Their Tale [Kimetsu No Yaiba Oneshots]

Midsummer, the intoxicant

Kimetsu no Yaiba | @giyushinoweek Day 5 | Moon or Angst
Summary: Despite how businesslike they've made their relationship, there are always slip-ups.
Notes: this one is lowkey spicy?? but also isn't quite my forte, so pls help me out here and use your imagination to multiply the amount of UST between them during the crux of this LMFAO

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There are many things that Giyu and Shinobu are used to after being partners on extended missions so many times-foraging and hunting and cooking, setting up shelter, keeping watch while the other one is sleeping or bathing. They've seen each other at their most disheveled after several nights in the woods; they've seen each other covered in gore, and not smelling particularly pleasant.

They are too poised and used to this kind of thing for it to affect them, they think. But even despite how businesslike they've made their relationship, there are always slip-ups.

One balmy summer night, after they've slain the demon that they've spent the past two weeks hunting, they finally find a lake to stop by. Both are eager for a bath, and Giyu nods for Shinobu to go first while he takes watch. She accepts, handing him her sword for safekeeping. Were anything to happen, he could throw it to her-to leave their swords unreachable would be the worst mistake of all. He turns his back and walks a few steps away from the edge of the water-just far enough to give her some privacy, but close enough to take action in the even that it's needed.

He hears the rustling of cloth as she strips, and the gentle swish of water as she steps in and walks further out into the lake. The moon is especially bright tonight, and Giyu notes that any sneaks attacks would be rendered impossible because of all the light. Good. Watch will be easier, with that.

The natural sounds of the forest fill the air, and there are no wrong presences, no unusual sounds. It's a night like any other that they've stayed through before, and Giyu can almost relax, if he didn't take his job so seriously.

But suddenly, Shinobu lets out a small yelp, and then there is a splash-Giyu turns, and he cannot see Shinobu anywhere. Surprise and panic fill him at once-what happened? Where did she go? How could he not have sensed an enemy?-and he crosses the remaining bit of land, running into the water until he is up to his knees.

Before he can go any further, Shinobu breaks the surface, rising out of the water like a mermaid of myth. She tosses her head back, gasping, and wipes the water from her face. Once she opens her eyes, she turns and they lock eyes, both of their expressions frozen in shock.

The moon is too full; there is too much light for him not to see.

He stands there, transfixed, knowing that if he has any common decency, he should look away. But the moment is ethereal and the world is suddenly only him, Shinobu, the lake, and the moon. He knows the moment has to break, yet he cannot bring himself to be the one to do so.

Shinobu moves first, putting her arms over her chest, half turning away to hide her front yet narrow her eyes at him.

"You could do me a favor and turn away, Tomioka-san," she chides, but her voice is pitched a little too high for it to be properly scolding.

"You yelled," Giyu says, finally turning his own body.

"Unfortunately, yes. The rocks here are more slippery than I had anticipated. It caught me off guard."

"I see."

There is silence again, the air ripe with embarrassment.

He can hear water splashing, Shinobu finishing up her bath. He sloshes towards the shore; he should go back to where he was positioned before, to return her privacy.

"So, Tomioka-san," Shinobu says, and he halts. "Now that you've seen all of me, how exactly are you going to take responsibility?"

He paused.

"...Bring you your clothes?" he ventures, and she laughs.

He stands there, waiting for her to say something else, and he hears the splash of water again. This time, he know Shinobu has swum closer, and now stands behind him.

"Please do, then."

He goes, and hands back her haori first, since she still needs to dry off. She steps out of the water to take the rest of her clothes, draping them over her arm and holding them against her torso.

She steps back into his view.

She's mostly covered now, but she isn't wearing much-her haori is pulled more forward than usual, obscuring most of her front, but her legs are bare and he can still see the strip of skin between her breasts. He flicks his eyes back up to her face, and she has a smile on her face-a mischievous smile that has him stepping back.

"It's hardly fair," she purrs, "That only one of us has to go through that, isn't it?"

Shinobu crosses what little distance between them, a hand on his collar. She undoes the first button, then the second. He swallows, unable to move, partly in disbelief-surely she cannot go so far, can she?-and partly because she pins him with her gaze.

She undoes the third button. The fourth. The fifth. She brushes the uniform open, tugging it off his shoulders, sliding his haori back. She takes the swords from him, laying them on the ground next to her as she kneels, working on the belt to his pants.

His mind goes black. She can't be. She ca-

She makes quick work of it, tugging the cloth down, and he stands there almost naked, only his underwear saving his modesty under the moonlight.

Shinobu looks up at him, stands, meeting his gaze once more. There is silence; the tension is so thick that he's almost afraid of what might happen-but Shinobu punctures it before anything can.

"I'll take that as being even, for now," she hums, and turns away.

When she disappears from sight into the foliage, Giyu strips down completely and throws himself into the water, staying under for as long as he can humanly manage.

He could probably boil the lake with how hot his face feels.

A few meters away, Shinobu crouches down and buries her face in her hands, letting out a small, high-pitched noise of embarrassment. Even as retaliation, she had gone further than she thought herself capable.

Neither of them speak for the rest of the night. When they make it back into town to give their report, it's all business as usual. Why would it be anything else?

Shinobu glances at him sidelong, he glances back.

Then, they both look away.

Right now, it'll be a bit before their next joint mission, to allow them to rest and take care of their own affairs in between. Both are relieved; they won't have to see the other for at least a few days. By the time they head out together, they should have their emotions back under control again.

They'd better have their emotions back under control again. If it all has to go downhill, then they'll be damned if it goes any faster than they'll allow it.

Regardless. Next mission will be a test.

Neither are confident that they're going to pass.

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