Chapter Text
Giyuu had left his estate this morning when Kanzaburo had flattered into his kitchen through his window, almost landing in his breakfast. It wasn't the most civilized way of entering his home, yes, but it definitely was efficient, so who was he to complain? Kanzaburo was old, it was normal for him to sometimes crash-land; and if he was being honest, he could never stay mad at his feathered friend. The Hashira had just arrived in the village. He had spent his time looking around for all sorts of clues- it would be smart to ask the villagers, but he preferred keeping them out of such business. He instead bought a quick lunch at a small restaurant, eavesdropping at the conversations of the people there. Sadly, he didn’t hear anything interesting, so he soon left after having finished his meal. Around the time of late noon, he noticed a boy with reddish-black hair wearing a green and black checkered haori being asked if he could help a person out by… sniffing for their lost cat. Well, this town certainly had interesting people.
Funnily enough Giyuu actually saw the boy at dusk again, returning the cat to the owner with a happy expression painted onto his face. He seemed like a very kind-hearted boy. He frowned slightly, before returning to his search. He needed to find a demon, not watch the civilians.
“Excuse me, sir?”, Tomioka turned around. The boy he had just been watching a while ago was looking up at him. “I’ve noticed you earlier today already and I don’t recognize you- are you a traveler- are you searching for something? I’d be happy help you if you’d like!”, the boy offered with a bright smile. It reminded him of Tsutako. The Hashira shook his head, telling himself to focus. “No, I don’t need your help, but thank you regardless.”, he spoke, before pausing. “You should go home soon. It’s becoming dark and it could be dangerous out here when no ones around.”, Giyuu added. “Ah! No worries, sir, I know this village very well- I know where to go! I hope you have safe travels!”, he chimed whilst turning around and walking away, waving. Tomioka simply nodded in response.
The night soon arrived and Giyuu was starting to grow antsy. He hadn’t found anything- this demon was smart for sure- maybe it was a Lower Moon? That could be a possibility; he’d just have to keep his guard up.
Eventually Giyuu came across a path that led up the mountain, as soon as he stepped closer to the mountain, a feeling of dread washed over him. He flinched slightly. That was… unusual. His body felt heavy for some reason- there wasn’t a sound in the forest- not even the call of an owl- and with that, Giyuu ran up the path, whilst doing so he passed a hut that marked the end of the town.
Fesh snow fell from the night sky as he ran up the path, his blue eyes narrowed as he spotted a pair of footsteps besides his own- they were starting to fade due to the snow. Perhaps he had found his demon. How strange, why would it use the path? Most were just feral beasts running around wherever they liked- this probably really was a Lower Moon.
Giyuu wavered as a fresh scent of blood hit his nose- there was a lot of it. Giyuu had failed to save people, just as he always did. The Hashira quickened his pace until he reached a hut, the door was broken open. Just as he got a proper view of the scene, he saw a girl holding a young child in her arms running out of the hut. She looked terrified. Tomioka was about to react when a man rushed out the hut, violently bringing her and the child down. That man- that demon was fast. He had barely seen the movement. Was he dealing with an upper ranked demon here? He had no time to question that.
Giyuu rushed in, slashing his katana at the demon. It didn’t even react as its arm got cut off. It regrew instantly. It had barely taken a second. Tomioka blinked in disbelief as he heard the young child crying in fear. The demon glanced up from underneath his white hat. Red eyes glared at him as if he was a minor nuisance. Giyuu felt a bone-chilling feeling wash over him- cutting deep into his flesh. He shouldn’t feel like this- there was no kanji written in this demons’ eyes, so why did he-
Tomioka wasn’t able to finish his thought as the demon decided to let go of the horrified children, attacking Giyuu itself. A gag of pain escaped his throat as the demon swiped through his uniform right into his chest with ease. Before he was given a chance to recover the demon had him suddenly pinned to a nearby tree, his sword dropping onto the ground, holding him by his throat. “Now what do we have here?”, the man had a deep, cold voice. “A Hashira, what an honor.”, the demon said mockingly, through the chilling tune didn’t leave his speech. “I haven’t seen one of your kind in ages.”, he muttered, narrowing his eyes. Giyuu struggled in the grip, trying to kick the demon away- he didn’t even budge, instead he punched Giyuu into his guts, causing him to sputter out blood.
As he looked up, he saw the two kids staring at the two of them with ghostly pale faces. The younger one of the two seemed pretty badly injured. “RUN!”, Giyuu shouted, causing more blood to drip from his mouth- this guy punctured one of his lungs by simply hitting him. The girl flinched as if woken up, she tightened her grip on the boy and ran down the mountain as fast as she could. The demon coldly watched, before his gaze turned to him again. “I don’t need them anyways.”, he spoke. He seemed to be analyzing Giyuu. He didn’t like that. “I’ve had a question for quite some time now and I believe you can help me get the answer.”, the man told him. “I’m… not helping you with anything.”, Giyuu gritted through his teeth. The grip on his throat tightened.
“Who said you had a choice?”, the demon growled, showing his fangs, he closed his eyes, composing himself again. “I’ve been wondering… just what would happen if I were to turn a Hashira into a demon?”, he smiled eerily. Tomiokas’ blood froze in his veins.
This man, this demon, he was the demon king himself, Muzan Kibutsuji, he realized. “Don’t worry, this won’t hurt at all.”, Muzan said with a sadistic smile on his face as his nails turned a deep red.
Giyuu let out a scream of sheer agony when the demon stabbed him in his neck. A burning sensation crawled into him. It felt as if he was burning inside. “I wonder if you can survive this amount of blood. Not many manage to, but you should be a little less pathetic than most of you pitiful humans, right?”, he asked coldly, watching as the Hashira twitched in pain. Giyuu’s pupils flickered, having grown smaller in panic. He felt horrible- his body was being torn open from the inside. He didn’t even feel the claw wound on his chest anymore; the pain was being overridden by the foreign blood forcing itself into his veins.
Eventually, after what felt like hours of torture, Muzan let him go, dropping him into the snow without a single care in the world. “Perhaps I’ll see you again, Hashira.”, he spoke, before simply walking away, leaving Giyuu to tremble on the ground, choking on his own blood- was it even his own anymore? He wasn’t sure. His vision began to blur, darkness crawling into it from all sides. He saw a black spot landing in the middle of it. It cawed helplessly. He wasn’t sure, but he thought it nudged him with its beak. Kanzaburo…
He gurgled as he looked at his crow. Tomioka wanted to speak, but his body failed him as his eyelids shut close, his mind sinking into deep mud, drowning all the noise around him out. He stopped moving as he finally lost consciousness. He was scared. He was so scared if he would ever wake up. Wake up as himself and not some feral beast.
Kanzaburo pecked him hastily. “Giyuu! Giyuu!”, he cawed with worry. “Giyuu! Giyuu! Wake up!”, the bird called, fluttering its wings. Its eyes shined with panic, fear and worry for its ‘owner’.
Giyuu didn’t answer, cold snow landed on him as the snowfall continued. The crow tried to wake him for the next several minutes, before shakily spreading its wings out, fluttering up into the sky. It passed by a hut at the edge of the forest, where an old man quickly lead two children into his hut, a boy watching from the inside with widened eyes. The girl cried and sobbed in fear, her body shaking from the cold, the young boy unmoving in her arms.