giyuu tomioka x fem!reader
summary: in the stillness of the forest, a confession breaks the silence of a fellow hashira when he declares that he’s not an easy person to love.
note: read a prompt a while back where person a says “i’m not an easy person to love.” and person b replies “i think i can get hang of it.” and it made sense for me to write this with giyuu. this was so rushed.
the forest were mantled with a misty veil, motionless and breathless in the late hours of the night, save for a soft distant trickling of water from stream of river. the place was soundless, and in this quiet it was covered with dew, catching the moonlight in delicate silver beads.
it was here, on the narrow clearing, where she stood waiting for her comrade.
her (f/c) haori was deep, with darker streaks woven like veins through it, circulating through the clothing. her haori whisked subtly in the chilly wind tonight. she was behind on finishing her reports, but her eyes were sharp and trained on that spot as an eagle waiting for its prey to strike where she knew he would show up. the air around her held a more substantial weight of water, familiar in that way she knew only in relation to him.
the water hashira, giyuu tomioka appeared moments later through the mists with silence only the night could ever have. his haori fluttered softly behind him; the smell of river stones clung to him like another layer of skin, then his eyes found hers.
"you’re injured." y/n said as in a matter-of-fact. her eyebrows pinched with concern however, as her gaze absorbed the sight of his dried blood along his sleeve.
"it’s nothing," giyuu replied; his voice was firm as always. she let out a small sigh. "you say that even when you look half dead."
a soft exhalation escaped him, almost a laugh but not quite. it was more fitting as a chuckle that perhaps she’ll ever hear from giyuu.
he came to stand beside her, close enough that the mist rising between them blurred the edges of each of their silhouettes. the silence stretched on, it always did but she knew that he only found comfort in quiet and thus has never tried to fill it unless necessary.
but it seemed that he was preoccupied in his own mind tonight.
turning to face him she asked him, finally saying what was on her mind: "giyuu, what's wrong?”
he didn’t answer her right away. but instead, he stared over her, staring up to the sky, where the first hues colors of dawn had barely stirred. his hands stayed by his sides-relaxed, yet with their latent tension. it was solely when she suddenly shifted closer to him, the tips of her fingers brushing faintly against the fabric of his haori, that he spoke.
"y/n." his voice was low, rougher than his usual tone. "i should warn you about something."
she cocked her head slightly. “about?”
giyuu swallowed, his jaw clenching with something she could easily recognize: fear. not of demons or death. fear of this.
“i am…” he said, before words simply crumbled before they could escape his lips. once again, he tried: “i am not an easy person to love.”
his sudden confession hung between them as cold as snow, at once fragile and heavy.
but y/n did not move an inch. she was aware that they both knew the pain beneath the surface, the quiet self loathing he hid beneath his stoic expression they way he would distance himself from others believing that he had no place being alongside them let alone be deserving of affection someone who was looking at him the was she was doing at the moment.
she stepped forward once more, coming to stand right in front of him, and breathed into the chilled air. her (e/c) eyes softened with no sort of pity, nor sympathy, but with understanding.
she whispered, "i understand that you run from praises, shut down when you’re overwhelmed, avoiding people because you think they're better off without you."
his eyes flickered momentarily just a little at the declaration.
“and,” she said, her voice a ripple of warmth through the cold, “one could say you're a burden.”
shame fluttered across giyuu’s features and he would have looked away, but she lifted her hand up, pressing her palm lightly against his left cheek. his breath caught between his throat, sharp and startled, like the reaction of someone being held in warmth knowing so much pain for so long.
her thumb gently stroked his cheekbone with deliberate, loving tenderness.
"but," she whispered, “i think, i can get the hang of it.”
giyuu locked his eyes back to hers, the moonlight reflecting his deep blue irises. then, something cracked in his expression, not broken, but unguarded, raw, honest, maybe vulnerable.
“but how…?” he breathed, his voice barely a whisper. “how can you say that so easily?”
"because it's the honest truth." y/n’s voice never wavered stating the obvious. "you think that loving you is difficult. but you forget i have learned to handle blades before i learned how to slay demons, but to that." her lips pulled in with a soft smile tugging at her lips. "loving you is one of the easiest things i’ve ever done giyuu."
he stared at her as if she had uttered some impossible truth.
“…you shouldn’t,” he vaguely whispered. “i bring danger. i bring death. i—
" you think I'm afraid of danger?" y/n huffed, crossing her arms in an amused exasperation. "giyuu, I'm the (breathing) hashira; i actually breathe danger for a living."
a small twitch had tugged at his lips, almost a smile.
once again, her voice softened. "what makes this hard for you isn't me. It's you. your doubts. your guilt. you believe that you don't deserve good things."
his breath began trembling as he had not thought the possibility that she read him so accurately like an open book.
“and yet,” she finished, her words spoken so close their foreheads all but touched, “i”ll still choose you. over and over again. even when you think you're someone who’s not easy to love.”
for a long moment, giyuu was stock-still. drinking in her words like rainfall after a long drought, he stood there, then he tentatively reached out; his hand was almost pulled back before she caught it and threaded her fingers through his.
his grip tightened, soft yet certain. then he finally said softly, "i don't know how to do this." “that’s okay,” she said, smiling. “i can teach you.” his eyes softened the way only she had ever seen them before. "you’re patient with me." "you’re worth being patient for."
there it was. giyuu shut his eyes, releasing in one breath what sounded like years of pent-up tension. by the time he opened them again, the advent of dawn painted his features with a soft gold as the first rays kissed his skin.
"y/n." he whispered, his voice low and barely audible. “yes?” “thank you.” she squeezed his hand together within hers.
“you don't have to thank me for loving you.” giyuu didn't reply with his voice, at least. instead, he leaned his head forward against hers. it wasn't a kiss. it was nothing bold or dramatic. it was a quiet moment between the two of them, calculated, a gesture carrying more meaning than words ever could, and y/n understood completely.
"i’m still learning," he whispered. "and i’m not going anywhere" she replied back softly, a smile tugging at her lips. finally the sun rose fully beyond the trees, bathing them in soft, warm color as the mist faded away from their feet. then it was in that clearing, between the hush of the forest, that giyuu tomioka had opened his heart to another human for the first time. and for the first time, he felt that he might actually deserve it.
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