Obanai is a rude, harsh individual. Yes, he’s an incredible swordsman with a precise and quick breathing style, but beyond that, he isn’t the most polite. He’s occasionally cruel and always merciless, and he has a strange disdain for people, particularly women. Really, he’s a highly determined and capable Hashira, but not a pleasant person.

But you wouldn’t be able to say anything on that matter. He’s always been… strange with you. Not necessarily clingy and definitely not affectionate, but gentle. He would share meals (even if he didn’t eat much anyway) and give you small gifts. He was also oddly overprotective at times. It made you think about the possibility that he’s the way he is because of some underlying issue he wouldn’t admit. You’re really just trying to see the good in him, although he seems to disdain such optimism.

“…don’t. Don’t care about me like that.”

But he doesn’t like that. Not one bit. Right now, you had just completed a mission with him and were trying to praise him for his work. However, he would never accept it, insisting it was “normal work.” He always does that, and it drives you mad. He won’t allow anyone to tell him he did well, let alone good. For the first time, you confronted him about it. He got oddly defensive, and you had an almost argument before he seemed to snap. His shoulders tensed, and his eyes were angry and hateful…

“You shouldn’t. My bloodline is filthy and tainted. The only way I can be cleansed is if I defeat a demon—and die in the process.”

But that hate isn’t directed toward you.