Parallels In-Between

by Purple Touch (MiraclesInJuly)

Summary:

“Tsk Tomioka? You had a wardrobe change? But you still look lame! How not flamboyant!” Tengen is the first to say something as soon as he laid eyes on the two approaching figures.

The raven haired is surprised to feel the many firm stares and glares from the pillars, except for Mitsuri who seems to be the only one acting normal here.

“Well, I’m sorry for wanting to honor my sister? What wardrobe change? I’ve always worn this way” he retorts back with sass, Sabito is such an influence that he’s glad Tanjiro doesn’t spend too much time training with him or he’ll get his sassy mouth too.

_

There's a universe where almost everyone is alive, Sabito lived and Giyuu did not turn into a depressed mess and grew up quite well.
Of course a demon had to come and send him to the universe where it's a lot tragic than his own.

In simple words, what if AU! Giyuu meets Canon Giyuu?

Chapter 1

Giyuu swings his nichirin blade, the demon just barely dodging it. The slayer grunts and charges forward, switching forms as he does but his opponent is an agile one this time, if he hadn’t known any better it moved quite as fluidly as Shinobu.

His sister’s red haori is slightly charred at the bottom end, courtesy of the last demon with fire blood demon art. His black hair in a loose ponytail, he advances on the demon who is playing defensive rather than offensive.

'Where the hell is this guy, he said he’ll back me up.’ the male thought to himself with annoyance, Sabito did give him his word since his injuries from the previous mission haven't fully recovered but this demon has been causing too much trouble to simply ignore.

Sabito messaged him via the crow that he’ll head over, the water pillar mentioning something about needing to make sure his tsukugo doesn’t die before him.

Giyuu would argue that a Makomo exists but Sabito did insist once that between the two of them, Makomo is a pain in the neck with her sassy mouth.

The male would roll his eyes each time because the sassy mouth is Sabito’s own influence after all.

And it's not that he needs much help to defeat this demon, to be frank, he could finish it off himself but that would mean straining his injured arm and barely healed ribs, and that would lead to an earful lecture from his best friend.

He does love Sabito, but god damn does that boy have mother hen tendencies.  

Speaking of Sabito….

“Giyuu!! Sorry for the delay!” he swoops in, bright blue nichirin slicing through the demon’s abdomen, the creature screams and tries to flee seeing now that there are two slayers and one of them is a pillar.

But it notices that Sabito’s blade is locking its top half in place on the ground, unable to move.

Giyuu pouts and throws his head back in response, “You’re always late, some pillar you are” he complains with a huff while Sabito chuckles at his antics. 

“Oi oi, you’re the one that got offered first and rejected! Not my fault you let me have the position” Sabito chimes back equally with a tease, the pillar fixes his white haori and looks back at the demon.

Giyuu rolls his eyes, a small smile gracing his lips at the other boy, he points his blade at the demon’s half below that’s giving the two of them a mean glare. 

Sabito snorts out a laugh, “Any last words little fella?” 

But the demon grins, Giyuu immediately has a bad feeling about this.

They’re being too careless, taking things too lightly and heavens know how much Urokodaki and Makomo have chastised the two of them for it.

He’s swinging his blade, and he’s so close but…

It wasn’t fast enough.

Curse it all, dammit.

“Blood demon art, parallel pull”

The last thing Giyuu heard before he feels a great tug yanking him into a dark abyss is Sabito screaming his name.

_

When Giyuu blinks his eyes open, he’s laying on the ground. The male slowly shifts to sit, hands rubbing his eyes to let his vision focus, a groan escapes his lips as he picks himself up. Did he sustain more injuries?

But Giyuu can at least tell he’s still in one piece, red haori, uniform and all. His nichirin blade lays just beside him, the demon and Sabito nowhere to be found.

What happened? Is he dead? It doesn’t feel…..dead.

The male sighs, he retrieves his blade and fixes it on his belt. Now to figure out what that blood demon art did to him, but his crow interrupts his thoughts. 

The old thing landed clumsily with a thud on his chest, his hand quick to gather him in his palms. “Kanzaburo, just in time, I have a message for you to send to Sabito” he mutters, but the owl caws loudly, head shaking at his master.

“CAWW!! CAW!! TOMIOKA GIYUU PLEASE REPORT BACK TO THE HQ!! EMERGENCY PILLAR MEETING!! CAW!! CAW!!”

Giyuu almost flinches in front of the loud cawing, he frowns at his crow at the information. Why would he be needed at a pillar meeting?

He’s not a pillar, Sabito is and he recalls not even Shinobu, Kanae’s little sister, and tsukugo is summoned to these meetings.

The slayer momentarily slaps himself mentally, of course, Sabito must’ve caused a ruckus about his disappearance after the stunt that the demon pulled.

Giyuu lets out a loud exhale, Makomo will be coming for both of their throats and he’s sure of it.

That Kinoe is one not to be messed with, she’s twice as protective compared to Sabito despite being a year younger than the two of them.

“Alright then, let's go Kanzaburo” he pets the crow with a wide smile, but the animal is staring at him almost in shock at the gesture.

The bird blinks but doesn’t say more, Giyuu assumes his old age is acting up again thus he doesn’t say a word and keeps walking through the forest.

But just on the other side of the said forest, a male with deep blue eyes looks up to the skies after the demon he had just slain turns to bits of ashes on the ground.

His sharp piercing gaze glancing around trying to find his crow who has yet to come and direct him to the next mission.

His mismatched haori, one half red and the other in the painstakingly annoying geometric pattern that he hates yet couldn’t let go.

It stands out from the green nature around him, the male sheaths his katana and sighs, did his crow get lost again? 

The male gives it a few more minutes before deciding to simply keep moving forward, unbeknownst of the fact his crow had directed someone else that isn’t him.

Giyuu with steady footsteps moves on forward to the next town of his patrol region, Kanzaburo would come to find him if there are any emergencies after all. 

_

Giyuu makes his way over to the master’s estate, he’s been there with Sabito sometimes so he’s familiar with the route, but just as the mansion is in his view, he sees a small figure making their way to the estate as well.

And Giyuu recognizes the purple butterfly hairpin anywhere, with a grin he speeds up in his space, making Kanzaburo fly off his shoulder. The male sprints up to the girl, he has to admit, the new haori on her threw him off for a bit.

The butterfly pattern reminds him of the girl’s sister, Kanae wore the exact same haori as she is right now.

He sneakily taps her on the shoulder and watches as she reels back with shock while he chuckles at her reaction. 

The two of them, being tsukugo to their respective pillars, have a friendly relationship that resembles a cat and mouse.

They often tease each other amidst their training and occasional meetups since Shinobu lives at the Butterfly Estate and Giyuu can’t go on a mission without coming back with injuries of some sort.

Shinobu is, all things considered, gaping at him with a shocked expression that he’s never seen on her, was his disappearance that shocking? 

But the fellow tsukugo is staring at him as if she saw a ghost.

“You got called too huh? Nice new haori by the way, you guys sure are loyal to the butterfly theme” he jokes but pauses when he notices that Shinobu isn’t walking anymore. Her feet glued in place, not taking another step.

Her wide eyes now have another lingering emotion, something dangerous, Giyuu notices her hand is hovering over the hilt of her blade.

Her stance screaming ready to attack, Giyuu frowns and steps away slightly from the girl.

“Shinobu? Hey…. I was just messing around, no need to poison me” he exclaims, genuinely weirded out by how the other is acting.

Shinobu is no fun at times, always so strict and prim about being a slayer. 

But they’re friends, and Giyuu knows how to tell her being  ‘serious’  and  ‘playing around’  apart. And the very serious look on her face right now declared an unspoken threat if he made any sudden movements, she’ll strike.

“Who are you?” her voice deadly cold, much colder than he remembered. 

Giyuu has heard the kind of voice she uses when speaking of demons with nothing but pure hatred, and yet this voice is new, this voice is much colder and darker.

Angrier, she sounded furious.

Kocho Shinobu is well known for her temper, and for someone he’d like to describe as the watered-down and less violent version of Shinazugawa, it’s normal to always hear her talk while sounding pissed but this is different, the anger feels much hateful.

Giyuu can’t comprehend that the girl is acting as such, let alone glaring down at him as if he’s a demon.

“Who? I’m Tomioka Giyuu, the guy you dropped kicked into the koi fish pond at the Mist estate last year because I called you tiny?” he brings up the particular memory, it’s not particularly a fun memory for him but Shinobu always brightens up at the mention of it.

The insufferable Tokito twins even had a photograph of that moment framed on their wall too.

The girl’s glare grows even more scowling, she pulls her blade out and charges forward at him. Giyuu, with no intention of getting poisoned, maneuvers out of the way and pulls out his own blade to intercept her sudden attacks.

“I ask again, who are you impostor?” she chants, this time the nasty glare morphed into a sickening smile “For someone trying to pose as that guy, you sure act nothing like him” 

Giyuu deflects her each move, the countless sparring matches with her helped and he’s accustomed to her fighting style to keep up and not get himself slashed by her stinger katana.

He clenches his teeth and uses an opening to take the forces of their blades clashing to send her back.

“Shinobu what the hell?! Are you trying to kill me?!” he shouts, the jest has long gone. 

If this was a prank that the girl is taking it too far, her poison is deadly to demons but poison is poison and even if she never got around to tell what it would do to a human, Giyuu rather not take the chance and find out.

“Maybe I won’t if you just show your true self and explain why you’re trying to pose as the water pillar, you imbecile even got his haori wrong and he doesn’t call me that” Giyuu could merely throw her a weird look, not at all understanding what point is she trying to make.

Him posing as the water pillar? Why would he when he never wanted the position? And of course the haori is wrong, Sabito wears a white haori but he’s not trying to pose as him.

What the fuck is going on?

“I am not—Okay, I don’t know what’s gotten into you but I’m assuming we’re both being called to attend the pillar meeting so why don’t we just go— Oh please ” she narrowly misses his shoulder, and it doesn’t look like she’s backing down anytime soon.

“You’re pretty bold to assume I’ll allow you to be near the master, demon” there’s a venomous hatred when she speaks the last word. Giyuu flinches back with confusion and bewilderment of his own, his hand shooting up to the sky.

“I’m literally under the sun with you right now?!”  

But her stance doesn’t falter, she isn't backing down and Giyuu has just about enough of her nonsense but remembered what happened hours ago.

‘The blood demon art, this must be one of the effects!’  he thought to himself, maybe he’s in a strange dream? He’s unsure because everything felt too real to be a dream. 

“CAW CAW!! TOMIOKA GIYUU IS TO BE BROUGHT TO THE HEADQUARTERS!! TOMIOKA GIYUU WHO WEARS A RED HAORI IS TO BE BROUGHT TO THE HEADQUARTERS!! CAW CAW!!”

One of Ubuyashiki’s crows announces as it circles above them, calling out to the two. Shinobu’s eyebrows knit together, frowning but sheaths her weapon nonetheless at the order. Giyuu let out a relief exhale, tucking away his own weapon.

The girl returns to smiling and it’s weird, Giyuu knows for a fact that she rarely smiles, not even fake ones like the one she’s wearing now.

The Shinobu he knows is much truer to herself, but the girl in front of him seems to be wearing layers of masks to hide.

“Well, it seems the master is expecting you” she plainly says, continuing to walk as if she didn’t try to stab him mere minutes ago, “I suggest you come along or I’ll be using force” her voice oddly high laced with fake sweetness. 

Giyuu’s lips thin with concern, this Shinobu just sounds so off. He doesn’t like it.

He steps foot into the estate, and a group of slayers, the pillars most probably are gathering in the front garden.

But Giyuu could see that there are a few missing faces in the small crowd, one obvious standout to him is the lack of any mop of pinkish hair wearing a fox mask.

“Tsk Tomioka? You had a wardrobe change? But you still look lame! How not flamboyant!” Tengen is the first to say something as soon as he laid eyes on the two approaching figures.

The raven-haired is surprised to feel the many firm stares and glares from the pillars, except for Mitsuri who seems to be the only one acting normal here. 

“Well, I’m sorry for wanting to honor my sister? What wardrobe change? I’ve always worn this way” he retorts back with sass, Sabito is such an influence that he’s glad Tanjiro doesn’t spend too much time training with him or he’ll get his sassy mouth too.

His clapback has more effect than he thought, nearly every face is gawking with shock, all of the pillars looking like he grew a second head.

Giyuu shakes his head, the demon blood art is affecting them too? But it’s strange, how are they the ones that got affected when he is the one who was hit with it.

“Tomioka? Is that you?” the love pillar questions, that’s the other weird thing. All of them seem to think he isn’t…… well,  him .

“Yes? Why are you all looking at me like that? And where’s Sabito, Kyojuro, and Kanae?” he asks, noticing the absence of those three pillars.

Without warning, there’s a fist to his cheek, the male grunts and staggers a few steps away from his attacker.

Shinobu’s smiling facade shattered again, the rage from before returning to her face. “Don’t speak of my sister!” she snarls at him, body almost trembling with anger. 

Giyuu hisses at the sting on his cheeks, “What the hell….. What did I even say?!” 

“That’s not Tomioka, who are you?” Obanai speaks up, jumping down from his usual place in the tree.

The small group is looking at him as if he were an enemy, in their definition, a demon.

Giyuu’s frustration is climbing to a new level today, he’s got injuries that are still untreated, got hit with blood demon art that did god knows what, and now this bullshit. 

He is  not  having it, “I  am  Tomioka Giyuu, the water pillar’s tsukugo and I went on a mission with each of you at least once” he exclaims out loud for them, and if someone dares ask him that again he’s going to chop someone’s head off.

“Tsukugo? You  are  the water pillar!” Tengen adds on, this drives the male into more confusion.

“No? I’m not? Sabito is the water pillar” and Sanemi who strangely had been quiet finally burst out angrily, “Who the fuck even is that?”

What?

“The master has arrived” 

Every slayer present falls to their knees in respect, Kagaya, accompanied by his eldest twin daughters. “Pardon my tardiness, my dear children, however, it seems we are missing one more member,” he says upon arriving.

“I wish you to be in good health master, but I must ask, who is this man posing to be Tomioka?” Sanemi speaks up first, his straightforwardness in the situation making the head of the corps chuckled lightly.

“Shinazugawa, may I ask why do you think he is posing to be Tomioka and not that he is Tomioka?” Giyuu could cry, finally, at least the master gets him.

But at that moment, Mitsuri loudly gasps. It’s a habit of her to be looking around, observing the surroundings and her fellow pillars as she admires them but at the sight of the very familiar mismatched haori and emotionless eyes stepping foot into the area, she can’t contain her shock.

Everyone turned their gaze towards what she was gasping at, “Welcome Tomioka, I think your crow fetched the wrong person” Kagaya comments, still showing no surprise, he isn’t even fazed by the fact that there are two Giyuu.

The Giyuu, who is gawking with shock at the sight of himself nearly falls on his butt, his other self has his eyes widened but doesn’t say a word, only staring back at him with equal shock.

“What the hell?! Why is there another me?! And oh god, why are you taking after Sabito’s old poor choices in fashion?” 

 

 

Chapter 2

Tomioka reels back, his face more shocked than offended by the other. The other him looked exactly like him, except for the absence of Sabito’s pattern on his full red haori. He’s looking at an exact replica of himself yet Tomioka can’t help but notice at once….

They are so different.

That person wears his emotions, he speaks out his thoughts and there’s no traces of sorrow and guilt on his face. In all honesty, in such a situation, one would say that the other is a ghost of them.

But Tomioka feels as though he is the ghost of the person who wears his face in front of him.

“Come now Tomioka, we have much to discuss” Master calls out to him, he hesitates before crossing the distance between him and the others, a defensive stance in his movements.

They still have no idea who this impostor is, but the master seems to know what’s going on.

The other man watches him closely as well, with a confused look on his face, his own blue eyes scanning Tomioka with a calculating gaze.

But he’s forced down by Sanemi, back on his knees in front of Kagaya.

“First of all…... Would you like to tell us more about yourself and what happened Giyuu? Oh, I shall be calling you that if you don’t mind, just to not confuse the two of you” the master speaks kindly, Giyuu lets out a breath of relief when he feels Sanemi loosen up to let him look up properly.

The male takes a deep breath, “My name is Tomioka Giyuu, I’m 21 years old, I’ve been a demon slayer for 8 years and the tsuguko to the water pillar; Sabito for 4 years. I trained under Urokodaki and participated in the Final Selection with Sabito when we were 13” he talks, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the number of eyes on him.

Tomioka flinches at the mention of his late best friend, it’s been years but Sabito’s death will always feel like a fresh wound torn open each time it is mentioned. 

“I see, you seem familiar with the pillars here although you did mention a few interesting names….” Kagaya continues to say, but Obanai speaks up before Giyuu could answer.

“Master I must say it is odd, this man could be lying about his identity or is even in a strange delusionary” his eyes hold no ounce of trust and it sort of upsets Giyuu, but it is to be expected, whatever the demon did, it changed almost everyone. 

The Obanai he knows is much…. friendlier to him, they aren’t particularly close knitted but just enough to respect and work well together and maybe even hang out every now and then.

Seeing these almost colder and harsher versions of his fellow slayers sends a stinging punch to his gut.

Giyuu wonders if Sabito, Makomo and Tanjiro are colder too.

“That’s mean Obanai, after the whole me coming out to you, us braiding our hairs together and nearly getting killed a couple times by Sanemi here, I thought we’re cool with each other” he absentmently comments with a sulky pout, the words gushing out of his mouth before he could even think.

Obanai glares, “Don’t call me that” 

“The fuck you using my first name!” spat the wind pillar, anger issues still present even in this version of him.

Tomioka listens and he is at loss of words, unable to utter anything because just who exactly is this guy and how on earth could that ever be any version of himself. He sees Giyuu flinching back, lips narrowed as if those words hurt him, like it mattered.

Tomioka hardly cares what other pillars think of him, after all he knows he’s nothing compared to them. His other self is standing there, awkward as the stares and glares directed at him never left looking like he wants to bolt out of the situation.

And Giyuu does in fact, wants to get the hell out of there. Everything is too jarringly confusing and frustrating, they’re all treating him as if he had committed murder or aided Muzan.

Kagaya speaks up before someone else can start something, “I think I have a theory on what might be the case right now” it draws all of their attention back to him.

“You were hit by a blood demon art yes?” Giyuu nods, and now that he thinks about it, it is weird if he is the one who was hit with it yet the others are the one affected.

“Yes, it was a big bloody red blast and blacked out, Sabito was fighting with me and he…. I think he was reaching out to me when it struck?” he tries to recall, feeling bad when he thought of the panicked and fearful look Sabito wears.

“I see, well Giyuu for now my theory is that……. You are taken to a different place, here to be exact”

That is…... unexpectedly not surprising.

“What?” he stammers out, eyes and mouth gawking although the implications of that does explain a lot of weird things here.

Kagaya continues to explain, calm as ever because absolutely nothing can throw him off, Giyuu is half convinced at times that he isn’t a normal human, “An alternate or possibly, a parallel reality. There are old records of rare blood demon art such as that, useless for combat but good for disrupting the balance between worlds”

Tengen is the one to break the awkward silence that follows, “Master…... What are you implying?”

“I’m simply insinuating that Giyuu here is from an alternate reality to ours, a similar yet different world it seems.…...” 

Giyuu could scream, now isn’t that convenient? For god’s sake…...

Shinobu who is next to Tomioka is glaring at him but there’s also an unsettled look on her face, she remained quiet for the most part of the discussion but it's just so she could combat the thoughts in her head regarding the strange not-Giyuu that she encountered.

The insect pillar might just be one of the handful of them that actually talks to Tomioka, and Shinobu likes to think that she’s more familiar with the male’s antics and attitude to breeze her way around it. 

Thus, when this not-Giyuu comes barging in, smile and snark in his voice prompting her into banter and addressing her so familiarly (He used her first name, he referred to everyone by their first names and the actual Giyuu doesn’t even do that with her) and he even spoke of Kanae.  

“Hey you” she starts, grabbing everyone’s attention, her voice hesitant while clutching the hem of her haori. Not-Giyuu’s eyes glances over to her expectantly, and it's weird. 

She’s just far too used to seeing a maximum of 2 expressions on that face.

Shinobu takes a deep breath wishing she could bite down on her tongue, but she needs to know, “You mentioned my sister…...” her voice slightly wavers, it’s been two years and she still has a hard time talking about it.

Not-Giyuu nods, “Kanae, yes” first name basis, odd considering that even Sanemi doesn’t dare go to that point even if he had stored affection for her sister (Yeah she knew, it isn’t hard to pry that info out of Gyomei over a cup of tea). 

And now for the part that bothered her the most, or in some way, made her kind of hopeful, “You talked as if she….. As if she’s still here”

Not-Giyuu talked as if Kanae isn’t just a distant memory, he talked as if she was still alive.

Actually, he talked as if they never lost anyone to be exact, like nobody precious was ripped from him, that everything is as fine as it can be given their situation and way of life.

There’s life in those eyes that are unlike the lot of them present here.

Not-Giyuu quizzically frowns, body shifting around while looking gradually uncomfortable from all the interrogation, “What do you...mean? Last I seen her, she was fussing over Kyojuro after the Infinity Train mission with the upper moon 3 trouble”

So she guessed correctly, in his reality, her sister lived. 

How cruelly unfair is that, Shinobu pressed her lips together hard in refusal to simply start bursting into tears on the spot.

On one hand, she’s glad that somehow out there in an alternate reality, her sister lived, Kanae is alive. But on the other hand, Shinobu could almost physically feel the envy engulf her, choking her with taunts suggesting perhaps she played some role in the difference.

In her own revelation, every other pillar who’d known Kanae either gasp or frown, she was a bright slayer and young when she died yet to think a premise as such could exist, that she is alive somewhere is bizarre.

Shinobu steadies her emotions, “......Tomioka, my sister was killed two years ago”

A pregnant silence takes over the courtyard, the weight of the words slowly consuming those who are present. 

Giyuu doesn’t blink or move, his eyes wide and jaw dropped open at the loss of words “W-what?” his gut twisted, ugly venomous dread crawling into his skin that slithers up so quickly up his rather tall frame. 

The words eventually register in his head, but he dares not acknowledge it. 

Giyuu refuses to acknowledge it.

Because that’s impossible, Kanae isn’t dead, as he said he last treated Kyojuro at the butterfly estate. She’s alive, well and still decapitating demon heads with the grace of beautiful flower valleys as far as he’s concerned. 

Kanae is warm and welcoming and smells like actual flowers. Death is cold and alone, it’s dull as much as it is haunting and the Kanae that he knows is the furthest thing from that.

It just can’t be true. 

“And Rengoku did not survive the Infinity Train mission, and we’ve never heard of a water pillar named Sabito” Kagaya supplied further, making the sick feeling swirling in Giyuu’s stomach tenfold worse.

His face blanches even further, pale with horror while simultaneously looking like he would throw up. “What…” his voice barely audible, he can’t even hear past the buzzing noises that are somehow taking over his hearing senses.

He can’t hear, he can’t think, he can’t feel. 

What the fuck, Giyuu slaps a hand over his mouth, not trusting himself to give in to the bile crawling up his throat. This isn’t funny, this is so messed up and very fucking horrible and they’re all just casually saying it.

Kyojuro was patting Muichiro’s head when he visited him with Yuichiro just the other day, Giyuu knew he came back alive, he was there. Kyojuro was there, his smile brighter than the sun while immobilized on the hospital bed, laughing while the twins fussed over him. 

There's a small voice in the back of his head reminding him that this isn’t his reality, that whatever happened here, whoever died here shouldn't matter because his own version of them is very much still alive.

But the very idea of it, his friends and allies……... He doesn’t think he could accept such fate in any reality, belonging to him or not.

Giyuu recoils back when there’s a hand trying to touch his shoulder, his breathing harsh and in choked hiccups, “You…... you’re lying, they’re not…... I was with them” he shoots a glare at Gyomei who had been the one that attempted to touch him.

“He died”

That’s the first time he heard his other self speak, and Giyuu reels back hard at how different his voice is. It sounded so wrong, so off putting as his other self had been.

Those two words ring in his ears, and a whole different kind of mortification washes over him.

No, not him, please no.

The weirdly stitched together haori glares mockingly at him, half clad in Tsutako’s red and the other…similar to Sabito’s old patterned one, the one he wore during the Final Selection they went for together. Giyuu is unsure if he even wants to know anymore, he doesn’t like the ugly picture this is painting.

“In the Final Selection, I…... we survived, he didn’t”

Giyuu tries to tackle him, sheathed sword drawn out and ready to pounce on this fucker because how dare he say that, how dare he claim Sabito is dead. And it has Tengen and Mitsuri holding him back to keep him from actually doing any harm, angry tears dripping down his cheeks.

“Y-you…. you’re lying, you’re lying there’s no way!” 

Tomioka stares at his counterpart, wordlessly with his usual stoic expression. He studies him, how the edges of his face creases and eyebrows furrowed, hands gripping onto the hilt of his blade so hard.

It’s strange to see such outlandish emotions on his own face, especially when he rarely ever feels anything.

“He was there! Sabito was just there when that demon it….it did something to me and now you’re all acting weird! And he was right there! He’s not dead” the other him keeps lashing out, not sounding like he is going to back away from the conversation at all.

And the water pillar understands him somehow, where this anger is coming from.

“Tomi—Well, Giyuu please calm down” Mitsuri pleads, she’s not struggling to hold him back, not by a long shot. But it’s getting a bit too bizarre even for her to see the pillar she knows act so unlike him, even if said pillar is there. 

“No! You can’t say that! He…. he can’t be, he’s strong he can’t” and there’s the tone Tomioka is familiar with, the one he himself had overused back then.

Choking and full of despair with a layer of denial, it sounds much shakier coming from him though. 

They manage to reel the exploding male back, letting him take a breather and remind himself this isn’t his reality, Giyuu wishes more than anything to go home now. No way he is ever going to stay in a universe where his best friend has been dead for 8 years. 

Kagaya clears his throat, “I’m sorry Giyuu…...but my point stands, I think you are from an entirely different reality but some of these events are similar it seems……...Could you perhaps recall any recent events?”

The male, now fairly calmer and not trying to take a punch at anyone 3 foot near him tries to remember, “Um…. there’s the infinity train mission, Kyojuro was sent as backup along with Kamado Tanjiro, don’t know if you know that kid, and his two other friends…...upper moon 3 appeared but Kyojuro managed to hold him off till sunrise which forced him to leave” 

Muichiro suddenly speaks up, the boy has been so quiet Giyuu almost doesn’t notice he was there, which is very odd of the boy “He didn’t try to defeat upper moon 3?”

“He knew he couldn't possibly do it without ……. losing his life, so he acted defensively instead” Giyuu explains, a lot of them were grateful he didn't try to attempt it. 

“I see…... unfortunately our Rengoku was sacrificed in the mission….”

Giyuu takes a deep shuddering breath at that, trying to block out any imagery that could point him into picturing it. He doesn’t want to think about it, doesn’t want to see it. 

“Poor thing….” he hears Gyomei proclaiming from behind the group. 

Sanemi chose that moment to put his foot down, “You guys can’t possibly believe him? Master, forgive me but this is absurd! He must be manipulating this situation somehow” he reasoned, the distrust is obvious and while Giyuu doesn't think he could blame him for it, it still hurts. 

“Shinazugawa!” That was Shinobu, the girl finally deciding to accept it seems. 

“He has no proof! For all we know this could be some kind of trick!”

Oh

Oh he did not.

Giyuu turns on his heels to face the wind pillar, and if they think his outburst just now was out of character then they're in for a surprise. The scowl he shoots him has Sanemi shut the hell up at one glance, oh Giyuu is done taking his bullshit.

“Look I know I’m not him” he points a finger at his counterpart, the Giyuu of their reality. 

Giyuu by all means, avoided swearing as much as he can but when push comes to shove, he will not hesitate “But you think I know what’s going on? You think I’m having a fucking good time here messing around? You think I want this? Well fuck you asshole because I don’t want to deal with this bullshit as much as the next person here”

There are several faces of pure shock looking back at him, but he doesn't finish there. Sakonji Urokodaki (Or at least, his version of the man/mentor/the-dad-that-i-never-had) did not raise a half-assing bitch.

“I was hit by some weird blood demon art and now suddenly all the people I regarded as my allies and friends, who I fucking fought alongside with for years, are not only hostile towards me but are telling me some of those I care about are fucking dead. And honestly, I don’t know what to think right now, I just…. I want my friends back” 

He lashes it all out in a single breath, he didn’t have to take another breath, Giyuu just didn’t want to go overboard with it. Again, silence greets the courtyard, the other pillars now looking at each other like kicked puppies saved for those two stubborn ones.

The other him looks at Giyuu with…...awe? Curiosity? Does he not have facial tissues or something in this reality? Or did ……...did losing Sabito really affected him so badly? Giyuu shakes his head, he’ll pry if he can afterwards on why his other self is seemingly emotionally inept.  

But he does have to admit, master Kagaya’s deduction about him being tossed into a different universe does explain a lot about what’s happening.

But just how different exactly is this universe and how does he get back?

Notes:

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE ENCOURAGEMENT I really appreciate it omg thank uuuuu owo

I didn't expect anyone to want a continuation?????

anyhoos idk if i wanna actually fully write this? It depends if a lot of readers want it then yeah i guess I can make random updates since I don't have a solid plot in mind, this is a big 'lets wing it!' for me lol

Chapter 3

Kagaya clears his throat, capturing all of their attention once more, “Forgive Shinazugawa my child, he can appear to be brash at times but there’s no true ill intent. I’m afraid we’re unsure of how to get you back to your reality but until a solution comes forth…… would perhaps like to stay with any of the pillars?”

Giyuu stares back at the man’s kind gaze, it's very much like his own master, and he knows the man can be trusted. But it isn’t what he wants, to stay here, where people he loves are dead.

He wants to go home, to be back at water pillar estate being lectured by Makomo for having no sense of self-preservation, to go on another mission with Sabito or even stop by the Butterfly Estate to see how the flame pillar is doing.

The man’s shoulder slumps down with a sigh, he misses his home that suddenly feels so far away and out of reach to him.

But what can one do in a situation such as this?

“I…. I guess so…...” he mutters out bitterly at his own fate. Looking back at the other pillars, Giyuu could see his other self watching him, seemingly trying to figure him out or maybe he’s expecting Giyuu to go with him.

The man obviously carries a lot of baggage, and trauma that Giyuu must be lucky to miss the chance of experiencing but he has no idea how long he’ll be staying here and his counterpart is a walking blinking sign that reminds him Sabito is dead here.

So no, he’s not going to subject himself to such mindfuckery, the whole universe traveling thing is already heavy on his plate thank you very much.

So instead, he turns his head away from his other self and the few other faces who glare with promised hell if he dares ask of them, and lets his gaze fall onto the resident youngest. The long-haired pillar has a blank look on his face, seemingly bored or just…...dazed.

“Mui, can I stay with you and Yui then?” he asks, the others are quick to raise questioning eyebrows at the nickname, but at this point, Giyuu can hardly bring himself to care.

The youngest shrugs, “Whatever I don’t really care……. But who is Yui...?”

A pause of silence follows the question and Giyuu swears he saw Kagaya’s face go startled. The dread is already pooling in his stomach, there’s just no way this is real.

“W-what? No way…. but…... You’re Tokito Muichiro right?”

The boy nods slowly, “Yes” the too quietness is throwing him off, what did this reality do to the sweet boy?

“Then…... Is your brother…. not with you? Your twin, Tokito Yuichiro, he looks exactly like you”

Kagaya flinched, it was very well restrained and quick, but Giyuu knew by the shocked faces on some of them that they saw it too. And he hates it, he really does because why? 

Why does he keep learning more and more people he cared about are dead here?

Tengen speaks up with curiosity, “You have a twin?” the man spares at glance at their master to see his reaction. Giyuu isn’t surprised, the twins are rather close to the Ubuyashiki family members, practically honorary Ubuyashikis themselves.

But there’s an obvious difference to how the Tokitos and Ubuyashikis are here, like there’s a small strain in between. 

Muichiro ponders in his thoughts, face scrunched as he tries to remember a memory that must’ve been suppressed by whatever trauma he had to face in this reality, “I…... I…. I don’t…... remember…… maybe….?”

The boy doesn’t know why, but the thought of having a brother, a twin, it doesn’t sound…...strange, untrue or wrong but he can’t pinpoint what it is. 

“Could you even forget such a thing?” Mitsuri comments, she had siblings of her own and she shrieks at the thought of ever forgetting their existence, “Maybe it's just in your reality...erm...Giyuu…. gosh that’s weird to say”

But Muichiro shakes his head, “No…. I…... I think…. I’m not entirely sure but…. I think he’s right…. I don’t remember much of my past anyway” he waves the last part off but Giyuu knows Muichiro, and this one may be different but their mannerisms are nothing short of replica of one another.

The boy leans away, keeping his head hung low and a small frown from frustration, he doesn’t remember anything and that infuriates him, what’s more is he never cared before of what it’s like before everything turned red and angry.

So why does he want to know now? And the other Giyuu came from another reality, what’s to say it was the same for him? Or more specifically, the him of that reality?

“I see......” he hears the older man mumbles while standing close to him, maybe a bit too close for his comfort. Kagaya then proceeds to dismiss them, which sends Muichiro to walk back to his estate with a reality hopper in tow.

He can’t help but compare the two, it's interesting how different they are. 

“You live alone?” The air around them is heavy with awkwardness as they walk, Giyuu is probably attempting to ease it with small talk. Yet it's not that it's weird, but the fact it’s because he acts so familiar with him but wears the face of a man that’s barely spoken a word to him.

Tomioka Giyuu initiating small talk, the world really flipped the axis on them did it?

Muichiro half hoped that Kagaya would send him on a mission soon just so he doesn’t have to stick around with the other male. But he supposed he can’t be rude now can he?

“Yeah” he hoped the small curt answer would send the message, this guy has made him question his existence more than enough to last him a lifetime. 

(Yet he’s so curious, what’s he like in this alternate reality? He has a brother? A twin? What are they like? So many questions yet he doesn’t know if he wants them answered but the crave to know is so evidently there)

Giyuu sighs at his answer, hands going to readjust his all red haori that is not an eyesore like the one his counterpart has, “I guess that explains why…...” he speaks so sullenly, it’s so sad and it edges Muichiro so much to know.

He’s never known a lot of things and usually that doesn’t bother him but this man has answers, answers to questions he hadn’t even known existed. 

“What do you mean?” his voice breaks into the question before he could even hold himself back, Giyuu stares down at him, blue ocean eyes seemingly trying to find something in the younger boy, maybe a resemblance to the Muichiro that he knew?

“You’re different from him, a lot different”

Muichiro does know now he’s good at instigating curiosity and curses himself for not being able to reel in those curiosity. 

“Him?” he asks but he knows what the elder male meant, the other Muichiro, his reality’s Muichiro. 

The man doesn’t say a word as they finally arrive, both entering the estate in silence and going in separate directions, the other walks around like he knew the place well enough to maneuver around in a blindfold and not get lost.

He walks in each room, scanning each corner, and the more he does it, the heavier the frown on his face grows. It’s like he’s looking for something, something that should’ve been there but isn’t. It’s solemn in a way, like the pain of what he actually lost just finally settling on his shoulders.

And Muichiro swears he almost saw tears glistening when he stopped at one particular empty room, the man had quickly recovered himself and moved along.

Tomioka is gloomy, yes everyone knows how much of a walking funeral the guy is, but…... not like this.

It’s gloomy, dampening more than anything but never so sad, so painful.

It doesn’t look……. as painful as……. whatever this is. 

They don’t see each other again until later that evening, the youngest pillar finds his guest sitting on the front deck, tea prepared by his side untouched. He’s looking out into the orange dawn sky and maybe it's just how the day has gone really weird but there’s something very melancholy sticking in the air.

“Mui—I mean, my reality’s Muichiro, he’s…. brighter…. and smiles a lot despite everything he went through” he says, but he still has his back against him, and Muichiro can’t bring himself to leave, not when he sounded so……. sorrowful. 

“I come over here…...or well, there? I don’t know anymore but yeah; I go to the Mist estate a lot. Me and the twins, we’re pretty close. I guess I just…... seeing he really isn’t here…... his room is empty…...or seeing how…... all the things that made this place home just…. doesn’t exist is……I just…… I don’t know? I can’t imagine…. he..... you guys are like little brothers to me”

That soft voice deep and sad is filled with so much fondness and fear, Muichiro stood frozen by the sliding door, unable to format response. He couldn’t say anything, couldn’t do anything but listen. 

No one has ever spoke so fondly of him, referring to him with a term like ‘brother’ that’s used for family. Family that he doesn’t have, not anymore.

(he said 'You guys, not 'they' or 'them' but 'You guys' as if...... as if Giyuu is including him in that narrative)

His voice is almost fragile, breaking on a teetering edge that’s near to sobbing, “I never knew…… I don’t want to know how it’ll feel like to…… to lose you, any of you yet…… I’m scared, I know they’re not dead in my reality, I know that but…... now that I’ve seen what it looks like……. I’m afraid it’ll happen to me too and I don’t want that, I don’t want to lose any of you”

Speechless, Muichiro still doesn’t say a word, he can see the slight tremble in the man’s frame. He is scared, because while this isn’t his reality, it's still a possibility. 

Giyuu clears his throat, he has yet to turn around but from the way he uses the sleeve of his haori to wipe his face, Muichiro is sure he has shed a few tears. 

“Sorry about that, gosh what kind of an adult I am to lay all that on a kid like you huh? Don’t think too much of it” the man finally whips his head around to meet his shocked stricken gaze, his eyes a tad bit red.

Who would’ve known Tomioka can be…… emotional? Nevertheless, Muichiro takes a seat next to him and pours himself a cup of tea, “I’m not a child” he manages to blurt out just to not let the air around get stuffy with awkwardness again.

“No, you really weren’t one. And I hated that” is the answer he got, it almost makes Muichiro wants to sigh in exasperation, this has been a very mentally draining day and he has to go out for patrols in a few hours but instead of sleeping he’s out here dealing with a reality hopper.

(He’s been making questionable decisions since this man entered the picture, is this part of the blood demon art as well?) 

“He’s…... What’s he like? This other me?” 

Giyuu smiled at him, it’s an odd sight because he can see and feel how warm and genuine it is. 

“Kind, he’s very kind, almost rivaled Tanjiro. He’s…… quiet, just not as quiet as you. And no matter what ordeal any of us had gone through…… he always, he always tried his best to help bring smiles to our faces again…... he smiles the most out of us to be honest” 

How odd it must be, to hear someone speak about you yet describe a completely different person. Hearing how fondly he talks about that other him, even if it is nothing like him, makes him envious of his other self.

All his life he felt like he’s on his own at every turn, he doesn’t even remember his family and grown coldly apathetic to care only to find out there's another him out there, living a life he would give everything to have.  

If he had that life…... could he smile often too?

“He does…? Huh…. unlike me I guess” the teen remarks, the bitterness in his voice going unnoticed. He doesn’t wish whatever pain he must’ve felt to end up how he is now on anyone, but God does he now yearn to be that other self. 

“Yeah……. But then again, he didn’t lose everything like you did. Fate was cruel to you here kid, you can be upset about it……...” Muichiro suddenly feels the urge to cry, it really isn’t fair now is it? 

Why was he subjected to this kind of pain and his other self is spared? How is that fair? 

The boy takes a deep breath to calm himself, letting a pause of silence to greet them but this time, it isn’t awkwardness that looms over them, it’s comfort. 

For a fleeting moment, he wants fate to even the score, make the other Muichiro suffer just as he did but he thought of this man next to him. He thought of how soft spoken he is when he talks about those two brothers, and how he looks at him with the same fondness he held for them despite not being them.

Breaking that Muichiro would break Giyuu and Muichiro decides he doesn’t want that. 

He doesn’t want to see this man, who now has his hand on Muichiro’s back, rubbing comforting circles wordlessly like he knew it’ll help, and it did, it did help and Muichiro didn’t even know it would, he doesn’t even know that part of him existed. 

This Giyuu, caring and somehow connecting with him better than anyone ever did, he doesn't want to hurt him even if it makes him green with jealousy that this isn’t their Giyuu and would not be staying here with them permanently. 

(For fuck’s sake how did he go from wanting nothing to do with this guy to being attached so suddenly?!)

“What did you…...what’s his name again? My...twin?” he steers his thoughts away from the negative-ness, but doesn’t push the male’s hands away, if anything, he scoots closer and if Giyuu notices, he doesn’t comment on it.

“Tokito Yuichiro, but we often call you Mui and Yui” he explains, his calm soothing voice almost lulling him as he talks, the hand on his back is now threading through his long hair, Muichiro likes the feeling, it's nice.

And he does it so naturally that he’s sure it’s something he does often with the other him.

“Yuichiro……. Yui…….my twin brother…. he… must’ve died in this reality then….” he didn’t mean to point it out, he can be a bit too blunt for his own good sometimes. But the hand in his hair freezes and he can see clearly how the other had flinched. 

“I’m sorry” he quickly says but Giyuu shakes his head, “It’s fine”

It really isn’t, not with that haunted face he’s wearing. But Muichiro goes back to talk him away from that train of thought, besides he is curious as much as he’s envious, “Can you tell me…... what’s he like?”

And from there, Giyuu has a dawn of realization on his face on what Muichiro had been trying to do, he grins with gratitude “Sure” and proceeds to go back to playing with the younger boy’s long hair.

This feels nice, is this what having a brother feels like? Muichiro truly is envious of his other self. 

“First of all, he’s not slayer cause Yui doesn’t stomach down trauma like you do and nags way too much—”

And the more or less one-sided conversation went on, Muichiro doesn’t get to go out for patrol that night.

But for the first time in God knows how long, he sleeps with content, a comforting pair of arms wrapped around him and a steady heartbeat to listen to as he slips away to slumber.

Notes:

If you can't tell, my favorite pillar is Muichiro and yes expect more lil bro Mui and big bro Giyuu
-Via

Notes:

what am I....doing....?