4 Years [SaneGiyuu]

7

Okay, so I decided to start writing again after taking a break due to the KOSA bill and other life stuff. Sorry for not updating in a while T^T

Timeskip a couple hours

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Sanemi lay Giyuu's repaired haori down on the blankets covering his legs, brushing a hand over the stitches to make sure he hadn't missed any spots that needed to be sewn back together. He had stitched up every rip and tear, reattached the red sleeve, and fixed the frayed edges. Now it's just filthy, he thought, scowling at the blood and grit clinging to the fabric.

Gripping the sheets, he exhaled and pushed himself up, swinging his legs off of the mattress. Why do I give a shit?

He stood and pushed the door open, haori in tow as he slowly walked to where they were washing dirty garments. I'll drop this off and leave, he decided.

Stepping into the sunlight, Sanemi blinked a couple times to get his eyes to adjust. There were two tubs of warm soapy water resting on the grass, around which were several kakushi washing sheets and towels.

"Oi." Sanemi dropped the haori onto a pile of dirty laundry. "Mind cleaning this too?"

One of them shook her head, "Of course not, just leave it there and I'll get to it eventually."

"Be careful, I just finished fixing it."

"Don't worry, Shinazugawa-san!"

"I'm not worried, I just don't want to have to spend another hour fixing Tomioka's goddamn emotional-support-haori."

The kakushi nodded in understanding as she squeezed the water out of a rag she was finished with. "Should I bring it to him or to you when it's clean?"

Sanemi was already turning and halfway to the door by the time she had finished her question. "I don't care about it," he growled. "Give it to Tomioka so he isn't as dead inside."

She nodded. After washing all the laundry that Aoi had piled up, the kakushi retrieved the water hashira's haori out of the otherwise empty basket. She held up the garment to inspect it, brow furrowing at the stains and slightly bloody metallic smell it was giving off. Why didn't anyone clean this sooner?

Dipping it into the water, she started by rinsing as much of the filth off as she could. Then moving on to gently cleaning out the rest with soapy water. It took a while, and there were some stains she wasn't able to remove, but at least it wasn't soaked in blood anymore. She hung it up on a clothesline to dry. I'll come back later to bring the clean laundry in.

——————— (Timeskip another few hours)

A gentle knock on the door woke Giyuu from whatever sleep he was getting. It was only noon,  but there was really nothing better to be doing than resting. Rubbing his eyes, he narrowed them at the door through the bright light in his room. "Come in..?" He invited, wondering who it was.

A sweet looking kakushi slid the door open quietly, stepping in through the gap and holding out a haori as she walked up to his bed.

Confused, Giyuu took it and unfolded it, holding the jacket up. My haori? "Who fixed it?" He asked, his voice lifting a bit as little sparks of joy burst in his heart. He was so glad that it had been repaired, but now he had to go thank whoever did it for him. It was only right, after all.

"The wind hashira did," the kakushi informed him. "He sewed it back up and brought it to be cleaned, asking that I bring it to you when I finish," she smiled.

"Thank you," Giyuu muttered breathlessly. Shinazugawa-san fixed it? Is that some kind of joke, or did he really?

"No problem!" Purpose fulfilled, she pivoted on her heel to go back to whatever she was doing before.

"Wait-"

"Hm?" Stopping, she glanced back with a small tilt of her head.

"Do you.." he lowered his voice, "..know where he is?"

Pointing to the window, she directed his attention to the garden. "He's outside, by the fence." Waving goodbye, she left.

Giyuu nodded, getting up to peek out of the glass. Sanemi was sitting under the shade of one of the trees, his back pressed up against the bamboo fence wall behind him. His eyes were locked on the pond, where a mallard floated across the surface, occasionally dipping its head into the water.

Not bothering to throw on a different set of clothes, Giyuu held his haori up to his chest as he backed away from the window and gathered enough courage to venture into the hallway. Please don't be mad.. he pleaded silently.

Sanemi's head raised a bit as Giyuu stepped into view. His eyes immediately found the haori clutched tightly in Giyuu's hand, and the grateful, but wary expression on the water pillar's face. He remained silent, waiting for him to say something.

After waiting a moment to confirm he wasn't going to immediately get shooed away, Giyuu cleared his throat. "Shinazugawa-san, um.. the kakushi said you fixed my haori.. is that.. true?" As he spoke, his voice got progressively quieter.

Sanemi blinked, deciding not to call him out on it. "Yeah, I was bored. Spare me the rest and get to your point." He stood, ready to leave.

"Um.. thank you, for fixing it." Giyuu fidgeted with the fabric in his hand, keeping his gaze locked on the geometric green pattern.

The wind hashira's eyes narrowed. "If you start crying, I'm going to punch you."

"I wasn't going to cry.."

"Then don't get sentimental. It's just a haori." Sanemi strode past him to the veranda door, pausing in the threshold. "I guess it means more to you than that, though." With that, he vanished inside.

"Wait-" Giyuu quickly followed him in.

"What, Tomioka?"

Sanemi's irritated tone of voice was almost enough to make Giyuu say "nevermind" and call it a day. Almost.

Giyuu glanced down at the floor, suddenly embarrassed. "Can I- give you a hug?" A couple seconds went by, his request met only with silence. Understanding that Sanemi probably didnt want to hug him, he dipped his head and started to walk away.

He'd only taken a couple steps before the wind hashira reached out and gripped his sleeve, pulling him into a tight embrace. Giyuu, surprised, hesitated to return the action, but wrapped his arm around Sanemi's torso nonetheless.

When the wind hashira pulled away, he took Giyuu's haori and draped it over the water pillar's shoulders. "There. Now make sure I never have to fix it again." Sanemi slipped past Giyuu to go to his room.

Smiling like that was the best thing that had ever happened to him, Giyuu took a minute to properly put the haori on. Instead of going straight to his room, however, he went to go see if Tanjiro was awake. He needed someone to talk to.

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If you could wish for any one thing for 24 hours, what would you wish for? (The thing would go away after 24 hours of having it)