"Celestial Breathing...Fourth Form...Starburst Stream!" I started to swing my Nichirin Sword at Lower Rank 4, and with each swipe, the speed and light that surrounded my blade got faster and brighter. With the final blow, I was able to quickly behead the Kizuki member...which sealed my fate. I had become a Hashira in a matter of just a year of training. I turned to the other Hashira that was observing the mission, Kyojuro Rengoku, and smiled, "I won...right?"

"How are you able to do attacks like that?" He approached me with a smile on his face, "That last attack was powerful and used your strengths to your advantage!"

I shrugged, "Don't know. All I know is that when I tried out Fire Breathing...it felt wrong. I can do that, sure, but the fire feels heavy. And once I started to study what is beyond this planet...I felt like I could morph my fire into that. I asked Muchiro-sama for advice on this, and from there, Celestial Breathing was born."

"All of those moves, you made up by yourself?"

"Somewhat. My Second Form is just a different form of Fire Breathing's Second Form, except the air is lighter. My lungs don't feel nearly as charred. And my First Form is like your Ninth Form, Kyojuro-sama."

"Impressive." Kyojuro patted my head and spoke, "You've come a long way since I first saw you training with my dad. How did you ever manage to get him to help you?"

I laughed, "Pretty easy, since Shinjuro-sama needed-" I stopped midsentence when I saw Kyojuro tense up. I spoke softly, "Kyojuro-sama, what's wrong?"
"Don't move until I tell you." He pulled out his Nichirin Sword and spoke, "Flame Breathing- First Form- Unknowing Fire!" He ran towards someone and swung his sword at them, intending to remove their head.

Laughter that was all too familiar to me rang in my ears as I heard his voice say, "Too slow, Kyojuro Rengoku. And you call yourself a Hashira?"

I yelled out, "Kyojuro! Watch out, this is the-" A pale hand with blue nails clapped over my mouth, muffling my sounds.

Kyojuro looked at me and cried out, "Sumiko! Run!"

The Demon King replied, "And why would I let my future Queen escape with a lowly human like you?"
"She's not going to be your Queen. She belongs here, in my world, doing what she does best- fighting your kind. Third Form- Blazing Universe!" Kyojuro jumped into the air and swung his sword downward at the King, and I tried to move out of the way, but all I felt was immense heat around me.

I looked at myself and saw that I was on fire, and I screamed. Kyojuro ran towards me and spoke, "Sumiko!"
I reached out to him, but...my hand never met his. I fell onto the ground, and as soon as that happened, I felt a sharp prick on my forehead, and immense power coursing through me. That same laughter filled my ears as I heard the Demon King say, "Welcome to my world, my Queen. We shall thank the Demon Slayer together for this gift."

Every part of me fought back against what was happening to me, but there was nothing I could do to stop the spell that followed- "Blood Demon Art- Celestial Breath- Solar Flare."

I woke up from the dream yelling, "Kyojuro, run!" I threw my blanket off of me and tried to back away from the door in a feeble attempt to keep myself away from humans, but this ended up with me crashing into one of the benches in my room.
Hurried footsteps came towards my room and I heard an all too familiar voice say, "Sumiko, are you okay?"

My heart was racing as I spoke softly, "Kyojuro? You're..okay?"

"Forget being polite, I'm coming in." He opened the door to my room, and I could see the bright purple light of the Wisteria trees coming into my room. I hid my head in my arms as I heard Kyojuro say, "I thought I told you to go to sleep, not try to fight something in your room."

"Stay away from me. I'm only going to hurt you."

"What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

I spoke softly, "I was turned...and kill you. I was yelling at my body to stop, please, this isn't right, and...it still acted on its own."

Strong arms wrapped around me, which caused me to pick my head up from my arms. A warm hand cradled my head against a beating heart, showing me that this person was alive. Soft laughter filled the room as he spoke, "I would not let that happen to you at all. Besides, it was just a dream, okay?"

"It felt so real. All of my dreams have felt so real since I came to after everything. And in every one of them, he appears."

"The Demon King?"

My tear-filled eyes meet Kyojuro's as I nodded, "He scares me. The dreams I see- him tormenting my friends...being turned, paraded around his castle, killing my friends...reliving the moment where he changed my life over and over again...I can't escape it."

"Go back to sleep, Sumiko. I'll be right here if you need me. I'll guard you against those dreams. Promise!"

"No, I'm up now. It's fine. Just help me with my leg, and I'll walk around the Wisteria trees. They remind me that no matter what...I'm safe."

"Get back to bed. I'll be right back." Kyojuro got up and ran out of my room, leaving me to stumble over to my bed. However, as I was slowly making it over to my bed, I saw a bright flash of light briefly illuminate my room in an orange glow.
I had just made it over to my bed when Kyojuro came running back in, holding a couple of bright purple flowers. He looked around the room and carefully placed them on a table, in a cup of water that I usually had for me in case I got thirsty. Kyojuro then moved the table into my sight and spoke, "There's no need for you to walk around. I brought some of the Wisteria flowers in here. When you wake up, all you have to do is look at these flowers, and realize that you're safe when you have them with you."

Kyojuro then laid down beside me, the smile on his face evident as he spoke, "Just in case I'm not around, you've got the flowers, okay? Get some sleep, Sumiko."
I smiled softly as I placed my blanket over him, "Sorry it's not much, but at least you don't have to sleep on the floor."

"I've got a different plan." Before I knew it, I was wrapped up in his arms, the blanket on top of both of us. He whispered softly, "Hope you don't mind sharing."

"If you want to sleep on the bed, please, let me know, I don't mind sleeping on the-" Soft snores filled my ears. And by the strength of his grip on me...there was no way out of this situation.

At least I knew I was safe and sound as I dozed off to sleep.

___________________________________________________________________________

Sunlight filtered into my room, and I groaned at the sight of it. Just five more minutes...please? I love sleep more than anything! I tried to roll over to turn away from the sun, but realized I was in someone's arms.

Last night's events came flooding back in my memory, and my face instantly heated up. I was fully awake now as I realized Kyojuro was right next to me, dozing away. I had to calm down my breathing, in a way to not wake him up.

However, someone else had other ideas. Mitsuri came into my room and spoke, "Sumiko-chan, I'll be gone for a bit, so I told-" She saw her mentor's haori and squealed out of delight. She was quick to gain her senses and dragged Kyojuro off of my bed by his oh so famous haori. Unfortunately, this caused me to be dragged as well! Mitsuri yelled out, "I said take care of her, not like this Rengoku-sama!"

Kyojuro opened his eyes and saw Mitsuri mad at him, then looked at me in his arms. He started to laugh as he spoke, "Mitsuri, it's not what you think."

"Explain before I kill you."

"She had a nightmare that woke her up, and she tripped in her room. I heard a loud bang noise and went to investigate. Guess I was so tired I fell asleep here. How is your leg feeling, Sumiko?"

I looked at what little remained of my right leg and saw some bruising and minor scratches from the incidents last night and sighed, "I'll be okay to walk for a little bit at a time."

Mitsuri came and looked at the bruises and growled at Kyojuro, "Did you hurt her like this?"

"No, it was her own clumsiness. She was trying to hide her secret, and it fell from her. Second time was the nightmare."

"Okay...I believe you...for now. You don't live too far away, right?"

"It's a half day's walk from here, an hour's run if I'm in a rush!"

"I don't know if she should be walking. That...contraption could hurt her more now."

"Then I'll just carry her."

I quickly spoke up, "No, I'll walk over there in a few days when I'm healed. Promise, now Mitsuri-chan, please come back alive from your mission. Kyojuro-"

"You're using a different name!" Mitsuri squealed out once more.

I shot her the look of death as I spoke, "Kyojuro, please do not worry about me. I'll be just fine resting here."

Kyojuro picked me up in his arms and looked at Mitsuri, "Can you please bring some of her stuff before you leave for your mission?"

Mitsuri puffed her cheeks up, and spoke, "You're lucky that the mission area is towards your home! Don't hurt her anymore, or I will murder you."

"Got it." Kyojuro then looked down at me, and I saw happiness in his eyes. Truly, this man radiated optimism from every part of him, and this made me want to move on more from the mission. He spoke softly, "Hope you don't mind the early departure."

I shook my head as I spoke, "Will you be okay?"

Kyojuro laughed, "Hold on is all I've got to say!" He took a deep breath of air as we stepped out of my room, onto the gravel of the Ubuyashiki Manor. He looked at Mitsuri and spoke, "Please don't forget those flowers either."

And just like that, we were off towards his home. Fire started to swirl around me. I couldn't help but reach out and touch it. My left hand grazed the flame closest to me, and it fell apart into bright sparkles. It was..magical. I looked at Kyojuro and saw that he was still smiling, but it was directed towards me. I spoke softly, "Focus on the road."

He quickly laughed, "I know this route by heart, plus, you look radiant in flames."

A slight blush crept onto my face as I faced towards the flames once more. I swore we were going faster now, if that is even possible. Not that I mind though. It felt like I was cocooned in a warm blanket, tranquil and safe, so I closed my eyes peacefully and slept.