The Shadow of the Insect

~Chapter Twelve~

Shinobu was sitting happily in the room with a hot tea in her hand when the door opened and a somewhat drained Hashira came in. She just had to smile at the sight of the man. "Who would have thought that talking so much is exhausting?" he said softly and lay down in front of her. "Fufufu~ don't you want some tea?" she sang to his ear. "No thanks. Don't you have Sake or something else?" he propped himself up from the floor to sit up straight. "Ah yes! Are you sure you want to drink alcohol?" and got up. "Yes please. I need this. I have in the next few days off, so I don't care if I'm drunk." he grinned mischievously.

Shinobu took the good Sake out of the cupboard and poured the drink into a red *Sakazuki cup for Neltha. While pouring, she asked him what he will do in the next few days. "What are you going to do on the days off besides training?"

Neltha's thoughts were elsewhere when he saw the good Sake. He knows immediately if it is a pretty good one or not. This is one of the few luxury bottles. Neltha stared at the shiny liquid until Shinobu pulled him out of his daydream with a waving hand in front of his face. "Ah yes. Your question. I'll be training again and visiting an old friend." he said while taking a sip from the cup. "Puhhh~ that's the good stuff." Shinobu tilted her head a little and said, "I didn't know you had friends. I thought you were a loner." He put the cup on the table and had some more Sake. "Are you comparing me to the Water Hashira Giyuu?" Shinobu didn't want that to get into the conversation at all. "I didn't mean it that way. Never mind, just forget it." and shook her head. "Tell me something about your friend." and filled her cup with tea.

Neltha scratched the back of his head. "Mhh, let me think about it. I've known her for about two and a half years. She saved my life when I met Upper Moon 1 and treated me. I was bedridden for a long time. Well, I think she's just like you. A pretty good doctor or something like that."

The temperature on her face rose when he said she was a pretty good doctor. Only one thing bothered her. "...so, he's meeting other women after all..." and looked a little sadly down at herself.

Neltha didn't notice that she was sad, she tried to ask him about Upper Moon 1, "You really fought with the strongest Upper Moon? How badly did he hurt you that you were bedridden for so long?"

Neltha's face frowned and looked gravely at Shinobu. Neltha got up and took off his Haori and top. Shinobu was visibly shocked by what he was doing and covered her eyes and turned bright red. "Wh-wha- what are you doing?! Get dressed again, Baka!" she threw the cup at him. He casually caught the cup and placed it securely on the table. "You should see what he is capable of."he said with a serious voice. Shinobu peered through her fingers and saw the deep scars on his body.

Even though she had already seen him half naked from afar, she couldn't see that the scars were so deep. The scars were in places that should have been fatal. Shinobu got up to take a closer look. She stood in front of him and traced with her slender fingers along the large scar that ran across his torso. "Any normal person would have died with these injuries. This guy is a monster. His friend is good at treating wounds and is very skilled." she thought for herself.

Neltha was uncomfortable that Shinobu was touching him like that. He had to pull himself together not to yell at Shinobu. Suddenly, the door opened and Aoi came in. "Shinobu, we called you several times, but you didn't ans-."

The sight the child saw was not suitable for the young eyes. Aoi screamed and bowed to apologize. "I'm terribly sorry that I disturbed you in your act!" Shinobu didn't understand what she meant by that when she realized what it actually looks like from Aoi's perspective. Both were speechless. Shinobu was the first one to speak and said, "T-th-that's not w-wh-what it looks like." with a red head.

"I'll let the rest known to leave you alone. Please carry on!", she said in a loud voice and a steaming head. Shinobu desperately wanted to explain the situation but it failed, Aoi ran out and slammed the door behind her.

"Well, you've got that pretty much under control..." he said sarcastically. Shinobu just shot him a death glare and smiled. "Will you shut up, please."

The heat between the two has dissipated and came back to the previous topic. "What I wanted to ask. I would like to meet the lady. She can definitely teach me something, can you maybe arrange a meeting with her?"

"Absolutely not. She doesn't want to meet people. I was an exception, she helped me." he said stubbornly. "Why are you meeting her then?" she asked curiously. "She'll take another look at my injuries and we... will discuss other things." Shinobu didn't quite know how that made her feel.

"Why doesn't he want me there? Why does it make me sad that he's meeting an another woman? Is that... jealousy?"

Both parties have nothing to talk about anymore, they both sat in the room and kept silent to each other. Neltha didn't disturb this silence, he preferred it when it is quiet, and he doesn't need to talk to have a good time with somebody. Shinobu played with her Haori and was looking for a topic to talk about. "Ahhhh! What can you talk about? Come up with something! He probably thinks I'm boring..."

With a loud yawn he got up and put his Haori back on. "Oi Kochou. I'm going to sleep now. I have to leave early. It's a long way to go." She looked confused at him. "Ah. Yes. I wish you a good night then." and just waved. "Thanks for the good Sake. We can do that again sometime." and closed the door behind him. Shinobu listened until his footsteps faded into the distance.

She hit her forehead hard enough to turn the spot red. "I should have talked to him again. There you have it, Shinobu, if you don't talk."

The Insect Hashira got up after she had finished her tea and went towards her room. Her mind was back on the Shadow Hashira. "... so, he meets with other women... is he really such a womanizer? I should ask Mitsuri how their relationship is. Maybe I can filter something out of it. Yes! That will be my task for tomorrow."

Her eyes were determined and with a grin on her face she went to bed and was happy to find out his deep and dark secrets.

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Authors Note:
Moin Moin!~
The next chapter is finished and it keeps growing. This is apparently going to be a longer story. I hope you don't mind. Stay healthy!
Bye Bye ~ till next chapter!

*Sakazuki is a traditional Sake cup.