Can't I See You One Last Time?

Chapter 14: His Third Try

[ Third Person POV]
Immediately Giyuu realized where he had revived. It wasn't the same place as his first try. It was the place he had been at a week before that event. It was Natagumo Mountain.

The scene he saw was a familiar one. He saw Inosuke tired up in rope and hanging from a tree. He decided to continue to how this went the first time around. Giyuu clapped his hands getting rid of the dirt and began walking away.
"HEY WAIT!! WAIT DAMNIT!"
He walked faster than he did before,
"I won't get involved in a fight with someone who doesn't know the extent of his own injuries."
That wasn't the only reason this time. Hitting one of Tanjiro's friends was in the red zone, unlike in his first try.

Giyuu was running, but unlike before, he ran with thought running his head. Last time he played this out, Giyuu had arrived just before Tanjiro was going to die. Because of this, worries of getting there too late was the things crossing through Giyuu's head.

Using his memories and instinct, Giyuu reached Tanjiro earlier than he did one his first try. He got to see something he hadn't seen in either one of his tries. It was a flowing water dance with fire. Rotation after rotation. He picked up speed. Cut the web. It was amazing. With a broken blade, he was able to cut the hard, red threads.

It was amazing, but at the same time, it was terrifying. Some of the treads reached Tanjiro's skin and cut him. There was no telling when one of the threads were going to cut off his hands, legs, arms, or neck.

Giyuu was inching to jump in and pull Tanjiro out of that situation, but he couldn't. This was one of things Tanjiro needed to get stronger. It was something Giyuu had to bare and watch.

Giyuu had been forced to realize that he couldn't be with Tanjiro twenty-four hours a day. That also meant that he couldn't protect Tanjiro from anything that would threaten his life all day. Tanjiro had to, at least, be as strong as he was during the final fight with Muzan in the original turn. Giyuu had to let Tanjiro grow no matter how painful it was for him. Giyuu had forced down the urge to step into the fight. With every new cut on Tanjiro's body, the hold on that urge weakened.

It was touching. Seeing how hard Tanjiro was fighting to get Nezuko out of the webs holding her up in the sky. It was touching, but Giyuu felt a thud in his chest. He wondered...
He wanted to know if Tanjiro would fight like that for him. He wondered if...
Would Tanjiro give his life to me?
He already knew. Giyuu knew that Tanjiro would never give his full self to him. Tanjiro was too kind to leave someone behind. He was too kind to focus on one person willingly. Having Tanjiro all to himself, holding Tanjiro in his arms all the time, having Tanjiro smile only at him, holding Tanjiro's whole being in his hands. Giyuu wanted everything Tanjiro was, but he knew that could never happen.

It was time. The original moment where Giyuu stepped in to save Tanjiro. The moment where Tanjiro was on the ground surrounded by a dome of red webs threatening to slice him into pieces. The moment where Giyuu could finally step in and stopped holding down his growing urge.

Flowing water. His slash cutting the red webs surrounding Tanjiro was like flowing water. Fast and smooth like a river. Landing in front securely and in a ready to fight stance.

Tanjiro struggled to look over his shoulder, wondering who saved him from the cage of red thread. With his blurry vision, Tanjiro could barley make up a humane figure. But then, he heard a voice,
"You did a good job, Tanjiro. Rest and I'll take care of everything."
Tomioka-san...
Tanjiro's eyes widened. The sudden appearance of Giyuu was an obvious reason for his surprised expression, but there was more to it.

It was the way Giyuu's voice was softer than it was the first time they talked, the angry sent that was coming off of Giyuu, the furrowed brows on Giyuu's face, the little sent of worry, the unidentifiable sweet sent. A lot of these things were the first time Tanjiro was experiencing these things from Giyuu. It made Tanjiro wonder if Giyuu was getting mad because of him. It made him wonder why-
No.
Tanjiro weakly shook his head, making the "weird" thoughts leave his head. And as Giyuu said, he rested his head on the ground and started resting his sore body.

Before starting his fight with the lower eight spider demon, Rui, Giyuu looked back at Tanjiro. Seeing his eyes closed, resting place, and the cuts on his body. Tanjiro's peaceful face made Giyuu happy, but the cuts scattered across Tanjiro's body made him furious. His senses heightened by the anger he felt the demon's attack coming without looking. The attack named Wheel of Chopping Threads/Cutting Thread Rotation was the one thrown at Giyuu's back. Giyuu stopped the attack using the unknown eleventh Water Breathing form, Dead Calm.

He just stood in place. It seemed that the red threads unraveled when entering his sword draw range. It seemed that way, but in reality, Giyuu was too fast when cutting the threads. Too fast for a human or demon's eyes could follow. And with that same speed, Giyuu cut the Rui's head.

Giyuu watched as the spider demon walked closer to Tanjiro's laying body holding his arms out. Giyuu wanted to stop the demon, but before, Tanjiro felt sympathy for the kid demon and laid his hands on the demon's clothes.

To not get on Tanjiro's bad side, Giyuu just stood there, watching. He watched how the demon fell near Tanjiro who was hugging his passed out sister. How, Tanjiro turned away from his sister and extended one of his hands to the kimono belonging to the disintegrating demon. He watched Tanjiro's face turn into a sad on for the demon who tried to kill him.

Sympathy. The amount of sympathy Tanjiro shows to the living and the dead was immeasurable. It was just another reason why Giyuu fell in love with him.