Chapter Text
It had been a few days since Giyuu had snapped at Kocho.
By now, most of the others had steeled themselves to make an effort to become friends with Giyuu, or at least close acquaintances.
Shinobu, Mitsuri, Rengoku, Gyomei, and even Tengen had all decided that they would make it happen, the others..well, it's not that the other three were actively against it, but they weren't ecstatic. But in Muichiro's case, he didn't really remember what had happened, so that was understandable.
Sanemi and Obanai, well..they had no choice, they would be helping whether they wanted to or not if Shinobu had anything to do about it. And she does, she very much does have a lot of things to do about it.
Anyway, that was why they were all gathered up today, the only Hashira absent was Giyuu since this was the planning stage of how things would go, like who should they send first?
“I vote the brat goes first.” Sanemi said, gesturing to Muichiro who was staring at the sky blankly, though, there was the smallest spark of happiness hidden behind his usual blank face.
“Do you have a good reason to have him go first? Or is it just because YOU don't want to go first?” Shinobu asked, with a wide, fake smile on her face.
“As a matter of fact, I do actually have a reason. Tomioka likes kids. If we throw Tokito his way first, it'll probably soften him up.”
“...I don't want to be thrown..” Muichiro mumbled.
“Now, now, Tokito. Shinazugawa did not mean it literally, I assure you.” Gyomei mumbled, gently patting the boy on the head.
“I must agree with Shinazugawa!” Rengoku yelled happily.
“I also agree, and I add to his argument because Tokito and Tomioka are more..alike. He'll likely hit it off better with Tomioka then any of us could.” Obanai reasoned.
Mitsuri squealed, “I agree! Ah, this is going so well!” She squeaked happily.
But surprisingly enough, Tengen disagreed, “Yeah, no. I think Kocho should go first.”
“What? Why?” Sanemi demanded.
Everyone was now staring at Tengen, confusion clear in their eyes. Except for Tokito, he was cloud watching again.
“Think about it this way, if we send Tokito in there first, yeah, Tomioka might soften up. But what will we be able to learn? We need to be able to communicate what Tomioka likes, dislikes, everything. But Tokito, and no offense, little guy, he's got little to no social skills. Just like Tomioka. The most they would do together is sit in silence, maybe say five words each. So I think Tokito should actually go last, or even second. Because Kocho is a doctor, and while Tomioka did lash out at her, he apologized to her directly. I think he's fond of Kocho, even though it's only a small bit.”
For a moment, everyone was silent, but the others soon began to agree when they realized his logic was correct.
They would need to gain information on Tomioka before they did much of anything, it would help things go far smoother.
But Shinazugawa was stubborn, “It should definitely be Tokito first. Get him done with first so we don’t need to worry about him later. Plus, we should soften Tomioka up so he’ll be more willing to talk with us. You said he’s just a little fond of Kocho? I don’t think you actually have any proof of that, so it’s just a theory. But we all know that he’s really fond of those Kamado brats, that yellow haired kid, that boar head, all the butterfly girls, minus Kocho, and we’ve all seen him relax a little around Tokito. So, we soften him up with Tokito, then we send in Kocho. Or even Kanroji would be a good second option, have you seen him around her?”
Surprised by his logical response, Shinobu replied, “I do agree with Shinazugawa-san on this one, Uzui-san. It would make things easier for all of us if we sent Tokito towards Tomioka-san first. Especially since I’ll be prying a little into his personal life and his past. It would be a good idea to soften him up with Tokito because of that. I hope that it’ll help him speak to me about things. And maybe Tokito will be able to get something out of Tomioka-san and remember it long enough to let us know about it. If not, that’s fine, but it would be for the best if we sent Tokito first.”
Tengen hesitantly nodded, “I guess that would make sense. I’m still sticking with my previous choice of sending Kocho first, but I do think that it would be good to send Tokito first. But he might forget that he’s supposed to be spending time with Tomioka and walk away. I mean, I’m sure Tomioka wouldn’t mind, but still, it could ruin your hopes of Tokito getting Tomioka to relax.”
“Even then, it’s worth a shot, is it not?” Shinobu asked.
“I suppose it is…”
With that, the plan was firmly in place and the group looked at Tokito who didn’t even glance at them.
This might be a little more difficult then they’d originally thought…but it would definitely be worth it in the end.