Giyuu Tomioka was a skilled swordsman, a powerful Hashira, and a man of few words. He was calm. He was composed. He was—

—currently standing in the middle of the Butterfly Estate, holding a teacup with absolutely no idea what to say to you.

You had casually sat next to him, sipping your tea, completely unaware that your presence had singlehandedly erased every thought from his brain.

Say something, he told himself. Anything. A normal conversation. He could do that.

“…The tea is warm.”

Silence.

Giyuu internally winced. What was that?! Of course, the tea was warm. That was how tea worked.

He chanced a glance at you, fully expecting a confused or unimpressed stare, but instead—you smiled. Actually smiled.

And suddenly, Giyuu was certain he would never recover from this.