Chapter Text
Giyu would not describe himself as lonely. Sure he lived alone, ate alone, and slept alone but he found a certain comfortableness in being alone. He did not need friends nor did he want them. So why on Earth had he accepted the invitation of his kouhai on the baseball team? Giyu was a third-year at Demon Corps University and current captain of the baseball team. The DCU baseball team was known in their entire district and then some for being an amazing team. Ever since Giyu took over as captain last year, the team had been on a no-loss streak. The coach often urged Giyu to go pro, but Giyu did not want a career that would rely on him being able-bodied. One wrong turn of his knee and he would be out of a job. Thus he was a business major. Giyu was incredibly critical when picking new teammates at the tryouts. A lot of the freshmen this year were duds. Only a few stuck out to him: Kamado, Agatsuma, and Hashibira. Despite whimpering whenever the ball came towards him, Agatsuma was one of the best runners Giyu had ever seen. Inosuke stood out due to his over-achiever personality and strong skill in any position. Kamado was an enigma to him. He was average, possibly below average, but the fierce determination in his eyes after Giyu told him to do a particular move again led Giyu to admit him onto the team. Kamado had the attitude to go pro, and Giyu wanted to be a part of it.
I should have declined.
The words kept echoing in Giyus’ head as he stood outside the modest home. Kamado had invited him over after the last practice to “get to know Tomioka-sama better”. Kamado was the only one to refer to Giyu so formally, and part of Giyu hated it. He rang the doorbell, hearing footsteps as Kamado ran to the door.
“Tomioka-sama! You actually came!” he exclaimed excitedly.
Giyu refrained from rolling his eyes, “I would not agree to come and not show up,” he said in his monotonous voice. Kamado nodded his head furiously.
“Of course not, Tomioka-sama!”
Kamado guided him to a sparsely decorated living room. It simply held a kotatsu, TV, and a reclining chair.
“Ah, you don’t mind sitting at the kotatsu, do you Tomioka-sama? If so, we can sit at the dining table.”
“The kotatsu is fine,” Giyu said stiffly. Was he supposed to mind? He had one at his own apartment.
Taking a seat at the kotatsu, Giyu looked around. He noticed an abundance of flowers around the room, and he assumed Kamado’s mother liked flowers. He heard soft footsteps coming down the hallway before:
“Ah, thanks for the snacks, Nezuko,” Kamado said.
Looking up, Giyu felt his own dark blue eyes widen as they locked on large pink ones. In that split second, he felt as if those eyes saw through him, and saw everything about him that he found ugly. He blinked and it was over. The girl carefully walked over and sat down a tray of onigiri and tea, ironically two of his favorite foods. Giyu's fingers gripped his thigh where they rested.
The girl was stunning. She was ethereal. Yes, ethereal is the perfect word to describe her. A walking Goddess. His nose caught the faint scent of cherry blossoms. He felt a twinge in his heart. Her shining pink doe eyes fit perfectly on her heart-shaped face. She had a button nose and a pink blush mouth. Her thigh-length dark hair was thick and glossy and Giyu did not want to take his eyes off her. Kamado hurried to introduce them.
“Tomioka-sama, this is my sister Nezuko. Nezuko, this is my captain. He has been the biggest help to me this season!”
Before he knew what he was doing, he got up and walked over to the girl. She was a good head and a half shorter than him. He gave a small bow.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Nezuko. Thank you for the food.” Giyu waited for the reply in a surely sweet voice, and he slightly frowned when he heard nothing. He looked at her face and immediately found himself drowning in her eyes. Kamado speaking snapped him out of it.
“Oh! I forgot! Sorry, Nezuko! Tomioka-sama, Nezuko cannot speak. She’s mute.” Giyu saw the girl give a series of hand movements to Kamado. “She says it’s nice to meet you too and you’re welcome for the food.” Nezuko gave another series of movements and Kamada’s face turned sheepish. “She...also says your eyes are the color of cornflowers.”
Giyu felt the world go silent save for the sound of his beating heart. Before he could reply, Nezuko scampered off, almost like a playful kitten.
Kamado gave a chuckle, “Nezuko is always comparing things to flowers,”
Giyu sat back down, “If you don’t mind me asking…” he hoped he did not need to finish the sentence.
“Not at all! 5 years ago my mother and my other 3 siblings were murdered while I was out of the house. Nezuko managed to survive despite her injuries, but whatever she witnessed that day had scarred Nezuko from speaking out about it. The minute she woke up in the hospital, she started screaming and thrashing. She has not spoken a word since. The doctors said that it was a mental block, but after years of therapy, she showed no signs of speaking. By then, both Nezuko and I had learned sign language enough to speak fluently. She begged me to take her out of therapy, so I did. For the last 2 years, things have been relatively normal. Nezuko seems happy and I cannot ask for anything more than that.” Kamado paused, seemingly about to say something else, but shook his head. Giyu took a moment to process. Of course, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, would also be the most strong, brave person he had ever met. He never would have thought the story behind her lack of speech would be so tragic.
“I see,” Giyu said after a few moments. As he too knew the loss of family, saying sorry meant nothing. “May I call you Tanjiro?”
Giyu saw Tanjiro’s face instantly brighten, “Of course, Giyu-sama!”
Giyu looked over to the hallway, he could have sworn he saw a flash of dark hair. The scent of cherry blossoms stayed in the room.