Crossposted on AO3 - FF fucked with my italics so, er, I'll come back and fix that whenever (can I even do that here?)

Tomioka Giyuu woke up to the scent of blood and dust.

His forehead was hurting after spending hours with his head resting against the hilt, unconscious, but the moment he tried to rise, a painful jolt ran through him.

"Ah!"

He froze and asserted the damage to his body. There were a few wounds that would definitely need some stitching, but he'd deal with that later.

Exhaling slowly, he got up more carefully and looked around the now destroyed room. Letting out a small sigh of relief at the lack of demons there, he sheathed his weapon and kneeled back next to Tanjirou.

The younger boy was still lying face down on the rumble. There was a small puddle of congealing blood near his stomach, but his breathing, if a little shallow, seemed overall fine. Still, the eery stillness and paleness in such a normally enthusiastic boy made him worry about the severity of the wounds that lied underneath the torn clothing.

He let the back of his hand drift to Tanjirou's cheek, some of his fears abating at the feeling of warm flesh against his.

We made it out alive.

Giyuu's shoulders dropped in relief as he allowed his eyes to close for a moment, simply enjoying the calm that seemed to wrap itself around the room.

The war was not yet over, but they had won this battle, and he deemed acceptable to silently celebrate this victory for a moment. Defeating one of the Upper Moons wasn't an easy feat, and Giyuu couldn't help but feel like they were closing in on Muzan, slowly, but surely.

His good mood soured quickly, though. Gone was the peacefulness he had been basking in for the last few minutes, in its stead grief as he remembered Kochou's demise.

No, he thought grimly, his lips a thin line, our fight today is far from over.

The slayer moved to wake Tanjirou. As much as he wanted to join him on the floor and just sleep for a few days, he knew they couldn't afford that. Even now, he could still hear the distant sounds of fighting from somewhere underneath them, and he couldn't bear the idea of losing any more of his fellow slayers.

Giyuu shook the boy's shoulder gently. He worried he wouldn't be able to fight, or even walk after the techniques he'd used on the demon. He had no idea what had happened but figuring out that now wasn't the priority.

When the burgundy-haired slayer didn't stir, the Water Pillar sighed again, realizing Tanjirou wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. It didn't surprise him much, but it also meant that if they ran into an enemy, he'd have to defend them both. He felt pretty shaky and unsteady, as well as a deep ache all over, but he dismissed it. He didn't have a choice.

At least, one of us gets to take a nap.

He huffed slightly at the thought, before picking up Tanjirou on his back, ignoring with gritted teeth as his muscles protested the added weight. He frowned as he noticed the boy's limp arm was dripping blood, and felt the back of his haori begin to dampen. He threw a concerned look over his shoulder before grabbing Tanjirou's black katana and standing up.

Inhaling deeply one last time, he turned around and left the silent room.

As Giyuu walked through the seemingly endless corridors, careful not to attract any unwanted attention, one of the sheet wearing crows flew over to them and started barking.

"Caw ! All the remaining slayers well enough to fight are to now focus on killing Muzan ! Follow me to his location, caw !"

Eyes widening, Giyuu stared at the crow. They knew where Muzan was ? How ? The whole place was a giant, moving maze, and as far as he knew, all the other pillars were probably engaged in a fight of their own against the upper moons.

He made to follow the crow, step a little less steady than before. He couldn't help but feel dread slither its way between his ribs. He knew he was not ready to face Muzan. He didn't know if any of the pillars were. His pitiful, wounded state wasn't helping abate his worries either. He wasn't afraid, but a persisting thought refused to leave him.

What use was he going to be ?

Shaking his head to get himself rid of this useless line of thinking, he tightened his grip on Tanjirou's thighs and made to follow the crow.

He couldn't focus on this sort of thing now. He was going to fight with every ounce of strength he had left, and all he could do right now was pray that'd be enough. He felt the younger boy on his back stir a little, which helped release some of his pent up tension. Tanjirou didn't seem like he was waking up, but his presence reminded Giyuu that they simply couldn't stand to lose against Kibutsuji. He was starting to realize that he belonged among the pillars, and that, maybe, it was time to let go of the past. He was still a little unsure and lost, but he didn't want to lose all of this after being blind for so long.

Still jogging after the crow, Giyuu thought about the late nights they had all spent at the Butterfly Estate. Hashibara and Agatsuma bickering over the smallest things. Nezuko getting her hair done by Mitsuri while she hummed contentedly and as Obanai looked longingly at the pink-haired pillar, a serene look on his bandaged face. Shinobu shaking her head at Rengoku and Uzui's antics, while sipping tea with Kanao, looking truly appeased for the first time in years. Genya trying his best (and failing) to inconspicuously sit closer to his ever boisterous brother. Himejima and Muichiro quietly enjoying the cheerful atmosphere, joining in the conversation from time to time. And then, Tanjirou, at the center of it all. During those nights, the younger slayer would often seek him out, as long as he wasn't dragged away by one of the other pillars. Tanjirou's warmth seemed to reach into his grieving heart, and melt away at the ice surrounding his bruised soul. He seemed to remember how to smile when the red-haired boy was around, and after a few months and one heated talk, he thought he could feel tendrils of happiness beginning to bloom where only sadness and anger used to reside. He had brought them all together, and healed some of their deepest, most concealed wounds with unmovable kindness and selflessness.

Tanjirou's efforts wouldn't go to waste. He promised himself that. They'd all go home and enjoy those nights for years to come.

With renewed hope, Giyuu readjusted his grip on Tanjirou, and watched the crow begin to open its beak to speak as it flew into the next room, only to be instantly sliced to bits. The now beheaded crow fell to the ground with a thump, and the Water Pillar could only take several leaps back before he was himself attacked by vicious flesh whips.

Groaning internally at their utter lack of luck, Giyuu watched as one of those deformed chimeras emerged from the room. He couldn't see past the monstrosity but he felt dread rise in him at the glimpses of blood he managed to catch from behind it. Heartbeat erratic, Giyuu deposited Tanjirou on the ground carefully, keeping his eyes on the monster. He deemed the distance between the unconscious boy and whatever this was safe enough, and slowly approached his enemy. They had run into a couple of those before finding Azaka, and he knew they shouldn't be too hard to defeat, but something didn't feel right.

There was something in that room, and it probably wasn't just a couple more of those disgusting, moving mounds of flesh.

Lowering himself into a defensive stance, he waited for that thing to attack first before slashing at what he supposed was the head. They weren't harder to defeat than some of the weakest lower moons, but their unpredictability and fast regeneration made them dangerous beasts. Still, after a few more slashes, Giyuu knew this one wouldn't rise again.

He went to retrieve Tanjirou and breathing deeply a few times, he walked around the deceased demon and into the room.

The sight that greeted him upon entering made him clamp a hand over his mouth in horror.

The limbless, mutilated corpses of his fellow demon slayers, blood splattered on seemingly every surface of the large room, lifeless eyes staring into nothing surrounded him. Unable to remain standing, his knees buckled and the Water Pillar fell into a puddle of congealing blood. Tears started to leak from the corner of his eyes and he couldn't breathe properly anymore.

This was a massacre. An utter, senseless, abominable bloodbath.

Dozens of slayers had been slaughtered here. Most didn't even have their katanas unsheathed. None of them had seen the attack coming.

He looked around, noticing cords made out of flesh attached to the walls, all of them linked to a rounded, rotting mass of flesh right in the middle of the room. The monstrosity was ripped open, a mockery of rebirth.

Still on his knees, Giyuu realized that, perhaps the worst thing about all of this was that Muzan was nowhere to be seen.

He had vanished, leaving behind him a trail of half-devoured bodies.

Obanai and Mitsuri found him after what felt like years. He had not moved a muscle, even though he knew that sitting here wasn't going to accomplish anything. Yet, he couldn't bear the idea of disturbing the eery stillness of the room.

After the Love Pillar walked into the room, she broke the spell, letting out a horrified gasp at the sight of her fallen comrades. Obanai froze midstep, and Giyuu could only imagine as his eyes widened and his shoulders dropped.

"W-What h-happened...?" Mitsuri's small, pained voice echoed around the scene, "T-There's just so-o", a sob, "s-so many of them ! Why ? Why would they...?"

Obanai moved to rest a hand on her shoulder, as sobs racked the woman's frame. Giyuu could only look on sadly.

"I take it Muzan was there, wasn't he?"

It wasn't quite a question. But Giyuu nodded nonetheless.

"I didn't see him", he began, "I walked in on this. He probably finished regenerating before any of us arrived. They didn't stand a chance." He said, grim-faced.

The Snake pillar was still holding Kanroji as he looked at his friend.

"We need to find him. After tonight, we won't get another chance. I can't imagine what will happen if he finds Nezuko before we do."

He spoke steadily, but Giyuu could see the misery in the other man's mismatched eyes.

"I know." He sighed, "We should probably regroup before heading her way." His eyes drifted back to the sea of bodies that lay before him. He'd use this. He'd use the pain and anger to push himself further than his body usually could.

"But!", Kanroji addressed them for the first time, "All we'll do is lead t-this m-monster to Nezuko-chan ! We can't risk that !"

"That's probably what's going to happen", her teary gaze turned sharply towards him, eyes narrowed, "but we can't exactly let Rengoku-san and Uzui deal with Muzan on their own, on the off chance that he won't find them himself - which he probably will, sooner rather than later."

"We need to get moving then," Obanai said, squeezing the Mitsuri's shoulder as their eyes met. "If the crows weren't mistaken, all of the other pillars should have made it out alive, except from, well, Shinobu." He closed his eyes momentarily, and when he opened them again, they looked pained, "Who knows in what state they'll be, or if they'll even be conscious at all." His gaze returned to meet Giyuu's, "Can you fight ?"

His wounds were severe, each breath causing a stabbing pain to shoot through him, and he felt exhausted, more so than he had ever felt. But yes, as long as he could hold a sword, he'd fight.

Obanai deemed the other's determined eyes answer enough, and then gestured towards Tanjirou.

"What about him? What's wrong with him ?"

Kanroji finally raised her head and sent a wobbly smile Giyuu's way. "That's his way of asking 'Is he alright?'" The snake pillar rolled his eyes, but didn't deny it.

Glancing back at Tanjirou, Giyuu felt tendrils of worry creep back at the fact that the boy still hadn't woken up. He bit into his lip.

"I'm not sure. He took a nasty hit to the head but considering that has never been a problem for him before, I don't really know why he still hasn't woken up. I'm pretty sure I took care of any life-threatening injuries, and he seems to be breathing fine."

"Mmn", Kanroji stepped closer to the unconscious slayer and kneeled, softly caressing his hair, still matted with blood, "at least, he didn't witness this." With one last gentle brush of her hand, she stood up. "We should get going, get out of here. There's this cute demon kid who's got the Biwa demon under control. We'll have her round up the remaining slayers and let us out !"

The moment she closed her mouth and extended her hand to help Giyuu to his feet, the whole structure began to shake, making the two pillars standing up lose their balance. The walls and floors cracked, the rooms seemingly folding in on themselves.

"What's happening ?" Giyuu shouted, "I thought the demon had this under control !"

Obanai cursed, holding onto the walls as best as he could. "She must have been killed, or managed to escape! We need to-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as the whole structure collapsed on itself.

Groaning, Giyuu pushed the rubble off of himself. He was pretty sure his wounds had reopened, and he pressed on his stomach, where he felt blood seep through his clothes, hissing while he tried to regain his bearings.

Tanjirou was laying next to him, still unconscious, and his arm bent in what must have been a painful angle. Turning the boy over, he checked him over again, and apart from what appeared to be a broken arm and some medium to severe bruising, he didn't seem much worse than before.

He spotted a few feet away from them Obanai and Kanroji. The Snake Pillar was helping his companion to her feet, and they both seemed relatively uninjured. They spotted him and nodded towards him before darting away, looking for their fellow swordsmen amidst the chaos.

Giyuu brought his focus back to Tanjirou, scooping the boy in his arms and walking a little distance away from the unstable, destroyed structure. He deposited the boy on the ground and got to work himself. They needed to gather all the slayers that could still fight as quickly as possible, so they could reach where Ubuyashiki and Nezuko were, for now at least, safely hidden.

Straightening his back, Giyuu ran back towards the rubble.

He helped about a dozen, lower-ranked slayers before finally running into Himejima and Shinazugawa. The moment he stepped closer, he felt his heart clench. The air radiated grief and misery. Between his kneelings friends lied the mangled body of Shinazugawa Genya, and the lifeless Muichiro Tokito.

Feeling sadness and despair overcome him for what felt like the hundredth time that day, Giyuu could only drop to his knees next to his fallen comrades and listen helplessly to Sanemi's sobs, and Gyomei's softly spoken prayers.

The flame of hope that resided inside his heart flickered.

Giyuu learned from the Stone Pillar that he and Shinaguzawa had fought the Upper Moon one, and that he'd turned out to be one of the original Breath users, as well as a former demon slayer.

The Water Pillar felt disgust churn in his stomach upon learning this. Every slayer saw firsthand the damages inflicted by the selfishness of the demons that roamed their world. A slayer was, supposedly, the embodiment of selflessness. They chose to put their lives on the line for others. How could anyone aware of all this turn willingly into one of those doomed creatures?

Pushing his personal feelings on the matter aside, Himejima also told him they'd failed to defeat the demon, despite their joined efforts. The pillar looked deeply ashamed, as well as heartbroken. He understood the feeling all too well. Having your comrades, your family die protecting you while you lived on afterward was a heavy burden, and most pillars had enough on their shoulders as it was.

This new piece of information was worrying though. They now had to worry about both the Upper Moon and Muzan, rather than just the latter. The Stone Pillar nonetheless insisted that he'd been injured heavily enough that there was no way he would be able to fight again tonight. Albeit a little hesitant, Himejima finally shared that the demon seemed to have reached some sort of epiphany during their fight, so the fact that he was still on Muzan's side remained to be seen according to him.

Giyuu didn't quite believe that. He was never the optimistic type, but, seeing how desperate their situation was, he decided to hope for the best.

Looking up towards the sky and closing his eyes, the slayer willed himself not to give up. Not when they were so close.

The remaining pillars had gathered after assisting as best as they could with the injured slayers, leaving the Kakushis and a few of their lightly injured comrades to deal with the rest.

They had agreed to leave immediately, bringing along the boar headed boy, Inosuke, the blond lightning breathing user, Zenitsu as well as Shinobu's successor, Kanao. The three of them were heavily injured but they refused to be left behind, an air of such grief, anger and resolve enveloping them that the Hashira had relented, knowing they needed all the help they could get.

They'd brought Tanjirou as well, against Giyuu's better judgment. If the boy was still unconscious by the time they arrived at the estate, he'd be more of a hindrance than anything. That and he could get killed easily that way, so so easily. Yes. Especially that.

Still, the mysterious crow had instructed them to bring him along, to everyone's surprise, so they'd complied. They all knew Tanjirou was talented and skilled, certain to become the best out of all of them, especially with his use of the original breathing technique. But he wasn't there quite yet. Those things needed time. Alas, time was the only thing they didn't have, so they'd have to make do.

So they left the estate, running alongside each other, hopeful that this night would turn out for the best, despite the dread and grief that burdened them all.

They were the most powerful slayers in centuries, most of them harboring the mark, a clear sign of strength.

Yet, this wasn't enough to prevent another tragedy that night.

The moment Giyuu stepped into the estate, ice ran through his veins. On the front porch of the house, underneath the blooming wisterias, laid the body of Shinjuro Rengoku, severed cleanly at the waist.

Giyuu's breath caught, and he ran inside, ignoring the shouts of his fellow pillars. His eyes first took in the sight of Uzui, and the wounds that stretched over his ribs, the puddle of blood underneath him slowly growing.

His gaze then turned towards the center of the room.

Towards the person that laid, deathly still, upon torn tatami mats.

The flickering embers of hope went out completely.

The first thing that breached his consciousness was the overwhelming smell of blood. He recognized his own, but there was another one too, more prominent, as well as familiar, but he couldn't quite recognize it in his muddled state.

Since he couldn't rely on his keen sense of smell at the moment, he cracked an eye open, but his vision was obstructed by thick, raven hair. He tried to move his head but everything felt so heavy.

Stirring some more, and willing the haziness away, he managed to lift his head, barely, opening his eyes to look past the person he was currently draped on.

The sight that assaulted him made him wish he had never opened his eyes at all. He felt his heartbeat stutter and his breathe leave him as cold, untamed horror filled every fiber of his being. He desperately wanted to close his eyes, never open them again, claw his eyes out, just so he could stop seeing what was right in front of him. What he was smelling. Whom he could no longer feel. His ears filled with static as his lips parted to let out choked gasps and his eyes widened so much they burned. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't do anything but stare. Stare until every single detail of the horrific scene had burned itself into his retinas.

Please don't make me see, please don't make me see please don'tmakemeseepleasedon'tmakemesee THIS

Because laying in front of Tanjirou was the unmoving body of his sister. Her limbs torn apart, a thigh half chewed out by a misshapen jaw, her soft pink kimono in tatters, vivid red spreading and covering the entirety of the beautiful fabric.

There, a few feet away from him, dull, lifeless, human eyes stared right into his frailing core, unmoving and announcing with finality what his mind couldn't grasp.

His sister, his beloved, gentle, kind sister was dead. And this time, she wasn't coming back.

Please NO PLEASE

pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease

please

don't leave me alone