SaneGiyuu: Loving You Is Easy

PART 76: CONFUSIONS!

Giyuu dashed out of the Butterfly Mansion, the cold mid-day winter sun shining down on him.

The snow crunched with every step he took as he hurriedly made his way towards Sanemi's place.

The bare trees stretched out their branches, as if reaching out to him, encouraging him to keep going.

As he approached Sanemi's Estate, his heart pounded in his chest. He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the confrontation ahead. He knocked on the door, his hand trembling slightly.

Sanemi heard the knocking but hesitated, his heart racing. He knew it was Giyuu - he could sense his presence, feel the weight of his emotions through the door. Part of him desperately wanted to open it, to throw himself into Giyuu's arms and beg for forgiveness.

But the other part - The part that believed he wasn't worthy of Giyuu's love, that he was hurt, broken, that he would only bring Giyuu pain - that part won out.

He backed away from the door, leaving it unanswered.

Giyuu knocked again, more insistently this time.

"Shinazugawa-San... Please open up... I know you're in there..."
He pleaded, his voice shaking.

Sanemi listened, his heart aching. He wanted to open the door, to hear more of Giyuu's voice, to see his face. But instead, he slowly backed away, retreating further into his room, leaving Giyuu to knock and call out in vain.

"Shinazu..."
Giyuu paused, hearing the silent retreat. He sighed heavily, leaning his forehead against the cold wood of the door.

"Alright... I'll give you some time. But I promise, I'll be back. I'm not going to give up on you, no matter what."

He lingered for a moment longer, hoping against hope that Sanemi would change his mind. But the house remained silent. With a heavy heart, he turned away, leaving Sanemi's Estate behind.

___________________________________________

An hour had passed and Giyuu found himself sitting alone in the woods, the winter wind nipping at his ears.

He wrapped his haori tighter around him, his mind racing. He needed a plan. He couldn't just keep showing up at Sanemi's door, not if Sanemi was going to ignore him.

This is bad... If I let Shinazugawa-San go now, I might lose him forever.
He shook his head, trying to get the thoughts away.

That's when he heard footsteps approaching. Kyojuro was on a walk out when he spotted Giyuu sitting alone in the woods. He had heard about how he wasn't with Sanemi anymore and it pained him to even think about that. He knew Giyuu was going through a tough time and felt extremely bad for him.

He still wanted to lighten the mood and help Giyuu, as much as he could.

"Tomioka!"
He called out as he approached Giyuu, his heavy footsteps crunching in the snow.

Giyuu looked up to see him, his eyes widening.
"R-Rengoku-San?"

"How are you?"
Kyojuro asked, his smile faltering slightly upon noticing Giyuu's sad expression.

"I'm... I'm alright..."
Giyuu replied, standing up abruptly.

Kyojuro smiled again, patting Giyuu's shoulder.
"Come on, now! Do you really think I don't know what happened? Tomioka, about Shinazugawa... I know things are difficult right now..."

Giyuu let out a deep breath, his shoulders slumping slowly.

"R-Rengoku-San... I-I don't know what to do... Shinazugawa-San... he won't even talk to me... I've been trying to apologize, to make things right, but..."
He paused, swallowing hard.