Song: Cosmic Love (Florence+ the machine)
Taisho Era
(Minor spoilers)
Giyu has been in the butterfly estate for rehabilitation after he successfully slayer a strong demon in his mission. It was night time and the room was filled with snores of other demon slayers who were rehabilitating.
"So much noise...." He groaned about the snoring people.
He wasn't able to sleep for two hours past bedtime. He tried to sleep and even cover his ears by the pillow but that didn't stop the snoring for penetrating into his ears. His eyes were gloomy and widened by the noise and then he gave up.
He sat straight on his hospital bed and looked outside. The night sky was beautiful today. All the stars were twinkling.
He wanted to go outside and have a better look on it but he knew that the girls working in the estate as helpers would certainly be checking on the patients, especially Aoi, with the two ponytails, who's very strict and would not hesitate to scold him back to bed. But he had an idea in mind.
He took some pillows from the vacant beds and placed them on his bed and covered them with the sheets on. It almost looked like a person sleeping and he quickly tip-toed his way to the rooftop. The path was clear and he faced no problem as he reached his destination.
To his surprise, he found a small figure sitting on the rooftop, it's hair dancing along with the wind and it was short. He recognised the person who was none other than the insect pillar and the master of the estate, Shinobu Kochou, herself.
He first hesitated to step forward but soon enough, walked past her and sat far beside her. He looked over the sky filled with stars more than what he saw from the window.
"You like stargazing, don't you, Tomioka-san?" The lady asked without looking at him. He heard and looked at her. Her face was visible by the shining night sky, her eyes reflecting the light. She was looking more beautiful than usual to him, and now looking at her with her hair down too, without the butterfly ornament. His eyes widened at the sight as his lips parted but soon came together when he turned back his gazes to the sky from her face.
"Yes... It's quite beautiful today." He remarked.
"I like stargazing too! Finding constellations, the most twinkling star out of the sky and everything that can't make you feel tired. It helps me to have better dreams too, since you look at them at the very last moment before you go to sleep or close your eyes."
"Yes..."
Shinobu glanced at the focused water pillar. His dull eyes now reflecting the light of the sky, making it beautiful. Sure thing he was one good looking guy in the corps but his deadpan expression and the cold personality didn't make him get along with the others. Shinobu rather made the effort to talk with him than the others. Kyoūjurou did talk to Giyu but after his last mission in Mugen train, he was again, a bit, left alone. She looked back at the sky so as to not show him that she was staring him.
She never felt tired once whenever she started stargazing. Same went for Giyu too but, today, rather tonight, after seeing each other and then going for stargazing made them a bit bored. They irregularly changed their sitting styles and positions to sit comfortably and continue their stargazing but that didn't work.
Rather than continuing the stargazing, they got to sit close to each other. They realised it and soon gave a bit distance between each other. Shinobu was the one to start a conversation whenever the two went or worked together but this time, it was Giyu.
"Kochou's hair is down today..."
"Why, yes it is. Got a problem? Does it look bad?" She shot up. Getting a slight tint of pink on her cheeks.
"No..."
"Then?"
"Kochou looks beautiful when her hair is down."
That made Shinobu blush a bit more. Hearing a compliment from the cold water pillar made her happy as she did had one sided feeling towards him. Same went for Giyu as well. The more number of times she talked to her and he talked with him, he liked her company even more. Because even though she teased him or sometimes annoyed him, he liked being around her. Not to mention, her 'real' face made him like her even more than the usual smile she carried along all day.
"Tha- thank you, Tomioka-san."
"Kochou should keep it down often."
"Okay, I will think about it... but your hair is down today too, Tomioka-san! You look good too whenever it's down, you know!" She said and his eyes widened. A compliment from her made him feel fuzzy and light hearted all of a sudden.
"No one told me that... Kochou's the first one to point that out and tell me. Thank you..." he turned and looked at her, giving her a smile after he thanked her. She noticed his smile and her heart started to beat fastly. She usually tells him to not smile as he did whenever he had salmon daikon. She found it creepy and non-suitable on him but this time, she liked it. She blushed as his smile made him more handsome than usual. She gave back a smile as well to him.
All of a sudden, a breeze came, a cold one. Their hair danced with the breeze as they kept the staring contest for a few more seconds. The breeze turned into a more stronger wind, colder than before and she saw him shivering a bit. She had a blanket with her so she thought of sharing it with him.
"Here! Have some of this. You'll catch cold." She offered as she took it off from herself.
"You'll catch cold too."
"You're still healing, Tomioka-san! It's better to cover yourself up and prevent yourself from catching cold since you have to go back to slaying demons again. You're a strong swordsman after all." She told him. His eyes widened as she snarled and told him to cover himself up.
He took the blanket from her quietly and put it aside. Shinobu got a bit confused at this action of his but then suddenly a large hand grabbed her shoulder from the back and pulled her towards him, closing the gap between the two. She flinched at his sudden move and soon found herself and him covered by her blanket together. She blushed and looked at him who was looking at her as well, their faces only a few inches away.
"Kochou will catch cold too if she didn't cover herself to keep warm." Her eyes glistened. He added. "The blanket's big enough to cover both of us. So I don't see a problem in sharing this with Kochou as well."
She blushed more as she clutched on the blanket and looked at him. She then smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.
"You're a good person, Tomioka-san! I like being around you for this reason even though you annoy me most of the times." She hugged on his arm a bit tightly as her warmth passed to him as well. He liked this warmth and to her action, he responded by holding her hand grabbing his arm inside the cover firmly, feeling the softness and warmth of hers. He blushed and looked back at the stars, as he rested his chin on her head.
"I like being around you as well, Kochou. I also find you annoying sometimes, always buzzing into my ears that nobody likes me like a mosquito- OUCH!" Shinobu slapped his arm when he called her a mosquito.
"Do you wish to ruin such a good moment, Tomioka-san? That's why nobody likes you." She complained as she pouted. A soft chuckle passed from his lips.
"No... not at all, Kochou. I was going to say that 'even after that habit of yours, I still like being around you' after that." He explained.
"I know that's an excuse!"
"No."
"Okay, okay. Whatever you say but since you like my company with you, then I will make salmon daikon for lunch for you tomorrow." She said. She turned and saw him, giving a small smile and blushing. She cringed. "Don't give me that face, Tomioka-san!"
"Thank you, Kochou!" He thanked and pulled her back to him. She again rested her head over his shoulder and looked back at the sky. He looked there too, holding her hand firmly in his to which she didn't mind.
They felt warm. That night, maybe the thought of stargazing wasn't a bad idea after all.
-xxx-
Hey fellow readers! Did I not post yesterday? Yes, I didn't. I know that I am regular but at the moment I won't be able to do so because my new sessions for classes are gonna start soon.
But I will try to keep the intervals for posting new one shots a bit less in number of days because I know that most of you don't have patience. Anyways, the book again crossed more than 100 reads from last time, i.e., 350+ reads!!!! Thank you so much. My work doesn't get this much attention and I am hoping to get more in future.
Please keep doing this awesome work of giving my book a read and vote. Always been grateful for that!
See you in the next Oneshot!!! Loads of love<3
P.s.: Sorry for reminding that our blazing boy is dead ( ಥ_ಥ )