BUTTERFLY : SHINOBU KOCHO (PART ONE)

Part 1: Chapter 21; Her True Strength

Phew....another day, huh.....

Sliding the door to his room open again as she left him be for the night, Shinobu let out a long, disappointed sigh.

It had been three days by now since she had woken up, and still no signs of consciousness from her crimson-tipped partner.

It had gotten to the point where she was beginning to feel a sense of defeat boil up inside of her, like she was starting to suspect Sakusa might just lose her life because of her.

Sakusa seemed to wince and groan at sporadic times while she worked on him in his room, but never once did he make even so much as a twitch of a finger in his comatose.

It stung her, right in the chest.

Letting out another sigh as she closed the door behind her, the butterfly girl walked her way into the kitchen, passing her, Yae, and Sadao and Umiki's quarters in the process, until she turned the corner and entered the large room where the food and just about anything else she could think of lay in wait for her to get her hands on.

Hmph....maybe cooking would get my mind off of him....

In fact, Shinobu Kocho was not only a great medic, apothecary and biologist, she wasn't half bad as a cook either.

Kanae and her parents taught her everything she knew until their passings, and she was also helped with taste testing by Gyomei, Rengoku and Uzui whenever they came by the Butterfly Mansion with injuries after a mission. She appreciated the Stone Hashira's kind and gentle demeanor, but because of that he rarely ever criticized her food when she tried something new, so Gyomei wasn't much of a help when it came to trial and error with her cooking, though he was still always open to trying something new.

Uzui and Rengoku, however, were complete and utter nutjobs who would vomit out her food if it wasn't good, much to her anger, but also to her delight.

The two Hashira were great tools when it came to helping her perfect her skills, and she often thought of them whenever she cooked.

Now, though, as she chopped up the carrots and plopped them into the pot of broth over the gas stove with the red onions and stock, there was only one crimson-haired idiot of a man stuck in her mind, always wearing that stupid, beaming, oh so subtle heart-stopper of a smile on his lips.

Chopping the other vegetables as well, Shinobu felt her face heat up just from the memories.

She let out a small groan in her thoughts, moving onto the green onion with a flustered look on her face.

Stupid....stupid Sakusa....your smile is stupid....

She picked up the pace of her chopping, the blush burning brighter.

Stupid Sakusa and your stupid big red eye looking at me like that, like you want something, you big stupid pervert...

Shinobu chopped even faster now, letting out a cute little whimper as she grabbed another onion from the countertop.

Stupid, stupid, stupid Sakusa! What the heck are you trying to do, I'm not some easy meat you can just have all to yourself just by flexing your stupid arms, or flaunting your stupid abs in my face, or calling me names one stupid day and telling me sweet things the stupid next, you're stupid, so stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid stupid stupi-

"Aie!"

Shinobu yelped and pulled her hand back in shock, staring at her hand as blood seeped out of a cut on her finger, furrowing her eyebrows when she realized she slipped up again.