Chapter Text
Giyu stared into the darkness before he fell asleep, if only to see the door reopen. Of course, that did not work, and his dreams found him still cloaked in darkness, only with faces emerging from it.
Sanemi, and Mitsuri, and demon after demon after demon, and his own human face, and Uboyashiki-sama staring from the darkness.
And you did not- kill yourself?
Just one question- how are you still alive?
Wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Slit your own belly and die.
Voices blared at his head.
Live! For the goodness of others!
Live. To eat and become strong. Untouchable.
To protect what you care about. What belongs to you.
Protect what you care about. He thought of Sabito. Of his sister. As the living mocked him from the darkness, they were above it all. But they were disappointed, in what they sacrificed themselves for.
Maybe there was no afterlife, and they never had to know.
Urokodaki-san would know.
Dying wouldn’t fix anything. It wasn’t his fault. He hated himself. But it wasn’t his fault. he couldn’t do anything. But it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t deserve better. But-
“ IT’S NOT MY FAULT!”
He woke with a cry, limbs thrashing, but he was held down. He scrambled to gather his bearings, kicking his feet out like a frightened cat. His eyes jumped open to a faceful of striped cloth, and there were multiple people holding him down- attackers, enemies, they were going to squelch out his eyes and slice him down the middle, he flicked his claws out and sliced anything he could, biting down into the striped thing in his face, but the cloth was so strong his teeth barely penetrated, it smelled human, they were everywhere everywhere and all he could do was-
“Let him go!”
And Giyu felt two eyes catch his, red eyes, and he took small comfort in them, and a hand was placed on the side of his face that he immediately leaned into.
“Breathe,” the eyes told him.
Giyu tried to tell the eyes that he was breathing, but it came out a choked gasp, so he tried to breathe instead.
But he felt eyes on him, and he choked, forcing his gaze down.
“Hey. Hey. Can you name five things you can see?”
Giyu shook his head, closing his eyes.
“Uh- okay, what about four things you can feel?”
He nodded.
His claws, grabbing his pants. The rough fabric of his uniform. His aching teeth. Fear.
“Are you done?”
He nodded.
“Can you tell me?”
He shook his head.
“Okay. Three things you can hear, then.”
They went on like this until Giyu felt he could speak again.
“One thing you can taste.”
“Shinazugawa’s gross bandages.”
“Huh?”
Giyu turned at the sound of Sanemi’s voice. He was looking away, strangely calm despite.. well, everything. “Those bandages saved your life, you dick. I even held back from killing you.”
So they were his. Giyu just grimaced, looking back up at Tanjirou.
“Thank you, Kamado.”
“Of course!” He smiled. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Giyu ran his thumb along his fangs, noting that the majority of the Pillars were there. “I apologize for biting you, Obanai-san.”
The man sneered.
“Obanai and Uzui-san were just trying to restrain you while you were still asleep,” Mitsuri explained. “I apologize as well.”
“It’s fine,” Giyu responded simply, standing and crossing his arms behind his back.
Obanai just grit his teeth harder, triple-tying the knots of rope he held in his hands, and then pushing him back to a kneeling position.
“You’re soon to meet Oyakata-sama,” he said quietly. “Don’t disrespect him any more than you already have.”
Giyu supposed the words would strike closer to home if he wasn’t so tired. So he just leaned forward, striking a pose a man would typically use in an execution. Head hanging forward, arms bound behind him.
He thought he heard Tanjirou squeak at that, but he couldn’t tell- again, his head was down.
Hold on.
Giyu turned to Tanjirou. “Why are you here, anyway?”
Tanjirou frowned at him. “You didn’t answer my letter from yesterday, but I really wanted to talk to you, so I visited your estate. Even when I kicked your door down, I couldn’t find you!”
He said it as if Giyu was the weird one.
“So I visited Shinobu, and she asked if I knew anything.. about you, and-”
“ And what did you say ?” Giyu hissed.
“Er,” Tanjirou murmured, “I said no, because I didn’t know she knew-”
Wrong. I told you not to cover me, he thought but did not say.
“-and she took me here, and I tried to reason with her, and she just told me I should talk to your master with you.”
Tanjirou scratched the back of his head nervously.
Giyu sighed- deeply, as if an old man.
“You were not supposed to support my position, Kamado.”
“But, Tomioka-san,”
“You are a child. It is not your responsibility to support me.”
“ Great job you’re doing,” he heard Tanjirou whisper.
Giyu’s face became immediately unserious. “I’m sorry?”
Tanjirou’s face turned red. “Nothin’.”
Giyu smiled- a genuine smile, darkened slightly by the prospect of.. everything. “Sit beside me, Kamado.”
The boy sat down with a huff. “Could you not bend your head like that, Tomioka.. -san?”
Giyu shrugged. “I’m only being realistic.”
The silence became slightly uneasy. Tanjiro frowned, suddenly. “Tomioka-san, it smells like-”
The doors at the head of the room were pushed open by two servants, who quickly moved away from the entrance, revealing an aging man with a dreamy look in his blind eyes. His mouth, however, was gravely downturned.
Kagaya Uboyashiki stepped into the room. “Giyu Tomioka, your trial commences.”