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Are guys excited!!!!????

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I just know that Giyuu is a biggest Hello Kitty fan

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Kny Hashira x Six the musical

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THE GREAT WAR

PART I ♤ SECRET PREGNANCY AU

A/N: After seven months, it's finally here. Part I of Giyuu's Bundle of Joy. This fic involved a ton of research and tears. I hope you all enjoy. Special shout-out to @squishybabei @kentohours @homo-homini-lupus-est-1701 @ghost-1-y and @xxsabitoxx for letting me bombard your DMs with endless snippets from this fic for feedback. Note that this is a multi-part fic, and it will be a non-linear story.

CW: explicit sexual content ☼ MDNI ☼ loss of virginity ☼ unprotected sex ☼ protective/possessive Giyuu ☼ canon-typical violence

LISTEN TO THE PLAYLIST HERE

January, 1915

The moon’s rays filtered through the sparse canopy of the trees from above, bathing that small portion of the forest in its silvery glow. There, about twenty paces ahead, Giyuu locked eyes on his target.

A demon; one he’d been pursuing through the dense forest separating his Manor from the base of a great mountain for the last several miles

The demon had yet to notice him, for it was focused entirely on its own prey — a human woman, who was frantically zigzagging as she ran in a desperate effort to evade its clutches. 

She was succeeding rather well in her endeavor, managing to dart out of the beast’s reach right as it snapped its sharp, deadly claws at her back. But the girl then miscalculated her movements and stumbled over something — whether it was a tree root or her own feet, he could not say — and she went airborne. For one, sickening moment, Giyuu feared he would not be fast enough to save her from falling victim to the demon he was readying to kill.

The girl squealed as she fell, just narrowly managing to avoid the swipe of the beast’s claws as they cut uselessly at the air where her back had been only seconds before. Something long and wooden flew from her hand as she sprawled across the forest floor – a broom.

Odd. 

Steps quick and even, Giyuu’s thumb flicked his sword free from its scabbard. Within seconds of him drawing his weapon, the Slayer’s blade sliced seamlessly through the demon’s neck, its head thudding pathetically to the forest floor before the beast could comprehend the threat.

He landed swiftly on the balls of his feet, the Water Pillar quickly shaking his blade free of the demon’s blackened, rotted blood before sheathing it at his hip. A quick job – that was how he liked it; free of fuss. 

Behind him, he heard the leaves coating the frozen ground of the forest shift and crack as the human girl he’d rescued rose to her feet. He grimaced; while helping rid the world of the blight inflicted upon it by demons was his life’s sole and true purpose, and one he fulfilled without hesitation, he was little more than a fish out of water when it came to talking to those he helped. 

The girl had yet to flee; Giyuu suspected she might be in shock, if not a bit simple, and he sought to prod her along. After all, the sooner she left the forest, the less likely she’d end up a demon’s meal and waste his efforts in preserving her life. 

“You should be fine now. Please return to your ho-,” The dark-haired Slayer’s words were cut off with a sputter as the head of the woman’s broom whacked him sharply up the side of his skull. 

Giyuu stood there for a moment, dazed and slightly confused as he turned towards the woman whose life he’d just preserved. 

The Water Pillar had not paid her much mind upon discovering her seconds away from becoming the slain horned demon’s newest meal, his attention having been entirely focused on eliminating his target. But now, without the distracting threat of a man-eating beast, he could see she was clad in the traditional attire worn by Shinto priestesses, though she looked far too young to have achieved such a status. Instead, she appeared to be much closer to himself in age. The front of her red hakama pants were streaked in mud and dirt from her fall, and several strands of hair had fallen loose from where they’d been gathered in a ribbon just below her shoulders. 

And she was glaring at him. 

“What are you?” She demanded, and the Water Pillar noted the faint tremor in her voice that she worked to conceal behind her defensive stance, her broom braced in front of her like a blade. 

A slow blink. “I am Tomioka.” 

It baffled him that he let his name slide so freely when he’d never been one particularly keen on sharing it. Yet, he’d thought that perhaps the exchange of names would get the wild woman before him to calm, and perhaps lower the sweeping tool —-

“What the hell is a Tomioka?” 

Giyuu wondered whether the — Miko, that was what young priestesses in training were called — had hit her head in the fall. “My name.” 

A faint dusting of red spread across the Miko’s cheeks as she realized the absurdity of her mistake, though she still did not lower her weapon. Rather, she jutted it towards him in what Giyuu thought may have been an attempt to be threatening. 

“And what was that thing just now, Tomioka? And what are you?”  Quickly, her eyes swept behind him, scanning. “Are there more?”

Idly, Giyuu wondered why he was bothering to indulge in such a silly conversation to begin with, chalking it up to the mere fact that they were still in a dark forest, with dawn still several hours away. 

The foolish girl would end up a snack for another demon if she did not turn around and go home. 

“It was a demon. I’d been tracking it for several miles when it stumbled across you. You can count yourself lucky — do not hit me again.” He cut off with a warning, eyes narrowing as the Miko drew the broom back up over her head. 

There was a tense moment as the two regarded one another, Giyuu’s eyes locked on the Miko’s trembling arm as she stared distrustfully back at him. 

The girl’s hands twitched as the broom cleaved through the air once more, but Giyuu knocked it easily away, sending the cleaning tool flying uselessly to the side where it rolled under a bush. 

“Are you finished?” Giyuu asked, irritation creeping into his tone as he stared coolly at the flustered Miko. 

“You’ve stripped me of my only weapon, so I suppose I have no choice,” the young woman sniffed, her tone as frosty as his glare. 

Giyuu grimaced. “You would not have lost the privilege had you simply done as I asked.” 

The Miko folded her arms stubbornly across her chest and glowered at him. “You would truly leave a woman defenseless in the woods? With nothing to protect herself?”

Giyuu scoffed. “You are not a woman; you are a menace.” 

The young woman’s mouth opened and closed several times as her face flushed several shades deeper. “Y-you!” 

A crack! somewhere in the woods made the sputtering Miko fall silent with a small squeak, and Giyuu was bemused to find that the woman’s hands shot to him for safety, when only moments before she’d tried to clobber him away from her. 

“You said that…that thing earlier was a demon, yes?” She whispered and Giyuu nodded, tense as his eyes swept through the shadowy line of the trees, searching. 

“Do you think there are more?”

“So long as we continue sitting here like a pair of lame ducks, more are bound to come sniffing.” The wary Pillar replied. “Which is why I suggest you return home — without bludgeoning me further.”

The young Priestess continued to cling to his arm, her eyes wide and anxious. Giyuu cleared this throat, and when the woman’s attention snapped back to him, he pointedly glanced down at her white-knuckled grip on the sleeve of his haori. 

“Apologies,” the Miko blushed, and her hands quickly relinquished their hold on his sleeve. She wrung her hands nervously before her. “Might you escort me back to my Shrine? It’s not far from here – less than two kilometers.” 

Still within his territory — albeit at the opposite end of the forest where is own Manor stood. He grimaced, but nodded stiffly. His efforts to save the woman’s life would be in vain if she walked away from him and straight into the waiting, eager claws of another beast that lurked in the shadows.

The Miko smiled brightly at him and offered her name. Giyuu elected not to reply, and the girl settled into step at his side, a small frown pulling at her lips.

“I’m sorry for earlier — for hitting you with my broom.” The girl — Y/N — said a short while later, the faintest trace of shyness in her tone. 

Giyuu did not think the apology warranted a response, and so he gave none, but the chatty little devil prodded him once more. 

“Did I injure you?” She gestured to the side of his head where her broom had caught him. 

Giyuu snorted, raising an eyebrow at her. “The day I am hurt by a mere broom is the day I retire from the Demon Slayer Corps.” 

Y/N hummed in contemplation. “And what exactly is the great and mysterious Demon Slayer Corps?” 

The Water Pillar’s eyes remained forward. “I should think the name is self-explanatory. There are demons who eat humans. We slay them.” 

Inwardly, Giyuu cringed at the harshness of his words. It did not happen often, but there were times when he wished he was better with them, when he wished he did not come off quite as aloof and callous — 

“You do not know how to talk to people very well, do you Tomioka-sama?” Y/N’s tone was not judgmental; it rather had a mild curiosity to it, as though she were merely commenting on the weather or the quality of a cup of tea. 

But the Water Pillar did not know how to answer her. Kocho once told him that others disliked him, but Giyuu wasn’t sure that was entirely true; after all, no one had ever said so much to his face. 

Then again, if the young shrine maiden’s words were anything to go by, then perhaps the Insect Pillar’s scathing assessment hadn’t been too far off the mark. 

“What even brought you into the forest so late at night?”  Giyuu did not know why the question needled at him, but he found the pressing silence of the trees more disconcerting than the Miko’s voice, and so he was desperate for the distraction. “And why a broom?”

Y/N herself seemed surprised at his sudden interest. “Night-blooming herbs,” she said plainly, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “They are critical for certain rites and medications. And I cannot collect them any other time. The broom was for protection, obviously.” 

“I wasn’t aware shrines still performed rituals,” Giyuu pushed an errant tree branch out of their way, and ahead, faint lights began to swim into view. The Shrine. “Are you not a mere relic of a time long since-passed?” 

“I’ll have you know that we still perform basic cleansing rites for those in the village,” Y/N bristled. “And we provide medical aid, since there is no hospital nearby.”

She shot him a cold look. “Modern medicine would not have developed but for ancient practices such as ours.”

Giyuu frowned. He hadn’t meant to insult the woman. “Be that as it may,” he said flatly. “Demons prowl at night. You wandering into the forest none the wiser  is akin to you waltzing into their territory with a giant sign that says ‘Eat me.’”

Y/N grimaced. “Then what would you have me do? Neglect my duties?” 

He could sympathize with that. “No, I’m not saying you should forsake your obligations,” he furrowed his eyebrows at the thought. “Perhaps it is simply a risk you must take. But you should at least be aware of your surroundings.”

Y/N looked upon him with a miserable expression. “You’re of little help, you know that?” 

Giyuu only frowned, perplexed as to why she couldn’t understand the import of his words.

An awkward silence ensued, punctured only by the faint hoot of an owl. For that, the established swordsman was grateful; noise meant the absence of predators, which meant they were safe – for now. 

“You mentioned tracking the demon earlier – how long had you been doing so?” 

“A while.” 

The girl was relentless. “And you just so happened to track it here? Where it was conveniently chasing me?” 

“I patrol this region. Your rescue was nothing more than coincidence and luck on your part.” 

“My gratitude is endless,” the shrine maiden said drily. “Forgive me for not falling to the ground in prostration.”

At that, Giyuu fell silent and refused to engage in any further conversation. The shrine maiden, for her part, seemed to take his cue that he had no interest in her or exchanging meaningless pleasantries, and so she too, went quiet. 

The forest floor eventually began to slope gradually up, and before long, Giyuu found himself walking along a carved rock path that curved through the trees until it widened at a great set of stone stairs. At the very top of the steep incline, he could spot a great Torii gate.

Y/N turned to him with a beaming smile. “Allow me to introduce you to the Shrine." Tomioka opened his mouth to protest, but she quickly added, “You should at least know who it is you have dedicated your life to protecting.” 

“I’d rather not.”

But she was already leading him up the stairs, his wrist pinched delicately between two of her fingers. Realistically, Giyuu knew it would take him no effort to shake the woman’s hold and disappear into the night. But to his own bemusement, he allowed her to tote him behind her as though he were little more than a useless pet. 

The pair passed under the Torrii and into a sprawling courtyard. Though night sky was a deep, inky black, the perimeter of the courtyard was dotted with several stone lanterns -- toro -- each of which had been lit with a generous flame. Giyuu's quick perusal of the Shrine, however, was cut short as the Miko led him into the Shrine's main structure -- the honden -- and tugged him down a narrow hallway. Based on his rough appraisal of the building, Giyuu surmised she was taking him to the center of the honden, likely where the girl's master was.

His theory was proven correct when Y/N drew up to a great slat of shoji panneling. The Miko knocked softly on one of the wooden beams before she slid the door aside, revealing a great, open room that was littered with scrolls, half-dried pots of ink, and burned incense sticks. There, in the center of the room, knelt the head Priestess of the Shrine. She was an old, shriveled, wrinkled thing. The white hair that she’d gathered into a knot at her neck was as wispy as the thinnest clouds, and a quick glance over her hands revealed swollen joints covered by skin spotted with age.

But the Priestess did not appear to be a gentle elder by any means; her thin mouth was curled down into a sneer that was directed at the Miko at his side, and her eyes were hard and cold.  

"Head Priestess," Y/N bowed to her elder. "This man is called Tomioka, and he helped save me tonight in the forest."

Giyuu resisted the urge to snort. Helped, indeed.

The old woman's eyes shone bright with an emotion he could not name as the Miko continued. "A creature attacked me as I was returning home. Tomioka says he is a swordsman whose occupation --"

“I know what he is, girl,” the Priestess snapped at her student before she turned those beady eyes to him. “A member of the Demon Slayer Corps will always be welcome at this Shrine – particularly one as esteemed as yourself.” 

The Water Pillar straightened at the old woman’s casual mention of the Corps. “I was not aware that of any Shrines so affiliated with the Corps.” 

“There was a time when the Demon Slayer Corps would partner with shrines such as this to carry out its mission,” the Priestess replied evenly. From his periphery, Giyuu spotted Y/N’s head snap toward her mentor, her jaw slack. “Once, priestesses were akin to shamans who offered a variety of rituals for cleansing and protection. You slayers relied on our connection with our communities to operate more effectively, and we in turn, counted on your protection to fight what we could not.”

Despite the distinct scent of sake that clung to the elderly shrine keeper like a cloud, her eyes remained sharp and fixed upon him, and her wrinkled mouth pulled into a rueful smile. “Now, it seems, our wise and benevolent government has forced us both to retreat to the shadows to operate in secret.”

She bowed her head. “You have nothing but my respect, Lord Hashira. You are always welcome here.” 

Giyuu did not respond, but he inclined his head toward the Priestess in polite acknowledgement. 

Y/N gaped at her Master. "Lord --?"

The old woman poured another generous serving of sake and brought the choko to her lips. “Though we are honored by your visit, young Lord, I’m afraid your presence is nothing more than a calculated effort by this one,” she nodded pointedly at the young shrine maiden at his side, whose cheeks pinkened. “To keep herself out of trouble. My apprentice was not permitted to leave the grounds, you see.” 

“Oh hush you old drunk,” Giyuu’s eyes snapped to the irate Miko in surprise. “I told you earlier I was going to the village market –” 

“Telling me while I am in the middle of lessons with the younger girls and sprinting off before I can respond is hardly me giving you permission,” the Priestess’s mouth curled into a sneer. “You’ve defied me for the last time, girl.” 

The old Priestess turned away from her apprentice, dismissive. “You will take the rice bundles and hang them in the drying shed – every last one, for the next three days.” 

“You hag!” Y/N fumed, her face pinched in outrage. “I was on rice duty all last week without an ounce of assistance –” 

“And you apparently have yet to learn your lesson,” the old woman retorted bitterly, shooting the seething Shrine Maiden a withering glare. “Considering you still think it seemly to mouth off at any and every opportunity –” 

The Miko spat a curse at the elder Priestess so filthy and colorful that even Giyuu could not mask his surprise, raising his eyebrow. But if Y/N’s outburst shocked the Shrine’s head, the old woman gave no sign. Instead, she only glowered at the young woman as the latter turned and shoved the shoji door harshly to the side. Giyuu, ever the unwilling observer, was left to be pulled by his wrist back into the hall behind the young Miko before she whipped around to face her senior once more. 

Giyuu had thought himself stunned by the crassness of the Shrine Miaden’s language before, but nothing prepared him for the sight of the obscene gesture she made at the old woman before she slammed the door firmly shut. 

A telling crash on the other side of the wall signaled the Elder Priestess had hurled her empty sake dish at the door with all her might. “And work on your aim!” Y/N snapped before turning sharply on her heel to stomp out of the honden, tugging the Water Pillar helplessly behind her. 

“She seems unstable.” said Giyuu once they were a safe distance away from the main Honden. 

Y/N brushed aside his concern with a flippant waive of her hand. “Granny is harmless. As her charge, I suppose I instigate her nearly as much as she torments me.” 

Granny. It made sense, then, the curious affection the girl held for the rancorous head Priestess, even if he could not bring himself to fully understand it. 

“You are more than welcome to stay the night,” the Miko’s mood lightened considerably the more she put distance between herself and the drunken head Priestess. “We serve breakfast at sunrise, but of course, you’re not obligated to attend.” 

The ravenette’s mouth quirked down in a faint grimace, the only sign of his discomfort. “I should return to my own home.” 

“It’s quite late,” Y/N glanced up at the night sky, now awash with stars that surrounded the fat, glowing moon like thousands of glittering jewels. She turned back to him with a radiant grin. “At least allow me to show you around.”

—

If anyone had asked him, Giyuu Tomioka would not have been able to explain the series of events that had led him here. 

He distinctly remembered telling the vexatious young Shrine Maiden no, that he could not stay the night, yet somehow he’d found himself in the Shrine’s old, musty guest house, already prepared for his stay, a lantern flickering merrily in the corner. 

He glanced warily at the fresh sleeping kimono folded beside his futon. The possibility of him actually sleeping in such an unfamiliar place was nil and while the Water Pillar certainly had no issue in appearing impolite to others, he thought that perhaps the Shrine was affiliated with the connection of Wisteria Houses dotted throughout the land, and he didn’t want to risk offending the head Priestess and cause her to shut her gates to other slayers in need of lodging. 

So, Giyuu paced the floor of the small guest house, restless. Though his eyes remained carefully trained on the window of his room, waiting for the slightest hint of movement that would give him an excuse to leave without offending his hosts, no sign of either his crow or any demonic threat  manifested. Though, he supposed with a frown, it shouldn’t surprise him that he’d not heard from Kanzaburo; the ancient bird was likely flitting about the forest, lost.

He continued to pace until finally, the sky in the East began to lighten signaling that dawn was fast approaching. Stealthily, he slipped out of the small hut that had served as his temporary accommodations and made his way toward the Torii under which he and that Miko — Y/N — had passed upon their arrival.

He’d almost cleared the gate when he saw the elder Priestess standing beside the Torii, apparently waiting for him. Giyuu nodded his head at her, the only expression of courtesy he was willing to give, but he was halted as the old woman flung out a single arm in front of him, her hand flat and palm turned up, waiting.

And that was how Giyuu learned the Shrine was not, in fact, a Wisteria House; not as he was forced to fork over a considerable sum of his earnings into the Priestess’s expectant hand. 

Wisteria Houses meant Corps Members stayed free of charge; the price the Shrine’s keeper demanded in exchange for his brief stay bordered extortion.

At least he’d had the money; if he’d been of any lower rank, the old woman would have cleaned him out.  

He scowled as he departed but his irritation quickly fell away as he finally laid eyes on Kanzaburo, who nearly collided with his Master’s head as he struggled to pant out his orders. 

And so, as the Water Pillar trekked through the forest and toward his new assignment, the view of the Shrine faded behind the dense canopy of the mountain forest, and so too, did any final, sparing thoughts of it, or its inhabitants.

———-

Nearly a month passed since Giyuu stumbled across the strange shrine maiden in the forest separating his Estate from the old Shrine, and the Miko had nearly faded from his memory. Not that such a feat was difficult; the raven-haired Pillar’s mind was far more occupied with tasks like patrol and chasing down leads that could potentially lead the Corps to an Upper Rank demon to focus on much else. 

He’d intended only to find a decent meal and then depart the village before nightfall to investigate rumors of women disappearing in a small town to the south. Night was rapidly approaching, however, and he’d yet to find any vendor that sold anything he liked, much to his chagrin. He was about to cut his losses and continue on, when he spied a familiar blur of white and red idly perusing one of the stalls, apparently oblivious to the impending sunset. 

Without thought, his feet carried him toward her, his annoyance sparking to life. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” 

The Miko’s – Y/N’s – head turned back and her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the Pillar standing behind her. 

“Tomioka-sama,” she greeted with a polite bow. “I did not expect to see you so soon.” 

He ignored her greeting, choosing instead to take a step closer. “I asked what you were doing.” 

If she was taken aback by his terseness, she didn’t show it. “I am returning to my shrine after an afternoon of errands,” she replied smoothly. “As is usual for me.” 

“It is nearly dark.” 

“An astute observation,” and to his annoyance, he saw an amused twinkle in her eye. “Do you also know that tonight is also a full moon?” 

Said moon had already made an appearance above them, growing brighter and brighter as the sky faded from twilight to night. 

Giyuu had never been one for rolling his eyes, but the young woman’s knowing smirk grated at something inside him, made him feel as he often did whenever Kocho would make a sly comment with that smile of hers, that for some reason made him feel like he was the butt of some joke only she knew. 

He grimaced. Teasing; that’s what the shrine maiden was doing. She was teasing him. 

“It is nearly dark,” he repeated. “And I did not think you’d be naive enough to risk traveling after sunset.” 

“I believe it was you who insisted I did not have to ignore my duties, so long as I paid attention to my surroundings.” She replied coolly. “So that is exactly what I am doing.”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Fine. If the stubborn girl wanted to be bait for whatever awaited her in the forest once the sun finally set, then that was her choice. He’d saved her once, and he’d given her sufficient warning; what she did from then on did not concern him. 

He was about to bade her farewell when a slurred, boisterous voice boomed her name from across the market. Several heads turned toward the source, including Giyuu's, until he found a round faced, piggish man stumbling away from a sake stand, his cheeks flushed a bright red.

The man repeated the Miko's name in that grating, sing-song voice of his. "Whe're you goin' all by yourself so late?"

He didn't know what possessed him to ask, but Tomioka turned to the shrine maiden. "A friend?"

“His name is Susumo,” she said airily, though she could not conceal her scowl as the man drew closer. “He’s merely the village drunk who forgets to keep his hands to himself.”

The shrine maiden’s eyes narrowed accusingly at the villager, and the Miko remarked, in a raised voice, “And he is not welcome at the Shrine, though he pretends to forget otherwise.”

Susumo only held his hands up, as though in surrender. “You can’t blame a man for wanting to know what lies under all those layers,” and as if the implication of his lechery wasn’t clear enough, he gave the Miko a leering once-over. “Can’t say I was disappointed.” 

“But your friend is right,” he slurred, a smirk forming on his lips. “The dark is too dangerous for a pretty thing like you to risk walking back alone —“

“I shall escort her,” Tomioka said abruptly and she whipped back to him, her mouth falling open. “After all, I’m welcome at the Shrine.” 

Susumo, too, gaped at the Swordsman. The Miko recovered quickly however, unwilling to allow the opportunity to pass or for the Slayer to suddenly come to his senses and realize he’d rather leave her to fend for herself in the forest. 

“You have my gratitude, Tomioka-sama,” and she gave him a small bow of her head. Relieved, she flipped her braid over her shoulder and smiled warmly up at her raven-haired companion. “Shall we?”

She did not wait for Tomioka to answer, nor did she give any further acknowledgment to Susumo, who only continued to stare at the Hashira, his face bright red. With a feigned indifference, she breezed past him, but a sudden yelp from behind caused her to snap back in alarm. 

The first thing she noticed was the proximity of the back of a dual-patterned haori as it stood between her and the village drunkard. The Water Pillar’s shroud nearly brushed the tip of her nose, forcing her to step back. Cautiously, she peered around Tomioka’s rigid form, and her eyes widened at the sight before her. 

Susumo, it appeared, had tried to grab her, only to be cut off by the Water Pillar himself, who snatched him by his wrist. Though it did not appear that Tomioka was using a great deal of effort to restrain him, it was clear Susumo was struggling — greatly so — against the ferocity of the Slayer’s hold, given how a vein bulged in his forehead, his face,  rapidly turning purple. 

Her gaze flicked to the Swordsman’s hand, and she felt herself blanch at the odd angle of Susumo’s wrist. 

She was no doctor, but she knew wrists weren’t meant to twist as his did in Tomioka’s crushing grip. 

“Leave.” the Water Pillar ordered coldly, and there was a darkness in his eyes that matched the brutality of his hold. “Your presence is unnecessary and unwanted.”

“Y-you! Susumo sputtered.

But Tomioka’s grip only tightened. “Now.”

And then he released him, Susumo half-stumbling back from the Swordsman. His eyes were wide with both fear and loathing, and he muttered incoherently under his breath as he massaged his rapidly-swelling wrist.

The Water Pillar, however, did not pay any more attention to the red-faced villager. He turned only to the shrine maiden, who remained frozen in place, her eyes wide. "Shall we?"

Numbly, Y/N nodded and the two set off down the path that led back to the Shrine. Dimly, the Miko noted that the Slayer kept noticeably close to her as they walked, as though he was unwilling to let her wander too far away. The air between them as they traveled was thick and tense. She was on edge enough thanks to Susumo and his oily words, and she was desperate to do anything to distract herself from the buzzing mounting under her skin. 

She cast a sly, sidelong glance at the Swordsman walking at her side. He’d not been receptive to her small-talk the last time he’d escorted her back to her Shrine, but saying something — anything — would be better than this stifling quiet threatening to choke her.

“How old are you?” Before the Swordsman could decide whether to answer, she continued on. “If I had to guess, I would suspect you’re around my age, and I just passed my nineteenth birthday.”

She hummed aloud. “You seem quite young, yet you’ve achieved some level of status as a swordsman, according to Granny.” Her eyes fell to the blade secured at his hip before she lifted them back to his profile. “Yet you’re as withdrawn and taciturn as an old man.” 

Her words, thankfully, seemed to irritate him into responding. “Are you always so forthright?”  

The Miko grinned. “Perhaps I am like you, Lord – what was it? Hashiba?”

“Hashira.” 

“Yes, that. Perhaps I am like you, Lord Hashira – utterly lacking in social ability.” There was a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she brushed her shoulder against his bicep. “But at least I make up for it by talking.” 

“Talking is a distraction,” Tomioka monotoned, his eyes fixed resolutely on the hidden path of the forest before them. “It only serves as an interference to one’s duties.” He looked pointedly at the Miko’s profile, but inexplicably found himself unable to look away. “Or an excuse to ignore them.” 

But she was unflappable. “And yet you are the one who decided to escort me all the way back to my Shrine – so who is the one ignoring their duties, Tomioka-sama?” 

“I think you enjoy diverting my attention,” the Water Pillar retorted, though Y/N could see the rising annoyance in his eyes. 

She felt his gaze bear into her as she flipped her loose hair behind her shoulder. “It’s not possible to distract someone unless they find the diversion in question captivating, Tomioka-sama.” 

The Water Pillar almost looked amused. “And you are certainly that, Y/N.” 

The Miko ducked her head to avoid that piercing gaze, so that the ravenette would not see the faint rosy blush creeping across her cheeks. “I did not think you had the constitution for teasing, Lord Hashira.” 

Tomioka looked at her fully then, a frown tugging at the corner of his mouth. “I do not jest.” He hesitated for a moment, eyebrows furrowed as he scrutinized her. “Nor do I lie.” 

Y/N’s lips parted. There was something about the way the Swordsman beheld her that made her stomach flutter. In her last encounter with the enigmatic Slayer, she’d been so rattled by her close encounter with the demon, that she hadn’t truly noticed much about the man who’d saved her life, apart from his bland detachment and rather unfortunate social skills. 

But now, the Miko was struck by how handsome the raven-haired Hashira was; she was mesmerized by the deep azure of his eyes, as vast and deep as the sea. His skin was a delicate alabaster, and, contrasted with the flesh of his hands which were calloused and scarred, his face had not a blemish in sight.

She blinked, clearing away some of the fog that had crept into her mind, put there by the vexatious Slayer. “I must return to my duties,” she said softly.

They spent the remainder of their journey back to the Shrine in silence. She was quick to break away from him the moment they passed under the Torii, though not before she muttered that he was welcome to stay, should he so choose.

She busied herself with her duties, but even the neediest obligations could not fully distract her from feeling the burning heat of his stare as the Water Pillar’s watched her fiercely from across the courtyard. And nothing, nothing at all could have prepared her for how he eventually  joined her in carrying out her duties, 

The Water Pillar stayed the night once more, departing sharply at daybreak. Later, as Y/N swept the courtyard free of loose brush and clutter long after his departure, she noticed a crow sitting high in a tree, its black eyes watching her every movement. Though its gaze was sharp, the presence of the great, sleek bird did not disturb her, though not as much of a feather twitched from its perch upon the branch as the Miko continued through her day. 

As she’d readied for bed later that night, she realized she’d felt oddly comforted by the crow. She imagined it a silent protector, a new guardian of the Shrine, no different than the statues of the gods which dotted its grounds. 

She settled into her futon with a great yawn, the image of a certain dark-haired Swordsman flickering in the back of her conscience until she was swept into sleep’s sweet embrace.

Just outside the Shrine’s sleeping quarters, the bird remained, eyes carefully tracking every shift in the shadows, waiting. 

And then the first light of dawn broke over the horizon, and the threat of night receded once more.

But the crow remained. 

———

Spring, 1915

The crow became a permanent fixture at the Shrine, though it always seemed to keep strictly to a single tree at the edge of the property, one that gave it a full view of the courtyard and structures surrounding the main honden.

Despite the bird's constant presence, more than a month passed before the Water Pillar returned, though he'd seemed even more sullen and withdrawn than he'd been during their previous two encounters. Y/N did not consider herself a friend to Tomioka by any means, but she was the only one brave enough to approach him as he'd lingered by the Torii, apparently unsure whether he should seek out their hospitality or return to the forest.

"You are welcome to come and sit for a hot meal," she called cordially, though she maintained a tentative distance. She frowned when he did not respond. Instead, the Water Pillar continued to stare unseeingly at the cracked stone path leading to the Shrine's courtyard.

"Tomioka-sama?" She pressed gently and the Swordsman's attention finally snapped to her, as though he'd just become aware of her presence.

The haunted look in his eyes sent a chill up her spine. The Miko cast one, cautious glance up at the sky, and her eyes narrowed at the wall of black clouds steadily rolling in from the east. A shift in the wind brought forth the distinct, metallic scent of rain, and if she listened hard enough, she swore she could hear the distant rumbles of thunder. “You know, there will be a storm tonight — please consider waiting it out here, where it’s safe.”

Tomioka only stared at her for a moment before he nodded. His hand twitched into a vague gesture inviting her to lead the way, and Y/N escorted him to the Shrine's elder, in search of her permission.

Granny Priestess agreed to let him stay, but on the condition he paid for his imposition. The Water Pillar had silently agreed, producing one small money bag from his pocket and placing it squarely in the Priestess’s outstretched, waiting hand. 

The heft of the bag had made Y/N frown; it seemed a great sum in comparison to their meager lodging offerings, but the Swordsman did not object, so she held her tongue. To comment would only serve to irritate her Master, and the old hag was scornful enough to assign her to duties that would isolate her from the raven-haired Slayer.

Only after the old Priestess sauntered off, leaving behind nothing but the lingering, bitter stench of sake, did the Miko speak again. 

“I’m glad to see you in good health, Tomioka-sama,” she bowed, though she thought she spied the corner of his mouth twitch down at her formal greeting. “I trust your patrol went smoothly?” 

The Water Pillar’s expression was tight; dark. “It did not. The demon I was tracking managed to get away.” His jaw clenched tight. “But not before it slaughtered an entire family in the mountains.” 

All at once, the world around her seemed to slow. It had been easy to assume the dark-haired Swordsman before her always managed to find his target just in time, before it could slaughter its victim. Now, as she beheld the lethal coldness that had settled over his features, Y/N knew her assumptions had been wrong. 

Perhaps, she noted with a shudder, her rescue had been the exception and not the rule. 

Beneath the icy stoicism limning the Water Pillar’s eyes, the shrine maiden noted a distinct heaviness that weighed down his shoulders; made them curl slightly forward, defeated.

She resisted the urge to reach out to him, in comfort. “I won’t offer you empty platitudes,” she murmured. “But I can invite you to offer your prayers for those who were lost.” 

He looked at her, brows drawn, and she knew his instinct was to decline, so she added, “I will do it regardless of whether you join me.”

All at once, any protest he had was snuffed out within him. Instead, he was left with a curious softness as he regarded the shrine maiden, so assured and earnest in her invitation. 

He didn’t know why he’d sought out the Shrine.

He’s been angry; angry at himself for not being faster, for allowing innocent people to die on his account of his failure.

He still felt angry. Yet, as he followed Y/N into the Shrine’s haiden to light incense, he also felt a solemn gratitude for the Miko, who’d not let him indulge in his self-loathing but instead requested he act, and act with her. 

So he had; and somehow, the weight on his chest, the one that threatened to suffocate him, lightened bit by bit until Giyuu felt like he could breathe once more. 

Later that night, Giyuu spotted the shrine maiden from his window as she darted around the courtyard to light the tōrō to illuminate the Shrine grounds. A deep rumble of thunder, however, signaled the spring storm had finally arrived. Y/N, however, only continued with her task, huddling over herself to strike the matches needed to finish lighting the lanterns as rain began to dampen the landscape around her.

He was about to go outside and demand she return to the warm, dry haven that was the girls’ sleeping quarters lest she catch a cold, but then the last of the lanterns were lit and the shrine maiden straightened.

And then she tilted her face up toward the sky, allowing the rain to wash over her. 

And she grinned. And Giyuu was mesmerized; so much so, that he had not stopped staring at where she’d stood, laughing in the rain, even long after the Miko retired to bed.

-

Y/N awoke well before sunrise the following morning and spent hours laboring over the hot stoves in the kitchen. By the time the sky finally lightened, she'd only just finished her task and was in the process of boxing up her creation when she spotted one of her fellow shrine maidens passing by the entryway.

The Miko called out her name. "Has Lord Tomioka awoken yet?"

Her sister trainee lingered in the doorway. "Oh yes, he's been up for a while," and the girl looked back over her shoulder. “But he is already on his way out —“

The Miko swore viciously under her breath as she slammed a lid atop the small bento and hastily wrapped it in the small cloth she’d swiped from the laundry. 

“Move,” she barked at a small group of trainees that had gathered in the hallway outside the kitchen. The girls flattened themselves against the wall as Y/N sped by. She hurtled up the stairs, nearly tripping in her haste. Just as she burst into the courtyard from the honden, panting and winded, she spotted him.

“Tomioka-sama!” Y/N called, hurrying after the retreating form of the Water Pillar before he could pass through the shrine gates. “I have something for you!” 

The raven-haired slayer turned back to her, his face neutral, though Y/N could tell, by the slightest raise of his brow, that she’d piqued his interest. 

“Thank goodness you hadn’t left yet,” the Miko said brightly, holding out a small bundle wrapped in furoshiki cloth. “I was worried this wouldn’t be ready before you did.”

Tomioka’s eyes dropped to the parcel in her hands. “What is it?” 

Y/N motioned for him to take it, and to her slight surprise he did, holding it slightly in front of him as though it were liable to burst open. “A meal for the road. Granny and I prepared it this morning — as thanks, for everything you’ve done.” 

But the Water Pillar was already shaking his head, trying to press the package back into the shrine maiden’s hands. “I need no thanks; I do my job, and your shrine happens to be part of it.” 

If his words disappointed her, Y/N did not show it. “And yet we are grateful all the same,” she said firmly, arms crossing in front of her chest to avoid taking the small bento back. “Besides, it’s salmon; it will only go bad if you don’t eat it.” 

Had she not been watching him, Y/N would have missed the slight widening of his eyes, or the way his hand twitched back towards himself, bringing the packed lunch closer to him. 

Cerulean eyes watched her for a long moment, before dropping as Tomioka tucked the bento into his pocket. 

“Thank you,” was all he said before he turned away and continued through the gates of the shrine, setting off on the path which would lead him through the forest. 

If she hadn’t known better, she would’ve sworn the Water Pillar looked happy as he departed. 

———

The Slayer returned exactly one week after she’d given him the home-cooked salmon – but he did not return empty-handed. For there, wrapped in the same furoshiki cloth, was a strange, oblong object, sitting in the palm of his hand though if he thought it heavy, Tomioka gave no indication. 

“What’s this?” Y/N leaned curiously over the Pillar’s outstretched hand and squinted, trying to discern what the cloth could have been concealing. 

Tomioka pushed his hand toward her, beseeching her to take the parcel from him. “A knife.” 

The Shrine Maiden looked up at him in alarm, pulling away from the Water Pillar. “Why on earth would I need a knife?” 

He rolled his eyes. “Protection.” 

“From what?” The Miko wrinkled her nose down at his offering, though there was a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “As I recall, I walloped you just fine with my broom.”

Tomioka shot her a dull look. “Be that as it may, cleaning tools are useless against demons. Without the sun, the only thing that works against them is decapitation with this — its metal is unique.” 

He parted the folds of the cloth to reveal a simple blade, though Y/N found it daunting all the same. The hilt was basic, an unembellished metal handle wrapped in plain black leather. The blade itself was an unassuming silver, slightly longer than her hand. 

The Slayer motioned for her to take it, though she only shrunk away. “You know how to use one, yes?” 

The Miko’s eyes met his, wide and anxious. “For domestic uses, of course, but not –” 

Tomioka’s fingers closed around her wrist and lifted, guiding her hand toward the dagger. His hand moved to cover hers, wrapping them both around the hilt of the blade before squeezing. “Grip it like this,” he held their joined hands up for her to inspect. “Keep your hand in a fist; do not lift your fingers away from the grip – that’s the best way to injure yourself instead of your target.” 

But the shrine maiden could hardly focus on the Pillar’s instructions. Her attention was directed entirely at the way her hand was swallowed by his, his skin warm and his grasp firm. She studied how his calluses – thick and forged from years of brutal sword training – pressed against hers; how, despite the roughness of his fingers and palms, and his solid hold still remained gentle. 

“-- and thrust like this,” he remained oblivious to her distraction as moved her arm in a sharp jab, a second and then a third time, before dropping her hand.  “Now do it yourself.” 

His command startled her out of her trance, a heat creeping up her neck from beneath the collar of her kosode. She held out the blade awkwardly before her as scrambled to recall the Water Pillar’s words. To her dismay, all she was able to conjure was the memory of his touch, and how cold she suddenly felt without it. 

Lamely, she mimed jutting the knife at an invisible enemy, the blade gracelessly wobbling through the air. Though she was by no means a swordsman, even she knew something was off, her movements disjointed and clumsy.

She glanced shyly back to the raven-haired Demon Slayer and deflated as she was met only with bemused resignation.

Tomioka shook his head in disdain. “Perhaps you would fare better with a broom.” 

The Miko bristled. “I am not a swordsman —“

“You’ve made that abundantly apparent.” 

“— and I do not have the basics you seem to take for granted.” She finished, glaring indignantly at her raven-haired companion. “So teach me.”

The Water Pillar considered her for a moment before he gave her the slightest, almost imperceptible nod of his head. 

“Watch me.” He turned his body toward the Miko and mimed getting into a defensive stance — feet ajar, his weight evenly distributed on each leg, and bent. 

He looked back to the Shrine Maiden expectantly, and she parroted his movements, crouching into what she imagined was the perfect mirror of his position.

It wasn’t.

“No — you need to—“ Tomioka straightened and huffed, impatient. He moved quickly behind her, and without thinking, his hands shot to grip her hips to guide them into the proper stance, until her weight was evenly distributed on both feet. 

“Like that — now bend your knees.” The ravenette pushed down on her hips until her legs bent, apparently oblivious to the way the Miko flushed crimson.

He was close; far, far too close. She’d never been touched the way the Water Pillar touched her. Tomioka’s hands were twin brands, burning her skin even through the layers of her shrine attire, and it sent every nerve beneath her skin buzzing.

She was aware of every inch of him pressed against her; of his arms, caging her in, his hands twin brands against her hips as he turned and pulled her into the proper stance. She was aware of how warm he was, of how formidable his presence felt, even though to her, he posed no threat. Every movement of his was precise and fluid, like the water he’d claimed to style his techniques after.

And if his touch wasn’t distracting enough, his scent threatened to overwhelm every last bit of sense she’d clung onto. Y/N didn’t know how she hadn’t noticed how good he smelled — like mahogany and citrus — so rich and so warm; a stark contrast to his otherwise cold and aloof nature mask.

The swordsman, however, appeared to remain oblivious. “There,” he finally said, having satisfied that she’d achieved proper form. For moment, the two of them lingered there, with Tomioka’s chest against the shrine maiden’s back, his hands remaining steady in place on her hips. It was as though they’d frozen: Y/N, out of a mixture of shock and red-cheeked embarrassment, and Tomioka out of utter cluelessness.

Another beat passed before the Water Pillar finally realized the compromising nature of their position. His hands dropped quickly from her hips, and there was a rush of air at Y/N’s back as he swiftly stepped away, putting distance between them once more. 

The raven-haired Slayer gruffly cleared his throat. “You should also keep wisteria on you.” And Y/N gulped down her embarrassment to turn back toward him. 

Tomioka kept his face neutral and cool, but the tips of his ears had turned pink. “Check your perfumes for it or ask one of the other shrine girls if you can borrow theirs – oil would be better. More concentrated”

Any residual awkwardness that may have lingered fell quickly away. The Miko only stared blankly at him, her head tilted slightly to the side as her eyebrows pinched together. “Perfume?”

Tomioka blinked. “Yes. As all women have.” 

It was an effort to fight off the smile twitching at the corners of her lips. “Exactly how many women do you know, Tomioka-sama? Such that you would know their perfumery habits, that is.” 

His mouth thinned into a firm line. “Enough.” 

And though Y/N supposed he’d meant to sound self-assured and confident, the Slayer was betrayed by the slight doubt in his voice, as though he’d been questioning his own answer. 

The shrine maiden only continued to look at him, her eyebrow slightly raised, amused. The longer the silence stretched between them,the more awkward the ravenette grew, his discomfort plain from the way he shifted under her stare. 

“You seem like someone who would use it.” He finally offered, after another moment of quiet.

It was her turn to blink, taken aback. Her smirk quickly slid from her face and with a grimace, she felt her right eye twitch, ever so slightly. “Apologies, then, for disappointing you.” 

Tomioka frowned and he made like he was going to respond, but the Miko squared her shoulders and stalked briskly past him. 

“I must return to my duties, and I’m sure you need to do the same,” she paused in the doorway of the garden hut and cast one, sidelong glance back to where he stood, clueless. “Until next time, Tomioka-sama. Thank you for the blade.”

With that, the Miko paced briskly away from the garden hut, her spine stiff. The Water Pillar remained in place for a moment, stupefied, before he collected himself once more, before setting off back toward the forest; to his Manor.

And as Giyuu retreated through the rusting Torii gate, he could not quite shake the distinct impression he’d done something wrong, though he knew not what. 

–

The Water Pillar returned the following week, though to a decidedly cooler greeting than that which he’d steadily grown accustomed to receiving. 

That wasn’t entirely true — the majority of the Shrine’s residents had welcomed him warmly, their kindness always far more than he thought he deserved. Only one hadn’t greeted him as enthusiastically as the others, and to his annoyance, that one was the only person whose opinion of him mattered, even if he couldn’t quite articulate why.

She hardly stopped to acknowledge his arrival, only gracing him with a brisk nod, though she’d refused to meet his eyes. Bemused, Giyuu followed her across the courtyard as she made her way to the Shrine’s small storeroom. He leaned against the doorway and watched as the Miko began pulling jars of dried herbs from the rickety shelves lining the walls and stacked them on a sizeable work counter that cut halfway across the room. All the while, she continued pointedly ignoring him, humming lightly under her breath as though she could not see or hear him as he shifted against the doorframe, waiting.

Her obstinate silence grated at him. “May I assist you?”

“No, no, I am perfectly fine, thank you.” She turned away to browse the shelves once more, before finding what she needed: a stone mortar and pestle.

The grinder settled against the wooden counter with a heavy thud and the shrine maiden snatched up one of the jars she’d stacked and dumped its contents into the bowl, followed by another bottle of herbs. Pestle in hand, she set to work grinding the leaves together, mixing in a vial of fragrant oil she’d kept in her pocket to create a thick paste.

Giyuu watched her quietly as she worked. “You’re…” he frowned. “You’re behaving strangely.”

Y/N glanced up at him. “In what way?” 

“You’re trying to avoid me.” 

“Am I?” She straightened, rolling her shoulders. “Only because I’ve not yet bathed today. I didn’t want to risk offending you with my stench.” 

Giyuu paused. “Why would that matter?” 

“You made sure to point out you thought I needed perfume during your last visit.” 

He pushed off the doorframe, eyebrows knit together. “For protection.” 

The shrine maiden rolled her eyes. “Yes, and apparently, because you believe I am the type to need it.” When Giyuu only continued to stare at her with that same, mildly lost expression, Y/N groaned, exasperated. “You implied I stink.” 

The Water Pillar’s jaw slackened as he gaped at her. “That is not –” 

“It is what you implied,” she repeated, turning away from him to focus on her task of grinding herbs, though the force with which she ground the pestle was perhaps greater than necessary.

Giyuu rounded the small countertop of the Shrine’s storeroom to face her head-on. “I like how you smell.” He insisted. “It’s nice.” 

The Miko’s irritated churning of the stone paused and her eyes finally lifted to his. For a long moment, she watched him, head slightly cocked. 

“You are very odd, Tomioka-sama.” 

But she said it with a small smile that he almost wanted to return. 

Before long, things between them returned to normal once more, with the Miko directing him to collect her gathering basket from where she’d left it in the Shrine’s infirmary and bring it to her. Once he returned, he helped her grind charcoal to make incense sticks as she chatted happily away. 

Surprisingly, Giyuu found himself not only engaged in her musings about daily life at the Shrine, but offering her small personal anecdotes of his own, though he was not nearly as proficient as she when it came to story-telling.  

Once the sun began setting once more, and he received no new orders from Headquarters, he simply sought out the Shrine’s head Priestess and silently passed her a small money bag. 

And then Giyuu retired to the guest’s quarters for the night. 

—--

As spring warmed into summer, the Water Pillar began making bi-weekly visits to the Shrine that quickly melted into habit; expectation. Once a fortnight, a thrill would settle over the young maidens in anticipation of the arrival of the stoic yet handsome Slayer, with girls of all ages eagerly looking toward the Shrine gates in hopes of spying him the moment he crossed beneath the Torii. The elder employees of the Shrine had learned to time Tomioka’s arrival by listening for their excited gasps, exhaled as a collective as brooms and rices sacks were dropped where their handlers stood, the girls far too interested in rushing to greet the exalted Slayer than they were in completing their tasks. 

“I do not see the reason for such excitement,” she sniffed, though even she wasn’t stupid enough to think her fellow trainees bought her bluff. “He is only a swordsman.” 

“A handsome one,” a wispy trainee named Miyoko sighed dreamily. “And no doubt strong and capable.”

The group of maidens dissolved into another fit of giggles, concealing their blushes behind their hands.

“His face is attractive, but his hair is odd,” another commented. “It looks like he’s hacked at it with his own blade.” 

“Oh, who cares about his hair? I’m far more interested in what’s beneath that uniform —“

“Enough,” Y/N snapped. While her friendship with the Water Pillar was tenuous  at best, the suggestive way her sisters-in-training spoke of him left her feeling decidedly discomforted.

Though, if she were honest with herself, she’d admit that she, too, wondered whether Tomioka’s strength was the product of a finely-hewn tuned physique. But she wasn’t, so she bottled that thought up and tucked it tightly away, where it belonged. 

Slowly, her cohorts all turned to look at her.

“You seem to spend a great deal of time with him, Sister,” Miyoko directed at Y/N, who felt her cheeks heat. “Is there anything you’d like to share?”

“Tomioka-sama always asks where Sister Y/N is, the moment he arrives!” A tiny voice chimed, and Y/N’s eyes slid shut in an effort to fight off a wince.  “Sometimes they even do chores by themselves!”

Komatsu. At only ten, she was the Shrine’s youngest trainee, and followed Y/N around like a shadow. Not that the shrine maiden minded all that much; she tended to spoil the girl a bit, when she could. But as pure as the girl’s intentions surely were, she’d yet to lose that childlike earnestness that made her prone to revealing information that Y/N rather remained a secret. 

“Alone with a man?” Miyoko repeated, her eyes shining with malicious glee. “How scandalous — even for someone without a family to embarass, dear Y/N.”

“Careful, Miyoko,” she warned softly. “Don’t go speaking on matters of which you know nothing.” 

“Or what? What would you do?” 

As fond as Y/N was of her sisters-in-training, one did not make it through the Shrine’s rigorous education and training without learning how to trade in the kind of currency young women valued most.

Information; specifically, gossip. 

So the shrine maiden only leveled Miyoko’s own smug smirk with one of her own. “Or I shall tell Granny how you spend your afternoons kissing the boys from the village, rather than tending to your lessons.” 

The other girls gasped, their stares turning back to the gossiping shrine maiden. She savored how quickly the girl’s prideful grin slipped from her face as the weight of the threat settled. 

While Y/N, parentless and thus without anyone to truly care about her propriety, was being primed to take over Granny Priestess’s position overseeing the shrine, her position was unique. She was parentless and thus, without anyone to truly care about her propriety or whatever other ridiculous expectations of modesty that were often attached to other young women her age. In being no one, Y/N was relatively free to do as she pleased, and that freedom almost made up for her lack of belonging.

But the other girls residing at the Shrine were different. Families across the region sent their daughters to the Shrine for training, not only in their cultural practices and arts, but also for education; to become well-rounded women who would then serve to be valuable marriage prospects once they returned home. 

Scandal would not affect her; but it would affect someone like Miyoko.

“How do you think your parents would feel, to know their heir was behaving so brazenly in public? Risking her reputation on the marriage market before she’s even entered it?”

Truthfully, she liked Miyoko; had gotten along well with her, in fact. But she would not risk those sacred few moments she spent with the Water Pillar in an effort to keep the peace with another trainee. Not when those few instances she spent in his company were the only times she’d felt connection — true, human connection and belonging. 

Her sister-in-training ruefully fell silent, and Y/N savored her victory. Later, when she was left with nothing but the company of her own thoughts, however, the exchange played back in her mind.

In all her posturing, she’d managed to avoid having to answer for Miyoko’s lofty observation. 

You seem to spend a great deal of time with him, Sister. 

She did; and, to her slight horror, she realized that she had no interest in stopping. 

She only wanted more.

–

It was past dawn when Giyuu trudged under the great Torii gate of the Shrine, exhausted and aching. 

It had been a long while since a demon was last capable of wounding him, but he’d been blown backward by a delayed attack that hit after he’d beheaded the damn thing. As a result, he’d been sent flying back, slamming through a dilapidated wall of the abandoned hut he’d tracked the creature to, resulting in a sizeable gash to his shoulder. 

He grit his teeth in mild annoyance. He would need some treatment of his wounds — not that they were deep by any means, but they were substantial enough that he knew infection could spell trouble for him, should it spread. 

Some small, irate voice in his head snidely reminded him he could have just as easily gone to the Butterfly Mansion for treatment — that, in fact, the Insect Pillar’s estate had been much closer to the location of his mission than the Shrine had been. He’d rationed that, as much as he admired and respected Kocho, he was still a bit raw from her mocking about how unliked he truly was among his comrades. 

Besides, he groused. Kocho was not the one he really wanted to see, anyway. 

He found Y/N in the Shrine’s storeroom, seated upon the floor with a detailed ledger spread out before her as she took inventory of various scrolls and texts.

Giyuu did not bother to announce himself. “You have medical training, do you not?”  

The Miko startled, the charcoal stick she’d been using to tally the ledger clattering to the floor. She blinked up at him in surprise. “Tomioka-sama — welcome, it’s been a few weeks — forgive me, I did not see you come in.” She quickly rose to her feet, shutting the store ledger and tucking it under her arm. 

Her eyes found the blood-stained shoulder of his hair and widened. “I have some; I can stitch and dress wounds —“

He nodded. “Then I require your assistance.” 

—-

Y/N led him to a small office inside the honden that served as the Shrine’s unofficial infirmary.  “Take a seat,” she nodded at a small stool that sat under the room’s solitary window, right by a modest working table. “Let me see what we have.” 

Tomioka sat upon the stool with his back to her as she busied herself sifting through cupboards in search of supplies. “What sort of wound is it?”

She turned back and nearly dropped a tin of medicinal salve she’d located as she beheld the Water Pillar strip himself of his clothing from the waist up. 

There, across his right shoulder blade, she saw it — saw his blood. Quickly, she located thread and a needle and she grabbed a roll of cloth that could double as wrappings and she crossed back across the room.  

She spread her bounty out across the table, right beside the neatly folded pile of his clothing. Silently, she set to work cleaning the gash, and she breathed a quiet sigh of relief when she saw that it was little more than a shallow flesh wound.

“Lucky you, this won’t need stitching,” she said lightly as she wiped away the last of the dried blood from the Water Pillar’s skin. “But I shall need to wrap it so it won’t become infected.”

Tomioka only gave her a curt nod. She stepped back to work open her tin of medical salve, and as she warmed the substance in her hands, she let herself fully examine the Swordsman sitting before her. Her eyes trailed over the sculpted planes of his back. It surprised her how muscular he was, given his leanness. Yet, without the layers of his uniform shirt and haori, she could see he was well-built, each muscle defined. 

She didn’t know why it surprised her that there was a man beneath the mask of the Slayer, but what a man he was. Her mouth went dry at the thought. It was an effort not to allow her eyes to wander lower; to ponder what he might look like under his uniform pants, stripped and fully bare before her — 

“What is that scent?” Tomioka’s sudden question startled her away from her increasingly treacherous thoughts. 

She’d never been more grateful to be facing away from him. That way, he could not see the blush coloring her cheeks as she hastily slathered the salve across his wound. “Anti-septic; I know it’s rather stringent, but — ”

The Water Pillar shook his head. “I know what antiseptic smells like. I mean you. The scent you wear.” 

She pursed her lips for a moment before she recalled the distinctly floral scent of her cleansing oils. “Sakaki blooms, I suppose.”

“What properties does it have — what are its effects on others?” He pressed. She was surprised at how insistent he seemed, and there was almost an urgency in his tone that unsettled her. 

“None, to my knowledge — why do you ask?”

The tips of Tomioka’s ears turned pink and he turned away from her, lips pressed into a firm line. “Forget I said anything.” he muttered after a moment, his shoulders and spine stiff.

Neither one of them spoke again as Y/N finished treating the Water Pillar’s  injury and wrapped it. 

“You're done,” she said after a moment, tapping him lightly on his other shoulder. 

“You have my thanks,” Tomioka quickly refastened the buttons of his uniform shirt as the Miko stepped aside, pointedly wiping her hands clean with a small cloth. She only looked at him once he lifted his haori from where he’d carefully laid it atop the small examination table, but her eyes narrowed as he rose from the stool, shrugging the material back over his shoulders. “I am happy to pay you for the resources you used —“ 

Y/N did not appear to be listening, not as she leaned forward and pinched the sleeve of his haori between her thumb and index finger. 

“You have a tear,” she frowned, rubbing the fabric between her fingers. “Right here, see?” 

There, on the side bearing his sister’s half of his haori, right where his sleeve met his shoulder, was indeed a small hole, the threads around it broken and shifting slightly in the wind. 

The Miko’s hand fell away, and she squared her shoulders, mouth set in a firm but determined line. “If you’ll give me a moment, I assure you I can have it repaired in no time –” 

“Not necessary,” the Swordsman said abruptly, twisting back from her. “I can figure it out on my own.” He would not part with it, would not so much as let another put their hands on it and risk ruining his most cherished possession. 

Y/N only stepped toward him, ignoring his attempt at distance. “There’s no need to be prideful,” she huffed impatiently. “Truly, it would take no effort at all –”

“No.”

“Why are you being so difficult?” She snapped, but her hands continued reaching for him, for his sleeve – 

Tomioka snatched her wrist mid-air and held it there, halting her. “No one touches this. Understand?” 

Y/N’s lips parted in faint surprise at the Water Pillar’s severity. Her eyes darted to where his fingers were locked tight – uncomfortably tight – around her wrist. When she glanced back at the stone-faced Slayer, she felt a chill lick down her spine. She’d known he could be intimidating against threats, even without saying a word. It was his eyes – his eyes would harden, with the lapiz hue of his irises darkening to something more akin to indigo, as he stared down an opponent. She’d witnessed it the very first night she’d met him. 

She just hadn’t thought she would ever be on the receiving end of such a cold glare. 

“I understand,” she said softly, and she began flexing her wrist against his grip in an effort to work herself free from his hold. “Please forgive my indiscretion, Tomioka-sama. I overstepped.” 

The raven-haired Slayer blinked and quickly let her go, her wrist falling limply back to her side. Just outside the infirmary’s small window, he heard the familiar, urgent cry of a crow.

He’d never been more grateful for a distraction.  “I must be on my way.” His tone was stiff; clipped. 

“But — you’ve only just arrived —“ 

“Farewell, Y/N.” Giyuu gave her a curt nod.

Helplessly, the Miko watched as the Water Pillar stalked out of the small office, his hands curled into fists at his sides. He did not so much as spare a glance back, leaving Y/N to wonder whether she would see that odd patterned haori again.

The thought she might not made something cold and heavy sink into her gut.

—-

(One week later)

It wasn’t often that Giyuu Tomioka found himself annoyed, much less angry. He much preferred channeling his existing emotions into slaying demons, allowing them to taste a fraction of the rage and hatred he felt deep within, a vicious fire he so rarely let bubble up to his service.

Until that evening. After the fiasco that was Mount Natagumo and the subsequent chaos at the Master’s mansion as a result of the Kamado boy and his demon sister, Giyuu had finally noticed that the previous day’s trials had resulted in the tear along the shoulder of his haori that he knew could no longer be ignored. 

He grit his teeth; the battle against the Lower Moon spider demon had hardly required him to exert any energy — yet the demon’s last ditch attempt to preserve its life had managed to enlarge the small hole in his most prized possession, and the Water Pillar was utterly without the skill to repair it. 

So, he’d been forced to sit through the meeting with the Master, the hole in his haori feeling more like a gaping wound that only festered with every passing moment, until finally, finally they’d been dismissed. 

Giyuu hadn’t wasted any time departing swiftly from his Master’s estate, though that hadn’t stopped him from catching the tail end of Shinazugawa’s biting remark of how fuckin’ typical it was for him to leave without so much as a farewell to his comrades. He tried not to let the Wind Pillar’s words get to him; but he was unworthy of their company regardless, so he supposed it really didn’t matter what they thought of him. It shouldn’t. 

And so, that was how Giyuu found himself padding silently along the cracked, stone pathway which led to the Shrine at the edge of his designated territory, ready to eat crow and ask for assistance from a particular Miko whom he felt certain would not hesitate to remind him of how he’d coolly rejected her help only days earlier. 

Hence, his irritation. 

So, his movements stiff and his mouth twisted into a firm grimace, Giyuu stalked under the Torii and into the main courtyard of the old Shrine. It was coming upon midday, though there was a thick cover of clouds overhead that threatened that open up at any moment and shower rain across the region. He ignored the respectful bows of the Shrine’s various inhabitants and staff, eyes sweeping over faces in search of her. 

He located her near the storehouse, chatting with one of her fellow trainees as the pair worked to clean vegetables. Giyuu trudged over to her, eyes locked unwaveringly on her serene, easy smile, as he tried to ignore the way it made something in his gut clench and churn. 

He drew to a stop right before her and her Shrine-sister, the latter looking up at him with wide eyes, her hands stilling over her work as she looked up to the Slayer in awe. 

Giyuu cleared his throat but Y/N only continued wiping the dirt from carrots with her cloth. 

The ravenette tried again. “I am in need of your assistance.” 

Y/N’s comrade nudged her with her elbow, but the Miko only continued to clean, pointedly ignoring them both. 

Giyuu pursed his lips. “With my haori. The tear has grown larger —“

“I am busy.” Y/N’s tone was clipped. “Perhaps there are others who might assist you.”

“Please.” 

The Shrine Maiden’s hands finally stilled and she lifted her chin to face him. The moment she beheld the pleading sincerity in his eyes, coupled with the hard set of his jaw that betrayed just how desperate he was, her gaze softened.

She sighed. “Very well then,” she rose, brushing her hands free of any residual dirt. She held her chin high and squared her shoulders, determined not to show him how he’d bruised her ego; how he’d frightened her. “Follow me.”

—

The Shrine sat at the base of a great mountain. But, nearly half a kilometer up the winding, twisting path leading up the mountain and carved into its side, was a grassy hilltop that then plateaued into a small overlook that boasted a phenomenal aerial view of the Shrine below. 

The summer grass had turned a vibrant shade of emerald, broken up only by dots of tiny white and blue wildflowers that had gathered in small clusters sprinkled throughout the overlook. At the back of the clearing stood an ancient willow tree, its trunk gnarled and knotted with age, its wisps swaying lazily in the wind.   

It was her favorite spot; a little ways away from the hustle and bustle of the Shrine, which meant they would have some privacy as she worked. Y/N settled down against the grass and pulled a needle and a spool of thread from her pocket. She turned her face up toward the Water Pillar where he stood over her. “I’ll take that haori, now, if you’ll please.” 

Wordlessly, Tomioka carefully slid the garment from his shoulders and handed it to her, though he hesitated in letting go as she took it gingerly into her hands. 

It was clearly very important to the Slayer, and perhaps that was why she felt the need to reassure him. “I promise to take care of it.”

He nodded stiffly and let go of the fabric and the Miko quickly set to work repairing its torn shoulder. The Water Pillar lingered awkwardly beside her for a moment longer before he too, sat in the grass next to her, though his back remained straight, his posture rigid.

She glanced at him as her needle wove the haori’s fabric back together. “I suppose this happened because of your occupation?” 

It was faint, but the shrine maiden swore she saw his mouth twitch into something reminiscent of a grimace. “Yes.”

“You should be lucky it wasn’t your flesh.”

At that, Tomioka scoffed. “I would not allow such a weakling to get close enough to try.”

“My, I’d not pegged you as the boastful sort, Tomioka-sama.”

“It’s not boasting; I speak only the truth.” He retorted evenly. 

The shrine maiden only hummed as she worked. “And what of your family? Do they support your path as a Slayer?”

The Water Pillar turned his head away, his form stiff. For a moment, the Miko feared she would be left to repair his haori in silence, with nothing but the faint whistling of birds to keep her company. 

“I have none,” Tomioka’s voice was soft, nearly swallowed by the wind. “There is no one left to object, even if they wanted to.”

Y/N’s hands paused their work as she thought. “You are alone?”

It would be nice, she supposed, to find another who, like her, belonged to no one; a kindred spirit of sorts.

“I suppose,” Tomioka spoke up after a moment, his eyes squinted in thought. “I have a mentor. But it was he who trained me to join the Corps.” 

“I should hope he’s more sober than mine,” Y/N drawled. “And less irritating.” 

The Miko’s attention was so fixed on her careful stitching along the hole in his haori, that she didn’t see his faint smile at her words. 

——

The Slayer and the shrine maiden continued talking long after she’d finished repairing the tear in his haori. It was only when Tomioka had realized nightfall was a mere hour away that the two reluctantly descended the hillside to return to the Shrine.

“I almost forgot.” The Water Pillar said, halting in front of the honden as Y/N escorted him back to the Shrine’s entrance. He dug into his pockets and pulled something free. “Here. For you.” 

The Miko gaped down at the fat red fruit that sat heavily in his palm. “This is -“ she said breathlessly, “A pomegranate!” 

He nodded, arm still outstretched towards her as he waited to drop the ruby fruit into her hand. 

She shook her head. “No, Tomioka-san, I cannot accept something so expensive-“

“I insist.” The Water Pillar withdrew a small knife and split the fruit in half, staining his hands crimson with the juice that spilled over its soft flesh.

Hesitantly, the young Miko accepted the half he offered her, and thumbed some of the fat, glistening jewels loose. The moment she brought them to her lips, Y/N sighed, contentedly, and for some reason, Giyuu found his cheeks heating as he watched her savor the sweet fruit. 

She lazily opened her eyes after swallowing her first mouthful, but she was startled to see the Hashira staring at her, unwaveringly, and she realized he’d moved closer towards her than he had been only seconds earlier. 

Tomioka’s azure eyes were fixed hard on her lips, as he leaned in close to her, Y/N flushing as he drew nearer. 

Is he going to kiss me? Her traitorous heart thundered at the idea, and it caused her no short amount of grief to know she was uncertain whether she wanted him to do so. As her emotions warred with her logic, the Water Pillar’s gentle fingers cupped under her chin, and his thumb brushed delicately across her lower lip. 

“Pomegranate juice,” he said, but Y/N could still feel the warmth of his breath still as his hand lingered under her chin. His eyes were wide as though he, too, could not believe what he’d just done. 

“Yes,” she breathed, before she felt her cheeks heat. “I – I mean, thank you.”

The Water Pillar’s gaze dropped to her lips and her stomach twisted violently. All at once, awareness seemed to come crashing down upon him, and he then stepped back, his hand falling from its hold on her face and back to his side.

The shrine maiden remained frozen in place for a heartbeat longer. “Are you certain you’re unable to be our guest tonight?” Her voice was little more than a pitiful squeak.

Her eyes lifted to his and she knew the answer before he spoke it. “I cannot,” and to her surprise, he almost looked as disappointed as she felt, but he added hastily, “But I will be back. Soon.”

“Soon,” she echoed, feeling rather dazed. “Yes. Of course. I — we — look forward to it.”

She was thankful that Tomioka had already turned away from her as he made his way down the long, winding steps that led to the main route out of the forest; that way, he could not see the way her cheeks burned crimson, or how she buried her face in her hands as she cursed her own embarrassment.

—

Giyuu was grateful his back was to the young Miko as he retreated through the Shrine’s gates and back to the path which would lead him home. It meant she could not see as he stared at his thumb – the thumb he’d used to clear away the small bead of pomegranate juice from her lips – or how his eyebrows pinched together. It meant she could not hear his heart as it beat wildly in his chest at the memory of how soft and full her lip had been beneath the pad of his thumb, soft enough that some treacherous part of his brain had urged him to lean in, to see if her lips would feel as good against his – 

He shook his head, trying desperately to dispel his wild intrusive thoughts. It was ludicrous; he did not think of the young shrine maiden in that way. Not when she frequently sought to needle him, not when she frustrated him to no end. 

His collar suddenly felt tight; his skin, far too hot. His gaze dropped back down to the hand that had touched her, and it clenched. 

A pomegranate. It was only a pomegranate; nothing more. 

“It was a thank you gift,” Giyuu declared, as though speaking the words out loud gave them more force. “It is nothing more than an expression of gratitude.”

And even his crow, ancient and dull as he was, scoffed at the obviousness of the lie.

——

Late Summer, 1915

Summer blazed hot and humid. But neither the sweltering heat of the sun nor the most arduous missions he took exhausted Giyuu more than the complicated, tangled mess of feelings that had taken root within him. Because with every day that passed, the Miko of the Shrine at the edge of the forest occupied more and more of his mind. And Giyuu did not know what it meant or what he should do about it. 

She’d not just repaired his haori or made him salmon; she’d somehow wormed her way into his every waking thought, and to his great confusion, he found himself almost unwilling to think of anything but her. 

Admittedly, Giyuu Tomioka did not have the requisite tools in his social arsenal to successfully navigate human interaction. He hadn’t quite known the extent of his ineptitude however, until the Insect Pillar had so cheerfully pointed out that none of his comrades, in fact, liked him. That revelation had made him doubt every interaction he’d had since, made him wonder whether even the lower ranked Slayers viewed him with the same apathy, if not the same outright hostility toward him shared by Shinazugawa and Iguro.

He’d come to doubt them all — except her.

Y/N was different; at the end of each visit to the Shrine, the Water Pillar did not find himself feeling drained or unwanted.  He felt lighter; rejuvenated, even. She was a breath of fresh air that Giyuu found more difficult to go without with each passing day. 

She still picked at him, but she did so without the malice he’d normally come to expect, even from those he considered friends, like the Kocho. The young Miko had a way of teasing him that did not leave him feeling decidedly othered. Rather, her japes only spurred him to respond with his own, though admittedly, they tended to fall flat.

He’d known, from the moment she’d attempted to bludgeon him with her broom, that there was more to the Miko than met the eye; but he hadn’t imagined he’d find himself as drawn to her as he was, unable to tolerate going more than a handful of weeks without paying her a visit.

And, given the way she’d blushed after he’d thanked her for repairing his haori, perhaps she was drawn to him, too. Perhaps he hoped she was.

But he would have to wait to find out, for his obligations to the Corps had taken him to a village a considerable distance away from his designated territory. He’d been tasked with investigating a series of disappearances of young women in the region, but his orders had come abruptly enough that he’d not been able to spare a visit to the Shrine before he departed.

He was anxious — eager — to return, though not before he took care of the demon likely behind the mystery plaguing the village he now patrolled.

Nightfall was still a little ways off, and so Giyuu found himself wandering the streets to pass the time. He made his way to a sizeable outdoor market, still packed with shoppers oohing and ahhing over vibrant displays of silk, crafted jewelry, and sugary confectioneries.

Idly, he too, joined other patrons in browsing the small vending stands that lined the bustling village streets, though his perusal was disinterested, if not bored. But his eyes snagged on one small bauble displayed on the merchant’s small stand upon a swath of silk. It was small; unassuming. But the carefully crafted decoration was painted in a startling shade of crimson that he found hard to ignore. 

The image of a certain Miko flashed through his mind. He couldn’t leave without it. he wouldn’t; not when its paint so perfectly matched the color of Y/N’s hakama trousers.

I spend the year longing for autumn. That was what she’d told him, that day on the hillside after she’d repaired his haori. 

He almost smiled to himself. This would be a way for her to enjoy her favorite season even in the scorching heat of summer or the biting cold of winter. 

He waited for the merchant to notice his presence, his fingers twisting around the small money sack he kept tucked in his pocket. His eyes flickered back to the small trinket. Idly, Giyuu wondered when he’d begun associating the color red with the shrine maiden and not with the blood he’d always imagined stained his hands. 

He continued to stare the merchant down until he finally managed to catch the vendor’s eye, who flinched at the intensity of his unblinking stare.   

Giyuu jutted his chin toward the small token. “How much?” 

—-

He found the Miko a few mornings later, relaxing on the hillside overlooking the Shrine. She laid amongst the late summer wildflowers that had bloomed, her form framed against the grass with petals of soft blue and bright marigold. 

Giyuu wordlessly settled beside her, and he tried to ignore the thunderous beat of his heart against his sternum as she rolled her head toward him to greet him with a sleepy smile. They exchanged pleasantries and settled into a comfortable silence, both content to watch the sun rise higher over the horizon.

Easy; it was so easy for him to sit beside her, like it was the most natural thing in the world. 

“So, you are to take over the Shrine, one day?”

Y/N’s head turned to the Water Pillar in surprise; though he’d grown steadily more talkative over the months since she’d met him, it wasn’t often that he initiated conversation. 

She settled back against the cool grass of the hilltop overlooking the Shrine, enjoying the precious few moments of quiet in the early morning before the chaos of the day called her away. “Yes,” though there was a slight uncertainty in her voice. “I’m sure it’s the expectation, after all. I have to repay Granny for her kindness.”

Giyuu frowned. “But is that what you want?”

“What I want is irrelevant,” the Miko folded her arms behind her head and tilted her face up toward the sky. Her eyes tracked the great, fluffy clouds that drifted lazily by, though the Water Pillar suspected she was attempting to avoid having to meet his eye. 

“It’s not irrelevant,” he countered. “If nothing else, you should be allowed to consider other possibilities.”

She did not answer him, and the silence between them stretched enough that he thought to drop the subject, not wanting to press her any further. 

“I think,” she said in that faraway voice that Giyuu had come to learn meant she was trying to conceal some deeply felt emotion. “I think should like to belong somewhere.” Her eyes shone. “No, that’s not it — I want someone to belong to me, and I to them. 

“A husband.” He said flatly. 

The Miko shook her head. “I have never belonged to anywhere or to anyone. I’ve no family to call my own - only an old woman who took pity on me as an infant and raised me. I wonder — what must it be like?” She laid back on the grass and closed her eyes. “That is the one thing I would change. I belong nowhere because I’m no one — nobody’s.” 

Giyuu frowned. “I don’t think that’s true—“

“It is true,” she insisted, though she said it with such ease and conviction, like it was the most obvious and natural thing in the world. “I am here for a moment and then I will be gone, and no one will ever know or remember that there once was a shrine maiden named Y/N here. I’ve made peace with that.”

I would, Giyuu wanted to tell her. I would remember and I would tell them all. 

“I am nobody as well,” Giyuu admitted quietly after a moment. “And I have no one left to belong to.” 

The image of her face, so kind and sad and full of understanding at his words, had stayed with him for the rest of the morning and even as he settled in for a few hours of sleep in the Shrine’s guest wing.  

And in his dreams, her face remained a constant.

—

The sky had turned a vivid shade of orange by the time the Water Pillar emerged from his guest lodgings, ready to depart and resume his duties.  Y/N had been helping another shrine maiden tote firewood across the courtyard when she heard a quiet call of her name.

She turned and saw the raven-haired Swordsman standing near the great Torii gate. 

She looked back to her fellow trainee, who waved her off with a knowing smile, and Y/N brushed her hands clean against her hakama pants before she approached him. 

“Leaving so soon?” And she tried to mask her disappointment at the shortness of his visit. 

Giyuu nodded. “We’ve been stretched thin, in light of a few…changes to our ranks.”

The Miko nodded grimly. He’d told her that a fellow Hashira had been slain a few months prior, and another had retired following a rather violent battle that had destroyed part of a far off city.

“But I wanted to give you this.”

She glanced down to his outstretched hand, where a small parcel was wrapped in plain furoshiki cloth. Stunned, she took the package from him, her eyes flicking between it and the Water Pillar watching her intently.

Gingerly, she unfolded the bundle and unveiled a long, but fragile metal and wood reed.

A hairpin, she realized with a soft gasp. Y/N could scarcely bring her fingers to run over the exquisitely crafted ridges of the leaves that adorned the top portion of the pin, afraid that even the slightest pressure from her touch would cause the Water Pillar’s precious gift to her to crumble. 

I spend the year longing for autumn, she’d told him. She hadn’t thought he’d been particularly interested in listening to her talk; but as Y/N cradled the delicate ornament between her palms, she felt a blush begin to creep across her cheeks. 

As her fingers traced across the delicate ridges of a cluster of maple leaves, lacquered in a thick coat of scarlet paint — a perfect match to the hue of her traditional Miko hakama pants — Y/N realized that perhaps Tomioka had been paying more attention to her than she’d realized. 

For the Water Pillar had given her a piece of autumn to hold onto year-round. 

“Tomioka-san, you do not-“ 

“Giyuu.” The ravenette interrupted her. “Please, call me by my name; it’s Giyuu.” 

Y/N’s mouth closed, but she smiled softly, considering. “Alright. Giyuu — please, you do not need to feel obligated to bring gifts for us — it was only salmon.” 

But Giyuu only shook his head. “I don’t bring gifts for everyone; just you.” 

Y/N turned scarlet. 

“Please, just-“ Giyuu frowned, and Y/N could have sworn she saw the faintest glow of pink coloring the Hashira’s cheeks. “Just take it.” 

“Okay,” her voice resembled a mouse’s squeak as she cradled the pin delicately between her hands. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.” 

“And it wasn’t just salmon.” 

Y/N looked to him in surprise, her head cocked in curiosity. “Pardon?” 

Giyuu exhaled harshly through his nose before stepping closer to her. “This is not only because you made salmon.” Her eyes tracked his hand as it rose to grip the front fold of his haori in his fist. “This – this is all I have left of my family.” 

“My sister,” he gestured to the red half of his haori. “She died protecting me.” His hand drifted to the green and orange patterned half of the garment. “And this belonged to a dear friend. He also perished protecting me – and others.”

The Miko’s lips parted, understanding and sorrow flooding her eyes. “Tomioka-san — Giyuu — I had no idea —“

“They both died because of demons – because I could not help them. And now this is all I have left to remember them by.” And then he did the unthinkable; he grabbed her hand and pressed it against the checkered portion of his haori, right over his heart. His hand was warm and firm. Gentle, though she could feel his callouses against her knuckles as he held it in place. “So it wasn’t just salmon.” He repeated, and there was a heat in his eyes Y/N had not seen before, one that stoked a fire in her belly. “And you are not just anyone.” 

A soft exhale blew past her lips at the sincerity of his words. For the first time in all her nineteen years, she wondered if this was what it meant to mean something to someone.

“Thank you,” she breathed, eyes wide and sparkling with unshed emotion. “I will treasure it.”

She swore she saw a faint blush creep across the Water Pillar’s cheeks, but she brushed it aside as nothing more than the shadows of the sky as twilight darkened the horizon. 

Tomioka nodded. “I must get going now; I will see you soon.”

She did not want him to go.

But the shrine maiden concealed the pang she felt in her chest with a breezy smile. “Farewell, Tomio-“

“Giyuu.” 

She blushed. “Yes — Giyuu. Until next time.”

—

“I cannot believe he lets the old woman charge him an arm and a leg to stay a single night,” Miyoko said in awe as the pair watched the retreating form of the Water Pillar through the shrine house gates. 

The hairpin clutched tightly in her hands suddenly felt like a stone weight. “I’m sure he stays here only for convenience’s sake,” Y/N replied airily, turning sharply away from the egress to the shrine to hide her warming cheeks.  

Miyoko snorted. “Hardly. The Demon Slayer Corps has tons of safehouses throughout the country. Corps members get medical treatment, hot meals, and lodging free of charge.” Y/N’s sister-in-training grunted as she heaved a hefty bag of rice flour from the storeroom to the girls’ side, no doubt hauling it out to prepare the evening meal. 

“I’ve heard of at least four such houses in this region alone. As a Hashira, Tomioka-sama could go to any one of them and be treated far more kindly than he is here.” 

Y/N frowned. “I wonder why, then, he continues to return here so often? Surely our shrine is some distance from his home, given that he stays the night each time.” 

Miyoko shot the young shrine maiden a knowing glance. “Perhaps he tolerates the Granny’s abuse because he is fond of the company.” 

Y/N only felt her face grow hotter as she ducked down, though she felt Miyoko’s amused stare burn through her back. 

—-

The Water Pillar had returned from his intel assignment and promptly journeyed to the Shrine, its inhabitants abuzz as they prepared for the arrival of autumn and the colder months, now only mere weeks away. 

He found the shrine maiden of his interest inside the main wing of the manor, back in the kitchen as she prepared herbs to be incorporated into various salves and medications. Y/N smiled brightly at him as he’d sidled up beside her, taking a handful of dried greenery from the bunch next to her and deftly pulling the leaves from the stem and handing them to her. 

“Is it your day off?” The Miko gratefully accepted the leaves he’d stripped and dumped them into the rocky mortar to join the others. 

Giyuu felt his stomach clench as his fingers brushed against hers. “I have completed my duties for the time being, yes.”

"You're welcome to help me, as long as you do not mind a bit of busy work."

He didn't; of course he didn't. In fact, as he accepted the heavy stone pestle from the Miko and set to work mashing the leaves she handed them into the mortar, Giyuu rather supposed he would do just about anything to remain in the shrine maiden's company, even if that meant assisting her in a task as banal as grinding medicinal herbs. And though the Slayer and the Miko fell into their well-practiced habit of quietly tending to Y/N's duties side by side, there was a notable absence of the bright chatter he'd grown accustomed to hearing during his visits.

The Water Pillar frowned. “You’re quiet.” It was not a question. “There is something on your mind.” 

“Is there?” Y/N hummed loftily, her hands continuing to strip leaves from their stems. “Perhaps I am simply focused.” 

Giyuu found his eyes wandering to the side to study the Miko’s face more often than usual. Though she maintained a pleasant smile as they worked, he could see that it did not fully reach her eyes. And even her sage expression could not conceal the way the troubled look in her eyes, hands pausing their work as she stared at something behind the walls of the small shrine kitchen. 

“Something is bothering you.” Giyuu took the bundle of herbs clutched in her hands and replaced them with his pestle, allowing her to work her frustrations over the paste forming at the bottom of the stone bowl. 

She blushed and refocused her gaze, grinding the pestle hard. “Nothing is wrong!” She chirped. 

“You are a dreadful liar.”

The Miko replied with an airy laugh that made his throat tighten. “So I’ve been told — often, in fact.” 

“There is…trouble in the village,” Y/N said carefully, though she kept her hands busy as she continued to grind herbs into a thick paste. “It is nothing we can’t handle, but it has put many of us on edge. Particularly Granny.” 

Giyuu frowned as he handed the shrine maiden another bunch of leaves from her basket. “What sort of trouble?” 

She hesitated. “It is petty village drama, nothing more.”

“You won’t give any further details?” 

The Water Pillar could not explain it, but he found himself troubled by the way the Shrine Maiden forced a smile and a far too casual shrug of her shoulders. “There are none worth re-hashing.” 

He frowned, but he did not press her further, resolving instead to poke around later. Perhaps he would see whether the Shrine’s head Priestess’s tongue was as loose with information as it was with vulgarity once she’d properly indulged in her sake; he’d make certain she was well-stocked in advance. 

Giyuu furtively glanced back at the shrine maiden’s profile, in part to see whether he could deduce anything from her expressions, but he found himself instead studying her, puzzling over a change in her appearance he hadn’t noticed before.

Sensing his stare, the Miko turned to him with a light smile that then  faltered. “What –?”

“You changed your hair.” It took everything within him not to reach out, to see if her hair would feel as silky in his fingers as it looked shifting softly in the wind. “I’ve never seen it down.” 

“Oh!” Her smile turned bashful, a pretty pink dusting spreading across her cheeks. “I wanted to wear my hairpin – see?” 

She turned her head, the long curtain of her hair rippling smoothly with the movement. With her back to him, Giyuu could see the pin he’d given her neatly tucked into the long strands of her hair, pinning half of it back. The red of the pin’s maple leaves posed a lovely contrast with the hue of her hair. 

Y/N was already quite beautiful, but with her hair partially down, he thought she looked softer; younger. She peeked over her shoulder at him, fingers nervously combing through her tresses. “It’s not practical for every day, of course, but I thought since you’d likely be arriving soon –” 

His eyes widened and Giyuu became acutely aware that his heart now thumped wildly in his throat as Y/N choked off with a squeak, apparently realizing what she’d revealed. Though she hurriedly turned back around, Giyuu could see how the tips of her ears burned bright red. 

Despite her efforts, her admission hung like a cloud in the air between them. She’d worn it – the hairpin – for him. 

Giyuu swallowed thickly. “I like it.” He cleared his throat and turned, allowing his own unruly hair to obscure his face. “On you, that is.” 

For once, the Miko had neither a quick remark nor barb to lob back at him. Instead, she only turned back to her task of grinding her herbs, a thick curtain of her hair concealing her face from his sight.

Once she'd finished bottling up her new medicinal salves, Giyuu helped her carry the tins to the Shrine's storage house, directly across the courtyard from its main wing. The shrine maiden remained curiously quiet, even in spite of his own lame attempts to converse with her. He'd finally given up after his dry comment about the weather went ignored. But every so often, he let his eyes wander to her as they returned to the honden, and that nagging feeling returned as he watched her gnaw incessantly at her bottom lip, a faraway look in her eyes. 

Giyuu was not a nosy man, but the Miko's clear distraction unsettled him. He was about to pull her aside, to demand she tell him exactly what it was that had chased away the smile he so longed to see when they were approached by Y/N's haughty Master.

“Lord Tomioka,” the head Priestess nodded curtly at him in greeting. “I am glad to have run into you — I am in need of your assistance.”

The old Priestess turned to her young protégée. “Go assist the younger ones; they need to give their offerings before dinner.” 

Y/N’s mouth opened to protest but the head Priestess cut her off. “Now.”

To his surprise, the shrine maiden did not argue with her Master, only turning to him to give him a helpless shrug before she began to make her way toward the Shrine’s honden. 

The Water Pillar grimaced. He tried to convince himself the pit in his stomach was only because her odd behavior gnawed at him; that he was only curious to learn what it was that troubled her.  But as the Miko cast one last, reluctant look over her shoulder at him, Giyuu found that he was as unwilling to watch her go as she was to leave. 

If the Shrine’s head priestess noticed his inner anguish, she paid it no mind. “You will accompany me in the kitchen.”

—-

The first thing he noticed was the conspicuous absence of the scent of sake, which he’d grown accustomed to following the Priestess around like a pungent cloud of perfume. He resisted the urge to scowl; he would have to find another way to get the old woman to talk.

Giyuu followed the woman into the small structure that stood adjacent to the honden that served as the Shrine’s kitchen. He watched silently as she pulled a cleaver, large and deadly sharp, free from where it was stored in a cabinet and laid it atop a butcher’s block. The elder stepped outside of the kitchen and returned a moment later, a recently de-feathered and skinned chicken in hand.

“Things around here seem…tense,” Giyuu observed carefully  as the old woman slapped the chicken on the counter for preparation. 

“Tense is one word for it, I reckon,” she bit, taking up her cleaver. “The world we live in is dark. I should think you would know that better than most.”

The corner of his mouth dipped down. “But even your girls seem unusually subdued; distracted.” 

Her eyes flashed to his, piercing and sharp. “You mean Y/N.”

It wasn’t a question. 

“She is always restless this time of year,” the old woman sighed. “Though she loves autumn, she despises winter — or, rather, she despises how it reminds her of what she does not have. And winter is well on its way.” 

He nodded, recalling what the shrine maiden had revealed to him that day, on the hillside.

“But your observation is correct — that is not all of the reason she is so distracted,” the old Priestess said darkly, and Giyuu was surprised to see how alert and focused the normally soused elder seemed. “A man from the village — Susumo — has been following her. Demanding her.” 

Giyyu straightened. “What do you mean by ‘demand?’” 

The haggard woman cursed below her breath as she broke down the chicken’s body. “I mean in the way that men often feel entitled to women — especially angry drunks like him.” 

Every hair on Giyuu’s body stood straight as the weight of the Priestess’ warning settled. 

“I have forbidden her from venturing out in the dark alone,” the Granny continued, harshly wrenching a joint on the fowl. 

“She is a Priestess in training; surely that status affords her some protection?” Giyuu’s knuckles turned white where his fists clenched at his sides. 

“I’m not sure the shrine is enough to keep him out for much longer. He’s been lingering — and threatening consequences, if I do not agree to hand her over to him for marriage.” The old Priestess grimaced. “Her status does her no good if he burns this place to the ground.” 

The old woman set her cleaver next to her with a heavy thud, her frustration palpable. “The girl is of age, and I am not her blood family; there is no one here who can claim authority over her, not like a parent or an elder sibling.” When her eyes lifted to his, Giyuu could see a hint of fear underlying the hard anger in her gaze. “These days, I half-expect to awaken and find that she’s been stolen in the night.” 

The Water Pillar felt his jaw clench. It was rare that he felt the burning flush of anger and it was not directed at a demon, but the idea that Y/N was being harassed and threatened by some village drunkard who felt entitled to her, lit something hot in his stomach. For as vexatious and confounding as he found the young Miko to be, no one deserved to be stalked like prey. 

Especially her. 

“I’ve had a crow stationed here to alert me of any demon attacks for months,” Giyuu began, and the old woman looked to him in surprise. “But I will assign more to keep watch during the day. If there is anything strange afoot, they will tell you.” He paused a moment before adding, “And they will alert me, too.”

The head Priestess laid down her cleaver to look at him, long and hard. “Then she may have a fighting chance yet, Lord Hashira.”

————-

By the time he found Y/N once more, dinner was over and the moon had risen high in the night sky, casting the shrine grounds in its pale, silvery glow.

He’d told her, rather tersely, that he was unable to stay the night, and he tried to ignore how his chest tightened at the crestfallen look that flashed across her face. Despite her tangible disappointment, she insisted on escorting him out of the Shrine, desperate to cling to every second that might be spared to them.

“You are rather quiet tonight,” the Miko observed, walking him to the grand Torii. “More so than usual.” It was an understatement; the Water Pillar had been downright sullen and withdrawn from the moment he’d returned from whatever takes Granny had insisted she help him with. 

Rather than give her any explanation, Giyuu halted his step and reached for her wrist, stilling her. “You did not tell me you were being harassed.” 

She looked up to the Water Pillar in surprise. “How did you —?” 

He released her from his grip in favor of drawing closer to her. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

Y/N opened and closed her mouth, struggling to find her words. “I suppose,” she began, but her mouth quirked down in a frown. “I did not think you needed to be burdened by something so insignificant.” 

Giyuu stared at her as he mouthed the word insignificant, the look he shot her giving the distinct impression he thought her an idiot. “I do not think your safety is insignificant,” Giyuu’s hand drifted to the hilt of his sword, clenching it tight. “Nor do I think you are insignificant.” 

“Compared to your other obligations? I should think I’m very unimportant.” Y/N turned away from him, fiddling with a gathering basket she carried on her hip to avoid having to look him in the eyes.

But the raven-haired Pillar caught her wrist and turned her back to face him, not willing to be ignored. “If you call for me, I will come to you.” 

Y/N’s heart lurched at the Water Pillar’s words, spoken with such conviction and sincerity that it made her falter in her step. “Tomioka-san,” she said breathlessly, her eyes wide as she turned to him. “You have far more important duties to see to than to concern yourself with than mere village drama —“

But the raven-haired Hashira only shook his head as he took another step towards her, his expression severe; calculating. “You have the knife I gave you, yes?” His eyes dropped to her pocket, and Y/N felt compelled to show him that the small blade was indeed tucked safely within the folds of her hakama pants. 

“Giyuu,” she pled, and she noted the way that he twitched towards her at the sound of his name falling from her lips. “Please, don’t worry —“

“I do not make promises I cannot keep,” the Water Pillar cut her off, closing the distance between them until the tips of his zori nearly grazed hers, his head bent down towards her as the heat of his stare threatened to consume her. “So I repeat: if you call for me, I will come to you.” 

Any thought of arguing faded from her mind as Y/N became keenly aware of the lack of space between their bodies, of the way her hands, clasped in front of her chest brushed against the folds of his haori as it shifted softly with the wind. 

“I understand,” she breathed. Y/N held his gaze for a long moment, though it was in part due to the battle waging within her not to allow her eyes to drop to his lips.

She would not let herself acknowledge how close they were; how soft they looked, or how warm they might feel against hers; her skin. 

Giyuu lingered as well; after a pregnant pause, he finally stepped back, blinking as though coming out of a trance. “Good,” he nodded, and he glanced furtively over her shoulder. His eyes narrowed and he nodded as though satisfied before he turned crisply on his heel to begin his trek towards his duties and away from her. “Do not forget.” He called one last time over his shoulder, before the shadows of the woods swallowed him whole. 

As Y/N dazedly made her way back towards the shrine, a crow following closely behind her, she almost laughed at the suggestion she could. 

——-

Autumn, 1915

The weeks passed by without much fuss, and soon, the palpable tension that had settled over the Shrine as a result of Susumo’s lingering threats subsided. Soon, life at the Shrine returned to normal, and Y/N often found her mind wandering to thoughts of raven hair and endless blue eyes. 

Until that night.

It had been a normal evening at the Shrine; autumn, blissful autumn had arrived, heralding forth crisp winds and golden skies. Though the days were steadily growing shorter, Y/N found herself rejuvenated by the new chill, especially as she watched the leaves of the trees shift from green to gold to ruby. 

The leaves on her hairpin indeed had been a perfect match to those which were steadily drifting from the tall maples dotting the Shrine. Though she couldn’t wear her hair down the way she had the last time the Water Pillar paid the Shrine a visit, Y/N had found new ways to incorporate his gift into her daily life, weaving it through her plait or tucking it behind her ear. 

That night had been one like any other; after dinner, the girls of the Shrine had scattered to tend to their evening duties.  The shrine maiden had been walking alongside her Master, planning for the upcoming festival in the nearby village, during which the Shrine would seek new patrons to keep it operational. The women mulled over which families might be more inclined to assist them, and settled on a prominent merchant known to frequent other shrines on his travels through the country.

That was when they’d spotted the smoke.

“Fire!” A shrill voice cried, and both the old Priestess and Y/N blanched. “The honden is on fire!”

All at once, chaos broke out across the Shrine grounds as girls darted to and fro, frantic. Granny began barking at her charges, ordering the younger ones to gather in the courtyard while instructing the older girls to assist in putting out the flames.

"The granary!" Someone else cried. "The granary has gone up in flames!"

The elder Priestess snatched Y/N's wrist in her weathered hand. “The scrolls!” Granny's expression of horror was a sure match to her own. “They’re in the storeroom near the granary!” 

The scrolls in question had been in the Shrine’s custody for over five hundred years, carrying sacred inscriptions of the gods and prayers essential to its operation and legitimacy.

They were priceless; irreplaceable. 

“I’ll go!” And before her Master could protest, the Miko had already turned away and began sprinting toward the fire that was rapidly engulfing the granary near the back of the property.  

Thankfully, the storeroom had yet to catch fire, but if the one steadily consuming the granary was not dealt with soon, it wouldn’t be long before it spread to consume the small wooden hut. 

And Y/N knew it wouldn’t take much to reduce the storeroom to ash. 

Coughing, she pressed her arm to her nose and mouth, using the large bell sleeve of her kosode to block some of the smoke that burned her eyes and nose. She pulled her other sleeve over her hand to protect it as she pushed the storehouse’s door aside. 

Inside was dark; quiet. Though the nighttime made it difficult for her to see the scrolls and prints carefully rolled and tucked away into tiny cubbies lining the hut’s walls, Y/N wasn’t stupid enough to waste time searching for a candle to light. So, with only the flames eating away at the granary at her back to light her way, she began pulling handfuls of scrolls free from their storage, tucking them under her arm. 

She turned to take her first armload of priceless Shrine artifacts from the storeroom and nearly tripped over a collection of heated coal pans that had been stacked in the corner to keep the scrolls sealed within the room at a stable temperature. She managed to hold onto her scrolls, however, and she quickly moved them away from the hut, placing them safely on a nearby rock that was still far enough away from the storeroom should it catch fire. She returned to the hut to survey what else she needed to salvage, but a familiar, tiny yelp and the flurry of movement in her periphery made the Miko’s stomach twist.

“Komatsu!” Y/N turned and saw the anxious younger girl lingering at the storage hut’s door, her tiny hands trembling. “Get away from here! It’s not safe!” 

“B-but Sister,” the girl cried, hopping anxiously from foot to foot. “This is too much to do on your own —“

“You need to go find Granny,” the shrine maiden ordered. “I will join you in a moment.”

The girl’s lower lip wobbled. “But —,”

“Now!”

With a great sniff, the girl turned away, leaving Y/N alone once more. The Miko sighed and resumed her hasty perusal of the hut’s shelves, searching for anything else that could not be replaced. 

There was a rustling near the doorway and Y/N bit her lip in an effort not to swear in front of her younger peer. “Komatsu, what did I say —“ 

She turned to admonish the girl, but her reprimand dried instantly on her tongue. For there, in the entryway to the storeroom, was Komatsu, her eyes wide and her face bone-white with a terror that matched Y/N’s own.

Because the girl was not alone.

Wrapped around her bicep was a hand, as large as a small boulder, and tipped with long, wicked claws that threatened to pierce Komatsu’s bicep. The hand was attached to a forearm, inhumanly thick and muscled. Slowly, Y/N’s eyes dragged up the length of the monstrous arm to behold the sinister face that grinned at her. 

It was Susumo — only it wasn’t Susumo. Y/N recognized the vague features of the face that had once belonged to the village drunk and her personal tormentor. His hair was the same as was the general shape of his face, and the cruelty of his smirk, but that was where the resemblance to the Susumo she’d once known ended.

Now, he boasted a row of sharp fangs that distended nearly to his lower lip. And his eyes — no longer were they a cold, soulless black; now they were crimson red, and his pupils were cut into catlike slits.

Demon. A voice whispered in her mind. Demon.

“Enjoy my fires, Priestess?” Even Susumo’s voice had changed, forming a growl that matched his monstrous appearance. “I set them for you — I knew you would not be able to resist seeing such a spectacle.”

“Komatsu,” Y/N ignored him in favor of addressing the young girl, though her voice was unusually high though she fought to keep it as steady as possible. “Please go find Granny and help her with the honden.” 

The young trainee trembled but Susumo’s clawed hand only tightened around her arm. “I’m afraid I can’t allow that, sweet Priestess,” the demon crooned. “You have something I want, you see.”

The slick, oily look in his eyes made his desire clear.

Y/N’s eyes darted quickly around the hut, finally falling on a series of coal pans stacked to the side of the room, only a few feet from where she stood, paralyzed. Her quick, cursory glance at the pans revealed iron that was slightly red, and she swore she could see the air around them distorted by the heat.

Hot; they were still hot.

The Miko looked back to where the demon continued to leer at her, ravenous. “Fine,” she said coolly. “I will go with you, Susumo.”

Komatsu looked between her and the demon in horror, but Y/N only kept her eyes locked with the demon’s. She edged closer to where the coal pans were still burning hot, eyes not daring to drop his as she drew closer to the demon and the younger trainee. He grinned, revealing cruelly sharp and bloodstained teeth, and his yellow eyes shone with a triumphant smugness, believing the Miko was surrendering to him at last. 

As she brushed past the pans, Y/N furtively reached out a hand and closed her fingers around one of the handles. “Komatsu,” the Miko kept her eyes carefully trained on the demon. “Run.”

Her hand seized around the coal pan and with every ounce of her strength, she swung it toward the demon. The hot iron of the pan slammed into the side of his head, forcing him to drop his hold on the younger girl. There was a struggle between the older shrine maiden and the demon, who fought to wrench the pan free from her fierce grip, but Y/N would not relent. 

“Run!” She shrieked at the girl again, and Komatsu darted away. Y/N’s fingers stretched to close around the tiny lever on the handle of the coal pan, and with a snarl of fury, she managed to latch around it, squeezing it with all her might. The lid of the pan opened and red-hot coals spilled forth over the demon’s head. Susumo howled in fury, and Y/N dropped the pan, letting it crack against his head as she shot past him, desperate to escape the tiny storeroom.

The faster she got into open air, the better chance she had of living. 

But a claw, sharp and deadly sunk into her bicep, and yanked her back. She could not help the small scream that tore from her throat as she felt his talons rip at her skin and the sleeve of her kosode was shredded into ribbons beneath his nails.

“Sister Y/N!” Komatsu’s tiny, terrified voice cried out from several feet ahead. 

The shrine maiden swallowed her building panic. “Go!”

The little girl hesitated again and Y/N knew she could not follow after her, not without risking her safety once again. With a defiant scream of rage, the shrine maiden tore her arm free of the demon’s razor-like claws, fighting back the bile that rose in her throat as she felt blood run down her arm, hot and thick. 

The demon grasped wildly at her but found only air. Thinking only of the safety of Komatsu and her fellow trainees, Y/N turned on her heel and ran for the trees, away from the chaos unfolding at the Shrine. 

And the demon, still snarling and panting and undoubtedly enraged, followed her into the forest.

Shit, shit, shit!

Y/N hurtled over a snarled root as she ran, her life dependent upon every stride as she fled the newly-demented Susumo.

In the back of her mind, the Miko knew her efforts were in vain; because for every inch she managed to gain, the angry demon at her heels seemed to gain a foot.

“You’ve denied me for far too long!” The monster’s voice growled behind her, far too close for comfort. “I will have you!”

Y/N palmed the small nichirin knife tucked safely within the deep pockets of her hakama pants, and wildly she wondered whether it was possible to decapitate a demon with such a small blade. Perhaps the Water Pillar should have left her a sword. After all, a sword could not really be that different from a broom, and she’d walloped her fair share of handsy drunkards and would-be thieves with the cleaning tool.

If she lived through the night, she would tell him as much the next time she saw him.

Y/N’s musings did nothing to help her avoid the root of an old tree that jutted out from the earth, snarling around her ankle and sending her flailing to the forest floor. Angry tears of frustration clouded her eyes. Although she knew these paths like the back of her hand, that knowledge did her little good in the dark, as she fled for her life.

Scrambling up to her feet, Y/N caught sight of a pair of eyes watching her from the brambles, dark and inky.

A crow. The image of a certain Hashira flashed before her eyes, as Y/N recalled the way that the members of the Demon Slayer Corps used crows to communicate.

Perhaps this crow was so affiliated, and she was desperate enough to try. “Please!” Y/N begged, sobbing as the crow stared down at her with those black eyes. “Giyuu!”

———

The night had been unusually peaceful for the Water Pillar.

His ambling patrol around his territory’s perimeter hadn’t revealed so much as a whisper of demonic activity. But the absence of any conspicuous threat did not mean his guard was down; his eyes remained sharp, his ear finely tuned, listening for any shift in the wind, any sign that something was amiss and required investigation —

A sudden rustle of leaves sounded from his right, and Giyuu’s hand moved reflexively for his blade, bracing against its hilt in preparation. A small shadow burst from the canopy above him, its wings flapping wildly. He recognized it instantly as the crow he’d assigned to watch over the Shrine — to watch over her.

“Demon attack at the Mountain Shrine!” The crow squawked, circling above him frantically. “Demon attack! Go now — quickly!” 

He hadn’t hesitated to turn sharply on his heel, furiously making his way toward the Shrine. He broke through the line of trees at its edge in record time, and even he’d been taken aback by the chaos that had broken out.

“The honden is on fire!” the old woman cried out to the Pillar as he swiftly landed among the chaos unfolding across the shrine grounds. “The girls were still doing their evening duties – but then another fire was started near the granary!” 

“My crows said a demon had made an appearance,” Giyuu’s eyes carefully scanned the terrified, frantic faces of the Shrine’s residents, his hands braced against the hilt of his sword. “Has anyone been hurt?” 

The head Priestess stared at the Water Pillar in muted horror. “I have not seen – but I haven’t taken any headcount of the girls to know –” 

A piercing cry from near the south gate of the Shrine cut the old woman off, and both Priestess and Slayer whipped toward the sound. A girl, no more than nine, was half-running, half-stumbling toward them, frightened tears streaking down her face. 

“Komatsu!” the old Priestess blanched as she caught sight of the small apprentice’s busted, bloodied lip. With a sob, the young girl flung herself into her elder’s arms and clung tightly to her. “What on earth –?” 

“Sister Y/N!” the girl called Komatsu wailed, and Giyuu felt himself go cold. “Granny – th-that man – he’s a monster!”

The head Priestess paled in recognition. “Susumo?” Giyuu’s gut clenched at the name. The old woman knelt before the girl, her hands clutching wildly at her slim shoulders as she shook her lightly to recenter her. “Komatsu, was Susumo the monster?” 

The young girl nodded. “He was so – hiccup – fast! I didn’t even see him!” She only cried harder. “And t-then Sister Y/N – she grabbed the coal pan and dumped it on him until he let go.” Komatsu trembled as she lifted a shaking hand to wipe at her cheeks. “A-and then she t-told me to r-run –” 

THe old Priestess caught the girl’s quivering chin in her hand and forced her to meet her eyes. “Where is Y/N, Komatsu?” 

Komatus’s eyes were wide with fear. “She ran,” she whispered. “Into the woods – b-but Granny – she was bleeding –” 

The Shrine’s Priestess turned to the Slayer, ready to beg him to follow after the demon and her apprentice, but the Water Pillar was gone. For a brief moment, she feared all hope was lost; that they’d been abandoned and non one would be able to save the young Miko – her heir – from whatever horrid fate awaited her at the ends of Susumo’s crazed, brutal claws.

She caught a flurry of movement right against the dark line of trees that snagged her attention; a flap of the edge of a mismatched haori, and the glint of a blade being drawn, its wielder already furiously making his way into the shadowy depths of the forest. 

The Priestess exhaled and clutched her trembling young trainee to her chest. As she soothed the shaken young girl, the old woman prayed the Water Pillar would not be too late.

–

She was fucked; well and truly fucked.

Y/N had no idea how long she’d spent sprinting furiously through the forest, but she knew she was quickly running out of stamina. Worse, it seemed the demon on her heels knew she was slowing, and was now playing with her. But even his patience seemed to be at its wit’s end; for a sudden sharp blow to her back sent the Miko flying several feet forward until she slammed against the uneven, rough terrain of the forest floor.

Y/N gasped for air that would not come as she tried to push herself up. Crawl! Her mind begged her body. Crawl, damn you!

A dark chuckle from behind sent every hair on her body standing straight on end. A hand locked around her ankle and flipped her over until she was nearly nose to nose with the demon crouched over her. “Got you,” he sang, and the moonlight glinted off the sharp edge of his fangs as he grinned. 

Her fingers found the handle of the knife the Water Pillar had gifted her in her pocket. With a determined grunt, she pulled it free and plunged it deep into the meat of his shoulder, praying furiously to any god who would listen that she might have hit an artery so that he would bleed out. 

The demon loosed an enraged scream and fell away from her, hands blindly fumbling for the blade.  

No longer pinned beneath him, Y/N  scrambled back. Her hands scraped against the broken brush and pebbles below her in her desperate attempt to put distance between herself and the demon rising to his feet ahead of her, snarling. As he began advancing toward her, Susumo gripped the knife she’d buried in his shoulder and with a grunt, he wrenched it free and tossed it carelessly to the side, right along with the last shred of any hope she’d had of making it out of the woods alive.

The demon’s mouth curled into a cruel, savage grin, the moonlight glinting off his long, wicked fangs. “I’m going to enjoy this,” he growled, saliva dripping down his chin as his nostrils widened to scent her blood and her fear. 

This was it; there was nowhere for her to run, no weapon she could try and protect herself with. There was nothing she could do; she was going to die, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Just as Susumo drew upon her, close enough that she could smell the rancid, pungent odor of rotted meat on his breath, he stumbled back, startled. 

One moment the demon was standing mere inches from her, ready to devour her whole; the next, he was sent sailing back, his body smashing into the trunk of a nearby tree with a sickening thump! 

A blur of dark matter soared over the Miko’s head toward the monster. Susumo barely had time to stand before the shadow converged on him once more. There was a flash of light — the moon reflecting off metal — followed by a dull thud. The shrine maiden’s heart lodged in her throat as she watched the head of the former village drunkard roll across the forest floor before distingrating, his body following soon after. 

She was nearly hyperventilating as the shadow turned to face her, but the pall of the moon finally illuminated the face of her savior — her Water Pillar.

“G-Giyuu,” she stuttered, her eyes stinging with unshed tears of relief that washed over her all at once.

But Giyuu did not respond, his lapis eyes narrowing in on the dark stain spreading across the white of her kosode. Y/N cowered at the cold, unbridled rage that contorted the ordinarily stoic Hashira’s face as he began to shake at the sight of her blood. In a flash, Giyuu had closed the distance between them and knelt down by her side, gripping her wounded arm in his hand as he tried to pull her tattered sleeve down and  inspect her wound.

“Tomioka — Giyuu,” she pled, trying to wrench her arm from his iron-like grip. “Please, it’s not that bad —“

“Did it get you anywhere else?” Giyuu demanded harshly, and the authority underlying his tone made Y/N fall silent for the first time since she’d known him. “Did it -“ the Water Pillar hesitated. “Did it touch you anywhere else?”

Y/N was trembling, and the Hashira’s hand around her arm tightened. “Ah!” She winced. “No, I promise, Giyuu, it’s just a flesh wound, I’m fine-,”

“You are bleeding. You are not fine.” Giyuu snapped back. “You could’ve been killed, or turned, or -,” the Water Pillar began to hyperventilate, and it shook the young Miko to her core. The Water Hashira was normally so unflappable, so stoic, that his panicked anger frightened her.

“-So do not tell me you’re fine,” Giyuu’s rant continued. “Not when you could’ve — not when I might’ve failed — not again --”

She was at a loss for what to do as she watched the raven-haired man struggle to form words. Vaguely, she recalled the way the Granny-Priestess had once explained to her that when someone panicked, they needed to regulate their breathing, and there were many ways someone could help force another to breathe properly…

Stomach fluttering, Y/N’s free hand came up to grip the fold of the Water Pillar’s haori. Giyuu’s incessant rambling only ended when her lips urgently pressed against his own, his eyes going wide. A heartbeat or two passed and then the Miko pulled away, her eyes serious as she stared at the stunned Water Hashira.

“You need to give me a sword.” She told him, earnestly, her face blazing.

———

Giyuu helped her back to the Shrine, though the Miko found herself needing to bat off the Water Pillar with a stern reminder that she’d only sustained a small arm wound as he’d tried to scoop her up into his arms.

The Swordsman had been rather subdued the entire journey out of the forest, his eyes curiously wide and dazed right until the pair breached the tree line at the edge of the Shrine’s property. The moment they stepped into open ground, they were swarmed by the tearful, relieved faces of the Shrine’s inhabitants. Words of gratitude to him were woven through worries over the Miko’s arm wound as they made their way across toward the small infirmary which, thankfully, had not been touched by Susumo’s fire.

The honden itself was still standing; though the flames had finally been subdued, smoke still curled up toward the sky, blocking any view of the moon or the stars. 

The head Priestess waited for them outside the infirmary. Though her face was grave, Giyuu could spy the relief shining in her eyes. He stood numbly by as the Miko and her master regarded each other warily for a moment, before the elder Priestess reached forward and yanked her charge forward into a fierce embrace.

“Reckless girl,” she chastised gently against the side of Y/N’s head. “Thank every one of the gods that you’re safe.” The old Priestess’s eyes found those of the Water Pillar. “And thank you, Lord Tomioka.”

Y/N was promptly escorted inside to have her wound examined and stitched. Despite the old shrine keeper’s gratitude for his aid in saving the young shrine maiden, that thankfulness apparently did not extend to permitting him inside the infirmary with them, and for good reason. For under the Elder’s withering glare, the Water Pillar realized that Y/N’s treatment would require her to be stripped of her kosode, leaving her exposed and bare. 

As unwilling as he’d been to part from her, the thought of witnessing the Miko undressed and vulnerable had been enough to temper his urge to look after her, if nothing else because the mental image of her in such a state flustered him to no end.

Though, he supposed his bewilderment also had something to do with what had transpired between them in the forest.

Kissed him; the shrine maiden had kissed him. 

His fingers drifted to his lips. They still felt warm where they’d been graced by hers, and he swore he could still feel the softness of her mouth from where it had brushed against his. 

He needed to talk to her; he needed to know what the hell she’d been thinking, kissing him like that. 

But as shocking as the Miko’s kiss had been, there was something else, something far heavier, that weighed on his mind. 

She’d nearly been killed. By a demon. On his watch. 

He should’ve apologized; he should’ve begged for her forgiveness for letting her come that close with death. For letting her get wounded because he hadn’t been fast enough.

I was concerned for you, he wanted to tell her. I thought I would be too late.

No; concern didn’t cover it; did not do near enough justice to his true emotions upon learning the Miko had fled into the dark forest with a hungry, loathsome demon hot on her trail.

He’d been scared; terrified; almost beside himself at the possibility that he’d be too late and find that she’d already been reduced to the beast’s meal, 

He’d been scared he’d never again see her smile or hear her laugh, and that had terrified him more than anything. For it was the memory of both that soothed his anxious nerves each time he startled awake from visions of his dead loved ones, demanding to know why they had died in his stead.   

He’d feared that he would have to add her face to those he saw when he slept — the faces of those he’d failed to protect, who’d died for his sake. He’d been terrified of seeing her image in painstaking clarity, just as he saw the faces of his sister and Sabito every morning. 

He did not know what to do with them, these confusing feelings, so abundant and intense that they’d welled up within him and threatened to spill over. He couldn’t name them, let alone begin to untangle the knot they’d formed within his heart. All he knew was that every one of them were inextricably tied to her. 

His shrine maiden. 

His.

—

Y/N’s arm ached, but it had been properly sewn and bandaged, and there was work to do before she could settle in for the night; and so, she found herself helping her peers with cleaning up the courtyard from the debris of the night’s events. 

Truthfully, she'd been grateful for the distraction. Occupying herself with cleanup meant she did not have to think about what she’d done in the forest. But then Granny Priestess saw her trying to heave away broken wood with her freshly stitched arm and Y/N found herself forced to abandon her fellow trainees as the old bat smacked her upside the head and squawked about how she was going to break her stitching and complicate the healing process.  

The Miko tried not to pout as she retreated, opting instead to grumble over the old woman’s dramatics as her arm stung and her ego throbbed. When she finally returned to her sleeping quarters, exhaustion slammed into her, making her limbs heavy and leaden. Unable to quite rally the energy to crawl into her futon, she slumped against the doorway of the room, her head and her heart a tangled mess of emotions she couldn’t quite name.

What she’d felt the moment the Water Pillar had stepped into the moonlight had been more than mere relief that he’d managed to save her life for the second time. She’d felt safe, so unbelievably safe that the forest itself could have been on fire and she wouldn’t have been afraid; not as long as he was there with her.

Something between them had shifted; that much was clear. In truth, things likely had begun to change the moment she repaired his haori, and she’d admitted to him her deep-seated loneliness and lack of belonging.

She only hoped he felt the change, too.

—

Much to Y/N’s chagrin, autumn was quickly giving way to blasted winter.

Though, the Miko hadn’t been able to fully resent the rapid shift in the seasons; repairs at the Shrine had consumed nearly all of her attention, and as Granny’s heir, she was expected to contribute to its reconstruction more than any other trainee.

That expectation meant Granny left the task of figuring out how to finance the necessary repairs entirely to her young protege. Y/N had spent all of two days agonizing over ways to raise the necessary funds when she awoke to find a mysterious sack of money that had been left on the doorstep of the honden. Inside had been an amount more than generous to cover the cost of repairs from the fire, with a hefty remainder that could be put toward other necessary improvements to spruce the Shrine up, and perhaps restore it to its former glory. 

No note had been left with the money to indicate the identity of the Shrine’s benefactor.  But amid all the excitement of her peers at the thought of being able to afford materials and laborers to assist with the more difficult aspects of the Shrine’s refurbishment, Y/N had spotted a familiar crow perched high in a nearby tree.

That position had afforded the bird with a perfect view of the money sack, allowing it to silently ensure it fell into the proper hands. But repairs had finally slowed, and Y/N now found her days returning to normal. Almost. 

What was not normal was how agitated she'd become in waiting for his return.

Another week passed without any communication from the Water Pillar, and the Miko had grown desperate for any sort of distraction. She found herself one late, autumn morning passing the time in the Shrine’s garden hut. She was pretending to be searching for tools that would help her prune the wilting Shrine garden when something grazed against the small of her back. Startled, she turned and was greeted by familiar, unruly raven hair and a pair of deep azure eyes. 

“Giyuu,” his name slid easily off her tongue, and suddenly she could not remember why she’d called him anything else. 

A ghost of a smile graced his lips. “Hello, Y/N.”

A poignant silence followed, and her cheeks grew hot. "Don't mind me," she said quickly, turning her head away from him as she pretended to organize stray gardening supplies. "I am only just now finishing my tasks for the day."

Though he remained silent, she became acutely aware of the way Giyuu’s eyes followed her as she tried desperately to keep herself busy, to avoid having to meet that piercing, discerning stare. 

“I did not get a chance to properly thank you after the turmoil of that night,” she said casually. Nervously, she hoped that his heightened senses did not alert him to the way her heart fluttered in her chest, or how her stomach flipped in her gut. Her nails dug into her palms as she lifted her head to meet that unnerving, fathomless stare.

But the Water Pillar had already closed most of the distance between them, having moved so silently she’d not heard him, despite even the creaky, uneven slatted floor of the garden hut. “How is your wound?” He asked softly, his hand skirting up the outside of the arm Susumo had wounded. “Has it healed?” 

It took a great amount of effort for Y/N to remember how to keep her breathing steady. But she forced her lips into an easy smile as she rucked up the flared sleeve of her kosode to reveal her bicep. “It will likely scar,” she admitted, her fingers lightly tracing over the three, angry red marks that remained imprinted on her skin, though they’d fully scabbed over. “I consider myself quite lucky, all things considered.” 

“Why did you do it?” 

The Miko ducked her head, willing the sheet of her hair to fall and conceal her mounting blush. She did not need to ask him to clarify; she knew after what he was asking.

But she feigned ignorance all the same. “I don’t know what you mean, Tomioka-sama –” 

“Don’t call me that,” and even though she refused to meet his eyes, she could sense his irritation at her avoidance. “We’re well past such formalities, Y/N.” Giyuu stepped closer to her, his cerulean eyes melting into something more akin to the midnight blue of the evening sky. “You kissed me. That night.” The Water Pillar’s hand glided up the arm that Susumo had injured, caressing softly over the healed skin beneath the sleeve of her kosode.

“I-I did no such thing!” Y/N sputtered, though her reddening cheeks betrayed her. “I was only attempting to help you calm down — you were panicking, and inconsolable.” 

Giyuu’s responding smirk only served to irritate her more. “Should I thank you then, Y/N?” His hand slid from her shoulder to below her chin, his delicate fingers curling to tilt her head up towards his, as he closed the distance between their bodies. “Should I show you how grateful I am that you were able to assuage my worry?” 

Y/N tried to focus on anything but the feeling of Giyuu’s breath — warm and enticing — against her face as he leaned in close. “You had no reason to worry; I was completely fine before you showed up.” 

“Fine,” the ravenette scoffed, his grip on her chin tightening slightly. “So fine that you were bleeding and about to become that beast’s snack — or worse.” 

“But you saved me, did you not?” Y/N whispered, unable to stop her eyes from dropping to the Water Pillar’s sensual, soft-looking mouth before rising once more to meet his punishing gaze. “And then I helped you.” 

Giyuu’s second hand brushed against her waist and the shrine maiden thought she might leap out of her skin. “You did,” he conceded, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a small, half-smile. “Though I apologize that you needed to do so — I suppose I become a little over-zealous when things that are precious to me are threatened.” 

Even if she could have thought of some witty remark to throw back at him, those words surely would have been blocked by her heart as it lodged in her throat. 

Things that were precious to him. She was precious to him.

“So I’ll ask again, Y/N,” Giyuu whispered, and his nose brushed delicately against hers. “Should I thank you for your assistance?” The fingers beneath her chin stroked her jaw. “Should I kiss you?” 

She fought to suppress the excited shudder that licked up her spine. “Yes, Lord Hashira,” she breathed, and her stomach turned cartwheels as Giyuu’s gaze dropped to her mouth. “Perhaps you should.” 

“Who am I to deny the request of a priestess?” Giyuu murmured, and then his lips were moving against hers, warm and soft. Y/N’s fingers flew to clutch the Water Pillar’s rocky biceps beneath the soft cloth of his haori, anchoring him against her. The hand that had gripped below her chin slid to the side of her face, tilting her head so that the Water Pillar could have better access to her as he pressed his lips harder against hers. 

Y/N moaned into his kiss, wanting him closer, impossibly closer to her than he currently was. 

Giyuu broke away from her once, though he kept a hand on the back of her neck to keep her in place. “What are your duties today?” 

Y/N’s fingers curled around the front of the Water Pillar’s haori, her forehead resting against his. “None of import.” She gave him a sly smile. “No one will miss me if I am gone for a few hours.” 

Giyuu returned her smile with a tiny smirk of his own. “In that case,” he tugged her hand and he began to lead her towards the grassy overlook where they’d spent a great deal of time talking and learning one another. “I could use your assistance.”

–

Y/N hadn’t greeted the sunrise with the intent to neglect her shrine duties, but she couldn’t say she regretted how she ended up spending the day.

They spent the day resting on the hillside overlooking the shrine grounds, rolling back and forth upon the browning grass as they kissed each other again and again. 

“You weren’t wrong, that day — right after we met,” Giyuu gasped against her lips as they broke apart, the blush on Y/N’s cheeks a sure match to his own. “I do not find you captivating.”

Y/N’s eyebrows furrowed. Her mouth parted, a protest on her tongue when Giyuu surged forward, his lips brushing against her neck. The Miko’s words choked off with a squeak as the Water Pillar danced his lips to the hollow of her throat, his tongue flicking out once right where her heart pulsed wildly. 

“I think you are utterly transfixing; enchanting,” he breathed against her skin. “You have cast a spell over me that I do not want broken.”

“I find it hard to believe anyone could wield that sort of power over a Hashira,” Y/N’s voice was high pitched as Giyuu’s lips made their way back to hers.

In the back of her mind, Y/N wondered if his words were motivated purely by his physical desire for her. It would not have surprised her if he was only so taken with her because he longed to be touched; held. Like him, she’d gone much of her life without intimacy from anyone. She could not blame him for seeking it from someone so willing to give as she. 

“But you are not just anyone, not to me.” was all he replied, his lips moving softly against hers once more. “You are…everything.”

Y/N’s breath caught in her throat. The Water Pillars words, dripping like honey from his lips, were only sweetened by the fervent sincerity of his eyes as he pulled back to gaze into hers, so deeply, she felt as though he could see every thought in her head.

She wondered if he lowered that piercing, discerning stare, whether he’d be able to see straight to her heart, too; see how it bore his name. 

Even though her breath guttered in her throat at his words, her heart clenched painfully in her chest. The idea that she’d attached more meaning to their relationship than he, that perhaps she’d overestimated her value to him made her tense, made her want to push him away and —

“You’re distracted,” Giyuu murmured against her lips, brushing his nose against hers. “Your thoughts are loud.” 

Her fingers caught the front fold of his haori, fiddling idly with it. “There is nothing for you to repay, you know. You do not owe me your time or your attention. I know the Shrine is simply a part of your designated patrol. I understand if its convenience is the only reason —” 

A single finger pressed itself against her lips, quieting her. “You think and talk too much.” The ravenette chastised. Her mouth parted, a protest forming on her lips, when he cut her off again. “Ah ah,” Giyuu silenced her with his lips, his tongue flicking out to skim along her bottom lip. Above her, he shifted and allowed his weight to fall against her, pinning her beneath him. Reluctantly, his mouth broke away from hers. “It is my turn to speak.” 

“I do not come to the Shrine because it is easy,” Giyuu’s lips brushed hesitantly against her jaw. “Nor do I come here out of any preconceived obligation to repay your kindness.” 

He pulled back to study her, panting and flushed beneath him. As his eyes slowly combed over her, Y/N felt a strange knot pull and twist in the depths of her stomach. “There is only one thing that brings me back here, no matter how exhausted I am after weeks of endless missions; no matter how often certain junior Corps members pester me to train them.” His eyes narrowed at the hollow of the Miko’s throat, exposed by the way her kosode had shifted as the pair of them rolled around the grass. Curious, Giyuu leaned down and pressed his lips firmly against it. 

And then he did the unthinkable;  the Water Pillar moaned, ever so softly, against the fluttering of Y/N’s frantic pulse. The sound, so rich and full of need – of want – washed over her and drowned out all other thoughts, all other higher reasoning from her mind. INstead, the Miko was left with nothing but the sharp urge to press her thighs together, an unknown heat beginning to pool in her most sacred area. 

“Do you know what that thing is, Y/N?” He whispered against the soft dip in her throat, his breath hot as it fanned across her skin. “Can you guess what it is I cannot stay away from – could not, even if I desired otherwise?” 

His fingers dropped to the collar of her kosode, tracing lightly over its crisp, white fold. “When I close my eyes in the mornings, it is your face I see,” he murmured. “It is your laugh I hear in my dreams; your scent I find myself longing for when I awaken.”

The Miko shivered as his index finger traced from her collar up her throat, over her chin until it came to rest on her bottom lip, gently stroking over its curve. “It is you I seek to turn to remind myself that there is still good in this world – good still worth protecting. Why is that, Y/N?” His eyebrows furrowed and he seemed almost earnest in his question. “Why is it that my mind refuses to be occupied by anything but you?” 

“Because I vex you,” she said softly, eyes wide and locked with his. “Because, try as you might, you’ve never been able to fully fit me into a box as you have with others.” 

Giyuu shook his head. “Vex me?” He tsked at her. “Perhaps once that was true. But now? I desire you in ways I can hardly understand, and it drives me mad.”

Her breath hitched in her throat. “What are you saying?” 

“I think I’ve been rather clear,” and instinctively, Giyuu rolled his hips against hers, desperate to relieve some of the friction mounting in his groin. “And it’s that I want –” 

But the Miko did not get to hear what Giyuu wanted; not as he was drowned out by the screeching cry of a bird from high above. Only, this bird was not the dull, graying crow she’d come to associate with her Swordsman.

“I thought your crow was older?”

The Water Pillar frowned as he turned to look up, his eyebrows drawn together. “That’s not Kanzaburo — that’s one of the Master’s —“

“CAW,” the bird circled above their heads in narrow, rapid turns. “Lord Tomioka! Return to headquarters immediately!”

Giyuu’s jaw clenched. “Can it not wait?” 

Y/N, however, only gaped up at the bird flying above them. “It talks —?” 

But the crow only cried again, “Emergency meeting at headquarters!!

With a short, frustrated exhale, Giyuu rolled to the side of the Miko and rose, but not before he extended a hand and helped lift her to her feet.

He gingerly brushed some loose grass from her hair. “I’m sorry.” 

She only shook her head as she reached to adjust his haori, righting it in his shoulders. “It’s your duty, Giyuu. I understand that.”

He scowled back up at the bird still circling above them, bleating a refrain of “Emergency! Go now!”

“I’m not finished with this conversation,” Giyuu said plainly, a frustrated hand working through his hair. Though his annoyance was plain as day, it fell away as he looked back to the Miko at his side, his gaze softening. “Nor am I finished with you.” 

A single finger reached under Y/N’s chin and lifted her head toward him so he could brush another kiss against her lips. “I will come see you – soon.” 

With a shy boldness, the Miko rose on her toes and gave him one final kiss, and Giyuu’s hand tightened where it rested against her waist. “I’ll wait for you, Lord Hashira.”

———

December, 1915

Y/N cursed at the ancient priestess who insisted on using only gas-powered lanterns rather than the newer, much safer, electric powered lights that other shrines had begun using. 

“We are an esteemed shrine dating back hundreds of years,” the old crone had simpered, “Tradition has kept us going this far!” 

Y/N hadn’t helped her cause by asking whether tradition or spite was what kept the hag from dying off and finally leaving her in peace.

And that was how the young Priestess-to-be found herself stomping through the snowy grounds of the Shrine, forced to light each and every lantern by hand using a match and oil, utterly by herself.

She knew better than to levy such an obvious taunt at the old woman, but admittedly, Y/N hadn’t been in the best of moods as of late. 

Giyuu had not returned since that day on the hillside, when he’d kissed her silly and told her he could not stop thinking of her. It was as though he no longer existed; even the crows at the Shrine were no more, having all disappeared one morning before she’d awoken.

As the weeks passed, the weight of his absence had grown heavier, threatening to beat her into the ground below. 

But Y/N had done her best to hold her tongue over the last weeks as her anxiety mounted, and Granny should’ve known that — so really, it was her own fault if she’d taken offense to the Miko’s barb.

She grumbled and cursed under her breath as she trudged toward the small garden hut standing at the furthest edge of the Shrine’s grounds — her last stop of the night. She shoved past the old, rickety door and braced her merrily flickering, hand-held lantern out before her, bathing the small hut in a warm, orange glow.

All was silent and quiet within the small storeroom. The air was cold, though the slatted walls of the hut offered some protection from the howling, snow-dotted winds outside. Determined to complete her task and return to the comfort of her warm futon, the Miko fumbled around one of the store shelves for a small can of oil. 

“It’s you,” a quiet voice startled her from behind, and Y/N nearly dropped the lantern clutched in her hands.

But she did not feel afraid as she recognized the calm, soothing cadence of the voice, that voice that belonged to the one person capable of making her blush. 

The one person who held her heart.

“It’s been a while, Giyuu. I was wondering when I’d see you again.” She turned and saw the raven-haired man standing in the doorway of the garden hut, his face characteristically neutral, though he seemed tense, even more so than usual.

Instantly, she moved toward him. “What’s wrong?”

His eyes tightened, and the darkness which swam within them betrayed his aloof facade. “Things have changed quickly in my world,” he began, and she saw his fists clench at his sides. “We believe the demons are preparing for war — and so we have been as well. 

“War?” She repeated softly, her step faltering. “I hadn’t realized the demons were so…organized.”

Giyuu nodded. “One creature is responsible for all demons. He is the orchestrator; he is the one we must kill, and we believe the opportunity to do so is drawing nearer.”

The monotonous cadence of his voice fell away as he quietly added, “That is why I haven’t been able to return — we’ve been training. This battle — it may start at any moment.”

He made like he wanted to say more, but he stopped himself, pressing his lips into a tight line. 

“And?” She prompted gently, taking a solitary step toward him.

“He hesitated, and she spied how his throat worked to swallow. “And I do not know when I will be able to see you again. After tonight.”

Y/N watched him for a moment, her eyes searching his. “When you say you don’t know ‘when’ we will see each other again,” she began, cautiously. “Do you mean ‘if?’”

Giyuu’s answering silence said more than any words could. 

For a moment, the Miko could not remember how to speak, not as she felt the organ in her chest splinter into a thousand, mismatched pieces.

“I just wanted to see you,” the Water Pillar struggled to swallow around the growing lump in his throat. “One last time.” 

She could scarcely breathe. 

He was leaving and he might never return. 

Leaving to go try and put an end to the scourge of demons that plagued their world. It was a noble thing to do; sacrifice in its purest form. 

But she hated it. 

She was filled with such a deep melancholy that it nearly brought her to her knees. As the Water Pillar turned to leave, Y/N couldn’t stop herself as she reached for him, her arms encircling him as her hands locked over his front, stilling him.

“Giyuu,” she said thickly, her face pressed into the back of his haori as she willed the tears in her eyes not to fall. “Giyuu.” 

He turned in her grasp and looked down at her in awe, a finger rising to brush the errant tear that had escaped down her cheek as he held her gaze. 

The flame within her lantern flickered as Giyuu softly grazed his lips against her own, Y/N’s arms weaving around his neck to hold him close to her. 

His hands were gentle, if not a little uncertain as they found her waist, but once they came to a rest against her, he pulled her close, arms winding around her middle and holding her securely against him as he deepened the kiss. She moaned softly into his mouth, her hands tangling in his hair as she opened up for him, his tongue gliding alongside her own until she was left breathless and wanting. 

Vaguely, the Miko was aware that he was walking them deeper into the garden hut, allowing the old door to thud shut behind him, and the thought of not returning to her plush futon suddenly did not seem like such a loss. 

Giyuu’s hands returned to her face, thumbs stroking softly along her cheeks as he broke their kiss to brush his lips against her eyes, her nose, and forehead. Y/N’s hands parted the Water Hashira’s haori from his shoulders as Giyuu’s fingers dropped to her collar bone, sliding beneath her kosode, and grazing her bare shoulder. 

“You have been my most treasured encounter,” he whispered, and she felt her heart seize in her throat, tears threatening to spill anew from her eyes.

A year’s worth of interactions had all led to this moment, but it was not the satisfying payoff of the tension and longing that had been steadily building between them.

This was a goodbye. 

Because it was likely that the Water Pillar would not survive the impending battle; but neither did he want to leave this end untied. 

She had known, deep in her heart, that this affair had been doomed before it had ever begun, but that hadn’t stopped her from falling for the kind, brave, selfless man now kissing her like she was his entire world anyways. 

She would not get to have him in the morning, so she resolved to give herself to him for the night. 

Giyuu’s hands eased her kosode from her shoulders, exposing her to the cool air within the garden hut. His warm hands, however, worked to chase away any chill that spread across her skin as he ran his palms over the curve of her shoulders before sliding down to rest on her bare waist, his long fingers grazing just below the curve of her breasts.

Her own fingers trembled as she fumbled with the buttons on his uniform shirt but in time, she’d worked them open and Giyuu broke their kiss long enough to let his shirt drop to the floor beneath them. 

The two stood there for a moment, chests rising and falling rapidly, as they looked at one another, half-nude and vulnerable. The shrine maiden and the slayer knew that they had come upon a precipice, and if they stepped off that ledge, there would be nothing to break their fall. 

Y/N made the first move, taking a tentative step towards the Water Pillar as she trailed her fingers lightly up the beautiful, sculpted ridges of his abdomen, relishing how warm he was beneath her touch. 

Giyuu shivered beneath her fingertips as the miko’s hand came to a rest against his sternum, marveling the way his heart thundered beneath her hand. “Are you certain?” He breathed, his face was impassive, but his own uncertainty was betrayed by the slight tremor in his voice. His hand rose to gently cup the side of her face, his thumb ghosting over her bottom lip. 

She reached to grab the Pillar’s free hand and brought it up to rest against her sternum, mirroring her own hold on him so that he could feel the steady drum of her own heart — and how it thrummed for him. “Yes,” she whispered. “I’m yours, Giyuu.” 

Once, she had believed the Hashira incapable of expressing anything other than cold aloofness. she’d not been able to comprehend the subtle ways with which his eyes could signal his mood; how they darkened when angry, or how the outer corners turned up, almost imperceptibly, when he was content. 

But she had long since learned to read him, and so, her stomach fluttered at the way the raven haired man’s gaze heated with both adoration and desire — for her. 

Giyu brushed his nose against hers affectionately before bringing their lips together once more, his kiss growing fervent as her hands slid up to tangle in his ebony hair. Y/N gasped into his mouth as she felt Giyu bend down, his hands gripping firmly under her thighs as he lifted her up, forcing her to lock her legs around his waist. Her lips parted, and Giyuu’s tongue slid seamlessly into her mouth.

Her lover locked one steely arm firmly around her lower back to support her as Y/N felt him lower them to the floor to lay her down, the Water Pillar’s free hand coming to brace against the back of her skull, to protect her head from thudding back against the wooden slats of the hut floor. The Miko steadied herself, prepared for the cold bite of the dirty hut floor to nip at the bare skin of her back, but she was only settled against something warm and soft; something that smelled distinctively of the Slayer panting above her. 

Her fingers dropped to her side and grazed against the familiar fabric of Giyuu’s haori; his most prized and cherished possession, spread out beneath her to protect her from the cold ground,  a makeshift bed against which she would let him take her and make her his.

He withdrew his lips from hers to sit back, his cerulean eyes tracing over every inch of her, from the way her dark hair spread out in a soft halo around her, to the blush staining her cheeks. His eyes darkened as they lowered to her bare chest, at the way it rose and fell jerkily as Y/N struggled to control her breathing. 

Giyuu’s long, slim fingers reached out to trace along the top of her scarlet hakama pants, his finger tips just grazing along her ribs and the underside of her breasts. 

“I’d never known such -,” He covered his struggle for words by pressing a sweet kiss against the hollow of her throat, a soft gasp escaping the Miko at the unfamiliar sensation. “Such beauty,” Giyuu’s lips trailed down to skirt across the ridge of her collar bone. “Not until I met you.” 

His face was against her sternum, pressing kisses as he trailed his lips down her skin. “I am sorry I could not give you more time.” His voice was soft, softer than even she had ever known. Before she could respond, Giyuu’s mouth hesitantly brushed against the stiffened peak of her breast, and Y/N’s mouth fell open with a soft cry. 

Azure eyes flashed up to meet hers. “Is this — is this okay?” 

The Miko's eyes fluttered shut as she nodded, unable to trust that she could hold her voice steady if she spoke. Her fingers weaved their way through the Pillar’s thick, raven locks, and she grazed her nails against his scalp in encouragement. 

Giyuu grunted softly at her touch, and he leaned forward to suck more of her soft mound into his hot mouth, teeth grazing lightly against her nipple as he explored her. 

“Oh,” she moaned, her thighs inadvertently pressing together as Giyuu’s tongue and lips worshipped her bared flesh, licking and sucking and nipping at her in his devotion. 

“Beautiful,” he murmured against the soft, sensitive skin of her breast. “So very beautiful.” 

He repeated the movement again and again before he traced his mouth across her sternum and began lavishing her other breast with the same fervor. Her hands fisted in his hair as she mewled for him, enamored with the feeling of his hot mouth latched around her. He gave her more and yet it was not enough; every pass of his tongue over her stiffened peak only amplified the ache between her legs, only made the emptiness she felt more pronounced.

A breathy, whining and needy moan blew past her lips in time with a reflexive buck of her hips against his.  

The ravenette pulled off her breast with a start, his eyes bright and his cheeks flushed as he gazed down at her in awe. “Do that again.”

“W-what —?” She pushed herself up on her elbows to look down at him, her chest heaving.

“Tell me what to do,” Giyuu’s breath was ragged though his fingers continued trailing down her sides, seeking out the ties securing her bottoms around her waist. “Tell me how I might help you make that sound again.” 

“I –” Y/N squirmed beneath the intensity of his gaze, her thighs rubbing together to stifle some of the electricity she felt between her legs. “I want you to – I need you closer.” 

Her eyes drifted to the bulge that had formed between the Hashira’s thighs, and she felt her heart skip in her chest.

Giyuu pressed his groin against hers and ground. She gasped at the spark of pleasured friction the movement stoked between her thighs, and her eyes flew to meet his, only to see they were as wide as hers. 

And just as hungry. 

Her hand gently cupped his face. “Closer. Please.” 

He pressed his cheek into her palm and with a soft groan, his fingers quickly loosened the fastenings of her bottoms and then he was pushing them down her hips and over her legs, discarding them carelessly to the side. Giyuu sat back on his knees and let his eyes roam her, now fully bare and laid out beneath him. 

When his appraisal of her finally reached the thatch of curls between her thighs, the Water Pillar loosed a shaky breath. She had half a mind to cross her legs, to conceal the most intimate part of her body from the raging fire of his gaze as he studied her, but she forced herself to remain relaxed; open.

One, broad and calloused hand stretched tentatively out to run along the outside of her hip and down her leg, before smoothing back up in the inside of her thigh. His eyes flicked once to hers, and then he leaned forward and brushed delicate kisses down her abdomen, over her hip and along her thigh. He continued his descent as he slowly pushed himself back from her, and once he imparted one last, sweet press of his lips against her ankle, he rose. 

The flickering light of the lantern cast shadows along the alabaster of his skin, further accentuating how the muscles of his torso and abdomen flexed and shifted as he worked to free himself of the remainder of his clothes. His eyes did not leave hers, not even as his hands found the buckle of his belt and tugged it loose, and Y/N found herself free falling into their depths.

The ravenette dropped his belt to the floor, and then his fingers were at the waistband of his trousers, pulling and fiddling with their fastening. At last, Giyuu freed his lower half from the confines of his uniform pants and stepped out from the puddle they made at his feet. 

Y/N’s breath hitched in her throat as her eyes raked over his beautiful form, so lean yet solid and muscular. Her cheeks burned with a renewed blush as her gaze followed the small, dark trail of hair beginning just below his navel, and down between his hips, where the evidence of his desire stood proud. 

Her throat went dry. He was large — the flared head of his tip nearly grazed his navel, and his width was a little more than two of her fingers. Her thighs clamped together nervously, as she pondered how on earth she’d be able to accommodate him.

Giyuu noticed her hesitation, and a faint dusting of pink spread across his cheeks. “I have never -“

The shrine maiden shook her head. “Nor I,” she whispered, though the knowledge that this was as new to him as it was to her helped ease the clench in her stomach. For all her nervousness, the Miko could not ignore the heat and longing which burned within her as she lifted her eyes back to his. She found her muscles softening as she saw the same fire within those cyan pools she’d come to love. Y/N laid back against the floor — against the comforting soft of his haori, and let body relax, her legs falling open to him. 

She held her hand out to him, beckoning, “Come back to me, Giyuu.” 

The ravenette did not hesitate as he returned to her, covering her body with his own as he pulled her in for a heated kiss, the weight of his hardened length resting heavily against her hip as he settled between the cradle of her thighs.

Y/N moaned into his mouth, instinctively rolling her hips against him, desperate to feel closer to the man who had claimed her heart before she’d realized anyone was capable of holding it.  

Giyuu groaned, softly, against her as she repeated the movement, breaking their kiss to look down at the flushed Miko threatening to drive him wild with her silken touch. As much as he was desperate to feel her — every part of her — he knew what they were about to do would not be nearly as pleasurable for her as it would be for him. 

“I don’t want to hurt you,” the Water Pillar’s eyes were stormy, a tempest of competing desire and pain at the idea of causing her even the slightest discomfort raging within him. 

Y/N brushed her lips against his once before trailing along his jaw, pausing only to suck softly as the soft spot beneath his ear. “I am only ever undone by you; never hurt.” 

He moaned softly, lowering his head back down to reclaim her mouth firmly with his own, his lips beseeching her to let him consume her. 

She was only too happy to do so, parting her mouth so that his tongue could slide in and dance languidly with hers, as he reached between them, gripping hold of his aching length and positioning himself at her entrance. 

The first brush of his hot, velvety tip against her folds broke their kiss, both gasping at the new yet intoxicating feel of the other’s most intimate area. 

Giyuu braced his free arm by her head, his fingers stretching to run comfortingly through her hair, as he pressed his forehead against hers. “If it becomes too much, just tell me, and we can stop.” His voice shook ever so slightly as he waited for her signal, the ache in his groin becoming nearly painful. 

The Miko grazed her lips against his throat. “Don’t stop.” She murmured. She hitched her legs higher up on his hips, angling herself so the trembling man above her would have better access to her. 

Slowly, so very slowly, the tip of Giyuu’s length began to push into her, and Y/N felt herself temporarily forget how to breathe. Above her, Giyuu’s eyes squeezed shut in a concerted effort not to sheathe himself within her in one stroke. 

“Y/N,” Giyuu panted, unable to stop the shaky moan that fell from his lips as he sunk into her warm heat that wrapped tight, so impossibly tight around him.

The shrine maiden winced at the unfamiliar and slightly uncomfortable sensation of being slowly stretched and filled by the Pillar. She felt as though she was a wave, crashing and breaking and parting around a rocky shore with every inch gained by the press of his hips against hers. 

Giyuu hardly had a quarter of himself seated within her when he felt his head brush against a thin barrier. His eyes opened to look down at the Miko, panting beneath him, her eyebrows pinched in slight discomfort. When she noticed he’d stopped, she peered up at him through her thick eyelashes, her cheeks flushed. 

The hand Giyuu had held at his base to help guide himself within her lifted to grip her hip, her legs relaxing as his fingers massaging soothing circles into her flesh. Giyuu removed his forehead from its resting place against hers and he buried his face into the side of her neck as he pressed his body flush against hers. The hand he’d used to brace himself found hers, and he lifted to rest above her head, his fingers twining tightly with her own. 

“I’m okay,” she whispered, pressing a sweet kiss against the shell of his ear. Giyuu nearly shuddered at her words, and he pressed his hips forward, his cock finally breaching that thin, inner barrier to the rest of her welcoming heat. 

Y/N cried out at the bright spark of pain that flared through her as Giyuu claimed her as his own, but the Pillar held her steady, pressing open-mouthed kisses against her neck. 

A hitched gasp blew past Giyuu’s lips as he became fully seated within her heat, her core gripping him like a vice. He panted against the sweat-dampened skin of her neck as they both adjusted to the sensation, her nails digging harshly into the skin of his back as she waited for the discomfort to subside. 

Giyuu pulled his face back to look down at her, the hand he’d had on her hip rising to cup her face as he brushed his lips across her cheeks and eyes. 

“My beloved, are you all right?” His breath came hard and fast as he panted, the growing friction between where they were connected becoming hotter, more demanding the longer he remained still. 

Y/N’s eyes slowly opened to meet his, he felt her relax as he kissed her, slow and gentle. 

Her lips broke from his and she nodded, shakily. “You can move — just hold me. Please.” 

Giyuu let his full weight fall against her as he wound an arm tightly around her waist, his other hand tilting her face up so he could kiss her fiercely, eager to show her what she meant to him when his words otherwise failed to do so. As she opened up to him, tongue flicking out shyly along his lip, Giyuu rolled his hips experimentally against hers. 

Both the shrine maiden and the Pillar cried out in unison as Giyuu’s movement stoked an intense pleasure where they were joined.

It was like a spark of flame had ignited between her legs before shooting up to her belly, making her insides clench and pulse. 

It was addicting, and, judging by the way the raven haired swordsman above her hissed, he’d felt that jolt of electrifying pleasure, too.

“Oh,” Giyuu moaned as he began to move atop her, his cock sliding in and out of her heat as he worked to set a pace. “You feel – this is –” his stutters broke off  into ragged pants that melted into broken moans with every movement as he found his rhythm.

The grip he had on her hand tightened as he pulled back from her neck in favor of watching her body jolt and bounce with each of his thrusts. 

His head dropped down to study how his length, now coated in something shiny, appeared with every long draw of his hips out before disappearing back into her warmth. 

He threw his head back. “Heaven,” the Water Pillar groaned out, a tendon throbbing in his neck as another cracked moan slipped free from his throat. “You are heaven.” 

Shallow thrusts turned deeper, more purposeful, as the Water Pillar settled into his tempo. Each push of his hips opened her up more, bit by bit, until Y/N’s limbs liquified and she was left moaning and whimpering in time with his movements.

One particular thrust made her cry out, caused her legs to reflexively tighten around Giyuu’s hips as something hot flared deep within her stomach. 

“M-more,” she managed, her voice tapering off with a squeak. She needed to feel that spark again, wanted to feel that jolt of electricity that made her stomach clench. “P-please — ah!— Giyuu —“ 

With something between a moan and a growl, Giyuu  angled himself to thrust deeper, his weight pushing her hips back from the floor. Her legs were forced to hike higher up his waist, her ankles locking instead against the dip in his spine rather than his backside. 

The new angle meant that Giyuu was able to hit at a spot that sent a bolt of lightening between her legs, and she could feel herself tighten around him. 

The combination of her walls fluttering and pulsing around him and the strange fullness she felt was both overwhelming and exhilarating. She did not think she could stand to feel empty again; to not feel him consuming every inch of her.

Gradually, the small garden hut was filled by the sounds of their pants and moans, weaving together to form the melody of a song meant only for them.

Giyuu began thrusting harder, and soon, a dull clap of skin began to reverberate off the hut’s slatted wood walls, adding a steady beat to the rhythm of their pleasure. Though the air inside the hut had been nearly as frigid as what lay beyond its door, both the Miko and the Slayer found themselves coated in a thin sheen of sweat that made their skin glisten in the faint, orange glow of her lantern.

Above her, the Water Pillar was as lost in his pleasure as she. Guided purely by instinct, Y/N arched her lower back away from the floor until her breasts were flush against his sternum, desperate to feel that jolting spark between her legs. 

She felt the walls her of her core clench tighter around Giyuu’s length with her movement, and he answered her with a deep growl as his arm cinched tighter around her waist.

Deep; he was so deep within her, that she wondered whether he might reach her soul before they had to part.

Giyuu’s thrusts quickened, the base of his groin grinding against that sensitive spot between her thighs that had her wanting more as she moaned, her thighs squeezing the Hashira’s hips.

His head was thrown back, his eyes tightly shut as the most beautiful sounds of pleasure Y/N had ever heard poured from Giyuu’s mouth.

“I — fuck.” He growled as one arm tightened around her waist to the point of pain, the other grabbing her hand to bring it to his lips in a futile attempt to stifle the sounds lilting from him like song. 

His name fell from her lips like a hallowed oath and Y/N’s legs fell to the side, allowing Giyuu to chase the crescent of his release, as hips pistoned into her with wild abandon. 

“Y-Y/N,” her black-haired beauty of a lover grit through clenched teeth, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple. “My treasure, I-I’m gonna-“ 

The Water Pillar buried his face into the side of her neck, cradling his groans into her throat, and Y/N could feel his length twitch within her.

As Giyuu’s hips slammed into her one final time, so to did the realization that she loved this; she wanted always to be this close to him, wanted always to be unable to tell where she ended and he began.

She loved him. 

But the bitter truth was that she’d never again get to hold Giyuu the way she was right then, legs wrapped tightly around his waist as she felt something warm gush through her, a pleasured groan, so beautiful and husky tumbling from the Hashira’s lips as he pressed a sweet kiss against her collarbone. 

She would not get to love him past this most sacred rite. 

If she were honest, she’d likely never again experience this intimacy with anyone, for as long as she lived — for how could anyone else ever possibly compare? 

She supposed she’d been doomed to never hold onto the people who were meant to love her since the day she was born. She should’ve known better.

But as the roll of Giyuu’s hips into her heat slowed, and his labored breaths eased, Y/N could not find it within herself to regret it; to regret him. 

Because, fool though she was, she loved him. 

Giyuu collapsed against her, his face nuzzling into the crook of her neck as he came down from his high, still buried inside her as the two panted. 

Her hands moved of their own accord to card through his raven hair, fingertips massaging his scalp as his breathing slowed, his breath adding further moisture to the already sweat-dampened skin of her neck. 

She wished they could remain like that always; that the dawn creeping over the horizon would not herald forth the sun, and they could stay on the floor of the garden hut forever, wrapped in one another’s embrace. She desperately wanted to memorize the tempo of his heart as it beat steadily against his chest, the vibrations of which she felt against her ribs. Such a beautiful melody, it was, and yet it filled her with such despair to know she might never again hear its sweet song; that it might cease playing forever, the moment Giyuu resumed being the Water Pillar once more, and walked through the shrine gates for the last time. 

But Y/N had never had anyone she could call her own, and as much as she loved the man nuzzling her neck as he whispered sweet nothings against her skin, he’d never been hers to keep. 

“My beautiful, beautiful Y/N,” Giyuu murmured, kissing his way up her throat to her lips. “Are you alright?” 

She held his lips for a moment before breaking away, letting her eyes roam his face, and she nodded. “Are you?” 

To her utter surprise, the Water Pillar chuckled softly, his laugh breathy and his smile heartbreakingly beautiful. “Yes, my treasure. I am more than alright.” 

He brushed a kiss against the tip of her nose. “After all, I am with you.”

———-

He’d brought her against his chest and they’d laid there together, simply staring at one another, trading soft kisses as Giyuu traced a finger over every feature of her face at least twice. 

If he was to die, he knew his last thoughts would be of her, and he wanted to be sure he’d committed every last detail of her face to memory.

Soon, far too soon, the deep indigo of the night sky was broken by the first, watery rays of morning light, and both the Miko and the Slayer knew their time was up.

The lovers dressed quickly, their backs to one another as both steeled themselves for the goodbye they could no longer avoid. 

And now, that time had come. Though it was Giyuu who walked to his likely doom, Y/N felt as if she was embarking on her own death march as the pair drew near the towering Shrine gate. Perhaps she was; after all, he would be taking her heart with him, and she was unlikely to get it back.

Y/N did not know whether to lean in and kiss him, one last time, or whether such a display of affection would only scratch at the gaping, open wounds they now bore on their chests, where their hearts had been. 

Giyuu, apparently, did not know what to do either, so the two only stood there beneath the Torii, eyes swimming with emotions neither could bear to voice. 

There was a beat, and then the two moved toward one another, drawn together like magnets as they locked themselves in a tight embrace. Giyuu’s hand cupped the back of her skull as Y/N pressed her face hard into his shoulder. Her fingers dug into the fabric of his haori, desperate to keep him rooted to her — to life, safe and away from demons. 

But he couldn’t stay; she knew that. And so, with a deep inhale in a desperate attempt to memorize that mahogany and citrus scent of his she so adored, Y/N pulled away. She made to step back from him entirely, to put distance between them, but those warm fingers caught her under her chin, tilting her head up to face him before his hand slid to cup her cheek. 

The emotion swimming in the azure depths of his irises threatened to chisel away at the lock she kept on her own. Tears burned in her eyes, but she would not let them fall; she would not make this harder for herself — for him — than it already was. 

“If you do not hear from me, leave the mountain. Go to the city, and do not go out at night. Keep your dagger and wisteria on you at all times, even when you sleep,” Giyuu’s eyes were serious, the hand on her face holding her in place. “Live, Y/N. Grow to be an old woman. Die only from age.”

The shrine maiden closed her eyes as she willed herself not to cry. “And if you win?” 

Giyuu hesitated for a moment and Y/N knew better than to ask him to make a promise he could not keep. 

“Send a crow, if you can.” She whispered, feigning a small smile. “It would be nice to not be afraid to go and gather night-blooming herbs.”

The Water Pillar nodded, his hand smoothing through her hair one last time as his lips pressed against her forehead. “Thank you, Y/N.” 

She didn’t need to ask what for.

She hoped she’d never forget the way he said her name; the longing and the breathless passion that dripped from every syllable, and the way it sent shivers down her spine. 

Giyuu broke away from her and set off towards the east. Y/N watched until he was nothing more than a speck on the horizon, before he disappeared entirely. 

He did not look back. 

————————

He hadn’t trusted himself to look back at her, though every fiber of his being had screamed at him to turn around and behold her beauty one last time. But the Shrine Maiden had become his largest weakness, and Giyuu knew if he’d looked back, he would never make it back to his estate; to the Corps. 

And if you win? She’d asked him, and he hadn’t been able to form the words of the answer he’d so desperately wanted to give her.

Because while Giyuu Tomioka never made promises he couldn’t keep, that did not mean he didn’t hope. Right then, more than anything, his greatest desire was to win this war; win it, and come back and tell Y/N that she no longer needed to fear the night. 

In any other life — if Giyuu had been any other man — there would be no question as to who he’d choose to spend the rest of his days with. 

And so, Giyuu thought as he forced himself to march forward, his eyes burning, if he made it out of this war alive, he would go back to the Shrine and tell Y/N of their victory himself.

And perhaps she’d then allow him to make her his wife.

Keep an eye out for Part II to see if Giyuu comes back and makes good on his promise!

COMMENTS, REBLOGS, AND LIKES ALWAYS APPRECIATED!

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Chapter 1: Left in Darkness, my only love | Demon slayer x male reader

The description is down below. This is also on my Wattpad and Quotev! Enjoy!

Description: Nyctophilia More about you: More about you Chapter 1: Left in Darkness, my only love | You are here

TW: In detail death and gore

Upon the dark forest, where moonlight dispersed amongst the dense trees, there laid a house. Isolated from civilization was the L/n household in the mountains. The only other house close by was the Kamado household. The forest was a spacious area where three of the L/n children could run and play.

Y/n and his brother and sister would always pretend. Y/n always smiled with his family, never knowing true sorrow. He would pretend to be a monster and scare his two siblings, or be the hero and save them. Y/n would often walk his siblings to the Kamado household, so that his brother and sister could play with the other children.

Y/n would always watch, helping around with Tanjiro and Nezuko. Those two were the h/c haired boy’s closest friends, they knew each other for as long as he could remember. Tanjiro would regularly give Y/n free charcoal as a thanks for helping him. However, Y/n would repay him with the food Y/n’s family sold.

It was a frequent exchange between the two. Y/n grew very close with the other Kamado children as well, babysitting whenever Kei needed a break. She was always so grateful of the boy, the whole family was.

Y/n’s parents would gush about how proud of their son they were and how much of a kind soul he was. Y/n always laughed whenever they did, dismissing it as something not needing such high praise. Y/n was so grateful of his loving family.

But something in him felt grave discomfort. Never did he think this happiness would last. Always in his mind of the dangers and extremities of chaos that could take his family. That could take his happiness away.

That’s when the obsession settles in. Always sitting in the shadows on sunny days, and basking in the moonlight that gently beamed down on the boy. Y/n became well acquainted with the darkness that surrounded his home. Never unsettled with the noises that graced the unsettling forest.

Y/n would often catch the presence of shadows and unknown creatures that roamed around. Sometimes he would speak to them, never expecting an answer. Sometimes he would get a response back. Rarely did he ever have full conversations with those that lurked.

To those that conversed with the boy, those shadows, and creatures that responded, they found an odd comfort with him. Even with him being a human, they felt no need to harm him. Y/n showed no fear, and those creatures admired it. Some would talk about him with others.

Y/n became a big name within the community of those shadows, and they would tell the h/c boy. He never understood what they meant, but he felt flattered. Y/n rarely ever slept during the night, feeling the lull of the moon. His parents were concerned with the behavior, and frightened of the voices that talked back.

Y/n softly stepped outside to a small clearing surrounded by all forms of foliage. He sat on the small patch of grass that was graced with small flowers. In his s/c hands, he held a small cup of warm tea. He softly closed his eyes as he took a small sip.

“Hello, my darkness friend.”

Silence followed his voice for a moment. There was no response. Y/n softly smiled, not looking up from his cup of tea.

“I know you’re out there. No need to hide from me.”

There was a rustling in the leaves that surrounded the boy. Y/n caught the sound of grumbling. He giggled softly, as the air showed visibly out of his mouth. A voice from the darkness emerged.

“You caught me again, Mr. Moonlight.”

Y/n softly smiled, staring absently in front of him. He heard the creature that hid itself in the surrounding foliage. It was seemingly closer than before.

“What are you doing out again. Couldn’t sleep?”

Y/n took another sip of the warm tea, letting the taste linger on his tongue. A sigh followed soon after.

“I think you know the answer.”

The sound of rustling leaves was the only thing that made a sound for a while. A moment of silence soon took over for a moment. The creature spoke up again.

“Would you still talk to me if you knew the truth of my appearance?”

Y/n put the cup down gently on a nearby rock. He felt confusion settle within his mind.

“What do you mean, dear darkness friend?”

There was no hesitation for an answer.

“If I were to walk out of the leaves I shroud myself in, would you scream?”

“Why would I scream?”

Frustration was clear within the creature's voice as it answered Y/n’s question once more.

“Because most seem too. Once I emerge from the shadows and eyes fall on me, all I hear is shrieks of fear… Then the unbearable silence soon after.”

Y/n smiled solemnly into his lap.

“I don’t think there would be any fear if I did see you.”

Rustles from where the creature sat got further from Y/n. Again, Y/n sighed, finishing up the last of his tea. A lonely feeling made itself home within Y/n.

“Goodbye, my darkness friend.”

Y/n stood up, gently holding the empty cup close. Silent steps made their way back to the house surrounded by trees. Y/n gently opened the door, making sure no one was disturbed by his entrance. He stepped in, closing the door behind him.

Y/n softly walked to the kitchen to place the empty cup into the sink. It rested there for him to come back to it later. There was a gentle patter with every step he took. Up the stairs, entering his shared bedroom with his brother.

He looked to the small boy, gently resting on a tatami mat. Minimal moonlight dispersed in the room, making the small boy’s sleeping features more pronounced. Y/n gently smiled at the peaceful sight. Y/n moved to where his tatami mat laid.

He relaxed against it, trying his best to fall asleep. His e/c eyes fixated on the ceiling of the room. Thoughts raced through his head, mostly stuck on the encounter with one of the creatures he had talked to. Curiosity made Y/n restless.

Y/n’s eyelids slowly shut, as the boy was being lulled into sleep. The encounter still swirling in his mind.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

That night was a while ago, many others had made their places within Y/n’s memories. Similar encounters with the creatures that hid themselves from Y/n confused the boy. He never understood what the voices meant when they asked if he would fear them. His family never knew of these encounters.

They only had knowledge that Y/n would sit out in the clearing during the late hours. Many conversations, fueled with concern, were held. Failed attempts of convincing the h/l h/c boy to not go on those late night walks. Even if they were quick to give up, Y/n’s parents still had those conversations with him.

As a way to ease their nerves, and get the boy to actually become tired, Y/n’s parents had him run the stall today. Y/n was quick to rush out the door, excited to finally run the food stall. It was something that he always wanted to do, but his parents never truly let him. At least never on his own.

Y/n hugged his sister and brother goodbye before setting off for the small town down the mountain. 

His siblings were complaining about not being able to go. He giggled and ruffled his hair. Y/n felt an odd pit in his stomach, something telling him not to leave. Y/n knelt down to his sibling's height, hugging them both. 

The two gripped Y/n tightly, smiling. Y/n then stood up, hugging his mother tightly. It startled her, unsure why her son would do this. Nonetheless, she gave a receiving hug back. 

Y/n went off on his way to the small stall with some ingredients and premade dishes in hand. As he descended the mountain, Y/n took in all the surrounding flora. A small white flower stuck out the most to the boy, he kept seeing them along the trail. Y/n made a mental note to pick some on his way home.

After thirty minutes of walking, Y/n made it to the entrance of the village. He continued walking as he waved to everyone around him. He was a kind boy who everyone seemed to go to when they needed extra help. Y/n pulled out a cart from an alley and started the stove simmering some ingredient. 

Patrons would trickle in to the stall throughout the day. Y/n managed to get a lot done on his own. Once person caught his eyes, however. Y/n put a ‘come back later’ sign up as he walked out, rushing to the person. Y/n yelled out while waving. 

“Tanjiro! Tanjiro!”

The black haired boy turned to look into deep e/c eyes. He smiled gently and braced himself for Y/n’s hug. Y/n gave Tanjiro a big embrace, tight and warm. Tanjro smiled and hugged Y/n back. Once Y/n let go of the boy, he looked around. He noticed Tanjiro was alone. 

“Did your siblings not join you today?”

Tanjro nodded his head as confirmation to Y/n’s question. He signalled Y/n to follow him as he did his rounds. Y/n skipped next to Tanjiro, feeling so happy to just be in his presence. The dark red eyed boy brought so much calm to Y/n. 

“My mother didn’t want them distracting me from work. I think she also didn’t want more work to be put on me or you if we ended up running into each other.”

Y/n nodded, understanding Tanjiro. 

“My mother and father said the same when my siblings wanted to come along too. Hey, if we brought our siblings, they could have kept each other busy.”

Y/n giggled at the idea, thinking it could have kept the children busy. Tanjiro lightly blushed at Y/n, and joining him in the vocal amusement. The two kept walking, conversing about the other's family and how they were doing. Tanjiro brought up Y/n’s sleeping troubles.

“Have you been able to sleep lately? I know last time we talked, you seemed so tired.”

Y/n froze at the question. He dreaded telling Tanjiro what was going on in his nightlife. There was a mix of fear and guilt not telling his best friend. Y/n didn’t want to freak Tanjiro out, nor be deemed crazy. Tanjiro stopped, looking back at his h/c friend. He noticed Y/n’s face, seemingly in glazed terror. He panicked and hugged Y/n close. Y/n gripped Tanjiro tightly, muttering things that Tanjiro could barely make out. He gripped Y/n’s face, staring deeply into those e/c eyes. 

“Y/n, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

That’s when Y/n broke. He decided he was going to tell Tanjiro what had been going on, for better or for worse. He took Tanjiro’s hand and brought him to the food stall. Y/n quickly whipped up some noodles for the two to enjoy as Y/n talked. 

“I have been hiding this from everyone, even my own family. They know I stay up and go outside at night, but they don’t know what I do.”

Tanjiro glanced at Y/n with curiosity filling up his eyes. 

“What do you do?”

Y/n took a deep breath, nervous to share. However, he was determined to have at least one person know what was going on. He couldn’t keep hiding it. 

“I just start talking. I bring a cup of tea with me and I just talk to the darkness. Sometimes there are responses, other times its just be talking. But I always feel something, someone, present. They just listen.  Part of me hopes it’s not just me imagining the responses and the feeling of someone there, but another part hopes it is just me out of fear of what's really out there.”

Y/n sighed, trying to think of a way to explain his feelings to Tanjiro. It was just as confusing to him as it would be anyone listening. Y/n continued.  

“Even with that fear, there's a sense of comfort. A comfort of something protecting me and keeping me safe. I’m sorry if I’m not making any sense. I think I just might be crazy. The reason I can’t sleep at night though is because of the comfort I find in the moonlight and surrounding darkness. It just feels right to me, and I feel anxious when I’m not out in that forest for at least thirty minutes. Ah, I’m just rambling now. Oh, how’s your sister? I haven’t seen her in a while.”

Y/n looked up at Tanjiro and became startled with the way he looked at Y/n. It made Y/n want to cry with how concerned his friend looked. Tanjiro put his hands on Y/n’s s/c ones as a way to ease the boy. 

“I understand what you mean, but I don’t think you’re crazy. Whenever you can’t sleep, you can just walk over to my house. Just knock three times and I’ll come and answer the door! I can write a letter to your parents, so they can give their opinions about it.”

Y/n hugged Tanjiro once more, feeling tears fall. He felt so grateful to have a friend like him. 

“Thank you so much, Tanjiro.”

Tanjiro smiled once more, shaking his head. He never needed Y/n to thank me. He loved Y/n so much, he didn’t know in what way, however. Tanjiro just assumed that it was a way friends would. Y/n’s question then registered n Tanjiro’s mind. 

“Oh, Nezuko is good! She misses you a lot. You should come over and see her!”

Y/n smiled at the thought. Y/n/s eyes drifted to the line now forming in front of the stall. He shot up and muttered a quick apology to his friend. Y/n started cooking once more and serving customers. Tanjiro stood next to the stall, selling the rest of his charcoal. 

This was another thing the two did. They would sell their good with each other. It made working easier and eased any stress. Once the sun set, Y/n made his way out of the village, with Tanjiro following him. 

The two said goodbye, and Y/n gave him one last hug. Y/n started trekking the hill, with anxiety settling with in him once more. He passed the white flowers, forgetting to pick them up as panic rushed through his blood. He picked up the pace, running to where his home rested. 

Y/n smelt an overwhelming smell of iron. His mind raced with the worst case scenarios graphically ingraining themselves in his mind. He struggled to open the door, his hands shaking extensively. The moon was just over the trees, bringing a dim light.

Once the door shot open, Y/n’s eyes widened. He covered his mouth as tears streamed down his s/c face. His mind could barely process what he was seeing. Blood coated the walls and the wooden floor. 

Y/n softly stepped through the doorway, trying to get a better grasp of what could have happened. That's when he fell to his knees. His mother was bleeding throughout every limb. His little sister was gripping on to her, with a hole where her stomach should be. 

Deeper in, Y/n could only see his father's body, no head in sight. And under his father's body was his little brother, eyes gouged out of his head. Y/n screamed, and ran outside to his small patch of grass. He fell to his knees on to the grass, trying to dry the overwhelming tears that streamed out of his eyes.

Y/n screamed and sobbed until his voice was hoarse. Y/n’s ears perked up as he heard the familiar rustle of leaves. 

“Why are you crying, Mr. Moonlight.” 

Y/n tried to speak, but only stutters fell out. 

“I-Family Dead Why?”

The creature that spoke seemingly understood the broken speech. It felt sympathy and pity for the boy crying. 

“It was bound to happen. These forests are full of hungry things.”

Y/n’s crying seemingly slowed, but the tears were still just as overwhelming. 

“What do you mean?”

Y/n was finding it hard to breathe, his chest felt bruised. The creature said one last thing.

“I can not tell you, but I can promise that most wouldn’t hurt you. You are famous to us, Mr. Moonlight.”

Y/n was left confused as he heard the creature leaving. Y/n sat for a minute in silence, the moon beaming down on him. It was an angelic scene. Y/n walked back into the house, staring at the dead bodies. 

He picked up his little sister first, bringing her body out in front of the house. Next was his mother, then his brother, lastly his headless father. He cried as he brought each corpse out of the house. He started to dig appropriate sized holes for each of his family members. 

Reluctantly, he covered them in dirt, cementing their places under the ground. He held his hands together, digging his nails into his skin. Y/n was trying to contain himself from having a panic attack. Indents in his skin started to form, they turned a deeper color the further he pushed his nails. Y/n then started out a prayer. 

“To the world of souls, be it above or below, please let these lost souls move on with the knowledge of being loved throughout their whole life and the fulfillment of what they accomplished. Even with the sins they may have committed, let them be consumed by the warm light that soothes us after death. They did what they could to give love to all and protect who they could. Please let them pass to the heavens above.”

With that, Y/n left the make shift burial site, and walked inside with the strong scent of blood lingering. It made him cry harder than he was before. He slowly started to clean up his house, trying to get rid of the horrid stench. After an hour of cleaning, everything looked seemingly normal. 

Though, normalcy was forever lost for Y/n. Y/n contemplated going to Tanjiro’s for the night, unsure of the questions he might ask. Y/n wasn’t ready to come to terms with the fact that his parents, his whole family, was dead. Y/n took in a shaky breath, stuck in place with uncertainty settling in. 

He walked to the kitchen to make himself some dinner. He was met with the sight of a finished meal, the last of his mother's cooking. The smell was barely there, but Y/n could feel it was lingering. He contemplated eating the last of what his mother would have ever made for him.

 Tears swelled once more. He reluctantly took a seat at the table, examining the food. Y/n made a mark of every detail, etching it into his head as to never forget it. He could see his family surrounding the table with him. He could hear the laughing and the bonding they would have done. Y/n hesitantly plated some food, trying to remember the smell of a warm meal. 

His hands shook as he took some chopsticks. They hovered over the food for a few seconds, Y/n unsure as to take a bite. He couldn't think of this being the last meal he would ever have that would be made with a mother's love. Y/n took one small bite as tears began to stream down again. 

He choked back sobs, trying to memorize the taste. Every grain, every molecule, was savored by Y/n. The texture was even put into the illustrated memory he was trying to hold on to. Flashes of his mother holding him when he cried like this only made him feel worse. Other memories started to trickle in and started a remembrance train in Y/n's now broken mind. 

Ones of his brother teasing him, ones of his sister making sure he was sleeping okay, and ones of his father doing things with Y/n that were special to the two. The specific memory that stuck to Y/n was when his father talked about s sword he used to own. That started Y/n and his father learning how to use them. Y/n’s father was his mentor and he learned quite a bit.

After the food was finished, Y/n couldn’t bring himself to clean it up. He stood up on his weak legs, trying to move, but his eyes were fixated on the half-eaten meal. He didn’t want to leave the table because once he did, it would mean his family was truly gone. Y/n didn’t want to think his family was gone, he wanted it to be a bad dream and that his brother would wake him up, so the two could play. 

Y/n walked away slowly after ten minutes of staring at the dirty dishes. He walked to the stairs, running up them quickly. He rushed to his room and grabbed his tatami mat and his brother's blanket. He then ran to his sister’s room and grabbed one of her pillows. 

After that, his last location was his parent's room, where he placed his tatami mat and the other things he acquired. He took in another shaky breath, now processing the fact that his family was dead, and he was now alone. An empty house with no one else residing in it but himself. He rested his head on the plush pillow, feeling his sister with him. 

Wrapping himself in his brother’s blanket, another presence made itself clear to Y/n. And as he drifted off to sleep, he couldn’t help but hear his mother singing the same lullaby he would hear when he couldn’t sleep. Tears soaked into the pillow he rested on, his body sinking into the blanket that covered him. Silence rattled throughout the dark, lonely home. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

After a week of living alone, Y/n had adjusted to the new life he was given. It was a struggle in the beginning. Every minute Y/n couldn’t stop crying, so many memories never to be recreated ever again. He couldn’t even bring himself to tell Tanjiro, but Y/n spent so much time with him. Y/n made even more time to spend with Nezuko. 

She seemed to notice Y/n’s more saddened state. Nezuko caught on to the amount of time Y/n was spending with the Kamado family, too. Whenever she asked about it, Y/n directed the conversation somewhere else. It concerned the black haired girl, to a point where she cornered Y/n. 

Behind the house, the two stood in awkward and concerning silence. Y/n was fidgeting with his hands, unsure if he should speak or wait for Nezuko too. Y/n jumped back slightly when he felt Nezuko embrace his shaky hands. The two held eye contact, waiting for the other to speak.

“Y/n what's going on? You’ve been acting weird lately. You seem more sad.”

Y/n froze, hearing Nuezko’s words. He didn’t think he was making it that obvious, he was trying to hide his troubled feeling. Y/n’s breathing became irregular, and his heart was beating faster than normal. He sighed, knowing he couldn’t bring himself to lie to Nezuko. 

“Something happened last week, and I don’t know how to say it or even if I want to say it.”

Nezuko seemed confused. She was trying to catch on to what Y/n was saying, but his words were so vague. Concern for Y/n started to bubble up. 

“What happened?”

Y/n felt tears surface his e/c eyes, making them glossy within the sun. He opened his mouth, hoping words would come out, but the only sounds that did was a guttural sob. Y/n fell to his knees, scraping them slightly in the process. The pain caused not reaction out of the boy, due to his mind so focused on the death of his parents. 

Nezuko’s eyes widened as she knelt down next to Y/n. She hugged him close and started to try to calm the boy down. Y/n buried his head into her shoulder, letting the tears fall once more. Nezuko said soothing things, reminding Y/n of his mother. His cries became harder and louder as he kept listening to Nezuko. 

“My parents, my whole family, is gone!”

Nezuko’s face morphed into saddened surprise. She didn’t quite know what Y/n was talking about, but based off of how Y/n was reacting, she could tell it was bad. She held Y/n until he calmed down enough to make coherent sentences. Y/n wiped the tears away as he looked into concerned pink eyes. 

Y/n blushed, feeling so embarrassed about breaking down in front of Nezuko. He tried to stand up, but his legs wobbled, making him almost fall. Nezuko caught Y/n before he could fall. She helped him steady himself, holding Y/n’s hand softly. 

Nezuko breathed along with Y/n, trying to help him steady his own. Y/n finally felt better, hugging Nezuko, profusely thanking and apologizing to her. Nezuko giggled slightly and hugged Y/n tightly. She finally understood what Y/n might have been talking about. 

Y/n and Nezuko pulled away from each other’s embrace. Y/n smiled softy, his eyelids lazily hanging. Nezuko returned a soft, somber smile to Y/n still very worried about him. Y/n sighed deeply. 

“Thank you Nezuko. I’m sorry if I worried you.”

Nezuko shook her head, her bangs slightly swaying. Once again, her hands held Y/n’s gently. The two shared a moment of now comfortable silence, staring into each other’s eyes. Y/n’s eyes were saying thanks, and Nezuko’s were full of love. 

Y/n pulled away from Nezuko, and walked to the front of the house. He waved to the rest of the Kamado family, saying his goodbyes. He was off on his way back to his quiet, empty home. The sad thoughts still ran through his head, one being the fact that he missed when there was a warm meal on the table for him when he got home. 

Y/n looked at the white flowers that littered the trail. He finally remembered what he wanted to do with them a week later. He picked a few up and held on to them tightly. Some lost their petals because of the tight hold Y/n had on them. The further he trekked on, the closer he was to his home. 

On the horizon, Y/n saw two figures standing in front of his front door. Y/n ran faster to his house, anxious about these two who were on the doorstep. He analyzed them from the distance he was at, trying to see if they had any weapons on them. One of them did, but it seemed to be sheathed. 

The two heard fast-paced walking and turned to see where it was coming from. They saw a h/c haired boy with bright e/c eyes. They watched as the boy ran up to them, panting from exhaustion. The one with the weapon, noticed the boy was holding small white flowers. 

“What are you doing here?”

Y/n stumbled back at the black haired boy’s bluntness. He tried to find an answer, but anxiety had already settled in his throat. He didn’t know what to say to these two, or what to ask, either. The older man seemed to take notice of Y/n’s feelings, based off the h/c haired boy's stance. 

“Giyuu, let me handle this. Do you know where residence of this house are?”

Y/n nodded slightly, tears once again brimming. Giyuu, the one Y/n assumed to be the black haired boy, took notice of the slight change of demeanor. 

Giyuu noticed his in structure going closer to the h/c boy, seemingly understanding the shift in mood. The gray haired man knelt down. 

“Do you know M/n and F/n L/n?” 

Y/n nodded again, trying so hard not to break down just hearing the names of his parents. How many times was the universe going to remind him of what he lost? It felt so unfair to the boy, it made no sense to him. He looked at the man, feeling a bit weirded out by the red mask that covered his face. 

“They’re not here anymore, I’m sorry.”

Y/n was quiet and timid. He didn’t want to explain what happened, not to anyone. The man in the mask waited for Y/n to continue. Giyuu had foiled this mini plan, however. 

“Where did they go?”

Y/n didn’t like the questioning these people were giving him. He didn’t know them, and he didn’t want to know them. He wanted them to go away, and just sit alone in his house. He long wished for the voices to be here and comfort him, but alas they were nighttime things and so fickle. 

Y/n couldn’t speak anymore, he pointed a small finger to the makeshift graves of his family. The sight of them just made Y/n’s heartache. He clutched his chest, where his heart laid, tears softly rolling down his plush s/c cheeks. The two in front of Y/n only stared at the graves, not catching on to what Y/n meant. 

They quickly turned to Y/n, however, after hearing heavy breathing from the boy. Giyuu’s eyes widened in concern, and the older man could only hug Y/n. Y/n couldn’t sob, the start of a panic attack was imminent. The man in the mask could only speak to the boy, unsure of what to say to calm him down.

“What are those mounds?”

Y/n could only breathe out one word. 

“Family.”

That's when it hit the two. Y/n was the only one of this family of this house. M/n and F/n were Y/n’s parents. They could only feel sympathy for the boy, understanding the loss of the parents. Giyuu knelt down to Y/n’s height. 

“I saw their bodies! They were mutilated! I don’t know what happened! I shouldn’t have left, I shouldn’t have! My brother, my sister. It’s all my fault!”

Y/n screamed after he said that, the thoughts consuming him. He was becoming irrational, and it showed through the way he was talking. The man wearing the mask could only shake his head in disagreement. Giyuu rubbed Y/n’s back. 

“It is not your fault. It’s better you left, before whatever killed your family killed you.”

Y/n felt a deeper pit in his stomach. Giyuu was right, whatever had killed his family would have killed him. For some reason, this made Y/n feel so much guiltier than he was already.  Nothing made sense to Y/n anymore, and the red masked man could sense it. 

“What is your name?”

Y/n looked at the mask, just now realizing how weird it looked. It dispersed a bit of the anxiety he was harboring. Y/n was trying to hold in a giggle as best as he could. Y/n tried to steady himself.

“Y/n. My name is Y/n L/n and the last of the L/n family.”

It hurt him having to say that, but he felt it was necessary. Giyuu could see the boy struggling with keeping tears in. He could only sympathize with him, not even able to imagine losing someone so close. Giyuu’s hand slipped into Y/n’s s/c one. 

Y/n looked into Giyuu’s muddied sapphire blue eyes, getting entranced by the color and intrigue. Y/n then looked the guy with the red mask, realization hitting him. He didn’t know this man’s name. He knew Giyuu’s but not knowing this man’s name felt weird, Y/n pointed to him and looked at Giyuu.

“What’s his name?”

Giyuu and looked at the guy with the red mask. Both were unable to understand what he was feeling. He just stood there, silence settling in for a moment around the three. He got a bit closer to the two that stood in front of him. 

“My name is Sakonji Urokodaki. You can call me Urokodaki. I will be your instructor. Now let's go.”

Y/n looked confused at the two. What did Urokodaki mean by instructor, and for what? Questions swirled around Y/n’s head, making him so dizzy. He looked to Giyuu for answers, hoping he could read his mind. 

“He teaches sword skills, and concentration breathing. You will also be coming with us.”

Giyuu’s response only gave Y/n more questions. Y/n felt even more dizzy, not understanding anything what these two were talking about. Y/n’s eyes glanced to the graves. Y/n then looked in his hand to see the semi wilted flowers. 

The boy walked away from Giyuu, his s/c hand releasing from his. Giyuu watched Y/n walk to the graves he made, soon following the boy. He watched the boy place an even amount of flowers on each grave, delicately. Giyuu looked around to find anything to gift to those passed on. 

He wondered over to a small patch of small yellow flowers. The color complimented the white ones well. He started placing them down, as Y/n watched him. His heart felt warmed by the action, unsure how to respond. 

Giyuu stood next to Y/n, his hand back to holding Y/n’s. Y/n didn’t understand why Giyuu did this at all. He didn’t know his parents, so why give gifts? It made no sense to the boy. 

“Why did you do that?”

Giyuu looked to Y/n, staring in to e/c eyes blankly. No emotion could be found within Giyuu’s eyes, at least none that were obvious. He looked back to the mounds, examining the flowers that laid on each one. His face was unfazed. 

“Do what?”

Y/n looked to the flowers now. Confusion was still constant within the boy. He didn’t understand Giyuu at all, and his actions made no sense. 

“Put flowers on the graves. You didn’t know my family, so why do it?”

Giyuu’s gaze didn’t waver off of the mounds. It only took a minute for Giyuu to find his answer to Y/n’s question. 

Y/n became inpatient, curiosity hurting his brain. He didn’t like not knowing what other people were thinking. 

“They died, that’s why.”

Giyuu’s tone was flat and blank. Y/n pondered on Giyuu’s response. Urokodaki joined the two, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. The way his head was facing, one would think he was looking at the graves too. He heard the conversation the two were having. 

“One doesn’t need to have a relationship to the deceased to give respects to them. They simply need a caring and open hearts.”

Y/n looked up, startled by Urokodaki’s sudden presence. He sighed, finally getting an answer that made sense to him. His mind calmed down, his gaze looking at the graves one last time. He looked at both Giyuu and Urokodai again. 

“I think… I think I’m ready to go.”

Urokodai nodded, turning around, facing the way to his home. Giyuu followed soon after, guiding Y/n. Y/n followed, looking back to his home. Tears slowly brimmed Y/n’s eyes one last time, floating in the wind as he walked away with Giyuu. 

As the three walked to Urokodaki’s home, Y/n admired the scenery that surrounded them. The deeper they went, the more Y/n realized how little he explored. Y/n’s eyes sparked with wonder and curiosity, he ran a bit further than Giyuu, wanting to see it all. Giyuu softly smiled, seeing how excited the boy was. 

“You live all the way out here, Urokodaki?”

Urokodaki only nodded, not saying a word. The closer the three got to Urokodaki’s home, the more excited Y/n felt. It was weird for him to feel this much excitement over something so simple. Giyuu pulled Y/n a little closer, so they could walk side by side. 

“Stay close to me.”

Y/n nodded, feeling a bit on edge with the way Giyuu talked. The forests were getting darker, and the moonlight dispersed itself. The forest grew more eerie, but neither of the three were phased. Well not negatively that is. 

Giyuu gripped Y/n’s hand, feeling as if the boy would be scared of the dark. It was also for Giyuu's own sake, wanting to keep Y/n safe. Y/n was too caught up in the dark forest and wondering what happened in them. Y/n looked at Giyuu, his smile making the black haired boy a bit flustered.

“Do you hear voices in these woods?”

Giyuu felt confused, what did this h/c haired boy mean? He looked around and tried his best to hear if there were any noises around the group. Silence was all there was, aside from the normal rustling from the wind. Giyuu kept his focus on Urokodaki, his pace slowing. 

“What do you mean Y/n?”

Y/n started frowning, panic and regret making home in his throat. He didn't want to answer truthfully. He didn't want these new people to think of him as someone crazy. A shuddered sigh came out of Y/n’s mouth. 

“I…uhm… Sometimes late at night, I hear voices. Well, more, so I talk to the void, and sometimes it talks back.” 

Giyuu felt minimal anxiety after hearing what Y/n said. He didn’t want to panic the boy, but he looked at Urokodaki. The older man seemed to pick up on what Y/n said, though his pace was still the same. Giyuu could tell though that Urokodaki was concerned. The further they walked, the closer a house seemed to get.

Y/n saw the house on the horizon, curious about what it looked like. The outside presentation felt so familiar to him, it reminded the boy of his own home. Giyuu looked at the child running out of his reach, the absence of Y/n’s hand that once held Giyuu’s. Y/n was the first up the hill, standing in front of the house, feeling sadness grip him once again. 

Y/n’s body felt heavy, his eyes brimming with tears once more. He felt sick of how sad he got within just today, the amount of breakdowns stuck in his head. Thick tears rolled down his face, heaves holding back the sobs. Giyuu rushed to Y/n, unsure of what might have caused this strong emotional response. 

Giyuu tried to get Y/n’s attention, Urokodaki not too far behind from the two. Y/n’s mind was enveloped of that night, that moment. The regret swelling up in his stomach, he felt so sick. He couldn’t help but blame himself. Nothing in his mind put him at ease. 

The images of his mother, his father, and both his siblings mutilated now swarming his mind. In his head, he was screaming out, telling the thoughts to stop. The more he screamed in his mind, the more Y/n could feel as if he was saying it. Giyuu and Urokodaki were suddenly panicking when they heard Y/n’s pleas for something to stop. 

“Y/n, what's wrong?”

Giyuu’s question went unanswered, unknown levels of panic became prominent to him. Giyuu didn’t know that such a stranger could panic him like this. Urokodaki only watched, unsure on how to help. Y/n fell to his knees, disbelief still strong in his mind. 

Y/n sobbed loudly, the moonlight causing his tears to gleam. Giyuu only at next to Y/n, letting him cry. He knew there wasn’t much he could do, not unless Y/n told him. Urokodaki went to open the door to the house, motivation, and reasoning were unknown to Giyuu. 

All Giyuu could think was to grab the sobbing boy and carried him inside. He put his hands around Y/n’s neck and knee’s carrying him into Urokodaki’s home. Y/n looked to Giyuu, finally snapped out of the horrible flashback. 

Y/n looked around, noticing they were inside the house. The h/l h/c haired boy was confused as to how he got inside, looking all over the place. Y/n then looked at Giyuu noticing the boy was carrying him. Y/n blushed slightly, feeling embarrassed that Giyuu held him so close. 

“Giyuu, what’s going on? Why are we inside now?”

Giyuu looked to Y/n, putting him down, so he could walk on his own. Giyuu lead Y/n to where the two of them would be sleeping. Y/n saw the mats and at on one of them, looking to the other one. Giyuu stood in the doorway. 

“You were crying.”

Giyuu’s blunt words hurt Y/n a bit. It felt like a bad thing when Giyuu said it. Giyuu noticed Y/n tensing up, wondering why he was. Giyuu moved to the mat next to Y/n’s sitting directly in front of him. 

“I’m sorry.”

Y/n’s meek voice caused Giyuu to blush slightly. He never heard a voice so sweet before. Curiosity once again graced Giyuu. He didn’t understand why Y/n was apologizing. 

“You have no need to be sorry.”

Y/n looked directly into Giyuu’s eyes. 

“But I was crying, and you had to carry me inside, I can’t help but feel like I’m already burdening you.”

Giyuu only shook his head, disagreeing with Y/n’s conclusion. 

“You’re not a burden, you only worried me and I wanted to bring you inside where it’s safer.”

Y/n softly smiled, all anxieties being calmed. 

He looked around the room, studying every nook and cranny, wanting to get comfortable. Giyuu noticed e/c eyes darting back and forth at a rapid pace. He sat on the other mattress, staring directly at Y/n.

Y/n's eyes stopped darting, fixating on Giyuu. He tried to decipher what Giyuu was thinking, but there was no use in doing so. Giyuu kept his gaze on Y/n both staring into each other's eyes. Y/n started to fidgeting with his fingers, unsure on what to do around the boy in front of him.

“What do the voices say and what do they sound like?”

Giyuu's tone was serious, and Y/n was anxious. He didn't know how to answer Giyuu’s question without seeming crazy. Y/n tried to gather his thoughts and memories of all the voices he had heard. Y/n lowered his head.

“They would ask me what I was doing outside so late. That's how every conversation started. Sometimes they would take interest in things I did that day, or they would ask random questions about what things were. They all sounded different, but there were some regulars. Those were the ones that would always ask me how I was and seem the most interested in my life. It was oddly comforting. Why do you ask?”

Giyuu seemed unfazed, so focused on everything Y/n was sharing with him. Every single word Y/n said, Giyuu had memorized. Y/n got uncomfortable with the silence. He was unsure if he should continue talking or if he should wait for Giyuu to respond. Before Giyuu could open his mouth, Urokodaki walked in.

“Dinner's ready. Y/n I'll find a change of clothes for you.”

Y/n quickly nodded, not wanting to seem disrespectful to Urokodaki. Y/n stood up and walked out of the room, Giyuu following close behind. The aroma of the dishes made Y/n's mouth water. He quickly sat down, grasping his hands together for a silent prayer. Once the food hit Y/n’s tastes buds, it sent him to other worlds of flavors.

The feeling of a warm home cooked meal made Y/n feel so loved. Even if it was from a stranger, it felt nice to have warm food waiting for him. Giyuu watched Y/n, noticing his expressions brighten with every bite he took. Giyuu started to eat slower than Y/n. 

After the two finished their meal, Urokodaki came out with some spare clothes for Y/n. The boy graciously took them, thanking Urokodaki every other second. Once Y/n changed, he sat on the mattress waiting for Giyuu to enter. Said boy walked in, changed from what he was wearing earlier into more suitable night ware. 

The two ended up falling asleep, Urokodaki blowing out all the candles to bring a darkened atmosphere to the house. Giyuu stayed up a bit, just to make sure Y/n felt safe enough to fall asleep. As soon as he heard Y/n snoring softly, Giyuu went to bed. 

After a few hours, Y/n woke up as if his body was begging him too. He looked around, a sleeping Giyuu catching his eye. Y/n softly got up, walked out of the room, and out of the house to see the darkness of night. He walked a little further, closer to the trees, to see if he heard any voices like his old home. Y/n started to mumble to himself, in hopes of the voices to come back and talk to him once more. 

The more Y/n mumbled to himself, the more crazy he felt for not getting a response. It had been a couple of minutes of him being out in the freezing cold, acting like a lunatic. He was so caught up in his own thoughts and words that he didn’t hear someone walk behind him. Y/n jumped back becoming startled when he felt a hand on his back. 

Y/n’s heart was beating so fast, he brought a hand to his chest, trying to calm himself down. E/c eyes looked up to see who had startled him, little hope, thinking it was his family coming to take him home out of the lingering denial he has of their death. Y/n’s eyes dimmed when he saw it wasn’t his family, but Giyuu. Giyuu looked at Y/n with slight concern, unsure on what to do to help calm the boy down. 

“What are you doing out here?”

Y/n stiffened at Giyuu’s voice, something about it made him feel safe, which was odd to him. He took a minute to gather himself to not stutter or mess up his response. 

“I couldn’t sleep, it's an issue I’ve been having for a while. Back home, I’d just sit out during the night and talk to myself. You remember those voices I talked about? Those are what I was hoping to get a response from.”

Y/n’s head lowered, still missing his home and fearful of what Giyuu would say. What he didn’t expect was Giyuu hugging him. That was Giyuu’s only response, and he didn’t know why he did that himself. Y/n melted in Giyuu’s grasp, tears softly streaming down his face. 

Giyuu led Y/n to a rock form, seemingly resembling a table and chairs. The two sat down on the rocks and Y/n's tears stopped. The familiarity of sitting around the darkness and being surrounded by trees brought a soft smile to his face. Giyuu blushed lightly, wanting to see Y/n only ever smile like that especially what happened to him. 

“I promise Y/n, I will protect you from any sadness.”

Y/n looked up, startled, and blushed. He didn’t know how to respond or what Giyuu meant. The two sat there in comfortable silence for the most part. Giyuu contemplated telling Y/n what he has been thinking about all night. Deep down, he knew the right answer. 

“Y/n, I have something to tell you.”

Y/n looked at him curiously, something telling him that what Giyuu was going to share wasn’t going to be happy. Y/n waited impatient for Giyuu to tell him what he needed too. Giyuu noticed Y/n’s impatience. He went on to explain what he needed to Y/n.

“Those voices you were taking to were demons.”

Y/n was confused. He’s heard of the creatures others called demons, but he only ever thought them to be tales to keep kids to behave. And if those voices were demons, why didn’t they kill him? Based off the stories he had heard from the towns folk, they should have killed him. 

“Demons? What are they exactly?”

Giyuu was shocked that Y/n didn’t know what demons were. The usual reaction others had when they heard the talk of demons were fear. But this boy in front of him not know of demons, but he held no fear in his voice when he asked. Y/n confused Giyuu more ways than one in just one night. 

“They are human eating creatures. And they must be slain.”

Y/n became scared after hearing those last few words. He didn’t want to hurt the voices, even if they were demons. The brought so much comfort to him, they were like a family. Y/n looked down again, his mind was swimming with swarming thoughts. 

Giyuu noticed Y/n becoming uncomfortable at the thought of slaying demons. He didn’t quite understand why, however. He thought it was a demon that killed Y/n’s family. So why was Y/n uncomfortable with the thought of slaying demons?

“What’s wrong Y/n?”

Y/n was startled once more, jumping back slightly on the make shift chair. He struggled to make eye contact with Giyuu. He wanted to explain the issue of his feelings, but no words were coming to his mind. Luckily, Giyuu found those words for Y/n. 

“You’re struggling with the thought of killing demons, aren’t you.”

Y/n looked up to meet Giyuu’s eyes. He nodded quickly, his h/c hair bobbing with the motion, which Giyuu found cute. Thanks to the Giyuu, Y/n was prompted to put his thoughts into a cohesive line. Y/n sighed, still anxious to share how we felt. 

“I know that they hurt others, but if those voices were demons, then I can’t bring myself to kill them. I mean, if they're strangers and I haven’t talked to them then I’m sure I could, but still. They brought a comfort to me that even my own family couldn’t.”

Giyuu nodded, his suspicions were confirmed after what Y/n said. He needed to think of something to say that wouldn’t upset Y/n but make Y/n realize his thinking was dangerous. Giyuu felt something grab his hand, and gently rub it. Giyuu looked in Y/n’s direction, meeting e/c eyes full of softness. 

“I understand that my view on demons may be harmful to me and maybe even deadly, but I have hope that no demon will hurt me.”

Giyuu’s eyes held seriousness. He didn’t want Y/n to die, not to something that he knows he can protect the boy from. It made sense in his mind why Y/n would think that way, but it still deeply worried him. Giyuu asked one last question, in hopes of at least bringing acknowledgment to the boy that sat in front of him. 

“Do you know what killed your parents? Your family?”

Y/n shook his head, tears brimmed in his eyes. His family’s death was still a sensitive wound. Y/n’s breathing became shaky and Giyuu noticed. He grasped both s/c hands to try and sooth the boy. 

“The possible cause of death is demons.”

Y/n’s eyes widened, but a wave of realization hit. It was strong and it scared Y/n. His thoughts were spiraling once more, no sign of breaking away from them. He started to hyperventilate once more. Giyuu hugged Y/n close, over the table like rock. 

Giyuu hugged Y/n until the boy’s eyes were dry of tears. Once Y/n calmed down, his eyes fluttered shut due to drowsiness replacing the sadness. His sleepy head hit Giyuu’s shoulder, soft short breaths hit Giyuu’s cheek. Giyuu blushed, a soft pink gracing where Y/n’s breath hit. 

Giyuu held Y/n up so that he could walk around the rock and pick up the boy. He carried Y/n bridal style, as quietly as he could. Y/n nuzzled into Giyuu’s chest, making Giyuu blush once more. He didn’t know why he felt so close to the boy or the urge to protect him having just met him. 

Giyuu quietly brought the boy back to the room they shared, bringing the covers up ever so gently. Something in him wanted to kiss the boy’s forehead. He brushed Y/n’s h/c hair aside and gently planted a soft kiss on his forehead. Y/n softly smiled in his sleep after the kiss, and Giyuu softly smiled too. 

Giyuu walked to his bed, the smile still on his face. His cheeks were warm, still flustered with Y/n’s presence. As Giyuu drifted off to sleep, he made a vow to himself. That vow was to protect Y/n at all costs, from both the demons that roam the earth and other’s that may want to harm the boy.

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A/n: It took so long to rewrite this, but I'm so happy with it! It's in my new writing style and it has so much more detail! I hope you enjoyed and I hope to update this book a lot more! Be on the lookout for a Tokyo revengers x male reader, a Jujutsu Kaisen x male reader, and a Helluva boss x male reader fic! I will also be trying to write up a chapter 1 or prologue for my sk8 the infinity fic as well.

Do not repost or translate without my explicit permission! Reblogs are welcome!

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Chapter 1: Left in Darkness, my only love | Demon slayer x male reader

The description is down below. This is also on my Wattpad and Quotev! Enjoy!

Description: Nyctophilia More about you: More about you Chapter 1: Left in Darkness, my only love | You are here

TW: In detail death and gore

Upon the dark forest, where moonlight dispersed amongst the dense trees, there laid a house. Isolated from civilization was the L/n household in the mountains. The only other house close by was the Kamado household. The forest was a spacious area where three of the L/n children could run and play.

Y/n and his brother and sister would always pretend. Y/n always smiled with his family, never knowing true sorrow. He would pretend to be a monster and scare his two siblings, or be the hero and save them. Y/n would often walk his siblings to the Kamado household, so that his brother and sister could play with the other children.

Y/n would always watch, helping around with Tanjiro and Nezuko. Those two were the h/c haired boy’s closest friends, they knew each other for as long as he could remember. Tanjiro would regularly give Y/n free charcoal as a thanks for helping him. However, Y/n would repay him with the food Y/n’s family sold.

It was a frequent exchange between the two. Y/n grew very close with the other Kamado children as well, babysitting whenever Kei needed a break. She was always so grateful of the boy, the whole family was.

Y/n’s parents would gush about how proud of their son they were and how much of a kind soul he was. Y/n always laughed whenever they did, dismissing it as something not needing such high praise. Y/n was so grateful of his loving family.

But something in him felt grave discomfort. Never did he think this happiness would last. Always in his mind of the dangers and extremities of chaos that could take his family. That could take his happiness away.

That’s when the obsession settles in. Always sitting in the shadows on sunny days, and basking in the moonlight that gently beamed down on the boy. Y/n became well acquainted with the darkness that surrounded his home. Never unsettled with the noises that graced the unsettling forest.

Y/n would often catch the presence of shadows and unknown creatures that roamed around. Sometimes he would speak to them, never expecting an answer. Sometimes he would get a response back. Rarely did he ever have full conversations with those that lurked.

To those that conversed with the boy, those shadows, and creatures that responded, they found an odd comfort with him. Even with him being a human, they felt no need to harm him. Y/n showed no fear, and those creatures admired it. Some would talk about him with others.

Y/n became a big name within the community of those shadows, and they would tell the h/c boy. He never understood what they meant, but he felt flattered. Y/n rarely ever slept during the night, feeling the lull of the moon. His parents were concerned with the behavior, and frightened of the voices that talked back.

Y/n softly stepped outside to a small clearing surrounded by all forms of foliage. He sat on the small patch of grass that was graced with small flowers. In his s/c hands, he held a small cup of warm tea. He softly closed his eyes as he took a small sip.

“Hello, my darkness friend.”

Silence followed his voice for a moment. There was no response. Y/n softly smiled, not looking up from his cup of tea.

“I know you’re out there. No need to hide from me.”

There was a rustling in the leaves that surrounded the boy. Y/n caught the sound of grumbling. He giggled softly, as the air showed visibly out of his mouth. A voice from the darkness emerged.

“You caught me again, Mr. Moonlight.”

Y/n softly smiled, staring absently in front of him. He heard the creature that hid itself in the surrounding foliage. It was seemingly closer than before.

“What are you doing out again. Couldn’t sleep?”

Y/n took another sip of the warm tea, letting the taste linger on his tongue. A sigh followed soon after.

“I think you know the answer.”

The sound of rustling leaves was the only thing that made a sound for a while. A moment of silence soon took over for a moment. The creature spoke up again.

“Would you still talk to me if you knew the truth of my appearance?”

Y/n put the cup down gently on a nearby rock. He felt confusion settle within his mind.

“What do you mean, dear darkness friend?”

There was no hesitation for an answer.

“If I were to walk out of the leaves I shroud myself in, would you scream?”

“Why would I scream?”

Frustration was clear within the creature's voice as it answered Y/n’s question once more.

“Because most seem too. Once I emerge from the shadows and eyes fall on me, all I hear is shrieks of fear… Then the unbearable silence soon after.”

Y/n smiled solemnly into his lap.

“I don’t think there would be any fear if I did see you.”

Rustles from where the creature sat got further from Y/n. Again, Y/n sighed, finishing up the last of his tea. A lonely feeling made itself home within Y/n.

“Goodbye, my darkness friend.”

Y/n stood up, gently holding the empty cup close. Silent steps made their way back to the house surrounded by trees. Y/n gently opened the door, making sure no one was disturbed by his entrance. He stepped in, closing the door behind him.

Y/n softly walked to the kitchen to place the empty cup into the sink. It rested there for him to come back to it later. There was a gentle patter with every step he took. Up the stairs, entering his shared bedroom with his brother.

He looked to the small boy, gently resting on a tatami mat. Minimal moonlight dispersed in the room, making the small boy’s sleeping features more pronounced. Y/n gently smiled at the peaceful sight. Y/n moved to where his tatami mat laid.

He relaxed against it, trying his best to fall asleep. His e/c eyes fixated on the ceiling of the room. Thoughts raced through his head, mostly stuck on the encounter with one of the creatures he had talked to. Curiosity made Y/n restless.

Y/n’s eyelids slowly shut, as the boy was being lulled into sleep. The encounter still swirling in his mind.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

That night was a while ago, many others had made their places within Y/n’s memories. Similar encounters with the creatures that hid themselves from Y/n confused the boy. He never understood what the voices meant when they asked if he would fear them. His family never knew of these encounters.

They only had knowledge that Y/n would sit out in the clearing during the late hours. Many conversations, fueled with concern, were held. Failed attempts of convincing the h/l h/c boy to not go on those late night walks. Even if they were quick to give up, Y/n’s parents still had those conversations with him.

As a way to ease their nerves, and get the boy to actually become tired, Y/n’s parents had him run the stall today. Y/n was quick to rush out the door, excited to finally run the food stall. It was something that he always wanted to do, but his parents never truly let him. At least never on his own.

Y/n hugged his sister and brother goodbye before setting off for the small town down the mountain. 

His siblings were complaining about not being able to go. He giggled and ruffled his hair. Y/n felt an odd pit in his stomach, something telling him not to leave. Y/n knelt down to his sibling's height, hugging them both. 

The two gripped Y/n tightly, smiling. Y/n then stood up, hugging his mother tightly. It startled her, unsure why her son would do this. Nonetheless, she gave a receiving hug back. 

Y/n went off on his way to the small stall with some ingredients and premade dishes in hand. As he descended the mountain, Y/n took in all the surrounding flora. A small white flower stuck out the most to the boy, he kept seeing them along the trail. Y/n made a mental note to pick some on his way home.

After thirty minutes of walking, Y/n made it to the entrance of the village. He continued walking as he waved to everyone around him. He was a kind boy who everyone seemed to go to when they needed extra help. Y/n pulled out a cart from an alley and started the stove simmering some ingredient. 

Patrons would trickle in to the stall throughout the day. Y/n managed to get a lot done on his own. Once person caught his eyes, however. Y/n put a ‘come back later’ sign up as he walked out, rushing to the person. Y/n yelled out while waving. 

“Tanjiro! Tanjiro!”

The black haired boy turned to look into deep e/c eyes. He smiled gently and braced himself for Y/n’s hug. Y/n gave Tanjiro a big embrace, tight and warm. Tanjro smiled and hugged Y/n back. Once Y/n let go of the boy, he looked around. He noticed Tanjiro was alone. 

“Did your siblings not join you today?”

Tanjro nodded his head as confirmation to Y/n’s question. He signalled Y/n to follow him as he did his rounds. Y/n skipped next to Tanjiro, feeling so happy to just be in his presence. The dark red eyed boy brought so much calm to Y/n. 

“My mother didn’t want them distracting me from work. I think she also didn’t want more work to be put on me or you if we ended up running into each other.”

Y/n nodded, understanding Tanjiro. 

“My mother and father said the same when my siblings wanted to come along too. Hey, if we brought our siblings, they could have kept each other busy.”

Y/n giggled at the idea, thinking it could have kept the children busy. Tanjiro lightly blushed at Y/n, and joining him in the vocal amusement. The two kept walking, conversing about the other's family and how they were doing. Tanjiro brought up Y/n’s sleeping troubles.

“Have you been able to sleep lately? I know last time we talked, you seemed so tired.”

Y/n froze at the question. He dreaded telling Tanjiro what was going on in his nightlife. There was a mix of fear and guilt not telling his best friend. Y/n didn’t want to freak Tanjiro out, nor be deemed crazy. Tanjiro stopped, looking back at his h/c friend. He noticed Y/n’s face, seemingly in glazed terror. He panicked and hugged Y/n close. Y/n gripped Tanjiro tightly, muttering things that Tanjiro could barely make out. He gripped Y/n’s face, staring deeply into those e/c eyes. 

“Y/n, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

That’s when Y/n broke. He decided he was going to tell Tanjiro what had been going on, for better or for worse. He took Tanjiro’s hand and brought him to the food stall. Y/n quickly whipped up some noodles for the two to enjoy as Y/n talked. 

“I have been hiding this from everyone, even my own family. They know I stay up and go outside at night, but they don’t know what I do.”

Tanjiro glanced at Y/n with curiosity filling up his eyes. 

“What do you do?”

Y/n took a deep breath, nervous to share. However, he was determined to have at least one person know what was going on. He couldn’t keep hiding it. 

“I just start talking. I bring a cup of tea with me and I just talk to the darkness. Sometimes there are responses, other times its just be talking. But I always feel something, someone, present. They just listen.  Part of me hopes it’s not just me imagining the responses and the feeling of someone there, but another part hopes it is just me out of fear of what's really out there.”

Y/n sighed, trying to think of a way to explain his feelings to Tanjiro. It was just as confusing to him as it would be anyone listening. Y/n continued.  

“Even with that fear, there's a sense of comfort. A comfort of something protecting me and keeping me safe. I’m sorry if I’m not making any sense. I think I just might be crazy. The reason I can’t sleep at night though is because of the comfort I find in the moonlight and surrounding darkness. It just feels right to me, and I feel anxious when I’m not out in that forest for at least thirty minutes. Ah, I’m just rambling now. Oh, how’s your sister? I haven’t seen her in a while.”

Y/n looked up at Tanjiro and became startled with the way he looked at Y/n. It made Y/n want to cry with how concerned his friend looked. Tanjiro put his hands on Y/n’s s/c ones as a way to ease the boy. 

“I understand what you mean, but I don’t think you’re crazy. Whenever you can’t sleep, you can just walk over to my house. Just knock three times and I’ll come and answer the door! I can write a letter to your parents, so they can give their opinions about it.”

Y/n hugged Tanjiro once more, feeling tears fall. He felt so grateful to have a friend like him. 

“Thank you so much, Tanjiro.”

Tanjiro smiled once more, shaking his head. He never needed Y/n to thank me. He loved Y/n so much, he didn’t know in what way, however. Tanjiro just assumed that it was a way friends would. Y/n’s question then registered n Tanjiro’s mind. 

“Oh, Nezuko is good! She misses you a lot. You should come over and see her!”

Y/n smiled at the thought. Y/n/s eyes drifted to the line now forming in front of the stall. He shot up and muttered a quick apology to his friend. Y/n started cooking once more and serving customers. Tanjiro stood next to the stall, selling the rest of his charcoal. 

This was another thing the two did. They would sell their good with each other. It made working easier and eased any stress. Once the sun set, Y/n made his way out of the village, with Tanjiro following him. 

The two said goodbye, and Y/n gave him one last hug. Y/n started trekking the hill, with anxiety settling with in him once more. He passed the white flowers, forgetting to pick them up as panic rushed through his blood. He picked up the pace, running to where his home rested. 

Y/n smelt an overwhelming smell of iron. His mind raced with the worst case scenarios graphically ingraining themselves in his mind. He struggled to open the door, his hands shaking extensively. The moon was just over the trees, bringing a dim light.

Once the door shot open, Y/n’s eyes widened. He covered his mouth as tears streamed down his s/c face. His mind could barely process what he was seeing. Blood coated the walls and the wooden floor. 

Y/n softly stepped through the doorway, trying to get a better grasp of what could have happened. That's when he fell to his knees. His mother was bleeding throughout every limb. His little sister was gripping on to her, with a hole where her stomach should be. 

Deeper in, Y/n could only see his father's body, no head in sight. And under his father's body was his little brother, eyes gouged out of his head. Y/n screamed, and ran outside to his small patch of grass. He fell to his knees on to the grass, trying to dry the overwhelming tears that streamed out of his eyes.

Y/n screamed and sobbed until his voice was hoarse. Y/n’s ears perked up as he heard the familiar rustle of leaves. 

“Why are you crying, Mr. Moonlight.” 

Y/n tried to speak, but only stutters fell out. 

“I-Family Dead Why?”

The creature that spoke seemingly understood the broken speech. It felt sympathy and pity for the boy crying. 

“It was bound to happen. These forests are full of hungry things.”

Y/n’s crying seemingly slowed, but the tears were still just as overwhelming. 

“What do you mean?”

Y/n was finding it hard to breathe, his chest felt bruised. The creature said one last thing.

“I can not tell you, but I can promise that most wouldn’t hurt you. You are famous to us, Mr. Moonlight.”

Y/n was left confused as he heard the creature leaving. Y/n sat for a minute in silence, the moon beaming down on him. It was an angelic scene. Y/n walked back into the house, staring at the dead bodies. 

He picked up his little sister first, bringing her body out in front of the house. Next was his mother, then his brother, lastly his headless father. He cried as he brought each corpse out of the house. He started to dig appropriate sized holes for each of his family members. 

Reluctantly, he covered them in dirt, cementing their places under the ground. He held his hands together, digging his nails into his skin. Y/n was trying to contain himself from having a panic attack. Indents in his skin started to form, they turned a deeper color the further he pushed his nails. Y/n then started out a prayer. 

“To the world of souls, be it above or below, please let these lost souls move on with the knowledge of being loved throughout their whole life and the fulfillment of what they accomplished. Even with the sins they may have committed, let them be consumed by the warm light that soothes us after death. They did what they could to give love to all and protect who they could. Please let them pass to the heavens above.”

With that, Y/n left the make shift burial site, and walked inside with the strong scent of blood lingering. It made him cry harder than he was before. He slowly started to clean up his house, trying to get rid of the horrid stench. After an hour of cleaning, everything looked seemingly normal. 

Though, normalcy was forever lost for Y/n. Y/n contemplated going to Tanjiro’s for the night, unsure of the questions he might ask. Y/n wasn’t ready to come to terms with the fact that his parents, his whole family, was dead. Y/n took in a shaky breath, stuck in place with uncertainty settling in. 

He walked to the kitchen to make himself some dinner. He was met with the sight of a finished meal, the last of his mother's cooking. The smell was barely there, but Y/n could feel it was lingering. He contemplated eating the last of what his mother would have ever made for him.

 Tears swelled once more. He reluctantly took a seat at the table, examining the food. Y/n made a mark of every detail, etching it into his head as to never forget it. He could see his family surrounding the table with him. He could hear the laughing and the bonding they would have done. Y/n hesitantly plated some food, trying to remember the smell of a warm meal. 

His hands shook as he took some chopsticks. They hovered over the food for a few seconds, Y/n unsure as to take a bite. He couldn't think of this being the last meal he would ever have that would be made with a mother's love. Y/n took one small bite as tears began to stream down again. 

He choked back sobs, trying to memorize the taste. Every grain, every molecule, was savored by Y/n. The texture was even put into the illustrated memory he was trying to hold on to. Flashes of his mother holding him when he cried like this only made him feel worse. Other memories started to trickle in and started a remembrance train in Y/n's now broken mind. 

Ones of his brother teasing him, ones of his sister making sure he was sleeping okay, and ones of his father doing things with Y/n that were special to the two. The specific memory that stuck to Y/n was when his father talked about s sword he used to own. That started Y/n and his father learning how to use them. Y/n’s father was his mentor and he learned quite a bit.

After the food was finished, Y/n couldn’t bring himself to clean it up. He stood up on his weak legs, trying to move, but his eyes were fixated on the half-eaten meal. He didn’t want to leave the table because once he did, it would mean his family was truly gone. Y/n didn’t want to think his family was gone, he wanted it to be a bad dream and that his brother would wake him up, so the two could play. 

Y/n walked away slowly after ten minutes of staring at the dirty dishes. He walked to the stairs, running up them quickly. He rushed to his room and grabbed his tatami mat and his brother's blanket. He then ran to his sister’s room and grabbed one of her pillows. 

After that, his last location was his parent's room, where he placed his tatami mat and the other things he acquired. He took in another shaky breath, now processing the fact that his family was dead, and he was now alone. An empty house with no one else residing in it but himself. He rested his head on the plush pillow, feeling his sister with him. 

Wrapping himself in his brother’s blanket, another presence made itself clear to Y/n. And as he drifted off to sleep, he couldn’t help but hear his mother singing the same lullaby he would hear when he couldn’t sleep. Tears soaked into the pillow he rested on, his body sinking into the blanket that covered him. Silence rattled throughout the dark, lonely home. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

After a week of living alone, Y/n had adjusted to the new life he was given. It was a struggle in the beginning. Every minute Y/n couldn’t stop crying, so many memories never to be recreated ever again. He couldn’t even bring himself to tell Tanjiro, but Y/n spent so much time with him. Y/n made even more time to spend with Nezuko. 

She seemed to notice Y/n’s more saddened state. Nezuko caught on to the amount of time Y/n was spending with the Kamado family, too. Whenever she asked about it, Y/n directed the conversation somewhere else. It concerned the black haired girl, to a point where she cornered Y/n. 

Behind the house, the two stood in awkward and concerning silence. Y/n was fidgeting with his hands, unsure if he should speak or wait for Nezuko too. Y/n jumped back slightly when he felt Nezuko embrace his shaky hands. The two held eye contact, waiting for the other to speak.

“Y/n what's going on? You’ve been acting weird lately. You seem more sad.”

Y/n froze, hearing Nuezko’s words. He didn’t think he was making it that obvious, he was trying to hide his troubled feeling. Y/n’s breathing became irregular, and his heart was beating faster than normal. He sighed, knowing he couldn’t bring himself to lie to Nezuko. 

“Something happened last week, and I don’t know how to say it or even if I want to say it.”

Nezuko seemed confused. She was trying to catch on to what Y/n was saying, but his words were so vague. Concern for Y/n started to bubble up. 

“What happened?”

Y/n felt tears surface his e/c eyes, making them glossy within the sun. He opened his mouth, hoping words would come out, but the only sounds that did was a guttural sob. Y/n fell to his knees, scraping them slightly in the process. The pain caused not reaction out of the boy, due to his mind so focused on the death of his parents. 

Nezuko’s eyes widened as she knelt down next to Y/n. She hugged him close and started to try to calm the boy down. Y/n buried his head into her shoulder, letting the tears fall once more. Nezuko said soothing things, reminding Y/n of his mother. His cries became harder and louder as he kept listening to Nezuko. 

“My parents, my whole family, is gone!”

Nezuko’s face morphed into saddened surprise. She didn’t quite know what Y/n was talking about, but based off of how Y/n was reacting, she could tell it was bad. She held Y/n until he calmed down enough to make coherent sentences. Y/n wiped the tears away as he looked into concerned pink eyes. 

Y/n blushed, feeling so embarrassed about breaking down in front of Nezuko. He tried to stand up, but his legs wobbled, making him almost fall. Nezuko caught Y/n before he could fall. She helped him steady himself, holding Y/n’s hand softly. 

Nezuko breathed along with Y/n, trying to help him steady his own. Y/n finally felt better, hugging Nezuko, profusely thanking and apologizing to her. Nezuko giggled slightly and hugged Y/n tightly. She finally understood what Y/n might have been talking about. 

Y/n and Nezuko pulled away from each other’s embrace. Y/n smiled softy, his eyelids lazily hanging. Nezuko returned a soft, somber smile to Y/n still very worried about him. Y/n sighed deeply. 

“Thank you Nezuko. I’m sorry if I worried you.”

Nezuko shook her head, her bangs slightly swaying. Once again, her hands held Y/n’s gently. The two shared a moment of now comfortable silence, staring into each other’s eyes. Y/n’s eyes were saying thanks, and Nezuko’s were full of love. 

Y/n pulled away from Nezuko, and walked to the front of the house. He waved to the rest of the Kamado family, saying his goodbyes. He was off on his way back to his quiet, empty home. The sad thoughts still ran through his head, one being the fact that he missed when there was a warm meal on the table for him when he got home. 

Y/n looked at the white flowers that littered the trail. He finally remembered what he wanted to do with them a week later. He picked a few up and held on to them tightly. Some lost their petals because of the tight hold Y/n had on them. The further he trekked on, the closer he was to his home. 

On the horizon, Y/n saw two figures standing in front of his front door. Y/n ran faster to his house, anxious about these two who were on the doorstep. He analyzed them from the distance he was at, trying to see if they had any weapons on them. One of them did, but it seemed to be sheathed. 

The two heard fast-paced walking and turned to see where it was coming from. They saw a h/c haired boy with bright e/c eyes. They watched as the boy ran up to them, panting from exhaustion. The one with the weapon, noticed the boy was holding small white flowers. 

“What are you doing here?”

Y/n stumbled back at the black haired boy’s bluntness. He tried to find an answer, but anxiety had already settled in his throat. He didn’t know what to say to these two, or what to ask, either. The older man seemed to take notice of Y/n’s feelings, based off the h/c haired boy's stance. 

“Giyuu, let me handle this. Do you know where residence of this house are?”

Y/n nodded slightly, tears once again brimming. Giyuu, the one Y/n assumed to be the black haired boy, took notice of the slight change of demeanor. 

Giyuu noticed his in structure going closer to the h/c boy, seemingly understanding the shift in mood. The gray haired man knelt down. 

“Do you know M/n and F/n L/n?” 

Y/n nodded again, trying so hard not to break down just hearing the names of his parents. How many times was the universe going to remind him of what he lost? It felt so unfair to the boy, it made no sense to him. He looked at the man, feeling a bit weirded out by the red mask that covered his face. 

“They’re not here anymore, I’m sorry.”

Y/n was quiet and timid. He didn’t want to explain what happened, not to anyone. The man in the mask waited for Y/n to continue. Giyuu had foiled this mini plan, however. 

“Where did they go?”

Y/n didn’t like the questioning these people were giving him. He didn’t know them, and he didn’t want to know them. He wanted them to go away, and just sit alone in his house. He long wished for the voices to be here and comfort him, but alas they were nighttime things and so fickle. 

Y/n couldn’t speak anymore, he pointed a small finger to the makeshift graves of his family. The sight of them just made Y/n’s heartache. He clutched his chest, where his heart laid, tears softly rolling down his plush s/c cheeks. The two in front of Y/n only stared at the graves, not catching on to what Y/n meant. 

They quickly turned to Y/n, however, after hearing heavy breathing from the boy. Giyuu’s eyes widened in concern, and the older man could only hug Y/n. Y/n couldn’t sob, the start of a panic attack was imminent. The man in the mask could only speak to the boy, unsure of what to say to calm him down.

“What are those mounds?”

Y/n could only breathe out one word. 

“Family.”

That's when it hit the two. Y/n was the only one of this family of this house. M/n and F/n were Y/n’s parents. They could only feel sympathy for the boy, understanding the loss of the parents. Giyuu knelt down to Y/n’s height. 

“I saw their bodies! They were mutilated! I don’t know what happened! I shouldn’t have left, I shouldn’t have! My brother, my sister. It’s all my fault!”

Y/n screamed after he said that, the thoughts consuming him. He was becoming irrational, and it showed through the way he was talking. The man wearing the mask could only shake his head in disagreement. Giyuu rubbed Y/n’s back. 

“It is not your fault. It’s better you left, before whatever killed your family killed you.”

Y/n felt a deeper pit in his stomach. Giyuu was right, whatever had killed his family would have killed him. For some reason, this made Y/n feel so much guiltier than he was already.  Nothing made sense to Y/n anymore, and the red masked man could sense it. 

“What is your name?”

Y/n looked at the mask, just now realizing how weird it looked. It dispersed a bit of the anxiety he was harboring. Y/n was trying to hold in a giggle as best as he could. Y/n tried to steady himself.

“Y/n. My name is Y/n L/n and the last of the L/n family.”

It hurt him having to say that, but he felt it was necessary. Giyuu could see the boy struggling with keeping tears in. He could only sympathize with him, not even able to imagine losing someone so close. Giyuu’s hand slipped into Y/n’s s/c one. 

Y/n looked into Giyuu’s muddied sapphire blue eyes, getting entranced by the color and intrigue. Y/n then looked the guy with the red mask, realization hitting him. He didn’t know this man’s name. He knew Giyuu’s but not knowing this man’s name felt weird, Y/n pointed to him and looked at Giyuu.

“What’s his name?”

Giyuu and looked at the guy with the red mask. Both were unable to understand what he was feeling. He just stood there, silence settling in for a moment around the three. He got a bit closer to the two that stood in front of him. 

“My name is Sakonji Urokodaki. You can call me Urokodaki. I will be your instructor. Now let's go.”

Y/n looked confused at the two. What did Urokodaki mean by instructor, and for what? Questions swirled around Y/n’s head, making him so dizzy. He looked to Giyuu for answers, hoping he could read his mind. 

“He teaches sword skills, and concentration breathing. You will also be coming with us.”

Giyuu’s response only gave Y/n more questions. Y/n felt even more dizzy, not understanding anything what these two were talking about. Y/n’s eyes glanced to the graves. Y/n then looked in his hand to see the semi wilted flowers. 

The boy walked away from Giyuu, his s/c hand releasing from his. Giyuu watched Y/n walk to the graves he made, soon following the boy. He watched the boy place an even amount of flowers on each grave, delicately. Giyuu looked around to find anything to gift to those passed on. 

He wondered over to a small patch of small yellow flowers. The color complimented the white ones well. He started placing them down, as Y/n watched him. His heart felt warmed by the action, unsure how to respond. 

Giyuu stood next to Y/n, his hand back to holding Y/n’s. Y/n didn’t understand why Giyuu did this at all. He didn’t know his parents, so why give gifts? It made no sense to the boy. 

“Why did you do that?”

Giyuu looked to Y/n, staring in to e/c eyes blankly. No emotion could be found within Giyuu’s eyes, at least none that were obvious. He looked back to the mounds, examining the flowers that laid on each one. His face was unfazed. 

“Do what?”

Y/n looked to the flowers now. Confusion was still constant within the boy. He didn’t understand Giyuu at all, and his actions made no sense. 

“Put flowers on the graves. You didn’t know my family, so why do it?”

Giyuu’s gaze didn’t waver off of the mounds. It only took a minute for Giyuu to find his answer to Y/n’s question. 

Y/n became inpatient, curiosity hurting his brain. He didn’t like not knowing what other people were thinking. 

“They died, that’s why.”

Giyuu’s tone was flat and blank. Y/n pondered on Giyuu’s response. Urokodaki joined the two, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. The way his head was facing, one would think he was looking at the graves too. He heard the conversation the two were having. 

“One doesn’t need to have a relationship to the deceased to give respects to them. They simply need a caring and open hearts.”

Y/n looked up, startled by Urokodaki’s sudden presence. He sighed, finally getting an answer that made sense to him. His mind calmed down, his gaze looking at the graves one last time. He looked at both Giyuu and Urokodai again. 

“I think… I think I’m ready to go.”

Urokodai nodded, turning around, facing the way to his home. Giyuu followed soon after, guiding Y/n. Y/n followed, looking back to his home. Tears slowly brimmed Y/n’s eyes one last time, floating in the wind as he walked away with Giyuu. 

As the three walked to Urokodaki’s home, Y/n admired the scenery that surrounded them. The deeper they went, the more Y/n realized how little he explored. Y/n’s eyes sparked with wonder and curiosity, he ran a bit further than Giyuu, wanting to see it all. Giyuu softly smiled, seeing how excited the boy was. 

“You live all the way out here, Urokodaki?”

Urokodaki only nodded, not saying a word. The closer the three got to Urokodaki’s home, the more excited Y/n felt. It was weird for him to feel this much excitement over something so simple. Giyuu pulled Y/n a little closer, so they could walk side by side. 

“Stay close to me.”

Y/n nodded, feeling a bit on edge with the way Giyuu talked. The forests were getting darker, and the moonlight dispersed itself. The forest grew more eerie, but neither of the three were phased. Well not negatively that is. 

Giyuu gripped Y/n’s hand, feeling as if the boy would be scared of the dark. It was also for Giyuu's own sake, wanting to keep Y/n safe. Y/n was too caught up in the dark forest and wondering what happened in them. Y/n looked at Giyuu, his smile making the black haired boy a bit flustered.

“Do you hear voices in these woods?”

Giyuu felt confused, what did this h/c haired boy mean? He looked around and tried his best to hear if there were any noises around the group. Silence was all there was, aside from the normal rustling from the wind. Giyuu kept his focus on Urokodaki, his pace slowing. 

“What do you mean Y/n?”

Y/n started frowning, panic and regret making home in his throat. He didn't want to answer truthfully. He didn't want these new people to think of him as someone crazy. A shuddered sigh came out of Y/n’s mouth. 

“I…uhm… Sometimes late at night, I hear voices. Well, more, so I talk to the void, and sometimes it talks back.” 

Giyuu felt minimal anxiety after hearing what Y/n said. He didn’t want to panic the boy, but he looked at Urokodaki. The older man seemed to pick up on what Y/n said, though his pace was still the same. Giyuu could tell though that Urokodaki was concerned. The further they walked, the closer a house seemed to get.

Y/n saw the house on the horizon, curious about what it looked like. The outside presentation felt so familiar to him, it reminded the boy of his own home. Giyuu looked at the child running out of his reach, the absence of Y/n’s hand that once held Giyuu’s. Y/n was the first up the hill, standing in front of the house, feeling sadness grip him once again. 

Y/n’s body felt heavy, his eyes brimming with tears once more. He felt sick of how sad he got within just today, the amount of breakdowns stuck in his head. Thick tears rolled down his face, heaves holding back the sobs. Giyuu rushed to Y/n, unsure of what might have caused this strong emotional response. 

Giyuu tried to get Y/n’s attention, Urokodaki not too far behind from the two. Y/n’s mind was enveloped of that night, that moment. The regret swelling up in his stomach, he felt so sick. He couldn’t help but blame himself. Nothing in his mind put him at ease. 

The images of his mother, his father, and both his siblings mutilated now swarming his mind. In his head, he was screaming out, telling the thoughts to stop. The more he screamed in his mind, the more Y/n could feel as if he was saying it. Giyuu and Urokodaki were suddenly panicking when they heard Y/n’s pleas for something to stop. 

“Y/n, what's wrong?”

Giyuu’s question went unanswered, unknown levels of panic became prominent to him. Giyuu didn’t know that such a stranger could panic him like this. Urokodaki only watched, unsure on how to help. Y/n fell to his knees, disbelief still strong in his mind. 

Y/n sobbed loudly, the moonlight causing his tears to gleam. Giyuu only at next to Y/n, letting him cry. He knew there wasn’t much he could do, not unless Y/n told him. Urokodaki went to open the door to the house, motivation, and reasoning were unknown to Giyuu. 

All Giyuu could think was to grab the sobbing boy and carried him inside. He put his hands around Y/n’s neck and knee’s carrying him into Urokodaki’s home. Y/n looked to Giyuu, finally snapped out of the horrible flashback. 

Y/n looked around, noticing they were inside the house. The h/l h/c haired boy was confused as to how he got inside, looking all over the place. Y/n then looked at Giyuu noticing the boy was carrying him. Y/n blushed slightly, feeling embarrassed that Giyuu held him so close. 

“Giyuu, what’s going on? Why are we inside now?”

Giyuu looked to Y/n, putting him down, so he could walk on his own. Giyuu lead Y/n to where the two of them would be sleeping. Y/n saw the mats and at on one of them, looking to the other one. Giyuu stood in the doorway. 

“You were crying.”

Giyuu’s blunt words hurt Y/n a bit. It felt like a bad thing when Giyuu said it. Giyuu noticed Y/n tensing up, wondering why he was. Giyuu moved to the mat next to Y/n’s sitting directly in front of him. 

“I’m sorry.”

Y/n’s meek voice caused Giyuu to blush slightly. He never heard a voice so sweet before. Curiosity once again graced Giyuu. He didn’t understand why Y/n was apologizing. 

“You have no need to be sorry.”

Y/n looked directly into Giyuu’s eyes. 

“But I was crying, and you had to carry me inside, I can’t help but feel like I’m already burdening you.”

Giyuu only shook his head, disagreeing with Y/n’s conclusion. 

“You’re not a burden, you only worried me and I wanted to bring you inside where it’s safer.”

Y/n softly smiled, all anxieties being calmed. 

He looked around the room, studying every nook and cranny, wanting to get comfortable. Giyuu noticed e/c eyes darting back and forth at a rapid pace. He sat on the other mattress, staring directly at Y/n.

Y/n's eyes stopped darting, fixating on Giyuu. He tried to decipher what Giyuu was thinking, but there was no use in doing so. Giyuu kept his gaze on Y/n both staring into each other's eyes. Y/n started to fidgeting with his fingers, unsure on what to do around the boy in front of him.

“What do the voices say and what do they sound like?”

Giyuu's tone was serious, and Y/n was anxious. He didn't know how to answer Giyuu’s question without seeming crazy. Y/n tried to gather his thoughts and memories of all the voices he had heard. Y/n lowered his head.

“They would ask me what I was doing outside so late. That's how every conversation started. Sometimes they would take interest in things I did that day, or they would ask random questions about what things were. They all sounded different, but there were some regulars. Those were the ones that would always ask me how I was and seem the most interested in my life. It was oddly comforting. Why do you ask?”

Giyuu seemed unfazed, so focused on everything Y/n was sharing with him. Every single word Y/n said, Giyuu had memorized. Y/n got uncomfortable with the silence. He was unsure if he should continue talking or if he should wait for Giyuu to respond. Before Giyuu could open his mouth, Urokodaki walked in.

“Dinner's ready. Y/n I'll find a change of clothes for you.”

Y/n quickly nodded, not wanting to seem disrespectful to Urokodaki. Y/n stood up and walked out of the room, Giyuu following close behind. The aroma of the dishes made Y/n's mouth water. He quickly sat down, grasping his hands together for a silent prayer. Once the food hit Y/n’s tastes buds, it sent him to other worlds of flavors.

The feeling of a warm home cooked meal made Y/n feel so loved. Even if it was from a stranger, it felt nice to have warm food waiting for him. Giyuu watched Y/n, noticing his expressions brighten with every bite he took. Giyuu started to eat slower than Y/n. 

After the two finished their meal, Urokodaki came out with some spare clothes for Y/n. The boy graciously took them, thanking Urokodaki every other second. Once Y/n changed, he sat on the mattress waiting for Giyuu to enter. Said boy walked in, changed from what he was wearing earlier into more suitable night ware. 

The two ended up falling asleep, Urokodaki blowing out all the candles to bring a darkened atmosphere to the house. Giyuu stayed up a bit, just to make sure Y/n felt safe enough to fall asleep. As soon as he heard Y/n snoring softly, Giyuu went to bed. 

After a few hours, Y/n woke up as if his body was begging him too. He looked around, a sleeping Giyuu catching his eye. Y/n softly got up, walked out of the room, and out of the house to see the darkness of night. He walked a little further, closer to the trees, to see if he heard any voices like his old home. Y/n started to mumble to himself, in hopes of the voices to come back and talk to him once more. 

The more Y/n mumbled to himself, the more crazy he felt for not getting a response. It had been a couple of minutes of him being out in the freezing cold, acting like a lunatic. He was so caught up in his own thoughts and words that he didn’t hear someone walk behind him. Y/n jumped back becoming startled when he felt a hand on his back. 

Y/n’s heart was beating so fast, he brought a hand to his chest, trying to calm himself down. E/c eyes looked up to see who had startled him, little hope, thinking it was his family coming to take him home out of the lingering denial he has of their death. Y/n’s eyes dimmed when he saw it wasn’t his family, but Giyuu. Giyuu looked at Y/n with slight concern, unsure on what to do to help calm the boy down. 

“What are you doing out here?”

Y/n stiffened at Giyuu’s voice, something about it made him feel safe, which was odd to him. He took a minute to gather himself to not stutter or mess up his response. 

“I couldn’t sleep, it's an issue I’ve been having for a while. Back home, I’d just sit out during the night and talk to myself. You remember those voices I talked about? Those are what I was hoping to get a response from.”

Y/n’s head lowered, still missing his home and fearful of what Giyuu would say. What he didn’t expect was Giyuu hugging him. That was Giyuu’s only response, and he didn’t know why he did that himself. Y/n melted in Giyuu’s grasp, tears softly streaming down his face. 

Giyuu led Y/n to a rock form, seemingly resembling a table and chairs. The two sat down on the rocks and Y/n's tears stopped. The familiarity of sitting around the darkness and being surrounded by trees brought a soft smile to his face. Giyuu blushed lightly, wanting to see Y/n only ever smile like that especially what happened to him. 

“I promise Y/n, I will protect you from any sadness.”

Y/n looked up, startled, and blushed. He didn’t know how to respond or what Giyuu meant. The two sat there in comfortable silence for the most part. Giyuu contemplated telling Y/n what he has been thinking about all night. Deep down, he knew the right answer. 

“Y/n, I have something to tell you.”

Y/n looked at him curiously, something telling him that what Giyuu was going to share wasn’t going to be happy. Y/n waited impatient for Giyuu to tell him what he needed too. Giyuu noticed Y/n’s impatience. He went on to explain what he needed to Y/n.

“Those voices you were taking to were demons.”

Y/n was confused. He’s heard of the creatures others called demons, but he only ever thought them to be tales to keep kids to behave. And if those voices were demons, why didn’t they kill him? Based off the stories he had heard from the towns folk, they should have killed him. 

“Demons? What are they exactly?”

Giyuu was shocked that Y/n didn’t know what demons were. The usual reaction others had when they heard the talk of demons were fear. But this boy in front of him not know of demons, but he held no fear in his voice when he asked. Y/n confused Giyuu more ways than one in just one night. 

“They are human eating creatures. And they must be slain.”

Y/n became scared after hearing those last few words. He didn’t want to hurt the voices, even if they were demons. The brought so much comfort to him, they were like a family. Y/n looked down again, his mind was swimming with swarming thoughts. 

Giyuu noticed Y/n becoming uncomfortable at the thought of slaying demons. He didn’t quite understand why, however. He thought it was a demon that killed Y/n’s family. So why was Y/n uncomfortable with the thought of slaying demons?

“What’s wrong Y/n?”

Y/n was startled once more, jumping back slightly on the make shift chair. He struggled to make eye contact with Giyuu. He wanted to explain the issue of his feelings, but no words were coming to his mind. Luckily, Giyuu found those words for Y/n. 

“You’re struggling with the thought of killing demons, aren’t you.”

Y/n looked up to meet Giyuu’s eyes. He nodded quickly, his h/c hair bobbing with the motion, which Giyuu found cute. Thanks to the Giyuu, Y/n was prompted to put his thoughts into a cohesive line. Y/n sighed, still anxious to share how we felt. 

“I know that they hurt others, but if those voices were demons, then I can’t bring myself to kill them. I mean, if they're strangers and I haven’t talked to them then I’m sure I could, but still. They brought a comfort to me that even my own family couldn’t.”

Giyuu nodded, his suspicions were confirmed after what Y/n said. He needed to think of something to say that wouldn’t upset Y/n but make Y/n realize his thinking was dangerous. Giyuu felt something grab his hand, and gently rub it. Giyuu looked in Y/n’s direction, meeting e/c eyes full of softness. 

“I understand that my view on demons may be harmful to me and maybe even deadly, but I have hope that no demon will hurt me.”

Giyuu’s eyes held seriousness. He didn’t want Y/n to die, not to something that he knows he can protect the boy from. It made sense in his mind why Y/n would think that way, but it still deeply worried him. Giyuu asked one last question, in hopes of at least bringing acknowledgment to the boy that sat in front of him. 

“Do you know what killed your parents? Your family?”

Y/n shook his head, tears brimmed in his eyes. His family’s death was still a sensitive wound. Y/n’s breathing became shaky and Giyuu noticed. He grasped both s/c hands to try and sooth the boy. 

“The possible cause of death is demons.”

Y/n’s eyes widened, but a wave of realization hit. It was strong and it scared Y/n. His thoughts were spiraling once more, no sign of breaking away from them. He started to hyperventilate once more. Giyuu hugged Y/n close, over the table like rock. 

Giyuu hugged Y/n until the boy’s eyes were dry of tears. Once Y/n calmed down, his eyes fluttered shut due to drowsiness replacing the sadness. His sleepy head hit Giyuu’s shoulder, soft short breaths hit Giyuu’s cheek. Giyuu blushed, a soft pink gracing where Y/n’s breath hit. 

Giyuu held Y/n up so that he could walk around the rock and pick up the boy. He carried Y/n bridal style, as quietly as he could. Y/n nuzzled into Giyuu’s chest, making Giyuu blush once more. He didn’t know why he felt so close to the boy or the urge to protect him having just met him. 

Giyuu quietly brought the boy back to the room they shared, bringing the covers up ever so gently. Something in him wanted to kiss the boy’s forehead. He brushed Y/n’s h/c hair aside and gently planted a soft kiss on his forehead. Y/n softly smiled in his sleep after the kiss, and Giyuu softly smiled too. 

Giyuu walked to his bed, the smile still on his face. His cheeks were warm, still flustered with Y/n’s presence. As Giyuu drifted off to sleep, he made a vow to himself. That vow was to protect Y/n at all costs, from both the demons that roam the earth and other’s that may want to harm the boy.

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A/n: It took so long to rewrite this, but I'm so happy with it! It's in my new writing style and it has so much more detail! I hope you enjoyed and I hope to update this book a lot more! Be on the lookout for a Tokyo revengers x male reader, a Jujutsu Kaisen x male reader, and a Helluva boss x male reader fic! I will also be trying to write up a chapter 1 or prologue for my sk8 the infinity fic as well.

Do not repost or translate without my explicit permission! Reblogs are welcome!

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The hottest bitches ever

And no one can change my mind

Hashiras = simp material

nobody will convince me that they're ugly

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Taisho Secrets (all Pillars)

I’ll leave this here as a start. Maybe it has already been translated and I’m just doing something unnecessary…

Keep reading

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I have not decided on if I want to make a Sanemi spicy fic or if I want to do HC's for the Hashira fluffy and spice. On one hand, more Sanemi spice can be chucked in the world and I can make him soft boy like he deserves orrrrr I can write a spice fic for Gyomei.

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Hashiras would basically be a warm up once I got time to write this week, Sanemi would be sleepy cuddle canoodling, Gyomei would be fluff of reader letting him touch and map out their features and then reader returning the favor with spicy times. TLDR - please vote so I can get out of writers paralysis.

Thank you 🙏

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Mini update - half way through the Sanemi x reader NSFW oneshot. Works been busy but I'm also plotting out how I want to do the Gyomei x reader as well. In the meantime while I'm finishing up Sanemi's I haven't done match ups in a while so if anyone's interested please send them my way. Writing has been fun.

MATCH-UP SUBMISSIONS:

As posted on my blog - MDNI 18+ ONLY.

To participate I'll need

• Age/Gender/preference - so if you want a male/female match-up - also human/demon or okay with both.

• Your personality, traits, hobbies, whatever you feel like is pertinent to me getting enough of an idea of who you are in order to match you with a character!

• If you're wanting an OC match up, the former still applies.

Depending on how match-ups are received I may include spice in the next round.

Thank you all again!

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For the Plus size! Reader x Hashira headcanons I may end up making them individually because I started on Sanemi and I'm having to stop myself from writing a whole ass fic - it's gotten long and I haven't even gotten to smut.

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Plus-size Reader x Sanemi Shinazugawa Fluff/NSFW undercut - 18+ MDNI

NSFW TW: Breeding kink mainly, if I missed something let me know!

Sanemi Shinazugawa:

• Look I fully believe with my whole chest that Sanemi would love a plus size partner. He's touch starved and is in need of some gentle kindness in his life.

• So when he takes time to himself and sneaks off to his favorite ohagi shop before his patrol and he sees you at the counter. His mouth drops abruptly before he snaps it shut. Not wanting to make a spectacle of himself as he gets in line behind you, he admires the way your chubby cheeks flush a pretty pink while you're laughing with the shop keeper as they hand you the last of his favorite flavor of ohagi.

• His eyebrows furrow in conflict as you unknowingly took what he came here for before he weighs his options and settles on ordering a cup of matcha, funnily enough he realizes that even while after paying he's kept a watchful eye on you. Watching you make your way over to a bench where yet again he normally sits.

• Still he silently admires your figure, enjoying the way your hips widen and the way your belly presses outwards gently onto your thighs has his mouth watering. The shop keeper yelling his name over the crowd startles him out of his trance and he curses himself out internally for letting himself get so lost before he decides he's going to grab his drink and head over to talk to you.

• Matcha in hand he walks over and stands directly infront of you, blocking your view of the street and meeting your questioning eyes before speaking.

• "You have my ohagi." He states abruptly, he didn't think this far ahead on how he'd initiate conversation with you, let alone with what he would've said to begin with. But he could've kicked his own ass for starting it off the way he did. Simply because even with the way he came off, the only reaction he got was watching your face contort in confusion before a mischievous look spread across your face.

• "Okay, so then by your logic-" You pause and reach your hand out to the hand holding his drink, tipping the cup enough towards you to see the contents before continuing. "your Matcha there is mine as well." You let out a joyful laugh that was music to his ears as an incredulous grin spreads across his face.

• "My name is Y/N, what's your name Mr.Ohagi?" You tease, seeing if he would play along.

• "Sanemi, I dunno what I was planning on saying but it sure as shit wasn't that so I'm sorry."

• Humming in acknowledgement you simply scoot over before tapping the seat next to you inviting him to sit next to you. "No need to apologize, I found it funny. But if you'd like Sanemi I'd be happy to split it with you 50/50 if I can get a sip of your matcha." You offer, already splitting your ohagi and handing him half before he could answer. Beaming as he settles in next to you on the bench and taking the first bite of yours he watches you.

• 'You're even prettier up close' he thinks to himself before taking a bite of his half of the ohagi. Subconciously pressing his thigh into yours and enjoying the warmth of you he releases a subtle but content sigh. Something he thought you missed but you picked up on easily - letting your weight settle against him he let's you scoot in and lean your shoulder just within reach of his, seeing if he would close the gap to which he did almost immediately.

• Leaning forward he grabs his cup and offers it to you silently, his breathing hitching momentarily as he feels your fingers graze his as you take the cup from him. Drinking your share before handing it back to him before speaking outloud.

• "Would you like to meet again?"

• Thus the story of how you two met, it became a weekly thing for you both to meet. From sharing food and him explaining what he did for an occupation, stories of demons spread through your family so it didn't surprise you to know it was something that wasn't just a family fairytale. Still you explained that your family was a long line of medicine healers. Offering your residence if he was ever in need of aid from his missions. He agreed quickly to your surprise but didn't think anything of it until he burst into your home in the middle of the night needing mending.

• Quickly you collected your things to treat his wounds from your room, noting that nothing looked too bad but he had lost a decent amount of blood. Trying not to look worried and spook him you pull out your suture needles and balms and have him sit down on the tatami with you, having him lean back in your lap as it would be easier to sew his shoulder if it's level with you instead of having to reach up. Laying a towel down he settles his head into your lap as you work. Watching you curiously as you bunch and move his haori to the side to get to his wound easier, instead he sits up with a hiss and shrugs it off fully allowing you full access before settling into your lap again.

• Making note of the way your face flushes before watching you snap back to attention and begin working on his shoulder. You apply a thick sticky balm to the wound, almost acting as a full topical anesthetic, he snorts realizing you're worried he's going to hurt during the process and the thought of you being concerned for him has his heart tightening in his chest. You're too good for him, he thinks. Still he wants to enjoy the opportunity of being in your lap and the feeling of your hands working their magic. Sighing he lets his eyes close and let's his body soak up the heat from your plush thighs. Borderline falling asleep as his body relaxes until he feels your hand start to thumb over the scars on his face gently, he didn't realize you were done as the balm had done it's job and made sure he couldn't feel you working.

• "Were they painful?" You ask, smoothing your thumb over the biggest scar on his cheek. Feeling him hum lightly he speaks, "They were but I would get them again in a heart beat." He muses, pressing his face into your hand more firmly enjoying the warmth and comfort they gave him. His breathing evening out further as he falls asleep in your lap, fatigue taking its full effect. Smiling to yourself you card your fingers through his hair gently and enjoy sleepy content grumble he emitted, before nudging him a bit more begrudgingly.

• "Sanemi, come on wake up." You nudge him more firmly on his arm, careful to avoid any of his fresh cuts. A low grunt escapes him, "What?" He huffs still tired.

• "You're in my room, if you want to stay I can take the guest room? I-" You're interrupted with a sharp snort, sleep still thick on his voice. "I'm not kicking you out of your room Y/N, I can take the spare if you're uncomfortable but I'm okay where we are now. Just tell me and I'll go." He waits on your answer, eyes still closed as he's still resting in your lap. His hand reaches for yours to give you a reassuring squeeze before you respond.

• "I want you to stay and sleep here with me, please." You hold your breath, scarred fingers interlace with yours before he sits himself up and scoots over next to you onto your bedroll. Careful to avoid his injured shoulder he lays himself back down, sliding under the covers and takes a deep breath enjoying the way your pillow and sheets smelled of you before prompting you to slide into his arms. Arm raising the blanket up enough for you to climb under with him.

• "Cmere" He mumbles, sighing in content satisfaction as your soft body presses against his as he draped an arm over your waist. His hand coming to rest loosely on your stomach he runs a thumb over it while you settled in, using his bicep as a make shift pillow.

• "This okay 'Nemi?" You ask, settling into his arms and enjoying the way his lean muscle pressed against your softer body, he felt safe in every sense of the word. Here he was here safe and in your home, in your bed, in your heart. You could only hope he returned the affections you held so close to your heart.

• Pulling you in closer he sighs against your shoulder before responding, "Yes, now let's get some sleep Love." Before you feel his muscles tense behind you as he holds his breath.

• You swear you could almost see him yelling at himself internally as you turned around to face him in his arms, but you silence any of his worries or internal panic with a smile as you lean up and press a gentle kiss to his forehead, hand cupping his cheek again. "I love you too, Nemi."

• If you didn't know what it was like to be crushed in a bear hug until the point you couldn't breathe. You do now as he pulled you into his arms pressing your face against his chest you laugh, tapping your hand against his chest so he lets up before he continues. "Sorry, I wanted to talk to you about my feelings in the morning but I couldn't keep my fucking mouth shut apparently."

• Enjoying your place in his arms and against his chest you press your forehead against his chest again, before speaking. "You don't need to apologize Sanemi, you've got no idea how happy I am you returned my feelings as well." You state before continuing, "we can still discuss what we want to do with our feelings in the morning? You still need rest and I'm not going anywhere."

• A small smile creeps up onto his face as he grabs your chin lightly and makes you face him before pressing a featherlight kiss to your lips before pulling back, taking note of your shocked and cute expression. "In the morning it is then. Night Love" He snorts to himself as he feels your flushed face bury itself in his chest again. Thinking to himself "Cute."

• It's established then after your morning discussion with him that he would like to court you officially. He shares more on how he got his scars and what happened with his family, he had alluded to everything before hand but was more upfront and blunt this time around, wanting you to know him fully without any barriers between you both.

NSFW! MDNI 18+ below:

• Sex with Sanemi for your first time depends, I've mentioned before I see him as being a virgin until he meets the right person. I.E. his first romantic partner.

• So when it comes to sleeping with you for the first time it's a spur of the moment thing for him. Spread out in a tangled pile of limbs, kissing him in his room of his estate. His hands roaming feeling the way his fingers dipped and pressed into the soft flesh of your ass as he pulled your legs around his hips.

• The deep groan at feeling how your body melded against his, fuck you were so warm and he felt safe in your arms. A feeling he hasnt truly felt in years until meeting you and yet here he is, cock aching and grinding against your clothed heat with you grinding back against him with reckless abandon. Your ankle hooking his around his ass to pull him against you harder has him whining against your mouth before he mentally says fuck it. 'Now or never', as his hands almost unperceptibly tremble as he reaches for your sleep shorts. Eyes blown wide as he breaks your kiss, he looks into yours and asks in such a soft and pretty voice, "please baby?" His thumb brushing against your belly and fingers resisting everything telling them to pull down until he has your consent he waits.

• Once you give him the go ahead the man's feral, pulling your shorts down and pressing his fingers against your wet heat, moaning at the fact that this was happening and you're soaked all just for him. He has to take a calming breath before exploring your body and testing it's limits, trying to find what makes your pretty cunt gush and tighten for him as he presses his fingers in deep. Not being able to resit leaning down to lick a fat stripe across your slit, relishing in the way you squeaked and the way your thighs threatened to close in on him. Your taste driving him into a deeper need for you and a deeper need to press his thick cock into your heat.

• He finds out immediately after pressing into your bare pussy he has a breeding kink, flashes of you fucked full of his cum flood his mind as he has to bite back a strangled moan. Pressing deep and setting a steady pace, he enjoys the way your face contorts with pleasure and the way your body bounces with each thrust of his hips. His mouth waters at the idea of pumping you full of his cum and he knows he shouldn't be enjoying the idea of knocking you up as much as he is just due to his occupation alone and his family history but damn does the idea of you pregnant do something to him. Something he will keep a mental note of until further into your relationship and you're begging for his cum will he start to lean into it, pressing kisses against your neck and whispering "You want my cum baby?" Feeling the way your cunt tightens and threatens to push him out before he hisses and presses his cock in harder burying himself to the hilt, grinding against your ass, feeling the way your thighs shook against his as he hears a strangled "Yes, I need it!".

• "Fuck you're such a greedy girl, you want me to breed you? Is that it? Let me give it to you."

• Mans never cum so hard as he did in that moment, he just about collapsed against your back in that moment panting.

• Overall he's just utterly in love with you and is thrilled that he managed to make you fall in love with him.

---

Plus-size Reader x Sanemi Shinazugawa Fluff/NSFW undercut - 18+ MDNI

NSFW TW: Breeding kink mainly, if I missed something let me know!

Sanemi Shinazugawa:

• Look I fully believe with my whole chest that Sanemi would love a plus size partner. He's touch starved and is in need of some gentle kindness in his life.

• So when he takes time to himself and sneaks off to his favorite ohagi shop before his patrol and he sees you at the counter. His mouth drops abruptly before he snaps it shut. Not wanting to make a spectacle of himself as he gets in line behind you, he admires the way your chubby cheeks flush a pretty pink while you're laughing with the shop keeper as they hand you the last of his favorite flavor of ohagi.

• His eyebrows furrow in conflict as you unknowingly took what he came here for before he weighs his options and settles on ordering a cup of matcha, funnily enough he realizes that even while after paying he's kept a watchful eye on you. Watching you make your way over to a bench where yet again he normally sits.

• Still he silently admires your figure, enjoying the way your hips widen and the way your belly presses outwards gently onto your thighs has his mouth watering. The shop keeper yelling his name over the crowd startles him out of his trance and he curses himself out internally for letting himself get so lost before he decides he's going to grab his drink and head over to talk to you.

• Matcha in hand he walks over and stands directly infront of you, blocking your view of the street and meeting your questioning eyes before speaking.

• "You have my ohagi." He states abruptly, he didn't think this far ahead on how he'd initiate conversation with you, let alone with what he would've said to begin with. But he could've kicked his own ass for starting it off the way he did. Simply because even with the way he came off, the only reaction he got was watching your face contort in confusion before a mischievous look spread across your face.

• "Okay, so then by your logic-" You pause and reach your hand out to the hand holding his drink, tipping the cup enough towards you to see the contents before continuing. "your Matcha there is mine as well." You let out a joyful laugh that was music to his ears as an incredulous grin spreads across his face.

• "My name is Y/N, what's your name Mr.Ohagi?" You tease, seeing if he would play along.

• "Sanemi, I dunno what I was planning on saying but it sure as shit wasn't that so I'm sorry."

• Humming in acknowledgement you simply scoot over before tapping the seat next to you inviting him to sit next to you. "No need to apologize, I found it funny. But if you'd like Sanemi I'd be happy to split it with you 50/50 if I can get a sip of your matcha." You offer, already splitting your ohagi and handing him half before he could answer. Beaming as he settles in next to you on the bench and taking the first bite of yours he watches you.

• 'You're even prettier up close' he thinks to himself before taking a bite of his half of the ohagi. Subconciously pressing his thigh into yours and enjoying the warmth of you he releases a subtle but content sigh. Something he thought you missed but you picked up on easily - letting your weight settle against him he let's you scoot in and lean your shoulder just within reach of his, seeing if he would close the gap to which he did almost immediately.

• Leaning forward he grabs his cup and offers it to you silently, his breathing hitching momentarily as he feels your fingers graze his as you take the cup from him. Drinking your share before handing it back to him before speaking outloud.

• "Would you like to meet again?"

• Thus the story of how you two met, it became a weekly thing for you both to meet. From sharing food and him explaining what he did for an occupation, stories of demons spread through your family so it didn't surprise you to know it was something that wasn't just a family fairytale. Still you explained that your family was a long line of medicine healers. Offering your residence if he was ever in need of aid from his missions. He agreed quickly to your surprise but didn't think anything of it until he burst into your home in the middle of the night needing mending.

• Quickly you collected your things to treat his wounds from your room, noting that nothing looked too bad but he had lost a decent amount of blood. Trying not to look worried and spook him you pull out your suture needles and balms and have him sit down on the tatami with you, having him lean back in your lap as it would be easier to sew his shoulder if it's level with you instead of having to reach up. Laying a towel down he settles his head into your lap as you work. Watching you curiously as you bunch and move his haori to the side to get to his wound easier, instead he sits up with a hiss and shrugs it off fully allowing you full access before settling into your lap again.

• Making note of the way your face flushes before watching you snap back to attention and begin working on his shoulder. You apply a thick sticky balm to the wound, almost acting as a full topical anesthetic, he snorts realizing you're worried he's going to hurt during the process and the thought of you being concerned for him has his heart tightening in his chest. You're too good for him, he thinks. Still he wants to enjoy the opportunity of being in your lap and the feeling of your hands working their magic. Sighing he lets his eyes close and let's his body soak up the heat from your plush thighs. Borderline falling asleep as his body relaxes until he feels your hand start to thumb over the scars on his face gently, he didn't realize you were done as the balm had done it's job and made sure he couldn't feel you working.

• "Were they painful?" You ask, smoothing your thumb over the biggest scar on his cheek. Feeling him hum lightly he speaks, "They were but I would get them again in a heart beat." He muses, pressing his face into your hand more firmly enjoying the warmth and comfort they gave him. His breathing evening out further as he falls asleep in your lap, fatigue taking its full effect. Smiling to yourself you card your fingers through his hair gently and enjoy sleepy content grumble he emitted, before nudging him a bit more begrudgingly.

• "Sanemi, come on wake up." You nudge him more firmly on his arm, careful to avoid any of his fresh cuts. A low grunt escapes him, "What?" He huffs still tired.

• "You're in my room, if you want to stay I can take the guest room? I-" You're interrupted with a sharp snort, sleep still thick on his voice. "I'm not kicking you out of your room Y/N, I can take the spare if you're uncomfortable but I'm okay where we are now. Just tell me and I'll go." He waits on your answer, eyes still closed as he's still resting in your lap. His hand reaches for yours to give you a reassuring squeeze before you respond.

• "I want you to stay and sleep here with me, please." You hold your breath, scarred fingers interlace with yours before he sits himself up and scoots over next to you onto your bedroll. Careful to avoid his injured shoulder he lays himself back down, sliding under the covers and takes a deep breath enjoying the way your pillow and sheets smelled of you before prompting you to slide into his arms. Arm raising the blanket up enough for you to climb under with him.

• "Cmere" He mumbles, sighing in content satisfaction as your soft body presses against his as he draped an arm over your waist. His hand coming to rest loosely on your stomach he runs a thumb over it while you settled in, using his bicep as a make shift pillow.

• "This okay 'Nemi?" You ask, settling into his arms and enjoying the way his lean muscle pressed against your softer body, he felt safe in every sense of the word. Here he was here safe and in your home, in your bed, in your heart. You could only hope he returned the affections you held so close to your heart.

• Pulling you in closer he sighs against your shoulder before responding, "Yes, now let's get some sleep Love." Before you feel his muscles tense behind you as he holds his breath.

• You swear you could almost see him yelling at himself internally as you turned around to face him in his arms, but you silence any of his worries or internal panic with a smile as you lean up and press a gentle kiss to his forehead, hand cupping his cheek again. "I love you too, Nemi."

• If you didn't know what it was like to be crushed in a bear hug until the point you couldn't breathe. You do now as he pulled you into his arms pressing your face against his chest you laugh, tapping your hand against his chest so he lets up before he continues. "Sorry, I wanted to talk to you about my feelings in the morning but I couldn't keep my fucking mouth shut apparently."

• Enjoying your place in his arms and against his chest you press your forehead against his chest again, before speaking. "You don't need to apologize Sanemi, you've got no idea how happy I am you returned my feelings as well." You state before continuing, "we can still discuss what we want to do with our feelings in the morning? You still need rest and I'm not going anywhere."

• A small smile creeps up onto his face as he grabs your chin lightly and makes you face him before pressing a featherlight kiss to your lips before pulling back, taking note of your shocked and cute expression. "In the morning it is then. Night Love" He snorts to himself as he feels your flushed face bury itself in his chest again. Thinking to himself "Cute."

• It's established then after your morning discussion with him that he would like to court you officially. He shares more on how he got his scars and what happened with his family, he had alluded to everything before hand but was more upfront and blunt this time around, wanting you to know him fully without any barriers between you both.

NSFW! MDNI 18+ below:

• Sex with Sanemi for your first time depends, I've mentioned before I see him as being a virgin until he meets the right person. I.E. his first romantic partner.

• So when it comes to sleeping with you for the first time it's a spur of the moment thing for him. Spread out in a tangled pile of limbs, kissing him in his room of his estate. His hands roaming feeling the way his fingers dipped and pressed into the soft flesh of your ass as he pulled your legs around his hips.

• The deep groan at feeling how your body melded against his, fuck you were so warm and he felt safe in your arms. A feeling he hasnt truly felt in years until meeting you and yet here he is, cock aching and grinding against your clothed heat with you grinding back against him with reckless abandon. Your ankle hooking his around his ass to pull him against you harder has him whining against your mouth before he mentally says fuck it. 'Now or never', as his hands almost unperceptibly tremble as he reaches for your sleep shorts. Eyes blown wide as he breaks your kiss, he looks into yours and asks in such a soft and pretty voice, "please baby?" His thumb brushing against your belly and fingers resisting everything telling them to pull down until he has your consent he waits.

• Once you give him the go ahead the man's feral, pulling your shorts down and pressing his fingers against your wet heat, moaning at the fact that this was happening and you're soaked all just for him. He has to take a calming breath before exploring your body and testing it's limits, trying to find what makes your pretty cunt gush and tighten for him as he presses his fingers in deep. Not being able to resit leaning down to lick a fat stripe across your slit, relishing in the way you squeaked and the way your thighs threatened to close in on him. Your taste driving him into a deeper need for you and a deeper need to press his thick cock into your heat.

• He finds out immediately after pressing into your bare pussy he has a breeding kink, flashes of you fucked full of his cum flood his mind as he has to bite back a strangled moan. Pressing deep and setting a steady pace, he enjoys the way your face contorts with pleasure and the way your body bounces with each thrust of his hips. His mouth waters at the idea of pumping you full of his cum and he knows he shouldn't be enjoying the idea of knocking you up as much as he is just due to his occupation alone and his family history but damn does the idea of you pregnant do something to him. Something he will keep a mental note of until further into your relationship and you're begging for his cum will he start to lean into it, pressing kisses against your neck and whispering "You want my cum baby?" Feeling the way your cunt tightens and threatens to push him out before he hisses and presses his cock in harder burying himself to the hilt, grinding against your ass, feeling the way your thighs shook against his as he hears a strangled "Yes, I need it!".

• "Fuck you're such a greedy girl, you want me to breed you? Is that it? Let me give it to you."

• Mans never cum so hard as he did in that moment, he just about collapsed against your back in that moment panting.

• Overall he's just utterly in love with you and is thrilled that he managed to make you fall in love with him.

---

Plus-size Reader x Sanemi Shinazugawa Fluff/NSFW undercut - 18+ MDNI

NSFW TW: Breeding kink mainly, if I missed something let me know!

Sanemi Shinazugawa:

• Look I fully believe with my whole chest that Sanemi would love a plus size partner. He's touch starved and is in need of some gentle kindness in his life.

• So when he takes time to himself and sneaks off to his favorite ohagi shop before his patrol and he sees you at the counter. His mouth drops abruptly before he snaps it shut. Not wanting to make a spectacle of himself as he gets in line behind you, he admires the way your chubby cheeks flush a pretty pink while you're laughing with the shop keeper as they hand you the last of his favorite flavor of ohagi.

• His eyebrows furrow in conflict as you unknowingly took what he came here for before he weighs his options and settles on ordering a cup of matcha, funnily enough he realizes that even while after paying he's kept a watchful eye on you. Watching you make your way over to a bench where yet again he normally sits.

• Still he silently admires your figure, enjoying the way your hips widen and the way your belly presses outwards gently onto your thighs has his mouth watering. The shop keeper yelling his name over the crowd startles him out of his trance and he curses himself out internally for letting himself get so lost before he decides he's going to grab his drink and head over to talk to you.

• Matcha in hand he walks over and stands directly infront of you, blocking your view of the street and meeting your questioning eyes before speaking.

• "You have my ohagi." He states abruptly, he didn't think this far ahead on how he'd initiate conversation with you, let alone with what he would've said to begin with. But he could've kicked his own ass for starting it off the way he did. Simply because even with the way he came off, the only reaction he got was watching your face contort in confusion before a mischievous look spread across your face.

• "Okay, so then by your logic-" You pause and reach your hand out to the hand holding his drink, tipping the cup enough towards you to see the contents before continuing. "your Matcha there is mine as well." You let out a joyful laugh that was music to his ears as an incredulous grin spreads across his face.

• "My name is Y/N, what's your name Mr.Ohagi?" You tease, seeing if he would play along.

• "Sanemi, I dunno what I was planning on saying but it sure as shit wasn't that so I'm sorry."

• Humming in acknowledgement you simply scoot over before tapping the seat next to you inviting him to sit next to you. "No need to apologize, I found it funny. But if you'd like Sanemi I'd be happy to split it with you 50/50 if I can get a sip of your matcha." You offer, already splitting your ohagi and handing him half before he could answer. Beaming as he settles in next to you on the bench and taking the first bite of yours he watches you.

• 'You're even prettier up close' he thinks to himself before taking a bite of his half of the ohagi. Subconciously pressing his thigh into yours and enjoying the warmth of you he releases a subtle but content sigh. Something he thought you missed but you picked up on easily - letting your weight settle against him he let's you scoot in and lean your shoulder just within reach of his, seeing if he would close the gap to which he did almost immediately.

• Leaning forward he grabs his cup and offers it to you silently, his breathing hitching momentarily as he feels your fingers graze his as you take the cup from him. Drinking your share before handing it back to him before speaking outloud.

• "Would you like to meet again?"

• Thus the story of how you two met, it became a weekly thing for you both to meet. From sharing food and him explaining what he did for an occupation, stories of demons spread through your family so it didn't surprise you to know it was something that wasn't just a family fairytale. Still you explained that your family was a long line of medicine healers. Offering your residence if he was ever in need of aid from his missions. He agreed quickly to your surprise but didn't think anything of it until he burst into your home in the middle of the night needing mending.

• Quickly you collected your things to treat his wounds from your room, noting that nothing looked too bad but he had lost a decent amount of blood. Trying not to look worried and spook him you pull out your suture needles and balms and have him sit down on the tatami with you, having him lean back in your lap as it would be easier to sew his shoulder if it's level with you instead of having to reach up. Laying a towel down he settles his head into your lap as you work. Watching you curiously as you bunch and move his haori to the side to get to his wound easier, instead he sits up with a hiss and shrugs it off fully allowing you full access before settling into your lap again.

• Making note of the way your face flushes before watching you snap back to attention and begin working on his shoulder. You apply a thick sticky balm to the wound, almost acting as a full topical anesthetic, he snorts realizing you're worried he's going to hurt during the process and the thought of you being concerned for him has his heart tightening in his chest. You're too good for him, he thinks. Still he wants to enjoy the opportunity of being in your lap and the feeling of your hands working their magic. Sighing he lets his eyes close and let's his body soak up the heat from your plush thighs. Borderline falling asleep as his body relaxes until he feels your hand start to thumb over the scars on his face gently, he didn't realize you were done as the balm had done it's job and made sure he couldn't feel you working.

• "Were they painful?" You ask, smoothing your thumb over the biggest scar on his cheek. Feeling him hum lightly he speaks, "They were but I would get them again in a heart beat." He muses, pressing his face into your hand more firmly enjoying the warmth and comfort they gave him. His breathing evening out further as he falls asleep in your lap, fatigue taking its full effect. Smiling to yourself you card your fingers through his hair gently and enjoy sleepy content grumble he emitted, before nudging him a bit more begrudgingly.

• "Sanemi, come on wake up." You nudge him more firmly on his arm, careful to avoid any of his fresh cuts. A low grunt escapes him, "What?" He huffs still tired.

• "You're in my room, if you want to stay I can take the guest room? I-" You're interrupted with a sharp snort, sleep still thick on his voice. "I'm not kicking you out of your room Y/N, I can take the spare if you're uncomfortable but I'm okay where we are now. Just tell me and I'll go." He waits on your answer, eyes still closed as he's still resting in your lap. His hand reaches for yours to give you a reassuring squeeze before you respond.

• "I want you to stay and sleep here with me, please." You hold your breath, scarred fingers interlace with yours before he sits himself up and scoots over next to you onto your bedroll. Careful to avoid his injured shoulder he lays himself back down, sliding under the covers and takes a deep breath enjoying the way your pillow and sheets smelled of you before prompting you to slide into his arms. Arm raising the blanket up enough for you to climb under with him.

• "Cmere" He mumbles, sighing in content satisfaction as your soft body presses against his as he draped an arm over your waist. His hand coming to rest loosely on your stomach he runs a thumb over it while you settled in, using his bicep as a make shift pillow.

• "This okay 'Nemi?" You ask, settling into his arms and enjoying the way his lean muscle pressed against your softer body, he felt safe in every sense of the word. Here he was here safe and in your home, in your bed, in your heart. You could only hope he returned the affections you held so close to your heart.

• Pulling you in closer he sighs against your shoulder before responding, "Yes, now let's get some sleep Love." Before you feel his muscles tense behind you as he holds his breath.

• You swear you could almost see him yelling at himself internally as you turned around to face him in his arms, but you silence any of his worries or internal panic with a smile as you lean up and press a gentle kiss to his forehead, hand cupping his cheek again. "I love you too, Nemi."

• If you didn't know what it was like to be crushed in a bear hug until the point you couldn't breathe. You do now as he pulled you into his arms pressing your face against his chest you laugh, tapping your hand against his chest so he lets up before he continues. "Sorry, I wanted to talk to you about my feelings in the morning but I couldn't keep my fucking mouth shut apparently."

• Enjoying your place in his arms and against his chest you press your forehead against his chest again, before speaking. "You don't need to apologize Sanemi, you've got no idea how happy I am you returned my feelings as well." You state before continuing, "we can still discuss what we want to do with our feelings in the morning? You still need rest and I'm not going anywhere."

• A small smile creeps up onto his face as he grabs your chin lightly and makes you face him before pressing a featherlight kiss to your lips before pulling back, taking note of your shocked and cute expression. "In the morning it is then. Night Love" He snorts to himself as he feels your flushed face bury itself in his chest again. Thinking to himself "Cute."

• It's established then after your morning discussion with him that he would like to court you officially. He shares more on how he got his scars and what happened with his family, he had alluded to everything before hand but was more upfront and blunt this time around, wanting you to know him fully without any barriers between you both.

NSFW! MDNI 18+ below:

• Sex with Sanemi for your first time depends, I've mentioned before I see him as being a virgin until he meets the right person. I.E. his first romantic partner.

• So when it comes to sleeping with you for the first time it's a spur of the moment thing for him. Spread out in a tangled pile of limbs, kissing him in his room of his estate. His hands roaming feeling the way his fingers dipped and pressed into the soft flesh of your ass as he pulled your legs around his hips.

• The deep groan at feeling how your body melded against his, fuck you were so warm and he felt safe in your arms. A feeling he hasnt truly felt in years until meeting you and yet here he is, cock aching and grinding against your clothed heat with you grinding back against him with reckless abandon. Your ankle hooking his around his ass to pull him against you harder has him whining against your mouth before he mentally says fuck it. 'Now or never', as his hands almost unperceptibly tremble as he reaches for your sleep shorts. Eyes blown wide as he breaks your kiss, he looks into yours and asks in such a soft and pretty voice, "please baby?" His thumb brushing against your belly and fingers resisting everything telling them to pull down until he has your consent he waits.

• Once you give him the go ahead the man's feral, pulling your shorts down and pressing his fingers against your wet heat, moaning at the fact that this was happening and you're soaked all just for him. He has to take a calming breath before exploring your body and testing it's limits, trying to find what makes your pretty cunt gush and tighten for him as he presses his fingers in deep. Not being able to resit leaning down to lick a fat stripe across your slit, relishing in the way you squeaked and the way your thighs threatened to close in on him. Your taste driving him into a deeper need for you and a deeper need to press his thick cock into your heat.

• He finds out immediately after pressing into your bare pussy he has a breeding kink, flashes of you fucked full of his cum flood his mind as he has to bite back a strangled moan. Pressing deep and setting a steady pace, he enjoys the way your face contorts with pleasure and the way your body bounces with each thrust of his hips. His mouth waters at the idea of pumping you full of his cum and he knows he shouldn't be enjoying the idea of knocking you up as much as he is just due to his occupation alone and his family history but damn does the idea of you pregnant do something to him. Something he will keep a mental note of until further into your relationship and you're begging for his cum will he start to lean into it, pressing kisses against your neck and whispering "You want my cum baby?" Feeling the way your cunt tightens and threatens to push him out before he hisses and presses his cock in harder burying himself to the hilt, grinding against your ass, feeling the way your thighs shook against his as he hears a strangled "Yes, I need it!".

• "Fuck you're such a greedy girl, you want me to breed you? Is that it? Let me give it to you."

• Mans never cum so hard as he did in that moment, he just about collapsed against your back in that moment panting.

• Overall he's just utterly in love with you and is thrilled that he managed to make you fall in love with him.

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Imagine being the most hated Hashira

For whatever reason, the other hashrias just never seem to like or even tolerate you.

No matter what happens, even if you're not in the same vicinity as them, they will always blame you

If Tengen drops something, then his immediate reaction is to yell your name

If Rengoku's food doesn't taste as good as it should he blames you for it

If Shinobu loses something in her office then she'll go to you and rip you a new one about stealing

If Sanemi wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, then he'll speak you out to just yell at you

If Obani can't find his snake then he'll ransack your room

If Giyuu gets into a disagreement with Sanemi then he'll take his anger out on you

Mitsuri doesn't really speak you out for anger, but she does distance herself from you a lot

Muichiro just completely forgets about you, whenever he sees you he asks who you are

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Nerdy cultural details about the Hashira

Some details can be hard to pick up without context or in translation. Here's a handful for fun:

Breath names:

The "Mushi" (蟲) of "Mushibashira" (蟲柱) does not necessarily mean "insect." It's also not the more commonly used "mushi" kanji (虫). Kanji is often formed with many components compounding together to make new meanings, and 蟲 is a crowd of three 虫. While it might be tempting to simply say that this is a whole bunch of 虫, I've also heard this described as 蟲 being the more abstract idea of the concrete 虫, or that 蟲 went through a resurgence in popularity shortly before the Taisho Period. 虫 is preferred nowadays for its simplicity.

In either case, it's not necessarily "insects." Rather than being limited to six-legged creatures, "mushi" is a catch-all term for many kinds of creepy-crawlies that simply do not fit in other categories of animals, so spiders and centipedes and worms are all part of it. Actually, the term was originally used for snakes!

Next, what are picturing when you hear "Stone Hashira"? Something in your hands that you can throw? A big stone to lay on for warmth after training in a waterfall?

You could think even bigger than that, because the "stone" kanji used is "iwa" 岩. This is usually something at least as big as the boulders Himejima pushes around to train with, but it could just as well be a whole cliff.

So then how about that issue raised about how you can never refer to "Flame Breath" as "Fire Breath"? This might be a review since it gets brought up a lot, but it's worth restating because it makes a lot of sense in context.

First, we have two kanji to work with: 炎 for flames, and 火 for fire. To make a long linguistic history short, Japan adopted written pictographic characters from China, smashed and smooshed them around to fit the spoken Japanese language, and eventually many kanji wound up with multiple pronunciations. Case in point, 炎 is "hono'o" in the context of Flame Breathing (Hono'o no Kokyuu), and "en" in the context of "Flame Hashira" (En-bashira).

火 likewise has multiple pronunciations, but a common one is "hi." Another simple kanji that can be read "hi" is 日, the sun.

Therefore, even if they are written differently, "Sun Breathing" and "Fire Breathing" would sound the same, as "Hi no Kokyuu." This also makes it easy for "Hinokami" to be construed as "Fire God" instead of "Sun God." But why stop there, really? If you want to get into older Japanese, sometimes phonetic "hi" was used in simple reference to the power of gods.

Symbolism:

This is still somewhat linguistic rather than symbolic, but you know how Sound Breath is derived from Thunder Breath?

It's worth pointing out that "Kaminari" (雷) in "Kaminari no Kokyuu" is in reference to the sound, as opposed to something like "Ikazuchi no Kokyuu" for "Lightning Breath" in reference to the sight. We can get really, really nerdy about Japanese words for thunder and lightning and how they relate to Kimetsu no Yaiba, so I already did that here.

What's more interesting to me in regard to Sound Breath is that it takes the "sound" concept of thunder and pushes it--this time with a bit of a firework motif, again in a way that would stress the sound instead of the dazzling light. Both Uzui and Zenitsu have exceptional hearing and are exceptional users of their Breath techniques, so this is either curious that a discerning sense of hearing might help, or ironic that they use such loud styles with their sensitive ears.

Moving on to snakes! There's really no shortage of serpent symbolism, so we'll just focus on a handful of examples. I have already written extensively about the positive associations snakes have with riches, especially white snakes. This is ironic, given Iguro's distasteful paste driven by riches.

Some of the other positive associations with snakes are that they are a water element animal on the geomancy system borrowed from China. Makes sense that this Breath would be derived from Water Breathing! There are many shrines dedicated to snakes and their gifts of rain and clean water, however, water can also be dangerous. A common interpretation of a major legend about an eight-headed giant serpent, the Yamata-no-Orochi, is that it symbolizes the destructive power of a flooded river. But hey, at least snakes are often equated to dragons for having the same water association, so that's pretty cool.

Setting aside the water association, the serpent itself can likewise be considered in negative lights. In the centuries leading up to the Taisho Period, it became commonplace in Buddhist teachings and entertainment to compare jealous women to snakes. This association with woman also adds another layer of cruel irony to Iguro's past.

On a happier note, let's move on to cherry blossoms!

Well, not always happy, seeing as they are known to scatter tragically soon (I am shaking my fist at you, Gotouge). Cherry blossoms are also heavy with all the directions you can go in with symbolism, and I don't have any particular take on why they are part of the overall motif of the Love Hashira (see here for a little commentary on why it is "Koi" 恋 and not "Ai" 愛).

However! I do want to point out something very clever Gotouge did!

You know how Mitsuri's hand guard looks like four hearts that all meet at their pointy ends? This is actually a traditional cherry blossom motif!! Not a very common one, which is why I find it so sly.

Personal Names:

Bear with me, this section will get slightly more speculative, as names are always up to interpretation. I should know, I've done a lot of that for this series.

Remember how kanji can be read in multiple ways? Here's something simple you'd see right away in Japanese but that gets lost in translation to most other languages. Both Sanemi and Genya have 弥 as the second character in their personal name (as "mi" or "ya"). This was not the case for all their siblings, but it's cute that the two of them share it anyway.

So what does it mean? In modern kanji dictionaries, it's pretty bland: "increasingly." However, this kanji has more interesting use and associations that that. It was originally 彌, which carries more of an image of a stretched bow, or how something might go wide and disperse. As a child's name, this might include some hope that they might grow big and tall and go to great places. It is also commonly used in expressing the names of Buddhist deities in Japanese, but it is used only for the "mi" sound instead of the meaning in these cases. (Still, 弥 is one of the "Namu Amida Butsu" characters all over Himejima's haori, which also adds a little cuteness to his associations with Genya.)

So how about someone else with a name that closely matches his brother's? We get a pretty good explanation of Yuichiro (有一郎) and Muichiro (無一郎), with 有 and 無 being opposites (to exist/to not exist). While 有 might be more straightforward in wishing for Yuichiro to have all his needs met, the "mu" in "muichiro" is for "limitless/infinity/etc, etc."

But also!!

It bares distinct resemblance to a common Zen phrase, "Honraimuichimotsu" (本来無一物), with "muichimotsu" meaning "nothing exists" (and therefore, you have nothing to worry about, just be happy).

Speaking of resemblances, "Tomioka Giyuu" has two kanji in common with the name of the mangaka of Hunter x Hunter and I sometimes wonder if he was named in homage. But that is neither here nor there, and I'll just finish today by focusing on "Giyuu" (義勇).

This is pretty basic and straightforward: "loyalty/justice" and "bravery/courage." Pretty lofty. Put them back together and it's basically a set term for "heroism."

However, put it together with other terms for squads or armies, and this is the now the word for "volunteer soldier" or "volunteer army." Historically, it would continue to be used a few decades after Kimetsu no Yaiba takes place, but the decades prior, there were "Giyuutai" organized volunteer troops as well. Perhaps Giyuu had ancestors who fought as volunteer soldiers? Who knows.

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I have a real question about demon slayer

To visit or go to the village the route is unknown right ?

So the Kakushi needs to carry the demon slayer ? Who they carry Tengen and Gyomei ?

I mean do you see them ? And do you see the Kakushi ?

How can they carry that ?

Please answer me I need to know 😭

Gyomei Himejima = 130 kg (287 lbs) and 220cm

Uzui Tengen = 95 kg (209 lbs) 195cm

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