Their Tale [Kimetsu No Yaiba Oneshots]

Couples?

Kanroji Mitsuri was a fun person to be around, Shinobu admitted. She's bubbly and outspoken, always exuded energy every time she met her. Her outgoing personality made it easy get along well with her, a thing Shinobu was grateful for because they were the only women in the Pillars.

But sometimes she asked the wildest question out of the blue.

It was during her visit to the Love Pillar's abode, invited by the host for a tea party as a way of relaxing. She promised delicious cookies and fluffy pancakes, and knowing how good a cook Mitsuri was, there was no way Shinobu refused. Maybe she could pick up some recipes from her and bake cookies together with the girls the next time she had a day-off. That sounded fun, too.

After an exhilarating story about how Mitsuri completely owned a demon that had numerous, extendable limbs, a comfortable silence settled between them before Mitsuri called softly, "Shinobu-chan?" almost in a squeak.

"Mm?" Shinobu sipped her cooling tea, pleased at the perfect brew Mitsuri had poured her. "What is it, Mitsuri-san?"

"Can... can I ask you something a liiiitle bit personal?"

"It... depends on your question," came the Insect Pillar's reply, confused. Mitsuri might talk and ask a lot, but she was not the type who's nosy about something personal.

The pink-haired lady cleared her throat before asked, voice more audible than before, "Are you and Tomioka-san... an item?"

It took Shinobu five seconds before answering her, though her reply was only a dumbfounded "What?"

Mitsuri's face somehow turned redder, like she's someone caught doing something indecent. "Like... in a relationship! It's just, you guys are always touching each other-oh god, that sounds so wrong-I mean!" she took a deep breath, and continued, "You two tend to be close... physically."

The black-haired woman lifted one eyebrow up in confusion. She didn't remember being that intimate with Tomioka-san? "You mean... how I poke him all the time?"

Suddenly the Love Pillar became more agitated, waving her knuckles in distress. "No! More than that! Once I saw you two under one umbrella and your arms were touching-"

"That's because if we didn't do that we both would be soaked," Shinobu cut her sentence. Mitsuri probably referred to the incident three weeks ago, when rain poured down suddenly when she was out buying fresh bandages. When she was waiting in front of the pharmacy, Tomioka-san passed in front of her like a godsend. And what else she's supposed to do when her favourite person to tease was in front of her, in the middle of a rain, with an umbrella in his hand while she had none? Jumped under the umbrella, of course, largely to annoy him. Shinobu knew, although he seemed cold and unfriendly, he's actually really weak when being pressured. So him wearing a stink face but still letting her walk under his umbrella was pretty much as she expected.

But she had not expected him to escort her all the way to the estate despite his house was closer, which was a nice surprise.

"How about that one time I saw you in the shopping district and him carrying your things for you? Also you stand so close with each other your arms were touching again!"

"I bribed him with salmon daikon so he would help me carrying those stuffs," Shinobu explained. That's true. Two weeks ago, she needed to buy cooking ingredients for the whole week, and Tomioka-san once again was conveniently in the estate for the monthly health check-up. Remembering how he had... creppily smiled when eating salmon daikon, Shinobu baited him with the meal. That was a pretty easy catch, like a cat being given a fish.

"But that didn't explain why you stood so close to each other!" Mitsuri countered relentlessly.

Shinobu laughed at the fuss she made. Was it really that interesting, her relationship with the Water Pillar? Knowing Mitsuri, she's probably just excited because it's a love discussion. How cute she was, this dear friend of hers. "Trust me, it's just a coincidence, Mitsuri-san," she reassured, reaching out to take a checkered cookie and popped it in her mouth.