Wishful Thinking (Shinobu x Fem Reader)

The Guild of Entitled Nobles

Three weeks later...

"(Y/N)..." I hear a voice call out to me. I turn over in my bed, not ready to wake up. "(Y/N)!"

This time, I open my eyes, face-to-face with Kocho.  "Get out of bed, we're going to be late!"

"What for...?" I grumble, my eyelids heavy. I turn over again but this time Kocho rips the covers off of me.

"My god, (Y/N), for the Guild Meeting!"

"Right..." I groan as I begrudgingly swing my legs over the side of the bed. Kocho tosses a heavy kimono my direction, landing in a heap at my feet.

"Do I really have to go?" I grumble, stripping myself out of my nightgown.

Kocho grabs my wrist. "Your life is on the line here! What part of that do you not understand?"

"Huh?" I probably should've payed more attention at the Hashira Meeting...

Kocho rolls her eyes. "This meeting determines whether or not we need to hand you over to the Wisteria Society!"

That's right... The Wisteria Society is a rival group to the Demon Slayer Corps, who despite sharing a common goal,  go about the execution very differently. The Wisteria Society is a group of assassins who specialize in hunting not only demons, but also anyone who disagrees with their ideals. They've been credited with at least 3 confirmed kills of government leaders in the past five years! On top of that, they don't care about civilians and their casualties are merely collateral damage. I remember Ubuyashiki mentioning something about them 'sacrificing me to the gods' by tying me to the tallest wisteria tree and letting the sun burn me alive.

"Right, of course," I shudder carefully putting on my kimono. It's nicer than the one I've been wearing; it's made of heavy purple silk, intricately spotted with designs of butterflies and flowers. I trace my finger across the obi, which is a sage green decorated with tiny lavender flowers.

"Come, let me do your hair," Kocho says, pulling a brush out of a drawer. I walk over to her and take a seat on her lap, to which she lets out a soft sigh. (Y/N)," she starts to say, but then adds, "Never mind."

Things with Kocho have been somewhat tense lately. There's been no more kissing, no more "darling," no more of anything except platonic interactions.

I allow myself to enjoy the feeling of the woman's slender fingers combing through my (H/C) strands. At last, she adds a small comb atop my head, with an ornate porcelain lily. "Are you ready to go?" she asks.

"As I'll ever be," I reply with a sigh.

-

"Good day, Rengoku," Kocho says with a smile to the man, who extends his hand to the two of us. I accept as he helps me onto this thing. When inside, I quickly fold up my umbrella which I've made a habit to take with me everywhere. The best way I could describe it is as a long metal rectangle with windows and seats inside- and steam?

"Never seen a train before?" Scoffs the man with white hair. Shinazugawa.

"No, actually, I haven't," I reply, crossing my arms. So that's what this is called, a train. We walk all the way to the back of the train, where all the Demon Slayers seem to have a car to themselves. On the right side of the car, Ubuyashiki is sharing a seat with Tomioka, Rengoku with Uzui, and Himejima with Tokito. On the left is Obani with Kanroji. (Of course, Kocho had insisted that I learned everyone's name) Kocho slides into the seat behind Kanroji and I follow suit, Shinazugawa flopping down onto the seat behind us. I sit in awkward silence with Kocho until at last there's a loud whistle and the train starts moving.