Chapter Text
Giyuu makes his way through the forest, completely and utterly lost.
He finished his most recent mission right after sunset and asked Kanzaburo to guide him back to headquarters, since they weren’t very far, but somehow the crow managed to lead him into the thickest part of the woods. Giyuu swears he’s seen these trees in this exact formation fifty steps ago.
He sighs, stopping for a moment to rest. Kanzaburo is napping on his head, tired from giving out too many instructions, and Giyuu feels the urge to just lay down and become one with the moss.
It’s not like he’d be missed if he didn’t go back to headquarters right away. He’s used to spending weeks away on missions, which come to him by crow. There’s nobody living in the Water Estate, Giyuu’s made sure to keep it as intact as possible for when Ubuyashiki decides on the actual water pillar.
He’s about to lean his sword on a tree and sit when he hears it.
It’s too far to discern what it is right away, but instinct tells him he should pay attention. And anyone that survives more than a year as a demon slayer learns to trust their instincts.
He stands still. It takes another ten minutes for the sound to come again: the very faint woosh of a sword and a muffled grunt.
Giyuu doesn’t waste time. He places Kanzaburo on a branch (who shifts annoyedly) and starts running in the direction of the sound.
Bushes fly past him. The typical sounds of a fight become clearer. The clang of a blade meeting something hard and the maniacal laugh of a demon. He slashes the foliage away until he reaches a clearing, where a disgusting demon with multiple legs stuck to a long torso is towering over a group of people. Under the moonlight, Giyuu can see a family huddling together in fear.
And in front of them, a slayer.
He has long blond hair with red tips, somehow familiar despite how distinct it looks. Giyuu can’t see his face from where he’s standing, but the slayer is favoring his right side and panting in obvious exhaustion. The creature extends its multiple legs, attacking from different angles, while the slayer is clearly losing his strength trying to parry all of them at the same time.
All he’s doing is run himself ragged, but Giyuu admires his determination in keeping the family safe.
The demon lets out a shrieking laugh.
“Why don’t ya drop yer sword and stop wasting both’ar times!” The centipede-looking thing stands taller and launches one of its arms straight to the boy’s chest.
Giyuu decides enough is enough.
“Water breathing, eighth form.”
He jumps in front of the boy, slicing his nichirin blade down with a powerful and heavy strike, cutting through the left side of the demon’s limbs.
“Waterfall basin.”
“Kyah!” the thing screams. “What’s yer problem?!”
Giyuu doesn’t bother answering. He looks back at the young slayer, who’s staring at him wide-eyed.
“You did well.” He turns to the demon, taking in a deep breath and readying his sword. “Now, leave it to me.”
“I’ll rip ya to pieces,” the demon snarls.
Sharp limbs grow out of the holes in the creature’s chest and shoot towards Giyuu’s body, one after the other. However, the demon is slow. Giyuu dodges from side to side. As his focus hones in on each attack, he almost closes his eyes; his hearing is enough to keep tempo. He steps on the tip of his toes, moves with each attack in a dance, waiting for the opportunity to make his move.
The thing retracts its limbs and lands badly on its feet. There.
Giyuu breathes out slowly, erasing the rest of the world from his mind.
“Water breathing, first form.”
It coils tight and jumps at Giyuu with the few limbs it still has. He lets it get as close as possible.
“Water surface slash.”
The moment the demon nears him, he slashes his sword, decapitating it without any effort at all. The body starts disintegrating before its head hits the ground with a dull thud. What a mediocre fight.
Giyuu flicks his blade and turns to see if the slayer and the civilians are okay, but before he can, he’s jumped by the shorter boy.
“That was breathtaking!” he exclaims, grabbing onto Giyuu’s sleeve and shaking. “You’re a pillar right? The water pillar? The way you handled that demon was nothing short of extraordinary! And so quickly too, it barely had time to touch you!”
Giyuu flinches, unused to being praised in such an energetic way and to having such striking eyes staring at him in wonder. The slayer steps back and bows deeply, almost hitting Giyuu on the chest.
“Thank you! You came to my aid just when I needed it! I’m in your debt!”
He doesn’t know how to deal with this. Rather than try and make sense of the slayer’s words, Giyuu directs his attention to the major wound he’s currently sporting. His left leg is pierced, bleeding sluggishly onto his uniform. Giyuu guesses he’s probably slowing the bleeding with his breath technique, which caused him to lose stamina faster. That’s impressive, even for a Kinoto.
“Sit down for now,” he says, pointing to a tree root.
The boy blinks and slowly lowers himself to the floor. Satisfied, Giyuu looks at the group of civilians.
“Do you require medical assistance?” he asks a man with graying hair.
“Ah, no!” The man says, dusting off his clothes and helping the other four women, who Giyuu supposes are his wife and daughters. The two girls are tearfully holding onto his legs. “Thank you both, thank you so much for helping us!”
“I’ll escort you to where you need to be.”
“Oh, please!” The woman pipes up, bowing at Giyuu, trembling. “O-our village is just down the road, but w-w-we were ambushed by that horrible monster while coming back from another town.”
“There’s a wisteria house there too, water pillar, sir!” the slayer comments from behind him. Huh, maybe that’s where Kanzaburo was trying to lead him.
The family starts gathering their things, so Giyuu turns to the boy, who’s sitting on the ground with his injured leg. He doesn’t look too bad, just exhausted. Giyuu knows how to treat field wounds, but he’d rather take the boy to the wisteria house and take a better look at what he’s dealing with.
He crouches next to the slayer.
“Can you walk?”
“Of course, water pillar, sir!”
The blond stands up abruptly and then promptly topples to the side. Giyuu, who was expecting just that, grabs his arm before he takes a dive.
“Haha…” The slayer drops his head a little, dizzy. “It seems I overestimated my capabilities.”
Giyuu huffs and wraps the boy’s arm around him, supporting most of his weight. They walk like that all the way to the village, which truthfully isn’t far, accompanying the family up to their house. Their destination, however, is located at the southern edge, away from the main restaurants and inns, and it takes some more walking until they reach the wisteria house. When they finally arrive, Giyuu knocks three times on the front door.
It’s an older woman who opens it. She takes one look at them and hurries them inside. Giyuu places the blond, who’s awake but a little out of it, on a futon in one of the guest rooms.
“Bring me bandages and warm water.”
The woman nods and leaves, while Giyuu removes his haori and puts his sleeves up. The boy sits with some effort, sweat beading on his forehead.
“I apologize, water pillar, sir. Despite being a Kinoto, I was unable to defeat the demon and now I’m making more work for you!”
“Stop calling me that,” Giyuu grumbles.
“How may I call you, water pillar, sir!” the boy asks loudly.
“My name is Giyuu Tomioka.”
“Giyuu Tomioka,” he repeats, sounding the words out. It makes Giyuu uncomfortable, the hint of admiration that colors his voice. “And I’m Kyojuro Rengoku.”
“Ah.” So that’s why he looked familiar. “The flame pillar’s son.”
“Yes! Are you friends with my father, Tomioka-san?”
“No.” The woman comes back with supplies and Giyuu dips a rag in warm water, making quick work of Rengoku’s pant leg. He delicately folds the fabric until the wound is showing and places a hand above Rengoku’s knee and another under his thigh, feeling its temperature. It’s stopped bleeding, but the hole looks puffy and wet. “I don’t meet him often.”
“Ah, haha, I see,” Rengoku laughs, though it sounds stilted. When Giyuu looks up at him to see if he’s okay, he notices just how red the other’s face is. Is he getting a fever? Giyuu frowns. Infection shouldn’t set in so quickly.
He starts to work, washing the wound so as to not leave any dirt behind. Meanwhile, Rengoku launches into a tirade about the fight, the centipede demon and, unfortunately for him, Giyuu’s skills.
“You defeated it in just two hits, Tomioka-san! It was an incredible sight! And your form, so perfectly coordinated just like a dance! Ah, how lucky was I to witness such beauty!”
Giyuu can feel his own cheeks reddening from the words. Despite being a pillar’s son, Rengoku probably doesn’t have much practical experience with strong slayers. Otherwise, he’d know Giyuu’s swordsmanship is average at best. He wraps the wound tight and sits back.
“Head to the Butterfly Estate tomorrow,” he says, putting the supplies away. “You’ll have to get stitches.”
“Yes, Tomioka-san!”
Giyuu throws him a side glance. He remembers somebody mentioning the flame pillar’s son was sixteen. Despite being a year younger, he has a strong jawline and thick eyebrows. His face looks mature, but Giyuu doesn’t know why, exactly…
The way he’s looking at him makes Giyuu think of a puppy.
“Next time, be more careful,” he sighs, waving away his ridiculous thoughts. “Preserve your energy by using less attacks with more intent.”
“Oh,” Rengoku says, surprised. But then he nods excitedly, looking at Giyuu as if he’d just handed him a precious treasure. “I understand! Thank you for the advice, Tomioka-san!”
Giyuu nods and stands. The exhaustion is starting to hit him too, especially after all this social interaction. He thinks he’ll skip dinner and just head straight to bed.
“Tomioka-san!”
He turns.
“Thank you again,” Rengoku says, this time in a serious tone of voice. “You saved my life.”
Giyuu grimaces.
Thankfully this’ll be the last they'll see of each other.
***
Giyuu is resting in a wisteria house south of headquarters when a crow arrives with a letter. It’s not Kanzaburo, which is strange, because he’s the one responsible for giving him missions. He unwraps the paper from the crow’s leg and opens it, furrowing his brows.
Dear Tomioka-san,
This is Kyojuro Rengoku, the Kinoto you saved a week ago! I hope you don’t mind me writing to you! I just thought you should know I visited the Butterfly Estate and Kochou-san helped me with my injury! I’m almost all healed up and ready to go on missions again. I mentioned to Kochou-san that you were the one who bandaged my leg and she seemed impressed! Though she said your bedside manners must have been awful. I don’t agree with her at all! I thought you were very pleasant, Tomioka-san!
How are your missions going? I suppose you must be very busy, since you’re a pillar! Have you encountered any interesting demons? Even if you encounter a tough one, I’m sure Tomioka-san will be able to defeat it in one hit!
I’ll use that piece of advice you gave me when I heal up, it was very thoughtful of you to teach me after I’d already given you so much trouble! Hopefully we can meet again and you’ll impart some more of your wisdom to me then! I’d like to see you
Until then, be well and stay healthy, Tomioka-san!
Yours truly,
Kyojuro Rengoku
Giyuu reaches the end of the letter more confused than ever. It’s relieving to hear that Rengoku’s leg healed nicely, but why is he acting like it concerns Giyuu? And why is he asking after Giyuu’s missions?
He stores the letter in his uniform pocket. It’d be rude not to answer, right? Even though Giyuu doesn’t understand why Rengoku is asking these things. Before leaving the safe house, he quickly writes out a note.
Rengoku,
I’ve been as busy as always. No interesting demons to report.
Giyuu Tomioka
The next letter comes a few days after that. Giyuu is on the road, patrolling his designated district.
Dear Tomioka-san,
I’m back to my duties and it’s nice to have something to do again! Though I can’t complain; I spent the last few days at home with my brother and it was great to have our meals together! My brother is training to become a demon slayer, but he still has a long way to go. How exciting for him! He has many other skills, however, he is an excellent cook and he writes poetry sometimes (though he doesn’t let me read them). What’s your favorite food, Tomioka-san? Mine is miso soup with sweet potatoes, and Senjuro cooks it so well! I could eat it every day for the rest of my life! Do you have a favorite sweet or a favorite color? I want to know everything
My next mission will take me to a seaside town. I’ve only seen the ocean once before, so I’m excited to go back and enjoy it again now that I’m older! I remember the first time I saw that dark blue sight, I was so awed by that vision I was moved to tears! It reminds me of your e
I look forward to taking a big breath near the shore, feel the smell of fish and salt filling my lungs! There’s something about the sea air that’s rejuvenating!
Are you finding moments of rest in between your missions too, Tomioka-san? I’d love to hear more about the things you see when you’re out and about!
Be well, Tomioka-san! I hope we meet again soon!
Yours truly,
Kyojuro Rengoku
Again, Giyuu is left befuddled. Why is Rengoku telling him all these things? Why does he bother making small talk with Giyuu? He can’t fathom how a “gloomy wallflower” like him (as Kochou usually says) would interest an enthusiastic person like Rengoku. But, well. He can’t deny it’s nice to hear about Rengoku’s life. He didn’t know he had a brother. And Giyuu’s never been to the ocean, so it’s interesting to hear it from Rengoku’s perspective.
That night, after he’s settled in a wisteria house, he writes another reply.
Rengoku,
My favorite food is salmon daikon. I don’t have a favorite color.
Giyuu Tomioka
He keeps the two letters inside his haori’s pocket, so he can put them in an oak box he has in the Water Estate. He considered throwing them out at first, but they’re part of the few letters he got from other members of the Demon Slayer Corps. Embarrassedly, he regards them with a lot of sentimentality.
He keeps the box inside a wardrobe and that’s that.
Around a week and a half later, the third letter comes, in one of the rare occasions he’s back at headquarters. Giyuu is pruning the Water Estate’s gardens, while Kanzaburo takes a nap in a tree nearby.
Dear Tomioka-san,
How are you doing? I hope you’re doing well! I’m back to the Flame Estate, because it’s Senjuro’s birthday this week! We’ll be celebrating together by going to the village nearby and getting a big dinner! It’s time he enjoyed somebody else’s cooking, instead of being the one to make food all the time! And I know a really good restaurant there that serves some delicious soba! We could go together sometime
My father won’t be coming with us. Unfortunately, he is still affected by my mother’s death. She left us a couple of years ago already, but my father hasn’t felt the spark of life ever since. He’s been neglecting his duties as a pillar for a while now. But I won’t give up! I’m sure I can convince him to take up the mantle once more! After all, it is part of the Rengoku legacy to protect the weak! Just like you did for me when we met, Tomioka-san! It was inspiring to see you fight, and my admiration for you is limitless!
But enough about that! Is there anything special going on for you as well, Tomioka-san? I’m sure you’re too busy to answer my letters, as the work of a pillar is equal parts rewarding and demanding. If they are a bother to you, please tell me and I won’t send another! But, if you find any comfort or amusement in them at all, they’ll have fulfilled their purpose. I keep thinking about y
Thank you for your continuous work, Tomioka-san! I can’t wait to meet you again!
Yours truly,
Kyojuro Rengoku
Okay. Giyuu is usually confused when reading Rengoku’s letters, he’ll admit that. But this one especially doesn’t make sense. Mainly the last paragraph. Rengoku seems to be implying that Giyuu hasn’t answered any of his letters. Is it because Giyuu’s responses are not appropriate? Is there some sort of letter etiquette he’s missing?
“Coo,” Kanzaburo snores, from his spot on the tree.
Ah, Giyuu thinks. He understands.
He steps closer and carefully cradles Kanzaburo’s bundled form. With his index finger, he pets Kanzaburo’s head until the bird wakes up, grumbling and blinking the sleep away from its tiny beady eyes.
“Giyuu?” Kanzaburo asks, ruffling his feathers. “Mission?”
“No,” he answers, putting Kanzaburo on top of a stone lantern. The bird starts grooming his wings, unbothered. “I have something to ask you.”
“What?”
“Have you delivered those letters I gave you?”
“Letters?” The crow tilts his head, thinking. “Ah, letters! Letters to the pillar!”
Giyuu frowns.
“It was to his son… Are you sure you delivered them to the right person?”
“Young man! How… how rude! I delivered them, Giyuu! To the pillar!”
Giyuu feels a sense of dread. He asks, carefully, “Which pillar was it?”
“Ah,” Kanzaburo flutters his wings. He thinks for a few moments. Giyuu can see it in his tiny bird face when he realizes he doesn’t remember. “… the sound pillar?”
Giyuu just looks at him, and Kanzaburo huffs, outraged.
“Too many pillars! Not my fault! Back in my days—”
“Okay,” Giyuu interrupts what’s sure to be a long tirade, standing up.
It’s Senjuro-kun’s birthday. And he has just the thing to give him. Giyuu goes back inside the Water Estate and returns a few moments later, after he found what he was looking for. He wraps the brand new rectangular box with a silk ribbon and a small note with Senjuro’s name on top.
Then he stops by his dahlia flower bed and picks one up.
“Listen,” he tells Kanzaburo seriously. The bird stands to attention. “Take this package to the son of the pillar with hair like this. Okay?”
Kanzaburo nods, setting off as soon as Giyuu finishes wrapping the package around his foot.
The new letter comes the next day. It’s Kanzaburo himself who delivers it.
Dear Tomioka-san!!
Thank you so much for the yatate!! Senjuro was very happy, with this brush and ink set he can write to his heart's content no matter where he goes! We would both like to express our gratitude for such a thoughtful gift!! In fact, both gifts
Your bird is a remarkable little fellow! He almost crashed into one of the estate's beams! And then he flew in circles around me while pecking my hair! But then I believe he got tired, because he landed in one of the bushes and promptly fell asleep. Not before he made his delivery, of course! My heart, when I saw
I know I’m repeating myself, but thank you once more, Tomioka-san! You were responsible for putting one more smile on Senjuro’s face during his birthday, and for that I’ll be forever thankful! I too find myself smiling when
Be well, Tomioka-san! I’m counting the days to see you again!
Yours truly,
Kyojuro Rengoku
PS.: Thank you, Tomioka-san! (that was Senjuro!!! With the new brush!!!)
PPS.: The flower was beautiful
Giyuu huffs out a small laugh, Rengoku’s enthusiastic face coming to his mind with every word. That boy, honestly.
Well, it won’t be a bother to answer his letters here and there, until Rengoku tires of him. When that happens, Giyuu can go back to his quiet, uneventful days.