Chapter Text
It had been about three months and Giyuu’s condition had only worsened, just like Kocho said it would. The cough medicine she had given him barely worked for a short time. He only ever used it at night though because he didn’t want to give demons a chance to kill him while he was too busy coughing.
Kocho would send letters to him every week asking for updates. At first, he had ignored them, but once she threatened to stop sending cough medicine unless he replied he begrudgingly sent updates.
She had also sent multiple letters once Rengoku had passed about a month after his visit. Kocho tried to convince him to consider letting go of his stubbornness for the sake of the corps being down one Hashira. It would be bad if he were to also die within such a small time frame. Giyuu did feel guilty, but he reasoned with himself that Tanjiro would soon become the next Water Hashira and that would solve the problem.
Giyuu was currently on patrol in the region he was assigned to. It happened to be north of Iguro's designated region. He half hoped to maybe run into the Serpent Hashira, but at the same time he was anxious thinking about how close the other man was. He didn’t want to see him and risk the chance of coughing up blood and petals in front of him.
After a few hours, Giyuu heard a blood-curdling scream coming from behind him. He turned around and ran toward the source and found that the scream was coming from inside a small house. He dashed through the front door and found a man trying to throw knives at a demon, and behind them were his wife and child pressing themselves up against a corner.
“Stand back!” Giyuu instructed. He ran to attack the demon, but as he was going to use a breathing technique to slash the demon, it suddenly became hard for him to breathe. He tried swinging his sword but only nicked it.
Damn.
He turned towards the demon and ran to push him out of the house. They tumbled before the demon kicked Giyuu into the air. Once he fell back down, he tried once more to use a breathing technique but ended up coughing up blood and petals once more.
The demon noticed it and gave a wicked smile. “You’ve got Hanahaki Disease?” He opened his hands to show his deadly sharp nails. “Allow me to put you out of your misery quicker.” He pounced, and Giyuu barely managed to move out of the way in time.
“Water Breathing First Form: Water Slash!” This time he was only able to cut off the demon's forearms.
Damn it. I can’t even use a basic breathing technique, and I feel like my chest is going to explode.
The demon growled in frustration as Giyuu started another round of coughing, and used that as a distraction to run away. Giyuu was still coughing as he tried running to catch up to him, which was incredibly hard because he wasn’t getting enough oxygen. Every time he tried to breathe in, he violently coughed out. At one point he had to stop for a moment to catch his breath and ended up doubling over and throwing up a whole flower.
That’s a first.
Giyuu then tried to continue running after the demon, but it was futile, he was long gone.
.
.
.
After a disastrous night, all Giyuu wanted was to collapse in his futon and sleep for as long as possible. This would have to wait because he needed to write a letter to Kocho since he promised to send updates. Hopefully, she would also send more cough medicine, even though it’s most likely that it won’t be as effective anymore.
As soon as he walked into his estate, he went to sit down at his desk to start writing the letter.
Kocho,
During patrol last night every time I tried using any breathing techniques, I would go into a coughing fit. Eventually, I coughed out a whole flower after slowly coughing up more and more petals and blood than before. I’m assuming my time is running out, but I would like to make a selfish request and ask for stronger medicine to keep the coughing to a minimum. I would still like to take out as many demons as I can until I die. Though, if you don’t have anything to spare, I'll understand.
With gratitude,
Tomioka Giyuu
Giyuu grabbed a handful of oats before walking outside to where his Kasugai Crow, Kanzaburo, was. After feeding his crow, he carefully tied the letter to Kanzaburo’s leg.
“Give this to Kocho. Do you remember who she is?”
Kanzaburo cocked his head. “Pink hair.”
“No, that’s Kanroji. Which one is Kocho?” Giyuu patiently waited for his crow to respond.
“Purple butterfly.”
Close enough.
“Okay good. Please, make sure you give this to her.” Giyuu was worried about Kanzaburo. Usually, it was En, Kocho’s crow, which he would use to send letters because the Insect Hashira was the one who sent messages first. This time though, Giyuu would have to depend on Kanzaburo to not accidentally give the letter to the wrong person like he has a few times in the past.
After Kanzaburo flew away, Giyuu went back inside to take a quick bath and a short nap.
.
.
.
Giyuu was outside, tending to his garden when Kanzaburo finally returned. He had been worried because his crow hadn't returned when he woke. It wasn't until the late afternoon when he finally heard the familiar flap of the wings.
Giyuu straightened up and held his arm out for Kanzaburo to perch on while reaching into his pocket to take out more oats to feed his geriatric crow.
The letter Kocho returned simply stated that she would need to gather more ingredients to see if she could make a stronger medicine and that she would have it ready in three days.
That would have to do for now.
For the rest of the day, Giyuu busied himself with menial tasks until it was time to leave for his assigned region.
During the entire trip there, Giyuu was trying to devise a plan to find the demon from last night. He had given the family from last night some Wisteria in a small bag to ward off the demon in case he decided to return, but he still wanted to start with checking the area if the demon really did try returning.
Once he got to the area, Giyuu surveyed that patch of land, but there was no sign of the demon. He then ran about five miles south of the region, since the demon had run in that direction– nothing there either. With a heavy sigh, Giyuu had to decide to do a regular patrol and come back to look for the demon later on.
There were a couple of demons Giyuu had to slay, but none of them were the ones from last night. It made him anxious, but thankfully every time he had to kill demons, he didn’t need to cough. When it was finally nearing the early morning, he started walking south, hoping the demon would show up.
Once he got to the vicinity, Giyuu sensed a demon nearby. With renewed determination, he ran faster around the area to pinpoint demon’s loction.
After some time, he finally found the demon. He tried to be as quiet as possible to catch him by surprise, but of course, the one time he needed to cough was when he was this close to beheading the demon.
The demon looked at Giyuu in surprise at first, then gave a maniacal laugh. “You again, eh? Let’s see how well you can keep up with me this time.”
The demon tantalized Giyuu by speeding up and slowing down.
Giyuu tried his best to keep up with the demon by using Total Concentration Breathing, and for some time it barely worked. He just focused on his breathing and the demon before him causing him to cease the coughing.
Unfortunately, it was short-lived, and Giyuu went back to coughing. In a desperate attempt to stop the demon, he threw his nichirin sword at the demon, hoping to distract him long enough to cough and start running again, but this only angered him. Giyuu pulled the sword out of his back and threw it back at Giyuu. Giyuu dodged it and went to pick up the sword. Turning and chasing after the demon again, he tried to get back into the rhythm of Total Concentration Breathing.
He had a bit of a ways to catch up, but Giyuu was making up that distance fairly quickly. Once he returned to being right behind the demon, he tried once more to behead the demon.
“Water Breathing Second Form: Water Wheel!”
Giyuu flipped forward and unfortunately started another round of coughing. He was able to slice through the demon, but it barely missed the nape.
In anger, the demon turned around and started attacking Giyuu.
Giyuu felt like his arms turned to lead with how much he swung them around. He did manage to get a few more hits on the demon, but it wasn’t enough. He was getting exhausted he didn’t know how much longer he could keep it up.
At one point, the demon jumped onto a branch and fell to attack Giyuu from above, and somehow he sprained his ankle.
So now Giyuu had to deal with regulating his breathing to stop the coughing, running fast enough to slay a demon, and trying not to put too much pressure on his injured ankle.
Great.
This moment would be at the top of his list as to why he could never stand as an equal with the other Hashira. Neither of them would ever let any of these obstacles stop them from slaying a demon quickly.
Suddenly a figure appeared out of nowhere and easily slashed the demon, beheading it.
The person turned to look at Giyuu after cleaning their sword of the demon’s blood.
“Big talk from someone who can’t even kill a demon in their own region. You had to chase it to mine. Pathetic.”
Giyuu’s eyes widened in shock and he felt like his heart dropped. It was Iguro.
This cannot be happening right now.
“What happened to all that ‘I’m not like the rest of you’ talk? Is this the best you can show for, Tomioka?”
Giyuu couldn’t believe that he didn’t realize he had chased the demon too far south, making him enter Iguro’s region.
He tried to calm down and breathe so he could answer without coughing.
“No.”
Giyuu immediately regretted opening his mouth because of course that would cause him to start coughing again. Then to his utter shock, he coughed up another whole flower. His face burned red in embarrassment, of all the times this could happen it just had to be in front of the man he was in love with.
He collapsed onto the floor.
Iguro appeared by his side, crouching down to his level.
“Don’t tell me you actually have Hanahaki Disease.”
Giyuu looked up at the Serpent Hashira in confusion. “You know what that is?” He asked with a strained voice.
“When you’re friends with Kanroji, you tend to pick up information about these things.”
Makes sense.
Iguro stood up. “Well, let’s get going. There’s still a couple of hours until sunrise.”
Giyuu tried to stand up. When he stepped forward, he collapsed again, forgetting about his ankle.
Iguro crossed his arms. “You can’t seriously be dizzy.”
Giyuu shook his head. “I sprained my ankle.”
He heard a scoff above him. “You’re only proving my point.”
Giyuu tried to stand up again and had to be careful as he started walking. After a few steps, he tripped over a branch and fell forward. He was tempted to start digging a hole to bury himself in.
Iguro walked over to him and held out a hand for Giyuu to take. “Here, I’m only doing this because you look pathetic. I can’t watch any more of it.”
Giyuu shook his head and tried curling into himself.
Iguro rolled his eyes. “You just coughed up blood and a whole flower, and yet you're still being so arrogant that you won't let me help you?”
Giyuu was silent for a few moments before mumbling “I don’t want to burden you with my problems.”
“What was that, Tomioka?”
Giyuu took a deep breath and said, slightly louder, “I don’t want to burden you with my problems.”
He anxiously waited for a response from Iguro and looked up when he didn’t hear one.
Iguro looked bemused. “What?”
Might as well get it over with.
“I don’t want to burden you with my problems,” he repeated. “I don’t deserve to receive help from anyone. I can deal with it, and walk by myself.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘I don’t deserve to receive help’?”
Giyuu frowned. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
Iguro growled in frustration. “Then explain why you don’t believe you deserve help.”
Giyuu stared into Iguro’s eyes. He was never able to get this close to the man, not unless he wanted to be insulted right to his face. Those eyes were beautiful shades of yellow and turquoise. He started fantasizing about waking up to them which made his heart flutter.
Iguro tilted his head forward and gave him a look as if to ask Well, are you going to answer?
Giyuu blinked out of his trance, realizing that he hadn’t answered. “I… I’m not strong enough. I would only bring people down, and I don’t want to burden anyone with that.”
“Now you’re making less sense.”
Giyuu took another deep breath and looked at the ground Why can’t he articulate what he’s trying to say? “I don’t deserve any of this. I shouldn’t be a Hashira, I’ve never been as strong as the rest of you. It should’ve been…” Giyuu stopped himself, he wasn’t ready to talk about Sabito yet. “Someone else should have become the Water Hashira. He was talented and the strongest swordsman during our Final Selection, while I couldn’t kill a single demon. I should’ve never survived.”
He looked up and saw that Iguro was shocked by his revelation.
There was a moment of silence.
“That’s what you meant when you said you weren’t like the rest of us? All this time you let us believe that you were this stuck-up asshole?”
Giyuu averted his eyes.
Iguro huffed. “Okay, we’ll continue this discussion another time. We need to go to the Butterfly Mansion to get you looked over. Here, let me wrap your ankle.” Iguro reached into his pocket and pulled out some loose bandages. “Lucky for you, I always have spare bandages.”
Giyuu extended his leg, and Iguro took the zori off along with the tabi sock. He measured the bandages and wrapped them around Giyuu’s sprained ankle.
Once he finished, he stood up and extended a hand to Giyuu. Giyuu took it, and when he stood up, he thanked Iguro.
“Your ankle looked bad, so it wouldn’t be a good idea to have you walk on it.”
Giyuu cocked his brow. “What are you suggesting?”
“I can carry you on my back.”
“I don’t know, will you be able to carry someone fifteen centimeters taller than you?” he deadpanned.
Iguro stared daggers at him.
“It was a joke,” Giyuu clarified.
Iguro rolled his eyes. Then he looked up and called out to his crow. “Yuan!”
A moment later, Yuan landed on a nearby rock.
“Kocho is out on patrol right now, so please inform one of the girls at the Butterfly Mansion about our arrival. Tomioka has a sprained ankle and is in the middle stages of Hanahaki Disease.”
The crow squawked in understanding and flew away.
Iguro then turned to Giyuu. “Hurry up, we’ve already wasted enough time.”
Giyuu jumped onto the shorter man’s back carefully to not disturb Kaburamaru. At first, it was slightly awkward with his feet hanging so close to the ground, but they managed.
Iguro then started trudging northwest to the Butterfly Mansion.
Giyuu couldn’t tell how long they had walked in silence, but after a long while Iguro finally broke it.
“Judging by the fact that you coughed up an entire flower, it’s safe to assume you’ve had this condition for several months. So why haven’t you confessed?”
Giyuu did not want to be talking about this, so he went for a vague answer. “It’s complicated.”
“How so?”
Giyuu dodged the question. “I’m surprised you care.”
Iguro was silent for a moment. “If you die because of this disease, I’ll kill you for choosing to die by suppressing your emotions over slaying demons.”
Giyuu recalled that Kocho had said something similar.
“Okay, but Kocho is first in line.”
“She’s been helping you?”
“Yes. A few months ago I asked her for some kind of medicine to relieve the coughing while I go out on patrol and missions. Last night it stopped working.”
“Clearly.”
They stayed quiet for a few minutes before Iguro broke the silence again. “Did you tell her who it was?”
Giyuu subconsciously held on tighter to Iguro’s shoulders. “…Yes.”
“Is there a reason why you don’t want to confess?”
“Like I said, it’s complicated.”
“Care to explain how?”
Giyuu mulled it over. He didn’t know how pushy Iguro would be if he kept evading the question, and he didn’t want to annoy him too much either.
“This person is already in love with somebody else, and the person they are in love with loves them back. Neither of them realizes that they’re in love with each other though. So like I said, it’s complicated.”
Iguro seemed to think it over. “Are you sure that they’re in love with each other? You’re not mistaking friendship for love?”
“It’s not just me, everyone knows it.”
“Everyone? So they’re corp members.”
So much for trying not to give too many details.
“I’m taking your silence as a ‘yes’.”
When Giyuu didn’t reply, Iguro continued, “I haven’t heard anything like that from any corps members. Don’t tell me they’re one of the lower ranks.”
“They’re not lower ranks. Even if they were though, it doesn’t matter. The point is that I can’t confess anyway because it's too late.”
“Then why don’t you get the surgery? I’m sure Kocho tried convincing you to consider it.”
“I don’t want to lose my memories.”
“You’ll lose your memories when you die either way,” Iguro pointed out.
“At least he won’t know that it was him who I fell in love with.”
Shit. Giyuu realized a second too late about what he said.
“He?” Iguro looked over his shoulder with his brows raised.
Even Kaburamaru turned his head to look at Giyuu and gave a soft hiss.
Giyuu tried his best to hide his beet-red face. “Don’t.”
Iguro turned his head to look back at the path.
After a few moments of silence, Iguro spoke up again. “Circling back to our earlier conversation, I somewhat understand why you think you’re not as strong as the other Hashira, but is that why you isolate yourself? Because you think you’re not worthy of being a Hashira and standing amongst the rest of us?”
Great, from one topic of conversation Giyuu wanted to avoid right to another.
“...Yes.”
Iguro sighed. “You know, that’s the reason why I hated you. You always look depressed and it irritates me. Then when you started with that ‘I’m not like the rest of you’ nonsense, Shinazugawa and I thought you had some kind of superiority complex, and it just made me hate you even more.”
Giyuu’s mouth opened before his brain could stop it. “Do you still hate me?”
Iguro huffed in amusement. “If I still hated you, would I carry you around like this?”
“I suppose not.”
Well, at least Giyuu doesn’t have to die knowing that the man he’s in love with hates him. Maybe he has a chance to become friends with him at least now.
“You’re an idiot, Tomioka.”
Giyuu frowned. “How?”
“You can’t be saying things like ‘I’m not like the rest of you’ without further context and not expect people to assume you’re being arrogant.”
With a small smile, Giyuu replied, “Noted.”
They then fell into a comfortable silence.
After some time passed, the two Hashira heard a rustling noise a short distance away.
“Do you hear that?” Giyuu whispered.
Iguro halted to a stop and whispered back, “Quiet.”
The rustling got louder and Iguro quickly moved to hide behind some bushes. He carefully set Giyuu down on the ground and left him there to survey the area.
After a few moments, Iguro came back. “It’s okay, it was just a man with a cart. Can you get on your feet?”
Giyuu pushed himself up and stood.
“Here,” Iguro said as he stood before Giyuu so he could jump on his back again.
Iguro walked to the cart and set Giyuu down on the wooden platform. He then jumped up and sat next to him.
The man who owned the cart walked up to them and looked at Giyuu’s bandaged ankle asking, “You hurt your ankle?”
Giyuu nodded.
“Don’t worry, your friend here told me about your other doctor friend who lives in that direction. I’ll do my best to travel there quickly.”
“Thank you.”
The man nodded and went back to driving the cart.
Giyuu looked at Iguro with a confused expression.
“He made all that noise, not a demon. He was heading north, so I asked him if we could hitch a ride. I told him that you sprained your ankle and that we were headed to a friend’s house who is a doctor. He insisted we go to one at a nearby village, but I convinced him just to take us north.”
Giyuu nodded.
They sat in silence for the rest of the ride, both of them barely having enough strength to stay awake.
Thankfully for Giyuu, he only coughed a couple of times, but it wasn’t enough to raise an alarm to the man giving the two a ride.
Once they got to an area close to the Butterfly Mansion, Iguro told the man they would be getting off there. After their goodbyes, the two started their hour-long walk to the mansion.
It was ten in the morning when they arrived, and they could hear a commotion coming from the backyard.
Before they could reach the front door though, Aoi already opened the door and called out to the Hashira, “Quickly, follow me!”
When Iguro got to the door, he slipped off his zori, and followed Aoi into Giyuu’s ward.
“Place him on the bed.”
Iguro went to drop Giyuu on the bed and take off his other tabi sock and zori.
Aoi began assessing Giyuu’s ankle, and he noticed that she had also brought ice to help with the swelling.
It didn’t go unnoticed by Giyuu that Iguro had slinked out of the room. He was bummed by it, but he didn’t want to seem clingy asking him to stay either.
After Aoi was finished and put a splint on the ankle, she set up a few pillows at the foot of his bed to elevate his injured ankle. She smiled to herself when she was done with her work.
Giyuu then asked, “Where’s Kocho?”
Aoi pulled up a chair and sat next to him. “She’s out right now. She told me yesterday about the letter you sent her. She said that after sunrise, she was going to buy more ingredients for your medicine. Her suppliers aren’t too far from here, so she should be here any moment now.”
He nodded.
“How’s the coughing?”
“It’s getting worse. I’ve been coughing up whole flowers more often.”
“I’ll let Shinobu-sama know when she gets here. You need to rest for now.” Aoi stood up and walked over to the nightstand. She opened a bottle, poured the liquid into a cup, and held it out to Giyuu. “To relieve the pain from your injury.”
Afterward, Aoi told Giyuu to try to sleep and left the room.
It didn’t take long for Giyuu to drift off to sleep.
.
.
.
Giyuu woke up to people talking on the other side of his room.
“Aoi mentioned something like that.”
“Do you know how much time he has left?”
It was Kocho and Iguro talking about him.
“...I don’t know.” She then took a deep breath. “ I’m worried about him. He would rather die than do anything about it.”
“He told me that you know who it is.”
“Did he now?” Kocho sounded amused.
“Is there any chance that the person could return his feelings?”
It was silent for a moment. With a bated breath, Giyuu anxiously waited for Kocho’s answer. He wanted her honest opinion of whether or not Iguro could love him back.
“I think it could be possible, but with the inclusion of Hanahaki, I’m not sure. Given the stage he’s at right now, he’s running out of time.”
He was happy at that, but he still felt terrible about Kanroji.
Another moment of silence.
“You could try to convince him to confess, Iguro-san.”
“Me? How could I? I’m not friends with him.”
“That’s why you start with talking to him. Become his friend. Trust me, if anyone can convince him to confess, it would be you.”
“And how’s that?”
“You’re the one who’s hated him all these years. Now that it’s all behind you, he’ll value your opinion.”
“I’m not going to beg him to confess.”
“You don't have to. Just nudge him in the right direction. Trust me.”
“Fine, but only because we can't afford to lose another Hashira. I still can’t believe he had the nerve to say that he wants to take out as many demons as he can before dying to this disease. He can very well prevent it if he would stop being stubborn.”
What? Giyuu didn’t recall telling Iguro about that. He only ever said it to- no. He only ever wrote it in a letter to Kocho. Did that mean Kanzaburo accidentally gave the letter to Iguro? But then Kocho replied and didn’t say a word about the mishap. Did Kanzaburo visit each Hashira until he got to the right one? No, then Rengoku and Kanroji would have paid him a frantic visit.
“Speaking of that letter, have you told him that his crow accidentally sent it to you first?”
“No.”
Kocho giggled. “Well, okay. Justify helping him however you like, just please try to become his friend.”
“Very well.”
“Thank you.”
There was a short moment of silence before Kocho spoke again. “Well, I need to check on him right now. You’re welcome to stick around and wait to talk to him afterward. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”
“I’ve been here too long.”
“Don’t be silly. Anyways, how else are you going to start becoming his friend? Go on now, I’ll fetch you when he’s ready to recieve visitors.”
“Fine.”
Giyuu heard footsteps walking away and tried his best to appear in asleep as another set of footsteps started coming near him.
“My, my Tomioka-san. Eavesdropping now, are we?”
She saw right through him.
Giyuu opened his eyes and saw that Kocho was smirking and had her arms crossed.
“It can’t be eavesdropping when you’re having a conversation right next to me.”
She hummed.
“How did you know I was awake?”
“I didn’t until Iguro-san asked if your feelings could be returned. Before I answered him, I looked over at you and noticed you holding your breath.”
Giyuu sighed. “You also never told me that he received my letter before you.”
“I didn’t want you to feel embarrassed.”
He certainly does feel embarrassed right now.
“Okay, try to sit up for me. I have Aoi making the new cough medicine for you right now, but I want to check your throat.”
After Giyuu got into a comfortable position, Kocho sat down on the chair next to him and had him open his mouth to take a look.
“Have you coughed up any thorns along with the whole flowers?” She asked after she finished.
Giyuu blanched. “Thorns?”
“Then that’s a no, which gives us a little bit more time. So are you going to confess to him now?”
“No.”
“Why not? You just heard him, he’s going to make an effort to befriend you.”
“Only because you pushed him to.”
“He could’ve said ‘no’, yet he didn’t. Maybe he really does want to make an effort, he just doesn’t want to admit it out loud.”
“I still can’t do that to Kanroji.”
Kocho chewed on her bottom lip for a few moments before she replied. “Don’t worry about her.”
“Why?”
“Just trust me.”
“Kocho.”
“Please…”
Giyuu sighed. “Okay. I trust you.”
She smiled. “I promise to explain it to you sometime. Just not now.”
“Okay.”
“Great! Now I’ll tell Iguro-san to see you, and I’ll be back with your new medicine later. First, we need to get you out of your uniform though. I’ll help you change your pants, and you can change your uniform jacket after I leave. Just place your haori and shirt on the stand here. I’ll have one of the girls get it to wash later.”
Kocho got up and took out a pair of patient wear from the drawer in the nightstand. After helping him change the pants, she neatly folded the pants and left them on top of the stand.
“After you spend some time with Iguro-san, I need you to get some more sleep, okay? You’re going to be on bed rest at least until tomorrow. I’ll also have your medicine ready by tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you.”
Kocho left, and after several minutes, Iguro entered the room. He was awkwardly standing by the door, making Giyuu use all his strength to not smile at that.
“You don’t have to stand there, you can sit next to me. I promise I won’t bite.”
Iguro rolled his eyes and went to sit in the chair Kocho had previously occupied.
“What have you been up to while I was stuck here?”
“Looking for food for Kaburamaru and Yuan. I also fed your crow.”
Giyuu smiled. “Kanzaburo. Thank you.”
“Do you know how long you’ll be staying here?”
“No, Kocho hasn’t told me yet.”
“Well, you better heal fast because I don’t want to be stuck with your Hashira responsibilities.”
“You can do it.” Giyuu tried saying it encouragingly, but he wasn’t sure if it came across that way.
“You better not be patronizing me.”
“Never.”
There was a silence that fell upon them. Iguro seemed to be trying to find a way to word whatever was on his mind.
“Is there anything you like to do when you have free time?”
It was small talk, but it warmed Giyuu’s heart. Iguro really is trying to make an effort.
“I have a garden that I take care of. Something about it makes me feel relaxed, especially watching all the plants grow. I also like playing tsume shogi.”
“How did you take up gardening?”
“The former Water Hashira had a small garden, and I decided to add a few more plants one day. After that, little by little the garden grew. And like I said, it helps me feel calm.”
“Now that I think about it, I could picture it. You-”
“MISSION!! MISSION!! HEAD WEST!! WEST, IGURO!!”
Yuan landed on the windowsill and interrupted their conversation.
Giyuu shifted in his spot. “You’d better get going.”
Iguro nodded before standing up.
They said their goodbyes, and Iguro left quickly.
Giyuu was bummed to see him go, and he went to sleep that night hoping that Iguro would visit him again.