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It was an evening when the storm never ended. The weather had become quite bad in recent days, it was raining constantly. The outside was like a reflection of Giyuu's inner world. It was as if this gloomy weather was reading Giyuu's inner world and accompanying him. Tomioka Giyuu was a disabled veteran who used to be a demon hunter. He used to keep people safe by killing demons. He couldn't believe how he had survived those days.
Tomioka Giyuu had become quite close to Shinazugawa Sanemi, the only hashira left alive after the war excluding himself. Before the Great War, they had been on bad terms; Giyuu thought that Sanemi hated him to the core. Of course, he wasn't to blame for forming such prejudices about him; Giyuu always blamed himself for that. If he had a little better conversational skills and explained things one by one, then there wouldn't have been any unpleasant moments. Despite everything, he loved the memories he had with Sanemi. Spending time with him was a priceless treasure.
Sanemi had a tough structure due to the conditions he lived in, but he was also the kindest person in the world. The moment Giyuu met Sanemi was still clear, how could he forget? Sanemi was angry as always and was shouting curses around. These were completely normal for Sanemi. That evening, Giyuu saw Sanemi helping a low-ranking female demon hunter. A Kakushi was harassing that girl and Sanemi couldn't stand the sight. Sanemi later tried very hard to protect the girl's mental health. Giyuu understood why Sanemi became a hashira at that moment. At that time, Giyuu didn't consider himself worthy of being a hashira. Unlike him, Sanemi was a real hashira. Sanemi had reasons for his anger, after all.
Sanemi had small purple eyes, fair skin, short white hair, and a body covered in scars. Even though he seemed like a scary person, there was someone inside who had love for people. It was incredible that he didn't lose his humanity after his disastrous life. Giyuu respected Sanemi wholeheartedly. He had to go through disgusting things, he had to endure unbearable pain. Sanemi had great wounds, and there was no one around him to heal those wounds. No one was judging him without knowing what hardships he had gone through.
When the great war ended, Sanemi had lost everything; his brother, his friends, his joy of life... But when Sanemi lost everything, he fell in love with a hope named Tomioka Giyuu in order to hold on to life. Even though they had four years to live, it was not too late for anything. They could start a new life. Sanemi and Giyuu promised to be together in happiness, health, bad days, and death. They wanted to spend their last years together in peace. Maybe they could never get rid of their pain, but there was nothing they couldn't do while they were together.
They lived in a mountain house far from everyone. Tengen, the Kamado siblings, Yushiro and the others would visit them from time to time. They had all understood each other's values of lives more because of the disasters they had experienced. They wanted to spend time without any regrets. Being able to look back and say ''those were good times'' was the greatest gift they had been given. They should appreciate life for their deceased comrades.
''Tomioka, we have four years to live to the fullest.'' Sanemi had said. The crucial point that power blessed was to die early. They were not special, they were human. They would not live beyond the age of twenty-five. This fact always gnawed at Giyuu. Giyuu was a few months older than Sanemi and would probably be the first to die. He would leave his lover behind to mourn. Thinking about it made Giyuu's heart ache.
Sanemi always tried to be a good partner. Since Giyuu lost his arm, Sanemi never left his lover alone for a moment and always came to his help. He had left his old angry mood behind and was like a new Sanemi. After the great war, Sanemi never raised his voice against Giyuu and spoke in the softest tone possible. He learned from the pain and regrets he had experienced in his life and acted accordingly. Whenever a problem arose, he approached the situation with optimism, and whenever Giyuu was in trouble, he would help him. Sanemi would sometimes make small gestures like giving Giyuu flowers he had picked in the mountains or in the forest. Roses, carnations, daffodils, azaleas... The white azalea flower was Giyuu's favorite and Sanemi always picked white azaleas. Giyuu would always carefully pick the azalea and observe it. Looking at them somehow filled him with peace.
They rarely argued, in fact. At the end of the argument, Sanemi would always apologize to Giyuu and they would hug each other. Sometimes Giyuu would lose control of his emotions and start crying, at which time Sanemi would take his lover in his arms and run his hand through his silky hair.
Everything was going very well. They were both already twenty-four. Giyuu knew that he would die in a few weeks. The good days he had were thanks to Sanemi. Even with his lover's death just around the corner, Sanemi acted the same way he did in other years. Giyuu had wanted to die alone in his final days, but Sanemi had categorically rejected his wish.
"We will meet again in the afterlife and we will never be separated," Sanemi said.
"What if I go to hell?"
"Whether it's heaven or hell... I will never leave you alone, Giyuu."
Death was inevitable, Giyuu knew that, but he had always dreamed of dying peacefully with Sanemi sleeping together. He knew that this was far from reality, it just felt good to dream about it.
As the days passed, death was approaching. Tengen and his wives frequently visited Giyuu. Hinatsuru, Makio and Suma had cooked delicious meals. Tengen had brought many expensive items. Although they were very thoughtful, Sanemi was uncomfortable with this situation. According to Sanemi, treating Giyuu excessively would make him feel worse. Sanemi confronted Tengen and explained the situation. Tengen and his wives left.
"What are you doing?" Giyuu asked. He looked extremely angry. Sanemi had not expected such a reaction.
"Giyuu, it's just..." Sanemi was about to put his hand on Giyuu's cheek, but Giyuu pushed Sanemi's hand away harshly.
"They worked so hard for me and you're kicking them out. Why are you being selfish, Sanemi?"
"I'm sorry."
Giyuu's veins were visible with anger. He was raising his voice every time he spoke. Sanemi couldn't understand why his lover was overreacting like this, maybe he was confused about what to explode out of fear of death.
"Go away," Giyuu said as tears flowed from his eyes.
"Okay."
Sanemi thought about going out and spending some time. One of his hobbies was sailing, and today the weather didn't look like it would be bad. When Giyuu calmed down, he would go and talk to him again, but something unexpected happened that day—a storm. Giyuu couldn't sleep that day out of curiosity. He thought about what he had done and regretted it. He had been up all day waiting for Sanemi to come back, but Sanemi never came back. After a while, he imagined the worst-case scenario and burst into tears. He waited for Sanemi for three days without sleeping or doing anything. On the third day after Sanemi's disappearance, Tengen returned to the mountain house, but what he saw was Giyuu, who hadn't slept in days and was exhausted.
"Tomioka, have you eaten at all?" Tengen asked. Giyuu didn't answer, he was just crying. Tengen didn't know what was going on, but he definitely knew something was wrong.
All Tengen could do was hug his friend.
Seven days later, Sanemi's body was found. Tengen didn't let Giyuu see it. Showing him this scene during his limited days wasn't something Tengen wanted.
Tanjiro and Nezuko often visited Giyuu because they were worried, but Giyuu was even worse than before. Yushiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, Kanao, Aoi, Kiriya and the others couldn't save Giyuu from depression. The bad weather was good for Giyuu, he didn't want to see anyone.
Giyuu looked at the white azalea flowers on the table with his blue eyes that had lost their sparkle, they had withered. Giyuu got up with his weakened body and went outside. The storm outside could stop, but what about the storm within him? How would it stop? He wrapped himself in his thin, worn-out clothes and started looking for a white azalea flower. After a long struggle, he managed to find one, and he held it carefully.
"I was supposed to die before you, Sanemi."
There was no point in waiting for death anymore. While no one had taken any precautions, it was best to quickly pass to the afterlife. Giyuu returned home with the white azalea flower in his hand. He committed suicide by not letting go of the flower. He might not be able to meet his sister and Sabito, but he had a lover waiting for him.