Angela peacefully gazed toward the stars circling the moon. A single beam of moonlight shone a spotlight on her person crumbled in a small ball. She sat on the same lone boulder, the one she occupied day and night without impatience, beside the tranquil pond of Giyu's residence. She inhaled and exhaled a deep breath, her shoulders feeling lighter than they had been in a very long time. It indeed had been a very long time since she had felt such peace. True inner peace gazing at the night sky without any rampant thoughts questioning her sanity or purpose.
She turned her head slightly. "You're welcomed to join me, Giyu."
Giyu strode out of the darkness from the veranda. He stopped beside her boulder, his eyes taking in the vastness of space and all it could hold. Wishes, tears, hope, it contained all and nothing but holds everything until one is ready to return.
"It's been too long since I've stared at the night sky like this," He mumbled. His eyes radiated a magnificent glow under the ethereal light.
Angela sighed at that. "Unfortunately, in our line of work, the darkness of the night, the slow conversion from dawn to dusk and back to dawn, is associated with the fear of being killed, of being eaten, by creatures of the night. Demons have weaponized that fear and used it full-heartedly in their domain." Her finger pointed toward the moon. It wavered in her vision. "But not all those who venture in the unknown of the night are forever helpless nor lost. They are found and made."
Her eyes shined down on Giyu. Her hand reached down to him next. "I'm glad you found me, Giyu, and I'm even more glad I found you. Where would I be without you? What would my life have been like if we'd never met? Oh, the possibilities of who'd I be if we'd never crossed paths."
"Those are days I will never entertain." Giyu reached up and softly grasped her hand. She slid down from her boulder and into his arms. He spoke, splaying her fingers with his own, "Those seven days I was not conscious you were there in my dreams. I heard your voice begging me to stay alive, to survive and keep fighting. I kept seeing your concerned expression over me. In the impenetrable darkness watching Sabito run from my side over and over again your voice urged me to keep going. That I shouldn't give up. Not yet, not ever."
Angela remembered it vividly. Even from all those years ago.
Of course she did. It was the day she met a boy and cared for him above all else for an entire week.
When Sabito had run off to face the Hand Demon and left Giyu in her care, she promised both she would protect him. All of the demons with the exception of one had been executed, but the dangers of infection, fever, and more were still a very prevalent fear. It was something she had dreaded when Giyu's wound suddenly started to ooze puss.
"Oh no!" She had gasped only on the second day of the exam.
Giyu's tiny body was shaking feverishly. His face had gone pale, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Agonized whimpers fled his mouth, face scrunching in pain, as his hand grasped desperately at the air. She caught it in both of hers and finally noticed the horror that would haunt her for the next coming days.
A trickle of puss oozed from the inflicted wound on the first day. She thought she cleaned it correctly! No, even if cleaned properly, without medication an infection could still occur. Her worst fears had come to life.
Angela knew she needed to do something—and quick! She carefully carried his body up and on a thick tree branch. She propped him up against the truck and tied her haori around both him and the tree to keep him secured. She grasped his sweaty face in her hands, begged, "Whatever you do, don't die. I'll be right back," and took off into the forest.
"Please, please, medicinal herbs. Wherever you've been hiding, come on out," She had called out desperately into night. She searched quickly but diligently through thick brushes and around the roots of surrounding trees.
Just when all hope seemed lost, she found a thicket of the herbs she needed and grabbed all it provided. She rushed back to Giyu, chewing the leaves and roots as she went. She bit back her tongue and forced the bile that threatened to spew out down when the sight of the green infection secreting foul-smelling puss, seemingly to a small heartbeat, greeted her. It was truly a disgusting sight, but she will not falter. She wouldn't allow someone to die on her watch.
Steeling her courage, she ripped her haori apart and used its scraps to clean his face. She tenderly placed the gooey wad from her mouth on the wound. Almost immediately more puss squirted out. Angela had to relieve her stomach for a few minutes after that.
Once the wound was cleaned with another fresh wad of chewed herbs, Angela laid quietly by his side. She delicately kept brushing back Giyu's damp hair from his forehead, almost mindlessly. Her gaze was of admiration for his strength and beauty. His breathing still came and went in light pants. His fever cooled slightly but they were not out of the woods yet.
Angela whispered, as if afraid he'd wake up in a fright, "I'll protect you, no matter what. Just keep going. I believe in you." Her hand stopped at his cheek. Her cool fingers thawed against his warm skin. Her heart fell slightly at that. "I don't even know your name. I may not ever know your name, but please… don't give up."
At the time, he was an unknown. He had no name for her to call. The mystery intrigued her. Who exactly was this boy she was hellbent on saving?
Even so, it didn't waver her determination to see his sickness through.
Every single day after that, for 2 more days, she would venture out into the forest looking for more herbs. She'd encountered fellow aspiring Demon Slayer members waiting for the conclusion of the exam and requested their help. They willingly fetched her water and more medicine. She was grateful for their help and even more when they expressed they wanted to hold a ceremony for Sabito's sacrifice.
Yes, it was at that moment that Angela realized her savior had lost his life. She had broken down in tears, sobbing she should've done something, anything to help, instead of running away with her life.
The ceremony was simple but quite large. All the people who Sabito had courageously saved showed up and offered their prayers, thanks and more. Angela was pleasantly surprised and moved at the amount of people Sabito managed to impact in just a few short hours. She prayed on Giyu's behalf and hoped her savior could find peace in the afterlife. Somehow.
The nights had become cold and long. Angela had to carry Giyu down from the tree and start a fire to keep themselves from freezing to death. Even so, with her haori having been sacrificed, she couldn't find enough warmth to get some sleep.
"I'm sorry. Please don't mind me," She had whispered as she snuggled into the heat of Giyu's body, his arm draped almost lifelessly over her.
A sigh of relief fled her mouth at the warmth flooding her own body. Consciously, her hand found his hair again. Her fingers gently brushed through his thick strands. Her gaze didn't move from Giyu's handsome face. She blushed hard at the sight of him and their cuddling circumstances. Never had she been that close to a boy before like that.
She couldn't think anything of it even if she really wanted to. She had fed him water, cleaned and dressed his wound every day, and even kept each other warm at night, but they would be nothing but comrades once the Final Selection was over. That's it.
Yet, she cried on the final day when she had to say goodbye to his still unconscious body. She hoped she would see him again… someday. Preferably off the battlefield. It would be too much to ask him to never get hurt again, but she had to try.
"I'm sorry I still don't know your name," She said tearfully, forehead resting against his cheek.
He was once again healthy. The infection had passed, and the wound had closed. She was so, so glad he made it. She thanked God along with the stars and moon that kept them company at night. Except he was going to get taken away to be seen by real medical professions and make sure his infection doesn't go into recurrence.
"Maybe one day we'll see each other again," Angela started, brushing her fingers through his locks once more, "You probably won't remember me. Perhaps it's wishful thinking you'll recognize me. We'll be different people then. We'll be grown adults, and strong too. Hopefully we'll be happy where we are. I know getting hurt is inevitable but promise me you'll stay alive. No matter what. I want to see you again. Take care, unknown swordsman." She had placed a sweet kiss on his cheek and watched him get taken away right before her eyes.
Angela never saw him again, but he was never far from her mind. For the next four years she had been alone, she trained hard until her bones felt like they've melded into metal and her muscles into toughened meat. She wondered, during that time, how much that unknown swordsman had grown. Whether he still lived or not. If he remembered the girl who kept him alive. If he continued to be a Demon Slayer or a regular citizen after the exam. The latter option she wouldn't have been upset if he had chosen it. Not everyone was meant to be a swordsman. If he felt he couldn't be, then that was his choice.
Then, she was bestowed the power of the angels one day and had mastered Angel Breathing very soon after. She never would've expected herself to be promoted to Hashira, but she never would've believed she would see an old companion again at the ceremony.
"The unknown swordsman..." She had gasped at the sight of Giyu Tomioka waiting patiently on the front lawn of the Master.
He had grown taller, more handsome, but she instantly felt a coldness from him. The sparkle in his eyes were gone. It was replaced with a darkness she couldn't find the bottom too. Anger, frustration, disappointment, and most of all sorrow radiated off his person. She had sensed it the moment she entered within the vicinity of the mansion. She didn't think it would ever belong to him. Did... Sabito's death affect him that much? After all those years?
"I remember you," He had said later that night. He stopped before her, black hair shining in the moonlight like a shadowy blade. She would be lying if she said her heart didn't skip a beat. "You were there in the same Final Selection as Sabito and I. I was told you took care of me while I was unconscious and stopped the infection from killing me." He suddenly bowed deeply, catching her off guard. "I'm sorry for being such a burden on you. It won't happen again."
Angela watched solemnly at his rigid stance. At the tension twining his shoulders. The death of life in his once shining eyes. He was not the boy she had protected many years ago. He was different in a way she regretted him to be.
"I'm glad you're alive, Giyu Tomioka." His name was sweet on her tongue. After all those years, she finally had a name to the face. To the boy, the man, she had fallen in love with in a few short days.
"As am I to you, Angela Tenshi."
Giyu may never know the extent of what she had gone through to protect him, to save him from the brink of death. Angela would never blame him for that.
However, their friendship blossomed. Whenever possible, especially inbetween missions, they made a point to see each other. Just once. Even if her heart did wish to see him every day but she knew each moment would be fleeting. She had known no hesitation when she relinquished a piece of her soul, of the star pulsating calmly in her palm, to trusted him and he trusted her. More than their own lives.
Her love for him never dulled but... she believed he never loved her back. The ache in her heart at her unrequited love almost sent her spiraling. Then Kyojuro Rengoku professed his love for her in such a way it swept her off her feet. That wasn't meant to say her love for Kyojuro was merely fake. No, she loved both men with each reach of her heart. Her love for them had been the same intensity. She just wouldn't allow herself to pine over a man who didn't want her.
Oh, how wrong she was.
"This world would've been nothing but bitterness, a loath to my existence, if I had never met you." Giyu's arms found their way around her waist. He pressed his forehead to hers. He released a shaky sigh.
Angela's fingers found his hair, almost natural, almost as if by instinct. "Is what you say true, Giyu?" She asked, breathlessly. She knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it. So so bad.
Giyu released a firm sigh. His eyes found hers, and she melted. "You make every breath I draw less painful than the last. I would get drunk off your laughter, off your smiles, if I could. You intoxicate me, you ravage me. Every fiber of my being. I would not want to live in a world without you, Angela Tenshi. I love you. I thought I had loved you since the day we reunited but it had been before that. Long before that. I've been in love with you since the day I met you. Since the day you made my dreams your home."
All was silent in the darkness, but from then on people would whisper about two lovers kissing in the night, making each other forever theirs for all the years that were supposed to come.
