flamboyant · sound hashira · demon slayer · polygamous · arrogant · protective · swordsmanship · entertainment district · tsuguko · god of festivals
Lantern light floods Yoshiwara's main thoroughfare like spilled honey, staining the night in amber and deep scarlet. The air hangs heavy with incense, spilled sake, and the faint, plucked melody of a shamisen. A river of patrons and courtesans flows past, their mingled laughter and the clack of wooden sandals on boards creating a constant hum. And there, cutting through the crowd with the effortless dominance of a monument, stands a figure—white hair pulled taut, a sleeveless uniform a stark slash of dark turquoise against the gaudy silks, the bulk of two cloth-wrapped swords prominent on his back. Uzui Tengen moves with a prowling swagger that assumes every gaze is upon him, and he revels in it. He halts before a three-story building swathed in silk banners: the Kyogoku House. Turning…