Chapter Text
Ever since that first day Tokitou arrived at the Water Estate, he kept returning. Giyuu didn't know why he kept returning, but whenever it was raining—lightly or storming—Giyuu would come to find a knock at the gates and the boy in different states of drenched, enough time where he eventually got a large coat to cover the boy with whenever he found him at the estate's gate.
The third time he visited was when he met the Mist Hashira’s Kasugai Crow, Ginko. She had arrived alongside Tokitou whilst it was beginning to storm, at that time only lightly raining, greeting Giyuu with an insult that Tokitou frowned at her for, which made her reluctantly apologize before properly greeting Giyuu. He greeted her back calmly, mildly amused in all honesty, although he didn't show it.
But, he grew to find peace in the simplicity of taking care of the place. Decorating and fixing up the old birdhouse so that Kanzaburo would have an easier time landing—adding extra ledges for such a thing after encountering Kanzaburo falling out of the thing once and not wanting to risk it again—alongside adding an extra birdhouse closer to the gate for any possible visitors the real Water Hashira might having in the future, among various other things.
He'd upkeep the garden, making sure to at least do it once a month, if not more when he was able to, planting new plants he'd think future residents may enjoy, and taking precious care of older plants that still looked rather beautiful and somehow survived to making it into his care, and making sure to remove any weeds that tried to ruin the hard work of the previous owners. He'd make sure to sweep and clean the estate often—the repetitive action somewhat calming—often doing it almost daily if he didn't have any missions. He'd clean all the water features when he found it necessary, rearranging the rocks by the sides of them to look more appealing and orderly, and he'd go and repair any problems he could find by himself, even if he struggled at times.
The only thing he could not not do—with some hesitance due to doing so leaving an actual imprint behind that the real Water Hashira might encounter one day—was set up a shrine for his sister, Tsutako and his best friend, Sabito.
And as such, there he was, sitting before their shrines in silence as he paid his respects to them, kneeling calmly on the tatami mats of the smaller room he chose to hold their shrine in as his haori lay in front of the shrine folded, reflecting the sides of the two deceased.
Still sitting in silence, eyes closed, Giyuu tilted his head to the side slightly and opened his eyes as he listened to familiar cawing approaching the room he was in. Recognising it, Giyuu slowly got up and went and opened the door to the room after wiping his pants, Kanzaburo soon flying in and landing on his head, visibly shaking from exhaustion as he spoke.
“Meeting! Hashira Meeting!” Croaked Kanzaburo as he paced around the top of his head, wings flapping as if to get Giyuu’s attention, Giyuu furrowing his brows for a moment before speaking.
“Kanzaburo?” He called, the old crow looking down at him when his name was spoken, letting out a caw before continuing.
“Hashira meeting! H-hashira meeting in… in…” The crow’s beak opened and closed as he did his best to remember, quiet clacking being heard along with the action. “…Meeting in two–no, one hour!”
“An hour?” Giyuu repeated as he moved his head slightly, the crow began pulling at his hair lightly with his claws to have a firm grip and not fall.
“Caw! Yes! Hashira Meeting in one hour!”
Giyuu let out a breath. An hour should be plenty of time to get to the Master's Estate. “Alright, thank you, Kanzaburo.” He said as he raised a hand to the old bird’s head, Kanzaboro rubbing his head against his hand as Giyuu petted the bird as his wordless form of appreciation, before the crow flapped his wings and moved to fly into his messy ponytail.
Giyuu let out another breath before grabbing his mismatched haori, throwing it on top of his shoulders and carefully pulling his hair above the fabric—careful not to jostle Kanzaburo too much—before walking out and closing the door behind him as he entered the courtyard and made his way towards the Estate’s gate.
He wasn't aware that this meeting might change many things in his life, nor that that change would likely end up being positive, but as he walked out the gates of the Water Estate and closed them behind him, Giyuu walked unaware that he would come to truly care for a boy he would be introduced to that very day.
Walking through the gates of the Master’s Mansion, Giyuu, who intended to mind his business, was struck by the sudden loud words of one of the Hashira as he was spotted.
“Fucking finally!” Called out Shinazugawa, his voice echoing as his usual scowl graced his face as he glared towards the man who had just entered.
Giyuu simply decided to walk over to where the Hashira were getting lined up, ignoring the glances he was given as Shinazugawa continued to yell. “Oi! Do ya think you can just waltz in whenever you want, Tomioka!? And quit ignoring me, you arrogant a–!” He yelled, but was suddenly interrupted by two voices.
“The master has arrived.” The master's children synced, and immediately, the Hashira kneeled all at once, various voices halting mid sentence as the master approached with patient steps, two of his children by his sides.
“Hello, my precious children. How are you all this fine day?” Oyakata-sama greeted them, voice soft and sweet as the calm of the morning rain of spring, his good eye wandering over the group as his smile showed one of pure warmth. Receiving the typical greeting from all of them along with various subdued replies of ‘good’ and ‘well’ and related answers in reply, the warmth only grew as Oyakata-sama watched them for the moment, Giyuu choosing to stay quiet as the others answered his question.
“That's good, my children. A day such as this deserves to be good, after all. Now, today I wish to introduce our newest Hashira. Muichirou-kun, if you may step forward?” He called, head turning somewhat as the one called stepped into view.
The one who stepped forward was a young boy—his long hair somewhat deceiving but he was most definitely a young boy—that had been standing behind the master.
The boy had long black hair that faded into a pale turquoise, with dull eyes of a similar colour that seemed to focus on nothing in particular, an emptiness to his expression as if he wasn't even there in the moment as his gaze occasionally drifted up to the skies before being snapped down from time to time. The boy’s uniform swallowed his form, making him look so much younger, in a way that made Giyuu, alongside many of the Hashiras, somewhat gape at the boy, although most not as visibly, such as Giyuu himself.
“This,” Oyakata-sama spoke, his gentle smile turned towards the boy whose cheeks filled with baby fat made Giyuu’s heart clench as he observed and listened. “Is Tokitou Muichirou, our newest Hashira, the Mist Hashira. He has shown to be remarkably promising, and I trust you will all help him feel welcomed as he steps up to his new position among you all.”
The boy, Tokitou, blinked as he looked over the Hashira, but barely even so as his eyes gave the impression that he was barely taking in the features of the assembled Hashira, almost looking bored as he looked over them.
Soon, the assembled Hashira began to greet the boy, getting up from their kneeled positions as they approached.
“Welcome Tokitou-kun!” Greeted Rengoku, a beaming smile on his face as he stood in front of the boy. “I wish you well in your new position, and if you would like, I'd like to invite you to a meal to get to know you!”
From the side, Kanroji bounced close as she greeted. “I hope we make you feel welcome here, Tokitou-kun! I hope you'll like it with us!”
Giyuu simply watched as his co-workers greeted the boy, Giyuu himself sitting silent as he felt his stomach twist uncomfortably as he stared at the boy's young face, still so young as he truly realised just how young their newest Hashira was—that the boy shouldn't have even attempted to survive final selection.
But, the world is cruel, so Giyuu stayed silent as he watched the boy barely answer the other Hashira, if at all, even as some of the Hashira commented on his age or expressed concern in the matter. After all, anything he could do, someone else would likely do better, and their better already wasn't getting results.
Oyakata-sama soon adjourned the meeting as he allowed the Hashira to get to know the Mist Hashira, but Giyuu easily took the time to slip away from his co-workers as he went to make his way to the Water Estate, easily being forgotten and ignored as he disappeared through the noise of the others.
He never quite liked how loud they could be at times, and thus gladly left as he covered his ears, likely moving at an unreasonably fast pace as he made his way away.
It was overwhelming at times, but he couldn't help the weird feeling that remained in his stomach as he thought about the boy, even once he removed his hands from his ears and no longer felt he would crawl out of his skin because of the noise around him.
Tokitou Muichirou. So young—he’d have to be 12 at the youngest—yet already a Hashira. Truly, a cruel world, one Giyuu was all too aware of, but couldn't help but feel guilty for as he remembered the boy’s barely present expression, even as he was being directly spoken to.
Sure, Giyuu has been told he can look like that as well at times, but he didn't like how the boy’s own was so… different from his own, he felt. For a different reason than his for whenever he himself zoned out, it was basically entirely against his own control.
What had the boy been through? He couldn't help but wonder as he barely recognised the feeling of Kanzaburo leaving his hair and standing back on top of his head, lost in what must have been his own concern and thoughts to note such a thing.
He hoped the boy didn't die too young. Those were always tragedies.