no one likes you, tomioka-san. but i love you. || giyuushino || complete

16 || "w-what have I done?"

birds sang in rhythmic tweets and chirps somewhere above shinobu. she could feel a soft cloud taken from the blue skies beneath her aching head.

shinobu forced her eyes open, and was immediately blinded by the bright lights coming from some place behind her. letting her eyes adjust, she noted in confusion that she was supposedly in a patients' room in the butterfly mansion, or a really good duplicate of it.

the same brown wooden walls, the same bed placement, the same shuttered windows, and even the dent in the ceiling from when inosuke accidentally jumped too high and hit his head. shinobu had always wanted to find time to repair it, but she had always gotten too busy doing other stuff and just forgot about it.

trying to sit up, shinobu fell right back down, her body completely exhausted.

what had happened last night?

shinobu's mind was fuzzy as she tried to dig her memories for the cause of her being so beaten up, but no plausible explanation decided to present itself to her confused state. rolling onto her side, she groaned in pain, as she felt a non-subsiding sting by her ribs.

"oi! stop moving. give yourself some rest." a familiar voice ordered.

shinobu adjusted her head to see aoi by the doorway edging toward her with a tray of her first serving of the day.. or the afternoon. shinobu hadn't realised until now how hungry she was. her stomach quaked as she finally managed to sit herself up with much effort.

"a-aoi-san.." shinobu croaked, wincing as blades shot up her spine.

"kocho-sama! stop wasting your energy on speaking." the blue-haired woman commanded, placing the tray on shinobu's lap. "now, eat up."

the butterfly hashira glanced down at the tray she was given. on it, was a bowl of okayu, a glass containing perfectly-clean milk, and a gourd bottle.

the sounds of aoi hastily adding veggies to the okayu, and stirring it up filled the dead-silent room. (okayu is basically a thicker version of rice porridge. search it up for a better explanation :))

"aoi-san-"
"CH CH"
shinobu ignored her and continued to speak. "what happened?"

aoi glared at her, dissaproval at the disobedience of her patient, but she still muttered, "you should be the one telling me."

shinobu gave the comment a little thought, hesitated, then decided to just admit it. "i can't remember anything."

aoi froze.

a second of silence..

"KOCHO-SAMA— ARE YOU SAYING YOU CAN'T REMEMBER WHO I AM?!" the woman erupted, not even a finger space away from shinobu's face. "I WAS HERE FOR YOU. HERE FOR KANAO. I CLEANED YOU. I AM BASICALLY YOUR DARLING SISTER-"

"ara-ara, aoi-san! of course i remember you. how else would i know your name?" shinobu muttered, apologetic for her bleeding ears.

a moment of relief flashed through aoi's delicate and young features. "right, of course." she muttered, slapping her hands onto her own lips as if trying to seal them together.

"ahh.. sorry, shinobu-sama, tomioka-kun." she whispered.

a crease formed in shinobu's brows, as she gazed up at aoi in total blankness and confusion. "tomioka-kun?"

aoi sighed. "you weren't kidding then, huh?"
she stared longingly into the sky, before explaining to shinobu solemnly.

"tomioka-kun practically collapsed as soon as we opened the doors, and.. you were in his arms."

the information wasn't smoothly being processed into shinobu's head.

"you're joking, right?" she whispered.

aoi waved of the question. "poor him, he must've been so exhausted carrying such a heavy weight."

"did you just— you know what? nevermind."

"anyways, he was hurt. hurt as if he'd been to hell and back. more injured than you."

tomioka giyuu? carrying her? collapsing at the doorstep? hurt as if he'd been to hell and back? what happened?

sounds of shuffling snapped shinobu's head to her right. she wasn't alone in this room. inhabiting the bed adjacent to hers, laid a figure that was wrapped like a mummy. she couldn't hold the gasp in.

so.. aoi wasn't joking then.

eyes shooting across the sound-deprived room, shinobu's eyes landed on another occupied bed, where her sister lay peacefully. still-red scars scratched her beautiful, innocent face, her arms, her legs.

"k-kanao!!" shinobu shrieked, tears blurring her vision.

kanao showed no sign of having heard her sister, still laying stationary as a flower.

"shinobu-sama, you can catch up with her when she's awake. i'm afraid she needs some rest at the moment." aoi said gently, patting her on the back.

"but- aoi-san. what happened?! tell me. is she okay? is he okay?" shinobu pleaded as her voice broke. she couldn't bear to see two people whom she loved broken and unresponsive.

her eyes switched between tomioka-san and kanao, her heart shattering, as hot tears streamed down her face.

finally, shinobu's let her eyes land on the mummy next to her once again. memories and events of the previous night painfully flooded into her brain.

tomioka-san had gone through all that. all of it was because of her. he was all ruptured because of her. he took all of that pain for her. from her. he paid the price for going after shinobu, even though he knew he had an option to just leave her be. he was dealing with the consequences of her reckless mistake.

what if.. he's dead because of me?
what if.. I killed him?

"w-what have I done?" kocho shinobu croaked.

∘₊✧─── 𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 ───✧₊∘

a/n: guyssssss, i've had to delete some of your comments while editing, because if i change a paragraph, then wattpad immediately gets rid of the messages you guys have left for me ☹️☹️☹️☹️ but honestly, i rllyrllyrlly enjoy the comments you leave in my ff, and i appreciate you guys for making me smile with them. i live off of the tears you shed in these chapters >:D. (srsly tho, i love you guys sm. you did amazing this week, and don't let ANYBODY tell you otherwise <3)