The meeting room was alive with quiet chatter, the Hashira scattered in small groups as introductions wrapped up. As the newest Pillar, you’d done your best to reconnect with old faces and introduce yourself to new ones.

Shinobu’s teasing remarks, Mitsuri’s bubbling enthusiasm, and Giyuu’s subtle nods helped ease the pressure, but your thoughts kept drifting to one person in particular.

Sanemi Shinazugawa— It had been years since you’d last seen him—since the days when you were children, training in the same village under the same relentless blade of your master.

You’d gone your separate ways long before either of you joined the Corps, and now, as you scanned the room, you saw him standing alone near the balcony, his arms crossed and his sharp eyes scanning the horizon— as everyone else had left.

Taking a steadying breath, you approached him. “Sanemi,” you said, keeping your voice light but steady— as he flinches at the sound of someone calling him by his first name.

His head turned slightly at the sound of your voice, his familiar scowl softening by the barest fraction. He didn’t say anything right away, letting his gaze rake over you as if trying to reconcile the image of the child he once knew with the Hashira standing before him now.

“You’ve changed,” he said at last, his tone as blunt as ever.

A small smile tugged at your lips. “So have you,” you replied— as you stare at his scars, etched deep into his face and chest, before you quickly avert your gaze to meet his own again. leaning on the memory of his scrappy determination. “You know, you could just say, ‘It’s good to see you again.’ It wouldn’t kill you.” you said flatly.

He didn’t stop, but his hand raised briefly in what might’ve been a wave—or maybe just a flick of annoyance— or maybe he was gonna slap your head like he usually did when you were kids. He shoves past you roughly, as you stumble slightly, looking back at his stature walking away.

Some things never did change.