CW: Mentions of Giyuu's punishment. Doesn't go into heavy detail, but it still mentions some of the punishments in the comic.

Ask Natsu anything about the mission, he will always blame it all on Gray. In his eyes, it was all Gray's fault. Right now, he should be back at the guild, eating whatever his big sister wanted to eat that Mira would make. But noooo, Gray had to do some stupid shit and now he and his team were in some random location in the middle of nowhere.

If you were to ask Lucy and Wendy about who was at fault for their current predicament, however, they'd tell you that both Gray and Natsu were to blame for this situation. They were both doing stupid stuff, it wasn't that surprising they were the ones who caused the trouble and got them in this predicament.

"This is all your damn fault, you damn Ice Princess!" Natsu exclaimed, butting heads with Gray.

"My fault?! This is your fault, Flamebrains! How the hell is it mine?!" Gray questioned, angry. And so was Natsu, blue and orange fire surrounding them. Lucy facepalmed, knowing this argument was going to go nowhere. Especially since Erza went on ahead to explore and look for a village to ask for directions and left the group alone, which meant that there wasn't anyone else that could calm them down.

"Hey, Giyuu, can you calm them down, since Erza isn't here?" the blonde asked, turning her head towards said person. However, she paused when she saw the young woman on her knees, her head hung low and her arms wrapped around herself. Lucy slowly approached her, her gut telling her that something was wrong.

"Giyuu? Are you okay?" she asked softly, placing her hand on her shoulder. That was when she noticed how much she was trembling, her body shaking like a leaf. Lucy frowned. Yeah, something was definitely wrong.

"Giyuu? Hey, what's wrong?!" she asked, kneeling down in front of her, concern clear in her tone. All she could hear were a string of mumbled, incoherent words and erratic, uneven breaths coming from her. Lucy felt a bead of sweat rolling down her face.

"A panic attack..?" she muttered to herself, frowning. The fact that Giyuu looked so panicked when she was normally so calm and cool made Lucy think that something was wrong in here. And the fact Natsu and Gray bickering behind her with Wendy standing off to the side with Carla and Happy didn't help much.

"Giyuu? Can you hear me?" she called, placing a hand on her shoulder. Giyuu's head snapped upwards towards Lucy, and that was when she saw the look of fear and terror in the eyes of the black haired woman and the tears slowly forming on the corners of her eyes. It made Lucy's breath hitch.

"G-Giyuu..?"

"Don't take me back there... Please, don't... I'm begging you..." she pleaded quietly. The blonde's heart stopped, or at least she felt like it did the moment she let out those words. She looked at her, nodding. She had no idea what happened, but Giyuu was clearly in pain. With her breathing like this and looking like she could break down at any moment. She pulled her hand away from Giyuu's shoulder in case any sort of touch made her feel worse.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not taking you anywhere. We're not moving." Lucy assured, her voice soft. Giyuu's eyes teared up as she buried her face on the celestial mage's shoulder, choking back to sob. It pained Lucy. It hurt to see Giyuu like this. The blonde didn't know much about the woman's past, neither did the team. But to see her in this state, she could only imagine how bad it was.

"Do you want me to stop Natsu and Gray's argument?" she asked. Giyuu responded with a small nod, clearly not wanting to speak. Lucy didn't blame her. With so much noise coming from those two, it makes sense she'd be too overwhelmed to speak. She turned to Wendy, motioning her to come with her hand.

"Wendy, can you let Giyuu put her head on your shoulder for a moment?" she asked. The blue haired girl looked at the black haired woman with a hint of concern, not knowing what was going on, but she nodded.

"Yes, I can." she said. With that, the two switched places, so now Wendy was kneeling on the ground with Giyuu's head on her shoulder while Lucy was now standing up. Wendy could feel how much she was shaking, and it made her breath hitch, her concern skyrocketing.

"Giyuu-san. It's me, Wendy. Is it okay if I hug you?" the Sky Dragon Slayer asked softly. Giyuu shook her head in response. The blue haired girl hummed.

"Okay, I understand. Is it okay if I put my hands on your arms?" she asked again. This time, Giyuu nodded. The Sky Dragon Slayer slowly placed her hands on the woman's arms, not moving them incase it made Giyuu worse. When Lucy saw that Giyuu was going to be okay with Wendy, she turned towards the two bickering idiots she had a few steps away from her and were probably the cause of the current situation.

"Will both of you quit it?!" Lucy exclaimed angrily as she pushed the two away from each other, a glare on her face "We're in the middle of nowhere, Erza has gone to explore the area and find a nearby town, and you both can't keep your anger intact! For master's sake, Giyuu might be having a panic attack and you both aren't making this better for her or any of us! Just stop fighting for once!" she exclaimed. That last part snapped Natsu out of his anger, turning to the blonde with a worried look.

"Big sis is panicking?" he asked. Gray blinked, snapping out of his anger when Natsu said those words, seemingly forgetting why he was angry in the first place. Lucy nodded, turning her head to where Wendy, the exceeds and Giyuu were, showing them. The pink haired boy's face dropped as he hurried there, kneeling down next to the black haired woman. Gray and Lucy walked towards them, deciding on staying still.

"Sis, take deep breaths." he told her. Giyuu let out a choked sob in response, as if she was trying to. But she couldn't. Natsu looked at Wendy, who nodded. The blue haired girl slowly let her arms fall to her sides as she stepped away. The pink haired boy slowly reached his hand out, grabbing Giyuu's hand and holding it gently. She turned to him, tears rolling down her face.

"N-Natsu-"

"Take deep breaths. Just like how you taught me when we were younger when I cried about Igneel, remember?" he told her, a soft smile on his face. She shakily nodded, inhaling and exhaling slowly. Gray knelt down next to her, and so did Lucy. It took a few minutes, but the group was able to get Giyuu to calm down.

"Are you feeling better now?" Gray asked, a hand on the black haired woman's shoulder. She nodded.

"I apologize for panicking." Giyuu spoke, her voice soft and quiet, just like it always was. Wendy shook her head.

"It's okay. We're just glad you're better." she said, a soft smile on her face. The black haired woman just nodded.

"Do you know where we are?" Lucy asked, frowning. Giyuu didn't seem surprised by the question, nodding.

"Yes. But I want everyone here to explain. Where's Erza?" she asked.

"I'm here." said person spoke up, walking towards them. They all jumped when she appeared, but the relief on their faces was clear. It was good to see Erza here.

"Any luck?" Gray asked. Erza shook her head as an answer, a look of disappointment in her eyes.

"We're in the middle of nowhere, in the mountains. I couldn't spot a single person." she said dejectively. Giyuu hummed.

"That's expected." she said "I want everyone to listen closely. Because this situation is not good. I've only ever told Porlyusica-san, the First Master and Master Makarov about this, about my past and who I am. But it's time for you all to know." she told them, her face serious. The team all tensed up at her words. Natsu felt his gut wrench even before his big sister had even started to explain. There was just some sort of twisted feeling that he was not going to like this.

Urokodaki Sakonji had expected many things. He was the former Water Hashira, and someone who has trained many, many students. He was a man with experience, a stoic man who had seen it all and didn't take any bullshit.

However, opening the door to his small cabin to find one of the few students that survived, Tomioka Giyuu, the Water Hashira who had gone missing for two months, standing in front of his door with some people he didn't recognize was... something he had never expected. He was glad he was wearing the Tengu mask, as she probably would have seen his eyes slowly tearing up at the sight of his student. "...Giyuu? Is that you?" he asked after he was finally able to find his voice. She smiled softly for a second as she remained silent, also trying to find her own voice as well.

"It's been a long time, sensei... I apologize for not being able to contact you." she said. Oh, he missed her voice. It's been years since he's heard it. Giyuu only sent letters ever since she passed the Final Selection. He lunged forwards, bringing her into a tight hug. Giyuu let out a noise of surprise when he did that. However, she quickly hugged him back, relishing in the affection. There were a few seconds of silence before Urokodaki pulled away from the hug.

"When the Demon Slayer Corps told me you were completely gone, I was worried. They sent Kanzaburo to me and he hasn't stopped crying for you. It's been weeks." he explained. He didn't miss how Giyuu's face darkened when he mentioned the Corps. It made his gut wrench. He knew something had happened. The Corps never told him what had happened, they only sent him Kanzaburo with a short and, frankly vague, letter for him. They didn't go into detail, they didn't say what had happened to Giyuu, if she had gone missing in action or if she had been killed. Obviously she wasn't dead, as she was standing right in front of him, but still.

"Sensei, I'd like to explain everything. But right now, we need a place to stay for just a day or two." she pleaded. Urokodaki looked at the people behind her, who all looked foreign to him. From behind the mask, he squinted his eyes at them. He then looked back at Giyuu. He noticed it. She looked really different.

"...Alright, come in. I have some clothes for you all." he sighed. He saw his student's face lighting up ever so slightly, and for a second, he swore he saw the child he had first encountered when he met her, nearly about to die in the snowy mountains. The child with those eyes filled with life and emotion.

He stepped aside, allowing the group to enter his small home. "Thank you so much." a small girl with blue hair tied into twintails bowed her head down in gratitude. She was very respectful, although the plush of the white cat with wings she was holding in her hands was a bit uncanny.

"No problem, kid." he shrugged it off. The red haired woman also bowed her head down in gratitude, she didn't say much. Once they were all inside, Giyuu had told most of the people to go in the room to change to more comfortable clothes, only the red haired woman staying with her. Urokodaki wasn't sure why she asked them all to go to another room, but he was sure he'd get his answers soon enough.

"As you already know, I was put on trial for protecting Kamado Nezuko and Kamado Tanjiro." she started "In the Hashira meeting, I was present as they decided my punishment. And..." she took a deep breath "Sensei. What they did wasn't a simple punishment. It was straight up torture." she exhaled. Urokodaki felt a shiver down his spine, his eyes slowly widening as he realized what could have happened to her, and why the Corps had been so vague.

"The acts they did were indescribable. Just thinking about them makes me want to vomit." she said, her voice quivering "After the punishments took place, I was tied for three days, in a compromising and embarrassing position. Naked. For every single Demon Slayer to see. When they released me and I was able to stay conscious, I... One of the workers of the Butterfly Estate, Kanzaki Aoi, helped me treat my wounds and take out the... The worms inside of me." Urokodaki wanted to throw up so badly at those words, disgust written all over his covered face "After that, her and two boys that are friends of Tanjiro, Agatsuma Zenitsu and Hashibira Inosuke, they helped me run away from the corps. Tanjiro wanted to help, too, but I told him not to, because I didn't want him to get into more danger. He was already on thin ice with the Hashiras." the red haired woman placed a hand over Giyuu's, providing some sort of reassurance to her as the black haired woman took a deep breath

"Giyuu..."

"A week after I ran, I fought a demon. Even though I beheaded it, its blood demon art activated post mortum, and the ground beneath me crumbled. Next thing I knew, I woke up as a kid, in an unknown place. The demon had brought me to another world, and somehow deaged me. I'm not sure how much time passed here, but for me it was many years." she explained. Urokodaki nodded. It was difficult to grasp the concept of her deaging, but many demons had all sorts of special abilities.

He heard her out. How she had ended in another world called Magnolia, where magic was real, even doing a demonstration of it by extending her palm and creating a tiny water sphere that made Urokodaki freeze in place. How she had joined a guild, which was the equivalent of the Demon Slayer Corps, and found a family. The many adventures she went to, although they were very much summarized. And how the people she had with her were a part of the family she had entered. She spoke about them with respect and fondness, even flustering the red haired woman next to her.

Urokodaki smiled softly under his mask, happy to see Giyuu was okay, and way happier than she was before. Happy to see her much more open with these strangers that she cared for, than with the members of the Corps, who had done nothing for her. His expression soured, however, as he thought about the punishment and pain she went through before she was able to meet them. These sorts of punishments had been abolished a long time ago. Back when he had been a Hashira, the previous master to the one he served under had eradicated them. It didn't make sense that the current Ubuyashiki had brought them back.

'There's only one more person I can ask about this.' he thought to himself, a frown on his face. But he hasn't spoken to him in a while.

"I know it may sound selfish of me, but just staying for a day or two will be enough." Giyuu repeated, breaking Urokodaki out of his own train of thought. He shook his head.

"Please. Stay as much as you wish. It's the least I could do, after what the suffering you went through without my knowledge." Urokodaki said. Giyuu gave him a soft smile in response, glad.

"Mr. Urokodaki. My team and I thank you deeply for your hospitality." the red haired woman spoke, bowing her head in respect. He nodded curtly in response, watching as Giyuu got up.

"I'll go check on the others. To make sure Gray and Natsu aren't fighting." she said, walking towards the bedroom Urokodaki had for his students. Which left him and the red haired girl alone. He turned to look at her, bowing his head.

"I have to thank you. For keeping my student safe." he said. She blinked, surprised. However, a smile made its way to her face.

"It was nothing, really. Fairy Tail prides itself for caring for its members. We'd go to hell and back for her." the girl assured him "I'm Scarlet Erza, a member of Fairy Tail. It is an honor to finally meet you. Giyuu talked nothing but wonders of you whenever I asked about her skills in swordsmanship, and it made me excited to meet you." Scarlet said, bowing her head in respect for the older man. Urokodaki's eyes widened slightly, not expecting those words. However, he was glad that Giyuu still held him in high regard.

"It is an honor to be held in high regard by you all. Please, make yourselves comfortable in my home."