Chapter Text
Sanemi’s muscles ached as he approached the Wisteria house.
He trudged through the thick layer of snow coating the mountainside with a grunt. "Damn demons and their damn mountains" he muttered under his breath. A puff of visible air escaping between his lips. He was on his way back from a long series of connecting missions when a snowstorm had slowed his pace. The Butterfly Mansion should have only been an hour's walk from here, but the current weather conditions would turn one hour into several and Sanemi didn't have the strength left in his legs to try that right now. Approaching the gate, he raised his fist and knocked harshly. A second later, a short old woman opened the door.
"Oh dear, please, come inside quick before you catch a cold." Sanemi followed her wordlessly into the house. As they entered, he was hit with a wall of warmth, immediately soothing his sore limbs. The fireplace crackled as if welcoming Sanemi’s arrival.
"You must be hungry dear. I’ve just put on a warm soup so please make yourself at home." Sanemi grunted his thanks and lowered himself stiffly to the floor. The woman disappeared around the corner humming. Tch, he flexed his hands to bring back the circulation, all he needed was a single night of shelter and sleep. A place to rest his overworked limbs. Sanemi was frankly exhausted and planned on passing out directly after supper. Light footsteps approached from the hall, probably the granny from earlier he dismissed. A familiar, but not exactly welcome, voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Shinazugawa?"
Not this fucker he groaned, already regretting stopping for the night. Sanemi whipped his head around to see none other than Tomioka fucking Giyuu standing in the doorway. Just his luck.
Tomioka's dark hair was down from its usual ponytail, damp pieces clinging awkwardly to his face. Noticing the change of clothes from his usual uniform and ungly haori to a plain blue yukata, Sanemi guesses he probably just got cleaned up. A warm bath would sound really nice right now. Dull blue eyes stared back at him unblinking. Sanemi glared back at him, "The fuck are you doing here you bastard?" He didn't have the energy to be any more polite.
"Same as you." Tomioka replied without a single crack in his stoic facade. The man looked in the direction of the door as if seeing past it, "It is snowing." Holy shit, Sanemi's blood started simmering beneath his skin. He had almost forgotten why he hated this guy so much. "You think I don't know that it's snowing you bastard?" he sneered. The deadpan Water Hashira was always getting on his nerves, looking down on others and acting so arrogantly. Annoyingly, Tomioka didn't respond to Sanemi's question, simply moving to sit beside him in front of the fireplace. Meanwhile, Sanemi was warming up in record time as his blood pressure increased. He was about to bark out another salty comment when the old woman interrupted them.
"Soup is ready boys." The lady in question stood innocently in the doorway, a warm smile on her face. She disappeared back around the corner, presumably the dining room then. The two hashiras silently got up and followed behind her.
The three of them sat around the table filled with not just soup, but bread and tea as well. Sanemi wanted to melt at the sight. A warm, home-cooked meal was exactly what he wanted right now. "Thank you for the food." The two slayers echoed in unison though Tomioka's voice was soft and quiet where Sanemi's was gruff and loud.
The trio ate in relative silence for the rest of the meal. Sanemi finished first, thanking the old lady once more for the meal and retreating to one of the rooms she kindly pointed out to him. True to his word, he promptly passed out on the spare futon, sleep taking him easily. He couldn't help but hope Tomioka would already be gone by the time he woke up.