(Originally a two-part shot in my blog that's why it has an overly long title haha)

Pairing: Oblivious!Giyuu Tomioka x Equally Oblivious!Reader

Synopsis: Sabito and Makomo find out that their childhood friends have fallen in love, except the two idiots haven't realized their feelings. They try to help before Sabito kills them.

kaeeth32 @ Tumblr: a request for ye ヽ('▽｀)/ can we please have sabito and makomo (who in this world, both survived the final selection) pushing giyuu to confess to his crush who is just a bubbly (yet oblivious) sweetheart? oR sabito & makomo pushing the reader to confess to an oblivious giyuu? they like each other, but are so scared the other won't reciprocate. sabito and makomo are just, "get together already!!" in the back lol. i'm sorry if it's too specific, but thank u so much and have a great day!!!

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Sabito, Makomo, Giyuu, and you were gathered together for the first time in what felt like ages, tasked with training the rather weaker and less experienced slayers of the corps. But while your students were resting - after being mercilessly defeated by Sabito in a battle to gauge their ability levels - Giyuu had approached you, asking if you wanted to spar, which surprised Sabito and Makomo.

"You said you needed more help honing your Ice Breathing technique, right? We can do that right now, if you want," Giyuu said, rubbing the backside of his neck. Something about the sight looked off to Sabito, yet he couldn't point out exactly what.

"Yes, please!" You excitedly jumped around, before you felt around your hip for your Nichirin Blade, only to realize your scabbard wasn't even there. "Ah, wait, my sword! And we haven't helped the others bandage up yet. Give me a second to get ready, okay?"

Your friends watch as you go bounding for the spot where all your students were resting. You find your sword among the mix of spares you had brought along with you from headquarters and proceed to go around helping those who had some pretty bad injuries. Sabito turns to Giyuu with a raised brow.

"You don't usually offer first," he said skeptically, trying to read Giyuu's expression. "Normally, I do the offering."

"Yes, but you just end up beating her up, so she asks me," Makomo sighs. "But I'm not that good at sparring either, so I ask Giyuu and he fights while I observe."

"Time spent training is time spent making sure you live longer," Giyuu answered plainly, before he turned to you. Sabito's eyes widened marginally and Makomo's mouth formed a small "o" as they watched Giyuu smile softly at you from across the yard. You were giving encouraging words to your students lying on the ground. "And it'll be a good lesson for them to see what a Pillar should be like."

Sabito and Makomo shared a look as Giyuu left to get extra bandages from Urokodaki's hut per your request. Sure, Giyuu smiled, especially when he was with three of his closest friends. But that smile was far too loving to be one meant for a friend or a family, or one you give out of admiration. It was almost like-

"When was the last time we all spent time together? Excluding missions and Pillar meetings, I mean," Sabito had asked in a low voice to Makomo, as he sent a small wave your way when you beckoned them to come closer. You frown at them before being approached by another slayer asking for help on something.

"I think..." Makomo's voice was light as a feather, but seemingly even softer right now in case prying ears happened to listen in on the conversation. "After the Pillar Meeting where (F/N) was appointed Winter Pillar? We went out to eat after to celebrate."

Sabito and Makomo steeled themselves when they see you come closer and closer until finally throwing yourself at your friends, enveloping them into a tight group hug. It was a thing you did ever since you first met as kids and even after being Pillars. You'd tackle them no matter how much anyone was hurt, which more so often than not caused all of you to topple over and you'd just lie on the ground for a good few minutes until Sabito or Giyuu would be able to get up and drag you back to your feet.

"You know you guys can't just stay away from everyone, right?" you pulled away, (e/c) eyes sparkling. You then pouted at Sabito as he gave your head a few pats, almost flaunting the height difference between you both that had grown over the years. Actually, no, you were sure that was what he was doing when he smirked at your expression, the scar stretching at the side of his face making him appear even meaner. You pointed an accusing finger at him. "Especially you. I know you beat the hell out of them, but you need to talk to them, too, you know. Don't just kick their asses."

Sabito glanced at the students behind you, and how they seemed to cower and shrivel away as his eyes met theirs, and his grin broadened. "I don't think they want to talk to me anyway, (F/N). Better leave me as the discipline officer and you and Makomo can be the teachers. People like you two best anyway."

Makomo smiled as she watched you and Sabito banter. The four of you have come so far, and yet you were all the same idiots in bodies of children forced to grow up far too early. Still all a little bit childish at heart. Chipped at some edges, but that only let someone else complete the parts where you ended. But as Makomo saw Giyuu coming up from the corner of her eye, she was reminded of the look on his face earlier as he smiled at you, and suddenly she felt like the friendship you all had was about to take a big shift into another direction.

Seeming to sense the male's arrival, you turn around, prematurely cutting your argument with Sabito about the importance of height when battling a demon. The purple-eyed male blinked owlishly as your head whipped back so quickly he was worried for a second you got whiplash, but also he wasn't used to you cutting off a conversation midway.

"Ah, Giyuu, thanks!" you smiled at the Water Pillar, and Sabito and Makomo couldn't help but watch Giyuu's expression closely after the conversation earlier. There was that smile again, but you don't seem to notice anything wrong with it. "Sorry for the hassle. I'll take over from here."

You made a move to grab the bandages from him, your hands brushing against his. The moment your hands touched, Giyuu froze and pulled back. Giyuu stared at his hands with a confused expression, and Sabito gaped, not missing the tinge of red in his friend's cheeks before the black haired male hurriedly turned around.

"On second thought, don't worry about it," Giyuu said, his back still facing the three of you. "You get some rest before we train. I'll bandage them up."

And without waiting a second for anyone to respond, Giyuu sped away to the hurt students. You all stood quietly for half a minute after he left. Sabito almost couldn't believe it, but he knew his eyes wouldn't deceive him - his best friend had shown more color in his face in those few seconds with you than he had in all your childhood years combined.

Makomo was watching you, her eyes bright, because although your back was still slightly turned away from them, she could clearly see how red your ears were. Her smile only widened as she started bouncing on the balls of her feet, trying to lean closer and get a look at your face. She was able to make out your wide eyes, slightly parted lips, and the red tint of your (s/c) cheeks.

"(F/N)," Makomo started, and you jumped. Clearing your throat and trying to get your bearings together in the few seconds they still couldn't see you (atleast, you hoped they couldn't), you turned around with a bright smile at your childhood friends. They made a mental note on how lopsided it was. "Are you okay? You seemed a little lost there for a moment."

"Oh, uh, nothing, I just, um," and then you stopped talking. You practically stared at her and Sabito in turn with a lost look on your face, and they stared back just as confused (if not worried), before your face erupted into a dark shade of red. Sabito and Makomo were both painfully reminded of Giyuu's haori. "I-It's nothing. I... I should go help and,uh, and then we'll, uh, yeah... See you later. Bye."

And then you turned and sped to Giyuu's direction. Sabito and Makomo watched as you grabbed a couple of bandages lying down beside Giyuu and proceeded to help someone, not one of you exchanging words or a single glance. Sabito turned to Makomo with a funny smile on his face, a cross between amused and bewildered, pointing a thumb in your direction.

"That just happened, right? Please tell me I wasn't imagining things," he said, eyes wide and the smile frozen in place. "I'm not going crazy imagining Giyuu blushing and (F/N) stuttering? You saw that too?"

Makomo merely laughed as a reply and Sabito relished the wonderful feeling of validation. He turned back to the both of you as you finished treating the students, his eyes shimmering at the idea that two of his closest friends had fallen in love.

Giyuu had risen first and asked you if you were ready. You couldn't look at him straight, opting to look at anywhere else but him. Sabito noticed that Giyuu was frowning, before the look shifted to something akin to hurt as you turned around, saying you needed to check on something one last time before speeding off to Urokodaki's hut. The hurt look then turned to confusion before he seemed to shrug it off and walked to the center of the training grounds.

And that was when Sabito realized the flaw in his earlier assumptions. It was surprise after surprise today as he turned back to Makomo, his mouth opening to ask something he was already praying wasn't true. Oh, you were in love alright, but-

"I don't think they know," was Makomo's calm words, already knowing what he was going to say, not even turning to look at him as she picked the daisies scattered about. She started to weave it into a flower crown.

Sabito closed his eyes in apparent pain, which wasn't too far off as he felt the back of his head start to hurt. How could the both of you not have realized? It was so obvious it was painful to watch.

The pain only worsened as you began to spar. Sabito found himself making a mental list of all the things that not one of you had seemed to pick up on.

First, Giyuu was obviously pulling his punches. Sabito could've sworn that child-Giyuu had hit you harder in the past than whatever excuse for "fighting" was happening in front of him. He knew for a fact that Giyuu could've won minutes ago, but by the way Giyuu was fighting, it was almost like he was afraid to hit you. He was more on the defensive than offensive, despite the numerous openings you had throughout the battle.

"Spirits, hear me," Sabito sighed for what felt like the hundredth time today. He felt more drained right now than when he took on the 30 students you were all training at once earlier. "I beg you, tell me I'm not friends with such idiots. Please."

Second, you seemed to be distracted by something, as to what, Sabito could only guess. But by the way your eyes had never left or gone out of focus from Giyuu, he had a pretty good guess.

"Too late for that, isn't it?" Makomo laughed, finding everything quite entertaining. You really were still kids at heart. Just as innocently stupid as you had always been. And just as easily irritated, by the look on Sabito's face. "It's not like we can do anything about it."

And third-

Giyuu had slashed harder at you - the hardest Sabito has seen since the start of the fight, which was a pretty low bar to pass in his standards. You lost balance after dodging and tripped over the uneven grounds. Normally, you would've had no problem staying on your toes, but since you had been so distracted by "something", you fell. The look on Giyuu's face made it seem like he had actually stabbed you as he rushed to your side. He helped you sit up, and was checking on every visible surface for a wound, despite your flustered reassurance that you were fine.

"No, no, we have to do something," Sabito buried his face in his hands as your students came forward to make sure you were okay, Giyuu's anxiety for your well-being rubbing off on them. "They're actually getting distracted in battle. I don't want to hear that one of them died for something as stupid as that."

Makomo hummed, giving her partner a tranquil closed-eyed smile. "Are you sure that's the only reason...?"

Sabito lifted his face from his hands, looked at Makomo's calm face, then at Giyuu and (F/N)'s retreating forms as the male lead the blushing female by the hand to Urokodaki's hut, unconvinced that she was alright, before turning back to meet Makomo's glittering blue eyes.

"If we don't do something quick I think death would be much more merciful than watching them skirt around each other," Sabito muttered darkly.

Makomo giggled, placing the flower crown she had been weaving on Sabito's head. "What do you suggest then?"

Sabito seemed to be deep in thought already, the only indication that he was partially aware of his surroundings was when he fixed the flower crown on his head before it slipped off. "How about you? So far all I've got is to tell Giyuu to man up and admit his feelings already."

"Hmm, well, that could work, but you might hurt his feelings if you go at it like that," Makomo wiped her hands over her flower-printed haori before stretching. "Let's take a calmer approach, okay? (F/N) usually speaks her mind easily, so I'm curious why she hasn't said anything yet, not even to us. And Giyuu doesn't look like he realizes what he's feeling yet."

Sabito frowned, but nods nonetheless. "Alright. Who first?"

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The original plan was to just chat with the Water Pillar to try to make him slowly realize what he was feeling. But when they walked up to him as he was gathering firewood, Sabito saw Giyuu and all he could think about was smacking the backside of his head.

"Giyuu," Sabito started, voice stern and serious, and Makomo knew this wasn't going to go as planned. "We need to talk."

Giyuu looked at him to Makomo, who only gave him a sheepish smile, and back to Sabito, his eyes wide as an owl's.

"Is there something... wrong?" he asked tentatively. His cheek started stinging at the mere memory of being slapped when they were kids and he wasn't too keen on reliving that memory.

"You like (F/N)," Sabito didn't mean to make it sound like a statement more than a question, but he thought it was better to go at it straight forward.

Giyuu seemed to take a second to process the words, but when he did, he dropped the firewood in his arms. His face burned through a thousand shades of red, but the wide-eyed shocked expression on his face remained frozen the whole time. And then he dropped like a sack of potatoes, out cold.

Okay, so maybe being straight forward wasn't the way to go.

Giyuu woke up lying down on the ground, his head cushioned by Makomo's lap as she fanned him with a paper fan. He turned his head to the side and found Sabito, a listening distance away, his back facing them.

"Giyuu, I need you to listen to me, okay?" Makomo smiled down at him as she continued to fan him. His face still felt warm, and his head felt light. "Try not to faint this time."

"Sabito and I noticed you've been acting a bit weird recently," she started slowly. "You smile and talk more when (F/N)'s around. You go out of your way to do things for her or spend more time with her. You're a lot softer with her, even more than when we were kids. Is it right for us to assume you have feelings for her?"

Giyuu tried to slowly swallow Makomo's words, and he was thankful she let him think in peace for a while. He thought about all those times he felt weird around you. He felt immediately better as he spent time with you or how when you smiled and laughed at him he'd feel warm and fuzzy. And when you'd grab onto his haori as you'd weave through busy streets, scared of losing him to the crowd, he felt like his chest was going to burst.

That made sense. He liked you. That explained the feeling. But-

"No," he said out loud, and he looked just as shocked as Makomo did. He tried to gather up his thoughts the best he could. "No, I.. I can't. I shouldn't."

He sat up and looked instinctively to where Sabito was. His back was still turned to them, but his shoulders were stiff.

"Why do you feel like that?" Makomo asked. "Why can't you? Why shouldn't you?"

"She..." Giyuu couldn't breathe, like the mere idea of what he was going to say was strangling him. "She deserves someone better. And I don't think she can like me past a friend, either."

"Ha." Giyuu jumped, turning to see Sabito standing over them. The look on Sabito's face caught him off guard, especially since he looked and sounded so angry earlier: his eyes were soft, and his mouth was turned up into a fond smile. It was like a parent smiling both lovingly and patiently at their child. "If you looked just a little bit harder, you'd know that wasn't true."

Giyuu went silent, not knowing how to reply. He seemed to be lost in thought until Sabito offered a hand to help him up.

"This is (F/N) we're talking about," Sabito said, hoisting Giyuu back to his feet. "She doesn't see people in terms of more or less. And you shouldn't think about yourself like that, either, Giyuu."

And then Sabito and Makomo left him to think on his own. 

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Sabito realized after talking to Giyuu that Makomo had more tact in talking about these things, so he decided to mostly leave it to her. He waved you over as you took a break from training the students.

You ran over to them, smiling as bright as ever. You opened your mouth to greet them when-

"So you and Giyuu, huh?" Makomo started, her face hardly changing from the tranquil one she always wore.

Sabito blanched and your smile dropped. The pink haired male turned to his companion, his face screaming for her to somehow explain why she thought being straight forward was the answer when Giyuu fainting earlier was just fresh in their mind. Makomo made no hints that she noticed him, only continuing to smile serenely at you.

Sabito watched you hard waiting for you to drop just like Giyuu did, but was surprised when you let out an awkward laugh. You rubbed the back of your neck, another hand playing with the hem of your (f/c) haori and your face was lit up a pretty shade of red.

"Was... was it that obvious...?" you asked meekly, not able to bring yourself to look them in the eye.

Sabito couldn't help himself as he answered. "Painfully so, yes."

Your face burned even redder, but you still haven't fainted so Sabito mentally gave you points for staying conscious. You laughed again, trying to ease your tension, before mustering the courage to look at them.

"Please don't tell him," you started, and you looked back down at the shocked expression on Sabito's face.

"That's not exactly our business," Sabito sighed. "But if you tell him how you're feeling and he likes you back then-"

"He doesn't. I know he doesn't, okay? Because I'm... and he's..." and then you stopped again. Sabito wordlessly took the paper fan from Makomo and just started to softly fan you. The lack of words coming from you combined with how red you were getting, the more Sabito was worried you were going to drop. "He just thinks of me as his childhood friend and his fellow Pillar. Nothing