𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐮𝐬 - 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐮 𝐊𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐮 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭

A/N: I'm sorry I don't have an actual chapter related to the book :( I'm working on it at the moment, but for now, please accept this one-shot as an apology from me.

[this AU takes place at Chapter 205! If you haven't read the manga, please do not proceed]

(Y/N is a student at Sekirei Academy, along with Shinobu and Kanae's reincarnations.)

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[𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗼𝗻.]

Before she became the memory made to remember, she was a stranger to me the same way everybody else was at first. Before she became the part-owner of my heart, I had thought that she would just be one of those people I'd meet every day and never really find out about, always hidden in a mental fog tangled somewhere in my head, nothing else known except their names. Sometimes I don't even know their names. But it didn't matter, because they were just passengers in my life train getting off at destinations far away from the end of the journey. It gets a little hard to let go when they've stayed with me for a long time, only for me to find out they had a different destination than mine. I hope that, Shinobu-san and I will meet again even if we don't go on the same train. That we will be together, in this life or the next.

________________

"Ara, Y/N-san! Is that a drawing of me you're working on right now?" Shinobu pointed cheerfully at my sketchbook, eyes looking closely at the little details I put on her face and her fingers careful not to smudge any of the ink.

"It is! What do you think of it?" 

"Can I take a closer look at it?" She said, gently removing the book from my lap to place it on hers. She traced her fingers over the huge, insect-like eyes that I had drawn just now. "Mm, it's very well-drawn, Y/N-san. I didn't know you were quite the artist! This drawing of me that you made looks more like a photograph than a hand-drawn drawing made with a pen. I wonder, do you have more drawings of me?"

"No- not yet," I said shyly, slithering my hand onto the nape of my neck.

"I see. Well, it's truly a great drawing!" Shinobu handed me back my book and turned back to look at the marvellous view of the lake in front of us. The waters here were clear enough to be a window to heaven, carrying away a few drifting leaves on the surface of its body. The leaves of the willow tree around us constantly fell off the thick branches of its mother, landing on the water like feathers of a bird kissing the top of a puddle.

"It's a beautiful place, Shinobu-san. Although, I do wonder, why have you taken me here on such a random occasion? Is there something of an urgent matter that you needed to discuss with me?"

"Indeed there is, but we'll get to that later, I think. It's better to tell you when the sun has set and the flocks of people have left so that nobody would hear us but the sky and the moon."

"I see. It won't be long until the sun sets, actually. According to the time presented on my phone, there's just about a quarter of an hour until twilight."

"Hm, in that case, we should start walking away to the other end of this lake. Do you see that area over there, with thicker willow leaves where the swan rest? The bridge over there seems like a better place for us to lounge than here."

"Alright, I'll just tidy up the blankets and the food and place them in the basket."

"Ah, there's no need for that. We'll come back for that later."

"Oh, okay."

Shinobu stood up, walking in front of me to lead me to the bridge across from our current position. She swept away the dust from her school uniform's skirt and turned around to look at me. I wasn't too far behind, just a few steps from where she stood waiting for me. I took a couple of steps and stood beside her- and she took my hand before continuing the short walk to the wooden bridge. Her hands were soft and gentle in contrast to my slightly rougher skin. It was like, petals of a delicate flower hanging from a tree; a smooth texture, but there was no telling of how fragile it could be.

"Ah, here we are! Look at those swans. They're such elegant creatures, don't you think? They're such graceful birds."

"I've never seen one up this close, I think. They've always been out of reach, but from where we're standing right now, I could just touch them within a hand's reach."

The swans were as white as the clouds floating about in the sky, feathers almost as clean as the water beneath us. Their beaks were long and orange, with black touches on the corners. Their wings seemed bigger than that of other birds, similar to geese and ducks, only more of a beguiling sight for me to lay my eyes on.

Meanwhile, the sky above us had slowly turned an orange shade. The blue had melted into a faint shade of a dark lavender shade, and the moon would soon appear over our heads. The day had turned slowly into the night, only a thin string of time dividing them that slowly dissolved through short fractions of minutes. This string of time- otherwise known as twilight- was known to be a natural parallel of the red string of fate dwindled by mother natures herself. This is the time of day where flowers forget to wilt and hearts connect with the heartbeats of their beloved.

"Y/N-san, look at the sky. Do you see that? The moon is slowly becoming more visible right now. Usually, they start to rise near sunset, and become more visible over time."

"It's such a beautiful wonder, Shinobu-san. It's a beautiful view worth all the marveling in the world, just like you."

She giggled.

"I think that's what I'm supposed to be saying, Y/N-san."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

She hesitated for a moment.

"Y/N-san...the moon sure is beautiful tonight, isn't it?"

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Word count: 1023

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little work of mine!