- In the Ubuyashiki estate.
The walk to the Ubuyashiki Estate was quiet.
Shinjuro strode ahead with the heaviness of a man who had long grown used to the estate's solemn air. Obanai followed silently, his small frame wrapped in the clothes Senjuro had lent him. And behind them came Kagerou, hands tucked into his haori, kiseru resting between his fingers.
After washing, after eating, after the warmth of home… the estate felt colder than ever.
But this visit had a purpose.
Shinjuro needed to report his mission. He needed to explain Obanai's situation. And more than anything… he needed guidance.
Because despite wanting to take care of Obanai, despite believing, after meeting Kagerou years ago, that every meeting was fate, Shinjuro knew one simple truth:
A house of men didn't know how to open a wounded child's heart.
Not like Ruka did.
Even with Kagerou's quiet steadiness, Kyojuro's bright warmth, and Senjuro's gentle nature… There were pieces missing.
Pieces Obanai desperately needed.
That was why Kagerou himself had suggested it: "Let's talk to Kagaya. Obanai needs... someone who knows how to help him. Someone like Mother used to be"
Even so, Shinjuro refused to abandon Obanai completely.
Before Obanai was sent to any of the corps-run orphanages… before he was placed somewhere safer and softer…
Shinjuro wanted him to know what kindness actually felt like.
Just a little.
Just enough so the world didn't frighten him the way his family once had.
But in the end, it would be Obanai's decision.
And Shinjuro was prepared, surprisingly gently to accept whichever choice the boy made.
If Obanai wanted to stay with them… the Rengoku home would open its doors.
After all, the house had Kagerou, who had raised Kyojuro and Senjuro since they were tiny.
Kyojuro, with his sunlight-like spirit.
Amd Senjuro, with his soft heart.
Incomplete as they were… They were still better than most.
---
Like always, they waited in the wide tatami room where Hashira meetings were always held.
They sat in silence, Shinjuro, Kagerou, and Obanai.
Minutes passed.
Then, footsteps approached.
Kagerou's head turned slightly. Shinjuro straightened. Obanai didn't lift his gaze.
The sliding door opened-
But the person who stepped inside was not Kagaya.
"Oh, for goodness' sake," Kagerou muttered under his breath.
Standing in the doorway, arms folded, was Uzui Tengen, glittering as obnoxiously as ever.
He scanned the room, Shinjuro… Obanai... Then his eyes landed on Kagerou. And immediately-
"Pffft-" A grin cracked across his face.
"AHAHAHAHA! Well, well, well," Tengen declared as he strutted forward. "If it isn't my FLAMINGLY EMBARRASSING little brother who asked Oyakata-sama to pick his ore for him!"
Kagerou's jaw twitched.
Hard.
"Stop it, Tengen"
"Oh? Did I hit a nerve? I didn't know you could be this stupid sometimes, Kage. Asking Oyakata-sama to pick your ore? Even I wouldn't do something that brainless"
He turned his glittering, mocking eyes toward Shinjuro.
"Shinjuro-san~ surely you told him, right?"
Shinjuro snorted and shrugged.
"Even I didn't expect he'd do something that dumb. Kid's too smart for his own good, but he misses the simplest things. What do you expect?"
Tengen exploded again.
"PUF-AHAHAHAHA! You hear that, Kage?! Your old man agrees, you're stupid!"
Kagerou clicked his tongue, fed up. "Tch"
Without another word, he rose, slid open the side door, and stepped onto the engawa. He pulled his kiseru to his lips and lit it, letting smoke curl lazily into the air.
"I don't care," he muttered, leaning on a pillar. "Say whatever you want"
Behind him, Tengen called out: "Oh, I'll say plenty!"
Shinjuro sighed.
Obanai stayed utterly still, as if trying to shrink into the floor.
And the estate, vast, quiet, sacred, waited in silence for its master.
For a long stretch of minutes, the only sounds were Tengen's exaggerated teasing and Kagerou's increasingly irritated mutters drifting in from the engawa. Even Shinjuro, accustomed to noise, rubbed his temples once.
Finally.
slide-
The door opened once again.
Kagerou looks around.
Shinjuro bowed.
Obanai froze.
And for the first time since they'd arrived, Kagerou felt something like relief.
'Kagaya… finally'
He didn't know why Tengen found his ore mistake so endlessly amusing, but it was starting to grate on his nerves. So seeing Kagaya now, gentle, calm, soft-spoken, felt like salvation.
But Kagaya was not alone.
On his right stood Gyomei, hands clasped, immediately choking up the moment his unfocused gaze found Obanai.
"Ah… such a small child… such tragedy…" His voice wavered, tears already streaming as though a dam had broken.
On Kagaya's left stood an old man, posture sharp, wearing a tengu mask. His presence was heavy, dignified, seasoned, yet silent.
Kagerou furrowed his brows. But he said nothing.
Instead, he rose from the engawa and walked back into the tatami room, settling down quietly beside Obanai. Tengen followed after him and flopped down, not quietly, on Kagerou's other side.
Kagaya gave a warm smile as he settled before them.
"I apologize for being late. There was something I needed to take care of"
His voice was gentle as always… But when he said that, his eyes flicked subtly... subtly toward Kagerou.
Kagerou stiffened.
'…What did I do this time?'
Kagaya turned slightly, gesturing toward the old man beside him.
"Kage-kun," Kagaya said softly, "there is someone who wishes to meet you"
The old man stepped forward.
Kagerou raised an eyebrow beneath his bangs, expecting, at most a bow.
What happened next made his blood run cold.
The masked elder took two steps and wrapped his arms around Kagerou.
"?!!"
Kagerou froze, mouth half-open.
"E-Excuse me?"
His hands hovered awkwardly in the air, unsure whether to push away or surrender to the unexpected embrace.
The old man's voice trembled behind the mask.
"Thank you"
Kagerou blinked.
"…What?"
The tengu-masked elder tightened his hold just slightly, not painfully, but full of emotion held back for far too long.
"Thank you," he repeated, voice cracking, "for slaying that demon, young man"
Kagerou's breath caught.
Beside him, Tengen went silent.
Shinjuro's eyes lowered.
Gyomei sniffled loudly.
Obanai peeked up, confused.
Kagaya watched the scene unfold with a soft, unreadable smile.
The old man's next words came weaker, heavier. "You saved children who were meant to become food. You freed souls trapped for decades. And you sent that monster, the one we could never reach into the afterlife"
His mask tilted slightly, as if his hidden eyes were meeting Kagerou's directly.
"You saved many"
Kagerou's heart skipped.
His fingers twitched.
And for once, the boy who always hid behind smoke… found himself unable to speak, breath tight in his chest.
"I'm Sakonji Urokodaki," the old man said quietly. "There wasn't much I could do. But if there's ever something you need… I'll do anything within my power to fulfill it. Just say the word"
Kagerou froze.
The name hit him harder than the hug ever could.
Sakonji Urokodaki.
The former Water Hashira.
A living legend.
Yet here he was, arms firm, grip steady, embracing Kagerou as though he were someone precious.
Kagerou's mind stalled. He could feel Tengen go unusually still beside him. Shinjuro shifted slightly, taken aback. Even Obanai, who had spent the entire time in detached silence, blinked in mild surprise.
Urokodaki finally loosened his hold, though only barely. His voice was steady, but beneath it ran an old wound.
"You stepped into that place," Urokodaki said quietly. "And you killed him. A demon who… for years has been a nightmare for me. A monster that stole countless of my students... children who vanished because of my mistakes"
His hands tightened on Kagerou's shoulders, not harshly, but with a weight that trembled.
"And you, a boy barely older than the ones I lost… finished what I could not"
Kagerou felt his throat tighten. He wanted to look away, to shrug off the emotions gathering in his chest, but Urokodaki's grip kept him anchored.
"I…" His voice cracked. He coughed, trying to hide it. "I didn't do anything special"
Urokodaki shook his head immediately.
"You brought peace," he insisted. "To the dead. To the living. That is never 'nothing'"
The room fell into a stillness so complete the air itself felt reverent.
Then, without warning, Urokodaki lowered himself, dropping into a deep, sweeping bow, forehead pressed to the tatami.
Kagerou jerked, startled.
"S-Sakonji-dono!" Gyomei cried from the side, already sobbing, tears flowing like waterfalls.
But Urokodaki did not move.
Kagaya's soft voice rose, warm and steady, as though he were soothing the very atmosphere.
"Kage-kun," he said, "Urokodaki has carried the weight of that demon for many, many years. You've given him a closure he believed he would never receive"
Urokodaki's voice trembled faintly, just once.
"If you ever require guidance, training… a favor of any kind," he said, bow still unwavering, "I will offer it. Without hesitation"
Kagerou stared at the old man bowing to him.
Something twisted inside his chest, not pride, not embarrassment, but something foreign.
Something uncomfortable.
Being seen.
Being thanked.
Being valued.
His fingers trembled slightly before he forced them still.
"Tch…" He clicked his tongue and looked away, voice softer than usual. "O-Oi… raise your head already. I didn't do it for praise. I just happened to be there"
Slowly, Urokodaki lifted his head. Even behind the mask, the emotion was unmistakable.
"And that," he said gently, "is why my gratitude is deserved"
Kagerou inhaled sharply. A tiny wisp of smoke escaped with the breath, instinctive, as if trying to hide the faint warmth rising to his face.
Tengen leaned closer, lowering his voice to a whisper just loud enough for Kagerou's ears:
"…Tell me again, who's stupid now?"
Kagerou drove his elbow straight into Tengen's ribs... Hard.
But for once… he didn't argue.