CHAPTER 16:

It took months for the village of Hinohara to get back on its feet. The village had to recover from the devastation after losing all of their homes. Sayuri provided them herbal medicines and planted some new ones, while taking care with the children whenever she could. Giyuu assisted in the reconstruction of the village, in addition to teaching the people what to do in the event of another attack. He had to cut down his teaching hours at the other village (his students were glad to know that he and his wife had made up, though), but everything was still worth it as long as he could lend a hand to those who needed it most.

Winter was almost over and everyone was waiting for the next season. The frost had subsided the past few weeks (which was a good thing since the cold and snow were very brutal up in the mountains). They were anticipating the bloom of the flowers around them. Even the bamboo stalks in the forest were anxious to see the first signs of spring.

The villagers were grateful to the couple, fully-aware that the two helped them evacuate to safety when the crime lord's henchmen attacked. They often fed them too and asked them to join small gatherings once in a while to which they usually obliged. But the couple had to humbly decline when the people gave half of their monthly harvest to them as part of their generosity. In the end, the two only took enough produce to last them a week.

"Giyuu-sama, you've done a lot for us already," one of the elderly bowed low to him. "Please give yourself a break."

"We will, right after we finish setting up this house." He continued carrying the huge blocks of wood. Sayuri came over and helped him out in setting them on the foundation of a house they were working on.

"You've chosen wisely, Giyuu-sama," another person remarked to the Water Hashira when one of the kids asked Sayuri to play with them. "She's not just all beauty; she's got a wonderful heart, too."

"Don't let that go to your head," Tomioka called out to the girl who was grinning at everything she just heard.

"Tch," she clicked her tongue. "What a way to spoil the fun."

The children invited her to play a game of hide-and-seek, with Sayuri losing a lot since the kids knew every nook and cranny in their village. She also was too big to hide anywhere, with the kids easily spotting her within the first few minutes. It was already sunset when they ended the game. Sweating, they all sat down together around a campfire while the parents asked them to wait for dinner. Tomioka took the seat next to her.

"Neh, Sayuri-neesan," one of the kids tugged her hand, "who snores louder between you and your husband?"

"Nani?! That's a private question!"

"Her, obviously." Tomioka said in a heartbeat, staring right into the fire as he added more wood.

She shot him her dagger look. "Excuse me, you snore loud enough to wake up the mountain!"

"Now you're exaggerating." He did wonder though if he usually snored that loud.

Another kid raised her hand. "Who's more likely to drown in a sinking boat?"

Sayuri was not going to lose. She blurted out her answer as she continuously prodded his back. "Him! Him! He can't even swim!"

Giyuu arched his eyebrow. "I doubt you could as well."

"Baka, baka! Between the two of us, I am most likely to float!"

The children seemed to be enjoying the couple's bickering. They hadn't seen such entertainment between two adults in a while. They all squeezed together on the log they sat on, their eyes glinting with amusement. "How about who eats the most at home?"

The married couple pointed their fingers at each other at the same time, their eyebrows heavily furrowed.

"Oi, oi… get real here, Giyuu."

"Sayuri, I'm being honest." His expression was hard to read, but she knew he was teasing her. "You're a bottomless pit."

"And you eat like a pig!"

"I do not."

"Wanna bet?!"

And that was how they ended up doing a spicy ramen challenge. They placed their bets on who could finish the most bowls between them. Some of the adults had joined the fun as well. The elder ladies had finished preparing the noodle soup when the children requested for chili peppers on the bowls of the young married couple.

Tomiola had a cold soba contest with Tanjirou before when the younger boy was trying to get him to help train the Demon Slayers. It ended in a draw, with both of them paying up for 20 bowls each. With the spicy noodle challenge, he doubted he could even go beyond five. He took this to mind as he grasped his chopsticks firmly in his left hand. He and Sayuri waited for the signal to start, while they stared at the bowls of red soup right in front of them.

"Ready, set," the children shouted together, " ...go!"

Slurp! Slurp! Slurp! His tongue felt like it was on fire. The ramen was delicious but it was the multitude of red hot chili peppers that burned his mouth. He could smell it as he gulped down the soup from his first bowl, as the children placed another one in front of him to start on. He wanted to throw up, but upon imagining Sayuri's taunts of him as weak, he clumsily grabbed the next bowl of ramen and taking a deep breath, started gobbling it down.

Sayuri was doing better; she was already about to finish her second. Everything was already swimming before her eyes, but everyone could tell that she was having fun. It was an untold secret that she loved spicy food. The broth went straight to her stomach in one go, and so did the spiciness that seemed to have grazed the internal linings of her organs.

The children were cheering and laughing as they watched two adults do an eating challenge. "Neh, Sayuri-neechan's winning!"

Tomioka finally slammed his seventh bowl on the log he was sitting on. He had enough. He would let her win this time as she broke his record by half a bowl. This was not the worst decision he ever made, but it came close. A child handed him something to drink while the rest clapped their hands for the winner of the challenge. Sayuri was crying and laughing from all the chili peppers she had just digested, shaking her fist in the air as she declared victory against her own husband. "That just proves my point," Giyuu muttered to which Sayuri had failed to hear. "You really do eat more than I do."

When the villagers thanked them for the job well done for the day, they helped the two pack up after putting out the campfire. All of the children had gone to bed by that time. Once it was only the two of them ready to head out, he heard something rustle behind the trees. It wasn't his imagination as Sayuri turned to the sound of it as well. Somebody was spying on them!

"Sayuri, let's go." He placed a finger on his lips, telling her to be quiet. They hid behind one of the shacks and waited with bated breath. When the sound was getting closer, he quickly swiped his foot as the shadowed figure tripped against it, the assailant's face hitting the ground.

She then forced the unfamiliar man on his knees and bound his hands and feet while Giyuu did the interrogation. "Who are you? Who sent you?"

The man in question was wearing a pair of hakamas and a jinbei kimono. He seemed like any unsuspecting villager, except for the set of knives at his disposal around his waist which they disarmed him off. Sayuri wrung the unknown figure's hands behind him tighter when the man didn't budge.

"Why have you been following us around?"

When the pain in his arms was too much to bear, he finally spoke. "The remaining crime lords have sent a message!"

He was a spy as Giyuu predicted. The Water Hashira waited for the henchman to reveal more information.

"They said not to interfere with their plans anymore unless you want people around you to be harmed!"

He was about to punch the man in front of him when Sayuri stopped him, shielding the man's face with her back.

"Giyuu, we need to warn Ubayashiki," she faced her husband. "They've already attempted to take him out before."

She was right. A lot of people would be vulnerable if the crime lords knew they were connected to them. Sayuri's family and their village. The Demon Slayers and the Ubayashiki siblings. Urokodaki-sensei. There was no way they could protect them all at the same time. Tomioka grabbed the henchmen by his shirt.

"What else? What else did they tell you?"

Giyuu shook the man in front of him and upon turning him around, was shocked to see his face. The assailant's mouth was foaming, his eyes completely blank. The henchman had swallowed a poison pill. It was a tactic taught by the crime lords should any of them be captured to reveal more pertinent information. Tomioka let go of the body, upset at the information he had just received and frustrated that he wasn't able to get more. He knew the crime lords wouldn't stop unless they get reprimanded by the law.

It was time to act.

Another month had passed by and still they heard no word about the crime lords. Giyuu and Sayuri had put up extra safety precautions between themselves, asking for a password whenever somebody knocked on their door. They had been each other as well if they had seen someone suspicious lurking around. Their minds were bent on getting rid of the remaining crime lords when one morning, the Water Hashira realized they had a valuable source of information.

"We might have to ask some help from your father," he told his wife who wholeheartedly agreed with his suggestion.

"I was thinking of the same thing, too."

Being married to the general's daughter had its own perks. Sayuri's father helped them out, keen on providing them his best strategies. He wanted nothing more than to take out the ones who tried to harm his own daughter.

When they came over to his house, he led them to his office (the "war room," as Satoko would put it). There were tons of books and documents shelved in the closets. Papers detailing tactical strategies were pinned to the board in front of a desk. Maps scattered on his table, highlighting the mountain passes and forts around the different parts of the country. The flag of Japan was tacked to the wall in addition to the numerous newspaper clippings about the general's victories throughout the years. It was a room fit for the work of a high-ranking military officer indeed.

"I can't be involved too much since I'm still officially part of the government," the general confessed. "But here's what I can provide."

He gave them information about the rest of the crime lords, who they were and where they were. He had pages and pages of profiles of each of them stacked on top of his desk. General Nakamura told them that his fellow officers had heard that the government was able to capture two more crime lords recently. Sayuri and Giyuu were overwhelmed at the vast information the general had at his disposal.

"The remainder of them are laying low," he told them. "They don't want the government to think they are up to something."

"But they let other people do the dirty work for them." His son-in-law interjected.

"Exactly. The best way is to capture those men and make them admit who they are working for," the general stood up from his desk and prepared to stash away all the confidential information to where they were being kept. "But be careful, Tomioka. These crime lords are sneaky. You never know what they will do next."

The Water Hashira nodded. "Thank you, Nakamura-san. We will relay this to Oyakata-sama." They had to rely on everything they have if they were to put an end to all the greed and corruption of the crime lords.

Sayuri continued practicing with her sword everyday, should the occasion arise where she would have to defend the both of them. Surprise was an understatement when Giyuu motioned her to come with him to the forest one morning to teach her something new. He had brought the two wooden sticks for practice.

"Today I will teach you the 11th form. Lull."

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I thought there were only ten forms?"

He already held up his sword as he took on his stance, urging her to follow. "This one is my own technique." He never taught this to any of his students. Urokodaki and Tanjirou knew about it, but they never really asked him how he managed to create a new form. Sayuri watched him perform the stance, ceasing any body movements as he prepared to deflect and block any incoming attack.

It reminded her of the dead calm ocean, the stillness lingering of the surface, despite the danger in its depths. When she took the form to memory, she sparred with him once again. Giyuu then taught her how to do the full focus breathing to further increase her strength, speed, and stamina. Being a fast learner, Sayuri caught up to him in no time.

They were done after two hours of practice. Sitting down on a rock, she handed him a bamboo vessel filled with cold fresh water. Giyuu could feel his parched throat as he drank it all. He then took off his shirt to dry his perspiration. Sayuri pretended not to ogle at his body and instead decided to stare up into the clear blue sky. She then heard him speak.

"Are you happy?"

The girl turned to face him. The birds were chirping above them. Giyuu continued, "Are you happy being here… with me?"

"What's with the sudden question?"

"I just realized I never really asked if you're content with this kind of lifestyle," he confessed, putting down the bamboo vessel on the ground. He wanted to get to know her more. All this time they were together, he never really asked her about her likes and dislikes, what scared her and what excited her.

She didn't know where to begin her story. "I lived in Asakusa my whole life. My mother Sayako died when I was 12," she started, pausing to drink from her own bamboo vessel. "Otousan married Sachiko two years after; said he needed someone to take care of me and Satoko. Sachiko's really nice, but not a day went by when I didn't miss my real mother."

"I see."

"I worked as a shrine maiden to help out the priests at the temple. Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed the city life," she admitted. "But being able to live far away from all of that, it's a different experience on its own. Not to mention being able to do things no one has ever expected of me."

She didn't see him gazing at her as she reminisced the good times: her playing with her younger sister, their father surprising them with gifts upon his return from the war, the villagers thanking her for all her efforts at the shrine. But now she felt that she was serving a higher purpose, that is, protecting people, including Giyuu, whether by swinging her sword or by concocting antidotes.

The girl then remembered why she took a stroll down the memory lane. "So to answer your question: of course I'm happy, Giyuu. I wouldn't want to be with anyone else but you."

The weeks had gone by so slowly, with things having seemed like everything had gone back to normal. Giyuu took to helping out Sayuri with the household chores on days when he had no classes to teach. He then assisted in trimming the weeds that were already growing from the front of their house. When he finished his chore one early morning, the Water Hashira did not expect a visitor to come by.

"Konnichiwa, Giyuu-niichan!"

He saw the small figure coming towards him as he wiped off the sweat on his brow. He knew that pink kimono from anywhere.

"Ah, Nezuko." He noticed that she was carrying a basket. He offered to help her to which the little girl was thankful as he ushered her inside the house.

Nezuko told him about the latest happenings at the Kamado residence. Tanjirou and Kanao were hanging out more often lately, taking turns on visiting each other while reporting to Ubayashiki on special missions. Even Inosuke and Aoi were spending more time together, as Zenitsu teased them that they were feeling left behind. Giyuu was pleased to hear that everyone was in high spirits despite the imminent danger that surrounded them.

"Is this for Sayuri?" He glanced at the heavy basket.

The little girl nodded happily. "She's been craving for apricots lately."

"Why? They're not yet in season."

Nezuko shrugged her shoulders. They were already standing in the backyard. Sayuri was hanging up some clothes to dry out in the rare appearance of the sun. They watched her for a few minutes from afar before something happened: Sayuri suddenly bent forward to throw up.

Startled, Tomioka came running towards her. "Are you alright?"

"Ah, don't mind me," she wiped her mouth with her sleeve, before clutching her stomach. "I probably didn't cook the meat too well today."

It didn't make sense at all. He would have felt the same effect since they pretty much ate the same food together. He was still wondering about the possible causes when she lurched once again.

"It's not poison, I hope." He was now worried.

"I doubt it. I've been feeling sick in the morning these past few days. But it usually goes away in the afternoon."

He helped her get inside the house as if she were an old lady in need of assistance.

"Don't-!" She slapped his hand away when he accidentally touched her chest upon lifting herself up the elevated porch.

"I'm sorry. It was an accident."

"No worries." She blushed furiously. "They've been tender lately."

Something sparked in his brain. He knew little about this, but when he pieced together the bits and bits of information: the morning nausea, the unusual craving, the muscle pain in her body, he prepared himself for what he was about to say.

"Sayuri, are you… pregnant?"

Her eyes widened at the sudden question.

Tomioka caught her just in time as she fainted from what he just said.

END OF CHAPTER

Author's Notes: Yayyyyy! Let me know what you guys think! The spicy noodle challenge was just a prompt that I thought of before. I've actually done it with friends before and it was indeed the worst decision we've ever made!

*Baka - stupid person

*Konnichiwa - hello