Feelings

(Shiro POV)

Smiling brightly upon hearing Ubuyashiki's words, the meeting officially comes to a close. Once again paying respects to Ubuyashiki, I left the compound, surrounded by Hashira who were ready to burst at the seams. Finally, outside, the first to speak was Rengoku.

"Congratulations! I would have never thought you would progress this far! I thought you would be like a dwindling flame and burn out! But you have surpassed my expectations!" Receiving a hard slap on my back after he said that I ran directly into Mitsuri's bosom.

Embarrassingly backing away, Mitsuri gets directly into my face.

"Hey Shiro, how about a rematch between the two of us, as a sort of induction into the Hashira ranks. Instead of going hand-to-hand though, why don't we use our katanas to fight."

"You two had fought hand-to-hand" Uzui buts in. "That sound absolutely flamboyant. Why wasn't I invited to watch?"

"Well, it was sort of a last-minute spar." Mitsuri jitterily explains while Uzui looms over her. "But since this spar is planned, why don't you come watch it?"

"Of course, I will." Uzui proclaims while taking a flashy stance.

"You two have sparred before? Who won?" Kanae asks.

"As my disciple, we would do nothing less." Mitsuri explains righteously. "And Shiro had won the spar, unfortunately for me."

"Oh heavens, thank you for blessing us with such a strong fighter." Gyomei prays.

"So, our Kōri to Kokū Hashira, will you accept?" Mitsuri teases.

Under the multiple gazes of every Hashira, I nod my head. Watching as Mitsuri jumps in joy, we head directly to her Love Nest. In her training courtyard, every Hashira stood off to the side.

As both I and Mitsuri stood in front of each other, hands on our blade hilts, Rengoku signaled for the match to start. Wanting to not risk the chances of injuring my lungs again, I use the least bodily extensive Breathing Art which is Mist Breathing.

Suddenly showing me a smile, Mitsuri leaps up into the air and instantly uses 'Swaying Love-Wildclaw'.

Knocking her extended blade back to her using 'Mist Breathing Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash', I take advantage of her airborne person and use 'Mist Breathing Fifth Form: Sea of Clouds and Haze'.

Even in her airborne state though, Mitsuri switches into 'Cat-Legged Winds of Love'. Knowing that her strikes would hit me first if I were to continue, I suddenly stopped my movement, using 'Mist Breathing Second Form: Eight-Layered Mist', halting any of her blade's attacks that would've pierced through me.

Having finally landed on the ground, Mitsuri uses 'Shivers of First Love' which I simply watch.

As her whip-like katana comes close to hitting me, I dodge the strike. Doing this consistently as she waves her katana around, the second she steps into my apparent range, I dash through a hole in one of her attacks and use 'Mist Breathing Fourth Form: Shifting Flow Slash'.

Having the edge of my blade placed against her neck mass, Mitsuri drops her blade in defeat.

What comes next is a stroke of applause and getting felt down by Kanae to make sure that I didn't receive any sort of injury. After making sure I wasn't injured further, Mitsuri was the one who stood in front of me.

"That was a good spar, but because you forced me to use my fifth and sixth technique in succession, it appears as though I've injured my body to a degree where I'll need outside help. As my spar partner and the one who caused this, I feel as though it's only right that you care for me until I heal."

Absolutely befuddled, I say, "What sort of justification is that?"

"A good one." Receiving a bright smile along with her response, I answer back.

"I can't take care of you today; I have something to take care of. But I suppose that I'll show up here eventually and care for your injuries."

"That's great." Watching as Mitsuri skipped away from me and into her home, I walked back to the Butterfly Mansion with Kanae.

"How hard is it?" I ask.

"It's not that hard." Kanae speaks softly. "Once you have it, it only gets easier from there. And there's no reason for you to feel any sort of responsibility for this. I used that technique on my own volition, knowing full well what would happen to me once I did. And I managed to both save you and kill one of the Upper Moons, I feel like the price I paid was more than enough for me to use that technique."

Grabbing me by the hand, Kanae continues, "Now enough about that, you have someone you need to speak with."

Entering the Butterfly Mansion, I find Shinobu blankly staring off into space while sitting in the common room. Hearing the door open, Shinobu tilts her head towards us and upon seeing me, a little light flow through her eyes as she stands and makes her way toward me. Latching herself again, I look at Kanae and find her giving me a certain look.

Understanding what it meant, I led Shinobu to my room. Sitting down on my bed with Shinobu, I begin.

"Alright, since you've been unresponsive up to now, I want you to reply by either nodding or shaking your head. Understand?"

Seeing a small nod come from Shinobu, I ask my first question.

"Does your change have to deal with the fight with Doma?"

Feeling as Shinobu begins to shake slightly, I place my hand over hers and clasp it tightly. This seems to calm her just enough to nod her head.

"Does it have to deal with the fact that both Kanae and I were injured?"

Watching as tears started to form on Shinobu's eyes, she nods her head again.

"Is it because you feel responsible for what happened?"

As tears dripped from Shinobu's face, she nods.

"Now, I said that you only had to nod or shake your head, but for this question, can you please respond to me?"

Turning Shinobu's face towards mine, she averts her eyes instantly before locking eyes with me and nodding her head.

"Why would you feel responsible even though you shouldn't be?"

Coming out in gasps of breath as Shinobu continued to cry, she answered. "You… you would have never… never been injured… if I didn't ask to go… on that mission. And watching… as you bled out in front of me… further cements… that all of it… was my fault."

"But we had no idea what would have happened on that mission. I even went with you to make sure that neither you nor your sister ended up dead. I care far too much for you to let you get injured, so when I fought Doma head on, it was because I wanted to protect you. Any injuries that occurred because of MY DECISION were because I lack the proper experience to fight Demons. You shouldn't feel responsible for what happened. Now, I can't get rid of the fear that was created in you by watching Kanae and I get injured, but I can tell you to grow from it. If you feel responsible, then think of ways to improve. There is no use letting yourself be consumed by the past, all that lays ahead of us is our future. Look forward, and grasp what you wish to see with your own two hands. If you don't want the possibility of me or anyone else getting injured, then get stronger. Now, what I wish to see, is the pure, lovable, goal driven Shinobu rather than one who seems to have lost all sense of purpose. If you EVER need help, any at all, don't hesitate to come to me, after all, I am here for you."

In response to this, Shinobu cried even harder, clinging to me as she wailed, until tiring herself to the point where she fell asleep. Carrying her back to her bed, I got a weird sense of déjà vu as I was once again forced to sleep next to Shinobu whilst she clings to my hand.

When I wake in the morning, I find that Shinobu was no longer in her bed. Heading outside her room, I arrive in the common room and find Shinobu chatting with Kanae while looking several times better than she had previously. Shinobu seemed to still hold some reservations, but her demeanor changed entirely.

When Kanae looked in my direction, so too did Shinobu who's cheeks immediately flushed red.

Standing up, Shinobu got in front of me and bowed. "Thanks."

Receiving one simple word from her, she walked past me. Looking at Kanae, I could see her smiling gratefully, appreciating the fact that I was able to change Shinobu back just a little bit. The dreary atmosphere that had held the Butterfly Mansion hostage for four weeks had finally cleared and everyone, including the cause, was grateful that it was able to disappear.

Having free time set out for me until Ubuyashiki gave the mission for me to find the item that Muzan was looking for, I decided to spend a week taking care of Mitsuri while also having Kanae keep a strict eye on Shinobu.

Dealing with Mitsuri wasn't very difficult at all since the injury she claimed would hinder her seemed like a deuce, but every night, I would have to spend my time with Shinobu, calming her restless nights of the nightmares that would repeat what had happened in the aftermath fight with Doma.

Kanao didn't like the fact that I was spending much more time and putting care into Shinobu, so she would put on a cold shoulder to me, which would instantly break upon me giving her a head pat.

As I was dealing with three girls simultaneously, my crow suddenly appeared before me.