Illness {Demon Rengoku AU}

1. Calm before the storm

In the middle of the night, a boy is running through the woods. The terrible scene Senjuro just witnessed, has teared itself into his mind. He ran, just as his father demanded of him. The night was cold, a freezing breeze ruffled his hair. Senjuro's lunges burned and felt cold from inhaling so much icy air.

I can't stop. I must get to the butterfly mansion, he thought.

Suddenly a weight crashed down on the flame-haired boy. His head hit the ground hard. Senjuro felt a scorching hand on his neck, pressing him on the ground.

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A few days earlier
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"I hope you like the food I cooked for you" he asked shyly. Kyojuro laughed "Of course I enjoyed it Senjuro! You are the best cook I know and I love eating the food you make!", the older Rengoku exclaimed. Senjuro smiled bashfully at his brothers compliment. "I hope father eats his food before it gets cold" the little boy whispered. "Don't worry Senjuro, when I left his plate before his room I knocked and told him that his meal waits for him" Kyojuro replied cheerfully.

A moment of silence enveloped them. Senjuro disputed with himself if he should ask Kyojuro the question that was occupying his mind. The boy stared in the mug filled with tea. He then gazed at his brother, who was taking a sip of his tea. His eyes fixated the eye patch covering Kyojuro's empty eye socket. Senjuro placed his mug on the table and gripped the fabric of his pants tightly. "Kyojuro?", He muttered. The Hashira turned at the mentioning of his name. The younger brother hesitated "When do you go on duty again?" The flame haired boy was already scared for the answer.

Kyojuro's last mission almost cost him his life, but he got away with the loss of an eye and a ginormous scar on his chest. "I planed to leave tomorrow morning" the slayer answered. Senjuro's eyes widened and Kyojuro could see the discomfort in the little brother's face. "It's okay Senjuro, there's nothing you have to be afraid of" he reassured him, while ruffeling his hair. Senjuro grabbed the Hashira's hand and cradled it. Said Hashira smiled slightly before he scooted closer and wraped his arm around the teenager. "I am not worried about me Aniue! I'm worried about you!" The smaller boy exclaimed, he was at the verge of tearing up. "You almost died!"

There is nothing to blandish, the Hashira did almost die. Demon slayers rarely aged past their 20s/30s. It was not unusual of Senjuro to fear that his big brother would die by the hand of a demon one day. Kyojuro softly shushed him and rubbed small circles in his back to calm him down. While trying to comfort him the older rengoku felt a headache creeping up on him. It was a bit distracting but Senjuro did calm down enough to listen to Kyojuro.

"I'll be honest with you, there probably will be the day on which I won't come home. But I can safely say that right now, I am here, alive and well. And when my time has come, I want you to follow your passion whatever it will be".

They remained embraced with eachother for a while. "Be careful Aniue..." Senjuro whispered in his chest.

"I will be". Kyojuro's headache intendified resulting in him groaning a bit. His little brother immediately grew concerned "Are you alright?"

The older Rengoku smiled "Don't worry Senjuro, I just have a small headache, that's all". The younger sibling eyed him. Kyojuro could hide any emotion behind that bright smile he had plastered on his face. "I assure you I'm not downplaying anything. It really is just a small headache" the elder filled the silence with. "Alright... Do you need anything?" Senjuro answered unsure. "I think I just need some rest. You should go to bed too, it's pretty late" Kyojuro patted his brother on the back.

After they drank the last sip of their tea, both washed their mugs and made themselves ready for bed. The elder brother had a hard time sleeping, only tossed and turned on his futon. Rengoku's head was throbbing, like something on the inside pushed against his skull to get out. Some fresh air would be nice, he thought. Kyojuro got up and went to the window. He opened it in a swift motion. He turned around to lay back down, but he suddenly lost his balance for a moment. In high speed his hands flew to the windowsill to stabilize himself. The blonde pondered, his hands firmly held onto the windowsill until his balance returned. What was that? I don't just lose my balance like that. I should try to sleep now. Rengoku told himself and went back to his futon to sleep.