Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I don’t know why you’re even fucking here.”

Giyuu clenched his jaw as Shinazugawa spat out another biting complaint, seemingly the only words of importance he felt like putting forward.

This had been their communicative situation for the past three hours. Three hours they had spent walking from the Ubuyashiki manor, urged to leave as soon as the meeting was over. And in those three hours, Shinazugawa had refused to let up on his grumbling and fussing.

To put it briefly, Giyuu was fucking tired of it.

The water pillar would like to say that he was often patient with Shinazugawa—or at least, tried to be—all in hopes of forming a more positive relationship with the other man(or in hopes of keeping another argument from brewing); But that patience he claimed to possess dwindled rather quickly whenever Shinazugawa moaned and groaned about stupid shit.
And with the weather growing colder and more miserable as they scaled the mountain, his mood only continued to sour.

Fluffy snowflakes powdered every surface around them, the ground slick as it melted and refroze into patches of ice
Giyuu couldn’t count how many times he’d notice Shinazugawa slip or feel his own foot almost go out beneath him.

Typically the weather didn’t piss Giyuu off, but with a whiny, short tempered man continuing to loudly complain, He didn’t exactly try to calm himself.

Giyuu had been pushed right to the last of his reserves and would’ve spun around to reprimand the scarred man had it not been for the grim sight laid ahead that made the two men freeze.

Down, tucked at the bottom of the hill was a moderately sized house, its walls made of a deep brown wood, snowflakes clinging to each bump and knot. A large stone oven stood proudly beside the house, a few piles of firewood tucked against it.
Giyuu would’ve found the place rather inviting had it not been for the sickening sight of blood everywhere.

Typically whenever one came across a Demon’s previous grounds of feeding, it was all inside, the devastation wasn’t evident until you were standing in it. But now, the gruesome truth of it all tumbled over the edge; into the naive world around it.

A few bodies were laying in the snow, puddles of red staining the powder around them. Giyuu approached a woman who was laying face down in the snow, his stomach uncharacteristically churning as he noticed chunks of her ripped off; bits of her torso, half of her left leg-the sight of bone and internal organs uncomfortably obvious. He refrained from flipping her over to fully assess her injuries, but he couldn’t help but note how she reminded him of someone…

Tsutako…

“Tomioka.”
Shinazugawa said roughly, or as roughly as he could in a place like this, and pulled Giyuu from his bleak and honestly, selfish thoughts. The wind pillar stood beside the house, his hand on his sword’s hilt as he peered in cautiously.

The shoji were completely ripped from their tracks, the wood and paper now bent and ripped piles discarded beside the house, blood spray decorating the light wood.
Inside the home were more people. Some, Giyuu easily recognized as that; others, the pillar had to stare at for a moment before completely registering that that was once a person.

Giyuu could sense the anger and frustration rushing through Shinazugawa—-emotions that were ever present in situations like these—-and turned around to see him staring down at a small group of kids huddled together, their arms wrapped tightly around one another; protecting each other even in death.
Giyuu carefully stepped closer and looked down at the children, his brow knitting together with thought. From the gruesomeness of everything this could very well have been caused by a newly formed demon or oppositely, a long lived demon playing with its prey. Giyuu found it truly sickening that he couldn’t fully tell which it was.

The water pillar was momentarily startled as Shinazugawa suddenly bent down, his brow furrowing as he tried to think of what his companion might be doing.
The tempered man gently wiped some of the blood off the smallest child’s face before picking up a crumpled blanket, sodden with blood, laying it over the kids.
Shinazugawa stood up wordlessly, his palms a bloodied russet color.
Giyuu spoke carefully—-they still had a mission to take care of but he could tell this was obviously a sensitive matter.
“Come on, the demon’s most likely still around.”

Shinazugawa only offered a huff and a quick nod before he turned and walked out of the house, the snow crunching beneath his feet.
Giyuu followed after his comrade slowly, his brow furrowing as he stopped at the doorway and turned back towards the slaughtered members of the household.
The young children whose lives had barely just begun. The young woman outside whose adult life had just been out of reach. The parents who tried to protect their children and family. If demons didn’t roam, didn’t exist, they would be alive… if they had arrived sooner this family would be alive.

Giyuu closed his eyes and whispered a quick, hushed prayer before turning and following Shinazugawa; the quiet patch of forest left behind.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

The two men had been walking up and around the mountain for about 2 hours and still had yet to find a sign of the demon.

He and Shinazugawa were currently poking around a dark patch of forest. Giyuu distantly wondered if they should have buried the family before they’d left.
Typically, he’d bury any victims of an attack after he’d taken care of the demon, because typically, the demon was close by and he wouldn’t let it get away.
Typically.
But there was no sign of this demon anywhere. The constant falling snow covering up any tracks it would’ve left behind; the icy winds continuously whipping at their face, dulling their keen senses.

Giyuu tilted his head back to study the sky, a sigh escaping his chest. The sun would be high and bright but the thick clouds hanging above made it seem closer to dusk.
When the days grew shorter and the sun’s light was often blocked—-like now—-demons would become braver and roam around earlier, the risk of the sun’s rays far less imposing.

What were they doing wrong? Giyuu couldn’t remember the last time he’d spent multiple hours searching for a demon, the tiring days of his late childhood.
He and Shinazugawa had been following pointless clues, multiple red herrings. Whiffs of tracks dissipating into nothing, the barest traces of scents leading to nothing, emptiness. It was as though the demon had become part of the forest.

Giyuu paused, his eyes widening slightly. It was a stretch but…
he tried his best to look around as discreetly yet, quickly, as possible, his gaze landing on an oddly shaped tree. The cracks and splits in the bark seemed a bit too intentional, the knots and bumps placed in specific places. As Giyuu pieced the details together in his mind he quickly made out a face, arms, legs, all melded together carefully. And then, it was there, the demon, disguising itself as a tree.

Giyuu looked over at Shinazugawa immediately, forcing himself to remain paced, act as if he hadn’t noticed the demon.
“Shinazugawa,” Giyuu began, his voice slightly pensive, “About the demon”. Shinazugawa looked over with a frustrated expression, his eyes narrowing into thin slits. “Are you going to propose we give up? I always suspected you were apathetic but I didn’t fancy you completely lazy.”
Giyuu bit back a response, breathing deeply through his nose before responding. “No, I was going to propose we move on, it’s obviously not here.” Giyuu raised his brows and emphasized the word 'here’, carefully tilting his head towards the tree disguised demon; hoping to lightly clue Shinazugawa in on its presence. But he was never good at reading nor applying social cues and Shinazugawa simply scoffed and turned around, walking away from the demon tree.

Giyuu clenched his jaw, abstaining the overwhelming urge to scream about how the demon was ‘right there!’. if one wasn’t looking for it, they most likely wouldn’t spot it; so he didn’t yell, instead he walked, calmly, over to Shinazugawa and placed a firm hand on his shoulder, leaning close. The y
“The demon has disguised itself as a tree, I can only assume it’s listening to us, so be. calm.”

Shinazugawa tensed, his brow furrowing. He turned around quickly and looked at the trees, his eyes narrowing as he scoured the tree line. But as Giyuu turned around and looked towards the demon, it was gone.

Shit.

Giyuu whipped towards Shinazugawa, his hand going to his sword’s hilt as the other man stepped back, the demon landing down on empty snow.
It turned towards them and hissed, it’s dark hands clawing and reaching for them. Giyuu stabbed forward, his sword connecting with the demons shoulder, plunging through completely. The creature wailed, kicking Giyuu back, the motion wrenching his sword from his hand.
He grunted as his back slammed against the trunk of a tree, pine needles tumbling to the ground. He pressed his hands against the earth, the snow stinging against his palms and turning his fingers pink.
Shinazugawa had ripped Giyuu’s sword free and swung for the demon’s neck when it ducked and ran, its dark blood leaving a stained trail behind it. Shinazugawa swore, and tossed Giyuu—who was off the ground and already chasing after the demon—his sword.

The two hashira tailed the demon, who was going higher and higher up the mountain. As the air grew thinner Giyuu felt his lungs ache as he forcefully took full breaths. Shinazugawa’s running had slowed a bit, not used to mountain air as much as Giyuu, but still persisted forward. The demon skidded to a stop as it reached a flatter terrain, a sheer dropoff before it.
Giyuu and Shinazugawa stopped, blocking off the demon’s only means of escape. Sure it could throw itself off the cliff to escape, it would survive of course, but the stab from Giyuu’s attack was still bleeding heavily, insinuating a slow regeneration rate.

They had it cornered.
This annoying, goose chase of a mission was finally over.

Giyuu inhaled and leapt forward, his arm reeling back as he prepared to sever the demon’s neck. But his arms and legs seemed heavier, and the thinner air slowed him much more than he’d like to admit. So He didn’t react fast enough when the demon dodged to the side and kicked his back, the wind whistling in his ears as he flew forwards.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion from there, his sword falling from his hand as he tried to grab something, anything as he flew back, too far back. But his knuckles were stiff and his hands were too numb.
He saw Shinazugawa’s face twist into shock, his mouth opening slowly as if he wanted to say something. Maybe he did and Giyuu just couldn’t hear.
He felt his heart rate pick up as he cleary went past the edge, tilting down as the wind began to rush past him.

And suddenly everything started to move too fast, the demon and Shinazugawa disappeared, replaced with gray rock and dirt whizzing by. The wind tugged at his hair and whipped his clothing around wildly. Giyuu barely had enough time to form a complete thought before he hit the ground and was plunged into darkness.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Pain. Pain everywhere.

Giyuu drew in a shallow breath, the icy air filling his chest and burning his lungs. He needed to get up, he needed to fight. There was a demon
And yet he couldn’t move, his body was too heavy. A bright of starburst of pain flared in the back of his head as he peeled his eyes open, dull sunlight flooding his vision.

Giyuu quickly realized he was not at the top of the cliff, that there was no demon or Shinazugawa nearby. He was laying on the ground, the snow beneath him soaking into his clothes. He could see the cliff looming over him, the tops of trees brushing the edges of his vision. Snowflakes slowly floated down from the sky, a few landing on his face and in his lashes.

Giyuu tried to move, tried to shift into a sitting position but stopped, a dizzying wave of pain slamming into him. His skin was cold, his fingers, his toes, his nose and ears all numb; a painful tingling thrumming up his right arm as he tried to move his fingers.
A pounding headache bloomed at the back of his head, pushing down on his eyelids as he tried to think.
He was having issues remembering what had happened; he knew he had been on a mission with Shinazugawa and that they’d found the aftermath of a demon’s ravaging. That much he could recall. He could also lightly remember chasing the demon, with Shinazugawa trailing behind him. He could remember the two of them cornering the demon, the creature growling as it coiled up; he remembered slashing forward and then…

Giyuu remembered the demon kicking his back, pushing him past the edge of the cliff. He remembered his sword falling from his hand as he tried to stop his fall; as he tried to grab something, anything. Giyuu remembered the wind whistling in his ears, his heart racing as he grew aware of the fate he was quickly approaching.
He did vividly remember when he hit the ground, his head smacking against the frozen soil, a sickening crack filling his last moments of consciousness.
Giyuu shifted slightly, a sharp, bone-deep pain in his right arm screaming at him as he forced himself to sit up. He almost fell back as his vision blurred, everything muddling together as he tipped back slightly.
He looked over at his arm, drawing in a sharp breath as he noticed the odd bend hin the middle of his upper arm. Blood had soaked through his uniform and into his haori sleeve, the soft red fabric stained a dark red.

Taking deep breaths, Giyuu looked at the area surrounding him, noting each detail carefully.
There were trees everywhere, the needley tops practically brushing the clouds. As far as Giyuu could see there weren’t any people around, and as far as he could hear, Kanzaburo wasn’t either.
The pillar filled his lungs with freezing air, his eyes watering as a gust of it blew in his face. He needed to stay calm, if he panicked or spiraled into a whirl of paranoid thoughts he would never find other people, his fingers falling off as he slowly froze and died a shameful death.

Stop that.

Giyuu closed his eyes, taking slow breaths as he listened. Branches brushing together, the wind whistling as it dragged through the desolate forest.
Sure, Sanemi left… but he most likely assumed he was dead; why no Kakushi were called was what confused Giyuu.
The water pillar shook his head, stamping down the thoughts, he needed to focus on getting help, not his comrades confusing decisions.

Giyuu sucked his teeth, pressing his eyes shut as he moved to his feet; his teeth gritting as his arm fell forward.
He stumbled slightly as he finally shifted onto his feet, blood running down his arm; sprinkling in the snow as it dripped off his fingers.
He peeled his eyes open, moving his head in a slow pivot. He needed to find something—-someway to get help; but he was in the middle of a dense forest, the nearest residence miles away and full of dead people.

Giyuu closed his eyes again, inhaling sharply as a jolt of pain rain up his arm. It didn’t matter, he needed to move and not freeze to death.
The water pillar forced his leg forward, moving on unsteady feet; each step distressingly difficult. He was a hashira, he shouldn’t be fighting to walk with a simple injury.

Giyuu let out an exasperated breath, leaning against a tree—-the bark pressing against his shoulder. This was pathetic, he was supposed to be among the strongest of the corps, slaying upper rank demons; instead he was shivering against a tree, death slowly creeping unto him.
Giyuu’s jaw tensed, his nails digging into his palm as he pushed off the tree, taking slow, staggering steps.

There!
A beaten path, foot prints and wheel tracks imprinted in the snow.
He felt his breath hitch, an unbelievable sense of relief spreading through his chest. He could follow the trail to a home or village, wherever, just somewhere with people.
Giyuu hesitated for a moment, letting the sharp pains in his arm settle before he pushed onward, small drops blood accompanying his footprints.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

He’d only been walking for 10 minutes when dread settled on his shoulders.
There probably weren’t any people nearby, hours away likely. Giyuu wouldn’t be able to keep going for another 10 minutes let alone hours.
He nearly tripped over his foot, his movements slow and clumsy. He wanted to keep going, find someone. He should be able to.
But he’d spend to much time out in the cold, and the wound on the back of his head, amd his bleeding, broken arm weren’t helping his situation.

Giyuu stumbling again, his vision flickering. The water pillar felt a weird sense of guilt as he collapsed, his face pressed against the snow.
He briefly thought of the boy and his demon sister on the mountain. He wondered if they were still alive, if the boy had completed his mission. He hoped deep down that they wouldn’t get in trouble for their actions, but he knew they’d be found out eventually.
He wouldn’t be able to help them, defend them in someway.

His head felt heavy despite it resting against the ground. The sun was sharp against his eyes, his headache only growing worse.
The last thing he heard was the rhythmic clop of horsehoove as his world faded black.

Chapter Text

Tomioka was gone.

The demon had kicked him past the cliff’s edge and he’d disappeared over the side in an instant. Sanemi felt his blood run with ice, not fully realizing what had happened as he stared at the empty spot where his comrade had just been standing.
The adrenaline and horror pumping through his veins pushed him forward, pushed him back as the demon tried to pull the same trick twice. It worked his legs, moving him to the side as he drew his sword back, the muscles in his arms taut before he swung at the demon’s neck; the dark green blade slicing through the flesh easily.

Sanemi stumbled, his lungs heaving as he gasped for air. His sword slipped from his hand and dropped heavily to the ground. Sanemi didn’t notice, his chest constricting as he tried to breath and run over to Tomioka’s sword, the weapon left in the snow. He stumbled slightly and slid to his knees, gazing over the cliff’s edge; his heart squeezing so tight it hurt to breathe.
Sanemi prayed to see Tomioka clinging onto a rock with an everlasting grip or even worst case scenario, curled at the bottom of the cliff, clutching a broken arm.

Prayed to just see him alive

But instead he saw his comrade laying crumpled at the bottom, a small patch of red spreading around his head.
Sanemi’s hands dug into the snow, his fingers catching on the frozen soil, “Tomioka!” he cried, his lungs burning.

“Tomioka!” Sanemi kept screaming, his throat running raw as he tried to reach the other hashira.
Sanemi felt his eyes sting as he panicked, what was he supposed to do? In situations like this he would send a crow to retrieve a group of Kakushi; but that would take too long. But he couldn’t rush down either, that process would be even more time consuming. Assuming Tomioka was still even alive right now.

Sanemi pressed himself close to the ground, his knees pushed against his chest. He felt the warmth of hot tears run down his cheeks, letting out a small breath.
He was crying.
He was crying over someone he constantly fought, someone he repeatedly scrutinized; mentally and vocally. If another slayer were here, Sanemi would’ve been quiet; he wouldn’t have even collapsed by the cliff’s edge in the first place.

But there wasn’t anyone here, and this pain was more than Sanemi could comprehend.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Sanemi had gotten back from his mission an hour ago. He’d been checked over by Kanzaki and the caterpillar triplets, ignoring their numerous questions.
Now he sat with the other hashira in a large room at the Ubuyashki Manor, the air warm and comforting compared to the winter chill outside.
They all sat quietly, swords at their sides, as they waited for Ubuyashiki; though he noticed Kocho eyeing Tomioka’s empty spot.

Ubuyashiki was eventually helped into the room by his two eldest daughters, their white hair an eerie reflection of their mother’s. He smiled and addressed them, his voice so soft and gentle it made the dread in Sanemi’s chest even worse.
Their weak master eventually turned his head slightly, his pale eyes gazing past in a vacant stare as he smiled again. “Shinazugawa, I am delighted to have the opportunity to receive a mission report directly. If you would, please inform us on what happened, and maybe provide a reason as to Tomioka’s current absence?”

Sanemi clenched his jaw as he felt the rest of the hashira’s gazes fall onto him, eyes full of curiosity zeroed in on his face.
The wind pillar swallowed, his brow furrowing as he spoke. “Tomioka and I successfully eradicated the demon… unfortunately Tomioka was thrown off a cliff by the demon… he succumbed to his injuries..”

A heavy silence fell over the room, Sanemi’s words hanging in the air like a cluster of heavy rocks. He carefully took in the other hashira’s reactions, Kocho’s eyes wide and full of shock, Kanroji, who looked on the verge of tears, had her hand pressed over her mouth.
Uzui’s expression was a frozen cast of distant surprise, of disbelief and spiraling thoughts.

Ubuyashiki’s expression was sad, but much calmer compared to the other pillar’s, “Oh… We will all mourn this unexpected loss… but I must ask, why were no Kakushi called to the area?”
Sanemi paused, his stomach twisting as guilt and regret weighed on his lungs.
“I-,”
What was he meant to say? I didn’t call for any Kakushi because of the gripping fear I felt in my heart?

Sanemi stuttered, his mind searching for some sort of reasonable answer. But it was clear. He’d been selfish, he hadn’t called for any Kakushi because he didn’t want them to say it, say that he was dead. Gone, forever. Because despite the constant bickering and fighting between the two, it was painful to imagine Tomioka dead; the feeling fueled by a heavy emotion he couldn’t quite grasp.

“I..“ Sanemi repeated, swallowing thickly as he scrambled to word together a competent explanation; the hashira staring at him with expectant gazes.
He wetted his lips and prepared to speak when a Kakushi burst into the room, breathing heavily. They looked around frantically, words falling from their mouth in a panicked jumble.
Ubuyashiki held up his hand, speaking calmly, “Please, breathe for a moment and repeat yourself.”

The Kakushi leaned against the door, their chest rising and falling as they quickly tried to catch their breath, “The Water Pillar- he’s outside. He needs immediate medical attention.”
The Kakushi looked over at Kocho, who was momentarily stunned.
Chaos erupted in the room, Kocho had stood from her spot, hurrying past the Kakushi in a blur, The other Hashira, Sanemi amongst them, were throwing a thousand questions a minute at the Kakushi, who looked overwhelmed.

Ubuyashiki cleared his throat, the cacophony of voices and questions falling silent.
He turned his head towards the Kakushi, his brow furrowing. “you say that Tomioka needs medical attention? My children and I were under the assumption he had passed on the mission,”
The Kakushi shook their head, their own brow furrowing as confusion spread across their face, “He’s alive, just in really bad condition,”
They glanced down the hall as the sounds of shouting and and panic riled from outside, standing straighter, “I must excuse myself.”

The room was silent as the Kakushi hurried away, Ubuyashiki turning his blank gaze back towards the hashira.
Sanemi just stared at the doorway, his chest tight.
Alive. He was alive.

Relief filled his chest, his lungs relaxing as he released a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding.
Tomioka was alive.