𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝑰 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 [𝕘𝕚𝕪𝕦𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕠] (KNY)

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝟫: 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓎, 𝒮𝑒𝓉, 𝑅𝓊𝓃!

Giyu POV:

The purple light. Shinobu.

I gritted my teeth. What was wrong? Had she encountered another demon? Found a victim? Needed saving, needed help, generally missed my heroic handsomeness? Well, the real issue was: did she need me more than this demon currently needed me?!

Fudge. I'd have to leave the Upper Rank for now. "Your fellow Hashiras always come first", Oyakata-sama always said, and truly whether he had said it or not I'd still have gone to Shinobu.

I did my best not to make a sound as I left my hiding place in pursue of the quick flash of purple light. 

Shinobu POV:

Within half a minute he was here.

"What happened?" he asked, gasping for breath, his arm wrapped around his side. I frowned at his arm, the muscles flexing as he gripped his side tightly. 

"Why are you so out of breath? Don't tell me you've got a stitch." I rolled my eyes. 

"Tripped over a rock.... lost some time... worried this was urgent.. didn't run properly..." he wheezed. "Forgot my training for a bit. What happened, anyway? Is it urgent? Did you find something? Listen, I found the demon-"

"Tomioka. Tomioka, listen to me," I cut in. "There were two blue signals. They were identical to yours, except they lasted longer and- oh, nevermind. Just know that someone's trying to fool us."

"Us or just you?" he said skeptically. "I found the demon we're looking for, Shinobu-"

"Kocho." I snapped. "It's Kocho."

"Right, well, I found the demon and it's Upper Rank 2," he blabbed on. "He's got-"

"Shut it! Listen, I'm telling you, you've got a doppleganger out there and most likely so have I. This is probably the Blood Demon Art of the demon we're trying to track, if it's got this talent we've got to be careful-"

"Shinobu. Shinobu, I saw the demon." Tomioka frowned. "I saw him. I was about to attack him before you sent up your signal for nothing!" 

Tomioka could think he loved me, but when it came down to it he never shyed away from his duty. However, right now was the wrong time to be heroic. 

"I'm sorry, but you probably saw wrong because the demon's signals-"

"No, I saw his eye! It read Upper Rank 2, I know it did, and you just distracted me from-"

"I don't care. I said-"

"Listen to me-"

"You told me-"

"Your stupid signal-"

"I DIDN'T KNOW WHERE YOU WERE!" finally I shouted. "I wasn't about to wait around like a sitting duck! Those two signals confused me, I didn't know which one was you, then it turned out none of them was you, and you were gone and I was by myself and you have no idea what it was like, to be alone!"

"To be alone?" he said faintly. "What do you mean?"

"I've never been alone- away- from you." I blinked back furious tears. "I mean, you've never abandoned me on a mission before. It just- it scared me. Well, it didn't scare me exactly, but I thought-"

Suddenly he beamed. "You were scared for me! You cared about me!" 

"No!" I gaped at him, mortified. "That is not it! I would never-"

He stopped grinning. "You would never care about me?"

"That's not-"

He sighed. "What've I ever done to you, Shinobu? I've done nothing but try and be your friend. I mean, am I that destestable to you that-"

"That's not it." I rolled my eyes. "It's not like I've got a problem with you, it's just I don't like you and never will. You annoy me, always trying to pursue me. Anyway, I'm telling you the two signals were the exact same as yours and-"

"Shinobu, stop lying to yourself that you haven't got a problem with me, I know it's not true, I just need to know-"

Author POV:

The two couldn't stop talking over each other, bickering constantly. Giyu kept tugging on the ends of his short, ink-black hair as his blue eyes bore into Shinobu. She was angry, he could tell, and impatient with him. She wanted him to be scared. No, she needed him to be scared so she could be scared too. 

But the truth was he wasn't scared at all. He'd be able to face any demon long as Shinobu was there. While he liked to be childish, Giyu wasn't oblivious to much (except Shinobu). He knew he'd be able to handle any demon in his way. 

What he didn't quite prepare for was his fellow Hashira abandoning him mid-mission. 

Shinobu POV:

This was useless. Utterly, completely, undoubetdly, useless.

He wouldn't listen to me. I could tell. He was focused on what I'd accidentally said, focused on what he wanted, what he needed. He needed my comfort. He needed my support right now. 

But I couldn't give it to him. 

My brain felt fuzzy, my knees weak, the world overly bright and everything overly loud. My head pounded as I turned away from Tomioka, his words like both background music and everything I could hear at the same time. It was just too much, having him here with me right now. 

"Please, I need.... I need quiet." I gripped onto a tree for support. "Just leave me alone. I can't do this right now, I just can't.... I can't handle you."

"What do you-"

Before he could say another word, before he could say anything more that would further confuse my feelings, I ran off into the darkness of the forest.

Author POV:

The silence that followed as Giyu stood, shellshocked, standing by himself in the small clearing, his hands by his side, was one of the most painful he'd ever experienced. 

She'd left him. Whether she wanted to or not, she'd left him alone and now what could he do, because now it was his turn wasn't it, his turn to be completely, utterly, undoubetdly, alone?

A/N: sorry this chapter took so long to update!!!!! love u guys for ur unwavering patience with little old me <3