Gifts and roses..-*

Chapter 8 - giyuu tomioka.

There stood Giyuu, starstruck, holding a dark red cloth.

Sanemi's eyes shot open, their usual sharpness shattered in an instant. His gaze darted between Giyuu and the cloth, unable to reconcile the image before him. A million questions hit him all at once.

Was he-? No, this couldn't be true. Was Tomioka the secret admirer? Had he just caught him in the act?

The thought struck him like a venomous sting, freezing him in place as his mind grappled with the magnitude of the discovery. His brain seemed to stop all normal processing- his thoughts as though they had been abruptly severed, leaving him in a state of stunned disbelief.

Sanemi just stared at Giyuu, frozen in sheer astonishment. His mind raced, bombarded by a torrent of questions and confusion, yet he was unable to speak.

Giyuu's voice pierced through the haze, soft and almost too calm for the gravity of the moment. "Oh- Shinazugawa-san. I wanted to return this to you, but you didn't answer the gate," he said, extending the cloth with a quiet formality.

Sanemi snapped back to reality, his heart still pounding. He looked down at the cloth, and took it without another word, feeling its emptiness with his fingers.

Oh.

Right.

Giyuu was just returning the cloth from the other day. He exhaled loudly. No big deal. It wasn't him. He had just jumped to conclusions.

"Yeah, thanks," Sanemi muttered, trying to regain his composure. He stuffed the cloth into his pocket as casually as he could, though his mind was still reeling from the scare. He glanced at Giyuu, searching for any signs that might betray his true intentions. But Giyuu's expression remained as calm as always.

They stood there for a moment, an awkward silence hanging between them. Sanemi's mind raced, still trying to piece together the puzzle. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to this encounter than met the eye, but deciding it was ridiculous, he pushed those thoughts aside.

He was just returning the cloth, nothing more.

"They were good." Giyuu said out of nowhere.

"Huh?"

"The dango."

"Oh, right." Sanemi looked away, bashfully. "Good." his tone gruff but lacking its usual edge.

"...Will you be at the training today?" Giyuu asked with hesitation.

"Yeah, as much as I don't fucking want to." He lamented "So are you healed then?"

"Yes," Giyuu replied softly. "I was just on my way to the training before I stopped here."

"I was on my way too," Sanemi commented.

They both stood in the gate for a few moments, just looking at each other in silence. A breeze flew past, ruffling their hair. Giyuu lifted a hand to brush his bangs back in place, Sanemi only watched as he did so.

"Want to walk together?" Giyuu finally asked, breaking the silence, averting his eyes from the wind Hashira's intense gaze.

"Together?" Sanemi raised an eyebrow, "What, you think I need company or something?"

Giyuu faltered, his eyes shifting around the garden nervously. "Well... no... but I just thought it'd be nice to go together."

"Nice?" Sanemi echoed.

Giyuu seemed to waver under the scrutiny, his fingers nervously fidgeting with the edge of his sleeve as he started to turn away. "Ah... don't worry about it."