My Missing Piece {Uzuren}

14

TW: implied mention of sh

"Can you still serve as a hashira?"

The question caught Rengoku off guard. Not 'will he', which he would, but 'can he?'

Could he? As a demonslayer, he had fought with humans against demons, which was never any trouble before. But now that he was no better than the race he hated, now that his body found the human ones delicious, could he control himself on the battlefield? Would Rengoku snap?

All of this swam around his head, twisting his thoughts to be short and self-deprecating. He exhaled, clearing his mind before letting the questions flood back in. He wanted to give the master a genuine response, not just claim to be okay for his own sake.

Kamado's sister came to mind. Sure, she was a special case, but she was a demon fighting for humanity. That proved it was possible, at least. And Rengoku would rather sever his own head than consume an innocent person.

"I think so."

"You think?"

Rengoku smiled. "I know I can."

"That's good. You can keep the rank, then-" Kagaya broke off, a couple jarring coughs shaking his body. Rengoku nearly jumped up to fetch Amane, but was stopped when the man raised a hand for him to stay. He grit his teeth, waiting for him to recover. When the master straightened back up, he continued talking like nothing happened. "Like Nezuko, you'll have to be accompanied by another pillar on your missions." He turned his head, reaching out to pet Kaname on the head. Kyojuro gently guided his hand there to make it easier. "Per request, that hashira is Tengen."

Rengoku failed to form words to express his opinion on being with the sound hashira on all his missions.

"Is that pairing okay? You two seem to get along."

Finally, he scraped together enough brainpower to make a sentence, forcing out "It's excellent, Uzui and I work well together!"

"Tengen has your repaired katana and uniform at his part of the estate, so whenever you're ready, you can go make yourself at home," Kagaya informed him, stroking the crow's head one last time before withdrawing his hand.

"Alright. Thank you, Oyakata-sama."

"No need to thank me, child," Kagaya said warmly as Rengoku got up to leave.

The flame hashira bowed respectfully, wishing his master good health.

"Take care of yourself, Kyojuro."

"I will."

He left with no clear intentions, as his mind was still preoccupied with processing the fact that he'd have to be around Uzui every day from then on. So with nowhere in mind, he let his feet carry him wherever they pleased.

There's a certain calm that comes with knowing one isn't in danger, that you are free to do anything and everything you can in the time you have. No matter how short the moment may be.

Rengoku felt similarly to this while walking through the pristine, neat gardens. Every time he saw them, the hashira couldn't help but imagine the hours, days that went into perfecting the small shrubbery, training each tree to grow and fit in its tidy environment. How long it must have taken to bring and raise the moon-white koi that floated leisurely in their ponds.

He crouched by the bank, watching the fish circle each other in the calm water. His eyes caught on a koi different from the others, a smaller butterfly koi that was entirely black, a single white spot on top of its head. I'm near Tomioka's house, he realized. If he were awake, I'd go say hello. Rengoku stood, walking towards the water hashira's manor. It won't hurt to check. The night isn't old yet.

He hesitated at the door, not wanting to wake Tomioka if he was asleep. Remembering the pillar's struggle with nightmares, Rengoku went around the house to the back veranda, where he knew he liked to sit after having one. He tensed upon seeing the hashira sitting on the edge of the platform, knees brought up to his chest. Tomioka had his haori laid over his legs, with the green side balled up and held to his face, covering all but his eyes. Not a single tear escaped him, yet the scent of blood hung limply in the air like a dying plea for help.

As Rengoku approached him, Tomioka glanced up, slight surprise dawning on his face.

"Nightmare?"

The water hashira blinked, then nodded slowly and returned his gaze to his half-and-half haori. Rengoku sat beside him, looking off into the distance with a blank, unreadable expression.

After a minute of silence, Tomioka spoke up quietly. "How.. how'd you know I was awake?"

"I didn't! I found myself wandering near your house, so I decided to check back here." He paused, biting his tongue gently. "I could also smell the blood on you." Seeing the slight alarm on his face, Rengoku quickly added, "I was worried, not hungry."

"Oh." He wrapped his arms around himself tightly. "You.. care?"

"Of course! As a friend, I'd be devastated to see you get hurt!"

This claim was met with silence. Tomioka didn't know what to say, settling on muttering a small "I'm sorry." The slightly older pillar rose to his feet, haori still clutched to his chest. "Goodnight, Rengoku."

(If you're confused, he's apologizing because he thinks that since he hurt himself, Rengoku is upset with him)

"Sleep well, Tomioka!"

Rengoku watched him disappear into the house, gathering enough confidence to head over to Uzui's. There's no more avoiding it!

So this was a shorter filler chapter- I would have added more to this but I felt a little pressured to get this one out as fast as I could.