16-year old Shinobu Kocho was not in the best of moods, running among the trees, approaching the end of a two-week long trip to the southwestern coast of Japan, to the city of Nagasaki.
Only a few days after returning from another mission, she had been summoned to Oyakata-sama's headquarters, to be given a mission with a man she had never even met, one of the most powerful demon slayers in the corps, 18-year old Sakusa Kari.
She could still remember what the Master said to her, even if over two weeks had passed.
"Shinobu, I would like for you to meet with another one of our Hashira, the Rage Hashira, Sakusa. He requested backup for a mission he had taken up, but said that it was not urgent. However, while he was not able to tell me much, he did say that this was far different than any other situation we have encountered before, which is why I am sending you to rendezvous with him at the Wisteria House in Nagasaki."
"I understand, Oyakata-sama." Shinobu replied with a smile as she sat directly before the man, "However, wouldn't it be best for Giyuu, Gyomei or Kyojuro to meet with him? As I have never met this man in my life, I'm not sure we would share the same chemistry as those who have teamed up with him before."
Kagaya let out a sigh, however, and broke the news to the Insect Hashira that didn't help with her image of the man one bit.
"Unfortunately, most Hashira, besides Gyomei and Giyuu, refuse to work with Sakusa anymore. He has...a very unique personality, and he is frequently unable to work well with others. However, he is more than capable in terms of strength, something which you may already know."
Shinobu may have been relatively new to the Hashira, having taken the role after his big sister was killed by Doma, the Second Upper Moon, but she wasn't such a rookie that she wasn't aware of the Rage Hashira's strengths.
As she ran through the trees, her flashback ending, she thought back to the slivers of information she received regarding her new partner, Sakusa.
Name: Sakusa Kari, Age: 18, Height and Weight: 194 cm, 99 kg, Statistics and Information:
Sakusa Kari was born to Yaguchi Kari, the now-retired Rage Hashira, and Aia Tokito, retired Kinoto. Passed the final selection exam age 8, killing 27 demons during the exam, had gone on to kill over 40 demons in three years and became the youngest ever Kinoe at 11, before becoming the Rage Hashira after killing both the Third and Second Lower Moons on a two-man mission with his father, who lost his left arm in the fight. Has gone on to kill five more Lower Moons, but another mysterious accident led to him losing an eye, replacing it with an eyepatch. He has gone on to kill over 175 demons since being promoted to the rank of Rage Hashira, and is ranked only behind Gyomei Himejima in strength, behind Shinobu Kocho in speed, and is ranked 1st in every other known category.
However, she had no idea what the man even looked like, something that annoyed her greatly.
Fantastic, the first mission I get with this practical legend of the corps, and I don't even know what he looks like....
Just knowing that she was about to meet someone who not only her older sister Kanae worked together with, but most of the Hashira before her, irritated her.
But then again, literally everything irritated Shinobu.
Most of all, demons.
She was the youngest in her family, being the younger sister of Kanae Kocho, and she idolized her from the start. Her kindness, her gentle demeanor, her grace, the beauty in even the simplest things she did, she adored her.
But, everything came crashing down when her parents were murdered by demons. She and Kanae barely escaped with their lives, being saved at the last minute by Gyomei Himejima, the Stone Hashira. It was that event that led to her and her sister training and devoting themselves to becoming demon slayers. Kanae managed to rise to the rank of Flower Hashira by 17, while 14-year old Shinobu lagged behind a bit. Kanae oversaw the Butterfly Mansion and became the master of it, until once again, tragedy struck for Shinobu.
The young girl, when she hadn't even come out of her teens, was forced to watch as her older sister died in her arms when the Second Upper Moon, the demon known only as Doma, fought and mortally wounded her before her very eyes. Luckily, or, unluckily, Doma fled the instant the sun began to rise, and she was left with bitter tears in her eyes as she held her dying sister as close to her chest as possible.
Since then, she bore the worst and most potent of grudges against not only Doma, but every demon she would encounter. The very existence of demons and what they have done to her and her family is the reason she pushed herself to take up Kanae's place as a Hashira, using her knowledge in poisons and biology to concoct toxins strong enough to do wonders to demons. She now has toxins that paralyze, wither, burn, or burst off whatever her specially-made sword touches, and while this slightly makes up for her handicap, she has never forgotten that one crucial piece of information,
Shinobu Kocho cannot cut off a demon's head, meaning she is physically one of the weakest demon slayers in the corps.
Now, in her present day, two years after her sister's death, she now has taken up her personality, becoming the symbolism of elegance and gentleness that hid a nasty swing of the blade, concealing her true colours beneath.
Nobody knew of her genuine emotions, the feelings of rage, anger and spite held towards the world that had stolen everything she could have ever wanted in life, along with that which she had already been given.
This hidden anger, however, just made reading the final piece of information about Sakusa she had been able to find that much more difficult.
Warning: Sakusa Kari is not to be given any team missions, as he is prone to refusing to work together with others, frequently causing collateral damage, civilian casualties, and thousands in property damage. Only persons authorized by Oyakata-sama himself are to aid Kari in combat, for the safety and wellbeing of the Slayer themselves, as well as the civilians around him.
As Shinobu stared at the door of the Nagaski wisteria house, she got a chill up her spine.
Tch, I hate wisteria houses.....
The house she stood before had the familiar crest on it, with wisteria flowers in full bloom lining the wall put in place around the ground. It was located on the outskirts of the town, on a hill overlooking the city of Nagasaki itself, facing the coastline in which the town sat. It was a beautiful property, which Shinobu could respect, but the one thing that irritated her the most was that there was always something off-putting to her about entering someone's home and living there for free, it didn't seem like a necessity.
She wasn't poor, she could easily afford her own inn room, but to stay in one of these houses just screamed 'greedy' to her.
But, since this was the place she was told that she would be meeting Sakusa, she let out a sigh, put on her smile again, and knocked on the door.
"Hello~? Hello, anyone~?" She called in her cheerful tone.
Moments later, a basic-looking man with short cropped hair opened the door, only he had massive bags under his eyes, his hair was disheveled and his shirt wasn't even on the right way.
"H-Hello, you must be Lady Kocho, pleasure to m-meet you." The man weakly said.
"That's me, Shinobu Kocho!" Shinobu's smile faded and a look of curiosity came to her face as she asked, "My, my, is something the matter? You look quite the mess, don't you?"
"N-NO NO!"
Shinobu flinched a bit when the man blurted out a reply so quickly, but the man quickly corrected himself with a nervous chuckle.
"I-I mean, no, Lady Kocho. Nothing's the matter."
The butterfly girl could already tell something was wrong, it was practically written all over the man's stress-wrinkled face. "If you'd like, I can help you with whatever's wrong, Mister." She replied with a smile, "As a Hashira, it's my duty to help other humans such as yourself!"
In her thoughts, though, she was saying, For the love of the gods, if you're going to provide service to the corps, at least have everything ready by the time I get here, ugh....
The man finally caved in, however, saying with a defeated sigh, "Uhm, it's just that we've been housing Master Kari for a day or two now, and, well.....he's just a little difficult to manage for me and my wife, hehe...."
Shinobu rolled her eyes in her head. How can one man already cause me so many issues without even having met him yet?
"W-Well, as a colleague, I'm sure I can make him settle down for you and your wife." Shinobu sympathized, "Just lead me to him, I'm sure he's just anxious for my arrival, I may have been a little later than he was expecting!" She chuckled.
That's a full blown lie, I'm right on time, and if that man is pissed at me for not being early after a two week long trip, I'm going to rip his head open!
"T-Thank you, Lady Shinobu!"
As the two walked side-by-side, she learned some bits of information that the man managed to pick up.
She learned that his name was Sadao, his wife was Umiki, and that he had a teenage son named Isshin, who had enrolled in the Demon Slayer Corps, and was now a Kanoe, a mid-rank.
She learned that Sakusa had been acting incredibly cruel to them, demanding this and that from them and practically throwing the money required at them, and telling them that they should never, under any circumstance, enter his room past the hours of dusk. There were times where they could hear him training in the backyard, leaving behind ash marks and tearing up the soil with his breathing style.
"I had never seen something so terrifying," The man shakily said as he spoke of Sakusa's breath, "It was like watching a demon in my own courtyard!"
Hence the name 'Corps Demon', I see...
She had heard that name amongst the other Hashira previously, but didn't think much of it.
Before she knew it, she was standing in the hallway leading to the Rage Hashira's room.
So, the oh-so-elusive rAgE hAShiRa is behind that door, huh.....
"So, Sadao-oh?"
Shinobu glanced to her left to where she thought the man was, but he was no longer there, standing about four meters away from her with shaking legs and chattering teeth.
"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You just go on ahead, Lady Kocho." Sadao said with a nervous smile, "I-I'll just stay back here, where it's, hehe, y'know...safe."
The Insect Hashira shrugged, walking over to the door with a cheerful hum, calling out to the boy from the other side. "Kari-san~? Kari-san~? Hello~?" She said, knocking on the door, "I'm Shinobu Kocho, the backup you requested~!"
She waited a few seconds, but there was no reply.
"Helloooo~? Kari-san~?"
She turned to Sadao and asked, "Is Kari-san out somewhere?"
The man shook his head, saying, "He hasn't left since he had his lunch, we've heard him writing and sharpening his blades, but not much else."
"Oh, I see."
So he is ignoring me, the girl spat in her thoughts, If this keeps going, I'll beat the hell out of him....
Shinobu tried again, saying with a little more force, "Kari-san? Can you come out? We need to talk about why you requested backup!"
Once again, no answer.
Shinobu had had enough.
Alright, you ignorant brat, I'm coming in!
Shinobu slammed the door open with tick marks forming on her forehead, saying, "If you're going to ignore your backup, Kari-san, at least save them the trouble of walking two weeks to see y-
The butterfly girl froze in place, and a furious blush creeped up onto her cheeks.
"I-....uhm.....uh......"
She was at a total loss for words, staring at the young man in front of her, completely knocked out, fast asleep.
Sakusa had his futon blanket draped loosely over his lower half, leaving his lower legs in the open, with his right arm tucked behind his head and the left lying next to him. Shinobu wasn't focused on the man's sleep positioning though, she was more focused on the man himself.
Lines, ripples and curves of muscle lined his scarred frame, with every little imperfection on his skin being more intriguing than the last. She could only guess the stories which the scars held.
But the one thing that earned most of her attention were the pitch black marks on the man's body. Lining Sakusa's considerably sized biceps were a pair of black lines around both arms, moving horizontally along his muscular physique.
Needless to say, she was absolutely mesmerized by a body she could only describe as godly.
T-This.....is Sakusa Kari......?
Her eyes trailed themselves up from the man's body up to his face, and she felt her own cheeks heat up even more.
He's.......he's....h-he's.....
Slim features with fair, perfect skin, Sakusa was anything but ugly from Shinobu's perspective. Even as he lay fast asleep, his small lips were parted slightly, opening and closing ever so little as he breathed, a rhythmic movement Shinobu found herself getting lost in.
The raven-haired girl moved further into Sakusa's room, her steps light and unconscious. She was completely mesmerized in the boy before her, hopelessly falling deeper in every little curve of his muscles, every perfect imperfection on his battle-torn skin, every slight shift in his body as he slept.
How someone with such a negative reputation be so beautiful, Shinobu did not know.
Her bright purple eyes were completely locked on as she inched closer to the boy, taking in more and more of his face. Wavy, thick locks of hair as dark as night were stained a deep red at the ends, his large mane reaching down to the small of his back. The way the hair lined the man's soft, gentle visage, Shinobu felt the strong urge to touch it, if only to test her theory on whether or not the long, crimson locks were as soft and gentle as she expected (Or hoped) they would be.
With an outstretched hand, Shinobu got down on her knees, and leaned forward, hoping to come into contact with the boy beneath her,
Only to have a blade jammed against her throat as a deep crimson eye shot open, and right through her very soul.
"Just who. the FUCK. are you?"
Shinobu had never felt so embarrassed in her life.
Two hours on since her spying on Sakusa, and she was now sitting outside on the front porch with her dinner, watching the sunset go down with her head in her hands.
God, Shinobu, what were you thinking.....you just met the man you're supposed to work with, and you start it off by spying on him while he was sleeping? Ugh, he would have been right to kill me after that....
The two hadn't spoken after the events, she simply said that she was the backup he requested, and that she was a Hashira. It seemed that was all he needed to hear, however, as he simply went back to bed, leaving her dumbstruck and apologizing like an idiot.
Sadao and Umiki had been too scared to hand the man his food, so he simply ransacked the kitchen for anything he could find.
In all honesty, though, she could not get the image of the man out of her head.
She had never seen such strength up close, she could practically feel it around her. Just being in the same room as the man put pressure on her, as if his mere presence was a weight in itself.
His presence was warm, as if the air suddenly grew humid and thick whenever he was around.
As Shinobu ate her rice balls in silence, she heard a door slide open, and when she turned to her right where she heard the door, her stomach churned and her cheeks flushed pink again.
Sakusa stood only a couple metres away from her in the entryway, looking down at her with a condescending scowl on his face. He had put on a pair of pitch black uniform pants, but he still left his upper half exposed, with his arms crossed over his chest.
"I want to have a talk with you, Miss Backup." the man coldly spat.
"W-What would you like to talk about, Kari-san~?" Shinobu replied, cursing her voice for cracking a bit.
What do you mean, 'What would you like to talk about', you idiot? He probably wants to talk about the fact that you spied on him!
"Just so we're on the same page, I don't give a shit that you watched me as I slept."
"H-Huh?" Shinobu muttered in surprise.
"Whatever little fetishes you've got don't concern me." The teen bluntly said, "As long as you can fight, you can be a little pervert all you want."
OI, WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PERVERT-
Sakusa snatched the butterfly girl's tray of food and tossed it onto the grass, and took a seat right next to the stunned-but-also-fuming ravenette.
DID HE JUST THROW MY FOOD-
"Now, now, Kari-san, was that really so nice of you to do?" Shinobu asked with her kind tone, trying desperately to conceal her bubbling anger.
"Tch, the adults are meant to serve us, they'll clean it up." Sakusa bluntly replied, "And it's not like a pipsqueak like you would eat it all, anyway."
PIPSQUEAK-
Tick marks began to form on the butterfly girl's forehead, as she said, "Well, it'd be much more kind of you to simply-
"Shut up, you tiny insect."
DID HE JUST CALL ME INSECT?!
Shinobu was beyond furious at this point, but nonetheless, she tried her very best to keep her composure.
"You're here for one reason, and for one reason only, do you understand me?" Sakusa spat, "You're here to back me up in this mission, nothing more, nothing less. I wanted Himejima, but instead I've got you, which is already a bad start for me. But, if you're a Hashira, you'll do just fine being my number two."
Just who does this guy think he is?!
"Well, don't you think that because we're of the same rank, you should be giving me more respect, Kari-san?" Shinobu retorted with a harsher tone. "After all, we did have to do the same things to get where we are, have we not?"
"Now you listen here, you tiny brat, I had to get really fucking good at what I do to be where I am now, so don't go comparing you and I together, you understand me?"
Sakusa's tone, along with his harsh words, were really beginning to push Shinobu's limits. There was only so much she could take, and it was getting to the point where she would blow a fuse if she held herself back any longer.
Sakusa, however, knew just what to do to make all of her previous anger seem irrelevant in a few words.
"What's your name, brat?"
"My name is Shinobu Kocho, Kari-san." Shinobu replied with a strained smile.
"Oh, Kocho, you say?"
The man with crimson-tipped hair stood up from his spot beside the young woman, and with his back turned to her, he said with enough venom to kill,
"Just don't go and die pathetically like Kanae, and I won't have any problems with you."
Sakusa left Shinobu alone as he closed the door, leaving her on her own with so much rage she shook and seethed with it.
"......I will make you take that back, you fucking bastard......"
Less than a day after they had met, Shinobu Kocho already hated Sakusa Kari with a violent passion.