Prompt 11: "Is that a blood stain?"

Fandom: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Pairing(s): SaneGiyuu (Shinazugawa Sanemi/Giyuu Tomioka)

Tags & warnings: angst to fluff, hurt/comfort, whump, mild injury & blood, language (it's Sanemi what did y'all expect), (implied) anxiety attack

Lawd this took years 💀💀💀 I started it in February and dug it up today cos I was having KNY feelz haha :'D Hope y'all enjoy!!

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"Is that a blood stain?"

Giyuu stopped mid-track, unsure of how to reply. He had hoped to hide it until the meeting was over, until he was gone from Oyakata-sama and the Pillars' sight — the slash wound across his abdomen that he inflicted on himself, really, because he was stupid enough to have hesitated before a demon. But there was a lot of blood, and he couldn't stop all of the bleeding, and, well....

"Answer me, you shithead." Why did Shinazugawa have to be the one who spotted it? Anyone else would have been fine— well, maybe not Obanai, or Shinobu, or... well, actually, it would have been best if Giyuu had managed to leave without being detected at all. But here he was, frozen literally three steps away from the entrance, found out by the one person he knew wouldn't leave him alone until he exposed Giyuu for what he really was: a fake.

Whatever. It was bound to come anyway. He was cold, and tired, and he just wanted this to be over.

"Yes." Giyuu turned back as far as his pounding head would allow, only catching a glimpse of Sanemi out of the corner of his eye. "Good night."

He turned away, but with two strides Sanemi had caught up to him. His grip on Giyuu's shoulder was tighter than it needed to be, probably because he was unaware that it already took everything out of the ravenette to not stagger, much less walk away. "Don't bullshit me. You were bleeding through that entire meeting."

"It's not my blood." Giyuu lied, but his voice must have shaken, because Sanemi only smirked before reaching over, grabbing his other shoulder and spinning him around, again with more force than necessary. A fresh wave of pain made stars appear in Giyuu's vision, and the breath he sucked in was way too sharp to have been surprise. Shit, that hurts.

"Let me see."

"I'm fine." Giyuu growled, but before he could regain his balance, Sanemi abruptly released him. To neither of their surprises, the ravenette immediately collapsed onto his knees, a hand flying to his stomach. Giyuu clenched his jaw half in anger, half in pain when Sanemi crouched down to meet him, smirk still present:

"Right."

"No one asked for your help, Shinazugawa." Giyuu grunted, but Sanemi snuck an arm around his torso and hauled him up anyway:

"No one said you did. I just don't want you weighing on my conscience when they find your rotting corpse outside the entrance tomorrow. Now, I'm sure this mansion has to have at least one guest room."

If he had enough blood, Giyuu would have blanched at the thought. Not here. Not where Oyakata-sama might discover him, one of his supposedly best swordsmen, dying from some stupid mistake no real Pillar would have made. Anything but that. "No."

""No"? You know how fucking terrible you look right now? Goddamnit, Tomioka, it's like you wanna die— urgh! Why're you so heavy all of a sudden? Tomioka. Hey." Sanemi was saying something, but Giyuu couldn't catch it. Everything suddenly tilted sideways, and he thought he was finally passing out, but it was just Sanemi sweeping him off of his now-useless legs. Wait, what? "Hold still, shithead, or I'ma drop you."

Wait, really? No. Don't do it.

"What the— of course I'm not gonna fucking do it!" Sanemi's quiet snap jolted him awake. Giyuu didn't remember falling asleep though. Talk to me. "Shut the fuck up. You're confused."

No, I'm not. Talk to me. Sleep. "No. Tomioka? Don't fall asleep. Hey." Giyuu's eyes snapped open. "Good. Have you ever been in here?" Uh.... "Have you or haven't you? Hey. Look at me." No, I don't think so. Your eyes are purple. "... Yes, they are. You know what color yours are?" Blue. Don't walk so fast, it hurts me. "What? What hurts?" Walk. Slow. "Well, too bad. I need you to be awake." No. Stop it. Sleep. "We're almost here. Hey. Wake up. Tomioka. Giyuu!"

"Huh?" The ravenette startled, his eyes opening wide. Sanemi had an expression on his face that Giyuu thought was strange, but was too tired to decipher. All he could focus on was Sanemi's eyes, which were actually quite a pretty purple:

"I'm gonna leave for a bit, okay? I need you to stay awake. Can you do that for me? Giyuu."

That's my first name. Giyuu didn't think he said that aloud, though. "Yeah. Yeah."

"Good." The purple softens for a second, before flicking away. "Because if I come back and find you sleeping, I will slaughter your ass. Wait here."

He didn't notice when Sanemi left, but when he came back he had a variety of Shinobu-related things in his hands. Oh, my brain. First-aid things. Giyuu forgot to protest when the white-haired man laid him down onto the floor and opened his shirt. He was sweating all over, but the wind coming in through what must be an open window nearby somehow sent a shudder through his body. Without warning, a wet cloth was pressed against his wound, and a stab of pain made Giyuu gasp out loud:

"Agh!"

"Shhh, you'll be fine." He turned to look at Sanemi, whose eyebrows were furrowed with worry. The pain cleared his head up enough for Giyuu to say:

"You don't look like I'll be fine though."

Purple eyes glanced at him for a second, before Sanemi's expression shifted to one of annoyance:

"No shit. You'll live, but before that you'll explain to me how the fuck you got this in the first place."

"Slipped up." Giyuu bit down on the insides of his cheeks when he felt the surgical needle go in. No way he'll let me off this easy. He felt another two loops being made, before the white-haired man asked:

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Loop. Prick. Ow. Sanemi's fingertips as they brushed his abdomen were steady.

"Does this hurt?"

For some reason, Giyuu's heart was beating fast as hell.

"I'm fine."

Loop. Prick. Loop. Prick. Sanemi's warm breath ghosting over his skin, when he leaned down to check the sutures. Shit.

"Are you sure it was just a mistake?"

Shit, shit, shit. He just knew what was about to come next. The sneer of derision when the other Pillar finally forced the truth out of him. The looks, the whispers, the rage when everyone realized how expertly they'd been lied to all along. The disappointment, of his trainer, of his friends, once they saw how much of a waste it was to have had faith in him, to have suffered for him, to have died—

"Oh, shit. Hey... don't cry. I didn't mean anything by it."

Oh, god. Giyuu realized something hot was making its way down either side of his temples, and he gasped, breaths shallow and hitching. You really are pathetic, aren't you? His heart was pounding, and his brain seemed to want to lurch out of his skull when Sanemi hauled him into a sitting position, squeezing his shoulders while he said something. Giyuu couldn't hear it. He couldn't hear anything. He felt simultaneously as frantic and as numb as if he was about to die. Is this it? Has my time finally run out? Is this when I pay the price for all of my mistakes?

But death couldn't have felt this warm. And it definitely couldn't have smelled this good, either, faintly like flour and red bean paste — like how Sanemi did when he pulled Giyuu into a hug, Giyuu's tear-streaked face pressed against his shoulder, Sanemi's arms wrapped firmly around his trembling body. He should have pulled away, shoved him off, told him he didn't need his sympathy... but the tears wouldn't stop coming and Sanemi wouldn't budge, so the only thing Giyuu could have done was melt into his embrace. His face burned with shame, and his hands balled the open front of Sanemi's uniform into childish fists, but in his arms he remained and in there Giyuu cried, cried until his mind went blank and his heart became light, and his sobs quieted down into soft, shaky breaths.

"Tell anyone about this and I'll kill you." Sanemi said, one hand still stroking Giyuu's hair consolingly. Then, he added on, in a slightly smaller voice, "Of course, I'm not going to tell anyone about this either."

There were a thousand things Giyuu should have said, but a simple nod was all he could manage.

It was all, that Sanemi needed.