Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Giyuu sat in the comfort of his living room at the water estate, legs crossed and eyes closed, silently meditating in an attempt to calm himself after a rather long day. He dealt with stress like this often, not that there was much else he could do at the estate, his rooms were so bare he’d been accused of being a minimalist. Truthfully, he just had no idea what to buy.

Today was another day with no contact of any twelve kizuki members, the same as almost every other day, but annoying nonetheless. Whenever his missions consisted of small fry demons one after another with nothing but awkward blood demon arts set on drawing out the fight, it really got on the water pillars nerves.

He was borderline falling asleep in his last fight, with his body using pure muscle memory to dodge every attack, as his mind strayed elsewhere. He did, however, realise this was a pretty bad idea shortly after, as a small caltrops style weapon on the floor pierced his foot. It stung, and bled slightly, but gave him the wake up call he needed to finish the fight then and there.

As the demon disintegrated and he bandaged his foot relatively poorly, he pondered the idea of visiting the butterfly mansion. This was the type of injury that didn’t show any threat of causing him more serious damage, but making sure it was cleaned and wrapped properly was important in keeping it that way.

The idea of visiting that place brought up visions of its resident hashira. The purple hair to match the eyes and the soft smile that came with it, ‘and there it is again, that tingling feeling.’

As a hashira, albeit undeserved in his opinion, he had immense control of his body and an acute understanding of its feelings and workings. But this odd sensation he felt, he just couldn’t understand it.

Only when he thought of or spoke to Kocho did it surface, making him feel strange and warm.

His brow furrowed as his concentration slipped and interrupted his meditation. It was frustrating to no avail, this strange sensation he couldn’t figure out. The black haired swordsman sighed again, it couldn’t be anything bad, or a condition as far as he was aware. And even though he couldn’t figure it out, it didn’t necessarily feel bad. The opposite in fact, he enjoyed when it came around, because it was always when he was with Kocho.

Pushing himself to his feet, Giyuu gave up trying to unravel that mystery for the fiftieth time. Tanjiro was on a mission in the area right now, and Giyuu had suggested he could visit and replenish energy while he worked. Which the boy seemed delighted with, it was almost sickening how sweet he was.

Tanjiro was also an expert on emotions, so it would be good to get his opinion on the matter.

Either way, sleep was the first thing on his mind right now. Meeting tanjiro tomorrow and a hashira meeting the day after would just about drain his social battery for the year, he needed to be ready.

…

He slowly rose from his sleep to see the slight brightness of the morning sun peeking into his bedroom. Giyuu allowed himself a few moments to stare at the ceiling, unmoving as he mulled over what he’d be doing today.

He sensed another person in his house with him, but didn’t have any sort of fear about an intruder. One of the only other people in the world to own a key to his estate was Tanjiro, and that was because the boy would sooner take his own life than do anything like steal from the water pillar.

He fully finished getting himself ready and padded into the kitchen area, with the boy stood making food, presumably enough for both of them.

“Giyuu! Good morning! I let myself in, I hope you don’t mind that I’m using your kitchen.”

This boy is seriously too nice. “That’s fine. Did you bring your sister?”

“Yes! She’s in the spare room in her box right now, the sun just started coming up.”

He merely nodded and left the room for his Haori and katana, taking the moments of peace to sit and sharpen the blade. He also pondered how to bring up his dilemma to the boy, thinking it was probably best to just say it over their meal. Firmly believing there was no chance Tanjiro would tease him for it.

“I made you some breakfast too Giyuu!” He walked into the room as Giyuu placed down his sword, “I figured we could eat together in here, meals taste better together after all.”

The man nodded and shifted over to accept the plate, taking some time to eat before clearing his throat, pulling the boys attention.

“Tanjiro.” The boy in question flinched slightly with the intensity Giyuu spoke.

“Y-yes?”

“You know more about emotions and feelings than me, I need to ask you a question.”

Tanjiro relaxed and sat up slightly, willing him to continue with his expression.

“I have begun experiencing a feeling I do not understand, I’d like to know what it is.”

”Uhh, w-well how does it feel? Or when does it happen?”

He stayed silent for a few seconds, which seemed normal to Tanjiro, who felt some tension in the air as he waited for the answer. While Giyuu was actually building some confidence to speak, the idea of talking about feelings like this was terrifying.

“It… it feels kind of warm. Like a, tingling sensation?”

“Tingling?”

“Yes, and it only happens when…”

Tanjiro leaned forward, feeling like his head was going to explode if he didn’t finish this sentence. “When…?”

“When I am with Kocho.”

The silence that his answer was met with unnerved Giyuu to no end, he had to fight the urge to stand up and leave the room. But looking at Tanjiro across from him, the boy seemed in deep thought, like he was genuinely pondering his answer.

“Uhm, well, d-do you think… Shinobu-sama is, attractive?”

Giyuu frowned at the boy, unsure of why his question had led to this.

“What does that have to do with this?”

“J-just humour me.”

“Yes. I suppose she is beautiful.”

Tanjiro blinked at him, raising an eyebrow slightly. “Beautiful?”

“Is that not what you said?”

The red haired boy nodded, as if something was coming together to make sense, which left Giyuu even more anxious than before. How could he still not have realised the catch here and this boy had?

“So, this feeling is good? You enjoy spending time with her?”

“Yes. But the feeling briefly feels bad once I stop spending time with her.”

With one final nod, Tanjiro sat forward slightly, placing his plate on the table and looking at Giyuu with a sort of determination that made him even more nervous than he was before.

“Giyuu, I think you… like Shinobu-sama.”

“Like?”

“As in, romantic like her.”

Romantic like? Meaning he’d like a relationship with her? That didn’t compute with the water pillars head for a while, the idea of this girl that borderline bullied him everyday is now a potential partner in his eyes?

Sure, she was beautiful, and fun to talk to even with her constant teasing. The way she cared for the people at the butterfly mansion and doted on the girls that worked there was endearing, and when she-

Oh, I like her.

“S-so say I do, what exactly happens now? Do I just carry on as I was?”

“Uhm, I’m no expert on these things, but maybe you should ask her on a date?”

Tomioka stoked his chin in thought, up until now he’d only considered his side of things, but wasn’t this a two way street?

“Hmm, what reason would she have to say yes? I do not think she ‘likes’ me too.”

“Well, actually, when you’re together, her scent…”

“Scent?”

“Never mind, I shouldn’t say. But I think you should ask her out either way.”

Giyuu seemed to accept that conclusion, which Tanjiro was thankful for. He was truly grateful for his enhanced sense of smell, but unintentionally smelling emotions seemed like a breach of privacy a lot of the time. Especially when it came to matters of the heart.

“I believe I’ll try.”

“Great! I’ll be rooting for you!”

“Couldn’t we do a double date?”

“Double? With me? What do you mean?”

“Aren’t you and Kocho’s younger sister-“

“I’ve finished my meal! We should get ready to spar soon, don’t you think Giyuu? Yes, that sounds good.”

The boy scampered out of the room at alarming speeds, adding to the list of things Giyuu didn’t understand today. He had a plan now however, and he’d try it at the Hashira meeting tomorrow.

Though now he had to deal with sparring with an extremely energetic child, with his still injured foot. This would be a drag.

Giyuu showed up to the masters mansion much earlier than he would normally have done, now standing at the gate to the garden with anxiety flaring up again. It would be the first time since his revelation about his feelings for Kocho that he’d be seeing her.

Not to mention he was prepping himself for his version of hell, talking. Tanjiro had suggested before he left the estate yesterday that Giyuu should try to get along with the others at the meeting too, get into a rhythm of conversing and build up his confidence. He was not looking forward to it.

He pushed the gate open to see only Himejima and Tokito stood around the flowers cascading across the stone path. Stood a small distance apart and in their own worlds, neither of them acknowledged him coming through the gates. On autopilot he glanced towards the tree he’d stand by until the master got there. No one ever cared to bother him, or even glance his way once he found his way to the tree.

Which is why Himejima glanced, can he glance while blind?, towards the water pillar as he passed by his normal spot and made his way to the gap between the two other males. Giyuu faced the mansion and could feel the gaze of the huge man beside him, one look at the mist pillar however, confirmed that he was staring at the sky wistfully.

“Tomioka. It is great to see you.”

Giyuu looked to the pillar beside him with slight awe, as he spoke acting like this was the norm.

“Himejima. Good morning.”

He saw the faintest of a smirk break out on the man’s face followed by the flow of some tears, as he turned back to face the building.

“It is indeed.”

The smaller man took that as a sign that their brief conversation had ended, which meant he still needed to deal with the other person in his vicinity.

“Tokito. Good morning.”

The boy turned his head and stared directly at Giyuu for what he felt was a very uncomfortable amount of time. Is this what speaking to me is like? It cannot be this bad, surely. I’d hope I wasn’t like this with Kocho.

“Who are you?”

Giyuu looked plainly at the boy and blinked, turning to the side again, happily finished with this conversation.

…

The muffled voices of at least two other people were getting louder and louder as their drew closer to the garden, and Giyuu had to admit he was getting a little nervous. One was the unmistakeable rambunctious voice of Uzui Tengen, yelling about something to do with either flashiness, festivals or wives. He also heard a more feminine voice, but refused to figure out who it was, his nerves seemed to be getting the better of him.

As the silhouettes rounded the corner he fixed his eyes to some uninteresting part of the decking of the mansions structure, almost too afraid to look to his side.

“I’m here everybody! There is no need to worry anymore, how are we all on this flamboyant morning?”

How he could be that brazen and confident Giyuu would never know, and luckily for him Himejima was on hand to save him the trouble of answering.

“Tengen, Mitsuri, good morning to you both.”

Ah, so it was Mitsuri, that gives me a bit more time to prepare.

“Yes, yes, good morning to everyone, we’ve known each other long enough to do away with formalities. How abou- huh?”

Giyuu gulped, knowing subconsciously that the surprised tone was because of him.

“Tomioka huh? How FLASHY of you to join us today. There’s a first time for everything Eh?”

The man in question finally turned to face his fellow Hashira, staring with an unreadable expression. Inside his mind however, Giyuu was toiling over more advice Tanjiro had given him yesterday, hoping for any sort of hint as to how he could reply.

‘Say Giyuu, people tend to have traits and gimmicks that they stick to, perhaps if you play along with their ideas it’ll help you get closer faster.’

A gimmick… what was it Tengen did often?

“Good morning Tengen.” The sound hashira raised an eyebrow, surprised he’d actually gotten an answer. “You look… flashy today.”

Everyone surrounding him froze like he’d just said the craziest thing ever, and the longer they stayed quiet the more worried he got. He didn’t dare turn to look at Himejima and Tokito, but Tengens expression was unreadable and Mitsuri was blushing.  

That was until Tengen burst out into hearty laughter, making him jump on the spot.

“How FLAMBOYANT of you to notice Tomioka! I guess the old water pillar isn’t as he seems huh?”

Giyuu chose to quit while he was ahead and end their conversation there, instead turning to Mitsuri who was still facing down slightly and blushing. For reasons he didn’t understand.

“Good morning Mitsuri.”

A small eep from her almost shocked him as she faced him properly, still red faced.

“G-good morning Tomioka!”

“You look very pretty this morning.” That was good right? What person wouldn’t want to be called pretty?

“Whaaaaa…? I-I mean, uhh, th-thank you! You look, handsome! Yes, you look handsome. Won’t Shinobu be mad at you for saying that?!”

The varying pitches, stuttering and sudden accusation left him with no clue of what to do next. But at least they were talking right? That was good, that meant they could- killing intent?

“What the FUCK are you saying to Mitsuri you BASTARD?!”

He had to rapidly spin to the side and roll at the same time, narrowly avoiding a serpentine shaped blade flying by his face. Which of course meant he was dealing with-

“OBANAI! Such discourtesy is forbidden in masters gardens!”   

Another voice, really? He had to deal with them all at once? But wait, that was…

“Tomioka-san? What’s going on here? What did you do? Are you harmed?”

Giyuu stood rooted to the spot, both overwhelmed by Kocho’s presence, touched by her concern and offended by the idea he’d done something.

“Just because he’s your man Kocho doesn’t mean you need to defend him, and he’s a Hashira, he’s perfectly capable of taking care in himself.”

“He’s not…!”

“And what about his baseless attempts at seducing Mitsuri?! How can you allow him to do such a thing?”

“I don’t control- he was doing what?”

Himejima took a step forward, commanding the attention of almost everyone there with his mere presence, placing a scarily giant hand on Giyuu’s shoulder.

“Now, now. This is simply a misunderstanding, Tomioka here has been social and outgoing since he got here.”

“He has?”

“I have?”

“Yes.” The stone Hashira leaned in a little closer, lowering his voice. “And I’d suggest trying to keep up the friendly act, you’ll need it when Sanemi gets here.”

The only reply he received was a nervous gulp.

Giyuu felt slightly bad, he’d been zoning in and out the whole of the time the master was speaking. It was unfortunate, but he was sure the man would forgive him. He’d tried to steal a few glances at Kocho during the course of the meeting, and every time he’d turned she’d already been glancing at him. He had no idea how she has such amazing reactions, like she’d already been looking before he did.

He was briefly pulled out his reverie by a small shooting pain at the base of his foot, the injury still slightly stinging from the demons piercing trap a few days prior. He knew how to handle pain anyway, he could put up a strong front.

“I believe that it all we had to discuss for today my children, you are all free to head back to your patrol routes. Unless anyone has anything to bring up?” Giyuu could’ve sworn that he’d looked briefly towards Kocho, despite his lack of vision. It seemed being blind had no affect on any of these people.

“Ah, yes Oyakata-sama. I’d like to request for you to order Tomioka-san here to join me at the butterfly estate. It seems he’s been neglecting his health again.”

Giyuu frowned slightly, wondering how it was even possible she could’ve noticed his injury. He also heard a small scoff beside him.

“Yes, that’s why you’d like him to join you.”

“What was that Shizanugawa?” Kocho added with a more terrifying aura than any demon he’d faced before.

“Nothing.”

“In that case Shinobu, I accept. You shall join her after the conclusion of our meeting, is this acceptable?”

“Yes Oyakata-sama.” He couldn’t say no to that, disappointing the master felt worse than almost all injuries.

“Good. I hope to see you all here again, my children.”

…

Giyuu stood beside Kocho as they readied to head in the opposite direction of the Hashira, with Kocho taking control of all their goodbyes. That was until she pinched his arm slightly, looking at him expectedly, as if she was saying that she’d hit him if he didn’t say something too.

“I-it was good to see you all.”

As awkward as he sounded most of the Hashira before him seemed to enjoy that, their varied reactions and replies already too much for him to handle.

Obanai and Shizanugawa stepped out to join the group too, and Giyuu decided to take the initiative before he got pinched again.

“Until next time.” He nodded in the general direction of the two.

“Fuck off.”

“Fuck you.”

He took that as his cue to leave.

…

“So what’s with this new Tomioka-san today? I must admit it’s very interesting.”

“Bad interesting?”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

He nearly tripped over when he felt the small fingers of his female company grip the base of his Haori’s sleeve. She’d been doing that whenever she walked with him for months now, but only now did it bring about a feeling inside him he didn’t want to acknowledge.

“All this performing for the other hashira’s favours, what about me Tomioka-san?”

“What about you?”

“Do you see no need in gaining my favour? Or were Mitsuri and the others simply more important?”

The way she worded that question worried him quite a bit, especially how she referred to the pillars as Mitsuri and the others, something told him he was in some small amount of trouble. And he really didn’t have the emotional ability to deal with it.

“I already have your favour. There is no need for any further action.”

“Hmph. I guess you do.”

She pouted slightly with furrowed brows and looked forward again, and he might’ve thought it was the cutest thing he’d ever seen in his life. He wouldn’t be caught saying that out loud though.  

A short stint of silent walking later and they entered the gates of the butterfly mansion. Being greeted by the blue haired worker who’s name he honestly couldn’t remember.

“Aoi!” That’s what it is. “I’m going to treat Tomioka-san here for a wound in his foot, can you get me some fresh bandages and some antiseptic?”

“Of course Shinobu-sama, I’ll be right back!”

The girl shot off alarmingly fast as Giyuu was lead to the spare room of the mansion, a small treatment bed in the middle with a stool pulled up for Kocho to use.

“They’re all very keen to impress you.” He floated out, hoping to breach the awkward silence at least a bit.

“They’re all very hard working girls, they know they’re making a difference here.”

“…hmm.” Giyuu nodded and hummed, unsure how to carry on the conversation.

“You’d make a great mother.”

“Eh?! T-that’s certainly a bold thing to say Tomioka-san. This job seems too dangerous for dreams like that, I wouldn’t want to leave orphans behind would I?”

“As long as you marry someone capable they wouldn’t end up orphans.”

“Well, you certainly seem to be on top of this. Did you have someone in mind Tomioka-san?”

He didn’t answer, much to her frustration. Just staring like the fool he is into space while she finished wrapping his foot.

As he watched her concentrate on the final parts of his bandage, Giyuu started to think about his goal here. It was the perfect time really, he’d basically wimped out at the Hashira meeting, it was now or never. He needed to find a way to get it done, to rip the band aid off as fast and efficient as possible.

Shinobu lifted her head back to his eye level one she’d finalised her job, to find the water pillar staring right back into her eyes. It was a little jarring, but she’d always loved those blue eyes in particular. Still, it was unlike Tomioka-san.

“You’re staring Tomioka-san, you’ll make a girl blush you know?”

He continued to stare, and while she enjoyed holding his gaze before hand, it had gotten to the point where she was getting a little self conscious, like she was being analysed.

“What is it To-mmph!”

She was swiftly cut off with his hands placing themselves on her cheeks, and no more than a second later his lips met hers in a hasty and slightly rough fashion.

She quickly recovered from the surprise and settled her lips against his, with a content sigh as she pushed slightly for control. And once he didn’t relent, she pinched at his bottom lip slightly with her teeth, making him pull away with slight shock.

“You bit me.”

“You kissed me!”

“I want to ask you on a date.”

She stared blankly at him, as he pretended like that didn’t just happen.

“A d-date?! Shouldn’t you have asked that first?”

“I wanted to kiss you. Was what I did incorrect?”

“Well no… It was a nice kiss. I just think the norm is date first then kiss no?”

“I do not know. I just thought you looked beautiful.”

Okay, she couldn’t not blush at that. How on Earth this man could be so dense yet so smooth was beyond her.

“W-well, then I’m fine with doing things your way, you wasted too much time getting to this point anyway.”

He smiled at her. A genuine smile that made her stomach flip in funny ways, and he started to lean in again.

“Well then, let me make up for lost time.”

As he pressed his lips to hers again, he smiled with an overwhelming happiness.

I’ll have to thank tanjiro for this later.

Chapter Text

Roughly a month after Giyuu had successfully asked Kocho on a date, albeit right after kissing her, they were finally going to go through with his original plan. The merciless schedule of a Hashira left them no time for any such casual outings, but he’d finally been granted the chance.

They’d only seen each other a couple times since then too, so it was still a new thing they had between them. No one else knew, not any of the Hashira or the master for that matter, which Giyuu had to admit he was happy about. He wasn’t ready to deal with the others just yet.

And while he was nervous, he was also very excited as he walked up to the restaurant they’d agreed to meet at. After all this time, his first date with Kocho was actually happening.

It was Kocho that had suggested the place, saying they had a great mix of foods including his favourite, he wasn’t sure whether she actually knew what his favourite was, considering he’s never said it out loud before. But he wouldn’t put it past her, Kocho had a way of doing these sorts of things.

He was in the middle of daydreaming about food when he felt a sudden and painfully familiar poke to his shoulder. The pillar had a smile on his face before he even turned around.

“Kocho.”

“Tomioka-san! You’re here!”

“… am I not supposed to be?”

“Oh, well it’s just you’re such an airhead I thought you might forget.”

He fought back both a sigh and a smile, even her teasing him like this made him happy nowadays, though he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing that just yet. But Giyuu did feel the need to do at least something, so he stepped forward and wrapped her in an embrace, which he felt her body go tense at for a moment, before properly relaxing.

“Ara ara, does this mean you missed me Tomioka-san?” He could practically feel the mischievous smile radiating off of her.

“Yes. It is good to see you, Shinobu.”

Her wry smile dropped from her face immediately, being replaced with a shy one while the tips of her ears went red. Giyuu decided it was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

“O-oh, well I missed you too Giyuu.” She looked back up at the man while still in his arms, finding her face far too close to his right now. “We should head inside, we came to eat didn’t we?”

Giyuu didn’t reply, instead just following her in, already missing the warmth of her embrace.

…

“I told you they had your favourite.”

Giyuu was pleasantly surprised to find out they actually did, and slightly confused as to how she even knew he liked Salmon with Daikon.

“How did you know this was my favourite?”

“I know much more about you than you think Giyuu, I once caught you smiling when you ate that particular dish.”

Damn, I didn’t think anyone had ever seen me smile like that, she’s too sneaky.

He continued to eat while she made small talk, he contributed every now and then, and she seemed to be very happy every time she got an answer out of him, it made him want to speak more. Although he couldn’t help but be stuck in his thoughts, there were so many things he had questions about.

Like now this is a date, does that mean they’re a couple? They’re also on a first name basis, what exactly does that make them?

And despite his belief in his own poker face, she seemed to read him where no one else could, interrupting his thoughts with her soft voice.

“You seen pretty troubled there Giyuu, something on your mind?”

He frowned a little, once again confused at how she could be so inquisitive.

“Are we… a couple?”

Shinobu put her hand over her mouth to cover an amused smile, still finding it funny that this man was so naïve.

“Oh my, is this what’s been going through that thick skull of yours?”

This time he couldn’t fight the sigh escaping from his mouth, genuinely disappointed in the answer.

“Does this mean, well, you were teasing when you kissed me?”

This time she frowned at him, and Giyuu swallowed nervously, unused to this type of look from her.

“No, of course I meant it, I wanted to date you, and of course I think we’re a couple! Are you normally so insecure?”

He looked down slightly, unable to look at her eyes.

“Sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. I know you aren’t the most outspoken, and maybe a little socially inept. I just didn’t suspect you’d have this little confidence.”

Giyuu nodded slightly, partially giddy at how she’d said they were a couple. And flinched when he felt fingers intertwining with his on the table, seeing Shinobu look at him quite intensely.

“And as your girlfriend, I’d like to help boost that confidence as much as possible. Maybe even get you to be more outspoken.”

“How?”

“Well how about you talk more with our friends? Get to know them a bit better maybe?”

“Friends?”

She pinched his hand, which he would be remised to admit nearly made him shout.

“The other Hashira! I mean you did quite well with them the day you kissed me!”

That was true, he decided to be talkative that day and it did sort of work, but it may also be a bit late to fully become friends…

“I don’t think I can be friendly with them all.”

“Why not?”

“Well, Iguro and Shinazugawa would sooner kill me and dance on my grave than be my friend.”

Shinobu paused for a moment before bursting into quite loud laughter, and while he loved the sound he was very confused.

“I had no idea you had such a creative side Giyuu!”

He smiled a little bit too, and Shinobu prodded his arm again.

“Well, Shinazugawa seems to think he has a responsibility to care for me, so one way or another you’ll be interacting with him.”

Shinobu pinched him before he could even scowl, which made him realise she really did know more about him than he thinks.

“Mitsuri and I are very close, and if Mitsuri is there Iguro is never far behind.”

Giyuu chose to nod and agree, there was likely no chance he’d talk Shinobu out of something like this once she’d set her mind to it.

“So how do we… start to make friends with them?”

“Hmm…” Giyuu raised an eyebrow as she pulled out a pen and paper and began scribbling something down. “Well, how about you join me at the butterfly estate after this? And we’ll have Mitsuri join us!”

“Uh, I don’t think that is a very good idea.”

She passed the note to her crow perched on the window at her side, and it took off instantly.

“Too late.” She said with a scary look on his face that told him to shut up and agree.

“She’ll be here shortly, so be on your best behaviour.”

Giyuu decided not to entertain that, instead looking to the front gate of the butterfly mansion with exasperation.

“Do we tell her we’re a couple?”

“We could…” she started thoughtfully at the sky for a moment, then suddenly clicked her fingers. “Or we could play a prank of sorts!”

The water pillar fought back a sigh, afraid it would get him told off again.

“What prank? And why would we?”

“Because! That’s what friends do Giyuu, they joke with each other. Maybe if Mitsuri sees you play a joke she’ll think of you as more human and less a dark dissociated weirdo incapable of speech.”

“That seemed far too specific.”

She quickly stepped on to her toes and kissed him on the cheek, pulling him along by the arm inside the estate.

“She’ll be here any second, we should get inside.”

Giyuu let her pull him along, holding a hand on his now very red cheek.

…

“KANAO-CHANNNNN”

Both Shinobu and Giyuu tensed, realising the guest had got here much earlier than expected.

“Damn, she’s already here. You’re going to have to come up with the prank Giyuu.”

He stared right back at her, as if she’d just said the most outrageous thing ever, which she basically had.

“Me?! Do you hear yourself?.”

“Now isn’t the time to develop a sarcastic side Giyuu, just do it.”

Before he could even interject the door swung open with fervour, and the pink and green haired Hashira bundled in with what Giyuu would describe as far too much energy.

“Shinobu! Tomioka! It’s so good to see you! I’m SO happy you invited me today!”

Shinobu accepted the hug from her fellow Hashira, slightly concerned about how hard the woman could squeeze.

“Mitsuri, you’re always welcome here, you know that.”

“I know, I know. I just wish we didn’t have SO much to do as Hashira y’know? Then we’d get to hang out more!” 

“It is… difficult.”

Mitsuri swung her head around fast enough to give herself whiplash, which made Giyuu think Shinobu probably wasn’t exaggerating when she said they didn’t see him as human.

“Y-yeah! It is isn’t it Tomioka?! It’s like mission after mission and demon after demon, can’t they leave us alone for like five minutes?”

Giyuu eyed Shinobu as Mitsuri went off on a tangent, the insect pillar made some rather threatening hand signals which Giyuu took as, ‘Prank. Now.’

The man sighed and stood up slowly, which drew the attention of both the women in the room.

“Tomioka? Everything okay?” Mitsuri seemed sincere, which made him feel bad.

Yet he completely ignored the woman, and walked up to Shinobu, stopping right in front of her.

She raised an eyebrow, and looked like she was about to ask what he was doing, but she didn’t get the chance as the water pillar cupped her cheeks with his hands and kissed her full on the lips, with exaggerated passion.

Shinobu nearly had a meltdown, but composed herself and started trying to return the kiss, which he instantly cut off. Before the now flustered woman could get mad, he turned to the love pillar, who was red faced and extremely confused.

“Me and Shinobu are in love. We are running away from the corps, this is the last time you’ll ever see us.”

The silence and tension that hung over the room was palpable, while Mitsuri stood slack jawed, trying to make sense of her situation.

“You…Shinobu…love?…run…forever?!”  

As she looked back up to the two, still with a red face and tears pooling in her eyes, Giyuu realised he may have made a mistake.

“SHINOBUUUUUUU!!!!” The pillar leaped onto her friend, knocking over Giyuu in the process, who winced at the volume of her voice. “You CANT go, please don’t go!!”

Giyuu glanced at his girlfriend, who was now being near crushed by a crying Mitsuri.

She also happened to have one of the most menacing looks he’d ever seen directed straight at him.

He decided he was likely in trouble.

“S-so, you’re not going?”

Mitsuri sat in the middle of the room, with Shinobu gently rubbing circles into her back. Giyuu figured he’d he best staying in the corner of the room, away from the killing intent he could feel from his girlfriend.

“No, Mitsuri. For the tenth time, I’m staying in the corps.”

“Really?!”

“Yes. Me and Giyuu are not fleeing the corps, despite what the idiot might say.”

Shinobu noticed the girl suddenly start to act bashful, with a tinge of red on her cheeks and fiddling around with her hands. She wanted to hope that didn’t mean what she expected it to, and fought back a sigh.

“Y-you called Tomioka-san Giyuu.”

“I did.”

“Well… that’s something lovers do.”

“It is.”

The woman’s eyes widened, looking between the two like she was figuring out a very complex puzzle.

“So, you two are…?”

“I wouldn’t go so far as to-“

“Yes.”

Shinobu looked at Giyuu in shock, while Mitsuri began bouncing around excitedly

“TWO PILLARS IN LOVE?!”

The couple both recoiled at the sheer volume Mitsuri managed to produce, and began to think about what the woman was shouting over and over.

Love. Would I call it love? It’s something Nee-san wanted for me, but is what I have now something so profound?

She turned to interrupt her friends rambling and correct that, no, they aren’t in love yet. Their relationship had only just started. But as she turned her gaze towards Giyuu he was staring right back at her, with a soft and genuine smile on his face.

She decided it wasn’t necessary to correct Mitsuri right now, it wouldn’t hurt anyone if she believed it.

“So, so, a-are you two… engaged?!”

That managed to snap Shinobu out of her stupor, with her eyes snapping right back to her friend.

“N-no! Our relationship is still very new.”

Mitsuri turned to Giyuu, as if she didn’t believe what she’d just heard and wanted his confirmation. The black haired man just nodded, hoping she understood that meant agreement. Not many other people besides Shinobu understood his non verbal communication.

“Awww, that’s too bad.”

They both watched the love pillar as she lowered her head in disappointment, and then suddenly snap up, as if she’d just realised something huge.

“H-hey Shinobu. What about… it?”

“It?”

“Have you done, y’know… it?”

She tilted her head sideways at Mitsuri, trying to figure out what on earth she was talking about. And then it suddenly hit her like a tonne of bricks.

“M-Mitsuri! That is a very inappropriate question!”

Both the women in the room were red as tomatoes, and Giyuu watched on in confusion.

“It is?”

Shinobu looked at him with surprise, which unnerved him slightly.

“Of course it is!”

“I mean, we’re a couple. I thought it would be commonplace for us to have done it.”

Mitsuri squeaked out loud as she had done numerous times today, and looked at the floor as she spoke.

“You mean… you have?”

“Yes. We have done it multiple times.”

“Giyuu! What are you saying?!”

He noted that Shinobu was currently very red, and looked extremely bashful as he spoke. He didn’t take her for the type to be so embarrassed by such situations, considering her regular personality.

“Y-you don’t need to flaunt it Tomioka-san! No matter when or how often you’ve done… it.”

“I didn’t think it was a big deal. We did it with you right in front of us before.”

“You DID?!”

Shinobu waved her hands in front of her face in panic, trying to settle the pink haired girl down.

“Mitsuri, listen, this is a misunder-“

“I-IVE OVERSTEPPED MY BOUNDARIES! I SHOULD GO!”

“W-wait! Mit-“

The door opened and slammed before she could even finish her sentence, leaving the room in an awkward silence. Shinobu still attempting to calm herself down and remove the blush from her face, while Giyuu nonchalantly stared at her, wondering what the commotion was about.

“Giyuu.”

“Hmm?”

“When you said we’ve done… it, what was it that you meant?”

“Kissing, of course. I didn’t understand why you two found it to be such a big deal.”

She let out a dramatically large sigh and moved over to where he sat, placing herself down beside him and grasping his hand with her own, sympathetically rubbing his knuckles with her thumb.

“Giyuu, I love you, but your social awareness is tragically bad.”

Giyuu nodded, as if none of this meant anything to him.

“You love me?”

She sat, slack jawed for a moment, before letting go of his hand like it was on fire.

“I-! Uh… w-well, MITSURI! I should go get her, MISTURI! Wait!”

The door opened and closed again, leaving the water pillar sat by himself. He smiled, grabbing a piece of the food in front of him.

She didn’t give me the chance to say it back.

Chapter Text

Three weeks, another three whole weeks since Shinobu had seen Giyuu after their ‘incident’ with Mitsuri. She had managed to catch up to the other pillar and talk to her about the misunderstanding, but she knew full well that one conversation with someone like Iguro was more than enough for her to gossip.

She loved Mitsuri, but sometimes she could be a lot.

Her main problems didn’t lie with the loose lipped love pillar though, if she had to say what was causing her the most problems right now, it would likely be the accidental admittance of love to her boyfriend.

It had just come out so naturally, like it was a very well known fact in her brain.

Do I really love him? It seems like such a jump for such a short time, but I can’t deny how right it felt to say it out loud.

The three weeks had been very awkward and difficult, there were numerous times the water pillar had attempted to speak to her. And while she’d been content with avoiding up until now, she’d realised the error of her ways after the last time.

According to Aoi, he’d come to the estate asking for her again, she knew he would, that’s why she wasn’t in. And once Aoi let him know, he’d looked distraught and accepted the fact. Then… nothing. No more attempts to see her for the last week, and she’d been hit with the harsh realisation that she’d hurt him.

He must’ve assumed she didn’t want to see him and let his low confidence take the reigns. It was so hard to coax him out of his shell, and she’d gone and forced him back in.

She needed to find him and set things right sooner than later, before he had any chance of becoming more upset than he seemingly already always is.

…

Giyuu was very upset, things were in such a good place a few weeks ago. Spending time with his new girlfriend, an official date, they’d decided to start making him friends, and she even said she loved him.

He wasn’t sure he’d been much happier than that moment before, but she effectively vanished as of the next day, and had been avoiding his contact ever since. Although it took him a few attempts, Giyuu had eventually come to the realisation that she didn’t want to see him, so he’d stopped attempting to talk to her again.

The water pillar pondered how he’d deal with something like this, being deprived of something so great despite only having it such a short time, it was a stark reminder that everyone he’d ever loved had left him one way or another.

Which is why reading the message his crow has just supplied him with, ‘an emergency summons to the Ubuyashiki estate regarding movement of upper moons.’ Made him tremble with fear. He’d rather face the demons than Shinobu right now.

“Caw! Caw! Letter for Tomioka Giyuu!”

“Another?”

Giyuu reluctantly plucked the next letter from his crows talons and eyed the front. Addressed from the butterfly estate, the words alone made him nervous. He glanced a questioning look at his crow, who nonchalantly stared back at him, cawing once and flapping its wings.

With a sigh he opened it and began reading the top line, praying for anything better than the butterfly estate had given him the last few weeks.

Tomioka Giyuu, I hope this letter receives you in good health, this is Aoi Kanzaki.

“Aoi? The girl with blue hair?”

I’d like to request for you to come to the butterfly estate tomorrow, Shinobu-sama will not be present, I’ll see you then.

“That’s it?”

The crow cawed again, confirming he had no more.

He dropped his head to his table with a thump, guess I’m headed to the estate tomorrow.  

“HALF AND HALF HAORI!”

“Inosuke! What are- oh! Hello Giyuu!”

Both the boys sprinted to his side the second he entered the main door of the building. The polar opposites of the aggressive energy Inosuke brought and the kind and soothing feel Tanjiro seemingly always had floating around him. Even so, he wasn’t here for a catch up, he had some serious business to attend to.

“I’m here to see Aoi.”

“Aoi? I think she’s-“

“EHHHHHHHHH?!”

Giyuu winced from the volume as the yellow boy came charging into the room, his hands on his face in some sort of clear distress, though Giyuu had no idea why.

“Zenitsu, what-“

“YOU! You.. you’re a womaniser!” He pointed aggressively at the Hashira, as Tanjiro tried pulling his hand down desperately.

“Hey! Don’t- what are you-?”

“I GET that a creep like you might not get girls, but she’s way too young! Stop trying to take away all our girls with your stupid stud face!”

“I’m not-“

He had to stop to sidestep the flying bodies of Tanjiro and Zenitsu as they were hurled by Inosuke, who was now screaming something about fighting as they charged through the door.

The water pillar decided not to get involved anymore, too much of those three gave him a headache.

“You’re here.”

He turned abruptly to see the blue haired girl in question, stood quite menacingly for a human that small. And the look she was giving him worried him quite severely about why it was he had to be at the estate today.

“Follow me, we’ll do this in a quieter room.”

Giyuu wordlessly followed her until she’d led them to a new room upstairs, motioning for him to go inside and closing the door behind her. The room was bare, save for a few chairs, and it felt like he was the subject of some form of intervention.

“Sit.”

“Why am I-“

“You are in a relationship with Shinobu-sama, correct?”

He quickly froze up, which he realised was a mistake as the girl across from him nodded like she’d figured something out.

“How do you feel about her?”

“Feel?”

He already knew what the girl meant, he’d just repeated it on instinct, as if he was buying himself time. She didn’t seem to waver however, continuing to stare at him with intent.

“I love her.”

“I thought so.”

There was a long pause, and Giyuu didn’t know what to make of it, he was ready to stand and leave before the blue haired girl started to talk again.

“She loves you.” It was more a statement than a question, one that made him feel a mix of emotion.

“I don’t think so.”

“Well I do. Those couple weeks you’d been here a few times and the time you came with Mitsuri, I’d never seen her that happy since Nee-san died.”

“I had thought so too, then she avoided me for three weeks.”

The girl raised an eyebrow, with an emotion on her face he read as surprise.

“She avoided you?”

“Yes, why?”

“I believed it was the other way around.”

He shifted slightly and couldn’t ignore his genuine curiosity, Shinobu had seemed very intent on avoiding him recently, and this girl seemed to believe the opposite.

“What made you think that?”

“Well, she’d been very disturbed recently. Upset. And if I’m being honest, you didn’t seem like the most relationship-y guy.”

“I want to be with Shinobu. But since she told me she loved me she’s been avoiding me.”

The girl nodded again, then stood up, with a reignited fire in her eyes.

“Please be patient with Shinobu-sama. You make her happy, and she loves you too. I just believe it’s hard for her to accept she can be loved, or live any semblance of a normal life. Just talk to her again Tomioka-san, she’ll come around.”

He watched as Aoi left the room, letting him sit and drown in his thoughts again. He really wanted to believe her, nothing would make him more happy, but his past… his failures, forget her worrying about being normal, he didn’t deserve it either.

“And as your girlfriend, I’d like to help boost that confidence as much as possible.”

That’s right, she wanted to help make me better, to help me become a strong willed person. What kind of boyfriend would I be If I couldn’t do the same?

With a new found determination, Giyuu set out to plan how to win back Shinobu.

But his emotional intelligence was his downfall, he’d need some help.

…

He silently investigated the estate’s empty rooms to find his main emotional support source, Tanjiro. He’d quickly located the boar boy and the crying boy simply from their absurd level of noise, the boar was attacking him in a sparring session with relentless swings, and while the yellow boy screamed in protest he was actually keeping up very nicely.

It was only until he turned a corner of a new hallway that he spotted the boy. Sat on the outside step overlooking another section of the estates gardens, alongside Shinobu’s younger sister.

He suddenly felt bad about interrupting them, she had her head rested on his shoulder and they seemed at peace. Then again, no matter what he did tanjiro would likely forgive him, and this was an important topic.

“Tanjiro.”

“Giyuu!”

The boy leaped up slightly, knocking the girl down to the floor in the process, despite how flustered he suddenly was he leaned down to help her up, checking her over in an overbearing way to make sure he hadn’t hurt her.

“Is this a bad time?” Giyuu asked, knowing full well it was.

“Ahh, n-no, it’s okay. Sorry, Kanao, I’ll just go to talk to Giyuu a moment.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She replied with a squeeze of his hand, and giyuu was smirking at the boy as he approached him down the corridor.

“Shut up.” He said with a red face.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You’re like that with Shinobu-sama anyway.”

He rubbed his neck awkwardly, knowing how this will make Tanjiro feel bad after saying that.

“Actually, this is why I’m here.”

“Oh. Nothing bad… happened, I hope?”

“Not really. But we haven’t seen each other in a while. We’re both struggling with the concept of relationships. I need to know how to speak to her again.”

The boy stood wide eyed as Giyuu waited for a reply, as if he’d said something strange. Which had the water pillar frowning at him with accusatory eyes.

“What?”

“N-nothing! It’s just… you’ve changed. You’d never have said or thought something like that before.”

He had no choice but to agree with that, before he’d realised his feelings for the insect pillar and allowed himself to feel like he deserved some of that type of happiness, he lived a very closed off life.

But now it was different, and he had someone to love, and more in his life to live for than simply slaying demons, it was certainly nerve wracking, but that’s why he was trying right now. To fix what was temporarily broken.

“Well, anyway, do you have any ideas?”

The Kamado boy tapped his fingers in thought, and slammed a fist down onto his palm.

“Honesty.”

“Honesty…?”

“I think that’s all I really need to tell you, it seems like you know what is needed of you now. And you know how you care for shinobu-sama, you just need to be up front and honest with her.”

Was it really that simple? Is that all I need to do to win her back? If I took what Aoi said to heart, Shinobu loves me too. I suppose talking it out is the best course of action.

“Thank you Tanjiro. I’ll let you get back to it.”

“Oh, I… uh-“

“Be sure to use protection.”

By the time he’d looked back up, ready to combust with a mix of embarrassment and shock, Giyuu was already gone. Leaving him with no way to vent his energy besides abruptly head butting the wall.

“Tanjiro? Is everything okay?”

He quickly turned to Kanao, whose face filled with concern and genuine worry melted his frustration instantly.

“Y-yeah, sorry Kanao. Giyuu just left now anyway.”

“Ah, okay. Did he ask about Shinobu nee-san?”

“Yeah.” He nodded, grabbing her hand again and leading her back to the step to take a seat, she wordlessly followed and rested her head back on his shoulder. 

“What did he mean by needing protection?”

Tanjiro instantly fell off the step.

Shinobu walked into the Ubuyashiki garden with her regular smile plastered on her face. It wasn’t real, and she knew many of the others noticed that fact, but she didn’t care, anything that made her forget the real anger inside her was to her benefit.

Today for her was about alleviating some of that anger, and trying to return to the happiness she’d found. She glanced over the gardens to see a number of the pillars here already, engaged in their own conversations or simply standing and waiting for the master.

And stood at the back, on his own by the small pond was him.

She went about it as she normally would, exchanging greetings with each of the other Hashira that had found themselves here this early, and finally made her way to Giyuu.

She strolled up beside him and paused, standing just further than shoulder to shoulder and staring into the still water ahead of her.

“Tomioka-san.” She greeted him with; in case of anyone being in earshot of their conversation. He seemed to clock onto that too.

“Kocho.”

She snuck a glance at him to see a small grin on his face, and she couldn’t fight the genuine smile that overtook her own face. The butterflies fluttering around her stomach relentless in their movement.

“It is good to see you again.”

Giyuu looked behind him, as if he was scanning if the area was safe. And shinobu suddenly felt something on her fingers, looking down to see his pinky coiled around hers.

“I missed you.”

She squeezed his finger slightly, smiling up at him again.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. This is new for both of us.”

She scoffed with a laugh, enjoying the fact that Giyuu of all people was discussing emotional issues with her. And correctly at that.

“I suppose it is, when did you get so wise, Tomioka-san?”

He left the question unanswered, looking to the pond again with her hand tight in his.

“I love you too.”

…

The Hashira meeting was over as quickly as it began, it was unnerving in Giyuu’s opinion, talking about matters to do with upper moons when they hadn’t really reared their heads in decades filled even the most experienced swordsmen with dread.

Besides his dark pit of a career, he had other things to think about for once. People in his life he’d never had before. And his goal right now was to join shinobu as she left the mansion. He managed to catch up to her right near the gate, and she greeted him with a smile.

“Giyuu, how-“

“SHINOBU!”

Both of them managed to flinch as they recognised the owner of that voice. A voice that as of late they’d associated with negative things.

“Mitsuri, how are you? Oh! And Iguro!”

“Hey Shinobu, Tomioka-san. How have you been?”

Despite the happy and sing song tone she spoke in as she asked, the couple knew it was a loaded question, and Giyuu decided as always to leave the talking completely to Shinobu.

“Great! How about you two? Any plans for you anytime soon?”

“Yes, actually! That’s why I’m here.”

Giyuu fought with all his strength to prevent a sigh, under the likelihood that Iguro would kill him for sighing at Mitsuri. He knew this line of conversation led to some sort of invitation or proposal.

“Oh?”

“We’d like to propose a double date! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

Yep, he was right. The worst case came true.

Shinobu, on the other hand, clapped her hands together with a smile.

“That sounds like a great idea! Doesn’t it Tomioka-san?”

He replied with a nod, which he could tell annoyed Iguro. Which in turn annoyed Shinobu, she was probably doing this so he could get to be friends with the serpent pillar.

“Great! We’ll have to organise it soon!”

“Just as long as you two don’t try fucking in front of us.”

There it was.

“Obanai!” Mitsuri looked beyond embarrassed, steam basically exiting her ears.

“Iguro, that was a misunderstanding, as I tried to tell Mitsuri here.”

“It was?!”

Shinobu’s eye twitched, disbelieving in the shocked tone of Mitsuri as if she hadn’t already explained what really happened ten times.

“Yes. Giyuu believed it referred to kissing, not… that other thing.”

The water pillar watched as Mitsuri accepted the answer with a shy nod, while Iguro shook his head in disbelief.

“I wouldn’t think Tomioka-san was capable of such things.”

Giyuu frowned slightly, unaware of how he should answer that. Then a recent memory began to echo in his ears.

Friends make jokes Giyuu!

That’s right. Shinobu had told him that for the prank on Mitsuri, something similar may work here too.

“I’m better than you at it.”

“You BASTARD!”

Mitsuri’s hands stopped Iguro’s sword from being drawn and Giyuu looked on in shock, realising he had messed up again.

Though this time when he looked to his girlfriend she was not angry, just disappointed.

…

Giyuu walked Shinobu back down the path towards the butterfly estate hand in hand. Revelling in the feeling after missing out on it for a number of weeks. He didn’t even try to hide the smile and the extra kick in his step as he paraded their linked hands around to the animals in the woods around them.

“Giyuu.”

“Hm?” He turned to her to find her face right at his, as she placed a much waited kiss to his lips with fervour.

“I love you.”

He beamed at her, noticing her bashful blush alongside every other feature he adored.

“Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”

Her smile shifted slightly from happy to a little awkward, and he didn’t like where it was leading, not one bit.

“We have the double date with Iguro and Mitsuri of course, but there’s something before that.”

“Something…?”

“We’re having dinner with Tengen and his wives. Tomorrow.”

“…”

“…”

“Huh?!”

Chapter Text

“So, you remember their names?”

Shinobu straightened his freshly washed Haori, something she insisted happened before they met up today.

“Mhm.” She raised her eyebrow at him, the unasked question of ‘what are they?’ Hung in the air. “Makio, Suma, Hinatsuru.”

“Fair enough.”

She finished sorting his outfit and took a step back to look at him one more time. Apparently Giyuu had no other clothes suitable for an occasion, which wasn’t great considering the sound pillars love of flashiness and in turn clothes. So they settled on his slayer outfit, if needs be they could always just lie about him having had a recent mission nearby.

“Well, I appreciate the effort you’ve put into this at least. His wives names, and even a haircut!”

He idly ran his hand over his hair again, slightly shorter than it had been recently. The water pillar had figured it could do with being trimmed before a house visit somewhere, it had been messy for a while.

“Don’t worry, you look very handsome. I’m sure they’ll forgive you for the corps uniform.”

“Do they know it’s me coming today?”

“They know I’m bringing a plus one, they don’t know who though.”

He took a deep breath to settle himself, they’d likely be disappointed that it was him, probably expecting someone like Mitsuri.  

As if sensing his trepidation she grabbed his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“You’ll be fine, they’ll learn to like you I’m sure.”

Giyuu smiled back at her and pulled her arm to him, hugging her tightly, which she gladly accepted.

“Thank you, Shinobu.”

There was no specific thing he wanted to thank her for, but he felt the need to say it.

…

The couple strolled down a rather long and winding path which led to the sound pillars estate hand in hand. Giyuu was only slightly nervous, but felt ready for this nonetheless. It seemed his fear of disappointing his girlfriend was currently stronger than his fear of human interaction.

Although he did suddenly let go of her hand when he felt a presence, like eyes were bore into him from somewhere, it set him on edge and his instincts kicked in.

“Relax, Giyuu. It’s probably just Suma.”

He looked at her with questioning eyes, so she sighed and carried on.

“She watches out like this when we’re arriving, the feeling of being watched scared me the first time too.”

“She’s… the very emotional one, no?”

“She is! Good job!”

“You don’t have to speak to me like a child because I got something right you know.”

“True, but your emotional intelligence is that of a child’s, I figured it might help.”

He tried to frown but couldn’t help the smile breaking on his face. And he turned to notice the wife of Tengen in question, glancing with curiosity through the curtains of the home.

As they approached the front door both Suma and Makio emerged, Suma seemed almost afraid while Makio was staring down Giyuu with a raised eyebrow. Shinobu grabbed the sleeve of his haori with two fingers as a reassurance, which he’d have to admit felt much better.

“Shinobu! And… I’m not sure who? I was under the impression Mitsuri would be here.” The blonde regarded Giyuu with a confidence he could never hope to possess. And Suma shook behind him like she’d seen a ghost.

“a-a STALKER! Shinobu! Someone’s behind you! Tengen, COME QUI-“

She was interrupted with a fist to the top of her head by the blonde, in a very Tanjiro and Zenitsu Esq. way.

“SHUT UP, IDIOT! She clearly came with him!”

“Waaaaaaaah! Tengen, Makio hit me again!”

Giyuu glanced at Shinobu as the two women continued to wrestle with each other, leaving them to stand awkwardly in the hope they could be invited in.

“What the shit is going on-? Tomioka?! How FLAMBOYANT of you to join us! I take it he’s your plus one?”

“Nice to see you again Tengen, and yes, he is.”

The sound Hashira subtly moved backwards to separate his wives as he continued speaking, pushing them apart with a finger each.

“Well! We’ve never had you here before!”

“Yes. Thank you for allowing me to visit.”

Shinobu shared an awkward smile with Giyuu at her side, one filled with both relief and pride that he’d managed to speak to the over-the-top pillar.

“And look at you two all buddy-buddy! You look like a couple, HAHA!”

Giyuu looked up at the sky in an attempt to avoid the awkwardness that was certainly about to follow. While Shinobu fiddled with the bottom of her kimono, whistling innocently. Tengen stopped laughing and looked down at the two with eyes wide.

“You’re fucking with me, right?”

“No, Tengen. We’re not.”

“WELL! This is very flashy news indeed! Although I think you may gone for someone less… drab, Kocho.”

“I happen to think he’s rather entertaining.”

“We’ll see Eh? Let’s head inside- Suma! What the- how did you even-?”

Giyuu tuned out for the rest of the shouting as he slowly followed Shinobu further into the estate, compared to the water estate this place was teeming with life and colour. Something about just looking around overwhelmed him, no doubt it was designed inspired by the look of the entertainment district.

The couple were led into a fancy looking room with multiple sofas and a view even Giyuu could appreciate, a large garden with a small pond and even a waterfall in sight from the large glass doors at the back. It was more like a water estate than the water estate.

The two visitors and all of Tengens wives took their seats around the room, settling down on what was even a frustratingly comfortable sofa. Tengen, however, remained stood and clapped his hands together excitedly.

“Now! I think I’ll go grab us the sake!”

Shinobu bit her lip slightly, both thinking that she probably shouldn’t drink, and that Giyuu definitely shouldn’t-

“Sounds like fun.”

She swung her head back around at Giyuu, in disbelief that she even heard him use the word ‘fun.’

“Giyuu, are you really sure you should…?”

“Oyakata-sama gave us a couple of days off for this, I see no problem with it.”

Shinobu raised an eyebrow at him, contemplating whether or not he’d ever had alcohol before. It would be very Tomioka-like if he hadn’t.

“Great! The water pillar is secretly flashy after all! I’ll be right back.”

Giyuu didn’t particularly like the taste of this sake, but for all the problems it was causing his tongue it was working wonders for his nerves. Tengen’s wives and Shinobu seemed to be nursing their drinks while enjoying the pleasant conversation. Tengen himself was participating loudly in the chat while throwing back drink after drink, it seemed as a shinobi he even had a higher resistance to alcohol.

That being said, the sound pillar was determined to get himself and the water pillar drunk. Giyuu recalled the man saying something like, ‘this is how we bond as men!’

He didn’t overly like the idea, but Shinobu did tell him to make friends after all. ‘Bonding as men’ counted as being friends, right?

Despite all that, Giyuu had managed to stay on the fringe of these conversations, not really joining in apart from when his girlfriend more or less forced him to. He was happy to just sit at the side and keep drinking.

That was, until one of Tengens wives, Suma was it? Snuck up beside him, looking as if she wanted to start a conversation nervously. He decided to turn and look at her to see if it prompted her to talk.

“S-so, Tomioka-san, what brought you here today? Besides Shinobu being here of course.”

He wanted to think on his answer, but the first thing in his head was what he started to say. Is that because of the alcohol?

“I need to make friends with the pillars.”

“O-oh. Do… they not like you?”

“Shinazugawa and Iguro would like to kill me.”

Suma made a small ‘eep’ sound and jumped a little, apparently even as a trained kunoichi simple words scared her.

“I-I’m sure it’s not that-“

“Oh yeah it is! They’d definitely like to kill him, flamboyantly!”

Tengen raised his glass to touch Giyuu’s, as if he was celebrating the fact that everyone hated him.

The water pillar just looked down at his glass awkwardly for a moment, before downing the rest of the bottle, it didn’t feel great, but at least Tengen enjoyed it.

…

Shinobu watched on as Giyuu drunk more and more, to be fair to him, he seemed to have a pretty good tolerance of the alcohol. It must’ve been something to do with his physical condition and his total concentration breathing.

Although he was definitely now getting drunk, and she had that damn sound pillar to blame, he was really encouraging when it came to Giyuu’s drinking. But looking at her boyfriend now, smiling with someone other than her and in actual conversation with Tengen she couldn’t find it in her heart to stop him.

They’d just have to deal with the hangover tomorrow.

“Kocho! You weirdly small person!”

A vein bulged in her forehead as she scowled a little at tengen, even by a drunk person, she couldn’t say she’d ever been called that before.

“Yes, Tengen?”

“So who asked who out? You or Tomioka here?” He shouted with a wiggle of his eyebrows, Giyuu let out a giggle beside him.

“I believe it was Giyuu, in fact he kissed me before he asked me out.”

Tengen let out a booming laugh and his wives chuckled too, with a little surprise too, that the closed off water pillar would be so daring.

“Tomioka you dog!”

“I was just thankful she said yes.”

His smile showed relief as he spoke, which got Shinobu thinking. Did he really think I’d have said no?

“You mean you were unsure? The few times I’ve seen you together I’d have thought you were a couple already.”

Shinobu blushed a little at Hinatsuru, while Giyuu nodded seemingly to nothing.

“Of course I was unsure, I don’t deserve someone as amazing as Shinobu.”

The insect pillar frowned a little at Giyuu beside her, who didn’t seem to notice as he sipped more of his drink. She placed her hand on his, making him turn to her.

“Of course you do. You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

He smiled at her, but it was a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, she’d have to bring this up with him again later. It seemed as though Suma was going to say something too, but a loud sniffle interrupted them.

Everyone turned to Tengen, who was flush in the cheeks and very clearly drunk, with tears at the corners of his eyes.

“I get you man! It’s like… do we deserve to be this happy?”

“Tengen-“

“I KNOW! I’ve had so many people slip through my fingers, why am I allowed to try again?!”

“Giyuu-“

“COME HERE MAN!”

Both Giyuu and tengen ignored their significant others and stepped into a hug, clearly crying and even more clearly drunk. Shinobu looked over to Tengens wives with an exasperated face, finding they were doing the exact same.

“I guess we just leave them to it.”

“Yeah, they’ll probably calm down eventually.”

Well, his confidence may still be low but at least he’s making friends.

…

“We’re sorry about him… you know how he gets.”

Shinobu stood at the door of the sound estate, a barely conscious Giyuu in her shoulder, while the three kunoichi held up the massive frame of Tengen, who by the looks of it was actually passed out.

“Oh, no need to worry. I think he needed something like this anyway, and hopefully we can say the two are now friends!”

“Absolutely! And you can count us in that too!”

She smiled and elbowed her boyfriend slightly, who looked as if he was close to throwing up.

“…Thank -hic- you.”

“No problem! We’ll be in touch Shinobu, see you both soon!”

“Goodbye you three!”

She turned with a small wave, still hoisting up Giyuu on her shoulder. Although when she focused on him a bit more, he was still managing total concentration breathing. It was a testament to his skill really, most of his bodily functions were on the fringe right now, and he still maintained his slayer skills.

“I’d say that went quite well, wouldn’t you Giyuu?”

“He is.. my friend?”

“He is! And you’re completely drunk.”

He let out a little giggle that she’d have expected from Zenitsu, and certainly not him. None of this bothered her though, it was nice to see him so carefree and happy, it made her wonder what he’d be like if demons didn’t exist.

Would they still have found each other then? Something like soulmates?

“Thank you for tonight, Shinobu.”

“You’ve no need to thank me. If you’re happy that makes me happy.”

He let his head drop onto her shoulder, which she may have appreciated the sentiment of if she wasn’t carrying much more weight now.

“I’d kiss you but I’m afraid I might throw up.”

She chuckled at him, which seemed to elicit a smile from his face too.

“That’s okay. How about you tell me about some of the things that made you sad tonight instead? Maybe some of the ‘people you let slip through your fingers’?”

“Mmm, I didn’t want to tell you about Sabito yet.”

Shinobu decided to store that name for future reference, no doubt the fact that he’d come up meant he was important.

“That’s fine I suppose, I’ll get it out of you eventually.”

“I’ve no doubt you will. I think I love you too much not to.”

She felt like she could cry, a sappy Giyuu just struck a certain chord within her.

“I love you too, drunk as you are. Now come on, I need to throw you into bed before you completely pass out.”

“Mhm, just put me in… yours…”

Her eyes widened and her face went a little red, she had no doubt the water pillars tongue was loosened by the sake. But what was the saying Kanae nee-san had told her once, drunk minds speak sober hearts?

Either way, she turned to the head on her shoulder, trying to formulate an answer.

“Ah, you know, Giyuu-“

One look at his face stopped Shinobu in her tracks.

He’s fast asleep, Damn him. I’m just gonna have to deal with this one I get back to the mansion.

Giyuu noted a few things upon waking up;

1. His head was throbbing with pain.

2. The sheets he lay in felt foreign, he’d never been in this bed before.

3. He was absurdly comfortable, and warmer than normal.

Managing to squeeze his eyes open and cope with the assault of light on his sensitive retinas, the first thing he saw was hair. Long and familiar hair right in his face. He couldn’t decide whether to question why it was there, close his eyes and go back to sleep, or just ignore it completely.

He shifted ever so slightly and the small hand rested on his chest twitched, he’d forgotten how skilled the Hashira could be. The slightest bit of movement was enough to stir them and trigger their survival instincts.

“Mmm… good morning to the alcohol pillar.”

The joke may have made him laugh if his headache didn’t stifle his ability to process information.

“Shinobu? Where…”

“My quarters. You don’t remember asking to stay here last night?~”

He sighed, that certainly didn’t sound like him. Inside it did, he’d definitely though about something similar numerous times, but he’d never outright say it, that much is for sure.

“Right. Sorry.”

“You have no need to apologise, I happened to sleep like a child. I may have to request you stop by like this more often.”

He idly began gently scraping his fingers up and down her back, something that just felt right.

“Hm. So, yesterday…?”

“You are now friends with Tengen and his wives! Congratulations!”

He lifted his head in surprise at that, seriously hoping this wasn’t a tease.

“Really?”

“Yes! You got drunk with Tengen and became friends. You hugged and everything!”

The water pillar covered his face with a hand in exasperation, drunk Giyuu needed to learn to behave, he was causing far too many problems for sober Giyuu.

He had more questions to ask either, no doubt they’d only come with further embarrassment. So he chose to let silence take control of the room for a while. And to her complete credit, Shinobu knew him perfectly, deciding to play along with the silence knowing he needed it.

They stayed like that until a knock rattled Shinobu’s door, he glanced at her and she smiled nonchalantly, before calling out in reply.

“Yes?”

“Shinobu-sama? I’m just coming to check on you, it’s later than you’d normally wake.”

He frowned at her and she mouthed, Aoi, silently. He nodded in understanding.

“Everything’s okay. I’ll be up soon, is that all?”

“Ah, no. I brought the medicine you requested be brought for you in the morning. The one for headaches…?”

“Of course! You can leave it with me.”

Giyuu’s eyes widened but Shinobu just poked his arm, as the door opened.

“Then excuse me… OH! I-I mean, Ah, s-sorry, I didn’t know…”

Shinobu laughed and Giyuu rolled his eyes, it seemed no one was safe from her games, even her now embarrassed and blushing apprentice.

“No worries Aoi, you have the medicine for Giyuu?”

“Y-YES!” She thrust it into shinobu’s hands as if it were on fire, then stood looking away with her hands fidgeting by her side, still very uncomfortable.

“Thank you Aoi, you may go if you like.”

“O-of course! Excuse me!”

She bowed frantically, which made even Giyuu grin, then turned on her heels and stormed towards the door again. Giyuu however, noticed the gleam in the insect pillars eyes, the type that never meant anything good.

“Oh, and Aoi! No one needs to know about this of course, we wouldn’t want people mistaking you for a peeping Tom.”

“N-no! I- of course not! It’s… it doesn’t matter to me either way! Goodbye, Shinobu-sama! Giy- uh- Tomioka-san!”

The door was shut as quick as they could formulate a reply, and Shinobu just cackled in an evil fashion beside him. She really could be terrifying when she wanted to be.

“If this is how you are every time I make a new friend I think I’ll need a break from it sooner than later.”

She laughed, and gently moved her hand to stroke her fingers on his cheek.

“Well… you remember how you said Oyakata-sama gave us these days off for a reason?”

Giyuu gulped, not liking where this was going. “…yes?”

“You should get those meds in your system soon, we have a double date with Mitsuri and Iguro later!”

“Shit.”

Chapter Text

“With Iguro? Seriously?”

Giyuu was struggling to find a reason not to pull the covers over his head and pretend he wasn’t there, this whole ploy of him becoming better friends with the Hashira sounded doable on paper, but Shinazugawa and Iguro were a different question.

“Of course! I mean, Mitsuri will be there, that basically makes Iguro fifty percent more friendly.”

“Even fifty percent more is still hostile enough to kill me.”

Shinobu sighed and poked his forehead, chuckling when it wrinkled into a frown.

“How about this, we can meet them today, or we don’t, and you don’t sleep here again.”

Giyuu felt a chill down his spine as the insect Hashira’s teasing smile turned into a stern look. He decided to nod, it was probably best for his health.

“You’re so easy, you know I wouldn’t want you gone either. But at least I know I can still be scary when I want to be.”

“Does that mean…?”

“Nope! We’re still going. There’s a kimono over there for you, Aoi picked it up yesterday. You go ahead and get ready, I’ll see you downstairs!”

Giyuu watched as she exited the room and left him in silence, she had a bounce in her step that she always had once she’d successfully manipulated him. Giyuu didn’t mind really, he’d happily let her when she wanted to, he sighed and looked for his clothing.

The kimono didn’t look bad at least, he wondered if Iguro would be wearing one, and would he still wear the face wrap? Maybe I should just try to take it off.

He thought for a moment and decided against it, no doubt a sword would be drawn if he tried.

…

“Good morning girls!”

Shinobu smiled as various voices greeted her back in the kitchen, all of her ‘siblings’ happily preparing for their morning. She couldn’t help but chuckle as Aoi’s reply was so nervous, clearly afraid the insect pillar would tease her in front of the girls.

“Good morning Nee-san. I take it you had a… good night?”

Shinobu’s eyes went wide slightly at her Tsuguko, for all her recluse behaviour and lack of emotions, she’d just managed a genuine attempt at teasing! It actually made her happier than the teasing did embarrassed.

“Well! My darling Kanao has learned to tease!” The other girls in the room giggled, while Kanao’s smile grew a little. “Although you aren’t quite as good as me at it yet, are you… Mrs Kamado?”

The girls smile fell and her face blossomed red, while the other girls continued to laugh even more.

“I’m happy for the progress nonetheless, maybe soon you’ll be able to take me on at it! Now, it’s rather late and the boys still aren’t awake, why don’t you go get your husband and his friends?”

The girl bowed and tried to compose herself.

“Yes, Nee-sa- h-he’s not my husband!”

The Hashira was already walking out of the room, a smug look on her face still.

“Call it wishful thinking, I’ll be back shortly!”

The girls nodded their goodbyes and watched their master leave the room, Kanao had to fan her face slightly to calm down, she wasn’t ready to be called out like that. As usual, nothing gets past Shinobu when she’s around.

The young girl decided to go back to her chores, hoping at least those would provide a sense of calm while she recovered.

Which might’ve worked, if the water pillar hadn’t entered at that moment, which meant she now had to stop and greet someone else. And he’s wearing a kimono? A special occasion maybe?

Giyuu entered the room to find multiple smaller Shinobu’s staring back at him, it was a little bit unnerving, they were almost all grinning at him, besides Shinobu’s Tsuguko. And speaking of, I need to find tanjiro for some advice, she’d probably know.

“Kanao, was it?”

“Y-yes, is there anything I can help you with Tomioka-san?” Her voice was a little higher pitched than she’d like, probably just from the shock of this man actually starting a conversation.

“Do you know where Tanjiro is?”

“HE’S NOT MY HUSBAND!”

Giyuu reeled back slightly at the sheer volume, the rest of the girls looked both shocked and amused, and Kanao had a look giyuu could only describe as being mortified.

“I… never said he was…?”

She swallowed and straightened her uniform slightly, trying to build a little composure.

“My apologies, Tomioka-san. I believe he’s still asleep, he’ll be leaving for a mission this morning.”

The water pillar anxiously nodded, on edge in preparation for any more outbursts. It seemed the butterfly sisters were as terrifying as their mentor.  

He was also a little annoyed, Tanjiro had given him some pretty key advice at every hurdle so far. And to go into his toughest challenge yet, Iguro, with no preparation… this is an issue.

…

“Giyuu! There you are!” Shinobu finally tracked down her boyfriend, who was awkwardly standing at the edge of the back garden. Or is that normally, and he’s just awkward?

“Shinobu.”

Tch, nonchalant as ever.

“I was looking for you everywhere! You look…” she gestured to his whole outfit, delighted to see him in such attire after all this time. “…very manly.”

Giyuu upturned an eyebrow, and shinobu wondered what on earth he could be confused by from that sentence.

“Is that a compliment?”

“Yes! You airhead! Ah, never mind. It’s good to see you looking so sharp anyway.”

He held an arm out toward her, which shinobu took as a request for her to close the distance. She took a few steps forward until she was within arms length.

And he raised his hand, patting her on the head.

A vein bulged in her forehead as she shone a sickly sweet smile his way.

“Giyuu… why?”

“Nezuko liked it.”

Nezuko…? This man is dense as they come.

“Well tell me Giyuu, do I look like a child demon to you?”

To her disbelief he actually took the time to look her up and down, and she had to fight a small urge to draw her sword.

“Don’t answer that. I think we’re about ready to go, shall we?”

He nodded and started to walk along side her, stopping abruptly when he saw she was armed.

“Giyuu?”

“We are taking our swords?”

She shrugged her shoulders, tapping on the hilt of her sword idly.

“Our job is to be demon slayers after all, it can’t help to be prepared just in case.”

That was true, but he’d never really had any time off before. He’d never really needed any. Should I bring mine then too? One pillar is probably enough for anyone apart from an upper moon.

“Shall I go get mine?”

“You can… more so for Iguro than the demons.”

He swallowed nervously, deciding he should take it after all.

“I’ve never even heard of this place.”

“Ha! Of course you haven’t, when did you ever leave your estate before me?”

“Fair point.”

The two Hashira walked hand in hand down the street of a town Giyuu had been in maybe once before, and that was only because a prolonged fight with a demon had led him here.

Even more so than normal, he was glad to have Shinobu by his side, she was taking the lead and dragging him to wherever mitsuri had arranged for them all to meet. An ‘open buffet’, whatever that was.

It didn’t sound particularly appealing, but if it made Shinobu happy, he’d go. Even if there was a heightened risk of death by stabbing thanks to the resident serpent Hashira. He just needed to-

“Giyuu!” He was jerked out of his mind by a firm tug of his wrist by the small woman beside him. “In your own world, were you? Never mind, there’s a medical supply shop here, I’m just gonna take a peek. Wait right here!”

She took off without waiting for a reply, and left the water pillar just stood awkwardly in the middle of the street. He was slowly figuring more and more out about his girlfriend, and one thing he’d come to realise was that she was a big fan of browsing shops like this, especially when it came to medical supplies and equipment.

And now he was left stood in the same spot, staring at where his partner had just taken off from. Frankly, in public like this without Shinobu, he was basically a fish out of water.

I should at least move out of the middle of the street though, I feel like that might be a bit awkward.

He strolled to the side and leaned against the wall of the building nearest to him, now was actually a good time to come up with a strategy for dealing with both of their fellow Hashira. Mitsuri wouldn’t be all that difficult, she was very friendly by nature, the real problem lied with Iguro. He had to discover some way to dispel his hate, maybe find some equal ground-

“Hey there handsome.”

He almost jumped as he realised someone had strode up behind him, he turned to see a woman probably around his age, a deep brown colour of hair, and what he had to admit was a large chest. (Not that he had looked.)

He didn’t even have time to consider why she was talking to him or what she’d just called him, before her hand was resting on his arm.

“Out here on your own huh? Do you work out? You seem like a pretty active person.”

Who is this woman and what on earth is she talking about?

“No, yes and yes.”

“Ha! Straight to the point eh?”

He shrugged his shoulders, hoping Shinobu would come back soon.

“I live nearby, how about we head back there? I can help you… work out.”

“I do not need to exercise right now.”

The woman huffed, for reasons unknown to Giyuu.

“C’mon, wouldn’t you like to have some fun?”

He stared at her incredulously, wondering why she was still trying to talk to him, a potential reason suddenly sparked in his mind.

“Are you a demon?”  

The woman raised an eyebrow and looked shocked, Giyuu figured it was either a demon that was very good at acting or he’d confused someone by asking if they were a demon for the 4^th time in his life.

“Am I a…. Huh?”

“Giyuu? Ah, there you are, I don’t know how you always- who’s this?”

Giyuu tensed a little as shinobu stood at his side and linked their arms with much more strength than necessary, her face showing off the fake smile that hid the anger behind it. He had no idea why she was using the fake one all of a sudden, up until now he thought he’d been doing well.

Oh, she asked a question.

“I do not know, she offered to help me exercise.”

Shinobu frowned a little and glared daggers at the woman across from them, who seemed a little smug.

The next thing Giyuu knew his arm had been yanked so that he was much lower down, roughly Shinobu’s head height, and his girlfriend was kissing him passionately.

Her boldness surprised him, but he couldn’t find himself to care. He just chose to go with the flow.

Shinobu pulled away with flushed cheeks and swollen lips, and Giyuu repressed the urge to protest against it. While the insect Hashira was looking back at the woman.

“I have him covered for… exercise, thank you.”

The woman voiced a ‘tch’ And turned on her heels, leaving Giyuu completely out of the loop and shinobu very proud of herself.

“Was she a slayer? It’s strange to offer a spar like that.”

Shinobu laughed, a hearty genuine laugh that made Giyuu feel warm inside.

“Oh, Giyuu. I think she was talking about a different type of swordplay.”

The pillar rubbed his forehead to prevent a headache via overthinking, yet another social cue he didn’t understand.

…

“OH! There they are! Obanai, over there, see?!”

Giyuu looked to see the unmistakable forms of mitsuri and Iguro in front of a restaurant. The pink and green hair was a dead giveaway, even the face wrap and multi coloured eyes stood out over your average person. Mitsuri seemed overjoyed, which he’d expected, but Iguro seemed… contented.

This must be the way he is with Mitsuri, just like shinobu said.

“Ah yes, of course.” Iguro started, looking at Shinobu, with the same calm expression in his face.

Then he turned to look at Giyuu, and the light in his eyes went out, and his tone dropped. “Here they are.”

Giyuu decided to be ready to use his 11^th form, just in case.

“Hey you two! It’s good to see you again!”

“Shinobuuuuu!!” The love pillar jumped towards her and hugged her tightly, she never seems to be able to control her strength when she was excited like this.

Giyuu took his eyes off them and decided he should probably do the proper thing and greet his ‘friends’, well here goes nothing.

“Good to see you, Iguro.”

The man in question looked shocked to receive a real sentence from Giyuu, but his expression quickly fell back to normal. Though slightly less threatening than if they were alone.

“You too, Tomioka.”

Really? Just like that? Does Mitsuri make him that much more agreeable?

Iguro leaned a little closer in, dropping his volume significantly. “Do anything to get between me and Mitsuri and you’ll die.”

“Why would I-“

“Eeeeeee! Look at you two getting along! Isn’t this great Shinobu?!”

Her purple eyes turned to his, and he got the feeling she knew what was actually happening. Though for the sake of Mitsuri’s feelings, she hid it.

“It is indeed! Shall we…?”

The pink and green haired girl hopped back to iguro’s side and pulled him inside the restaurant, as Shinobu walked to Giyuu’s side and linked their arms casually.

“I take it that went… as expected.”

He sighed reluctantly, this was going to be a drag.

“Yes. Exactly as expected.”

Giyuu had thought the most impressive part of Mitsuri was her original breathing style, maybe even her ability to wield such a strange sword. But after watching her nearly deplete the restaurants stock at the open buffet and still be chipper… now that took serious skill.

“Ah, this is why I love places like this! Right Obanai?!”

He chuckled- a sound Giyuu didn’t know he was capable of- and nodded along at her childlike enthusiasm. The water pillar watched keenly as she peeled back the wraps on his face to feed him some food, actually seeing the scars of his face for the first time.

He felt a squeeze on his leg, turning to see Shinobu attempting to get his attention.

“Make sure you don’t stare, that’s a sure fire way to anger him.” She whispered to him carefully, and he took the advice in stride, turning his attention to his plate.

“I always knew you two were meant for each other! How long has it been? Who else knows?”

Boy, keeping up with her is difficult.

“It hasn’t been too long, and it’s only Tengen and his wives who know right now. We figured we’d take our time in letting others know.”

Giyuu nodded along with a small smile, attempting to not be ignorant to the conversations around him.

“Oh! Me and Obanai were like that! He was very shy with it at first, but I like to think he’s come out of his shell a little now.”

The snake coiled around his neck and pointed its face toward the love pillar, hissing out some random noises at her.

Wait, is she nodding? Does she understand that thing?!

“I know! He is still a little lacking in confidence, we’re working on it.”

Reeling back from the shock of a snake communicating with a woman, Giyuu smiled at the couple across from him, slightly happy to see it wasn’t just him with those sorts of issues.

“Why are you smiling? We can’t all have your divine belief in yourself being better than everyone else.”

Shinobu frowned a little and started to cut in, but was halted by Giyuu’s hand squeezing hers on the seat between them.

“That isn’t why I smiled. And I don’t have that sort of belief in myself, in fact it’s the opposite. I struggle to believe Shinobu chose to be with me too.”

“You do?!” Mitsuri leaned across the table keenly, elated at the prospect of more love talk.

“Of course, she is everything I am not. And she deserves so much that I cannot give her.”

Iguro, on his part, was suddenly very interested in the conversation, and mainly due to its relevance to him.

“But…” the insect Hashira interrupted, shifting over closer to his side. “He is everything I’d want and more, and I chose to love him despite his imperfections. That, at least, I believe you can both relate to.”

“Of course you can! If only you could see yourself how I see you Obanai. Who would’ve thought you could relate with our water pillar so strongly!”  

Iguro seemed to be taking in this information with serious consideration, before showing a small smile of which the couple across from him had never seen him do before.

“I suppose we both have room to improve in aspects of relationships, hopefully we both can make those changes.”

As short as it was, Giyuu couldn’t believe he’d just been spoken to with no sort of hostile intent. In fact, it was almost the opposite.

Shinobu elbowed his side to get his attention, smiling smugly with the knowledge that her friendship plan was not impossible after all.

…

“Ahhhhh… we definitely have to do this more often!”

“It was very fun! I agree!”

While the two women chatted away happily about their day, and something in there about their boyfriends, though Giyuu couldn’t hear exactly what, he stood a little awkwardly next to Iguro.

Once he’d established that equal ground he’d been looking for, Iguro seemed agreeable for the rest of their time at the table. Even going as far as including him in conversations.

I really owe Shinobu, big time.

“I believe this is the most I’d ever heard you talk, I admit I didn’t think you were capable.”

Giyuu turned to the serpent pillar, who still refrained from showing him the killing intent he usually possessed.

“Yes. I believe I have my better half over there to thank for that.”

Iguro laughed again, and his snake hissed something of a humoured noise.

“They have a way of changing you don’t they? I sense Shinobu is as important to you as Mitsuri is to me, I wish you luck in the future. This is an unforgiving profession, I’d suggest treasuring her as much as you can.”

“And you too. I’ll admit hearing you speak without threats is strange to me still.”

And it really was, especially considering how courteous and friendly he was being now.

“Ha! That’s all thanks to Mitsuri, don’t count on it when we’re alone, asshole.”

Well, at least I got a few hours of friendly Iguro.

…

The hour was late on the last of Giyuu’s few days off. A time period spent so differently to any he’d ever lived before. He’d gained real friends, talked to Iguro as a human and not an assassination target, it was all so… foreign.

He supposed he had the woman currently resting her head on his lap to thank. Now sat on the edge of the wood out looking the back garden, hairpin discarded and hair flowing out freely, she was still the most precious thing he’d ever seen.

As he idly ran fingers through her hair, he started to get an idea.

These last few weeks she’d helped him so greatly, with confidence and friendships, and almost everything in between. He believed it was time to give something back.

Their time off may be up, and they’d see each other rather scarcely over the coming weeks, but it didn’t bother him that much.

Giyuu believed they’d find their way back to each other, no matter what.