Chapter Text
Kyojuro knew that his comrades relied on him to always be smiling. However, he was finding it increasingly hard to smile on this mission.
The demon was somewhere in this giant forest, and yet it had been three days and neither Kyojuro nor Tomioka (who was his companion on this mission) had seen hide or hair of it.
There were no nearby villages to eat from and Kyojuro was hungry. It was the fourth day of the mission, the sun once again filtering through the trees and signalling that the two hashira had once again failed to locate the demon.
The two were settling in to rest for the day. Tomioka was setting up two bed rolls to sleep on, as quiet as ever.
Kyojuro's stomach was groaning for food. “I'm out of rations.” He told Tomioka. “Do you have anything left?”
The water hashira looked up, his eyes dull. The man shook his head, “no.”
Kyojuro dragged a hand down his face. “Okay. That's okay.” He paused, considering. They needed food, they needed to keep up their strength to fight this demon. “We might need to call it quits and come back later. I don't know how much longer I can go without food.” He admitted to Tomioka.
The man looked faintly startled, like the idea hadn't crossed his mind. “I… Can get food…” Tomioka said. His voice was quiet and stilted.
“Really?!” Kyojuro asked brightly. He had no idea how Tomioka was planning to get food.
Tomioka hummed and nodded. Then, to Kyojuro's shock, he reached into his pack and pulled out an entire bow and quiver of arrows.
“I. Wha-” Kyojuro gaped as Tomioka deftly notched an arrow. He watched as one, two, three, arrows went flying.
The loud birdsong that had been echoing from the trees stopped. “You should make a fire.” Tomioka said dully, like he hadn't done anything unusual.
Then, he got up and without another word, walked off in the direction he had shot his arrows.
Kyojuro did not make a fire. He sat on the ground, head in his hands and pondered life.