*.......I fell asleep.
I'm not even joking.
I fell asleep and forgot to post this chapter until the next day.
It was done.
I forgot all about it.
I'm sorry.
It's out the NEXT DAY,
B U T
I d i d have it done the 30th like I said I would*
"Woah, talk about skimpy..."
"Yeesh, is that what she has to wear to keep a man like that...."
"Fufu, wonder if I can get my wife to dress like that~..."
The more whispers and comments were made about her less-than-ideal clothing as Shinobu walked alongside her redhead mission partner, the more and more she crept back into her shell.
The butterfly girl tried to hide behind her haori and keep her composure as much as possible, but she was definitely fighting a losing battle.
She clicked her tongue in her thoughts as she held Sakusa's arm, her smile threatening to fade into a bitter scowl.
Tsk, for fuck's sakes, it's not like I want to be wearing this.....
Without realizing it, the butterfly girl clung closer to the boy's arm.
Someone noticed though.
"Oi. What's the matter, Kocho?"
"Eh?"
Shinobu glanced upwards on impulse to see the boy she was clinging to looking down on her with a sympathetic eye and furrowed eyebrows, a look that only worsened the effects she felt overcome her when it came to this infuriating boy.
Despite the fact that she proudly declared that they were each other's for the night, it wasn't as if she wasn't nervous, stressed, or even uncomfortable how she was now.
He could still grind the world to a halt with that look in his eye, it only grew more powerful when she could practically feel the concern emit from his very skin like a heat off of a furnace.
The fact that he cared just as much as she reluctantly did was one of the most aggravating parts of him for her.
The butterfly girl couldn't help but break down with a click of her tongue, her smile fading from her lips as she unconsciously pulled her haori closer to her chest.
"I.....guess you can say I'm not used to being like this...." Shinobu muttered, letting out a half-hearted chuckle at the end of her sentence.
Sakusa furrowed his eyebrows at her once more, clicking his tongue. "Tch, then you shouldn't have put it on, you dummy." The redhead said to her in a soft, firm tone.
God, even his voice sounds so caring....asshole....
They stopped walking, and the Hashira of Rage stepped in front of her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Look, just let me help you, Kocho."
The butterfly girl bit her lip in indecision. She didn't want to make this out to be such a big deal, not after she spoke of such forward words just before they left. She was turning 17 soon, she was no kid anymore. Kanroji was only a year older than her, and she could wear clothes like this without any difficulty.
But, at the same time, her breasts were out.
Hell, Kanae was probably scolding her from the skies above for this predicament, not to mention dressing up in this way with a boy in her midst.
Just suck it up, She thought to herself as she looked at the boy in front of her with a bashful look on her face, You don't need to be babied like a little kid by him...
Shinobu shook her head, putting on her smile once more. "No, no, it's fine, Saku-san." She waved the boy off dismissively, "I'll just live with this.....issue."
Sakusa, despite letting out a disgruntled huff, retracted his hand and stepped out of her way.
"Fine, fine," He groaned,
"But keep those things hidden behind your haori, nobody wants to see them..."
The tick marks returned to her forehead.
......Bitch! You were totally looking at them before, you hypocritical pervert!
She paused.
.......okay, maybe I don't necessarily hate it but-
"So, we're going to a place called the Palace, and tonight's an exclusive monthly event that is popular amongst young women who go to find rich bachelors to steal money off of."
Shinobu felt her stomach churn a little at Sakusa's explanation.
Ew.
This place already didn't sound like her cup of tea.
Snobby, condescending towards the middle-to-lower class, and sounding like a place for women to go find a dying old geezer to inherit their fortunes from, the butterfly girl cringed as the establishment came into view as they walked down the lantern-lit streets.
A large, black building decorated in gold and red in a similar colour scheme to the Rage Manor, a short and slender busboy in a black valet suit and cap stood at the front door letting other fancy-looking guests in, sporting a smile on his face not unlike the false one she put on herself.
This was not going to be fun for her.
"Hey, you listening to me?"
The butterfly girl felt the touch of her partner's hand on her shoulder and she turned towards it once again.
She didn't even so much as care anymore when he touched her, which was odd. Maybe she had grown used to it?
"Yes, Saku-san?"
"Ugh, nevermind." Sakusa shook his head with a groan, seemingly upset.
As the red-stained Hashira briskly walked away from the confused girl behind him, his lips curved into a slight scowl.
Tch, whatever, he thought, I'll just tell her the truth later,
The truth about me and Kanae.....
Shinobu didn't let herself overthink what Sakusa might have said to her while she was lost in thought, and quickly caught up to him as they approached the entrance of the Palace.
The steward greeted them with a courteous smile, bowing as Sakusa began to speak, pulling a slip of paper out of his pants.
"Welcome to the Palace, young master." The man a little over Sakusa's age said. Upon closer inspection, there was the presence of a small patch of acne scars just beneath the man's jaw, along with black strands of hair poking out of his hat, giving his appearance a more aloof and youthful look.
His smile was nice, though. As expected of a high-end place such as this, you would need a friendly, inviting face to be the first thing you see when entering somewhere like this.
Sakusa, though, being the polar opposite of inviting, ignored the greeting and shoved a slip of paper under the shorter man's nose.
"Here."
The man kept his smile up, though, taking the paper. "Ah, I take it you're here for tonight's gathering, no?" He said, his eyes widening a slight amount as he chuckled, "Oh! And you seem to be the Kari heir we learned would be attending tonight's events, if I'm not mistaken?"
"Yup, that's me."
Shinobu watched on as Sakusa unbuttoned half of the buttons of his shirt, starting from the top and ending in the middle of his core, and slipped an arm out of his sleeve, pointing to the tattoo on his bicep with his opposing arm.
"Here's that confirmation you people wanted from me when I got here." He simply said.
The steward seemed to wave him off, however, flashing another bright closed-eyed smile with a soft chuckle behind his gloved hand.
"Oh, no, that wasn't necessary, Master Kari." He replied courtly.
Shinobu got a chill up her spine, however, when the man's eyes opened, and a sharp, menacingly docile glare had replaced the soft shimmers they once had.
Even for a second, just a fraction of an instant, there was also a golden glow in the steward's iris.
"We could already tell how powerful you really are~."
The butterfly girl's eyes widened slightly in astonishment, before the hostility broke through and her eyes flared in ferocity.
Something's up with this man....he's giving me a real bad feeling.....
Sakusa, though, only let out a short scoff and took Shinobu by the hand, bringing her closer to his side.
"Yeah, whatever. Can I just go in?" He said, pointing to the door with a scowl.
The redhead took a step towards the door before the steward could reply, however, only to be stopped by a hand crossing over his chest.
"Ah, not just yet, Master Kari."
"Huh?" Sakusa's ruby eye displayed a look of shock and insult as he darted his head toward the direction of the steward, who only smiled his friendly smile at the Rage Hashira in response.
"Oi, the fuck's the problem here?" Sakusa said.
The steward then pointed to Shinobu.
"You need to confirm her identity to me, Master Kari." The steward replied, who shifted his gaze back down to the smaller girl by the Hashira's side.
"Hello there, little girl!" He greeted the butterfly girl with a tone of voice clearly an octave higher, as if he really was speaking to a child.
Of course, that was a blatant insult to her.
.....excuse me?! Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?! I'm 16, I don't need you talking to me like I'm a little kid!
"She's quite the beauty too, as a matter of fact." The steward commented with a perverse tone, smirking as he took a step towards the butterfly girl, and to add the icing on the cake, glanced down at her chest without even trying to mask his lewd glare.
It was unnerving for her, to say the least, but Shinobu kept her cool.
Even if the steward's eyes on her were the most unwelcome pair in existence.
The second she saw a hand reach towards her cheek, however, she was ready to snap.
"Not even a single blemish on this skin at all~...." The steward mumbled, inching towards the younger girl's cheek with an outstretched hand.
Just before the steward could touch her, however, the air heat up until it practically burned to inhale it into her lungs, and the sound of a thumping heart rang through the air as another hand snatched the steward by the arm in the blink of an eye.
Both individuals jerked their heads towards the boy to their left, and Shinobu's heart skipped a beat.
Sakusa looked beyond furious, enough to send a chill up her spine. Despite sporting nothing more than a plain expression, his eye was flared and burning with the potency of a thousand suns- no, even more than that. He looked angrier than when he fought any demon, almost as angry than when she saw him fight both of the Archangels to protect her all those weeks ago.
She let out a short gasp in shock, and the astonishment was visibly shared by the steward, who's mouth shot wide open.
"Don't you fucking touch what's mine, you goddamn prick."
The one sentence that escaped his tight lips as he held the steward's arm was enough to turn her cheeks beet red.
"If you even so much as fucking think of saying any shit about my Kocho again, I'll snap your arm in two." Sakusa spat with enough venom to strike the steward dead.
The steward said nothing, only looking up at the taller man with a gaping jaw, and another flicker of gold appearing in the pool of his hazel irises.
His shock shifted, though, as another smile broke out onto his face.
"Ahaha, oh, my apologies, Master Kari." The steward chuckled, seemingly trying to dissolve the hostility in the air to no avail, "I was only trying to better understand who this girl was to you."
"Yeah, well now you fucking do."
Shinobu gasped again when Sakusa flung away the steward's hand and snatched her by the waist, pulling her close while keeping his eye on the steward before him.
"I'm taking her in now." The redhead huffed, walking away with Shinobu by his side, a deeper, more hostile scowl etched into his face than anything before.
He was pissed.
Who the fuck did that guy think he was? He was a nothing more than a simple steward, a maître who greeted people at the door with a false smile on his face that didn't fool anyone.
He has no right to touch Shinobu.
......okay, calling her his possession was a little over-the-top, but....
....you did tell me you were mine for tonight, so just fucking deal with it, I guess.....
Sakusa kept his eyes glued ahead of himself, which is probably why he didn't notice the beet-red cheeks, and quivering smile on Shinobu's lips.
The butterfly girl kept her eyes stuck on the floor before her, trying to keep her lips from curling up any further.
He.....
He called me his Kocho.......
She never knew that being called by her last name could make her feel such pleasantness.
Overprotective Sakusa definitely wasn't something she could ever get enough of.
As they walked away, however, the steward chuckled, and a flicker of golden in his iris flashed again, before he shoved his hands in his pockets and trudged away from the Palace entrance.
Lavish.
High-end.
Snobby.
Gods, this place was infuriating to even so much as stand in.
Though, the interior was most definitely something to behold.
A spacious, open-concept main hall with dozens of candle-lit tables sprinkled across the oakwood floorboards, with multiple lanterns hanging from the ceilings keeping the lights dim and the atmosphere within the massive room almost ominous, but definitely intimate.
Hell, maybe it was a tactic by the owner of this place to attract only the horniest of ugly bastards on this night for the women to fawn over for their cash.
A bar sat on the other end of the hall, with a single slender shrimp of a young man with a crop of brown hair and rimmed glasses over his eyes polishing a glass behind the table. A row of wine bottles from overseas, sake, beer bottles and other spirits hung overtop and behind him, carefully displayed on glass shelves.
The entrance led to this main room, but there seemed to be nobody seated, which Shinobu first considered to be odd, considering this event was seemingly exclusive and limited to rich bachelors, rich families, rich couples and women who want their money, but she saw where the other invitees were later on.
Everyone besides the bartender were on the upper floor.
Both large staircases led up to the second floor where the sounds of mixed conversation, hearty laughter and the smell of alcohol breath hanging thick in the air.
Shinobu stalled in her steps when she smelled that rank odor, crinkling her nose.
God, I really don't want to go up there,
The butterfly girl took a glance down at her chest, feeling herself grow a little nervous.
Ugh, especially not with these things out.....
"Hey."
Shinobu glanced upwards, meeting Sakusa's gaze.
He was smiling again, and he gave her waist a light, easing squeeze with the hand around her. "I'll protect you, remember?" The redhead said to her, in that tone of voice that made everything seem so tranquil.
Just like that, any nerves she had were gone.
He liked her choice of clothing, and she would slowly grow used to it, so who cared what anyone else thought?
Shinobu giggled slightly to herself.
It would actually be pretty funny to see Sakusa beat someone up for ogling at her too much.
The butterfly girl completely understood what they were there for.
She and Sakusa were there to gather information from snobby wealthy men and women who had the connections necessary to figure something, anything out on the patterns of demons recently. The Corps could only do so much, and despite trying their very best to keep the knowledge of man-eating monsters as private as possible, the destruction of Nagasaki, combined with so many eye-witness accounts meant that it was only a matter of time before information brokers and other shady individuals got word of their existence.
The Kari are revered for their war and fighting prowess, right?
Shinobu looked up at Sakusa inquisitively.
So, could you just threaten someone until they give us the information we need, or do I actually have to talk to these guys?
"So, Saku-san," The Insect Hashira wrapped a hand around the arm holding her waist to get his attention, "What would you like me to do tonight?"
"Hmmm,"
Sakusa smirked and looked back down at her.
"Just look pretty for me, alright~?"
H U H -
Once again, she turned beet-red, firing flustered daggers at the boy beside her as they walked up the staircase.
W-W-WHY THE FUCK AREN'T YOU EMBARRASSED BY THE SHIT YOU SAY, HUH?! SO YOU CAN SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT, BUT WHEN I SQUISH MY BREASTS TO YOUR ARM, YOU TURN INTO A STUTTERING MESS?!
.......but I guess....I'll do what you told me to do.....
When they scaled the staircase, however, Shinobu froze instantly, and her heart sank.
The moment the girl he was holding stopped walking, Sakusa paused, and looked back behind her with furrowed eyebrows, and an eye laced with concern.
"Oi, what's the matter with you, Kocho?"
The butterfly girl didn't reply, however. Her violet eyes, wide with shock, could only look at the two women talking to a pair of old men, smirking with their hands crossed over their unfairly-gigantic assets.
A brunette and a blonde.
The same ones that threatened to steal Sakusa from her.
And they were somehow wearing even less than her.
Mai, the blonde, picked out a rose gold spaghetti strap dre- no, not even a dress, an expensive-looking nightgown and a goddamn black lingerie set that you could see right through the 'dress' she was wearing.
The unnamed brunette with the equally-nasty pair of twins wore a less-revealing black dress herself, along with a pair of long black gloves on her hands that went to her forearms. Combine that with a pearl necklace and a smile that any gullible old man would fall for, and she had the same amount of charm as miss-sex-worker beside her.
...okay, Shinobu was a little envious of them for looking like goddesses while Sakusa could have mistaken her for a dinner plate for the first months of their knowing each other, so maybe she was being bitter for thinking of them so poorly.
...but at the same time, The butterfly girl glared at them as Sakusa walked with her,
you're trying to get your hands on someone who doesn't want you, anyways.
"Hey, Saku-san," Shinobu looked back up.
"Yeah, Kocho?" Sakusa looked back down.
How did she come to this?
Wasn't she independent, refusing to rely on anything but her own strength?
She was strong now. She could kill demons powerful enough to rival Upper Moons, she could hold her own with the other Hashira.
With her needle blade and her blazing speed, she could turn boulders into dust with a single jab from her velocity.
".....smile for me."
Sakusa furrowed his eyebrows slightly at the request.
"Hm? Smile for you?" He repeated.
If she was so strong, why did every little thing make her feel so uncertain?
Why did she need that little, meaningless smirk he put on to ease her mind so often?
Shinobu nodded. "Smile for me."
"Why?"
The butterfly girl sped up her pace, walking ahead of Sakusa and blocking his path forward.
"Just do it." She persisted.
She couldn't understand her desire to see him smile.
"Uh, um, okay." The boy caved in with a sigh, and Sakusa's lips curved up into a half-hearted smile.
It was awkward, quivering, forced, utterly incomparable to the gentle expression Shinobu loved to see.
"Pft." Shinobu couldn't hide her giggling behind her hand.
"Wow, it's so bad when you force it, you weirdo~!"
Sakusa made a noise in his shock. "Wha-!?"
"I-It's not that bad, twerp!" The redhead turned beet-red and whined, "You're such a prick!"
She didn't stop her giggling, though, and Sakusa paused.
A wave of nostalgia hit him a little.
Her laugh.....
.....it's like hers......
Then, he smiled again with a gentle chuckle.
A genuine smile.
A smile for her.
He raised his hand up, and silenced Shinobu's laughter, with a pat to the head.
"Oh?"
The butterfly girl glanced upwards once again, and her heart stopped.
He did it.
A smile.
The same one that she wanted to see so badly.
The one that could make any sane straight woman drop dead on the spot.
The one that changed everything for her.
The one that made her weak in the knees and turned her cheeks as pink as Mitsuri's hair.
She was strong.
Shinobu was stronger than she had ever been.
And yet, for some odd reason, that stupid smile was one thing she couldn't be strong without.
Sakusa himself was thinking something similar, as he looked down at the girl in front of him, slowly running his hand across her head.
Kanae, he mumbled to himself, you're still gone, and there's no way I'm able to change that.....
....but even so,
I might just be able to let you go.....
*OKAY SO LITTLE BIT OF A CLIFFHANGER IK BUT STILL*
*I MISSED YESTERDAYS DEADLINE AND NOW IM FINISHING THIS CHAPTER UP NOW AND ALREADY STARTING UP THE NEXT ONE BECAUSE WHY NOT*