Giyu started running like he had never ran before. It was one thing for a Hashira to encounter a lower moon but the crow had said that Shinobu was injured fighting it. 'Just how strong are these demons getting?' Giyu thought to himself.
However, the thought of Shinobu being injured had plagued his mind, not only was it a regular demon, but it was a lower moon and if she was injured fighting one then chances were that she was dead.
Then, memories started flooding Giyu's mind, memories of the times he and Shinobu had spent together over the last year and a half. All of those memories would be gone if Giyu isn't fast enough to get to the scene.
Ne ne Tomioka-san, why don't you introduce yourself to Shinobu?' It was the Flower Hashira Kanae Kocho and what seemed to be her younger sister that she took in as her Tsugoku.
"Tomioka Giyu." Giyu responded blandly. To the untrained eye, it would seem as if Kanae and Giyu weren't close but they actually were pretty well acquainted with each other, if they weren't then Giyu wouldn't have even bothered giving her an answer.
Giyu had stayed silent after telling his name, Shinobu was expecting the man to talk about his interests, hobbies or heck even his family if he had any but nope the man had stayed silent.
"Hey, are you going to say anything or what?" Shinobu asked the man.
"Ara Ara Shinobu, please be nice towards Tomioka-san. He doesn't speak much so don't take any offense."
Shinobu merely rolled her eyes as she walked away since she had paperwork to do.
"Sorry Tomioa-san, I know she can be quite brash but she really is a sweet girl inside, but what do you think?" Kanae asked Giyu's opinion on her sister.
"I think she is short-sighted," Giyu responded plainly.
Unfortunately Shinobu wasn't completely out of ear-shot and came running back with a tick mark on her forehead. "You son of a Bitch!!".she said as she tried to tackle Giyu to the ground but Giyu was a Hashira and he easily dodged her. Shinobu went tumbling onto the floor and banged her head on the wall.
"I changed my mind, she is an idiot." Giyu said, adding fuel to the already burning inferno in the form of Shinobu."
"WHY YOU-"
"Shinobu, look what I have! It's your favorite food, ginger sukhodoni!" Kanae said with a bright smile on her face.
Shinobu immediately grabbed the bowl from her hand and started eating it.
"Do you have salmon daikon?" Giyu asked, hoping he could get his favorite food.
"WHY WOULD NEE-SAN MAKE THAT FOR YOU BASTARD!?" Shinobu asked angrily in between the bites of her eating ginger sukhodoni.
"Shinobu, please mind your language. TOmioka-san of course, I can make salmon daikon! Just give me 10 minutes and I will make the best salmon daikon you will ever taste!." Kanae told him enthusiastically.
The idea of Kanae making "the best salmon daikon he has ever tasted" amused him, he knew that nothing would beat his sister's salmon daikon recipe.
After about 20 minutes of making salmon and radish and mixing it with miso soup Kanae had made salmon daikon and served it to Giyu.
Giyu sat across from Shinobu and she was drilling her eyes into his chest, in other words, she was still pissed. Giyu found it somewhat funny in its own way but he really couldn't care less about Shinobu since he had a salmon daikon to feast on.
"Thank you," Giyu said politely. Which Kanae returned with a smile
Giyu took a bit of the salmon and mixed it with the radish and then put it in his mouth. Once he took a bite he was awe-struck because the flavors were immaculate, it was actually comparable to the salmon daikon Tsutako had made when Giyu was a taste.
Giyu let out a nice big smile, which unfortunately for Shinobu, it was a smile she did not expect.
"GAHH!" she yelped as she started backing away. "Shinbou, this is no way to treat a man that's simply enjoying a meal you know?" Kanae defended Giyu while he was enjoying his salmon daikon.
"Sorry Nee-San.." Shinobu apologized.
"Don't say sorry to me, say sorry to Tomioka-san." she felt bad that Shinobu had probably interrupted Giyu's appetite so she made her apologize to Giyu.
"Sorry for that Tomioka." Shinobu let out an apology.
"..." Giyu didn't give her a response, he was still munching on his salmon daikon which pissed Shinobu off, and rightfully so.
"HEY! ARE YOU JUST GOING TO SIT THERE? AT LEAST SAY SOMETHING!" She yelled at him.
"Shinobu please calm down, Tomioka-san is trying to enjoy his meal as you can see."
"Whatever." she sighs as she walks away.
Back in the present Giyu is following the crow towards Shinobu's Location. He knew that this demon would be a bit tough to kill since it was capable of injuring a hashira. Shinobu might actually be dead by now though so injured would be an understatement.
The crow led Giyu to an open field. He kept running behind the crow and that was when he saw it. Not only was Lower Moon 2 there, but another demon along with Shinobu.
"Lord Douma is going to love this one! HAHA! I bet He might even give me a little bit of his blood as compensation!." Giyu heard one of the demons say, he didn't know who this Douma person was but he figured they weren't important.
Giyu decided he was going to kill the demons with one felt strike before they could see him.
'Water breathing 3rd form: Flowing Dance'
Giyu was going to behead the Lower Moon with the first half of Flowing Dance and kill the other one with the second half of Flowing dance but things didn't turn out to go smoothly.
Lower Moon 2 blocked his sword with a sword that he conjured out of what seemed to be made of steel that was reinforced with his blood so that it would not break easily. He immediately figured out why Shinobu was defeated as even though she was ranked as a Hashira. Her technique mainly involved thrust attacks and so she did not learn any actual swordsmanship meaning she wouldn't be able to block the Lower Moon's blows. Speaking of Shinobu, Giyu glanced over to get a full look on her condition but what he saw was rather gut-wrenching.
From what he could see from his viewpoint she had a few lacerations on her chest area, stomach and a few that could possibly be near her internal organs which would definitely make things worse for her. He could not tell if she was alive or not though but was going to try and finish this fight as soon as possible to try to get her aid.
The Lower Moon and Giyu were launching and blocking each other's blows. Suddenly the other demon came into the fight to try and distract Giyu so that the Lower Moon could catch him off guard and land a few critical blows on him but Giyu blocked the other demon.
"Hey Akiro! The lord will give us some of his blood if we manage to take care of these two Hashira!" the Low ranking demon told the Lower Moon.
Suddenly the Lower Moon started getting quicker with his sword attacks. 'They must be very determined to get some of that man's blood,' Giyu surmised to himself.
'Water Breathing Fourth form: Striking Tide.'
Giyu decided that he should also try to up his game as he needs to get medical aid for Shinobu as soon as possible. He unleashed his Fourth Form against the 2 demons. The weaker demon lost his legs and regenerated but the Lower Moon simply blocked the attack with his sword.
As the Lower Moon and Giyu exchanged sword blows Giyu started to realize that his sword was starting to get chipped, he examined his opponents blade and saw that it was serrated and a sudden wave of dread came over him for a few moments and the Lower Moon took the opportunity and kicked him hard which sent him flying to the ground.
"You know, when we first met a sudden wave of nostalgia hit me, the more we fought the more I examined that face of yours. Now I remember it. You were that kid in Nogata town who had his ass saved by his own damn sister. I couldn't get the chance to kill you because your sister was too damn delicious for me to even care about you. But now that we've met again I think I'll serve you to my master. I can probably get some blood for defeating 2 Hashira. Isn't that right Hakuza?" The Lower Moon turned and asked his fellow demon.
"Oh of course Akiro! At this rate we should be able to have enough blood from the Lord to rise to the upper ranks within a hundred years!"
Unfortunately for the weaker demon he wasn't paying attention when all of a sudden his head came flying off.
Water Breathing 10th form, modified: Constant flux. Blitz.
Giyu had used his modified version of the tenth form. The form was made with the element of speed and surprise in case he would ever get over-powered somehow. The form did prove useful as now he will only need to kill the Lower Moon.
"FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!" the weaker demon screamed. Giyu pitied demons but he couldn't exactly bring himself to have sympathy for these beings. They were the reasons why people had to suffer, and were the reason why his sister was dead.
"How dare you kill Hakuza! You will pay for this Water Hashira!" The Lower Moon exclaimed. Giyu noted at how off-put the Lower Moon was because of Hakuza's death, hopefully he can exploit his death to the fullest.
'Water Breathing 10th form: Constant Flux.'
'Blood Demon Art: All Seeing Eyes' (if you can come up with a better name then please tell me guys)
Giyu and the Lower rank clashed their swords, the Lower Moon's swordsman ship was almost perfect, in fact it was rather intriguing on how the demon could keep up with the Water Hashira who would be able to give an Upper rank a decent fight.
"What's wrong? You look as if you're surprised at how I'm keeping up with you!" The demon laughed wickedly.
"Tell me Water Hashira!" The Lower Moon exclaimed.
"Do you pity us demons?" He asked.
Giyu didn't give an answer, this was the demon that killed his sister, he was going to make his death as painful as he could.
"Do you want to know how I'm so powerful against you? Well I'll tell you! My blood demon art allows me to copy the users movements so theoretically I could use those forsaken breathing styles you pitiful humans use to try to match us superior demons. But I've found a better use for it. I can predict your movements. So no matter how many forms you use, you pitiful slayers will never come close to cutting off my head!"
Giyu had enough of his bullshiting session.
'Drop Ripple Thrust'
Giyu thrusted his sword towards where the middle of his chest was, his nichirin blade made contact and was deep inside his chest. He turned the blade 90 degrees and cut his arm off.
'Horizontal Water Wheel'
Giyu then did a 360 with a great amount of force and cut the Lower rank's torso from his lower half of the body. But he wasn't done yet.
Giyu kept slicing at the demons body and by the end of it only his upper chest and head remained. He was still alive, Giyu made sure of that
"AHHHGGHH STOP! STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!!" The Lower Moon cried out in pain. Giyu wasn't having any of this anymore and cut his head off once and for all.
"Go to hell" He mumbled under his breath.
Suddenly tears were forming in his eyes, he had finally avenged his sister's death. But the pain of being the reason for her death, killing the killer could never subdue the guilt. In his mind, He was the real killer.
'Nee-san, I am so sorry for your death to even happen, It would've been better if you had ran and I had stayed back. Masato was so angry at me, but he had every rig-"
Giyu stopped with his internal thoughts because well. His sister was standing right infront of him.
Giyu was speechless, but Tsutako had broken the silence.
"Oh Giyu, please stop thinking of such things. It's not your fault, it really isn't!" she said.
"Giyu, I don't regret anything at all. Because you have saved the lives of so many people, knowing that my precious little brother could have such an impact makes me so proud. Oh and you should check up on your friend over there." She says as she points to Shinobu. "I don't think she's doing so well."
Giyu nodded. He was still too shocked to speak, He wanted to hug her but was scared that the illusion of her being there would go away.
But thankfully for him, Tsutako answered his doubts. "Giyu of course you can hug me.I am not going anywhere." she chuckled.
Giyu immediately started walking towards her and Tsutako wrapped his arms around him, she then started rubbing his hair.
"Giyu I think you should check up on that friend of yours." she told him with a look of worry in her eyes.
Giyu knew that he would have to part ways with his sister, but he wished that he could have gotten a few more moments with her without having to worry about anything else.
Giyu walked towards Shinobu, the image of Tsutako was slowly fading away behind him. He couldn't bear to see it though because if he did then he might just break down.
Giyu picked up Shinobu and took him towards the Inn, he had to walk stealthily through the trees so that no one could see him as they would question why Shinobu was so injured.
He eventually made his way to the inn but instead of directly going in he climbed the walls to the balcony that was included in the room they had booked and had gone inside.
He carefully laid Shinobu on the floor. If he let her down on the futon she would stain it with her blood and the Innkeeper would be highly suspicious of why it was stained with blood.
Giyu didn't exactly know what he should do, well he did know that he needed bandages but what would he do if he had gotten his hands on a few of them? Giyu began pondering but then he remembered that Shinobu had always checked up on the situation of the person before taking any action, it was a pretty good idea since you wouldn't want to buy expensive medicine only to find out they just had a mild fever.
Giyu knew what he had to do, but he wasn't very fond of it, Giyu began by unbuttoning Shinobu's uniform and taking it off, Once Giyu was done taking the uniform off he saw that Shinobu had a piece of white cloth wrapped around her breasts(this is what they had as bra's back in the Taisho era of japan) it was soaked in blood but it did do a good job at providing early aid as without it Giyu wasn't so sure if Shinobu would be doing as well as she is right now.
Giyu knew that he would have to unwrap the cloth from her chest as it was probably not hygienic, not only that but it could definitely cause infection if worse came to worse.Giyu knew that if he did unwrap it he would see a very unholy sight.
Making up his mind, Giyu unwrapped the cloth from her chest and now Shinobu's top half of her body was completely naked. Meaning he could see her bare chest.
But Giyu wasn't bothered by it, he knew that Shinobu's life was in his hands and if he had to have the image of a woman's assets etched into his mind if it meant that her life would be saved, then so be it.
Giyu began examining her body, he saw that there were 2 lacerations forming an X shape on the middle of her chest, he then saw that there was a diagonal slash that extended from the bottom of her left breast all the way to the right of her pelvic region. The fact that the demon was able to land these blows on her was a testament on how strong the demons were getting as of recent times. He also noticed that she had scars on her body which were probably from previous encounters with demons during the time she was hashira and hadn't had much experience, there was a small scar on her shoulder, another scar running down the side of her left set of ribs and a small scar that ran down her forearm.
Giyu knew that he would have to get some bandages but there was a chance that the village didn't have anyone that sold bandages but then an idea struck him, the piece of cloth that was originally wrapped around her chest was pretty long once it was completely unwrapped, it was a pretty good substitute for bandages as it definitely was able to stop the bleeding.
He decided that he should wash it first so that there isn't any blood on it and so that it's sterile and would be safe to use as a bandage, however he would first need to find water in question.
Giyu remembered that there was a clinic in the village but he didn't know if he should ask them for water to clean the cloth or ask them for bandages, if he asked them for bandages then the person working at the clinic would ask him why as they wouldn't want to sell bandages to someone that they think doesn't need them. But then again the clinic was stacked with bandage rolls and they wouldn't care who the bandages were sold to if they got the money.
He decided that this would probably be the best for Shinobu's well being as he would much rather have an actual bandage used to treat her wounds rather then an unsterile piece of cloth.
Giyu walks down the flight of stairs and gets to the main floor of the Inn and the Innkeeper greeted him as usual and asled him where he was going, Giyu simply replied by telling him he needed stuff and the Innkeeper just let him be since he didn't have the energy to ask him about it.
Giyu somewhat speedwalked to the clinic, however he didn't even know if it was a clinic or not as Shinobu was the one that told him "You don't happen to be taking me to that clinic over there do you/" while she had her hurt kneecap, for all Giyu knew Shinobu could have misjudged the clinic and it could just be someone's house.
Seriously though, Giyu didn't even know if this was an actual place that treats people or not since it was a pretty normal looking house in his opinion, but as they say. Looks can be deceiving.
Having no other option Giyu knocked on the door and after about 30 seconds a woman with black hair tied into a ponytail answered.
"Is this a clinic?" Giyu inquires.
"If this looks like a clinic to you then I don't even want to know what a hospital would look like for you." She brashly answers. Looks like Tomioka has met someone that can match his aloofness.
"I see." Giyu gave the woman who appeared to be in her 20s a short reply and turned around and started walking the other way but the woman interrupted him.
"Tell me, if you came here hoping it to be a clinic, then you or someone else must need medical attention. Is this correct?" Now she was the one asking the question.
Giyu didn't exactly know where this was going, but he decided to answer her question anyways.
"Yes." Giyu answers shortly.
"What is it that you need?" She asked him.
Giyu knew he would have to word this carefully as he didn't want the woman to see Shinobu's condition as it would look very bad on him to have a naked woman in his room that has lacerations on her chest area.
"My friend needs bandages, But I do not know where I can get them." Giyu told the woman.
The woman went back inside and closed the door, Giyu thought .that she was done with him and that he should probably get going but then we heard noises of what seemed to be someone rummaging through their closet or drawer in search of something so Giyu decided to wait a few moments hoping for the best.
The woman came out and she had a roll of white bandages that are definitely sterile and definitely the ones real clinics or hospitals would use. She gave the roll to Giyu and told him to wrap it around the injury fairly tightly and to change them if they get too bloody.
Giyu gave her a small "Thank you" and went on his way to the Inn, this time the Innkeeper wasn't there as Giyu assumed he went to his own room to sleep and get his break of the day. The Water Hashira climbed the stairs and entered the room.
He remembered that the woman told her to wrap the bandage around the injury fairly tightly and so giyu lifted Shinobu's back off the ground so he could wrap the bandage around the injuries. Once he was done wrapping he saw that the bandage wasn't actually making contact in the middle of her chest where there was a laceration. Giyu reluctantly unwrapped the entire bandage around her and restarted, this time he wrapped the bandages in a sort of X shape so that it would be lined up with the laceration, he even had to get slightly physical and moved Shinobu's breasts a little to the left so he could fit the bandage in between the curves
Once Giyu was done wrapping her chest area he moved down to her other injury, the wound extended from her left breast to the right of her pelvic region, this one would be a bit harder to wrap as the bandage wouldn't have anything to grip on and would keep shifting which could make her recovery a bit more slower, but then he realized, he could just wrap the entire lower part of her torso in bandages which would cover the wound that went from her left breast the the right of her pelvic region.
Giyu began bandaging Shinobu, he was still surprised she hadn't woken up in all this time. It was pretty concerning as by now surely she should've woken up right? Giyu thought so too and he tried checking her pulse using her wrist and thankfully her heart was still beating, though it was pretty slow. Giyu then started noticing her hands and saw that they looked like they had a bit of a rough texture. Feeling curious he started caressing them and he can confirm, they were very rough, but they also had an unexplainable warmth to them which for some weird reason made giyu feel a bit fuzzy inside...
But it didn't really matter to Giyu.He was laser focussed on making sure Shinobu would make it out of the ordeal alive. It was the least he could do as he had been taken care of by her many times over whenever he had gotten injured fighting a demon. And how did he answer to her kindness and hospitality? By insulting her and making her feel like she was absolutely nothing.
The guilt was eating up his mind once again, he thought back on what he said and started feeling even more guilty. What kind of person was he by telling someone that it didn't matter what they wanted?
Giyu knew that yes, Shinobu was acting out of line and lives were at risk if they didn't take this mission seriously but was it really okay to reprimand her like that? Giyu started giving it some more thought and came to the conclusion that HE, was a selfish bastard who was too ignorant to listen to someone's feelings. He himself never wanted to become a demon slayer and would've wanted to live the rest of his life with his sister(not in a romantic way of course)
It didn't matter anymore though. The past is the past and you can't take anything back. Only apologize.
Giyu was finished wrapping the bandage around Shinobu and it was already almost midnight. Giyu pulled out the futon and layed Shinobu down on it.
"Goodnight." Giyu gave her a goodnight, he couldn't bear to say her name though until she woke up so that he could get the chance to apologize to her.
Still not feeling sleepy, Giyu goes to the balcony and looks up at the sky. It was a full moon. Ironically full moons represent gratitude and thanks in japan, Giyu found it ironic since he didn't consider insulting his fellow slayer even after all the times she treated him.
After some time had passed Giyu went back into the room to sleep but then he realized, there was only one futon in the room and he was pretty sure the Innkeeper was now sound asleep so there was no point in asking him for an extra futon.
Having no other choice Giyu took a blanket and laid it down on the floor, and laid down on it and soon enough he also sound asleep
2 Hours later
Shinobu had woken up from her slumber but was in a bit of a dazed state as the memories of what happened were pretty foggy, but little by little she started remembering what had happened up until the part where she was unconscious.
'Why... Why am I so weak?" she questioned herself.
The requirement for becoming Hashira was to either kill one of the demon moons as rank Kinoe or kill 50 demons as rank Kinoe. The problem with her was that she didn't do any of those steps and had instead inherited the position from her sister, in her eyes...
She was a fake Hashira
Then her stomach started rumbling which indicated that she hadn't eaten food in a while. So she got up and started walking around and then saw Giyu sleeping on the blanket.
A swell of emotions enveloped her as she saw him. She wanted to apologize, to tell him that he was right and that she was wrong, heck, maybe he could even comfort her even if it's just a litt-
'No.' She thought to herself.
Okay... Maybe not then. Shinobu started walking around looking for food if there even was any, then she looked back and saw a bowl on the tea table. Curiosity got the best of her and she went up to it and saw the bowl of candy that was spilled earlier in the day.
'Did he really get this for me?' She asked herself but didn't give it much further thought as the hunger had gotten to her and she started eating the candy.
5 minutes later
Giyu had woken up from his sleep and at first he did not know why but then he saw shinobu sitting on top of him.
"Kocho, what are you doing?!" he says somewhat alarmed, is she still mad at him for insulting her? Or wait.... Is she mad that he stripped her and saw her breasts? In his defense there was no other way.
"Arraaa Tomiokaa-sann, you calledd me the prettiesstt girl in the world. And you'reee surprised im actinggg like thisss? You mighttt as well be confessing your lovee for me, which makess me veryy happy you knoww?" she replied in a slightly slurred voice.
"Kocho, I didn't mean it like that." Giyu tried explaining but then Shinobu started getting teary eyed.
"So... You don't think I'm pretty?" she asked him with tears in her eyes. Clearly she was upset
'Kocho. You are pretty-In fact very, but I do not love you' Giyu thought to himself, he wasn't sure why Shinobu was acting like this. Was she in some sort of mental state because of the lower moon? Giyu didn't know what to do so he tried to answer in a way that wouldn't cause a bad reaction on her end.
"Kocho. You are a very pretty woman but I do not love you." He told her.
"Is it-is it because of my scars? I don't look womanly to you right? Does someone like me even deserve to be loved? I can't even do my duties properly. So I would not be surprised if you thought of me as a liability and a failure." She said as she was choking on her tears. I got even more scarred fighting the Lower Moon. Worst of all the scars are on my breasts so no man would even think about having children with me
"Kocho. You are not a failure, you strive to improve your techniques and save as many people as you can, I admire you for that. You have real-" but he was cut off.
"Then why don't you love me?" She questioned him, even more tears flowing down her face."
"Because it isn't that simple Kocho." Giyu tried explaining again.
"Oh stop calling me Kocho, it's as if we aren't even friends, call me by my first name. Giyu-san" Shinobu retorted.
"Because it isn't that simple... Shinobu" It felt weird calling her by her first name and having her call him by his first name too.
"What do you mean it isn't that simple? Just tell me that you love me.." She said quietly.
"But I don't." Giyu flatly told her. He was getting slightly annoyed at Shinobu's child-like state and wished she would go back to normal.
"Then..."
She started inching towards Giyu's face and got closer and closer until her lips were only an inch away from his. Giyu could smell the alcohol on her breath
"Tell me that you love me.... Even if it's fake."
Fun facts!
I did not plan for the title to be parallel to what shinobu said, i literally got the title from the cover, let me explain. I found the cover on deviant art and saw that it was really good. When I zoomed in on the cover I saw some text that said "Tell me that you love me even if it's fake" and that's how I got the title. I did not plan this from the beginning lmao.
Authors notes.
"GIyu help meee i have wounds"
"nah dawg lemme hug my sister first."
"this is why nobody likes you you siscon!"
jk though.
-I TOLD Y'ALL THIS STORY WAS GONNA BE EMOTIONAL LMAO
-Please vote on my chapters.
-if you are wondering when this chapter takes place,I don't even know myself.
-Someone please tell me if i am cooking or burning down the kitchen cuz i'm making shinobu's and Giyu's character horrible.
-I am going to have a hard time writing chapter 5 since i dont know what to write