The Swimming Butterfly (Giyushino Fanfic)

Chapter 6

𝙺𝚘𝚌𝚑𝚘 𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚋𝚞

I woke up as sunlight filtered into the room, casting a warm beam onto my face. Groggily, I opened my eyes, only to be lost in a deep, dark forest of Tomioka's hair. He laid on his side, facing away from me.

My arms were wrapped around his muscular chest and one of my legs was draped over his knee. When I noticed the manner in which I was holding him, my cheeks immediately began to flush, my heartbeat steadily increasing.

'What? How did we get into this position? Did something go on last night?' Carefully, I removed my arms from his chest and brushed his hair out of my face. I proceeded to stand up and walk to one of the corners of the room to change.

"So you're finally awake, huh." Without moving muscle, Tomioka called out from the futon. "I woke up with you latched onto me, but I didn't want to disturb you." His voice was monotone as usual, not speeding up or changing in pitch, even with the awkward situation he was in.

I gulped, realizing he was very aware of our sleeping position. After my initial feelings of embarrassment subsided, anger quickly took its place. I could feel a tic mark appear on my forehead. "Ara ara Tomioka. You should have woken me up or got up yourself. Don't you know better to mess with a maiden?" By the time I said this, he sat up, revealing his toned upper body. He simply shrugged and said nothing more.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------𝚃𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚘𝚔𝚊 𝙶𝚒𝚢𝚞 

I woke up due to a strange sensation pressing on my chest and leg, turning out to be Kocho's arm and leg draped over me. Her chest was pressed up against my back, allowing me to feel her heartbeat. I remembered how hard she worked at the Butterfly Estate, training Kanao, creating new poisons, treating injured Demon Slayers, and other various demanding tasks.

I stopped myself from waking her up and decided to wait for her to wake first. 'I wonder what the demons we'll fight today will be like. It's been a long time since I've been on a joint mission with Shinobu. It's always amusing watching her poke demons to death.' I envisioned that scene, entertaining myself until I felt Kocho shift behind me.

When she woke up, she briefly laid on the bed, removing her limbs from mine and quickly shot up. After a quick conversation between us, I got changed as well and we headed out into the village to conduct reconnaissance.

As we were about to leave the Ryokan, I felt a tug on my haori. Turning around, I was met byt he sight of the receptionist from the day before that checked us in. Her face was crimson red, reminding me of the time Kocho fed me salmon. She quietly asked me, "Excuse me, is that woman your girlfriend or anything like that?"

I shook my head at her question, quite annoyed with her irrelevant question. Her face brightened up and with more confidence continued. "If that's the case, would you want to have some fun with me later..." She smiled slyly and stroked my chest. "Oh my, you're quite muscular."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I turned around, only to see that Kocho had left me behind. I ran out, catching a glimpse of the purple-tipped brunette turning a corner. Quickly, I ran to her, grabbing her arm before she could get away. Unable to think of anything to say, I decided to hold onto her arm until she spoke.

She turned around slowly, the fake smile she always wore wiped off of her face. "Ara ara Tomioka. Why did you follow me here? Shouldn't you be doing things with that receptionist?" She titled her head and glared at me as she tugged her arm to free herself from my grip.

"I have no interest in women like her. I also don't have time to waste. We have a job, and if we don't do it accordingly, people will die." She sighed at my response and looked away, seeming to cool down. Exhaling in relief, I let go of her arm and followed her as she headed towards an elderly lady.

After introducing herself as a detective, she was given information otherwise unattainable. I stayed behind, standing beside her, talking only when necessary. By repeating this process several times, we were pretty confident about the number of demons and their method of attack, along with their hideout.

Content with our newfound information, we went back to the inn, where we avoided the woman from before. Just as the sun had begun to set and others readied themselves for sleep, we prepared for battle, armed with our nichirin blades. The area we speculated the demons to attack was quite far, Kocho using the duration of the journey to taunt and insult me.

"Oh my Tomioka. Are you feeling lonely now that you're no longer at my estate? If you ever want to find someone to live with you, you'll have to change everything about you." I decided to stay silent, refusing to take the bait. She poked my shoulder, causing me to speed up. After five minutes of constant verbal abuse and taunting, I decided to finally respond.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------𝙺𝚘𝚌𝚑𝚘 𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚋𝚞

"I don't live alone anymore." Following the shocking statement was silence, Tomioka reverted back to his reclusive ways. He followed up with no additional information about the "roommate" he had begun to live with. 'It could be a guy or maybe just a child he took in. But he doesn't seem like the type of person to do that. I just hope that it's not a girl..."

"Ara ara, Tomioka. What a blatant lie. If you truly began to live with someone, why don't you tell me about them?" Proud of my bluff, I smiled contently, waiting for his response.

"She's a cute, small, female. She's very touchy and always wants my attention. We eat, sleep, and bathe together. She always gets hair everywhere. She's so adorable."

'Is he bragging to me?' My eyebrows furrowed irritation. 'I'm surprised that man could say all of that with a straight face and a nonchalant tone. Could Mitsuri have been wrong about Tomioka?' Irritation and jealousy began to boil in me, similarly to when the woman from the inn tried to seduce him.

We kept on running, neither of us bothering to push the conversation forward. The bitter-cold wind blasted against my exposed face and hands, leaving them quite numb. It was then when we saw the first demon of the night, the first of many we would have to fight.

I'm sorry for the short chapter. I had to finish my summer homework, which I'm still not done with. I'll try to make the next chapter longer and more exciting. Thank you very much for reading!

Bruh I just reread this chapter and its so shitty. I promise that the next chapter will be more bearable.