Shinobu finally breaks and so does Giyuu.

-linebreak-

Shinobu isn't quite sure what set her off, maybe it was the stress combined on top of everything that was going on but it's not like it mattered anymore, she was already having a breakdown on the chair next to Giyuu's bed and thinking about it only made her feel even worse. It made her remember how she had let this situation get this bad, she had let it happen it was all her fault.

 It isn't working, the cure isn't working, she was too late. 

Shinobu is already, in the back of her mind, formating the letter she'll write to Oyakata-sama on Giyuu's untimely death and how sorry she is for allowing this to happen. 

Shinobu Kocho the hashira killer, she can already hear them say it, after letting her sister die from her injuries she lets another hashira die due to her miss care by poison for god sake. She's an expert in poison she shouldn't allow this to happen.

Yet she has. 

Every cure she tried doesn't seem to work and he is so sick- Giyuu is so sick- that it pains her deeply to see him like this. To see him lie so still on his bed with a sickly pallor reserved for those on the edge of death, he already looks like he's dead and she isn't sure what to do for him.

A heavy sob wracks out of her chest, the heavy emotions startling herself, grief, worry, and frustration pouring from her eyes as she curled on herself, sobbing into her hands.

She felt completely and utterly pathetic. 

-linebreak-

Everything felt fuzzy and heavy, he feels groggy, confused, one of those emotions that he currently can't quite nail down. His body won't move, then again, Giyuu is sure that that is some weird form of sleep paralysis, and if he moves his body enough it'll eventually wake up, but then again he could be wrong. Better try than not.

He starts by trying to move his fingers, which, ignoring the blurriness of his vision that with every blink is starting to become clearer, eventually works. From his fingers goes to his hands and then his arms and the rest of his body, everything at this point becomes clearer, he's not outside or at his house, he's somewhere else. Tomioka racks his brain to figure it out, the gears turning slower than normal as he retraces his steps, it's all blurry up until he returns from the mission. It's raining, he's walking, there's a gate, and then light-pitched screaming. This means he's most likely at the Butterfly Mansion if he was held up at the gate, or almost everyone was asleep at the Wisteria House which is rare but can happen.  

"Nnnnneyh?..." His eyes dart around the room, widening as he takes it all in his surroundings, "Hu... Huhn?" he groaned as he shifted on the bed. This didn't help his situation any bit more.

"Tomioka-san?" 

Kocho, he thinks, which means he's definitely at the Butterfly Mansion then. She sharply turned to look at him, so sharp, she should have gotten whiplash from it. It had been so long since he had woken up that she didn't even think it was possible for him too, she watched as he shuffled under his blankets, moving his arms to push himself upwards in a sitting position. Uh oh, she thought, and nimble on her feet she rushed towards him, pushing him down on his bed with a  quick shush from her.  "I know, I know, you wish to see your Sensei but he isn't here and no matter how much you look you won't find him." Not resisting her movements, he just cracks an eye up at her, raising both of his brows. 

"Wha're you talking about?" His voice is croaky, scratchy, of course, it would be, but god, had she never been more grateful to hear it despite its condition. "Of course he's not 'ere, he doesn't live here..."

Shinobu can only continue to stare at him with bated breath. "So your sure, you don't want to see him?"

He blinks up at her, sluggishly raising a brow. "Yes?... Why... Why would I?" She blinks at him, and Tomioka is sure he can see tears in her eyes but he's not given enough time to process it as she lunges at him, bringing him in a tight hug that knocks the air out of his lungs. 

"Don't ever scare me like this again! I thought we had lost you!" She hugs him longer than one would think comfortable but he doesn't mind, it's nice, hugs are nice especially when being sick, so he'll let himself indulge for now. 

He breathes in a deep breath, feeling the air fill his lungs, letting out a sigh afterward. His chest and mind felt lighter than before, his shoulders not as heavy, his emotions had seemed to calm than before, or maybe that's just because of how fuzzy everything was, static eating away at his mind. It was easy, everything felt more comfortable, the bed he was on, blankets covering him, the pillow, the clothin-

Oh, he looked down and saw he was in the registered Butterfly Mansion's patient's clothing, not his uniform or his haori. His haori!

Tomioka peered up at her, not before looking around for the article clothing and not seeing it. "Where's my haori?" The question seems innocent enough, she doesn't bother to turn her head, too busy focusing on getting the needle ready to take a blood sample to really pay attention to what he's looking like, what his expression is, not that it mattered anyway. Right?

"It's drying next to the fire, it was soaking wet and stained with mud when you came here and I couldn't just let you wear something like in your condition." The water hashira freezes, she seems to have struck a nerve even if she can't see it. "I can go get it for you if you want it that desperately, however, I can't assure you that it'll be properly-"

"Please," When he cuts her off, his words sound almost like he's begging, and who is she to disregard such a request in that manner?

She happily gets him his haori back although dripping wet he voices no words just like how she doesn't bother to voice her concerns that are on the top of her tongue.

It's not her place to pry no matter how much she desperately wants to.

He holds it close to himself despite its wetness and angles his body away from her's as if she threatened to take it from him. She offers to get a basket to put it in but before she can coax out any words he's already turned his back on her fully. She lets out a huff of air and a smirk grows on her face. "You see, this is why no one likes you Tomioka-san, your not grateful,"

He doesn't bother responding, the current state of his haori apparently more important to him than her. Though the bitterness in her words isn't there, it reminds her of a time similar to herself, sickly days she spent in delusions and clinging to her sister's haori as if she might die if she parts from it. She wonders if it's held in similar regards to him as it is to her as well. Shinobu reminds herself it's not her place to pry and continues on with her day. 

She goes to check up on him later, it seems as if Tanjiro does to and she's greeted with Tanjiro carefully trying to pry the still wet fabric out of the other man's arms with little to no success. She ushers him out of the room, shooing him along so the hashira can get some rest and hopes for better days to come along with, soon enough, the clearing of the rain.

She isn't quite sure why she gets her hopes up for nothing.