Chapter Text
Stone Hashira Himejima Gyoumei is, for lack of a better term, wary around children. It’s not exactly his fault, after what happened to him. This is an irrational fear, and the Stone Hashira knows this well. Yet, he can’t stop the uncomfortable prickling in his skin whenever he hears the delighted squeals of a child, the way his eyes itch when he hears a child cry. It’s not that he’s scared of them, not at all. Children just….hit close to home for him. A bit closer than Gyoumei would like to admit. Which is why he has never once thought of taking in a tsuguko. Having to take care of someone younger than him again is….too much to bear right now.
That, and also that his breathing style is hard to master. Even for him, training and honing his own breathing style took hard work. Something that a young demon slayer couldn’t possibly muster. He’s all right with the lower ranks admiring him. Gyoumei prefers to say humble about his capabilities, but he can’t help the way his heart swells with pride every time he hears a passing “look! There goes the strongest Hashira!” He is just a human, at the end of the day, and who doesn’t like to be complimented?
That said, the lower ranks do not ask to be his tsuguko. They’re aware of his skill and talent and, albeit however proud they may be, know for damn sure they couldn’t keep up with The Stone Hashira. So, Gyoumei has never really had to worry about taking in a tsuguko, of taking in a child (again). Until now.
The Stone Hashira is blind, but he can hear the thundering yet somehow still soft footsteps before his persistent guest can even get a word out.
“Good evening, Himejima-Sensei.”
”Good evening, young Shinazugawa,” Gyomei muses, choosing his words carefully. He knows that being to nice will give this slayer false hope, but he can’t just be cold to him, either.
“Have you thought of my offe-“
”The answer is still no, young Shinazugawa,” Gyoumei says, his tone harsher now. He is starting to get tired of this constant “push and pull.”
Genya Shinazugawa has been officially part of the Demon Slayer Corps for about 4 months now, and, for some reason, has made it his entire life mission to become Gyoumei’s tsuguko. Gyoumei is soft spoken, quiet, and slow to anger. However, something about young Shinazugawa is starting to get on his nerves. He wakes up at sunup to join the Hashira on his morning runs. “It’s relaxing,” Shinazugawa claims. Gyomei is blind, not stupid. This kid is what, fifteen? No fifteen year old runs 16 kilometers at the crack of dawn because it’s “relaxing.” No fifteen year old suffers nearly freezing in a waterfall because “the water is refreshing!” No fifteen year old trains alongside a Hashira pretending it doesn’t bother him “because it’s cool.”
Gyoumei has to hand it to the kid—he’s damn persistent. He trains hard and runs hard and is as tough as a nail, that’s for sure. However, like he said earlier, he is blind and not stupid. Genya Shinazugawa is bone tired after those runs. Genya Shinazugawa spends a bit too much time in the sun after getting out of the waterfall. Genya Shinazugawa often leaves those “cool training sessions” early “because Shinobu needs something from him.”
Point blank, Genya Shinazugawa, like the rest of the lower-ranked slayers, is too weak to be the Stone Hashira’s tsuguko.
Genya Shinazugawa also decides, point blank, to ignore this fact like the plague.
“Are you suuuure? I could be a really good student you know, and I-“
”The answer is still no,” Gyoumei says, harsher than intended. He hears Genya flinch, and it makes his heart wince a bit, but it’s what’s right. He can’t just take in a child.
”…”
”…I apologize for my harshness, young Shinazugawa, but I cannot have you as my tsuguko, and that is final.”
”…”
“…”
”It’s ok! I’ll just come back and ask tomorrow!”
Gyoumei eyes start leaking out of mere exasperation as he hears Genya trot away.
Contarty to popular belief, Gyoumei wasn't completely blind. It was less of “seeing nothing” and more or like a dense fog was covering his eyes. Only about 10-15 percent of blind people are actually, fully, completely blind anyway. And plus, it wasn’t like he was born blind either. He knew what colors were. When he became blind, he started associating voices with colors, just so he could “see” something again. His mother, for example, had been a nice shade of green. It did take him a while to start to associate colors the other Hashira with color, though.
He once heard Genya described as a “purple menace,” and didn’t think much of it. At least, until he stopped seeing purple.
It’s ok! I’ll just come back and ask you tomorrow!”
But there was no tomorrow. Or tomorrow of tomorrow. Or tomorrow of tomorrow of tomorrow. Or-you get the point. Genya didn’t show up for five whole days.
Gyoumei hadn’t been worried for a child in a long time.
So, the next time Oyakata summoned them for a meeting, Gyoumei stayed around at the end and asked if he could go check on the young boy.
So, that is why now, Gyoumei had no idea where the fuck he was.
His crow had given him directions of where to go, and he’d followed them. He wasn’t in an unfamiliar place, so why did the atmosphere feel so wierd?
Gyoumei walked around a bit before he heard raspy breathing. He followed the sound.
Genya had been sent on a mission, right? Maybe he was injured, or almost killed, or—
When he finally got to the scene, the first thing that hit him was the stench of blood.
Lots of blood.
The second was the familiar flash of purple.
”…Young Shinazugawa! Yo-“
”DON’T COME NEAR ME!”
Gyoumei froze a bit. The voice was Genya’s but…not quite? Different. It was diffrent.
The third thing that hit Gyoumei was that there was a demon scent.
But also not really?
Like if a demon had manifested but…wrongly.
He blinked once. Twice.
”…Young Shinazugawa…?”
It was quiet for a while.
”…I…I don’t know what happened. There…the demon was just so close and I- I don’t know, IbititandthenswallowedandthenIwaslikethisandeverythingfeltwierdandI’vebeenlikethisfordaysbutIdon’t—“
“Young Shinazugawa,” Gyoumei said, firmly, before softening his voice after sensing Genya’s flinch, “I…I think it’s better if you relay this to Kocho-san, don’t you think?”
”…o-ok.”
Gyoumei wasn’t quite sure why he hadn’t killed Genya immediately. He should’ve, considering he knew he was a demon. But…he also felt that it would be wrong. Like if Genya…wasn’t really a demon? Like, he kind of was, but wasn’t. The thinking was making his eyes leak again, so he dropped the subject and kept walking, keenly aware of Genya walking silently behind him.
After three days, Gyoumei went to see Genya again. The younger slayer had been safely tucked into the butterfly estate. Gyoumei had heard rumors, sure, but he finally went to Kocho to ask for information.
She’d sighed, and Gyoumei could hear her tapping her nails against something.
”He ate a demon, and turned into one, and then turned back into a human.”
Gyoumei was stunned.
”What? How—“
”I don’t know how,” she snapped.
”It just happened. I took some blood samples, and there’s more a trace of demon in his blood system. However, he’s already showing side effects. He hasn’t eaten anything since he came back because he can’t hold anything down at the moment, and he can’t be near any windows because the sunlight makes him screech in pain.”
Gyoumei was stunned again.
”The only problem is that…well, if he doesn’t get better, he’s as good as a demon. And…well…,” Kocho trailed off, but Gyoumei knew the answer.
Seppeku.
”…I’ll give him a visit.”
”…I think that would do him some good. He looks up to you a lot, you know?”
”…I know.”
Gyoumei went over to where Genya’s room was. His vision was already impaired, and when he didn’t see that familiar flash of purple he was momentarily scared that Genya had fled.
That fear was quickly squashed when he heard shuffling from a corner of the room.
”…Young Shinazugawa,” Gyoumei said softly, closing the door.
No response.
”It’s been a while.”
No response.
”I’m glad to see you’re alright.”
Gyoumei heard a snort.
”…’Alright’ is an understatement.”
“What do you mean by that?”
”Don’t play dumb.”
Gyoumei could hear the anger in Genya’s tone.
”Kocho already told you. I’m more demon than human at this point. They’re going to make me kill myself.”
Gyoumei sucked in a breath.
”You don’t know th-“
”I FUCKING DO!”
“…”
”…”
”…I’m sorry for yelling,” Genya apologized.
”…No, it’s okay. I-….You-…it’s hard, I know.”
Gyoumei was going to say I understand, but did he really? Did he really understand what it was like to be told you had to end your own life at fifteen because you tried to live? No, he didn’t.
”…I…I had dreams, you know,” Genya started again, quieter this time.
”I had goals, and aspirations, and things I wanted to do, and…I still have to apologize.”
It was quiet, again. Gyoumei was finding this quite unsettling. He’d never heard Genya this quiet. Maybe that and the way the younger boy was talking about himself in the past tense.
”I’m sorry for…all of this, young Shinazugawa. I shall leave you to have time on your own.”
Genya didn’t object, and Gyoumei headed for the door. Right as it was bout to close, though, he heard it.
”…Himejima-sensei?”
Gyoumei paused. “Yes, young Shinazugawa?”
”I don’t want to die.”
Gyoumei was quiet, and then closed the door.
Gyoumei thought about it. He thought about the boy who never missed training alongside him he thought about the boy who’d made him laugh again. He thought about the boy that made unconsciously made him believe that maybe trusting children again wasn’t so bad
I don’t want to die.
In that moment, Gyoumei decided he wouldn’t let him.