Chapter Text
Missions were strange things. Sometimes spending six days with a person could teach one more about them than even those closest to them might know. This is exactly what happened when Giyuu Tomioka, the stoic water hashira, was assigned a mission with Muichiro Tokito, the aloof mist hashira.
They were assigned a mission in the Aoikiri village, a calm cool village nestled deep within the mountains. Constant reports of missing people there were rising at an alarming rate which required attention. Consequently, Giyuu and Muichiro were chosen to be sent together to check for the presence of any Twelve Kizukis over there.
The village was pretty far, about 50 km and it would at least take about a day’s time to reach there. Muichiro and Giyuu had decided to meet early in the morning to get started on their journey. For most of the first day, of their mission, there was silence between them. Silence that wasn’t heavy, like coldness or anger, just understanding. Muichiro would randomly shoot Giyuu with questions like “what was the name of the village again?” or “what did we know about the demons?” and Giyuu wouldn’t mind answering them.
There was something different about this kid. He wasn’t like the other kids, not in just the physical strength aspect but also considering his socially reclusive personality. It always seemed as if he carried so much burden beneath what seemed to be an emotionless face.
Giyuu had always been an observer. Even if he sucked at picking up social cues, he used to notice things. At their stops for lunch and dinner, Giyuu had noticed Muichiro’s affinity towards radishes. From then on, he would make sure to let Muichiro have the radishes if they were sharing.
By the time they reached the village, it was night already.
“Are we here yet?” Muichiro asked Giyuu for the fifteenth time.
“Yeah, we are here” Giyuu replied.
“Let’s not waste time and search for the demon.”
They went out and searched the forests, near the river and even the slightly secluded areas of the village, however, it all turned out to be a waste. Most of the villagers were asleep by then, so the two Hashiras didn’t get much of a chance to enquire about the whereabouts of most of the missing person reports. Also, there was barely any light in the village which also made it a little difficult to navigate through the unfamiliar area during this time. As a result, Giyuu decided that they should rest for the night and next afternoon they would go and enquire before looking for the demon. Muichiro agreed pretty easily, it made sense and it seemed as if Muichiro was too tired from his thoughts already that he put in no effort in thinking something else.
The kid would never admit it, but Giyuu saw exhaustion in Muichiro’s body language. It made sense since they had been running the entire the day, but that was nothing compared to a Hashira’s level. Perhaps Muichiro was training too hard or not sleeping well, but either way, he needed rest.
Even though it was pretty late at night, the two managed to find a decent looking inn. Luckily there was a room available. It was a nice room, tatami mats on the floor, two futons arranged on the floor for the two Hashiras and an attached bathroom with a tub. There was a closet on the side, a writing desk and a very low nightstand. Muichiro was too tired to take a bath or even change out of his uniform. He practically collapsed on the futon after putting his belongings aside. Not long after, Giyuu followed, but not before putting a water bottle near Muichiro’s bed just in case he needed some of it.
The night went on peacefully. Next morning, Giyuu woke up first, the sun was already up by then. It was a warm day. The rustling of sheets and the sound of Giyuu moving, soon woke Muichiro up too. Giyuu had prepared some tea for both of them, Muichiro was sure that this tea was some sort of herbal medicinal tea but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Later in the afternoon, the two traveled out talking to the villagers, and trying to figure out the demon’s pattern of appearance and hunting people.
“Do you think we are going to find this demon today? Its pattern of appearances and picking up people sounds really irregular.” Giyuu asked Muichiro trying to get some thoughts out of him.
“Clouds are irregular” that was the most introspective and spectacularly flashy, as Uzui would’ve put it, response that Muichiro could have given Giyuu as per himself.
“Hmm…”
By evening, clouds came up and suddenly it started raining. A contrast to the warmth of the morning. The rain eventually turned into what one can call a “misty downpour” and hence a waste of another day. The two were sitting in the inn’s dining hall having dinner. As per Giyuu’s request, the chefs had made some Salmon Daikon that day. Giyuu had noticed that Muichiro often had trouble eating because the sleeves of his loose uniform used to interfere in his process of picking food up from his plate. Giyuu wordlessly grabbed Muichiro’s hands and rolled his sleeves up. Muichiro for a few moments looked at Giyuu as if he had just solved the world’s largest problem. A problem that was bigger than defeating Muzan Kibutsuji.
“Thank you”
Did Muichiro Tokito just thank the Water hashira? They both stared at each other for a few minutes... no one said anything, then Giyuu slowly asked...
“Would you like it if I feed you today?”
Giyuu had no idea what got into him when he said that. Not a bit of it. If any of the other Hashiras were here, they would probably make some remark about Giyuu getting soft and too maternal or Tengen would perhaps say something about the mother hen to make it even more weird. But right now, there was no one to judge them, to judge their silence and understanding. Muichiro slowly kept his chopsticks down on the table and softly pushed them towards Giyuu. That was all the consent that he needed.
As for Muichiro, he felt really happy. Eating by himself was a pretty boring job anyway. It required focus. Now Muichiro could just think about that weird tree he saw today, he still isn’t sure if that was a tree or a scarecrow, while Giyuu could feed him.
After they were done with dinner, they returned back to their room. In this stormy weather a warm bath would be good.
“Would you like to bathe together?” Muichiro asked
.
.
.
“sure”
It was pretty unexpected for someone like the Mist Hashira to initiate such act of bonding. The tub in the bathroom was big enough for both of them and it was better than wasting warm water anyway, so why not. They both took a bath together. It was simple. No one said anything at all. They just sat there staring either at each other’s faces or the wall. After the bath, both of them felt pretty relaxed and warm.
Giyuu occasionally looked at the storm outside hoping that it would settle soon ....but it did not. At the end, both of them fell asleep. Another day went in vain. Well, Giyuu wouldn’t call it an absolute waste. He got a chance to bond with another hashira, doesn’t matter if it is a 13-year-old kid. As for Muichiro, he really liked the simon, uhh no salmon di-something dish they had eaten today and he also got a solution to his sleeve problem. It was a very productive and successful day indeed.
It was finally, the third day when Muichiro claimed to have started to pick up the scent of a demon. The whole evening, Muichiro and Giyuu had spent their time securing and checking parameters. It was pretty tough though considering the fact that the ground was all muddy and wet from yesterday’s downpour. To make it worse, it seemed as if it was going to rain today as well. By midnight, Giyuu and Muichiro kept on searching for the demon, that’s when finally, they heard a screaming sound and got a hold of the demon. It was lower moon two. The demon was a weird mix of creatures, it had tentacles and scales and 4 legs as well, it looked pretty ugly and filthy. To make it a lot worse, it started raining. The demon had a weird blood demon art of some sort of terrain control plus emotional deception. It was a hard job to defeat him, a fight that went on for about a whole hour. At the end with a swish of combined forms and breathing styles, they slashed the demon’s head.
By the end of the fight both Muichiro and Giyuu were soaking wet and utterly exhausted. Thankfully, they weren’t wounded much.
On the way back, Muichiro seemed kind of sulky.
“You did not need to protect me from that blow he did sideways using the rocks, I am not a baby, but you all treat me like one”
“Muichiro, it doesn’t matter, the important thing is that the demon is dead and we are safe”
“But I am not a baby”
“You are not a baby but it’s ok to need help sometimes”
Giyuu could see directly through Muichiro. He was trying to be too strong, all that exhaustion from the first day falling into place. Perhaps his young age was a sort of insecurity for the kid when standing next to hashiras almost ten years older than him.
When they reached the inn, both of them quickly changed into dry casual clothes. They were already extremely exhausted from the fight and there was no time for a bath. A quick cleanup would suffice. As soon as Muichiro was clean and Giyuu finished tending to his wounds, he collapsed onto the futon. Soon after, Giyuu drifted off too.
The night that followed was calm and peaceful….. almost..…. until at some time around very early dawn, when the sun hadn’t even risen, Giyuu woke up to whimpering sounds. It took him a moment to register that they were coming from the bathroom. He looked to his side, Muichiro wasn’t there, his futon was scrumpled to side, near the wall. Giyuu got up and walked to the washroom. As soon as he entered, he saw Muichiro’s pants and underpants rolled on to the side of the wall and Muichiro sitting, half naked, in the empty tub with his knees pulled close to his chest. His cheeks were red and he seemed to be sweating. He was trembling and whimpering, tears rolling down his eyes. Giyuu immediately knew what had happened. His heart ached at the sight. He slowly made his way near the tub and sat on its boundary.
He knew that the kid had tried his best to clean himself after perhaps the nightmare that left him like this, but had failed to do so due to the mental trauma and exhaustion lingering from his nightmare and the battle earlier.
Giyuu gently stroked Muichiro’s hair to the side, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He could feel that the kid was warm, the rain and all the fighting in soaked clothes potentially gave him a fever.
Giyuu had no idea how long Muichiro had been like this, crying while sitting naked and wet in the cold. Maybe minutes, maybe even an hour. Giyuu wanted to blame himself so badly for not waking up earlier for the child but he knew somewhere within him that it wasn’t his fault. His body was utterly exhausted after that mission and needed its rest to function. But right now, this wasn’t about Giyuu, Muichiro needed help.
Giyuu slowly without uttering another word lifted up the kid and put him in his lap. He was hashira and hence as a matter of fact he was pretty strong, even if he could argue against the given statement.
“I-...I am sorry... I didn’t’... didn’t” Muichiro was still trembling as he tried to find the right words.
“Hush.... calm down” that was all Giyuu said as he pressed the kid closer to his chest.
“I am not going to judge you and you are safe over here. And Mui.... you are not weak to ask for help or feel weak sometimes. Its okay to be weak and have accidents.”
“But m a.. I m a hash-hashira”
“But you are also human... And humans make mistakes; humans have accidents and humans try to heal when hurt. That’s what makes us different from the demons. Accidents are what makes us human. And you are still learning. It was a nightmare, wasn’t it? And it’s okay to feel scared”
As Giyuu muttered kind words into the kid’s ears he could feel Muichiro calm down slightly against his chest. Giyuu’s gaze then fell to Muichiro’s thighs. There were rashes. He wasn’t sure if they were fresh or old. Maybe he got them while fighting that demon in wet clothes and the pee was probably irritating the skin further. It was nothing of an injury if seen from the lens of a hashira, but when seen from the eyes of a kid, it was something that hurt him and made him uncomfortable.
Whilst Giyuu kept Muichiro wrapped in his arms, it started dawning on him. The way Muichiro had tried to clean himself, this wasn’t the first time this was happening. Probably the Kakushi had been helping him with it. They didn’t utter a word about it since they are sworn to secrecy. This kid was hiding more than wounds and rashes. He had been hiding scars. Scars that were not physical or from an injury. Scars that were there due to emotional and mental wounds. Wounds that could completely break a person.
Then with Muichiro still in his arms, Giyuu began drawing a bath for the kid. He could still hear the kid sniffling in his shoulder but at least he wasn’t trembling now. By this time Giyuu was certain that Muichiro had a fever. Perhaps they would have to postpone the return. There was no way Giyuu was making this already terrified ill kid run about 50 kms back home with a nasty fever and a rash.
“Mui, would you like to talk about your nightmare?” Giyuu asked making sure not to put too much pressure on the kid.
“Not now”
“It’s ok.”
The bath was ready, Giyuu carefully took Muichiro’s shirt off his body making sure not to hurt or irritate the wounds from their battle. Then he slowly placed the child down in the warm bath. Giyuu was about to go grab some shampoo when Muichiro got afraid that Giyuu was going to leave him like this.
“Please don’t leave me...” tears started rolling down his cheeks. “Everyone always leaves me... are you going to leave me too?”
Giyuu didn’t know what Muichiro saw in his dream. Maybe it was a memory from the past. But he was pretty sure that it was probably a pretty difficult task keeping track of your dreams and your hazy memories for someone with amnesia. At that moment, Giyuu wished to feel the world just once from Muichiro’s perspective. Who knows how much this kid had gone through. Giyuu was certain that this child had no family. Probably something similar to what happened to Giyuu must’ve happened to him. Or maybe even worse. Giyuu knew, that for those who have amnesia, memories come back in waves and fragments unlike how it is said in stories and novels.
“I am not leaving you Muichiro, I could never do that. I’ll stay by your side.”
Giyuu sat down on the side of the tub and slowly started massaging Muichiro’s shoulders, scrubbing his back, applying some shampoo and slowly washing his long lustrous hair with care. All of this seemed to calm Muichiro down a bit. While Muichiro stayed in the bath, Giyuu went out and prepared some of the same herbal tea he made earlier. It was supposed to calm down nerves and help your mind relax. Something that Shinobu had given him for his own anxiety struggles. He gave some of it to Muichiro.
“Drink that… It will help you get better.”
Muichiro without giving Giyuu any trouble at all started sipping it slowly. Then Giyuu started cleaning up. Putting Muichiro’s wet clothes aside with the rest of the dirty clothes from earlier. As for the futon, the damage wasn’t much, but it was there. The inn keeper would probably give him a hard time with it but that didn’t matter for now, Muichiro’s health did. While doing all this work Giyuu constantly kept talking to Muichiro.
“You know when I was your age, I lost my big sister...”
“You did?”
“Yeah…. And after that I used to have such accidents too. It was very embarrassing at that time, but it slowly reduced a lot and then finally went away with time. I am sure you will get better soon too. It’s nothing to feel bad about Muichiro. It’s not your fault that this happens to you.”
Muichiro didn’t reply. Giyuu’s story was somewhat similar to his own. The boy he used to see in his dreams, he knew somewhere in his heart that he was his brother. In fact, more than a brother, a twin. Nothing could lessen Muichiro’s pain. But hearing about someone else who lost his sibling too, somehow made Muichiro feel better.
Then Giyuu took him out of the tub and began drying him with a towel. Giyuu could see Muichiro feeling a little shy about Giyuu having to see him like that, but Giyuu felt warm and nice to Muichiro and hence he didn’t want to fight against it. Giyuu then took out some kind of antiseptic ointment that he had carried with him. The same that he had earlier applied to Muichiro’s wounds. He started applying it over his rash. He reapplied it to the wounds as well since most of it got washed off in the bath. Then Giyuu dressed him up.
He didn’t let Muichiro walk. Especially not anymore with that nasty rash. He picked Muichiro up in his arms and carried him to his own futon.
Muichiro seemed reluctant.
“I can’t sleep on your futon…. what if I.... what if...”
Giyuu cut him off.
“If you have another accident then we will deal with it together. But I am not having you sleep on the floor. And Muichiro, if anything like this happens again, please don’t try it to hide it from me.”
Giyuu after caressing Muichiro back to sleep picked Muichiro’s soiled futon up and went down with it to talk to the inn keeper. He knew somewhere within that this was going to be a difficult conversation. But fortunately, the innkeeper was an elderly lady. She had herself had kids and hence knew how it was with children. She did not give Giyuu the slightest of trouble and simply asked the workers over there to take the futon to laundry. She even gave Giyuu an additional futon. She also provided him with some sort of sheets that were made of a thicker material and could prevent any further accidents from ruining futons. Giyuu thanked her and went upstairs to Muichiro.
He made Muichiro sleep on those sheets just in case. On Giyuu’s request, the old lady had also contacted a healer from the village to come and have a look at the kid’s fever. By the time the healer arrived, the sun was already up. Giyuu had sent Kanzaburo to provide master with the mission progress report and inform about Muichiro’s health.
The healer checked Muichiro and then provided some medicines for the kid. At this moment, all Giyuu could see was a thirteen year old kid. Not a hashira, not a demon slayer, just a kid who got dragged into this unfair war between humans and demons and lost all his happiness. He might have been muscular but he still had a lean frame, and a small body. Most importantly, he still had a childlike soul even if the child within him probably died the day he got dragged into this mess.
Muichiro napped for a while and then woke up in the afternoon. The medicine seemed to be doing its work but the fever was still there.
“I am sorry that you had to face so much trouble because of me.”
“Muichiro” Giyuu’s voice was soft, not stern, not irritated, just soft and understanding. “Please don’t apologize… I liked taking care of you”
Those words hung in the air. Muichiro didn’t have anything to say after that. He felt for the first time in very long that he could be a kid again. He could be the one asking for help and not being judged for it. For the first time in his life, he had seen something in the water Hashira’s dead eyes. A flicker of understanding, affection and humanity. Something was extremely absurd about this whole thing. The absurdity being that all of this was utterly human.
Giyuu had gotten some radish soup prepared by the cooks down there for Muichiro. Something light on his stomach, yet filling and good for his fever.
By the evening, Muichiro’s fever had fallen down a lot, but the kid still needed rest. Giyuu also checked the rash which was now better but still there. For the night, Giyuu made Muichiro sleep without pants. His rash needed air and the fabric of the cloth was constantly brushing against the rash and making recovery difficult.
“NO… It’s embarrassing”
“Mui, It’s just me. Would you rather have the rash not heal for three more days or just sleep without pants for one night?”
“FINE WHATEVER”
Muichiro knew that Giyuu was right. But he was not feeling very happy today and the pants thingy had made him even more angry. Giyuu could see that Muichiro was getting cranky. But Giyuu didn’t chastise him for that. Muichiro was acting like a kid for once and Giyuu wanted him to do so. Muichiro fell asleep pretty early and there was still a lot of time until Giyuu’s bedtime. Also, Giyuu was running out of the antiseptic ointment and needed to get some more. Perhaps the healer they saw earlier might have some. He didn’t want to leave Muichiro alone but he really needed that ointment and he would be quick.
Giyuu quickly went out and located the healer’s clinic. Thankfully, the healer had some of it with her. While returning back, Giyuu’s eyes fell to a toy shop and the plushie hanging over there. It was a cloud shaped stuff toy. Giyuu didn’t know if it was pure instinct or the large amount of affection he had developed towards Muichiro within a few nights, that made him buy it. After returning home, Giyuu was content to find Muichiro safely asleep.
Soon after, Giyuu took a bath and fell asleep too. Halfway through the night, Giyuu was woken up by sounds of sobbing. He immediately knew what had happened.
Giyuu quietly went towards Muichiro’s futon and picked him up in his arms. Muichiro wasn’t wearing any pants so the only thing wet was his underwear and those protector sheets which had managed to keep the futon dry as well.
“Mui, you don’t need to cry, see you are such a strong boy.... your fever has already reduced so much in one day. We are going to get this all cleaned up and you won’t feel wet or yucky anymore.”
Giyuu’s voice was soft. Very soft. There was warmth in it.
Muichiro looked at Giyuu with his big mint blue eyes for a few moments. Did this man just call him strong? Strong for what.. strong for something so weak like wetting the bed.
“I am... I am not strong... I just, strong people don’t”
“Hushhh”
Giyuu gently caressed his hair and calmed Muichiro down, rubbing circles on his back. It was slightly chilly today and there was no point in giving the kid a bath. So he quickly grabbed a wash cloth and started cleaning the kid up. Once everything was clean and dry, Giyuu didn’t put Muichiro back on a separate futon. He put him down on his own futon and laid down right beside the kid holding him close to his chest... To further calm the kid down, Giyuu suddenly remembered about the toy he had gotten for him... he quickly reached out to his bag.
“Muichiro”
“Hm?”
“I got something for you”
Giyuu took out the cloud stuffie and handed him to Muichiro. Muichiro looked at it with affection, there was a hint of glimmer and happiness in his eyes as if Giyuu had given him something he had wanted for so long. Muichiro didn’t say anything he just hugged Giyuu tightly, very tightly, as if he was going to disappear into thin air.
“Thank you”
That was all he said verbally. Rest of it was spoken by his eyes without using any words. Giyuu held Muichiro close to himself for the rest of the night. Muichiro did the same with his plushie.
Next morning both of them woke up late. Fortunately, Muichiro’s fever had finally completely gone down by then. His rash was pretty much healed too. It was now that all the pieces began falling into place. Giyuu saw himself in Muichiro. Giyuu barely talks, yet when it came to comforting Muichiro, he never went out of words. He had been acting like his sensei Urokodaki used to, when comforting Giyuu after an accident or that one time when Giyuu got a really bad fever after Sabito’s death.
The day went on calmly. At night, Giyuu after returning from the bathroom, caught Muichiro talking to the plushie. He was using the word “kiri” constantly.
“…. You named it?”
“It needed one”
“hmm”
Luckily the next morning Muichiro woke up dry, without any accidents. He was fit to leave by now. But Giyuu wanted him to stay for one more day. He didn’t want the kid’s fever to relapse. That was the reason he gave himself, at least. Giyuu would never agree to it but he wanted to spend more time with the kid. They went looking at various shops around the village that day. Talking to villagers, walking through the forests, Muichiro even made a friend. Her name was Nanami. Muichiro would never agree to it but Giyuu could bet a thousand yen he saw the kid blush a little when she told him that she liked making paper planes too.
The day went on peacefully, at night Giyuu once again fed Muichiro. It was fish and rice with miso soup but there was something awkwardly comforting about that meal. They took a bath together again. Every single thing they did together just seemed to strengthen their bond. The next morning, they packed the little stuff they had, picked up their swords and left the inn after thanking the innkeeper and paying her for the services.
The journey back to Corps was quiet but not as quiet as before.
Muichiro walked beside Giyuu at a slower pace than usual, Kiri tucked securely under his arms despite the fact that he insisted it was “not important.” Giyuu did not point out that Muichiro had adjusted the plushie three times by now to make sure it was comfortable in his arms. Some things did not need to be spoken aloud.
“Giyuu?”
“Hmm?”
“If I get another nightmare then I can still come to you?”
The question was so quiet and basic that one could’ve missed it. But Giyuu heard it. He felt his chest physically hurt at that question.
“You don’t need to ask me that. That question shouldn’t be a question. It should be a statement”
The walk back to their estates wasn’t very loud or anything. It was already night by the time they reached back. Giyuu walked Muichiro back to the Mist estate before returning towards the water estate.
“Giyuu?”
“Hm?”
“…Thank you. For everything.”
Then, without thinking much about it, Giyuu reached forward and fixed Muichiro’s collar where it had folded awkwardly inward.
The exact same way Urokodaki used to fix his.
“You don’t have to thank me for taking care of you,” Giyuu said softly. “That’s what people do when they care about someone.”
Muichiro stared at him silently.
Then slowly, very slowly, he leaned just slightly into the touch before stepping back again.
“I’ll come see you tomorrow,” he muttered.
“…Alright.”
“And maybe…. uhm feed me salmon daikon again.”
“…Sure”
“And Kiri sleeps with me now.”
“…Hmm.”
Muichiro nodded once, satisfied.
Then he turned and walked inside, cloud plushie still tucked beneath his arm, the night mist curling around his figure until the door quietly shut behind him...
Even after Muichiro left Giyuu stood there for a few moments. Everyone preaches love and care but no one actually abides by their own words. Giyuu just wished for Muichiro to not wake up wet and scared tonight. He just wished for the kid to not be a Hashira and just be a kid for once and feel loved and cared for.
He joined his hands and chanted a little prayer that had been taught to him by Urokodaki sensei and then, he left, heading towards his own estate.