#共生 ; 「 ʀᴇɴɢᴏᴋᴜ ᴋʏᴏᴊᴜʀᴏ 」 hc.

[kyousei]

          o1. ᴛɪɢᴇʀ, ᴛɪɢᴇʀ, ʙᴜʀɴɪɴɢ ʙʀɪɢʜᴛ, ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ғᴏʀᴇsᴛs ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛ.

     During the final moments of Kyojuro’s battle with Akaza, Kyojuro was no longer given a choice. Rather than ask and ask and ask, Akaza simply made. This was not a Slayer he could let die like a human. Fist through Kyojuro’s sternum, Akaza flooded his system with demon blood to force a transformation.

     Kyojuro fights, both against the blood changing him and to keep Akaza where he stood. If this is how it was going to be, then both of them will die in the rising sun. However, not even Kyojuro mid-transformation can keep Akaza from fleeing into the woods with a grin that promises they’ll meet again. Tanjiro is still distraught, launching his katana toward Akaza’s back before trying to cover a roaring Kyojuro with his haori to protect him from the sun. If there was anyone with a strong enough will, it was he.

     Each of the boys drag Kyojuro to the shadows, begging him to fight what’s happening to his body, but even he cannot go against Muzan’s blood. His body is changed, irrevocably, and so the hunger already clenches at his stomach. Still, it is something he does fight, but Kyojuro does not stay to test his limits around his Tsugoku. He runs.

          o2. ᴛᴏ ʜᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ʜᴀs ᴛᴀᴋᴇɴ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴍᴇ, ʀᴜɴ.

     Kyojuro survives the battle with Akaza by a thread and with multiple injuries that could take his life at any moment, Kyojuro is comatose. Senjuro diligently cares for his brother during this time until he wakes two months later. Kyojuro is still incredibly weak and mostly bed-bound save for the brief moments he forces himself to walk until Senjuro ushers him back to rest.

     Late one night when Senjuro always brings tea, he doesn’t. Kyojuro’s intuition tells him something is incredibly wrong — Senjuro never skips caring for his brother. Forcing himself to stand and search the estate, Kyojuro finds his worst nightmare come to fruition.

     Akaza is standing with Senjuro in his grasp, claws in his little brother’s chest as demon blood begins to take over Senjuro’s body. Kyojuro only remembers screaming, panic and fear gripping him. He does not hear the clatter of his cane on the ground while he trips trying to get to his brother. Where was Father? Why wasn’t Senjuro protected?

     Senjuro is left writhing on the ground as Akaza walks toward his real target. You’re broken, Kyojuro. Don’t you see? You’re a human who can’t save your precious little brother. Become a demon, Kyojuro, its the only way you can protect him from me now.

     Yes.

     Akaza turns him, but rather than fight against the blood entering his body Kyojuro accepts it fully. His transformation is quick, and his wounds heal with the speed of an Upper Rank demon, and he uses this new power. Akaza was right: Kyojuro is incredibly strong as a demon and takes to his new physical prowess better than even Akaza expected. But as the sun is beginning to rise Akaza tells Kyojuro he isn’t ready yet and disappears into the forest.

     Kyojuro is not focused on Akaza and rushes to Senjuro, holding him against his chest and running into the opposite direction to take him somewhere safe.

          Notes:

Kyojuro’s demonic appearance remains the same in both verses: his markings are reminiscent of tiger stripes and he roars exactly like a tiger when he fights. He’s larger overall and his hair becomes longer and more wild.

When he runs, he runs to the Ubuyashiki manor. Shinjuro will be no help in his drunken state and is more likely to lash out toward a demon even they are his sons. Kagaya is the only person Kyojuro can think of that may know what he can do.

He does not expect the other Hashira to accept him as he is when Kagaya eventually makes the decision to tell them.

Kyojuro has never harmed a human and refuses blood for a very long time, but even he starts to become more violent the longer he resists. He does have to begin taking blood donations from those who are willing to help him.

He is sent to Tamayo by Kagaya, who assists with removing Muzan’s curse that prevents him from speaking about him and Muzan knowing his location and thoughts.

Kyojuro's blood demon art is called Sunlight (日光, nikkō) and the flames he produces burn demons where they are hit in a similar manner to the sun.

[kyousei]

          ɢʀɪᴛ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴛᴇᴇᴛʜ ᴀɴᴅ ʟᴏᴏᴋ sᴛʀᴀɪɢʜᴛ ᴀʜᴇᴀᴅ.

     Following the battle against Akaza, the arm impaled through his solar plexus does not disintegrate upon the sun rising and is kept shadowed by Kyojuro’s haori and the rest of his body. This keeps his bleeding to a minimum and, while he does lose consciousness after speaking with Tanjiro, the Kakushi are able to reach him in time to provide life-saving support. Kyojuro does not expect to wake and the number of injuries sustained cause the initial outcome report to describe him as deceased.

     Shinobu is the first to find out the truth and is called to assist with Kyojuro’s surgery while the other Hashira and Kyojuro’s family are notified. Kyojuro’s left eye is completely destroyed and is removed along with the entirety of his left lung and part of his right. The procedure is successful, But Kyojuro does not wake. He spends two weeks at the Butterfly Mansion before he is brought back to the Rengoku Estate where Senjuro cares for him with the guidance of Shinobu.

     Kyojuro does not wake for five more months and they are not an easy five months for Senjuro. There are times when he stops breathing or vomits thick, black, clotted blood that he must be turned on his side for in order to ensure he doesn’t asphyxiate himself. Senjuro cares for him in a way a younger brother should never have to care for his sibling, but he insists (because this is Kyojuro) with little to no help from their father.

     He eventually regains consciousness, but his weak spiritual core now matches his weak body. Kyojuro is bedridden for another month and cannot catch his breath entirely most days. Total Concentration Breathing sends his body into painful spasms and even when he tries to stand or do things for himself, Senjuro chides him for pushing himself too hard.

     No longer capable of being the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro is forced into retirement. He can no longer protect the weak like his mother wanted for him, he can no longer take care of Senjuro, he can no longer encourage his father to stand up again.

     Kyojuro falls into a deep depression.

     Notes:

Too much physical activity or excitement will cause Kyojuro to cough up blood. (Think All Might from BNHA.)

He wears an eyepatch to cover his scarred eye socket. It is plain and black, with three straps that connect in the back.

The scarring on his chest and back is awful and concave and never really looks fully healed.

He will put on the very same happy face for anyone who visits him after he is able to take visitors. His eyes do not shine like they used to, though.

Mostly he is carted around in a wheelchair, but he has a cane that he can walk short distances with if he’s careful. Once his stamina starts returning more he begins relying on the cane. It looks relatively simple, but there are outlines of flames carved into the wood near the handle. It was a gift from Senjuro.

He no longer wears his Demon Slayer uniform and instead wears simple yukata that are easier for him to put on himself. He goes back to wearing a plain white haori; the Flame Hashira one is returned to its display. His sword is reforged with a new tsuba (Tanjiro still receives his old one from Senjuro) and he still wears it at his hip once he is more comfortable walking.

[kyousei]

similarly to how tanjiro had to become “one with water” to learn water breathing, kyojuro also had to become “one with fire.” as shinjuro abandoned his training after the death of ruka, many of kyojuro’s attempts at learning flame breathing did end in failure. because of this he has many burn scars, most notably on the palms of his hands and fingertips. his fingerprints are burnt flat.

he does have a happy trail. yes, its gold and red. yes, it looks like fire. no, you cannot see it.

there is a gold chain attached to both sides of his cape to keep it on his shoulders. attached to the left side is a small charm in the shape of the tsuba of his sword.

senjuro is kyojuro’s life. he needed to take both a fatherly and motherly role while raising his brother and is extremely protective of him due to it. he is a barrier between senjuro and their father - especially when shinjuro is on binges. (the only reason shinjuro hit senjuro when tanjiro visited after kyojuro’s death is because shinjuro knew kyojuro wasn’t there any longer. kyojuro would have broken shinjuro’s arm at the very least.)

he has very few personal possessions. his room at the rengoku estate is nearly bare except for the essentials and two pictures: a formal one of his family after senjuro was just born, and a casual picture of him and senjuro grinning at the camera together.

it took kyojuro a long time to also realize that his father is someone “weak” who needs protecting. shinjuro is grieving in the only way he knows how to and while it is self destructive, it also took away kyojuro’s own ability to grieve for his mother’s death in order to care for senjuro. he loves his father, but it is difficult for him to be mindful to not be resentful some days.

[kyousei]

          sᴛʀᴇɴɢᴛʜ ɪs ɴᴏᴛ ᴀ ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴇᴀɴs ᴍᴜᴄʜ ɪɴ ʀᴇɢᴀʀᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ғʟᴇsʜ.

     The Blazing Hero: Rengoku      Quirk: Purgatory Flame

     Kyojuro’s Quirk, Purgatory Flame, is an extremely powerful pyrokinetic quirk that has gained him notoriety as the Endeavor of the East. While Kyojuro doesn’t necessarily approve of Endeavor, believing a Hero should smile like All Might, he is honored to be compared to the Number 1 Hero (or Number 2 Hero, depending on timeline). Their Quirks work very similarly to one another, though Kyojuro does not display his in the same manner that Endeavor does to show his power. On the other hand he does summon his flames when he becomes excited, which is... quite often. He relies heavily on the speed and heavy hitting power of his Quirk as he tends to burn out after using too many large attacks.

     He is currently the History teacher at Shiketsu Academy, and while he considered following in his father’s footsteps as a solely Pro Hero, after Shinjuro drove his Hero Agency into the ground after the loss of Ruka Kyojuro made it a point to help guide the newer generation of Heroes along side him. He can still be seen going on patrols and freely speaks with fans and the press. His goal is only to protect those that he can and inspire others to do the same.

     Notes:

Kyojuro regularly gets requests to join Agencies across Japan, but politely declines all of them. His loyalty lies with the students and fellow staff of Shiketsu.

No idea what his costume is yet. (Soon.)

His Ultimate Move is called Purgatory, after his namesake. It takes the form of a massive flame dragon that surrounds Kyojuro as he blasts toward his target.

He’s never actually met Endeavor, but would like to in the future!

[kyousei]

     This is not discussed in the anime whatsoever (which is a shame because it gives great insight into his mindset), but Kyojuro’s spiritual core is broken.

     (In the anime, the girl in his subconscious only states that she’s never seen a red one, not that it is broken. The anime kind of gets its appearance correct, but it looks closer to being on fire than shattered on the inside and without context I can guarantee a lot of anime-only fans missed the significance. Also, the “I’ve never seen a red one!” implies that she’s done this plenty of times which is SO dark.)

     The core itself is important, but first, let’s talk about the realm it is located in.

     This is his subconscious, the truth of his mind, the area that cannot lie about what he’s truly feeling no matter how loudly he proclaims that he is fine.

     The world is uncontrollably on fire, and while fire can mean passion and love and even transformation in some cases, this fire is destroying the world Kyojuro is keeping it in. The tiles are cracked, with some missing entire sections. We can see the grout between them is molten and the world is filled with black smoke. It is unbearably hot, uncomfortable, and dangerous. This is not a hospitable, passionate place; this is a place set on destroying itself. It is the sun in a literal sense — burning up all its fuel in order to provide light to others and eventually it will collapse in on itself.

     But, back to his spiritual core.

     His core didn’t used to be shattered on the inside. Once, when his family was whole, so was his core. He was to be a diamond, with his mother’s impossible expectations and father’s harsh training, and he is, but even diamonds can shatter with enough pressure and at the right angle. Diamonds are strong, but they are not durable.

     The first cracks came when his mother died. Yet because of his status as eldest son while his father began spiraling into a deep depression, Kyojuro did not grieve. He took care of Senjuro the best that he could and all the love he had for his mother was also given to his little brother. He bandaged it with the promise to care for Senjuro like their mother.

     Again when it was clear his father wouldn’t make the choice to help himself. Shinjuro didn’t retire from being a Hashira honorably, he simply decided to stop being one. Shinjuro drowned himself further into alcohol, beat his eldest son, reprimanded Kyojuro every chance he had and spat insults twice as often. Kyojuro bandaged his core with the idea that their father would pick himself up again when he could take his place as the Flame Hashira.

     Every loss of life he witnessed, every time Senjuro cries, every moment that Kyojuro is unable to help the weak that his mother desperately wanted him to protect is another chip breaking off his spiritual core. He comes off as humble when he calls himself “pathetic” and “worthless,” but he says those things because he believes them. His proclamations of victory and positivity are just as much for himself as they are for others.

     Kyojuro is desperately, desperately hurting and refuses to speak about it.