#threads;;hinatsuru

[demcnsden]

Headcanon 013

Hinatsuru had scars on her back from missions when she was a child, nothing deadly, but they were lessons for her. At first, when she was married, she was ashamed of the scars, but Tengen had taught her to come to love them. They are a symbol that she has survived, and they make her beautiful. Even the most beautiful flowers can withstand the toughest and brutal storms. Artwork is by the wonderful @//kitkarn

[demcnsden]

Plotted starter for @moonslament

The Minatoyama Aquarium was quiet at night, past closing hours, the building transformed from a bustling public attraction into something almost sacred. The crowds were gone, the hum of conversation replaced by the soft resonance of filtration pumps and the distant echo of sloshing water. Blue LED strips cast cool glimmers across the polished floors, reflecting off glass panels that climbed toward the ceiling. It was the transfer day of the new mermaids that were purchased recently, three females and one male, who were coming from another pod.

Over the past year, the aquarium suffered a couple of losses for prime merfolk as a few females died, then one male was killed for foolishly challenging Kokushibo, their largest specimen. However, the new mermaids arrived much sooner than they had prepared, so space was limited. That meant Kokushibo's tank would have to be used for one of the new mermaids until some young guppies were transferred to other aquariums. Out of the four that were chosen, they decided on Hinatsuru, who had the most docile and calm temperament. They only hoped she would survive the week before they transferred her from his tank permanently.

She was currently being taken over to that side of the aquarium, far away from the family pod filled with young merfolk and older ones. Strands of her long, dark hair clung to her cheeks and shoulders, shimmering where the light hit them. Her tail was silver, and violet scales caught the glow in mesmerizing patterns, their natural bioluminescence flickering softly with every small movement she made. Her translucent side-fins fanned slightly, rippling in a nervous reflex.

The handlers paused over the tank, which was massive—nearly the size of a swimming pool, only deeper, maybe forty feet. Reinforced polymer glass curved upward in a smooth cylinder, stretching high toward the ceiling. Large light panels glowed beneath the water, illuminating the artificial habitat. It was an arrangement of dark stone ledges, deep shadows, and soft-water vegetation chosen to mimic a part of the ocean few humans had ever seen.

The handlers exchanged looks uneasily as they spoke, unaware that the mermaid was able to understand them. "Is he... stable tonight?" One shook his head as they were breaking out in a cold sweat; they feared that merman. "I hope so, he ripped that trainer's throat open last week before opening. Blood filled the tank as the body had been dragged to the bottom. Guess we will find out if she's alive or not if her corpse floats at the surface in the morning."

Hinatsuru’s breath stalled as the human attendants began lowering her. The gurney dipped closer to the surface, and the first touch of water against her tail sent a soft, shimmering pulse through her scales. Without a choice, she was forced below the surface with the large specimen. The female's hair drifted upward slowly as she slowly swam towards the bottom of the tank, feeling the temperature slowly dropping as she got closer to the bottom. The mermaid reached the bottom, but had not noticed where the other resident was until a large shadow loomed over her.

Spinning around slowly, her eyes widen with a mixture of awe and fear, noticing the six eyes staring down at her and the merman who was easily twice, maybe even three times, her length looming above. The ravenette's fins extended in a cautious arc. Her voice carried through the water in a low, melodic hum, the language of their kind. “You’re… the other resident of this tank. I didn’t expect…” Hinatsuru whispered, trailing off as her gaze moved over him, “…someone like you.”

[demcnsden]

Random Starter at @fallesto

Hinatsuru had been selected out of the three wives to be assigned to go undercover at the Kyogoku House. She met with the madam looking for a job, and after a thorough examination, the woman was hired as a low-ranking courtesan. The ravenette needed to charm and gain more patrons to quickly rise up in the ranks to gather more intel to report back to Lord Tengen. A little over a month had passed since she had gone undercover, and she rose a little in the ranks and was very close to becoming an oiran. It was easy with her sweet and docile personality to gain customers who kept coming back.

Her skills as a kunoichi helped her charm and seduce patrons in the bedroom and outside with pleasant conversations. Sitting in the main room, she was waiting to see if any customers would be interested in her this evening. Hearing footsteps, her eyes glanced up to see that it was a new face that came up to her. Smiling softly, she waited to see if the person came to have her serve them this evening or one of the other courtesans who were sitting nearby, waiting for customers.

[demcnsden]

When the broom hit the floor, he flinches his hair sprinkling as his gaze caught hers. She looked concerned that he couldn’t bring himself to crack a smile. Instead he stands there, ears slightly tinting red as looks away from her. Finally he nodded his head, stealing a glance at her unamused face. It would be a different story if he had told the joke to Kocho-san. /// @nagishio

The woman blinked, watching his reaction carefully to her question, noticing that he was confirming that he was trying to make a joke. A soft smile spread across her lips as it would be too late to laugh, but she wanted to help break the tension in the hair. "Giyuu-san, do you know why fish are so smart?" Hinatsuru took a step closer, her body more relaxed now knowing that he did not have food poisoning.

"Because they swim in schools..." The air was silent as she waited to see what his reaction would be. He must have had good intentions when making that joke, so it was only fair that she did the same, no matter how cheesy she sounded.

[demcnsden]

Starter for @fallesto

Hinatsuru felt the chains around her wrists as they had been rubbed raw for three days now sitting somewhere underground with no daylight or even moonlight, only darkness as her companion. The woman had gone on a mission, go undercover, collect intel then retreat to report back to Tegen and the Demon Slayer Corp. People have been going missing within a certain region who they believed was the work of a demon, but could not rush into things as this place was filled with people. More civilians present the risker this operation would become as the demon could prey upon anyone or disappear into the crowd. She was perfect to go undercover, a widow looking for work inside of the village. Hinatsuru had been careful making friends and building a social circle, but nothing had happened until her first month into the job. One of her friends had gone missing and disappeared into thin air. This made the ravenette very concerned and put her on edge, so she tried to learn more about the missing people. However there was no pattern, and it was driving her mad.

However, this time she had been the victim to go missing as something snatched her in an alleyway before she could even react. The odd thing was, she had yet to see who was the creature that captured her. The woman had attempted to unlock the chains, but they were old and covered in rust, so the lock could not be picked. Plus the chains were so tight around her wrists that she could not even dislocate her bones to slip out, so she was stuck. Her body was aching covered in filth and grime from not being taken care of in so long plus she had not been given any food or water. Her mind was almost borderline delirious at this point, but the sound of the door opening caused her to look up. She had been kneeling for days, arms hanging up suspended in the air which was causing major exhaustion. Her violent eyes glance up waiting to see if her captor would finally reveal themselves.

[demcnsden]

Starter for @fallesto (Yoriichi for some angst?)

The demoness chuckled as she looked down at the wounded demon slayer as he was bleeding out from the wounds he had received. The creatures had whispered when word spread among them that his own brother had become a demon.

The ravenette hummed softly as she sat in the treetop, looking down at the male before speaking in a sweet voice. "Oh, poor little slayer. Looking for your brother, who doesn't want to be saved. How many more lives will be lost because of you?"

Hinatsuru cackled evilly as she was amused by the emotions that were flickering across the human's face, as she could see she had touched a nerve. He was a strong and powerful slayer, but he was still human in the end. She hummed softly as some thoughts came to her mind, as she wondered if the female looked as pathetic as this man. The woman had been human at some point in time, but all her memories of her past life were long since gone as she embraced her new one.

However, as her violet eyes glanced down at the human, something inside of her chest made her feel uncomfortable. Her words were venomous and mocking, but her own stomach felt like it was forming knots, which caused her to tsk with disgust at herself. Standing up, the avian demoness flew down gracefully, standing over the male on the ground as feathers were floating down. She was beautiful with the moonlight behind her, an ethereal aura around her, staring down at the human as she spoke softly. "Become a demon too. All the pain and suffering will be gone, plus you live forever with your brother."

[demcnsden]

Continued from here ~ @whirling-fangs

It had been pure luck that Hinatsuru had stumbled across Inosuke in the brothel before the demoness had. The teenager was doing a horrible job of blending in; even though his facial features were good, the way he acted was far from graceful. The ravenette took him under his wing, claiming she was going to train the new girl everything she would need to know to succeed. It was unsettling being this close to an Upper Rank, but the female felt a little more assured knowing that her husband was nearby, plus having an ally helped her breathe.

They could not rush into battle, or else they would be captured too. Something was off about this demon, even though they knew who it was, it wasn't adding up. The pair was sitting in a room in the middle of the day, going over how to improve his performance. He ranted and vented about the tasks most of the other oirans assigned to him. The tea ceremony was the most basic and would be the first thing they would expect him to learn when serving customers. As he asked her again, she nodded while humming softly, trying to think of a way to make it more fun and easier for him to understand.

"Hm, let's make this more fun." Holding up the tea bowl (chawan) and whisk (chasen), she spoke in a gentle tone. "Okay, tea ceomney is like a battle. These are your weapons, similar to your swords, you have a chasen and a chawan. To win this fight, you have to be patient like a predator stalking its prey." Hinatsuru was observing his reaction to see if he would become more interested in her next explanation, compared to just showing and yelling at him like everyone else had done.

[demcnsden]

Starter for @palesin ((mermaid AU))

The halfmoon betta mermaid whimpered softly as she was struggling against the harsh netting that was made from some sort of material that was cutting into scales. She was sitting in deeper waters than she usually traveled in after sinking from the surface, hardly any light was reaching down as she shivered from the coldness. Iron weights were woven into the netting which caused it to sink until she reached the ocean floor of the region. It was wrapped around Hinatsuru’s tail and torso as she had looped it even tighter around herself from her attempts to escape. Her beautiful silver and purple tail was covered in blood from the missing scales and cuts caused from the human invention.

The ravenette tugged and twisted hissing with pain as her wounds were burning as she only caused the netting to go deeper into her scales. Blood lingered in the water as it drew in some predators, some tiger sharks were lurking as they circled around the mermaid hovering above. Her body stilled as she noticed the shadows observing the creatures carefully as they were slowly descending closer down to her. Her fingers were fumbling at the netting as her eyes were wide with fear like polished jewels as bubbles were leaving around her mouth from her breathing quickening.

A scream left her lungs crying out for help praying that someone might be nearby that could help. The two sharks charged at the trapped mermaid, then everything around her erupted. Something larger than the sharks and herself was here as it was simply a blur from its speed. However, the violence, she witnessed caused her to gasp and covered her mouth with her hands as one of the sharks was beheaded almost instantly. A large shadow moved again then the other predator was quickly slashed, scaring it off as it fled leaving a trail of blood in its wake. Hinatsuru was trembling as she could finally see the clear view of the being that saved her, a mershark. She felt his gaze on her as she attempted to curl to make herself look smaller as she whimpered from the pain waiting to see what he was going to do now that he chased off any competition to make her into a meal.