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Giyuu was miserable. He was stuck in this damned storm that never seemed to let up. Sheets of rain hammered him constantly, with no sign that they planned to stop their assault. He was thoroughly soaked, his clothes heavy and his hair plastered to his face, forcing him to move his bangs from his eyes every couple of minutes or so. Giyuu was also freezing, the rains and winds combining to become a frigid gust made worse by the cold water clinging to every inch of his body.
He kept his eyes out for any form of shelter, be it a home or an inn. He'd even settle for a dark cave if it meant getting out of the rain. He never did find anything though, no oil lamps lighting up a home, no laughter and shouts coming from an inn, it was just the dark night and the sound of the downpour.
Giyuu trudged on for another hour or so before he saw a faint warm glow down the path. He began to run towards it, not caring about how strange he might look to the occupants of whatever place he was running towards. He got close enough to see that the light was actually a street lamp outside a large house. The home was supported by pillars surrounding the perimeter with coils winding around them like serpentine architecture. In fact, the entire house has a serpent theme, and Giyuu put two and two together and realized that this was Obanai's estate. He may have never visited Obanai but he was sure the estate was supposed to be further out from the area he was in. Then again, time and direction had lost meaning to him after the third hour of walking through the storm.
Now, Giyuu didn't know Obanai too well, he's really only ever talked to the other man a handful of times. But from what he can gather about his fellow Pillar, that's probably for the best. Obanai always acts and talks with a sense of superiority, like others around him are so beneath him. Few things got a rise out of Giyuu, but someone acting all high and mighty was one thing that pissed him off. So for this reason, he mostly avoided Obanai, but now he's going to have to talk to him and sleep in his house. Unless Obanai decided to break the Slayer Corps. code and not let a slayer use their home when needed, which was on the table considering it was Obanai.
Giyuu stepped onto the porch, grateful to have something between him and the pelting rain above. He knocked on the large wooden doors with an appropriately themed snake knocker. He got no response. He knocked again and was returned with silence, which was strange for a house to have the lights on and empty, so he knocked for a third time.
"Leave!" shouted a voice from inside, muffled by the thick wood of the door.
So Obanai was inside, which Giyuu wasn't sure made it better or worse. Either way, he'll be able to get out of the rain for the night, so Giyuu knocked once again.
"Fine, I'm fucking coming!" Giyuu heard, accompanied by footsteps nearing the door and the click of several locks being twisted open, and Obanai peeked his head out.
"The hell do you- Oh, hello Giyuu," Obanai said, voice fading from anger to his usual passive-aggressive tone.
Giyuu tried to rein in his annoyance. "Hello, Obanai."
"What do you want, and it better not be to come inside because you are absolutely drenched," Obanai said, shutting down Giyuu's plan instantly.
"Well, actually it's required by code to let in-" Giyuu began.
Obanai's voice raised, anger seeping back into his tone. "Fuck the code, and fuck you. Now go."
Giyuu could feel his blood beginning to boil. Obanai had such a spacious home and wouldn't abide by the Slayer Corps. rules, just because of some petty dislike for him?
"Right, and go where exactly?" Giyuu said, gesturing to the raging storm behind him.
Obanai let out a loud sigh. "You're saying you have nowhere else to go?"
Giyuu nodded and Obanai let out an even louder sigh this time. "Fine, you can stay. I expect you to not bother me and be gone the moment the weather calms down though."
It wasn't the best terms, but Giyuu would take anything he could get to be under a roof right now. Giyuu took a step towards the threshold of the house only to be stopped by Obanai.
"Are you insane? Dry off a bit before you come in." He said, tossing a towel at Giyuu.
Giyuu slid off his haori and let it drop to the floor, and fruitlessly tried to towel off his body through his soaked uniform. He could hear Obanai snicker behind him and Giyuu groaned as he gave up that attempt and just decided to take off his drenched shirt to let that dry as well, this time hearing a cough behind him. He turned around to see Obanai blatantly staring at him, his eyes wide and face red. The two made eye contact for an awkward beat before Obanai dashed into the house and Giyuu quickly turned back around.
Giyuu toweled himself off and shook the water off his clothes the best he could before stepping inside where there was a set of loungewear waiting by the door. He quickly ducked into a bathroom and changed, leaving his wet uniform hanging from a towel rack.
The clothes were a little small, no doubt Obanai's size, but they were still comfortable. Giyuu wandered around the rooms, looking for the other hashira, but also admiring the home. The snake designs everywhere were a little overdone but they were still cool. Giyuu was a bit envious when he compared the decorations and theme of the estate to his own, which was bland and bare.
Giyuu eventually strolled into the kitchen, where Obanai was carefully tending to something on the stove, which was quite a surprise. Obanai had never really seemed like someone who cooked, but then again Giyuu really didn't know anything about him anyways.
Giyuu leaned against the doorframe and called out to the other man. "Didn't know you cooked."
Obanai jumped and a bit of food flew out of the pan as his hand jolted. "Shit! Giyuu, don't fucking sneak up on people!"
"Sorry," Giyuu said, taking a hesitant step back.
Obanai let out a sigh as he moved the food from the pan to two plates, "It's fine, just eat."
Giyuu took his plate and set it down at the table, acutely aware of how hungry he was. He wasted no time digging in, only slightly remembering his manners. By the time the plate was cleaned and his hunger was sated, the other hashira sitting across from him had not even taken off his mouth wrappings yet and was staring at Giyuu in disbelief.
"What?" Giyuu asked.
Obanai shook his head, "I've never seen someone eat my cooking so quickly."
"Well, it's really good, you're a pretty good cook," Giyuu said with a shrug.
Giyuu caught a flash of pink creeping across Obanai's face, "Thanks."
They sat there in awkward silence for a minute or two until Giyuu noticed the steam once pouring off of Obanai's plate had faded, no doubt leaving the food cold.
"Are you not going to eat?" Giyuu asked.
Obanai shrugged, "Later, I just don't really eat with people."
Giyuu stood up, "Ah, I'll leave you be then."
Obanai surprisingly looked sad that Giyuu was going to leave, but didn't protest. "Guest room is the second room on the right."
"Thank you, goodnight Obanai," Giyuu said quite awkwardly.
"Goodnight Giyuu," Obanai said back, gaze not quite meeting the other man's.
Giyuu went into the room and was shocked by how nice it was, again drawing comparisons to his own bare home. There was a large futon against the back wall, with a spare change of clothes folded neatly beside it, with more hanging in the closet. The adjoining bathroom had a bath almost twice the size of himself, stocked with soap.
He started running the bath as he went through the other parts of his nightly routine, like brushing his teeth and combing through his hair which was an utter mess that night. Giyuu felt a tinge of embarrassment for how unkempt he must have looked in front of Obanai, which was strange because Giyuu never cared much about how he presented himself to others.
Giyuu shed his clothes and sank into the hot bath, the heat making his skin tingle and making a sigh of comfort leave his mouth. Whenever Giyuu bathed and wasn't occupied scrubbing either his own or a demon's blood off his skin, he liked to just think. Usually, it was something daydreamy, like what his life could be like if he retired from the Corps., but tonight he wasn't daydreaming about an idealistic fantasy, he was instead thinking about Obanai.
Just hours before, he was thinking about how much of an asshole the other hashira was but now he saw Obanai in a completely different light. He was softer and more vulnerable than the high-and-mighty persona he put on. He was honestly kinda cute, in both personality and appearance.
Giyuu would never admit it but he'd been stealing the occasional glance at Obanai and his thoughts were less than professional. It felt strange to think that way about a colleague he barely knew but then again, it wasn't all Giyuu.
After a while of soaking in his bath and his thoughts about Obanai, both leaving him red, he got out and dried off before tying back his hair and changing into some clean clothes. Giyuu could feel the exhaustion seep into his bones as he lay on the futon, which was a little softer than his own but still very comfortable. The house was quiet, save for the pattering rain and the chirping insects outside, and Giyuu could feel the grip of sleep pulling him in until he was startled back from his half-sleep by the sound of a scream.
Giyuu's mind ran as he stumbled out of his room, katana gripped tightly, and sprinted towards Obanai's. Was a demon attacking? If one was, it had to be a Kizuki, no demon weaker than that would be brazen enough to attack a hashira in their own home.
Giyuu made it to Obanai's room, the screams emanating from it barely muffled by the thin door, which he nearly ripped off. Giyuu leaped into the room, blade drawn, expecting to come face to face with a snarling demon. Instead, he saw Obanai in his bed thrashing around and screaming horribly.
Giyuu knelt down and placed firm hands on the other man's shoulders, keeping him still.
"Obanai! Obanai!" Giyuu shouted in an attempt to wake him up.
Still screaming, Obanai's multicolored eyes flew open and he struggled in Giyuu's hold.
"Get away from me!" he shouted as he pushed Giyuu off of him with remarkable strength.
Giyuu did as he was told and stood a few meters away from Obanai as he joined the waking world, with sweat dripping off of his chin and his chest rising and falling extremely quickly.
"Obanai, are you alright?" Giyuu said with a hesitant step forward.
"Y-yeah, just a nightmare." Obanai panted.
Giyuu knelt next to Obanai, still keeping his hands off him. "Do you need anything?"
Obanai still looked incredibly shaken up as he moved his gaze to meet Giyuu's, "Could you stay with me for a bit, I just don't feel very safe right now."
"Of course. We can talk about whatever is upsetting you too, only if you want to of course." Giyuu said as he sat on the floor next to the bed.
Obanai sighed, "Maybe another time." then he noticed Giyuu just sitting on the floor, "You can get in the bed, you know."
Giyuu flushed at the prospect of sharing a bed with the other man but it would make Obanai more comfortable, so he climbed into the bed, careful to not be too close to Obanai. He was still close enough to notice now that his mouth wraps were off and Giyuu could now see what was under them, there were two long scars stretching from the ends of his mouth, like serpents creeping across his cheeks. Giyuu found the scars very pretty, something that made Obanai special and unique.
Obanai caught Giyuu staring and reached up a hand to feel his scars, and upon realizing his wraps weren't on, he instantly covered his scars the best he could and talked through his hand.
"I'm so sorry you had to see them, I know they're disgusting and I look like a freak and-" Obanai rambled before being cut off by Giyuu gently prying his hands from his face.
Once Giyuu got another look at those beautiful scars, he had the sudden urge to kiss them, and so he did. He pressed a quick peck to one of the scars before his mind caught up with him and he scooted back, afraid of what Obanai might do or say. Instead, he saw Obanai red as a cherry and once again felt his scars, this time wearing a smile on his face.
Giyuu leaned in again and Obanai met him halfway.