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Kuki Shinobu joined the Arataki Gang pretty much on a whim one night while strolling through the streets of Hanamizaka. The area would be quiet if not for a group of infamous gang members she came to know very well. She had been looking for a “job that brings true freedom” ever since she left the Grand Narukami Shrine, so when she had been given the opportunity to join the gang, she knew that was what she had been looking for and did not give it a second thought. It seemed all the members of the gang liked her enthusiasm, especially the leader, Arataki Itto, an oni with great red horns and unmistakable tattoos adorning every inch of his body, even parts that were hidden, and had welcome her in as easily as they caused a ruckus every other evening.
She remembers that night fondly. It had been thanks to Itto that she had decided to join at the time, because she had found him charming despite his boisterous airheadedness. He had shown her what it looked like to have a truly carefree life, and after having lived through the stresses of familial pressure amongst things such as being forced to do a job she didn’t enjoy, it was something that could not be bought with mora. She felt indebted to him– to have learned not to take life so seriously and live in the moment; to not worry too much about mora, and find the bright side of everything, even in adversity.
Shinobu likes being around the boys. She liked being close to Itto, and she knew that he liked being close to her too. It hadn’t taken long for her to learn his quirks, the things he liked and disliked. He was easy to read, like a child, and just as excitable as well as gullible. It took some getting used to, of course, but once she had figured him all out, she quickly became a teacher of sorts, leaning towards the strict side, and very much respected within the gang. In the same way that Itto taught her to view life, she taught Itto how to better avoid and manage casualties. She was so grateful sometimes, that it was almost impossible not to spoil him a little.
She liked to get him gifts whenever she could. She could tell he would wait in anticipation every time she came back from a day-long trip, wagging his nonexistent tail and looking up at her with big red eyes, his bushy eyebrows raised all the way up on his forehead. Most days she would give him Onikabuto to add to his collection, and others she was gifted things for helping out in various places, such as sweet treats, wearable bands or ribbons, and glass marbles. She memorized the places where Onikabuto were found just to take a quick visit before she went back to Itto if she hadn’t gotten one yet. She did this because she remembered when her father used to do the same when he came back from work each evening, and how happy it made her to receive a token of his love for her.
It wasn’t a secret that the gang was family. The boys considered each other brothers, and Shinobu was their older sister. However, this would weigh on Shinobu’s mind sometimes, whenever the mood was high and she drank too much at izakayas, when she would think of Itto and how cute he was, and how riled up he made her at the same time. The other boys were similar in their antics, but Itto was something else. He had something no one else in the entire world had, and Shinobu could really see it. She could almost taste it– and on this train of thought, she heaved twice before throwing up. It was time to head back.
As Shinobu tries her best to make her way back to the gang without tripping in her drunken state, she lets her mind wander.
The boys usually did not come with her to drink, not because they were underage, but because they respected Shinobu’s private time. She needed it more than the others, and she liked to drink every so often. They didn’t; their attitude towards alcohol was that of children being thrown into a den of drunkards. It almost scared them, even though Shinobu has known what they are like when they are drunk, and it’s not pretty. Akira passes out immediately, Genta turns into a rambling scholar, and Mamoru cries until he has no tears left to give– and Itto.
Itto gets incredibly affectionate when he drinks. Shinobu recalls the one time she witnessed it happen.
“Itto, I told you it was a bad idea. I should have known you wouldn’t listen. Look at your eyes, they’re sunken in now, I can clearly tell you’re not taking it well. And here I thought you’d have a bigger alcohol tolerance since you’re over two times my body mass. Hah, nevermind!” She mutters the last part to herself. Maybe the oni-blood was cursed with it, in a similar way it was with beans.
“Come on Shinobu, this is fine, I’m fine. I’m super amazing actually, woo, I feel pretty good, yeah. Come here, feel this with me, isn’t it…” He burps, taking Shinobu’s hand and pressing it against his heart. “...Nice? My heart is beating really fast. You hear that? Pretty cool uh, ability I got from that, don’t you think?”
Shinobu takes back her hand and wipes it on her shorts after getting oni sweat on her palm.
“Your heart is racing because the alcohol is fucking with you.” She says. “It’s not a superpower, if you drink too much you’ll die.”
“Huh? Die? W-what are you talking about? It feels too good, I can’t die… Wait, am I going to die? Oh, the Shogun’s ass, please I can’t die yet. Shinobu, help me, come here, if you’re here I won’t die.” Itto stretches out his arms towards her and makes grabbing motions with his hands, afraid that if he tries to move towards her he will fall and actually snap his neck.
“You’re not going to die, you big baby.”
“Shinobu, please…”
He looks so needy, Shinobu can’t ignore him. She stands up from her seat near where Akira, Genta, and Mamoru are passed out, and goes to Itto. She used to feel like a mother, or a teacher, but as she approaches Itto and then wraps her arm over his shoulder while he crouches over himself, she doesn’t even feel like a sister, but like a woman who wants to take care of this silly oni in front of her that is oftentimes mistakenly seen as a demon by those who do not truly know him.
“Shinobu, my savior, my loyal deputy-leader, m–”
“Shhh.”
Shinobu shushes him by pressing her palm to his lips because she is scared that if he continues, she will start to feel things she shouldn’t.
“MmmmMm”, comes the sounds from Itto’s mouth against her hand, and it tickles, so she brings it off of him and back to her side. Itto sniffs, his face flushed, and leans his head against her chest, right there on the ground, with his legs splayed out in the grass and his face smudged with tears.
“I love you, Shinobu, I love you so much, thank you for saving me…”
Shogun’s head on a stick, if Shinobu had her face exposed it would be so easy to call out her stupid crush. She presses her mask against her face and holds it in place in an attempt to bring her blush down. If only Itto could stop talking and bring his face away from her chest, everything would be good again, but alas, the universe has other plans.
Itto doesn’t move away from her. Instead, he stays in that position until he falls asleep, his arms around Shinobu, who doesn’t have the heart to move him away from her. She stays like that, anxiously at first, but eventually, the night lulls her to sleep with the rest of that gang.
When they woke up the next morning, she couldn’t breathe. She opens her eyes and realizes Itto is literally on top of her and she is eating a mouthful of his red-tinted white mane. When she kicks him awake, he jumps and gaps audibly enough for the rest of the boys to wake up too.
“Commando Shogun, are you okay??????”
“You were crushing me but yeah. Don’t drink again, fuck.”
Itto never drank again, but Shinobu can’t help but wish he could be as lovely as he had been when he had, though she’d never admit it.
She’s reaching her destination by now, she thinks, where the lights of the street begin to dim at the corner. They have a camp outside and move locations accordingly, the outskirts of town where the trees begin to grow bigger and more robust with sakura blossoms are their most popular spot. She hopes the shadows she sees on the ground are the sakura petals scattered about.
“Shinobu, over here!” Itto’s voice catches her attention and she turns towards it but sees nothing. Her vision is clouded.
“Where are you?”
“Here!” She doesn’t hear him come up behind her and flinches at how close he suddenly is.
“You drank too much again, didn’t you? Your breath stinks, woo.”
It’s funny to hear it from him when it sounds like something she would say.
“Okay, don’t try to walk on your own now, we don’t want you dying on us, no no no no no, what would I do without the reliable deputy-leader of the Arataki Gang to get us out of a pinch in these trying times? You know how it is.”
She could listen to him talk all day, to be honest. If she gets mad at him, it’s only because she’s embarrassed. So she lets Itto take care of her this time and lead her home by carrying half of her weight with his arm under her armpit. When they are out of the street and safely behind the houses on the outskirts of town, Itto sets her down on the grass and takes her inside the tent by the hand.
“Akira, Genta, and Mamoru are sleeping. I stayed awake to wait for you, so we can all sleep now!”
Shinobu, blissful in her drunkenness, is so smitten she cannot control her crush anymore and smiles. With her mask not properly secured, it falls off of her face and makes her expression known to Itto, who gasps when he sees her smiling with her eyes.
“Y-you! Your mask– I mean– nothing. I didn’t say anything, except, uh, well, I’ve seen your face before but it’s so rare like seeing a ghost or something, I can’t help but get excited whenever I get to take a peek, haha.” Itto doesn’t want her to put the mask back on, so he retracts his initial mention of it.
Shinobu is too drunk to reply properly, so she laughs and says, “Thanks.”
Itto looks at her in mild confusion at why she thanks him. Shinobu took it as a compliment, but he doesn’t know that.
“Hey, your face is red! I don’t think I’ll ever get to see it again like this, I better savor the moment while I can. I got it, I won’t sleep until you do, so then I can look at you until that expression on your face goes away.”
Itto is… not drunk, is he? He’s sounding a lot more affectionate than usual, and it’s driving Shinobu nuts. She can’t do this. If it had been any other time, she would have scoffed and rolled her eyes, but she can’t get out of her vulnerable state now, and it’s telling her she loves this idiot, and making her feel warm inside.
She can’t fight it anymore, so she leans close to where Itto sits next to her, and brings her face close to his. Itto starts to say something about how close she has gotten, but doesn’t make a move to make distance between them or move at all, so he closes the gap between them and kisses him.
Itto’s eyes bulge out of his head for the while it lasts, and then he’s opening his mouth again.
“Shinobu, what was that? Are you okay?”
“Fine.” She starts, and then remembers something he told her once.
“Remember when you said you loved me? Yeah. That was nice. I– yeah. I do too.”