Word Count: ~4.6k

Author's Note: Hi everyone! this is my first Giyushino fic and I'm uber excited and nervous at the same time. I've been wanting to write a Giyushino fic for ages now, and I'm so happy I've finally gotten around to it. I hope I did these two justice! And sincerely hoping that they're in character. But I hope you enjoy this fluff piece anyway! I'll definitely be writing more in the future.

Disclaimer: I do not own Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Shinobu wonders if there's something wrong with her.

Actually, scratch that. Shinobu wonders if there's something wrong with him.

If she thinks about it logically, then it's safe to conclude that all the evidence she's collected over time rules in her favour specifically. Because she isn't the one who's reluctant to take the very next step in their relationship, it's him. And she still can't pinpoint why that is.

She just wants Giyuu to kiss her, damn it. Is that so hard?

Shinobu doesn't think so. While it probably doesn't help that she's never actually had her first kiss, she doesn't believe pressing your lips against someone else's is all that difficult. Thanks to Kanae's love for romantic films, she's watched countless movies where she's seen the same thing happen in a variety of different circumstances. She's also unfortunately witnessed a number of her classmates engage in the same sort of behaviour around different areas of the school, away from prying eyes, but it's still all the same.

From her many years of observational learning, Shinobu concludes that there's only three things to keep in mind when it comes to kissing.

1. There's always some cheesy line said before it happens. Some kind of declaration of love, either prompted during an argument, or after some grand romantic moment happens (Shinobu doesn't think this is too necessary for her first kiss, but it's a common feature.)

2. Coordination is necessary. Someone always leans in first while the other waits or they both lean in at the same time but not too quickly. She wonders how neither of them bumps heads during the kiss, but it's obvious they coordinate it with their eyes before it happens.

3. The actual kiss involves the pressing of two pairs of lips against each other. She isn't sure how to properly describe it, but the particularly passionate ones involve arms wrapped around each other, and heads turning in different directions. At some point, it goes beyond just lips, and tongues get involved too but Shinobu doesn't want to think about that just yet.

What's important here is that all one requires for a good kiss is coordination, and connected lips, but she can't seem to get either of it down right. Shinobu knows the reason why that is is because of Giyuu himself. It's not that he doesn't want to kiss her; she's caught his stare lingering at her lips more often than not, but every time they're about to, he always seems to stop it before it happens.

And Shinobu is fed up.

The number of times she's been unfortunately blocked from kissing him is far too devastating to keep count of, but that fact remains that it's disappointingly large. They're supposed to be dating, boyfriend and girlfriend, and they have been for months now. What makes their relationship different from regular friends is the fact that they share their affection through kisses. On the lips. So why isn't he letting her?

The last time she's tried it was just last week, and it'd been when her frustration with the situation had peaked. They were over at Giyuu's house to study after he'd told her that his house would be empty for the whole night. She'd jumped at the chance to spend some alone time with him, and while it normally wasn't proper for two teenagers to hang alone at a house together, Shinobu had struck a deal with her older sister. Kanae was well aware of the lack of progress in their intimacy (much to Shinobu's embarrassment and frustration) and had agreed to cover for her younger sister with the promise that Shinobu actually leveled up their relationship during her stay.

Shinobu had been too frustrated with their current state that she'd confidently told (and maybe bragged) to her sister they would and had travelled to Giyuu's house with a determined stride in her step. Originally, they had planned to study together, given that they were paired for an upcoming Chemistry project, but thanks to Shinobu's proficiency in the subject, they'd gotten most of it done within two hours. That had left them a good three hours together before she'd be called to return home, and Shinobu was determined not to leave the Tomioka household without having achieved her first kiss.

Giyuu suggested they both watched a few movies in his living room, gathering blankets from upstairs for them to cuddle under. Meanwhile, Shinobu was left to choose a movie for the evening. Normally they'd choose movies of the action genre, as per their shared movie taste, but she'd decided that a romantic film was essential to set up the mood, so she'd chosen Your Name for the name. She'd never watched it, but Kanae gushed that it wasn't too cheesy, yet romantic all the same, so perhaps maybe the airhead would've gotten a hint (Shinobu highly doubted that).

After setting up the couch for their shared cuddling, Shinobu curled up against Giyuu underneath the blankets. He'd kept one arm wrapped around her torso, pulling her closer into his side as she'd pressed play. Giyuu had glanced at her when he recognised the animation, quite surprised by her choice of film, but she offered him a shrug, reasoning that it would be a good change of pace. He hadn't said much to disagree, and both of them proceeded to watch with rapt attention. Though, Shinobu's eyes drifted from the screen to look up at him from time to time, trying to observe his reactions.

He seemed to be particularly interested in the film, his eyes widening in unadulterated awe at the quality of the animations, and she felt herself smiling at his childlike wonder. Giyuu was an airhead, and still retained some naivety to him, but those were just some of the things she'd adored about it.

When it came to the part of the film where Taki and Mitsuha meet on the crater, Shinobu started leaning forward. She was certain that a kiss would take place here; the movie was reaching its climax, and it was predictable something big was going to happen. However, she was sorely disappointed when her predictions fell through, her brows knitting into a small frown.

"Such a waste," she'd muttered under her breath, Giyuu glancing at her curiously.

"A waste of what?"

Shinobu looked up at him, staring straight into his big, blue eyes. "A kiss," she answered, "They should have kissed here."

Giyuu hadn't said much except for a soft grunt in agreement? She didn't know, but that didn't stop her frown from deepening frown when he'd said nothing else on the matter. Shinobu let it drop and they continued watching, Giyuu silent throughout, whilst she made comments here and there that Giyuu paid attention to. When the movie finally finished with Mitsuha and Taki's reunion, Shinobu was left with a frown on her face. Kanae had said it wasn't cheesy but it was romantic, which was true, she supposed. But wasn't a general rule of thumb for the romance genre a kiss scene? Without a kiss scene, was it really qualified to be denoted as romantic?

She'd shared these thoughts with Giyuu, who seemed to have an entirely different opinion on the matter. "Kisses are unneeded," he finally spoke after she continuously prodded his side to draw an answer from him. That made her frown.

"Unneeded?" she repeated incredulously, "What do you mean unneeded?"

He shrugged. "They didn't need to kiss."

Shinobu was now scowling at that point, "And why not? They loved each other, so shouldn't they have kissed at one point?"

"There are other ways to show love."

"Oh yeah? Like what, Giyuu-san? Are you saying that we also don't need to kiss to show our love for each other?" While they hadn't exactly said those three words yet, she was too heated in the moment to realise it'd slipped out.

Giyuu nodded. "Yes."

She could feel anger pulsating through her veins at his answer, also a little hurt by his indifference on the matter. Did he really not want to kiss her? She was sure those stares had meant something. Before she could even dwell on those thoughts further, she'd decided to focus all her attention on being angry to drown the hurt. "So you don't want to kiss me then? Is that it?"

"I didn't say that," he retorted, Shinobu's vein popping. That still wasn't what she'd wanted to hear.

"So why don't we kiss then, Giyuu-san?"

When Giyuu hadn't replied, Shinobu took it for the worst, and had all but ripped the blankets off her. She tore himself away from his grip much to his confusion, the male startled by her sudden aggression, and had reached out to grab her by the wrist. But she dodged his hands, keeping a fair distance between them. She turned her head away from him, refusing to look at him.

"What is it Giyuu-san? I have to go home," she said, her tone barely levelled in her efforts to control her anger.

Giyuu gazed at her, his eyes softening. "I do want to kiss you," he started, her breath catching in her throat. She whipped around to face him, eyes wide at his admission for she'd never heard him say something so bold before. She could feel her anger almost dissipate entirely, keyword: almost, because he'd opened his mouth to speak again. "But not yet."

That pushed her to her breaking point as she directed him one last angry glare before she stormed out of his house, ignoring his calls. Kanae had found her returning home looking entirely exhausted, and her face a mixture of hurt, anger, and sadness, but hadn't prodded at her to tell her the details. Instead, she left the girl alone to wallow over what'd happened all night, trying to figure out what went wrong.

Shinobu had tried to spend the next day avoiding Giyuu entirely, but it was insanely difficult when they lived on the same street, and were in almost all of each other's classes. Chemistry was where she had it the worse, as they sat next to each other and Giyuu had tried to speak to her, but she'd pointedly ignored him, trying to squash down the longing she felt for him.

Her avoidance behaviour only lasted for the duration of the school day, because as soon as classes had finished, he'd cornered her. Shinobu had to control herself, not wanting to be the first one to crack, but apparently, that effort wasn't necessary as Giyuu had apologised first. He'd enveloped her in a hug, and while he didn't explain his side more, Shinobu had taken it anyway. Her heart was too overcome with longing for him that she'd forgiven him almost instantly. Things had soon reverted back to normal between them after that, yet even so, Shinobu still couldn't shake off the thoughts she'd ruminated over when she thought back to their argument.

Giyuu, she concludes, is the problem. There's something that's holding him back from kissing her, and she's determined to get to the bottom of it. She refuses to go another day without having kissed him yet, and its this thought that propels her into putting her plan into action. Today is when she'll get her first kiss, and Giyuu can't stop her.

This is how she finds herself waiting on the roof of the Chemistry building after classes finish for the day, having texted Giyuu to meet her here. He'd replied with a question mark, but she gave him no answer, instead spamming him until he finally agreed. He'd complained that his teacher almost caught him, and had agreed to stop messaging him until he went along with her plans. It left her squirming in her seat in excitement as she'd waited for her last class to finish.

Shinobu had practically ran for it as soon as the end of school bell rang, leaving Mitsuri without an explanation for her hasty departure. But standing on the roof alone now, it had been almost five minutes since she'd gotten there and Giyuu had yet to come. She grits her teeth, checking her phone again for the nth time that afternoon. Her foot taps impatiently against the concrete, glaring holes into the entrance to the roof. Normally students weren't allowed to even be up on the roof, but she was an expert at sneaking onto it undetected. Besides, if she had to choose anywhere in the school to have her first kiss, it would be the roof without question. With tons of manga and drama scenes occurring on the roof, it's only what's expected of her. Cliche or not, it got the job done.

Giyuu hadn't sent a reply to her after the one he sent her during class, and she'd resisted the urge to spam him while she waited as she thought the idiot knew better enough than to make her wait. But apparently not, the girl grounds out, her tiny hands balled into fists at her side. One more minute, she decides, if he doesn't come in one minute, she'll find him herself and drag him to their destination.

Her violet eyes flicker to her phone screen again that she almost doesn't register the sudden creak erupting from the door in front of her. But the sudden shift in the air alerts her of a new presence, and she almost drops her phone when she finally meets the confused gaze of one Tomioka Giyuu.

Her eyes widen when she sees him, yet before he can even take a step forward, she's already marching over to him, her lips split into a smile that barely contains her boiling rage. "To-mi-o-ka-san," she sings each syllable of his name slowly, and in a tone aimed to chill him to his bone. Her eyes are curved into crescent moons, contradicting the irritation bubbling inside her. Shinobu hasn't called him by his surname since they'd started dating, and with this smile on her face, she hopes he can tell that she's not in the best mood.

"You kept me waiting," she tsks, shaking her head, "I thought I told you it was urgent."

Giyuu has the decency to look abashed, scratching the side of his head as he looks away. "Himejima-sensei wanted to talk to me after class."

It's a logical reason, one that's all too understandable, but her anger flares. She clenches her teeth.

"I see."

He raises a brow at her curt response, tilting his head to the side. "What's the emergency?"

Shinobu takes a few steps forward until she's right in front of him, looking up to meet his gaze. It's when she starts to realise just how tall he really is, her neck a bit sore from craning her neck. Giyuu towers over her like its no problem, the top of her head just barely reaching his chin. If she stands even closer, she's the perfect height for him to rest his chin on her head (something he's done before but she punches him because it makes her feel even smaller).

And if she's standing next to him, she can't rest her whole head on his shoulder unless he bends, or they sit. She grits her teeth silently, disliking just how short she is in comparison to him. While Giyuu is by no means the tallest person in the class, he's still quite tall, especially next to her, the shortest in her cohort.

This means if they were to kiss, she'd have to stand on her tiptoes to reach him, and he'd have to bend down to meet her halfway. Or, she thinks, she can pull him by the neck and hold him down to meet her lips as she kisses him. That would strain his neck, but maybe it's what he deserves for making her wait.

She doesn't realise just how long she takes thinking to herself that it's only when Giyuu clears his throat and places a hand on her shoulder that she snaps out of it. He's raising a brow at her, confused by her silence, and she feels her anger dissipate just a tad. There's just something about his confused face (which she sees a lot), that is so endearing to her, and no matter how angry she is at him, she can feel it melt away at his look of bewilderment.

"Shinobu?" He calls again, but she shakes her head. She tilts her chin up high, eyes lit in determination.

"You're going to kiss me, Giyuu-san," she states firmly, leaving no room for question.

The male frowns a little, raising a brow at her. "Kiss you?"

She nods. "You're going to kiss me on this rooftop right now, and I'm not going to let you stop me. You've made me wait too long to get my first kiss."

Shinobu doesn't give him a chance to reply, her hands reaching up to cup his face. His deep blue eyes widen in surprise, but he doesn't move, and she takes this as a good sign. So she pushes herself up on her tiptoes, but also ends up gently pulling his face down to meet hers when she realises just how straining it'll be to be at full height on the tips of her toes. A small hint of frustration crosses her at the observation, but she pushes it aside in favour of inching her face closer to his.

Yet just as they're a few centimetres apart, her eyes about to flicker shut, a hand swipes in front of his face, stopping her in her tracks.

She stares, wide-eyed at his actions as Giyuu gently pushes her back down onto the balls of her feet. Shinobu blinks, unable to process what'd happened, because the next moment she knows, one of his hands is wrapped around hers as she's tugged away.

The girl lets out an involuntary squeak at the sudden momentum, almost stumbling over her feet but she catches herself quickly. Giyuu pauses to peer back at her but only for a second, turning to look back straight ahead. Shinobu opens her mouth to speak, but he continues to tug her forward without a word, travelling further and further away from the rooftop. Instead, they're descending the staircase and she tries to pull her hand away in urgency. She has to get back to the rooftop, except Giyuu has other ideas, his grip on her hand tightening.

They're only halfway down the second flight of stairs when Giyuu pauses mid-step, twirling around to face her. Shinobu is standing on the step right behind him, gazing up at him curiously when a small frown forms. "Giyuu-san?"

He doesn't reply, instead taking a step back onto another stair behind him. Her brows knit together in confusion when she sees his frown deepen again, his gaze sweeping from her face and down to the steps separating them. Shinobu is about to take a step forward when he lifts a hand to halt her, Giyuu taking another step back.

"Stay there," he orders, looking straight into her eyes. Now that there's a total of three steps between them, Shinobu notices that she's standing at eye-level with him. Although she can still see a bit of the top of the head, they're still generally at the same height. She frowns at the observation.

From the looks of it, with the way he nods to himself in satisfaction, she thinks she's hit the jackpot. Shinobu doesn't know how this makes her feel. Their hands are still intertwined, but she slowly starts squeezing his hand tighter that she feels him try to loosen their hold.

"Giyuu-san, what is the point of this?" Her saccharine smile is still in tact as she uses her free hand to gesture to the gap between them.

Giyuu says nothing, tugging downward on their joined hands to break free before Shinobu can hold him still again. She watches quietly as he leans forward slightly, placing both hands on her shoulders, and stares at her directly in the eyes. His eyes are such a deep blue, reminding her of a gentle ocean and its great expanses, so calm and peaceful, and her breath hitches. He's still looking at her, she notes, but his brows are slightly creased in strange concentration.

Shinobu waits with an abated breath, her gut screaming at her in anticipation. Giyuu powers forward, his face inching closer to her, and her violet eyes widen. Realisation strikes her on the back of the head like an errant baseball, and her heart rate starts surging in speed. Her cheeks stain pink as a warmness seeps through her whole body. This is it, she thinks, he's finally going to kiss me.

Her breath hitches and her thoughts are a jumbled mess as she tries to figure out whether to keep her eyes open or close them, but he's getting so close to her now that all she can hear is the blood pounding in her ears and her eyes finally flutter shut. She doesn't dare release her breath, waiting agonisingly for him to finally seal the deal.

But she can feel him coming closer, his warm breath fanning over her lips and she thinks her heart stops for a moment. There's an overwhelming urge to close the distance between them first as his pace is far too slow for her liking but she restrains herself. It should be Giyuu that finally follows through.

Just when she feels his lips a hair's breadth away from her own, each of her nerves brimming in anticipation, a small curse escapes his lips and everything goes downhill.

Literally.

Her eyes flick open at the sound but everything is happening so fast, because one moment she's staring into a pair of shocked blue eyes, and the next she's falling backward without losing momentum. She doesn't have time to squeeze her eyes shut, her gaze fixated on the distant ceiling and a fleeting thought that she's about to die crosses her but it's cut short when she feels her body being roughly flipped over.

Instead of colliding harshly into hard concrete stairs, she feels herself slam into a firm, yet warm body, a noise of surprise escaping her. It's drowned out by the sound of a loud groan coming from below her, and her eyes travel downward. They widen when she sees Giyuu's normally so blank face scrunched up in pain.

Her breath hitches. "Wh—"

Giyuu groans again, coughing a little bit. "Sh-Shinobu," he croaks out, tapping at her arm.

It takes her half a second to realise what he's saying, and she immediately scrambles to her feet, almost slipping on a stair but she manages to grab hold onto the steel railings. Her stomach still feels like she's just gotten the wind knocked out of her, so she rests her back against the steel railings for a few moments, trying to adjust to the pain.

When it doesn't feel so bad, she lets her eyes trail back to the splayed body on the stairs, worry evident in her gaze. Giyuu is still lying down on his back, his head lifted slightly, possibly as a way to avoid getting a concussion, but he looks visibly deflated. She bends down, reaching forward to grab his arm gently. He blinks, meeting her concerned gaze, and she pulls him up slowly into a sitting position, Giyuu wincing from the pain.

He rands a hand through his hair, another one going to rub his back, and Shinobu bites her lip. "What happened?"

Giyuu stops rubbing his back to lift his head, looking straight at her. Her eyes are soft, but still twinged with confusion, and he lowers his head in shame. "Sorry, Shinobu."

Her brows knit together. "Sorry? For what?"

"I didn't kiss you."

He hangs his head even lower, shoulders slumping, and Shinobu releases a soft giggle. He'd probably tripped trying to kiss her, but their position made it too uncomfortable to follow through successfully. Shaking her head, she steps behind him and crouches down to sit on a stair. Her skilled hands reach forward to brush his hand away, taking over as she rubbed at his back with gentle upward and downward motions. She's careful not to elicit any further pain, her lips quirking a bit when she sees Giyuu relax against her hands.

"It's fine, Giyuu-san. But why did you bring me out here? We could've kissed on the rooftop." Like she'd planned.

It goes silent for a few moments, and Shinobu would've been unsure he'd heard her if he hadn't stiffened against her. She raises a brow.

"I wanted it to be comfortable," he mutters, almost too softly for her to hear. But she does, and it leaves her frowning.

"Comfortable?"

He nods. "So you don't have to stand on the tips of your toes."

Shinobu's hands still against his back, trying to digest his words. "Is— Is that why you've been refusing to kiss me before?" It's so ridiculous it's not sinking in.

He releases a sigh. "Sabito said it would be cruel for you to have to reach so high," he answers quietly, "and that I should make it more comfortable for you."

Shinobu doesn't know whether to laugh at the ridiculousness of their situation, to punch him for even having that as the reason she'd been suffering for weeks without progression, or to kiss him just to get what she finally wanted. However, one thing does remain clear: Sabito is about to go six feet under the next time she sees him, that bastard.

Her lips soon curve into a smile radiating a mixture of different emotions as she resumes massaging his back, adding a bit more force against her rubs here and there. That sneaky little fox, she wants to shout angrily, it's all his fault. If Giyuu had had better taste in friends, then maybe it wouldn't have taken this long. And if Giyuu wasn't such an adorably infuriating airhead, then he wouldn't have believed such nonsense. Oh, she doesn't know who she wants to kill first.

Shinobu's plots of revenge are interrupted when Giyuu suddenly shifts away from her, causing her to still her movements. She frowns a little as he turns around to look at her, his large hands enclosing around her palms. He rubs the back of her palms gently, his cool hands making her relax as she stares right back at him. Revenge, she thinks, can wait later.

She still has unfinished matters to attend to.

No words are spoken but they're leaning forward at the same time, time moving quickly as her heart rate picks up speed again, Shinobu doesn't know who closes the gap first but she doesn't care when her lips finally meet his, his lips chapped yet surprisingly soft against hers. She sinks against him, Giyuu interlacing their fingers, and her eyes are flutter shut. The kiss is clumsy, nose slightly bumping against each other, and nothing more than the both of them pressing against each other's lips, but it brings that warm, fuzzy feeling Kanae's talked about, and she thinks that this is worth the wait after all.

Neither of them knows what they're doing, but Shinobu is alright with that. When they pull away, Giyuu's eyes are wide and his face is tinged pink, but she knows she's no better. Her face is on fire, and she licks her lips as though trying to process what had just happened.

"Again?"

It's not her who asks but him, and the moment it skins in, she's grabbing him by his collar and pulling him flush against her. He lets out a small noise in surprise but he quickly matches her vigour, and they do it again, and again, and again.

It's the first of many more to come, and Shinobu knows they should have done it much sooner.

(Giyuu thinks so too, which is why he doesn't stand in her way when Shinobu hunts down Sabito later.)