4 Years [SaneGiyuu]

9

I'm so sorry for the lack of updates T^T

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The sun set with its regular flourish of color, pulling a curtain of darkness over the estate as it went. Black storm clouds gathered at some point during the night to shed their rain, soaking the ground and forming puddles in the gravel paths.

Giyuu lay awake for hours, watching the clouds rumble with thunder and flash with lightning. From the safety of his bed he wondered what it would be like to be lightning, to move that fast across the sky and be gone so quickly, but to be noticed by all the people around anyways. The gentle drumming of the rain against the roof lulled him, and he stared up at the clouds, thinking wistful thoughts until he fell asleep against the headboard.

In the morning, he regretted dozing off. His body ached from leaning against the wood all night. Stretching, he did his best to clear the pain from his bones. Once that task was done, he looked up at the ceiling and wondered what he was going to do today. He remembered setting out things for himself to do, but couldn't quite recall what they were.

A crow cawed outside, and with a jolt he remembered he said he would talk to Sanemi. He tensed, his mind rushing to feed him a million negative thoughts.

"Maybe he's warmed up to you since then!" Recalling Tanjiro's words quieted the squall.

Giyuu pushed himself out of bed, taking his mended haori off the chair it was handing on and draping it over his shoulders. With a little wiggling he managed to get it on one-handed.

The sunlight outside was patchy, and the bellies of the clouds still hung dark with rain. As Giyuu made his way through the garden, he peered up at the sky. Kanzaburou circled down, black feathers fluttering. His plumage ruffled as he hooked his talons into Giyuu's shoulder and settled down. "Message from the master!" He cawed. "Giyuu Tomioka and Sanemi Shinazugawa are needed at the Ubuyashiki home for a hashira meeting!"

Surprise flickered across the water pillar's face. What could this be about?

"When does he want us there?" He asked, gently scratching the underside of Kanzaburo's beak.

The old crow cooed appreciatively. "As soon as you can make it!"

"Does Shinazugawa know?"

An enthusiastic nod, and the crow pushed his head against Giyuu's cheek. "Let's go! Let's go!"

"Okay- okay, I'm going." I'm not procrastinating. I'll try to talk to Shinazugawa afterwards.

———————
Timeskip until after :)

Giyuu trailed Sanemi out of the Ubuyashiki mansion, his mind occupied with everything that had happened inside. The demonslayers were officially disbanded after nearly a millennium of fighting. That was the biggest one.

It was a strange thing- Giyuu's heart had sunk a little when he heard the news.

Now, walking down the path, he fidgeted with the sleeve of his haori absentmindedly.

"Oi, why're you following me?"

His gaze shot up from the ground to meet Sanemi's. He immediately looked back down. "Was just heading back," he muttered. Idiot- weren't you supposed to talk to him today? Just as Sanemi was turning around to leave, Giyuu uttered an awkward "Um-"

Sanemi paused and sighed. If this was Giyuu trying to incite a conversation, some serious work had to be done. "How'd you sleep? The storm was terrible last night- I barely got a wink."

Giyuu jolted at the unexpected engagement. Shit, he was just standing there silently- he had to say something. But what if he said something stupid? Anything would work, really, or Sanemi might get bored and walk away. "Alright." One word wasn't going to cut it. Kicking himself mentally, he forced out "I stayed up for a while, though.. just to listen to the rain and the thunder."