The Swimming Butterfly (Giyushino Fanfic)

Chapter 4

𝙺𝚘𝚌𝚑𝚘 𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚋𝚞

After my awkward encounter with Tomioka, I groaned. 'It wasn't bad enough that my heart was already in a mess, but Mitsuri also saw. She's definitely going to interrogate me later and make me tell her everything. I might as well try to relax now before I'm bombarded with questions.'

After changing into my sleeping clothes, I rolled out her futon and decided to sit down until Mitsuri came charging in. You have really beautiful, violet eyes. 'Kyaa! I can't stop thinking about him or stop my heart from throbbing whenever I remember what he said.' She covered my face with my hands and rolled around on the floor in embarrassment.

Within a few minutes, Mitsuri came strolling into my room with the biggest grin on her face, spanning from one ear to the other. Preparing for the verbal abuse that was about to come her way, I closed her eyes and sighed. After a few moments of silence, I opened my eyes with surprise due to the lack of noise.

"Aren't you going to ask me anything? Like what you just saw before?" I asked cautiously, testing the waters.

"I don't want to push you too far. I'm very scared of nipping the bud of this romance." The smile on Mitsuri's pale face grew even wider. "But I want to hear everything that you're comfortable telling me."

'What else could I expect from the Love Pillar at this point.' "Everything you saw was just one big mistake. You walked in at the worst possible moment. There was no romance involved in the situation I was in with Tomioka." I looked up to see Mitsuri's doubting face. Mitsuri frowned and was about to speak, but I interrupted her. "You have to believe me! I was just trying to take off Tomioka's bedsheets, but he grabbed me and pinned me against the wall, just before he complimented my eyes..."

'Shoot! I said too much.' "Wait, I didn't mean tha-" As I was about to take back my words, Mitsuri clasped my hands in hers and squealed.

"The cold, loner known as Tomioka Giyu is not only talking to you, but is also actively complimenting you. This can only mean one thing! He's in love with you! There's no doubt about it!" Mitsuri's grasp on my hands tightened as she came to the ridiculous claim.

"In love with me?" I echoed, incredulous. "There's no way he's in love with me." I snorted.

However, Mitsuri wouldn't stop with her delusional claim. "I'm the Love Pillar! L-O-V-E, love. I know everything about love! You could call even go as far as to say that I'm the master of love."

Sighing, I just nodded my head. "Sure, sure. If you're the so-called master of love, why don't you get together with Obanai? You're both obviously head over heels with each other." 'Phew. I'm glad that I was able to steer the conversation away from me.'

Undeterred by my snarky remark, Mitsuri continued on with her quest to embarrass me. "Don't try to distract me by talking about Iguro. You're such a lucky girl! You have one of the most handsome people in the Demon Slayer Corps chasing after you. Kyaaa! Whenever I think about his muscular build, sharp facial features, especially his mesmerising eyes, I get excited. Combine that with his lone-wolf mentality..."

'Oh my, they're already on a first-name basis. They must be really close.'

As Mitsuri rambled on with her fallacies and how she was attracted to Tomioka, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy and anger form in my heart. I felt something coming out of my throat, before yelling, "Stop! That's enough!" After a few seconds, I suddenly realized what I had just done. I usually try to be like Kanae, always calm and smiling, but for some reason, my persona was suddenly ripped off. "Oh my gosh Mitsuri. I didn't mean to lash out like that at you. I-I-I don't know what came over me. I'm actually so sorry."

Letting go of my hands, Mitsuri stood up quickly. "I'm...I'm really sorry for going too far." Tears formed in her eyes and I could tell that she was holding back tears. She hiccuped, quickly exiting my room, stumbling along the way. I didn't need to look at her face to tell that she was crying.

After she had left, I rolled up into a ball, bringing my knees to my face. 'Didn't I swear to be like Kanae? To

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𝚃𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚘𝚔𝚊 𝙶𝚒𝚢𝚞

I was on my way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water when I heard a sudden outburst coming from Kocho's room. Gulping down the water I had just acquired, I watched as Mitsuri stumbled out of the room, tears gliding down her face.

A moment later, I heard loud sobs coming from Kanroji. 'This seems like a huge pain in the ass. It seems that I won't be able to sleep when an idiot is wailing like a five-year-old. I guess she got into a fight with Kocho, but I couldn't care less.'

Realizing that there was no way for me to sleep with all the noise, I decided that I might as well enjoy the nighttime sky. 'Tsutako used to take me out all the time and taught me all of the constellations and the lore behind them. She opened my eyes to the beauty of the night sky and how vast the universe is.'

I silently jumped onto the roof and looked up at the night sky. The vastness of the sky and the billions of stars never failed to amaze me. Looking up in wonder, I barely noticed the presence that suddenly appeared next to me. 'A demon!?' Jumping back, I was about to pull out my nichirin blade until I heard a female voice talk.

"Ara ara, Tomioka. Is that how you greet the owner of the house you're staying at?" Sheathing my sword, I silently sat down again. "Can I sit here with you?" I looked up at Kocho and raised an eyebrow, confused with her request.

Seeing the sadness seated deep within her eyes, I simply sighed and gestured her to sit next to me. 'We're partners anyways. We've saved each other from death many times. Although she always tried to annoy me during the missions, I eventually came to find her company endearing.'

Accepting my offer, the corner of her eyes turned up and the smile she gave me looked genuine. "Oh my, is loner Tomioka finally changing his ways?" 'No response, huh. Well, that's to be expected.'

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𝙺𝚘𝚌𝚑𝚘 𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚋𝚞

We sat together without talking, crickets and cicadas making up for the lack of noise. 'Sometimes silence is best. Being with Tomioka is always... so calming. I can't explain it, but I do enjoy his presence.'

This can only mean one thing! He's in love with you! There's no doubt about it!

After some thought, I decided to break the silence. "Hey Tomioka. Do you like anyone? Did someone perhaps catch your eye?" Upon hearing this, Tomioka looked up at the sky, taking his time to answer the question.

'Crap. I shouldn't have asked that. I shouldn't delve into someone's personal life, especially asking about their love life.'

After giving Tomioka a few more seconds to answer my question, I decided to apologize for the random question.

"I'm sorry for suddenly making this so awkward."

"There's no need to apologize. To answer your question, I don't think it's responsible for me to fall in love. We're pillars and we have to exterminate demons. If we get too close to anyone, we're just going to get hurt." He brushed his bangs out of his eyes and tilted his head at me.

Worried that he was going to question me about to ask me why I randomly asked that question, my mind rushed to formulate an excuse, but it was all for naught. 

The question never came and we sat on the rooftop a little longer, basking in the comfort of each other's company, waiting for the sun to soak the land, bringing along hope and safety. 

Author's note: I was orignally going to have Shinobu break down after she lashed out at Mitsuri, but then I remembered that she's no b*tch and that she's quite badass. I'll try to make Shinobu more true to character from the manga, so expect badass moments from her. I'll probably update soon. Probably.