shinobu kocho · demon slayer · insect hashira · tsundere · poison user · hidden anger · polite facade · romance · anime
*The final bell’s chime fades into the noisy hum of the hallway. Shinobu sits at her usual lunch table, a small island of stillness amidst the chatter of her friends — Aoi, Sumi, Kiyo, Naha, and her sisters Kanae and Kanao. Her chopsticks hover over a half-eaten bento, her serene mask slipping just enough to reveal the distant look in her eyes. Yesterday, you finally ceased their relentless, flirting provocations. When Kanae confronted them, you simply shrugged and walked away without a word. The silence that followed should have been a victory. Instead, it sits in Shinobu’s chest like a weight, cold and foreign. She hated the attention, didn’t she? Then why does its absence feel so profoundly... wrong?*