Chapter Text
Ayumi had never run so fast. He skidded on the dirt as he rushed into the butterfly mansion, dodging the young girls in the yard as he ran inside. Rengoku had fought a battle against Upper Moon 3. Apparently he was alive but in very critical condition. Shinobu looked up as the door to the room slammed open, Ayumi standing there panting in the entrance. “How is he- Is he alive will he be okay please tell me he’ll be okay-“
“Ayumi get your breathing under control. He’s alive but unconscious and may be for a while. Keep your voice down if you could please.”
Ayumi nodded and turned his gaze to the unconscious man in the bed. Slowly he approached and knelt next to the bed, taking Kyoujurou’s hand in his own. He rested his forehead against it, closing his eyes. “Please live Kyo..You have to..” After a couple minutes he looked back up at the Insect Hashisa. “What happened..?”
“Well according to young Kamado and the crows, after defeating Lower Moon One and protecting all 200 people on the train, another demon appeared. Upper moon three to be specific. Rengoku took him on alone and as you can see has been fairly badly injured. Upper moon three got away as the sun came up.”
“Right.. Goddamn demons.. Of course the coward retreated when the sun came up. Wait did you say Kamado? As in the kid with the demon? He was there?”
“Yes he was. So was his demon sister.”
Ayumi rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Was he actually of any help? The kids one of the lowest ranks, and he has to make sure the demon doesn’t eat anyone.”
“Well given he’s mastered total concentration constant and was the one to kill the lower moon demon, I’d say yes!” She smiled at him, while Ayumi just stared. “Did he really?”
“Mmmhm! Now I’ll leave you to be with Rengoku for a while, but I’ll have to kick you out in a bit okay? You do have duties to attend to after all, and while Rengoku is out of commission as our Flame Hashira, you’ll be taking on some of his duties!”
“Yeah I know. I’m just gotta sit and talk to him for awhile. And I’ll shout if anything changes with his condition.”
Shinobu nodded and left the room. Ayumi grumbled to himself as he shifted to sit on the chair next to the bed. Something about the Insect Hashira always ticked him off, but he was capable of staying civil with her. All thoughts of her left his mind though as he turned back to Rengoku, his face softening. “Whatcha dreaming about Kyo..? I hope it’s nice.. You’ll recover soon won’t you? I don’t know what I’d do without you”
Raiden rubbed his thumb across Kyoujurou’s hand, holding it gently. He looked back at his face. The bandages across his eye were concerning. Would he be blind now? Was there scarring? His gaze drifted down to the bandages covering his midsection. How badly had he been injured? “Oh Kyoujurou.. What did that damn demon do? You gotta keep living yknow. Senjurou needs you… I need you”
A couple hours passed, and he stayed by his side, talking about random things or occasionally just going silent, watching his chest rise and fall. Eventually Shinobu appeared and told him to leave. “Alright alright I’ll go.. Shun probably wants to squawk my ear off.” He kissed Kyoujurou’s hand and murmured. “Fight for me Kyo.. I’ll visit you as often as I can my love.” Ayumi let go and stood back up, grabbing his sword and sheathing it in his belt. As he left the room, he stopped in the doorway to look back again before sighing and leaving. As he walked around the mansion to the exit, he heard a bunch of commotion from inside one of the rooms. He passed the open door and raised an eyebrow inside. Some kid with yellow hair was screeching on about not being left alone to one of the young girls trying to leave. Beside him on one of the beds was a kid with a boar mask on, and behind him one with reddish hair and a scar talking to a box. “Oi Kid let Sumi go. She has stuff to do. Don’t you have to rest or something?”
All four in the room turned towards him. Sumi was able to get out of Zenitsu’s grip and run toward to Ayumi. She beamed at him. “Thank you Mr Ayumi! I do have things to do! Bye!” She ran off and Zenitsu turned on Ayumi. “WHY DID YOU DO THAAAT I DIDNT WANT TO BE LEFT WITHOUT ONE OF THE GIIIRRLLS” “Oh put a sock in it will you? It’s way too late at night for that. What’s even your name kid?” “ITS ZENITSU AGATSUMA” “Alright Agatsuma shut up. Stop screaming or I’ll tape your mouth shut.”
Zenitsu looked at him shocked and angry. “WHO EVEN ARE YOU TO TELL ME TO DO THAT-“ “A higher rank than you and someone who would appreciate to keep his hearing.”
“Zenitsu please be quiet, you are making quite the lot of noise.” The kid with the box spoke up. As Ayumi looked at him, and noticed a girl was actually inside the box, it clicked. “I take it your Tanjirou Kamado?”
“Yes Mr that would be me.” “I see. And the girl is your demon sister correct? Bold of you to bring her into the butterfly mansion but.. If the master allows it… Anyway I hear you helped Kyoujurou defeat Lower moon one before the Upper moon showed up?”
Tanjirou nodded. “Yes I did! So did my friends here, and my sister. Thank you for respecting my sister, as I’ve met alot of those who don’t. How is Mr Rengoku? I assume you’re close to him.”
“He’s.. Alive. His condition is stable enough but he’s unconscious still. He probably will be for a while. Oh and yes I’m fairly close to him. I mean I’d hope I am given I’m his partner.”
That made the yellow haired boy screech again. “YOU TWO ARE DATING?! YOU’RE BOTH ATTRACTIVE MEN WHO COULD GET ALL THE LADIES YOU WANT AND YOU CHOOSE TO DATE MEN-“
Smack
Ayumi glared at him, after throwing his sandle at him. “Learn some damn manners will you?! It’s none of your business who I or anyone else decide to date and marry so shut up!”
Zenitsu started babbling and wailing about bullying and abuse while the boar headed one laughed and made fun of him. Ayumi stared in disgust for a few moments before shaking his head and looking back at Tanjirou. He picked up his sandle and put it back on as he spoke. “You’re seriously friends with him? Impressive honestly. Good luck with everything kid.” Ayumi turned on his heel and left. He heard Tanjirou scolding Zenitsu as he did, and chuckled slightly to himself. At least it was sort of a backhanded compliment from the yellow one. As he left the building, Shun cawed at him. “South South east! There’s a demon attacking families in a small town! Go defeat it!!”
Ayumi sighed. “Alright alright I’m going. Calm down will ya?” He looked back at the building. “I’ll be back Kyo..” He turned and took off towards the town.