▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄
┊┊┊✧ ⁺ ⁺╚══ Snake Pillar ╝
Premise: Love isn't always something beautiful, wanted, expected. Iguro had always been in love with Mitsuri, but that didn't stop his Tsuguko from falling for him.
Word Count: 3686
Warning: Main character death, spoilers of the main manga timeline.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Spring, everyone’s favorite season was now here.
The Sakura trees were in full bloom in the capital, the streets filled with beautiful petals flocking around the chilly wind.
Animals and humans alike were now getting intimate to bring new life to this world.
The perfect season for demons to go rampage in town.
After a two weeks long mission along the fire pillar, you were summoned by Oyakata-sama and his wife, the reason was unknown to you but the messenger didn’t seem to be carrying bad news.
“(Y/N) my child. You’ve proven to be the best of your generation; we’ve both been talking, and we think you should be upgraded to Tsuguko. I believe you have the potential to be our next pillar.”
That caught you off guard, yes, the mission was very intense, but if it wasn’t for Rengoku-san you would have died, at least four times. You considered yourself just one more of the bunch, nothing special, besides your bond with the fire pillar that is. You both got more than along, were in complete sync, and everybody knew about this, even your master.
“That would be an honor, Oyakata-sama. If I may ask for something selfish, is it possible to…”
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The pillars were summoned for a brief meeting a few days later, the crows didn’t elaborate on the reason, but it didn’t seem urgent, so they all arrived at their own pace.
Once Oyakata-sama arrived, they all took their respective place around the leader, excited to see their master.
“My beloved children. Sorry to call you with such a short notice, I have some good news that wanted to share with you.” this didn’t happen often, usually the meetings were about important upcoming missions or bigger troubles, but he looked awfully calm this time around.
“(Y/N) has proven her worth in countless missions and the last one was her last trial; she will be officially our new Tsuguko starting tomorrow.” Rengoku’s smile was so bright even Gyomei could feel it. He was radiating fire at this point, as proud as one could be.
“Sanemi, I think you’re the perfect match for our little (Y/N).” this caused said smile to drop to the floor in seconds, he was sure he would be the chosen one.
“With all due respect, Oyakata-sama. I can see the logic behind it, she does have great wind affinity, but I honestly don’t think she can withstand my harsh training, wouldn’t it be better to send her over to Rengoku?” Ah... Shinazugawa…such a lovely man, thought Rengoku as his smile was slowly returning to its rightful place.
“Yes, I thought so too, they do have amazing chemistry. But you know I always listen to my wife; she insists she’d be better off with you.” that left Sanemi speechless and a little bothered, he really didn’t want to train a little spoiled brat, he was already busy at it is.
“I can sense your discomfort, Sanemi. And let me lift those worries out right now, even if we both agreed you should be the one, (Y/N) herself came to us asking if it was possible to be trained under Obanai’s lead, she didn’t even know who she would be sent to by then, but she made her preferences known, and I respect that.” Iguro had a coughing attack at the news, having to place a hand on the ground to recover.
“She did what?” Rengoku was beyond heartbroken, he even forgot Oyakata-sama was the one delivering the news, he would never disrespect him in any way, but this was shocking.
“Rengoku.” Himejima clapped his hands loudly, making Rengoku realize what he had done, throwing himself on the floor at once. “I’m sorry for my behavior, Oyakata-sama. Are you sure…she said that?”
“Lift your head Kyojuro. She did, it sounded like she had a reason though. Why don’t you try asking her?” with a short nod, he went back to his seat, crestfallen.
“Obanai, I know you didn’t want a Tsuguko. But she’s the best we have right now, please make sure to train her properly and don’t be too harsh on her, she asked nicely, must really want to be under your care.”
Iguro was losing his cool. He wasn’t only getting a Tsuguko against his will, it was a girl at that. And not just any girl, the girl majority of the guys around the corps had a crush on, even the almighty fire pillar. He didn’t want this, not in the slightest.
“Iguro-san, Iguro-san! (Y/N) is so, so, so, cute! You’re so lucky! I envy you so much!” Kanroji was pulling from her braids in despair, she had been begging for a Tsuguko and had wished for a cute girl to dot on and talk about boys, you were the perfect candidate.
“Oyakata-sama, as I’m sure you know, I’m not good with girls. How can I have a female Tsuguko?” his breath was ragged, his head was spinning, he really didn’t want any of this. “Can’t you give her over to Kanroji?”
“My children,” his tone wasn’t as loving as it usually is anymore, sending chills down everyone’s spine, “This is not an auction, Rengoku and Kanroji might want her, I wanted her under Sanemi myself, but she wants you, Obanai. I’m being as fair as I can be, she’s the one who must be trained by you, the one who will suffer the consequences of this decision, and it has been made, there’s nothing more to argue about. You are all dismissed.”
They all got up from their seat, walking out to the garden as soon as he spoke, Sanemi collapsing on the floor with a satisfied long sigh, “Safe.”
Rengoku on the other hand was quietly sulking behind a wooden post.
Iguro was just there, trying to regain some air back to his lungs and to process what had happened, his loyal friend hissing on his ear trying to offer some sort of comfort.
“Iguro-san! Don’t doubt to call me if you need help! I’m a girl too, we get each other. Maybe I can even steal from time to time and smother her with love after your harsh training! Ahw! So exciting!” Mitsuri was swaying on her feet, daydreaming happily of who knows what atrocities.
“Will do….” his voice was nothing but a whisper, his feet safely guiding him back to his state. Life wasn’t on his side, he’s always been aware of this since he was a child, but this, this was just too much.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
You were in the serpent state with your bags by sunrise, ready to fully immerse yourself in the experience, a bright smile on your face.
Iguro, who just woke up was definitely not ready for this, not even saying good morning he jumped right into the matter that barely allowed him to sleep last night, “(L/N) why did you ask to be my Tsuguko? Wasn’t Rengoku a better fit? I’m sure we can get Oyakata-sama to reassign you if we both go toge-“
“I want to be trained by you, Iguro-san. Is that a bad thing?” your eyes were glossy, disappointment painting your features. He wasn’t trying to make you cry, he was just not the right man for the job.
“Why would you want that? You know my training is rough right? I won’t slow down just because you are a girl.”
“I am not expecting you to slow down. I just thought Tsugukos were chosen by affinity. I think you are the coolest Iguro-san…I would like to inherit the snake breathing techniques one day…” this was the first time someone called him cool, this was specially surprising coming from someone who’s been near Rengoku for the longest time.
“Not everyone can do this. You have to have a connection with the species-“ your eyes were glued to the beautiful snake around his shoulders, a childlike expression on your face. “You just want to touch Kaburamaru, don’t you?” his eyes were full of realization, he caught you.
This made you giggle, the snake skillfully wrapping around your arm on its own, quickly enamored by you. “Maybe…”
The ridiculousness of it all made Iguro accept his fate, his snake friend seemed comfortable enough with your presence, he is always friendly but not to this level, you probably had potential for his breathing style by the looks of it, he had to give you a chance to prove yourself.
“Go drop your stuff in the empty room by the entrance, I’ll see you in the training grounds in ten.” He’s never seen such a bright smile before, Kanroji had the most beautiful there is, but your smile was different, it felt warm, you were probably rubbing on Rengoku for too long, it had to be that.
Throwing it to the back of his mind, he moved on with his day.
He had a Tsuguko now, training would be his priority for a while.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Rengoku was still in shock, even if an entire day had gone by. He was sure you guys had a thing, or was it just his imagination?
You don’t just hold hands with random people, right? He wasn’t the most experienced in the love department, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t just him, the longing in your eyes each time you saw him, the way you smiled at him so brightly, so tenderly, it couldn’t be all in his head.
He wanted to see it with his own eyes, so he headed to Iguro’s training grounds, he needed to hear it from you, the reason why.
You were exhausted, panting on the floor after a very long training morning with your favorite pillar. Kaburamaru was laying on you, sunbathing on your belly, making you giggle as you caressed his beautiful scales. Iguro was watching the interaction from up a tree, you didn’t know he was there, but you knew he had to be close otherwise the snake would have left after him already.
He was about to leave when Rengoku arrived, his worried expression made him want to stay a little more. In all truth, he was still wishing you would change your mind and go with the fire pillar, but after training you all morning he wasn’t as discouraged to train you anymore, you had more than enough potential to be a pillar and Kaburamaru loved you, it wasn’t easy to find someone so compatible with his own skills, it would honestly be a shame, even if he didn’t want to accept it.
“(Y/N) dear, is your training for the day over? I wanted to have a word with you…” getting up gently, you set the little snake down on a patch of grass before heading your way over to him. “Sure, Kyo-san. What’s up?”
“I…I was wondering why you chose to come to Iguro instead of being with me. We have such an awesome connection, having you teaming with him instead will be devastating for me.” he was more heartbroken than anything else, he couldn’t care less for the missions, he could do it all by himself, he just enjoyed them so much more since you started tagging along, he misses you already.
“We do, yes.. I just…well you know how everyone’s scared of him? I just think he deserves a chance; nobody wants to be his Tsuguko and I think we could potentially get along one day, he’s great with animals, and so am I. Don’t you think I could be a good serpent breathing representative? I don’t think I could do cool things with fire like you do.” your heart was so big, it was one of the things he loved about you, he couldn’t be upset anymore after hearing your reasoning.
“And what about good old Rengoku? He needs a Tsuguko too you know? I will miss you…” his voice dropped along with his hand which now rested on your waist.
“Good old Kyo-san has a cute little brother that will eventually come to be in his care, he doesn’t need me.” your cute giggles were music to his ears, he really did like you, a lot.
Iguro on the other hand felt uncomfortable watching this whole thing. So you felt pity? Was that it? You wanted to be with him so he wouldn’t end up being the only pillar without an apprentice? He didn’t know how to feel about this, it didn’t feel good, but it also made something fuzzy bloom in his chest.
“Oh? So he’s cute, huh? Is he cuter than me? Am in troubles?” a low chuckle rumbled in his chest, his hand tugging you closer to him.
“You might be~” poking your tongue out at him in a teasing manner, you ran away from him and headed inside the serpent state, “Gotta take a bath, see you later Kyo-san!”
Iguro came out of the tree to pick sleeping Kaburamaru up, Rengoku glaring in his direction. “Didn’t peg you as a stalker, Iguro.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but this is my state. Now, I would like to make it clear from the start that I expect you to stop clinging to my Tsuguko. She needs to train hard; distractions are not welcomed.” he didn’t know why he was saying all this, words were just coming out of his mouth on their own.
“Weren’t you into Kanroji? Why does it matter to you if I cling to her or not?” raising one of his intimidating eyebrows up, he scoffed. “I well, what? No, I’m not. But she has nothing to do with this. I just don’t want you parading around my state all day, that’s all.”
“I’m not here to see you, so I don’t see why it bothers you this much. But ok, I will leave my time with her reserved for after training hours, then I get to have her all to myself.” without another word, he headed to his own state, his heart felt a bit lighter now that he cleared things up with you, but he’s never heard Iguro talk this much, it was a bit concerning.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
One thing about Obanai is that he wakes up early every morning, even before the sun’s up.
The reason why being he just didn’t want anybody to get a the slightest glimpse of his unwrapped self as he takes a bath, other members of the corpse share the space and he didn’t want anybody to be even more on edge because of him.
You were the contrary, always late, falling asleep was your worse flaw and he hated it deep down in his guts, but he was glad in a way as he never had to encounter you bright and early when he is most tense.
That was until this day.
You weren’t what you would consider ‘early’ you just didn’t sleep at all, there were a lot of things in your head and coming from a difficult mission with lots of death plaguing it would of course cause you to lose sleep. So you decided to take a bath and start stretching while you waited for your training session to start.
You bumped into him on his way out of the bathing area, making both of your towels fall to the ground. Crouching to pick both up you apologized profusely. “I’m so sorry Iguro-san, I didn’t know there was someone in the bath already!”
He was paralyzed with fear, his face out in the open for everyone to see.
You tried not to stare, but this was your first time seeing his face properly. “Don’t look, I’m hideous…” he tried to cover his face with a bucket nearby, your hand reaching over to stop him from doing so.
“There’s no such thing as a hideous person, Iguro-san. I can understand you being self-conscious about the scar, we all obsess over something in our body, I personally don’t like my thighs, that’s why I cover them, but people say they’re nothing out of the ordinary, even if to me they’re awful.”
Mumbling behind his sleeve, he peeked one eye out to look down to your succulent thighs, “They’re fine…why would you hate them?”
“And why would you hate your beautiful face? Makes no sense to me~” giggling past him, you went inside the bathing area, needing to hurry as your trainer was up already.
“B-beautiful? What-…” scoffing, he headed over to his room, quickly wrapping his face away from the world as he usually does. You were indeed a weird one, always seeing the best out of every situation, it was honestly refreshing, but difficult to handle for someone like him.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Time skip~
You’ve been under Iguro’s care for over a year now. You’ve perfected the first three breathing techniques, surprising him with your progress.
You were good, he was even fearing Kaburamaru would leave him and become your partner full time. Who can blame him though? After all this time seeing you around every day, he gets now what people see in you. Not only were you pretty, but you were strong, considerate, kind, selfless. Definitely a match for Rengoku, not him.
You were now sure of his undying love for Kanroji, she would visit him often, eat lunch together, he even bought stuff for her constantly, it was painstakingly obvious they both liked each other. As it was how much Rengoku liked you.
You on the other hand had mixed feelings.
Of course, Rengoku is lovely, he wanted to pursue you officially, but you had a hard time accepting his feelings. You spend all your day with Iguro, you’ve got to truly see him for what he really is, learned to accept him, entertain him, be in sync with him. You now made a great team. It was him you thought about before going to bed and as soon as you woke up. It was him who you wished to receive praises from, it was him you wanted to make proud.
Even if he was clearly in love with someone else, your feelings shifted his way without anyone’s consent.
The way he would bring you a cup of tea after a harsh training routine, the way he would sit quietly next to you eating sweets peacefully, you’ve seen his face already and wasn’t disgusted by it, he could eat around you comfortably.
The way he would let you hold onto his arm if the missions were tough. The way his eyes soften now in your presence.
You were deep in love with a man who’s heart belonged to someone else…
A mission came around for you two, a particularly tough demon had come out very near a village booming with tourists. It needed to be contained and destroyed as fast as possible.
You’ve seen the way his demeanor towards you had changed every time you talk, you know he didn’t think of you as a nuisance anymore, but you also knew he wouldn’t accept your feelings, and as hard as that might be, you decided to keep your feelings to yourself and treasure the relationship you currently had with him.
The demon was tougher than you two expected, even with a pillar there you were having a hard time killing him. Three women had already lost their life to his rampage, you needed to do something.
Since he seemed to like killing women, you were trying to devise a plan to lure him in and give Iguro time to cut his head off, but your head turned blank when you saw the demon sneaking behind Iguro and about to stab him right through the heart.
Panic surged through your body, inhuman speed possessing you as you rushed to his aid, receiving the blow instead.
Iguro saw it all in slow motion, how you fell to the ground, covered in blood, how the wound had pierced a vital organ dooming your recovery. His rage served as the means necessary to cut the demon’s head and send him to oblivion. But the cut was too deep, he didn’t know how to help you.
You could barely keep your eyes open when he gathered you to his chest, tears unexpectedly coming down his face slowly, one after the other, “(Y/N), no, why? Why?? You’re so stupid, how many times have I told you I’m stronger than you? I can take a blow like that! But you….just look at you….why, just why would you do this…?” your hand reached over to his face wrappings, undoing them so you got to see a glimpse of his face one last time.
“Because I love you. I couldn’t just let you die Iguro-san...” his hand came over to stop yours from fully removing the wraps, his entire being too shaken by the situation to comprehend your words.
“C’mon…let me see your beautiful face one last time…I don’t have much left…” your soft smile and trembling hand made him forgo his stubbornness, letting you remove the wraps.
“Thank you for letting me be your Tusuguko…even when you didn’t like me.” you chuckled slightly, coughing out blood while doing so, alerting Iguro and making him tighten his grip around your faint body. “I know you don’t like your face, but I will always think of it as the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. I hope you felt loved while being around me, even if it was just a little…” he nodded, collapsing to the ground fully with you in his arms. He really liked Mitsuri, everyone knew about this, but you had loved him like no one else had, openly, abundantly, and he couldn’t give you any of it back.
“Would you…remember me…?”
“Of course I will, what are you saying…you’re my only Tsuguko, I will never have another one, the techniques will die with us…” nuzzling his chest, you gave one last shaky breath, “Thank you…Igu-….” Leaving this world in the hands of a loved one has no price, makes time living among others worthwhile.
With a smile on his teary face, he bid goodbye to his only apprentice, the woman that loved him to her own demise.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The serpent state was never to be the same and he made sure of it.
He made everyone leave and remained there on his own, never taking another Tsuguko as he promised he would.
He likes Mitsuri, everybody knows that, even her, and he did till his very last breath, but he always carried with him the load you left him, the unshared feelings, the overwhelming amount of love you had towards him and Kaburamaru and always lived within him, being his companions until his arrival in the afterlife.
▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄
Masterlist
