The Hybrid Curse ~ Chapter 3
Shinobu's eyes slowly fluttered open and she felt her head throbbing in pain and she could tell that she had just awoken from being unconscious. She woke up without remembering what had happened.
She traced her slim fingers along the soft blanket that surrounded her. She laid on top of a large bed that wasn't her own… When she tried to think back to what had happened her mind went blank but one thing was certain… She was in Giyu's bed. She had many questions as to how she had ended up in Giyu's house… and more importantly how she had come to be in his bed.
Shinobu brushed a gentle palm against her sore head and quietly grunted, feeling dizzy. She slowly looked around the room. It was dark and neat, clean with only a few pieces of furniture. .
She had never been in his room before. It was quite far from the butterfly mansion and very secluded from headquarters and Giyu was a very private person who liked to keep to himself. He rarely invited company around if ever.
"Giyu…" Shinobu said in a very faint voice looking around the room for him, feeling confused and out of it.
How did she get here? What was she doing here? She carefully sat up and quickly realised that she wasn't wearing any clothing. She doubled over, wincing in pain as she clutched at her aching abdomen. Her core in particular was very sore… Shinobu looked blankly at her bare arms and then around the room for any signs of him… he wasn't here…
She tried to make out her surroundings. Things slowly started making shape and she carefully stood up from the bed looking around for her clothing to which she could not find anywhere. The room seemed to have been cleaned and someone, presumably Giyu, had tucked her up snug in his bed. She limped over to Giyu's wardrobe and grabbed one of his shirts to cover herself with, which was oversized especially for her.
Shinobu felt completely out of it and she sank down to the ground clutching at her throbbing head. She was dizzy and she couldn't think straight. After a moment of waiting for the pain to reduce slightly, she stood up and made her way to the door, still clutching at her stomach as she limped. When she opened it she looked around to see that the entire house felt empty and silent. Was Giyu even here? Something wasn't right and she automatically went to grab her sword that was normally sheathed at her side when she realised it wasn't there! She tried thinking hard back to what had happened and where it might be. She stumbled back to the bedroom looking around for it but it was nowhere to be found. A Hashira should never be left defenceless.
"Ugh… ugh… argh!"
The sound of someone groaning distantly crept through the open door coming from outside. Shinobu carefully made her way out following the noise and doing what little she could to keep her guard up.
When she went outside, it was the break of dawn, the sun only slightly rising above the mountains. The dull sunlight struck her eyes and she had to raise a hand up to prevent it from worsening her already dazed head.
"Ugh! Argh!" The grunting continued now loud and clear.
It took a moment for Shinobu to find the source and she froze in shock at what she was looking at. Her chin quivered as she saw the Water Pillar continuously stabbing himself over and over again with her butterfly blade using all of her most deadly poisons. He was injecting them into himself and he had stabbed his leg to the bone so that he could no longer walk.
"Giyu!" Shinobu shouted running over to help him and wincing at the sudden jolt of pain it brought to her abdomen. "Ugh!"
"No, stay away from me!" Giyu shouted, noticing that she had woken up. He quickly crawled away from her grunting in agony as he dragged himself along the ground, clawing at the dirt!
He was covered in blood… he was half naked, his shirt missing and he looked freezing and terrified. His skin was white and his eyes looked so exhausted with dark bags. This sight looked familiar… a memory came back to her and she remembered Giyu being in a similar state the other night when he had almost died… she had saved his life and he was admitted into recovery for a long stay.
Shinobu looked at him with a great amount of worry.. Why wasn't he allowing her to help him? She noticed he was hiding his face from her, burying it into his forearm as he laid helplessly on the ground and she couldn't help but go towards him when she heard him quietly whimper. She slowly made her way closer and kneeled down by his side and although she was a bit dazed, she placed a palm against his cheek and turned his head to look at her. He was crying and covered in dirt and blood.
"Giyu…" she gently whispered in a solemn voice.
He looked at her with a look of great disparity and sadness.
"I'm sorry… I am so sorry…" he said quietly through sobs. "I tried to stop myself… I tried so fucking hard… I'm so sorry Kocho…"
She saw that he was referring to his attempted suicide… just why had he done that to himself!? What on earth was he talking about!? Why did he need to try and stop himself?
Not waiting to decipher his words, Shinobu carefully grabbed her sword from his hand and placed it to the side so that he wouldn't hurt himself again.
"Let me help you." She said in a shaky voice as she caressed a thumb against his cheek with tears in her eyes. His wounds were life threatening and if she didn't help him now, then he would surely lose his life. Shinobu worked hard to attempt to pull herself together but she still felt so dizzy, as if she had drunk an entire bottle of sake.
Giyu didn't say anything and she carefully went to take a closer look at his wounds… his skin that was bleeding and cut raw was now healing itself at a rapid pace… Shinobu looked up at him in shock and Giyu stared at her sternly feeling an immense amount of guilt and worry. He looked at her awaiting her reaction. He was waiting for that look of pure hatred and disgust, resentment and rejection… She went to further inspect his leg and torso where he had injured himself and she ran her smooth palms against his healing skin. He watched her as she treated him with so much care and delicacy. He narrowed his eyes as hatred for himself consumed him. He felt extreme guilt and was disgusted with how his skin did such abnormal things.
'I'm an abomination.' Giyu stated.
"I tried so hard to end it… nothing would work…" Giyu said after a moment of silence. "I'm so sorry Kocho…"
Shinobu dragged her head up to look at him. His skin healing only brought her great relief.
"What are you sorry for? I'm so glad that you're okay!" She said, not hesitating to wrap her arms around his shoulders and pulling him in so that he was flush against her body. She cried tears of joy at him being alright and alive. Shinobu buried her face that was now damp with tears into his neck holding onto him tightly. Giyu's eyes went wide with shock as he had not expected her to react like this. He was a filthy Hybrid under Muzan's influence and control…
Giyu reached his hand up to hold the back of her head and he wrapped his other arm tightly around Shinobu's waist. They held each other for a while, embracing one another's warmth… until after a moment Giyu pushed her back lightly and stared into her eyes apologetically.
"I'm going to leave the village… I'll run… I'll run as far away as possible while I'm still able to." Giyu began, referring to his transformation during the night. "The others… you have to tell them to relocate… so long as I know where headquarters is you will always be in danger and I will always be a threat."
Shinobu was shocked to hear those words. Why would Giyu run away? Why would he abandon her?
"What are you talking about? You're a vital part of the Demon Slayer Corps! You're the water Hashira… you cannot just leave… why would you say that Giyu?"
Giyu froze at her words blinking several times… how could she be questioning him on this right now? Her arms were still placed on his shoulders while he held gently to her sides.
"Kocho… do you remember much of last night?" He asked her.
Shinobu was truthfully very dazed and she knew she may have a slight concussion… She couldn't remember a single thing… nothing seemed orderly and when she thought back her mind went blank.
"No… not really… How did I get here, Giyu? What happened?" She asked him.
There was long silence as the pair just stared at each other. Giyu gulped and began shaking… How was he going to tell her? Shinobu noticed him getting a bit nervous and felt the need to comfort him and clear his worries.
"Come inside… let's get you cleaned up…" She said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet to follow her back into the house. Giyu now couldn't think straight and just went along with her.
Shinobu helped Giyu to wash the dirt and blood off of his body, working very gently with delicate hands and Giyu gulped, struggling to contain himself under her touch. Once she had finished she helped him to dress into a fresh corps uniform. He sat on the bed while she buttoned up his tunic standing in front of him. She was barely taller than him even though he was sitting.
"Thank you…" Giyu said to her as she finished with his last button.
Shinobu smiled at him with half lidded eyes. "No problem." She replied in a soft and faint voice as she placed a palm against his cheek and began caressing her thumb against it lovingly. Giyu automatically leaned into her warm hand but then turned his head away feeling guilty. He hated accepting her kindness after knowing that she was unaware of what he was and what he had done to her last night. Part of him was so glad that she had no memory of him being a hybrid but another part of him wanted to re-inform her of everything. Shinobu reached for his face once again and forced him to look back at her. When their eyes met, Shinobu gave him a soft smile that cleared his mind as she slowly brought her forehead to his. He breathed heavily and shut his eyes at the feel of her forehead on his. He felt her lips touch his and couldn't help but kiss her. Their kiss was gentle and sweet, filled with much love and care for one another. He reached out for her waist and pulled her into his lap.
"I… I never wanted to hurt you…" Giyu said to her as he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly and Shinobu wondered what more nonsense he was going on about this time.
"What do you mean?" She asked him as she stroked his hair behind his ears and wrapped her arms around his shoulders so that she could bury her face into his neck and inhale his scent. This set Giyu's skin alight as a sudden arousal had hit him. He tried his best to control himself… but it was proving to be extremely difficult.
"I… I need you to try and remember last night…" Giyu spoke through breaths as Shinobu began to plant butterfly kisses against his neck. "Please…"
"Well…" she spoke between kissing him along his neck and up to his jawline. "I remember waking up in your bed…"
She was seriously turning him on right now as she kissed all along his jaw and stopped when she reached his lips. Her eyes lingered seductively on them for a bit.
"Did we…"
Giyu looked at her knowing that she was asking him a question. He looked away in shame, sighing. Shinobu thought that maybe it was because he was a little embarrassed, but it wasn't. Giyu felt ashamed because he had forced himself into her last night while in his demon form. He had made love with her and had seduced her to cum several times bringing her to great and pleasurable heights. He had forced his large hybrid cock inside of her and had cum feeling extreme pleasure… he was disgusted with himself and felt defeated for not being able to keep control. Giyu suddenly felt Shinobu's lips brush against his ear which made him shudder.
"Do you want to do it again…" she whispered.
At that he turned back in shock. She wanted to do it again? Shinobu was gazing at him looking extremely lustful with half lidded eyes.
"Hey… are you alright?" Giyu asked her now, noticing how out of it she looked… as if she were drunk.
Shinobu smirked and nodded. "Just a bit dizzy… that's all… no need to worry."
She kissed his lips again and this time his arms wrapped around her waist pulling her body closer to him. His eyes trailed along the seductive look on her face as she lazily smiled at him and went to press her lips to his once more, wanting Giyu to respond back to her. Giyu couldn't help but lean into the kiss. He hugged her tighter and Brought his hand up to the back of her head to force her lips harder against his as he deepened the kiss… forcing his tongue into her mouth.
'Don't' Giyu thought to himself. 'Stop now.' But he couldn't help himself.
They made out for a while, their tongues intertwining with each other and then Giyu was suddenly helping Shinobu to remove her borrowed shirt and she was soon topless and not wearing any underwear. Shinobu wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face against her chest inviting him in. She moaned as he lavished at her breasts… running his hot tongue along her smooth skin.
She locked her legs around his waist and she could feel how hard he was against her. She rolled her hips and elicited a moan from Giyu who saw stars.
'We should stop…' Giyu thought to himself, but his impulse had other plans as she continued to grind against him, bringing him such pleasure in his eager cock.
Whatever little self control he had was gone and he forced her on her back and was leaning over her in seconds. Shinobu was soaking wet, feeling very aroused for Giyu.
"Are you sure you want this?" Giyu asked her. He had to at least confirm that it was her wanting them to make love.
Shinobu nodded and kissed him feverently in response. Giyu parted her thighs and wasted no time working fast to run his tongue along her wet and pulsing slit. Having not expected such haste, Shinobu moaned loudly, grabbing the back of his head and burying him into her core harder. Giyu lavished at her folds using his fingers to play with her clit. Shinobu moaned her pleasure as Giyu thrusted his tongue inside of her.
Shinobu shivered as she was met with an orgasm caused by Giyu's amazing tongue and fingers. She reached down for him and pulled him up so that she could kiss him not minding the taste of herself on his lips. Shinobu then reached for his belt buckle and tugged his pants down stroking her hand over his bulge that was extremely hard and wanting of her. Giyu shuddered at the feel of her hand on him through such a thin layer of clothing. Shinobu easily pulled him out and stroked him a few times causing him to get harder. Giyu bit his lip in great pleasure. He pinned her to the bed and kissed her. Shinobu wrapped her legs around his waist allowing him full access and he quickly aligned his aching cock to her entrance.
"Shinobu… are you sure…"
Shinobu forcefully tightened her legs around his waist so that his tip entered her with ease. Giyu grunted at the amazing feeling and Shinobu moaned in pleasure. Giyu thrusted the rest of his length into her watching her head hang back and her back arch as she had to stifle a loud moan. When she was ready for him, he began thrusting slowly at first and then proceeded to pick up the pace, snapping his hips against her. Her moans and open mouth was motivating him to go harder and deeper. He gritted his teeth feeling himself on the brink of an orgasm.
"I'm gonna cum!" He announced and he went to pull out when Shinobu wrapped her legs tighter around his waist forcing him to stay inside of her.
"Shinobu…" Giyu questioned whilst making no means to slow down. Shinobu wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face in her shoulder so that her lips brushed against his ear.
"Cum inside of me." She sexily whispered to him, hugging him tightly and moaning into his ear as she slid her tongue against it.
Giyu had lost it at that and pumped his cock as hard and as deep as he could go inside of her walls reaching her g spot every time.
Shinobu clawed at his skin and shook with ecstasy as she was met with another orgasm. Giyu quickly followed and squirted his seed inside of her and collapsed on top of her breathing heavily now covered in sweat. He rolled to the side laying next to her, both breathing heavily.
Shinobu turned over to rest her head on his chest and wrapped an arm across him. Giyu smiled lovingly and kissed her head as she fell asleep on him. He held her close to him as he looked out the window towards the sun that was now fully risen.
He didn't dare fall asleep. He caressed his palm softly against Shinobu's arm as she slept. He kept an eye on the sun… as if afraid that it would disappear. He turned to look at Shinobu's peaceful sleeping face. He imagined a future with her… the two of them being married and eventually having a little family of their own. He imagined a safe world where they could live out the rest of their lives together in peace. He craved that with all he had. He then pouted knowing that the dream was impossible.
"I'm sorry…" he said as he carefully slipped out of the bed. He tucked a pillow underneath her head and pulled the blanket up to her chin, he kissed her head gently a couple of times and re-clipped his buckle. Giyu placed his palm on her cheek stroking her hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry… I love you." He said leaning down to give her one last kiss, keeping his lips on hers for a long moment as a final attempt to savor it.
With one last look at a peacefully sleeping Shinobu, he sighed and ran out the door leaving the demon corps behind him. This was for the best.
Shinobu woke up from a comfy slumber and it was night time again… darkness crept through the room and she looked around highly confused as to where she was. She scratched her head and sat up.
"Ugh!" She squealed as she was suddenly falling out of the bed and onto the floor in a puddle of soft blankets. "Ouch." She stated in defeat and slight embarrassment.
Shinobu stared up at the ceiling, her head now clear and memory no longer muffled. It took a moment but her heart started racing as the memories flooded back into her mind in one giant rush! Shinobu began hyperventilating as she quickly sat up wrapping the blanket around her shoulders.
"Giyu!" She ran out the door into the night air. "Giyu!" She shouted scanning the outside area. She looked deep into the forest where she just knew he had taken off into. Tears began to form in her eyes and she gulped.
"Oh Giyu… what have you done…" she questioned.
Shinobu rushed back inside of the house to get dressed. She grabbed her sword, fixed her hair and started running back towards headquarters immediately.
Giyu! He was some sort of hybrid demon! It appeared that this transformation took place only during the night. During the day, it was as if he were normal! Shinobu ran at full speed and soon enough she had reached headquarters.
When she arrived at the butterfly mansion she was immediately embraced by a panicked Aoi who practically threw herself at her as soon as she appeared through the door, crying and praising her safe return.
"Shinobu-Sama!" Aoi shouted as she wrapped her arms around her in relief.
"What happened!? Where's Tomioka-San!?" Aoi questioned. "Did he hurt you!? Is he gone!? Oh Shinobu-sama!"
"Shhh!" Shinobu hushed her up looking around to see if anyone had heard. "You didn't say anything to anyone did you?"
Aoi stepped back and bit her lip nervously.
"You didn't…" Shinobu spoke. The look on Aoi's face showed innocent guilt.
"I only told Kanao! I had to! She was going to go after you! I told her that you wanted to take care of things and that Tomioka wouldn't be a danger to you or the corps! Oh but it was so hard, Shinobu-sama… I worried for you! I worried that you might have been attacked or even worse killed! I'm so happy you are okay!"
Shinobu nodded and sighed.
"Okay. That's fine. Thank you Aoi. Just don't tell anyone else from now on." Shinobu quickly said as she walked away from the crying girl and sped down the hallway.
"Wait, are you okay Shinobu-sama!?" Aoi called out after her wondering what was the haste.
Shinobu had no time to respond or catch up. She hurried through the estate entering her medical lab. Her hands were shaking and she was a nervous wreck as she pulled out her notes and began analysing them.
'I need to find out what's going on with Giyu. If I can figure out exactly what condition he is in then I can begin working on a cure. The airhead took off making my job 100x more difficult!' Shinobu thought to herself. 'If only he had stayed I could have looked after him and run a few tests to see exactly what was going on.'
She worked hard throughout the night, going through her notes and scanning through books. There was no such information ever recorded of a half demon known as a "hybrid" and Shinobu began to worry and think that maybe there was no chance…
'No! Don't think like that! There has to be a way. I swear I will work endlessly until I find a way to cure him.'
Shinobu didn't sleep at all that night and at one point she was interrupted by Aoi and Kanao. Kanao only watched her intently while Aoi bit her lip feeling nervous as Shinobu rushed around the lab with a bunch of papers in her hand and a stack of books in the other.
Shinobu could see that they were hanging around but she didn't stop to see what they wanted. She was far too preoccupied right now and didn't have time to think or speak about anything else that wasn't involved with helping to cure Giyu.
"Shinobu-sama…" Aoi said quietly, trying to get her attention.
Shinobu didn't look up at the pair watching her. She wasn't ignoring them on purpose but she clearly didn't want to speak with them right now. Getting the message, Kanao and Aoi eventually left, leaving Shinobu a warm cup of tea along with a bowl of rice that she didn't touch at all.
Eventually the sun had risen and Shinobu hadn't stopped to eat, drink or sleep. The girls woke up for their rounds and they stopped by the lab to see their master still working tirelessly, her nose in her notes as she wrote on what looked like the hundredth piece of parchment.
"What should we do?" Aoi asked her sister Kanao.
Kanao shrugged of course not knowing.
"I think we should tell another hashira…" Aoi said.
"No!" Shinobu shouted looking up from her notes and gave Aoi a very stern and serious look. "I said I would deal with it so let me. If you tell another hashira they will not hesitate to kill Giyu!"
"But… Shinobu-sama… he is a demon…" Aoi said quietly, treading lightly and structuring her sentences carefully so as to not piss Shinobu off.
"No he is not. He… he's just sick… he's still a member of the demon slayer corps and he is still the water hashira."
Aoi gave Shinobu a worried look.
"You could lose your position as a hashira for not informing the master of this information… please Shinobu-sama… you must tell someone…" Aoi said.
Shinobu sighed and knew that Aoi was right in that matter… however… She knew that as soon as the others knew about Giyu's condition they would go after him and kill him. Just the thought scared Shinobu.
"I can cure him. I just need time…" Shinobu said in a very faint and soft tone. "Please… I beg you as your sister to keep this a secret between us."
Both Aoi and Kanao exchanged looks and saw that Shinobu was very deeply affected by this and just the look on their sweet sister's pleading face was enough to cross their hearts and keep her secret.
"Ok… I trust you…" Aoi said.
Kanao gave a sweet smile and nodded. The two girls walked into the room and offered their help to which Shinobu refused.
"No. This burden will be mine to carry… the less you two know the better. Just please look after the wounded and ensure that our patients are treated with the best quality of care. Only call me for emergency purposes."
"Yes Shinobu-sama. I will bring your meals to you here."
"Thank you Aoi." Shinobu said now getting back to work.
This was going to be very hard to keep to herself… and eventually she knew that the other hashira would find out… it was a race against time and Shinobu would work herself tirelessly until she had created a cure for the man she loved.
"Come back to me Giyu…" Shinobu found herself saying as she continued with her work.