Second Chances: A Love That's Bound

Chapter 3 - A Summon from Kagaya

Giyu stood silently outside the Ubayashiki House, his mind a calm sea of thoughts. The air was thick with anticipation. He was summoned suddenly and unexpectedly; his mind told him of a mission, and his instincts told him it was something significant. He adjusted his haori, its weight familiar and reassuring, before stepping forward and sliding open the door.

The room was bathed in the soft glow of paper lanterns, which, when lit, would cast gentle shadows across the floor. Kagaya Ubayashiki, the leader of the demon slayer corps and head of the Ubayashiki house, also known as Oyakata by the Hashiras, sat serenely on a cushion across the room, his presence commanding yet compassionate and comforting. Giyu bowed as he entered the room, showing respect to the man who led the corps with an unwavering resolve.

"Please, come in, Tomioka-san," Kagaya said, his voice a soothing sound in the quiet room. "Have a seat.".

Giyu complied, made his way, and lowered himself onto the cushion opposite Kagaya, carefully placing his katana to the side. The silence stretched between them, comfortable and respectful.

"Tea?" Kagaya asked as he poured his own. Giyu simply shook his head and said, "No, thank you, master.".

Kagaya looked at Giyu with an analytical stare, carefully watching and trying to make out anything that could be bothering him. "Is something bothering you, Tomioka-san? I can feel an energy of some sort pulling you down.".

'Analytical as always,' Giyu thought to himself. Wondering how he should go about a response, he couldn't tell him about the timeline and binding vow, of which he was still concerned himself: 'What went wrong?' He wanted to avoid the talk about the demon slayer mark and red blade, too.

"I'm fine, Master," Giyu replied simply.

"Well, I appreciate your promptness," Kagaya began, his eyes watching Giyu, gentle but focused. "There is a matter of great urgency that requires your attention.".

Giyu nodded, showing his attention to the master. "Where have you needed me to go?" Giyu questioned: Being a part of the demon slayer corps, it wasn't hard to work out what the missions involved, more just where they were located; they could get the information that they needed from the town or village folk while they were there.

Ubayashiki's gaze softened. He understood the weight of each and every mission; for every slayer he sends out, he wishes a safe return, and many believe that if possible, he would probably try himself to eradicate the demons.

"There have been a disturbing amount of reports from a demon terrorising a local town; the attacks are becoming more frequent and brutal, leaving the people in a state of constant fear.".

Giyu listened intently to the more intricate details they had received. Although he retained his strength from the previous timeline, he still understood the risk of taking missions and fighting demons. 'They WILL kill you; give them that chance'. It's scary, but thankfully, nothing so far has shown up that's different from the previous one. Although it could all change with what he thought would be his next mission after this,. Tanjiro's next mission was to investigate the killings of his family. Could he get there before Muzan killed them? Could he even kill Muzan at that point in time? It was a struggle even with the drug Tamayo and Shinobu poisoned him with, and even then, it was only because of the low-level slayers and Kakushi holding him in the sunlight.

'Thank you, Tanjirō, and everyone else; thank you; this time I'll stop him myself' Giyu's resolve hardened, and he looked up at Ubayashiki.

"Where do you need me to go?" His voice was firm and strong.

I will be sending you to this village to eliminate the demon and restore peace to the town," Ubayashiki replied. "However, due to the nature and frequency of the attacks, I won't be sending you alone; you will be joined by Shinobu Kocho.".

Giyu's eyes flickered with surprise, though he quickly masked it before Kagaya could notice. Despite being cursed and having his illness, he was deceptively observant. Giyu valued Shinobu's skill and intelligence; however, he was back here to protect her; joining on missions could cause unwanted collateral or it could skew the timeline that he knew and therefore could not anticipate what happens next. Despite all of this, he trusted what his master said and his judgement.

"Understood" was a quick reply. "We will depart as soon as possible.".

Kagaya nodded approvingly. "Your diligence is commendable, Tomioka-san. I have the utmost faith in your abilities. Together, you and Kocho-san will ensure the safety of the town and its people and bring peace to it once again.".

As if on cue, the door slid open again, and Shinobu stepped into the room, her characteristic smile on display. Her eyes met Giyu's briefly before turning to their master.

"Kocho-san, it's good to see you well." Kagaya greeted her warmly. "I have just finished informing Tomioka-san of your joint mission; I trust that you are prepared?" his voice soothing to hear.

Shinobu smiled and said, "Yes, Oyakata-sama, I have prepared everything already." Giyu turned to look at Shinobu, in a way admiring the swiftness of her ability to prepare for missions. Despite being the busiest Hashira, the duties of being a slayer and the duties of being the top medic at the butterfly mansion were surely exhausting, let alone finding time to make advances with her poisons and research. 'You're amazing,' Giyu thought to himself before realising he'd been staring too long. He composed himself and turned to face Kagaya again.

"Excellent," Kagaya said, an expression of pride sitting on his face. "The town's safety rests in your hands; may you return safe and unharmed.".

Giyu stood, and with a final bow, both he and Shinobu left the room, both of their minds turning to the task ahead. They moved with purpose; grabbing the shoes that Shinobu had prepared, they embarked on the journey towards the town. The sun had begun its descent, casting long shadows across the courtyard as they made their way out of the Ubayashiki estate.

"It would be better to leave now and cover as much ground as we can before the next nightfall," Giyu suggested, sounding almost businesslike.

Shinobu nodded in agreement, her demeanour equally focused and composed. "The faster we reach the town, the quicker we can gather intelligence.".

With each other both agreeing to pick up the pace slightly, the journey began, with a hasty pace but a steady one for the pair. The sun, reaching its last light, cast hues of gold over the landscape as the resident animals and people began to make their way to their homes for the night ahead. As they left the familiar grounds surrounding the estate, the grounds transitioned from cultivated lands to a sea of untamed wilderness. The road they travelled was rough, flanked by dense forestry that seemed to close in around them, their canopy filtering the little sunlight that remained into tiny scattered beams.

The journey so far was quiet between the two; however, the silence was ever so companionable, with each of them both lost in their own thoughts. Giyu, ever-stoic, was focused on the mission ahead. He replayed the information he had received over and over, configuring different strategies and scenarios to encounter and eventually slay the demon. He was grateful for Shinobu's presence; her incredible mind and analytical power offered him a much different approach to what he could and couldn't do, and her unique combat ability was also vastly different from what most demons knew could also be valuable.

Shinobu, meanwhile, observed their surroundings with her keen eyes, spotting any sudden movements and deciding whether it was a threat or not. While she appreciated the quietude and understood that Giyu was not much on the talkative side or one for small talk, she couldn't help but want to speak as she remembered their shared encounter after the training session. Quickly shaking her head from those thoughts, she turned her mind to the people of the town they were headed to. What horrors have they witnessed, and at a time when demon sightings were at a minimum? With this thought in mind, she had a surge of resolve to kill this demon and end its reign of terror upon those it was haunting.

As dusk began to fall, the temperature dropped, and the forest took on a much more ominous tone. The sound of crickets chirping filled the air, a stark contrast to the silence throughout the day. With it quickly becoming dark, they decided it was too dangerous to carry on travelling at night and set up a little camp near a small clearing, where a nearby brook provided them with a small amount of clean water for them to drink.

Giyu quickly gathered some firewood, while Shinobu started preparing a quick meal they could eat with some of the supplies she had on hand. They both worked in practiced silence, each knocking on the door and working to set up the camp as quickly as possible. Once the fire was lit and the meal was ready, they ate in silence beside each other, Giyu comfortable with the silence between them, and Shinobu yearning for the more talkative Giyu she spoke to the other night.

Shinobu decided to break the silence. "I will take first watch; you should get some rest; it's not that long since your injury," she offered, hoping it would cause Giyu to react more.

Giyu hesitated for a moment; he would have felt safer with himself watching first, but he does trust Shinobu to be able to handle any disturbances that may happen. "If anything happens, you wake me.".

Disappointed with his response, Shinobu inwardly sighed and carried on with her meal. When she was finished, she prepared herself to keep watch of them both. The night so far has been uneventful, save for the occasional rustling of nocturnal creatures. It was a rather easy watch.

The moon hung high in the clear night sky, casting a soft silver glow over the forest, a stark contrast to the golden hues the sun creates. Although unsettling to most, the soft sound of rustling from the nocturnal animals provided a soothing environment as Shinobu perched herself on a nearby log, close to the camp they had set up, her eyes scanning the environment for any danger. It wasn't just demons that could hurt humans in a forest. The flickering campfire cast dancing shadows around her, creating an intimate cocoon of warmth and light.

Shinobu's gaze drifted towards the sleeping Giyu, lying just a short distance away. He was wrapped in his haori, his face relaxed and peaceful, a rather stark contrast to his usual stoic expression. There was something vulnerable about him in this state—a rare glimpse beneath the surface of the usually reserved water, Hashira. As she continued to watch him, she felt a small flutter in her chest, a sensation that she wasn't quite used to. A mixture of curiosity as to what was causing this feeling, or a quiet longing for something that she's not quite acknowledged.

Shinobu's feelings towards Giyu were complicated. On one hand, his aloof demeanour frustrated her, probing her to tease him in order to get something out of him; his inability to express himself clearly and his tendency to distance himself from others made him a difficult person to understand. Yet, as Hashira, they have a sort of unspoken bond between them, sharing responsibility for each other and leaving heavy burdens on each other. It was in moments like these that Shinobu found herself wondering: who was the real person behind the mask that Giyu wore every day?

As she approached him to wake him up for his turn on the watch, she hesitated for a moment. Watching him closer and seeing his peaceful state, he almost looked as if, for only a few hours, the weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders. Shinobu felt a pang of guilt at the thought of disturbing him, but she also knew that they both needed the rest for any dangers that may oppose them in the coming days.

Gently, she kneeled beside him and reached out, her hand hovering over his shoulder. For a singular, brief moment, she felt herself hesitant, caught by the softness of the moment. Her heart beat a little faster as she could feel the warmth radiating from him. The sensation, while unfamiliar, felt comforting. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, reaching out and gently shaking his shoulder.

"Giyu-san," she whispered, her voice barely louder than the rustling leaves. "It's your turn to keep a lookout.".

Giyu stirred, his eyes fluttering open to meet hers. For a moment, their gazes locked, and in the quiet of the night, you could almost hear the beating hearts of them both, a gentle understanding of the respect they have for each other, and a slowly growing and quiet affection they had between them. As Giyu sat up, blinking away the remnants of sleep, Shinobu quickly averted her gaze, a small flush of redness forming on her cheeks.

"Thank you," Giyu mumbled, his voice low and gravelly from his sleep. He stood up, stretching briefly. He picked up his haori, put it on, and made his way over to the fire. Shinobu nodded, a small smile playing on her lips, as she layered down in her place, pulling her haori closer to keep her warm. As she closed her eyes, her thoughts lingered on Giyu, wondering if he ever felt the same quiet stirrings she did.

The rest of the night was uneventful; with nothing happening, Giyu found himself contemplating the days ahead, the dangers they face, and the precautions that he could take to stop Shinobu from getting unnecessarily hurt.

The next day, they resumed their journey, the landscape slowly changing from dense forest to rolling hills. The path was narrow and winding, with rocky outcrops that made the journey a little more challenging. They moved with purpose, each of their senses on high alert. They wanted to reach the town before another nightfall and potentially another victim to the demon.

As the two Hashira trekked through the rough terrain, they began to discuss the strategy of gaining this demon's attention and the battle plan for killing it. Giyu, being ever practical and for the most part quite logical, focused on that side more, while Shinobu considered more psychological aspects when discussing her plans. Both, however, had the same goal: to minimise the trauma for the town residents as much as they could once the demon had been dealt with.

After a second day of travelling hard and fast, they found themselves in a much more open clearing, and with the stars slowly forming one by one, they stopped and set up camp. They set up under a canopy of some ancient trees, their branches swaying gently in the breeze. Being careful not to ruin the current landscape, they set up the fire a couple of paces away from the trees. As they sat around the campfire, the cackling flames provided a comforting backdrop.

"Tomioka-san, do you ever find it tiring?" Shinobu asked suddenly, breaking the silence between them, her voice soft and almost introspective.

Giyu looked over at her, slightly surprised at the sudden question. A quite deep question was not something Giyu was ready for tonight. "What do you mean?".

"This," she tried to clarify, with her arms stretched outward, showing what was in front of them. Seeing that Giyu was still just as confused as to what she was saying, she continued. "Always fighting, always on the move, not knowing whether your friend or loved one is coming home," her voice slightly shaking towards the end of her sentence.

'She just be thinking of Kanae,' Giyu thought to himself. It was hard for the corps; you go into it and train knowing that you can lose somebody, but you don't really understand how bad it feels until it happens. 'This is why I'm back here; I'm not going to let anybody feel like that again'.

"It's exhausting," she finally finished her sentence, a heavy sigh following. It was at times like these that Giyu found himself looking at the'real' Shinobu, angry, tired, upset—all these feelings she felt on a daily basis that none of the other Hashiras knew.

Giyu pondered on her for a moment, wondering whether or not to say anything; he didn't want to make her feel any worse. 'Travelling like this must be hard for her, away from the butterfly mansion, but more importantly, for Kanao, Aoi, Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho.'

"It is. It's hard, but we must for the sake of everyone else we love.".

'Considering how she was feeling, it was probably best to go for a neutral answer'. On one hand, admitting that it is difficult can help someone feel less alone about a situation, but rationalising it also helps make sure the person remembers why they are doing what they are doing.

Shinobu smiled at Giyu, this time with a genuine smile, but not one of happiness; this smile was sad, reflecting in her eyes also. "Yes, it's necessary, but don't you ever wonder what it's like to live a normal life, like everyone else?".

Giyu felt a pang of empathy; he rarely allowed himself to dwell on these feelings for so long, but recently he's been allowing himself to 'feel' more. "Maybe one day, we can find out," the words coming out more hopeful than what he intended.

Shinobu looked downward, a small flush on her cheeks and a smile on her lips. "We?" She said it weakly, mainly to herself, but Giyu just caught it.

Realising what he said, he fumbled over his own thoughts and stuttered out a missmatch of random words going round in his head. He only meant it as the demon slayer corps as a whole, not just them, as he tried to get out his sentence. Shinobu looked up, smiling, which stopped him in his tracks.

"Ara Ara~ Tomioka-san, getting flustered at the thought of spending time with me? How  cute!" her tone was one of teasing but also a slight bit of happiness.

Giyu couldn't help but look down, embarrassed by what he said. Of course he wanted to live a peaceful life with her, but he couldn't tell her that. If he did, she wouldn't let him live it down, teasing day in and day out. Although he didn't mind it at times, for others it was insufferable.

Shinobu, noticing the change in Giyu, decided to stop with the teasing. I looked at him with a genuine smile, only for him to miss it. "Maybe one day, but we've got a job to do before that.".

The following day, the terrain became more challenging than before, with steep inclines and rocky paths, which slowed them down quite a bit. As they neared the village, they came across a couple other smaller villages; apparently, they were just out of reach of the demon, as nobody had any real information on the demons whereabouts. They stopped off at the local restaurant to eat and rest before the final journey into the demon lair.

As they neared their destination, the air grew colder around them, and the sky took on a grey, overcast appearance. The town in question that they were headed to was nestled in a valley, surrounded by thick woods, and hard to find if you weren't looking for it. The path leading towards it was treacherous, but Giyu and Shinobu navigated it with relative ease, but all could be expected from the two of the highest rank in the demon slayer corps; the precision and skill of any of the Hashira should not be underestimated.

By the time they arrived at the town's outskirts, the sun was setting, casting dark, long shadows over the streets ahead. The town itself felt quiet, unnaturally so; even on an evening, there would be expected to be some commotion going on. The windows on the buildings were shuttered and the doors bolted closed, almost as if they were hiding.

"It looks like they are trying to hide from this demon," Giyu said casually, not surprised at the reaction. There wasn't really anything a person could do without a Nichirin sword. 'I guess only Sanemi could stall them till sunrise'.

"Tomioka-san, we should find the town leader; he may be able to tell us about this demon." Shinobu suggested to Giyu a very flat-looking Giyu, her voice low and cautious.

He nodded in agreement, ushering Shinobu to lead; he was much more worried about her getting hurt as a result of the threat of the demon. "Yeah" was all he could muster himself to say back as they made their way to the town hall.

They made their way through cobblestone streets, echoing under every footstep they took. The atmosphere was tense, and every creak or whisper from the wind heightened their senses. It was clear to them that the town had been living in fear for some time.

Eventually they reached the town hall, a modest building that was the centre of towns. The leader, a middle-to-late-aged man, came to greet them with relief and desperation. He led them back into the building, into his private office, where he could talk more openly with them about the recent attacks.

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3593 words this time, not super long but I'm not going to lie, I really struggled with this one piecing it all together. Sorry if the dialogues a bit jacked it's probably my worst take for any writing.

Well hopefully you like this chapter, a bit more action in the next one thankfully but it's all important.

thank you for reading :)