Chapter Text
Spirited Away
Much like a game of tag, the game is simple: catch Nezuko, retrieve her stolen butterfly pin, and whoever got it back would be “it.” Shinobu found herself joining the fray for a few minutes, enough to humor her girls, only marginally holding back.
It wouldn’t be fun if the turns ended so soon now, would it?
“I’m going to get us some water! I’ll be back.” Shinobu had laughingly promised following their complaints, hair loose and wild as she made her way to the kitchens.
Except she never made it back, for the other Kamado had caught her instead.
I Got You, You Got Me
“Gotcha!” Tanjirou hummed, sounding pleased with himself. He’d caught her around the waist, maneuvering them into the room where the linens were kept, his back to the wall as he basked in his own little game.
“Nezuko is the one that needs catching!”
“But you're the one I wanted to get.”
“Haven’t you already got me?” The familiar words make him smile, and Shinobu leaned up to kiss that smile. “Now I got you, too.”
“But you’ve always had me.”
The retort died on Shinobu’s tongue from the abrupt slide of the door, where a blank-faced Kanao stood beyond it.
Girl Talk
Shinobu had thought a long time about this. That’s why, when Aoi and Kanao finally came knocking that same night bearing similar expressions of determination, Shinobu invited them in with little fuss.
Besides, the tea she is steeping is enough for three.
“What are you thinking of, I wonder?” Shinobu began as she poured their tea; Aoi’s first, Kanao’s, then herself last. “You don’t approve?”
Aoi elbowed Kanao, who flashed a look of panic. Shinobu laughed.
“Come now, what are you two being so skittish for?”
When Kanao remained immovable, Aoi acquiesced to her fate, blurting, “I liked Tomioka-sama better.”
All that Matters
Shinobu blinked. “Oh? Why is that?”
Aoi flushed with mortification, but her words were honest. “Because… I would’ve liked a nii-sama like him,” she said, shy and small, “and that you looked… well, I didn’t know much in the first place, but… you were good together, aneue! So… why Tanjirou-san?”
Shinobu smiled. “Why not Tanjirou?”
Aoi floundered, but ultimately came up blank. Kanao evenly met her eyes next. “And you, Kanao?”
Kanao held no coin in her hands. “Are you happy?”
“And why do you ask?”
“Because… all that matters to me is if you’re happy, Shinobu-nee. Because Tanjirou-kun promised.”
Bittersweet
Oh, her girls.
Shinobu pushed the tray aside, beckoning them closer to wrap an arm around each of their shoulders.
“I am,” Shinobu admitted, caressing their hairs as they snuggled against her. “Very much so… and I mean it.”
Aoi sniffled, and sighed. “There’s nothing dislikable about Tanjirou-san, I guess…”
“But Aoi… didn’t you say that you hate that Tanjirou-kun is so reckless?
“Any sane person will! Aneue, tell the truth. You think so too, don’t you?”
Amidst the warm rush of affection as her sisters bickered, the thought Kanae deserves to be here too is no longer so bitter.