I've been playing Pokemon while in the middle of moving which has done absolutely nothing for my health but its fine. I'm gonna catch a Snom.
I've also decided to move reviews to the end of the chapters from now on.
Musashi's arrival back at Head Quarters was met with an amused Shuten watching as Kyojuro quite literally tackled the swordswoman to the ground. The Flame Pillar hadn't been told about the Mt. Ōe mission, nor had any of the other Pillars outside of Himejima, so it had been natural for him to be confused.
No word came from her when she should have been done with her mission well before the Flame Pillar had, so he had been worried. Of course, after getting tackled to the ground, Ubuyashiki had slowly come out to greet them. The Master of the Demon Slayers was looking much better than before, with the curse gone, she supposed it was natural.
Shuten and Ubuyashiki had an intense stare-off before he had bowed to her slightly, sealing the truce between them.
And in typical fashion, she had asked for alcohol as her pay.
That lead the two Pillars to where they were now, settled in the of the Ubuyashiki Family Manor's back garden with the Master, along with Shuten.
"So that's basically what happened," Musashi sighed as Kyojuro rested his chin on her head. The Niten Ichi-Ryuu creator was settled between the Flame Pillar's legs, the man's arms wrapped around her waist as they talked to Ubuyashiki, who was watering some of his flowers. The man had admitted that he quite liked to do so now that he could move around better and instead of relying on his wife and children, he used a cane occasionally— though he knew the garden by heart already.
Shuten had taken to the roof, though she was certainly listening in as she drank through the family's sake stores— though the Master had also admitted that it was best. He and Amane kept getting sake as gifts from Tengen and other Pillars, but he never drank that much.
"Interesting…" the master hummed, glancing in the direction that Shuten was. "So until Muzan makes his move, Shuten Dōji will simply be around."
"Yes, Oyakata-sama." Musashi confirmed, "She has no wish to go out and kill demons unless they attack her first. Despite the stories of Shuten Dōji, she's much more likely to drink and relax than start street fights and hunt down demons and humans."
Kyojuro huffed softly, poking her in the stomach. "I can't believe you and Gyomei ran off to Mt. Ōe without me," he grumbled, "So mean, my love."
Musashi flushed a bit, huffing a bit in return. "You were all the way on Honshu, I wasn't going to stand around for three days waiting for you to come down to the Kansai area."
He grumbled again but stopped with Ubuyashiki chuckled, the dark-haired man walking back over to the two slowly.
"I will be honest with you, Musashi, I was wary when you said that you wanted to investigate," he admitted, lightly smiling. "But I'm glad you did. Shuten Dōji could be the final piece we need."
"To be fair," the Oni hummed as she hopped down from the roof, walking over and holding a flask of sake in between her index and middle fingers and her thumb loosely. "The Oni found Muzan to be more of an embarrassment than anything. An Oni does not fear the sun, we simply prefer the moon. Oni drink, eat, get wasted, and are merry in their own ways. Oni relish in the pain of others, but we have limits— I would never drink in favor of Ibaraki's abandonment. Muzan has no such restraint." the Oni shrugged with a hum. "As one of the only, true mystics of this era, I find his presence annoying. The fact that he's still alive makes my skin itch."
Her lips had curled up into a cruel smile as she spoke, making Kyojuro's arms tighten slightly around Musashi. She just pat his arm as the Oni walked right up to Ubuyashiki, gazing up at him.
"That doesn't mean I'm planning on playing to your rules, though~" she told him, "I still plan on teasing and drinking until I drop~ I might even decide to take a nibble out of some of your other Pillars."
"Shuten," Musashi warned.
"Yes~ Yes~ I know~ children are not to have blood stolen, I can loot corpses and act as a glorified janitor for messes if I'm in an area, and no touching the two, delicious men in this garden," the Oni sighed, but didn't sound disappointed, just amused. Ubuyashiki only smiled before he bowed a bit.
"I thank you for your help, then, Shuten Dōji."
She waved him off. "No need for thanks," she told him, "But if you really want to be thankful, more sake would be wonderful, honey~"
"Of course." He laughed softly as Musashi and Kyojuro stood, both bowing to him.
"That concludes my report," Musashi said, "Are there any orders currently for myself or Kyojuro?"
Ubuyashiki hummed, thinking. "Not that I'm aware of," he said, "Thank you for coming by, Musashi."
She bowed again with a hum before she and Kyojuro took off. Based off of what she knew about the Oni, Shuten would most likely be taking off soon as well. A Kasugaigarasu had been granted to her in order to keep in touch, and the Oni had promised she wasn't going to eat the poor bird. Kyojuro had been surprisingly calm about the situation, no doubt that was Ubuyashiki's doing.
"Musa~" Kyojuro hummed once they were a ways from the Estate. "We should do something."
She blinked, looking up at him as he took her hand in his. "Like what?"
He hummed again, thinking as he looked up at the sky. "Dinner?"
She blinked before she smiled, squeezing his hand.
"That sounds good."
(X)
A week after Musashi had returned, both she and Kyojuro had taken off for the Sword Smiths' village. Kyojuro because he wanted to request for a second sword to use in a worst-case scenario, Musashi because she had put a request in from Haganezuka a month back, but no response had come from him.
The two had been in luck, as Kanroji was also heading that direction so the three Pillars had been taken to the village together.
The three of them had been met by the Elder of the Village and a few other swordsmiths. Tecchin had assured her that her weapon was almost done. With Haganezuka missing, the elder of the village took it upon himself to finish Musashi's request. It would be done by that night, while Kyojuro's request was almost done.
Unfortunately for the Flame Pillar, though, his smith had pulled him away to test the new sword and to make sure the fine details were in order. Musashi and Kanroji, on the other hand, were headed to the springs once the Love Pillar handed her sword to her assigned smith.
Musashi stretched as she settled back in the warm water. Both her and Kanroji's clothes were folded and off to the side, Musashi's eyepatch, hair ornament, and swords laying on top of hers.
Kanroji giggled softly as she slipped in next to her. "Musashi~ did you see Kyojuro's face when he was dragged off?" she asked and Musashi laughed a bit, running her hands through her hair as she detangled it.
"He looked disappointed for sure," she said and Kanroji giggled again, leaning against her with a smile.
"He really loves you, you know!"
Musashi blushed a bit, smiling. "Yeah… I feel bad though… Even though I've been here for so long, there's no guarantee that I'll stay. I could be gone tomorrow." She shook her head, reaching up and lightly brushing against her right eye. "He really wants to get married and have a family, but with me having no idea what parents are like outside of watching others… ah, I just feel bad, Mitsuri."
Kanroji's smile fell and she huffed a bit. "Musashi, we're Demon Slayers. There's already no guarantee that we'll survive tomorrow," she told her gently, reaching over and taking her hand in both of hers. The Love Pillar smiled as Musashi looked over to her.
"Even if there's no guarantee that you'll stay here," she continued, "I think you and Kyojuro should go ahead and get married! It's important to you both right? I know you haven't been together in a relationship for a long time, but you've been basically living under the same roof for nearly three years, right?"
Musashi nodded and Kanroji squeezed her hand. "Are you afraid, Musashi?"
"Afraid of getting married?" she asked, thinking before she shook her head. "No, that's not it… I don't think so at least."
Kanroji pursed her lips. "Then... are you afraid of raising children?"
Musashi paused, as she came to a realization. It made sense, now that it was voiced by someone who wasn't her.
"I think... That might be it..." she breathed, gripping Kanroji's hand tightly. The Love Pillar's eyes softened.
"Oh… Musashi…" she said softly, "Is it because of your own father?"
She nodded silently. "I've jokingly talked to Kyojuro about it, but honestly, I'm terrified. I don't know what it means to be a mother, and I'm not one to settle down ever. I'd be a bad housewife. I didn't have a stable parental figure to go off of, after all, and ever since I was six, I ended up always on the move, so I don't really know how to be a parent…" she sighed, "And of course, I was the reason my own mother died, after all, dying in battle is one thing, but leaving a bitter feeling when he would look at his child is another…"
"You shouldn't worry about those things, Musashi!" a loud voice said and both women startled and turned, seeing the Flame Pillar walking up the path. Neither woman seemed too startled that he was seeing them in the nude, though they were both more startled that he had shown up so quickly.
Kanroji hummed, letting go of Musashi's hand before she smiled. "I'll let the two of you talk," she said with a hum before she reached over for a towel, covering herself as she stood and moved to another one of the pools.
Musashi shifted, sighing softly as the Flame Pillar slipped into the Love Pillar's spot, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against his side. The two stayed like that for a while before Kyojuro spoke, his head resting against hers.
"I don't want you to be afraid, Musashi," he said softly, lightly nuzzling her hair. "I want to marry you, children or no children. So I don't want you to be worried about childrearing and family starting. I want to get married because I love you, Musashi. Children would be wonderful, but only if you want them too."
Musashi nestled against his chest with a soft sigh. "I know…" she murmured, "I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize!" he laughed softly, leaning down and kissing her nose. She smiled, nuzzling his chin before a branch snapped and the two turned, seeing a tall, dark-haired boy with a mohawk staring at them.
The boy had a scar going across his cheek and stretching across his nose before it stopped. He had sharp eyes that reminded Musashi of Shinaguzawa, though without the crazed look in them, though they were blown wide.
He seemed more flustered than anything, having frozen in his tracks.
There was silence before the boy turned and sprinted in towards the smith village.
"Well," Musashi said a moment after the boy vanished from sight. "I guess he didn't want to bathe."
Kyojuro tossed his head back, laughing— his laughter echoing around them in the forest.
Just some lighthearted stuff.
Yoshiki-909: OH, I love that comic. It's so sweet.
The Joining: Thank you for understanding.
RedBurningDragon: I'll be honest that I don't remember much from Last Encore. I was under the impression that in the Stay Night route Artoria didn't remember Kiritsugu, though? Maybe the UBW Route is different?
M2R: I toyed with the idea of Ibaraki showing up but decided against it for the main story. I might include her in an AU one-shot or something. Yagyu will appear again in a sorta dream, though, and in mentioning. Aside from that, Shuten is the only other "real" Servant who will be appearing.
Guest: Dinoserker will not be appearing in this fic
XanAuthorOfTheNightmare: All sorts of mischief. Most likely gory. Probably at Muzan's expense.
Parks98: Yep!