Muzan Kibutsuji had achieved one of his goals in his assault on Giyu Tomioka and Shinobu Koucho- he managed to incapacitate the most skilled support swordsman in the Demon Slayer Corps. Muzan aimed to impale his neck, decapitating him and killing him instantly, but Giyu was able to barely deflect the attack. Instead of cutting his head off, Muzan slashed deep into his face, making a deep gash all the way from his jaw to his forehead that went through bone. Giyu was unconscious almost instantly. However, he would soon realize that his efforts were pointless.
Shinobu Koucho stood over the collapsed Giyu, defending him ferociously with the move that they developed together. She seemed to be even more formidable of a fighter than she was before. Her breathing rate and heart rate increased, her body grew too hot for her to normally handle. "This is for Tomioka-san" was the thought she had that made her mark show up in the first place. She dashed all around, getting Giyu to safety and then joining right back in the fray. Her red-hot, poison-tipped sword was extra harmful to Muzan, as the stab wounds it inflicted would not heal quickly and the poison had more time to circulate.
The rest of the battle was much harder with Giyu incapacitated, but the Pillars managed to continue standing their ground. Tanjiro Kamado, who managed to realize a new attack while he was in a perilous situation, began to cause more trouble for Muzan than the other swordsmen. In fact, Tanjiro managed to close the distance between the two and delivered what seemed to be the last physical blow against the demon before the Sun rose. Because he was so close, as well as the fact that he was of the same ilk as the demon who conquered the Sun, Muzan tried to turn Tanjiro into a demon in his last moments, but Tanjiro's demonification was short-lived. In the end, Muzan was defeated, and demons were no more. The Demon Slayers all sustained minor injuries, and many would be bedridden, but the one who had the worst of it was Giyu Tomioka.
"Giyu, it's been a long time." Tsutako Tomioka said to her younger brother. "You haven't changed a bit." Giyu looked down at his hands. He realized he was much smaller than he was a little while ago.
"Tsutako-onee-chan, you're…" he began. Giyu was both terrified and overjoyed to see his older sister in front of him. Suddenly, he realized what he wanted to ask. "How are you here? How are either of you here?" His eyes were damp once more as he looked at the spectres in front of him.
"As much as we'd like to be the ones visiting you, it's you who is visiting us." Sabito explained. Giyu expressed visible confusion at what Sabito was trying to convey to him. "But that is not important right now. What's important is that you're here right now."
"Giyu, we've been watching over you. I'm… really sad about some things, but I'm really happy about some things." Tsutako said. Giyu looked down at the ground, ashamed of himself. He knew that she was talking about his contemplation of suicide. "There is so much that I wanted to say to you, but I couldn't. But it looks like, no matter what, someone was there to lead you down the right path."
Giyu looked back up at his older sister. She had a warm smile on her face. Sabito chimed in now. "Even after I hit you across the face, you managed to regress so far…" he said, shaking his head. "Listen up, Giyu! You better be thankful to the people around you! Especially that Butterfly Girl!"
Giyu was embarrassed now. "I've wanted to see them for so long, but now that I am, I'm only getting scolded…" he thought as his tiny fists clenched. Giyu steeled himself and said, "Tsutako, Sabito! I'm so sorry! I was just so… sad to lose you, one after the other…" Giyu realized that tears were flowing down his face once more. "I've missed you two. I've missed you two more than anything else in the world…"
Tsutako reached out a hand and patted Giyu on the head. "Giyu, never lose your drive to live." she said softly. "There are people who would risk their lives to see to your safety. Please, don't ever forget that."
"I… I forgot it. But I remembered!" Giyu said, remembering the conversation he had with Shinobu. "I have so much to live for, Demon Slayer or not! I'm… alive, and I want to stay alive!"
Sabito and Tsutako smiled at Giyu. "Then, you have nothing left to hear from us." Sabito said sadly. "Remember, Giyu. The people from your past don't want to see anything bad happen to you, but all we can do is watch. The people in your present will fight you, scream at you, remind you to keep on going. And right now, it's time for you to remember that you're in the present…"
Giyu blinked, suddenly he was tall again. He gulped back sadness. "I will see you again…" Giyu said sadly, preparing to bid farewell to his best friend and his older sister. Sabito seemed prepared to retort, but Giyu cut him off. "But for your sake and for mine, and for the sake of everyone close to me, I will never go out of my way to make that happen sooner than later…"
"Goodbye, Giyu…" Tsutako said. She didn't sound sad, she actually sounded happy. "I believe there is someone who wants to see you wake up even more than we do…"
Giyu opened his eyes, or he attempted to. In reality, he could only open one of them. Giyu was not fully aware of his injuries at the moment, but it did not take him long to realize their graveness. Giyu's face hurt, he could not see out of his right eye, and he had no left arm with which to move things around. Memories of the battle flooded back into his mind. "So we won?..." he thought as he rested his tired eyes again. "How long was I out?..." Giyu suddenly heard noise from the other side of his curtains. "Oh, wow, those Pillars are noisy…"Almost one hundred days ago…
"Emergency Pillar Meeting! Emergency Pillar Meeting! Report to the Ubayashiki Estate at once!" a Messenger Crow called out. The Pillars, excluding Shinobu Koucho and Giyu Tomioka, were all assembled. Additionally, Tanjiro Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma, Inosuke Hashibira, Kanao Tsuyuri, and Genya Shinazugawa were all invited to this meeting, since they were integral to the defeat of the Upper Moons and Muzan. Kiriya Ubayashiki held his first, and last, Pillar Meeting.
"Pillars, you have achieved the greatest feat of any group of Demon Slayers ever. You have defeated Muzan Kibutsuji, and ended the demon race. For that, you have my utmost gratitude." Kiriya bowed deeply, after which he was told unanimously to raise his head. After clearing his eyes of tears, he spoke of his final request to the Demon Slayers. "As you may know, in the battle against Kibutsuji, so many of our Demon Slayers were hurt or killed. As your final mission as Demon Slayers, I ask that you head to the Butterfly Estate and assist Shinobu Koucho and the residents in the recovery and rehabilitation of everyone there. Additionally, please pay respects to those who have fallen."
Everyone departed to the Butterfly Estate posthaste. Upon arrival, everyone was put off by Shinobu's distressed demeanor. She was working around the clock and definitely could use a break; she, already very light, seemed to have lost weight. She immediately sent everyone to work; Rengoku and Kanroji helped the Caterpillars with motivation and rehabilitation, Iguro and Tanjiro helped Aoi with cooking, and the rest helped with either manual labor or errand-running.
"Your recovery is coming along magnificently!" the booming voice of Kyojuro Rengoku exclaimed. "I bet that leg of yours will heal in no time! Now, for our next group of trainees, please follow me!" Giyu was confused as to what was happening. "Was I the only Pillar who was hurt?" he thought. He was a little embarrassed if that was the case, but he chose not to linger on that for too long.
Giyu listened around for a few extra minutes, curious to hear what kind of things he had been missing out on. He heard the hissing of a snake nearby, which meant Iguro was just on the other side of that curtain. Because Giyu could smell food, he figured that Iguro was on cooking duty. "This is monotonous…" Giyu thought. He turned in his bed, stretching his legs out. He shuddered at the feeling. "I feel so weak, was I really out for so long?"
Giyu stepped onto the cold floor of the infirmary. He was thankful that he had privacy with his curtain, as well as being in the corner of the room, because the other Pillars could not see him so weak this way. Giyu reached over to pull the curtain back after a moment, before he realized he was trying to reach with his left hand. "That's embarrassing…" he thought as he decided not to pull the curtain back at all. He just shuffled out from behind the curtains, pushing with his body instead of his arm. "Ugh…" Giyu muttered, flinching at the bright light flooding into his eye.
He got a lot of stares. A lot.
"Giyu-san!" Tanjiro said as he ran up to Giyu. He had tears running down his face. Giyu was a little taken aback, not sure how to respond to tears. He looked around the room; everywhere he looked, he saw a set of eyes staring at him in disbelief. Even Iguro and Shinazugawa, neither of whom seemed too fond of Giyu, had a relieved expression.
"Tomioka-san is back?!" Rengoku yelled as he burst into the room. He noticed Giyu standing there, in the corner of the room with Tanjiro wiping his eyes in front of him. "Tomioka-san! Thank goodness!" Kyojuro ran over to him and started talking excitedly. He talked about the battle, and how amazing Giyu had done. "In fact, several times, I was sure that I was gonna get cut, but you were right there, saving my skin! I'm certain all of the Pillars can say the same! You're a hero, Tomioka-san!"
Giyu still had not spoken a word to anyone. He glanced around. The other Pillars, Tanjiro, and other swordsmen nodded. "...You are all incredible swordsmen. All I did was support your attacks, surely I am no hero…" he said. His voice was hoarse and quiet, since he had not spoken in so long. He had to clear his throat after doing this, but the other Pillars in the room began to speak up and compliment him. Even Shinazugawa and Iguro thanked him.Giyu was unsure how to respond to everything, but he accepted their thanks. "I cannot be cold to them, not after swearing to make friends, to make the present matter to me…" he thought as he made light conversation with them. Giyu was happy, really happy. He was surrounded by a group of people who he used to feel unable to talk to, now talking with them as easily as he would Shinobu Koucho. His eyes widened. "Um… there is somebody I must see, so I will return shortly." he said as he bowed slightly, apologizing for the hasty departure.
As he was walking past her, Mitsuri Kanroji, who had just wiped her face clean of tears, nudged Giyu with her elbow. "She's been so worried about you. She's lost sleep and even skipped meals. We all thought you would die… but she was the most scared of us all." She said.
Giyu's eyes widened. "How did you know who I was going to see?" he asked.
Mitsuri smiled warmly and said, "Well, if you risk your life to save someone, it's normal that you'd want to see them after! Besides, if I was wrong, she'd still come to see you later. She checked on you every night while you were asleep." She said the first sentence dreamily, looking at Iguro for reasons Giyu could not comprehend.
Giyu thanked Kanroji and stepped out of the room. Everywhere he walked, he got stares and lots of Demon Slayers trying to talk to him. He kept having to brush them aside, politely as he could. He made sure not to be cold, so that they would not think ill of him later. Suddenly, he heard a crash come from his right side. He turned his head to see. "Tomioka...san…" Shinobu said quietly as she tried to calm herself down. Her forehead bulged with blood vessels and Giyu wondered what he could have possibly done to anger her so quickly. "Get back to your bed! Do you have any idea what sort of condition you're in right now?!" Her voice shook, but it did not sound angry. Giyu looked at her face. "Oh man…" Giyu thought.
"Please don't cry…" Giyu said. Again, he was not sure how to respond to someone crying in front of him. He backed up a little and Shinobu looked down in shame. "I'll go back to my bed, but… there is something I want to talk with you about. Please, forgive me, but I'd like to ask you to follow me."
Shinobu clenched her fists. "Typical Tomioka-san behavior… All you do is make me worry. You know, that's why nobody likes you, Tomioka-san." she said. Giyu only smiled in response, and Shinobu looked away. "Fine, I'll talk with you as long as you promise to stay in bed."
Giyu laid down in his bed and stretched his legs. "You saved me." he said, staring at Shinobu. "While my vision was fading, I saw you standing in front of me, protecting me. I owe you my life."
Shinobu clenched her fists again. "You were the one who put yourself in that perilous situation! How dare you? Do you realize how important you were in that battle, and you sacrifice yourself just to save me? Poor decision making like that is why nobody talks to you." she said. "But of course, you needed my help, as usual. How irritating."
Giyu took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Thank you, Koucho-san. Do you remember a few days ago, when you entered my home?" he asked.
Shinobu's eyes widened. "Tomioka-san, you have been in a coma for a little over three months. That night was nearly one hundred days ago. Why do you think I was so angry that you left your bed?" she explained.
Giyu paused, and a blank expression came over his face. "I was out… for almost a hundred days…" the bemused Giyu said idly. He blinked and cleared his head. "I will have to come to terms with that. However, you remember this night, correct?" Shinobu nodded, so Giyu continued. "That night, you gave me a reason to live. Your efforts have made me realize that I have a lot to live for. I have people all around me that I can talk to now, and even call 'my friends.' And you, I feel like I've neglected you in comparison. So please, Koucho-san. Will you be my friend?"
Shinobu looked downcast for a moment, then she giggled to herself. "How creepy, Tomioka-san is asking to be my friend. I feel ill from that, thank goodness I have so much help with my work nowadays. If I throw up from what you just asked, someone will be able to cover for me." she said. She giggled for a second, but her expression seemed to get more serious after this. "But Tomioka-san, as for what you said before… If you found your reasons to live, then why would you go and nearly die? It seems to me like you said this only to make me feel less worried."
Giyu did not hesitate in answering this time. "You are one of my reasons to live." he said plainly. Shinobu had a bewildered expression on her face after hearing this. "And that brings me to another topic, one that I do not feel very comfortable with myself… have you been flirting with me?"
Shinobu laughed pitifully. "How gross, Tomioka-san." she began, as if she were talking to scum. "You thought that I've been flirting with you, of all men? If you ask this simply because I didn't let you die, then you are far too presumptuous. Could it be because I told you I didn't dislike you? I can retract that statement if you want."
Giyu stared for a moment. "Well, I ask because Kanroji-san told me-"
Giyu was cut off by Shinobu's palm covering his mouth. She had a red face and a horrified expression. "Please, don't say anymore…" she gulped and sat back down, moving her hand away from his mouth. She seemed to be having an internal struggle, debating whether or not to speak. However, she decided to in the end. "...Yes, I have been flirting with you. Remember the time in the baths, when I told you that I do not dislike you? I was trying to confess to you, but you were too dense to understand." Shinobu bit her tongue, remembering how she tried to confess to him a long time ago, but she avoided bringing that time up.
Giyu was trying to process everything. "Confess?..." he thought. "So you mean…" he began, but Shinobu nodded before he could continue. "But… why me?"
Shinobu was getting irritated. She suspected that Giyu was about to talk bad about himself, but she was the only person who could do that. She stood up and turned around on her heel. "If you want my answer to your question, no, I will not be your friend. I've never wanted to be your friend, Tomioka-san." she said angrily. "Only your friend, that is…" she muttered under her breath. At this, Shinobu began to storm out of Giyu's space. She made it a few feet before Giyu grabbed the sleeve of her haori to stop her.
"Then, Koucho-san…" Giyu began. Shinobu did not turn around so he could not see the expression on her face, but she was listening intently nonetheless. Giyu thought back to the letter Kanroji sent him so long ago. "...you should really try flirting back at her!" she had written. "If you have no desire to be my friend… then, at least… can I flirt back at you?" Giyu had absolutely no experience with flirting, and this was not a good start. He cringed a little at his own words, preparing to take them back and let go of her sleeve.However, Shinobu did not give him the opportunity. She turned around and faced him, inching close to him. She stared at him for a while, seeming to get angrier by the second. "Well?" she asked. "Why is it that you ask for permission to flirt, but you don't even send a compliment my way once I give you the chance? This is why nobody likes you, Tomioka-san." Suddenly, her facade of anger broke, and she began to laugh at her expression. "Tomioka-san, I know you are slow to things such as these. I appreciate your offer, but be honest. You would have never considered saying anything like this unless Misturi-chan had brought it up." Shinobu turned around and began walking out. "If you actually want to flirt with me, then let it be because you decided to all on your own."
Giyu was left alone in his corner of the infirmary. "What the?..." he thought. He looked at his hand, the one that had just before held Shinobu Koucho's haori. When Giyu thought about it, he was even more confused. "Why did I do that?" The last time he considered flirting with her was when he was battling against Muzan, but he decided to postpone thinking about it. To act in the heat of the moment was so… un-Giyu-like. He tried to rationalize it, but he realized Shinobu was right. He never would have come to do this if Kanroji had not said anything.
Giyu pondered over everything as he laid in his bed. "So she's really been flirting with me all this time?..." he thought. It seemed surreal to him. To Giyu, it seemed that she was just trying to annoy him, poking and insulting him at any given opportunity. It was true that she seemed to talk to him more than any of the other Pillars, but that was because of Oyakata-sama's doing. More often than any other group of Pillars, Giyu and Shinobu were paired together for missions.
Giyu started to wonder how he actually felt about Shinobu. He wanted to be able to give her his decision as soon as possible. He recalled the first time they met. It was at a Pillar Meeting; she was the newest of the Pillars, but she did not strike Giyu as the powerful type. She told Oyakata-sama that she used poison to kill demons, which made sense to Giyu given her stature. However, he did not really care. As long as demons ended up dead, it did not matter to Giyu how they were killed.
A few weeks later, he was sent on a mission with her. She tried to make conversation with him, but he would not put in the effort of replying. She decided to taunt him, trying to goad him into a response, but he hardly budged. Shinobu seemed to be having a great time, running up a mountain, saying nonsense to Tomioka.
Now that Giyu thought of it, she sure was mean to him for someone who always seemed to be so happy. He scratched his head, thinking back to something Tanjiro said to him. "Shinobu-san is really nice, but she's really angry. It's a little scary sometimes…" Tanjiro had said. "If she's so nice, then why is she so mean?"
Giyu, after a sudden realization, thought he had solved the puzzle. He believed that Shinobu liked him, of all people, because she was able to be angry around him. Around anyone else, she would put on a mask, but around someone whom talking to could be comparable to talking to a brick wall, she did not need this mask. She must have found some comfort in being around him because of that, and it progressed into a fondness.
Giyu realized that this couldn't be the case. She only became angry, as Tanjiro said, after her older sister had passed away. He sighed and tried to clear his mind. If he was honest with himself, he was unconcerned about whatever reasons she had. Now, he had to think about how he felt. "Well… she's a good partner. And she takes care of me…" Giyu thought, but he knew there was more to it. "She cares about me a lot… Tsutako and Sabito said so themselves… and she helped me realize why I'm still living…" Giyu tapped the fingers of his right hand on his bedsheets. He still had to think things over.Shinobu Koucho was brand new to the rank of the Demon Slayer Corps' Pillars. Right off the bat, she was surprised by everyone else. Everyone seemed to be so… outstanding, with a personality that could fill the room, if their body didn't first (in the cases of Himejima and Uzui). Every Pillar was so… Pillar-like. That is, every Pillar except the Water Pillar. Giyu Tomioka did not strike Shinobu as anything special; he had no prominent scars, and he did not contribute to conversations more than a sentence at a time. It was like… he wasn't a Pillar.
Shinobu was wrong for thinking this, though. On her first mission with him, he displayed swordsmanship the likes of which she had never seen, even among the Pillars. He was also smart- at least when he was fighting. He could read an attack and prepare a counterattack, while making the counterattack compliment Shinobu's own attack. Giyu was unquestionably a Pillar. "So where is his charisma? His enthusiasm to slay demons, or to do anything?" Shinobu thought. To her, Giyu was an enigma.
Shinobu wanted to get to the bottom of this. Even if she could not get a reason for Giyu's coldness, she wanted to get a reaction. That was more than enough for Shinobu, who equated Giyu to an emotionless statue. So, she prodded at Giyu, insulted him, did her best to get in his personal space, all with the hopes to get some sort of reaction out of this mysterious Pillar.
After years of trying to mess with him, Shinobu's efforts bore no fruit. Every sort of response he gave (if ever he gave one) made him seem cold to the bone. Everything he did made him seem cold to the bone. Shinobu was certain that her previous notion that he was just an emotionless statue ended up being correct. She was a little disappointed, though, since she wanted to see a different side of him. "I really thought he might be more interesting than that…" she had thought.
Shinobu decided to stop prodding him as much until one day, when they ran into each other on a mission. Shinobu saw exactly what she had been searching for- a new side of him. Giyu, who made himself out to care about little other than slaying demons, had done something that showed Shinobu that he actually had a heart. A girl whose father had turned into a demon was planning on committing suicide after Giyu had slayed him. Shinobu genuinely thought Giyu would have just let her kill herself, but he subverted her expectations. "Koucho!" he called out, rushing to prevent her from doing it. He was not fast enough, but everything ended up okay. The girl's gun had failed in her attempt.
After regaining his composure, Giyu told the girl of her father's dying words. "...'Live.'" he quoted as he turned to face the other direction. He immediately tried to say that he didn't care since it had nothing to do with him, but Shinobu thought otherwise. "You can't fool me anymore, Tomioka-san…" she thought as she smiled mischievously. Ever since that day, Shinobu did not waver in trying to taunt, harass, and bully Giyu. Shinobu made a silent vow to herself. "I will see that side of you, Tomioka-san. I know it exists, and you cannot hide it from me. I will break your facade, I will pop your bubble."
Ever since that day, Shinobu Koucho's interest in Giyu Tomioka naturally progressed into something greater. It went from an interest, to a fascination, to an enchantment, to a longing. Shinobu always tried to put on a mask, though, ironically. She constantly tried to play things off as though she genuinely disliked him, and truthfully enough, she enjoyed bullying him. However, she could not deny her own feelings. One night, not too long ago, she tried to tell him. "The moon is quite beautiful tonight, isn't it?" she said as the two ran down the path. This was a traditional way to confess, but Giyu either did not know or care. She did not expect to hear anything in response, but it still hurt when he said nothing in response. It also irked Shinobu when he suddenly began to defend a female demon out of the blue, subsequently restraining Shinobu when she tried to chase the demon.
Shinobu shook her head, trying to forget about those embarrassing times. Her heart was still racing from a little while ago. "Everything is out on the table, isn't it?..." she thought. She sighed and laid back on her bed, stretching her legs. "I have nothing left that I can hide, do I?"