We were both descending the mountain of hot springs. It was already time to eat. Shinobu said that today they were going to prepare matsutake mushrooms. She and I were now wearing kimonos, something lighter than the hunters' uniforms. As we descended, I spotted a boy climbing the springs, the same one I had seen a few times at the mansion.
-"Hey," I said to the boy with a scar on his face and a hawk-like hairstyle, but as before, he ignored me. I remember the first time this happened, I was pretty sad, but now I just sighed and kept walking alongside Shinobu.
-"You know he's like that, don't take it personally... He's Shinazugawa's brother, so it's tough for him..."
-"Yeah, I know, but I still get a little sad." Shinobu patted my head as comfort, and we continued descending the mountain. After a few more steps, we saw in the distance...
-"Tanjiro!" I raised my hand and waved from afar, greeting him. He returned the smile, and I walked a little faster, with Shinobu keeping pace.
-"What are you doing here, Tanjiro? Weren't you supposed to be recovering at the mansion?"
-"Well, yes, but I feel better, you know? I came here for the blacksmith to fix my nichirin. I ended up breaking it in the fight."
-"Oh, yeah, Hayashi-san told me about the fight. Even his sword broke. Honestly, how do you guys break nichirins?"
-"It's easy to say when yours is more like a whip, huh, Mitsuri-san..." Shinobu appeared behind us, catching up. Well, it wasn't that far, and her calling me by my first name, with someone in front of us, made me embarrassed...
-"Tanjiro-san, leave Mitsuri to me. You can go to the springs, we already said hi, after all." She giggled and pulled me by the arm.
-"Hey, hey, calm down!" I noticed that Tanjiro was looking at us, surprised by something... What could it be, right? We arrived at the resting area in the village. Shinobu and I sat at the table and waited. We chatted a bit about things...
After a while, the food finally arrived. Then, Shinobu and I devoured the food the blacksmiths brought. It was really good. I had never tried food made by blacksmiths before, only by the townspeople, but anyway... Tanjiro joined us again and kept eating. Just like the first time, he was surprised at how much Mitsuri eats. They even talked about the Shinazugawa brothers... But I didn't want to get involved. Sanemi and Genya... It's a complicated thing. Mitsuri and I wouldn't understand, after all...
-"Hey... You again..." Nezuko appeared from under the table and jumped on me.
-"Hey, stop it." I laughed a bit out of embarrassment, and Mitsuri laughed too, helping me a little.
-"Calm down, Nezuko..." Mitsuri petted her head, and she lay down on the floor. "She's so cute, isn't she?" I petted her too, and Tanjiro kept eating more food.
We took a walk around the place while Mitsuri sang a little song: "...That one is the traitor, we must punish him. You wouldn't understand since he's wearing fancy clothes. Beat him up, give him a thrashing..." Yeah, Mitsuri can be so random. We kept walking around, and Tanjiro asked a question.
-"Kanroji-san, why did you join the demon slayers?" I felt embarrassed, even though the question wasn't for me... And Tanjiro noticed, after all, I was standing right beside her.
-"Huh? Me? It's kind of embarrassing..." Mitsuri pulled me and turned her back to Tanjiro.
-"Shinobu, should I tell him? QwQ" she whispered. I sighed, feeling shy, and responded...
-"Yo... You can if you want..." I said, implying I didn't mind, though that wasn't really true. Mitsuri turned and answered Tanjiro's question...
-"Well, originally I joined to find a 'gentleman' who would marry me for life..." she said, feeling embarrassed.
YOU ARE READING
The Flower and the Butterfly
FanfictionShinobu Kocho, an eighteen-year-old girl living in Japan, is a young adult who recently lost her sister to a man-eating demon. Due to this event, she has been plagued by intense nightmares about what happened, hiding all her pain behind a smile. Now...