Sabito & Giyuu

Sabito & Giyuu

Sabito and Giyuu were the Twin Water Pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps. Everyone knew that Sabito had always treated Giyuu like the apple of his eye — if anyone dared to be rude to Giyuu, or even so much as looked at him the wrong way, Sabito would beat them up without a second thought. The result: Sabito had gotten into fights with nearly every Pillar in the Corps, especially Sanemi Shinazugawa and Obanai Iguro. And the two of them, as the ones always on the receiving end, were absolutely furious about it.

Anyone could see it — this guy Sabito had feelings for Giyuu. That jerk loved using others as props to show off in front of Giyuu. Like last time, when Sanemi and Obanai simply passed by them on the street, pretending not to notice — Sabito turned around without a word and drenched them both from head to toe using Water Breathing, then threw his arm around Giyuu's shoulder and said: "There are so many bad people in this world. Don't leave my sight, okay?"

Sanemi and Obanai exchanged a mortified glance and immediately launched a joint attack on Sabito. The lengths this guy went to in order to keep Giyuu away from everyone else — truly exhausting. But Sabito had seen it coming. He spun around to meet them, taking on both of them without breaking a sweat, and even found the time to shout over at Giyuu: "Watch closely! I'll teach you a move today — I call it: 'Beat the Dog While It's in the Water'!"

"You bastard!" Sanemi, never one for patience, couldn't stand the provocation. Obanai's expression darkened equally. The two of them unleashed their best techniques — and ended up in a mutually devastating draw.

"Sabito!" Giyuu rushed over to steady Sabito, who had blood at the corner of his mouth, and asked anxiously, "Are you okay?"

Sabito dramatically slumped against Giyuu's shoulder, looking as pitiful as he could manage. "My chest hurts so much… one kiss from you and it'll be all better."

Giyuu anxiously steered him toward the Butterfly Estate. "One kiss can't cure anything — let's go find Shinobu."

"Just one kiss~ maybe it'll actually work," Sabito wheedled.

Giyuu, too flustered to think straight, gave in. "Fine then." He pressed a quick kiss to the side of Sabito's face.

Sabito lit up like the sun — grinning from ear to ear, practically floating.

Sanemi watched that smug expression and spat out a mouthful of blood. "Shameless bastard!"

Obanai, chest burning with indignation, watched the two figures walk away side by side and said coldly, "Some people will stoop to anything to win over their junior."

Sanemi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "I'll pay him back double someday."

Obanai nodded once. "We'll make sure he regrets it."

They didn't expect their chance to come so soon.

It was Valentine's Day, and as luck would have it, the Master had sent Sabito away on a mission. Giyuu had been so thoroughly spoiled by Sabito that he'd never learned to fend for himself — everything done for him, meals included. Without Sabito, he had no choice but to eat at the mess hall. He sat there, picking listlessly at his salmon and daikon, when his phone buzzed.

A voice message from Sabito.

The gloom on his face lifted just a little. He tapped it eagerly.

"Giyuu, I don't want to be brothers with you anymore." (Meaning: I want to confess my love.)

Obanai slid his tray onto the table and sat down next to Giyuu, helpfully "translating": "He's tired of you. He wants to be strangers."

Sanemi dropped into the seat on Giyuu's other side and nodded along. "Right — I even saw him helping Tanjiro out the other day. He definitely wants Tanjiro as his new brother."

Giyuu's face went still. The hand holding his phone turned white at the knuckles. "…Really?" he asked, barely audible.

Sanemi and Obanai looked at each other.

"Absolutely." In perfect unison.

The second voice message arrived. Giyuu trembled as he tapped it open, bracing himself.

"Here's a hint — the first word starts with 'love.'" (Meaning: lovers.)

Sanemi slammed his chopsticks down on the table. "He's saying he wants to be your rival in love!"

Obanai, watching Giyuu's stricken face, twisted the knife further. "A love rival is even worse than a stranger."

Giyuu's eyes were turning red. He thought back to when Shinobu had treated Sabito's injuries — Sabito had said so many things to her, laughing and easy. So… Sabito liked Shinobu? Then why would he want to be his rival — it wasn't as if Giyuu liked Shinobu either. None of it made sense.

The third message came through, Sabito's voice warm and a little dopey with a smile:

"Giyuu, you know what? Whenever I'm with you, I just feel happy for no reason."

Obanai said, expressionless: "He means you're ridiculous."

Sanemi nodded gravely. "Yeah. For all that he acts like he's protecting you — he just thinks of you like a pet. You're there to amuse him."

Giyuu looked down. His grip on the phone tightened. His lips pressed into a thin line. His eyes were so red the tears were nearly spilling over.

Then the fourth message came. He opened it with shaking fingers.

"Giyuu… can I call you 'baby' from now on?" (A term of endearment between couples.)

"BANG." Sanemi's palm crashed down on the table, making Giyuu flinch. "He's taking advantage of you AND trying to pull rank — like he wants to be your dad or something! That's absolutely outrageous!"

Obanai's expression was grave. "Beyond outrageous."

Giyuu's other hand had curled into a fist, his nails biting into his palm. How could Sabito do this? They'd been so close since childhood — he'd promised to always be good to him. How could things change so fast, in just a few years?

The fifth message arrived. Giyuu hesitated, then opened it.

"Giyuu, I sent you 520 yuan — consider it buying your happiness for a whole day!" (520 sounds like "I love you" in Chinese.)

Sanemi erupted. "This guy is evil. He BOUGHT your happiness — so how are you supposed to be happy now?! He wants you to suffer!"

Obanai delivered the final blow.

Giyuu's composure shattered. He stood up and fled the mess hall.

Sanemi and Obanai high-fived.

"God, that felt good," Sanemi said.

Obanai let out a single satisfied "Mm."

Let's see Sabito get himself out of this one.

Sabito had sent all those roundabout confessions and waited and waited for a reply that never came. He called Giyuu — straight to voicemail. He had no choice but to call his youngest junior, Tanjiro, and ask him to check on Giyuu.

Tanjiro agreed eagerly and ran all the way to the Water Pillar's residence, knocking for what felt like forever with no answer. He called Sabito back.

Sabito frowned, thought for two seconds, and made his call: "Giyuu has to be in there. Something's wrong. Just break in."

"Okay!"

Tanjiro cleanly used Water Breathing, First Form to split the door open — and found Giyuu frantically wiping at his eyes.

He rushed over. "Giyuu-san, what happened?"

Giyuu turned away, forcing his voice steady. "Sand got in my eye. I'm fine. You can go."

"But I can smell sadness on you," Tanjiro said urgently. "What's going on? I can help — or I can tell Sabito-niisan—"

The name hit like a spark on dry wood. Giyuu turned around, face cold. "Leave."

Tanjiro blinked. Giyuu-san always smelled like happiness, always wrapped up in Sabito-niisan's warmth. He almost never got angry. What on earth had happened?

"…Okay. I'll wait outside. Call me if you need anything." He left, glancing back three times with worry.

Outside, he called Sabito. "I don't know what happened, but Giyuu-san seems really upset. I think he was crying."

Sabito's voice went sharp with alarm. "I can't get back until tomorrow. Get him to turn his phone on — I need to call him."

"Okay."

Tanjiro coaxed through the door until Giyuu, driven to the end of his patience, finally turned his phone on. Sabito's call came through instantly.

"Giyuu, what's wrong? What happened? Did someone hurt you?"

Giyuu's chest ached with everything he couldn't say. He only managed four words, quiet and stubborn:

"I hate you."

"You—" Sabito went silent.

His Giyuu. Gentle, trusting, who had always relied on him — saying he hated him?

Had the confessions scared him off? He was just starting to explain when he heard the line go dead. He called back. Phone off again.

He stood there, heart pounding.

They'd never had a real fight in all the years they'd known each other. This couldn't wait. He had to finish the mission and go home.

Sabito ran through the night. By the time the first pale light of dawn touched the sky, he had made it back to headquarters. He stopped at the door to pull off his mud-caked boots, then his jacket — damp with morning frost. He smoothed down his disheveled hair, stepped through the broken doorway, and into the room.

Under the blankets, a small curled shape.

The knot of anxiety that had wound tight in Sabito's chest for an entire night loosened, just a little. He crossed the room carefully, reached down, and pulled the blanket back—

His breath caught.

Giyuu's cheeks were flushed an unnatural red.

Sabito pressed his hand to Giyuu's forehead. Burning. At least 40 degrees — hot enough to do real damage.

He pulled Giyuu into his arms and patted his cheek, urgent but measured. "Giyuu. Wake up. Hey — wake up."

Giyuu's eyes struggled open. The moment they focused on Sabito's face, they flooded red, and he shoved hard against Sabito's chest. "Get away from me. Don't touch me."

"You're sick!" Sabito snapped, frustration cracking through the worry. "Now is not the time to be difficult!"

The shout broke something loose. Giyuu's held-back tears finally spilled over, and he pushed and kicked at Sabito with everything he had left. "Then go! Leave me alone! After this — we're done! We don't know each other!"

"Tomioka Giyuu."

Sabito's patience had run out. He grabbed a rope, bound Giyuu's hands and feet before he could protest, and brought his palm down hard against Giyuu's backside.

"Behave."

"How dare you hit me?! You bastard! I hate you!" Giyuu struggled furiously, all reason gone.

He said hate. But tears were pouring down his face.

Sabito had treated him like a pet — indulged him when he was in the mood, rough when he wasn't. And for what? Why?

Sabito didn't think he'd done anything wrong. He'd driven through the night to get back, found the person he'd been worried sick about burning up with fever, and this was what he got. He retrieved the medicine and a glass of water, made himself lower his voice, and said:

"Here. Take this first."

"No."

Giyuu, still bound, twisted around and kicked the glass out of Sabito's hands.

Something in Sabito snapped. He went to the medical kit and rummaged until he found a fever suppository. Without a word, he reached for Giyuu's waistband.

"What are you doing?! Get off me! You BASTARD—"

Giyuu sobbed and kicked and fought. Sabito took a hard blow to the ribs without so much as a grunt, expression cold, and with his other hand finished what he'd set out to do. When Giyuu instinctively clenched against the intrusion — teeth clamping down on Sabito's arm in the same motion — Sabito finally felt it.

He didn't cry out. He tried to shake Giyuu off. He misjudged the force.

There was a dull, heavy thud.

Giyuu went limp.

In the last sliver of consciousness before the darkness closed in, he looked up at Sabito with wide, uncomprehending eyes.

Why…

Does he want to kill me?

Why…