Blood in Flame and Water

Welcome, Unwanted Visitors

Giyu groaned, slipping into consciousness abruptly. Taking a deep breath in, Tomioka sighed out equally as heavily. It was much too early to be woken, and he could tell it was due to the glow of the sun not even reaching its complete golden hue penetrating through the shoji door paper. Instead, it was a rusty, burning orange lantern of light peeking over the horizon. Grumbling, Tomioka heaved the blanket back over his head to try and slip back into the dream he was having. It was a peaceful one at that, and those were rare to come by for the Water Pillar. 

Unfortunately, Giyu was rudely interrupted by a figure ripping the blankets away from his body. Making a noise of surprise, desperation, and agitation as the cold morning air basically assaulted his body, Tomioka curled up into a fetal position while pawing around for the blanket. 

A warm chuckle came from the side, and Giyu had to peer through his bed head of deep blue ocean hair to lock eyes with the assailant at fault. An all too pleased Rengoku stood completely dressed and rejuvenated at Giyu's feet, holding the blanket in his arms. Giving his best glare towards the fiery man, Tomioka huffed while grabbing his pillow and covering his face while turning his back to his fellow Hashira. 

Hearing the muffled sounds of fabric sliding and being moved, Tomioka could only guess that Kyojuro was folding the blanket and setting it off to the side within the closet the two futons had originally come from. Not too long later, Giyu heard the tell-tale sound of Rengoku kneeling down and sitting next to him, amusement practically leaking from the warm bodied Hashira. 

A soft and warm hand landed on Tomioka's uncovered shoulder, and ever so gently, the younger man shook his elder companion while muttering under his breath, rather unlike himself, "It is time to get up, Tomioka-san. I know it is early, but it is best to continue our journey again so we can reach the village ahead of dark. " 

Sighing at the reasonable excuse, Tomioka sat up reluctantly and let the pillow once covering his head fall to the floor with a slight thump. Kyojuro smothered a laugh with a cough when his sights landed on his fellow Hashira's impressive display of bed head. Giving Rengoku a dead panned look that clearly displayed every ounce of displeasure he was feeling at the moment, Kyojuro managed to stifle his laughter before standing up, "Well, I'll give you a moment to collect your things. I have already written a note for Tan. Once you are done, meet me outside and we will continue our travels. " 

Looking down at his lap, Giyu nodded in acknowledgement. Keeping his head and eyes down, Tomioka heard Rengoku walk out of the room and close the door with a quiet click. Twiddling his thumbs for a moment, Giyu sighed through his nose and raised his hands to rub at his eyes, trying valiantly to rub away the tiredness still lingering. Setting his hands down, Tomioka pushed himself up to his knees, then to his unsteady feet. 

It was almost instant, an underlying feeling that sucked the air right out of Tomioka's lungs. A pit sunk in his stomach, making it feel infinitely heavy, yet sickly light. It was a paradox in itself. This feeling was something Tomioka felt on his off days. It made him feel small, so tiny and insignificant. It just made him feel,,,wrong. Like he wasn't right, wasn't human. He knew he wasn't meant to feel this, Tomioka knew it wasn't normal. Maybe those villagers were correct when they called him mentally ill. 

Giyu's body seemed to be the center of this wrong feeling. He was disappointed in it, all while thinking he should never have been in it in the first place. Mirrors were the baron of his existence, he despised them when he felt like this. Any reflective surface where Tomioka would catch himself in the reflection made him feel worse. His fingertips would graze the surface of the skin of his chest and hips, thinking how they shouldn't be like that. He'd spend hours imagining what they would look like if he were Kyojuro, Uzui or even Shinazugawa. Getting sucked into that mindset was a rabbit hole of self degradation Tomioka was not looking forward to diving into at the moment.