Chapter Text
Shinobu stood there, watching her master as he slowly sank down on both knees. Two of his children by his sides helping him ease up into a comfortable position. It pained her, truly, to see her beloved master at such state, his health was slowly deteriorating that he now was partially blind as his sickness has finally reached his left eye. Even so, Oyakata-sama did his best to appear unaffected, smiling gently for the sake of his children and the Demon Slayer Corps. That soft expression, that sincere smile, it always reached her heart. “Welcome to today’s meeting, my children. I hope you are all doing well,” he greeted, voice calm and tender. Shinobu could listen to him for hours. His tone was always so peaceful, like it could smooth away every worry.
Everybody kneeled down in respect as their master spoke, everyone looking at the ground neither speaking a word, "Glad to see you in a good health master" Sanemi was the first one to speak up, voice soft as it always was when he spoke to Okyata.
"Thank you Sanemi"
That tiny lie seemed to lift his spirits, even just a little. he wasn’t in good health, but he was trying to show that he was. Shinobu thought to herself, Perhaps some lies are alright if they bring comfort.
“What’s the meeting about, Master?” Muichiro asked, sounding genuinely confused — as if wondering why he had to be called here in person.
Oyakata-sama’s expression grew somber. “We received word that the northern and southwestern villages have both been attacked by demons. We dispatched several groups of demon slayers… but more than half were lost.”
His calm voice trembled slightly under the weight of guilt.
“That’s so unflamboyant,” Tengen muttered, folding his arms.
“The surviving slayers have requested Hashira support,” Oyakata-sama continued. “Who among you is available to assist?”
The demon slayer corp operated oddly at times, more likely than not you’re assigned a mission that you don’t have a choice with, but with the more serious and dangerous assignments, they’re gathered in a meeting and told the inquiries, giving them an option to volunteer.
Shinobu’s heart ached for the fallen slayers. Without hesitation, she raised her hand.
Mitsuri, Iguro, Rengoku, and Tomioka followed suit.
“We only need four,” Oyakata-sama said kindly. “Tomioka and Mitsuri, you will head north. Shinobu and Obanai, please take the southwest.”
“Of course, Master,” Shinobu replied, a polite smile on her lips as she accepted her scroll.
Shinobu was okay with the arrangement nevertheless, Iguro was okay, sure he's kind of rude and all, but she can keep up with him.
"Of course master" She replied, a smile plastered on her face.
…………….
Giyuu, on the other hand, didn’t mind the arrangement. Mitsuri was loud and overly expressive, but she wasn’t rude, he found her better than most of the others.
He collected his scroll and was about to leave when a voice called out sharply behind him.
“Hey, Tomioka — wait!”
Giyuu turned, mildly surprised. Iguro wanted to talk? That was new.
The other Hashira looked oddly uneasy, rubbing the back of his neck, his ears tinged pink. “I… wanted to ask if you’d like to switch partners.”
Giyuu blinked once, processing. “…Sure. Fine, whatever.”
“Thanks,” Iguro mumbled, handing him his scroll. They exchanged papers silently.
It wasn’t hard to guess why, anyone with eyes could see Iguro’s feelings for Kanroji. She was probably the only one who didn’t.
He should probably inform his new partner of the changes.
He looked around him to actually find Iguro talking with Kochou, She smiled politely as the Snake Hashira departed. When Giyuu approached, she turned to him with that ever-gentle expression.
“Well, hello, Tomioka-san,” she greeted.
“Hello,” he replied simply. “So, I assume Iguro told you?”
“He did,” she said lightly. “I don’t really mind who I’m paired with, though… I think I might prefer you a little more.”
Straightforward, as always. Giyuu wasn’t sure if she meant it or was just teasing him again. Either way, he found he didn’t mind. He gave a quiet nod.
“Well then,” she said, tucking her scroll away, “I’ll meet you tomorrow at the rendezvous point, don’t be late.”
“Okay.”
—————————————————————————————
Giyuu met up with Kocho on time the next morning, as they exchanged short and clipped pleasantries, they made their way towards the train station, the trip would be a really long one if they were to take it by foot, and energy preservation was a must in this line of work. So thirty minutes of absolute silence in the train worked really well for the Water Hashira.
But as it turns out, The train line to the village was shut down. Rumors of a "Yakuza gang" interfering spread, so they disembarked at the nearest stop and continued on foot. The closer they got, the stronger the stench of stale blood became.
Fallen bodies of their comrades littered the path.
"We must be close." Giyuu murmured to himself, he stepped closer and kneeled down to a dead girl's body and observed it carefully, such scenes always bothered him, no matter how much he saw this, the knot in his chest never eased;
seeing dead bodies.
Seeing people who used to live.
Seeing people who's lives has been stolen for filthy creatures to get it's goddamn food.
This isn't fair. Life is never fair.
He was staring at the dead body, trying to figure out how it lost its life, and when he was about to voice out his conclusion, a voice shrimped loudly and pulled him out of his thoughts, he titled his head to meet her lavender eyes. "You look worried, Tomioka-san. None of them survived, most seem strangled."
Giyuu knew that, he's not stupid, he noticed the red marks around this girl's neck, but the problem was, how was she strangled? A wire? Hands? Something else entirely?
"And on the other side, there's that one that was stabbed." She added, pointing to a boy's dead body slumped against a tree.
And that sums it, there's more than one demon, Giyuu got up momentarily, body facing his comrade. "There's more than one demon out there." He said lowly, his focus still high.
"We should split up then!" Shinobu started, "You go left and I'll go right, let's meet here in half an hour and let's see, um the reports actually said that there's more than one demon. Didn't you read them?"
Oh right. About that, he didn't actually bother to even check out the report. "No.." He whispered, most likely to himself. Nonetheless she heard him and faked a gasp and put on a surprised expression. An expression that annoyed him. He knew it very well, it's the expression she uses whenever she's about to make fun of him.
"My! How irresponsible of you."
He rolled his eyes. "How many demons did the report say?"
"Well...six to eight. Let's split. Handle three to four each, then regroup."
He nodded, hand on his blade, and sprinted away.
Killing demons had became an easy thing for him, he has been doing it for years already, and for as much as he hated to admit it, he did reach the rank of a Hashira, which is a big hole in the system if someone like him was appointed as it. He focused on his breathing. Now wasn't the time for that.
Much to his relief, it took him hardly ten minutes to finish off three demons, his motions were fluid and his brain was on high alert. One of the things he learned in his tenure as a demon slayer thus far, is to never underestimate your opponent. No matter what.
A subtle sound from the bushes made him pivot, blade drawn. With a swift strike, he executed Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel. The demon's head rolled.
the demon's tongue was unrelenting, spewing all types of insults and pointless promises to kill him. But none of these threats had ever fazed him, after all it was complete utter nonsense. until a certain one actually grabbed his attention.
"Lower moon three is going to end you. You bastard!" He screamed his final words, voice laced with anger.
Giyuu's eyes widened, he swung his blade right and left in an attempt to get rid of the blood the was stained on it, and put it back into it's sheath. He didn't mind the rotting demon anymore as he started sprinting to their meeting point. He has to tell Shinobu of the news, whoever remained alive thus far of any civilians might not be for much longer.
—————————————————————————————
Shinobu was smiling at the demon that was screaming in agony and pain as her poison started circulating through it's system, purple veins appearing all over it's body as it placed it's filthy hands around it's neck in a futile attempt to puke out the poison it just ingested.
Shinobu liked the scene in front of her, truth to be told, she never felt pity towards such filthy creatures, unlike Kanae. After all their job was literally to eat humans, they relished in the deaths and misery they cause others. How is it even possible for her to feel sympathy for them? No it's not possible, in fact she enjoyed killing them.
The petite woman actually found it funny how all the demons are alike, they would all start making fun of her once she passes them and find their heads still in place, but in merely seconds they would start screaming in pain and questioning what is that she did to them. And sincerely she would explain it, though, they can't really hear her.
Soon everything becomes quite as the demon finally rotted away, she slightly dusted her haori and started looking around, one last demon to go.
"Yo-hoo." She called out loudly, "I'm right here, how about we have a little chat together? Come out of your hideout." She said to the emptiness surrounding her.
She could feel someone's eyes on her, but she can't spot from where exactly. She could feel a tick forming on her brow, this demon was pushing her buttons.
Her eyes started to wander around the place, her blade in hand. "Come on out."
That's when she felt it, the air's density had become quite intense from above, she immediately looked up.
In a graceful move she moved out of the way, but this definitely was no ordinary demon, she looked into its eyes to find it's actually lower moon three. What a luck.
This demon was ridiculously fast, she couldn't even predict it's movement and she knew for sure she won't be able to move in time.
Tracking the thing’s movement, she dashed to the other side, she barely looked behind her to see it struggling after it stumbled. She made her move.
Her blade managed to graze its arm before it moved.
This is certainly irritating. She stood in place, sword in hand and a stance that what would appear as a bad form to whoever looked at her, and just stayed still. Eyes sharp and senses a lit.
I’m right here,
But not a moment later, she was forcefully pulled by her Haori, sending her pretty much flying backwards. She tried to ease her fall, but the moment it took her to process what was going on was what threw her off her rhythm. So in a vain attempt to not hit her head, she landed incorrectly on her ankle.
Throwing a bunch of curses underneath her breath, she clutched at her leg. What the actual hell? She was sure there was no other demon, absolutely one hundred percent sure, and whatever that was, it wasn’t a demon, that didn’t have the aura of one.
Well, she can’t afford this to stall her any longer, sprained ankle or not, she got to finish this demon off.
Standing up, she focused her breathing and leaned her weight on her good leg. But apparently there was no need. Because Tomioka was already engaging with the demon.
Saying she was just angry would be an understatement.
"I can't believe you actually were standing like that waiting for it to attack you." He pretty much yelled, probably the loudest she ever heard him speak.
Her grip on her sword tightened. “Say what?! I was baiting him, you just had to ruin everything!”
Tomioka heeded her no mind as he muttered some breathing form before he leapt behind the demon.
Shinobu’s teeth grit in anger. Fine, he can do this by himself. She focused on her breathing, trying to calm the searing burning she felt in her foot.
“Are you okay?” His voice cut through her motion.
Well, that was one hell of a spectacular fight.
“As much as I could be, with a sprained ankle,” she said, looking up at him with a tight smile that she certainly knew didn’t reach her eyes worth shit. “No thanks to a certain someone.”
“How was I supposed to know you were baiting it exactly?”
The nerve?
“Why would you assume I didn’t know what I was doing the first place?!”
“Your form was awful, was I supposed to just stand there and wait for it to attack you?”
If she could beat him up, she would have. But luckily for him, she had more pressing matters to take care of. One is being her foot.
“That bad form was also on purpose , what do you think a bait is? Me standing there perfectly in place telling my opponent I’m ready for it? It was a part of the plan! And now would you look at this?” She gestured at her foot that was hovering in place, “I’ll be out of commission for at least a week now! Because someone cannot help but interfere in what isn’t any of his business!”
“The safety of my colleagues is a concern of my mine.”
“I was not in any danger, Tomioka-San. Don’t let me repeat that again.”
“I didn’t have another choice.” Then after a moment he added, “I’m sorry.”
“Oh well, you flatter me,” she mocked, already turning around and leaving him behind.
God, she hated how unbalanced she was. She tried to conceal her limp as much as she could, but for a strong sprain like this, she was sure she was doing a poor job.
her blood boiled the more she thought about it, is this really how he viewed her? As someone incapable and needing of saving? That she really didn’t know what she was doing?
She shook her head, she shouldn’t care what anyone thought of her anyways, it was good enough for her that she was aware of her strengths and weaknesses. What her capabilities were and where they stopped. His opinion shouldn’t be worth crap.
Still, she felt the sting anyway.
She continued on forward. This was going to be a long walk, she had to try and conserve energy as much as she could, but the pain was sharp and how her breathe was haggard surely didn’t help.
How long had she been walking for anyways? Thirty minutes? Given the sun, yes, that’s about right. Give or take. She could hear Tomioka’s footsteps behind her. And for someone reason, he picked up his pace. She hardly made half a turn before she was lifted up.
Eyes widening, she could only look as he hoisted her underneath his arm like a sac of potatoes. Blood rushed to her face as embarrassment began to overshadow the pain she felt.
She started thrashing around. “What. On. Earth. Do you think you’re doing!”
"Helping you." He said, shortly.
"I don't need your help! Put me down! Put me down, now!”
Much to her dismay, he only tightened his grip on her, probably in order to contain her easier.
She forced herself to calm down, “Put me down Tomioka-San, please.”
“Well, it is my fault. So.”
“What do you mean so? I’m perfectly capable of walking on my own. Just let me down.”
“I won’t.”
“Why not?!”
“Not until we reach the next town. Walking on that foot will only make it worse.”
She pressed her lips in a tight line. She can’t deny that he’s right, but she won’t admit it. She just really really didn’t like this arrangement.
She tried to get him to put her down a bit more, but he just started ignoring she was there all together. Sighing, and guessing she had no choice in this apparently, “so…can you, uh, at least carry me on your back instead of whatever this is…?”
Reluctantly, she accepted it, realizing—even if she hated it—he was right.