"Ahhh~, this hits the spot~" Yae exhaled with a look of relief on her face, sinking into the hot water of the underground hot springs in Sakusa's manor.
"You're not wrong at all, Yae~" Shinobu mirrored the hunter girl's expression, floating in the rock pool with her body going limp in the water.
A fantastic benefit of being built upon a mountain was access to the warm core beneath the earth, heating up the pockets of water located down beneath the storage rooms, Kakushi quarters and other things, way down in the bottommost floor of the Rage Manor.
There, the hot springs were said to be so soothing, that even the most uncontrollable and wild Kari would be instantly calmed when their bodies came into contact with the pools below.
Shinobu never tried them out, but Yae went almost every day the second she was awake.
So, naturally, Shinobu was taken the night Sakusa had woken up to celebrate.
Now, the two sat in the warm, revitalizing waters in the evening, enjoying a moment of relaxation between them.
"Y'know," Yae said, looking up at the rock ceiling above the duo, "I quite like this place."
"Oh, you do~?" Shinobu replied, closing her eyes with a smile on her lips.
""Mhm. It's a nice home, nicer than Miss Umiki and Mister Sadao's place. Plus, I get to hunt just as I would before with the Kakushi here, and one of them is an actual hunter who knows his stuff. It was nice going out today, and...I dunno, I guess I just really enjoy being in the company of the Demon Slayer Corps."
"Oh, are you considering becoming a Demon Slayer yourself~?" Shinobu asked innocently. Inside, however, she was praying Yae wasn't thinking of walking down that path.
I swear to god, Yae, if you say you are, I'm gonna knock your head back on straight with a hammer.....
Shinobu would hate to see a young girl with a bright life ahead of her like Yae choose to become a Slayer and involve herself in this life any more than she already had. It definitely was not one for the lighthearted, for the innocent, hell, even for the ones who cannot stomach losing your life or being at fault for the loss of someone else's. It was a cruel life, one that nobody should have to live.
Luckily, though, Yae laughed off that question. "Pft, no way, Miss Kocho!" The hunter girl exclaimed, "I'm not cut out for something like that!"
"Hell, you watched me go up against someone who wasn't even a demon, right?" Yae continued, referring to the night Sakusa was almost taken over by Razel, "I'm no slayer, let alone Hashira."
"I'm a 17 year old girl, I've got a future to look out for- oh, no offense, Miss Kocho."
"No, no, none taken~" Shinobu replied, letting out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you decided against something like this, and I hope you live long and well."
"Thank you, Miss Kocho." The hunter girl slid deeper into the still water, only letting her face float above the surface shutting her eyes and letting a smug grin form on her lips.
"For now, I think I'll stick with you guys, though~"
Shinobu took that as the end of their conversation, and she mimicked the hunter girl's actions and slid in as well, shutting her eyes.
"TO THE AWAKENING OF THE GREAT PHOENIX!!" A Kakushi stood up from his seat among the others in attendance, raising his cup in the air.
The others repeated his actions, standing up and holding their cups in the air.
"TO THE GREAT PHOENIX!" They cried.
Shinobu and Yae both had confused looks on their faces.
Huh?
The butterfly girl, sitting at a long table with around 25 Kakushi, Yae and Sakusa, turned towards the boy on her right and said, "Uhm, what do they mean by 'Great Phoeni-
"Oh~?"
Her confusion was replaced by mischief when she saw the flustered look on the Rage Hashira's face, staring down at his plate with wide eyes and pink dust on his cheeks.
"Ara~, Kari-san, they're talking about you, aren't they~?" Shinobu teased, poking the boy in the shoulder.
"S-Shut up, you brat!" Sakusa blurted out, "Of course they're talking about me, I'm the master of this place and I just woke up from a month-long coma!"
Shinobu stifled her giggles behind her hand, and continued to tease the redhead beside her. It suddenly became much easier to let her anger slip away for a brief time when Sakusa was around, not to mention replacing that anger with mischievous teasing was even easier than that.
"Come on, it's a celebration, live a little~!"
"No! Fuck celebrations, and fuck you too!"
"Don't be so uptight, Kari-san~!"
"I AM NOT!"
"U-Uhm," Yae's voice interrupted the duo's teasing, and she raised her hand up a bit with a questioning look on her face. Sakusa and Shinobu both turned her way as she said,
"So, Mister Kari, do you....remember me at all?"
After a brief moment of silence, Sakusa's expression turned totally flat.
"No. I have no single idea who the hell you are."
"O h ."
Shinobu watched as Yae comically sulked and slammed her head against her plate, forcing a scowl onto Sakusa's face.
"Oi. Kocho." The butterfly girl felt a finger poke her shoulder, and she turned to see Sakusa peering directly at Yae from behind her like a child staring at a stranger, and he leaned closer to her face.
"Who is that chick?" He whispered.
"Kari-san, this is Yae." Shinobu replied with a smile, "She rescued us back when we fought the Archangels."
"Oh."
".....stop staring at her, Kari-san. You're scaring her."
"f i n e."
Once the introductions were out of the way, Shinobu was happy to admit that she had fun for the first time in a while.
The atmosphere around the large table of men and women alike, with two people she became close to by her side, was cozy and oh so family-like to her.
It was a perfect way to describe the Kakushi in the Kari family, as a matter of fact.
"Because that is what we are, Lady Kocho." The male Kakushi, who revealed himself to be a man in his twilight years with a scruffy white beard, told her that night, "Every last one of us lives in this Rage Manor when Master Sakusa is not present, and we have written permission to use this mansion as we please. We are not confined to this place, nor are we confined to this family. In all honesty, every last one of us loves serving the Kari, for despite all their transgressions and aggressiveness, they are a kind people, who hold the value of family above all else."
"Right, Master Sakusa?" The Kakushi continued, turning towards the man to Shinobu's right.
Sakusa nodded stiffly. "That's right." He said, turning towards Shinobu, "My family is close as shit, and I would put my life on the line for any of them."
"Yes, but I've lived long enough to see your family fight amongst yourselves more times than you've ever said 'I love you' to them~" The Kakushi winked with a teasing grin, taking a sip of his beer.
"O-OI, TAKE THAT BACK, OLD MAN!"
As Sakusa leaned over the table and playfully smacked the older Kakushi on the head and Yae burst into laughter along with the others, she felt that nostalgic familial warmth again.
Shinobu felt happy here. Genuinely happy, without so much as a care in the world.
And as she snuck a glance in Sakusa's direction as she sipped her tea and saw him quickly turn away with a pink tint to his cheeks, she was certain that she wasn't the only one who did.
"G'night, Miss Kocho!"
"Ah, yes, goodnight, Yae~!"
The hunter girl quickly left the designated entertainment room of the Rage Manor, which, despite its gloomy decoration, was still an incredible place to be in.
A large room covered in mats, the room was fitted with a bookshelf filled to the brim with different forms of literature in languages even Shinobu couldn't speak, large furniture, a radio, along with a kotatsu, and another large table presumably made for card-playing or some other game to play.
It was spacious, simple, with a beautiful view of the night sky from the full windows lining an entire wall of the room. Shinobu liked it.
Sitting down and reading a thesis she managed to find on poisonous insects, the butterfly girl watched on from the corner of her eye as Yae left the room and headed off to bed.
Ah~, time for some peace and quiet to finish off my day~. She thought to herself, smiling behind her cup of tea as she took another sip, putting the cup back down on the miniature table beside her.
"Oi. Get up for a second."
She recognized that voice instantly.
AAAAAnd there goes my peace and quiet.
"Aahahaha~, is that you I hear, Kari-san~?" Shinobu asked, turning her head towards the door with a forced smile on her lips.
"No shit, it's me." Sakusa grumbled, leaning off the side of the doorway,
"You shouldn't be surprised either, it's not like any other boy would give you the time of day,"
"Loner."
B I T C H -
Are you insinuating that I'm ugly or something?! The butterfly girl screamed in her thoughts, I know what I look like, and not to blow my own horn or anything, but I'm far from flipping ugly, you asshole!
Just because you're a little, slight, teeny tiny microscopic bit attractive, doesn't mean you get to shit all over my mood like that!
"Haha, good one, Kari-san~" Shinobu said with a tick mark on her forehead.
"Yeah, whatever."
Sakusa approached the butterfly girl and held out his hand to her. "Let's go, I wanna do something."
Sakusa's comment instantly annoyed her, and she wasn't letting it go anytime soon. So, with a mischievous smirk hidden behind her bright and cheerful smile, she decided to have a little bit of fun at the boy's expense.
"Ah~, are you sure you want to hold your hand out to little old me, Kari-san~?" Shinobu asked innocently. She took the boy's hand, however, and broke out into a coy smirk, whispering,
"Since no boy will pay attention to me, I might just fall in love with you and your kind gestures instead~"
"........ew. gross."
Sakusa instantly whipped his hand away and walked out the door, leaving Shinobu behind, speechless, flustered, and definitely angrier than before.
....GROSS?!
HOW DARE HE?! I'M NOT GROSS, I'M A PERFECTLY FINE YOUNG WOMAN! DO YOU REALLY THINK I'M THAT DISGUSTING, YOU BIG GREMLIN?!
Shinobu couldn't understand it. It was not as if she had an enlarged ego or delusion of her beauty, but when she got ready every day in the morning, she didn't see anything ugly staring back at her in the mirror.
Her violet eyes were large, yes, but she felt as though they weren't too big that they scared anyone off. Her skin was spotless, fair, almost silky to the touch, and her hair was soft, flaked with deep purple undertones at the tips. She hated her petite size and slim body, but she couldn't deny that she still possessed a fit, slim figure that wouldn't be seen as ugly in the public eye, right?
Surely Sakusa was only joking, calling her ugly like that, no?
She's not. Not at all.
Not to mention-
Aha! He's lying! He's called my breasts small before many times, and he was joking then too! Not just that, but he also called me beautiful before!
Or so she believed.
But now, after one simple word Sakusa muttered to her, her self-confidence took a nosedive.
But,
W-Why do I care?
Shinobu put her head in her hands as she sat in the loveseat she was reading on, and let out a sigh.
Why do I even care what that asshole thinks of me?
He's just annoying like that, right?
He doesn't think of me that way, Oyakata-sama may have forbid relationships between Hashira anywa-
Shinobu rapidly shook her head, brushing off the ideas in her mind before she even walked down that road.
No, no, no, Shinobu, you will not start thinking like that!
She wouldn't keep thinking of this. There was no need to. Nothing could happen, nor did she want anything to happen.
As if she needed anything else to be angry over, she did not need the added weight of a temperamental brat like Sakusa for a lover, hell, being his partner was bad enough.
As a matter of fact, it was shameful of her to even try and think of something like this, right?
Ugh, for god's sake.....
The butterfly girl, exhausted, stressed and downright embarrassed, closed her book, downed her tea, and headed off to her room.
Just.....forget about him for a while.....
Shutting the door behind her, Shinobu wouldn't come to know just how flustered she made the crimson-tipped Hashira with her simple teasings, and how he only muttered that one word because of how quickly he panicked,
and how somewhere, deep down in his heart, he felt himself get the slightest bit excited over such a prospect.
"Y-You....." The red-haired boy mumbled, sitting with his back against his door, his cheeks still beet red,
"You.....fucking brat.....you can't just say that all of a sudden.....how am I even supposed to reply to that...."
The dream happened again.
It began the same way it always had.
With Shinobu holding her blade, shaking and quivering under the bloodlust of the Second Upper Moon in her presence, readying himself to pierce through her beloved sister with the most ecstatic of grins on his face.
The setting, the snow falling all around her, with Kanae standing before her and Doma staring them both down, was identical to how it always happened.
N-No, not again!
"~haaah~"
Doma let out a ghastly laugh as he lunged right for the Flower Hashira, bearing his fangs and golden fans, aiming to kill.
Shinobu, once again, could do nothing but weep silently as she remained frozen in that one moment in time, watching her sister's smile burn away before her very eyes as she fell to the ground, slowly fading away.
The pain was all the same, she didn't even know if she could call out to her sister any more.
As her sister fell to the ground, however, the demon turned his attention back to her, glaring deep into her soul with his iridescent, rainbow-like eyes.
"Your turn now, Miss Shinobu~"
The instant Doma took a step towards her, her breath caught itself in her throat.
N-No....s-stay back!
Her eyes gone wide with horror and her bottom lip quivering, Shinobu screamed at her arms to move to defend herself, her legs to sprint in the other direction, anything, just to get away from the evil rapidly closing in.
P-Please, just stay away! Don't c-come any closer, you hear me?!
Get away, get away from me!
In the blink of an eye, the rainbow-eyed Upper Moon blitzed forward, flashing his golden fans as he went for the kill once more.
Shinobu shut her eyes, and let out a shriek of terror.
N-NO!!!
Her screams, however, were cut short by the sound of clashing steel, and a deep, bellowing roar of conquest that she found so much comfort in.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER, YOU BASTARD!!"
Shinobu's eyes shot open, and a wide shield of a man's back guarded her view, keeping her from seeing the demon on the other side. She recognized this back, this long mane of crimson-tipped hair, and the scent of raw strength seeping out from every direction.
K-Kari-san?!
The man roared once more, shattering the snowy earth he stood on.
"Breath of Rage, First Form ; Ember Slash!" He cried.
Suddenly, a flashing wave of black-and-red flames burst out from his twin broadswords as Sakusa ravaged Doma from every angle, decapitating him with one swift motion right in front of her.
W-Woah....amazing....
The demon's head rolled to her feet, before burning away into ash in mere seconds.
Shinobu blushed a bit, though, as Sakusa turned himself towards her, flashing his gentle, kind smile once more for her, closing the distance between them in one sudden movement.
"You're safe now, Kocho," he muttered to her, wrapping one hand around her thin waist, while the other grazed her cheek. "I'll always protect you, remember?"
Shinobu could only look up at the much taller man before her, gazing deep into the beautiful ruby red eye of the man holding her so close, her own violet orbs trailing their way down to his lips.
"S-Sakusa...."
Almost instinctively, the two slowly leaned in to one another, puffing their lips out in anticipation of what was to come.
"You'll always be safe with me around, Shinobu....."
Little by little, Shinobu and Sakusa came oh so close to the contact the butterfly girl wanted, until-
"WOAGH!"
The butterfly girl jolted out of bed, heaving and sweating buckets in her sheets.
W-.....W-What just happened?!
She looked around at her surroundings, trying to familiarize herself with where she was again, before she let out a long sigh when she realized she was just in bed, in the spare rooms in the Kakushi quarters.
Phew......I'm okay......
Her dream didn't process fully until a moment later, but just when she seemed to have calmed down, Shinobu flushed a deep shade of red and clamped her hands over her cheeks.
HOLY SHIT, I JUST HAD A DREAM HE KISSED ME!
Letting out a whimper as she flipped onto her front and slammed her face into her pillow, the raven-haired Hashira screamed in her head in her embarrassment.
What the actual hell, Shinobu?! You just told yourself not to think about him, then what do you do?! You go and dream of something like that!
Gods, you're so stupid! He's just a fellow Slayer, come on, just because he slimmed down a little and looks a little less like a gorilla doesn't give you the right to be like this!
Ugh, just imagine what you would have dreamt up had you not-
Wait.....
A thought popped into Shinobu's mind, a thought that she definitely should not have begun to think.
Her face turned even more red than before, and the threat of a nosebleed increased exponentially.
What.....what would have come after......if you didn't wake up.......
N-NOTHING! The butterfly girl suddenly shouted in her mind,
N-Nothing! Kari-san will never think of you as a woman, I bet he only sees a little kid when he looks at you!
J-.....Just go to bed, Shinobu!
Which is what she did. Slamming her face deeper into her pillow, Shinobu tried her very best to fall back asleep, and after repeating to herself over and over again that she and Sakusa were nothing more than partners, she closed her eyes, and fell back into slumber.