Someone You Hate (A Giyushino Fanfic)

ELEVEN - ANNOYANCE

SHINOBU'S POV

Looking at the back of his head disappear from my sight; I felt the anger surge up in me. I had wanted to apologize to him, and he acted all high and mighty. I couldn't explain what made me so mad. No other hashira could make me lose my mind like this. I had to talk to him no matter what. I ran after him and caught up easily. He stopped, but turned his head to the side as he usually did, avoiding my eyes with that same bored look with his eyes half open.

"Look at me, Tomioka San. Why did you leave the infirmary like that? Your wounds have not healed completely. And I was talking to you. Why are you always so vague? Can you explain what you meant?" I crossed my arms and looked up at him with a frown on my face.

GIYUU'S POV

She looked up at me with a frown on her face. At least this was what she was truly feeling, and was not like the usual fake smile she had on her face all the time. I wondered what she was so mad about. "I meant that I never wanted to live." I started walking away again but I felt something tug onto my haori. I looked back knowing that she wouldn't leave me alone this time. "Tomioka San, why do you wear a mismatched haori?" she asked. I wondered if I should tell her, and I found no hesitation in my mind. I actually wanted to confide in her. "They are memories left behind by my family and friends." "Could you...elaborate?" she looked like she was choking out of annoyance. I started saying "I..."

"South! South West! Head South-West! Tomioka Giyuu! Head South West! Young children have been vanishing from their homes!" I rolled my eyes and turned away. Sighing, I started towards my room to equip myself adequately for the mission. I looked back once but Kochou walked off before I could have another look at her face.

SHINOBU'S POV

Well then, that was it. He had to go off on a mission. It's not like I was annoyed about that... or maybe I was. I wanted to talk to him, and he had looked like he was going to open up but to no avail. THAT CROW! I didn't even understand why I was feeling this way. Why did I want Tomioka San to open up to me? It's not like I have been curious about the past lives of the other slayers before. What's so special about Tomioka San? It makes me want to know him better. To be friendlier.

I looked down from the windows in my room. He was leaving with nothing but his haori and his sword. Maybe he anticipated the mission to only take him a day. Well then, I would confront him when he returned.

"Ah Shinobu! I've been looking for you everywhere! I heard that Tomioka San has been sent off on a mission to the village south west of here. It's supposed to be an easy one, but I have my doubts about it." Kanroji looked really worried. "What makes you say so?" I asked. She looked sheepish. "Uhhh...that village has a store that is really well known for its Sakura Mochi, and I wanted to try it out, so I visited it last week. That's when I heard the people talk about how the children were getting out of hand. A sibling trio had run away from their home and had been missing for two days. The grown-ups were all really worried. However, I thought nothing much back then because kids often go off into the hills to camp. Now that there's an official mission... I feel guilty. I should have checked out the situation back then." She sat down on the bed looking really abashed.

It's alright Mitsuri. Tomioka San will look into it. Mitsuri's face changed immediately. It was almost as if she had forgotten that she had been upset a minute ago. "AH THAT REMINDS ME ! DID YOU TALK TO HIM? DID YOU TWO SORT IT OUT?" Ahh...not that again! I smiled and tried to appear nonchalant. "Sort what out?" Mitsuri inched closer to me and squinted. "Is that a blush?" I- What was wrong with me! "It's the heat Mitsuri! It's getting exceedingly warm in here, these days!" Mitsuri chuckled, while I glared at her. "It's alright Shinobu. It's normal. Tomioka San is kind of good looking, isn't he?" "No. He isn't! He's dumb!" Mitsuri chuckled knowingly and walked out of the room.

Ugh the day was going horribly. First Tomioka San and now Mitsuri. I sighed. "Kochou nee san? Can we come in?" I looked up. It was Naho, Sumi and Kiyo. They looked really excited. "Sure! Come in! Where's Kanao?" "She was practicing her breathing technique in the Training Hall with Tokito San! Kochou nee san! We can finally blow through this gourd!" They went out of the room and pulled in three gourds that came up to their knees. It was a remarkable improvement. They could only blow through cup sized ones before. "Do you want to see what we've learnt?" They asked enthusiastically. I smiled and nodded my head. They pulled the gourds close to their lips and almost at the same time, each of them shattered her gourd and looked up at me expectantly. I laughed. "An amazing display indeed! You have certainly improved a lot. Keep practicing with Kanao, and you will soon be very strong too." They looked at each other happily and walked out with the broken gourds. I smiled to myself. They were indeed growing up.

Now that I was alone again. I couldn't help but wonder about Uzui San and Tomioka San. The former was facing an Upper Moon demon at the moment. As for Tomioka San... he was not in the best physical condition. I really hoped he would be able to defeat the demon as easily as he anticipated.

No matter what happened, I would have to keep taking in the wisteria poison that Lady Tamayo had made for me. She had changed the method of intake from pills to a kind of syringe. I walked down to the infirmary since Aoi insisted on keeping the poison there. I went up to the cupboards in which all the medicines were kept. The wisteria was in a small transparent vial. Taking in an adequate amount of it in the syringe, I closed my eyes and injected the poison into my bloodstream.

A/N

Sorry for the late update. I have been suffering from writers' block >< I started writing almost every morning, only to stare at an empty word document at the end of the day. However here it is! My next chapter! I hope the next update will be much quicker. I apologize once again!!

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Header Art - @gomiko_art on Twitter.