A Hashira Love Story - Chapter 3

For the next couple of weeks, Shinobu and Giyuu trained together every day. At first, Giyuu was purposely going easy on her and Shinobu was livid about it!

"Do you want me to die!?" She shouted at him. "Because if you don't give it your all against me, I'm not going to get better and when the time comes to face upper moon two I won't be ready and I'll be killed!"

After hearing her harsh words, Giyuu went a little harder on her though she found that he was still holding back with his strikes and it really pissed her off. Giyuu just didn't want to hurt her and it frustrated her because she had faced regular demons who would hit her harder than he did so imagine how it would feel when the time came to face Douma! An upper moon! Number two at that!

"I have an idea! Since you refuse to give it your all against me, I think it would be better if I asked Shinazugawa to train with me because I know he wouldn't hold back."

Since she even dared to suggest that, Giyuu now really did give it his all. He yelled at her! He struck her hard! He was relentless and Shinobu ate her words… by the end of their sessions she was sore and covered with sweat and bruises and her muscles ached and every time later that night, Giyuu would give her massages and sincerely apologize over and over for what he had done. Shinobu would always tell him not to be sorry for doing just as she wanted and has asked for. It was vital to her training.


One session while Giyuu and Shinobu were training, the sun was going down and they both wore no Haori as it was quite hot and they both were sweating, Giyuu was striking his wooden sword hard against her thin one and she recoiled to the ground. They had a safe word if she wanted him to stop otherwise he was ordered to keep at it.

He kept striking her and she gasped as his strikes caused her hands to shake and be in pain. She was on the ground using her legs to push herself backwards as he kept coming for her, one hard blow after another as she barely managed to block them. She now cried, breathing heavily and gave him a look of worry and fear but he still hadn't heard that safe word yet so he kept coming for her.

He crashed his wooden sword so hard against hers that her one snapped in half and still, she refused to say the safe word so he raised his sword and was about to ring it down on her body hard until, all of a sudden Iguro was in front of her as fast as a bullet to use his real sword to block his blow and Giyuu's wooden sword broke in half against his steel.

"OBANAI! What do you think you are doing!?" Giyuu shouted at him, throwing his now broken wooden sword to the ground.

"TEME! ARE YOU STUPID!? Can you not see that she is winded and unable to speak!?" Iguro shouted back.

Giyuu looked over his shoulder to see that Shinobu was now throwing up to the side and gasping for air while Mitsuri was now kneeling down next to her, rubbing her back and comforting her.

Shit.

Giyuu rushed over and knelt down next to them. He was so fixated on their harsh training and abiding by his promise to not go easy on her that he hadn't realized that she was winded and unable to call out the safe word.

"You bastard! Why are you attacking Shinobu-san!? What kind of man bullies their partner like that to begin with!?" Mitsuri shouted at Giyuu.

Giyuu felt his heart racing as he felt the guilt rush throughout his body. He felt indeed stupid and a bastard for not realizing.

"It's okay Mitsuri-san… it's my fault… I asked him to… I ordered him to keep at it no matter what unless he hears our safe word…" Shinobu spoke through sobs and deep panting as she slowly caught her breath.

Hearing her talking in such a state caused Giyuu to curse himself. He felt so fucking bad.

"Yes but even someone as dumb as him should be able to realize when their partner is incapable of being able to speak!" Iguro spoke, glaring at Giyuu. "You're lucky Kanroji and I were close by."

Shinobu threw up again and Giyuu placed his hand on her back to comfort her.

"I'm so so sorry baby! Obanai and Kanroji are right! I should've realized!" Giyuu said to her and went to grab her hand.

"No… somethings wrong with me… it wasn't training and it wasn't you… can you help me walk to the infirmary…"

"Of course." Giyuu replied, helping her to stand.

The two of them walked together back to the butterfly mansion but before they left, Giyuu thanked Iguro and Mitsuri for stopping him before he could've seriously hurt her. Iguro just huffed while Mitsuri looked at Shinobu, genuinely concerned for her best friend.


When they got back to the butterfly mansion, Giyuu remained outside of the infirmary while Aoi and Shinobu went through some medical procedures. It was horrible being left outside in the quiet to ponder on his thoughts. He felt terrible for what he had done to her.

Aoi exited the room and Giyuu stood up waiting to hear what was going on… however, Aoi was silent, she bowed in front of Giyuu before leaving without saying a word. Giyuu knew… the poison… it had taken a toll on her.

He entered the room to see Shinobu sitting on the side of the bed with her back to him. She was crying. Her whimpers filled the quiet air as she turned to see him entering then sighed and avoided his gaze as if disappointed to see him.

"Is everything alright?" Giyuu asked her as he sat by her side.

There was a moment of silence before she spoke. All that could be heard was her soft whimpering and Giyuu became more concerned for her. Was she mad at him? He wouldn't blame her a bit if she was.

"No…" she whispered. "I've ruined everything…"

"What do you mean?" Giyuu asked her as he leaned in closer, grabbed her hand and kissed it while caressing his thumb against the back of her palm.

"Giyuu…" she said quietly as she turned to look at him with tears flowing from her eyes. "I'm pregnant."

Giyuu's entire demeanor dropped as he questioned whether he had understood her correctly… she was… pregnant… with his child… they were going to have a baby…

"I'm so sorry… I really thought that with the wisteria poison I had been taking there was only the very slightest of chances that I would ever be able to conceive as it has left lifelong damage on my organs however… The results were all positive… I'm so sorry Giyuu…" Shinobu said through tears.

After taking a moment to comprehend, Giyuu suddenly jolted back into reality. He gently placed his arms around Shinobu and pulled her body to his and kissed her wet cheeks. He hugged her and gritted his teeth, cursing at himself.

"Shinobu, I have been training with you without restraint this entire time and all the while you have been carrying our child. This is unforgivable of me to go at you like that with full force in one on one combat while all along you were pregnant. I am the one who should be sorry and I am. I can never forgive myself for this… I am so sorry." Giyuu said to her, his voice breaking a little.

Shinobu was entirely shocked to see that he was not even mad at her. In fact, he was blaming himself for something that she requested he do. She brought her arms up to wrap around his shoulders and sob into his chest.

"Had I known about my condition I of course wouldn't have permitted myself to participate. If anyone is to blame for that it is my own fault so please don't be sorry and don't blame yourself… if it is me or… our baby that you are worried about we are both fine…" Shinobu spoke with a gentle tone.

Giyuu leaned back a small yet sorrowful smile. He was genuinely smiling with tears in his own eyes. Hearing her address the fetus in her uterus as "our baby" made him extremely happy. He would've been so excited if it weren't for the demons that still prowled in this world… This changes everything for both of them. Shinobu held both of his hands as she spoke.

"Giyuu… you are this child's father so I will of course consider your thoughts about this sensitive matter… I have until the end of the week to make a choice… of… whether or not to terminate the pregnancy… there is a special tea that I can drink… Do you even want to be a father? Do you want to have that type of responsibility?" Shinobu asked in a very quiet and sincere tone. Her voice was shaky and she was shivering and he could tell she was nervous and afraid.

Giyuu grasped her hand tightly and gave her a soft smile and placed his palm to her cheek, caressing it lovingly.

"Whatever you want, I will fully support. I understand that you want to be in this final war and kill upper moon two… if it means more to you than having a child I will say nothing against it. I won't lie to you though, I do want a child with you… nothing would make me more happy… but I know you have worked so hard for this moment… whatever you want, baby, I'll support." Giyuu said to her.

Shinobu pouted at his sweet words as she brought her hand up to his palm that laid against her cheek and kissed his knuckles. She took a moment to think about all that he had said. He really wanted a child with her and this was their one in a million chance. She just knew that after this… she wouldn't be able to get pregnant again… now was their only chance and she did want to be a mother one day though she previously thought that day would never come… yet here they were.

"Let's have a baby then…" Shinobu said sweetly to him.

"Are you sure?" Giyuu asked her, completely surprised that she had made up her mind so quickly. "We don't have to decide today. You can think about it if you want."

Shinobu gave him a soft smile.

"No… I'm sure. I don't think I could end something as precious as our baby. I just know that he or she can't wait to meet their father."

Hearing her say that brought about the excitement that Giyuu had previously been holding in and he couldn't help but lean in and crush his lips to hers as he expressed how much he loved the mother of his child. He placed a gentle hand against her stomach that actually, even though she was just a few weeks along, demonstrated the slightest bump.

"I love our child so much already." Giyuu said.

Shinobu placed her hand on top of his. "Me too. I'm sure our child loves you already too, Giyuu."

Giyuu smiled and brought his hands up to cup her face as he gave her sweet butterfly kisses all over.

"I promise that I won't let anything bad happen to either of you. You both mean the world to me." Giyuu stated.

"I know baby, you are our world too. We both love you so much."

Giyuu's heart was fluttering with joy and he leaned down to kiss Shinobu's belly.