Every Second is a Second Chance

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/31260911.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: M/M
Fandoms: 鬼滅の刃 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Anime), 鬼滅の刃 |
Kimetsu no Yaiba (Manga)
Relationships: Sabito/Tomioka Giyuu, Iguro Obanai/Kanroji Mitsuri, Sabito & Tomioka
Giyuu
Characters: Sabito (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Tomioka Giyuu, Kamado Tanjirou, Kamado
Nezuko, Shinazugawa Sanemi, Kochou Shinobu, Kochou Kanae,
Rengoku Kyoujurou, Himejima Gyoumei, Uzui Tengen, Tokitou
Muichirou, Iguro Obanai, Kanroji Mitsuri, Hashibira Inosuke, Agatsuma
Zenitsu
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe -
Canon Divergence, Alternate Timelines, Blood Demon Art (Kimetsu no
Yaiba), Canon-Typical Violence, Swearing, Second Chances, Spoilers,
Kimetsu no Yaiba Manga Spoilers, Sabito Lives (Kimetsu no Yaiba),
Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Collections: Time Travel and World Travel
Stats: Published: 2021-05-15 Updated: 2021-06-05 Words: 11,781 Chapters:
5/?
 Every Second is a Second Chance
by BabyDynaMight

Summary

“Giyuu?” Sabito says softly. He reaches out and barely touches Giyuu's shoulder before he
crumples.

He falls to his knees on the cobblestones and Sabito kneels in front of him, hands still out,
unsure of where to put them.

“What’s going on?” Sabito asks, pleads now, his own eyes pricking with tears that he’ll
refuse to let fall. He looks to Oyakata for help.

“Sabito, this is Tomioka Giyuu,” he says.

“I know who he is,” Sabito snaps in the harshest tone he’s ever used with the Master, but it’s
still more anguished than anything.

“He is from an alternate timeline where Muzan is victorious."

In which Giyuu lands in an alternate timeline where he died during Final Selection instead of
Sabito and they get a second chance at everything.

Notes

Hello friends! It looks like I can never finish a fic before starting a new one but have no fear,
I won't abandon anything and I'll do my best to update regularly!

This will loosely follow the manga so beware of spoilers!!! But then I'll be ripping it apart
with my bare hands :)
 Interdimensional Jetlag
Chapter Notes

Hello friends! It looks like I can never finish a fic before starting a new one but have no
fear, I won't abandon anything and I'll do my best to update regularly!

This will loosely follow the manga so beware of spoilers!!! But then I'll be ripping it
apart with my bare hands :)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Giyuu wakes up in the infirmary of the Butterfly Estate, unsure as to how he got there. Was
he injured during a mission?

Wait.

He sits up so fast his head spins and he clutches at it with one hand, surveying his
surroundings.

He’s in what looks like the Butterfly Estate, but he can’t be. The Butterfly Estate was
destroyed over a week ago, along with everyone in it. Muzan hadn’t hesitated to destroy
every estate in the compound.

He’d been fighting a demon, a powerful one, but they were all powerful now that Muzan had
conquered the sun and all demons with his blood reaped the benefits.

She’d used her blood art. Was he in an illusion? He must be. There’s no one else in the
infirmary with him, not even Shinobu. He’s wearing a yukata but his uniform is folded up on
a nearby table, along with his sword.

Slowly, he pulls the sheets back, sets his feet on the floor, makes sure it’s solid. Then,
ignoring the throbbing in his skull, stands and quickly crosses over to his sword and pulls it
out.

The world tilts but he plants his feet. He has to find a way out of this illusion. He tries
pinching himself, prying his hand away from his head and lowering it to his neck. A faint
sting, but nothing changes.

He uses his sword next, to slice his thigh open, just a scratch but he feels it sharply. But
again, nothing changes.

Then he remembers Tanjirou telling him about the train demon and how he had escaped the
dreamscape.
Giyuu raises his sword to his neck.

“Oh dear,” he hears Shinobu’s voice and he knows this is an illusion. His arm flexes with the
familiar intent to kill and everything goes black.

Giyuu wakes up in the infirmary of the Butterfly Estate - again .

He tries to sit up and finds himself tied to the bed. He looks down at his wrists blankly for a
moment. Then he realizes he’s not alone and he looks up.

Shinobu.

He chokes on a sob and closes his eyes. This is cruel. The demon should just kill him already.
He’d let her.

“You’re awake,” Shinobu says mildly. “You’re welcome.”

“For what?” he asks hoarsely.

“Giving you the opportunity to wake up again,” she says.

“You should’ve let me die,” he says.

“Hm, what a waste of a Pillar,” she muses. He’s inclined to agree with her. He keeps his eyes
and closed and says nothing. “It’s strange. If you actually were a Pillar, I would know you.”

His eyes fly open at that. Shinobu looks as unruffled as ever but there’s a tension in the line
of her mouth that tells him she’s frustrated because she doesn’t understand something.

“You don’t?” He asks hoarsely.

“Should I?”

Giyuu flounders for a moment, unsure of what’s going on now. If this were an illusion, a
product of his own mind, then Shinobu would know him. She regards him and he realizes for
the first time that she’s wary of him in a way Shinobu never was.

She’s at a distance but she’s armed in her own house, sword at her hip, and her feet are
already in a stance like Giyuu might break free at any moment. Which, he could, the straps
used to tie him down aren’t very thick and the bed frame could pull apart easily.

This isn’t Shinobu.

But somehow, it is.

He furrows his brow and looks around like he might find himself someplace new. But it’s still
the Butterfly Estate. The infirmary he found himself in too many times, especially before he
became a Pillar and Kanae still ran the house.
“Shinobu, is our patient awake yet? Oh, hello.”

Kochou Kanae walks in the door and Giyuu can only stare. This seems to immediately
aggravate Shinobu as it did whenever men would stare at her sister when they were both
alive.

But they are both alive and standing at the foot of Giyuu’s bed.

“I don’t know what’s happening,” he admits weakly.

“Then you’re even more useless than I thought you were,” Shinobu says.

“Shinobu,” her sister scolds but in her soft, fond way. She offers Giyuu a smile. One of her
eyes is darker than the other, the pupil blown wide like an ink spill and clouded, unseeing.

He recognizes the effects of the Vermillion Eye he’d seen Kanao use. But Kanae had never
used it.

“I - I’m,” he stutters then shuts his mouth and looks down at the bed. His hands clench in the
sheets until one of Kanae’s hands covers them. She’s sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling
kindly at him.

“Why don’t we start with your name?”

“Tomioka Giyuu,” he rasps out.

Neither of them show any sign of recognition.

“I don’t think I’m supposed to be here,” he says.

“No one is supposed to be in the infirmary,” Shinobu huffs. “You end up here after failing to
do your job correctly. I’ve never seen someone die from exhaustion before but you came
quite close.”

“No, I - ” He stops, takes a deep breath. He’s already strapped to the bed and they’re not
going to kill him no matter what he says. In no universe would Kanae or Shinobu hurt
someone they didn’t absolutely have to.

So he recounts how he was fighting a demon and she used her blood demon art and how he
thought it was an illusion at first and that he heard the way to free yourself from an illusion is
to kill yourself, which Shinobu scoffs at.

But then he names them. Kanae had said Shinobu’s, yes, but he knows their names, Kanao’s
name, Aoi, Sumi, Kiyo, Naho. People he hasn’t seen or met yet. When he looks up again,
both sisters are tense, but Kanae hasn’t let him go.

“Did you perform the tests?” Kanae asks.

“Yes, there’s so much wisteria in his system right now that even if he were a lower moon,
he’d be dead,” Shinobu answers.
Kanae uncovers his hand and reveals his ranking mark, sweeping a gentle thumb over the
kanji there. Hashira . She hums and undoes his restraints.

“The result of a demon blood art,” Kanae says, mostly to herself. “It would have to be an
exceptionally powerful demon.”

“To do what?” Shinobu asks.

Giyuu doesn’t know how to tell them that all demons are powerful now. Because they’re not.
Not here. Not yet.

“I believe Tomioka here is from another universe. An alternate timeline where things are the
same but a little different,” she says. “You seemed surprised to see me when I walked in.
Why is that?”

“You - you were dead,” Giyuu says and Shinobu tenses. “You both were.”

“Ah, how unfortunate,” Kanae says kindly. She pats his hand.

“Who - who else is here?” Giyuu almost chokes on the question. Can’t dare to believe that
his friends are still alive, that he actually gets them back.

He honestly can’t imagine what he might’ve done to deserve a gift like this.

“We don’t want to overwhelm you,” Kanae says and Giyuu opens his mouth to argue. “I
suspect your condition when we found you has to do with effects of interdimensional travel.”

Shinobu mutters something under her breath and cuts her gaze away. Giyuu looks between
them, unsure of how to proceed.

“Rest some more, we will speak with Oyakata-sama and proceed from there,” Kanae says.
Giyuu can only nod, immediately missing the loss of her warmth when she gets up from the
bed.

He and Kanae had never been close because Giyuu had never been close to anyone after
Sabito but she had always been kind to him. Had never mistaken his quiet demeanor as
arrogance and often invited him to the Butterfly Estate to eat because she knew he was alone
in the Water Estate.

Shinobu lingers for a moment, staring at Giyuu critically. He’s used to it, even if this Shinobu
is slightly different than the one he knew. This Shinobu had gotten to keep her sister and
grow with her. She seems annoyed, though, by his lack of cowering under her gaze.

“I suppose that interdimensional travel would be exhausting,” she says and leaves with a
huff.

A small smile comes to Giyuu’s lips, foreign but not unwelcome. That was an apology.
Giyuu is left to his own devices, even though he hears voices in the halls he never gets any
more company until Kanae comes to collect him. She informs him that Oyakata-sama is
aware of his situation and has called for a Pillar meeting.

Giyuu nods numbly and dresses in his uniform and haori. His sword is still missing.

Is it really possible that he gets a second chance?

He asks the question over and over as he follows Kanae through the Butterfly Estate,
everything looking exactly as he remembers. The path to the main manor is still the same and
they pass the Water Estate on their way there.

He expects it to be dark but the door is open like someone just walked through it. Is Tanjirou
the Water Pillar here? It would be fitting, Giyuu thinks.

They arrive at the courtyard and it’s immediately overwhelming.

Kyojurou. Sanemi. Misturi. Obanai. Tengen. Muichirou. Gyomei.

All alive and in front of him.

His chest tightens and he has to stop walking, just on the edge of the group, because he’s
suddenly not sure he can do this. Face all of them. All of the people who had died while he
had survived and he could never figure out why .

Maybe it was for this.

“Is this him?” Sanemi approaches him immediately and jabs a finger into his chest. “What
the fuck do you know? Do you know where Muzan is? Tell us.”

Giyuu can’t say anything. Can’t even open his mouth. Can only remember the last time he
saw Sanemi, broken and bleeding in the street while -

Giyuu averts his gaze and Sanemi scoffs at him. It’s so familiar that Giyuu can’t even bring
himself to be annoyed about it because he had missed Sanemi. Thorns and all.

“Pillars in your timeline must have been weaklings,” he snarls.

“Sanemi,” Kanae scolds gently. “Give him time and space. This all must be very
overwhelming for him.”

“If he knows something he should fucking say it,” Sanemi snaps back.

“We should wait for Oyakata-sama,” Misturi interjects. “He can say it then.”

“She’s right,” Kyojurou says and Giyuu has to close his eyes. He can’t hear and see them at
the same time. It’s all so much, so fast.

Oyakata-sama arrives then, announced by his daughters, and Giyuu falls to one knee out of
reflex more than anything, in between Kanae and Sanemi.
 “Hello, I’m glad to see you all here, including our new guest,” Oyakata says. “Please,
everyone, rise.”

They all get to their feet, a new and unfamiliar practice for Giyuu and he glances around to
see if anyone else thinks this is odd. They don’t.

“Tomioka Giyuu,” Oyakata says. Giyuu looks up and steps forward. He looks the same,
disease slowly creeping over his face but still so strong and patient. The cadence of his voice
washes over Giyuu and he feels it like a stream pulling grime from his skin.

“I know this must be difficult for you,” Oyakata goes on. “But as I understand it, you were a
Pillar in your own timeline, yes?”

“Yes,” Giyuu answers out loud only because he knows that Oyakata won’t see him nod.

“Then welcome home.”

Giyuu’s eyes fill with tears and he looks down at the ground again.

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble,” Oyakata says, “would you be able to tell us about what
happened in your timeline? Kanae has already told us how you arrived here.”

“I - I don’t know where to start,” Giyuu admits.

“How did Muzan win?” Sanemi demands.

“He ate Kamado Nezuko and conquered the sun,” Giyuu answered. He could do this. Relay
the facts. They had happened but not here, not now. “Almost everyone here died in the
process and demons - they’re so powerful now. They’re all on par with lower moons at the
very least, most even more. Humans are nearly extinct.”

“You survived,” Tengen says. “How?”

“Luck,” Giyuu guesses. “I should have died a dozen times over but I never did. I don’t know
why.”

“Don’t you?” Oyakata asks.

Giyuu can only open his mouth then close it again, gaping like a fish. He doesn’t know how
to respond to that.

Then a new voice rings out in the courtyard, loud and deep. Giyuu’s back goes ramrod
straight and his blood runs cold.

“Is this some kind of fucking joke?”

Chapter End Notes

Find me on Twitter!
 Ocean Eyes
Chapter Notes

After re-reading chapter one, I decided that it doesn't feel complete without chapter two
right after so have this a whole six days earlier than I was originally planning !

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Is this some kind of fucking joke?” Sabito asks. Demands. Because there’s no fucking way
Tomioka Giyuu is standing in front of him right now.

The imposter turns slowly, eyes wide, midnight blue and so, so deep Sabito remembers when
he used to fantasize about swimming in them. He looks terrified, face pale like he’s seen a
ghost when Sabito is the one -

“What the hell is going on?” He says when no one answers him the first time.

“Sabito,” Kanae is the one to speak, soft and kind as always but with a notable lack of cheer.
“Why are you so upset?”

He looks at his fellow Pillars and then at the imposter. Then at Oyakata. Then back at the
imposter.

Of course they wouldn’t know.

Tomioka Giyuu died in the final selection eight years ago.

But as the imposter stares at Sabito, unmoving, Sabito notices for the first time that he’s
older. He looks like what Giyuu should’ve looked like had he lived. Had Sabito been able to
protect him.

He's a bit taller, but he never hit a growth spurt like Sabito so he’s half a head shorter than
him. His hair is long, long enough to be tied back but still wild and dark. He’s filled out, too,
like whatever fucking blood demon art had conjured him up had reached into Sabito’s
deepest, darkest fantasies and painted a perfect picture of what he wanted most.

This has to be some sort of sick, cosmic fucking joke and Sabito honestly can’t think of what
he’s done to deserve this.

Then the imposter chokes on a sob. It’s quick and cut off but still so raw and full of pain that
Sabito takes a step forward before he realizes what he’s doing. He knows that sound. It’s the
same sound Giyuu would make when they were supposed to be sleeping but he’d had a
nightmare and didn’t want to wake Sabito.
The imposter’s hands fly up to cover his mouth, to keep the sounds at bay, bright and watery
eyes still locked on Sabito.

“What the fuck is going on?” Sanemi snaps, impatient as ever. But any and all fury Sabito
had at seeing this imposter is quickly draining out of him. He’s crying and he looks like
Giyuu and Sabito can’t take it. He never could.

He crosses the courtyard until he’s right in front of Giyuu and this close, half towering over
him, Giyuu finally averts his gaze.

It’s so utterly and completely Giyuu that Sabito can’t take it. The only way this could be the
result of a blood demon art was if Sabito himself had been targeted and he hasn’t, he knows
he hasn’t. He’d slain the demon on his mission and his blood art had been nothing like this.

“Giyuu?” he tries softly. He reaches out and barely touches his shoulder before he crumples .

He falls to his knees on the cobblestones and Sabito kneels in front of him, hands still out,
unsure of where to put them.

“What’s going on?” Sabito asks, pleads now, his own eyes pricking with tears that he’ll
refuse to let fall. He looks to Oyakata for help.

“Sabito, this is Tomioka Giyuu,” he says.

“I know who he is,” Sabito snaps in the harshest tone he’s ever used with the Master, but it’s
still more anguished than anything.

“He is from an alternate timeline where Muzan is victorious,” Oyakata goes on with his
typical calm. “How do you know him?”

“I - we both trained under Urokodaki,” Sabito answers and glances back at Giyuu who is
attempting to pull himself together, eyes still fixed on the ground. “But Giyuu died during
final selection.”

At that, Giyuu’s eyes snap back up to his. There’s an apology on the tip of Sabito’s tongue.
But if what Oyakata said is true, then in whatever timeline this Giyuu is from, Sabito hadn’t
failed. He has nothing to apologize for.

“I’m sorry.”

Giyuu is the one who says it. Sabito’s eyes go wide, hearing his voice for the first time. How
much deeper it is. How rough it is with emotion.

Then he notices the haori.

It matches Sabito’s.

Well, half of it does. The other half is the familiar maroon of Giyuu’s old haori and Sabito
knows, he knows, that wherever this Giyuu had come from, Sabito is dead there.
He doesn’t know if Giyuu has noticed yet but attached to his belt, opposite his sword, is the
fox mask that Giyuu wore during final selection. Sabito wears it every day.

It’s all so impossible and yet, they had found each other again.

Sabito grits his teeth against the tears but they still come, unbidden. He has so many more
questions. How did Muzan win? How did Giyuu survive? When is he going back? Does he
have to go back?

Now that Sabito has him, he’s certain he’ll never be able to let go. As it is, his hands are
already curling into his dumb haori, that he’s sure Giyuu sewed himself, in a white knuckled
grip.

He pulls him roughly into a hug, both of them still kneeling on the ground and Giyuu wraps
his arms around him immediately. His grip is so tight, his arms so strong, it’s hard to
reconcile this Giyuu with the scrawny thirteen year old that still lives in his head.

Giyuu buries his face in Sabito’s neck and Sabito feels his tears fall, running hot and real
down to his collarbones. Sabito hides his own face in Giyuu’s shoulder and shakes with silent
sobs.

He’s not sure how long they stay like that but when Sabito finally looks up, the courtyard is
empty.

“How are you here?” Sabito asks, voice choked with emotion. He pulls back but Giyuu’s
desperate grip doesn’t let him get far. Giyuu’s shining eyes lock on his face like he’s trying to
memorize everything in case it’s taken away in the blink of an eye.

Sabito knows the feeling.

“Blood demon art,” he says eventually. Sabito barely represses a shiver at hearing his voice
again. It’s the same and yet so different. Sabito is nearly beside himself.

“You’re okay?” Sabito asks, because he has to make sure.

Giyuu lets out a watery laugh and nods. He lets go of Sabito with one hand to wipe at his
face.

“How - how old are you?” Giyuu asks.

“Twenty one,” he answers. “You?”

“Twenty one,” he whispers, eyes wide like he still can’t quite believe it.

Infinite possibilities. Infinite timelines. And Giyuu drops into this one at this moment.

“Come home with me.” Sabito meant to pose it as a question but it comes out as a desperate
plea. Giyuu is nodding before he even finishes the sentence.
Giyuu follows him back to the Water Pillar Estate, one hand clutched in his haori like a child
the entire way there, like he’s afraid Sabito will disappear if he lets go.

Sabito doesn’t mind the reminder that Giyuu is there, alive and real and next to him.

They get there as the sun is setting, dusk lighting their small courtyard. The candles inside are
already lit, the kids must be home. Sabito hadn’t stopped by before going to the meeting.

Sabito walks through the open door with Giyuu in tow.

“Hello?” Sabito calls as they take off their shoes.

“Sabito?” Tanjirou calls. “Welcome back!”

He comes into the hall from the kitchen, holding a bowl of rice that he drops immediately
upon seeing Giyuu.

“Tanjirou?” Sabito questions. But the boy in question just stares at Giyuu like he’s seen a
ghost. A common sentiment today, it would seem. But there’s no way Tanjirou could have
known Giyuu before he died in this timeline. Sabito knew everyone that Giyuu knew.

Tanjirou shakes himself from his stupor and flings himself at Giyuu who stumbles under the
sudden weight. Sabito puts a hand on his back to steady him.

“Aren’t you dead?” Tanjirou asks, sounding half way to tears.

Giyuu looks over his shoulder and to Sabito for help but Sabito is just as lost as he is.
Tanjirou’s eyes well with tears and that’s been a common occurrence today, too.

“Tanjirou, how do you know Giyuu?” Sabito asks carefully.

“He trained me on Mt. Sagiri. When I couldn’t slice the boulder,” Tanjirou cries. “I thought
you were dead!”

At those words, Giyuu hugs Tanjirou tighter, but he says, “That wasn’t me. I’m… different.”

Tanjirou pulls back at that, eyes still wet. He looks from Giyuu to Sabito. “You don't smell
different.”

Giyuu flounders for a moment. His face is impassive but Sabito still knows him well enough
to recognize when he’s searching for an appropriate response. Maybe Tanjirou’s right, maybe
he isn’t different.

“What’s happening?” Tanjirou asks Sabito. He opens his mouth to answer but Giyuu sighs
quietly next to him, clearly tired.

“I’ll explain later,” Sabito says and puts a hand on his head. “I’m going to show Giyuu to a
room for now.”
“Okay,” Tanjirou says and extracts himself from Giyuu’s hold. “Okay, I made dinner, if
you’re hungry.”

“Thank you, Tanjirou,” Sabito says with a smile. He looks between them again, eyes
lingering on Giyuu before he nods. He takes a step back to let them pass and head down the
hall.

Sabito isn’t sure what room Giyuu stayed in, in his own timeline. Probably the one that
Sabito stays in, here. But he wouldn’t want to stay in the same room with Sabito, would he?
They used to share when they were kids but that was out of necessity and Giyuu was right,
he’s not the same Giyuu that Sabito knew, but that doesn’t mean he’s different, either.

Sabito’s head hurts.

He takes him to one of the guest rooms, the one closest to his own, just a door down the hall.

“I’m sure you know where everything is,” Sabito says as they enter, standing in the middle of
the bare bones room. The futon isn’t made up but the blankets sit at the foot of it, ready.
There’s a kotatsu in the middle of the room. That’s it.

They stand in silence for a moment. Giyuu looks around and after a moment of his silent
observation, Sabito realizes he’s looking for any differences.

“Well, if you need anything - ” Sabito turns to leave but Giyuu grabs his wrist.

It’s the first time they’ve had skin contact, he realizes, Giyuu’s long fingers wrapping around
the thin bones of his wrist. Sabito burns .

Giyuu is breathing too shallow, too fast. He’s just staring at Sabito with wide eyes, not saying
anything, like he’s expecting Sabito to know what he’s thinking. What he wants.

And Sabito does . That connection Sabito had with his Giyuu when they were kids is still
present and alive with the one standing before him now.

Giyuu doesn’t want him to leave. Doesn’t want to be alone. Doesn’t want to let Sabito leave
his sight because if he does, he might never come back.

Sabito doesn’t know what to do. He’s not even sure he’ll be able to sleep at all, too afraid to
wake up and find this had all been a dream.

“Do you know how long?” He asks. He doesn’t have to specify because Giyuu knows what
he means. Giyuu shakes his head. He lets out a hoarse, “Fuck.”

He couldn’t bear losing Giyuu again, he knows he couldn’t.

Sabito switches their grip, so he’s the one holding onto Giyuu and tugs him out the door.
Giyuu doesn’t protest. Just stumbles a bit and follows Sabito down to his room.

Sabito feels the soft skin under his calloused fingertips and feels like he might combust at any
moment. He throws the door to his room open violently and all but throws Giyuu inside. He
shuts the door behind him and they’re left in the dark, the small space lit only by the
moonlight filtering in through the window.

It illuminates the contours of Giyuu’s face and his eyes look like a night sky when they look
up at Sabito.

It’s not the same Giyuu. Sabito has to chant it over and over in his head because he looks like
Giyuu, he sounds like him, he acts like him, but that doesn’t mean they are the same.

This Giyuu might not have kissed his Sabito in his world. On the eve of final selection when
they were young and nervous - for more than one reason. It was awkward and clumsy and
they never got to do it again.

“What’s different?” Sabito asks because he has to know. Giyuu’s eyes widen slightly and he
looks around.

“I had the bed against that wall,” he says eventually. Sabito has it under the window because
he likes to be woken up by sunlight but Giyuu doesn’t, so of course he would have picked the
darkest corner.

It’s different, yet not, because that’s something that Sabito knew about Giyuu.

“Is Nezuko still a demon?” Giyuu asks quietly, still staring at the futon under the window.
Sabito can only see half his face like this.

“Yes, but she doesn’t eat humans,” Sabito answers and a small smile flickers across his face.

“I know,” Giyuu says.

“How do you know Tanjirou?” Sabito asks. Giyuu glances at him then away just as quickly.

Sabito is still holding his wrist.

He doesn’t know if he can let go.

“I found him the morning after his family had been killed by Muzan and Nezuko had turned
into a demon,” he answers. “I almost killed her but he stopped me, and when I took care of
him - she defended him. It was amazing. She was freshly turned, she should have been
starving and Tanjirou was right there for the taking but she protected him.”

Sabito’s throat closes.

In this world, that memory belongs to him.

He’d been too late to stop Muzan after he’d been sighted nearby even though he ran nonstop
for two days. He’d been the one to find Nezuko about to take a bite out of Tanjirou in the
snow. He’d been the one that Tanjirou’s axe had almost taken.

“Tell me more,” Sabito says, pleads, in his own demanding way.

Giyuu goes backwards instead of forwards and Sabito wonders if it has anything to do with
him.

“My sister was killed by a demon, she was protecting me,” he chokes out. Sabito’s grip shifts
from his wrist to his hand, no less tight.

“I know,” Sabito says softly. “It’s not your fault. It was never your fault.”

Giyuu’s eyes shine with tears again as he stares up at Sabito until he looks away. Giyuu had
always been a bit of a crybaby, Sabito wonders if he’s still like that all the time or if it’s just
the circumstances.

Sabito never cries but he came pretty damn close, today.

They proceed like that, slow, halting recounts of a shared childhood in Urokodaki’s house to
see what details line up, what’s different.

Nothing’s different. Everything is the same, Urokodaki’s tengen mask, the fox masks, the
traps they had to climb out of, the boulders they had to slice, Urokodaki complaining about
their smell, the hand demon in final selection.

Except in this world Sabito made it out alive and in the other, it had been Giyuu.

Sabito lifts a hand to Giyuu’s haori, the pattern that matches his own. They’re sitting now,
leaning side by side against the wall with their shoulders close enough to brush.

Sabito hasn’t let go of Giyuu’s hand.

Giyuu reaches with his free hand to the mask that hangs from Sabito’s belt and Sabito snorts
out a laugh.

“Only you would sew half a haori,” he says and watches, mesmerized, as Giyuu flushes.

“I just… wanted a piece of you,” he admits. Sabito knows what he means because he knows
that the other half of his haori had been his sister’s. The person Giyuu loved and admired
most in the world. And Sabito.

Giyuu’s gaze is glued to where Sabito’s hand plays with the hem of his haori. He doesn’t say
anything else. So Sabito fills the silence, telling him about what happened after he met
Tanjirou.

Giyuu nods along with a small frown on his face and Sabito wants to smooth the wrinkles
between his brows. He’ll occasionally interject when something differs. But for the most part,
once again, everything is the same.

Giyuu hadn’t mentioned the kiss before final selection but neither had Sabito.

Maybe he should have.

Chapter End Notes

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 Seaside Sunsets
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Giyuu wakes up with a frown and a stiff neck. He straightens up and it cracks immediately,
sending a little relief through his spine. Then he realizes he woke up because there’s sun on
his face and his frown deepens.

Then he remembers.

His hand tightens around Sabito’s and Giyuu turns to look at him so fast his neck cracks
again.

They’d fallen asleep talking, comparing their timelines. There’s a small wet patch on Sabito’s
shoulder from Giyuu’s drool and Giyuu flushes, embarrassed and hopes Sabito won’t notice,
it isn’t very big.

Sabito’s head is thrown back against the wall, the curve of his throat exposed and elegant and
Giyuu wants to press his face against it. His face heats at the mere thought.

Sabito hadn’t mentioned anything about their kiss before final selection so maybe it hadn’t
happened in this timeline. That’s okay, Giyuu will get over it, having Sabito back in any
capacity is a gift so great Giyuu’s still not sure he can accept it.

Giyuu tears his gaze away from Sabito’s neck, down his broad chest, slowly rising and falling
with steady breath, Total Constant, to their intertwined hands. At some point, Sabito had
locked their fingers together and his grip was strong and sure, even in sleep.

Sabito stirs a bit and then his hand tightens to a near painful degree but Giyuu doesn’t try to
move away.

One moment, Sabito is on the edge of sleep, the next, he’s wide awake and staring at Giyuu.
Their gazes lock for a moment that stretches on until Sabito heaves a sigh of relief, running
his free hand over his face.

Giyuu’s heart flutters.

“Are you hungry?” Sabito asks, voice rough with sleep. Giyuu wonders if he says no, will
Sabito agree to move into the shade and go back to sleep? But he nods.

Giyuu trails Sabito into the kitchen, which he hadn’t actually gone into the night before but
he finds it looks the same as his old one, but it’s actually been used.

Tanjirou is already up and Nezuko sits at the table, swaying back and forth, bamboo muzzle
in her mouth, surrounded by the noise of two newcomers.

“HAH? Who the heck is this guy?!”

Inosuke is immediately in his face but Giyuu doesn’t react, used to it and his posturing,
which also appears to be the same.

At this point, after all Sabito told him, he’s going to assume everything is the same until he
sees differently.

“Sit down you menace,” Sabito puts a hand on the boar’s head and shoves him back down
into a chair.

Well, something is different. The kids stay here, in the Water Pillar Estate, instead of the
Butterfly Estate and it’s because of Sabito. Giyuu hadn’t even thought to offer. Why would
they want to stay with him?

“This is Tomioka Giyuu,” Sabito tells them and steals a bowl of food from Zenitsu who is too
busy staring at Giyuu to squawk indignantly. He cocks his head to the side, listening.

“You sound funny,” Zenitsu says. For a moment, Giyuu panics, thinking he can hear Giyuu’s
feelings for Sabito. Can he? He knows he has keen ears like Tanjirou’s nose, but he doesn’t
know what that entails.

“Giyuu is from an alternate timeline, he was sent here by blood demon art,” Sabito explains
casually. He pushes Giyuu to sit in a chair and Tanjirou serves them each a bowl before
sitting down next to Nezuko.

“What’s an alternate timeline?” Inosuke demands.

“It’s like a mirror version of our world where things can be the same or different,” Tanjirou
tries to explain.

Giyuu’s still so tired, he’s not sure if he has the energy to deal with Inosuke like this. Or any
questions any of them might have. But Sabito comes to his rescue.

“It doesn’t matter,” Sabito says. “What matters is that he’s here and he’s going to help us
fight Muzan.”

Giyuu had told Sabito everything.

Sabito had sat and listened patiently when Giyuu stumbled or paused, staring a hole through
their hands.

Giyuu’s glad he told him, now someone will have at least a faint idea of what it means for
him to see all of these people again.

Breakfast passes in a blur, the kids shouting and spitting food while Giyuu sits and eats
quietly. Sabito tries to wrangle them and has more success than Giyuu ever did but they’re
still like a pack of wild animals.

The kids leave for a mission and Sabito takes Giyuu back to the main Manor. He hadn’t
gotten the chance to explain everything yesterday in the wake of seeing Sabito again and
Giyuu’s slightly embarrassed about that but grateful for the space at the same time.
This time it’s just Oyakata-sama, none of the other Pillars are present and his sword is
returned to him. They’re invited inside for Giyuu to haltingly recount what happened once
more.

He hopes this is the last time. He’s not sure how many more times he can list off all the ways
his friends died. It doesn’t matter that they’re okay here, it still hurts .

It’s midday by the time they leave the Manor and Giyuu drifts closer to Sabito. He doesn’t
take his hand again, no matter how much his fingers itch for the contact.

“Maybe if we re-introduce you to everyone one at a time,” Sabito says, “it will be less
overwhelming.”

“Okay,” Giyuu says.

“You’ve already seen the Kochou sisters so let’s go to Uzui’s and beg his wives to feed us,”
he says. Giyuu can only nod as Sabito reaches out to take his hand again and he pulls them in
the direction of the Sound Estate.

Giyuu pauses. There’s something wrong. He can’t quite pinpoint what it is but he knows
better than to ignore his instincts.

Sabito stops when he realizes Giyuu is still firmly planted where he stands. He looks back at
him.

“What’s wrong?” He asks. “If you’re tired we can just go home.”

Home.

Giyuu shakes his head to clear it but Sabito takes it as an answer.

“Then what - ”

“Where is Kyojurou?”

The Flame Estate is closer than Sound. If they were going to each of the Pillars one by one,
they should go to the Rengoku house, first.

“On a mission,” Sabito answers. Giyuu goes very, very still.

“What mission?”

“The Infinite Train,” Sabito answers. “The kids went with him. Why?”

Giyuu meets his gaze and hopes Sabito will listen.

“We have to go right now.”

There’s no more time for words, each one would only be a waste of breath.

They run.
Giyuu had been so stupid . The kids had left that morning and he hadn’t thought to ask what
their mission was. He’d told Sabito and Oyakata about the Infinity Castle, about Muzan’s
victory, but he hadn’t told them about this.

It wasn’t that he forgot, it was that he was too exhausted to recount yet another death and he
had foolishly assumed that Kyojurou was already okay like Kanae but it was stupid, stupid
because now Kyojurou is on that train and headed for death.

Humans aren’t meant to outrun trains. But he and Sabito aren’t the average humans.

Sabito’s crow follows them high in the sky, tracking their progress.

Giyuu knows where the train crashes. He never went there himself but the crows were always
detailed in the full reports so he knows and instead of trying to find the train on the tracks, he
takes them straight there.

They run through the night and as it gets later and later, Giyuu’s chest starts to burn and he
starts to fear they’ll be too late.

Then they reach the clearing, the overturned train, the civilians crawling out from broken
compartments.

A bright flash.

Kyojurou.

Without pause, Giyuu and Sabito go straight for where their fellow Pillar is locked in a battle
with Akaza. Upper Moon Three.

“Rengoku!” Tanjirou screams then gasps when Giyuu and Sabito pass him on either side.

Giyuu gets in front of a tired and bleeding Kyojurou as the demon flies in the air above them,
gearing up for another attack.

Water Breathing. Eleventh Form. Dead Calm.

With Akaza’s attack neutralized, Sabito swings next -

Water Breathing. Sixth Form. Whirlpool.

Akaza manages to dodge, surprised by their sudden appearance and no doubt displeased
about it.

Rage nearly blinds Giyuu. He’s never felt anything like it. Seeing Akaza like this, alive and
fighting after Giyuu had helped kill him enraged him like seeing Sabito had nearly broken
him.

Kyojurou is already so injured but he still fights alongside them. Against three Pillars instead
of just one, Akaza starts to go on the defensive. He’s still shouting and swearing and he
regenerates so fast.
 But the blues of their water mixes with reds and oranges of Kyojurou’s fire and paints the
night sky into a seaside sunset and Giyuu knows that they’re going to win. Kyojurou almost
killed him alone. Together, like this? They’re unstoppable.

Akaza starts to get antsy, looking toward the horizon as the sun creeps up behind the hills.

“He’s going to run!” Giyuu shouts. Akaza turns an angry glare on him and Sabito moves to
block his escape through the trees.

Water Breathing. Tenth Form -

Giyuu is hit by a powerful attack he didn’t see coming and it launches him all the way back
to the train, slamming into the metal roof of an overturned compartment.

The last thing he hears is Sabito screaming his name.

Chapter End Notes

wow, apparently I have a thing for cliffhangers... sorry guys lol

Find me on Twitter!
 Rigorous Activities
Chapter Notes

another reminder that I'm going to be absolutely decimating canon so if you don't want
manga spoilers or are precious about canon lore this fic really isn't for you

See the end of the chapter for more notes

He just got him back

He just got him back .

Sabito had killed an Upper Moon but what does it fucking matter if Giyuu dies .

Again.

He sits in a chair next to Giyuu’s bed in the Butterfly Estate, hasn’t moved since they arrived.
Tanjirou and the other kids had been cleared for training again but Kyojurou still lays in a bed
on the other side of the room.

Stupid, self sacrificing Giyuu. He really is the same person. He’d gone after Kyojurou
without a second thought when he learned what was going to become of him.

Shinobu tried to say that it wasn’t necessary. Kyojurou might’ve been successful in this
timeline and even though Sabito knew that was her form of concern, saying Giyuu put
himself at risk, had gotten himself hurt for something that might not have happened at all, it
still made his blood boil. As far as Sabito is concerned, Kyojurou is alive because of Giyuu.

It doesn’t matter what might’ve happened, or what was ‘going’ to happen in this timeline,
this lifetime. What matters now is what they make happen. With Giyuu.

If only he would fucking wake up .

Sabito shudders out a sigh, his hundredth in the past week. He takes Giyuu’s hand in his and
rests his head on the bed next to them. Maybe he’ll finally get some of that sleep Shinobu’s
been nagging him about.

“He’s incredibly powerful,” Kyojurou says. Sabito lifts his head to look at him. Kyojurou has
enough respect to not be so loud indoors but he still speaks forcefully. Sabito nods. “I owe
him my life.”

Sabito doesn’t have a response to that, can only look back down at Giyuu’s prone form on the
bed and nod again.
“You love him,” says Kyojurou and Sabito’s head snaps back up, heart pounding. Kyojurou’s
smile is teasing and bright.

“I - ” It’s not like Sabito to hesitate before speaking but he doesn’t know what to say.

“Don’t deny it,” Kyojurou says. “I saw what you did to that demon after he was hurt. I’ve
never seen you so vicious.”

Kyojurou hadn’t seen him during final selection.

“I think he will be a great asset to us here,” Kyojurou goes on as he slowly gets out of bed
and dresses. He was cleared just that morning. “I will be sure to tell the others as well.
Though, I’m sure the young ones have already seen to that.”

Sabito nearly laughs. It’s only a breath but it’s close. Inosuke hasn’t shut up about Giyuu
since the fight. It would seem Sabito’s been replaced as favorite.

Kyojurou claps a heavy hand on his shoulder as he passes. “Be sure to eat, Sabito. Your man
wouldn’t like it if he woke up and you were half withered away at his bedside.”

Sabito feels the back of his neck heat.

“Thanks, Kyojurou,” he says.

“I should be thanking you,” he says. “You’re the one who killed the demon. The first Pillar to
kill an Upper Moon in a century. It’s something to be proud of.”

Sabito doesn’t feel proud. Can’t feel anything outside of the pit of worry in his stomach that
grows everyday that goes by and Giyuu doesn’t wake up. Kyojurou leaves and Sabito is left
alone with Giyuu for the first time since his first night.

“You’re too fucking reckless,” Sabito says to his prone form. “You always were. It’s like you
don’t care what happens to you. But I care. I have to believe you came here for a reason and I
refuse to think that it was to sacrifice yourself although I’m sure that’s what you’ve gotten
into your head.

“That demon could have killed you,” he says, voice dropping to a whisper. “But she sent you
here. So stay here. Please. Stay.”

Giyuu’s hand tightens around his and he looks up at his face but it’s still smooth with sleep.

Sabito’s eyes roam over his face. Giyuu has always been so pretty and as he grew up, he only
got prettier. Long eyelashes and sharp cheekbones. Sabito wishes he would open his eyes,
they were always Sabito’ favorite thing to look at.

Eight years ago, Sabito had kissed Giyu, the love of his life, and then lost him the next day.

Sabito doesn’t plan on losing him again. Nor does he plan on hiding his feelings. This Giyuu
might not return them but it’s not something he can risk hiding until the last minute. Not
again. Sabito is a lot of things but he’s not a damn coward.
He starts debating how to do it. Straightforward and honest would be the best route,
especially given Giyuu’s tendency to purposely misinterpret things he doesn’t want to
confront. It would also make the sting of rejection easier to take, a single slice instead of a
thousand tiny cuts.

What words should he use? Love seems entirely too strong but it feels the most accurate.
Sabito loves Giyuu. He always has and he always would, any version of Giyuu he’s lucky
enough to have. He also knows that it’s a good way to scare Giyuu into retreat, something so
big and so meaningful that Giyuu wouldn’t be able to face it head on.

Giyuu would attack an Upper Moon without a second thought. But feelings? Absolutely not.

Sabito huffs out a small laugh at that. He can still remember Giyuu’s shocked expression
when Sabito said I’m going to kiss you, if that’s alright with you .

He hadn’t done much more than sit there while Sabito clumsily pressed their closed mouths
together but it was good enough for Sabito. If Giyuu didn’t want it, he would have no qualms
about punching him in the face like he had that boy from town.

He’d punched Sabito for lesser slights than kissing him.

The hand in his tightens to a near painful degree and Sabito’s gaze flies to his face. Giyuu is
awake. His eyes are closed but there are frown lines between his brows and Sabito reaches up
to smooth them away with his free hand.

Giyuu’s eyes open, wide and frightened and before Sabito can assure him that he’s okay, the
demon is dead, everyone is okay - he’s throwing himself into Sabito’s arms.

Giyuu’s grip is so strong it squeezes all the breath from Sabito’s lungs but he doesn’t dare let
go. Giyuu is half falling off the bed and into his lap so Sabito gently eases them back up onto
the bed, still wrapped in a tight embrace.

“Is…” Giyu trails off.

“Everyone’s okay, the demon is dead,” Sabito promises.

“Every time I wake up, I’m scared it was all just a dream,” he admits in a whisper.

“Then I’ll just have to be here every time you wake up,” he says without thinking. Giyuu
goes very still in his arms. Sabito can feel his breath on his neck. Too vague. Giyuu is already
over thinking. He tries to pull back just a little but Giyuu doesn’t budge.

“Giyuu,” Sabito sighs. “I want to tell you something and I’d really like to look at you when I
say it.”

He can feel the way Giyuu braces himself as he extracts himself from Sabito’s hold, looking
steadfastly down at the blankets. Sabito knows that asking Giyuu to look at him, too, would
be asking too much, so he doesn’t.
“I - ” the word gets caught in his throat. How is loving Giyuu so easy but saying it is not? At
hearing Sabito falter, Giyuu looks up. His eyes are so fucking gorgeous and Sabito loses his
train of thought.

His hand cups Giyuu’s cheek and his eyes go wide, like an ocean stretching out past the
horizon, infinite.

“I’m going to kiss you,” he says hoarsely, “if that’s alright with you.”

This time, Giyuu kisses him.

He surges forward and crashes his lips into Sabito’s. Sabito nearly falls off the bed, partly
from the force of it, partly from the shock. He recovers quickly enough, he is still a Pillar
after all, and tilts his head to slot their mouths together better.

Giyuu makes a soft, sweet noise into his mouth and Sabito’s fingers snake into his hair and
pulls. His hair is silky and runs over his knuckles like water. Giyuu’s hands fist in the fabric
of his uniform and pull him closer. Sabito nudges his mouth open and Giyuu’s next moan
tastes as sweet as it sounds.

It’s awkward, with how they’re sitting on the bed and Sabito is fully prepared to climb on top
of Giyuu in the infirmary bed and continue but then the door opens.

“You’re still here,” Shinobu says flatly. Giyuu rips away from Sabito in surprise and Sabito
mourns the loss. They’re both breathing heavily but Giyuu buries his face in Sabito’s
shoulder to try and hide it.

Sabito doesn’t turn to look at Shinobu, just snaps, “Can I help you?

“Can you perform a concussion test?”

Sabito’s jaw clenches. “No.”

“Can you properly grind and mix the herbs for the medicine he’ll need to ingest orally?”

“No.”

“Can you accurately check for signs of paralysis or spinal cord damage?”

“No.”

“Then it would seem that you cannot help me,” she says. “Move.”

Sabito is a little hurt by how quickly Giyuu lets him go. But then he looks at his slightly
flushed face and his sparkling eyes and knows that Giyuu is far more responsible than Sabito
but just as needy.

The sooner they get this over with, the sooner they can get back to doing… other things.
“I’m going to the Estate,” Sabito tells him. Giyuu nods. He hesitates, still unwilling to part
with Giyuu. They’re not touching anymore but Sabito can feel Giyuu’s presence around him
like the physical weight of a comforting blanket.

“Go then,” Shinobu huffs. Sabito scowls at her and stands from the bed. Giyuu’s eyes follow
him out.

Giyuu watches Sabito leave and feels the ache in his chest immediately. But that could also
be Shinobu prodding at his ribs with unforgiving fingers. He resists the urge to flinch because
it’s bad enough he’s ended up in the infirmary twice in the short time he’s been there. If he
starts being a baby about treatment, Shinobu will never let him live it down.

He obediently moves every way he’s told and Shinobu works in silence until - “I’d like to ask
you a question.”

Giyuu looks at her expectantly.

“My sister… how did she die?” It’s a fruitless question, especially since that time has already
passed in this world and there’s nothing to be done about it.

“She was killed by an Upper Moon,” he tells her. Shinobu stares at him, her capable hands
pausing their treatment before slowly curling into fists. “Did that happen?”

“She was on a mission,” she says coolly, clipped, and Giyuu recognizes it from how he’d
described the events of the infinity castle to Oyakata. “She wasn’t far but she was alone. It
wasn’t supposed to be an Upper Moon. I was already with Sabito when the crow came, here
in fact, in the infirmary. He was injured from his last mission but he went without a second
thought. Even injured, he was still faster than me.

“He didn’t kill him, obviously, but he held him off until sunrise, and that was enough,” she
says and Giyuu hears the gratitude in her words even if she’d never say them out loud.
“You’re telling me that’s how she died? We didn’t get to her in time?”

“There was no Sabito in my world,” he says. Giyuu should have known from the start that
Sabito would affect his whole world like this. The world always did bend to him, not the
other way around.

Shinobu’s hands unclench with considerable effort then clench again.

“Well then, it’s a good thing we have both of you now,” Shinobu says and puts her back to
him while she shuffles some things around. Giyuu hears the compliment for what it is but he
can’t accept it. He failed.

“It’s just him,” Giyuu says quietly.

“Tch,” she clicks her tongue and turns back around, visibly exasperated. “Without you, how
would Sabito have slayed that Upper Moon? He wasn’t even going to be there.”
Giyuu doesn’t have anything to say to that. She rolls her eyes at him and it’s comforting in its
familiarity.

“Now, grind these together and take them once a day, you can take it with tea to dull the taste.
Your spine is still in one piece but you have severe bruising on your back and while your ribs
have mostly healed, they are still tender so no rigorous training,” she hands him the herbs and
then adds, “or other rigorous activities.”

The blush is sudden and fierce and Giyuu looks down at his hands. The phantom sensation of
Sabito’s kiss is still on his lips and he resists the urge to touch them.

I’m going to kiss you, if that’s alright with you.

Giyuu has trouble with the warring feelings of yearning and heartache from all those years
ago battling against the warmth and affection he feels now. But it’s alright. It’s more than
alright. His second kiss with Sabito, his second kiss ever and Giyuu already burns for more.

Shinobu hands him a vial of clear fluid.

“What’s this?” he asks, pulling himself from thoughts of Sabito, kissing, and other rigorous
activities. She raises an eyebrow at him. “Oh.” His face is up in flames but he just adds the
vial to the little pile of supplies Shinobu has already given him. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she says primly. “You’re free to leave when you feel up to it. I can always
call Sabito back, if you’d like.”

“I can manage,” he says and slowly starts to get out of bed. He dresses slowly, gingerly in his
own clothes and gathers his supplies before thanking Shinobu again.

“Remember, no rigorous activities!” She calls after him and he ducks his head.

Giyuu makes his way back to the Water Pillar Estate. It’s warm and bright outside with the
promises of a beautiful sunset teasing the horizon line.

Kyojurou’s alive. Sabito had kissed him. Things are better than Giyuu would have ever dared
imagine. He finds himself smiling.

“Oi,” a familiar snap. Giyuu stops walking and looks over to where Sanemi is stalking up to
him, coming from the direction of the Wind Estate. “I have some fucking questions for you.”

Giyuu falters. Oyakata had come to the decision to change as little as possible until it really
counted, afraid that if they change too much too soon they wouldn’t be able to use Giyuu’s
knowledge to their utmost advantage when it really counts.

The train incident had been a special case, a last minute call, and potentially a huge fuck up.
Kyojurou's alive and Giyuu doesn't regret it in the slightest but with Akaza gone so soon?
That's a bigger ripple than they would like to make this early in the game. So the Red Light
District? The Swordsmith Village? Giyuu and Sabito had both been expressly ordered to
stand down.
“I can’t answer,” Giyuu tells him honestly.

“Why the hell not?” Sanemi gets into his personal space and as sore as Giyuu is, he doesn’t
back down. Sanemi isn’t that much taller than him, he doesn’t have to tilt back to see his face
like he would with Sabito.

“Oyakata-sama said the less people who know the future, the less likely it is to change,” he
answers.

“Aren’t we supposed to change it? Everyone’s fucking dead where you came from,” he
snarls. Giyuu flinches and Sanemi actually backs off just a fraction.

“He means to change as little as possible so we know what to expect when the time comes,”
he says. “And change it then.”

“Just one question,” Sanemi demands and it sounds dangerously close to begging. Giyuu
looks into Sanemi’s bloodshot eyes and sees the carefully hidden desperation there. As awful
as it is, it’s still better than the last time Giyuu had looked into Sanemi’s eyes. Devastatingly
heartbroken.

“What is it?”

“What happened to my brother?” He asks. “His name is Genya.”

Giyuu falters, only for the briefest moment, but that’s all Sanemi needs. He grabs Giyuu by
the front of his uniform and shoves him into a tree.

“Tell me what fucking happened,” he growls.

“I can’t,” Giyuu gasps out, half from being winded, half from pain due to the giant bruise his
back currently is.

“Tell me.”

“It might not even happen here, we don’t know - ah,” he gasps when Sanemi slams him into
the tree again. He gets his breathing under control and levels Sanemi with a glare.

He understands Sanemi’s desperation, he really does. But he’s not going to tell him and he
can’t continue to let Sanemi manhandle him like a ragdoll.

“You saved that flaming asshole! Tell me how to save Genya,” he shouts and if Giyuu didn’t
know any better, he’d say Sanemi sounds close to tears.

With a deep breath, Giyuu pins an uncharacteristically emotional Sanemi to the ground.
Sanemi stares up at him, surprised, eyes a little wet.

“When the time comes,” Giyuu promises, “I’ll tell you.” Sanemi doesn’t seem to like that
answer and he opens his mouth again but Giyuu cuts him off. “I know you don’t know me
but you have to trust me. If we change too much too soon we can still lose.”
 Sanemi closes his eyes to get himself under control but he doesn’t throw Giyuu off of him.
Giyuu softens the hold he had on Sanemi’s arm which he immediately throws over his face to
hide. Giyuu moves his weight off of him but remains next to him on his knees.

“Um,” he starts. Sanemi doesn’t make any indication that he’s listening but Giyuu knows that
he is. “Your brother loves you very much.”

Sanemi lets out a bark of a disbelieving laugh and Giyuu frowns.

“Don’t do that,” Giyuu snaps. “He’ll find you soon enough. Don’t do something you’ll
regret.”

Sanemi moves his arm to look at him but Giyuu is already back on his feet, gathering the
supplies he’d dropped when Sanemi accosted him. He doesn’t look at Sanemi as he leaves
and neither of them say anything else. But he feels Sanemi’s eyes on him until he disappears
through the gate of the Water Estate.

Chapter End Notes

thank you everyone for reading and commenting on this fic so far !! this is v self
indulgent for me and I'm having a lot of fun writing it

find me on Twitter!
 Bruise Balm
Chapter Notes

the self indulgence continues :)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Giyuu walks through the gate and finds Sabito training with the kids in the courtyard, all
three of them at once with only a wooden training sword in hand. He watches Sabito throw
an overeager Inosuke across the courtyard with one hand while blocking Tanjirou with the
other.

He’s so graceful, channeling power with ease through his body even at half speed, half
strength, against the kids. Giyuu watches the muscles of his back flex, as well as he can with
his clothes still on, but the mere knowledge of Sabito’s hard earned strength and skill is
enough to make Giyuu a little weak in the knees.

Even though Giyuu hadn’t made any noise upon his arrival, Sabito still turns, as if drawn by
his presence. The smile that lights his face when he sees Giyuu is so bright that he can’t help
but return it with one of his own. The smile doesn’t falter as Sabito catches Zenitsu without
looking and drops him to the ground.

“It’s not fair!” Zenitsu wails.

“You’re right,” Tanjirou says, “we should be doing this one on one to improve more.”

“That is NOT what I meant,” Zenitsu cries.

“Hey,” Sabito says softly, still with that bright smile aimed at Giyuu. Giyuu’s heart flutters in
his chest.

“Hi,” he replies, suddenly shy. Sabito’s smile grows.

“YOU!” Inosuke shouts. “You train me! I saw you fight that demon! Teach me your moves!”

“I’m the one who actually killed it, you know,” Sabito says, sounding put out. He always did
like attention and could easily draw it away from Giyuu in a way that benefited them both but
then Sabito swings back around to Giyuu. “But don’t think I didn’t notice you invented a new
form of water breathing. I fully expect you to teach me.”

“Okay,” Giyuu says, fighting off the blush that threatens to rise to his cheeks. It’s a losing
battle but he fights all the same.

“You guys keep training,” Sabito says. “I’m going to take Giyu inside.”
“Why do you need to take him? He knows where it is!” Inosuke says. Tanjirou holds him
back when he tries to stalk forward, apologetic expression on his face.

“C’mon,” Sabito says, putting a light hand on Giyuu’s injured back and urging him toward
the house. “How are you feeling? What did Shinobu say?”

“I’m mostly healed,” he tells him as they cross the threshold. “I have my medicine to take
and she said no, uh, no rigorous activities.”

“That’s fine,” Sabito says, pure nonchalance. “We can take it slow.”

Giyuu’s face goes up in flames and Sabito grins at him, shameless. Sabito takes him to his
bedroom again and Giyuu frowns when he realizes he’s been out for at least a week, maybe
longer.

It’s always disorienting to lose time like that. To realize the world has continued to spin on
without him and now he has to figure out when and where to jump back in.

“Giyuu,” Sabito says his name and his heart rate picks up. Sabito takes his supplies from him
and sets it down.

“Yes?” Giyuu asks, already breathless as he watches Sabito move. He’d always loved
watching Sabito move, it's so intentional, so graceful. Never any wasted movement.

“I…” he starts, then catches sight of Giyuu staring at him with wide eyes and falters. It’s so
strange to hear Sabito trail off. Like his movements, his words are never wasted, always
deliberate and well thought out, even when he’s angry or desperate, not a single word is
without meaning.

Now, talking to Giyuu, he seems to be at a loss and Giyuu can’t believe he’s the reason for it.

“I have some bruise balm, if you want me to help you put it on,” he says and Giyuu knows
him well enough to know that wasn’t what he was going to say originally but he lets it slide.
Especially because his back is sore from Sanemi’s rough handling. He nods.

Sabito goes rifling through his drawers while Giyuu gingerly undresses enough to expose his
back. Then he stands there and waits for Sabito, watches while he waits because he can’t help
himself. Doesn’t have to, either.

Sabito turns around and nearly drops the bruise balm, a small jar that Giyuu recognizes as
one from Shinobu’s sets. Sabito’s eyes run over his exposed toros and Giyuu feels it like a
trail of fire, over the expanse of his shoulders, his collarbones, his chest, the lines in his
abdomen, the cut of his hips. Even the curve of his biceps and into his forearms, corded with
muscle.

Giyuu’s breath becomes shallow and he turns around before he embarrasses himself. It
doesn’t help, not really, because he can still feel the heavy weight of Sabito’s gaze on his
back, no less hungry despite the fact that Giyuu is black and blue from the back of his neck to
the dimples above his waistline.
“You should lay down,” Sabito says and the words are rough with an emotion Giyuu can’t
quite name but he feels viscerally. He has the oddest urge to moan, the sound building in his
chest like a bubble that he’s quick to pop because he doesn’t want to embarrass himself.

He lays down on the futon on his front and feels the dip when Sabito sits on the edge next to
him. Then Sabito’s hand is on his back, large and warm. Giyuu closes his eyes with a sigh
and buries his face in the pillow he’s pushed his arms under.

The balm is a little cold but it melts almost instantly on contact with Giyuu’s overheated skin
and Giyuu feels that heat rush into his cheeks as Sabito rhythmically rubs over his back with
firm yet gentle fingers.

“Tell me if it hurts,” Sabito says, in a soft voice, not quite a whisper because Sabito had never
been very good at whispering but gentle enough not to disturb the air in the room. Giyuu can
only nod again, face still hidden in the pillow. “Cute.”

It’s just a huff of a word but Giyuu squirms on the bed then forces himself to stop. It’s too
late, though, Sabito’s already noticed, and he lets out a small laugh.

After covering every inch of skin on Giyuu’s back, Sabito’s hand slips up into his hair and
scratches at his scalp. Giyuu pushes up into it like a cat, face flaming but unable to stop. He
turns half way onto his side, eyes glassy but still able to make out Sabito’s shape, and reaches
for him.

Sabito comes easily, slipping down to lie next to Giyuu on the bed, hand still in his hair,
tangled now. It’s unfair, Giyuu thinks, that Sabito is still clothed. His hands clumsily tug at
his uniform and Sabito lets him but doesn’t help at all, ducking his head to kiss Giyuu on the
mouth.

Giyuu’s hands fist in the fabric instead, hanging on for dear life while Sabito ravages his
mouth. It’s so soft and unyielding at the same time, Giyuu feels his head swimming,
intoxicated.

He can hear the little noises escaping him but he can’t stop them and Sabito seems to like
them, pressing closer to swallow each of them whole. Sabito slips a leg between his and the
pressure immediately drives Giyuu halfway wild.

He grinds down on a well muscled thigh and moans. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, just
chasing the pleasure and the all consuming desire to have Sabito .

Then Sabito groans and it’s like a switch is flipped. His hands tear at Sabito’s clothes until
they’re open enough for Giyuu to get his hands on bare skin. Sabito groans again and Giyuu
feels lightheaded, running his calloused hands over the ridged planes of Sabito’s torso.

Sabito tears his mouth away from Giyuu’s and he immediately mourns the loss but lightning
quick, his mouth is on Giyuu’s neck, sucking wet kisses into the column of his throat. Giyuu
throws his head back and keeps grinding onto Sabito’s leg, feeling pleasure spark up his spine
as he grows hard.
CRASH.

The door slams open and both Pillars are on their feet in an instant, breathing heavy, halfway
to their swords before they realize that it’s only the kids. Inosuke, specifically, while Tanjirou
tries to pull him away.

“What kind of training is that?!” He demands, flailing against Tanjirou’s grip. “Teach me!”

Giyuu’s face goes cherry red and he closes his eyes.

“Sorry! Sorry,” Tanjirou says, holding Inosuke back. Giyuu’s never seen Sabito more
annoyed than he is right now, even though he’s doing his best to hide it. “Rengoku stopped by
to see you but I didn’t realize you were busy. I’m sorry.”

His face is also bright red and Giyuu prays for a swift death when he realizes Tanjirou can
probably smell what they were doing.

“It’s fine,” Giyuu says because Sabito won’t but it’s not Tanjirou’s fault. Sabito scrubs a hand
over his face and straightens out his clothes. “We’ll be out in just a moment.”

“Oh - okay!” Tanjirou says and hauls Inosuke off.

“We can tell him to fuck off,” Sabito says, voice rough and heat shoots through Giyuu again.
He looks at Sabito, his ruffled hair and clothes in disarray and is oddly proud that he was the
one to do it.

“I want to see him,” Giyuu says quietly. Sabito’s annoyance smooths out in an instant. He
cups Giyuu’s head in one hand and kisses his forehead. Somehow it manages to fluster him
more than anything else they’ve done so far. He looks at the ground but he can see Sabito’s
grin out of the corner of his eye.

“Let’s go, then,” Sabito says. They straighten up enough to be presentable. Giyuu feels
Sabito’s eyes on him as he pulls his clothes back on and heroically doesn’t take them back off
immediately.

Before he can talk himself out of it, he grabs Sabito’s hand. Sabito laces their fingers together
and that’s how they head into the main room of the estate where Kyojurou waits with
Nezuko.

“You’re awake,” Sabito says, surprised and fond. He pats her on the head with his free hand
and she nuzzles into it. She’s small for the moment, looking more akin to a toddler than her
teenage self and it’s adorable in a way Giyuu doesn’t know how to admit out loud.

Cute .

He flushes lightly when he remembers the word in Sabito’s low voice but that’s a steep and
slippery slope so he focuses on Kyojurou.

“Hello,” Giyuu says.

“Giyuu!” He cries and stands with his hands held wide. “I’ve come to thank you for saving
my life!”

“Oh,” he says. “You don’t have to thank me.”

“But I do!” He insists loudly. “Without you, I’d be dead! I imagine that’s what happened in
your timeline.”

Giyuu opens his mouth, then closes it.

“We’ve put a moratorium on all timeline talk,” Sabito tells him. Kyojurou doesn’t lose his
enthusiasm.

“In any case, I thank you, both of you, for saving my life!” He says. He claps a hand down on
Giyuu’s shoulder and Giyuu can’t quite suppress the flinch.

“Easy there,” Sabito warns.

“Apologies!” He shouts. Giyuu can’t help his bemused smile. “I also came to steal away your
tsuguko!”

“Please, take them, don’t bring them back,” Sabito says immediately. Nezuko tugs at his
haori and he pats her head again. “Except you, Nezuko. You can come back if you want.”

“Young Tanjirou asked about fire breathing,” he explains.

Sabito frowns. “What’s fire breathing? You use flame breathing, right?”

Giyuu resists the urge to smack himself in the face. How had he forgotten so much in his
recollections to Oyakata and Sabito? That’s what he gets for relaying what he thought were
the most immediately pressing facts. He sighs through his nose, disappointed with himself
and Sabito’s hand tightens.

“What is it?” Sabito asks.

“I - it’s,” he stops, sighs again.

“You know what fire breathing is,” Kyojurou ventures a guess.

“I don’t know… a lot,” he admits. “Just that Tanjirou can do it and it’s related to a Hinokami
Kagura?”

“What about Hinokami Kagura?” Tanjirou asks from the doorway. He’s stopped only half
way in the room and doesn’t budge even though both Zenitsu and Inoskue run into him.

“Isn’t that the question,” Kyorjurou says. “Come with me, young slayers, and let us see if we
can’t find anything in the records at the Flame Estate.”

Giyuu is relieved at Kyrojurou’s immediate acceptance of the ban on his talking about his
timeline.
 “Records? What are those?” Inosuke asks.

“They’re written accounts of the past,” Zenitsu explains.

“Written?!” Inosuke shrieks. “I CAN’T READ! Why do I have to go?!”

“Because you’re annoying and they want to be alone!” Zenitsu shouts back.

“I’m annoying? YOU’RE ANNOYING ZENRITTY.”

“MY NAME IS ZENITSU!”

Sabito rolls his eyes at the familiar bickering and Giyuu doesn’t fight the smile that tries to
take over his face. When Sabito catches sight of it, he smiles, too. Soft and affectionate.

Then he leans down to kiss Giyuu softly, just a quick peck, but the whole room comes to a
screeching halt.

“Good for you two!” Kyojurou cries and slaps them both on the shoulder.

“WHAT IS THAT?!” Inosuke demands. “IS IT FIGHTING? TEACH ME!”

“If you want someone to teach you that, you’re better off asking Tanjirou,” Sabito says dryly
because he likes to cause problems on purpose.

While Tanjirou sputters and Zenitsu contemplates death out loud, Giyuu smiles and hides
against Sabito’s shoulder, feeling safe and warm and happy.

Chapter End Notes

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