With Giyuu, Mitsuri and Shinobu at a Restaurant.
Mitsuri and Shinobu sat next to each other on one side of the booth looking at the server who had come to help them. Giyuu, sitting by himself across from them stared at the menu, clearly looking for something specific.
"Okay, can I please have, 2 orders of the Tonkatsu ramen with extra Nitamago, 3 of the spicy tuna rolls, 2 orders of tempura, 1 order of the cold soba, and 4 orders of the Sakura mochi." Mitsuri happily told the waitress.
"Okay, and will that be all for the table?" The waitress asked.
"No, can you please get me 2 orders of ginger Tsukudani?" Shinobu asked.
"Of course." The waitress said taking down some notes.
"Actually can I get one of those as well?" Mitsuri asked.
"Yes that's no problem." The server added, shocked by the amount of food the girl was going to consume.
"And for you sir?" She asked Giyuu.
"Do you serve salmon daikon?" Giyuu asked.
Of course. Shinobu thought.
"Yes sir we do."
"Can I get 2 orders of that?" He asked.
"Of course, will that be all?" She asked again.
Shinobu and Giyuu looked to Mitsuri who still looked unsure.
"Yes, that is all."
The server turned and left, leaving the 3 Hashira.
"So Tomioka-san is salmon daikon your favourite dish?" Mitsuri asked excitedly.
"Yes it is." Giyuu said.
"Why is that, do you like the taste of salmon? Makes sense for the water Hashira." She said laughing.
"My... sister made it for me a lot when I was young." Giyuu said sadly.
Shinobu tensed up and looked at Mitsuri who instantly knew she'd accidentally found sensitive subject.
"Tomioka-san, I'm sorry." Mitsuri said.
"There's no need to be sorry, you did nothing wrong." He replied.
"So, Tomioka-san, how has teaming up with Shinobu-chan been? I must admit I was a little jealous, I did wanted to be partnered up with her myself." Mitsuri asked, quickly changing the subject.
"It has been good." Giyuu said.
"Aww, Tomioka-san, I'm flattered." Shinobu said placing a hand on her chest.
"She does that a lot, and makes fun of me quite frequently, but without her I wouldn't be here right now." He said, face and tone still emotionless.
Shinobu blushed and gave him a genuine smile.
"YOU ALMOST DIED?" Mitsuri asked, clearly misunderstanding what he meant.
"No, I just mean that Kocho has... made me more social." He said.
"Well hold on Tomioka-san, without me you might have died as well, you're not exactly the self-preservation type. Or do I need to tell Mitsuri-chan about my first visit to your estate." Shinobu teased him, receiving a trademark Giyuu sigh.
"You have to tell me! You can't just dangle information over my head like that and not tell me. Please tell me Tomioka-san." Mitsuri begged.
"It's... not important." Giyuu said, attempting to steer the conversation away.
"Tomioka-san, please I'm begging you I need to know." Mitsuri pleaded.
"Fine, tell her Kocho." Giyuu said, caving once again to the puppy dog eyes of the love Hashira.
"I think you should tell her Tomioka-san, consider it practice." Shinobu teased, clearly enjoying seeing Giyuu squirm under Mitsuri's interrogation.
"Fine. I had been released from the butterfly mansion after a rib injury on a mission, I went home and rested, after completing the recommended resting period I returned to training. I trained too hard and passed out, Kocho arrived at my residence and took care of me." Giyuu explained.
"That is so." Mitsuri started but received a quick poke from Shinobu under the table.
"Reckless, Tomioka-san." Mitsuri finished, she was going to say romantic but decided against it, much to Shinobu's delight.
"I know." He conceded.
"I believe you are missing the details of the situation, in order to make it seem less serious than it was." Shinobu said, causing Giyuu to look up.
"I don't think I did." Giyuu argued.
"You see Mitsuri-chan, I had discharged Tomioka-san with a cracked rib and severe bruising of his mid-section, with explicit instructions to rest for at least a week or until the injury had completely healed." Shinobu started.
"Yes, I was there for that, that was the day I found you with Tomioka-san half naked in your room." Mitsuri teased, causing the two to avoid eye contact with each other.
"Yes, well. I received a notice from my crow that Tomioka-san and I had a mission together, so I made my way to his estate as we had agreed. Once I arrived I knocked several times and didn't receive an answer, I expected he was ignoring me as per usual, so I just walked in." Shinobu continued.
"I heard a loud banging noise coming from outside, so being the caring partner I am, I assumed he was in battled with a demon, so I readied my blade and leapt into action to save my poor partner." She said, earning a groan from Giyuu.
THEY ACT LIKE AN OLD MARRIED COUPLE, IT'S SO CUTE! Mitsuri thought, struggling to contain herself.
"But it turns out Tomioka-san here was just training, at an insane intensity might I add. You should've seen it Mitsuri-chan, the training dummies he has set up were completely destroyed. He had also been slashing at a tree with a very heavy, blunted blade but there were several massive gashes in the wood."
"Wow, that seems extreme Tomioka-san." Mitsuri said.
"Yes, I realise this now." Giyuu responded, clearly annoyed.
"So again, being the incredible partner I am, I quickly rushed to him, noticing me he turned and called out my name Shino... He said, but quickly began to cough terribly, producing some blood and then, BANG!, He collapsed to the floor."
"He called you by your first name?" Mitsuri asked.
"Well he certainly tried." Shinobu said laughing, not realising what Mitsuri was thinking.
"Tomioka-san that's so cute, you two are on a first name basis when you're alone?" Mitsuri asked, this time noticeably more excited.
"I... Don't remember that." Giyuu said keeping his gaze away from the two.
"Mitsuri-chaaaan." Shinobu said in a singing voice.
Knowing what this meant Mitsuri slowly turned to look at Shinobu before nervously speaking.
"Y...Y...Yes Shinbou-chan?"
"May I please just continue the story?" She asked, a large smile being present on her face.
"Of course, please go on."
"Thank you Mitsuri-chan."
"Now, I nursed Tomioka-san back to health like a diligent partner and then we went on our mission." Shinobu finished, with a smile.
"I must say it is quite a story, but it's less juicy than you made it seem to be." Mitsuri said, disappointed.
"You left out a part as well." Giyuu quickly said, Mitsuri's head popping up in excitement.
"What are you talking about Tomioka-san?" Shinobu asked, glaring at him, clearly sending a message he did not receive.
"We didn't go on the mission straight away, you made me rest for a day." He said.
"Well that's not that big of a deal to miss, she made you sleep and she came back the next morning? Way to get my hopes up Tomioka-san." Mitsuri said dejectedly.
"But she stayed the night at my house, she said she had to take care of me." Giyuu said, receiving another glare from Shinobu.
"But wait. Tomioka-san didn't have another bed in his house until today." Mitsuri said, pausing for a moment.
"OH MY GOD SHINOBU-CHA..." Mitsuri's mouth was quickly covered by Shinobu.
"Be quiet Mitsuri-chan." Shinobu said, clearly not wanting more attention to come their way. After receiving an affirmative nod she let the girl go.
"You two slept in the same bed?" Mitsuri finished, her face a deep read, steam beginning to flow from her ears.
"No." Giyuu said flatly.
"B... B... But you have no more beds?" Mitsuri asked, still hopeful.
"I own a futon, I slept on it in the living room." Giyuu said, fully ending the love pillars hopes.
The three continued their small talk, Giyuu's typical flat tone contrasting Mitsuri's over eager one leading to quite an interesting and comedic conversation. The waitress returned with their food, making multiple trips in order to get all of Mitsuri's food to her. As the three began to eat Shinobu sneakily looked at Giyuu to see if something would happen like that night in the wisteria house. Sure enough it did. As Giyuu ate his food rapidly, the look on his face changed from one of indifference to one of happiness. The huge smile that now decorated his face being just as rare as anything else in this world.
Shinobu nudged Mitsuri, who momentarily stopped eating and looked at her friend confused. Shinobu pointed at Giyuu with her chopstick and smiled. Mitsuri looked and saw the scene Shinobu was pointing out, her eyes widened in shock and she forgot all about the food she was just devouring.
Tomioka-san is smiling? I can't believe it. Mitsuri thought, still not moving.
"Get back to what you were doing, if you stop he'll notice and it'll be weird." Shinobu whispered to her friend.
The three continued eating their meals, Shinobu and Giyuu obviously finishing first. The three talked amongst themselves in between Mitsuri's mouthfuls of food. When the three had completely finished eating they exited the restaurant, leaving a shocked waitress and happy owner behind after realising the amount they or rather Mitsuri had eaten. The three walked towards the entrance to the town, preparing to return home
"Thank you both, I enjoyed tonight." Giyuu said honestly.
"You know Tomioka-san, if you enjoyed this maybe you should reconsider your position on attending the after meeting get togethers with the other Hashira." Shinobu suggested.
"Maybe I will." Giyuu said.
"That would be amazing Tomioka-san, I mean I've had a great time with you two today and I'm sure the other Hashira would love to talk with you as well." Mitsuri said, her eyes filled with hope.
"I don't know about that." Giyuu said.
"It's fine Tomioka-san, just go at your own speed." Shinobu said, placing a hand on Giyuu's shoulder.
SO CUTE. Mitsuri thought.
"Again, thank you both for tonight, but I will now be returning home." Giyuu said, turning to face the two.
"Wait Tomioka-san, why don't you come and stay the night at the butterfly mansion with Shinobu-chan and I?" Mitsuri said, shocking Shinobu.
"We were going to stay up later and talk more about everything going on in our lives, maybe talk a bit about our romantic interests." She continued, winking at Shinobu.
"No thank you." Giyuu said, causing Mitsuri to lower her head and Shinobu to shoot him a quick look.
"Sorry if I offended you, I'm still learning. I only meant I need to prepare my estate for when Kanz.... I mean Aoi, comes to stay." Giyuu apologised, realising his mistake.
"Oh, that's okay then, goodnight Tomioka-san." Mitsuri said happily.
"Yes good night Tomioka-san, I'm sure we will have a mission soon so please no more passing out, I wouldn't want to have to make Oyakata-sama wait again." Shinobu teased, but noticed a pained look in Giyuu's eye.
He turned and left with a nod.
"Mitsuri-chan, did you notice something off about Tomioka-san just then?" Shinobu asked.
"No I didn't, he probably just ran out of social interaction for the day, you can't expect him to be completely integrated straight away. Unless you perhaps noticed something special because the two of you are in love." Mitsuri teased, getting close to Shinobu's face.
Shinobu slightly blushed causing Mitsuri to squeal.
"SHINOBU-CHAN YOU'RE TOTALLY BLUSHING." Mitsuri yelled.
"You got so close to my face so suddenly, I just wasn't ready for the sudden exposure to your body heat." Shinobu attempted to explain.
"Sure thing, whatever you say Shinobu-chan." Mitsuri said, clearly unconvinced.
The two made their way to the butterfly mansion where they stayed up simply enjoying each others company. Close personal friendships between demon slayers wasn't the most common occurrence due to the dangerous nature of the profession, so the two enjoyed the sense of normality that their time together brought.
The Next Day (Afternoon) With Shinobu.
Mitsuri had left, not wanting to spend too long at the mansion in case she was suddenly pulled away on a mission. Shinobu had completed her daily tasks and was spending time with the girls of the mansion, she braided Sumi's hair, while Naho and Kiyo played with each other. Kanao and Aoi were practicing their swordsmanship against one another, Shinobu being pleased with the process the two were making.
She was interrupted by the flapping of the wings of her crow.
"*CAW* Shinobu, meet with the water pillar in the mountain town Yoshino, there have been reports of potential lower moon activity in the area. *CAW*." The bird called out.
"Thank you En, I will leave immediately." Shinobu replied.
"Okay girls, Aoi this may be the last time I say this but, I leave the mansion to you." Shinobu said with a smile.
"I won't let you down Shinobu-sama." Aoi said determined.
"Okay, I'm just going to get my field medical supplies and I will take my leave. I will see you girls when I return." Shinobu said, turning to leave.
Taking out a map Shinobu looked at where she had to travel, Yoshino was near the capital, meaning she would have to take the train again. Considering it was already the afternoon she would probably have to stay in a wisteria house if there was one on the way to her destination. Pinpointing the location and finalising her route and packing her medical supplies Shinobu began her journey.
Hey guys so I know I don't really say it but like I really appreciate any votes and comments. Like knowing that you guys are enjoying what I write is awesome so yeah thanks for those, especially you MCOury1998, been here since day 1 and voted for every chapter so special shoutout you.