Notes:

Double update!... 🐺🐥

I wouldn't lie; writing this update took a lot of work but I also had a fair amount of hesitation on posting it because I know how some readers can be overly critical when authors try to include plot in a rated story. So here I am throwing caution to the wind and including plot and character development anyway. For those who do not know my writing style, I love emotional turmoil in my characters so I like to mix the most detailed, disgusting smut with angst and plot. And any old fan of mine would recognize the signs...this is me gearing up to ruin someone in the worst way so if you know this is not your cup of tea, I don't know what to say because I have outlined for there to be a lot of smut chapters after this Pillar mini arc (so much that you might get sick), but there will also be a few deep plot chapters as the story goes on. I'm doing my best...

So...No smut or Tanjirou in this part of the arc but this is important, believe me. It will make the future acts and pain even more painful yesssssssss (don't be scared, everything will be okay. Maybe...👉👈...😊)

Chapter Summary:

Despite Giyuu's reluctance and vague refusal of their help, Mitsuri struggles to keep the fire in their hearts burning. She hopes that with her efforts in persisting to help him, that he will realize that all is not lost.

At least…not as yet.

Content Dictionary

Thoughts

xxx: End of a section

[[Sound]]

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"Memory of a conversation."

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APPLICABLE WARNING TAGS FOR THIS CHAPTER:

• SUICIDE MENTION

• ANGST

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CHAPTER BONUS? YES! LINED DRAWING, CHARACTER CARDS, STORY SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE. SEE END NOTES. IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH FINDING THE LINK OR SEEING THE ART, PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT ON TWITTER

The sound of lightning pierces my ears

My heart wavers

- Gurenge by LISA lyrics (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba OP)

Chapter 25: Re-educating a Slayer VI: Missing Person

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"Yes," Obanai mumbled his agreement, "At this point, your death would not be a good thing."

"…" What? Giyuu, momentarily forgetting his discomfort in Mitsuri's presence, looked up at Obanai in surprise.

Is that…really how it is…?

Do you really think that I should not die for what I did…?

xxx

N.B.: One minute later…

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FEELING A BIT UNCOMFORTABLE, OBANAI FROWNED while Mitsuri winked at him, and as the silence started to feel quite tense, as though Giyuu was waiting for him to say something more to confirm what Mitsuri had said, he scoffed.

"Psh, why are you looking at me like that? It's no big deal. I just didn't want our ranks to be reduced—" But as he caught sight of the displeased glare Mitsuri was sending him, he said nothing more, instead choosing to sit next to Giyuu, copying his cross-legged pose on the tatami mat.

In the added silence that followed, Mitsuri's gaze wandered to where she was clasping Giyuu's hands. Surprisingly, he had not pulled them out of her grip but that only made her worry more.

Is he so troubled about everything that this does not bother him…?

"It's just so unfair."

At that quiet mumble, Mitsuri looked up from their hands to Giyuu's face. He was still wearing the same expression, with the same blank look in his eyes and had she not known better, she would have thought that he had not spoken at all.

"Unfair…" he repeated.

"…" Giyuu was looking her dead in the eyes and her heart rate quickened with anticipation. Giyuu was actually speaking to her.

[[BADUM]]

"Ah." Not wanting to lose this rare opportunity to get him to talk, Mitsuri asked, "What is it that you think is unfair?"

"Tanjirou…" There was a momentary flicker of something incredibly painful in the depths of Giyuu's ocean blue eyes before it disappeared. "I remember when he first showed up before me. He was always so stubborn. He never knew when to give up and… even now, he's fighting...I just know he is—" he paused "—and it's not just tonight. It's been like this ever since he was taken away..."

"Why do you think so?" Mitsuri asked, briefly and gently squeezing his hands to offer a bit of motivation. She was happy that he was actually conversing with her, and she wanted to encourage him to continue.

"I can feel it."

"That…" Unsure of how to respond to this, she looked nervously at Obanai, who was sitting so quietly next to Giyuu that he might as well not be in the room, but as soon as their eyes met, he nodded and her heart skipped.

In the past month, the tragedy that had befallen them all with losing so many Corps members and losing to Muzan had brought all of them to their knees, but it had also brought them closer together, particularly her and Obanai.

After that night when he had told her of his feelings in the Dimensional Fortress, he had tried to run away from that confession by making himself as busy as possible and keeping their interactions short.

Unfortunately for him though, Kiriya had allowed the remaining Pillars to team up to search for Tanjirou, and Mitsuri had jumped at the opportunity to work with Obanai. Therefore, it was not too long ago, on one of the few occasions when they had met up to exchange information during the month, that they had honestly confessed their feelings of love to each other.

Or more like she had confessed and forced a proper confession out of him.

Mitsuri had been loving him with all her heart for so long that coupled with the near-death experiences in Muzan's Dimensional Fortress, her frustration over his covert glances of admiration and the feelings he was running away from had mounted to a pinnacle.

There was no way that she was going to let Obanai pretend as though he had not admitted to having loved her from the moment they had met.

Death had almost claimed them. Mitsuri wanted to know love and enjoy its fleeting sweetness before her departure from this world, unlike Obanai who wanted to depart from the world before he allowed himself to accept her love.

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"I cannot do this, Mitsuri. Not in this life…"

"To join your beautiful soul with an ugly, filthy one such as mine…would not be right."

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Mitsuri could still remember the words he had said to her, but as she had refused to accept things as they were, she had insisted that she loved him regardless of the condition of his soul. Love was deep, everlasting, accepting and forgiving—if he refused to accept and forgive himself for a past that he had no control over, then she had enough love to help him learn to accept and forgive himself.

It was tough to get him to accept her love but now that she had, his love made her feel so much more confident in everything that she did.

Thus, in this moment where she was doubting her ability to help their friend, Obanai was silently telling her that he believed in her abilities.

It was amazing what love could do in the face of despair, and as Mitsuri looked back to Giyuu, she wished that he could feel at least a little of what she was now learning about.

Support.

Friendship.

True love.

"I believe you."

"...?" That whisper had Giyuu looking up at her with a surprised gasp.

Kanroji-san…

She…

How?

Why does she believe me?

Yes, in spite of divulging his thoughts on Tanjirou's situation to her, Giyuu had thought that Mitsuri would have doubted him and quickly dismissed what he had said. After all, Tanjirou had been missing for thirty-one nights—yes, he had been counting—and it was a stretch to suggest that he was alive, and of all things still fighting Muzan.

"I can't remember where I heard about this," Mitsuri told him, "…but it is said that people who are very close to one another can each feel the other's emotional struggle if it's profound enough."

"..." Her voice was so gentle that it lulled him, easing the persistent ache in his soul and Giyuu found himself amazed at how alike she was to her designation of being the Love Pillar.

When he was in her presence, he hated himself a little less for being unable to save Tanjirou.

"Kanroji-san—"

"No," Mitsuri interrupted, shaking her head. "Call me Mitsuri."

"..." Giyuu only blinked in response, his lips flattening further into the thin line they always were.

"Last names are too bland," Mitsuri went on, unbothered by Giyuu's lack of a response. "Sure, it's a respectful form of address, but I feel like it's for strangers and associates who don't intend to get closer to one another…"

"…" Giyuu could not understand what Mitsuri was getting at.

Kanroji-san wants to get closer to me…?

She's pretty close already. His palms felt as though they were starting to get sweaty in her grip. Ah. I wish she would put a little distance between us.

This is a bit…weird.

As he remained silent and unwilling to do as she asked, Mitsuri smiled. "You, me and Obanai… We've all known one another for a long time," she said, smiling in Obanai's direction briefly before looking back to him, "...but you always call me Kanroji-san, and have you ever even called Obanai by his name?"

In spite of his continued silence and dull gaze, Mitsuri maintained her eye contact with Giyuu. She was aware that the Water Pillar was not used to being the centre of attention, so his lack of a reaction did not discourage her.

He was as quiet as a burbling stream and most of the time his presence went unknown. In the past, his silence came off as arrogance but she had always known that that was not how he truly was.

In reality, he was a person who was very sensitive to everything that happened around him.

For this reason, his current pain really hurt her. The way she saw his situation, for someone like him who was barely able to verbalize his inner thoughts at any given time, to be suffering like he was without an outlet must be painful.

"..." Looking away from her, Giyuu tried to turn his attention to Obanai but with Mitsuri being persistent in holding on to his hands even while he was now subtly trying to pull away, ignoring her was a bit difficult.

"Are you really okay with this?" He asked Obanai whose expression was probably as unreadable as his.

[[Hiss]]

Kaburamaru hissed, bobbing his head and eyeing Giyuu as though verbalizing the Pillar's irritation.

Yeah. He's definitely not okay with this.

Giyuu's gaze went from the snake to the silent man but when the Snake Pillar spoke, he found that Obanai was not irritated for the reason that he thought he would have been.

"I have a name, you know," Obanai grumbled. "Isn't it polite to refer to someone by name when you're speaking to them?"

"..." Giyuu's frown deepened.

Ah. That is why he's mad? Because I did not use his name?

They're both the same…

Did the two of them just come here to bother me? He thought, not realizing how true his assumption was.

"Obanai…" he said at last and the other scoffed before placing the tray with the food on the floor in front of him and turning fully in his direction.

"See? Saying my name in a casual manner wasn't that hard. It only took you a couple years," Obanai mumbled in his usual low voice. "And what do you mean by if I'm 'really okay with this'?"

To answer his question, Giyuu's gaze left Obanai's mismatched eyes to look to Mitsuri's hands that were clasping his.

"Hm." Obanai held out his hand to Mitsuri and Giyuu watched in shock as the Love Pillar happily lifted one of his hands and handed it to him.

"...?" To say that Giyuu was thoroughly confused when the usually confrontational Pillar took hold of his hand as though he was not bothered at all to be doing such, would be a gross understatement of his reaction.

What?

Why…?

For the man who would glare daggers at anyone who so much as glanced in Mitsuri's direction, Giyuu had no idea how to react. In his opinion, this was a rather odd and disturbing change that subconsciously set off his fight or flight response.

Is this how Obanai reacts right before decapitating someone for touching Mitsuri?

Or had he killed me since the moment I made eye contact with her? And I'm now dreaming?

"…" As though seeking the answers to these questions, Giyuu met Obanai's gaze but what he saw there surprised him.

There was no anger or budding frustration—only a simple expression of acceptance.

Um…

Ok. I'm definitely dreaming.

Dreaming…

Or crazy—

"You're not dreaming, Giyuu," Obanai said, taking a wild guess at what the other was thinking. "And I'm not going to kill you."

"…?" Giyuu's thoughts were thrown into turmoil.

Huh…?

Not dreaming?

What exactly had happened to Obanai in the month that they had been searching almost the entire country for Tanjirou?

Was their loss of Tanjirou or his budding relationship with Mitsuri responsible for this change?

What was it that had taught him to become more open to the feelings of others?

"Now we're both holding your hands," Mitsuri said in a tone that made it seem as though this solution had cured all the ills in the world. "Does this make you feel better?"

"..." Giyuu had no idea of how to respond to this; human interaction and communication were two of the few skills he had never mastered.

Now he felt cornered by the couple.

"As you've seemed to have figured out, Mitsuri and I are dating," Obanai said without looking away from Giyuu. "But don't go asking me if I'm okay with her touching you as though I own her." He frowned. "Actually…well, I will pummel any freak who puts their hands on her and gets too close, but I'm realizing that I don't mind that it's you who's touching her. Oddly, I don't feel the urge to rip your arms off."

"But…" Giyuu said, with eyebrows quirking up the slightest bit in confusion, "I—"

"What's the matter?" Obanai asked, "Do you want me to rip your arms off for touching Mitsuri?"

"Well…" Giyuu seemed undecided.

"Giyuu. I want you to understand something," Obanai interrupted, "We're here to help you. I already told you that I don't want you to die. According to Mitsuri, ever since she found you on Mount Natagumo, she's been very worried about your mental health. And whatever troubles her, troubles me too." After a brief pause, he added, "I'm sorry for what I said today, it was very tasteless of me although I had said it with the best intentions. I had only known that Mitsuri had happened to find you while she was searching the Mountain for Tanjirou—I did not know of your circumstances or the reason for you being there."

"..." Not knowing where to look, Giyuu looked down at the hardwood floor.

With the tension that he felt, the sight of the light from the fireplace playing over the wooden planks, casting shadows of varying shapes and lengths as the silence between them grew, offered an odd sort of solace.

"..." Finally, he looked up and passed his gaze from Obanai to Mitsuri. He had hardly said more than a handful of words to either in all the years that he had known them, yet here they were trying to make him feel better when they too were without a doubt very troubled as well. "Thank you, Obanai...Mitsuri…"

"Yay!" Mitsuri let go of his hand, launched forward and hugged him. "You've finally said my name!"

"Ah...yes…." Giyuu tried to ignore it, but it was undeniable how he was beginning to feel a lot better to be in their presence.

And it was not only because it had been many years since someone had hugged him.

With Obanai holding his hand and Mitsuri's arms around him, the constant aching loneliness and regret that was tattooed into his soul was considerably eased.

Yes. He no longer speculated about the possibility; Obanai had changed a lot—they had all changed a lot in the past month—and Giyuu had never thought the day would come when the Snake Pillar would be holding his hand and not choking him to death while he was being hugged by Mitsuri.

And it was then that he realized why this made him feel good.

This was just like when all the Pillars had come together to train prior to their final fight with Muzan [Manga Chapter 129-136 ]. A time of uncertainty and crisis had given rise to the need to throw aside their differences and help one another to grow stronger on a deeper level than what the usual intermittent Pillar training exercises provided[Manga Chapter 136[1]].

It was not that they had such a terrible sense of teamwork that an emotional connection felt so strange and vital. It was simply that usually, the Pillars were so focused on getting stronger and defeating as many demons as they could in their specific wards that they hardly met up like this for extended periods.

The life of a Pillar was a very lonely one. They existed only as a shield to protect the innocent, a tool to carve the way forward for the youth, and the vehicle that would preserve the passionate desire for mankind to live on.

Their existence was vital, lonely and temporary—and they wholly embraced that.

They who walked with death and darkness every day had no time for love, yet the love of the two before him was filling him with a strange, albeit tiny hope.

Obanai was a man who had hated the very essence of who he was so much that he had been blind to the feelings of others and had refused to allow himself to be loved by the girl he cared about for a long time [Manga Chapter 188].

The very fabric of him was a thoroughly embittered and haunted soul.

And no matter how many demons he defeated, no matter how strong he had become, the undefeated demons from his past pulled him further into his gloomy pit of desolate apathy.

But love had flourished in the midst of despair. In the midst of his torment, denial, reluctance and doubt.

This made Giyuu wonder. Was that some kind of message that fate was trying to bestow upon him?

Was he being told that in spite of what was happening to Tanjirou, that the day would come when love would conquer everything?

That the boundless love that the boy carried within his heart in spite of the tragedies he faced would be the thing to help him—and all of them—to regain what was lost?

That all he had to do was believe?

xxx

Even the weakness I wanted to get rid of

Became a last chain not to let go of your hand

Cry for the future from the edge of darkness

- Kimetsu no Yaiba 'from the edge' Fiction Junction / LISA

Search for brownsugarprod1 to view My group's TWITTER !

Chapter Bonus?: Please see my twitter for the link to the:

- ART BONUSES! This chapter has

GUEST ART: GIYUU, MITSURI AND OBANAI SKETCH BY KETSALISTLI!

- Arc banner

- Lined Drawing by Ketsalistlis!

(NOTE TO VIEWER: Their clothes in the drawing will be different from what is stated in the chapter because I didn't give a description of what they were wearing in the first draft I gave to the artist. NOTE TO ARTIST: Sorry, Ketsalistlis, but I still love this birthday gift with my whole fujoshi heart and soul. Thank you for your hard work!)

- Character Cards

- Situation summary

- How Kanroji found Giyuu

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CHAPTER BONUSES: I've redone how I show the bonuses to make it easier to find them all, from the first to the current chapter, so please see my Twitter for the link to the document with the art bonuses that couldn't fit here.

To access: It is the only link in my profile. When you click on that link you will see a stack of links. It is the first slot titled "ART (Muzan x Tanjirou art and End Notes for Ruination). This will take you to a document titled "Ruination: The FFNET User's Guide to the Art Bonuses."

Next Chapter Title: Re-educating a Slayer VII: Hide and Seek

Next Chapter Teaser: Trapped in the mire of hopelessness that Muzan had put the entire Corps into, Mitsuri and Obanai are determined to get the lone soul, Tomioka Giyuu, to look outside his self-made cage of despair and accept their help. They refuse to despair despite how obvious it is that Muzan has the upper hand. To them, they may have been beaten down, but they are determined to start the journey to healing.

As long as they continue to fight their way forward, fate will provide them with an outcome that will be the solution to all their troubles.

At least…this is what they hope for with all their hearts, but life does not always provide the outcome that is most desired.

REMEMBER: This is the part of the arc which focuses on the Slayer Headquarters with Giyuu / Mitsuri / Obanai and is what has been happening while Tanjirou is having a veryyyyy hard time :) The diversion is quite necessary to ensure that this story has some meat to it—with an actual plot. It will make the f**king even more "interesting". Trust me…

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END NOTES SECTION- Where the Author discusses (makes fun of) their characters' actions from that chapter

NOTE: Finally this double update is done! Took me so long to fix this according to the way I liked, not only because I lost a week due to not feeling well, but because emotional chapters that psychoanalyze characters and lead to character development are harder to write than they appear to be. Right now I just want to throw up some confetti to celebrate :c

Hmm.

-1. a. 'Or more like she had confessed and forced a proper confession out of him.'

Author: Remember how I stated in the last chapter that Obanai had poured out his heart to Mitsuri in the Dimensional Fortress? Well, their relationship did not start there. Mitsuri was so shocked that she had not said anything at first but then got interrupted by the announcement that the last boss (Muzan) had fled the scene with Tanjirou. When Obanai realized that he won't be dying that night, he regretted his confession and pretended as though he had said nothing. Afterwards, he avoided Mitsuri at every moment he could but eventually she caught him, responded to his confession and insisted that they start dating. Poor guy xD

-b The quoted lyrics in the end song fit this chapter so well with how Giyuu feels about losing Tanjirou… Especially how he was dwelling on his weakness but then Mitsuri and Obanai helped him

-c I loveeeeeee Obanai x Mitsuri so much! Like, how adorable is this couple?!

2 Giyuu getting all the love and support he deserves in order to push off his persistent depression is my kink.

b. The 'missing person' this chapter's title is speaking of is Tanjirou

c. When Giyuu asked Obanai "Are you really okay with this?", he was basically pulling a "please control your woman" tactic lol but it failed xD

-3 'For the man who would glare daggers at anyone who so much as glanced in Mitsuri's direction, this was a rather odd and disturbing change.'

Author: Haha even Giyuu is wondering why Obanai is not trying to kill him when Mitsuri is touching him. One answer was shown in the chapter, by Obanai directly stating that he just doesn't want to, but an additional and more direct explanation for his behavior is because he is aware that Mitsuri is the type who loves, supports and is open with everyone. He knows that Mitsuri is in help-a-friend mode. He doesn't want to stop her from helping Giyuu because if Giyuu remains as he is, that would make her sad. He racked up a lot of boyfriend points from this move xD

For the Mitsuri in this story, whenever she talks to and reaches out to others, she's not consciously flirting, just being friendly and supportive—Obanai knows where Mitsuri's heart is. There's another reason why Obanai doesn't wreck Giyuu when Mitsuri touches him, related to when he told Giyuu that he doesn't feel the urge to hurt him for touching her, but that will be explained / shown later in the story.

-4 It has been shown in the manga how much like Tanjirou Mitsuri is, so I felt like the one who is most likely to take it upon themselves to reach out to Giyuu would be her.

-5 And, Mitsuri is the only one of the Pillars that is shown to somewhat understand Giyuu on some level. While the others were confused and even affronted by his vague, and seemingly aloof attitude, when Sanemi was about to attack him, she put herself in harm's way to protect him

I love Mitsuri. She protecc the quiet sad boi

REFERENCES / IMPORTANT FOOTNOTES:

[1] Manga Chapter 136 Giyuu stated that as part of Pillar Training, they train with each other