- 𝔽𝕃𝔸𝕎𝕊: 𝕊𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕚 𝕩 𝔾𝕚𝕪𝕦𝕦 -

𝟚 - 𝕊𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥 ℝ𝕒𝕘𝕖

The haori's teared up pieces fell on the ground, softly. Giyuu observed the broken segments of the two fabrics sewn together. He felt empty, he felt as if he were torn apart just like his mismatched haori.
   Sure, to others, it may not seem as much. It may be viewed as odd. What kind of normal person sews two random sections of fabric?

   That person was Giyuu.

   Giyuu, who lost his parents when he was so young, that we don't even know their faces. Giyuu, who lost his sister as the age of 13, and was labeled as mentally ill. Giyuu, whose best friend died, which led to him wearing a blank face.
And soon, the emptiness turned into sadness, and sadness turned into frustration, and the frustration turned into pure rage.

Giyuu executed more than 20 attacks on the demon. He chose not to scream out in pain or shout, he simply let out all his anger, silently. The Water Pillar slaughtered the demon to the point of the man-eating being becoming unrecognizable. At that point, the long haired man wasn't even focusing on cutting the demon's head off, he was inflicting pain.

Sanemi witnessed Giyuu's rage, after successfully decapitating the other demon. Until finally, Giyuu stopped, he sliced his demon's head off. He wondered what on earth he was doing. . .all for a haori. Yet, for the past years he bottled up this anger, and at that moment, it'd slipped out.

Shinazugawa never expected the quiet and lonely Hashira to practically torture a demon. Of course, anyone can be mad. He knew that, but if you know someone as calm as Giyuu Tomioka, it's a tad surprising if they're making a demon suffer instead of killing it as soon as possible.
"What the hell was that?. ." Sanemi questioned the other Pillar, "Where did all that rage come from?. ."

The Wind Pillar took Tomioka by the collar. Giyuu's deep blue eyes shifted to the disintegrating demon.
"Look at me, Giyuu Tomioka. Answer me."
Giyuu didn't know what to say, "I. .was angry. I was angry, Shinazugawa-San."
The scarred man started laughing, "So you can get angry?" He pulled the Water Hashira in closer, to the point of Giyuu feeling the man's breathing on his pale neck.

Sanemi glanced at the ripped up haori, "Was it all because of that? You know, the other Hashira and I never found out the reason why you wear it, that's how distant you are from the rest of us. What's with that, Tomioka? What's with you thinking you're more superior than all of us!?"
"Superior?. . . Shinazugawa-San—

The young girl started crying helplessly. He stumbled towards what seemed to be her older brother, wrapping her arms around the poor boy. She was a petite and small child for her age, her short, dark shade of black hair tied up in a bun. Sanemi and Giyuu stopped talking, watching the little girl sobbing.
So, instead of blabbering on, the two chose to help each other bury the victim after calming the girl down. Shinazugawa and Tomioka introduced themselves soon later, and in exchange, they found out the girl's name was. . .Shizu.
Sanemi's eyes widened at that piece of information. The girl looked so. . .familiar. Her tied up hair, her pale blue eyes, the yellow kimono she wore. . .

The young girl looked like his mother, she even shared the exact name.

Giyuu felt loads of empathy for the girl. She was only 8 years old, yet at the very moment, she lost her older sibling. . .
"I think my grandma lives somewhere in **** village. . . Onii-Chan. .he said something about it." Shizu informed the two Pillars.
"I suppose. . .we'll travel with you. To make sure you're safe, okay?" Giyuu suggested, he attempted a small smile.
Sanemi noticed the attempt, questioning himself on why he felt this fluttery sensation. . .

The girl's face lit up, "Tomioka-San, your calming voice is like Oka-San! You know, Oto-San had fluffy white hair just like yours Shinazugawa-San!"

— ♡ ♡ ♡ —

The three of them headed out the exit of the village. Giyuu carried Shizu, as Sanemi and him ran as fast as possible. The trio entered a small forest, but, Sanemi swore he'd felt a trickle of rain down his cheek.
"I did as well. . ." Giyuu admitted, "Do you remember the cave that we passed a couple of minutes before?"
"You're suggesting we should stay there for the night?" Sanemi asked him.
"Shizu-Chan's sleeping, and she needs her rest. . Also, I just need to sit down for a little. ."

Giyuu placed his ripped haori as a blanket for Shizu after he laid her gently on the ground, her head resting on his shoulder. The rain didn't stop and it poured down even more. Tomioka genuinely felt tired, as he hadn't been sleeping long enough for the past couple of months. But, he suggested that he should be the one to stay up and watch the others.
"No, I'll do it." Sanemi said stubbornly. He was standing at the exit, leaning on the wall of the cave, watching the rain.
"Shinazugawa-San—
"Just what are you trying to prove, Tomioka? Strength?"
". . .That's not it. I just— I just don't want you to waste your energy."

". . ."

"Go to sleep." Sanemi told the Water Pillar.
Giyuu decided not to speak, as he was tired and he knew that Sanemi wouldn't listen. The Water Pillar fell asleep in a matter of minutes, and that was when Sanemi Shinazugawa slipped off his haori, setting it onto no one other than Giyuu Tomioka.

𝓦𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓻'𝓼 𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓮:

See you in the next chapter! Btw hate comments won't even be read so don't waste your time typing in useless words! 👍

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