"AOI-SAN YOU WERE RIGHT, SHE IS BUSY! WITH TOMIOKA!"
"What's going on..." Rengoku was walking to Mitsuri because he wanted to know what Shinobu was doing with Giyu.
"Kanroji, what could they possi- OH MY TOMIOKA-SAN! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD SUCH A RELATIONSHIP WITH KOCHO!" Rengoku exclaimed. Frankly he knew that they were close but didn't know they were THAT close.
"Kyojuro, why aren't Shinobu-san and Tomioka responding?" Mitsuri asked her former master for an answer as she herself didn't know why.
"Hmm..." Rengoku was pondering with himself, and he decided to get closer to Giyu and Shinobu.
"AHA! THEY ARE BOTH SLEEPING IN EACH OTHERS ARMS! I NEVER NEW TOMIOKA WOULD BE CAPABLE OF DOING SUCH A THING!" Rengoku beamed happily as he was very surprised that Giyu and Shinobu were in a relationship
"Kanroji, Kyojuro, please let them be." While everyone was focused on Giyu and Shinobu they failed to notice Gyomei in the background.
'Scary!! Gyomei-san is so scary!!' Mitsuri thought to herself
"My former student! Himejima is right, we must leave them alone to do their own things." Rengoku bellowed. He realized that he should let the new "couple" do what couples do (well at least in his mind they were a couple.) After all if he himself had gotten together with a woman then they probably would've done the same thing.
The 3 Hashira exit the estate and a conversation followed suit.
"Kyojuro-san! They are finally together now! KYAA FINALLY!!" Mitsuri was the giddiest one of them all, after all she is the love Hashira so seeing two people in love would result in some sort of reaction from her.
"I agree my young student! I didn't know Tomioka-san would be getting down to business with Kocho!" Rengoku replied.
"Kyojuro,Kanroji, I do not believe they have something going on," Gyomei spoke up.
"Ehhh? Gyomei-san they are clearly into each other, why else is Shinobu-san in Tomioka's arms? Mitsuri questioned.
"She's right Himejima-san, why else would Kocho be in Tomioka's arms?" Rengoku added.
"I believe that Tomioka was just merely comforting Shinobu, today is a hard day for her after all." Gyomei answered.
"Gyomei-san, what do you mean today is a hard day for her?"
"Apologies, I forgot you two weren't pillars when she was alive" Gyomei answered
"Himejima.. What do you mean by she and alive? Who are you referring to?" Now Rengoku was intrigued as he doesnt know who the stone Hashira was talking about
"I am talking about Kanae Kocho, the former Flower Hashira and older sister of Shinobu, today was the day when she died fighting against Upper Moon 2, It was very unfortunate for all of us, her death affected Shinobu to a large extent and even shinazugawa to some extent as I have heard that he wanted to be together with her but I cannot confirm if that is true or not." By the time Gyomei was done he had tears rolling down his face.
"Ohh my, poor Shinobu-san!!, I'm glad Tomioka-san is making her feel better." Yes, Mitsuri took a whole 180 and is now glad that Tomioka is making Shinobu feel better instead of playing matchmaker.
"I-I never knew Tomioka could be so considerate! I just discovered a new side to him." Rengoku stammered
"I am also surprised Tomioka is comforting her but I am glad that he is, the quietest ones are the kindest deep inside, or so they say." Gyomei said, even more tear were rolling down his face, he never knew that Giyu could have such a considerate soul and was now viewing him in a new light
The hashira decided to leave Giyu and Shinobu be, Aoi wrapped Rengoku's scratches but couldn't put any antiseptic on it as that was locked in a cabinet in Shinobu's office
In the Morning....
Shinobu had woken up from her slumber
Shinobu Pov:
Last night, I had a really good dream about Nee-san, I think it was the first good dream after the nightmares I got everyday of her blaming me for her death, but that wouldn't be so far off from the truth, If only I didn't have this pathetic body with this pathetic strength to work with, I doubt i should even have the title of Hashira! Sigh I even disturbed Tomioka-san and he even had to comfort me, speaking of which....
Oh my, I'm in his arms! Well.. he really is a kind person to comfort me during my pathetic breakdown, I never knew he could be so considerate.
I try my best to get out of the very compromising position, good thing no one saw us like this, Mitsuri-san wouldn't let me hear the end of it if she walked in on us. I tried to get up, however my leg was numb and I crashed into Tomioka-san....
"Mmmmgh" Tomioka groaned as he rubbed his head
"Ara~ Tomioka-san good morning!"
"Sigh Good morning, Kocho, how are you feeling?"
I think he's asking me about how I was crying because of Kanae
"I'm feeling much better Tomioka-san, thank you for asking." I said with a smile, not one of my fake smiles this time, but a real and genuine one. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I gave a genuine smile. Nothing seemed to amuse me after... that day.
Giyu's pov:
That smile... I could tell that it was a genuine one, I don't know when the last time she let out a real smile but it must've been a long time. I'm glad she's feeling better. It does wonders when there is someone there for you during your harsh times, I really do hope someone better than me is the one to be there for her.
"That's nice" I tell her (he's answering her after she said "I'm feeling much better Tomioka-san")
"Oh my Tomioka-san, I just realized that you spoke more than 5 words in a single minute! That must be a record for you, am I right?"
Truth is, I do not enjoy talking to people, however since it's her I catch myself talking more than I'd like to, so i decide to be quiet this time around.
"...."
"Oh my Tomioka-san, it's quite rude to ignore-"
"CAW CAW, JOINT MISSION! HEAD NORTH TO KUNIMARI VILLAGE, DEMON SIGHTINGS, CAW CAW!"
It was my crow, Kanzaburou.
"Kocho! We have to go otherwise lives will be at risk!." I remember the 2 siblings I saved a year ago, If I had only been there a few moments sooner maybe i could've actually been useful with my skills as being a hashira but no, I was too late and the siblings entire family had gotten killed.
Not only that but the sister was also turned into a demon, what i don't get is how she was turned, From what I've learned only demon's with high concentrations of Kibutsuji's blood cells can turn normal people into demons, so going by that logic it's possible that a Lower Moon was the one that slaughtered the family.
However If that were true then the sister would have a more demonic form but she looks like a normal human but with a few key differences, so if we exclude the Lower Moons the only other group of demons that have a higher concentration of Kibutsuji's blood cells would be,..
The Upper Moons. Six of the strongest demons in history, I don't think they have ever been killed, that's how powerful they are. But even if it was an Upper Moon, that doesn't exclude the fact that they had only killed 1 family, normally the outcome would have been devastating, the entire village would've been wiped out, but no, this was a calculated attack, of one village, of one family, the only person I could think of that would show such restraint to wipe out an entire village would be...
Kibutsuji Muzan.
But, why, why target one random family?
I'll have to to share my thoughts to Oyakata-sama after the mission as me and Kocho need to get to the village as soon as possible otherwise more lives will be at risk.
Narrator POV:
Giyu and Shinobu make their way to the village, it was rather far and Giyu was running with all he had surprising Shinobu.
'Is it just me or is he going faster than usual?' She thought to herself.
After an hour of running at 100% they entered the village but were shocked at what they had seen.
Blood. There was blood everywhere, corpses everywhere, Giyu was shocked, so shocked his legs momentarily gave out and he fell on the ground(he was in a kneeling position.)
'Damn it... I've failed once again,' Giyu said internally.
He punched the ground in frustration which caught Shinobu off-guard
Shinobu's Pov:
When Tomioka-san punched the ground, I could tell he did it out of frustration. I wonder if it's because he feels guilty for not being able to save their lives. If that does turn out to be the case then I should make him feel better by consoling him.
"Tomioka-san, we must keep moving, the demon has already left the village, we should go to the head quarters to do a repo-"
"No."
Did he just cut me off? Sigh I wonder what he has to say
"I'm going to search for the demon, you don't have to come, I'll give you a report on my status every 6 hou-"
Before he could finish his sentance I cut him off.
"I'll come with you."
Giyu Pov:
Should I let her come with me? If I do then it could be helpful as we can cover more ground, I also feel like well... she could use some company, she's always alone and from personal experience it's best to have someone for emotional support. However would it be considered a waste of resources as 2 hashira's are tracking down just one demon? But then again there's a chance that it could be a Kizuki, sigh It's a gamble but maybe this could also serve as a bonding experience between the two of us, and I also of course... would want to make sure she is doing alright.
"Fine." I told her.
"Great, so where do you think the demon could be? If you are so adamant on finding this demon have you at least gotten any ideas as to where the demon could be?" she asked him.
She has a point, if I'm going to be so persistent in finding this demon I'll need a way to track it down before it kills any more people.
"The bodies, they might have a clue." If me and Kocho inspect the bodies then we could find a little bit of information on how this demon kills.
"But our mission is to track down the demon and exterminate it so what would be the point in inspecting the bodies of Tomioka-san?"
Oh right, I forgot our main mission is to find and kill the demon but it would be beneficial to see what we are up against, in the case this is a Kizuki, Possibly a member of the Upper Ranks though I doubt that would be the case.
"It would be in our advantage to see who we are up against, we need to know how our enemy kills," I explained to her.
Shinobu's Pov:
He does have a good point, if we do manage to deduct how our enemy kills we can find out their way of fighting and if they use a weapon or not.
"My my Tomioka-san, I didn't know you were so sophisticated in logical thinking." I tease him.
"Kocho, we are wasting time, let's split up so we can cover more areas to investigate." He told me, sighhh he really does want to kill this demon, it's admirable in a way but why is he so dedicated to just one demon?
Narrator Pov:
Giyu goes to one of the corpses which was a few meters away. The victim was a young female, around 15-17 years old, she had lacerations across her chest and stomach, it was a gruesome sight.
"My my, Tomioka-san do you even know what you are doing?" she said softly into his ear
Giyu was startled upon her saying that, firstly because well... she was actually only a few centimeters from his ear so if she tripped her lips would either make contact with his ear, or his cheek, both being unpleasant outcomes, secondly, he thought he was actually doing something and being helpful but Shinobu proved otherwise.
"Tomioka-san, tell me, what do you see?" she asked him, pointing to the dead girl.
"She has a few lacerations across her chest, a gash in the stomach area and a few cuts here and there." He replied
Shinobu somewhat facepalmed internally, 'sigh he isn't getting the full picture.' She thought to herself
"Tomioka-san, look closely at the wounds, then tell me what you see." She told him she was trying to teach Giyu on how to look for the smaller clues that go unnoticed but unfortunately, Giyu wasn't quite getting it....
"I.. Don't see anything of significance." He answered.
"Tomioka-san if you look closely at the lacerations, the injuries are quite rough as if a demon with something like a serrated edge were to slice human flesh"
'S-serrated edge..." Giyu thought to himself (there's a good reason why he stuttered internally but you guys won't find out until the end of this mission arc.)
"I see, so now that we know what this demon uses as a weapon we should start looking for where it could've gone" Giyu replied, since he wasn't very well-versed in the medical field he didn't notice the gashes were rough.
"Alright, where do you think the demon could've gone?" Shinobu asked Giyu, they needed to rack their brains together to find the demon after all.
"Well, for starters we could try and predict where the demon could've gone too, there's a town 3 kilometers away, However we would be taking a gamble as we do not know for sure if the demon has gone there," Giyu explained to her.
"We could go to the town, however we could also use our crows to scout the region and receive any reports which would be rather helpful in finding the demon," Shinobu tells Giyu, she does have a point as the crows would actually be quite useful in surveillance.
"Alright then," Giyu replies.
The 2 Hashira start making their way to the town but along the way, a problem arises.
As they were running shinobu didn't notice the root of the tree that was protruding from the ground and tripped on it, not only that but there was a somewhat decently sized rock (around the size of a head) on the ground and Shinobu's knee made contact with the rock at a great amount of force.
"MMPH!" she winced in pain.
"Kocho!" Giyu yelled as he ran back to his hurt comrade.
"What happened?" Giyu inquires, he didn't see how Shinobu got hurt so he needed to know what exactly went down.
"I tripped on something, I think it might've been a rock or branch and then my knee made contact with a bigger rock, god i'm so useless." She informed Giyu.
The next few moments could only be described as surprising as Giyu lifted Shinobu up and carried her in a princess carry.
"Tomioka-san, you know I could just piggyback you right?" she asked him as she wasn't so sure why a princess carry was the first thing that came to mind.
"Well, we still have to run for another 10 minutes until we get to the village, If you were to piggyback ride me it could be somewhat hard to run as your body weight would keep shifting and I might lose a hold of you, and it would be more comfortable for you to be in my arms while I'm running," Giyu explained, he did have a point as piggy back riding someone while they are running can be uncomfortable for the one riding the person.
"Considerate as always Tomioka-san." She said with a warm smile.
"Or maybeee... this is all a rouse to get a chance to princess carry a lady?" She said with a sly grin on her face.
".." Giyu kept running
"Ara ara, seems as if my deduction was spot on," she said.
"Don't be ridiculous," Giyu spoke up, he didn't like Shinobu getting the wrong idea about his intentions, when someone gives hospitality they expect some form of gratitude, but that isn't the case with Giyu and Shinobu, the latter often teasing the former for any particular reason no matter how small it may be.
The 2 Hashira's arrived at the town which was bustling with activity as it was around 2 pm. Giyu finds a medical clinic which caught his eye and was about to take shinobu there when she spoke up.
"Tomioka-san, you don't happen to be planning to take me to that clinic a few yards away, do you?" She said with an annoyed look on her face, after all, she herself was a doctor, She had also already done a diagnosis on her knee and concluded it was just a minor inconvenience as there wasn't any injury to the knee.
"Someone needs to check you-" Giyu started to say something but Shinobu cut him off.
"Tomioka-san I already diagnosed my knee and there isn't any injury, mind you we are trying to locate a demon so we can't bother to waste any time."
Giyu decided that she did have a point and put her down from his back.
"Alright, we should probably interview the locals and see if anything is going on." Giyu told her.
"I guess we could but there is a chance we won't get any useful information, Tomioka-san," She replied.
"Ok," Giyu said.
"We could ask that man over there, I doubt we'll get any useful information but it's worth a try" Shinobu told Giyu.
"Well it's a start so lets get on with it." Giyu replied.
The two Hashira went up to the man for an interview...
"Hello, excuse me mister but do you have a moment?" Shinobu asked.
"Huh? Uhh yeah sure I guess, what do you want kid"
Shinobu's Pov.
Did this guy mistake me for a child? Oh my, that makes me very mad. But sigh to be fair I do have the stature of a young kid, anyways i'm here for an interview, not to pick a fight with civilians.
"Have you noticed any disappearances of people who have died around here? Me and my partner over there are investigating disappearances and killing around this region, so we would like it if you told us everything you knew." I told the man, that since Tomioka-san and I don't have any more effective means of finding this demon, we'll have to ask people about it.
"Well uhhh, my daughter went to a village nearby, I think it was called Kinimuri or something."
Kinimuri? Or does he mean Kunimari?
"Kunimari." I corrected him.
"Yeah well she went to the village as it was where she was going to meet her fiance I'm pretty sure."
When I heard that my mind immediately went to that girl's corpse me and Tomioka-san and I were investigating, I wanted to speak up and tell the man that his daughter was most likely dead, I say most likely because I don't know for sure that was his daughter, but Tomioka-san speaks up
"Sir, your daughter, at least to the best of my knowledge, is dead," Tomioka-san says, I want to reprimand him as he revealed information that shouldn't have been revealed but unfortunately it's already too late as the realization sets in his eyes.
"No-NO-NO THAT CANNOT BE!" the man yelled at Tomioka-san, sigh guess i'll have to intervene for this one.
"Sir, please calm down, what my partner failed to mention is that 'to the best of his knowledge your daughter is dead' In Fact there were multiple bodies so it's not a guarantee that she is dead." I only reveal that there were multiple bodies as it would be idiotic to reveal a whole village was massacred.
"THAT DOESN'T CHANGE SHIT! THE CHANCES OF HER BEING DEAD ARE STILL HIGH!" The man yelled at me, I realized that if I get a description of his daughter then maybe I'll know for sure if she is dead or not.
"Sir, what does your daughter look like? How old is she? And how tall is she?"
"She's 19, has black hair, and is about 5 feet 5 inches tall" He told me in a quiet tone, Frankly I can understand him as knowing your daughter is possibly dead could put anyone on edge, thankfully from the description he gave me his daughter isn't dead and is alive, though I wonder how.
"From what I've heard the body we've found does not match the description of your daughter, so rest assured she should be alive right now."
"Th-Thank you!" He yelled at me, I could see that his eyes were full of gratitude at God for keeping his dear family member safe, sigh if only I could've had that same moment. I wonder why other people get to lead such a happy life full of joy but...
..
..
..
..
Not me.
Giyu's Pov
So it seems as if the man's daughter is safe for now, but the daughter could have useful information as to what reasons the demon may have for attacking the village and killing everybody.
"Excuse me sir, but when will your daughter come back? She could have some useful information to help our case." I asked the man, It would be in our best interests for her to return soon so we can end this cat and mouse game soon.
"Ehhh, she should be back by around midnight for the festival. It's someone's wedding so I'm sure she wouldn't miss it." The man told me.
"Ara ~ That should conclude our business with you sir, we can interview your daughter the next morning as we wouldn't want to ruin the festive mood, right Tomioka-san?" Kocho piped in
Well, then that concludes our interview with the man, we'll have to wait for tomorrow to interview the daughter but in the meantime, we should interview other locals.
"Alright" I give her a reply
"Great!" she replies.
As we were walking I asked her who we should interview next.
"Kocho, who should we interview next?"
"Ara Tomioka-san, always so serious, but you know, you need to relax once in a while."
"But the demon-." she then cuts me off
"Something is telling me that the demon is hiding in this village, it would make sense after all Tomioka-san as this is the nearest village to the other one that got massacred. And this must be the first festival you would go to so I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss it, right Tomioka-san?" She told me.
Well, this would be the second festival I would attend, the first one was when Nee-san was having her engagement festival, and everyone in the village attended it. I had a good time, if I could relive any day of my life, it would most probably be that day, Nee-san looked so... Happy, she was getting engaged to the person she loved, I will admit, I was jealous in a way, I wanted for me to be her top priority or even just her number 1, but sisters will eventually out-grow their younger brothers once they reach adulthood, but I was happy for her, she had someone she loved dearly, someone she was in love with, no younger brother could fulfill that aspect of a woman's life, so I really am glad someone was able to fill in the gaps in her heart that I wasn't able to.
She also does have a point about the demon being in the village, this demon has destructive tendencies and it just massacred an entire village, so what would stop it from not wanting to massacre another?
Shinobu's Pov
"Ok, we're attending this festival." Tomioka-san finally answers after what seems to be quite a few moments.
"Oh my, is someone finally exiting their little shell?" I tease him as I pinch his cheek, for a split second he looked as if he enjoyed it... or maybe he remembered when his mom pinched his cheek? I decide to pinch him a bit softer, I don't know how he feels about getting back an old memory but I have a feeling he's enjoying this flashback.
(if you're wondering the way she's pinching his cheeks, she clasps it with her fingers and puts pressure then reduces the pressure and then adds the pressure back and rinse and repeat, not just pinching him for an entire minute which would hurt)
I kept pinching his cheek for what seemed to be another 20 seconds until Tomika-san spoke up.
"You can stop that now." He says, I wonder if he's irritated or not, but this is very amusing if I do say so myself. So I push his buttons a bit more.
"Ara ara Tomioka-san, I thought you were enjoying it, after all what other reason was there as to why you didn't stop me the moment I was pinching your cheek?" I tell him very sweetly, I am definitely playing with fire, but it really is amusing to see if I can ever get a reaction from the ice-cold water hashira.
"I did..." He said under his breath
"Hmm? Speak up Tomioka-san, not everyone has Uzui's super hearing ability you know?" I told him but he just brushed it off and swiped it under the rug, What a strange person.
I asked one of the villagers when the festival would be and she said that it was going to be in about an hour.
"Ah! Tomioka-san we need to look for festive clothes immediately! Not only that but we need to book a place to stay as we are interviewing the man's daughter tomorrow morning." I informed him in a panic.
"I can go look for a place for us to stay, I think I saw an inn around here, it's fairly near the entrance of the village,, you can go and shop for some clothes." He tells me, I don't think he's taking this seriously but sigh it's Tomioka-san, you cannot expect much of a reaction when it comes to him.
"Okay, good luck in finding a place like Tomioka-san," I tell him as I try to find a place that sells festive clothing.
Narrator pov
The 2 hashiras went their ways, Giyu found an inn and decided to check it out.
"Ah! Hello good sir, how may I help you?' The innkeeper said as he saw Giyu enter the inn.
"I would like to book a room." Giyu's monotone voice caught the innkeeper off guard, he had never heard someone speak in such a way that was so devoid of any emotion.
'Oh brother, who hurt this man.' the innkeeper thought to himself, and rightfully so.
"Well I must ask you, are you alone or with someone else?" He asked him.
"Yes, I am with someone, she should be here within half an hour, about 4'11 and wears a butterfly haori, She has black wavy hair that fades to dark purple, styled at the back of her head into a flat yokai-maki bun, fastened with a white, turquoise and light purple butterfly ornament, so if you see someone entering by that description let them into my room and tell them Giyu Tomioka already booked a room," Giyu explained to the Innkeeper, however, the innkeeper was focused on the mere mention of a woman.
'S-So this guy has a wife!?' the innkeeper thought to himself..
'His personality is based on a sad animal that's probably been locked up in a cage with no love for decades, and yet someone still found something within him to like? Meanwhile, I'm here single even though I'm a normal human being! Kami-sama, this is clear favoritism!' The man internally cried, clearly getting the wrong idea.
I doubt Shinobu would find a trait to like about Giyu but fate can truly do some unexpected things.
"Okay so that will be 200 yen per night."
Giyu handed over the Innkeeper 200 yen, a benefit of being a Hashira of Demon Slayer corps is that you can change the amount of money you get per month, someone like Giyu wouldn't need much money from the master but someone like Mitsuri may need a lot of money as she eats the same amount of food in one sitting a normal family would in 1 week, and having a normal salary would not help at all with the amount of money she eats.
Giyu walks up the flight of stairs and he tries to find his room.
'Room 11.' He thought to himself as he read the label the key was attached to, finally he came up to room 11 and he used his key to open the door.
The room wasn't anything too extravagant, it had 2 lamps, a tea table, and a futon, hold up, ONLY ONE FUTON?!
'Sigh Kocho's going to kill me.' Giyu groaned.
Author's notes!
The room would cost about 100 usd in today's money
The innkeeper thought Giyu had a wife/fiancee'. For clarification, I don't think they had girlfriends and boyfriends as a word back then as that wasn't an actual word during taisho era japan so i will never use the term girlfriend/boyfriend in this story.
Shinobu thinks of Giyu as an older brother but that could change, who knows.
Shinobu actually heard what giyu said under his breath, but pretended like she didn't hear it because she didn't know how to respond as she was very flustered internally
Plot notes
Next chapter is going to be pretty enjoyable for you guys i think, and chapter 4 is gonna be even better cuz im planning a lil something ykyk
New character!
Masato Tsuikihiko has silky black hair, his hairstyle is like kirito's hair style from Sword Art Online but a bit shorter. If Tsutako got engaged to him when she was 17 Masato would be 20 years old but his face looks pretty young as if we were 18. Tsutako liked him because his personality was really kind and nice, quite literally a carbon copy of Tanjiro's personality. In terms of height he is 5'11 and fairly muscular.
Funfacts!
Giyu is actually, kind of a siscon, but dont worry its nothing like Yosuga no Sora, since hsi sister was his only family member the only person who gave him love was Tsutako and when Masato came along Giyu at first didn't like him because he thought he was taking Tsutako away from him and was getting sad at the thought of not being her number 1, but he would start liking Masato since he is a carbon copy of Tanjiro's personality and no one can abstain from Tanjiro's love, not even emo boy himself.
.