stolen time

Ch79 overheated rr

Two days have passed since then and because of the extreme heat of summer, Senjuro caught heatstroke and is now currently bedridden. upon hearing his condition from kyojuro ayame immediately went to make something cold to help cool him down.

"How are you feeling Senjuro?"

Ayame asked sliding the shoji shut behind her with a bowl of kakigori in hand.

"Much better now"

He replied with kyojuro sitting besides him with ayame's fans that he borrowed to cool Senjuro. Kneeling down beside him she put a palm to Senjuro's head to check his temperature.

"Nee-san it's so warm outside and yet your hand is still cold"

He said giggling,

"Really? I didn't realize, now here I made you some kakigori it'll help cool you down"

"Thank you..."

He replied taking the bowl s he began to eat.

"How are you doing kyojuro do you feel like you might get heatstroke?"

Ayame reached up putting her palm against his forehead as well as he closed his eyes with a smile.

"Hmu, It's indeed really hot but I can take it, but on the other hand Senjuro is right you really are cold ayame. is it because you became a demon during the winter?"

Ayame's eyes widened as she tilted her head to the side.

"Yes how did you know?"

"As I thought"

Kyojuro whispered thinking back to her drunk words that day

"It's just a guess!"

"My you must have a really good intuition then, but yes you're correct, to be exact I way laying in snow when it happened I remember, and since our bodies don't change once we become one my temperature probably stayed the same as well, and because of it I can take heat pretty well while I get cold easier"

"We're polar opposites then! I take the cold better"

Ayame chuckled at his remark.

"You're right"

She said softly while looking down at her palms.

"Caww caaawww!! Flame pillar Rengoku kyojuro and akami Ayame caww! You are to join the insect pillar Kocho Shinobu on a mission! There has been a report of people disappearing in the shadows caww! Over 60 people have went missing! You are to depart this evening!"

They both looked towards the closed shoji where the crow called with a serious and grave expression.

"This seems to be quite a serious problem"

"Yes... the possibility of it being a upper moon is quite high so why would oyakata send me as well?"

"I don't know! But it's rumoured oyakata sama has clairvoyance so it must be the best course of action"

Ayame nodded before facing senjuro who was looking at them with worry.

"Senjuro I'm sure we'll be fine, I don't think oyakata would send us if he wasn't confident in our abilities"

"Right! We should start preparing we only have a few hours before evening, we'll take you to the butterfly estate while we're away"

"Alright, promise to come back alive ok? Nee-san ani-ue "

"Yes!"

They answered in unison, they left the room to get dressed in their uniforms and grab their katana. Ayame pulled her hair into a ponytail and slipped on her haori and gloves before stepping out to see kyojuro carrying Senjuro on his back.

"Ready?"

"Yes"

She opened her wagasa to cover Senjuro and herself from the boiling sun while on their way to the butterfly estate, where they will meet up with shinobu.

******

Once they arrived ayame took Senjuro to aoi to get him settled in while kyojuro went to visit tanjiro in the rehabilitation room while he waited.

"Ah rengoku san! How was your date with ayame san? Did you tell her yet?"

"Hello young kamado! And no I haven't yet I'm planning on doing so sometime after we return from our mission, I want to prepare a surprise!"

"I see then good luck! I'll be cheering for you, please come back safely you ayame san and shinobu san"

"Of course!"

Ayame came walking by the door to fetch kyojuro and also pay a visit to tanjiro.

"There you are, I had a feeling you would've been visiting tanjiro"

"Ayame san!"

"How are you doing tanjiro? I'm sorry but we can't talk for too long"

She said walking up beside kyojuro as he stood with his arms folded.

"No it's ok I understand, I'm glad I got to see you two before you head off to your mission"

Ayame smiled patting tanjiro on the head as he chuckled in response, he waved them off as they went outside to join shinobu who was waiting outside with her tsugoko kanao.

"Ara ara hello"

"Hello kocho, it's a pleasure to work with you again!"

"Yes having you on the team is reassuring, but ayame san would it be alright? There's a chance it's an upper moon"

"I thought so too but I'm sure I'll be alright, we'll just have to make sure we kill the demon, and even if I do get discovered it's bound to happen sooner or later"

She replied with a pained smile, she had expected something similar to happen after all it's impossible for her to live out the rest of her life completely free from him, and she didn't have the choice to simply hide away when she could use her power to help save lives, and because of that she's betting on oyakata sama's clairvoyance for everything to turn out well.

"I see, then let's get going shall we?"

"Yes!"

Kyojuro answered and they started to make their way over towards their mission. Their surroundings were dark and eerie, a fitting place for a demon to reside, they decided to pick up the pace in search for their opponent with their guards set up high.

"The moon is shining especially bright tonight"

Said shinobu with a smile.

"Indeed it is! I can see a lot of shadows around which makes this place quite creepy!"

Kyojuro exclaimed, a gap formed in between ayame's lips at the mention of shadows, she scanned her eyes around realizing he was right there indeed was an abnormal amount of shadows around, reminding her of a certain person. Just as she was about to say something their next footstep landed in some sort of trap shining a bright light from under them, covering their eyes with their arms they embraced themselves for impact.