Alternate draft of the story where Kyojuro lives *I'm not that great with honorifics
*I wanted there to be a version of my story where Kyojuro lives so we will have to rewind some bits of the story to do this
Hotaru arrived at the Rengoku estate and found Senjuro sweeping the entrance.
"Senjuro-san!" she called out to him.
"Oh it's you, Hotaru," he said, turning to her with a smile.
"Have you heard any news of your brother?" Hotaru asked.
"Aniki barely survived his fight with the demon. He's been taken to the butterfly mansion to recuperate," Senjuro informed her. "I've been going there every so often to visit him, but he hasn't woken up yet."
Hotaru felt relieved that he was alive but she knew his life was still in danger and that it was hanging by a thread.
"Do they know when he will wake up?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, no. They don't even know if he will even wake up again because his condition is that critical," Senjuro said with tears in his eyes.
"Senjuro, I need to go there. Can you tell me where it is?" Hotaru asked with a sense of urgency in her voice.
"The butterfly mansion is a bit far of a walk from here. I'm worried about you in your condition. I think it would be best for you to stay for the night then we can go in the morning," Senjuro said with a concerned look on his face.
"But I don't know if your father will let me stay here for the night," Hotaru said.
"I'll talk to him and we can figure something out," Senjuro reassured her.
Hotaru sat on the engawa waiting for Senjuro to finish talking to Shinjuro.
Senjuro reentered a short time later.
"In not so many words, he said it would be fine if you stayed here," Senjuro said.
"Thank you Senjuro," Hotaru said sincerely.
That night, Hotaru found that she couldn't sleep. Her mind was in a place of anxiety over worrying about Kyojuro's health and if he was even going to make it through the night.
Kyojuro, I hope you will- no- you will survive for the sake of our child, Hotaru thought.
The young mother felt her child move around in her belly.
"Oh I'm sorry, did I wake you?" she asked, looking fondly at her stomach and rubbing it gently to get her baby to calm down.
"Your father is excited to see you. I know he will get to," Hotaru said with unshed tears hoping and praying the Kyojuro would live to see the birth of his impending child.
The next day
"Are you sure you feel ok to travel?" Senjuro asked for the hundredth time that morning as he packed his things.
"Yes, Senjuro I feel fine," Hotaru said laughing.
"Ok I just wanted to make sure. We can take breaks along the way if we need to," he said gathering up his things.
Along the way she and Senjuro conversed about various topics and about Hotaru's family life or lack thereof.
"So it was just you and your mom?" Senjuro asked.
"Yes, I never knew my father so I don't have any memories of him. We moved around because my mother could never find steady work. Sometimes she would have to resort to other means to provide for us," Hotaru said frowning at the memories.
"She dealt with a lot of hardship to make sure I was cared for. I know she loved me," Hotaru said.
"Pardon me for asking but is your mother still alive?" Senjuro asked.
"No, she died of an illness when I was still young," Hotaru responded.
"I'm sorry to hear that but I'm glad you still have memories of her. I don't really remember my mother," Senjuro said sadly.
"Your brother told me about her. It seems like she loved the both of you very much. I'm sure she would be very proud of the two of you," Hotaru said placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you, Hotaru," Senjuro said. "I wish she was still here so she could see her grandchild."
Once the two reached the butterfly estate, they were greeted by none other than the head of the estate, Kochou Shinobu.
Of course she already knew who Senjuro was but didn't know who Hotaru was.
"Hello Senjuro, it's good to see you again. I see you've brought a companion. I'm Kochou Shinobu who runs this estate. It's nice to meet you," she said. She noticed Hotaru's condition but didn't say anything.
"My name is Hotaru. I uh don't have a last name so Hotaru is fine. I'm here to accompany Senjuro for his visit. It's nice to meet you," she said a bit awkwardly bowing.
"Kochou-sama. We were wondering if now is a good time to visit my brother. We were notified by the crow about his condition," Senjuro said.
"Yes, I think now would be a good time. The girls just finished changing his bandages so you both are free to go on in," the hostess said.
She led them inside down a few corridors until they reached Kyojuro's room.
"He is severely injured and he is in a comatose state and hasn't woken up. However his vitals are stable for the time being. We are keeping a close eye on him," Shinobu said.
"Thank you," Hotaru said sincerely.
"I'll give you some time alone to be with him," Senjuro said following Shinobu out the door.
Upon seeing Kyojuro in such a state, Hotaru's breath caught in her throat. He was lying unresponsive on the bed, one of his eyes was bandaged over and he had many more layers of bandages covering his chest. Hotaru could see traces of blood.
The young woman fought the urge to cry and completely lose it at seeing her lover in such a state. She was a bit afraid to get closer to see the damage up close. However she steeled herself and inched closer and sat in a chair next to his bed.
Oh Kyojuro, she thought. She felt a mix of emotions, anger at the demon for doing this to him, sadness, anxiety, fear.
"Kyojuro, my flame, I don't know if you can hear me but I want to say some things to you," Hotaru said with tears forming in her eyes.
"Since you've been gone there hasn't been a day where I haven't missed you. I've thought about you every day especially with our child growing inside of me. Speaking of our child, he or she is bigger than when you left," Hotaru said resting a hand on her belly. "I've been taking care of myself so don't worry."
The young woman wiped her eyes as tears had gathered in them.
"This may be rash and selfish of me to say but I need you alive with us. Our child needs you, I need you, your father and your brother need you," Hotaru couldn't stop the tears that poured down her face.
"You promised you would come back for the both of us. Please hold on, please come back to us," Hotaru cried, holding one of Kyojuro's hands and pressing her forehead to it. His hand felt cold. She pressed the palm of his hand to her warm face as tears continued to fall.
Hotaru was distracted from her thoughts when she felt her child kick. Sitting up, she placed Kyojuro's hand so that it was laying flat against her belly. She wasn't sure if he could feel their child's presence but it brought her some comfort to think that he could despite his unconscious state.