I will always follow

By your side

He visited Tanjiro at the Butterfly Estate quite often while he recovered from his confrontation with Upper Moon Six. Giyuu had to continuously stop himself from using his powers to heal the young slayer, his instincts screamed at him to give in and help him recover but he could not do it because Tanjiro was under Kocho's capable hands and she would know more than what she needed to know if he acted out of line. He kept reminding himself of the consequences of a slip up from his part, but even if he was sort of displeased by some things Tanjiro had done in the past, he still felt deeply for him and his little sister.

Oyakata-sama would call him if his powers were needed, he had to trust, which did not make him worry any less since trusting people was not a habit Giyuu had.

He spent some time sitting by the young slayer in silence, just making sure he kept breathing, that he was comfortable, that nightmares did not disturb him. He had crossed paths with Kyojuro more than once but the former Hashira kept his head down and his mouth shut so Giyuu did not feel the need to have a conversation with him.

He also visited Nezuko, she seemed quite ecstatic at the opportunity to enjoy his scent and she liked the attention. He told her stories, even if he was not sure she understood them and played arts and crafts. Zenitsu was usually with her if he had no other mission to go to and, even when the loud boy would never be Giyuu's favorite person in the world, he was good to her and that was all that mattered.

It took less time than what he would have wanted to cross paths with Uzui. Giyuu had nothing against the shinobi, actually he was glad that he was doing well and had gotten out of the fight with Upper Moon Six with his life, but Uzui was... a lot. From his bedazzled headband that had become an eye patch to his flowery vocabulary.

"Tomioka! My unflashy friend, long time no see." His voice disturbed the quietness of the Butterfly Mansion. Giyuu cringed at his loudness and freezed in the middle of the hallway. Uzui's broad shoulders blocked the door to Tanjiro's room almost completely and Giyuu wondered if it would be wise to go first to visit Nezuko instead of sharing his space with the retired Hashira. He decided against it, if Uzui had just opened the door it had to mean that he was leaving.

Wrong, it seemed.

"Uzui-san," Giyuu replied in his subdued tone of voice and ducked under his big right arm to step into the room. The other man closed the door behind them and walked to Tanjiro's bed to rest his side against it, leaving the chair free in case Giyuu wanted to sit.

"So... how have the Hashira meetings been after I left?" Uzui asked awkwardly with a big smile that was mostly fake and a little bit uncomfortable.

"It is the same, we have more missions now to make up for the lack of Hashira," Giyuu deadpanned, still standing in the middle of the room as if he were not sure if he wanted to stay or if he should leave as soon as he could.

A bit of silence passed and neither of them knew what they were supposed to do, Uzui drummed his fingernails against the bed frame and refused to look at Giyuu categorically. The Water Pillar, on the other hand, fixed his eyes on the floor at his feet, he counted the lines of the wooden floor and twisted the red part of his haori in between his fingers.

"How are you... habituating to the eye and the hand?" he asked, maybe out of worry, maybe out of curiosity, maybe because he could feel the heavy atmosphere weighing on his shoulders as if it whispered in his ear: 'this is your fault.'

"I'm pretty good, I still look flashy with my eye patch, I waved goodbye my depth perception and my visual field... but at least Kyojuro and I match, in between the two of us we have a full functioning face," he said, pointing at his new eye patch with his remaining hand.