After the successful date with Y/N, Tengen went straight back to his Estate thinking about everything they talked about and how lucky he was with today. He didn't have a mission until tomorrow so he was ecstatic to tell his wives about what happened. He didn't realize how fast he was going until he was at the front door of his Estate startling his poor wives.

"Didn't expect you so fast back" It was Makio who said this as she wrung her hands together. A nervous habit of hers.

"How did it go with Y/N?" They had all agreed beforehand that he would be the first to make contact since it was him and Makio who she was the angriest at. They were waiting for him to reply and he seemed to remember that, they all had an agreement about him making contact. He decided to keep the bout of getting attacked by his fellow Hashira to his-self. 

"It went better than I thought it would. She looked very pretty too. She was wearing the first Kimono you picked out for her Hina." Hina's eyes widen with a blush of excitement. Did she really? She thought she wouldn't want to wear anything that reminded her of them.

"That's g-great! I'm glad that she did."' He talked a little bit more about the date before getting serious. Their new pastime was deciphering and, talking about each other's diaries. They were rather thick. About 500 ish pages front to back, filled with everything from the time she started dating them all the way until a few days before she left them. They can see where she started spiraling due to their neglect. The first few nights none of them really got sleep. Just spent it reading the diaries. Hina started sleeping with the haori she left behind. Suma wears her necklace and makio wears the two bracelets she left. Him? He has a thin scarf that he keeps in his pocket.

"Do you think she would like to go on another one with you?" Suma was playing with her fingers looking at him. They all were affected greatly by what was written but, Suma felt it the most. She was extremely emotional and, cried a lot silently. 

"That is up to her but, I won't stop. Eventually you three have to make a move too. She goes to the market a lot and, she stays at the Flame Hashira residence. Her own Estate is a short distance from his as well." He looked at all three of them. As usual, they had their own diaries in tow. 

"How can we make a move when she avoids us like the plague? Can't fix something she won't allow." Makio said this fiercely while grinding her teeth. "This shit wouldn't have happened if she would have just communicated. Not a mind reader. How the hell all of us were supposed to know she felt that way? She can't keep you all to herself-" Makio was promptly stopped by a hand to the face. They all turned to Hina who had tic marks from anger all over he face and hand. 

"I do not know what the fuck is your problem, but put it aside Makio. We need solutions and, you unable to put aside your pride not wanting to accept you're a big part of the problem will lead to nowhere." Makio flinched deflating completely "Tengen is giving us solutions to bump into her. We hurt her Makio. I get it you're upset about her lack of communication but, let's read what she said again to all of us." It was rare to get Hina this upset so no one said anything as she snatched the papers addressed 'all'

"For the past two weeks, I've been trying to talk to all of them individually about the problems I feel we are having but, to no avail I have failed. For some reason when I try to talk to Hina, my angel, she is too busy sewing, talking with the others, or going on missions that Tengen sends her on. I try not to let it bother me. Now, on to Suma, my blueberry. She is very emotional and, needs to be talked to gently. She does not like having all the attention on her in a bad way and, ends up saying outrageous things. She was too busy, training, going on missions, and taking care of Tengen. I understand she wants Tengen considering she is his first wife but, I wish she would pay attention to me the way she pays attention to the others without feeling the need that one of them is being taken away. Now, Makio, the spitfire. She is so damn head-strong and her pride doesn't allow her to care and show affection but, affection is all she craves. She talks way before she thinks which is going to be her downfall. I love her. I love Suma. I love Hina. I love Tengen. I love all of them so much but, there is only so much the heart can take." 

Hina was shaking having to throw the papers down to wipe her eyes. Makio went to hug her but, she moved away from her "I don't want a hug from you Makio. I want you to stop being such a bitch and be honest with yourself. If you can't be honest with us yet, at least tell yourself the truth. I want my Y/N back no matter how long or what it takes." It was silent for a bit so, everyone can try to get their emotions underway. 

"That was only a slither of how she felt all this time too." Suma was crying but, it wasn't loud wailing. Her loud wailing wouldn't help right now. 

"I don't know how we let all of this fall under the radar the way we did... Why didn't none of us ever question why she was the only one cooking? Why did she never spend any time with us? How come we always stole each other from her whenever she wanted to be with us? How come we never bothered to see if she wanted to go on missions and to the market? Or with us to the graves? Or just out at night and during the day? How come none of us noticed how sexually frustrated she was?" Tengen was thinking this but, he ended up saying it out loud. It wasn't an issue. It needed to be discussed. 

"I-I didn't mean to act the way I did. I couldn't help it most of the time...I always want your attention and I want everything and, anything from you guys. I-I forget the meaning of sharing especially since she was always so nice and, sweet about it." Suma was still crying before her eyes widen in recognition. "THAT IS WHY SHE USED TO GIVE ME THOSE LOOKS!" They all looked at her confused so she elaborated. "Whenever I would come running every time she was talking to you, or Hina I always wanted to know what you guys were talking about. She would side-eye me and, it made me think she was talking about me. I didn't realize she just wanted alone time like you give all of us." Now Suma was standing and, pacing "A-and I used to see her make disgusted faces while cooking but, she would smile every time she noticed any of us watching her!" Makio, to their surprise, interrupted her to add her two cents. 

"I also noticed that when Tengen would praise us a lot, and she would get two or three words she would glare at all of us before her face changed. That never stopped her from helping us. She got the most grief even though she is more skilled than all three of us combined. Also, whenever he would hug, kiss, and pull us away she would stare waiting for her turn but, it never came. Her face was always so crestfallen..." Tengen was feeling shittier and shittier the more they talked. They really just ignored the signs. 

"Every time we would be intimate I would hear her sometimes cry but, by the time I had the energy or courage to move she had already fallen asleep. We all stopped hugging her, cuddling her, giving her kisses, just showing her affection. We just stopped. When did we become so selfish? Why did we think it was okay to treat her as nothing but, someone who is here to serve us?" They were crying again and Tengen bit his cheek to fight the tightening in his throat, the tell-tell sign of him wanting to cry.

"We really fucked up. There is no other way to put it. We really, really messed up." He took a deep breath willing the tightness in his throat to go away. 

"No wonder she left us, so wonder she said she was tired of us. Even after expressing to us how she feel, what we went and did? Give her Tuna. The food she is allergic to. We proved right then and there we never truly listened and cared the way she did for us." A stubborn tear rolled down his eye so, he looked to the side to try and hide it.

"We can try to fix it. We have to fix it. We could lose her forever if we keep going back and forth the way we are. We already are losing her. We have acknowledged something that was painstakingly obvious and, recognized our fuck ups whether out loud or to ourselves. Now, we need action. We need plans and, we need to execute them correctly and, fashionably." All four of them nodded with determination as they took turns speaking of how they were going to win their Y/N back. Before it was too late.

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It was about a week since you had that friend date with Tengen and, you kept thinking about him. You also happened to coincidentally bump into Hina while at the market. She was buying fruits and, vegetables. She started a conversation just talking about the food as she casually mentioned some of the foods you liked. 

"I heard that the peaches are in season. The big juicy ones. They also have strawberries, kiwis, and papaya as well as mangoes. They are over there at that big stand." She lightly brushed her hand on your arm pointing to where she saw all the fruit.

"The butcher came in with fresh meat from this morning. You should see what he has before he runs out." You gave her a small smile loving how calming her energy was. You missed her and your brain once again wanted to strangle your heart. You really needed to calm your brain down at times before it made you do something you didn't want to do. 

"Thank you Y/N. I won't keep you long, I know you have to go back to Rengoku-San's home. Be safe okay? I will see you next time." Carefully she put her hand on top of your head trailing it lightly to your cheek before pulling away. The two of you stared at each other for a bit before turning around and going towards your designation.

Now that you think about it, you saw her a total of three times and, each time was as pleasant as the last. You stubbornly didn't want to give in so easily but, you missed her dammit. Yes, they all hurt you but, you missed them more than anything. The heart was such a strange thing. Your heart wants the exact people who broke it.

"You look like you're going through an existential crisis!" You turned to Kyo who only had one good eye. He was wearing an eye patch over his left eye and, still had bandages but, he was allowed to come home to be with his family. All three of you loved it.

"I kind of am. You know Hinatsuru right?" He nodded his head so you continued "Well, I saw her a total of three times, all the times I went to the market and I spoke to her all three times. It was so lovely, so nice. I miss her so much." You were tugging at your hair as you spoke "My heart wants her but, my brain wants to drop-kick me, and my heart." He chuckled at that 

"Yeah, feelings are finicky like that. The exact thing that hurts you is what you want the most. Can't really do too much about it." Kyo offered some of his bento with an extra pair of chopsticks which you gladly ate out of. "Reminds me a little bit of my dad and mom, however, your lovers are still alive!" he gave a rueful laugh at that "My father has all the opportunities in the world to move on but, he chooses not to. Ruka, my mother, was his everything. Now for you. Tengen and co are your everything. You know this. Now, the real question is do they know and, do they care enough to fight for your love back." You stared at Kyo in awe. You never took him to be this...insightful about this topic. Looks can be deceiving though. 

"I can just tell your dad raised you right, even if he did fall off for a while. " He laughed loudly at that, throwing his head back. You knew he was just a bit embarrassed. Cute.

"I guess I have to agree with you on that!" The rest of the evening went by a little uneventful as you once again slept in a spare room. You wanted to give Senjuro and, Kyo bonding time. Senjuro was stuck to him like white on rice. He loved his brother dearly.  Maybe, it was time to shut your brain up and, meet your ex's a little bit of the way. 

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The following week, instead of it being Hinatsuru, it was Suma. You saw her four times and, you had a sneaking suspicion that they were purposely meeting up at the market. Well, you were no better. You were purposely coming to the market just to see if you saw them even if you didn't need anything. 

"Hi Y/N!" You turned around to see Suma waving excitedly at you. You half-grinned at her with a head nod. Damn your caring emotions that never quite went away. You were still upset but, you weren't going to just give her the cold shoulder 

"Hi, Suma. How have you been?" The two of you had an idle conversation during the first-day meeting as you looked around to see if you see a familiar head from the family. Suma didn't like being by herself, only if she had no choice. "Where are the others?" She simply shrugged her shoulders 

"Makio and Hina are at home and Tengen-Sama is on a mission!" Oh yeah, that's right. He along with a couple of other Hashira's were sent on missions. You forgot about those.

"Ah, makes sense." You talked for a few more before you had to leave so you waved at her going back to the Rengoku household.

That was four times this week and, you felt your heart start to swell more. Suma told you that Tengen had come back from his mission with a few bruises and cuts but, nothing that he won't heal from. You were glad to hear that he was doing okay.

"I heard Tengen's mission was successful! Right, Y/N?" You nodded your head speaking to all of them. Shinjuro was feeling a little emotional today so he demanded without really demanding that his sons don't leave his sight today. Senjuro didn't mind since it was no school and, all his favorite people were here at home. 

"It was. I spoke to Suma this week and, he's back home. Might see him again since she mentioned off-handedly going out to eat. Or maybe she was talking about herself. I am not entirely sure." The rest of you ate in silence for a bit, the Rengoku's having a little conversation amongst each other. You didn't mind at all. 

"Tengen is here." You turned to Shinjuro who was looking behind you. You turned to see low-and-behold Tengen there in casual wear. You didn't expect to see him so quickly. Or at all. 

"May I come in?" He was still standing outside. Shinjuro nodded and, Tengen removed his shoe's padding inside gently and, kneeling off to the side. "I'm sorry to intrude I just wanted to see how Kyo was doing and, to see Y/N." He and Kyo talked for a bit before the attention turned back to you. 

"I promise I won't take much of your time. If you don't mind is it okay if I talk to you privately?" He wouldn't mind talking to you in front of them. He had nothing to hide. However, he was taking into consideration how you would feel. 

"Sure." You cleaned your hands, glancing at Shinjuro and Kyo who gave an affirmative nod. With their sort of reassurance, you felt better and, headed outside to where Tengen was waiting for you to come. The two of you sat a foot apart from each other, facing each other. Neither one of you said anything. just observed. "Nice to see you're okay." He smiled a bit at that stretching a finger out to touch your knee. 

"Thank you. Your kindness is welcomed." The two of you stood quiet again just enjoying each other's company. He didn't remove his finger and, you didn't force him. 

"What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" He cleared his throat moving his eyes to meet yours. He still didn't move his finger from your knee but, he didn't add another. 

"I was just going to ask how do you feel about another little...gathering? You can choose the spot this time if you want. We can sit by that pond that grows the field of pretty flowers. We can make flower crowns as well. If that's what you want." You gnawed your lip thinking about his offer. It did sound lovely and comforting. Something that you would want. 

"Hina, Suma, and Makio won't feel some type of way, right?" It came out a little bitter but, it was an improvement from you saying 'the others' which you've been referring to them as. He smiled putting an extra two fingers on your knee. Gouging your reaction.

"Of course, they don't. Would you like for any of them to join? Or just us?" You thought about it. 

"Next time, Hina can come with us. I would like for her to come." He smiled triumphantly placing his full palm on your knee. He squeezed lightly before removing his hand completely. 

"Thank you Y/N for giving me such a glamorous opportunity!" You cracked a grin at his enthusiasm which made his eyes light up even brighter. Such, a flamboyant man. 

"The pleasure is mine Tengen." His eyes widen at the use of his name but, he smartly didn't say anything. He saw this as progress. You started calling them by their names again. He was going to win. He was going to earn your love back even if he had to fight the rest of his natural life for it.

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This chapter is a little shorter than my other ones but, no worries! I promise the next chapter will be a bit longer than this one! Be sure to take care of yourselves and, see you in the next update!