My Missing Piece {Uzuren}

32

Daily fun fact about tigers- when one 'chuffs', it's a sign of happiness, and a 'moan' is one of anxiety!

Rengoku's back hit the ground first, his head snapping back painfully. He winced, cracking his eyes open. Two glowing eyes stared down at him, bright stripes framing the vague outline of the creature. To the side, the burning obi faded away. Getting to his feet, the pillar took a step back to take a look at what had saved him.

It was comprised of only flames, taking the rough shape of a tiger. The fire forming its eyes, teeth, and claws burned brighter; nearly white against the hot red and orange of its 'fur'. Paws splayed across the dusty earth and standing at just over a meter tall, it flattened its ears, tail hanging low to the ground. It's defensive, Rengoku noted. As he took a deep breath, the flame tiger's ears slowly perked upright, raising its tail slightly to mirror Rengoku's calmer state.

A quiet swish of fabric signaled the obi demon's attack. Drawing his sword, Rengoku pivoted on his heel to slash the belt. In perfect sync, the big cat jumped around him, claws extended as it leaped. As it passed thorugh the obi, the fabric burst into flames, fire blooming wherever it had touched the tiger's ghost-like form. Shoving the obi away with his blade, Rengoku took a short moment to marvel at how the fire had managed to move in unison with his already quick movements. Grinning, he spun to slash another attack. Once again, the fire whooshed, the tiger's shape followed the red metal, guided like a magnet to Rengoku's blade. Landing on its 'paws', the flame tiger stared into the demonslayer's eyes with an intense look that whispered a challenge. Almost as if it were goading him to use its destructive heat to his advantage. It's not exactly flame breathing, Rengoku thought, but a blood demon art might be just as useful!

Tail lashing and ears facing back, the fireborn tiger let out a fierce roar.

The heat it was giving off was stifling. Cringing back, the obi demon kept its wavy, flammable fabric away from the two. That didn't stop the pillar, however; from crossing the cavern in less than a second. He brought his katana down on the fabric, slicing it in half. Taking a swipe with one paw, his demon art left a trail of fire running down the length of the obi as it retreated.

(Any writers reading this, ever find it annoying when you can't seem to make a chapter longer, no matter how much you think you write?)

The smell of smoke filled the air, ashes rising from the disintegrating fabric. A couple pressed together to send another attack his way, but this time, right before Rengoku slashed it, he caught sight of a strange image on the other side of one of them. Singling that obi out, he cut that one from the rest and set the other two on fire. As it fell to the ground, instead of disappearing, it began to move. Ever so slightly expanding at the flat end, it shifted. Rengoku kept the tip of his blade pointed down at the obi, the flame tiger bristling aggressively beside him with its white-hot eyes fixated on the thing. What was that pattern? Bending down, Rengoku carefully turned it over to see what it was. He was surprised to see the image of a young woman there, her eyes closed in a look of subdued fear. Scanning the remaining obi hanging from the ceiling of the cavern, he noted that a number of them had similar designs. Could these be people trapped inside the obi like I was?

The tiger manifested by Rengoku's blood demon art dipped its warm muzzle to the belt, the flames getting dangerously close to the fabric. "No, you'll burn her," The hashira muttered, pointing his blade away. Begrudgingly, the fire moved to follow the sword. Embers rose from its smoldering 'fur' as it flicked its tail tip angrily.

It sees no difference between humans and demons, he concluded. I have to be careful to not hurt anyone.

The shadows looked a little less daunting as Rengoku stared up at the hanging obi. They looked kind of like snakes up there, draped around each other and poised to fight. He picked out as many with humans in them as he could, marking them in his peripheral vision as things he shouldn't cut. Inhaling, he jumped. He took care to leave several feet of distance between his katana and the ends of the human patterns as he severed them from the rest, letting the scraps of fabric slowly fall to the ground below him. His blood demon art set alight all that it could. Per Rengoku's subconscious request, it left the imprisoned people alone.

By the time his feet hit the ground, aforementioned captives were already almost fully released from their restraints. Pacing the perimeter of the cavern, honō no tora (flame tiger) lashed its tail.

One of the girls came to first, pushing herself to her feet and kicking the rest of the obi away. From the few times Rengoku had held short conversation with Uzui's wives, he recognized her as Makio. She glanced around, disoriented, before jumping out of the way as Rengoku shot past her, slicing an obi that had been sneaking closer.

"Holy hell-" Makio clutched her hands to her chest, looking around for a weapon to defend herself with.

Suma got to her feet beside her, a mix of confusion and panic on her face at the sight of a tiger made of fire, the countless demon-controlled obis assaulting Rengoku (who was doing his best to keep them at bay), and their dark, underground confines. "Where are we??" She yelped and ducked as a loud thunderclap filled the space.

Rengoku briefly turned to make sure everyone was okay. Zenitsu, eyes closed, bunched his muscles in preparation for another attack. Makio and Suma stood back to back between the two, unarmed but capable in a battlefield with or without weapons. I don't have to worry too much, the flame pillar exhaled. He focused on each strike of his blade against fabric, keeping his breathing even as the precisely honed metal tore through its targets. "You two look for an exit to this place," he instructed the girls, not removing his eyes from the demon attacking them. "Zenitsu and I will cover-"

He was cut off by the loud crunch of earth above them a beam of light cascading down into the chamber. The flame tiger let out a fierce caterwaul, ears flattening against its skull. Careful not to come into contact with the sun's rays, Rengoku retreated into darker shadows, as did the obi.

Uzui surveyed the cavern, swords drawn. His heart warmed with relief to see two of his three wives there, as well as Kyojuro and Kamado's missing friend. He'd heard the sounds of battle while above ground, and busted through the thin dirt road to investigate. And boy, was he glad he did.

The obi vanished completely, retreating into holes and tunnels too small for the demonslayers to chase it through. Honō no tora ran the length of the cavern to come stand next to him, drawing the attention of Uzui, who'd been consoling Suma and Makio.

"Kyojuro! That's a pretty flashy blood demon art!" He exclaimed, grinning.

"Thanks!"

Uzui couldn't help but notice how the flames illuminated Rengoku's already gorgeous features, making him look like he was glowing. He's so goddamn pretty, the sound hashira marveled. The girls exchanged a knowing glance, smiling despite themselves.

———————

I find it funny that we're at chapter 32 already- that's how long my other story: "we'll protect each other" is, and here, we aren't even close to finishing 😂

Okay, I just want to clarify a few things about Rengoku's blood demon art.

1. As of now, he doesn't have distinct forms he can use, as he just developed it.
2. The 'tiger' isn't actually a living creature. It's just fire that is shaped to look like a tiger because of Rengoku's character traits. I think he's like a tiger :)
3. His bda takes after the behaviors of any real tiger. That's why it shows emotions sometimes.
4. His blood demon art can harm humans, therefore he has to be careful with it.
5. It will listen to what he says for the most part, but since it's somewhat sentient, it can make its own decisions. In a scenario where Rengoku can't control it, it would choose whatever option raises Rengoku's chances of survival. Other than that, it acts as an extension to Rengoku's fighting, moving in unison with him or in a way that makes his attacks more effective. It can fight on its own, without Rengoku, as well.
6. When the flame tiger goes away, the heat energy that makes the fire transfers to Rengoku's blade, raising the metal's temperature and making his sword strikes more lethal, sometimes being able to set what he cuts on fire. In times like these, Rengoku can control the temperature of his blade
7. The main drive of the flames in instances when it controls itself is always going to be either: get food, or defend Rengoku.

That's all I have to share about his BDA at the moment!