With All My Heart
"Be careful, my children." Oyatama's soothing voice echoed through the room, bringing an end to his orders.
The water Hashira and I have been given a joint mission on Mount Kinimi, a rather remote area for such a strong demon if you ask me. Of course, we didn't have much information on the demon itself, but sending two Hashiras either means there are multiple man-eating creatures and many people to save, or a single but very strong demon.
Giyuu and I lowered our heads in respect to our master before bidding him farewell and heading out the estate.
We jogged lightly side by side, heading south-west to pass the ferry from the Shimonoseki prefecture to Fukuoka. I decided so speak up when no more wisteria trees were on sight, meaning we had officially left Ubuyashiki's estate.
"Oyatama-sama mentioned people tended to disappear after claiming to see their loved ones... such a sad thing, isn't it?" I struck up a conversation with my fellow Hashira, but only got a hum as a reply. Taking it as a sign to keep talking, I continued, "If we hurry a bit, we should make it to the Miyazaki prefecture before nightfall."
Seeing him speed up, a soft smile crept up my lips. He might be a silent man, but Giyuu is very passionate about his work: he takes his missions seriously and, while rarely ever replying, always pays attention to what his partner has to say.
As we sped through town after town, I often started small chats about whatever was interesting to talk about. Whether it be the excited dog hunting with its master and chasing the animals away or the pretty clothes of passerby, I made sure to entertain Giyuu with my voice.
After all, he's always so silent, I often get worried he'll get stuck in bad memories in his head: being a Demon Slayer is a tough job, and getting swallowed by the past can lead to your downfall. I'm just looking out for a fellow Pillar!
A handsome one at that...
I blushed, interrupting my energetic telling of a story I had read a few weeks prior. Giyuu turned to me, his hair swaying as we continued to run, his gaze silently wondering why I had stopped speaking so suddenly.
I blinked a few times, lost in his eyes, before shaking my head. "And then the... uh... the protagonist said 'Not without my bread!'" I laughed awkwardly at the funny line of the story, hoping my partner would stop staring at me. It was... distracting to say the least.
Shrugging it off, Giyuu moved his gaze back forward, and I silently let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Noticing we had reached the border of the Yamaguchi prefecture, we headed to the docks to take a ride over the large river.
We both agreed to use the boat ride to get a bit of sleep in order to be at our best when fighting the demon. Before falling alseep, I could have sworn I felt Giyuu's head fall onto my shoulder, but although I woke up first, nothing was out of the ordinary. Maybe I had just imagined it.
The rest of our trip was ordinary until we arrived near the mountain range. I mentioned I didn't know which mount was Kumini.
"I don't know either, I'm usually given missions in the North," Giyuu deadpanned in reply, and we both looked at each other awkwardly before the caws of his crow interruped our incompetency.
Following his crow through the mountainous terrain, the bird announced we had arrived just as the last ray of sunlight hid itself behind the surrounding peaks. Looking at the surrounding areas, we noticed a tiny village further down the mountain, barely composed of a few houses. Most victims probably came from there.
Nodding to each other, we headed there, noticing on our way that no animals were in sight, that already being a sign of a demon living in the area. Entering the small settlement, the first thing we saw were the fresh graves sitting next to each other. The second was the lack of population. Despite light emitting from some houses, no one was outside, probably fearful of the night after so many deaths had occured.
Walking through the empty place, we noticed an inn and headed there for information. As Giyuu tried to open the door and it staying shut, a shout echoed from inside:
"Excuse us! We close after dark, I hope you can understand!" The male voice sounded fearful, probably thinking we might be the demon.
Upon seeing Giyuu had no intention of talking to them through the door, I spoke up: "We are Demon Slayers! We have come to defeat whoever is in cause of the recent deaths." Silence was my only answer. "Would you mind giving us some more information?" The people inside of the building kept their mouths shut.
My eyebrow twitched. Them not wanting to open the door, I could understand, but not even talking to us? That's rude. The soft touch of a hand grabbed onto my shoulder, and I looked at Giyuu, who nodded his head in another direction. It was time to move out.
I gave him a small smile, thankful for him calming me down, and walked in the direction he had indicated. If only I had seen the soft glow on his cheeks. Together, we walked through the forest, making sure to stay at a reasonable distance from the town in clase anything happened. Soon enough, a spike in bloodlust made us quickly get our swords in hand.
"Show yourself," Giyuu spoke up, not a tinge of fear in his voice.
The demon surprisingly listened, jumping down from a tree next to me. My skills as a pillar being just as great as other Hashiras, I quickly muttered "Breath if the Light, third form: Flash" and aimed for the demon's neck.
This mission would be easier than I thought. With my experience, I knew not to understimate demons, but as I saw my blade coming closer and closer to the demon's neck without the creature having any time to react, it was evident this would be an easy win.
A blade redirected mine away from the demon's neck, and the smile on the demon's face told me things wouldn't go as easily as I had expected them to.
"Giyuu, what are you doing?" I asked my partner, the one supposed to help me on this mission, as I turned to him.
"(Y/n), that was close. You should be careful," he replied, looking over my shoulder.
Swiftly turning around, I stared at the demon. He still looked the same, pale skin, sharp teeth and red eyes still making him the target of Demon Slayers. So why?
"I'm sorry, he just took me by surprise. Let's get this over with, Giyuu."
The demon's voice sounded as rough as sand paper, scraping as the words came out of his mouth. Why did Giyuu nod to him? Giyuu's blade soon approached my neck, and I was forced to dodge the blow.
"Giyuu! What are you doing?" I asked, worried. What kind of blood demon art was he under? There was no sign he could even hear me, as he attacked me, blow after blow.
The demon soon joined in, a stick in the place of a sword, but using moves of my own; Light breathing. Putting a but of distance between the Hashira and the demon, my mind raced a thousand miles an hour to find a solution, and only one stuck out in the end: I'd have to kill the demon on my own.
That, and not die by Giyuu's blade. I could hear them talking a bit in the distance, and the grip on my sword handle thightened. I had to get this over with, and fast, before Giyuu injures me. While we're both pillars, I'm at a disadvantage here because of the demon.
The fight was short, yet felt painfully slow. Each time I would get close to the demon, Giyuu would either attack me or redirect my blade. I ended up managing to kill the demon to the price of a long slash in my side.
Crumpling to the ground, I quickly started using full concentration breathing to slow the bleeding down. Giyuu, on the other side, was still under the demon's blood demon art.
Giyuu's eyes widened as the demon's head fell to the ground, and ran to his side. Holding his hand, he softly whispered "(Y/n)..." before realizing the demon was falling into dust, and his eyes widened before looking at the real me. "(Y/n)!"
He repeated my name louder this time, jumping to my side. Realizing what had happened, he froze, hands hovering over my bleeding side.
"What did I do..." I whispered. I was crying, and I was too mentally tired to care by this point.
First seeing her head seemingly being cut off by the demon, I thought I had lost her for good. But it was all an illusion.
I shakingly started moving again, pressing the wound on her side with the bandages she had swiftly put in my mind. My body was in autopilot.
The very girl I had sworn to myself to protect with my life was in front of me, bleeding out from a wound I inflicted to her. How could I be stupid enough to fall under the demon's blood demon art?
Once I was done slowing down the bleeding, I started bandaging her side, ripping off the lower part of her uniform in order to have a clear view of the wound. The wound I had done.
How did I even deserve to be a pillar in the first place? I couldn't even resist to a demon's illusions, I injured a fellow slayer, a fellow Hashira at that!
No words were exchanged. She was busy using her full concentration breathing, trying to repair the damage I had caused, and I was busy picking her up as gently as I could to carry her to Shinobu's estate.
No, her estate was too far, near Oyatama-sama's. It had taken us nearly a day to get here. Mine was even further up north, so that was out of the question. Who's estate's the closest?
"Giyuu," (Y/n) spoke up from my back, her voice hoarse. My heart tightened. I didn't reply. What was I supposed to say? I hurt her, and that was unforgivable. Nothing I could ever say would excuse my actions.
"Giyuu," I repeated, my voice a bit louder this time. I knew he had heard me the first time, but I wanted to make sure I had his attention as I couldn't see his face and therefore couldn't figure out on my own if he was listening to me.
He shifted his grip a bit, and I took that as an "I'm listening."
"It's not your fault," his body tensed up against mine, "Stop looking so angry at yourself," his breathing hitched. But in the end, he stayed silent.
"Giyuu," I spoke, my eyelids feeling heavier and heavier. Healing my wound had tired me out. "I know you'd never intentionally hurt me. I care a lot about you, so please don't shut me out."
With that final sentence said, I was out like a light.
When I woke up, the sun was high. I would see its rays pass through the window, sending a warm glow into the room. As I started sitting up, a sharp pain in my side reminded me of my wound, forcing me back into the bed.
Looking around from where I was, I noticed I wasn't in Shinobu's estate as I had expected. Curious, I looked down at my clothes and immediately knew in who's house I was. No one else I know wore such bright clothes.
The tatami door leading to the rest of the house suddenly opened, and I was met with Giyuu's surprised face. The surprised soon morphed back into a neutral one, as he did when hiding his emotions.
"You're awake," he approached my bed, handing me a cup, which I placed on the other side of my bed for later, "Kanroji-san left for a mission earlier in the morning. She was the one to bathe and change you." I hummed and smiled at him, glad he was talking to me. I had been worried he'd feel too guilty to face me again. Plus, why would I complain about being able to enjoy his company?
My happiness was short-lived as he suddenly muttered an "I should get going" before standing up.
I grabbed his wrist before he could escape, "Please don't go."
We stared at each other for a moment, neither of our gazes wavering. In the end, he looked away, staring at a corner of the room. Only one word escaped his mouth: "Why?"
"Because I enjoy your company," I replied simply.
"I hurt you."
Pulling him down next to me, he obliged, sitting on his knees. His gaze didn't move from the spot he was staring at, still refusing to look at me.
"You were doing your job by attacking what you saw as the demon."
Letting go of his wrist, I gently picked up his hand with both of mine, bringing it close to my face. His hand was so cold.
"That excuses nothing. I can't call myself a Hashira after getting so easily fooled by a demon."
"Don't say that." I gripped on his hand tighter, bringing my forehead to his palm.
"I could've killed you," his voice broke, "you're inj-"
I shushed him, "It's nonesense. You're amazing," he tried getting his hand out of my grip, "strong," I looked up to him, "kind," one of my hands let go of his and reached up to his face, "and so, so passionate about your work. You take the job you have so seriously, and I admire you for it."
He finally looked at me, and that was the most vulnerable I had ever seen him. His eyes were lost, hopeful, on the verge of tears. What he said barley came out as a whisper.
"You mean it?"
"With all my heart." I inhaled sharply, giving myself courage to continue, and closed my eyes. The hand I was still holding twisted in my grip, gripping back to mine. That was enough to make me continue. "You mean so much to me. Please don't shut youself out, I don't know what I'd do without you."
The room was silent. Had he taken it the wrong way? I mean, I do love him, but if he didn't feel the same way I would have assumed he'd take it as friendship? Oh god, what if he didn't?
I felt his hand grab onto mine which was still holding his face, and my heart dropped. Opening my eyes, I was only surprised to see him, still holding both my hands, hovering over me with wide eyes.
"You mean it?" He repeated, his voice barely reaching my ears.
"With all my heart."
He practically dropped onto me, although careful of my injury, and hugged me tightly. I couldn't describe the feeling of warmth and pure love it gave me.
I'm not sure for how long we stayed like that, but I couldn't help being disappointed as he backed up a bit. Opening my eyes, I stared questionably at him, until he spoke.
"Can I kiss you?"
The idea itself sending butterflies into my stomach, I blushed, smiling. "I'd love that."
Our faces got closer, his hovering over mine as a final offer to back away. I closed the gap, placing my arms around him and closing my eyes to enjoy the pure bliss kissing him brought me. Backing up for air, we stared lovingly at each other before closing the gap once more, our lips moving in synch.
Seeing his blushing face as we backed away once more, me letting him go, I couldn't help but laugh cheerfully, only making his face a darker shade of red.
"What's funny? Did I do something wrong?" He looked at me, confused.
"No, I'm just," I said between chuckles, "I'm just so happy."
He gave me one of his rare smiles, and then frowned.
"Your tea is probably cold by now."
This time, I laughed loudly at his comment. He looked away, his ears becoming the same as his cheeks.
"Would you mind making me some more, then? I'm starting to feel hungry too."
He chuckled, and boy did that sound amazing. Agreeing to it, he promised to be back soon with some food and tea.
I took that time alone to think over what had happened. Were we dating? The thought alone made the butterflies come back, and despite being injured, I could easily say this was the best day of my life.
Not only had we both kissed and cuddled, but I had managed to stop him from blaming himself for what had happened. Not once did I ever think he was in the wrong by attacking me: I would've done the same if the situation were reversed, and I'd hope he wouldn't hold a grudge against me if that had been the case.
When he came back, it was with tray of my favourite meal and tea, and it warmed my heart to see he had listened to my rambling, even if it was just me talking about my favourite food and drinks.
As he helped me sit up, he apologized each time I would wince and I'd send him a small glare to shut him up. I ate in a comfortable silence, his presence being enough to satisfy me. Fleeting touches and glances would also warm my heart. After finishing my meal, I said:
"Hey, wanna hear a story my gramps used to tell me?"
"Of course," he replied as he helped my back into a laying position.
Before starting the story, I made myself comfortable and grabbed his hand. We chatted until the moon was high, at which I said with a yawn:
"Don't let go." Squeezing his hand and bringing it close to my face, I soon enough fell asleep to Giyuu playing with my hair.
What was Mitsuri's surprise to finding us cuddling the next morning...