His Tsuguko

{Mugen Train Arc // 3}

You sat up quickly, gasping. "W-what? Where am I?" Looking around, you notice immediately that you are at the Flame Estate. The sky was clear and the sun shone brighter than you'd ever seen before, however, it wasn't hot. You look around some more, identifying yourself to be in the training yard.

"Ahem."

You looked toward the sound, a confused expression present on your face. Looking up, you meet eyes with your master, Rengoku Kyojuro. He held a passive smile with his hand stretched out in a friendly way. You grabbed his hand hesitantly and he pulled you up. "What...Why was I on the ground?" You ask him, staring around the yard. He chuckled softly, "You didn't sleep much after last night, so I let you rest." You gave him a confused stare, "Last night?" He tilted his head, "Yes, I took you into the nearby village for dinner? Remember?" You felt strange, like as if that hadn't actually happened, but yet you held the memory of the event. You nodded your head slowly. Deciding to just play along, you laugh softly, "I must've slept very hard." Rengoku laughed loudly, "You must have."

He sighed, contentedly. "Anyways, you and I can now resume training." You nodded slowly. He got into a fighting stance, putting his hands up. Furrowing your brows you get into the stance your father taught you. "Wait who....? Who taught me this...?" You tilt your head. "Did I have a father? What was his name? Who was he? Where is he now? Shouldn't I be with him instead? Wait, what am I training for?" Suddenly, you were knocked from your thoughts by the male in front of you. You were laid out on the ground, him standing above you, smiling. Shaking his head, he crouches above you, "You are simply out of it, my flame. Come on get up, as pretty as you look down there, it's time for lunch. I'm canceling the rest of training for today."

After lunch with a surprising set of affectionate Rengoku brothers, you excuse yourself to your quarters. Sitting on your futon, you put your head into your hands. "This is all so confusing. I feel so wrong, what's going on?" You shook your head. A knock on your shoji. Mumbling a "come in," you make yourself presentable. Looking over at the door, your mouth drops in shock. Instantly, you knew something was off, your suspicion about something being wrong was confirmed. At the door stood a very put-together and very sober Shinjuro Rengoku. He wore a small smile as he held a single cup of tea. Approaching you, he stuck the cup out to you. "Kyojuro told me about you feeling bad, so I've brought you some tea. You looked dumbfounded as he prompted you to take the cup. "u-uh, thank you. Uh, thank you. Rengoku-sama." He bowed before retreating from the room. Setting your cup down beside your futon, you look around panicked. Something wasn't right. Slamming open your shoji, you race through corridor after corridor, trying to find some clue as to what was happening.

As you race by an open door, a small child watches you from afar. His hands tighten on a sharp object. He says nothing as he runs out of the yard and away from the estate. Dodging down alleys and roads, he finds himself in a strange alley. "This has to be it." He approaches the end of the alleyway cautiously. Raising the pick in his hand, he strikes down, an invisible wall being torn open. A large force and the howling of wind blew him back. The inside was chaotic. A blizzard raged wildly inside (Y/N)'s consciousness. He held his arms over his face to protect it from the bitter cold. Bracing himself, he wanders into the chaos that is the slayer's spiritual core.

Frowning, you sit quietly on a bench in the garden. You sighed as you looked at your hands. Something was wrong, and yet you couldn't find anything out of place, aside from Shinjuro's smiling face. The thought bothered you. "What is going on? There has to be something wrong with this place, or maybe..... there's something wrong with me." You place your head in your hands and begin to sob quietly, all your frustration bubbling over. A small, almost delicate handset itself on your shoulder. You look up at the figure beside you. Jumping back, you forget about everything and stare in blatant shock. "I-it can't be, This isn't true.." In front of you, stood the late Ruka Rengoku.

She stared at you with a soft expression. Your eyes widen impossibly more and you struggle to pronounce any words. She chuckled softly and took a seat on the bench next to you. "I know this must be quite strange. After all, you've never met me." She stared ahead. "But I wouldn't come to you if I didn't have a reason." You stared at the woman in awe. She was absolutely beautiful. Now that you'd actually seen her, you noticed how alike she and Kyojuro looked. Sure he had the striking genes of his father, but his nose and the intensity of his eyes, even his cheekbones and his lips resembled those of his mother, it was amazing. She looked over at you and you have to force yourself not to look away from the intensity of her gaze. "Truth is, I'm not supposed to be here. But I cannot allow it to happen. Not like this." You tiled your head, "Cant allow what to happen?"

She kept her eyes on yours, "My son, Kyojuro, is supposed to die on this mission. He's not supposed to make it from the Mugen Train. I'm telling you this because i know that you can save him. He just needs time. Can you give him time?" You looked even more confused, "Mission? Mugen Train? Time? Ma'am with all due respect. Kyojuro isn't on a mission right now. He's in his room, i assume." She grits her teeth softly, "Thats what you see, but what you see isn't always whats there." Sighing softly, she puts an object in your hands, "It doesn't make sense right now, but when you wake up it will. Take this and cut your own throat." You gasp, horrified, "What?! That would kill me." Your hands shake around the dagger in your palms. "it doesn't make sense, but you need to wake up. This isn't real. Its a dream. Do it. Do it." She disappears. Startled you drop the dagger. "(Y/N)?" You turn to see Kyojuro standing on the porch with a worried face. You backed away slowly. Senjuro and Shinjuro joined him, each calling out your name in concern. You examine each of the males. Kyojuro and Senjuro were normal. Deep down, however, something told you that this was not the Shinjuro you knew. Looking down at the dagger, you raise it slightly. Kyojuros eyes widen and steps down from the engawa. "(Y/N), why do you have that? Please, put that down." You took another step back. Raising it to your throat, you tilt your head back and close your eyes. "(Y/N)?!" A yelp was heard before three pairs of feet pounded toward the young slayer. Sliding the blade across your neck swiftly, you whisper out a final phrase. "I'm sorry."

The young boy hadn't seen such a chaotic spiritual core. It was almost impossible to navigate through the whipping wind and stinging ice. He wondered what made their conscious like this. It seemed foggy and confused, a whirlwind of emotion driving its sheer power. The boy searched for what he felt was forever. He never found it, the world went dark.