Sakura, like the blossom?
=- Summary of the next few months
The missions proceed normally. Giyuu is now just as strong as he was before he was returned to his twelve-year-old body.
If not a little stronger thanks to the water breathing he now mastered.
He also continued training with his Kusanagi no Tsurugi. It's convenient that it's a one-handed sword, so he only has to fight with his right hand. He ties his left hand behind his back for training.
Giyuu holds back so much that he is on the level of a Hashira and not a perceived god.
He had a mission with the Wind Pillar. The pillar doesn't seem to like him. Well, the feeling is mutual. So he doesn't care.
Giyuu has been in the universe for 6 years and 7 months now.
Two months ago a new Hashira was introduced. Kanae Kocho, the Flower Hashira. Giyuu is now on a mission along with the new Hashira and a few lower level members.
Because of his age, Kanzaburo has remained behind. However, Farukon follows him carefully as always.
=- End of recap -=- Giyuu POV
Giyuu wants to leave here. He is used to going on missions alone. But with five other people it's a different story.
The hunters have set up a camp because their destination is still a day away.
A large village is attacked by a small group of demons. Residents disappear every day.
Giyuu leans against a tree, a little away from the campfire where the others are sitting.
After a while Kocho comes towards him. “What are you doing here alone?” she asks.
“I'm resting. I’m not usually around people that much,” he replies.
She sits down next to him. Didn't he just say (albeit indirectly) that he wanted to be alone?
“Do you have friends?” she suddenly asks. “Yes,” he answers shortly. “What‘s there Names?”
"Naruto and Sakura." he says carefully. He actually has no desire to reveal private information. As soon as he's done here, he'll disappear again anyway.
"Sakura? Like the flower?” asks the flower Hashira. “Her hair is the color of sakura flowers.”
“That sure looks beautiful.” Kocho gets up and goes back to the others.
"It looks beautiful," Giyuu says quietly enough for only him to hear with a smile.
=- Kanae Kocho POV
The morning is breaking. The other four hunters are still sleeping. Unfortunately, with Tomioka you can't tell whether he's awake yet. The man kept the night watch. However, his mask covers his eyes.
Kocho wonders why he is wearing the mask. It’s really pretty and seems sturdy. But it doesn't really protect.
"I'm awake," Tomioka says quietly. Apparently he noticed her. “When do we move on?”
“I would say as soon as the others are awake and we have eaten something,” she replies. Tomioka is the highest ranked in the group. She is also a Hashira but not for that long.
A hawk lands on Tomioka's shoulder. This hawk has been following them all this time. The bird carries a dead mouse in its beak.
"I said you shouldn't do that." Tomioka pushes the falcon off his shoulder. It’s flutters to the ground. “I've probably said it over a thousand times. And yet you keep doing it.”
“Is that some kind of connecting crow? He’s been following us the whole time,” she asks curiously.
“My crow didn’t come along because of his age. The route is too far to fly and I can’t carry it on my shoulder the whole time,” explains the Water Pillar. “Farukon here follows me all the time. He came to me during my training.”
Tomioka stands up. "I'll go see if I can find any fish in the river we passed." Kanae nods at him and he leaves.
After a few minutes, the other hunters wake up one by one. Tomioka comes back to camp with six fish.
After everyone has eaten they move on. Kanae runs at the front and Tomioka runs behind the group. By the end of the day they should have reached the village.
The journey is quiet. The lower ranks try to keep up with the pillars while the pillars adapts to their speed.
They actually make it before sunset. They rest in an inn until the sun goes down.
“Let’s go,” Tomioka orders. He gets up from the seat. The others stand up too.
“We’re splitting up into two groups. One with me and one with Kocho.” She nods at him.
The other four hunters seem to silently agree on who should go with which pillar. It is known that the water pillar is unwelcoming to others and not the most popular in the corps.
Even if she hasn't known the man for long. He has a calm but at the same time scary presence.
The Sound Hashira told her about his excellent hearing. When she asked him what Tomioka was like, Uzui couldn't tell her much. Tomioka is said to be a very private person and the sounds that sometimes come from him are said to be rather unpleasant to hear.
When she asked Himejima he said Tomioka was a nice and quiet person. He should also have a high level of mission success. It's just that sometimes Himejima feels something strange about him. Like something that isn't where it should be.
And finally Sanemi. He doesn't like the other Hashira in the slightest. In his eyes he is arrogant and strange. The Water Hashira is a workaholic according to the Wind Hashira.
Her own opinion is that the man has a quiet and calm personality. Like lavender. The flower represents peace and balance.
"That wasn't a request." The Hashira scolds the lower members and brings Kocho out of her thoughts and back to the present. They and her are frightened by the sound. It's more of an annoyed tone than an angry one because the others are rejecting him.
Two of the hunters quickly go to his side. "Good. Let's go."
They split up. Tomioka's group goes east and her group goes west. After a short while of running through the village, a scream is heard. Kanae immediately runs in the direction of the noise.
She runs as fast as she can across the rooftops. In one of the alleys she finds two demons and a woman with probably her son.
The demons haven't noticed her yet so she draws her katana and aims at their heads. “Fifth Form: Peonies of Futility.”
Kanae beheads the demon that is about to attack the woman. The second demon is frightened and runs away. “Take care of the civilians,” she orders the lower members.
She takes up the pursuit of the second demon. This one is fast. After a very short time, the demon fled the village and the trail was lost.
Kocho runs back to where she left the other hunters. The other group is already standing next to the two members.
“What happened?” Tomioka asks calmly as soon as she is within earshot. “We heard a scream and immediately ran here. Two demons attacked two civilians. I beheaded one demon straight away but the other managed to escape,” she explains.
“He escaped?” asks one of the other demon hunters. “The demon was incredibly fast. Probably a blood art.”
“We will continue to stay in groups and search the area. If there are still demons here, we have to kill them before the sun rises,” explains Tomioka. He doesn't wait long for approval and runs off immediately.
After about two hours of searching, Kanae's group finds another demon roaming the alleys between the wooden houses.
One of the other hunters takes him down quickly. At sunrise the hunters meet back at the inn.
“Get some rest,” says the other pillar. He looks over at Kanae. “Did you find the demon that escaped?”
She shakes her head. “No,” she says, disappointed in herself. She says with hope. “Maybe he’ll show up again tonight.” Tomioka leaves the room. Before the door closes, she hears a “Maybe.” from him.
=- Giyuu POV
It's midday when Giyuu wakes up from his sleep. He actually didn't want to sleep that long but obviously it didn't work out the way he wanted.
He goes to the others who are already awake. “Good morning.” The other hunters are slightly frightened. Didn't they notice him?
“Good morning, Tomioka-san,” Kocho greets. The others remain silent. He has noticed that many of the other hunters don't like him. Maybe it's because he's not from the universe and they sense that in some way?
While the demon hunters wait for night to fall so that their hunt can continue, Tomioka goes through the village to find possible escape routes or other things.
Farukon flies back onto his shoulder. The falcon also explored the area. Unfortunately, he can't talk. “Did you find a lead?”
The bird screeches in his ear and flies off. Giyuu runs after Farukon. He is led to the place where Kocho encountered the demons the night before.
He jumps onto the roof of one of the buildings around him. Farukon is already waiting on the roof. The falcon flies in the direction in which the demon fled according to the flower pillar.
Giyuu follows Farukon to the edge of the forest. The hawk lands on his shoulder and moves its head forward as if to tell Giyuu to move on.
He looks back at the village. It would be bad if he left now without saying anything, besides the sun will set soon. So Tomioka runs back to the village to the others.
When he arrives back at the inn, everyone else is already ready. “There you are, Tomioka-san. We are ready,” says Kocho with a friendly smile.
“Okay, then let’s go. We are making the same teams as yesterday,” he explains. The two other hunters from the previous evening look at each other, but go with him without protest.
He did nothing to the other members of the corps. He actually tries to avoid and ignore as many people as possible. The only person he argues with as soon as he is in sight is Shinazugawa. Giyuu even ignores him.
After three hours of searching, Giyuu notices two figures. “You two go find Kocho. Come back here when you find the other group. Maybe we need reinforcements,” he whispers to the other two hunters without taking his eyes off the figures.
He hears the footsteps getting quieter and quieter. Tomioka runs towards the figures. In appearance, they are actually demons.
Giyuu uses the Henge no Jutsu. He turns into a civilian and goes into the alley where the demons jumped.
“Hello, dear food.” A demon appears in front of him. According to Kocho's description, this is the fast demon from the previous evening. However, he doesn't have a number in his eye.
"What? Aren’t you afraid?” another demon appears behind him, also no number. The Demon has an arrogant smile on his face.
He feels the fast demon jump towards him. He quickly uses the Kawarimi no Jutsu and replaces himself with a piece of wood that is nearby.
"What? Where did he go?” shouts a surprised demon. The piece of wood was completely splintered. Giyuu dispels the Henge no Jutsu and attacks the fast demon first.
He beheads the demon without any problem. He immediately focuses on the other demon and attacks and decapitates him too.
“Tomioka-san!” shouts a familiar voice. He turns his head to the voice and sees Kocho. "Watch out!"
He turns around and an arrow comes towards him, hitting him in the shoulder. He became careless and became distracted.
Tomioka falls to the ground. He presses his hand against the spot where the arrow is stuck. He sees the demon in front of him being killed by the flower pillar.
Her attention is immediately focused on Giyuu. “Tomioka-san. Is everything okay?” The voice becomes quieter and quieter. The edge of his vision goes black. Is that a poison arrow? He grabs the arrow so he can pull it out but a hand stops him.
I can't faint now. Absolutely not, thinks Giyuu as he pulls the arrow completely out. His vision is still blurry but it's getting better.
He turns his attention to Kocho, who is still crouching next to him. “Is it okay again?”
“Yes, everything is fine,” he assures her. Giyuu stands up carefully. At first he wobbles a bit but he quickly regains his balance. He is immune to all kinds of poisons. Orochimaru made sure of that. But that's not his universe. So not the same poisons either. At least he thinks so.
He looks around. “Where are the others?” he asks. Kocho answers. “I sent them on. In case there are more demons running around here.”
“I see.” he looks around. “Go help them. Not that there's another demon running around here with arrow like that. I’m going to go check something.”
"Are you sure? You almost fainted,” Koch asks worriedly. “Yes, everything is fine. We’ll meet back at the inn at sunrise.” She hesitates, but nods to him and runs off.
He waits a moment. “Farukon!” he shouts. The falcon comes flying towards him and lands in front of him. “Take me to the trail you found.” Farukon flies off, back towards the edge of the forest.
He enters the forest and after a short time he finds a broken hut between the trees. Giyuu hides behind a tree. He sees a demon leaving the house and another sitting on a stone in front of the house. Is this some kind of nest? It's rare for demons to team up.
“Where are the others?” asks the demon coming out of the house. "No idea. They wanted to see if the demon hunters were still there. They were probably found.” It says as he sits down next to the other demon.
Giyuu runs towards the demons. “Second Form: Improved, Lateral Water Wheel.” He beheads the two demons at the same time. The bodies fall to the ground and disintegrate.
Tomioka looks around for more demons, but luckily doesn't find any more.
He wants to go back to the others and tell them what happened. But before he can take a step forward he feels dizzy. His vision becomes blurry and he loses his balance.
Not again, Tomioka thinks as he tries to get up again. Okay, everything's fine. It's almost sunrise.
With slow steps but without showing it, he goes back towards the village. After a short time, the dizziness disappears and he can walk normally again.
When Giyuu arrives at the inn, the sun has risen again. “There you are, Tomioka-san,” Kocho greets him. "Hello. Is everyone else okay? Have you found any more demons?” he asks.
“Everyone is fine. We didn’t encounter any other demons either,” she says with a smile. "How are you doing?"
“Everything is fine with me. I’ll bandage the wound straight away,” he explains. Perhaps it was a blood demon art associated with the poison. “I found a hut in the forest. Apparently that's where the demons came from. I took care of them so there shouldn't be any more demons in the village."
"Super. Then let’s rest and head back this afternoon.” Kocho continues to smile and goes into one of the rooms in the inn.
Giyuu also goes into one of the rooms and treats the wounded area on his shoulder.