The Shadow of the Insect

~Chapter Ten~

The next morning Shinobu was happier than ever...

Shinobu was up early. She hasn't slept so well in a long time because she somehow felt safe here in his Estate. Despite his looks and the way, he deals with demons with his brutal manner, he has a heart for others. She just must find out what is behind his brutal manner, there must still be something hidden and she has sworn to find it out.

When she walked through the Estate, she greeted Mena with a real smile. "Good morning Mena!" "Good morning Miss Kochou, did you sleep well?"
"I haven't slept as well as I did today for a long time. Is your brother awake yet? "
"I'm glad you slept well, my brother has been awake for a long time. You can find him training in the yard. I'll make you two something for breakfast"
"Thank you." she went to the yard.
"...it's so early and he's already training?... "

As she got closer to the courtyard  she heared noises. Neltha stood there half-naked and had two huge rocks next to him which are connected with a pole. He picked it up with both hands. Up and down in rhythm. His sweaty upper body shone with the rays of the sun and accentuated his muscles and the many scars he wears. Shinobu could only admire him. "All the scars he's got, have a story..."

The Shadow couldn't go on because of exhaustion and has sat down. Shinobu walked closer and threw him a towel. "You can wipe yourself off." she said with red cheeks. Neltha looked at the towel and asked, "Oh, did I wake you up?" Shinobu curtly said, "No. I was already awake."

The Shadow then got up and then faced the verandar and sat down there, Shinobu followed him. "Do you always train so early and hard?"

With a serious expression he looked at his hands, "I have to give 100% every day, it is of no use if I do nothing. I have to steel my body to kill Muzan even if it kills me."

Shinobu just looked sad. It is seldom that Hashira gets older than 30 or before they retire. Most die before they even reach the age of 25. The best example is my sister, she was only 17 years old.

Luckily, little Mena got her out of her sad thoughts when he came with something to eat and put it next to her. The two of them accepted it with thanks and had breakfast together.

Out of the blue Neltha then asked, "How is the little girl?"

Shinobu first had to think, of what he meant, before she hit herself on the forehead. "E-Um ah, we adopted her as our sister. We called her Kanao Tsuyuri and she became my Tsuguko, she learned the Flower Breathing, maybe you knew that."

"Mhh, I knew that I could trust you with her. I'm glad that she is fine."

Shinobu couldn't make it out again but he looked sad again. "You can visit her anytime. She misses you."

Neltha could only laugh out loud with his rough voice, "Gahahaha, I'll take up the offer. And by the way, you can address me by my name."

Shinobu blushed hard. "I haven't called him once by his name until now?!" When she thinks back, she only mentioned him with demon or with his title, let alone talked to each other for the first time since yesterday.

She had to answer him quickly, "Yes. I'll try to remember that. Thank you."

They enjoy the peace and quiet together before the children woke up. Neltha was the first to get up and continued training. His training consisted of lifting weights and swordsmanship. Shinobu watched and thought about joining in but then she threw the thought away. What should she be able to lift there? She would collapse under the weights. Shinobu was depressed again.

"Oi, Kochou! I heard from Mitsuri and Himejima that you are the fastest of the Hashira? Would you train with me for a minute?" She was confused. He wanted to train with her. "Didn't he say to Shinazugawa that he doesn't hang out with weaker ones. Why should he train with me then? He is way stronger than me and what does he have to do with Mitsuri?"