.”

You stutter, confused, “He…he knows already? How?”, Kyojuro shrugs, while Shinjuro shakes his head and replies while chuckling,

“The Master always finds out somehow.”

You’re still not used to this new version of Shinjuro, while Kyojuro seems uneasy as well, overall he is happy with the new development. Later that afternoon, you both head into town to the courthouse. The magistrate rambles about young love and some other shit, but you’re too busy staring at Kyojuro. Finally, he hands over a paper for you two to sign.

You and Kyojuro look at each, both giving a determined nod and sign your names. Before leaving, you request copies to be sent to the Rengoku Estate and are told they’ll arrive in a few days.

“Well then. That’s that.” You say, and look at Kyojuro as you walk back to the house, “That’s all I needed,” you continue in a joking manner, turning on your heel and pretending to walk away.

Kyojuro laughs and grabs your hand, spinning you around to face the direction of his home, “Hey! We’re married now, you can’t get away that easily!”

The evening is spent eating the feast Senjuro somehow quickly created, Shinjuro joins every once in a while to ramble about one thing or another and eat food. He asks if you’ll be returning back to your own home tonight.

“Oh! Um, I hadn’t thought of that, I’m not sure!” you say quickly.

Shinjuro raises an eyebrow, “this is a nice home, but the walls are thin. Maybe it would be best.”

What.
The.
Fuck?
The man’s been acting normal for a day now and this is the shit he says?

You spit out the tempura in your mouth, but begin laughing like a maniac at the unexpected comment. Kyojuro, however, chokes on his rice and begins slapping his chest, face red.

Chapter Text

After many more congratulations and excited conversations with Senjuro, he finally yawns and Kyojuro makes him go to bed. You two sit on the engawa a bit longer, the sun just about to sink under the horizon.

“Are you tired?” Kyojuro asks,

You reply, “No, not really. All the excitement from today is still keeping me awake I think.”

He smiles and nods, as he speaks you hear a bit of nervousness in his usual loud, stoic voice, “Well… would you…would you like to return to your home?”

You blush, immediately thinking of the comment Shinjuro made earlier. The idea of you and Kyojuro….

“To be honest,” you say, “I’d fucking love to return home with you.” He laughs, pulling you up with him.

The walk home is filled with laughter, you holding on tightly to his hand as you swing it between the two of you. Opening the door, you walk in and Kyojuro follows behind you. You close the door after him. You’ve arrived after the sun has set and stand in your quiet, dark living room, barely able to see Kyojuro.

He reaches out, taking your hands in his, “Shall we go to bed?” he asks.

You gulp and nod, suddenly nervous.

Well, you got married, this was gonna happen at some point right?

Gathering your nerves, you continue holding his hand and guide him back to your room. He slides the door shut once he’s entered.

“So….” you say awkwardly, racking your mind for something to say or do.

Kyojuro replies, laughter in his voice, “So…?”

The moonlight seeps into the room, cascading on the both of you. Kyojuro’s face illuminated softly, the light on his hair making it almost glow.

Fuck it, you think, leaning up to connect your lips with his. He quickly responds and wraps his arms around your back, slowly moving them up and down. Eventually, Kyojuro moves a hand down to your ass, feeling it over your uniform bottoms,

“Is this ok?” He asks, you quickly nod. Kyojuro grows bolder and takes his hand off your ass, he moves both to the front of you. Hovering of the buttons of your shirt asking again,

he says, “May I?”

“Sure,” You reply simply, your brain’s a bit too foggy to think coherently. Kyojuro’s touch creates a deep desire and need within you. He begins kissing you again while undoing the buttons, eventually he gets to the bottom and you slide the uniform jacket off. His hands move around to stay at the bottom of your back, but you’re growing impatient.

You step back, taking your lips of his. He looks at you curiously while you reach around yourself, taking off the bandages holding your breasts.

“Oh,” Kyojuro breathes out, surprised. He stares at your breasts hungrily, before quickly moving his eyes back to your face, “S-sorry, I don’t mean to…” You laugh, this time deciding it's your turn to be brave and step forward, grabbing his hand. You guide it to one of your breasts until he’s holding it carefully in his hand.

You both look at each other, he gives your breast a small squeeze and swipes his thumb over the nipple, causing you to gasp at the sudden pleasurable feeling. His face turns into one you’ve never seen before, the small smile on his face not one of hunger, but of lust.

Kyojuro leans forward once more to kiss you, moving another hand to begin touching your next breast. You wrap your arms around his head, carting your fingers through his hair. You want to feel him too.

“Can I?” You ask, holding the buttons on his uniform as well, he nods eagerly, causing you both to laugh. Eventually, you both stand in the room, shirts discarded on the floor. You’ve seen him shirtless before, but, holy shit. Years of rigid training have sculpted his body to the degree of a god.

You’re staring out Kyojuro, eyes wide, he laughs and tugs the hem of your pants, kissing you again. With desire now burning through you, you quickly take them off. Standing in front of him naked suddenly has you feeling a bit nervous and awkward,

“Um…” you say, not sure what to do.

“Y/N….” Kyojuro says, surprising you. His voice is a deep rumble, different from his usual loud, jovial voice. It makes your core ache with lust, he continues, “You are absolutely lovely,”

He reaches out, kissing you once more before slowly moving his mouth down to your neck, sucking gently. The feeling has you unconsciously making small gasps, you’re enjoying it immensely, but he continues to move his mouth down to your breast.

You look down, confused, the hell is he doing? But he looks up at you, smiling, before putting his mouth around one of your breasts, his other hand coming up to play with the other.

Oh. That’s what he’s doing. You immediately wrap your hands in his hair, pulling as you try to stay standing. The sensation of both his mouth and hand is pushing you further, even to the point of orgasm. Like your neck, he departs from your breasts and continues going down, kissing your stomach along the way,

“Kyojuro?” You ask, he’s now level with your crotch, again he asks for permission to which you nod eagerly. He leans forward and places his mouth over your core, slowly licking up and down your slit.

You’re not completely sure you’ll be able to keep standing as his tongue comes into contact with your clit, slowly moving up and down before circling.

“Kyo - Kyojuro,” you gasp, pulling his hair, “I don’t think - I don’t” you try to explain that you’re not sure you can keep standing with how good he’s making you feel. He leans back off, taking his tongue away, causing you to whine a bit.

His face is the most indecent thing you’ve ever seen, hair pulled in every direction, pupils blown and full of lust, mouth wet from your slit,

“C’mere,” he says from his knees, pulling you down with him. Luckily, you’ve never been one to wrap up your futon and place it away in the closet, so it’s already on the ground for you to lay back on. Kyojuro looms above you, you’re both looking at each other. You reach out to kiss him again, rubbing your hands up and down his muscled chest.

You feel one of his hands playing with your breast again, his other handing supporting him as he kneels over you. The hand on your breast moves downward, eventually coming to your core again. Kyojuro slowly strokes his finger through your slit, circling it on your clit before moving it down and placing it inside you.

This action has you gasping, making lewd noises that Kyojuro eagerly takes into his mouth as he kisses you. He begins moving his finger in and out of you, before you ask for another. Your request makes his eyebrows raise, and when he leans in to place a second finger, you feel his cock against your leg.

Even though his pants are still on, you can feel the hardness of his dick against you. You reach your hand down while he fingers you to stroke it through his pants. He moans softly into your mouth.

The combination of Kyojuro playing with your breasts earlier, putting his mouth on your clit, and having his fingers inside you at the moment is enough to bring you over the edge. Gasping and coming onto his fingers.

Kyojuro continues to pump his fingers through your high until you come down.

“Holy shit.” You say, looking up at him. He lets out a hearty laugh, but you decide the night’s not over yet, “could you take off your pants?” you ask him. Kyojuro’s happy to oblige and you finally get a full view of his cock.

Bulging and red, it proudly springs out from his underclothes. You sit up and lean forward, reaching out your hand but stopping,

“May I?” You ask, he smiles, and grabs your hand, guiding it to wrap around his dick. Slowly, you move your hand up and down, listening to the grunts and moans you’re slowly pulling out of him. However, he eventually grows too horny for just your hand and leans you both down again, him hovering over you.

“Y/N, I would like to be inside you.” He states, plainly.

You’re nervous, but excited, “Ok…..please go slowly….”

He leans forward to kiss your forehead, “anything you want, my love.” The new nickname has you sputtering and flushing. Kyojuro lines his cock up with your aching wet entrance before slowly pushing it in.

The feeling has you both gasping. He bottoms out before slowly moving back out again, eventually you beg him to move faster. Kyojuro shoves his face into your shoulder, the feeling becoming too much as he moves in and out of you.

He stutters out, “I, love, you,” with each movement of his hips, you move your mouth next to his ear, telling him you love him as well but continue,

“You’re amazing, Kyojuro,” the events of the past few days have made you fall in love with the Flame Hashira even more, his soft groans of love combined with the feeling of his cock moving inside you make your mind dizzy.

You want to somehow communicate how much you love him, so you begin babbling, “You’re so perfect, I love you so much, your cock feels amazing in me,”

He lets out an obscene moan, begging you to keep saying things. Kyojuro’s thrusts grow faster, wilder, his face buried further into the futon as you continue talking.

The feeling of his cock, the noises he’s making, all again become too much for you. Shockwaves rippling through you as a second orgasm takes over. The feeling of your hole clenching around him has his hips stuttering too, he pulls out quickly and comes onto your stomach.

You both lay panting for a second, before he sits up and kisses you.

You’re happy to know that you’ve just married a guy who definitely takes over the aftercare of sex, he wipes his fluid off your stomach, making sure you feel okay. You also find out that Kyojuro is insanely cuddly after sex.

You’re going to the kitchen to grab a snack for the both of you after the….um, activities, and he tails you the entire way. His hands never come off you no matter what you’re doing.

You spend the night eating various snacks and discussing everything and anything, happy to think this could become a regular occurrence.

Chapter Text

The day finally approaches. Two years since you ran out the door. You’ve passed Final Selection, moved up the ranks, met comrades, made friends, found love.

On the morning marking the day your parents were supposedly signing the marriage contract, you wake up in a small Wisteria house near your last mission. Instead of waking up in a cold sweat dreading the rest of your life. You were looking forward to it, a copy of your marriage certificate sat in the office of the Rengoku Estate. Not signed by your parents, condemning you to a life of resentment and hurt, but one you signed yourself, happily and willingly.

Even though you and Kyojuro are officially married, your duties as a Hashira haven’t stopped and you spend the day trekking the long, arduous path towards home, wondering if any news from your parents came. Your mission took you into the remote wilderness, where you’re sure no normal mail carrier would have been able to travel.

However, when you arrive at your own home, not the Rengoku estate, you find no mail, no news.

“Perry? Can you fly to Kyojuro’s and ask if any news from my parents has come?”

After you and Kyojuro signed the marriage contract, Perry refrained from pecking your head when delivering missions. However, today she does.

“Guess you’re over it huh?” You ask her, she caws and pecks your head once more before flying out the door.

You can’t see Kyojuro that day due to your Hashira workload, only hearing a message later that day from Perry as you move towards your next job. She relays Kyojuro's message that no news, no letters, nothing from a Sayama has been sent to the Rengoku estate.

Well.

Maybe you were disowned?

It wouldn’t be the worst thing now that you’re married and have another family to rely on. You would miss some of your extended family though.

A month passes, then another.

Kyojuro is still recovering from the Mugen Train mission, he visits the Butterfly Mansion often so they can check his health. However, there is still some doubt he may ever return to slaying demons. He confides in you one night that even though he is grateful to be alive, he does miss it. You ask Shinobu for physical therapy exercises to begin with and Senjuro and Tanjiro happily help. Zenitsu spends his time trying to coax the demon girl out of the box, who’s name you now learned is Nezuko. Inosuke asks to fight Kyojuro often, which leads to you usually sparring him to satiate him a little bit.

Another month goes by.

The boys have survived Uzui’s mission and are happy to be alive, the now retired Sound Hashira visits Kyojuro sometimes. His wives often ask you about what you and Kyojuro get up to when you’re alone, and you desperately try to get around answering.

You spend more time at the Rengoku estate than your own home. One day you’re walking home from a mission and enter the estate grounds with a skip in your step, happy to be home.

“WHERE IS SHE?”

Oh fuck. You know that voice.

You should’ve known that it wouldn’t be that easy, that eventually one day they’d figure out what you had done.

“Do not come into my home and yell at me!” You hear Shinjuro’s voice, louder than you’ve heard it in a while.

“I DON’T CARE WHO YOU ARE? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER? THIS IS THE RENGOKU ESTATE IS IT NOT?”

Having entered through the backyard, you hurry around the building to see both of your parents and your grandfather standing in the yard facing Shinjuro and Kyojuro, Senjuro standing on the engawa behind them. Kyojuro stands with his arms crossed, mirroring his father.

“Um, hi?” You say.

Everyone turns to look at you, Kyojuro and Senjuro wave. You walk out to stand a bit in between your parents and the Rengokus, noticing how angry your father looks. He marches forward.

“Y/N. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” your father yells in your face, waving around a copy of you and Kyojuro’s marriage certificate, “WE WENT TO THE MAGISTRATE TO SIGN YOUR AND HIDEO’S CERTIFICATE, AND THEY SAID IT WAS NOT LEGAL.” he sputters angrily, spit flying everywhere, “CAUSE YOU ARE MARRIED.”

“Yes,” you reply, your voice at a normal volume, but furious nonetheless, “Kyojuro and I are married.”

Your mother steps forward, “You’re…..You are married to him? To this freak? None of these people even look normal, Y/N!”

How fucking could they? How dare they? Kyojuro moves forward, but Shinjuro puts out an arm to stop him.

Your voice unconsciously lowers, in a threatening, furious voice you look at them, “Do. Not. Insult. My. Husband. Or his family.” Your mother steps back, but your father and grandfather move forward,

“Do not talk to your elders like that! You shouldn’t have that sword!” Your grandfather starts, pointing to your sheathed sword “You are a disgrace to this family! A woman Demon Slayer, you are nothing Y/N!”

Fuck this. Fuck them. You let them know exactly how you feel,

“I have proven over and over again that I am more than capable of being a Demon Slayer, you are the ones who fucking stopped me! I’m a fucking Hashira! You're the ones who tried to force me into being Hideo’s baby maker! You tried to take everything away from me! Just because I’m a woman!”

Your grandfather yells out, “YOU ARE NOTHING! YOU WILL DIVORCE HIM!” he points to Kyojuro, who begins walking forward to stand next to you.

Yeah, fuck this.

“FUCK. YOU!” You shout to your parents and grandfather.

Everyone’s silent, after your exclamation nobody moves. Your father marches up to you, an inch away from your face. You look into his angry, almost bloodshot eyes in defiance. Even his breathing is furious, he huffs and puffs red in the face,

“You. Will. Not. Talk. To. Me. Like. That.” He says, in a quiet voice. It’s scarier than his yelling.

You look into his eyes, “Fuck. You.”

SMACK.

He uses the back of his hand to hit you across the face, your unbridled rage meddling your usual senses that should have been able to stop him. From the way it stings you’re almost positive it’ll be a black eye.

The force of the smack makes you take a step back, hitting a wall of flesh. Kyojuro stands behind you, holding you by the hips.

“I’m ok.” You say immediately, you’ve been hit by demons harder than that. Kyojuro nods, cupping where you got hit with his hands, looking over the bruise, concerned.

You don’t see your father taking another step forward at you and Kyojuro, his arm raised. You both look up in time to see Shinjuro darting forward faster than you’ve ever seen him moving, grabbing your outstretched fathers hand and throwing it out of the way. Cocking his own hand back and smacking your father across the face as well.

Your mother, grandfather, you, Kyojuro, and Senjuro all stand in silent shock.

“Do not hit my daughter.” Shinjuro says, icily.

Your father looks taken aback, completely surprised, holding his cheek with one hand,

“You were…you are the Flame Hashira?” your father asks.

Shinjuro replies, curtly “I was. My son is now.”

Your grandfather steps forward now, “Y/N….you are married to a Hashira?”

You step forward,

“I AM A FUCKING HASHIRA! Kyojuro is my husband and I am a Demon Slayer. I would rather lay down and die than not be a Demon Slayer. The same goes for Kyojuro, I love him and would rather die than divorce him. If you cannot understand that then disown me, I don’t care.”

Your family stares at you, then looks at each other.

“This is a very nice estate….” your mother says. You look at Kyojuro and Shinjuro, confused. They seem lost as well.

She continues, “As a Hashira you make good money, yes?” she seems to be asking Kyojuro, who doesn’t respond but continues to hold you close to him, looking at family in anger.

“I make any fucking amount I want!” You yell, “Why the fuck does it matter what he makes?”

Your families eyebrows raise,

“Oh….” Your father starts, “well…. Y/N…we’d love to have you come home. I’m sure Junichiro would love for you to visit his grave.”

“Fuck all of you! Suddenly you grow a brain and realize I make money too? Get the fuck out of here!” You're on the verge of tears at the mention of your brother, but yell anyway.

Your grandfather cuts off your yelling, “Y/N. We will rethink the way we treated you. Expect letters from us soon.”

They finally turn and walk out of the estate, Shinjuro following, making sure they actually leave. You fall to your knees, the emotions too much.

“I can’t fucking believe them, only when they find out you and I have money they care!” You sob into Kyojuro’s shirt as he holds you. Senjuro finally departs from the engawa, standing in silent shock through the whole ordeal. He begins rubbing your packing, joining Kyojuro in telling you that you’re so much more than that. Even Shinjuro pats you on the head once you rise.

You eat a small dinner that night, still full of grief and anger over the day’s events. Eventually, you and Kyojuro retire to his room and lay on the futon. His injuries have cleared up enough to where he can lay on his side once more.

You both face each other, lying on your sides.

“Well…” you start, “at least the horrible fucking ordeal brought me to you,” you look at Kyojuro.

“I disagree,” he replies,

“How so?” you ask, confused,

“Y/N, you brought yourself to me, you’ve gone through such a horrible ordeal and yet you’ve become the amazing person in front of me, the person I’m lucky enough to call my wife.”

“That’s so fucking cheesy.” you immediately say, trying to hide how flustered it actually made you.

“Hey, I meant that!” He says, chuckling, pulling himself on top of you, attacking your face with kisses.

You laugh, squirming under him, “I didn’t say I didn’t like it!”

“Good,” He smiles down at you, “because I got a lot more cheesy things to say to you.”

“Good thing we’ve got the rest of our lives for you to do so.” You grin, finally content.

He kisses you and later as you two drift off to sleep, you wonder what will happen with your family, what they’ll try to do to get you to give them some money. The soft kisses being placed on your forehead remind you that no matter what happens with your family, no matter what demons or challenges you face, you’ll have him. Finally, you fall asleep at ease for the first time in a long, long time.