Giyuu had expected various things upon arriving at the Water Domain.
Screams. Ambush. Looks of betrayal and disgust. Access denied. A building completely empty of occupants, all having fled an incompetent Hashira with illogical decisions, or even having been completely ransacked in revenge for said decisions.
Honestly, after the reaction of his fellow Hashiras, of those who had tried for years to call themselves his "pack" and yet had no hesitation in suspecting him of treason without hearing any of his arguments, he hadn't expected better.
He was wrong.
He wondered what Kocho would say, seeing this sight. Dozens of recruits, bowed to the waist, eyes full of respect and curiosity.
For him.
A comrade from Selection Finale, who had remained against all odds, a soft smile on his lips as he welcomed him.
The closest thing to an elder sibling he could think of since losing his sister, dressed in their best clothes and back straight and proud despite what life had thrown at them.
Familiar faces and other unknowns, faces familiarly unfamiliar and unknown despite their familiarity.
There was something deeply humiliating about seeing all those people gathered there.
For him.
With him.
(Tell me, Sabito, what does it mean to be loved ?)
Tanjirou was heavy on his back and his breath soft on his neck. Nezuko's hand, both too small and too big, clung to the red sleeve of his haori. There was something calming about those large pink eyes, even as she hummed an encouraging sound from behind her muzzle.
A sister was a sister, forever and ever, whether demon or even dead.
So, leaving behind the consuming anxiety of past mistakes, with the courage of three hearts beating in unison and hope finally visible, Giyuu stepped forward.
Strangely or maybe not, very few remained.
All these recruits, more or less young than Giyuu, had greeted him gratefully, with broad smiles or whispered words of encouragement, careful not to wake the young Slayer still sleeping on his back, dead to the world.
Even Nezuko received a few smiles, much to her and Giyuu's surprise.
Eventually, there were only about ten Slayers left in the inner enclosure, which Giyuu guessed were Kou-san's authorized residents. It was more crowded than he expected, but still fewer than the Water Domain's maximum housing capacity.
He obviously recognized Murata Yosuke, the other man having been a constant in his life since their shared Final Selection. It had been a surprise to see him at the Trial to give his testimony. Come to think of it, however, the Mount Natagumo mission was typically the kind of wide-ranging mission the Kanoe was deployed on, where he could do his best to limit casualties in the low-rank recruits.
Uchida Toshio was also a familiar face, the Tsuchinoe having been present many times at the Water Domain when Giyuu was there himself. With the man's propensity to train all the recruits he could, Giyuu wouldn't be surprised if he hung up the Slayer uniform soon and became a Cultivator instead.
The young unknown Beta who stayed by his side had to be his current apprentice. Giyuu also didn't recognize the three women who were in charge of closing and barricading the door now that everyone had left, but he was pretty sure the couple sitting on the engawa were the ones Kou-san had told him about the last time he stopped. Nakazawa and... Hayakawa ?
