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"shinobu!"
giyuu tomioka stops in his tracks. beside him, a woman looks around and brightens as she finds the source of the voice. the former hashira couldn't help it; he looked that way too. it seems even now, two years after the battle, the insect hashira still manages to haunt him. the woman who responded to the name doesn't look like her at all with her long dark hair flowing freely down her back and wearing a western dress instead of a kimono and was probably a couple of years older than the butterfly but they were the same petite build.
giyuu watches as the woman stops in front of a man who, if not her husband, then is definitely her lover. he watches the way the woman pokes the man's arm before she links their arms together. after standing there for a few short minutes, the pair start walking the other way. giyuu takes a minute or two before deciding to follow silently behind them.
he watches the couple talk animatedly in front of him and can't help but wonder... if things ended up differently, would the two of them end up like the loving couple in front of him? the pang in his heart that never went away after the kasugai crow announced her death made its presence known to him once more and he clenches the one hand he still has left after the battle with muzan.
the couple turns at a corner and stops in front of a small restaurant. immediately, he recognises the place: it's the very same one kochou shinobu dragged him to after one harrowing joint mission. she had boasted about the restaurant's salmon and daikon dish, claiming it to be the best in the city. she had been right, of course. shinobu loved being right. she loved it more than she loved to tease him.
giyuu took a seat two tables behind the couple and ordered the same salmon and daikon dish he had with shinobu that day. to his surprise, the couple in front of him ordered the same. he watched as they ate, savouring the hot meal. for once in his life, tomioka giyuu didn't seem all that intent on finishing his favourite dish.
he can imagine her voice telling him "oh my, tomioka-san. are you watching those strangers instead of eating? and here i thought nothing's more important than salmon and daikon. you're being a creep, you know. this is why nobody likes you."
he would have made a sulking rebuttal about him not being hated and she would laugh that irritating laugh of hers. but there's nobody in the empty seat next to him. the scent of wisteria that usually followed him no longer lingers around him.
giyuu continued to follow the couple as they next went to buy some flowers, and then to a shrine, and even inside a pharmacy. each location brings memories he thought buried into the forefront of his mind.
shinobu, buying flowers for the girls at the butterfly mansion. it was only a couple of months after she was made a hashira, a couple of months after her sister was taken from her. giyuu knows that pain all too well but chose not to say anything and only watched her from the corner of his eye. however unlike him, she had the added responsibility of caring for the younger girls in her and her sister's care. it would make them happy, she told him. the girls had been very depressed ever since the passing of kanae. she wanted to cheer them up.
back then, he thought 'but who would make you happy then?' he ended up buying her a single tsubaki. shinobu stared at it and for a while, he was afraid she wouldn't take it. but in the end, she gives him the first genuine smile he saw on her face and asked: "do you know what this flower means in the language of flowers?" he only found out later on that tsubaki means love as well as noble death.
he remembers shinobu with her head bent, standing in front of a shrine, praying for her deceased tsuguko's souls. he doesn't need tanjiro's sense of smell to know the anger and grief that enveloped her each time she loses a tsuguko to a demon. he watched, silently, as her anger battled the smile her sister loved so much.
the smell of antiseptic reminds him of all the time he was forced to go to the butterfly mansion to get his wounds treated. she treated him personally each time, alternating between teasing him for being so obtuse and berating him for not going to her immediately after his mission.
"i keep telling you to come to me when you're injured," she sighs as she wraps his torso with a clean bandage. "you don't have to shoulder everything by yourself, tomioka-san. we are hashira yes, but we are also a team . do you know what that even means? it means you're not alone in this."
it is a little ironic now that he thinks about it. the woman who always told him to open up, who reminded him each time that he's not alone, shouldered everything by herself until the end. "that's not fair, kochou," he remembers mumbling. "if we were a team, why didn't you tell the rest of us about your plan?"
it seems that while lost in thought, the former water hashira forgot to hide his presence. the couple in front of him stopped and finally turned to face him. the woman, shinobu, hid behind the man, fear in her dark eyes. 'they really don't look alike, after all.' he thinks.
"you've been following us the entire day. what do you want from us?" the man demanded. the woman behind him clutched his arm tightly as she poked her head out. giyuu remained silent, which only infuriated the man even more.
"i'm warning you. if you lay a hand on her, you're dead."
in his mind's eye he sees shinobu beside the couple, laughing a little.
"stalking isn't good you know, tomioka-san. this is why nobody likes you. go on. answer him. explain yourself and clear this misunderstanding. you can do it! i'm cheering for you!"
giyuu opens his mouth, closes it, and then opens it again.
"forgive me," he finally says in that quiet voice of his. "your friend there, she has the same name as someone i knew once. i couldn't help but be curious somewhat."
the sincerity in his voice must have won the woman over because she steps out of her hiding place. the man, however, wasn't convinced and tried to step in front of her again. the woman stopped him with a hand on his chest.
"your shinobu, how long has it been since she left you?"
giyuu's eyes widen slightly at the question. his closed fist tightens on his side. and then he gives her a rather sad smile.
"today makes it two years."
shinobu's face turns sad at the news. slowly, she walks towards him and then hands him a small bouquet of tsubaki he hadn't noticed before.
"take this to her," shinobu tells him. "i'm sure she would love this."
giyuu takes the bouquet and bows gratefully.
"thank you. i'll make sure she gets this."
giyuu watches the couple walk away, the sad smile on his face never leaving him.
the entrance to the butterfly mansion slides open and aoi welcomes him a little breathlessly.
"tomioka-sama," she bows. "please make yourself at home. forgive me for looking haggard like this. tanjiro and the others have just arrived and i'm trying to keep inosuke from eating everything before we start."
giyuu only nods his acknowledgement. aoi then eyes the bouquet in his hand.
"you may visit her while you wait." she tells him, a tinge of sadness in her voice.
giyuu walks along the familiar path to what used to be her private quarters. once upon a time, shinobu kochou walked down this path every day. once upon a time, her laughter rang along these very walls. now it's silent. her presence has long since faded from the mansion.
when he enters, he looks around. all of her belongings have been removed a year ago and her pet goldfish have been rehomed to aoi's room where she continues to care for them. giyuu sits in front of her smiling portrait and places the bouquet of tsubaki in front of her.
when he closes his eyes, he can see her sitting in front of him, smiling serenely. he can hear her saying, "why hello, tomioka-san. thank you for the flowers. it seems i've been seeing you a lot recently. are you feeling lonely once more? cheer up! i'm always rooting for you!"
giyuu opens his eyes. kochou shinobu fades from view.
"just two more years," he tells her portrait. "wait for me, kochou."