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1.
Tomioka is late. Of course he is, he sees himself as above everyone else why would he consider their time. Now they're all sitting here waiting for him. Well, the master actually but Tomioka too. And Sanemi was going to deal with him if the master came before him and he had to wait too.
Just as Sanemi was plotting what he'd do to Tomioka, the bastard walked in. There was something different about him today though. He was wearing his normal uniform with that ugly half and half haori but his hair was down.
His hair was down.
Giyuu Tomioka was wearing his hair down today.
It wasn't in the usual low pony tail, it was loose and falling in waves down his back.
Giyuu walked in and went straight to sit without even so much as a ‘sorry for making you wait guys’. Tch Asshole.
“Tomioka! You look so cute with your hair down!!” Kanroji squealed.
Kaburamaru hissed from around Iguro’s neck. Iguro had just found a new reason to kill Tomioka.
“You're looking real flashy Tomioka, didn't know you were holding out on us.” Uzui boomed.
“My my Tomioka, you look less depressed this way.” Kocho quipped.
“Tomioka! You look absolutely splendid indeed!!” Rengoku's loud voice rang.
“Have we met? You look familiar.” Tokito wondered.
“It is good to see you coming out of your shell, Tomioka.” Himejima said, tears streaming down his face.
Giyuu didn't respond to any of them because of course he wouldn't. His eyes roamed the room then landed on Sanemi's.
Shit. Had he been staring? And worst of all did he get caught? He had to say something before this bastard started thinking he admired him or something.
“The fuck is all this?” He summoned an unnecessary amount of spite into the words. But Giyuu wasn't phased, didn't even flinch.
“I lost my hair tie.” He answered calmly.
“Don't you have another one?” Sanemi spat.
“I have a favourite hair tie Shinazugawa.”
“Then why do you have others if you wear only one?” Sanemi hissed, thankful that the other hashira had settled into their idle chatter as they awaited the master to notice them. But then again, Sanemi and Giyuu arguing wasn't something unusual.
“Why is this bothering so much Shinazugawa?”
“it's not.” Sanemi replied through gritted teeth.
Lost his hair tie. What a load of crap. And look at that. He even brushed his hair too. Sanemi was right, Giyuu was just looking for attention. Arrogant bastard.
“Tch”
Just then, the master arrived and they all greeted him with a bow.
“My children. I am always grateful for these times we get to see each other again.” The master began in his serene voice but Sanemi wasn't listening, he was too busy trying to figure out what Giyuu would gain by doing this. But it was just hair right? They all had hair and some of them even wore their hair down most times. So why was it that Sanemi was stuck thinking about Tomioka loose hair. But it was Tomioka so everything about him pissed Sanemi off.
In the end, Sanemi left the meeting with barely any information and had to ask Tengen.
2.
Sanemi stepped out of the master's mansion. The rain had reduced to a light drizzle. He walked out the gate and nearly walked into someone.
“Hey watch where you're….”
The person he nearly walked into was none other than Tomioka Giyuu. He was soaked from head to toe and Sanemi could see that he was shivering. Did he walk in the rain?
“You idiot! What are you walking inside the rain for?”
Giyuu blinked at him slowly. “The master called for me.” He replied simply.
“Yeah but didn't you see it was raining? You could have waited it out.”
“The rain met me on my way here.”
“Then why didn't you look for a place to hide. You might think you're above the rest of us but you're not above getting a fever. Do you want to fall sick? I was in the master's house when the rain started and he insisted I wait and I agreed with him because it'll be bad if one of us hashira got sick. And then here you are walking in the rain thinking you're invincible.”
Giyuu didn't say anything but Sanemi saw his face was red. Was he already getting sick? Idiot.
Giyuu pushed his wet hair out of his face. Sanemi watched the movement, watched as water dripped down Giyuu's bangs.
He looked like a drenched cat, kinda cute.
Sanemi wanted to wrap him up in a warm blanket, then take a towel and dry his hair and brush it carefully and..
Wait.
What?
Sanemi needed to get out of the rain. Looks like this little drizzle was already giving him a fever. His face was growing hot too, he needed to see Kocho at once.
“Tch”
he pushed past Giyuu with a scoff and didn't turn back even when he heard Giyuu say “bye Shinazugawa.”
3.
It was true that the hashira sparred in their individual estate but they did have a training compound where all of them gathered to train on a scheduled date.
This compound was where Sanemi was heading to right now because the hashira planned to train today. Once Sanemi stepped into the compound, he froze.
Inside, Near the pond, Himejima sat, meditating. Tokito is by the well fetching water, probably to drink. Honestly Sanemi is just grateful he remembered. Uzui and Rengoku are sparring. Kocho isn't here yet, maybe she had an emergency. Iguro is leaning against a tree, arms crossed, glaring. What is he glaring at? Exactly what Sanemi is glaring at too.
Tomioka is sitting under a tree and behind him Kanroji stood, brushing his hair. Chatting like they were best friends. Well Kanroji was doing most of the chatting while Tomioka just sat there. Sanemi wasn't even sure if he was listening.
“What the hell is going on here?” Sanemi growled as he stomped towards them.
“Oh Shinazugawa! Good morning.” Kanroji greeted cheerfully like all was right in the world.
Sanemi had to calm down, he couldn't be mean to her. Iguro was right behind him. “What are you two doing?”
“Oh! Tomioka and I were the first to arrive. We sparred with each other and decided to take a little break. I noticed his hair was messy so I offered to help him with it and he agreed. I'm gonna style it into two braids. Tomioka will look so handsome!!” She squeeled and Sanemi thought his eardrums were gonna burst.
Sanemi continues to watch Kanroji and Tomioka. He isn't focused on the exercise drills he's doing. He's wondering why Tomioka let Kanroji touch his hair and not him. Not like he has ever asked. And not like he wants to anyway. Tomioka could take his fucking hair and shove it. He didn't care. But he also couldn't look away. Kanroji was done now and Giyuu was sparring with Tokito while Sanemi sparred with Rengoku. Iguro and Kanroji were sparring with each other which Obanai seemed very pleased with and Himejima and Uzui were sparring.
Sanemi however couldn't concentrate. He kept on sneaking glances at Tomioka, at the way the end of his braids, which Kanroji had tied with pretty blue ribbons she just so happened to have on her, flipped when he moved. The ribbons even matched his eyes. Kanroji was right, he looked very handsome in this hair do.
Actually, Tomioka was generally a very handsome man but you will never hear Sanemi say that out loud. He'd rather get eaten by a demon.
Sanemi still didn't understand why Tomioka let Kanroji make his hair. She did a shitty job. A few strands were already coming loose from the braid. Sanemi would have done a much better job but again he didn't want to touch Tomioka’s hair even if he wondered what it would feel like and how soft the strands would feel, which he didn't of course. You can't prove anything. Shut up!
“Shinazugawa”
Sanemi jolted at the sound of his name from his very loud sparring partner. “Are you alright? You seem distracted.” Rengoku asked, concerned.
“I'm fine”
Sanemi snapped and Rengoku blinked at him confused. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I just need a break.” Rengoku nodded.
Sanemi made his way to the well to get some water. He heard Rengoku approach Kocho who had just arrived and ask her if she wanted to run exercise drills with him to which she agreed.
On the way back, Sanemi had the unfortunate displeasure of walking with Tomioka. They were actually walking with Kanroji and Iguro but they ran off to get dinner together.
So now, Sanemi was stuck with Tomioka in front of him while he walked behind watching the back of Tomioka's head. The braid turned messy by the end of the training so Tomioka just undid it and let his hair fall in waves down his shoulder.
As if all this wasn't bad enough, they ran into the Kamado brat.
“Mr Tomioka! Mr Shinazugawa!”
Sanemi's eye twitched as he watched him approach them.
“It's good to see you both. Are you off on a mission?”
“No, we were training, we're just coming back.” Giyuu explained, his voice was different, fond.
“Oh that's good to know. Well I have a mission and that's where I'm headed right now.”
“Be safe on your mission.”
“Thanks. Also, Mr Tomioka, did you do something with your hair?”
“Kanroji braided it earlier, that's why it's like this.”
“Oh wow. It looks so soft and silky.”
“Yes. She applied a special oil on it.”
“Can I touch it?”
Giyuu nodded and Tanjiro eagerly reached for Giyuu's hair, running his fingers through the strands.
“Wow. It's so soft.” He said in awe.
Sanemi's other eye twitched from behind them. Why was Tomioka letting this brat touch his hair? Why did he let just anyone touch his hair? And why for fuck sake was he standing here watching them? Why was he even waiting? It's not like he was waiting for Tomioka, they weren't even going the same way. But here he was, standing like he was waiting for someone, watching them and thinking stupid things.
“Out of my way.” He said, pushing past them as he stormed off.
4.
This was great. This was just perfect. This was exactly what Sanemi needed. How did the master know?
Aside from yesterday's meeting, Sanemi hadn't seen Giyuu since the last hashira training which was good because he didn't want to see that impassive face. Even if not seeing him was doing nothing to ease the thought in his head.
Now though, he was going on a joint mission with the shit face. Somewhere far away where they'll have to spend a long while together. Just perfect. Thanks master.
Sanemi kicked a pebble on the ground as he stood in front of the water estate. He walked up to the door and knocked a few times.
Nothing.
He knocked again and waited.
Still nothing.
As he raised his hands to knock again, he heard movement inside so he waited some more but when the door didn't open, he got pissed and banged on the door.
“Open up idiot!”
Giyuu threw the door open and Sanemi retracted his hands immediately. Then he looked at Giyuu and froze.
Giyuu had obviously just woken up. He was wearing a blue yukata with wave patterns that was loose on his frame, it was even slipping down one shoulder, giving Sanemi a beautiful view of his pale, smooth neck and collar bone. His hair was loose and messy, sticking out in every direction.
Giyuu blinked sleepy eyes slowly at Sanemi.
Sanemi blinked back at Giyuu.
Giyuu blinked at Sanemi.
Sanemi blinked back at Giyuu.
Giyuu blinked at Sanemi.
Sanemi blin- no wait stop.
“Stop!” He snapped.
“What?”
“Stop blinking at me, what's wrong with you?”
“Shinazugawa. What are you doing here.” Giyuu asked instead.
“We have a mission together don't you remember. Or were you asleep yesterday when the master mentioned it.”
“I thought we planned to meet at noon.”
“Well I thought we could get a head start.”
Giyuu blinked again. “I'm just waking up.”
“I can see that you idiot, go get ready so we can leave.”
“right” Giyuu turns back into the house then pauses.
“What now?” Sanemi crossed his arms, impatient.
“Do you want to come in?”
“What?”
“I mean, you should come in and wait for me so you don't have to stand outside.”
Sanemi is about to refuse but he doesn't want to stand outside and wait for Giyuu to finish his hair care or whatever.
He sighed and followed Giyuu inside. He sits at the table when Giyuu motions and watched with confusion as Giyuu goes to his kitchen.
Two minutes later, Giyuu returns with a cup of hot tea and places it in front of Sanemi.
“I won't be long.” He said and then he walked down the hallway.
Sanemi watched him leave, watched as his messy hair swayed behind him and he couldn't help but think, did Giyuu have a hair care routine? Did he have multiple items he applied on his hair? I mean, probably not right? Or else his hair wouldn't be looking like a rat's nest all the time.
But then if his hair was really tangled how did he manage to wash it everyday? Or maybe he didn't wash it everyday. But then how does he keep it looking clean and silky everyday? Sanemi wanted to know. He wanted to run his fingers through Giyuu's hair and find out for himself. He wanted to….
He heard footsteps and snapped back to reality. Had Giyuu finished already? Wait, he didn't drink the tea and now it was cold. He grabbed the cup and poured the tea out the nearest window. For some strange reason, he didn't want Giyuu to feel bad seeing that he didn't drink the tea.
Giyuu walked out in his uniform, sword at his hip, hair tied behind him. His hair looked wet, so he washed it everyday.
“Let's go.” he said. His expression schooled into his usual indifference.
Sanemi stood and followed him to the door. “You're not gonna eat anything?” He asked. He had been the one to wake Giyuu up after all.
“I'll have breakfast somewhere on our way.” Giyuu replied.
Sanemi was thinking the same thing, after all, he didn't eat breakfast either. He nodded as he stepped out of the estate and they headed to their mission.
5.
“Wind breathing fourth form!”
“Water breathing seventh form.” Giyuu blocks his attack easily.
They'd been sparring for hours with no plans to stop. Sanemi will never say this to anyone but Giyuu was one of his favourite sparring partners. His defence complemented his offense perfectly.
Sanemi launched another attack but Giyuu jumped into the air to avoid it. Then Giyuu brought his bokken down and Sanemi raised his to block it. But the moment their bokkens clash, Sanemi's bokken slips past Giyuu's into the air behind him and caught on his hair tie. Pulling it off and freeing Giyuu's hair. Black strands flying everywhere.
Sanemi faltered.
Giyuu lands perfectly behind him. He turns around and sees Giyuu, bokken raised, ready to block his attack, hair flowing wild behind him.
He's staring. He knows he's staring and he should probably stop but…
his heart is beating so fast right now and his temperature is increasing. What the hell is happening.
Giyuu relaxed his stance when noticed Sanemi's frozen state.
“Problem Shinazugawa?” Giyuu tilted his head.
Problem. Sanemi taught. You are my problem. You and your stupid pretty face and your beautiful black hair. Really, was Giyuu's existence necessary. Surely it wasn't right? Cause why was one person so damn pretty and so fucking graceful and so good at getting on Sanemi's nerves!
Sanemi wants to scream. Wants to pluck his hair out, or maybe Giyuu's. Wants to say a lot of things but instead he says,
“just tie your fucking hair let's continue.”
Giyuu nodded and looked around till he found his hair tie where it landed on the floor. He runs his fingers through his hair a few times then gathered it and tied it.
Sanemi's eyes followed every movement. When Giyuu was done, he faced Sanemi and raised his sword. Sanemi charged at Giyuu and their spar continued. But Sanemi can't concentrate. He keeps seeing black hair flowing in the wind. He isn't focused and he ends up losing to Tomioka.
Needless to say, Sanemi was not happy. The unfortunate victims that tried speaking to him later could testify.
+1.
It's been a full week and Sanemi can't get that incident off his mind. He's even had dreams about it and it pissed him off to no end. They're sparring again and Sanemi is being very careful because he doesn't want a repeat of last time so his movements are a bit stiff.
But Giyuu is off too. Sanemi can see it. His movements are sluggish. He's probably tired. He did say he just returned from a mission.
“Hey.” Sanemi called. “I think we're done here. Let's call it a day.”
Giyuu nodded and gestured to the well in the corner and Sanemi followed him. Sanemi watched as Giyuu drew water from the well. He was definitely tired. Sanemi could practically see the tension in his body. And his hair was super messy. It was already messy when Sanemi came earlier to ask him to spar, probably from his mission. But now it was even messier.
His hair. Giyuu's hair has been hunting Sanemi for months now. Ever since that meeting day Giyuu walked in with his hair down. Sanemi couldn't stop thinking about it. Couldn't stop thinking about whether it was as soft and silky as it looked. He wanted to know. He wanted to…
“Your hair is a mess.” Sanemi blurts out without actually meaning to.
Giyuu looked at him confused. “Oh this.” He pulls at the tip of his hair. “I'll fix it later.”
“I can uh I mean um I c..can help you with that. I..if uh if you want.” Sanemi stammered. He felt his cheeks growing hot. He wanted to die.
Giyuu blinked at him. “You know how to do hair Shinazugawa?”
“tch of course.”
“And you want to do mine?” Sanemi shrugged.
Giyuu looked down at his feet and Sanemi could be mistaken but was he blushing?
“I'll get my hair brush.” Giyuu said before rushing into his house.
Sanemi raised his hands to his face and laughed because really, it was kinda funny.
He walked to Giyuu's engawa and waited for him there. Giyuu walked out with a hair brush and a bottle of yellowish liquid.
“It's camellia oil. Kanroji gave it to me.” Giyuu explained when he noticed Sanemi's raised brow at the bottle.
Sanemi nodded and took the items from Giyuu. Giyuu goes to sit at the edge of the engawa. Sanemi sits behind him. Giyuu reached behind him to untie his hair.
“Hair, I'll do it.” Sanemi said, stopping him.
“Did you just say ‘hair I'll do it’.”
“No! I said, ‘Here I'll do it’.”
“I heard ‘hair’”
“well I said ‘here’. I don't know what you're hearing.”
Giyuu chuckled lightly and Sanemi stopped breathing. He's never heard Giyuu laugh before. It was small and barely there but it was a laugh.
Sanemi unties Giyuu's hair and runs his fingers through it and it's now that he realises that he's always wanted to do this. Giyuu's hair is soft, very soft but he can feel a few knots. He picked up the bottle of oil and poured some in his hand. He rubbed his palms together and began to apply the oil into Giyuu's hair, massaging his scalp gently. Giyuu sighed and Sanemi could see his shoulders relaxing.
Sanemi applied more oil into Giyuu's hair then he divided the hair into four parts. He takes the brush and began brushing one side, starting at the base then moving up slowly to get rid of all the knots. He makes sure to be gentle because he doesn't want Giyuu to have a headache because of his ministration.
After he's done brushing all four sides, he thinks of what to do with Giyuu's hair. He does and undos Giyuu's hair multiple times. Not because he can't do hair, he can, he did have younger sisters. But because he loves the feeling of Giyuu's hair between his fingers. He didn't want to stop.
Giyuu didn't seem to mind though, he hadn't said anything or tried to stop him so he was probably enjoying it.
At some point, Giyuu's head starts to drop and Sanemi realised he's dozing off.
“Oi! Keep your head straight. Are you sleeping?”
Giyuu takes a moment to reply, long enough for Sanemi to think he's slept off and didn't hear him before he finally said,
“no. I'm not.”
He definitely is. Sanemi doesn't say anything though, he just continued to play with his hair because at this point that's what he's doing. That's when Sanemi realised he's smiling but he doesn't try to stop it.