Chapter Text

Chapter One:

Poisoned

“Hurry! He can’t breathe! Ms. Kocho, He needs help!!” 

Tomioka couldn’t quite make out who had said that.. The girl’s voice was distorted, and he couldn’t see her.. The lights were dim, yet also seemed so bright.. The ceiling spun as it continuously flew by, and nothing seemed familiar. The air was cold, yet Tomioka’s body felt as if it were burning; especially his neck. It was hard to breathe, and it felt as if his throat was swollen. His head felt light, and his eyelids were heavy. Despite his difficulty breathing, he managed to let out a cough. The area around his mouth became warm and wet, but he didn’t know why.. His torso now burned more fiercely than before. His vision started to fade and blur together.. He heard a distant echoey voice. “Giyu .. Giyu ...” Then everything.. went black.

The air was still and chilly; Giyu lay enveloped in the warmth of a blanket and his body no longer burned. Everything around him seemed peaceful. The room was quiet and calm. 

Despite the comforting atmosphere, Giyu laid with discontent. It was much easier to breathe, yet his torso stung ever so slightly and his throat felt scratchy with every breath. He felt both extremely hot and as if he were freezing at the same time. As Tomioka’s consciousness fully regained, he gently gripped the warm blanket beneath his cold hands, liking how soft it felt. After a brief moment, the Water Hashira opened his tired eyes, wanting to see where he was and what was going on, but after doing this, his head began to ache and his eyelids felt heavier than he thought they would. 

The room was dimly lit by the setting daylight peering through the window in front of him. Outside of the window were a few wisteria blossoms blowing in the wind. It looked like it had been such a pretty day outside, and yet, Giyu was stuck in bed. He let out a tired and discomforted sigh then glanced around the room. He was in one of Shinobu’s recovery rooms, judging by the walls and decor, except the room was a bit smaller, and it only had one bed. It almost looked more like a guest bedroom because of the layout, but to someone who had been in her mansion before, it clearly wasn’t. 

Beside Tomioka’s bed was a nightstand and all that was on it were some medication bottles. He had hoped to see some water, but there wasn’t any in his line of sight. His throat was parched and he could tell that he had been sweating, so he knew he needed water, but also felt far too tired and miserable to get up. He debated silently for a while, but eventually decided to call for Aoi or Kocho. He opened his mouth to call for them, but all that came from his throat was a quiet and breathy wheeze. He tried again, but nothing came out. All he could really do was make quiet little noises. His throat began to sting more after his many attempts, but instead of getting up to go find something to drink, he laid there pathetically. He simply didn’t have the energy nor motivation to move and instead closed his weary eyes with defeat. He listened to the wind outside and eventually began to doze off again, letting out quiet little snores as he slept. 

The second time he awoke, he did it with a discomforted hum, having been forced awake. He woke up to the feeling of a hand on his neck, and something attempting to open his mouth. He hummed with discomfort and opened his tired eyes, immediately seeing Kocho.

“Oh, hello.” She greeted, smiling at him. 

Tomioka wanted to reply, but his words faltered once again. He wheezed and swallowed dryly instead of speaking. It was clear that he had lost his voice, but he couldn’t immediately think of how else to communicate. 

“Shh.” Shinobu hushed, then went back to feeling and examining his neck. “Your vocal chords are swollen and inflamed. You won’t be able to talk for a while.”

Giyu quietly grunted in protest before taking hold of her hands and moving them away. He didn’t want her to touch him, he wanted to sleep. 

“Mr. Tomioka, I have to examine you. You were poisoned, and the poison was injected through your neck. I’m trying to check on the wound.” Shinobu said as she carefully, yet forcefully, tilted Tomioka’s head to the side.

Tomioka let out a grunt of protest and began pushing at Shinobu’s arms to get her off of him. He didn’t really like being touched at all, and he certainly didn’t want it while he was half asleep, head pounding, and while lying around in what felt like a puddle of his own sweat.

“Tomioka, please- It won’t hurt you. I simply want to look.” Kocho’s reassurance unfortunately didn’t work. Giyu seemed to want to fight her no matter what she did. Sure, he wasn’t being all that forceful, but Kocho’s patience was thin, and she was already getting tired of his resistance. “Fine..” She muttered to herself, then decided to get up on the edge of the bed with her things and lean on his torso. 

Giyu let out a quiet pained wince in response to her movements, and didn’t bother fighting her anymore. He still felt too tired, and hot, and she had clearly pressed up against a wounded rib, causing him pain and making it harder for him to move. He began breathing more shallowly as a result of his pain, and he moved his head to be in a more comfortable position so she could mess with his neck.

As Shinobu examined the wound, she began gently massaging Giyu’s neck with her thumbs. After a moment, Tomioka closed his eyes and focussed on her gentle touch. It almost felt.. nice.. although, he had no idea why she was doing it. Perhaps she was checking on the swelling or examining the stitches she had made? Whatever the reason, Giyu lay there, feeling conflicted on whether or not he appreciated what was happening.

After a couple minutes, Giyu felt Kocho’s hands leave him, causing him to open his eyes again and watch her. 

“Giyu, do you mind opening your mouth for me?”

Tomioka simply did as asked and opened his mouth, letting her open it more as needed so she could look at his throat; She even shined a small flashlight into his mouth to see better. 

After another moment, she set her light aside and let him rest, now looking at him with a concerned smile.

“Your throat is very red and ragged looking. That poison really did a number on you.” She said, then gently moved his hair to touch his damp forehead. “Hopefully your fever will go down soon.. I can tell it’s making you miserable."

Giyu swallowed dryly and hummed with discontent. He then brought up his hand and started to gently poke at his neck.

“Hm?” Shinobu hummed, tilting her head.

“W-a-- .. t-r…” Giyu managed to wheeze, his voice being broken and almost too quiet to hear. It also hurt to speak, so he refrained from doing it again. He simply hoped that she understood.

“Are you thirsty?” 

Giyu nodded and rested his hand on his chest, soon seeing Kocho get up and leave. Upon arrival back in the room, she poured Giyu a glass of water and held it with a smile. 

“Can you sit up on your own, or do you need help?”

Giyu huffed with annoyance before slowly pushing himself to sit up. The left side of his ribs ached more as he did this, but he tried his best to ignore it and instead looked at Kocho. 

“Here, drink it slowly.” She said calmly, then brought the cup to Tomioka’s lips.

Giyu simply took the cup from her and drank the water slowly, as instructed. Once the water was half gone, he glanced up at Shinobu and watched her sit down beside him. 

“I know it’s hard to communicate at the moment, but is there any way for you to tell me how you’re feeling right now?” Shinobu asked, watching Giyu with her usual soft smile.

Tomioka thought for a moment, then began motioning for something to write with. 

“Tomioka, would you happen to remember Morse Code? I feel like writing would just be a waste of ink and paper.” Shinobu suggested in reply.

Giyu hesitated, but eventually nodded. He hadn’t used it in a while, but he did know it. It was actually taught to him sometime after entering the Demon Slayer Corps. Most other Demon Slayers know it as well, but it is not often used.

“Well, do you mind telling me how you feel?” She then asked, holding out her hand towards him.

Giyu sighed with reluctance before beginning to gently tap her palm with his fingers.

He managed to say something along the lines of: ‘My throat hurts, my side hurts worse, I'm drowsy, my head hurts, I'm somehow both hot and cold.. I want to go home and be left alone.’

“Hm, I see. Well, you can’t go just yet, I have a couple more questions.”

All she received in response was a mildly annoyed scowl and a defeated sigh.

“Aw, It’s ok, Tomioka. I’ll be out of your hair in no time.” She reassured. “Might I ask what happened for you to end up in such a state? You’re usually a lot more careful; you hardly ever get hurt.”

Tomioka thought for a couple brief moments before beginning to tap Shinobu’s hand again. He was still a little rusty with the morse code, so his wording wasn’t the best, but Shinobu understood what he meant by it all.

‘I was saving a family from a group of demons. One of the demons was a giant scorpion, and it wrapped me in its tail and poisoned me after I had pushed someone out of the way. That happened first. After I had killed all of the demons, it was suddenly hard to breathe and I think I passed out when the Kakushis arrived. … I hope that made sense.’

After receiving the answer, Shinobu nodded in understanding and watched Tomioka begin sipping his water again. A bead of sweat ran from his forehead down his cheek, and he rested his hand on his leg. 

“I see, well.. Your fever should heal soon, as long as you take your medicine and rest.”

Giyu nodded in return, then moved his hair out of the way so he could press the cold glass cup to his forehead. His head throbbed and ached with pain, and the heat from the fever was clearly getting to him. 

“Speaking of medicine, Tomioka.” Shinobu started to say, then reached for the bottles on his nightstand, inspecting them after picking them up. “You should go ahead and take these. One is for your fever, one is to help your throat, and one is an antidote for the poison still within your body. I’d like to say I got rid of it all when I was initially treating you, but the simple fact that you have a fever at all means that I didn’t.” After explaining what the medicines were, she double-checked all of the labels she had put on them, making absolutely sure that none of them conflicted with one another. She didn’t want Tomioka to feel worse, after all; then he would have to stay there longer.

After a few moments, Shinobu opened one of the bottles and took out a small tablet, then held it out towards Giyu. “Here, swallow this with some of your water. This one is for your fever.” 

Giyu simply nodded to show he was listening before taking the small pellet of medication unknown to him, and immediately putting it in his mouth. He then sipped his water and swallowed the medicine, hoping that it would work. After that, he watched Kocho open the other bottles and pour their contents into their lids. These medications were liquids, and Giyu let out an annoyed huff.

“I know liquid medications always taste nasty, but you’re a big boy, you’ll drink it without fighting me, right?” Shinobu said teasingly in response to his huff. She then looked at him and saw his annoyed glare, clearly not very happy with her comment. “Oh, c’mon, Tomioka. Say ‘ahh.!”

Giyu simply looked away from her and pressed his cup on his forehead again, liking the cold of the water much more than Shinobu’s words. 

“Please, Tomioka?” Shinobu requested, bringing one of the full bottle caps to his mouth. 

Giyu simply sighed and drank the medicine. It tasted awful, but before he could even comprehend something to compare it to, Shinobu gave him the second cap of medicine --which tasted even worse. Tomioka couldn’t help but scowl at the taste, and sipped the last of his water to get rid of it.. Somehow, that managed to make it even worse, and he handed his cup to Shinobu, wanting her to fill it again. 

She let out a somewhat amused hum before taking the pitcher of water she had brought in and refilled Tomioka’s cup like he wanted. Immediately upon doing this, he sipped more of the water until the gross taste was gone. After that, he simply went back to holding the cup to his forehead.

“You know, it would probably be a good idea for you to take a slightly warmer than lukewarm bath.” Shinobu suggested. “With how hot you are, a bath like that would probably cool you down some. And, of course, it would clean you up more. I tried my best to get rid of all the blood and dirt on you, but I would suggest a bath anyway. You’re really sweaty now too, and it would certainly get rid of that..” 

Giyu quietly groaned in response, but it wasn’t towards the idea of having a bath, or at the idea that she had cleaned him; it was at the idea of getting up. He really didn’t want to.. He barely felt like keeping his eyes open. He wanted a bath, he wanted to be clean, he wanted to cool down, but he felt so incredibly tired and overall too lethargic to get up at the moment. If he were feeling this way in a fight, he would get up and keep going without question, but knowing that he was safe and not in any sort of danger, he simply wanted to lie down and wallow in his misery until he fell asleep. 

After not really getting a reply, Shinobu sighed and gently poked Giyu’s shoulder to try and get his attention. “Would you like a bath?” She asked, only to be met with silence. She simply poked him more as the silence lingered, hoping to get some sort of response; but there was nothing that happened for a while, other than a mildly annoyed huff that escaped Tomioka’s nostrils. “Tomioka,” Shinobu eventually started to say as she ceased her poking. “If you take a bath, I’ll have dinner prepared for you once you’re done.”

Finally, Tomioka glanced at her. His eyes were half opened and his expression was still blank and miserable, but Shinobu had finally caught his attention. 

“I could make you some salmon.” She offered, then saw him fully look over at her with intrigue. “Maybe I’ll add some daikon radishes too.” She added, then saw a certain light form within Tomioka’s eyes as if he liked the idea. “I’ll only make it if you take a bath.”

With that, Shinobu watched as Tomioka sighed and begrudgingly got up from the bed. He then slowly sipped his water and set it aside on the night stand before sluggishly going towards the door. Apparently, Tomioka was like Rengoku. They both needed to be bribed with food from time to time. Shinobu simply giggled at him, but followed and showed him where the bathroom was before leaving to make his food and to tend to other patients. 

Turns out, the bathroom was directly across the hall from Giyu’s recovery room, and it was quite spacious. There was a shower, a large bath, a toilet and sink, a big mirror by the tub, a few baskets, and even a wardrobe that held clean misc towels and robes. It was certainly one of the fancier bathrooms in the manner, and considering there weren’t any other recovery rooms close by, Giyu pretty much had that bathroom all to himself; which was nice, considering just how many people were usually in Ms. Shinobu’s mansion at once.

Upon entering the room, Giyu closed the door behind him and immediately began to fill the tub. While it was filling, he practically threw off his clothes and tried to enjoy the cool evening air that was previously hard for him to notice. He let out a soft yet mildly pained sigh as he began to inspect his wounds in the mirror by the tub, taking note of the large bruise by his ribcage and oddly colored scab around his throat wound. There was a stitch mark on the left side of his neck that was roughly the size of a 1 yen coin. The scabbing and skin around the stitching was an odd crimson purple-ish color, most likely because of the poison. His skin also looked generally pale and sickly, everywhere but his face. His face was a brighter shade of pink-ish red, clearly showing off how warm he felt. He decided to look at the rest of himself too, but nothing of note was present. Just a few scars from previous battles, but they were very much healed by now. His hair, however.. That was a different story. He could see why Shinobu wanted him to take a bath. There were some pieces of dirt and debris stuck in his messy hair, and his ponytail looked like a rat’s nest. He let out a discomforted hum at the realization and thoroughly brushed his dirty hair until the tub had finished filling with water. After getting his hair as tangle-free and dirt-free as possible, he stepped into the tub and took a nice long soak, making sure to thoroughly rinse and wash his hair too. 

The slightly warmer than lukewarm water felt like heaven on his very warm body, cooling him down and allowing him a little bit of peace. It didn’t make his headache and drowsiness go away completely, but it did make him feel a lot better. 

Once the Water Hashira was fully satisfied with his bath, he got out of the tub, dried off, and put on nothing but a thin, comfortable, blue yukata. He didn’t even bother with socks, knowing that he was going to go straight to bed and wait for his dinner. 

Once he was ready, Tomioka exited the bathroom and went back to his recovery room. Apparently, someone had changed his sheets. Instead of a soft light blue, they were now white. He almost immediately laid down after seeing them, and took note of how soft they were, and how they smelled like wisteria. He did his very best to lay comfortably on his back and closed his eyes once he accomplished this goal of being comfy. He laid there for an uncertain amount of time, and took this time to rest. He began to doze off for a little while, all until he felt a gentle nudge at his shoulder. Immediately, Giyu opened his sleepy eyes and glanced at who had touched him, seeing Aoi with a small tray in her hands. 

“Hey, Mr. Tomioka. Your dinner is done.” She greeted with a smile.

Giyu let out a quiet grunt as a reply, keeping his gaze focussed on the food. It smelled delicious, and he assumed it was the salmon Kocho had previously mentioned. 

Aoi set the tray on Giyu’s lap, which --in turn-- made him sit up. After sitting up, Giyu rubbed his eyes then looked down at the food. He managed to form a small smile, seeing that it was indeed his favorite food. Before digging in, he briefly took hold of and gently tapped Aoi’s hand a few times, telling her “Thank you.”

Aoi smiled back at him and gave him a nod. “You’re welcome, Mr. Tomioka. Ms. Shinobu told me to make it for you.”

Giyu nodded in understanding, then began happily eating the salmon. Aoi stayed with him as he ate, observing how he moved and just overall making sure he was alright, and eventually, she spoke. “So, Mr. Tomioka. How are you feeling after your bath?”

Giyu glanced at Aoi after hearing the question and eventually began tapping his chopsticks on the side of his tray. Aoi watched him with confusion for a moment, before realizing what he was doing. She realized it was more morse code and did her best to pay attention. 

‘I feel a lot better. I think it cooled me down a little bit for now.’ Is what he said.

Aoi nodded in understanding. “Good. Once you finish your food, you should try to get some more sleep.”

Giyu nodded too before turning to face Aoi. He then began repeatedly glancing at the nightstand, and then back at her.

After a moment or so, Aoi looked back at the nightstand and saw a cup of water sitting there. She pointed to it and looked at Giyu. “This?”

Tomioka nodded and held out his hand as if he wanted it. She gave it to him and he let out a quiet hum of thanks before sipping it. 

“So, how are your ribs feeling?” Aoi eventually inquired. “From a scale of one to ten, how much are they bothering you? One, is: normal and nothing’s happening to you. Ten, is: the worst pain any person could go through.”

Giyu let out a soft sigh and took a moment to pay attention to how his body was feeling. His ribs still ached a little, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as before when Shinobu had pushed on it. He took a few deep breaths, and they started to ache more, but it still felt bearable. He let out a soft huff and held up his hand with a show of three fingers.

“Three? That’s not that bad, then. What about your throat? Does it hurt at all?”

Giyu simply shook his head ‘no,’ and went back to eating.

“Is it hard to breathe or swallow?”

Giyu shook his head again.

“Okay, does anywhere else hurt? … Like y--”

Before she could even finish her sentence, Tomioka poked his forehead.

“Your head hurts? That’s probably because of your fever.. Does your chest or anywhere vital hurt?”

Giyu simply shook his head again.

“Okay. Sorry for all of the questions, I just have to make sure you’re alright.”

Tomioka gave a nod of understanding, and sipped his drink.

A wave of silence washed over them for a little while, allowing for Tomioka to enjoy the rest of his meal in peace. After finishing everything on the plate, Tomioka set his chopsticks down and let out a soft satisfied huff. After a moment, he glanced at Aoi who was lounging in her chair with her eyes closed. Giyu eventually reached out to poke her shoulder, grabbing her attention immediately. 

“Oh. Are you done?”

Giyu simply nodded and brought the tray closer to her. 

Aoi took it and got up from her seat promptly. “You should really get some rest now, alright? If you need anything, don’t be afraid to come find one of us.”

Tomioka nodded again before lying back down on his back, not really worried about what Aoi was doing anymore. His belly was full and his head was still tired, with that combination he was very ready to sleep. It took almost no time at all, in fact; It really only took a few minutes before he started dozing off.

He managed to sleep for a couple of hours before he unintentionally woke up again. His body felt unbearably warm and his head began to pound again. After a moment or so, he let out a quiet wheezy whine and began to kick off his blanket. He still felt hot, even without the blanket, and eventually decided to sit up for a minute or two to get a drink. Aoi had left his cup on his nightstand and he decided to sip his water slowly to try and calm his warm achy body. He let out a quiet groan after a little while and set his cup aside so he could take off his sweaty yukata. He tossed it onto the floor by his bed and laid back down, but now his ribs were starting to ache. Tomioka let out a frustrated huff as he began to reposition himself, trying so hard to find a position where his poor ribs wouldn’t bother him as much. He eventually settled on a position that was halfway between lying on his side and stomach, leaning his torso against a pillow that he loosely hugged and nuzzled the lower half of his face into. He breathed with discomfort, but this seemed to be the best position to lie in for the time being. As he laid there and began to doze off again, his body stopped feeling hot and instead began to feel cold. He sighed quietly to himself and repositioned to grab his blanket, bringing it up to his waist and lying back down. As he laid there, he began to feel too hot again, but instead of removing his blanket, he stuck his feet out, and that seemed to help. After his immense struggle, Tomioka fell back asleep, and finally managed to rest for a normal amount of time.