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acacia-may · 2 years

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Take Care Of Yourself Masterlist (And Links to All Chapters)

Masterlist with Links to All Chapters of my "Take Care of Yourself" story 💙💜

Story Summary:

Aspiring Demon Slayer Giyu Tomioka is on a quest to prove himself, and he doesn't think it matters too much what happens to him in the process. When he winds up in the hospital again, however, he discovers there is someone who does.

Giyu & Shinobu's relationship through the years and an origin story of how they became friends.

Story Details:

Fandom: Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba

Genre: Friendship, Developing Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Angst

Relationships: Giyu Tomioka & Shinobu Kocho Friendship (though I suppose you could take it in a romantic way if you really wanted it to be) [A/N: This story focuses on how their relationship developed over time and how deeply and genuinely they care about each other so how you want to qualify that (platonic or romantic) is really up to you. My intention was to write about their platonic friendship, but I have been told that the final chapter could lean a little more romantic than the others(?) so warnings for that upfront...]

Characters: Giyu Tomioka (POV Character) and Shinobu Kocho. [Kanae Kocho and Sabito are mentioned but do not physically appear in this story. Sanemi Shinazugawa is briefly mentioned once in every chapter as an easter egg for my sister who loves him and encouraged me to write this story in the first place].

Rating: T for Thematic Elements (Please see "Warnings" below for more details)

Warnings: Heavy themes (i.e. grief, emotional trauma, & survivor guilt), mentions of (non-depicted) past deaths, and depiction of injuries as well as some discussion of demon slaying violence related to those injuries. Ch. 3 has some action sequences and mild, non-gory/non-graphic depictions of demon slaying. All chapters contain SPOILERS for and through Ch. 131 of the manga. Ch. 3 & Ch. 4 contain vague spoilers from and through Ch. 163 of the manga and some related foreshadowing.

Word Count: 7573 Total

Link to original post on AO3. Please do not repost to another site.

CHAPTER LINKS (TUMBLR):

CHAPTER 1 LINK

Chapter Description: Aspiring Demon Slayer Giyu Tomioka is on a quest to prove himself, and he doesn't think it matters too much what happens to him in the process. When he winds up in the hospital again, however, he discovers there is someone who does.

Chapter Specific Warnings: Chapter 1 contains spoilers through Ch. 131 of the Kimetsu no Yaiba/Demon Slayer manga so please proceed with caution if you do not want to be spoiled.

CHAPTER 2 LINK

Chapter Description: Though Giyu tries to take Shinobu's words to heart and take better care of himself, there is only so much someone can do when facing a Lower Moon. When he winds up in the hospital again, Giyu is sure he has disappointed her and waits for her lecture about how he didn’t listen to a word she had said—but it never comes. It seems Shinobu is avoiding him. Somehow this is worse…

Chapter Specific Warnings: Chapter 2 contains very specific spoilers for Ch. 131 of the manga and mentions/discusses a (non-depicted) past death. Please proceed with caution.

CHAPTER 3 LINK

Chapter Description: On yet another joint mission, Water Hashira Giyu and new Insect Hashira Shinobu face off against a formidable adversary. Shinobu insists that being out in the field with him has she finally understand how he keeps getting all of his injuries. However, as she is getting to know him better, she is becoming more of a mystery to him--buried somewhere beneath what she wants him to see and the grief she tries so desperately to keep hidden...

Chapter Specific Warnings: Chapter 3 contains some action sequences and mild, non-gory depictions of demon slaying with some non-serious/non-life-threatening injuries. Spoilers through Ch. 131 of the manga, and some vague spoilers/foreshadowing through Ch. 163 as well as mentions of a (non-depicted) past character death. Please proceed with caution.

CHAPTER 4 LINK

Chapter Description: When Giyu is injured as part of Hashira Training, he visits Shinobu for the first time in a long time. She patches him up once again--teasing him as always about taking better care of himself, but this time, there is something in her voice when she says "I'm not going to be around to patch you up forever, you know?" that gives Giyu pause and makes him wonder: if Kocho is the one who is always telling him to take care of himself, who is there to tell her the same thing? And would she even listen to them if they did?

Chapter Specific Warnings: Chapter 4 contains spoilers and foreshadowing through Ch. 163 of the manga and has an angsty ending. Apologies in advance for that.

Author's Note: This story's title was inspired by the song "Take Care of Yourself" by Maisie Peters. Links below.

Maisie Peters - Take Care Of Yourself - Lyric Video - YouTube

Thank you so much for reading! 🦋

#giyu tomioka #shinobu kocho #tomioka giyū #kocho shinobu #healthy male female friendships for the win!!#this was intended to be a friendship story but you could take it romantically if you really wanted to #so i'm going to go ahead and tag giyushino just to be safe #giyushino #demon slayer spoilers #kimetsu no yaiba spoilers #demon slayer manga spoilers #kimetsu no yaiba manga spoilers #demon slayer fanfiction #kimetsu no yaiba fanfiction #take care of yourself chapters #thank you for reading #Spotify

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acacia-may · 2 years

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Take Care of Yourself Chapter 4 (Finale)

Chapter 4 Description: When Giyu is injured as part of the Hashira Training, he visits Shinobu for the first time in a long time. She patches him up once again--teasing him as always about taking better care of himself, but this time, there is something in her voice when she says "I'm not going to be around to patch you up forever, you know?" that gives Giyu pause and makes him wonder: if Kocho is the one who is always telling him to take care of himself, who is there to tell her the same thing? And would she even listen to them if they did?

Story Description: Giyu & Shinobu's relationship through the years and an origin story of how they became friends.

Fandom: Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba

Genre: Friendship, Developing Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Angst

Rating: T for Thematic Elements (Please see "Warnings" below for more details)

Word Count: 2033 (Chapter 4) [7573 Total]

Link to original post on AO3. Please do not repost to another site.

Tumblr Links to The Previous Chapter: Chapter 3. This Chapter (Chapter 4) is the Final Chapter.

Note: This is an older story of mine, but I am posting it here to Tumblr for Shinobu's upcoming birthday (since as much as I want to write another story to celebrate my favourite Demon Slayer character, I'm afraid I will not have time this year...)

Chapter 4 below the cut. Please Note: Chapter 4 contains spoilers and foreshadowing through Ch. 163 of the manga and has an angsty ending. (Apologies in advance for that). Thank you for reading! 🦋

“Only this once” quickly turned into a recurring, regular stop at small, hole in the wall restaurants or food carts after their missions. Eating together like that was such a mundane thing, but it almost made Giyu feel normal. In his life as a demon slayer, he had very few fond memories of the regular, everyday experiences others took for granted like stopping at a tiny diner and chatting over a bowl of Udon—or, he supposed, technically Kocho did most of the talking while he listened. He sometimes wondered if she, too, appreciated the chance to be ordinary, even though he knew that even in the absence of demon slaying there was very little that was unremarkable about her. Her skills as a doctor and pharmacist, for instance, were extraordinary in their own right—especially when one was on the receiving end of her treatment, as Giyu was now.

“Hold still,” said Kocho as she stitched the gash in his arm which tensed involuntarily each time the wound was poked and prodded. Maybe that’s what she meant by ‘hold still.’ Giyu tried to make a conscious effort, but when he flinched again, she huffed, “Tomioka-san!”

“Sorry,” he mumbled. Given how many times Kocho had stitched up his wounds, he thought he should be used to it by now. Even so, it was a relief when the suture was finally complete. She huffed again.

“Shinazugawa did this to you?”

Giyu nodded but added graciously, “I don’t think he meant to. We were sparring as part of the Hashira training. Wind Breathing is rough…”

“And I bet you were spacing out again, weren’t you?” Kocho rolled her eyes but frowned at the gash in his arm and the other injuries that she had already bandaged. She shook her head. “At this rate, you won’t be in any shape to fight Muzan or the Moons.”

Giyu sighed. He didn’t think he would be in much shape to fight the remaining upper rank demons even without getting a bit beaten up by Shinazugawa’s Wind Breathing as he doubted he would be able to manifest a mark like he was sure the others would—they were so much stronger than he was. That reminded him…

“Kocho, have you participated in the Hashira training yet?”

She turned away from him and walked over to the shelves of medical supplies. “No,” she answered curtly with her back to him. “The Master has given me another task that’s kept me very busy.”

She sighed as she rummaged around in a cabinet, and her voice grew quieter though still matter-of-fact, “I doubt I could even manifest a mark anyway—my breathing isn’t like yours. I can’t…” She stopped. As Giyu expected, when she turned towards him, she had that hollow smile on her face again. “Besides, I spend all my extra time healing careless demon slayers like you. I don’t have time for any special training, and I’d prefer to save my energy for Muzan and the Moons anyway.”

As Kocho took a seat next to him, Giyu couldn’t help but wonder how much energy she had these days. She appeared more ragged each time he saw her, which had been getting less and less frequent ever since the demon activity had inexplicitly stopped and the Hashira training had begun.

He wondered if she was feeling alright—not that she would tell him or anyone if she wasn’t. Kocho was the master of the brave face—always pretending she was at her best and pushing herself to be strong for everyone around her. She looked out for others before herself without even blinking an eye. She had an unbelievable strength and resolve that Giyu still couldn’t wrap his head around—but he knew it must be a heavy burden and he couldn’t help but wonder if she was growing tired under its crushing weight.

“I think there’s only one left,” said Kocho pulling Giyu out of his thoughts. As she unspooled some bandages and began to dig through her pocket, a handful of something small and brown fell on the ground with a clatter. Giyu’s eyebrows twitched.

“Acorns?”

Kocho sighed and rolled her eyes as she bent over to pick them up. “From Inosuke. He had a nasty cut on his head that I bandaged up for him earlier today, and he gave me those for some reason...” She shook her head, but her mouth twitched into an almost-affectionate smile as she placed the handful of acorns on a nearby table. She turned back to Giyu with the gauze, he assumed, she was trying to get out of her pocket in the first place, and added with a teasing smile, “He’s almost as reckless as you are…”

"I would’ve thought he was like Shinazugawa…” answered Giyu dryly—the Wind Hashira and the boar mask boy both seemed to have the same hotheaded aggression.

“Yes, him too. The three of you are far too reckless…especially you, Tomioka-san,” glowered Kocho as she began to clean the cut on his shoulder with a huff. “Did you really get all of these injuries from sparring?” Giyu nodded.

“You need to take better care of yourself,” she scolded but her violet eyes looked tired and her weary voice started to fade as her gentle hands wrapped the gauze around his shoulder. “I’m not going to be around to patch you up forever, you know?”

Something twisted in Giyu’s chest. He turned towards her with a start. “What?”

“Tomioka-san, hold still,” she snapped in frustration—his rapid movement having unspooled her bandaging. His brow furrowed, and he stared at her as if searching the irritated expression on her pale face for the unnerving twinge he had heard in her voice.

“What do you mean?” he asked, and Kocho whipped away from him pulling the bandage tight. When Giyu flinched, she loosened her grip and sighed with a slight shake of her head.

“Nothing. I just meant…you never know what’s going to happen. I’m sure you’ve felt it too—our final battle with Muzan could happen any day now, and it would be foolish to think that we’ll all make it back from it alive and unscathed. We’re Hashira…we’ve always known we might have to make the ultimate sacrifice—it’s just part of our job and our duty. That’s all I was saying…” Her answer was calm, nonchalant, and sensical—somehow respectful to the gravity of sacrifice but dismissive of her original comment—such were Kocho’s skills of deflection. Giyu blinked, and his brow furrowed as his insides coiled.

“Kocho…” he began. “You look tired…”

“Well, you don’t look so great yourself,” she bristled as she finished bandaging his shoulder.

“Maybe you should rest,” he suggested earning an indignant glare.

“Maybe I would have time to rest if a certain airheaded water pillar didn’t keep getting himself beaten up.” She flashed him a teasing smile, but Giyu could tell she had stiffened.

With a guilty sigh, he downcast his eyes. “I’m sorry…”

“You should be,” she bantered before returning to her bandaging with, Giyu knew, no intention of continuing this conversation. He watched as her hands trembled as she wrapped his wound and noticed the dark rings under her eyes, the gauntness of her face. He couldn’t help but think that if he had looked like that, Kocho would be scolding him, ushering him into a hospital bed, and insisting ‘you need to take care of yourself.’ Something panged in his chest. Kocho was the one who had always told him to take care of himself, but who was there to tell her the same thing? And would she even listen to them if they did?

“Are you sick?” he asked surprising himself by his boldness in pressing the issue, and, he supposed, Kocho as well as her hands stopped moving for just a moment before she pointedly tilted her head.

“No, and how is that any of your business?” Giyu supposed she had a point. He wondered if he should just leave the subject alone, but the knots in his stomach made him feel queasy. He wasn’t always the best at picking up on Kocho’s deflections—wanting to take her at her word—but this time…

“Your face is pale, and your eyes are red…like you haven’t been sleeping…”

“Oh, you’re one to talk about sleeping, insomniac…” she teased, but he could see the tension in her shoulders.

“Something is wrong…” he observed or perhaps admitted aloud as his heart beat faster.

“You’re so rude, Tomioka-san,” Kocho scolded with her empty, teasing smile but her voice hitched as she stood up from her seat and turned to leave with a shaky huff. “You know, this is exactly why no one likes—” Kocho stopped. She stared at Giyu’s hand which had suddenly wrapped around her wrist.

“What…what are you?” she spluttered as her gaunt cheeks flushed pink, and Giyu swallowed hard as he felt her pulse pounding against his palm. He hadn’t meant to do that—had only meant to stop her before she left and buried his concerns somewhere on the other side of the great abyss between them, with all of the other words they left unsaid.

Kocho huffed and jerked her arm away from him, but he asked, shocked by his own boldness, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” her words tumbled rapidly as she grew visibly huffy and glared directly at him. “I told you I’m fine. Just forget it!”

“Kocho—”

“I said drop it, Giyu!”

Giyu’s mouth fell a bit slack in spite of himself as Kocho’s eyes widened in realization of what she had said. She had never called him that—not once in the many years that they had known each other. A blush crossed over her cheeks but whether it was from embarrassment or frustration, Giyu didn’t know.

She glared at him at him almost threateningly. “Please,” she gritted through her teeth. Her stormy eyes were irate and intimidating, but there was something else, something almost distraught, almost desperate. Giyu’s insides twisted. He almost wondered if he should try to stumble through an apology but couldn’t seem to find the words as he shifted under the weight of her gaze.

Seemingly shaking it off, Kocho bristled and stiffened before she gathered her medical supplies and said curtly, “All your wounds are taken care of. You can go now.” She stared at the ground and wouldn’t look at him, and when she sighed, her voice was calm almost quiet, different than the teasing banter with which she would’ve usually said the following words, “If it makes you feel better, I’ll try to get some extra sleep tonight. Okay? Happy?”

Giyu blinked at her. He didn’t know what to say, but he somehow managed a brisk nod. Kocho nodded in return, and they stumbled their way through awkward, curt goodbyes. However, when she turned to leave, something gnawed and twisted in the pit of Giyu’s stomach, a truly horrible feeling—the same one he had had when Tsutako had hidden him urging him to stay quiet or Makomo had waved goodbye before leaving for Mount Fujikasane or Sabito had run off ahead of him at Final Selection—an impending sense of dread that he was never going to see her again.

“Kocho…” he said the desperation creeping into his voice. She must’ve heard it too because she turned around to look back at him with surprise on her face.

For years later, Giyu would come back to this moment—agonizing over every detail, wondering if he had just pushed a little harder, if he had just probed a little more, asked a little more forcefully, been a little bit braver—if he had just had the courage to cross that great divide between them, between the things they shared and the things they couldn’t say, would things have been different?

But as it was, Giyu stopped on the precipice of that chasm—unable to ask the questions he so desperately wanted to ask, to say the words he so desperately wanted to say—so he said the only thing that he could, desperately hoping that the meaning would somehow reach her.

“Take care of yourself.”

#final chapter!#thank you for reading #giyu tomioka #shinobu kocho #tomioka giyū #kocho shinobu #healthy male female friendships for the win!!#this was intended to be a friendship story but you could take it romantically if you really wanted to #so i'm going to go ahead and tag giyushino just to be safe #giyushino #demon slayer spoilers #kimetsu no yaiba spoilers #demon slayer manga spoilers #kimetsu no yaiba manga spoilers #demon slayer fanfiction #kimetsu no yaiba fanfiction #take care of yourself chapters

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acacia-may · 2 years

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Take Care of Yourself Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Description: On yet another joint mission, Water Hashira Giyu and new Insect Hashira Shinobu face off against a formidable adversary. Shinobu insists that being out in the field with him has she finally understand how he keeps getting all of his injuries. However, as she is getting to know him better, she is becoming more of a mystery to him--buried somewhere beneath what she wants him to see and the grief she tries so desperately to keep hidden...

Story Description: Giyu & Shinobu's relationship through the years and an origin story of how they became friends.

Fandom: Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba

Genre: Friendship, Developing Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Angst

Rating: T for Thematic Elements (Please see "Warnings" below for more details)

Word Count: 1868 (Chapter 3) [7573 Total]

Link to original post on AO3. Please do not repost to another site.

Tumblr Links to The Previous Chapter: Chapter 2 and The Next (and Final) Chapter: Chapter 4

Chapter 3 below the cut. Please Note: Chapter 3 contains some action sequences and mild, non-gory depictions of demon slaying with some non-serious/non-life-threatening injuries. Spoilers through Ch. 131 of the manga, and some vague spoilers/foreshadowing through Ch. 163 as well as mentions of a (non-depicted) past character death. Please proceed with caution. Thank you for reading! 🦋

“Behind you!” yelled Kocho. Out of the corner of his eye, Giyu saw the swift blur of her sword and fluttering butterfly wings. A purple hue spread across a demon’s face as it toppled over.

“Thanks,” he answered as the demon he was fighting swerved, dodging his Water Wheel attack with a screech.

“Look out!” Kocho’s shoulder brushed up against his as she darted past. Butterflies seemed to swarm around her sword with each jab at the demon that had appeared to his left. They seemed to weave around his Flowing Dance attack which finally hit its mark. The demon he was fighting fell with a thud, but another immediately took its place.

Giyu huffed, “How many of these things are there?” The demon they were fighting had been powerful on its own, but just as it seemed they had gotten the upper hand, it cloned itself, creating the instant and seemingly never-ending army they had been battling for hours. Giyu had never seen a Blood Demon Art like it before.

“We have to find its real body,” called Kocho from several feet to his right. When did she get over there? Kocho was so swift and agile, he could barely keep up with her movements. There was only one other Demon Slayer Giyu had known to be that fast, and when he and Kocho had first started fighting together, he could have sworn he saw the blur of a flowery pink kimono when she had zipped past him.

His chest ached…so did his leg. He stumbled, losing his balance. The force of another the slash of the demon’s tongue flung him backwards. Crack. He caught himself with his arm.

“Tomioka-san!” Kocho shouted. She was right next to him now—a demon lunging at her only to be met with the rapid, stabbing movements of her blade. Giyu shook his head, refocusing, and jumped up. His arm throbbed from the way he had fallen on it—even so, he swung his sword at two of the encroaching demons. Kocho narrowly jumped out of the way of his Waterfall Basin practically flying to his left. Would they be fighting like this until dawn? Giyu wondered.

He swung his sword again, gritting his teeth at the pain in his arm. Water Wheel. Flowing Dance. Striking Tide. Waterfall Basin. Constant Flux. Dead Calm. Again and again as Kocho darted around him. He was beginning to wonder how long he could keep this up with his injuries. Exhaustion began to set in despite the adrenaline pumping through his veins, when the pack of demons he was fighting suddenly disintegrated.

Relieved and bewildered, Giyu turned to see Kocho standing over the one demon that remained on their battlefield—the eerie purple hue of poison spreading across its body. “I guess we’ll never be friends, then,” she said to the demon in a sing-song voice. She tilted her head and clasped her hands. For a split second, he could’ve sworn she was her older sister, Kanae,—the same butterfly haori draped over her shoulders as she stared down at the demon with a wide smile. However, Kanae’s smiles had always been warm and sympathetic whereas Kocho’s were empty and unnerving—almost as if she was unraveling.

Something twisted inside Giyu. He knew the pain of losing a sister and could only imagine how Kocho must feel, trying desperately to keep a part of Kanae alive—but a chill ran down his spine. He couldn’t help but remember that conversation they had had right before he had become the Water Hashira, that fire in her eyes as she spoke of her intense hatred of demons—so palpable it had almost frightened him. This was far worse.

Giyu shifted trying to move towards her. He winced and decided to stay put as Kocho frowned at the demon. “After everything we had heard about how powerful it was and the fact they sent two Hashira after it, I was sure it would’ve been one of the Kizuki.”

She sounded almost—Giyu couldn’t quite think of the right word—disappointed. Since she had become a Hashira, Kocho seemed to have a fixation with the Twelve Kizuki which seemed to extend beyond the normal, general hatred of demons. It was almost personal. He wondered if it had been one of the Moons that had killed Kanae, but he had never wanted to pry and ask her about it. It wouldn’t matter much if he did, Kocho was an expert in deflecting personal questions.

Even though they had been spending much more time together—teaming up on joint missions now that Kocho had become the first Insect Hashira—Giyu still felt this great space between them, between what Kocho wanted him to see and what she wanted to keep hidden. She was a very private person just as he was, but he couldn’t deny there were things that he wondered about her—often sensing that she was never showing him the whole picture. He could only hope that the part of her he couldn’t see was alright as the chasm between them seemed to grow wider and Giyu grew more wary of trying to cross it. He almost wanted to—as she wrapped herself in her sister’s haori, as she adopted Kanae’s dream of befriending the demons, as she donned her brave face and vacant smile day after day. From his own experience, he knew how much she must be hurting, but he could never find the courage to push her farther when she assured him she was okay. Even though with each passing day and each hollow smile, he could almost feel her slipping farther and farther away.

“Tomioka-san! Tomioka-san, are you listening to me?” Kocho asked pulling him out of his thoughts. Giyu blinked as she waved a finger at him—that empty smile still spread across her face. “You’re spacing out again, aren’t you? You airhead...” She tilted her head at him. “And look at you, all beat up!” Giyu sighed and gritted his teeth as Kocho picked up his throbbing arm. Her hands were gentle as she inspected it carefully, but Giyu still winced at the touch. “This arm is probably broken…”—she frowned— “again…”

And it had just healed too…thought Giyu. He was sure Kocho was probably thinking the same thing as she pulled out some bandages and tied them into a sling for his arm. “You’re lucky it’s just broken,” she scolded him. “If you’re not careful, one of these days you’re going to lose a limb.”

“Shinazugawa is more reckless than me, and he still has all of his limbs,” countered Giyu. He had been sent on a joint-mission with the Wind Hashira once, before it had become abundantly apparent that they were very ill-suited battle partners—mainly because Shinazugawa hated him…openly. Even Giyu could recognize that Shinazugawa’s fighting style could only be described as violently reckless, and he had been somewhat shocked by the notion that Kocho thought he fought with the same kind of chaotic carelessness.

“That is a miracle—he’s lucky he hasn’t gotten himself killed,” she huffed and shook her head. “You’re not much better than he is. You know being out here fighting with you, I think I understand how you’re getting all these injuries” —her brow furrowed as she motioned to his arm— “You’re too reckless and absent-minded! You need to…”

“Take care of myself,” he finished dryly. “Yes, I know. You keep saying that.” Kocho frowned at him—narrowing her eyes—but her mouth turned up just barely in the corners. It was probably the first fully genuine smile he had seen from her since she had lost her sister.

“And I’ll keep saying it until you finally get it through that thick head of yours.” She crossed her arms, and a strange look passed across her face—almost a wince.

“Are you okay?” asked Giyu leaning towards her in concern.

“I’m fine,” she said. Giyu sighed. He knew she would say that. She always said that. In the beginning, Giyu had just unquestioningly believed her, but…

“You’re bleeding,” he observed as blood dripped down her sleeve onto her hand, the ground, him. Giyu inhaled sharply—searching for the wound.

Kocho bristled looking up at the sky. “It’s fine, Tomioka-san,” she insisted as she wiped the blood off her hand, but her motion pushed up her sleeve revealing part of a nasty gash across her forearm. Without thinking, Giyu reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Does it hurt?”

Kocho huffed and swatted his hand away. “Well, it does now that you’ve put your grubby hands in it!”

Giyu recoiled—pulling his hand back and gripping it into a loose fist. He sighed. He hadn’t been thinking.

Kocho started to fidget under his concerned gaze, until eventually she looked away from him with a huff. “Fine. I’ll bandage it up, okay? Happy?” Begrudgingly, she pulled up her sleeve to her elbow and wrapped her arm. She inhaled sharply—grinding her teeth.

“I’m sorry,” Giyu mumbled in apology.

Huffing again, Kocho pulled down the sleeve of her uniform over the bandage. “It’s fine. I have a high tolerance for pain.”

Giyu nodded. She didn’t need to tell him this. He had once seen her walk nearly two miles with a broken fibula—he hadn’t even realized it was broken until Kocho collapsed from pain in the doorway of the Butterfly Mansion and her younger sister—the stern one with the two blue butterfly hairpins—had snapped at him for letting her walk on it. It was the first time he had genuinely felt that Kocho’s assertions that he was an airhead had been well-deserved. How could he have been that oblivious? he had wondered. But he had to admit, Kocho was particularly talented at swallowing pain. If Giyu was being honest, it almost worried him.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked. She rolled her eyes.

“Yes, Tomioka-san. I already said,” she sighed irritably. “If anything, I’m just tired—maybe a little hungry. I’m sure you are too after that grueling battle we just had.”

“I saw a restaurant in the town on the way in. Maybe we could go eat there while we wait for the Kakushi,” he suggested. He wasn’t feeling particularly hungry, but he thought maybe Kocho wasn’t telling him the whole truth about the extent of her injuries. He didn’t want her walking on another broken leg again. He knew he’d never be able to convince her to take the rest she probably needed, but maybe she would be open to the idea of making a small stop at a restaurant…at least she’d be sitting down for a while.

Giyu’s shoulders twitched—almost a shrug—as he added, “There was a sign out front that said they have Salmon Daikon.”

Kocho’s brow furrowed at him, and she sighed, “Alright fine. But only this once…”

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acacia-may · 2 years

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Take Care of Yourself Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Description: Though Giyu tries to take Shinobu's words to heart and take better care of himself, there is only so much someone can do when facing a Lower Moon. When he winds up in the hospital again, Giyu is sure he has disappointed her and waits for her lecture about how he didn’t listen to a word she had said—but it never comes. It seems Shinobu is avoiding him. Somehow this is worse…

Story Description: Giyu & Shinobu's relationship through the years and an origin story of how they became friends.

Fandom: Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba

Genre: Friendship, Developing Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Angst

Rating: T for Thematic Elements (Please see "Warnings" below for more details)

Word Count: 2230 (Chapter 2) [7573 Total]

Link to original post on AO3. Please do not repost to another site.

Tumblr Links to The Previous Chapter: Chapter 1 and The Next Chapter: Chapter 3

Chapter 2 below the cut. Please Note: Chapter 2 contains very specific spoilers for Ch. 131 of the manga and mentions/discusses a (non-depicted) past death. Please proceed with caution. Thank you for reading! 🦋

He made it 5 months, nearly half a year, which was a long time for him, but clearly not long enough for Kocho. While her sister had welcomed him warmly with a kind, “Giyu-san, long time no see,” Kocho had scowled in the doorway muttering “Not long enough” before taking off to another ward. Giyu supposed this was to be expected after that lecture she had given him the last time he had been here. For his credit, he had tried to take her words to heart and look after himself, but he was only human and there was only so much a human could do against a powerful blood demon art.

Though he had a very good explanation for his injuries this time, Giyu couldn’t shake the feeling he had disappointed her. He waited for her to lecture him about his recklessness again and periodically glanced over at the doorway to the ward expecting her to stomp in, cross her arms, and huff about how he didn’t listen to a word she had said—but she never did. In fact, Giyu had barely seen her at all since he had arrived. Somehow this was worse.

There were reasonable explanations of course, he told himself. She could be busy with other patients or out on a mission or making medicines. However, he couldn’t quite shake this nagging thought in the back of his mind that Kocho probably hated him.

Kanae Kocho, somehow almost superhumanly intuitive, must have known this. Earlier that day when she had come in to clean and dress his wounds, she had given him a kind, sympathetic smile and said, “Shinobu doesn’t hate you, you know? She’s just young and frustrated. Not at you of course” —she had added— “It’s just…she’s had to realize there are some things even she can’t fix.”

Giyu had tilted his head and blinked at her. Even now, he wasn’t sure what she had meant by that. He had tried not to think about it and, luckily, found distraction fairly easy as he had aches, pains, and fatigue to occupy him—but now wide awake in the middle of the night, staring at the streams of moonlight on the ceiling, it kept nagging at him.

“Is it the pain?” Surprised, Giyu turned to look at the shadowy figure of Shinobu Kocho in the doorway. “Keeping you awake…?” she added as if to clarify.

Giyu blinked at her and shrugged his shoulders slightly. The room was bright enough from the light of a full moon that he could see Kocho frown as she glanced over at his bedside table. “Didn’t you drink the water I sent for you?”

“What?” Giyu glanced over at the tray that a young girl with two blue butterfly hairpins had brought in earlier. He hadn’t touched it since she had sat it down on the table with a frown and a curt “drink this” that was somewhat familiar.

“I put an anesthetic in it,” explained Kocho crossing her arms. “It would’ve helped.”

“I didn’t know…”

Kocho huffed and handed him the glass. “Well start drinking it now. Then you need to try to get some sleep. What are you still doing up anyway?”

“What are you doing up?” he countered dryly.

An odd look Giyu couldn’t quite place passed over Kocho’s face before she frowned and answered matter-of-factly. “Making medicine for tomorrow and making sure my patients are getting enough sleep…” she added pointedly her eyes narrowing at him.

She would be up forever if she was making sure all her patients were asleep, Giyu thought. Sleep and demon slaying didn’t exactly pair well together. Giyu couldn’t remember the last time he had had a proper night’s sleep and had all but given up on it. He sighed. “I don’t sleep much on a good day.”

Kocho’s face softened. “I can make you a sedative—a nice, warm tea maybe or something stronger if you think you need it.”

“You don’t have to…” Giyu began to protest, but Kocho shook her head and turned to walk out of the doorway.

“I can’t just let you stay up all night. You’ll end up sick on top of everything else. I’ll be right back…in the meantime drink that water.”

After Kocho disappeared down the hall, Giyu sipped his water and watched the doorway wondering if in his sleep-deprived daze he had just imagined their entire conversation—until she flittered back into the room with a teacup saying, “This should help you sleep.”

Kocho handed Giyu the cup and added almost teasingly, “It can even knock out Shinazugawa-san.”

“Thank you,” said Giyu before taking a few sips of the tea. “And for the water…I hadn’t realized you sent it.”

Kocho’s brow furrowed. “You sound surprised.” She frowned. “What? Did you think I was off sulking somewhere, angry at you for getting injured again?” Giyu shifted and stared off out the window at the moon. Apparently, this was answer enough. “Alright well…I was angry—am angry,” Kocho admitted. “I told you I didn’t want to see you back here, and then you get dragged in here practically unconscious from blood loss and covered in…” She motioned to the bandages which covered bits and pieces of his arms and torso like some sort of geometric fabric pattern. “What are these? Bite marks? Scratches? Stab wounds?”

“That last one probably,” he answered matter-of-factly. “One of its attacks was like a barrage of broken glass.”

Crossing her arms, Kocho sighed. “I’ve been treating survivors for weeks now. A lot of them say they had never seen anything like it before—I guess that’s the power of a Kizuki for you.” She paused, and the hard lines of her face softened. “They’ve been telling me that they would’ve died if you hadn’t shown up—that somehow you managed to take that thing down single-handedly. They’re going to make you the Water Hashira for this you know…”

Giyu shrugged. “I don’t think they’ll make me a Hashira…”

“Of course they will,” said Kocho cutting him off. “You took down a Lower Moon. Even the people who were there can’t believe it. How’d you do it?”

Giyu stared intently at his hands and sighed. He wasn’t even really sure himself—it was all a blur, but that last blow, the final blow… “It’s a new Water Breathing form I’ve been working on. I call it ‘Dead Calm.’”

A laugh escaped from Kocho’s mouth before she caught herself. “Oh you were serious about the name?”

Giyu blinked. “I don’t understand what’s funny about it. It’s not that much different than ‘Butterfly Dance.’”

“Don’t bring my forms into this. They have much better names than ‘Dead Calm.’” She tilted her head and smiled teasingly. “Tomioka-san, you need to work on your naming preferences and your sense of humor. Especially since you’re going to be a Hashira now…you’ll probably be naming all kinds of new forms.”

“I don’t think so. It took me years to come up with this one…” Giyu sighed shifting away from Kocho. What she must think of him—struggling to come up with one measly form when she had created an entire breathing style. “And water breathing is the easiest of all the forms to learn…”

“Says the future Water Hashira…” Kocho huffed with a pointed glance that surprised him. “I tried water breathing…it is not easy. I could only ever do one of the forms…”

“The Seventh?” he interrupted seemingly startling her before she bristled.

“How did you know?” He blinked at her unsure if this was a rhetorical question or if she expected an answer. She continued filling the silence, “See, you really are meant to be a Hashira, you Water Breathing expert.”

“I’m not an expert,” Giyu sighed. “And I don’t think they’ll make me a Hashira.” They shouldn’t…he thought. Imagine a Hashira who couldn’t even pass Final Selection.

“You keep saying that, but surely you can’t be this surprised. Weren’t you a tsuguko?”

“By default…after the original was…” Giyu stopped. His throat constricted, and his chest felt tight. “He should’ve been the Water Hashira—not me.”

The air in the room suddenly changed. Kocho sighed and took a seat next to his bedside. Her voice grew quiet, gentle. “Was he a friend of yours?”

Giyu nodded. “Like a brother.” His voice didn’t waver, but it didn’t sound like his own. Something burned in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” said Kocho. “I know that sounds empty—it’s just words—but I am sorry.”

Giyu could almost feel her mood shift—a righteous anger rising in her, a fire in her eyes. He turned to look at her as she clinched her fists and her soft voice trembled, “I hate demons, and I’m sick and tired of them taking people from us. If I could take down every single one of them myself, I would.” She paused before standing up from her seat. “This is why you have to be the Water Hashira—to make them pay and to save people from having to lose someone they love just like…you did. There are lots of people who wish they could do that…but…there are some people that just aren’t strong enough to take down one of the Kizuki like you just did. That’s why you have to.” As she turned away from him and stumbled just slightly over those last few words, Giyu was suddenly aware that he didn’t know anything about why Kocho had become a demon slayer—who she had lost and was looking to avenge. He stared at her back almost blankly, far more surprised than he should have been to discover that they were so similar.

“Kocho…” he began hoping he would think of something to say, but Kocho cut him off.

“Your friend,” she asked staring out the window at the moon her demeanor softening. “What was he like?”

Giyu blinked and shifted. His voice was constricted but he somehow managed, “Brave. Strong. Honest. Selfless…he died saving everyone at our Final Selection…” The words got mangled in the back of his throat, and his voice faltered as the painful memory—the truth—of his final selection became too much to bear.

“He sounds like an amazing person—very heroic.” Kocho paused solemnly. “Someone like that—who’d sacrifice themselves—I don’t think someone like that would want there not to be a Water Hashira—especially not because of his memory. Don’t you think that if he knew how you saved everyone, how you took down one of the Lower Moons all by yourself—don’t you think he’d want this for you—would want you to be the Water Pillar?”

Giyu shifted. He couldn’t argue with that. He could almost imagine what Sabito himself would say if he was here but…”I don’t deserve it. I didn’t earn it like the others…”

“Don’t be ridiculous…” Kocho began, but Giyu interrupted.

“You heard what I said about Final Selection…I didn’t pass.”

“Tomioka-san, do you want to know how I passed final selection? I wove a basket out of bamboo leaves and collected a bunch of wisteria from the edge of the mountain. I made it into a paste and constantly coated my sword and myself in it. It repelled some demons, but most of them still tried to attack me. I was only good at that one water breathing form and it couldn’t even decapitate a demon. I survived only by jabbing at them with my wisteria dipped sword and running away while the poison prolonged their regeneration time.” Kocho huffed. “Now that eventually did evolve into my Insect Breathing, but at time, it was pretty pathetic.” She sighed. “All I’m saying is that I don’t think Final Selection was most people’s shining moment.”

Giyu blinked at her as she took her seat next to his bedside again. When he had barely begun to process what she had said, she met his eyes with a pointed intensity. “Regardless of what happened back then, you’ve earned this. The Demon Slayer Corps needs you to be the Water Hashira, and I think you’ll be a good one…if you stop acting like such an airhead and actually take care of yourself for once, that is,” she added with a tilt of her head and a flash of that teasing smile. “When you’re a Pillar, you’ll have lots of people counting on you so you will need to take care of yourself. Hopefully that will be enough motivation.”

“You…really think I’m going to be the next Water Hashira?”

Kocho raised her eyebrows. “I know you’re going to be the next Water Hashira.” She paused and crossed her arms. “But don’t get too cocky about it and start feeling invincible. I’m right behind you. I’m going to be the first Insect Hashira, and then I won’t have all this extra time to patch up the wounds you get from being reckless and absent-minded.”

Giyu’s mouth twitched, and he exhaled slightly. Kocho huffed and waved a finger at him, “I mean it, Tomioka-san.”

“I know you do,” he answered dryly his voice trailing as his vision went a bit blurry and that sedative of Kocho’s really started to kick in. His eyes felt heavy and eventually drooped shut, and Giyu fell asleep feeling lighter somehow—as if he had started to let go of a weight he didn’t even know he was holding onto.

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acacia-may · 2 years

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Take Care of Yourself: Chapter 1

Story Summary: Aspiring Demon Slayer Giyu Tomioka is on a quest to prove himself, and he doesn't think it matters too much what happens to him in the process. When he winds up in the hospital again, however, he discovers there is someone who does.

Giyu & Shinobu's relationship through the years and an origin story of how they became friends.

Fandom: Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba

Genre: Friendship, Developing Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Angst

Rating: T for Thematic Elements (Please see "Warnings" below for more details)

Word Count: 1465 (Chapter 1) [7573 Total]

Link to original post on AO3. Please do not repost to another site.

Tumblr Link to the Next Chapter: Chapter 2

Chapter 1 below the cut. Please note: This chapter contains spoilers through Ch. 131 of Kimetsu no Yaiba/Demon Slayer manga so please proceed with caution if you do not want to be spoiled. Thank you for reading! 🦋

“Ah! Tomioka-san!” exclaimed Shinobu Kocho nearly dropping the tray of medicines she was holding. “Why didn’t you call for someone when you woke up?”

Giyu shrugged. Though he could hear voices from other wards in the Butterfly Estate’s hospital, the beds on either side of his were both empty, and his broken jaw and mangled throat were not conducive to calling out loudly for help. Kocho must have realized this as well as she added hurriedly, “Don’t answer that.”

Giyu blinked at her as she steadied herself and picked up some of the vials that had tipped over in her shock. His head throbbed, and he felt a sharp pain in his left leg—it was probably broken as well.

“You’ve broken your leg and several ribs,” Kocho confirmed as she set the medicine tray on the nearby table. “Not to mention your jaw and what happened to your throat—I assume that demon tried to strangle you?”

Giyu nodded. That was one of the most vivid memories he had of his most recent battle. The rest were a hazy mess in his subconscious. Kocho nodded stiffly and took a seat on the stool at his bedside. She motioned to a thick bandage on his right arm and one on his abdomen before taking his hand and pressing her thumb to his wrist to take his pulse. “You lost a lot of blood. We gave you a transfusion, but you’ve been fighting low blood pressure for awhile now.”

“How long was I out?” he asked in a whisper so gravelly and hoarse he could scarcely believe it had come out of his own mouth.

“Two weeks,” said Kocho almost stiffly but her hands were shaking slightly as she let go of his wrist. Giyu’s eyes widened. When he had awoken weary and aching, connected to all kinds of medical instruments, he had assumed he had been unconscious for a couple of days but two weeks…?

“Did I miss anything important?”

Kocho blinked at him for a split-second before she tilted her head and flashed that teasing smile of hers, “Guess you’ll never know, will you?”

Giyu sighed slouching back against the headboard in the hopes of appeasing his broken ribs which, it seemed, strongly objected to him sitting up. His eyebrows twitched almost wincing as he shifted, and if he didn’t know better, he could have sworn Kocho’s face softened for just a moment. However, the frown which almost immediately followed suggested otherwise.

“This is the fourth time you’ve been in here in the past two months.” She huffed. “You’re almost as bad as Shinazugawa-san.”

“Who?” asked Giyu.

Kocho huffed again and rolled her eyes. “He calls himself a demon slayer but his weapon of choice is his fists. He’s in here nearly every other week. I told Nee-san we should tell him we’re not going to wrap his wounds for him again until he stops being so reckless, but she has this strange fondness for him.” Kocho rolled her eyes again as she began removing the bandages from his arm. “With how often you’re both here, I’m surprised you haven’t met each other yet.”

Giyu shrugged. In the short time that had passed since he had joined the Demon Slayer Corps, he hadn’t met many people mostly by choice and partially because of his reserved, introverted nature. The two Kocho sisters were the only other demon slayers he saw regularly, but that was only because he was constantly injured. Despite being so young, Kanae and Shinobu Kocho were talented healers who converted their home into a hospital for wounded demon slayers, and Giyu often felt he spent more time in the Butterfly Mansion being treated and rehabilitated than he spent out in the field. He supposed this Shinazugawa-san was the same.

Kocho hummed as she unspooled some of the new dressings for his arm. “I guess we do try to keep Shinazugawa-san away from the other patients. He is very disruptive and generally unpleasant.” She sighed. “But you really got yourself beat up this time—you’ll probably be here long enough to run into him.”

Frowning, Kocho picked up his arm and examined the deep gash from his shoulder to elbow. “I don’t even know how you got some of these injuries. What happened?”

“I fought a demon…” he answered dryly—tilting his head. He wasn’t sure he understood the question.

Kocho glared at him and huffed, “You acted recklessly. You can’t keep breaking the same bones and sustaining all of these injuries. Your body won’t be able to handle it.”

Giyu blinked at her. What exactly did she expect him to do? This was the Demon Slayer Corps after all.

Kocho’s movements tensed as she began to wrap his arm. He could tell she was angry, but her hands were gentle as she bandaged his wound. “Every time I see you, you’re in worse and worse shape—maimed, seriously injured—and I know it’s not because of your abilities. Everyone is talking about you. You’re very powerful. They say you’re going to be the next Water Hashira. But you run around with a wanton disregard for your life! It’s one thing to be brave and make sacrifices, but you don’t seem to care one way or another what happens to you. I can’t tell if you’re foolhardy or just an airhead.”

After a pause, Giyu replied, “I’m not foolhardy or an airhead.”

“You could’ve fooled me,” huffed Kocho pulling the bandage tightly. Giyu’s face twitched, and she loosened her grip though she glowered at him, “Why do you do this to yourself? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

Giyu shrugged. After joining the Demon Slayer Corps alone, he had felt so lost. Taking missions, defeating demons, and protecting people, almost made him feel like he had a purpose again, but he knew no matter how many demons he slayed and how high he rose in the ranks, nothing he did could ever make up for his Final Selection. In the end, he wouldn’t be able to earn his right to be here. The best he could do was protect who he could with whatever borrowed time he had left. “I’m doing my job. I don’t think it matters what happens to me.”

Abruptly, Kocho stopped wrapping his wound and stood up from her stool. Despite being so petite, she seemed to tower over him formidably. Her brow furrowed, and she clinched her fists. “Are you stupid or something?” she demanded. “Why would you say something like that? Some nonsense like it doesn’t matter what happens to you? Yes, you’re a demon slayer and you very well may have to make the ultimate sacrifice one day, but that doesn’t mean you should be so careless with your life! You joined the Corps to protect people, didn’t you? Well, what would’ve happened to those people you just saved if you weren’t there? You can’t protect anyone if you’re dead!” She paused huffing as if trying unsuccessfully to calm herself down, but she had never seemed so angry. Her words seemed to tumble out of her mouth faster than Giyu could keep up with them. “You are strong and powerful, and you have your life. There are a lot of people who can’t say that. You can’t just throw it all away without a fight! It’s not brave or noble, it’s just reckless and…and selfish!”

Giyu looked up at Kocho’s glowering face and stormy eyes. He had seen this look before. Something inside him twisted, and his chest ached. Someone he had cared about very much had used the same kind of tough love—somehow Giyu had almost forgotten. His eyes grew almost misty at the thought—Sabito probably would’ve liked Kocho.

Giyu sniffled, and Kocho’s expression faltered. She turned away from him abruptly and fidgeted. “Uh…that was a little harsh,” she said in a softer, uneven tone. She swallowed as she took her seat on the stool again. “I didn’t…” she stopped abruptly. “What I meant was…”—Her face softened just slightly—“You should take care of yourself. That’s all.”

Giyu felt something twist in the ache in his chest. He had lost so many people and had been alone for so long. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had told him to take care of himself. Something prickled behind his eyes, and his mouth just barely turned up in the corners bitter-sweetly as he choked out in a gravelly whisper, “Thank you.”

Kocho’s eyes widened, but she cleared her throat and looked away from him. “If you really want to thank me, you’ll stop being so reckless,” she said tying off the bandages on his arm. “I don’t want to see you back here for a long, long time.”

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