#Slayer Storm | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rainbowfey · 3 months ago

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17 Only One Bed

@flufftober

A sharp thud made Giyuu‘s head shoot up. He glanced at his companion just in time to see a stone flying through the air, bouncing off a tree along their path. Giyuu made a mental note of it and set his internal counter to six. This was the sixth stone Sanemi had kicked away in frustration, either because he could not contain his anger or because he wanted to show Giyuu just how pissed off he was. Either way, Giyuu did the same thing he had done the past five times which was, well, nothing. He had not shown any reaction yet and he was also not about to start now. If Sanemi felt better mauling some innocent rocks, Giyuu was not about to stop him.

Realistically, Giyuu was also not sure if there even was anything he could do to brighten Sanemi’s mood – except for dropping dead, of course, relieving Sanemi of their joint mission. But while his back did hurt a bit from their last training session, he felt pretty lively otherwise, making his sudden death rather unlikely. Looking back, he should have known that Oyakata-sama would not leave it at mere training to strengthen their teamwork skills. Now that he thought about it, those sessions did feel like they had been a build-up to this point. And here they were, going on a mission together that for sure did not require two Hashira at once.

Seven, Giyuu thought absentmindedly when another stone flew past him, this time dangerously close to his legs. He half expected the next stone to hit his calves but surprisingly, Sanemi refrained from this rather direct approach of letting off steam. Instead, he just grumbled something to himself that Giyuu neither could nor cared to hear. Ignoring Sanemi, he turned his attention back on the path that had led them through a thick forest for the better part of the day. Mighty trees and the occasional rock lined the trail they walked along and wherever Giyuu looked, he could only see green and brown. Usually, he would have liked the serene calm of the forest but right now, he had three reasons to find it slightly intimidating.

The first reason was Sanemi and his brooding aura that seemed to radiate aggression. Of course, that was usually not a problem but after a few hours of it, Giyuu wished that Sanemi would lighten up a bit as it was starting to get on his nerves. The second problem was high above and presented itself in form of dark grey storm clouds on the horizon. And sure enough, they were walking right towards them. The third problem however was less of a nuisance and more of a potential threat – with every step they walked, nightfall came closer and there was no sign of civilization in sight. And with the night, the demons came which would make for a rather dangerous situation, should they still be left vulnerable in the forest when the time for it came.

So, Giyuu stared ahead, hoping to see a light shimmer through the tree stems and thickets. To his relief, Sanemi had fallen silent for a while now and if he did not listen to Sanemi’s footsteps behind him, he could even pretend to feel calm. He sighed to himself and shook his head. He had hoped that training with Sanemi would bring them closer or at least get Sanemi to stop hating him. But so far, Giyuu could not see any progress in that regard. The only thing that had started to change was the fact that they now knew more about the other’s skills and power than before. And Giyuu had to admit that Sanemi was indeed very powerful, even more than he had expected. And from time to time, when they had exhausted themselves, Giyuu had even sensed Sanemi letting down his guard a bit. But before he had the chance to say something, Sanemi always snapped out of it, foiling each attempt to get him to open up.

A cold sensation jolted Giyuu from his thoughts and he looked down at his hand. A tiny bead of water rested on his palm before running down his finger. Giyuu looked up and grimaced when he realized that the storm clouds had rapidly come closer, now looming over their heads menacingly. And as if the clouds had noticed his disdain, another droplet of rain hit him, this time running down the back of his neck. Giyuu flinched and pulled the collar of his definitely not rainproof haori up.

“If that isn’t great,” he heard Sanemi grumbling behind him. Apparently, he had noticed the harbingers of a mighty downpour as well.

Giyuu silently agreed with him. If they did not find shelter soon, they would be soaked to their bones in no time, judging by the color of the storm clouds. And there was no end to them as far as the eye could see. Even worse, the storm clouds had brought an icy wind with them that now howled through the trees. Their soft rustling quickly turned into a violent shaking and more than once, Giyuu had to dodge small branches ripped from the trees. He shielded his face with his arm and shuddered when another droplet of water hit his hand, this time even bigger than the first one.

For almost an hour, they fought their way through the increasingly inhospitable weather. Even though it had not started pouring yet, enough raindrops had fallen down to make Giyuu’s haori feel damp. He did not even want to imagine how Sanemi had to feel, considering that his uniform revealed his bare chest. Giyuu would not have wanted to change with him and he shuddered at the thought.

“What’s that?” Sanemi suddenly shouted, making Giyuu flinch. He turned around and found himself face to face with Sanemi who looked rather pale in his scant uniform. His eyes however had taken on a concentrated look as he pointed in a direction somewhere to their right. Giyuu followed his gaze and gasped when he spotted what Sanemi had seen.

Further into the forest, still quite a bit away from their path, Giyuu could make out a golden glow between the trees. He took a deep breath and hope arose in his chest when he squinted, staring intently at the light. After a moment, he was fairly certain that he could make out the distinct shapes of window, illuminated by a warm, welcoming light.

“Maybe it’s an inn,” he said a bit more excitedly than he wanted. The prospect of a warm bed instead of a tent somewhere in the depths of the forest was alluring and even more so since the rain started coming down harder now. The sky had almost entirely turned black as if it had gotten night already.

“We’re gonna find out,” Sanemi said curtly and without waiting for Giyuu’s reply, he dove into the forest, leaving the path and heading for the faint light in the distance.

Giyuu cursed to himself and quickly followed Sanemi who did not seem to care whether Giyuu could keep up or not. With the patter of the rain increasing by the minute, Sanemi quickened his pace until he was almost running. Giyuu made an effort not to fall behind but more than once, he had to jump over a fallen tree or catch his balance after his foot grazed a root. When he finally stumbled out of the forest and onto a road that he had not seen before, Sanemi had already reached the building nestled into the forest edge. Giyuu heaved a sigh of relief when he instantly spotted a wooden sign over the door that clearly revealed this house to be an inn.

While Sanemi ripped the door open and walked in, letting the door close behind him, Giyuu curiously glanced to the side of the house. A surprisingly big stable sat right next to the inn and if he listened closely, he could hear soft snorts from the stable. A vague inkling echoed through his mind but the icy cold rain convinced him not to ponder on it and he quickly jumped to the door, catching it just in time before it fell shut behind Sanemi.

Giyuu squeezed through the narrow opening – and bumped into something damp. When Sanemi turned around and glared at him, Giyuu just shrugged. After all, he could not have expected Sanemi to stand right behind the door. But now that he was inside as well, he could see the reason why. The inn was jam-packed with people, most of them looking as wet as Giyuu felt. The chatter was deafening and Giyuu thought to himself that it looked like everyone on the street had had the same idea as Sanemi and him, seeking shelter from the rain. He could see a man who appeared to be the innkeeper behind a wooden counter, his face looking slightly strained. It seemed like the innkeeper had not expected this press of people either.

It took another five minutes until the innkeeper had tended to the line that had formed behind his counter. When Sanemi and Giyuu finally got to the front of the line, Giyuu’s clothes had started drying and he was more than grateful for the fire crackling in the giant fireplace at the other end of the generous public room. The innkeeper looked at them and even though he seemed stressed, he gave them a smile. Before he could say something, Sanemi curtly asked, “Do you have any open rooms? We want to stay for one night.”

The innkeeper’s smile faltered for a moment before he looked down at an old leatherbound book in front of him he had been scribbling into. “Unfortunately, there’s only one open room left,” he said after a moment, shrugging helplessly. “It’s big enough for two people to sleep in though.”

Even from where he stood, Giyuu could see Sanemi’s expression darken and he quickly shoved past him, ignoring Sanemi’s growl. “We’ll take it,” he said to the innkeeper and was rewarded with another smile and a key.

“Right up the stairs and to the left, at the end of the hallway. If you’d like to have dinner first, you can try and find a place to sit in the public room,” the innkeeper said before turning to the next guest.

Giyuu took the key and looked at Sanemi who rolled his eyes. Giyuu took that as a yes to dinner and headed for the public room. And to his surprise, they were actually able to find a spot close to the fireplace.

“That was surprisingly good,” Giyuu said, more to himself, when they had finished eating. He shot Sanemi a glance before he innocently added, “A shame though that they don’t have ohagi here.”

Sanemi’s head shot up and if looks could kill, Giyuu would have dropped dead at that very instant. He chuckled to himself and ignored Sanemi glaring at him. The hearty meal had brightened his mood and the warmth of the fireplace next to them had made up for the cold wind they had braved on their way to the inn.

With a content sigh, Giyuu got up and plucked the key to their room from his pocket. “Up the stairs, to the left, at the end of the hallway,” he repeated to himself what the innkeeper had told them.

From the corner of his eye, he saw that Sanemi also got to his feet and followed him, his face still grumpy at Giyuu’s playful remark. Sanemi stomped a bit more than he had to while following Giyuu up the stairs and Giyuu grinned to himself. Even though he did not want to risk an open confrontation with Sanemi, he had slowly taken a liking to teasing him when the chance presented itself. Sanemi was wonderfully easy to wind up and even though Giyuu would not admit it to anyone else, there was something adorable about Sanemi’s efforts to keep calm when Giyuu teased him. Of course, the thrill of the risk to get hit over the head with any object in Sanemi’s vicinity also played into it but so far, Giyuu had been rather good at not carrying it too far.

With a pep in his step, he walked along the dark hallway, searching for their room. To his dismay, the warmth of the fireplace quickly dissipated the further they got and it did not seem like the innkeeper had any other means of keeping the upper floor of the building warm. Hopefully it would be different in the rooms. After all, the rain was now pattering against the windows so hard that it sounded like it was trying to break them. And however good the window sills were isolated, there always were some small cracks that allowed the icy air from outside to seep in.

“There it is,” Giyuu muttered when he reached the end of the hallway and found himself at a door with a number matching the one edged into their key. When he fumbled the key into the lock, he was overly aware of Sanemi’s presence behind him and somehow, it made his hands a bit shaky. But after a moment, the lock finally clicked and the door to a dark little room swung open.

Giyuu took a step into the room and closed the door behind him and Sanemi, locking it again. Then, he turned around and noticed instantly that this room did not possess a fireplace. In fact, the room felt even a bit colder than the hallway and Giyuu sighed when he looked to the big window to his right. He could already feel the cold seeping through the very visible cracks. However, at least they did not have to sleep outside in this weather.

Only after a moment, Giyuu noticed that something was wrong with Sanemi. Curious, he looked at him. Sanemi was standing frozen in place, not moving a single muscle as he stared into the room with widened eyes. Confused, Giyuu followed his gaze. Next to the window sat a small dresser and a few steps away stood a wooden table with two chairs. And behind it was the source of Sanemi’s weird behavior. Giyuu blinked a few times as he stared at back half of the room. The innkeeper had been right when he had said the room was big enough for two people. But what he had failed to mention was that there was only one bed.

Certainly, the bed was big enough for two people to sleep in, even if not very comfortably as the bed was rather narrow for two grown men. But even from just looking at it, Giyuu knew that it would be almost inevitable that they would at some point touch each other if they both slept in that bed.

A hysterical laugh bubbled up in his throat and he bit his lip while turning back to Sanemi whose face had taken on a sickly pale color. A vein twitched on his forehead and it looked like he was forcefully holding himself back to not entirely lose his composure. Giyuu bit his tongue, holding in his laughter. If he poked the bear right now, the narrow bed would not be a problem anymore as there would not be two people alive having to share it any longer. Instead, he waited silently for Sanemi to say something.

And when Sanemi finally did, his voice sounded strained. “No way in fucking hell,” he squeezed out. “I’d rather sleep on the ground.”

Giyuu shrugged and grinned at him. “Be my guest,” he said. “I’m not going to blow my chance to sleep in a warm, cozy bed.”

He gave the window a pointed look and Sanemi shuddered involuntarily when he followed Giyuu’s gaze. The rain was now hammering against the window, almost drowning out the howling of the storm. For a moment, Sanemi looked unsure but then he squared his shoulders and glared at Giyuu. “Suit yourself,” he hissed before he stomped over to the bed, grabbing one pillow and blanket each.

Giyuu watched amusedly how Sanemi made a makeshift bed on the floor beneath window. Then, he walked past him and to the bed. He quickly slipped out of his clothes and snuggled into the second blanket. When he had made himself comfortable, he glanced over to Sanemi who lay on the floor, a miserable expression on his face. Giyuu could only imagine how cold and uncomfortable the floorboards were as Sanemi could not both lay on the blanket and cover his body with it at the same time.

“Are you sure you want to sleep down there?” Giyuu asked carefully after a moment and instantly, Sanemi’s expression turned sour. “That does seem awfully uncomfortable.”

“Shut up,” Sanemi snapped back and turned away, facing the window.

For a long while, the room was silent except for the storm slamming against the window. A faint howling echoed through the hallway beyond their room and while Giyuu had it warm and cozy, he somehow could not fully relax. Whenever he closed his eyes, his thoughts wandered back to Sanemi on the ground. And when he finally admitted to himself that he could not fall asleep like that, he sighed and opened his eyes again. He glanced down at Sanemi but it had gotten dark enough that he could not make out details anymore. For all he knew, Sanemi maybe was already sleeping.

Giyuu shook his head and stared at the window, listening to the sounds of the rain. He was not sure why he cared about Sanemi’s comfort this much. After all, Sanemi had not said a kind word to him since they had started training together. However, a small voice whispered in his mind, Sanemi had also refrained from getting too angry at Giyuu while before their training, he had regularly exploded at him. Maybe this was a sign that Sanemi did start to respect Giyuu in his own way, he thought to himself. But then again, it was Sanemi, a walking bundle of rage who did not seem to like anyone except for one or two people.

A small anomaly in the sounds around him caught Giyuu’s attention and he listened closely. Through the rain outside, he could hear a faint noise that almost sounded like chattering teeth. Confused, he held his breath and focused on the sound. It took him a moment to realize that it came from the ground and when he understood, all tiredness left him. He heaved a deep sigh and struggled against his resolve to let Sanemi do his own thing. But the air around him was indeed very cold, even when snuggled into a warm bed. And with another sigh, he made a decision.

“Sanemi?” Giyuu asked. He waited for a moment. Sanemi did not answer but the chattering of teeth stopped abruptly. Giyuu rolled his eyes. “Sanemi, this is ridiculous.”

Giyuu waited and when he thought Sanemi would not answer, he heard him grumbling, “You are ridiculous.”

Giyuu could not help but laugh at that childish response. “Ya, real mature of you,” he replied before turning earnest again. “For real, Sanemi, you’re going to freeze to death if you sleep down there.”

“None of your business, Tomioka,” Sanemi snapped at him but his voice had lost its usual energy. Instead, he sounded strained and tired and suddenly, Giyuu felt a pang of sympathy. And slowly he realized that he did not want Sanemi to suffer.

“What can I say to convince you that you don’t have to sleep on the ground?” he asked solemnly.

For a moment, Sanemi stayed silent and when he replied, his voice did not sound as convincing as he probably wanted it to. “Nothing.”

Giyuu softly shook his head. “Look, there’s nothing to it. The floor is cold and the bed is warm. There’s no reason for you to suffer, there’s enough space for the two of us.” He paused, then he quietly added, “And if that helps, I promise to never speak about it again after tonight.”

After he had closed his mouth again, the room was engulfed in silence and his heart sank with each moment that passed. If this did not work, he had no idea what else to say to convince Sanemi to give up his resistance. But Sanemi stayed silent.

And when Giyuu was about to give up and try to sleep, he heard a quiet shuffling behind the bed. He held his breath and listened closely. When he saw a silhouette moving in the dark, he quickly closed his eyes, pretending to sleep already. Maybe that would make it easier for Sanemi. His heart started beating faster when he heard slow, hesitating footsteps coming closer. And after a small eternity, the bed creaked quietly when Sanemi laid down next to Giyuu, wrapping himself in his blanket. While moving, he accidentally touched Giyuu’s arm and instantly flinched. Giyuu did not dare to move a muscle and his heart skipped a beat when Sanemi moved again. But instead of getting up and leaving the bed again, he only shifted into a more comfortable position. And after a moment, he heard Sanemi sigh in relief as the warmth of the bed engulfed him.

“Not a single word about it, Tomioka,” Sanemi said out of nowhere and Giyuu winced in surprise.

“My lips are sealed,” he replied earnestly.

And after a while of silence, he felt Sanemi stir next to him. “Good,” Sanemi said and his voice had lost its edge, now sounding more relaxed, sending a warm shiver down Giyuu’s spine.

And while Giyuu listened to Sanemi’s breathing calming down and getting slower as he fell asleep, he lay awake, painfully aware of Sanemi lying next to him. And while the rain outside turned into a soft pattering, he asked himself why his heart started aching at five words, echoing through his mind.

So close, yet so far.