𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 | 𝐆𝐢𝐲𝐮𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨

Chapter 22 | Training

MAY

A whole month of training had passed, more signs of Kibutsuji's attack were coming and the training time was limited. What were they going to do? The battle tactics were well planned out, all the Hashira would try getting the first attack, meaning they would have to reach the destination of the fight before Muzan could. This meant less time to train, but a surprise encounter that could do them all some good in terms of advantages.

Sanemi was training hard, lord only knows if he even sleeps anymore. It seemed like all he ever did anymore was train in the mountains or practice his sword skills. The Hashira were strong, they all possessed special characteristics, skills and motives that allowed them to battle without hesitation or slack, but even so, they were unsure of how this fight could end up.

"Shinobu-chan," Mitsuri yelled from across the garden as she saw her friend walking, "Shinobu-chan!"

Shinobu heard and recognised this cheerful voice, actually a whole lot more than just Shinobu heard. Mitsuri looked down to the floor immediately out of embarrassment as she noticed at least four other Hashira staring back at her in confusion and muttered out a small 'sorry'.

"Morning Mitsuri-chan," she laughed as she saw the blush on Mitsuri's face.

"Right, good morning."

"How's your training been?"

"It's definitely paid off," Mitsuri giggled back in a sweet and angelic voice.

"Speaking of which," she continued, eyeing Shinobu with a smirk, "have you and Tomioka-san been seeing each other or something?"

Shinobu stood in shock, her lips barely moving when as she tried to find a suitable response, "w-what do you mean?"

"Hah! I knew it, I keep catching you and Tomioka-san talking and waving each other goodbye every time you two went training."

"Wait, Mitsuri, it's-"

"Come on, I can literally feel the romantic affection exerting out of you two whenever you're together... plus you're already starting to turn red," the taller girl teased as she took one step back and leaned forward.

Shinobu gasped in embarrassment and covered her face immediately, "Mitsuri!"

"It's alright Shinobu-chan, I'll stop teasing you now, but if anything special happens, you have to tell me!" Mitsuri laughed, before picking up her sword and running towards Obanai who was talking to his snake.

June

Another month passed and things were taking a positive turn for the demon slayer corps, the Hashira were in better shape than ever and their plan for victory was finally coming together. The general idea of training was easy, master every skill to perfection and use those skills in battle, but the process, not so much. Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke were also training hard with Kanao and the other butterfly girls as they were looking forward to finally seeking revenge.

Mitsuri had agreed to both Giyu and Shinobu to keep what she knew to herself as they didn't need any extra attention at a time like this where the focus was meant to be on training and defeating Muzan Kibutsuji, but by now, they were sure that at least a few other Hashira had caught on on their relationship because they were getting odd stares, especially from Obanai and Tengen.

"Good afternoon!" Shinobu smiled as she caught sight of a particular hashira in the middle of the woods with his shirt unbuttoned and his mismatched haori on the floor.

"Ara ara, what's this?" She said, crouching down to pick up the haori laying on the floor.

"I thought you weren't coming today," Giyu said.

She giggled, "it's getting hot isn't it."

Folding the haori neatly, she placed it on a block of wood and began her way over to Giyu. She traced his open chest with her finger and tilted her head side to side doing so. Earlier that morning, she had taken a quite large dose of wisteria poison, and hot weather seemed to always escalate the effects, so now she was really regretting her decisions.

"Whenever you come here, you don't ever actually train, do you?" Giyu said softening his eyes and tense muscles as he wrapped his arms round her, pulling her even closer to him.

"Hm, possibly," she giggled, taking it as a joke instead of actually taking it seriously and thinking of why she actually wasn't training.

"Giyu," she added on after a brief second.

"Hm?"

"Hm," she hummed back, she didn't really have anything much to say, she just wanted to be close to him at that moment. She pulled herself in, closer to his chest and rested her head there as he held her tight, closing her eyes shut.

The effects of the wisteria poison were rushing back into her body and she could already feel a migraine coming.

"Are you feeling sick?" Giyu asked, noticing her face scrunch up once in a while and her skin turning an even paler colour.

She merely shook her head in response. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide open as she felt herself getting lifted off the floor.

"G-Giyu," she stammered as he lifted her up and started carrying her, "hey, it's alright, I think I can walk fine."

Bending down to pick up his neatly folded haori, he shushed her.

"You should rest if you feel sick."

She took a deep breath and sighed, knowing she didn't really have any other choice since her eyes were already beginning to go blurry again. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his chest.

"Thank you."

July

This was it, everything was finally planned out and all the pieces fit together, everyone was just waiting for the call for action now.

Sanemi had been practising his sword skills day and night for almost 3 months, Mitsuri had completely reached her limit when it came to flexibility, Gyomei was done preparing himself, mentally and physically, and every other Hashira was ready to charge into the battle.

That is, all except for Shinobu Kocho.

Her blood was now highly intoxicated with poison, every single blood droplet was capable of poisoning and even killing a demon if it was weak enough. Although her body was now basically a poison hazard to demons, it was also dangerous for her.

Since she had so much of it in her system, her vision would suddenly go blurry from time to time, just like when she had started taking the poison. And now, more than ever, her skin was fragile, easily scratched or bruised. 

She sat outside on her balcony, hoping that some fresh air could do her some good and help her out. 

"...Shinobu," A familiar voice full of concern suddenly said, spotting her outside in the backyard with blood stained on her mouth from coughing up blood.

Giyu.

He dropped all of his stuff and ran towards her.