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

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝟣𝟧: 𝐻𝑒𝓁𝓅 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒜𝓇𝓇𝒾𝓋𝑒𝒹

WARNING: this chapter includes swearing

Author POV:

Sanemi, Mitsuri, Gyomei & Muichiro. Four pillars, coming to the rescue. 

Oyakata-sama, worried as soon as Shinobu's crow came back frantic, sent a number of Hashiras to defeat the Upper Rank 2. As soon as Mitsuri burst through the clearing, followed by her three comrades, Shinobu almost sank to the floor in relief. 

Gyomei and Muichiro immediantly launched an attack on Douma, who was flustered and shocked by the sudden appearance of so many Hashiras. Meanwhile, Mitsuri flew to Shinobu and supported her as she staggered. "Mitsuri.... oh, thank god..."

"What happened? Shinobu-" Mitsuri gasped, horrified as Shinobu almost fainted in her arms. "What happened to you...."

"Accident. Drug." she murmured. "He's an Upper Rank 2..."

"Don't worry, don't worry. Muichiro and Gyomei and Sanemi are on it-" Muichiro turned to glance at the fierce battle between the pillars and Douma, but was confused to see Sanemi wasn't in the wrestle. "Uh- eh?!"

"She'll be fine, idiots, check out this corpse here!" Sanemi barked at the two girls huddled together, pointing at Giyuu's body on the floor. 

"Corpse?" Shinobu gasped, staggering out of Mitsuri's grip and stumbling towards to Sanemi, who was bent down beside Giyuu. "No... he can't be dead... I- I injected a needle and-"

"Shinobu! Shinobu, you need to... you have wounds..." Mitsuri reached for her friend worriedly, but Shinobu couldn't see anything but Giyuu's half-dead body on the floor. 

His face was dead white and his body limp. His eyes were closed, and suddenly Shinobu longed to see the ocean-blue eyes she was so used to each day again. His short raven-black hair was messy, his arm slung over his waist as if he just wanted to squeeze the pain out of him. The wound on his chest looked so deep and bloody, Shinobu almost wanted to look away. 

And it was all because of her. 

"Oh, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it....." Shinobu dropped to her knees, sobbing furiously. "It's because of me, I-"

"What do you mean, it's because of you?" Sanemi looked up sharply. 

"I was- I got struck, and I couldn't move, and then Douma- the demon- he was going to kill me, he was about to kill me with another strike, but then Tomioka- he- he jumped in front of me and he took the blow for me and- and, oh if only I could have moved, could have dodged-"

"Shinobu. Shinobu, breathe. It will be okay." Mitsuri put an arm around her friend, but her voice sounded shaky and unsure. "He will be okay. We have medics. Medicine, rest, treatment..."

Shinobu drew in a shuddery breath, the sounds of battle behind the three, but yet the silence in her ears drowned out everything else. His body looked so pale, that was all she could think of as she cupped a hand over her mouth, sobbing-

"Shut the hell up, woman, and get your medicine stuff or whatever!" Sanemi barked, signalling for medics as he carefully peeled off Giyuu's haori, wet with blood. 

Quickly, Shinobu gathered herself and with shaking fingers, produced a recovery needle and injected it swiftly into Giyuu's arm. Black-clothed medics immediantly swarmed around them, and with a few horrified comments, they put him on a sleeper and carried him away. 

By the time that was done, Sanemi had joined the battle against Douma and the sun had started to rise. Douma was quickly defeated. 

Shinobu managed to rise and walk shakily over to the dying demon. She looked down at him and whispered, shaking with fury, "Fuck you, you fucking bitch, you and your shitty heart."

He smiled up at her as his body turned to ash. "Who said I had a heart?"

Shinobu aimed one more punch at his disintegrating face before he disappeared. A moment too late, Shinobu's fist collided with muddy ground, and for a second she sat there, huddled on the floor, furious with herself. 

"Shinobu. Shinobu? Come on. It's time to go." Mitsuri gently helped her up and guided her to the medics. "Come. They'll take you home, to the Butterfly Mansion, where you'll get help. He'll be fine. Don't worry. Just put it straight out of your mind."

Within a fuzzy, spinning minute the medics had put Shinobu in a cot and injected a sleeper into her arm. "Please relax, Miss Kocho. You will fall asleep shortly."

"Ugh..." Shinobu looked up at the masked medics as sleep slowly tugged her in. "Please... if he wakes...."

But then the exhuastion and medicine took hold, and everything faded into a blissfully empty black. 

A/N: mitsuri the angel