'...' : internal thoughts/monologue
".." dialogue
It's the late flower hashira Kanae's passing where she died fighting valiantly against upper moon 2, and the Master Kagaya Ubuyashiki asks Giyu to meet with him privately.
"Oyakata-sama, is there something you need?" Giyu inquired.
"Ah, not much actually, but how is it going in the area you patrol?" The master asked.
Giyu tried to remember if anything important happened during his patrolling but couldn't come up with anything of significance.
"I'm sorry to say, but it's been somewhat uneventful, Master. However, I did meet a demon who was close to being at lower moon level, but I killed it. The demon didn't have a blood demon art but had incredible speed which would have been troubling for non-Hashiras to have dealt with," Giyu reported.
"I see, it's a good thing that the demon was dispatched before it could become a threat. Oh, I forgot to mention, the area that you patrol is fairly close to the one that Shinobu patrols. If you don't mind, starting tomorrow, I could put you two on a mission. It could be a bonding experience amongst the Hashira. You and Kocho do seem to be close, so I don't think you would mind," the master told Giyu.
'Me and Kocho patrolling together?' Although the Water Hashira didn't mind that much of the idea of patrolling with Shinobu, he remembered the times when she would constantly tease him.
"Moshi moshi, Tomioka-san, are you there? It's rude to ignore a lady, you know?" she said one time.
"Tomioka-san! Do you know if you keep ignoring me or people in general, people will start to think you are socially inept!" She said with a sly grin. That was one of the times she teased him. The next mission she also kept teasing him.
"Tomioka-san, this is why no one likes you," she said in a fairly cheery voice.
Though she can be annoying to deal with, she doesn't actually intend to be mean. Giyu would come to find she is actually pretty caring.
"Kocho, why do you keep saying you don't like me? If you don't like me then don't go on missions with me, go with Shinazugawa or Kanroji-san. I already know I'm utter trash! You don't need to keep reminding me.." He shot back at her. He didn't want someone to keep reminding him he was utter trash because frankly, it was making him remember some unpleasant memories.
"Tomioka, sorry, I would never call you utter trash." Her expression darkened.
"Although I tease you a lot, I don't actually mean it. I really do care about you and would never think someone as strong as you would be utter trash. We are friends, Tomioka-san. So since when did you think I thought of you as utter trash?"
Giyu's expression softened a bit, but he remained silent.
'She thinks of me as her friend? I guess friends tease each other, so maybe I'm overreacting?' The Water Hashira thought to himself.
"Tomioka-san, if you don't want me to tease you, then it's fine. I will stop with the teasing-"
"Kocho, it's fine. Teasing me is probably just part of our friendship," Giyu said after cutting her off.
"Do you want to patrol with Shinobu, Giyu?" The master asked the Water Hashira.
Unfortunately for the master, Giyu was zoning off, remembering his times with Shinobu, so he didn't quite catch what the master was saying.
"Ahh Giyu, you are reminiscing about Shinobu? Alright, it's settled then. For the next six months, you and Shinobu will patrol the area together."
'How did he...' Giyu was stunned that the master knew what he was thinking about, but then again, the master was the leader of the corps for a reason; his foresight was unmatched by anyone else. As Giyu was about to get up, the master interrupted him.
"Giyu, there was also another reason why I wanted to bring you here. As you know, today is the late Flower Hashira, Kanae Kocho's passing. Her death has affected us in many different ways; even Sanemi was a bit shaken from her death. But the person who was the most affected is Shinobu. Giyu, I fear that she isn't doing too well today. Her crow reported that she was unavailable today. If you may, would you please comfort her for today, Giyu Tomioka?" The master explained in a somber tone.
"Master, I doubt someone like me would be able to comfort her, I'm not the one that you should be asking."
"I see, Giyu. You will come to realize that you have a greater influence on people than you would think." The Master concluded.
Giyu pondered on what the Master meant by 'You will come to realize that you have a greater influence on people than you would think'
Giyu was walking out of the Ubuyashiki estate when he remembered he had an appointment with Kocho.
"Tomioka-san, please come to the estate for weekly checkups," was what she told him a while back, and today fell under the day for the weekly checkup.
It took him a few minutes to walk to the estate. When he entered, he was greeted by Aoi Kanzaki, who was learning medicine under Kocho.
"Water Pillar-sama, is your checkup today?" Aoi asked Hashira.
Giyu nodded, and Aoi told him that Shinobu wasn't available for the checkup and because Aoi's skills weren't as good as Shinobu's, the checkup would have to be postponed to a later date.
"Is Kocho sick?" Giyu asked Aoi. He wasn't sure why the Insect Hashira wasn't available for the checkup, so he assumed she must have come down with a flu or some sickness.
"Yes, Water Pillar-sama, she got sick during a mission and will need some rest," she lied. It was because she couldn't tell the Water Pillar the true reason why she wasn't available.
'If Kocho's sick, then I should go check up on her,' Giyu thought to himself. Without saying a word, he started walking to Shinobu's room.
"Water Pillar-sama, where are you going?"
"....." He didn't respond.
Aoi realized he was going to Shinobu's room but decided to let him. She knew that maybe Giyu could make her feel better.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting shadows across the estate, Giyu found himself standing outside Shinobu's room. He hesitated, unsure of how to proceed. But the sound of muffled sobs from within convinced him to do something
Gently, he knocked on the door, "Kocho" he called softly.
The door creaked open, revealing Shinobu's tear-stained face. "Ah, Tomioka-san, i'm not feeling very well so could we do the check up tomorrow?" she asked, her voice attempting to mask her pain with a forced cheeriness.
Giyu's heart clenched at the sight of her sorrow, his resolve solidifying. Without a word, he stepped forward and enveloped her in a gentle embrace.
Shinobu stiffened at first, surprised by Giyu's sudden display of affection. But as his warmth enveloped her, she found herself melting into his embrace, tears flowing freely from her eyes.
"T-tomioka-san you shouldn't be here." she said as she silently sobbed
"That doesn't matter,Kocho, why were you crying?" Giyu questioned her softly, his voice barely above a whisper.
Then it hit him. Today was the anniversary of Kanae's passing.
"Is it because of... your sister's death?"
Shinobu nodded, her being speechless due to the overflow of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. But in Giyu's embrace, she found a sense of warmth she hadn't felt since her sister's passing.
"Tomioka, I-I-I miss her, why did she have to die, n-now I'm all alone," she let out as she weeped (She stopped using formalities since she's crying in his arms, so there wasn't much need for formalities. I'll give an in-depth explanation as to why in author notes at the end of this chapter)
"Kocho, there are many things we ask ourselves, I ask myself why demons exist, but in the end this world is full of mysteries that we do not know the answe-" Giyu was abruptly cut off.
"I don't care! I just wanted to live a happy life with Nee-san. WAS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR? I HATE HIM! I WANT HIM DEAD! I YEARN FOR THE DAY WHERE I CAN RIP HIS LIMBS OFF!." Shinobu yelled angrily. still deeply saddened, but also... deeply in rage.
Giyu could sense Shinobu's sadness. He lost his own sister, but when he told the town that a demon killed her, no one believed him. He didn't have a shoulder to cry on. Instead, he had to spend nights crying in his bed, cursing at God for taking his dear sister away from him.
Seeing Shinobu this vulnerable almost broke him in some way. He now understood why the Master wanted someone to keep an eye on Kocho today.
He cared deeply about Shinobu, she was his colleague, his friend, maybe his only friend, and in a way, he sees her as his little sister, and like an older brother, he would never want to see his sibling cry.
Giyu tried his best at comforting her, he didn't know what to say and tried to come up with a way to comfort the little Woman in his arms.
'Sigh, what would Tsutako do'
He remembered the time when he was crying and Tsutako comforted him
It all began when Giyu was in Tsutako's room snooping around, he didn't exactly have a reason to be in her room, but it was one of those annoying moments when a younger sibling snoops around in your room.
'Huh? What's this?'The young boy had a notebook in his hand which he found in his sister's cabinet.
'Is this some sort of book Nee-san bought?' Giyu had never seen a book like the one that he was holding but was excited to find about the contents in the book so he decided to flip to a few pages.
'March 17, 1903'
'It's been a few years since mom and dad died, taking on 2 jobs has taken a toll on my sleep schedule, as Giyu has gotten older he needs to eat more food to become a strong young boy, unfortunately I still make the same amount of money so I won't be able to buy more food, but If I eat a bit less, than Giyu can eat more and then won't have to be hungry.'
By the time Giyu was done reading he was in tears. He realized that what he was reading wasn't a book but a diary and Tsutako was writing her thoughts in it.
'Nee-san... is eating less food because of me...' the thought of his sister eating less just for him broke him down, he realized that the countless times his sister gave him food from her plate because of "oh Giyu it's fine really! My boss gives us all food to eat so that we can work, plus I'm just a woman and women don't need to eat that much!"
Overwhelmed with sadness, Giyu decided that maybe he was a burden on his sister. In his mind, it's the truth, he starts considering ways to not be a burden on his sister.
'I could get a job, but I doubt they'll hire me since im only 11 and can barely lift anything, maybe, i could run away, settle somewhere far from here but I don't know what will happen to me after that, I might survive or I might die' The word "die" repeated in his mind many times, and then he realized, the solution, it was so simple...
..
..
..
..
He'll just end his own life. Giyu found some rope and made a noose with it and tied it to the chandelier in the kitchen. He wraped it around his own neck and jumps off the stool, The rope was slowly strangling him
'Nee-san, I'm so sorry for ever being born, it's my fault you had to sacrifice your teenage years just to look after me.' By ending his own life, he was giving his sister a new one, a life where she could enjoy everyday life and not have to worry about his stupid, ungrateful and annoying little brother.' Or so he thought.
However, god had other plans
Tsutako came back from her job and was entering the kitchen. 'It's strange that Giyu wasn't waiting for me at the door.' Little did she know she would find the reason a few moments later.
She walked into the kitchen and found the horrifying sight of a rope around her own, precious and adorable brother.
She immediately grabbed a knife and cut the rope, catching giyu in her arms.
"GIYU!, HOW COULD YOU!" She yelled, tears were running down her face, she thought her brother was dead and that she had failed as a sister. Thankfully for her, giyu slowly opened his eyes as oxygen re-entered his body.
"Giyu, how could you do this to yourself, WHY would you do this to yourself?" more tears were streaming down her eyes, she didn't know what she did wrong, was giyu sick of her? Did she not make him happy enough? All those thoughts intruded her mind.
"Nee-san... how could you... How could you give me all that food, while not eating for yourself, on top of that you.. You even lied about already eating food!" Giyu yelled at her, he was tearing up even harder than she was.
"Giyu... How do you know about that?" Tsutako was shocked at the revelation, she didn't tell anyone about it either.
"You wrote in your book that in order for me to get big and strong you ate less food so that i could have more..."
'Oh crap I forgot about my diary, but I left it in my cabinet.... Oh he must've been snooping around in my room' She quickly realized her mistake.
"Giyu.. what in God's name could have led you to do all of this in the first place? How could you even think of taking your own life!" She was sad, sad for giyu, mad at herself for not being able to make his dear brother happy.
"It's all my fault!' Giyu exclaimed.
"It's my fault that you couldn't be happy and were not able to enjoy your life, instead you had to end up taking care of your annoying and bratty little brother!" He lashed out at his sister.
"It would've been better if I was never born, then maybe you would have enjoyed your life without having to take care of me," Giyu said in a low voice, still loud enough that Tsutako heard it through.
"ENOUGH! ENOUGH OF THIS GIYU!" Tsutako yelled, Giyu was pretty shocked, his sister had never yelled, let alone yell at him, she was like a flower in a way, but some flowers have thorns that are out of sight.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'ENOUGH!" Nee-san... you were only 14 when you had to take care of me after mom and dad got murdered! You couldn't even make friends because you were stuck taking care of me! What makes you think that's normal?" He shot back at his sister, because frankly, to him Tsutako was spouting nonsense.
"Giyu, what makes my life beautiful is that I have you... my precious, cute, funny, kind and sweet brother... Everyday when I wake up next to you, I realize just how precious life is... because of you. Whenever I see your smile, I get a renewed sense of hope that maybe, I could raise you right and make sure you become a fine young and handsome man in the future...." she trails off.
"That is why, I CANNOT ALLOW YOU TO TAKE YOUR LIFE JUST LIKE THAT! IF YOU WERE GONE..." Her heart starts feeling heavy
"WHO'WILL I EAT WITH AT THE DINNER TABLE?" She feels as if its a bit harder to breathe every passing second
"WHO WILL GREET ME EVERYDAY I GET HOME FROM WORK?" Tears start forming in her eyes again.
"WHO AM I SUPPOSED TO WRAP MY ARMS AROUND DURING MY SLEEP?" A tear rolls down her cheek
"WHO WILL I WAKE UP NEXT TO EVERY MORNING?" More tears start rolling down her cheek.
"Whose smile is supposed to make me feel better..." Many tears start rolling down her face as she starts sobbing.
Giyu is left stunned, his sister, his full grown sister, is sobbing because of his foolish idea that he should take his own life so that his sister could be "happy" but now sees the ugly truth, if he had actually succeeded in taking his own life, his sister would be more broken than anyone could ever imagine. It would be as if her heart was made of glass and he had just chucked it out of a window, disregarding her feelings. The result would be thousands of shattered pieces of glass, but now knew all too well that her sister's heart would've actually been broken to a million pieces if he had succeeded in his idiotic plan.
"Nee-san... I'm so sorry for being a selfish bratty brother, I promise I will never think of such thoughts ever again!" he told Tsutako very adamantly.
"Good... because if you do, then I could never live with myself..." she said as she pulled Giyu into an embrace and started rubbing his black and rough hair. She thought to herself that hopefully a women finds him attractive because most of the women she knew wouldn't be interested in long black hair
In the present Giyu decides to rub her hair to coax Shnobu's sobbing.
'I hope that'll help' The water pillar thought to himself, in all fairness it did seem like it was helping slightly as shinobu's breathing was slowing down slightly
'Well now, once she's composed herself I better get going' Giyu thought to himself, he was in an uncomfortable position as he was kneeling and the additional bodyweight from Shinobu made it rather uncomfortable for legs and he could feel them going numb.
As Giyu was still comforting Shinobu he heard the worst possible sound that she could've made at the moment, she was snoring, yep that's right, the Insect Hashira was sleeping in the arms of the Water Hashira, Giyu knew that it would be fruitless to try and get out of the situation without waking her up.
It then struck Giyu that if anyone were to see them together like this, they would certainly get the wrong idea, he shivered at the thought of Mitsuri finding them in this very scandalous position, by the next morning everyone in the Demon slayer Corps would know about the story of the insect pillar in the water pillars arms, albeit the very exaggerated version of the story that Mitsuri would spread
Giyu's face had a deadpan reaction.
'I am in big trouble if Kanroji sees us like this' He thought to himself, it would be a pretty big inconvenience if people thought that he and the insect pillar have something going on behind the scenes, but frankly he was starting to wonder about the possibility him and Kocho being together
'Absolutely not. Once I die I can finally atone for killing my own sister and even my two best friends. Kocho deserves a good man, not a killer like me.' Even after all these years, he still felt guilty for the death of his older sister, and his best friends, Sabito and Makomo. It really is sad circumstances, blaming yourself for other people's deaths when you had nothing to do with it, it really isn't a sustainable way of thinking
He started remembered his conversation with Shinobu he had a while back, it was during the night after one of his checkups with the insect hashira
After the checkup was over he decided to go to the roof of the estate, the moon was full and as it lit up the estate he couldn't help but remember the times when him and his sister would gaze upon the moon
"Nee-san! What's that?" Giyu said as he pointed to the moon
"Oh giyu, that's called a waxing crescent! I thought they taught you that at school?" His sister replied very enthusiastically, such good times... he could've spent his entire life with his sister and not have a single complaint, the love between the two siblings would be expected as they were the only surviving members of their family, but soon enough, Giyu would be the last member of his family.
"Moshi mosh, Tomioka-san! My my were you zoning out once again"
Although being the Water Hashira of the corps, whenever he zones out he can't seem to be able to focus and loses the ability to be aware of his surroundings, thus why Shinobu was able to catch him off-guard.
Giyu turns his head towards the Pillar and was somewhat annoyed that he couldn't gaze upon the moon without a disturbance, after a few awkward minutes Shinobu breaks the silence
"Tomioka-san, what is your type in women?" She asks him with a rather sly grin on her face
Giyu had actually never had a type in women so he began to think about it, but because the whole reason he was on the roof of the estate was to gaze upon the moon which had brough back bittersweet memories with his sister, all he could think about was Tsutako and after a few moments he gave an answer
"My sister," He replied.
'Nani? He likes his sister??' Shinobu was rather shocked at the answer the stoic Water Hashira gave, she never knew he liked someone, let alone his own sister!
"Oh my Tomioka-san, that's a very shocking revelation...., but you do know that it would be heavily frowned upon for siblings to get married right?" She let Giyu know.
Giyu was very confused as to what Shinobu was talking about but when he thought back to what he said he started connecting the dots and once he realized what Shinobu had thought he meant he was rather dumbfounded.
'I think they were onto something about not giving word answers sigh' He thought to himself
"Kocho, I didn't mean it that way, I meant someone that's like my sister, kind,smart,caring and beautiful"
Shinobu realized her mistake and was about to explode due to embarrassment but realized that it was Giyu's fault she got the wrong idea.
'That idiot shouldn't have given such short answers when people ask him questions!' She thought to herself,frankly she had a good point but when it comes to giyu all logic is thrown out the window.
"Ah, sorry Tomioka-san, but you know... I think I would fit into your type of woman" she chuckled at First
...."Well, everything but Beauty." She finished
The awkwardness in the air was very evident as they hadn't said anything for a few seconds but then someone unexpected broke the silence once again.
"Wrong." Giyu told her firmly
"Hm? Tomioka-san, what could you possibly mean by that?" she asked him as she rolled her eyes.
"What I mean is.. you are actually rather pretty, If you weren't a demon slayer I'm rather sure that someone would've given their hand in marriage by now, although hopefully it would be someone you like." Giyu replied however in a rather quiet voice, probably due to the fact that he's never complimented any woman other than his sister like this.
When he turned to shinobu she was still looking down however she had a warm smile on her face which took Giyu a bit back.
'That smile... how nostalgic.' The smile reminded him of his sister for a few brief moments, not just the smile however, but shinobu's aura was rather similar to his sister's in that moment.
"Thank you.. Tomioka-san." Shinobu was feeling rather warm inside, ever since Kanae died her self-esteem took a big hit, it was nice receiving a compliment from her fellow hashira, in fact she felt as if she was rather special as the least expected person to compliment a woman had complimented her.
'Now that I think about it, Kocho must've thought she doesn't look pretty, although after I told her she was wrong I do think that she has better confidence in her looks. Sigh, I hope she will learn to love herself.' Giyu finished his monologue, he also suffered from an inferiority complex but this one is arguably worse than Shinobu's.
Shinobu had still not woken up and Giyu himself was getting drowsy, he had been in the same position for 2 and a half hours so anyone would get tired from that, as the minutes went by his eyelids were getting closer and closer to shutting until finally...
The unmistakable sound of snoring could be heard.
Somewhere else in the estate
Mitsuri, Rengoku and Gyomei could be heard entering the estate.
"KYAHH RENGOKU-SAN HOW WERE YOU KEEPING A STRAIGHT FACE EVEN AFTER MY CAT SCRATCHED YOU!!" Mitsuri squealed, they were in the estate and were looking for Shinobu because Mitsuri had invited Gyomei to play with her cat and Rengoku tagged along, the cat didn't have any problems with the gentle giant however when Rengou tried to rub his belly he was a bit too aggressive and in return the cat scratched the back of Rengoku's hand. They decided to go to shinobu since she would most likely know what to do.
"TIS' BUT A SCRATCH MY YOUNG STUDENT!" Rengoku yelled very enthusiastically
"Kyojuro, Kanroji, tone it down, we wouldn't want to disturb Shinobu." Gyomei holds a special place for Shinobu in his heart as he was the one who saved Shinobu and Kanae, after Kanae died Gyomei sensed there was something off about Shinobu but did not question her as he thought she was grieving in her own way.
As the 3 Hashira walk towards Shinobu's room Aoi intervenes.
"Shinobu-sama is unavailable today." she told the hashira's as she bowed.
"Eh? What could've happened to Shinobu-san?" Mitsuri replied, she was rather curious as to why the Insect Pillar wasn't available.
'I can't let them go to her room! For all I know Water Pillar-sama could be doing things with Shinobu-sama!.' Aoi thought to herself because she realized that Giyu hadn't exited Shinobu's room for 2 hours and was rather concerned at what the two could be doing.
"Shinobu-sama is very busy at the moment." Aoi knew she couldn't let the hashiras enter the room as they might witness an unholy sight.
"That's Nonsense! Shinobu-san can't be that busy!" Mitsuri wasn't exactly listening to Aoi and was starting to march to Shinobu's room.
"Pillar-sama! Please wait!" Aoi exclaimed, but it was too late as she had already seen it.
"KYAAAH!!" Mitsuri exclaimed.
Authors notes:
This is the first time I've written a story. SO PLEASE SEND ME YOUR FEEDBACK, I DON'T CARE HOW BRUTAL THE FEEDBACK IS BUT I NEED TO SEE IF PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY ENJOYING MY FAN FIC!!
A little info about me: im a 14 year old male, i like romance, quite a bit.
The reason why shinobu said "Tomioka I-i-i miss her." without including the "san" after his name is because in japanese "san" is used if you two aren't that close however shinobu was literally in Giyu's arms so they were pretty close in that moment, plus i realized it wouldn't sound that good if she included the "san" in that moment.
Fun facts!
After shinobu started sleeping in Giyu's arms she had a nice dream about kanae, most of the other times she has a dream, it's always a nightmare about Kanae blaming shinobu for her death
In the story im planning on not having Giyu or Shinobu blush at each other for the goofiest reasons, it doesn't fit their personality at all, they CAN blush, however they're gonna blush for some actually decent reasons and not because Giyu hugs Shinobu or if Shinobu says something seductive to Giyu,
Oh yea here's a little bit of spoilers for the plot of my story, it is gonna be an EMOTIONAL ONE AND A SAD ONE ( don't worry though not because some of the hashira's are gonna die but because i'm making this story deep as hell such which will hopefully resonate well with you viewers.) so buckle up y'all cuz this i'm hoping i give a unique fan fiction which delves into the emotional aspect of Giyu and shinobu