Chapter Text
Giyuu doesn’t aim for a grand confrontation. When Shinobu steps by to check on his leg, he simply announces:
“Kyoujurou will visit me tonight. I hope it’s not a problem.”
He notices it makes her freeze for a briefest of seconds. Then she turns to him, giving him a bright smile that he never trusted one bit.
“Oh? I thought your deal with him was done,” she says.
“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” he responds coldly, sending a glare towards her. He does not mention that he knows what happened those few nights ago, but after that glare, he does not need to.
She sends him another placating smile, tilting her head to the side in a cute way. “Do you think it is wise to allow a demon to step among so many slayers who are still traumatized after the battle?”
Giyuu grits his teeth. “A demon who fought on our side,” he reminds her. “Yes, I think it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Her smile widens. “Well, I don’t agree,” she says sweetly. “As long as I am here, this demon won’t be welcome here.”
Giyuu may prefer to not show his emotions, but whatever she is doing, hiding behind that sickly saccharine mask, even he finds that disturbing. It feels like she doesn’t even try to talk to him, but rather talks past him, tries to win some sort of battle that is played with words instead of swords.
She seems to think Giyuu has no cards left to play. She is mistaken, but he doesn’t see the need to argue with her verbally. He has always been an actions-speak-louder-than-words kind of person.
“If I can’t change your mind, so be it,” he says. He turns to grab another piece of parchment.
While she thinks it’s a surrender, it is anything but.
Close to the sunset, Giyuu grabs the crutches that Tanjirou dutifully arranged for him, and slowly but steadily wobbles out of the infirmary. Nobody is there to stop him in the hallways, but his luck runs out when he is crossing the inner yard.
As expected, there is a small cart waiting for him right outside the gate, with one young slayer filling in as a carter (Giyuu can vaguely recognize him from the training at the Water Pillar mansion). Tanjirou is standing nearby, petting the horse and engaging in a polite small talk. He turns towards Giyuu as soon as he notices him.
“Are you alright, Giyuu-san? Do you need any help?” he asks worriedly, looking at Giyuu’s unsteady hobble.
“I will manage, thank you,” Giyuu says. While he could definitely use help, he doesn’t think one little Tanjirou could offer more stability than the crutches. Giyuu takes his time, caring more about getting to the carriage safely rather than quickly. His right leg is throbbing with pain that tends to ease when he doesn’t move it, but he has other priorities than physical comfort right now.
“Where do you think you are going?” Shinobu’s voice catches him as he is about to go through the gate. She steps out of the mansion and approaches him in a few quick steps. “You were supposed to stay in bed.”
Giyuu looks at her, unimpressed with her commanding tone.
“I’m leaving,” he says. “Thank you for caring for me until now.”
Shinobu’s eyes widen in surprise ever so slightly. “You can’t leave!” she protests. “You are not well yet.”
“This is not a supernatural injury. I am sure that I will find a competent doctor who can make sure it’s healing properly,” Giyuu says.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she scoffs. “Just go back to the infirmary.”
“What’s going on here?” Shinazugawa asks, suddenly jumping down the roof. His breath hitches as he hits the ground and a grimace shows up on his face as his hand wanders towards the wound on his chest. It seems the mansion is full of people doing things they shouldn’t.
“I am leaving,” Giyuu repeats. The pain in his leg starts getting worse, and Giyuu would like to put it upwards again.
“Why would you do that?” asks Shinazugawa, like he thinks Giyuu has lost his marbles.
“Don’t tell me it’s about the demon.” Kochou sounds like she is on the verge of rolling her eyes.
It grates Giyuu that she talks about Kyoujurou as if he was a pet that Giyuu refuses to leave behind.
“I thought you are done with the demon,” Shinazugawa pipes in, somewhat confused. Giyuu wonders if there might have been no malice on Sanemi’s part, just ignorance. But when it comes to Shinobu, he isn’t willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Giyuu considers politely reminding them that it’s none of their business, but since it didn’t seem to work before, he says:
“Have you considered that I don’t want to be done with the demon?”
Shinazugawa’s wide-eyed expression tells him that he, in fact, has not considered it. Shinobu just huffs in annoyance, like Giyuu’s will in this matter is too absurd to truly take into account.
“Don’t cause a scene, Tomioka-san.” Shinobu smiles at him and again; it’s giving him the creeps.
“I am not. I just leaving. Please step aside so I can pass,” Giyuu says flatly, and then he starts walking even though Shinobu is still in his way. If he has to ram the crutch into her foot in order to get out, he will. At the last second, she does take a step away, which he is almost disappointed about. But most of all, he is tired, and not just in the physical way.
“No, but seriously, what the hell, Tomioka?” Shinazugawa asks, following him through the gate. At lest he doesn’t try to stop him and Giyuu is able to reach his goal. But then, as he stands in front of the cart, he pauses to consider how he can get onto it with only one functioning leg and without shaking his other one too drastically.
That’s the moment Kyoujurou chooses to show up, jumping down from a tree branch. Giyuu lets out a breath he didn’t realize he’s been holding.
“Giyuu! Shouldn’t you be in bed?” he asks, approaching him immediately, concern painted on his face.
“He should,” Shinobu huffs from the distance. Giyuu ignores her.
“I’m leaving,” he tells Kyoujurou. “I was hoping you could join me as I travel to the Water Pillar estate. The slow way.” Giyuu points his head towards the cart.
Kyoujurou immediately notices the strain on Giyuu’s arms. “Let me help you get on there first, alright?”
“Thank you.” Giyuu accepts without reservations. He puts his entire weight on his good leg and drops the crutches onto the wagon. Kyoujurou carefully puts his arms under Giyuu’s legs and on his back, then gently raises him from the ground. Giyuu put his hands around Kyoujurou’s neck for better stability and only lets go once he is safely positioned on the cart.
Giyuu lets out a relieved breath as soon as his broken leg gets horizontal again. He notices there is a slight delay before Kyoujurou moves away from him to stand beside the cart.
“So what, Tomioka,” Shinazugawa asks, his voice a mixture of incredulity and outrage, “you are just going to leave with the demon, even though you don’t owe him anything anymore?”
Giyuu thinks about Kyoujurou sacrificing his eye to protect Tanjirou and begs to differ. But then again, it’s not about who owes what, never truly has been.
“That demon, who you refuse to call by his name, is our ally. You seem not to realize how much he has helped us.” Giyuu’s voice is not calm nor detached anymore.
“I know he did, but only because you had a deal!” Shinazugawa throws his hands into the air, but due to his wound seems to immediately regret this move. “And it’s done, the Demon King is dead. We don’t need him anymore.”
Kyoujurou visibly recoils at those words, but Giyuu grabs Kyoujurou’s forearm and stops him from moving further away. If Giyuu was in a better shape, he would give Shinazugawa another scar for making Kyoujurou flinch like that. He tries to convey this notion in a glare.
Then he turns to look at Kyoujurou, whose forearm is still in Giyuu’s grip. Giyuu feels his eyes getting softer as he finally has Kyoujurou right in front of him. It’s been only a few nights since they last saw each other, but because of that misunderstanding, it felt like an eternity.
Kyoujurou must see something on Giyuu’s face, because he lets out a breath that he’s been holding and his shoulders slowly relax.
“You are right,” Giyuu says, replying to Sanemi’s words, but his eyes never leave Kyoujurou’s face. “I don’t need him anymore.” Giyuu’s fingers tighten on Kyoujurou’s forearm a bit more, with meaning. “But there are still a few things I want from him.”
Understanding dawns on Kyoujurou’s face, and Giyuu feels a corner of his lips pull, like there is a smile in him somewhere, trying to get out.
Shinazugawa stays silent for a while, looking at them with a frown on his face. Giyuu doesn’t particularly care what he sees or what conclusions he draws, so when Shinazugawa mutters eventually, “Whatever! Do what you wish, you weirdo,” and turns away to come back to the mansion, Giyuu is only glad that the conversation is done.
Tengen is sitting cross-legged in a room with a view over the inner yard of the Butterfly Mansion, but his eyes are shut. He has tuned in his enhanced hearing senses as soon as he noticed the commotion outside.
He blames it on his wives, truly. They are sure to inquire about Giyuu and Kyoujurou, and if he misses out on the drama, what is he going to tell them? He surely cannot disappoint; what kind of husband would that make him? And if he also satisfies his own curiosity in the process, well.
Once the two Pillars give up on trying to stop Giyuu and come back inside, Giyuu says his goodbyes to Tanjirou and Nezuko.
“I will come visit you soon!” Tanjirou promises. “Please take care of yourself, Giyuu-san.”
“I will,” Giyuu says.
“Please take care of him,” Tanjirou asks and Tengen guesses he speaks to Kyoujurou now.
“Oy!” Giyuu protests, but at the same time Kyoujurou says:
“Absolutely!”
Soon after, Tanjirou gathers Nezuko and they return to the mansion.
Tengen hears nothing but silence for a while, and he wonders whether he lost his focus. But no, eventually, he hears Kyoujurou’s tentative question:
“So you want to go to… your Water Pillar mansion?” It’s not just for confirmation, Kyoujurou sounds actually unsure.
“Well, that’s what I told them,” Giyuu says, and that makes Kyoujurou go 'oh'. “But I was wondering…” Giyuu’s voice trails off, and then he starts anew: “Have you been sleeping?”
Tengen wonders what is this about. The question sounds important, but he doesn’t understand why that would be. Except for Nezuko, demons don’t need to sleep, do they?
“Uh, no,” Kyoujurou admits and sounds sheepish about it. “But don’t worry about it. I know you don’t—”
“I don’t what?” Giyuu asks sharply.
“You don’t have to help me anymore. I can survive a few weeks—” Kyoujurou sounds like he is forcing every word out of his mouth with great difficulty.
“Kyoujurou, if you don’t want me in your house any longer, just say so.”
“What?!” Kyoujurou sounds choked. “Of course I want you in my house, how could you even think otherwise!”
“Then how could you even think I would let you suffer, even if just a few weeks?” Giyuu sounds exasperated. Tengen finds himself chuckling at that tone.
“I just wanted you to know that you have options,” Kyoujurou says.
Giyuu sighs, clearly frustrated. “Listen. Again, I don’t know what they have said to you, but I see it’s still in your head. Forget it, please. I know that I have options, Kyoujurou, maybe better than other people. Look, Shinbu just thought she can force me to do something against my will, and now here we are. So stop that silliness. I know my options. But do you know yours?”
Something happens between them that Tengen can’t make out, he hears only silence for several long moments. Tengen hates not knowing. They surely haven’t kissed, he would have identified that. Maybe Giyuu took Kyoujurou’s hand? Maybe he pressed his lips to Kyoujurou’s knuckles? Maybe he reached out and put his palm on Kyoujurou’s cheek? Tengen huffs in frustration; the possibilities are endless!
Then Giyuu speaks again, softly this time:
“Great. I guess it’s your job to lead the way. He only knows the directions to my mansion, after all.”
Tengen hears a new voice then, young and unsure, and he assumes it’s the carter:
“Uhm, so we’re not going to the Water Pillar mansion then?”
“Yes, a little change of plans, sorry about that,” Kyoujurou says with a renewed confidence, and Tengen can hear the happiness in his voice. “We are going to my estate. Head south at first. I will let you know when to turn.”
The wheels start turning and Tengen hears the unmistakeable sound of horse hoofs stepping rhythmically on the ground. He keeps listening in for a while longer, until the distance gets too far even for his ears. He catches bits and pieces of a quiet conversation, so quiet that he supposes Giyuu and Kyoujurou are sitting really close to each other on that cart, likely trying to keep it out of the young slayer’s earshot. Many apologies and promises are exchanged, worded so bluntly and openly that Tengen’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Giyuu, the closed-off, distant, and aloof Giyuu? Who would have thought.
And then Giyuu mentions some suggestion that Kyoujurou apparently made a while ago and oh. Oh.
It’s that kind of suggestion.
Tengen should stop listening. He knows he should. He is truly appalled at himself at the moment.
(But the wives!)
Before the distance gets too far, Tengen finds out that Kyoujurou, when prompted, truly has a way with words and can paint very evocative images with them. Tengen would have bet his remaining arm on Giyuu being deeply embarrassed by what’s coming out of Kyoujurou’s mouth— but that only shows that he should be way more careful with his remaining appendages.
After all, it is Giyuu who is doing all the prompting.