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nenesleepyhead · 9 minutes ago

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Doing research on Taisho period marriage recently, as well as wondering “hmm, the text isn’t totally clear, is it that a distant Tomioka relative practiced medicine, or a distant relative of the well-intentioned neighbor had a doctor relative and that young Giyuu was being brought to a total stranger?” spurred me on another AU.

So young Giyuu was peppery enough to decide that rather than being brought far away to a stranger (who perhaps would had found him crazy for saying a demon killed his sister), he’d rather take his chances in the wilderness. So let’s say this little Giyuu also realizes, “you know, I’m the oldest son. My father’s not around anymore, so that makes me the head of the family. That means Tsutako-neesan can’t get married tomorrow unless she has my permission. I’m going to go tell her fiancé he can’t have her yet!!”

And then…

Demon!Giyuu, having just transformed, is not very stable and it’s hard to keep him under control, Tsutako has left everything and finds herself running away in the mountains with him. She put a daikon muzzle in his mouth and a sheet over his head without realizing that would save his life, but she does notice he strongly prefers to keep to the shadows and is irritable during the day. The house is in shambles due to the other demon that attacked her, so she hopes that her fiancé Yamada Tarou will have faith in her that it wasn’t her choice to leave the night before the wedding.

She runs into a hunter who is a friend of Urokodaki (the one who otherwise would had rescued starving little Giyuu) and is like, “hmm, a demon. I can take you to someone who will help,” and she gratefully goes along, only to have him introduce her to Urokodaki like, “see, you need someone with a specialized weapon to take off that thing’s head and kill it good and dead, this guy make not look like it now but he’s an amazing swordsman who can do that” and as she freaks out about how that was NOT AT ALL the help she was looking for, she insists that it’s been days since he changes and he hasn’t harmed anyone by the demon who nearly killed her. Urokodaki finds this highly unusual, and decides that Giyuu seems safe enough to take this risk (and if he proves otherwise, Urokodaki is confident that he and his other student can take him on). Still, as he agrees to teach her, he warns Tsutako as sternly as he warned Tanjiro about her responsibility for her brother.

That being said, Tsutako does not have superhuman strength and not all demons can be as special as Nezuko, so as Giyuu gets hungrier and hungrier he’s harder and harder to handle. It’s as she’s taken him deeper into the forest to try to reason sense back into him before Urokodaki notices that she meets the student Urokodaki already had around. Giyuu, who has at least figured out he doesn’t want to harm the person whose blood nevertheless smells really, really, really, really nutritious to him, starts to attack that boy.

That boy’s not taking that.

Tsutako, a girl of marriageable age at least a few years older than this pompous and unfairly strong child, finds Sabito both insufferably annoying and a freakishly strong threat. Sabito accepts her as a fellow student, and accepts Giyuu so long as he keeps his promise to Urokodaki not to hurt anyone, but he’s pretty blunt toward Tsutako. It’s only for her well-being that he tells her that her fiancé must have forgotten all about her already.

And, in case my poor handwriting isn’t clear, Makomo appears to Tsutako to give her the secrets to Water Breath Technique and Girl Power. Sabito is astounded and frustrated by how fast Tsutako, who is nowhere near as strong as him, overtakes him.

Thus, Giyuu attains more coverage for his easily sunburned arms. While Giyuu does retain the heart of a 12/13-year-old boy who doesn’t yet want to let go of his only remaining family and who looks up to a hero now, he is also a demon, and has a tendency to just quietly lurk to the side of things and watch things coldly. And he’s a demon with a mind of his own, so when Tsutako and Sabito go off to the Final Selection, Giyuu snatches one of Urokodaki’s haori to drape over his head and follows them. (Urokodaki is freaked out when he realizes Giyuu’s run off and tries to cover up how nervous he is as he goes checking the village to make sure no one’s been eaten.)

Giyuu makes his way to the wisteria border, but gets frustrated at the border, but pushes his way through. This was such a horrific blow to his health that it severs his connection to Muzan. Whoops. Muzan doesn’t care anyway. For now.

Giyuu is in half-crazy shape by the time he gets to his treasured ones, who are arguing. They are freaked out that Giyuu is there at all, and wind up having to work together to keep an eye on him. That means saving him from kids like Murata, too. When Giyuu, starting to lose his mind but still wanting to protect Tsutako, winds up saving them from a demon that would had taken advantage of Sabito and Tsutako trying to explain the situation to Murata, Murata is quickly convinced. “That’s pretty unorthodox, but okay I guess,” he yells back. Sabito tells Tsutako that they should probably make it a point to find all the other kids on the mountain and explain the situation to them too, and this is how everyone winds up knowing of Sabito, who also saves a lot of those other kids in the knick of time.

When Sabito and Tsutako find themselves targeted by the Hand Demon, Tsutako gets injured and Sabito tries to save her, and breaks his sword and gets injured too. Giyuu, on the last dregs of his sanity, rushes in to help and gets injured too, and Tsutako sees that their only chance of survival is if Giyuu is strong enough to protect them until sunrise. She feeds him a bit of her blood (*gasp!!*), and Giyuu tears that demon apart enough that Tsutako and Sabito can manage to defeat it together, also breaking Tsutako’s sword in the process.

Buuuut the Final Selection isn’t over. Giyuu is much, much calmer now that he’s had some nourishment (but Sabito and Tsutako agree to keep it a secret, even from Urokodaki), and the other kids who have been rescued rally to their aid. Thus, the first ever Final Selection in which all the kids survive (and all work together by volunteering their garments to cover Giyuu from both the sun and the wisteria so as to smuggle him back out. The Ubuyashiki Clan present members can kind of tell something’s fishy, but Oyakata-sama has already gotten an emergency letter from Urokodaki explaining the Tomioka siblings’ situation and the “uhh, I let him get out, I’m sorry” bit. The unusual story of the Final Selection In Which Everyone Lived spreads around, and it already sounds like such an urban legend that anything said about a demon on their side is dismissed by regular Corp members as embellishment.

So for Tsutako’s first mission, Oyakata-sama is like, “I’m gonna send those kids to Asakusa to try to make contact with Tamayo for me.” In the meantime, while she and Sabito are recovering and waiting for their swords, Urokodaki sews together a bigger cloak of the tattered clothes Giyuu came back in, looking like a sludge demon or something with all those scraps dangling off him.

The plan is that Giyuu will stay in Urokodaki’s care now that big sis is off to go do Corp missions, but once again, Giyuu slips out to tag along with her, much to Urokodaki and Tsutako’s consternation. Tsutako, while scolding him to stay put, winds up lecturing him about how he never would had turned into a demon if he had just learned to let go of her when she was supposed to leave him before (somehow she’s figured out why Giyuu went missing that night in the first place). She also uses her Kasugai-garasu right away to send a long awaited letter to her fiancé Yamada Tarou to explain her absence and declare her intentions to return to him as soon as she can find a cure for Giyuu.

So anyway. They go to Asakusa, and Giyuu is not only very pensive around all these humans, but he’s still very, very hungry. Tsutako, not being superhuman, very quickly goes into panic-mode trying to keep him under control, and Tamayo notices and comes to their aid. And Giyuu is teetering on the edge of losing his mind with hunger, Tamayo gives Tsutako tools to safely keep him sustained with very small amounts of her blood. They also wind up in the same arrangement to collect samples to try to make a cure for Giyuu, and Tamayo likewise asks if she’ll leave Giyuu in their care (to Yushiro’s disgust, of course). Tsutako gratefully takes them up on the offer to keep Giyuu safe, but of course, Giyuu follows her anyway. Dang it, Giyuu!!!

So Tsutako accepts that Giyuu is going to be her shadow, staying to the shadows and following her in his ominous patchwork cloak during the day (but as much as possible, Tsutako tries to make it easy for Giyuu to avoid the sun). At night, when he can openly approach her, he nudges a ripped piece of flower-patterned kimono silk to her hands with the ends of his cloak. The following day, Tsutako receives a very strongly worded threat letter from Yushiro.

But no letter from Yamada Tarou… sigh.

As they go on with their missions, they of course occasionally run into Sabito, who is blowing through the ranks. He’s blunt with Tsutako as usual, and Giyuu is always very pleased to see him. Otherwise, Giyuu mildly keeps to himself except when Tsutako is alone and it’s after dark so he can openly be in her company.

But yeah, Giyuu totally steps in and helps her fight. His Blood Technique is like cutting ribbons of water, so it basically is Water Breath in an actual physical form. Most demons never see it, though, for it hits them Dead Calm style.

So anyway, one night Tsutako and Giyuu run into Rengoku-san. Rengoku-san tries to kill him, of course, but Tsutako (already injured, because the heat of battle is dramatic) steps between them in the knick of time to save Giyuu, and would had totally sacrificed herself for him had Rengoku-san not had a built-in “don’t hurt humans” mechanism that stops him just short of her neck. He orders her to move, she refuses, Giyuu the demon is right there and now threatening him back because this guy has a sword pointed at his sister, but does not take advantage of the fact that Tsutako is injured to eat her. Rengoku has a bewildering moment of “attack! But that would hurt a human, don’t attack! But that leaves the demon alive. Attack? Don’t attack? Attack? Don’t attack? Demon is growling at me, attack! Demon isn’t eating human, um??? Demon is protecting human, don’t attack???” and takes an uncharacteristically long amount of time to decide his course of action. Standing down and asking her to explain herself (but of course staying ready to react if Giyuu is up to any funny business). He listens, says frankly that he’s an extremely unusual situation and he’s never heard anything like it. He decides to give Giyuu a pass since he was protecting a human (though Rengoku was no threat to her), but warns her about her responsibility to kill her brother and herself if Giyuu ever loses control. She accepts, and they go their separate ways.

On another occasion, Tsutako encounters Kanae and Shinobu during the daytime hours, and Kanae is like, “excuse me, there appears to be a demon stalking you.” Tsutako winds up explaining the situation, and Kanae is very, very excited to meet this demon and befriend him. She beckons him over to sit in his cloak in the shade with them while they have a picnic. Tsutako and Kanae become fast friends, and Shinobu doesn’t like it but goes along with it all.

You can tell where this is going. Demon!Giyuu eventually has encounters with ALL the Pillars. One day, Himejima catches Kanae hanging out with Tsutako and helping her with a Giyuu matter, and Kanae pulls Jedi charm on him and says “You didn’t see a thing.” Which he didn’t. Because he’s blind. Himejima is so exasperated with such a bad joke that he just decides to leave her to her own devices, she’s a big girl now and can make her own poor Pillar choices.

Uzui notices the demon in the trees one day follow that one lowly Corp member, and he jumps up to go threaten that thing before lopping its head off, to tell it how nasty it is for following a girl around like that, and how he’s so drab that even Uzui almost didn’t notice his presence. The daikon takes Uzui off guard, though, so he forgets what he was going to say, and in that moment, he realizes that there is no aggression in this demon at all. He decides this is kind of interesting, because the sound of it, this demon has never even eaten a whole human. That’s interesting, so he lets him off with a threat not to get himself in trouble, and warns him that he’ll have his mice keeping an eye on him. Tsutako is completely unaware of this whole interaction.

Iguro winds up in the heat of a battle with multiple demons and multiple Corp members when he sees Giyuu, but doesn’t realize that he’s fighting on their side, so he starts going after him. Tsutako catches him right in time and winds up redirecting him with false information, which Iguro only realizes later was a lie to protect that demon. He considers going on a witch hunt for her to punish her, but he’s quickly overwhelmed by the potential interactions he’d have to open himself up to with a girl as his adversary, so he decides just to keep an eye out for her and not make the same mistake twice.

Kanroji witnesses a dramatic battle in which Giyuu fights to protect Tsutako, but is on the edge of losing himself, so Tsutako calls him back and winds up having to force himself to drink her blood, after which he clearly feels ashamed and she assures him that she’ll do anything it takes to cure him. Kanroji is so moved by their sibling love that she roots them on and vows in her heart to keep their secret, they never notice her whatsoever.

And Sanemi has had a few run-ins with him over the years. To him, Giyuu is the demon who always gets away. If Sanemi has a special vendetta against one demon in particular, it’s this one. It’s gotten under his skin so much that he aggressively guards this secret of his greatest recurring shame. (One time Tsutako created a “he went that way” diversion which Sanemi fell for so hook-line-and-sinker that he never once suspected her of anything and totally forgot about her). For whatever reason, Sanemi’s blood doesn’t have an effect on this demon, who just stands there and stares at him with those dead looking blue eyes until Sanemi makes a move on him, and this this demon practically disappears before his eyes. And AT SOME POINT this demon started stealing scraps of things that belong to Sanemi and wearing them on his cloak to taunt him. It ticks him off so much, what if someone sees those and recognizes them someday and knows how many times Sanemi has let this demon get so close and yet has always let him get away!??

So after years of Giyuu becoming like a cryptid of the Corp, Tsutako is of course the one who has the fortune of running into Tanjiro the night Nezuko turns, so that she and Giyuu can both step in and help him. She of course sends Tanjiro off to Urokodaki, and Urokodaki is relieved to find that Nezuko is a demon who sleeps and stays in one place. Once Tanjiro joins the Corp (without the added boulder delays), he uses his first chance to go seek out Tamayo according to Tsutako’s introduction, and Tamayo begins her investigation of Nezuko’s transformation. At some point, Giyuu’s cloak acquired pink hair ribbons.

And Tanjiro, having his typical luck, winds up being arrested and brought before the Pillars anyway. Oyakata-sama learned about Nezuko too, and decided he should probably bring up this one to his Pillars a little sooner this time.

And, as all the Pillars are learning of Nezuko, they’re all thinking everything from ‘oh ship, I am in so much trouble if anyone finds out I already knew about that other demon’ to ‘does anybody else know this isn’t the first time this has happened?’ to ‘why the hell is this punk letting a demon live’ and then Rengoku-san just opens his mouth and is like, “ACTUALLY, OYAKATA-SAMA, THERE IS ANOTHER DEMON LIVING AMONG THE CORP LIKE THIS TOO!!!!” and all the Pillars’ calmness collapses. As they all start freaking out like, “wait, you saw it too?? You KNOW him????” and Sanemi is just having a mental breakdown as he puts all this together, you’ve got the Water Pillar.

And just to round out this is AU with a tiny bit of a plot, Tsutako one day gets a letter from Yamada Tarou! He understands and wants her back, after all these years!

She’s ecstatic to go be reunited with her love, and heads back to her hometown. Sabito, who happens to have run into her around this time warns her that it’s too good to be true, it’s got to be someone pulling a scam on her, because that guy must have long since settled down with some other girl and had a bunch of kids already. She tells Sabito to shut up and to watch over Giyuu for her while she goes to have this reunion.

Naturally, it doesn’t go so happy. Yamada Tarou is a demon, and he’s trying to curry favor with Muzan by catching that demon who slipped out of Muzan’s control! Oh no! And while Tsutako is heartbroken she is nearly killed, but of course Sabito comes to the rescue. In some scene I don’t feel like writing, while Giyuu stands his own against this demon by unleashing the true extent of his watery Blood Technique, Sabito tends to Tsutako, gives a manly pep talk, and she comes around and admits that not only was Sabito right, but that he wasn’t always looking out for her and never meant to be so annoying. She comes in and finishes off the fight in the way that’ll make that demon feel her broken heart.

But now she can finally move on! She’d have given up her life for Giyuu that night, after all, so it’s all the same to her to live for him still.

And then Tamayo’s like, “I made meds” and Giyuu and Nezuko become human and Muzan dies and everyone lives happily ever after.

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nenesleepyhead · 9 minutes ago

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Good day Buriko-senpai. So happy to see the box open! Though first i want to say thank you so much for the analysis on characters, places, names, as well as the posibilities canon could have taken without deviating from the original as much, and the awesome drawings you have made (as well as the fanfics!! The fanfics!!), they all bring me so much joy and if i keep on throwing so much praise i might never finish– I only had one question which was about Sabito. As much as I tried to look into him, I dont know what to make of his character, since, everyone always has some sort of meaning behind their names to their characters (even the minor ones like Makomo- Truth/Pure prob because of her personality. Kanae- mostly compared with Hana- Flower. Masachika- Save and near or close in time, as in he saved sanemi before.) But Sabito has the "rust" and "rabbit" on him and i dont know what to make on that, maybe the rust part yes like, hes weak and failed, but the rabbit? Was it to represent some kind of bunny meaning? Or a rabbit story in Japan? His clothes are fine (the turtle shell pattern I feel like it was more to represent Giyuu surving through it all ngl) since they have significance, but the weird hair color also throws me off, what even is his character? He has such a cool design and i have no idea what it means ಥ_ಥ. Anyways thank you for this long rant I am really sorry it was too long! And have a nice day! Again love your tumblr its so so great !

You read my fics... you read my fiiiiiics... (◕‿◕)♡ I'm so happy I had the Ask Box open long enough for you to slip in, I'm always so happy to hear that! They are the reason for all that analysis, haha XD (The art is usually an accident because I can't stop myself.)

So... Sabito. 錆兎. Rusty Rabbit. Pyon, pyon, watch him hop around with a sword. Hmm. Not very manly.

This is one of the more difficult names to grasp, especially with him being more closely identified with the fox theme than any other character who has used a fox mask in this series. However, while you'd be hard pressed to find personal names with references to foxes, you ca-a-a-n find names using "rabbit" for its 'to' or 'u' sound, and these names generally carry an element of mystery to them. They're endearing names, but also mystical. While I started by searching for any rabbit legends or associations I hadn't heard of (the White Hare of Inaba didn't feel relevant, and associations with the moon or medicine matchmaking also felt like a stretch, though I guess there's something vaguely moon-like about Sabito?? Just for like, being mysterious? I dunno??? Does he use his Water Breath to pull tides????), and the baby name advice websites I found myself on while searching for myths and legends wound up giving me the most food for thought, as well as a few general geomancy sites that say how the Rabbit, among the Twelve Animals of the sexagenary system, is associated with vitality and leaping into action. While the most obvious Japanese folk tale is the stupid, foolhardy White Hare who got its fur bit off because it couldn't keep its mouth shut about fooling sharks, there's a general sense in other stories that rabbits are kind creatures who are self-sacrificing for how willing they are to jump into danger if it means saving someone else.

What strikes me most about the name suggestions (all analyzed either for the gentleness of the rabbit or the rabbit's bravery in leaping into action) is how many of them are paired with glittery kanji, like "bright rabbit" (a moon reference), "jade rabbit" (another moon reference), or "rabbit moon" (...yeah, a moon reference).

"Rust" flies in the face of this. Whether this is in reference to the moon in shadow, the hue of the moon at the edge of shadow, or even in reference to how Sabito's vitality has tragically ended and how he is now stuck, who knows. (Gotouge knows. I do not.)

But if we could step back to Makomo a moment... "Makomo" (真菰) is a variety of black rice not used much nowadays (though it totally thrives in water cultivation... ha!), but it had a lot of influence in the Nara and Heian periods of Japan, referenced in a lot of classic poetry and thought to have name origins in mythology. Not to make a pun here, but we'd really be getting into the Kojiki weeds on it, so suffice to say it is a medicinal, sun-associated plant also associated with vitality.

Not only that, but it's a holy plant long since used in making shimenawa, the sacred ropes at Shinto shrines--especially at Hachiman shrines, dedicated to the god of war.

Dang it, Gotouge. DANG IT, GOTOUGE, PLEASE LET ME BORROW YOUR BRAIN FOR A DAY.

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nenesleepyhead · 9 minutes ago

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That's what happens when you've got an iron will.

EDIT: I should clarify that this is a joke. It is a joke purely poking fun at a canon pattern and at our favorite Rust Rabbit.

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nenesleepyhead · 9 minutes ago

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So this clears the air--Sabito makes a roundabout acknowledgment of Giyuu feeling he did not prove himself, while also saving face for Murata, whom Sabito is grateful to. Giyuu understands Sabito's intentions, so he chooses not to argue and just do his best to accept being a Corp member. Murata also catches on to what Sabito meant, but Murata is also easy to mess with, so Sabito can't help himself with the opportunity to tease Murata by keeping his surname a secret (after Murata leaves the room, he warns Giyuu never to tell him). Murata knows what's up, so he retaliates by telling everyone who knows it to never to let Sabito know his personal name (and that is how I got around the name issue for this fun and stupid and short little fix-it AU).

So anyway, Sabito's arms got shattered when he broke the very hard neck of the Hand Demon, so he hangs out with Urokodaki during the long recovery, whereas Giyuu heals up quick and starts going on missions as soon as his sword is ready. On his first mission, he happens to take down a really, really impressive demon, and this rookie is suddenly the talk of the Corp (which Giyuu finds kinda unsettling, especially since the Final Selection shame is still fresh).

Sabito is proud of him, really--he just always thought they'd go on that first mission or two together, that's all. Sitting around and healing is making him irritable.

But he eventually does heal and they do eventually go on a bunch of missions together, as well as their own solo missions, as well as missions with Murata. Thanks to how easily Sabito cleared the air after the Final Selection, Murata is very comfortable with both of them and likes hanging out with them. The Sabito-Murata-Giyuu ranking system is an ongoing joke. At least, for Sabito and Murata it's a joke.

Yeah, it is rough to work as hard as Murata does and then have two friends like that. But if anyone can handle that and not feel his masculinity threatened, it's Murata.

And like, Murata's cultivator had to have known of Urokodaki. Maybe he even had a huge inferiority complex. Maybe Murata's cultivator has a dark and petty side, somehow taking satisfaction that at least he could train students to survive the Final Selection whereas for so many years, Urokodaki never could. That would be a very interesting angle to explore, especially for what it might say about Murata recognizing that darkness in a man he respects so much, but choosing not to carry that darkness himself. But this is a light and fun and stupid fix-it AU, there is no room for that here.

Sabito and Giyuu often train together, with Sabito never ever going easy on Giyuu, but Giyuu always seemingly effortlessly able to keep up. Sabito, recognizing that Murata is frustrated with his own limits, offers to train with him too. It is quickly apparent that the series of whacks is getting Murata nowhere, and Murata knows it, but he doesn't give up. This is why Sabito has a lot of respect for Murata. He's a man.

He's also easy to tease.

Sabito is shocked--he had no idea Giyuu was ever so close to attaining that, or how quickly Giyuu rose in the first place (Sabito of course has risen almost as quickly).

Giyuu is bashful and awkward about it, since he knows how much of a surprise it will probably come as. After all, he more or less kept his position a secret all this time. He kind of expects Sabito to be mad. Also, Giyuu believes from the very core of his being that had Sabito not injured his arms and they started going on missions at the very same time, Sabito would absolutely be the one in the Water Hashira position. Another reason that Giyuu expects Sabito to be mad.

Sabito is surprised, yes, but he wasn't exactly... mad. He's proud of Giyuu, but kind of hurt that Giyuu was so shifty about it. But anyway, he tries to congratulate Giyuu, but since Giyuu is acting like Sabito should be mad, well, it makes Sabito mad. A Hashira shouldn't be all mopey like that!

Anyway, Murata is aware of all this, he finds this breakdown of communication super awkward. He somewhat friendly, somewhat formally offers Giyuu congratulations, but then tends to hang out a bit more with Sabito (easy to hang out with a fellow non-Hashira, after all). He wants to make sure Sabito is alright (since a part of him wonders if Sabito is mad about Giyuu attaining that rank instead of him), and this provides Sabito the man-to-man opportunity to talk about his feelings and why this all feels so surprising, and kind of strange. Murata gets Sabito's side of the story about them becoming friends and training together on Mt. Sagiri, and how Sabito always felt he had to look out for Giyuu, and like he was the older/stronger/more willful/manlier one in the relationship. At some level, he always wanted to protect Giyuu, not be protected by him. (They have totally watched each other's back plenty in battle by this point.)

Murata hears Sabito out, but makes sure to push him to work things out so that he and Giyuu can be back on friendly terms. They have an important friendship--and Sabito must treasure it, for those sorts of friendships don't last long in this Corp. Plus, he's certain that Giyuu treasures it too.

Giyuu, all by himself (typical Water Hashira behavior), is really bothered by the distance he caused between himself and Sabito, and he really wants to bridge the gap. He finally gets an idea.

Giyuu had been admiring how nice it was for Kanae that she got to keep her sister around all the time for company since she was her Tsuguko, plus, it's a formal way of appointing someone with the skills to be a Hashira, so Giyuu thought that would show his respect for Sabito too. But yeah, there's still the issue of how a Hashira lords over a Tsuguko, so Giyuu totally blames himself for having insulted Sabito like that. So much for their friendship, Giyuu will just embrace being all alone, going along his Hashira duties like nothing else matters, certainly not himself...

...meh, but that doesn't last for long, because Murata helps push them along to talk things out. Giyuu immediately apologizes for having taken the Water Hashira role that rightfully should have been Sabito's. Sabito insists that Giyuu is the right person for the role, and that he has always, always acknowledged Giyuu's talent.

When Giyuu tries to insist his skills are nothing compared to Sabito's strength, Sabito stops him and insists that Water Breath takes many forms. Giyuu's finesse is like a deep, still lake that rises like a tidal wave to swallow enemies whole--it is so far beyond the average Water Breath user's gentle sprinkle of water (Murata is totally hearing all of this and not pleased).

Giyuu takes this chance to explain that he offered the Tsuguko position to Sabito because he already sees him having Hashira caliber and just wanted a reason for them to go on missions together. Sabito gives Giyuu that bittersweet smile, but says that the Tsuguko position would be wasted, for he'd have nothing to learn from Giyuu. His own Water Breath is too different, too thrashing and active to benefit from learning from Giyuu's patient style. Sabito must follow his own path.

Instead, he hopes that Giyuu will instead take great care of Murata, who surely stands to learn a great deal from Giyuu as a Tsuguko. Giyuu doesn't know what to say, but his heart leaps at the realization that he truly is a Hashira, and that even he is capable of raising a true Tsuguko.

Murata is standing beside them, gaping, for no one ever asked him his thoughts about this.

Anyway. Nobody dies. Sabito is miffed about Tanjiro moving through training so quickly with one-on-one attention from Urokodaki that is too loving and gentle so he insists that Tanjiro not go to the Final Selection until he can break the rock (which Urokodaki finds ridiculous, because that was only ever a formality, but hey, Sabito knows a thing or two about surviving the Final Selection so Urokodaki says 'fine' and leaves Tanjiro at the rock for a year). Murata never really gets that much better, but he does benefit from training with Giyuu. They're all friends forever and ever. The end.

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