The Butterfly Drowns【GIYUSHINO】

「CH2: A Weak Body, A Weaker Heart」

"Are you upset?" Shinobu smiled.

The two of them walked down the street, the wind pushing back their haoris as the sky painted itself a masterpiece. Her eyes were cold, empty in the same gradient of the sky, but it had shimmered ever so brightly from the golden rays of the setting sun.

"I haven't been upset today, yet." Giyuu looked back at Shinobu, all serious in his expression.

"Is that so?" Shinobu clapped her hands together, "I thought asking for a bite of your food had ruined your mood, guess I was wrong!"

She stared for a bit, waiting for maybe an answer or even a short response—but of course, Giyuu had no skill to continue a conversation. Her hands lightly surfaced in front of her still smile, looking longer than normal, "Does this mean we're finally getting along, Tomioka?" She beamed.

"..." Giyuu continued to look forward, avoiding her gaze burning at the side of his head. It had always been like this, the same question, the same poking at, and the same all-around bicker between them. Maybe it had been the color fading into the night sky, or even the salmon creating chemicals to creep up into his brain, but this time, he took a calm breath, "Haven't we always gotten along?"

"Hm?" Shinobu flinched, her brain not fully understanding he had actually answered, "Is that how you saw it? Aha, I guess even a person as stoic as you can change, Tomioka."

Shinobu stopped short, facing the ryokan. The conditions looked fairly well, with the sign still tall and the servants bustling around as she tilted her head to peak around. Giyuu had followed after her, keeping his eyes forward while Shinobu inspected every detail.

"This should do fine," Shinobu turned her head to Giyuu, "Let's rest here!"

—🦋—

Both of them had been welcomed warmly by the maids and receptionist. Shinobu had made small talk with them, but Giyuu could care less and headed towards his room.

Stepping in, his first course of actions had been to open the closet, taking out the rolled up futon and carefully unfolding it onto the tatami mats before him. Frankly, he wasn't that tired—if anything, he would rather keep awake and guard the place for lurking demons, but he also wasn't stupid enough to keep his eyes open all night and end up too drowsy to travel well in the morning.

He shut the extra doors that led outside, and rolled right into the beddings after removing and neatly folding his haori next to the futon. No, he wasn't tired, but the warm blanket that cuddled onto him seemed to make it so his eyes slowly blinked, each falling slower and darker. Before the lights could completely shut down in his head, the door held light knocks.

"Tomioka?" Her familiar voice gently swayed behind the door, "Are you awake? If you need me, I'll be in the room across." The footsteps faded out, click clack click clack, before finally a complete silence engulfed his room—and shortly, his head.

Shinobu continued down the hall, making it to the next door and carefully walking in. She had made sure to tell Giyuu where her room was, not that he cared or it mattered, but to Shinobu, Giyuu was easily annoyed by the simple things, and truthfully, she didn't want to wake up to him lost and carelessly knocking on rooms to find her.

She took out her butterfly clip, setting it atop a table while her hair longed down to her shoulders. She quickly changed, sliding on the yukata the ryokan had provided for the guests, then folding her haori and setting it below her hair clip. Unlike the room over, she slid the doors to the back garden open, sitting down respectively right before the door, staring up at the now risen moon, with the light flares shining down on her.