✶ 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 / giyushino

i.

"KAAW! attack on ubayashiki mansion !"

shinobu's throat tightened and the smile fell off her face as she heard those four words. her feet moved on instinct, and took her out of the butterfly mansion. she ran. her feet hurt, but she ran. she saw a distinctive haori pattern as she ran. 

"tomioka san," she said, worriedly as she ran closer. she wasn't the only worried one, she thought, as she saw the face of the man with the half and half haori. his eyes were wide and full of worry, his mouth was parted slightly and he had sweat trickling down his temple.

"koche, there's an attack on the mansion. i can't talk right now," he replied as they neared the mansion. shinobu could see the outlines of the other hashira and the slayers. 

"we made it!" shinobu puffed with a tone of hope to her voice. 

that all shattered when a loud noise erupted from the ubayashiki mansion and debris flew all over the face. shinobu was sure everyone would be having the same reaction as her. After all, so did giyu. their eyes were widened in shock, mouth parted, veins appearing on their temples.

"oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no.." shinobu was rooted to the spot, mumbling to herself. 

giyu started running, his feet fast in sync with shinobu's heartbeat. "kocho !! we have to go!" giyu shouted. shinobu ran towards the mansion that was now blown up into pieces, as she saw a figure standing in the middle of all the fire and debris, shielding itself from the fire.

"who... is that?" she asked.

"I wish it was ubayashiki too, but it cannot be," giyu replied, reading her mind.

as they got closer to it, she heard himejima shout from a few metres away. 

"it's muzan ! muzan kibutsuji !"

shinobu's stomach tightened twisted in anger and her throat burned. she was no longer hopeful, or worried. She was just angry.

she was going to launch herself at muzan but giyu grabbed her arm, since he read her movements, knowing she was going to jump. "do not go right now. its too dangerous."

shinobu stared at the face of the demon in front of her, a scream of anger building up inside of her. he was the leader of the demons, the demons who killed her beloved sister.

but a hand blocked her view of muzan. It was tamayl, her fist plunged into muzan's stomach and her eye was a bloody mess. then, thorns plunged into muzan but stabbed tamayo too.

"breathe, shinobu, breathe," she thought to herself. "that was the plan."

"you stupid demon slayers can never beat me!" muzan screeched, as he regenerated. "no matter how many drugs you put in my system, i will never, EVER, die. so try hard, you pesky flies, and Ienjoy watching you die," he spat, as everyone launched at him at the same time. He smiled and clicked his fingers. "I thank you, Nakime," he said, as everyone fell into doors that had appeared as Muzan clicked his fingers.

As Shinobu fell, she looked down and realised that she would die if she didn't use a falling technique. 

"Shoot, I'm too close to the floor. I'm gonna die now." she thought, breathing in deeply and screwing her eyes shut.

She braced herself for the fall, but she stopped. 

"How?" she thought. 

A strong hand was holding on to her arm. "Kocho, you need to be prepared. Now, brace yourself, I'm going to drop you," he said, as he dropped her. She landed successfully. "Thank you, Tomioka san. Should we go? I would rather stick together," she asked, while thrusting her sword into a demon nearby, killing it. Giyu nodded in response.

Giyu and Shinobu walked through the hallways, killing the occasional demon.

"I smell blood," Shinbou said, her brows furrowing. "You're not the only one," Giyu replied. Shinobu ignored him and opened the door quickly, her eyes widening for the third time in an hour at the demon in front of her.

"Oh! You've arrived?~" the demon said, kindly, as it turned around. "Wait, who are you guys? Are you lost?~" it asked, licking a trickle of blood off his lips.

Shinobu's veins popped. Her body tensed up with anger. "Kocho?" she heard Giyu say. But that didn't matter. Nothing mattered at that time, except for revenge.

FLASHBACK

"Shinobu, I want you to live a normal life. To grow old, get married, have children, and live happily. Please, quit the demon slayer corps," Kanae said, coughing blood.

"I won't live with ease or happily if I don't get revenge on the demon who killed you. Please, Nee san! Tell me!" Shinobu sobbed.

Kanae sighed. "He... he is a demon with blood stains on the top of his head. He always gives a carefree smile. And... and... he speaks in a calm, gentle manner. The weapons this Demon uses are a pair of sh-sharp fans," Shinobu tightened her grip on Kanae's bloody hand, the blood in between their skin bubbling.

"N-Nee san! I won't fail to defeat him! I promise!"

"But... maybe you will not..."

And Kanae died. Her limp, lifeless body covered in blood resting in Shinobu's lap, tears flowing out of her eyes.

END OF FLASHBACK

"And, what might your names be?~" The demon asked, kindly. "My name is Douma! I'm upper rank 2!" he said, gesturing to his eyes which were oddly rainbow coloured.

Shinobu blinked, and Giyu was already by Douma, delivering a slash to his chest. "Water breathing, Eleventh Form: Dead Calm," he said.

"Oh my! You really are strong. You seem like a hashira, around... 21 years old, am I right? I would love to remember you after I kill you, what is your name?~" Douma asked, flicking his fans at Giyu, using them like a boomerang.

"I would never tell my name to a disgusting being like you," Giyu refused, dodging the fans.

"Oh! That hurt!~" Douma said, putting a hand to his heart. "Why are you so rude?~"

Meanwhile, Shinobu stood there, immense anger filling up every inch of her being, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She launched herself at him, her sword stabbing him right in the eye. 

"That's was an amazing thrust! So fast I didn't even notice! But why do you look so angry at me? Did I do something wrong?" Douma asked.

"You dumbass. You don't recognise this haori ?" Shinobu asked, clutching her haori tightly, tugging it so hard that it could've ripped. Giyu then realised what she was trying to say. 

Douma tapped his chin in deep thought. "Hm... I don't recall seeing that haori specifically..."

"It was my sisters haori ! Kanae Kocho! Sound familiar?" she screamed.

word count - 1083 words

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- akari <3