Giyuu held a tradition whenever one of his brides met their untimely end. Mitsuri found him by the ocean with his feet sinking into the sand and his hands clutching a jar of cremated remains. The day was windy and cold, ruining his hair even more by tangling the wisps of his hair into clumps, but he did not move, not even a centimeter, as the waves crashed into his frame and punished him for his failures. Clothes wet and heavy, he finally opened the lid. The wind carried his bride's ashes into the ocean, and he watched with a forlorn expression, ignoring the goddess of love as she waited on land.

"Giyuu," she frowned as the god waded in his element. "That's the 27th girl."

Aware of her plans, Giyuu stalked away, uninterested in her cloying offers, but the woman was persistent.

"One chance," she said as she trailed after him, hustling to catch up with his long strides. "Give me one chance to find your match! Haven't you suffered enough?"

No, he thought, he deserved to suffer more, but he does not voice his self-deprecation to the goddess of love because he knew his admission would ignite her motivation to give him a bride. Before Mitsuri could convince him, the water god disappeared and abandoned her at the beach. Rejecting the goddess of love was unheard-of.

The pink-haired woman knelt down and pouted. Alas, she failed in her mission. "I guess he's the second god who doesn't want me to introduce his match," she huffed.

In the future, he also became the second god who found his match without her interference.

XXX

Back then, solitude was natural for Giyuu, a kind companion he sought whenever he missed Sabito or felt pressured by the guilt. Tanjirou's influence was a double-edged sword. On one hand, Giyuu's heart melted under the warmth of his touch and the sweet music of his laughter, but the human also made the god putty in his hands, a malleable being who cannot revert back to his old, archaic ways.

Solitude was no longer a comfort, and instead, it mocked him, needled him for yearning his bride even though he was the one who pushed Tanjirou back to the mortal realm. Even worse his sanctuary was now tarnished by the attempted corruption and Tanjirou's blood in his hands, so all he associated with Shijima Lake was the coiling fear of losing another person he loved, of someone he couldn't protect. The culprit behind the corruption was still at large, attacking anybody and everybody indiscriminately.

The most recent case was the worst so far.

Kyoujurou, the god of flames, was inflicted by the corruption. Whoever was the mastermind controlled him and ordered the god to wreak havoc, spewing flames upon vulnerable villages during the scorching summer. The humans were dying, begging the water god to save them from this monstrous heat, so Giyuu was busy assuaging the damage, spreading out monsoon after monsoon until the other gods found a liable way to capture Kyoujurou. His flames weakened Giyuu and leeched his strength, but he persisted, never wavering, never faltering and extinguished the inferno that threatened the humans because too much was at stake.

Whenever he was given a moment to breathe, he would drift to the nearest body of water and replenish his energy there, floating on top of the surface to soak. If he was given longer than a moment, he would spend his time watching Tanjirou to give himself a peace of mind. One of his abilities was to view the object of his affections as long as Tanjirou was close to water, and the image became clearer when the human was closer to it. He savored every chance he got, and once, he even accidentally spied on his human while he was bathing. The image was a sight for sore eyes. Saliva pooled in his mouth as he watched the water cascading down the human's toned back and slid past his lovely ass, an ass his fingers were dying to grope and play. Giyuu sighed as he dipped his fingers in the water and envisioned himself right at Tanjirou's side, his hand reaching out to caress his tinted, rosy cheeks.

However, he used this ability sparingly in fear of draining himself too quickly to defend against Kyoujurou. The small glimpses he caught of Tanjirou plucked his insides and laid them bare beneath the sun. It burned him knowing that he cannot touch his bride and bury his nose in his rich, wine-colored hair, to nuzzle the skin beneath his neck and paint it blue, purple, and red. He can no longer indulge in the smiles directed towards his way, the idle chatter he took for granted, or the arousing noises he used to elicit. Those peaceful days were gone.

Sometimes the pining consumed his every being.

Tanjirou kept him grounded and rooted to the present. Without him, Giyuu aimlessly drifted through time. He lost track of how many moons have passed until Shinobu came across a major breakthrough. She presented her findings to the council, or rather, what was left of the council since a sizable chunk were in hiding or corrupted.

"Though he is not here at the moment," Shinobu's eyes quickly scanned the crowd. She then stated, "I suspect that Muzan is the main culprit behind the corruption."

With such an inflammatory accusation, especially without the god himself in attendance, the others were in disarray and demanded more details from the witch doctor, so she began to explain herself.

"More demons have been running rampant within the mortal realm," she said.

"And? How are demons involved with the corruption?" One god dared to ask. "Accusing a god as powerful as Muzan can be considered a great offense," they warned.

Muzan was born from the chasm deep within the recesses of the darkness, and the humans feared the darkness ever since their creation, which fueled his power and gave birth to unspeakable monsters. Even though he was the progenitor of demons, he rarely appeared during the day because the sun was his weakness, the bane of his existence.

"I understand," said Shinobu. "However, I noticed a connection that all the attacks occurred at night."

The first attempted incident happened during the Night Festival, and coincidentally, more incidents popped up past dusk. Her suspicion towards the god of the moon, Michikatsu, grew stronger as a string of more corrupted individuals cropped up like wildfire. However, her suspicions changed when the god of festivities paid her an impromptu visit.

"And then Tengen brought me a demon he captured," she said.

At that time, she noted his concern, the crease in his brows as he worried over his young bride back at the mortal realm. After all, he allowed Zenitsu to live there to survive and be free – not to be fresh meat for a horde of demons. Yes, demons were a consistent presence, but he was surprised to hear Zenitsu's reports of the sheer number he fended off to protect the village he resided.

"This one seemed different," he told her, staring at the demon with a solemn expression.

There were no precious gems or glitter to refine his appearance. He only looked tired. Perplexed by his cryptic words, Shinobu took a sample of the demon's blood. Overall, demons were considered pests in the realm of the gods, a nuisance that were tolerated in their world. Though most gods never bothered or confronted Muzan about them since they instantly disintegrate beneath the sun. The creature was small, almost the size of a young child. Its eyes never strayed from her as she studied the contents of its blood, but when she found the results, her veins bulged at her temples, and the woman was left livid for hours. Inhumane, she would have said, but Muzan was already a monster to begin with.

"The blood corresponded with Naho's blood," she seethed, teeth bared and ready to maul him once she sees him.

Her anger was palpable. The girls in her residence mourned for Naho when she was recently discovered missing. Kanao took painstaking hours to search for a body, or at least the corrupted remains of her being. Nobody expected to find her in this vulgar state, a mindless demon in the outskirts of a human village.

"Where is he?" Shinobu's voice was sharper than everybody's blades. No god had ever seen the witch doctor this enraged. She demanded answers. "Where is that coward?"

The gods were dismissed from their meeting, and Giyuu and Sanemi were voluntarily dispatched to apprehend him. However, upon arrival, Muzan's domain was deserted, which further incriminated the god of his crimes.

Sanemi roared out his frustration. "Dammit!"

With his blade, he slew through walls and boulders to find any clue of his whereabouts, anything useful that can help him save his brother, but to his dismay, the area was devoid of any living or breathing creatures. There were only rocks and the destruction he just created as his consolation prize.

While Sanemi gathered his bearings to deliver the bad news, Giyuu frowned and glared at the ground. A flare of disappointment torched his insides. The water god despised Muzan ever since he fought against him in the war. The pathetic god was a bastard who wished to disrupt the balance of their world and vied for the sun god's attention from the humans he loved so much. He remembered how Muzan tortured humans for sport just to garner attention like a toddler with a tantrum if nobody noticed him.

He was the reason why Tanjirou was in danger, and that was enough reason for Giyuu to hate him even more. His hands shook in anticipation of the day his blade can pierce through Muzan's flesh and end this nightmare once and for all.

Yet, the nightmare continued when Mitsuri arrived at his domain unannounced with a grim expression. Before Giyuu could invite her in, she broke his heart in a flash.

"I have unfortunate news, Giyuu," said the goddess of love and began to shed tears.

Giyuu was too engrossed in his esteemed visitor that he missed the pretty young girl standing behind her. At a cursory glance, she had jet black hair that she tied on top of her head and wore heavy makeup that blanketed most of her face. Once Mitsuri started to cry, the young girl offered her a handkerchief to dab her eyes while wearing a look of bewilderment.

"Thank you," she sniffled, but when she remembered the purpose of her visit, the tears returned in full force. She covered her mouth to stifle her sounds, but they were heard loud and clear.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I'm so, so sorry."

Giyuu extended his hand in concern, afraid that the goddess would collapse or fall to her knees. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

His eyes turned to the young girl for answers, but she also looked stunned by the goddess's behavior.

Mitsuri's voice shook with grief. "Tanjirou-san," she choked out a sob. "He… He's dead."