I Feel You - Gyomei Himejima

Chapter 6

"Wow, Gyomei-san and the new Hashira got close pretty quickly," Tanjiro says to Zenitsu and Inosuke, watching the two enter the dining hall together and grab their platter.

"You mean Kuza-san? She's so pretty, yet scary." Zenitsu comments.

"Shinobu is scarier." Inosuke disagrees.

"Yeah, but Kuza-san is still scary!" Zenitsu defends.

"They're serving my favorite," I said to Gyomei as we sat together at the same table.

"I didn't know tonkatsu was your favorite. I thought it was broiled chicken with vegetables."

"Well, my taste changes over the years, Gyomei," I say, eating my food.

Gyomei says his prayers first, including thanking the Gods for giving him back Hamito, then proceeds to eat.

"So you've become a monk after all these years?" I ask.

"Yes... it helped me stabilize my emotions at times." He smiles.

"I see." I nodded simply and finished my dish.

Tengen appears out of the blue wrapping an arm around my shoulder, "You guys didn't tell me there was a Hashira-get-along here?" He teases, setting his tray of food next to mine as well.

"Oh, hello Tengen." I greet.

"I hope you're feeling comfortable here, honey~" Tengen smiles cheekily.

I turn to Gyomei when I hear his chopsticks snap, "Oh, dear. My apologies." He laughs nervously grabbing Tengen's pair of chopsticks.

"Thank you for bringing me chopsticks, Tengen," Gyomei says with a small smirk.

"Hey, that was mine--" He cuts himself off and clears his throat, "I'll go get another one." He huffs, getting off of his seat to get another one.

I feel Gyomei grab my wrist, "Let's go."

"But I'm not finished yet."

"Let's go." He said sternly this time.

"Alright--" I managed to put another bite in my mouth before letting myself be pulled away. When Tengen arrived back at the table, his Hashira-mates were missing.

"What did I just witness." Zenitsu gasps quietly, "Was that jealoussssyyy?"

---

"What's up, why'd you drag me here?"

"Namu Amida Butsu." Instead of answering me, he began praying while standing outside the daylight.

"Goodness." A sweat trickled down my face, "What a religious man you've become."

He heaves a sigh, "My apologies, I let my emotions best me back there..."

"I'm still hungry you know. Geez, why'd you pull me out there for no reason?" I crossed my arms.

Gyomei asks himself the same question, 'Why indeed? Why did I feel like my heartstrings snapped when Tengen wrap an arm around her...? Was I... jealous? No, I can't let her know that; it's embarrassing.'

"If you're still hungry we can use the kitchen to cook up any food you like." He offers.

"We can do that? Aren't we like not allowed in there? I saw Aoi chasing Inosuke out of there."

Gyomei chuckled, patting my innocent head, "We're Hashira; of course, we can do simple things such as using the kitchen."

"I see....so people hold Hashira with high respect."

"Yes, but it's best not to abuse it. Let us go?"

"Lead the way."

We make our way towards the kitchen not far from the dining hall, we find Aoi there and the other servants cooking up more food for everyone in the headquarters. Gyomei entered first, and I held the hem of his haori from behind. He was so big that he had to bend down a bit to fit in the kitchen.

"Here." He grabs a tray of the food from the dining hall and gives it to me.

"Oh, thanks." I smile happily.

"Have some cake, too; I know you'll love this." He comes back with a slice of cake, setting a plate on my tray.

"Alright this is all good now, thank you, Gyomei."

"Would you like some orange juice or pineapple juice? Oh wait, never mind, I remember you don't like orange juice that much." He puts a cup of pineapple juice.

I wore a worried smile as he filled my tray, "T-Thanks... Gyomei it's good."

"They're serving some dumpling too." He grabs a bowl and fills it with 5 stacks of dumplings, making me question how he balanced it and put it on my tray.

"Gyomei it's good now!" I yell, "It's enough, thank you..." I laugh nervously.

"Did I get carried away?" His tears began to swell up as his lips trembled; he tapped his fingers together, worried I might get annoyed.

"No, no you didn't." I sigh, setting the food full of tray on the table, "I'll eat everything you'll give me." I smile reassuringly.

His face softens and he smiles, "Alright. Eat well, eat lots, dove." He smiles.

The other workers in the kitchen pretended like nothing was happening. However, the presence of two Hashira in the kitchen did pressure them to work harder and better.

After a while, I managed to fill everything in my stomach; I heaved a sigh, burping a bit, "I don't think I'm going to have lunch today."

"Why not? Are you sick?"

"I'm too full." I giggle, "Thanks to you."

He chuckles, "Good to know. Why don't I show you my training grounds so you'll lose the excess energy?"

"That'd be great. I get to see how you built that body of yours."

"Did you mean that in a good way or a bad way?"

"A good way of course."

---

Gyomei proceeds to show his intense training; it makes me wonder if he is still human at the end of the showcase.

"Are you up to give it a try?" He asks with a proud smirk.

"Nope, absolutely not." I laugh out loud, "We have our different ways of training."

"Really, what's you're training then?" He puts his hands on his hips.

"Like this." I hid my presence, even when I was undetectable to him, other people would see me sink into my own shadow. I reappear behind him.

"Boo."

He flinches, turning around quickly, "It's amazing, but please, don't do that around me. I might accidentally hurt you."

"Awww, you won't." I smile, "I trust you."

He chuckles, "Is that all you do to train?"

"I'm more on an ambush type, kill in one fatal shot you see. I go by undetected, even by demons, humans, or bunnies. Then I strike at the right time."

"So you've improved physically as well?"

"Would you like me to show you?"

A hot pink appears on his cheeks.

"I meant through a spar. What are you thinking? Aren't you supposed to be a monk?"

He laughs nervously, clearing his throat, "Yes, let's spar." He grabs his weapon out from under his haori.

I also unsheathed my katana, holding it towards him, "No fair, you got two big ass weapons."

"Well show me how you'll defend against my big weapon."

"You asked for it," I smirked and our blades clashed in a blink of an eye.