Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The giant, the rock pillar, Himejima Gyomei.
This man is known for his big body, scary even for strong warriors. But his kind heart makes people come to him. He is not only strong, not only gentle. He is both. That makes him special.

His hands are huge. They can break stone. But Gyomei uses them to pet sewer cats, so they feel less alone.

He also has a huge weapon, not like the normal katanas. With it, he could make anyone kneel. But he does not. He uses it only to protect people. To make sure no one feels the pain he felt, the day demons took what he loved most.

But the first thing people see about Gyomei is not his blindness.
It is his fear of children.

People say Gyomei avoids children like others avoid disease. Some even say he became a monk just to escape from them. But that is probably gossip.

So, when Muichiro joined the Hashira, Gyomei almost fainted. His fear of children has a reason.

Gyomei thinks children are ungrateful, naïve, and cry too much. He even hates that he was once a child. He gave everything to the orphans he raised, but got nothing back. To him, all children are the same. And Muichiro too.

Muichiro Tokito.
Like Gyomei, he became a Hashira in only two months, the Mist Pillar.

When Gyomei first saw him, he thought it was a nightmare. Was fate trying to hurt him again?

At that time, the Hashira group had only five members:

Tengen the funny one. Kanae the kind one. Giyuu the quiet one. Sanemi, who was new too. And Gyomei, the oldest.

So when Muichiro came, everyone was shocked. Gyomei remembers it was a hot summer afternoon, the sun hurting their heads.

— Wow! Such strength, such talent! He is almost more flamboyant than me…
said Tengen, hand on his chest.

— Uzui-san, not so loud… he might hear you, Kanae said, smiling.

— So what? Who cares if he hears? He should not even be here! And he looks weird, right?!
Sanemi shouted.

— Yes… it’s like he sees something we don’t added Tengen.

— My sister Shinobu, who works with him, said he has amnesia. But I don’t know much about it, Kanae explained.

— Amnesia means memory loss. It can stop people from remembering the past or learning new things…

But Giyuu could not finish. Sanemi jumped on him, angry.

Gyomei stayed silent. He kept looking at the place where Muichiro had been sitting. He did not know what to think.

He had raised children before. But Muichiro was not like them. He sat still, without moving, without blinking, for more than an hour. How was that possible?

— And you, Gyomei-san? What do you think? Kanae asked.

Gyomei hesitated, then said:

— He is… a very strange child.

Kanae was surprised. Sanemi shouted:

— See?! I told you!

But Gyomei was already lost in thought. He was sure of one thing:
If he wanted peace after twenty years of calm, he had to stay away from Muichiro.

Chapter Text

Gyomei’s mission was not going as planned. The smell of fresh vegetables filled the air as the Stone Pillar walked through the market, basket in hand. The sun had only just risen, yet the place was already crowded — probably because everyone wanted to get the best products, just like Gyomei.

Not that he really cared about that. For him, it was enough to simply be grateful to the universe for having something to eat every day.

So much had happened these past few weeks. The saddest of all was the announcement of the Flower Pillar Kanao’s death. Gyomei had thought he had lost only one person, but when Shinobu — the girl he had known as a child — became a Hashira, he realized he had lost two. Shinobu had completely changed, turning into an imperfect version of Kanao. It was painful, but he knew he had to accept it. Everyone loses people they care about, and Shinobu wasn’t the only one.

As Gyomei walked, he noticed a small crowd gathered ahead. He stopped to see what was happening. It wasn’t anything extraordinary — just a boy screaming because he wanted his mother to buy him dango (sweet rice dumplings). The mother, embarrassed, tried to calm him down, but he wouldn’t stop shouting.

Gyomei gripped his basket tighter at the sight. It reminded him of another boy who had come to him just a few days ago. The boy claimed to be the younger brother of the Wind Pillar. They did look alike, but Gyomei didn’t believe him for a second. He had tried everything to push the boy away, but the lavender-eyed child kept coming back.

Children are so stubborn, Gyomei thought. They never want to understand anything and always want everything right away.

Feeling irritated, Gyomei decided to move on. He told himself he wouldn’t let such thoughts ruin his morning. After all, he needed to hurry if he wanted to hunt as many demons as possible once the sun went down.

He wondered if he should buy some fish. The children will love it, he thought — then froze. The children from the orphanage used to love fish. Realizing what he had just thought, the giant fell silent, sweat trickling down his neck.

Do you have children? the fish seller asked kindly, smiling.

Gyomei could tell the smile was fake, just an attempt to get him to buy something.

I am a monk, Gyomei replied simply.

The merchant’s expression didn’t change as he continued talking. Oh, that’s wonderful! You must be very—

But Gyomei didn’t let him finish. He nodded, quickly asked for a fillet of fish, paid, and left.

And as I got up from the ground, I didn’t just see one or two, but three gorgeous women! Thing is, I’d smacked my head so hard I didn’t even recognize my own wives.

While Tengen was busy telling his latest crazy stories, all excited to sit down and eat with the others, Gyomei quietly hoped there wouldn’t be any sake. Why? Sure, a bit of sake can help you forget the weight of the world for a while — but downing three bottles just for fun? Yeah, that’s too much. His coworkers still hadn’t figured that out.

Gyomei also thought that alcohol is a substance that clouds the mind and leads to irresponsible behavior. The proof? His former comrade Shinjuro, who had gone from a Hashira to a drunkard. Gyomei felt great pity for him. How can someone become so weak that he ends up hitting his own children? Gyomei had seen the bruises on Rengoku’s body. Even though he was blind, he believed he was the only one who had noticed.

Anyway, about the dinner — Gyomei kept thinking about how there was a kid in their squad now. He still couldn’t wrap his head around it, but he was sure it was going to change things. The thought actually made him feel a lot calmer.

It was even worse than Gyomei had imagined — the Hashira were completely out of control. Sanemi was the first to finish a bottle, since no one else wanted to drink his cheap sake. Obanai, encouraged by Mitsuri, soon joined in, while his best friend Giyuu drowned his sorrows in alcohol, sighing every few seconds.

Tengen already seemed drunk before dinner had even started and kept laughing at his own jokes. Rengoku, who wasn’t a big fan of alcohol, simply smiled while watching his friends.

Gyomei was anything but not comfortable. Shinobu, sitting next to him, tried to start a conversation but never finished her sentences. - The moon is beautiful tonight, isn’t it— burp.

Gyomei silently prayed for his crow to come and announce a new mission.

Muichiro’s presence didn’t seem to change the group’s drinking habits either. Speaking of Muichiro, he was sitting not too far away, staring at his glass with a confused look — or at least that’s what Gyomei thought. That boy was so hard to understand.

But children are opportunistic, especially when it comes to something forbidden. Gyomei kept a close eye on him, frowning. Then, Muichiro grabbed the glass with sweaty hands and slowly brought it to his lips. His brows furrowed slightly before he quickly spat the contents back into the glass as discreetly as he could.

Gyomei’s eyes opened slightly wider, intrigued by what he had just witnessed. 

Well, that was unexpected, Gyomei thought, just as Tengen grabbed Muichiro’s glass and finished it himself.

- You don’t like alcohol, kid? How are you supposed to grow up like that?

Muichiro turned his head away, avoiding Tengen, and his eyes met Gyomei’s.

Gyomei felt a strange sensation stir in his chest, something he couldn’t quite name. It was neither anger nor amusement, but a quiet awareness, like a small spark of curiosity mixed with concern. The boy’s eyes held something unexpected, something that made Gyomei pause for just a moment.

Shaking off the feeling, Gyomei averted his gaze from Muichiro, focusing instead on the table in front of him, trying to push the odd sensation aside.

Gyomei felt a connection to the boy. He now had another mission doing everything he could to talk to him.