A Different Pillar (Tomioka Giyu x Reader)

Protective Demon?

Waking up in the middle of the night, you felt a something heavy leaning on your head. Careful as to what it was, you slowly adjusted your head to see what it was. Left breathless at the sight, you saw Giyu, asleep. Not wanting to disturb his slumber, you gently held on to his head and placed it on your shoulder. Luckily, his breathing was still steady and the sudden movement did not cause him to wake up.

The fire had died down and the sudden storm had ended. At the opening of the cave, you saw how snow found its way inside the cave. Thank gods you had the fire up all night. The walls of the cave seemed to radiate heat which made things a bit easier.

Your mind wandered to the area that the two of you were supposed to survey. Now that you were a day late in your travel, you hoped that the demon was still taking its slow and steady time. Karasutori and Giyu's crow had been following you, somehow you wished that the two were nestled somewhere warm.

Giyu's head shifted a bit and nuzzled even more on your shoulder. For a second, his head dropped but you managed to catch him with your palm. Biting your inner cheek, you controlled your trembling hand and kept your palm on his cheek to make sure that his sleep would continue.

There was no denying that you liked what was going on. Your heart was beating rather quickly at the thought of Giyu falling asleep on your shoulder. With a newfound courage, your thumb started brushing his cheek ever so gently. Hearing soft snores coming from his mouth caused you to smile.

This went on for who knows how long.

When the time came that Giyu finally woke up, he lifted his head groggily and stared at you.

"Good morning~"

"Good m~~" The rest of his sentence was nothing but a slur. His eyelids were still heavy and you saw how he was trying his best to keep them up. His head was swaying back and forth. Wanting him to lean on your shoulder again, you pouted when he settled to lean against the wall.

Standing up, you stretched and yawned. Despite the uncomfortable position you had slept in, you actually liked it.

Deciding to tread the introverted waters, you squatted and stared at the sleeping Giyu once more. You poked his cheek once. No response. You poked it twice. Still no response. On the third poke, you were rewarded with him opening his ocean blue eyes. His face looked annoyed but you got what you wanted.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. We have to start moving."

"Oh. Okay." That was all he replied before cracking his joints and standing up.

"Giyu?" There was no response so you simply continued. "Do you have family?"

He stopped readjusting the strap on his blade. For a brief second, you felt anger and pain flood his thoughts. It was always there but this time it rose up that even you felt offended that you asked the question. Wanting to take it back, you were at a loss of words. Regret made its way to your system when he turned his back and left you alone in the dimly lit cave. You took note that that was a taboo topic indeed.

The rest of the journey was drowned in tense silence. Trailing behind Giyu, you could feel how his aura was dark and his silence more piercing than ever. His strides were longer than usual and his hand held on tightly onto the hilt of his sword.

Each step the two of you made caused crunching sounds to echo with the wind. Feeling guilty at the very invasive question you threw at him, you stared intently at his back while the snow started to land on his messy hair. Looking up into the sky, the dull color of the sky only added more weight to what you were thinking. Taking your palm out to catch a few snowflakes, you exhaled and watched them melt.