Chapter Text
Chapter 10: Back to Where One Belongs
Sabito, Giyuu and Murata ran to the place that Iguro had pointed out to them moments before, being guided by their crows. They needed to arrive before sunset to perimeter the place and create a good attack plan.
Giyuu couldn't help but feel anxious, he was afraid that everything would go wrong and that instead of returning to their respective worlds, they would both end up disappearing forever.
“Hey” Murata spoke to him from the side “everything will be fine” he said, and smiled at him to reassure him. They continued like this until they reached the place.
“Okay” Sabito immediately took the lead “Ushio, Hiro and Kanzaburo, trace the place, if you manage to find the demon, even better”.
“Ok” the crows spread their wings, Kanzaburo took a little longer to give Giyuu some affection.
“I will secure the place” Murata said “so that once the demon appears, it stays in one place”.
“Thanks Murata” Sabito said and Murata left them alone.
Giyuu watched as Sabito worked diligently, knowing what to do and what to say, not to mention his way of fighting that he had been lucky enough to observe the last few days. And he was so happy to witness that, because he always knew that Sabito would be an exceptional hunter and pillar and this proved it.
Suddenly he felt Sabito very close to him “Giyuu are you okay?” he asked as he raised his hand and ran a thumb over his face removing traces of tears that he didn’t know were there.
“I'm fine” he said “just, I think I'm happy”
“Do you think?”
“I always wanted to see what you would have been like if you had lived” said Giyuu, causing Sabito to smile sweetly at him.
“I want you to promise me something Giyuu” said Sabito after a few seconds, holding the black-haired boy's face in his hands “I want you to promise me that you will be happy, or that you will try to be happy, you are amazing Giyuu and if you are a pillar now it is because you are that exceptional” Giyuu began to cry “you deserve all the good things that come. You are the love of my life in all the lives and in all the worlds that there are and I want, I need you to be happy”.
Giyuu threw himself into Sabito's arms, crying and whispering "I promise" repeatedly as he was reassured by Sabito, while Murata watched from a distance with teary eyes, not wanting to interrupt that sensitive moment.
“I'm sorry to interrupt” Murata let a few minutes pass “but the moment is approaching.”
***
Meanwhile, with our other group, Giyuu and Sanemi followed their respective crows to reach the agreed place. Sanemi would occasionally glance at the black-haired man running beside him, who seemed incredibly focused.
What he would have once interpreted as indifference, the white-haired man now realized was not the case. Tomioka was good at what he did and he had always known it, and while that attitude of “I’m not like you” overshadowed everything else, Sanemi had begun to wonder if there was another meaning behind those words.
“Shinazugawa-san” Tomioka's voice brought him back “I think we've arrived” And indeed they had arrived at the place, Tomioka's friend was waiting for them with obvious nervousness.
“Any sign of the demon?” Shinazugawa asked.
“Not yet” Murata said in a small stutter “although my crow has not returned from its round” Hiro, Murata's crow, arrived a few minutes later with the news that he had found the demon's lair nearby.
“Then let's go right now, I'll take care of cutting off his head myself if necessary” Sanemi said with his usual growl.
“Wait a moment Shinazugawa-san” Giyuu stopped him before the other started walking “according to Kochou-san's hypothesis it is necessary that I be the one to decapitate the demon, besides, it could be wrong but I think we are in the same place where I exchanged places.”
“Are you sure of the place?” asked Sanemi after using his brain to analyze what the blue-eyed man said.
“Not 100% but I know we are in the area.”
“Then what do you suggest Giyuu-san” said Murata “attract him here?”
“It is the safest option” said Giyuu, Murata trembled in fear thinking that he would be the bait, but the black-haired man had another idea.
“Hey Tomioka, why are you smiling like Kochou?” the white-haired man asked, with a hint of fear in his gut.
“Shinazugawa-san, you are a marechi, right?”
Moments later, the three hunters had everything ready. With the help of the crows, they left a path with the rare blood of the Wind Hashira and a little more in the place where they would face him.
To say that Sanemi was surprised to see Tomioka use his blood without hesitation is an understatement, the black-haired man simply snatched some bandages from Mufasa and then cut his hand as if he didn't care about the white-haired man's opinion and then sent the crows on their mission with the bandages soaked in strange blood.
It was terrifying.
And exciting.
But he wouldn't say any of those things out loud.
Now Tomioka was talking to the other boy, who nodded at everything the blue-eyed man said and they both smiled slightly.
And Sanemi couldn't help but wonder how the other Tomioka was doing in the other world, were they treating him well? Would he come back with a smile on his face? And Sanemi really hoped that the other would come back a little happier than before. At that the other two stopped talking when he heard Mikasa say "leave it to me" and Tomioka say "I'll leave it to you."
“Alert you two” he growled at them “it's getting dark”.
And the three of them got ready in their respective positions while the crows arrived from their short mission. The Wind Hashira dared to look at Tomioka out of the corner of his eye for the last time, who looked somewhat nervous looking at the ring on his ring finger and out of nowhere the blue-eyed man brought his hand to his lips and placed a light and soft kiss on the ring, closing his eyes and sighing lightly.
Sanemi was immediately embarrassed, turning around and meeting Mikasa who had red ears from embarrassment. That felt very personal.
“Is something wrong?” Giyuu asked when he saw them looking away.
“If you're done with your cheesy stuff, pay attention” Sanemi growled angrily “this will start at any moment”.
***
With Murata, Sabito and Giyuu.
“I'm sorry to interrupt” Murata said “but the time is coming”.
Giyuu and Sabito separated with teary eyes upon hearing their friend's voice, Giyuu upon seeing Murata approached him and unexpectedly hugged him tightly, leaving the other black-haired boy stunned, even more so when Giyuu whispered a "thank you" in his ear making Murata squeeze his friend tighter in his arms.
Moments later a change was felt in the air, hinting that a demon was approaching. “There it comes” said Giyuu, encountering the familiar feeling of the demon that attacked him that day.
The three slayers decided to hide, since the demon tended to not appear before human sight and they needed to know its full appearance. Giyuu trembled slightly as he held the handle of his katana, one false step and it would all be over for him. “Focus” he thought “you are better than this”.
Soon they had the sight of that demon, with abnormally long and deformed limbs and crawling on the ground like a lizard. “A horrible sight for such a powerful technique” was what Sabito thought as he watched the demon who had dared to attack the love of his life days ago. For him, he would have finished him off immediately, but it was Giyuu who had to do the job.
He signaled to his two companions and began the attack.
According to Murata, the demon wasn't powerful in itself, but there was something about it that made it difficult to get close to, and it attacked and defended at the same time with its limbs, which could be grotesquely divided at will.
He saw out of the corner of his eye how Sabito stopped for a few seconds, surely to make his brain work at full speed to be able to create another attack/defense combination that would work, because until now none of them did.
“Sabito!” he shouted “nothing is working” he approached while defending himself from the attacks “what if instead of defending ourselves, we defend Giyuu while he attacks?”
“Good idea” he said, moving immediately and Murata following him almost at the same time “Giyuu! Keep attacking”.
Murata did his best to tighten his grip on his katana as he watched Giyuu attack the demon with everything he had, holding back his sobs while listening to Sabito insult the demon every time he launched an attack at the blue-eyed man (something very typical that only he dared to say at a time like this).
In a desperate moment when he saw himself cornered, the demon tried to disappear (Murata had trouble understanding if he was turning invisible or simply transporting himself to another place) but Sabito, already angry, shouted at him “Where do you think you’re going?! Damn son of a bitch!” He sank his katana into one of his legs and grabbed the other with his arms “Now, Giyuu!” and with determined steps and movements he finally cut off the demon’s head with one of his attacks.
The place was filled with a blinding light, turning night into day and causing both Murata and Sabito to quickly close their eyes so as not to be eclipsed by so much illumination. When the sensation of extreme light was gone, Murata allowed himself to slowly open his eyes only to be greeted by the familiar sight of the demon disintegrating like ashes in a fire and Giyuu, their Giyuu, passed out on the grass in the middle of it all, with the katana still clinging to his hand but whole and unharmed and with them at last.
That sight made Sabito let out an unmanly cry as he sheathed his sword and quickly approached his beloved black-haired boy. Murata sighed in relief when he saw that his friend was breathing normally and that everything was finally over, sheathing his sword as well and approached Sabito “we have to take him to the Butterfly Estate.”
Several hours later Giyuu slowly opened his blue eyes, meeting the familiar ceiling of the rooms of the Butterfly Estate and the tinkling of the lit lamps in the background. Outside the moon still stood proud in all its splendor and Giyuu wondered if he had returned home.
He shifted uncomfortably between the sheets only to be held by gentle hands, which belonged to his dear and beloved Sabito.
“Sabito” he said in a sigh, the other smiled softly before giving him a delicate kiss on the lips.
“I am” he said, before turning around and speaking to the person in the next bed “Murata wake up, go find Kochou. Yuu woke up” those words woke a sleepy Murata, who almost fell out of bed when he stood up and reached the black-haired boy's side.
“Giyuu” he whimpered “I'm so glad you're okay” and threw himself into his arms.
“Ok that's enough, go find Kochou” Sabito pushed him across the room, Murata said something to Sabito that Giyuu didn't hear.
Sabito didn't waste any time and kissed Giyuu again as if he were losing his life in it, the black-haired man who had just sat on the bed clung to his husband's clothes as if he was afraid he would disappear again.
When they stopped kissing, they put their foreheads together, they only had a few moments before the Insect Hashira arrived and perhaps half the Corps would know that Giyuu had returned.
"I missed you" Sabito told him, "me too" Giyuu answered.
A few seconds later Shinobu arrived, checked on Giyuu, small jokes were made while she took blood samples, they talked a little and then they were sent to sleep. Dawn would come in a couple of hours and it would become a busy day, but when the three of them were already in bed (Sabito lay down with Giyuu refusing to occupy another bed) and the lights were already off, Giyuu let out a moan.
“Ah!” he complained, as if he had forgotten something
“Did something happen?” Sabito asked next to him.
“I forgot to ask the other Murata about how his date went”.
“What date?!” Murata and Sabito exclaimed at the same time, Giyuu just laughed. It was good to be back.
***
Elsewhere, another Giyuu was also opening his eyes after having slept for a long time, or at least that was the feeling he had. Only here the sun's rays filtered through the windows and a light breeze made the curtains dance in a soft sway. The ceiling of one of the rooms of the Butterfly Estate welcomed him and the soft panting of a person dozing near him could be heard.
He shifted a little uncomfortably and straightened up, only to find the figure of Murata, occupying his bed and legs as a headboard and sleeping in an extremely uncomfortable position, next to him was a kakushi also asleep sitting in a chair. He gently moved Murata to wake him up and when he did he looked around sleepily and then jumped in his seat when he realized who had woken him.
“Giyuu-san woke up” he said hugging him tightly.
“San? So did it work?” the blue-eyed boy asked.
“Of course it did” Murata whimpered “I'm glad you're back” then he woke up the sleeping Kakushi “Kazuo wake up, Giyuu-san woke up.”
“Ah, what?” the somewhat lost Kakushi looked at him “ah Tomioka-sama I'm glad you're back” and Giyuu could see him smile behind his mask “I'll go find Kochou-sama, she asked to be notified when you woke up” and both boys saw him leave the room
“He was… from the Final Selection, right?” Giyuu asked after a few seconds.
“He is... I'll introduce you both better later” Murata smiled shyly, Kazuo would be happy that Giyuu-san remembered him even if it was just a little. “Shinazugawa-sama and I got really scared when the other Giyuu-san managed to decapitate the demon and everything turned white, for a moment I thought it hadn't worked”.
“Shinazugawa?” Giyuu asked doubtfully, maybe he had heard wrong
“Uh yes” Murata answered.
“The same Shinazugawa?”
“I was also surprised, but he was very worried” he said doubtfully and looking around “he almost had a breakdown when Giyuu-san came back all fainted, I thought he was going to cry. But you didn't hear that from me” Giyuu laughed after hearing that from Murata.
“Thank you Murata”.
Within seconds, hurried footsteps could be heard coming from the hallway and soon the figures of Kanroji, Shinazugawa and Shinobu appeared through the door. The Love Hashira practically lunged at him, shrieking that she was happy that he had returned safely, Shinobu seconding her by saying that she was glad that he didn't make her job harder but had a much softer look on her face when she was checking on him (Giyuu thought that next time he would buy her his favorite sweets for the trouble, he just hoped that they were the same as the ones in the other world).
Shinazugawa, whose face he couldn't see properly, stood on the sidelines during all this, even the kakushi had approached again and spoke lightly to him, and Giyuu was perhaps feeling a little disappointed by this.
“Well” said Shinobu “it seems that everything is in good condition, but please Tomioka-san do not do something like that again” Giyuu dedicated himself to nodding his head.
“Sorry to worry you, but thank you for being here” he said smiling slightly, causing a slight blush in the pink haired girl.
“Aaah Tomioka-san has such a cute smile, don't you think so Shinazugawa-san?” he only growled at him “Tomioka-san let's go shopping next time”.
“Eh, okay?”
“Excellent” Shinobu clapped his hands to get attention “how about we let Tomioka-san rest, Shinazugawa keep him company” and began to take everyone out of the room, Murata raised his thumb in support.
Shinazugawa didn't say a word and simply sat down in the same chair that Murata had been occupying minutes ago and stayed there without saying anything. Giyuu didn't know what to say either, he had never been left alone with the Wind Hashira in a room for so long without the other speaking badly to him.
Suddenly the white-haired man took his hand and squeezed it gently, leaving Giyuu with his mouth slightly open.
“I'm glad you're back” was what Sanemi said in a low voice and with a slightly flushed face but without the usual frown that characterized him. Giyuu, faced with such a display of affection, simply returned that small gesture and with a smile said “I'm also glad to be back”.
“You cook horribly by the way” Sanemi told him after a few seconds, Giyuu laughed at what he said.
“That was the other Giyuu” he said “I don't cook that bad”.
“You'll have to try it then” he answered.
“When Shinobu lets me out of here.2
“Good.”
“Good.”
They spent the time without saying or doing much, but their hands remained joined the whole time.
Rumors of the Taisho Era: Genya admires Sabito a lot, but not as much as his brother. He will continually say that the Water Pillar is his favorite to make Sanemi jealous.