Can't I See You One Last Time?

Chapter 46: Something's Wrong

Like always, Giyuu woke up to see the sun going to sleep.  Next to him, he was surprised to see Tanjiro sleeping while sitting up against the wall. If he remembered correctly, Tanjiro had left as soon as Giyuu went to sleep. That meant that Tanjiro had come to visit him in the middle of the day. That warmed his heart. So much so that he quietly got out of bed to gently wake him up.

Giyuu smiled. He erased his presence an approached the sleeping demon slayer. He kneeled down in front of the sleeping male and started patting his head. After the first few pats, Tanjiro woke up from his slumber. It was to be said that Tanjiro was his normal self. There was nothing off about him. When he woke up, he rubbed his, and just smiled.
"Good Afternoon, Giyuu-san..."
His voice was still tired from sleeping. Like always, Giyuu found him the cutest person in existence.
"Good Afternoon," Giyuu said, still patting the other's head. Tanjiro continued to smile. He didn't say anything and just continued to smile. It was like his mind was working out an intense problem, but he couldn't share it.

Did Giyuu know? Of course. It had never been that awkward when talking to Tanjiro. Today, though, something seemed different. Tanjiro seemed off. It made Giyuu feel like his mid-day visit wasn't made out of care, but something else. There was an underlying reason, but Giyuu couldn't read people well enough to figure it out.

He hated that part of himself. He wanted to be good at reading people, or just reading Tanjiro. He didn't need to understand anyone else. Just knowing Tanjiro was enough for him.

Spending their nights together, was something the two of them had gotten used to. They would go patrolling together, even though most demons were just focused on living their life. Truthfully, there didn't seem to be any meaning to the Demon Slaying Corps anymore. No demons wanted to hunt. Not a lot of them found interest in becoming stronger. There was Muzan who was still turning people into demons, but that didn't effect them as much. Most of the demons ended up being on a low tier anyway, so it didn't matter. In this turn, the spider demon, Rui, had befriended Tanjiro. It was his way of apologizing as well as the pure wish to be Tanjiro's friend.

Their daily night patrolling was really Giyuu's excuse to hang out with Tanjiro. That's all he wanted to do. That's all he wanted to give his time to.

"What do you want to do after this?"
Tanjiro brought up the question. A normal question he would always ask after walking the patrol route and finding no demons. Giyuu responded with his usual, "Whatever you want to do."
Usually when Giyuu answers in that manner, Tanjiro starts suggesting things to do that he thinks Giyuu would find interesting. However, today, he just smiled. He didn't say anything. All he did was smile and look ahead. He gave the same feeling of secrets he had earlier. He was hiding something, and it created an awkward atmosphere. One that never used to prolonged when Tanjiro was there. Giyuu really wanted to understand him more. He wanted to know what was troubling him. He wanted to be able to help the ray of sunshine in his light.

"A cold soba eating contest?"
Tanjiro started laughing. He didn't expect Giyuu to just throw that at him. It was so unexpected that it was funny.

Seeing Tanjiro laugh at his suggestion, Giyuu got a little self conscious. He thought it would be fine since Tanjiro had said something similar to cheer him up. Although, Tanjiro probably doesn't know anything about that. Still, the man was determined. He was going to figure out what was wrong if it was the last thing he could do.

Maybe, it would be better for Giyuu to just ask what's wrong. After the contest and walking off the calories from the food, there were no hints at to what was bothering Tanjiro. All he got was the small uncomfortable feeling when everything was silent.

Giyuu had to think back. Back to the time where he first met Tanjiro. Before everything that was happening to them—before Giyuu fell in love—what would he do?

...

Wait...before what?

There was a time where Giyuu didn't love Tanjiro? What he's been feeling is called love? The time before this feeling—when they first met? When he woke up...No, it was before that. Long before that. They first met during a snowy winter day in a forest.
"A winter day in a forest..." Giyuu mumbled. Tanjiro's eyes widened. He heard what Giyuu said, but there was no way...
Since Giyuu woke up again, there has never been a day when he was in a forest during the snow. There's never, ever—"Giyuu-san, do you remember when we first met?"
Giyuu nodded and gave a full, 100% accurate, description of their first meeting.

Tanjiro didn't know how to react. He should be happy. Finally, Giyuu could remember the past. He could remember events from a long time ago. It was a joyous occasion...Yeah, joyous.

Why is it that Tanjiro looks scared?

"Please, excuse me."
Red hair faded into the distance.
"Wait!"
With blue hair following behind.