Chapter Text
This demon proved to be particularly grueling. Sanemi had enough pride to say that beheading it was light work, but his body proved otherwise. Trudging back to his estate, his vision began to darken and he knew he probably wouldn't make it to his bed. He started to lean over, grabbing the closest thing he could. Climbing up a small set of stairs he'd never seen before. Taking a small break on someone's porch, Sanemi began to succumb to his injuries and slowly closed his eyes.
Oh, well. He’d deal with whoever’s house this was in the morning or whenever he woke up. That was a problem for future Sanemi.
~
Gyiuu instinctively woke up after hearing some commotion at his front door. He's always been a light sleeper, but a rogue demon standing at the front of his house was something he didn't want to entertain. Or even worse, it could be a lost drunk person. How inconvenient. A demon he could deal with, but people? Giyuu’s worst nightmare.
Grabbing his nichirin sword from beside his bed he began to make his quiet trek to the front door. Shock took over his face as he saw the unconscious body at his front door. The genuine appall on Giyuu’s face when it was Sanemi who he saw passed out on his porch would be frightening to any passers by.
How on earth was he supposed to confront the man who'd made it his life's mission to belittle and embarrass him?
Giyuu hesitated on what to do, trying to assess the situation. He had landed on trying to poke the other man awake with the handle of his sword, until he saw the blood escaping from Sanemi's body.
A slight panic set in as he tried to figure out what to do. Poking Sanemi wasn't working and he continued to be slumped over asleep. Giyuu figured out that his only option was to loop his arms around Sanemi's body and drag him inside the house because the butterfly mansion was much too far and Shinobu was out on a mission anyway.
Sanemi's unconscious body was scarily still as he lay in the genkan. Giyuu stepped up, removing his shoes on the way. He thought again, put his shoes back on then walked over to remove Sanemi's shoes too. He repeated his previous movements, grabbing Sanemi and trying to lug his surprisingly heavy body over the step and into the closest guest room.
Once they'd made it into the room, Giyuu had absolutely no idea how he would hoist the other man on the bed, but he tried his hardest to without being too aggressive. Sanemi was still injured after all. After a ten minute ordeal, Sanemi was lying flat on his back on the bed.
Oh, fuck.
Sanemi Shinazugawa was lying on his guest room bed.
The Sanemi Shinazugawa.
The man he had stared at from afar for so many years.
The man he was afraid to talk to, not because of the insults Sanemi threw at him, but because of his otherworldly obsession with the man.
Giyuu knew he had to do something about the injuries Sanemi had sustained, but his hands were shaking, and Sanemi had the most beautiful resting face as he was sleeping. He looked so peaceful without the constant scowl on his face. Soft long lashes rested upon his face as he lay, mouth slightly separated with a certain sheen to his lips that made Giyuu want to fall over and die.
The raven haired man slowly reached forward and began to take the white haori off of the other man. Hands still shaking from his crush being right in front of him, asleep.
He continued on nervously, shoving Sanemi's arms out, and sliding the haori out from under him.
Giyuu worried slightly about the blood stains in the haori, but put it aside to start properly undressing Sanemi.
Shaky hands reached for the other man's shirt, untucking the upper half of his demon slayer corps uniform. Striking scars were already visible, but seeing them in full manifest, in all their glory, made Giyuu practically melt into the floor.
No… Giyuu shouldn't be thinking thoughts like this while Sameni could be in a life-threatening condition. He needed to clean the wound on Sanemi's side before he could begin to mend him.
Grabbing a damp cloth he began to wipe away the copious amount of blood from Sanemi’s skin. Looking at his face to make sure he was somewhat okay during all of this. Giyuu began to close the wound as it was thankfully only a moderately topical injury, but Sanemi began to stir awake.
Giyuu tried to stop, so as to not wake the other man further, but it was futile. The scowl returned to his once peaceful face, confused why he was staring at the water hashira of all people and why he was in so much pain. He knew he shouldnt have let future Sanemi deal with this cause he did not want to deal with Giyuu fucking Tomioka right now. Or ever really.
Why the fuck did he have to pass out on the water pillar’s porch out of all ther people in the fucking world.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Sanemi said aggressively, but it lacked the bite he'd like because he basically just woke up on a fucking operating table. He’d had a long mission and all he wanted to do was go home and sleep. But all of the sudden he hears this annoying grating voice.
“Sorry…” Giyuu hesitated, trying to keep a monotone voice as always. Trying not to let his true emotions slip as he continued tending to the other man's wound. “I—I found you on my porch and you were bleeding.”
“Fuck, that hurts! What the hell, Tomioka?” Sanemi yelped as Giyuu tried to stitch the injury closed.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I need to close your wound” Giyuu states matter of factly. But Sanemi had never heard the water hashira say ‘sorry’ before, let alone three times in one conversation. Sanemi noticed a slight furrow in Giyuu’s brow that almost looked kind of cute.
Wait, what?
Cute?
Ew… this is Tomioka he was thinking about. Tomioka was not cute. He was an irritating piece of shit that constantly got onto Sanemi’s nerves. No way in hell could he ever look cute.
But the dim lighting from the room mixed with the gentle moonlight brushing over Giyuu's face made Sanemi start thinking wild thoughts. He suddenly realized how close they were and that Giyuu’s hands were currently on his exposed body.
Giyuu might not be good with people, but he was hyper-aware of the silence and stares coming from the man below him. Had he done something wrong? He finished suturing and went over the gash again with an alcohol pad, then dressed it.
Sanemi was silent throughout the ordeal. The pain was bearable at this point. He coughed out a strained, “Thanks,” and Tomioka gave him a curt nod in return.
“This is the guest room so just rest for now, you can go back to your estate in the morning.” He said with the moonlight illuminating his ocean blue eyes. Sanemi couldn't help but stare longer, then decided ‘oh fuck that’. He couldn't stay at Tomioka’s estate while he thought thoughts like this. He needed to get the hell out of that house.
He began to rise out of the bed trying his hardest to put on his tuff guy act in front of Tomioka, but it was to no avail as Giyuu put his hands on his chest and pushed him back down onto the mattress.
“It's been a long day, Shinazugawa. I'm tired, you're tired. Just rest now and leave in the morning. Do you need anything?” He asked, dragging a hand over his face.
Tomioka was right. It had been a long day and Sanemi could easily pass out right here, right now. His mission had lasted the whole weekend with only him trying to save so many people stuck in some gross pod made by the demon's blood art. It was disgusting really, not a sight he wanted to think about right now with Tomioka right in front of him.
“Hmmph,” he got out before relaxing himself back into the bed. Sleep coming over his body once again like a peaceful wave.
Giyuu grabbed a blanket and lay it over Sanemi as he drifted back off into sleep. Watching as his prominent scowl slowly left his face and returned to the handsome stoic face he had gotten a small glimpse of before.
He padded back to his room, still slightly freaking out that Shinazugawa was in his house. How the heck was he supposed to fall back asleep now?
~
Dawn was just beginning to break when Sanemi woke from probably the best sleep he'd ever had in his entire life. Slightly dazed, it took him a couple of moments to remember where he was and why he was there. He cursed at himself once he remembered.
“Fuck, I need to get out of here,” he mumbled with his groggy morning voice.
He started moving to sit up and get out of the bed when he noticed the washed and dried haori he had badly stained the night before was folded perfectly at the edge of the bed. Sanemi didn't want to make a fuss (for the first time in his life), all he wanted to do was get back to his own house and eat something. But of course right as he was thinking of how to escape quietly, Tomioka lightly knocked on the door before sliding it open.
There he stood with a slightly panicked look on his face, messy hair illuminated in the sunlight, groggy eyes fresh from sleep, and his perfectly askew robe from rushing to the guest room. Sanemi stared wide-eyed with disbelief at the sight before him.
How the fuck does someone look so good when they’ve just woken up? Sanemi thought in awe before quickly snapping out of his stupor. He had a mission, and that mission was to get the hell out of that house before he could think any other weird thoughts. Before he could move again, he was cut off by a surprisingly worried voice.
“Are you sure you're okay to get up like that? Let me fix something for you to eat before you head back,” Tomioka said.
Giyuu didn't know why he was so worried. An injury like this would only take one or two days for a hashira to heal, so why? Why did he keep stalling Sanemi’s departure like he wanted him to stay forever?
“The fuck? Yur not my wife, why would I sit and wait for you to make breakfast? I'm going home.” He said sternly.
For some reason, Tomioka had this stupid face on his face making him look like a fuckin’ hurt puppy. It made him feel almost bad for Giyuu. Almost. He took a deep breath and quickly hitched his breath because of how surprisingly painful it was to breath.
Watching Sanemi wince from pain only worried Giyuu more.
“Please don't move, just let me make something then I’ll be right back. Don't injure yourself further,” the water pillar said.
Sanemi was shocked. It had never been heard of that Tomioka cared for someone other than himself. Or maybe Sanemi just didn't know the other man as much as he should. They were both hashira after all, why didn't he know anything about the water pillar? Not that he was going to try and make a real effort, that was too much work. But maybe staying for breakfast wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Primarily because his stomach was grumbling and he figured he probably wouldn't walk so well if just breathing normally hurt.
“Fine…” He said, turning his head away from Tomioka.
Satisfied, Giyuu said, “I’ll be right back.”
~
Giyuu returned with two small bowls of chawanmushi for the two of them.
Sanemi couldn't lie, it smelled absolutely mouth-watering and as much as he wanted to leave, his stomach was more important right now.
After scarfing down his meal, he finally got up to go back to his own estate. Giyuu was still slowly eating from his ramekin when Sanemi lifted himself off the bed with a small wince.
“Are you sure you're in any condition to leave? You’re welcome to stay if that's what you’d like.” Giyuu stated matter of factly, like it didn't even mean anything to him.
“I’m fine.”
…
“Thanks. For the- um. Thanks,” Sanemi said in a much quieter tone as he grabbed his clean haori off the bed and began his stride to the front door.
“I guess… I'll see you at the next meeting,” Sanemi said in a volume barely audible to Tomioka. Before giving a small nod, putting his shoes on, and stepping into the breezy spring air.
His walk back to his estate was a quiet yet very eventful walk. His mind was racing with all of the things that had happened last night and that morning. Internally panicking as he walked with a stoic face until he reached the front doors of his estate.
The servants were all in a frenzy, Sanemi was supposed to be home last night and they hadn't gotten any word from his kasugai crow either. Worried that the wind pillar was in danger they had all gotten together to start looking for him, gathering at the front of the house to set off as soon as he walked in.
“Lord Shinazugawaaaaaaaa,” one of the younger girls cried out. Running to him as he stares in disbelief. What the fuck is going on today, he thought as the young girl embraced him. The eldest kenin of the house walked briskly to grab the girl off the young lord. Apologizing quickly as she pulled the weeping girl off of Sanemi.
He took off his shoes and walked through the ten or so people standing at the entrance of the house, making a beeline for his bed. Plopping down with a grunt as he laid on his back thinking about his recent encounters.
Why did all of these things have to happen to him? First a low level demon injuring him? He was a fucking hashira for chrissake, he shouldn’t have even let that damn demon lay a finger on him. Next he’s getting all cozy with Giyuu fucking Tomioka, who the hell thought that’d happen? And now he just wants to fall back asleep before anything else stupid could occur.
Closing his eyes, letting himself drift back off into slumber, an image of Tomioka glowing in the moonlight, eyes wide with worry, yet so stoic and beautiful crossed his mind. He wondered if the other man was thinking of their encounter too. But sleep began to take over his body like a wave of calming water, and he drifted off with a small smile on his face, not ready to wake up back to face reality.