"You make a horrible parent"

Chapter 10: Out in the snow

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Summary: How Giyuu and Muzan met. Oh, what a story it was.

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Giyuu was running through the trees, rushing to get back down the mountain. He sent a report back to Kanzaburo to get back to the master about his mission. He was thinking about Nazuko...should he tell Kagaya about it? What about his fellow Hashira's? What if Nezuko will run out of control? Can Urokudaki handle it? What about Tanjiro?

He slowed down. This thick snow is really taking a toll on his body. That Tanjiro boy... has potential. He can become a great water hashira, even greater than he is. Not like he was supposed to be a water hashira in the first place.

The blizzard is getting stronger, he might freeze to death if he stays here. Should I find shelter first? He thought. The forest was already dimming down. Nightfall was never a good thing.

Giyuu felt tired, he slowed down and started to breathe heavily. These little attacks of his have become more frequent recently, he never really knew why. Giyuu glanced around, looking for a little place to stay in the meantime. There, he spotted a tree with a big enough crawl space for him. 'Good enough' he thought to himself.

He carefully made his way into the space and ducked under the trunk. Giyuu crawled in and sat down, catching his breath.

"This snow is too thick to see, it's dangerous–COUGH" Giyuu coughed violently, 'shit' he thought. 'I forgot to take my medicine this morning.' The water hashira slumped, relaxing for a bit. Then, he saw something in the distance. Giyuu squinted his eyes. What the hell is that?

It was faint but Giyuu could smell it. Blood. The blood seemed to be at least a day old. Such a strong lingering scent. It made him sick.

Giyuu wiped his mouth and stood up, staggering slightly.

He saw the figure tower over something. What the hell is that? Giyuu went closer, he noticed that the snow started to calm down a bit. Odd but okay.

That's when he noticed it. Blood. Frozen from the snow, his eyes widened as he was not expecting this. The man slowly turned his head towards him.

His red eyes stared at Giyuu who was slightly crouching and holding his chest.

Giyuu can feel his heart rate go faster. Was this a demon? His eyes are an unnatural color...

The water hashira got into a stance. It was odd, he didn't sense anything. Could he perhaps be an uppermoon?

Slowly, Giyuu raised his sword "Who are you?" He asked, hesitating. The man didn't respond.

He seemed to have long hair and was dressed in Western-style clothing. His red eyes shined against the white snow and his attire is colored in black. His hair curled, and he had this cold yet angry look on his face as if he was offended by Giyuu talking to him.

"You demon slayers are so annoying" Giyuu heard a voice behind him. He quickly swung his sword but only for him to be blown into a tree.

He tried to stand up but his body ached. 'Seriously?' He thought 'On the day I forgot to take my meds?'

Giyuu wasn't weak, no. In fact, he was stronger than most of his peers. However, due to his health issue, this forms an obstacle for him.

He coughed, blood coming out of his mouth. The metallic taste invaded his tongue.

Giyuu wiped his face and held his sword tightly, He leaped and tried to go in for a blow 'Water breathing, Sixth form; Whirlpool!' he made his move.

"Impressive" The man suddenly appeared on his left side before he could even finish. "But not enough" He felt as if his back was about to break when the man slammed him down into the snow. Giyuu's body slowly turned a light shade of red trying to warm him up.