12 Home

The sky was turning pink now. They bad been walking in somewhat comforting silence, at least for Giyu that was.

His comrades hadn't simply thrown aside any reasoning he could give them, but had instead offered aid when he asked for it.

It was… strange.

They had thankfully decided to keep pace with him once they heard his specific breathing pattern, the one most suited for muscle and stamina recovery and had been waiting for something to happen for a while now.

Giyu had no idea what, but he'd wait with them as long as they didn't make fun of him again.

"So!" Huh, it seems his senior had enough of the quiet, a pity. "How was it?! Fighting an upper moon by yourself?!"

Ohhh, that's what they'd been waiting for.

"Disappointing."

He felt more than saw the two other hashira fall behind, and heard something thud to the ground. Giyu contemplated turning around, but such movements would wake the exhausted girl on his back.

Giyu couldn't blame her for being so tired, ten minutes of Shinobu's poking and prodding was usually enough to tire him out, let alone an entire hour. Poor girl.

"What do you mean, disappointing?!!?" Oh Shinobu was angry. What did Giyu do now?

"It didn't feel like I was fighting an Upper Moon." Tengen had caught back up, and there was dirt on his hands, along with smudges on his jewelry. Giyu decided to be polite and nod towards them, and continued on his way while the sound hashira polished his stones.

"Explain." Shinobu's voice was hard and cold. Giyu couldn't blame her considering the state her sister was in.

"It had multiple blood demon arts, all of which were decently powerful. It could appear next to any of the vases it spawned, summon large aquatic monsters to fight for itself, and could turn anything it's hands touched into fish. There was some sort of transformation that it said made it stronger, and it could manipulate its flesh into any form it wanted." They were silent during his explanation, which Giyu was thankful for. He needed it to finally place his finger on why the fight felt so weird.

"It was more like fighting multiple Lower Moons at once rather than facing an Upper Moon."

No one said anything until the sun went down. It was time.

Giyu's breathing deepened and accelerated, the time to recover was over. He felt Sumiko stir on his back, and grip onto him tighter. He'd almost forgotten he was still carrying the small family.

His body was too far past the limit for a mere day of recovery breathing to do much but buy him time, but he didn't have much to begin with. They needed to get to the Water Estate, for his and her family's sake.

"Oh? Fancy a race then, Giyu?" Shinobu was back to normal at least, and Tengen was smiling again. They were still here, they were still real.

That's right… he'd decided to be real too, hadn't he?

"I'd lose." He was too tired to put up any kind of resistance against the two fastest hashira in the corps. Was it strange that he wanted to try anyway?

How do you be real though?

"When do we start?" There was a lazy smirk on Tengen's face as he eyed the short woman.

In response, the Insect hashira flicked up a rock that she seemingly pulled from absolutely nowhere.

Maybe there wasn't any real answer.

Maybe all he had to do was keep moving forward.

One step at a time.

It was all he knew.

The stone was suspended above the ground, the air was silent, and Giyu was back in his sister's arms the day he told him she was getting married.

"It's going to get better, ok Giyu?" Tsutako shed genuine tears of joy that day, holding him against her, their heartbeats in stereo.

"Hm!" He hadn't known what to do other than be supportive.

"Hahahaha!" She'd giggled so hard into his shoulder and started yet another tickle war.

It was only after he'd submitted that she'd looked him in the eyes and smiled.

"Promise me you'll do your best Giyu?" She'd reached her hand out for him to grab, as she always did when he was too slow to catch up.

"Hmm!" He'd always reached back.

Maybe home would have some answers for the tired man.

The stone bounced once and Giyu was flying.

Every step he took launched him forward and into the sky, faster and faster, just behind his two comrades. He could feel Sumiko clutching his hoari tight, fighting against the winds. He wouldn't let her fall.

Tengen was on the ground, racing forward like the demented super ninja he was, while Shinobu…

Well, the only way to describe how she moved was that she danced among the tree limbs.

Just like a butterfly, fluttering amongst the wind.

Nonwords were spoken, he simply carried the small family

It was nice.

Another step launched him above the tree line. The sky was clear of clouds, offering a canvas of stars for his eyes.

The small gasp of delight behind him was… nice to hear.

The moment his feet touched the ground, they were off once more.

Barreling down the countryside, off into the distance, three blurs raced.

One desired to feel the wind as he savored the freedom that echoed beyond his past.

The second simply desired to forget the painful reality in front of her with people she could trust.

The last one just wanted to go to the only home he'd ever known.

XXXXXXXXXXX

It was day again when they finally stopped, not because Giyu's body had given out on him, but because they were at the base of the Water Estate.

Though it looked nothing like how he remembered.

The forest was no longer drowning in mist, the walls looked practically remade, and the wisteria trees that now lined the property were beautiful.

The most striking thing however, was all of the people.

Dozens of guards patrolled the perimeter, and four more stood at the entrance. Sinobu and Tengen walked ahead of him, partially blocking his view of the entrance.

"Lord Tengen! Lady Shinobu! An honor!" The man who was pushed forward by his comrades to welcome them called as he bowed. "What brings you to the Estate?"

They wordlessly stepped aside, and then the guards caught sight of Giyu.

"Lord Tomioka!" The man kneeled, along with any other guard within earshot. "Lord Urokudaki will be pleased! Welcome home!"

""Welcome home!"" Far too many voices echoed the same words and Giyuwas completely and utterly lost.

How in the name of his dear sister did these people know his name and why the hell were there so many people inside his home!?

"Stand." Thankfully none of his sheer incomprehension leaked into his voice. They all stood at attention and made way for the hashira. Clearly they were here under his teacher's orders, but why?

It didn't matter, he'd ask sensei when he could feel anything below his neck again.

The guards were silent as they made their way inside, returning to their apparent posts, and the small group entered the Water Estate.

XXXXXXXX

"How the hell are you alive?" Contrasting Shinobu's calm and steady voice were the hands currently gripping his throat and attempting to constrict his airways.

Not the way Giyu thought he would go, but at least Sensei would be able to cremate his body rather than find a large bloodstain.

"Your muscles have been stretched so far beyond their limits that I have no idea how they still function." Her voice was just above a whisper, gentle and caring as she continued to try and choke the life out of him despite her complete lack of upper body strength… and the fact that her hands were too small to reach around his neck…

"Your heart rate is so unsteady, I thought that you had three." Her smile was as sickly sweet as the poison in her blade. "And don't even get me started on what you've done to your hands."

She was kind enough to ignore the scars, the old wounds that never healed right, or the way his left leg was thinner than his right.

"You're malnourished, you're exhausted, and to top it all off…" She finally decided that attempting to strangle Giyu was futile and was reaching for her blade. "You've been like this for quite a while, haven't you? Giyu?"

Shit.

He'd pissed off Shinobu again and couldn't defend himself this time.

The only thing that saved his life was that Tengen managed to catch the handle of her stinger blade.

"Shinobu! What are you doing?!" Thank god, Tengen would save him, he always did. "You have to heal him first so you can go all out! Make him feel your righteous fury, both as a woman and a healer!"

Nevermind. He just wanted to make everything worse.

Giyu caught the glint in his senior's eyes though. He was never going to let this go, not until the man had some answers.

The thought of the conversation to come made his stomach clench, but he knew it was inevitable.

"Hmm.." She tapped her chin as the veins in her temple throbbed. Scary… "Okay! But only just this once, okay Giyu?"

Her reflective eyes bored into his soul. She would only accept one answer, and anything other than complete submission would result in his suffering.

A nod was all he could manage past the faint presence attempting to crush his weakened body.

He had over reached for years now, and it was time to bear the consequences.

"Good!" She leaned back a bit and resheathed her blade. Reaching towards his throat to brush up against the slight marks she'd left behind, Giyu could feel the hidden blade press against his jugular.

Shinobu brushed her hair behind her ear, leaned against his side in the bed, gently laid her head onto his pillow and whispered a few words into his ear before leaning back with a guileless smile.

Giyu could feel the concerned red eyes peeking at him, Sumiko was in the same situation as him and her whole family. In other words, completely laid up in one of the emergency cots.

Great.

"I need to go and talk Urokudaki sensei! He doesn't have all of the necessary herbs for your.. treatments." She spared one last empty glance at the water hashira, leaving with her hands shaking and clenched tight.

For her sister to only just make her way home with her life barely intact, and then to see the full extent of her comrades' injuries after years?

It was quiet for a time, Tengen allowed him to rest in peace long enough for the girl to join her family in the world of dreams before speaking.

"Why?" There was no more joy in his tone, no more exuberant declarations to offer, no more smiles. The sound hashira was not happy, and wanted answers. His eyes were just as lifeless as the corpses Giyu was forced to leave behind that day, when everything changed.

"I.. didn't think I would live long enough for it to matter."

SNAP

Tengen's hands had broken the desk he was leaning against. His eyes were still boring into Giyu's skull.

"Why?" He should know this, he was there that day.

Why was he making Giyu say this?

"You know why."

"I want to hear you say it." Tengen was standing at Giyu's bedside now, looking through him.

He never could lie well, even if his life was on the line.

"I'm not like the rest of you…"

"…"

"I wasn't supposed to be a hashira." It felt oddly freeing to finally say the words after so long. "I wasn't meant to survive this long."

"…"

"Lord Kagaya only appointed me as a last resort. I was only supposed to last long enough for a proper successor to come along."

"…"

Giyu frowned as his eyes began to shut against his will. His body really was too far beyond its limit.

"I just figured…eventually I would stop getting lucky…"

"…"

"That I would eventually… just not make it back one day…"

"…"

"Hey… Tengen?" The blanket Shinobu had settled onto him was nice and comfortable, and nostalgia hit every time he took a deep breath. His body was giving up on him now that he was home, and he was too tired to put off getting some rest any longer.

"What?" The sound hashira's voice was just as monotone as the Giyu's, something he had never heard before. It didn't sound right coming from his senior.

"I'm tired."

"…Then get some sleep."

That… sounded pretty nice… all things considered…