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For all Giyuu has learned, he never thought he’d be rethinking his beliefs. Being a Hashira comes with heavy burden. A responsibility he would welcome with reluctance but also with great devotion. His life had brought nothing but pain and suffering, everyone he’s ever loved torn from him. He was always certain that he was safest alone—and that others were safer without binding themselves to him. It’s why he kept so distant from the other Hashira, why he refused to idle with the younger ranks or even entertain anyone’s small talk.
Despite all his conviction, Giyuu Tomioka has a soft heart. It’s his soft heart that has made him falter so many times. When he listened to Tanjiro’s pleas, guided him and his sister to Urokodaki, continued to protect the siblings throughout their journey, and lastly, his soft heart is what made him give in to you.
You, a civilian he met through a particularly harrowing mission. After fighting off so many demons, he wasn’t fit to make his way back and you with your kind eyes, furrowed brows, and general sweet disposition had melted him even if only slightly. He let himself be taken care of, stayed in your home for the night, and by morning he was hesitant to leave. It’s all history now. No one else in the Demon Slayer Corps knew how you did it, but within weeks of him returning from that mission, you appeared. Suddenly it was all the more clearer why he’d been writing so fervently in those days.
Even more scandalous, he let you into his home, something he kept the others from doing in order to keep a touch of distance between him and everyone else. A safety precaution for his own mind, so that their losses didn’t feel so familiar. His frame of thought was clear to you from early on in living with Giyuu. You began as more of a caretaker or a roommate, it was not inherently romantic–-though Shinobu would contest that statement, having witnessed the way he looked for you when you weren’t home.
One might find him restricting, he gave you rules and lectured you whenever you walked around the headquarters without him. One of his conditions for letting you into his home was that you were to stay firmly out of danger, he even argued with Ubayashiki about keeping you from enlisting. He wouldn’t have you fight—he was firm on that. He was even reluctant to let you out of his sight to work in the butterfly mansion for Shinobu and her girls, citing the unpredictability of injured members being too much risk for you.
You didn’t mind however. You understood his caution—anyone could see the vacancy in his expression, and if staying home would relax his never-ending stream of thoughts, you would do it. It wasn’t like he was isolating you. The others were allowed to keep you company in his absence—and if he wasn’t there he at least was relaxed knowing who was with you when you did roam the headquarters. Shinobu enjoyed spiking his blood pressure from time to time though, inviting you to work with her some days without telling him. She would tell you that the slight wild look in his eye when he burst into the mansion after looking everywhere just to find you patching up Zenitsu for the seventh time that week—was worth it.
Everyone was aware how much he cared, the strange intimacy of your dynamic with Giyuu. Everyone but the two of you. The Water Hashira, famously averse to any friendly affection, was always found touching the small of your back, grasping your shoulder, anything that would be seen as just friendly guidance if it was anyone else.
“Watch your step…” He would say under his breath, watching your feet more than his own while traversing the stone paths throughout the headquarters.
To his dismay, he still had to leave for missions. In the event of his reluctant absence, he’d make sure you were cared for. Quietly stocking up on your favourite food and though you never asked for it, he’d leave something of his conveniently out in the open. He didn’t say anything, he didn’t have to, the way his eyes lingered when he came home to you wearing his stuff, anything really. Even socks had him secretly proud, feeling like he was a source of comfort to you as you are to him.
Giyuu’s missions could last hours to days to weeks. Sometimes you worried he’d never return. He always did however. Giyuu Tomioka was like the tides. He would always pull back, no matter how close, sometimes he was even completely gone from your life…but he would always return, sometimes closer than he was before.
It’s been a week since Giyuu left for his last mission. You knew he would return, he always does, but his absence has left you feeling lonely. The Hashira are pleasant company, but they are not Giyuu. Giyuu has a way of being a balm to your soul. His awkward jokes in the silence of night, whispered apologies when he thinks he’s said something wrong, the way his eyes brighten just a smidge when he hears you laughing finally. The house feels empty as you wander around, looking for something to do as you wait for it to be dark enough to go to sleep without feeling guilty.
The moon is beginning to rise when you hear him. His steps quiet along the old floor, announcing himself before he does appear in the archway. His blue eyes land on you, focused. He immediately roves over your face, body, checking for anything off. Once he’s satisfied he comes closer. He moves faster than you’re used to, and what he does next is even more out of character. He embraces you carefully, slow enough to let you decide, yet with the hold of a man who knew exactly what he wanted after weeks away from home. One hand creeps up to the back of your neck, fingers stretched across the expanse protectively. The other hand loops around your waist at your back.
“It’s warmer tonight.” He whispers. “We could sit by the water.”
He sounds tired, but hopeful. You hum thoughtfully, almost falling asleep in his warm hold.
“Sure…we could do that.” You say as you fight through a yawn. “Might fall asleep before we’re back home though.”
He doesn’t look perturbed.
“I can carry you.” He says like it’s the only answer.
You sit by the stream in the forest clearing, his jacket underneath you as a barrier between you and the dirt. Giyuu talks at a relaxed pace, detailing his journey to you. And when you fall asleep against his shoulder, he takes the time to think.
It was a marvel, how you two found each other, how you had even wormed your way into his thoughts, his home, and now his heart. Giyuu thinks he wouldn’t change it for the world, but right now, he felt more agreeable to changing it for something closer. Like the tides take over the sand, he wanted you to encompass him. He returned to you like the tide, but for you he wished to be the sand beneath, draped in your presence and impossible to remove.