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Ever since Kanae died, Shinobu was prepared to die.
Shinobu had sworn that she would kill the demon that killed her sister. She was willing to do anything, everything in her power to make it happen, and so she spent years planning how to carry it out. She remembered everything Kanae had told her about the demon, every weakness she could possibly exploit and every strength to be wary of, and she composed countless poisons in an attempt to find one strong enough for him.
When she met Tamayo and realized she would indeed have to sacrifice herself in order to defeat the demon, she was ready to do so. Without hesitation. She was willing to do anything to avenge her beloved sister.
It was all according to plan. It was everything she had expected.
Until her heart interfered.
“Shinobu-chan. Shiinobuuuu. Shi-no-bu.”
Shinobu startled out of her thoughts. She turned to face Mitsuri, who was currently pouting and poking Shinobu’s side.
“Yes, Mitsuri-chan?”
“You were totally off in your own world. You’ve been getting lost in your thoughts a lot lately. Is everything okay?”
Mitsuri’s eyebrows furrowed. Concern glowed faintly behind her eyes like fiery embers.
Shinobu felt her heart crack under the heat of her gaze. She offered her best smile to mask the emotion brewing inside her. “Yes, I’m fine. Let’s get back to making this recipe, shall we? What’s the next step?”
Mitsuri’s gaze lingered for a moment, but she didn’t say anything else. “We have to beat everything together now. We have to make sure everything’s mixed, but not too much.”
“Perfect. Here, you can use this to stir the batter,” Shinobu said, handing Mitsuri a whisk, “I’ll pour the wet ingredients into the dry mix.” Their fingers lightly brushed each other as Mitsuri took the whisk from Shinobu’s hand.
Shinobu picked up the bowl with the wet ingredients and slowly poured it into the bowl with the dry ingredients. She watched as it fell in a slow, steady waterfall and formed a tiny little lake in the middle of the desert of dry ingredients.
Shinobu was prepared to give her life. She swore that she would kill the demon that killed her sister. She had everything planned. She knew what she would have to do.
So why, why was she here making pancakes with her best friend? Why was she letting herself grow even closer to her? Why was she torturing the both of them like this?
Why did she let herself fall in love?
It threw a wrench into all of her meticulous, painstakingly arranged plans. She knew she wasn’t long for this world; she knew she had to carry out her mission, and yet she let Mitsuri into her heart anyway.
“Shinobu? All of the wet ingredients are out, you don’t have to keep on holding the bowl.”
Shinobu looked at the bowl she was holding. Sure enough, it was empty, save for the last few dregs of the wet mix. She gently placed the bowl back on the table as Mitsuri mixed the ingredients.
Shinobu watched as Mitsuri beat the whisk. Mitsuri’s tongue poked out slightly as she focused on mixing all of the ingredients. She kept a controlled pace, but bits of flour and liquid still sloshed out every once in a while and splattered droplets on the countertop or Mitsuri’s apron. It was frighteningly domestic, and Shinobu wished she could reside in that moment for all eternity.
“Okay, all done! I think we can start cooking the batter now!” Mitsuri exclaimed, “Do you want to do the honors?”
Mitsuri handed the bowl to Shinobu. Shinobu poured some of the batter onto the hot metal pan. She watched the pancake batter intently, waiting for the bubbles that Mitsuri told her would appear. After a few minutes, she flipped the pancake over. She repeated that process several times until she had a large stack of pancakes.
The pancakes were far from perfect. Most were ill-shapen and slightly charred, bearing the unmistakable marks of a homemade meal.
“Well, these aren’t exactly… appealing,” Shinobu remarked.
“Nonsense! They’re pancakes, there’s no way they could be bad! Besides, I’m sure with practice you’ll be able to make them look more beautiful! We’ll work on it the next time we cook them!”
Mitsuri smiled brighter than the sun.
Shinobu’s grip on the plate tightened.
Shinobu was prepared to give her life. She swore that she would kill the demon that killed her sister. She had everything planned. She knew what she would have to do.
She would leave Mitsuri eventually. These days of smiles and laughs and pancake making wouldn’t last forever. Their happy bubble was destined to be burst.
But in the meantime, she would pretend everything was okay and bathe in Mitsuri’s light for as long as she could.
“Yes… Next time…”