Random Kny One Shots [Requests Closed] ”Hey, you’re okay..” | {SaneGiyuu}

Theme: Angst+Fluff (god why do I keep doing these LMAO)

“What did you say..?” Giyuu whispered, speaking for the first time in the entire meeting.

The other Hashira watched him intently as their Master continued talking. “You must travel to that village and eradicate the demon family living there. Is there a problem with this mission?” he asked, curious.

“Oh.. Uhm..” Giyuu mumbled, looking down. How was he to tell him that this was the village he’d been born in? It was a very touchy subject for him. “It’s.. it’s the village.. I..” His voice faltered as he spoke and he just stared at the ground.

The Hashira around him were very curious now. What was so meaningful about this village? Why did he almost seem scared?? 

“Hm?” Kagaya urged, confused. Had Giyuu gone there before and had bad experiences or..?

“The village I lived in before.. before.. ah.. demons came into my life?” Giyuu said, phrasing it differently so he wouldn’t have to say ‘before my sister died.’

“Ah. Is that so?” Kagaya said, sensing he was feeling on edge. “Well, let’s have somebody else go with you then! Hm.. Sanemi?”

Sanemi jolted and grumbled under his breath but nodded. “Okay, sure, Master..”

Giyuu looked grim as well but agreed. Thus, Kagaya ended the meeting with a light clap and waved them off to rest a little before their missions. Giyuu had no plans on resting though. He would have to figure out how to get through this mission without Sanemi figuring everything out. But how? He’d carefully avoided that village for a while now but he had to go. Oyakata-Sama had requested it. But this would be hard to go through.. THe memories.. 

He fretted all through afternoon to evening. Then he and Sanemi set off towards the village. The whole way, Giyuu’s mind raced through all the possibilities he thought may happen. Hopefully the villagers who’d made fun of him were gone now. Either dead or left or whatever, but anything to hide the truth. Please.

Little did he know, Sanemi was inspecting him closely and watching his eveey move. He was very interested in why this mission and village might bother Giyuu so much. Was it past memories? Perhaps. But he couldn’t be that scared because of that, no? Well.. it wasn’t like they’d ever heard Tomioka talk about his past before, so.. Or more like talk about himself at all, actually. It was quite interesting. 

As they neared the village, Giyuu became more and more restless and was constantly on edge. Then Sanemi, who was starting to feel a little uneasy by his companian’s actions, said, “So.. is there anything I should know about this place?”

Giyuu, startled, looked up and then paused. He’d forgotten he should fill in Sanemi with as much as he knew for the mission. “Ah.. Uhm.. The villagers here don’t—or at least they didn’t?—believe in demons. At all.” He didn’t say much else and continued walked, looking a little distant.

How did Giyuu know this? Had a demon attacked Giyuu’s family? While Sanemi pondered on about this, they two reached their destination and entered the village quietly. The last sun rays had disappeared fully and they were in complete darkness, save for the dim light of the moon and the few lanterns still lit. But that didn’t matter, over the years the demon slayers had to grow accostomed to the dark and their eyes eventually were trained to see better—or in people who had worse eye sight, or were blind, like Gyomei, trained their other senses more—so they easily navigated through the roads. Eventually the two froze as they felt the presence of the demon. It wouldn’t be an Uppermoon because of how easily they had sensed it. At least that was a comfort. But the presence felt large. This must be why they sent a Hashira. Well, two. Perhaps there were many? If it was that they were strong why did they not hide their presene?

Both Hashira took fighting stances in less then the time it took to blink and were facing opposite sides, waiting for any sort of sign the demon was approaching. Then, quick as a flash, they heard the sounds of shifting fabric and a demon jumped down onto them from above. The two quickly parted and the demon landed between them. Sanemi motioned to Giyuu that they had to either evacuate the citizens of the village or lead the demon out. Then he noticed something peculiar. Giyuu was.. shaking. Why? This demon wasn’t in the 12 kizuki as far as he could tell. Was it something else?

“Hey! Tomioka! Snap out of it, we have to fucking get these people away from the demons or the demon away from them!!” Sanemi snapped, dodging an attack and pushing Giyuu away from any harm. He jumped up and sliced the demon’s arms off before shaking Giyuu rather violently. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He groaned and just pushed Giyuu away before quickly decapitating the demon. He knew there were more demons. This one was barely strong enough to do anything but kick and whine without actually hitting it’s mark. And the sense of demons was still strong even as the other disintegrated. So, he slapped Giyuu then stood up and looked around. 

“You know the village best so can you just snap out of whatever happened and tell me which way’s the best to go to???” Sanemi urged. “There are still demons out there!!”

Giyuu nodded distantly and got up, pointing towards the direction he said was safest to lead the demons to for there were scarcely any people wandering around there at night and it was a more open space. 

“Right..” Sanemi said, growing annoyed by Giyuu’s behaviour. He bet that if he went back to the house he’d grown up in he wouldn’t be all like this. But, hey, people handle shit differently. Even if it’s fucking stupid and at the worst times.

He led Giyuu towards the spot and noticed more demons coming out. Then he decided that he could handle these on his own for now and decapitated nearly all of them in less than 3 seconds. He  had a slight struggle with the last, but not much, and killed it with ease. But there were still more, unfortunately, and Giyuu was still looking distant. No, Giyuu was in the distance. He’d walked off somewhere. Was this were a demon was?

Sanemi followed him and found Giyuu staring at a house. Sanemi instantly sensed a demon there. It seemed slightly stronger then the rest. Why was Giyuu looking like this though? So different. As if he was in the past. 

Sanemi pushed the door open and found the demon feasting on a family of people. Giyuu recoiled but Sanemi did his best to ignore the irony smell of blood that filled his mind and made him slightly dizzy. He kicked the door to the side and swept in, aiming for the demon’s neck. He missed because this demon was obviously stronger and faster. The tighter quarters would make it harder to navigate but this wouldn’t last long, Sanemi predicted. 

And of course it didn’t because after a minute he caught it and decapitated the demon. The presence was gone which meant there weren’t any other demons. He had a bad feeling though. Something wasn’t right. He turned to Giyuu who was still standing, scared, by the door way. “What the fuck was that? Why are you so scared?” Sanemi grumbled. “This mission wasn’t even supposed to be mine. What would’ve happened if you’d gone by yourself?”

Giyuu didn’t answer. Slowly, he moved away from the house and Sanemi followed. The two went to the next house in which Giyuu slowly peeked into the window. He took one look and stepped back so quickly he almost fell onto Sanemi. 

“What the fu-” Sanemi started, but then noticed blood on the window and looked over Giyuu’s shoulder—he was holding Giyuu up—and saw the house was covered with blood and there were the remains of the bodies of some people who the demon must’ve slaughtered. “Ah.. Are there any in the other houses..?”

Giyuu shrugged. His body felt weak all of a sudden as he remembered. He remembered Tsutako. Tsutako had looked like that when the demon.. the demon had.. His body fell limply in Sanemi’s arms and he wished he would turn to dust too. Like the demons. He wished he could stop remembering. Or maybe just bring her back. Bring Sabito back. Bring back everyone. 

Sanemi was confused why Giyuu felt so weak suddenly. The weight of the Water Hashira’s body was held up only by Sanemi who was wondering what happened. “Uh.. Tomioka?” he muttered, his arms wrapping around Giyuu’s body. Was he tired? Maybe Giyuu had over worked himself earlier? No.. he seemed perfectly fine before, besides seeming distant. What was it then? “Are you okay?”

Giyuu didn’t answer, but he was trembling. That was probably the answer. Sanemi sighed and carefully set Giyuu down. He crouched down next to him and then held Giyuu’s shoulders steadily, making sure he wouldn’t fall. Sanemi looked into Giyuu’s eyes and said, as if speaking to a scared child, “Hey.. you’re okay. The demons are dead now, it’s all alright. There’s no need to be scared. And if there is a demon, we both know we’re equally strong enough to defeat them easily. Stop freaking out, there is no reason to. Did you know these people? We can bury them now, hm? I don’t know what to say but please just snap out of it, Tomioka, you’re starting to scare me.”

Giyuu, surprised by the gentleness but still not in the right mind, nodded weakly and leaned into Sanemi’s touch. His breathing was heavy as though he’d run miles, although he’d only walked a little. Sanemi took him through breathing carefully, letting Giyuu feel Sanemi’s own chest rising and falling in a peaceful motion as to guide him through it. Eventually Giyuu was able to calm down and, with the help of Sanemi, stand up. 

“I’m sorry,” Giyuu mumbled, as Sanemi held him up. 

“What for?” Though Sanemi knew exactly what, he’d never really heard GIyuu talk much and wanted to see what he might say. 

“For all of this. For being a burden to you and the mission. Sorry,” Giyuu repeated, looking down. 

Sanemi sighed and let Giyuu’s arm fall from his shoulder. He turned Giyuu to face him, holding Giyuu’s upper arms tightly, but not to steady him so much to make sure that his attention was on him. Sanemi looked straight into Giyuu’s eyes, using one of his hands to lift the other Hashira’s chin up. “Look.. You’re not being a burden. It’s called being human. I get that you would, at least once, get scared by.. by all this,” he said, gesturing towards the house that had been coated in blood. “It’s okay. Just.. if you don’t mention this to anyone, I won’t either. Deal?”

Giyuu’s eyes brightened slightly and the corners of his mouth lifted in the ghost of a smile—though more than anything Sanemi had ever seen before from that particular person—and nodded. “Deal,” he repeated softly, his gaze catching Sanemi’s.

“Alright, good. Why don’t we bury these people? I’m going to check the other houses,” Sanemi said. “Though they’re all closed as well so this’ll take a while.”

Giyuu nodded and went to the house they’d just checked, opening the door and carefully lifting out what he decided they would bury. Sanemi checked the next house and shuddered. “The demon must’ve closed all the doors after taking the lives of the people. Quite clever if you ask me.. Would make a demon slayer risk themself to save the lives of people who’ve already died. Are all the houses empty?” he pondered, opening the door and moving on to the next.

Meanwhile, Giyuu continued taking the people he could out and placing them neatly across the ground so they could bury them. Eventually, Sanemi got to the last house. Dawn was already near so there was no need to worry about more demons. He looked inside and found nothing. “This one’s empty as well, Tomioka,” Sanemi called out. He sighed and went to help Giyuu bury the people when he heard something. He turned, his katana already out in front of him. Then he saw someone. It was a woman, she looked old. She looked terrified as Sanemi approached her. “Are you okay?” he asked.

The woman nodded then paused and shook her head. “What.. is anybody else alive..? I was only able to escape because my son pushed me away..” she mumbled.

“Ah. No, everybody’s dead,” Sanemi said bluntly. Then he quickly realized what he said and blinked. “I mean, uh, no, I’m sorry, but we didn’t find anybody who the demon hadn’t attacked.”

“Oh..” Her eyes were teary as she looked down. But then she seemed to realize something and looked back up to Sanemi who stood above her. “Did you say ‘demon’??” she asked, confused.

“Yes, it was a demon. Not a random murderer or assasin, but a demon,” Sanemi said. He probably shouldn’t have said ‘random’ so flippantly but he’d already put it out there.

“So they are real.. And.. and you said ‘Tomioka,’ no?” she asked, recalling what he’s shouted a minute ago.

“Yes. He used to live here before he devoted himself to being a demon slayer. Do you know him?” Sanemi asked curiously.

The woman nodded. “He.. He had said it was a demon that killed his sister but none of us believed him. One day he just disappeared. We all thought he’d died though, but I suppose he didn’t.”

“Oh?” Sanemi raised an eyebrow. “Nobody believed that a demon killed his sister or that his sister had died?” he asked, crouching down to sit next to the woman. Well wasn’t this interesting.

Giyuu, who had been wondering what was taking Sanemi so long, had walked over and saw him with the woman. “So somebody’s still ali-” he started. But then he saw the woman more clearly. He remembered her. How could he forget? She was the one that had been the harshest on him after he’d explained what had happened to his sister. He shook his head and backed away. “You.. you’re still alive?” he whispered, leaning against the house that the woman had been hiding behind.

She looked up, surprised. “You look so much older now. I’d barely recognize you. You used to look so lively and happy, where did that go?” she questioned, studying his face.

Giyuu’s eyes hardened and he glared down at the ground. “Yeah, wonder what caused it,” he hissed.

Sanemi watched the two, confused. “What?”

“Oh, did she not tell you how the whole village turned against me after my sister died? Did she not tell you how they all blamed me for being crazy and considered kicking me out? Did she not tell you that at one point they even suggested that I killed my sister??” Giyuu snapped, his voice rising. “Did she not tell you how she was the worst to me?? All my food and water supplies were what was left after everybody in the village took their share, did she tell you that? DID SHE FUCKING TELL YOU HOW THEY RUINED MY ALREADY GROWING SHITTY LIFE TO THE POINT I RAN AWAY AND WOULD’VE MOST CERTAINLY DIED JUST LIKE MY SISTER HAD FROM A FUCKING DEMON THAT WAS MOST CERTAINLY REAL?? DID SHE.. Did she tell you..?” His voice broke off here and he turned away from the two, wiping away tears. He breathed slowly, completely blind to Sanemi and the woman staring at him in shock. After a minute, Giyuu turned back, his eyes still burning as he held himself back, and said, “I’m sorry. I’ll go dig the holes you take her somewhere safe.”

He started to leave but Sanemi was faster and grabbed Giyuu’s arm. “Wha-?” Giyuu started. He didn’t finish the question because then Sanemi spun him around and hugged him tightly. Giyuu stood stock-still, confused. He realized that nobody had actually hugged him recently. A warm hug. Tsutako.. Urokodaki.. Sabito.. Tanjiro. No, Tanjiro had always kept his respectful space to let Giyuu be as he wanted. Suppose.. suppose this warmth he felt as Sanemi embraced him tightly was.. was love? Love like how Tsutako and Urokodaki hugged him? No.. love.. Love like how Mitsuri spoke of.. But different. This was different. But a better different. He liked it. 

Giyuu broke down right there, his own arms wrapping tightly around Sanemi as he sobbed. He wished he wouldn’t. He wished he could save it all. Keep it in until his end. But this was Sanemi. Sanemi had promised to not tell. And if he did tell, Giyuu could always expose Sanemi’s softer side. He relaxed against the Wind Hashira’s arms and he felt himself drifting off. He shouldn’t sleep now but he was tired. So, so tired. Who knew emotions could be more tiring and stressful than physical exertion?

Sanemi continued rubbing Giyuu’s back in soothing circles for a couple minutes after he had fallen asleep. Eventually he sighed quietly and lifted Giyuu up. Carefully, he placed Giyuu on his back, making sure that he would be safely secured, then turned to the woman angrily. So as to not wake Giyuu he spoke in a shouting-whisper as he said, “What the fuck is wrong with you? If it wasn’t against the rules, I would’ve left you here to die. You are going to help me bury the others and hope I don’t push you in the holes with them.”

The woman stared at him, cowering. She shouldn’t have said what she did in the past. If she hadn’t then she wouldn’t be threatened to be killed. Besides it wasn’t her fault Giyuu hadn’t made the story convincing enough!! The demon hadn’t even been there when they’d looked, so it wasn’t their faut anyways. She got up shakily and started off to help bury the people. She took one look at their dismembered bodies and almsot threw up. If it wasn’t for Sanemi glaring at her harshly, she would’ve run away. She took her time, using the shovel Sanemi had found in the back of a house to finish digging the holes with her arms—which were weak with both age and with terror—and then heaved the bodies (or body pieces, if you may) into them. 

All the while, Sanemi was making sure Giyuu was comfortable as he supervised the woman. After she’d finished lowering the bodies into their graves, he went over and snatched the shovel from her. He threw it to the side and bent down—with every movement he adjusted Giyuu’s arms around his neck to make sure they stayed—using his hands to slowly and tenderly fill the graves with the murky red-brown dirt Giyuu had dug out. Then, he lifted himself off the ground turned away from them. He didn’t know how many of those people had been the ones to mock Giyuu.

The woman was taken by the Kakushi later as Sanemi had instructed, though he never said where to bring her. Giyuu had stayed asleep for the while, though once he almost woke up from a nightmare Sanemi instantly soothed him from. When he woke up, he was in Sanemi’s house on a soft futon in which he lay comfortably. He looked down at himself and noticed he was still in his uniform and haori. Had he soiled the bed? When he went to get up, Sanemi entered the room with two cups of tea. He set them down on the table and sat next to Giyuu. Sanemi, he noticed, had changed into different clothes, presumably as the others dryed, and wore a soft-looking robe. 

“Good morning,” Sanemi said, helping Giyuu sit up. “Did you sleep alright?”

“Why are you helping me?” Giyuu asked. Instinct. It made him sound ungrateful though, so he quickly said, “I- I mean, I’m fine thank you. But, Shinazugawa, why did you take care of me? Usually you chastise me?”

“Would you prefer that?” Sanemi rolled his eyes. 

“No, no, I meant.. I just thought..” his voice trailed off but Sanemi finished the thought. “That I hate you?” 

Giyuu nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, surprise, surprise, I still do, but then you reminded me of.. of someone,” Sanemi said. He remembered Genya. His family. His siblings had died because of his mother, whom he’d killed. Genya had called him.. called him a murderer, much like the villagers had once called Giyuu. Something about Giyuu’s story had made him sympathize with the Hashira, though he didn’t understand why. Maybe because his and Giyuu’s sounded similar? And before.. before Giyuu had looked so pathetic, he couldn’t just leave him like that!! 

“Oh.” 

“Here, are you thirsty?” Sanemi said awkwardly, getting the tea. He handed one to Giyuu and took one for himself, feeling the warmth of the liquid heat up the cup and his hands as he held it carefully near his lips, blowing on it so he wouldn’t burn himself. 

“Thank you, Shinazugawa. I.. how should I repay you?” Giyuu asked. He figured Sanemi had only done this to get something out of Giyuu. 

“What? I don’t need repayment!!” Sanemi grumbled. “What, you think I never do things to be nice for once?”

“No, I..” Giyuu mumbled. 

“Alright, fine! If it makes you feel better. Hm.. why don’t you stay here with me today? We were allowed to be off today since that mission was supposed to take longer, meaning our next missions aren’t till tomorrow and the others for today are being handled by the other Hashira. Unless there are any immediate emergencies, we can stay here for tonight,” Sanemi explained.

“Hm?” Giyuu said, expecting more.

“What?”

“Oh- What do you want from me?” Giyuu clarified.

“Just.. just stay here with me,” Sanemi muttered, feeling foolish now.

Giyuu’s cheeks tinted pink. “Oh. Okay.” He looked down at his tea and drank a little, quickly retracting it from his mouth as it burned his lips. “Ow-” he hissed, fanning his mouth.

Sanemi put his cup down and bent over, taking Giyuu’s cup and inspecting his lips. “It doesn’t look bad, so maybe just let it wait a minute and I can get you some cold wate..” he trailed off as he realized how close he was to Giyuu. Both the Hashira turned red at the realization but neither moved. Sanemi’s hand was on Giyuu’s cheek, having been inspecting the burnt lip, and the hand slowly brushed Giyuu’s mouth lightly, carefully. Their gazes met and their eyes fluttered shut as Giyuu leaned down ever so slightly, closing the space between them.

{Word count: 3759}

BOOM

I UPDATED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY (FOR ME) INSTEAD OF MIDNIGHT OR 2AM ✨

Okay but in all seriousness- I liked writing this, imma be honest. It was fun. And I want to kill that woman now tbh.. I exaggerated Giyuu’s story a bit because it makes it more dramatic so don’t come after me 😶

LOVE YOU ALL<333 

(me wondering if I should try finishing more oneshots today or not since my dad took my laptop I usually use to write at night when I write most..)