Heloo your Kyojuro works are so well written asdjsjsk can I please please request for a scenario where we take care of Kyojuro post war and he's all very stubborn that he's fine and can do things when he clearly cannot ORZ ahh Kyojuro is such a stubborn person willing to push forward through things and there'd be so much angst when he'd deal with his self worth issues after surviving his battle with akaza ! Thank youu for reading :3
Kyojuro survives in a majority of my fanfictions, fun fact
Just A Little TLC
Kyojuro Rengoku x Reader
He's out of bed again.
You heave a sigh and shake your head. You suppose you shouldn't really be that surprised at this point, but honestly it was starting to get old. He was alone for maybe two hours while he was supposed to be sleeping. Yet here you were, hunting him down like he was some kind of animal.
A wounded animal, but an animal nonetheless.
Thankfully, though, he can't exactly go far, so he's pretty easy to locate. Usually. But he's not at any of his normal spots.
He's not sitting in the garden, or limping around the yard, or trying to swing a training sword around. Hells, he's not even in the bathroom.
Panic starts to claw at your chest.
Where did he go? Did he leave the estate entirely? No, no you surely would have seen him on your walk home. He had to be here somewhere...right?
You're about ready to tear the house apart when a soft voice pulls your attention.
"I found him," Senjuro pants, jogging up to you. You'd enlisted his help in wrangling his stubborn elder brother back into bed.
"Oh, thank the Gods," You sigh. "Where is he?"
"With our father, talking."
Shinjuro had sobered quite a bit since Kyojuro came home, the shock of what could have been finally shaking the older man out of the drunken trance he'd been living in for the past several years. But even still, he kept his distance for the most part. Present, but never close, so as to not overwhelm either of his sons with change. He and Kyojuro rarely sought each other out.
You breathe out a relieved thanks, and make your way to the elder Rengoku's room. Since you didn't technically live here, you tended to avoid this area of the house. Shinjuro allowed you to stay here as a guest to help look after Kyojuro- but you weren't the younger Rengoku's spouse. You weren't even engaged. Just partners. So you hadn't even considered checking here.
As you approach the room, you can hear Kyojuro's laugh, though it's cut short likely due to discomfort. You don't catch any of the conversation, as both voices go very quiet when you approach the door.
"Pardon the intru-" You don't get to finish your words, or really even knock on the door, before it's sliding open and you're faced with Shinjuro Rengoku. He doesn't look angry in the slightest, just a bit tired, and he has a glint in his eye you can't quite figure out before he's waving you in- clearly already knowing what you were here for.
"Ah-! You've returned!" Kyojuro was sitting on the veranda outside his father's room, the tray of tea next to him with two cups signaling that Shinjuro, too, had been sitting there until just now. So at least one of them had probably heard you calling for Kyojuro for the past several minutes.
"I've been back for a while," You say, keeping your voice even as you approach him. "Looking for you, mister."
He tries to laugh, but it ends in a wheeze, his body tilting slightly- though he manages to catch himself before falling over. Seriously, this man was something else sometimes.
"Forgive me for worrying you," He says. You merely hum, and reach to help him stand.
"Come on, let's get you back to bed."
He doesn't fight you, but there's a tightness in his expression that tells you he's not happy.
It's not that you don't understand. You do, honest. Kyojuro has never been in a state like this- so injured he can't look after himself even the slightest bit. Plus, with his impending forced retirement, his restlessness is truly valid. But that didn't mean he had the right to make himself worse physically just to make himself feel better mentally. Not when it caused you so much distress.
You have him lean on you as you lead the way back to his own room, where his bed and the medicine you'd gone out for waited for him. He says nothing, and is stiff in your careful hold.
"I am perfectly alright, you know," He says as the two of you turn a corner.
You let out a sigh. This argument of his has been ongoing for a couple weeks now, and it was one he wasn't willing to give in on even the slightest bit.
"No, you aren't," You say. "Even the doctor has said you shouldn't be up and moving around just yet."
Kyojuro hums.
"The doctor does not know my limits as I do. I can stand, I can walk, I can hold a sword."
"Except you can't do any of those things. Not without causing yourself more pain and making everything worse."
His eyebrow twitches, that tight smile falling into a more serious expression.
The argument is momentarily dropped as you arrive at his room and lead him inside, getting him re-settled into his bed where he needed to be. He stares down at his hands, folded tightly together in his lap, and you brace yourself for continuation.
"It does not hurt so bad," He says.
"I know you say that, but you have a massive wound in your stomach. Forgive me for doubting you, but I just cannot believe it doesn't hurt to move. Especially when your face is far more honest than your tongue is being right now," You say.
"You're accusing me of lying?"
"I'm saying you're severely understating how bad your situation is."
"It's not-"
"It is!" You don't mean to yell, but this argument has gotten old, and exhausting. You loved Kyojuro, loved how stubborn he was about certain things, but this was too much. "It is bad. It's a miracle you survived that fight, and an even bigger miracle you survived that first night in the hospital. You shouldn't have even come home-"
"But I did."
"Yes. You did. Broken and battered and in need of care. Care that, for the life of me, I cannot understand why you keep refusing. Why you're so insistent that you're fine when everyone in this house can see that you aren't! And I-" Your breath catches as you fight tears. "I get so scared every time I walk in here and you're just gone! Off wandering around somewhere because- because I don't even know why! You're bored? Impatient? I don't know!"
A strong hand calloused by years of swordsmanship lifts to caress your face, thumb wiping away a tear that falls without your permission. Kyojuro looks at you, guilt in his eyes, and says nothing.
If you were honest, you could take a pretty solid guess as to why he acted this way. Kyojuro was so used to being needed, that now being the one that needs must be stressful. His whole life has revolved around demon slaying, and now he was being told by everyone that he was no longer capable of doing so. Hells, he wasn't even capable of standing on his own without an extreme amount of effort and- though he denied it- plenty of discomfort.
He was being forced to retire, forced to lie in bed all day, forced to watch as the corps went on without him. It must really kill his self esteem. But that didn't excuse how he was acting.
The sound of your name pulls you from your thoughts. You sniffle, looking him in the eye. His usually burning gaze had softened into a warm fire.
"Forgive me," He says softly. "For causing so much trouble."
A tearful laugh bubbles from your chest, and you shake your head.
"I just...all I want is for you to accept help. Real help. Because I know that, in the end, it will do so much more for you than forcing recovery before you're ready," You say. The smile he offers you is small, but genuine.
"I understand," He says. "Perhaps I...could stand do slow down a little."
"Slow down a lot," You say, making him chuckle a little.
"But only if you promise me something."
"What is it?"
"Stay. Be at my side the whole time...and for every day after."
"Are you- are you trying to propose to me right now?" You stare at him, mouth agape.
He just smiles at you.
"Yes."
"Oh gods," You can't stop yourself from laughing, hands coming up to hide your face from him. What an idiot. An absolute idiot!
Only Kyojuro Rengoku would do something like this. Only he could ask you to marry him after you'd just yelled at him for acting like a stubborn idiot. And all while grinning at you like...well, like an idiot!
"I'll only marry you if you agree to let me properly look after you," You finally say, peeking from being your fingers.
"I will more than happily accept your terms."
"That means no more wandering off!"
A sigh, feigning dramatics.
"If I must."
"You absolutely must."
He tugs at you, signaling for you to come closer. You lean in, giving him the kiss you know he wants. It's chaste, but filled with affection.
"Then I suppose I shall," He murmurs against your lips.
