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“Himejima-san, this is a prayer bead from Kanao.” The blind Stone Pillar smiled towards the shy girl sitting next to Shinobu.
Since rescuing Shinobu and Kanae from that fateful night that devoured their parents, the sisters had made it a habit to ‘celebrate' his birthday. It was nothing pompous, just a hearty meal prepared by the sisters they would then eat together, along with occasional gifts exchange.
It had started with just him, Kanae and Shinobu but in subsequent years, the gathering occasionally had more people.
Like this year.
In fact, this year had been the largest gathering; not only were Shinobu and her younger sisters here, but they were joined by Muichiro, Genya, the Kamado siblings, his two friends, Mitsuri and, to his mild surprise, Tomioka Giyuu.
As Shinobu continued to speak about gifts from other people, Gyoumei's mind went down the memory lane.
He did not understand the appeal of celebrating birthdays. He didn't do it at the orphanage. And after the night of carnage that flipped his world upside down, he was even more distant about celebrating these things.
However, Kanae and Shinobu were quite keen on celebrating their saviour and mentor's birthday.
He remembered that day, the little girls, huddled in the corner, scared and crying. He had been late in saving their parents. But he rescued them and took them to his estate. Gyoumei didn't mingle with children, not after what happened, but these two sisters were persistent, just like they were with celebrating his birthday.
He had refused to train them, then relented, asked them to deal a crack on the boulder to enroll for the training. He secretly hoped for them to fail and spare them the gruesome world of demon-hunting but after seven days they did.
They became his tsuguko, but Gyoumei didn't want them to join the corps. He remembers the feeling when the time for Final Selection came for Kanae. He sat in meditation for seven days till Kanae returned, something he would repeat when it was Shinobu's turn.
So, how did the Kochou siblings start celebrating his birthday?
Well, two months after taking them in as tsugukos, he accidentally spoke about the given day being his birthday. He sensed the visible shock and panic of missing an important day surrounding the sisters. They both scrambled to their feet, Kanae dashed towards the kitchen while Shinobu dashed towards the garden.
Gyoumei tried to stop them but to no avail. Kanae cooked him a delicious soup while Shinobu weaved together a loosely-knit flower crown.
Soon it became a tradition.
He doesn't know why, but these sisters started cooking him special meals and brought him trinkets as gifts on his birthdays. At first, he denied it, asking them to focus on their own well-being, but they didn't listen.
And this continued even when Kanae became a Hashira, even after Kanae lost her life.
Gyoumei remembered the birthday after Kanae's death; Shinobu had just become a Hashira.
He sensed her presence and could feel her grief.
He knew how difficult it would have been for her. He knew how close she held this little tradition of theirs to her heart.
Unlike before, he didn't ask her to stop with the celebration.
She put the onigiri in front of him; Gyoumei didn't reach out.
“Shinobu,” his voice was a mix of gravity and softness, “You can cry.”
As if on cue, Shinobu's muffled sobs filled the atmosphere.
Next time the day for celebration came, the Mist Pillar Tokitou Muichiro also joined them. The group grew larger next year with Shinobu's adopted sisters, Kanao and Aoi, and younger Shinazugawa joining them.
In these years, he noticed many good, and not-so-good changes in Shinobu. She had adapted Kanae's persona, she had grown closer to others. Gyoumei could only protect her from a distance, he won't be able to change her heart. And that thought pained him more than the strongest Pillar let on.
However, the most fundamental change in Shinobu happened around a particular person—the Water Hashira, Tomioka Giyuu. On surface, there was nothing common between the two yet Shinobu gravitated towards him.
And to Gyoumei's unwitting relief, Giyuu also seemed to grow attached to her.
Tomioka was rather a gloomy person. Since the day he became a Hashira, he stood at a distance from everyone else.
Yet he slowly and gradually bonded with Shinobu.
She was always the persistent one, forcing him to socialise and talk to others. Yet, Gyoumei sensed that the only person Giyuu liked talking to was Shinobu.
“Himejima-san, these acorns are from Inosuke.”
His reverie was broken by Shinobu's voice.
He turned his head towards the boar-headed boy who was eating tempura from the box given to him by Aoi.
The Butterfly triplets and Aoi gave him a neck bead made of butterfly pins, Genya gave him a box of ohagi, Muichiro had brought some wild flowers from a nearby road, Kamado boy gave him a wooden box for his two cats, Zenitsu forgot to bring anything, Mitsuri handed him a box of sakura mochi with a blush.
Shinobu looked at Giyuu and gave him an encouraging smile.
Giyuu hesitated, and then paced forward. He cleared his throat.
“Himejima, this is a gift from both Shinobu and myself.”
Shinobu smiled at him.
‘From both Shinobu and myself.’
The perceptible Stone Pillar didn't need to be told what a shared gift from both of them implied in terms of progress in their relationship.
“A set of training blades.” Giyuu's deadpan voice continued but Gyoumei noticed a hint of apprehension lying underneath.
Gyoumei took the box. And after putting it at the top of the shelf where other gifts from Kochou sisters were separately kept, he brought his hands together and offered a silent prayer.
After few moments, he spoke in his characteristic heavy but gentle voice,
“Tomioka, you are a good man. Please take care of things important to you.”
Giyuu was startled for a bit and then he looked at Shinobu, whose smile had grown warmer, and shyer.
“I will.” He answered with unwavering conviction.
In turn, a smile appeared on Gyomei's face which resembled that of a content father's.
He then turned towards the rest of the gathering.
“Let the feast begin.”