Requested by: shinoloverr
Summary: you were a civilian, and visions of a demon coming to attack your village came to Ubuyashiki. He sent Shinobu to slay it.
The woman with the butterfly haori was new in town.
It was quite obvious even if you hadn't known everyone here since you had opened your eyes: she was wearing far nicer clothes than any of the villagers here. She probably had more money in her pocket than you would make in your life. Or any of the others.
It was that thought alone that had you moving towards her. Not to sound like an ass, but there were multiple people in this village who could benefit from the money, and you intended to at least attempt to get some from her.
(I'm sorry if reader comes across as greedy. He believes those with extra money should give it to people who don't have it. He does not know how bad that comes across. Character development will appear!)
You had a plan: you would act as her guide. If the woman was happy with the destinations you showed her, maybe she'd leave you money as a reward.
Being the only one to actually approach her- the others choosing to stare and whisper from a distance- you were able to make your move.
A few sweet smiles and polite conversation later, Kocho Shinobu was willing to follow you around town. As you did so, she explained who she was and why she was there.
She told you about man eating demons, and how she was apart of a group dedicated to killing them known as the Demon Slayers.
And how there was a demon heading this way.
She explained the only way to kill a demon was exposure to sunlight, or by a weapon made from a special material.
You wouldn't have believed her if you hadn't known she was telling the truth. It was sort of an odd ability you had, to know if people were lying.
So unless she was mentally ill, this was all true. And you knew she wasn't mentally ill, because she showed you her talking crow.
After that nice, mind boggling experience, you were no longer looking for money from her. Her life fighting these damn monsters was bad enough. She had more than earned her money.
You still continued to show her around, finding yourself enjoying her conversation. She was quite funny.
Eventually though, you had to go home. You and Shinobu- who allowed you to call her that- promised to meet up again soon.
And she went off to slay the demon.
You went home, and tried to get some sleep. However, nothing you did worked. You couldn't join the land of dreams, your worry for Shinobu keeping you up.
Since there was nothing you could do, you went to go help her.
You grabbed an iron poker, mainly for defense since it couldn't kill a demon, a few bandages, and started on your way.
You found the two rather easily, simply following the clashing of steel on something else, and came upon Shinobu having problems.
Everytime she took a slash the demon, it's skin hardened enough her blade couldn't get through. Interestingly enough, she didn't go for the head.
Watching intently to find a way to help her, you noticed something odd. Any time Shinobu went to attack a new spot, the old hard spot disappeared. Which meant it could only focus on one spot at a time!
You knew what you had to do to help Shinobu. You had to throw the poker, and distract the beast.
You did, making sure to draw attention to yourself first so it would know to block. It did, and Shinobu seemed to know your plan instantly, already moving to cut the demon before your poker hit it.
And it worked beautifully. The damn demon was killed, and you brought the bandages to Shinobu.
You brought her back to your place to rest, and let her use the bed while you slept on the floor. Once the sun came up, you and her would talk more.
Time Skip
You did talk with her.
You asked her about the cutting instead of slicing its head off, and she confessed she was too weak to properly kill a demon. Instead, she used wisteria poison to kill them, laced on her sword to make it more deadly.
After that, the topics became lighter. You traded funny stories, and talked about what you wanted for your future.
"I don't know what I want," Shinobu started, a contemplative look on her face. "I want to kill Uppermoon 2, but after that?
I suppose I want to be with you."
You gaped at her, trying to make sense of what she said as it sunk it that she had confessed.
Slowly though, a smile broke out on your face.
"I'd like that very much Shinobu."
821 words.
