A/N: I was going to do magic, but I couldn’t get the world building right. I think this turned out pretty cute at least. I mostly used this Wikipedia page for info on Hanakotoba, so if something isn’t exactly right, that would be why. Thanks for reading! Word Count: 2,118
Shinobu was doing some light reading before bed when she heard a knock at her door. With an inaudible sigh, she got out of bed and opened the door. Instead of finding a person, all she saw was a small bundle of flowers. She looked to either end of the empty hall before picking the flowers up. On quick inspection, she determined they were gardenias.
Perplexed, she scanned the hall once more before returning to her room. She set the flowers on her desk. Though she wasn’t sure what the meaning of this small gift was, she intended to put them in a vase come morning. It was given with care, tied with a little pink and green bow, she would treat the bundle with care in turn.
***
Shinobu was working on a particularly fickle experiment when she heard a knock against her laboratory door. She called out, asking for just a minute to make sure her sample culture was stable before opening the door. Again, she saw no one and at her feet was another bundle of flowers tied in pink and green ribbon. The flowers today however, were different.
Pale yellow tsubaki blossoms, petals soft beneath Shinobu’s fingertips. Again she scanned the hall, and again she stood alone. She added the tsubaki to the vase of gardenia she kept by the window in her bedroom.
***
Though Shinobu had grown fond of Tanjirou and the others, they simply had too much energy. In an effort to find but a moment of peace to combat the headache she felt steadily pulsating against the back of her eyes, she went to the place she usually went when she wanted a moment to herself. The roof.
She hadn’t meant to, but she had dozed off and when she awoke, beside her laid a bundle of vivid carnations tied in the same pink and green ribbon as before. It was then that it dawned on Shinobu that perhaps these flowers had more meaning than she realized. The only problem was, she didn’t know what that meaning could be.
***
Shinobu had heard Kanae talk about Hanakotoba, the art of expressing oneself through flowers, on occasion, but she had always had far more interested in the medicinal properties of plants. Now as she struggled to understand the meaning of these flowers, she found herself wishing she had paid more attention to her sister’s explanations. She had found them unnecessary at the time, but now she felt terribly out of the loop. She couldn’t dare ask any of the other girls for assistance in deciding whatever messages these flowers held, that would be her admitting she didn’t know something and she couldn’t let that happen.
She thought she could recall Kanae having a book dedicated to flower language in her room, but all she found was a gap in the shelf where the book would be.
Curious.
Shinobu decided then that whoever was in possession of the book, was the one leaving her flowers. She asked each of the Butterfly Girls of the book’s whereabouts first, thinking they were prime suspects. Each claimed to not know where the book was, but Kanao and Kiyo were suspicious.
Shinobu didn’t think they were capable of lying to her, Kanao especially, but they both denied knowing who had the book even though their faces betrayed their involvement… as well as the flowers they held in their hands.
Bluebells and white anemone.
Shinobu thought she had caught them red handed, but according to Kiyo, they had been instructed by someone else to make sure the flowers found their way to her. When questioned on who this person was, both girls clammed up, but shared a conspiratorial glance that made Shinobu’s smile twitch.
Fine, keep your secrets, but Shinobu swore she would figure this out. Someone would crack or slip up eventually and she would be there.
***
Shinobu was convinced that everyone knew what was going on at this point besides herself and it was driving her crazy. She never could have dreamed her girls could be so conniving.
For the next several days she received a bundle of flowers tied in the same pink and green string and she was no closer to understanding the message of the flowers, nor finding out who was responsible for sending them to her.
She thought she almost caught them in the act a couple of times. The instant she heard a knock on her door, she would speedily yank it open and catch a shape disappear around the corner. She would try to give chase, but someone was always around to intercept her.
When she heard the hushed, excited voices of the younger girls, she would try to listen in, or casually walk up to interrogate question them on what they were discussing. They would quickly excuse themselves to get back to their chores and scatter like rats. Shinobu was convinced this counted as some lesser form of mutiny.
Shinobu glared at the overflowing vase. Whatever message they represented might as well have been written in Greek. Shinobu wished it was Greek, rather. With all the Greek and Latin she came across in her studies, she would be able to at least get something out of it. Whether it was Prunus serrulata or the Pecteilis radiata, it didn’t matter how much she knew about the plant itself. Her bountiful knowledge yielded no hints for for something so abstract.
A tentative knock came from her door, distracting her from her brooding, but not enough that she cared to make an effort to sprint through the wall in hopes of catching another glimpse of her secret flower courier.
When she opened the door, instead of being greeted by a bundle of flowers, there was a note.
Meet me in the flower garden at sunset 💕
It would seem whatever game was being played around her was finally coming to an end if she understood the message correctly. It seemed straightforward enough, but she was still wary. Shinobu peered out of her window to gage the sky, she would soon receive the answers she had been looking for, and the explanation had better be satisfactory.
***
Shinobu arrived when the sky turned a rose-y pink and the sun had sunk far to the west, making the horizon look like it was bathed in fire. It was a beautiful evening.
She walked the gravel path, pausing when she saw Mitsuri of all people sitting on the wooden bench in the middle of the garden, fidgeting with a bundle of flowers in her hands. A quiet, disbelieving scoff left Shinobu’s lips and she shook her head briefly before crossing the remainder of the distance between them.
“Not you too, Kanroji-san,” Shinobu’s voice made Mitsuri jolt in her seat, almost dropping the flowers on the ground, “You must tell me who put you up to this. My girls have been aggravatingly tight-lipped about it.”
Poor, pink-faced Mitsuri gave an awkward laugh and shakily rose to her feet.
“I’m sorry about that! They were only trying to help me. I hope they aren’t in any trouble.”
“No,” Shinobu sighed, “As long as they are respectful, do their chores, and stay out of real trouble, what more could I really ask of them?” Shinobu’s eyes flickered away the sky back to Mitsuri, “They were helping you?”
“Mhm.” Mitsuri nodded quickly, shuffling closer to Shinobu with her bundle of flowers outstretched.
Ah, the pink and green string seemed to make more sense now at least, but…
“Kanroji-san,” Shinobu paused, then chuckled, carefully taking the bundle that seemed to be wearing so heavily on Mitsuri, “Thank you, for the flowers, all of them.”
“You’re welcome!” She squeaked, using her now empty hands to cover her face. “So, um, what do you think? How do you feel? Do you, could you, possibly feel the same, maybe?”
Shinobu’s head tilted to the side and she observed the flowers in her hands, colored much like the sunset that illuminated the sky, in hopes that whatever this was about would just naturally come to her, but she had no such luck. After a drawn out exhale, she answered.
“Alstroemeria, Alstroemeria aurea, more commonly referred to as the Peruvian lily or lily of the Incas. This plant is actually fairly toxic, as it produces a compound called tulipalin when cut. I hope you were careful in handling these, or you may get a rash.”
Mitsuri nodded quickly, but hid her hands behind her back.
“Come along, Kanroji-san. This flower may not be native to our country, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have anything that can help ease the discomfort.”
“Thank you…” Mitsuri blushed, embarrassed.
“I suppose I should say I’m telling you all of this as a way to tell you that although I know an extensive amount about each flower you have chosen to give me, I am embarrassed to say that I do not know what feelings they are meant to represent.”
“You don’t?!” Mitsuri squawked.
“Nope!” Shinobu answered cheerfully in an attempt to bury her shame. “Don’t stop walking, the sooner we get to my office, the sooner we can take care of your hands.”
Upon entering the room, the flowers were on full display by the window, looking just as fresh as the day they arrived due to a preservative Shinobu had added to the water.
The room was silent save for Shinobu carefully rummaging through a cabinet of creams. When she found what she was looking for, she helped Mitsuri rub it in and bandaged the more aggravated looking patches of skin.
“There we go,” Shinobu murmured, “I’ll send you home with a jar, but you better promise me you’ll come back if it doesn’t seem to be getting any better—”
“Those ones— they mean the connection I feel with you is so strong, that language is limited when trying to explain it!” Mitsuri spoke so fast, it took Shinobu a few extra seconds to catch up.
“Ah, is that so? That’s very sweet of you, Kanroji-san. Would you mind telling me about the others?”
Mitsuri’s mouth opened and closed, but the only sounds she could make were croak-y squeaks that only made her more flushed.
“MaybeanothertimeIhavetogobye!”
Mitsuri dove out of the open window, miraculously missing the vase as she did so.
“Oh dear, be careful!” Shinobu called after her, too stunned to do anything but watch Mitsuri haphazardly flail and zigzag around the garden before leaping over the fence and out of sight.
A knock against the doorframe was finally able to pull Shinobu away from the window, and when she turned, she was faced with Mitsuri’s co-conspirators.
“I think it’s time we gave you this.” Aoi said, nodding towards Kanao.
Kanao pulled a book from within her cloak and held it up to Shinobu.
“Thank you. I’ve been looking for that, although I think you all know this by now.” Despite the sweetness of Shinobu’s tone, the five girls squirmed under the intensity of her eyes.
“It was all for a good cause!” Sumi promised.
“We didn’t mean to give you a hard time!” Naho swore.
“It’ll all make sense soon!” Kiyo assured.
“You’ll see.” Kanao smiled shyly.
Shinobu looked over the group, then exhaled and looked down at the decorative cover of the book in her hands.
“Very well.”
***
Mitsuri had just finished reapplying the cream Shinobu had given her to her hands, reveling in the soothing, cool sensation. It had only been a couple days, but her hands were noticeably better already. Which was good because she didn’t think she could handle seeing Shinobu again so soon after bolting like that. How embarrassing!
She had just managed to twist the slippery cap back on the jar of cream when she heard a knock against her door.
“Who could that be?” She wondered aloud, “Just a second!”
She slid the door open and was met with vibrant color.
Sunflowers, pansies, peonies, forget-me-nots and a few familiar flowers including the lilies that had not agreed with her skin.
Then her eyes drifted above the vase, finding Shinobu smiling fondly at her wonderment, a faint blush gradually coloring her pale face.
“I wanted to return the favor, but to avoid the risk of my message being misinterpreted, I want to tell you that I also—“
“I love you!” Mitsuri shouted.
Shinobu had just enough time to grab the vase by the neck and hold it to the side before Mitsuri descended upon her with an almost bone-crushing hug.
“I love you so much!”
Shinobu melted into the hug, carefully draping her arms over Mitsuri’s back so the vase would stay upright.
A/N: I had more I could have added to this one, but as I’m writing this, I still have none of day five done so… maybe I could add another part later if enough people are interested? Day six is 2/3 done and day seven is just going to be a doodle cause I’ve got no ideas for the free day, nor time. Anyway, thanks for reading! Word Count: 2,317
Shinobu was exhausted. Having just got off of her shift at the hospital, all she wanted to do was collapse into her bed, but on her way home her mind wandered and she remembered that she had next to nothing in terms of food. That would teach her to keep putting off grocery shopping all week. If she wanted to make the most of her day off tomorrow, er, well, today, she supposed as she caught sight of the time, she had better stock up so she wouldn’t have to leave her apartment.
She parked her car in the twenty-four hour grocery lot, got a cart with an aggravatingly squeaky wheel, and then beelined for the pre-made frozen meals. Would she prefer a home cooked meal? Of course, but she didn’t have the time or energy to prep and cook for herself these days.
She rubbed at her eyes after tossing a couple instant ramen packages into her cart as well. Then she yawned so deeply that it shook her whole body. Maybe she should get some coffee and caffeinated tea while she was at it.
She rolled her cart down the aisle, head nodding. Her eyes drooped shut for but a moment…
Crrsshhh!
Shinobu’s eyes shot open and her head snapped up. She had just full on crashed into another shopper’s cart! Maybe she should call a driving service if she couldn’t even steer a cart without falling asleep.
“I am so sorry! My brain has totally left me it seems.”
“Oh, don’t worry it’s… Shinobu? Is that you?”
Shinobu rubbed her bleary eyes, blinking a couple times before her cart of junk came into focus. Then she looked to the cart she had run into, piled high with all manner of fresh vegetables and fruits, baking goods, a little bit of everything. Like a mini pantry of what you’d see on those cooking competition shows.
Then she finally brought her eyes to the woman on the other side of the vastly different carts. The pink-green hair was a dead giveaway and it hit Shinobu like a quadruple shot of espresso.
“Mitsuri?”
Mitsuri lit up, “Oh wow, I can’t believe it! I haven’t seen you since high school. How have you been?”
“Ah,” Shinobu stammered, still waking up apparently, “Mhm, yeah, I’ve been alright. I finished my internship abroad last year. Now I’m starting my residency at the local hospital. As you can probably tell, they’ve been raking me over the coals.” She chuckled uncomfortably, suddenly acutely aware of how disheveled she was. “But enough about me, what have you been up to?”
“I own a diner a couple streets down. Twenty-four hour breakfast and all manner of sugary treats!” Mitsuri beamed.
“That’s wonderful. I recall that owning your own restaurant was the goal after you finished culinary school. Congratulations.”
“Thank you! You should totally come by sometime. I’d love to catch up.“
“Yeah?” Shinobu tried to slow her thumping heart, “That sounds nice. I’d love that too.”
Mitsuri was as bright and cheerful as ever, even in a grocery store at almost two in the morning. Shinobu had thought she had finally gotten over her after all this time, but now she felt like she had been hit by Cupid’s grocery cart all over again. There had been a reason they had fallen out of touch beyond different time zones and busy, ever-shifting schedules. Shinobu just couldn’t take the heartache of falling for someone she couldn’t have and slipped away.
“So,” Shinobu cleared her throat, “Is that what you’re up to now, topping off your ingredients for the diner?”
“Uh, nope! These groceries are for personal use.” Mitsuri gave an awkward laugh. “Maybe I went a little overboard.”
“Not at all.” Shinobu quickly corrected. “When you’re cooking from scratch, you’re naturally going to have a fuller cart. It’s better than what I’ve got going on over here.” She gestured to her own cart and Mitsuri gasped when she saw the stack of cardboard boxes and instant ramen.
“Shinobu!” Mitsuri squeaked, “What do you think your doing with all of those?!”
“I don’t really have time to cook a whole meal for myself. Any time I can save for sleeping is worth it to me.” She replied a bit defensively.
“Even so!” Mitsuri huffed, “There’s no love in there! When was the last time you had a proper home cooked meal?”
“I don’t know,” Shinobu rubbed the back of her neck as she wracked her brain, “maybe when I visited my parents five or six months ago.”
“That’s half a year Shinobu!” Mitsuri blanched. “You’ve been eating like this non stop for half a year?!”
Actually, Shinobu had been eating like this ever since she finished her undergrad. Medical school and internships had left little room for spending extra time on making her own meals. Given the way Mitsuri was looking at her at the moment, she didn’t think it wise to tell her this.
“I get take-out sometimes too.” She shared instead.
“Okay, nononono,” Mitsuri shook her head and stepped around her cart to take Shinobu’s out of her slack hands, “Come on, we’re putting these back.”
“Mitsuri—“
“There are plenty of filling recipes that take about as much time to make as it takes to heat this junk up. I’ll steer you right, Shinobu!”
And Shinobu was powerless to stop her. She trailed after Mitsuri like a lost child as all of her go-to meals were shoved back into the freezers and replaced with ingredients that struck a surprising amount of fear into her. How long had it been since she cut and cooked an onion even? The level of intimidation she was feeling in this moment was palpable.
“Uh, Mitsuri, I don’t know if I’m suited for whatever you have in mind…”
“Hm? What do you mean, Shinobu? We used to cook together all the time when we were growing up, remember?”
“Yes, it’s just been awhile…” A very long while, “In all honesty, I’m not sure what you expect me to make with all of this.”
“That’s why I’m going to help you. You should really come over and crash at my place anyway since you’re already sleeping at the wheel so to speak.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, I was going to call a ride share, I swear.” Shinobu unexpectedly felt a flutter of panic in her chest. “Besides, it’s so late and Obanai wouldn’t be expecting company, right?”
“Ah, you don’t have to be concerned about him.” Mitsuri said, suddenly drumming and dancing her fingers over the handlebar of Shinobu’s grocery cart as they walked back down the aisle to her abandoned cart, “We broke up a couple years ago. It’s just me and my cats now and they won’t mind a visitor.”
Choosing to ignore the mention of cats, Shinobu chose to focus on the surprising news of the high school sweethearts falling out of love, how did that happen?
“I didn’t know. I’m sorry I brought him up.”
“It’s okay,” Mitsuri assured, “It wasn’t an easy choice at the time, but I think we made the right call. We just sorta… grew apart. Wanted different things. We’re still best friends though.”
“I’m glad you still get along at least.” And she meant it too, even though a big part of her was rejoicing on the inside. She was acutely aware at how close they had been. She pretty much had a front row seat all throughout high school and having had a crush on Mitsuri since seventh grade, she really couldn’t blame herself for choosing to slowly fade out of Mitsuri’s life in the years that followed.
“Me too. So, any special someone in your life?”
“Nope.” There had been some dates, even one night stands, but romance and vulnerability came difficultly to Shinobu, especially when her heart still belonged to someone else who didn’t even know she had it.
“Geez, Shinobu, you really need a better work life balance.” Mitsuri shook her head disapprovingly, then smiled, touching Shinobu’s hand, “But I guess it’s a good thing. I don’t have to worry about stealing you away from someone waiting for you at home.”
“I suppose that is convenient.” She really wished her heart wasn’t threatening to beat out of her chest because of Mitsuri’s casual choice of words, but what could she do?
“Come on, let’s go check out. Hey, does your car have enough room for a bicycle?”
Shinobu often got a lot of teasing from her co-workers for driving a minivan when she had no spouse, kids or big pets that would justify such a big vehicle for one person. It suited her just fine, however. With how often she had to move around to further her education, the van was basically her second home and it made moving so much easier.
“Yeah, I’ve got room.”
They checked out their groceries and piled them into Shinobu’s van, along with Mitsuri’s bicycle. How Mitsuri was going to make it home with that many groceries on a bike of all things, Shinobu didn’t have to wonder. Mitsuri had always been incredibly strong, so she didn’t doubt that Mitsuri had done so several times before.
Mitsuri driving her car however, let’s just say Shinobu was not in danger of falling asleep with her behind the wheel.
“Sorry about the jerkiness. I pretty much bike everywhere. My driver’s license is still valid though, don’t worry!”
Fortunately Mitsuri didn’t live terribly far from the grocery store. She lived on the third floor of a cute little townhouse. The whole apartment smelled like baked apples and cinnamon sugar. It was so warm and cozy too. Just like that, Shinobu was in danger of falling asleep again.
“Home sweet home,” Mitsuri sighed pleasantly, sliding off her shoes, “please make yourself comfortable.”
“Thank you.” Shinobu kicked off her shoes and hung her jacket beside Mitsuri’s on the rack.
“Mew.”
“Mroow.”
Oh no, Shinobu had forgotten what Mitsuri had said about cats. She stood awkwardly in the door way as the fluffiest cats she had ever seen slunk over. One white, one black.
“Hi kitties! Sorry for coming home so late. Let’s get you a snack too, shall we? You’ll be eating in my bedroom tonight.” She opened a cupboard in the kitchen that had the cats go from curiously sniffing at Shinobu to pawing Mitsuri’s legs in a matter of seconds. “The white one is Love Fluff and the Black one is Mr. Sooty Pants,” Mitsuri told Shinobu from over her shoulder. What dignified names. “I’ll make sure they leave you alone. You’re still allergic, right?”
“Yeah. Sorry for the trouble.”
“No trouble at all. I sometimes have to put them away when I’m in the kitchen anyway. They are sooo nosey. You should be safe sleeping in the guest room. I always keep the door closed unless I have company over or I’m cleaning.”
Ever so considerate. Shinobu could just melt. If this became a regular thing, she would definitely invest in some allergy medication.
“Okay, kitties are set up. Now a very, very early morning snack for us.” Mitsuri rolled up her sleeves and begin washing her hands.
Shinobu asked how she could help and Mitsuri directed her to put the groceries away. By the time she was done, Mitsuri had two yogurt and fruit parfaits sprinkled with granola and oats at the ready. Shinobu took one bite and visibly sunk into her chair. She had never taken recreational drugs, but she imagined this single bite of parfait was definitely comparable. The fresh berries paired with the smooth and creamy yogurt and the added crunch of the granola and oats was absolutely heavenly.
“Is it good?” Mitsuri giggled.
“Extremely.”
“Your poor tastebuds. I won’t rest until I’m sure they’ll never be neglected again!” Mitsuri nodded resolutely.
They spent a little more time talking as they ate, but soon retired for the night. Shinobu didn’t think she ever fell asleep as fast as she did in Mitsuri’s guest room. Not only that, but her slumber was restful too. When she woke up a later in the afternoon, she felt energized by the smells wafting from the kitchen.
“Good morning! Oh, wait, good afternoon!” Mitsuri greeted when she noticed Shinobu enter the kitchen, “I’m almost finished here. Take a seat and help yourself.”
“Wow, thank you Mitsuri, this all looks amazing.”
The counter was filled with hash browns, eggs, sweet and savory crepes, waffles, fruits, coffee and tea. Shinobu quickly filled her plate with a bit of everything.
“I hope you like it. Breakfast is kind of my specialty after all.” Mitsuri joined Shinobu at the table and began filling her own plate.
“It’s all very good, Mitsuri, really. Thank you so much for this.”
“You’re welcome! Eat up!”
Shinobu ate until she was fit to burst and then set to work on the dishes. She thought it was the least she could do far all the work Mitsuri had done. When the kitchen was cleaned, they moved to the living room to talk, catching up on all the goings on of the last decade. The more they talked, it was almost like no time had passed at all. Shinobu wished the day would never end, but it steadily grew later and after dinner, she forced herself to broach the subject of going home.
Mitsuri was disappointed that she had to leave, but after getting Shinobu’s phone number she seemed a lot happier.
“I’ll make sure we meet up again soon, Dr. Busy Bee,” she promised, “And I’ll send you all the recipes I had in mind when we picked your groceries. They’re super easy, I swear.”
“I trust you. Thank you again for today.” Shinobu really couldn’t thank Mitsuri enough. She accepted the taller girl’s hug and blushed when she received a kiss on the cheek for good measure.
A/N: Starts out angsty and there are some misunderstandings, but all ends well : ) This also contains some material from the main manga, Stories of Water and Flame, and the One-winged Butterfly light novel. Thanks for reading! Word Count: 4,544
Mitsuri had been fascinated by the red string tied around her pinky finger since it appeared sometime after her first birthday. She could see the winding and tugging strings that littered the ground for as long as she could remember, always marveling at how people could move through even the toughest of tangles without being hindered in any way.
It wasn’t until she was six that she learned what the strings meant after asking her mother about the occasional tugging at her pinky finger.
“A string of fate connects you to your soulmate,” her mother had explained, “Somewhere, a person made just for you is saying hello.”
Mitsuri made sure to tug back every time after that. It was also during that conversation that Mitsuri realized that not everyone could see these strings, as she did. Even her mother had seemed to brush her child’s claim off with a soft smile and a light chuckle.
“Well then how does everyone know the strings are red if nobody’s supposed to see them?” Mitsuri pouted, crossing her arms.
“Because something so wonderful would be dyed in the color of happiness, no?” Her mother tapped her nose with the tip of her finger, “Now help your mother up, so we can make lunch, will you sweetheart?”
Mitsuri helped her heavily pregnant mother back to her feet with very little trouble, dreams of her soulmate running through her head. Regardless of whether or not her mother believed her, see could see the strings clear as day. It would be easy to find whoever was tied to the other end of hers. She would find them in no time.
Or so she thought.
Mitsuri thought she had found her soulmate just before turning seventeen. In the years leading up to meeting him, she would spend time each day wrapping the string around her wrist, believing she was closing the distance between herself and her intended life partner.
That prim boy with the glasses had been so tangled in her string when they had crossed paths that Mitsuri had been certain he was the one. She fell hard and fast.
At first, all seemed well. They were set to be married the following year. He was snobbish, a bit cold the the touch, but Mitsuri loved him for who he was. If only he could have done the same, or at the very least let her go from the very beginning.
“You eat too much.”
“No girl should be that strong.”
“Aren’t you embarrassed to go out with your hair looking like that?”
Mitsuri would still smile though the words cut through her like glass. Convinced her love was true, she did everything she could to fix herself, mold herself into whatever he wanted. It had to be working right? In the night, she would feel the familiar tug against her pinky and tug back and her heart would feel lighter again. She was doing the right thing.
But after a few months of starving herself and coloring her roots black at the first sign of pink, the boy with the glasses had finally had enough of her. He told her he was done and left her without a backwards glance.
Perhaps the only saving grace of the day that saved Mitsuri from the heavy darkness threatening to swallow her whole was watching how her tangled string fell away from the boy the further away he walked, and the small tug on her pinky that was not reflected in the movement of his hands as he walked away. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she tugged back.
***
Mitsuri wasn’t sure what exactly drove her to the Demon Slayer Corps. Well, she did have an idea… she had taken up winding her string again, but more cautiously than before. She had learned the hard way that the string could be deceiving. It could grow and shrink and tangle with seemingly no rhyme or reason at all. Perhaps it would have been better if she couldn’t see it just like everyone else.
So though her string wove around Rengoku, she was cautious to jump the gun as she had before. Although he proved to be bright and kind, and anyone would be lucky to have him as a husband, Mitsuri liked him more as the big brother she never knew she wanted.
When she had gotten hurt helping people evacuate during Rengoku’s battle with Lower Moon Two, she was whisked away to the Butterfly Estate for medical assistance and met the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. How could such a girl even exist at all, much less in the same space and time so that Mitsuri could be so blessed as to look upon her with her own eyes.
Kochou Shinobu, also woven snuggly within Mitsuri’s string, smiled gently at her as she carefully disinfected and bandaged the canine-like bites that marred her thighs. Mitsuri could hardly speak to her without stammering, could hardly pay attention long enough to process the sweet sounding words the Insect Hashira spoke as she lost herself in those endlessly purple eyes. It was very hard for Mitsuri to not convince herself that Shinobu was her soulmate right on the spot.
“Please take good care of yourself, Kanroji-san. Can you do that for me?”
“Um— mhm! Mhm!” Mitsuri nodded so hard, she could have gotten whiplash. Shinobu laughed sweetly and Mitsuri instantly committed the sound to memory.
Then months later she found herself frantically spinning through the halls of the Master’s mansion. She was going to be late to her very first Hashira meeting, everyone was going to hate her!
As Mitsuri fretted about passing the same painting for the third time, someone cleared their throat behind her. Teary-eyed she spun to face the short man who stood awkwardly before her. He also seemed to be tangled within her string, quite a bit actually.
“You’re lost.” He stated the obvious, but Mitsuri nodded as if he had stated it as a question.
“I’ll take you back to the garden.” He glanced down at Mitsuri’s bare legs before snapping his eyes back up to her face. He than began stiffly walking down the right corridor. “Let’s go.”
“Thank you so much!” Mitsuri cried, relieved, following bouncily after him.
Upon entering the garden Mitsuri was certain that her soulmate had to be one of the Hashira around her. Meters and meters of her string draped over the group and almost seemed to carry a soft glow. Regardless of which Hashira her soulmate was, she already loved them all.
***
Mitsuri fiddled with the hem of one of her socks, her cheek resting against her knees. Obanai had given them to her the second time they saw each other, saying something awkward along the lines of looking at her made him feel cold.
She whined pitifully against her knees, arms covering her eyes. She had really messed up with Shinobu!
It all started out innocently enough, a cooking date of sorts, though Mitsuri only called it a date in her head. She had been so honored that Shinobu designated any time for her at all, but then she just had to go and blab unprompted that the reason she had joined the demon slayers was to find her soulmate!
Shinobu had looked at her a bit strangely, as Mitsuri mused about marrying a big, strong man, but she still smiled so Mitsuri didn’t think she had said anything wrong, until she had learned Shinobu’s reason for joining from a Kakushi. Compared to what Shinobu had gone through to end up where she was, loosing her parents and her sister, hearing that must have felt like a slap in the face!
Mitsuri had quickly excused herself after that and had been moping and avoiding Shinobu ever since. Not even Obanai treating her to dango had helped, in fact she couldn’t bring herself to enjoy it at all and ate very little. She told Obanai not to worry, that she was just feeling a little ill, but apparently that was more than enough to raise his concern and have him beating down Shinobu’s door the second Mitsuri’s back was turned.
As the days turned to weeks, she ate less and less, forced herself to be more demure even when faced with things that excited her and made her heart leap. It had even begun affecting her ability to do her job. On her most recent patrol, her body had felt particularly heavy and she had been cut across her cheek before successfully decapitating the demon. It was worrisome, but all she could think about was how to stay out of Shinobu’s way after speaking so carelessly to her. To avoid speaking so carelessly to anyone again. Even the gentle tugs against her pinky couldn’t bring her solace.
Her avoidance would not continue to stand unchallenged however, because she eventually received a summons to the Butterfly Estate from Shinobu herself. She couldn’t possibly say no, even if she was afraid of what Shinobu wanted to say.
Aoi lead her to a training room when she arrived and knocked on the door.
“Come in.” Mitsuri heard Shinobu call from within, and her heart ached having not heard the sweet voice in so long. Though it didn’t sound quite as sweet as she recalled. Mitsuri swallowed thickly. Shinobu was definitely upset with her, as she should be.
To Mitsuri’s dismay, Aoi went about her business, leaving her to open the door and face the music on her own. Inhaling deeply, she slowly pried open the door.
“Excuse me… Hello, Shinobu-chan. You wanted to see me?”
“Hello, Kanroji-san. Yes, I’m so glad you could make it.”
Mitsuri broke into a cold sweat. She had never heard Shinobu sound quite so cold. She wasn’t even smiling. She could be as terrifying as she was beautiful and it made Mitsuri’s heart stutter in her chest.
Shinobu brought Mitsuri’s attention to her hands as she picked up the two bamboo practice swords that had been sitting on the floor in front of her. She leapt to her feet and tossed one of the rods to Mitsuri who just barely managed to catch it, fumbling with it between her hands.
“Can you spar with me for a round?” Shinobu asked monotonously, already pointing her bamboo sword at Mitsuri’s chest.
“Wait, eep!”
Before Mitsuri could blink, Shinobu had knocked the sword free from her hands in one fell swoop and sent it clattering to the floor.
“That wasn’t even half of what my best strike could be, Kanroji-san. You should have dodged or countered that blow easily.” Shinobu shared gravely, “Your breathing is off, your skin looks sickly,” she stepped closer as she spoke, analyzing, “your cheeks have hollowed, you’ve gotten hurt…” Shinobu carefully ran the back of her hand over Mitsuri’s scratched cheek, her expression still stern despite the level of care she took in touching Mitsuri’s face, “Have you not been eating properly?”
“I…” Mitsuri tried to swallow but found her mouth suddenly dry. She attempted to clear her throat instead, looking down at her fidgety hands.
Shinobu took those hands into her own and Mitsuri looked over Shinobu’s string longingly, but even if she did wrap her string enough to find Shinobu at the other end of it, would she deserve her after what she had said so thoughtlessly?
“You are such a talented slayer, Kanroji-san. Your height, muscles and flexibility make your body naturally powerful.” Shinobu rubbed her thumbs over the back of Mitsuri’s hands, creating goosebumps across her skin, “You are also honest and endlessly kind. You have all the qualities of an excellent Hashira. So why,” Mitsuri could almost detect a tremor in Shinobu’s voice, “why are you making yourself weaker, Kanroji-san?”
Mitsuri’s breath hitched and she broke, she latched onto Shinobu and apologized. Explaining everything she had been agonizing over for the last several weeks. Shinobu let her vent and listened intently while she stroked Mitsuri’s back.
“And that’s just me! Kanroji Mitsuri, the girl who doesn’t always think before she speaks, the glutton, the muscle freak, the girl who can’t help but love everyone she sees! But I— I love you the most, Shinobu-chan! And that’s why the thought of my words hurting you is the worst feeling I can think of!”
Shinobu swallowed, grateful for yet another reason Mitsuri could not see her face while pressed so snuggly to the older girl’s chest. “Kanroji-san, your reasoning for joining the corps did not upset me. It surprised me, yes, but never did I think any less of you for it.”
Shinobu pulled back from the embrace enough from Mitsuri to look up at her, hoping the heat in her cheeks wasn’t as visible as it felt, “If we only let bitterness and sadness drive us, we would not be able to keep moving forward. Your cheerful personality and bright smile brings light to the darkness that threatens to swallow us, Kanroji-san. You remind us of what so many of us are fighting to protect.”
“Shinobu-chan!” Mitsuri’s eyes welled up with new tears and she pulled Shinobu right back in.
“Promise me you’ll go back to the proper nutrition intake we discussed.”
“I will!”
“Iguro-san was very worried about you too. He was emitting the most threatening aura when he told me he suspected you were upset.”
“I will apologize to him too, and everyone else! I’m sorry if he made you feel uncomfortable at all.”
“No, he was right to be a little short with me. I have been so focused on my lab work and the infirmary that I didn’t notice that you had been hurting and for that I cannot apologize to you enough. I will make a conscious effort to check in on you more frequently in the future.”
“You don’t have to!” Mitsuri stammered. The last thing she wanted was for Shinobu to feel like she had to babysit her.
“I want to,” Shinobu absent-mindedly fixed Mitsuri’s bangs back into place, an almost dreamy expression crossed her face, but Mitsuri had blinked and missed it, “You are very important to me, Kanroji-san.”
Mitsuri blushed a pretty pink hue. Shinobu was too good to be true.
“Now,” Shinobu clapped, her cold demeanor from when Mitsuri first entered had nearly thawed completely away, “lunch time! I had the girls working overtime in the kitchen. You had better eat as much as you can, or else!” Shinobu smiled, jabbing at the air with her fist.
Mitsuri nodded vigorously while shaking like a leaf. She certainly didn’t want to lose Shinobu’s smile again so soon.
It was the best Mitsuri had felt in weeks, like a huge weight had been lifted from her chest and she could finally breathe deeply again. Being able to eat with Shinobu and the other butterfly girls, Mitsuri already felt her strength returning. She couldn’t have been happier. She couldn’t show her appreciation through words alone, making sure to hug everyone tightly several times.
Mitsuri laid back on the floor, after finishing her last bowl. She hadn’t felt so full in what felt like ages. Shinobu offered her more, but she really couldn’t eat another bite. Shinobu scrutinized her, hovering agonizingly close to Mitsuri’s face a long moment before pulling back, satisfied.
Mitsuri wished she could stay longer, but Urara came tumbling through the nearby window to alert her of a new mission.
“You must be careful, Kanroji-san,” Shinobu fussed over Mitsuri as she went to see her off, “One good meal alone will not make up for weeks of neglect.”
“I’ll be careful Shinobu-chan, I promise. Thank you for today.”
“You’re welcome. Please come again, for any reason. No matter how small it may seem.”
Mitsuri hugged Shinobu once more. She wished she could stay longer. Though the red strings never hindered anyone’s path, she felt like hers was tangled up within the mansion, making it all the more difficult to leave the safe haven. She had taken maybe ten steps away when Shinobu called from the engawa.
“You don’t need to pretend to be anyone else, Kanroji-san,” Shinobu reminded, “I love you most when you are you.”
Mitsuri was so stunned, that she almost missed the tug on her string, pulling her pinky back towards the mansion. She pivoted quickly, just in time to watch Shinobu hide her hands behind her back, a coy smile on her lips.
“Be safe!” She ordered once again with a musical lilt to her voice, already heading back inside while Mitsuri gaped at her back.
Was Shinobu… could she really be, but then, where was she going?! Shouldn’t they talk about this?! The timing couldn’t be worse, Shinobu! What a tease!
“I— I will!” Mitsuri shouted, ”I’ll get it done really fast and I’ll tell you all about it!”
Shinobu paused in her closing of the door and peeked at Mitsuri from behind it, “I look forward to it.”
***
Mitsuri completed her mission without any complications, which was a relief considering her mind had been on Shinobu most of the time. If Mitsuri understood correctly and Shinobu somehow knew they were soulmates, why hadn’t she said anything before? Even more confusing was when Mitsuri came back, she expected, uh, well, something to be different, but Shinobu didn’t bring up the moment they had, nor did she treat Mitsuri any differently.
If the memory wasn’t so vivid, so fresh in Mitsuri’s mind, she would have thought she had only imagined the connection she had with Shinobu. It couldn’t be anyone else, and if by some very slim chance Shinobu wasn’t her soulmate, if Shinobu still wanted her, Mitsuri was as good as hers.
Mitsuri was sweating buckets when she arrived at the Butterfly Estate unannounced after agonizing over how to breech the topic of soulmates with Shinobu for several days. Part of her was still wishing Shinobu would bring it up first, but as time continued to pass, it became clear that it simply wasn’t going to happen.
She was walking stiffly past the estate’s garden when she realized her name was being called. That’s when she noticed Shinobu had been outside tending to the medicinal herb section of her garden. Moonlight, sunlight, she looked so beautiful always!
“Kanroji-san, are you alright? I called your name five times just now.” Shinobu rose to her feet, removing her gardening gloves while she observed Mitsuri for any obvious injuries.
“I-I’m okay!” She stammered in reply, rocking stiffly from toe to heel, hands clasped tightly together behind her back.
Shinobu tossed her gloves into the wicker basket at her feet and closed the distance, teasingly circling Mitsuri to be sure she was, at the very least, physically well. She came to a stop in front of Mitsuri, only a few steps between them.
“Hmm, you do look a lot better than you did a few weeks ago. Any particular reason for this visit, or did you just miss me?” And as if the words weren’t enough to make Mitsuri blush, Shinobu’s smile quirked a little higher on one side making it into a bit of a smirk.
Mitsuri swallowed audibly and took in a shuttering breath. It was now or never! She could do this! She had basically told Shinobu already that she loved her more than anyone else, it couldn’t be that hard to say it again!
“Shinobu-chan, I think you are my soulmate!”
Shinobu blinked, mildly surprised, but still smiled easily.
“I thought we had already established that, but it’s good to have reminders I suppose.”
“Wuh—“ Mitsuri squawked, “Then why haven’t we talked about it more! Why haven’t we been doing… you know, soulmate things?”
“Soulmate things?” Shinobu chuckled.
“Well, yes, like being together more often, holding hands… maybe kiiieeeeyah!” Mitsuri covered her face in her hands, she had almost said too much. She couldn’t just insinuate that they should kiss right this moment, where would be the romance in that?
“Kanroji-san, nothing has to change between us simply because we are soulmates.” Shinobu said, busying herself by inspecting a wilt-y looking flower, “Platonic soulmates are common enough and just as impactful. You don’t have to force yourself to act any differently with me.”
Mitsuri slowly slid her hands down her face, stopping just over her mouth, keeping it covered while she observed Shinobu. Mitsuri hadn’t considered platonic soulmates, but she really, really didn’t think that was the case. Not for her at least. Mitsuri suddenly felt a chill settle in her chest.
“Do you… not love me, Shinobu-chan?”
Shinobu jerked her head back towards Mitsuri, her mask almost slipping. Mitsuri still detected a bit of wild worry in Shinobu’s eyes as she quickly worked to reassure Mitsuri.
“Of course I love you,” smile shallow, almost forced, “I want to support you in any way that I can. I just,” she sighed quietly, “Your dreams for a romantic partner are ones that I cannot personally fulfill.”
“No they aren’t?!” Mitsuri was confused as she was affronted on Shinobu’s behalf despite those words coming right out of the girl’s own mouth. Shinobu was perfect! “What are you talking about?”
“Perhaps I’ve said too much.“
“I don’t think you’re saying enough, actually! Please Shinobu, tell me what you mean.”
Shinobu’s fingers twitched in agitation. Why was Mitsuri being so reluctant to take the out she had provided? This was already hard enough for her as it currently stood. She knelt to the ground once more and went back to her pruning to give her hands something to do.
“I’m just not a good match for you that way. I’m not taller than you, nor am I stronger than you, and I am no man. You have said you hoped your soulmate was something along those lines before. I cannot fulfill that role, but I can support you in other ways as your friend.”
Mitsuri paled. She had said things like that before, hadn’t she? Did she find those attributes attractive? Yes. But she also loved how easy it was to swallow Shinobu up in a hug, how easy it was to pick her up and spin her around, how soft and feminine she was. Those attributes were just as attractive if not even more so just because it was Shinobu, and there was so much more about the Insect Hashira that Mitsuri loved. She made sure to tell Shinobu just that.
She fell to her knees beside Shinobu, pulling her in and trapping her to her body with arms and legs. She fell sideways when Shinobu tried to separate from her, cuddling her within an inch of her life.
“Kanroji-san!” Shinobu tried to sit back up, but Mitsuri would not let her move away.
“It’s true that I like those things, Shinobu-chan, but I also told you that I love you most of all! Remember?”
“Well, yes, I do recall,” Shinobu blushed, trying to hide her face from Mitsuri’s unusually close and intense stare, “you tend to get ahead of yourself when you are too excited or flustered—“
“I meant what I said, don’t try to explain it away.” Mitsuri warned. It was the most severe tone Shinobu had ever heard from her. “When I first met you, I couldn’t believe such a beautiful girl could exist. I was captivated by you.”
Shinobu tried to avert her eyes, but Mitsuri cupped her face in her hand, tilting it back towards her.
“On top of being the most beautiful person I know, you are also the smartest. The way you make poison to destroy demons is nothing short of incredible. And even though you are super kind and sweet normally, you won’t hesitate to tell someone off if they’re in the wrong. I think you are so cool!”
“Kanroji-san, this is too much…”
“I’m in love with you, Shinobu. If you want to keep things the same, I will find a way to cope, but don’t hold yourself back because you think it’s what I want, it isn’t. I want you.” Mitsuri stroked her thumb over the heated skin of Shinobu’s cheek and whispered, “Do you want me?”
Shinobu’s tongue darted out briefly to wet her lips. She didn’t miss how Mitsuri’s eyes followed the movement and felt even more warm than she already did trapped in her arms, directly beneath the midday sun. Mitsuri was waiting ever so patiently for an answer, but it took Shinobu a couple false starts before she could answer the query truthfully.
“I do.” She croaked, wincing at the sound of her uneven voice. Mitsuri was wrong, she wasn’t cool at all!
“I’ve never seen you so red Shinobu-chan.” Mitsuri cooed. “You look so cute.”
“Kanroji, please.” Shinobu wanted to crawl into a dark corner until she could remember how to control her face again. She felt too exposed.
“Shinobu, look!” Mitsuri gasped excitedly, raising her hand to the sky.
The red string glowed and constricted, leaving only about half a foot of of yarn between them.
“What am I supposed to be looking at?” Shinobu raised her arm to block the sun, “Is there a bird?”
Ah, that’s right. Shinobu wouldn’t be able to see the string, would she?
“Oh, no, um, nevermind.” Mitsuri retracted her elation with a sheepish giggle.
“Tell me, please. You sounded so excited.”
Mitsuri considered denying her request, but Shinobu looked so genuinely curious. She decided to tell her.
“I’ve been able to see the red strings of fate since I was little. I forgot that no one else can see them sometimes.” Mitsuri half expected Shinobu to tease or give her an incredulous look, but she did not.
“What does it look like?”
“A thin, bright red yarn. The length extends and contracts and slithers like it’s alive. Sometimes it glows. Right now it’s glowing, and the lead is very short.” To demonstrate, Mitsuri moved her hand away and Shinobu felt a tug, a bit stronger than the tugs she had received growing up, she smiled.
“Incredible.”
“Ah, well, I think it did me more harm than good at times. My parents still don’t believe me. I often thought it would have been better if I couldn’t see them like everyone else.”
“Ah yes, the soulmate imposter.” Shinobu’s brow furrowed marginally. “What I wouldn’t give to have five minutes alone with him.”
“Unless he turned into a demon, I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Mitsuri shivered imperceivably. Threatening the people who harmed her was something both Shinobu and Obanai shared.
“He’s already a demon by my standards,” Shinobu booped Mitsuri’s nose an attempt to lighten the heavy aura that she herself was pushing, “I think the ability suits you.”
“How so?”
“Strings of fate, love, the human connection, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were somehow a descendent of Yue Lao himself. It’s just so very you, Love Hashira.”
Mitsuri snuggled Shinobu tighter, a delighted squeak left her when Shinobu wiggled her arms free from between them to return the embrace. They continued to lay together under the sun in the sweet smelling garden, talking in hushed voices as soft as the breeze. Shinobu’s fingers brushed Mitsuri’s jaw as she asked a cautious question, ultimately closing the short gap between them when Mitsuri gave her already breathless answer.
A/N: Modern AU for this one. I know they had photography in Japan by the time Demon Slayer takes place, but I had a very specific idea in mind. Hope you like it, thanks for reading! Word Count: 2,000
Mitsuri hadn’t meant to arrive so early, but her mom had sent her on her way because she was digging a trench into the floor with her anxious pacing. Now she found herself sat on the couch of the upstairs apartment where the Kochou family lived above their family pharmacy, stuck between Shinobu’s sisters with Shinobu herself nowhere in sight.
Apparently she was helping her dad with some sorting and wouldn’t be back up for a other hour or so, and that was how Mitsuri became the hostage of Kanae and Kanao, but honestly she was more so trapped by the older sibling than the younger who seemed content to simply watch her eldest sister cook.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you Mitsuri!” Kanae had smiled, pulling Mitsuri around wherever she saw fit, taking full advantage of Shinobu’s absence. “I was beginning to worry that Shinobu had made you up!”
“Ah, nope! I’m real. I’m sorry for not finding the time to introduce myself sooner.” Mitsuri apologized contritely, but Kanae would have none of it.
“Oh, it’s not your fault, I’m sure. I know how Shinobu is. She can be such a handful sometimes, always overcomplicating and overthinking and so, so stubborn.” Kanae took Mitsuri’s hands in a gesture of gratitude, “She is very thoughtful and sweet underneath all of the angst, so I’m very glad you gave my grumpy baby sister a chance, you really are a saint, Mitsuri!”
“I- I don’t know about that!” Mitsuri blushed, hoping Kanae couldn’t feel how sweaty her hands were becoming.
Then Kanae got an evil glint in her eye that Mitsuri had seen Shinobu herself have on occasion, usually when she was about to verbally destroy someone who absolutely deserved to be taken down a few pegs. But whereas Mitsuri grew to love that cunning look on Shinobu, on Kanae she felt a measure of fear. Mitsuri gulped.
“Speaking of my grumpy baby sister, I know just the thing we can do until she comes back,” Kanae grinned, pulling Mitsuri to sit on the couch beside her, “Kanao, could you bring over Shinobu’s photo album, please?”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Kanao was right to be a little hesitant, but Kanae promised to take full responsibility for whatever happens. Whatever that means.
So that was how Mitsuri found herself in the middle the her girlfriend’s sisters, Shinobu’s photo album on her lap while Kanae shared stories and turned each page, making sure to point out the cutest and most embarrassing pictures as if Mitsuri hadn’t already been guiltily burning the images into her brain to forever hold and cherish. She prayed that Shinobu would spare her life for her transgressions.
Shinobu had been premature baby, and needed extra oxygen in the hospital. There were a couple photos of her with her head beneath a plastic dome that provided her with the extra oxygen she needed.
“I thought it looked like she was going to space,” Kanae chuckled, “so I started calling her the astronaut baby.”
Shinobu had been so tiny that her father’s arms nearly engulfed her in one picture. Her little hand too small to fully encircle her mother’s finger in another. Even in the arms of a four year old Kanae she looked like a doll.
A little further along was Shinobu at three in mud-caked overalls with the biggest grin, hands full worms and pill bugs.
“Shinobu has always liked bugs a lot, I see.” Mitsuri smiled, “On our walks, she always stops to put the worms back in the grass after a rainy spell.”
“Some things never change.” Kanae shook her head fondly, looking down at another picture of Shinobu chasing her with the same handful of bugs.
So many pictures, so many stories. Shinobu with her sisters, making a sandcastle at the beach, playing in the bathtub, cute Halloween costumes, first day of school, cute scribble-y drawings that Shinobu’s drawing style still matched to this day, missing baby teeth, friends and extended family, track meet ribbons, report cards, science fair projects, family camping trips, all the way up until the day of the science club’s first place win at the regional academic conference a few weeks ago.
“Thank you for sharing this with me. It’s been a lot of fun.” Mitsuri was positively glowing with happiness, “I feel like I know Shinobu even better now.”
“The pleasure was all mine. If you want, you could save any of your favorites to your phone.” Kanae offered.
“Really?! I’d love too, thank you so much!”
“I think you two are playing with fire.” Kanao cautioned, eyeing the clock.
“You’ve been enabling us, Kanao. You have just as much a part in this as we do.”
“Shinobu won’t get mad at me. She always knows who the true mastermind is.”
From the entrance hall they could hear the door begin the rattle before swinging open, a familiar tired groan followed the closing of the door soon after.
“It’s been nice knowing you, Kana-nee. It was nice to meet you, Mitsuri.” Kanao settled comfortably on her portion of the couch, watching the two older girls try to speed through the album while Mitsuri snapped several photos, unwilling to go without them even at the possible cost of her own life.
“It’s always like ‘If You Give a Mouse a Cookie’ with mom and dad,” They could hear Shinobu gripe as she kicked off her shoes, “They ask you to do one thing, and then another and another, there’s always something else! They have two other daughters sitting upstairs who aren’t expecting company, you know.
“Speaking of which, when Mitsuri gets here, you can make your introductions or whatever, but if you try to embarrass me in any way, I will…” Shinobu paused at the doorway to the living room.
Her eyes fell on Mitsuri first, how could they not? She wasn’t worried about Kanao, but long had she been exposed to Kanae’s terrible influence? For a moment, she stared back at the owlishly round eyes of her older sister and her girlfriend, before she heard a rustle. Mitsuri’s eyes flicked to her lap and Shinobu heard several clicks of a camera shutter before Mitsuri’s eyes darted back up to meet hers.
Slowly, Shinobu’s stare lowered to Mitsuri’s lap and she blanched when she saw the thick book resting atop her thighs. Her gaze then dragged upward to Kanae’s.
“Careful Shinobu,” Kanae chuckled nervously, “we wouldn’t want you to pop a blood vessel… again.”
“Start running.”
Kanae squealed, flipping over the back of the couch as Shinobu lunged for her. She crawled over the couch as Kanae ran to her room, Shinobu probably would have caught up if she didn’t stop to snatch the photo album from Mitsuri’s lap along the way. Instead she ended up running into the door just as Kanae closed it.
“You’ll have to come out of there at some point!” Shinobu warned, smacking the door with a threatening thud.
“Please, Shinobu, show your sister mercy!”
“The only sister I have is Kanao. You will be dead by morning!”
“Shinobu, please don’t kill her!” Mitsuri pleaded, “She was only helping pass the time until you could come back.”
“She could have suggested a game or turned on the tv! She deliberately chose to humiliate me!” Shinobu countered, now very red in the face.
Mitsuri jogged over to Shinobu, cautiously touching the shorter girl’s tense back, “You shouldn’t feel humiliated, Shinobu. I love every part of you, and being able to see so much of your life laid out so plainly for me to see is something so precious to me that I will treasure it until the day I die.”
A muffled ‘aww’ could be heard from Kanae’s room and Shinobu pounded her fist against the door in warning before slowly turning to face Mitsuri, though her eyes still fluttered over the ground and her cheeks were still beet red.
Mitsuri coaxed Shinobu’s gaze upward with soft fingertips to her chin and jaw. Then she kissed away the vein that strained so visibly against Shinobu’s forehead that it was borderline concerning.
“I am sorry that I looked at your photos without your consent. Could you ever forgive me?”
Shinobu bit the inside of her lip and nodded meekly softly after. She could never be mad at Mitsuri, try as she might sometimes to put her foot down. Mitsuri had a her wrapped around her finger since day one and she was lucky that Mitsuri seemed to use her power over her sparingly.
“It’s strange,” Kanae hummed, “It’s pretty quiet out there, but I swear I just heard the crack of a whip.”
Shinobu pivoted quickly towards the door, “You’ll be hearing the crack of your door getting pulled off of its hinges if you don’t shut the hell up!” She warned.
“Hey, Shinobu,” Mitsuri wrapped her arms around Shinobu from behind, tugging her away from Kanae’s door, “If you promise not to kill your sister, I’ll let you look through all of my baby pictures the next time you come over. That way we’ll be even, right?”
Shinobu exhaled, relaxing against Mitsuri’s chest. She would really, really, really like to see Mitsuri’s cute little round face…
“It’ll take a lot more than that to atone for all of Kanae’s transgressions against me, but I suppose this deal will stave off her execution a bit longer.”
“You’re a real life saver, Mitsuri!” Kanae praised, “When the time comes that you want to get married, you have my blessing.”
Before Shinobu could lunge for the door again, Mitsuri easily pulled her away, “Hey Nobu, why don’t you show me your room! I’ve been looking forward to meeting Fugu personally. Kanao told me about the caterpillars you guys are raising in there too, I’d love to learn all about them.”
“Yeah? Okay, let’s go.” Shinobu thought about it briefly before untangling from Mitsuri’s arms, taking her hand instead, she lead her to the next door that was her and Kanao’s room.
Once Shinobu had some cuddle time with Mitsuri to help her cool off, and the Kochou parents closed shop for the day and came up to make dinner, Kanae felt it was safe enough to rejoin the family. But she did use Kanao and Mitsuri as body shields just in case Shinobu got any ideas.
Mitsuri had a lot of fun getting to know all of Shinobu’s family over dinner and games. She was already looking forward to spending more time with them in the future. As Shinobu was getting ready to walk her home, Kanae sidled up to her and whispered in her ear,
“Next time I’ll bring out the home videos. Just wait until you hear what her first word was, you’ll just die.”
Mitsuri really couldn’t wait to be invited back and she would be sure to arrive extra early.
“Kanae didn’t say anything weird to you just now, right?” Shinobu asked, eyeing Mitsuri suspiciously as they walked down the sidewalk hand in hand.
“Nope!” Mitsuri squeaked, her tone and sweaty hand giving her away.
Shinobu groaned, bumping her head against Mitsuri’s bicep, “You’re going to owe me a lot more than baby pictures if I ever find out what she’s plotting.”
“Every bit of me is yours. You can ask for whatever you want from me as penance in return for whatever trouble Kanae gets us into.”
Shinobu smiled shyly before she sighed and shook her head, nuzzling Mitsuri’s arm, “Just remember that you owe me baby pictures. In fact, I think you owe me every cute picture and video of yourself that you can find.”
“I will have them all laid out for you tomorrow.” Mitsuri promised.
That night when Mitsuri had crawled into bed, she practically had to smother herself to keep her squees of delight quiet as she rolled around beneath her covers and scrolled through her phone, trying to decide which of Shinobu’s precious photos to change her home screen to.
A/N: My last fic for ShinoMitsu week is three snippets combined. There’s like, two suggestive sentences in the last two snippets (each snippet is separated by ***) but it’s all rather tame. Thanks for reading and sticking with me through the week💜! Expect a doodle for day seven tomorrow. Word Count: 1,258
“All done.” Shinobu kissed the crown of Mitsuri’s head, then smiled at her reflection in the mirror where there eyes met.
Mitsuri wiggled happily in her seat, angling her head so she could get a better look at how Shinobu had styled her hair. A delighted gasp escaped her lips and she clasped her hands together excitedly when she saw the butterfly clip woven into the intricate braided bun Shinobu had worked so diligently to create.
“You approve, I take it?” Shinobu asked.
Mitsuri spun around in her seat to hug Shinobu where she stood. She made a note to hug her at this height more often. It felt nice. “I love it! We’re matching now, even the colors are the same.”
“I’m glad you like it,” she carefully tucked a loose strand behind Mitsuri’s ear, “Let me know when you get tired of it and I’ll help you take it out.”
“Wah?! No way, I’m never going to take it out!” Mitsuri shook her head vigorously, touching the back of her head just to make sure nothing was already out of place. Shinobu chuckled.
“Not even to bathe or sleep?”
“Ah… that would be uncomfortable, wouldn’t it.” Mitsuri’s shoulders slumped, arms going limp around Shinobu’s waist.
“I’ll help you put it back in whenever you like, my dear. It should be simple enough when you spend your time here more often than not.”
Mitsuri perked up again, her face alight with a happy, glowing pink. Shinobu was right, at this point in their relationship Mitsuri had all but officially moved in. Looking around Shinobu’s room, it was a pretty even mix of both of their belongings.
“We had better get going, if we are going to get to the meeting on time.”
“Right!” Mitsuri felt giddy leaving the bedroom. She spun around Shinobu while they walked out of the mansion, making sure everyone they passed by saw their matching butterfly clips.
***
Shinobu exhaled into her cupped hands and rubbed them together vigorously. It was a lot colder than she thought it would be today. She couldn’t wait to meet up with Mitsuri in the city for lunch and wrap her hands around a steaming bowl of noodles.
Just the sight of Mitsuri waving excitedly from across the street while she waited outside for her in the slushy snow was enough to warm her. In an emotional sense at least.
“You weren’t waiting too long, were you?” She asked. Taking hold of Shinobu’s hand, she blanched, “You’re ice cold!”
“I’ll be just fine once we get inside. Don’t look so worried.” Shinobu chuckled, resisting Mitsuri’s tugging of her hands to her chest. “And as pleasant of an idea it seems, I don’t think it would be appropriate time for my hands to be in your shirt at this moment.”
It took her a second, but Mitsuri dropped Shinobu’s hands with a squeak.
“Get your head out of the gutter, Shinobu-chan! You know that wasn’t on my mind at all!” She pouted.
“I’m sorry, sorry!” Shinobu laughed, blocking the weak hits Mitsuri pummeled her with. “Come on, let’s go inside.”
“Hmph!”
Mitsuri couldn’t stay obstinate for long. As soon as Shinobu opened the door and the warmth and aromas of the restaurant wafted through the street, she was reaching for Shinobu’s hand again, swinging their interlaced fingers between them.
Shinobu sighed pleasantly, coveting the warm ceramic bowl between her hands while Mitsuri worked on her fourth helping.
“Shinobu?”
“Hm?” She opened her eyes, still very relaxed, “Yes?”
“Can you come to my house after lunch? I have something for you.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. May I ask why?”
“You’ll see.” Mitsuri beamed.
When they entered Mitsuri’s home, she instructed Shinobu to close her eyes. When she was given permission to open them again, she was greeted with the sight of slim, dark purple gloves and matching snood with a small heart and butterfly embroidered near the collar.
“I got these for your birthday, but I think they would be better used as soon as possible!” Mitsuri grinned, showing Shinobu a similar set in spring green with the same embroidered heart and butterfly, “I made a set for myself too! The palm sides of the gloves are really grippy too, so you can even wear them while fighting!” She gushed.
“Mitsuri, how thoughtful. Thank you for putting in the time to make these, I shall wear them until the very last lump of snow melts and then every winter to follow.”
Shinobu rose up on her toes to give Mitsuri a gentle kiss that never failed to make the taller girl’s heart hammer in her chest.
“I suppose this means we won’t have to hold hands to keep warm then.” Shinobu teased.
“No way!” Mitsuri blurted.
And sure enough, Mitsuri stood firm on that stance. Whenever they walked anywhere together, one glove would always be left in each girls’ pocket, their bare hands tightly intertwined.
***
“Is there something on my face, Tomioka-san?” Shinobu finally asked.
Giyuu had staring holes into the side of her head for a few minutes now as they waited for Oyakata-sama to appear. Now that she thought about it, everyone’s eyes seemed to linger on her a bit longer than what was polite if you weren’t going to start a conversation…
Giyuu raised an eyebrow almost imperceivably and gave a short nod.
“For future reference, it’s best to just tell someone that as soon as you notice something.” Shinobu’s smile twitched. “Where is it?”
Giyuu pointed to the left side of his own forehead and Shinobu mirrored the movement, brushing at her own.
“Is it gone?”
Giyuu shook his head.
Shinobu rubbed her forehead a bit harder, then looked at Giyuu expectantly.
“I think you just made it worse, actually.” He mumbled.
Shinobu began debating whether or not to smack Giyuu in the face with a pebble from the garden, but was soon distracted by Uzui Tengen’s obnoxious laughter and leaned forward to see what was going on further down the line.
There, she saw Mitsuri rubbing at her cheek, face pink and shiny with sweat while Uzui, now joined in by Rengoku laughed uproariously.
“What is going on down there?” Shinobu called, hoping to save Mitsuri from further embarrassment from whatever was happening, but the boys took one look at her and their laughter renewed.
“Isn’t that cute,” Uzui snickered, “They’re matching! Nice flair ladies.”
“A heart warming sight indeed!” Rengoku nodded.
Mitsuri dropped her hands to the pebbles below so she could get a look at Shinobu as well and inhaled sharply, “Ah! Shinobu-chan, I got you too! Sorry!”
Shinobu still hadn’t a clue what this was all about, but then looking at Mitsuri’s cheek now free from her hand, she saw a glossy pink streak smeared across her skin and she suddenly understood.
Suspecting she had a similar smear across her forehead, she excused herself and Mitsuri in order to quickly dab away the matching smears of makeup before the Master’s arrival.
“That was so embarrassing! Sorry, Nobu…” Mitsuri groaned.
“You don’t need to apologize. I hadn’t noticed either. Besides, these marks are hardly scandalous compared to the hidden ones we share.” Shinobu teased.
“Eep!” Mitsuri smacked Shinobu in the gut with the back on her hand, making Shinobu release a low, ‘oof!’ of surprise, “Don’t allude to that! Especially not here!”
“You’re right, that was rather vulgar of me. I apologize.”
“You are going to make my heart explode one day,” Mitsuri slumped, resting her head on Shinobu’s shoulder.
A/N: This one was hard to write until it wasn’t. The worst part was trying to come up with an idea and I was even iffy writing about ice skating as I ultimately decided to do because I know basically nothing about it, but watching some stuff on YouTube helped lol. Thanks for reading! Word Count: 1,094
Their coach had stepped away from the rink to take an important phone call, leaving Shinobu and Mitsuri to their own devices. They had just won a pairs skating event yesterday and were still riding the high. Despite their overwhelming victory, practice was held the next day as usual. No time to celebrate or relax when you are trying to make the Olympics. However, with their coach distracted, Shinobu convinced Mitsuri to goof around a little bit.
“Come on, he’s not going to know.” Shinobu singsonged, skating backwards around Mitsuri. She held her arms outstretched and wiggled her fingers at her skating partner and girlfriend enticingly.
“We should really be doing drills…” Mitsuri weakly refuted, yet she took Shinobu’s hands on her next loop around, joining her in a slow spin.
“What’s Tomioka going to do? We’re his star pair. We succeed even though he’s quite lacking as a coach. I think we earned a little time to just skate without the intention of perfect precision for a minute, don’t you? Like when we were kids.”
Mitsuri recalled where they started from years ago and smiled fondly. They had nearly grown up on the ice of this very rink. The memories they had here could not be replaced for anything. They even shared their confession and first kiss behind the bleachers after a passionate routine that left their feelings bare with the moves they executed. Subtle movements and expressions that only they could correctly interpret.
“Okay, just a minute though.”
They swayed and swirled together, hands interlocked, gazing at each other with boundless love and devotion.
“I want to try something,” Shinobu suddenly spoke, “Be my partner?”
“Always.” Mitsuri cocked her head to the side, “But what is it?” She didn’t trust the gleam in Shinobu’s eye.
“I want try a headbanger and then get raised up into a Detroiter. Wouldn’t that be exhilarating?”
“What? No!” Mitsuri gawked.
“But we never get to do those in competition. When else would we be able to give them a try?” Shinobu asked, almost pouting.
“We don’t do those in competition because they’re banned moves, Shinobu! And for good reason, you could get horribly hurt!”
“Oh Mitsuri,” Shinobu sighed, “If you had half of the trust I have in you, you’d believe you could do anything.”
“This isn’t a confidence issue, it’s just a common sense safety concern.”
“So you think you could swing me around and then pop me up over your head successfully, but you still won’t do it?”
“Well, yeah! You weigh nothing to me, I’ve thrown and lifted you a billion times before. But even if I think I can do it, I wouldn’t want to run the risk hurting you.”
“Please, Mitsuri?”
“Nope, not doing it.” Mitsuri stuck her nose up and Shinobu hummed, shrugging her shoulders.
“Then I guess I’ll ask Kyoujirou when he comes to practice tomorrow. I bet he would give it a try.”
“Eh?!” Mitsuri shook her head, “You can’t!”
“Why can’t I? I’m in the prime of my life. This is something I would like to do before I’m too old. I’d rather do it with you, but if you don’t want to—“
“Fine!” Mitsuri cut her off, dragging her closer as if she was worried Kyoujirou would suddenly pop in and steal Shinobu away, “Okay, I’ll do it!”
Shinobu suppressed a smug smile. Mitsuri was a very sweet and easy going girl, but when it came to skating, she couldn’t stand the idea of Shinobu skating with someone else. It was the one thing she simply could not compromise on.
However, Shinobu didn’t want to manipulate Mitsuri into doing something she truly didn’t want to do. She only meant to tease her a bit.
“I’m only teasing, Mitsuri. I won’t ask him. Kyoujirou only does singles anyway so it probably wouldn’t end well.”
Mitsuri still wore a pensive expression and after a moment, Shinobu felt the grip Mitsuri had on her waist tighten.
“Mitsuri?”
“Engage your core.”
Shinobu asked no further questions and simply grinned, letting Mitsuri spin her around the ice, gaining enough speed to make their hair whip around them. Shinobu took her partner’s cue and rose her leg to Mitsuri’s hip. Her hand encircled Shinobu’s ankle and when enough speed was gained, Shinobu brought her other foot off of the ice and into Mitsuri’s free hand, going stiff as a board.
It was so exhilarating, she couldn’t help but laugh, not even blinking when her nose came within inches of the ice. After a handful of dizzying spins, Mitsuri suddenly let go of Shinobu’s left ankle, but she did not panic, staying rigid as Mitsuri took hold of her right arm on the upswing.
Shinobu caught the determined look of concentration on Mitsuri’s face when she was flipped into a bridal carry and then hoisted above her head to rest briefly on Mitsuri’s shoulders behind her neck while her hands moved meticulously to find a better grip, all the while they still spun, scraping several rings into the ice.
Then Mitsuri lifted Shinobu clear over her head and when the speed was right, she briefly lowered one hand, spinning Shinobu over her head with but a single arm. When she began to slow, she brought her other hand back, dropping Shinobu back down to her chest into a bridal carry once more and finally slowing to a stop, breathing heavily, windswept, rose-y cheeked and matching Shinobu’s grin. Shinobu rose her hands up to cup Mitsuri’s face and lightly stroked her cheeks with her fingers.
“I knew you could do it. That was incredible. You are incredible. Thank you.”
“You bring it out of me.” Mitsuri murmured, nuzzling her forehead against Shinobu’s.
“You’re supposed to be doing drills.” A monotonous voice drawled.
“Come on, Coach,” Shinobu sighed, “Let us live a little. This is why people don’t like you very much.”
Giyuu blinked once slowly, stone faced. Then he pointed at the couple, “Drills. Now.”
Before Shinobu could retort against the poor man, Mitsuri kissed her quickly, then brought her back to her feet.
“Come on, Shinobu! We only have an hour before open skate and I want to practice more lifts and didn’t you want to practice the toss into a triple salchow?”
Shinobu knew an attempt to distract when she saw one, but she chose to give Giyuu some slack. Mitsuri had just done her a huge favor anyway, the least she could do was follow her lead now. She took Mitsuri’s hand and kissed her palm.
