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The morning air was crisp as Kanao kneeled on a rock by a river not far from the Butterfly Estate. She was in her corps uniform but her hair was down, Kanae’s hair clip nowhere to be found. Yet Kanao felt as though she shouldn’t worry about its disappearance. She sat there for a long while feeling as her legs grew numb under her at the staticity. Kanao was waiting for something but she wasn’t sure what that something was, only watching absently as the water rushed by while her hair brushed against her face in the wind.
She felt hazy when something finally changed, someone walked up to her left and gently placed their hand on her shoulder, upsetting the hair resting there with the motion. Kanao was pretty sure she knew who it was on their touch alone but she turned her head to the left so that she could take in the sight of her teacher. Shinobu was looking down at Kanao, softly smiling, there was no tension in her expression and she seemed to be well rested, lacking her characteristic eyebags. Shinobu’s hand slipped from Kanao’s shoulder and instead reached out slowly to offer her help up. Kanao placed her fingertips into her teacher’s cool palm and got up stiffly before trailing behind her.
As they walked Kanao watched from behind her as Shinobu’s hair swayed with each step, never letting go of Kanao’s hand as they made their way back to the Butterfly Estate. The estate seemed abandoned with no signs of Aoi nor Kiyo, Sumi, and Naho, who would normally be running around the estate doing some task that needed doing. Instead of asking about them Kanao just stayed quiet as her teacher continued to lead her down the halls wordlessly.
The rest of the day seemed to flash by in an instant with blurred scenes of a surprisingly domestic life for a Hashira and her Tsuguko. They had comfortable meals in between walking about the estate completing small, meaningless tasks like checking medicine inventory and hanging sheets to dry under the warm rays of a crisp autumn sun. As night fell Kanao and her teacher still hadn’t said a single word to each other, their only communication being through smiles and gestures. Still Kanao felt like her body held no form, and as she followed Shinobu along a small road just outside of the estate her teacher looked over her shoulder only tilting her head before giving Kanao a small smile, eyes closed.
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Kanao opened her eyes, taking in the evening sun slotting through the window next to her.
It was just a dream.
Shinobu, her teacher, her sister, the only family she had left was dead. She died in the arms of the man she hated most, enacting her final plan to avenge her sister. As Kanao stared out the window she fell back into the same chain of thoughts she just couldn’t seem to shake since recovering from the final battle. If she had gotten there quicker, the poison in her master’s sword might have been enough, maybe she wouldn’t have had to sacrifice herself. Even then, with the quantity of poison she held in her body they might have been able to kill that demon with just the sacrifice of a limb, at least then she would still be alive.
Suddenly, Inosuke padded into the room, his demeanor having been significantly dampened upon entering the Butterfly Estate, yet he bared through it every time.
“Let’s go”, was all he said from under his boar mask before leaving again.
Kanao was used to this routine now so she just followed, quickly slipping on some sandals before catching up to Inosuke walking in stride with him.
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It had become a routine for Kanao and Inosuke during the time they were recovering from the final battle, every so often Inosuke would come to get her before they made their way to the grave site they currently stood across from. A small ring of rocks filled with wilted flowers from their last visit, of course the grave was purely ornamental as Shinobu’s body had been absorbed by Douma, leaving the only trace of Kanao’s sister to be the hairpiece she wore in honour of her memory. It had been Inosuke’s idea to make the small grave, in fact Kanao stumbled across him making it.
She had been idly wandering in the forests and fields surrounding the Butterfly Estate before coming across a small clearing bordered on one side by a river. She very quickly took notice of the boar-headed man rushing to and fro, collecting smooth iridescent stones from the river before placing them in a haphazard arrangement near the center of the clearing. As she stepped forward Inosuke spotted her and only straightened his back a little as the soft flow of the river filled the silence between them.
“I’m making her a grave”, he finally supplemented
“I’ll help”, was Kanao’s only reply
With that Kanao started to align the rocks, shaping a neat circle. Inosuke placed some flowers in the middle when she was done, after which they both continued to gather more flora and fauna to adorn the makeshift grave. Kanao felt more at peace in that moment than she had for a long time.
In the present day, Kanao just finished gathering some sulfur cosmos from the clearing to replace the dead flowers. Now standing next to Inosuke in front of the freshly kept grave Kanao understood why the man next to her was setting up the grave that day. For him Shinobu’s death was also the death of his mother, it was the first significant loss he had so it was fitting that this be the first grave he made with all his heart.
With her hair whipping in the night wind, Kanao looked at the grave, clovers peeking out between stones in the bask of moonlight. Inosuke peeled off the boar head he always wore and Kanao couldn't help but smile as a tear rolled down her cheek, she really missed her sister.