Finding You

chapter 5

"Tomioka-san, wake up..."
"Wake up, please..."
"Didn't you say you would come back? Didn't you promise? Didn't you say one day we would walk in the rain together? Sit on the snow together? Enjoy the sunlight together? Even if I drown, you would drown with me? Please wake up. Wake up, Giyuu. Wake up."

Gentle hands softly caressed a pale face. Giyuu was laying on a calm water surface somewhere, while the other person was face to face with him upsidedown.

"Wake up... For me, wake up Giyuu, I want to see you..."
"Open your eyes for me, breathe for me, wake up Giyuu..."

" Wake up. "

Suddenly, a body jerked up. Who was that woman? Ragged breathing was mixed with the chilly feeling of sweaty palms clenching the blanket. It wasn't hot, it was undoubtedly freezing but somehow a few beads of sweat ran down his forearm. Hot, cold. Hot, cold. Tomioka was feeling all kind of emotions. His neck was so sweaty. He hated that slick but uncomfortable feeling. He wanted to do something about it.

Suddenly, he noticed his hands were bandaged and after lifting up the blanket, he noticed his legs were too. His forehead. Touching his forehead made Tomioka slightly dizzy but it was also bandaged. The wrapped thing was damped though. Damped from those beads of sweat. His hair was down and it made Tomioka slightly more comfortable, but the hair was a little annoying. It was getting in the way.

Slowly getting up, he got out of the futon that was laid in the middle of the room. He slid open the thin wooden door and made his way outside. The bathroom - no, he needed his sword. It really didn't have to be his sword, he just wanted something sharp enough that can cut through.

He looked around for a moment and he took notes of the fallen night after opening the main door. How beautiful...
The moon shone bright and the stars were sprinkled randomly all over the beautiful sky... It was amazing. While his eyes were comprehending what was infront of him, he felt like he forgot something. Someone to be exact. He shook his head and continued to search through. Suddenly, voices reached his ears. Tomioka closed the door and slid to the room that was vibrating with voices.

"We have to stop him! We can't let him do that! He never once acted like that in the three years he was back, so why now?" A person regarded, or rather sounding angrily. It was a female's voice, a worried one to be specific.

Tomioka stared dumbly at the wooden door infront of him. His hands trembled as he pinned his mind over two options. Open or listen. He chose to listen. His head was too hazy to make out anything anyway.

"Calm down, Kanrouji, we can't just stop him. Shinobu is the love of his life. His everything. We can't just take away the option for him to come searching for her. You found him, Kanrouji, you should know how fed up he was to himself." A smooth voice replied to the sudden outburst from earlier.

Now it all made sense! Shinobu... Shinobu, Shinobu! He needed to find Shinobu.

It was crisp dark at night now, and even though the weather was still quite snowy, it was fresh, the damped air didn't seem like it was a timid weather-like air, it was comforting and reassuring. He needed to go now. The freezing cold weather won't stop him anymore. Sure, the weather was still struggling to warm up, but the air was freshly new and Tomioka knew he had to go.

The demons were no longer a valid obstacle in the Water Hashira's mind anymore. They wouldn't stand a chance against him. He'd like to see them try. He needed to get to his sword and change, but why couldn't he move? His body was shaking and cold sweat ran down his body, damping all of the white bandages.

Suddenly, he slowly but steadily made his way back to the room that he was previously in, leaving the arguing and disagreement between the people in the room behind. His clothes were clearly in the room that he woke up in, but Tomioka was just too dumb and couldn't comprehend anything back when he just woke up to notice. His sword must be there too, but nevertheless, the trip outside in the hallway earned him some valuable information. Someone was trying to stop him from going to find Shinobu.

There it was. His clothes, swords and uniform were neatly folded and placed in the corner of the room when he got back. Tomioka got changed. He winced once in a while because of the pain inflicting on his body, but his mouth stayed silent as he would never want to get caught.

He was feeling so hazy. There was only Shinobu on his mind, and he didn't even remember what got him to this state of injuries. Doesn't matter, he needed to go now.

Before leaving the room, he folded the futon that he was previously resting in and placed it back down to the floor. One more important thing to do before he completely disappear.

Suddenly, a sharp, whipping noise filled the room and quickly dispersed. Soft, dark blue locks of hair fell down to the ground slowly and gently. Locks after locks fell. Tomioka sighed in relief. His hair was short now, and it felt like a big burden was lifted from his heavy shoulder. His neck was too sweaty anyway. Tomioka wanted a change, and he did just that. While Shinobu was growing her hair for him, he was cutting his hair for her.

Opening the wooden door, he slipped out as quickly as he can. He got to the main wooden opening and slid it open. With that, he was gone...

-----

"I told you we can't let him do that! You expect to let him go?! He was hallucinating so hard that he screamed out Shinobu's name when I was the one running to his side! I was so upset, I was so mad when Shinobu disappeared, but would she wants her love to die?" Kanrouji said, breathless with frustration.

"Kanjirou, what would you do if I disappeared? Gone and never come back?" Irugo asked in a gentle voice.

"I'd rather die than to see that happening! I-i'd go find you!" She said with all her might.

"Now you know how Tomioka feel Kanrouji. I know you want to protect him in the honour of Shinobu, but you have to be understanding of him. We're just comrades, and you're already acting like that when I said I'll never come back. How do you think Tomioka will feel?" Irugo gently said. He was always gentle towards Kanrouji.

All of the pillars were there, discussing the situation, but Kanrouji being the person that was Shinobu's best friend and love her alot, she couldn't stop the frustration pending up on her. She was being protective of Tomioka now, because that's what Shinobu would want her to do.

"Now," a voice suddenly said. It was Ubuyashiki. Even if he was quiet and gentle, his soft voice got everyone's attention.

"Shall we go check up on Tomioka?"

P.s. This chapter was a little long and it was a long period of time since I updated, so here you go! Thank you all for supporting!