Who knows how much time had passed before Aoi woke to a strange sensation.
Something was pressing against her—something warm and heavy. Drowsy and disoriented, she blinked her eyes open, and the first thing she saw was a patch of deep green fabric.
...Fabric?
Her brain hadn't fully booted up yet. She shifted instinctively, only to realize her arms and legs were tangled in something. Stiffening, she tilted her head back, following the pattern of yellow-and-green blocks upward until a sleeping face, inches from her own, came into sharp focus.
It was Giyu Tomioka.
At some point during the night, he must have rolled over. He was practically draped over her; one arm was slung firmly across her waist, while his leg was hooked possessively over hers, effectively pinning her to the futon in a total lockdown.
And she? She was clutching his waist just as tightly, her cheek pressed against his solid chest. She could clearly hear the steady, powerful thrum of his heart.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Aoi's mind went completely blank.
AAAAAHHHHHHH—!!!
What is happening?!
She was supposed to be on the very edge of the bed, as far away from him as possible! How did she wake up in a full-body embrace?!
In an instant, her face flared a brilliant scarlet, the heat spreading all the way to the tips of her ears. No, no, no—I have to get out of here right now!
Carefully, inch by agonizing inch, she tried to extract herself from Giyu's "grip." She slowly moved her hands, reaching up to gently push his heavy arm off her waist.
However, the moment her fingers touched him, Giyu's arm suddenly tightened, pulling her even closer into his chest.
"Mmh..." A muffled, low sound escaped him as he stirred. His brow furrowed slightly as if he were caught in the middle of an unpleasant dream.
Aoi froze. She didn't dare move; she didn't even dare to breathe.
What do I do? What do I do?!
Steeling her nerves, she braced her hands against Giyu's broad chest, preparing to give him a forceful shove. But right at that moment, Giyu's eyes slowly fluttered open.
They were a misty, deep blue, still hazy with the remnants of sleep. He stared down at the Aoi in his arms, his gaze devoid of shock or confusion. There was only a quiet, early-morning blankness.
As their eyes met, Aoi could see her own panicked reflection mirrored in his pupils.
"You..."
Giyu didn't speak. He just blinked.
He seemed to finally be processing the situation. His gaze drifted downward, lingering on his arm draped over her waist and his leg hooked over hers, before finally returning to her flaming red cheeks.
His brow twitched almost imperceptibly as if he were trying to recall the events of the previous night.
Aoi felt incredibly exposed under his scrutiny. She expected him to be angry, or at the very least, look disgusted. She was already bracing herself to be coldly shoved aside.
Instead, Giyu simply shifted his arm. Far from letting go, he actually adjusted his position, tucking her in more securely to make her more comfortable.
Then, in a voice still gravelly with sleep but sounding utterly earnest, he asked, "...You're awake?"
"...Huh?" Aoi was floored.
What... what kind of reaction is that?!
Doesn't he think this is weird? Isn't he embarrassed? Shouldn't he be tossing her off the bed immediately, if not sooner?
Seeing her lack of response and her stunned expression, Giyu added one more thing: "Do you want to get up?"
Do I want to get up?!
Of course I do! I don't want to be here for another second!
But could she? Right now, she was like a rabbit caught in the coils of a giant python—completely immobilized. Moreover, the way he asked made it sound like a challenge: If you want to get up, find a way yourself.
Is this guy... doing this on purpose?
A spark of indignation flared in her chest. She looked up and glared at him. "Tomioka-san! In this situation, do you really think 'wanting' to get up is the problem here?!"
Giyu stared at her puffed-out cheeks. A faint, almost invisible trace of amusement seemed to flicker in his blue eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. He didn't answer, but he did silently and slowly withdraw his limbs.
The moment she was free, Aoi scrambled out of his reach. She kept her head down, unable to look at him for a long time.
After an indeterminate silence, Giyu finally spoke. "Change quickly. We're heading out."
Aoi nodded frantically, threw on her clothes, and bolted out the door. Her only priority was escaping the suffocating awkwardness of that room.
The two continued their trek toward the mission site.
According to the intelligence gathered by the Demon Slayer Corps, disappearances had been frequent near Mt. Kirigakure lately. Villagers claimed to have seen massive shadows at night. Furthermore, the mountain was perpetually shrouded in a dense fog that sunlight could rarely penetrate—the perfect nesting ground for a demon.
As they ventured deeper, the scenery turned increasingly sinister. Towering trees blocked out the sky, and the air grew heavy with the scent of damp earth and rotting leaves.
Suddenly, an eerie whispering sound—seeming to come from all directions at once—hissed in their ears.
"Heh heh heh... someone... has come..."
"Such... delicious... food..."
Aoi's nerves snapped taut. She gripped the hilt of her Nichirin Sword, eyes darting warily around her surroundings. The thick fog swirled around them, and the fragmented whispers clung to her ears like a parasitic growth.
"Don't lose focus," Giyu said. His voice was as cold as ice, yet it carried a grounding, reassuring weight.
The words had barely left his lips when several dark shapes lunged out of the fog, claws sharp as razors aimed straight for their faces.
"Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash!"
Giyu's silhouette blurred. With the crisp sound of rushing water, a graceful arc of blue light cut through the air. The demons that had lunged first were decapitated instantly, dissolving into ash before they could even land.
"Wood Breathing, First Form: Sprouting Slash!"
A clean, vibrant green strike snaked forward like a growing vine, precisely severing the neck of another demon attempting to ambush Giyu from his blind spot. The creature didn't even have time to shriek before it crumbled into dust.
"Tomioka-san, are you—" Aoi sheathed her blade and hurried to his side, but stopped when she saw him looking down at a pool of blood on the ground.
The blood was bizarre.
It wasn't a normal deep red; instead, it was a sickening, murky brown, as if it had been mixed with soil. Even more unsettling was that the edges of the pool weren't evaporating like the rest of the demons. Instead, the blood seemed to have a life of its own, slowly seeping into the damp earth as if being absorbed.
"The demons just now... they were weak," Giyu said, standing up. A shadow of gravity crossed his blue eyes. "But their scent... it's fused with the aura of this forest."
He looked up, scanning the perimeter. The eerie whispers had stopped, replaced by a silence that was somehow even more terrifying.