>> 3rd POV << 

After the satisfying bath, Shinobu was on her way to the Open Hall. 

She was walking over there.

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On the road, she met somebody. 

It was a boy, and he looked familiar. 

"... Hello! Tomioka-san." Shinobu smiled and greeted the boy who was the same age as her. 

Tomioka Giyu. Is a tall boy of a muscular stature for his age. He had a pale face. His hair was unruly black with uneven lengths that sticks up in tufts around his head, which was tied back in a low messy ponytail. 

He wore a red haori and a white fox mask on the side of his head.

Tomioka stopped walking for a second and looked toward Shinobu. 

"..." He didn't say anything but just stared at her. 

His face had a stoic expression. Tomioka was standing there with composure.

Seconds later, Tomioka continued walking without returning her greetings. He left Shinobu hanging.

*💢*

A tick mark appeared on Shinobu's head. 

'Hooh? I see… So that's why some 'slayers' don't like him that much, huh?' Her smile was twitching as she thought about that. 

'He is…' Shinobu's smile was totally broken, a cute pout was on her face, and her head was fuming with smokes.

*Stomp* *Stomp* 

Shinobu repeatedly stomped her foot on the ground. Her hands were balled into a fist. 

"Who does he think is?" Shinobu muttered in annoyance.

*Stomp* *Stomp*

"I knew he was one of the strongest in our generation. But… But… "

She continued,

"I, too, am one of that! Kuuh." She exclaimed, pissed at Tomioka's show of attitude.

Some students excelled/performed remarkably as slayers. Shinobu was one among those.

Even though they were just of equal stature, Shinobu felt that Tomioka was being arrogant. 

She demanded equal treatment, you know?

Shinobu wanted to be respected too.

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A moment later, she stopped stomping her foot, and her facial expression gradually turned normal.

"Haah..." She sighed to refresh her mood.

She looked in the direction where Tomioka went. She couldn't see him from a distance anymore.

"Hmmph!" Shinobu crossed her arms on her chest and released a snort.

She continued walking forwards, opposite from the direction where Tomioka went. 

Shinobu was walking on the makeshift soil road. There was a plain grassy field about half-foot long in her surroundings. 

The wind was blowing on her face, making her shoulder-length hair wavy and some strands stuck on her lips. Shinobu usually tied her hair in a bun though sometimes she just let it down if she wasn't on duty.

She moved her hand and took away the hair strands from her lips. 

A sweet citrus scent wafted on her nose. 

Then she remembered the pleasing bath she had taken with Kanao earlier.

"Hehe ~" A genuine smile was now on her face. 

Her steps slowly turned into a leap. 

She was now skipping along the way to the Open Hall. Forgetting about Tomioka, his rude attitude, and what had transpired earlier as if it didn't happen in the first place.

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Arriving at her destination, Shinobu could see a big one-story traditional Japanese mansion. Some walls were made up of bamboo stacked on each other. There was a big door that was made of shoji, a traditional Japanese wall divider that used some paper in it.

"... One-two, one-two Ha!" Shinobu heard a noise inside the hall.

It was a voice of men shouting in unison. 

They were so loud that the sounds they were making were penetrating outside the mansion.

*Wooden Door Sliding*

Shinobu entered the place.

She saw burly men's shirtless figures doing some kind of exercise. 

Shinobu pinched her nose.

The air around the place reeked of men's sweats.

However, her face wasn't showing any hint of disgust. 

One of Shinobu's personal secrets was that she had a smell fetish. 

No one knew about that.

Even her sister, probably.

The point is, she didn't like the sour smell of sweats produced by these burly bros. It sort of turned foul to her even though it wasn't that bad.

She very much preferred the fragrant scent of flowers. Exactly, like her sister's natural ambrosial scent. Truly befitting for the title of 'Flower Hashira' indeed. 

"... Oh? What are you doing here, young Shinobu?" Someone in front of this literal group of muscle heads, the one conducting the lead of their activity, spoke as he noticed somebody entering the hall.

Most of them were 'macho' men.

But, the very notable feature of this uncle was the red handkerchief tied to his head. 

Everybody stopped what they were doing and looked towards the entrance.

"Hello, mister Ricardo! I'm here for–" 

"Shinobuuuuu chwaaaaan ❤" A man with curly brows came running and leaped towards Shinobu. 

He tried to hug her yet, only for him to meet a foot on the back of his head as Shinobu dodged the approach by jumping. She did it elegantly.

The man couldn't stop his movement. Aided by a push from Shinobu's step, he went straight for a wooden wall.

*Sound of a body hitting a wooden structure* 

"Haha. SPEED! You're as agile as ever, Shinobu." A topless dude talked fast, praising Shinobu's reaction speed. The whites in his eyes were showing signs of red. Its size was bulging.

"She really is Drewgs." Ricardo agreed with the man who commented earlier. He was named Drewgs.

"Sanjoe just doesn't learn. Haah. " A bald man sighed, palming his face and shaking it with disappointment. 

He continued.

"Even though with that small frame of hers, she's a go–" 

"You want to test your luck Mob-san?" Shinobu interrupted. She had a chilling smile while her eyes were closed.

"Hiiiih. No no! I didn't say anything." Mob, the bald guy, cowered and hid behind Ricardo's back.

"Haah. I know what you wanted to say. But I'm not okay. I'm not physically as strong as my sister. He was just slow." Shinobu explained.

""!!!"" Everybody shook at the mention of Shinobu's sister.

"Hiih...!!!" Ricardo shrieked. He was standing cooly earlier. But felt his knees weakening, and his lips trembled as he remembered the girl who usually visits the place to spar with the men. The aftermath was always...

*Shake* *Shake* 

Ricardo shook his head. It's better to not remember that terrifying event. 

"... What brings you here, Shinobu chan?" Ricardo asked. He was now back in his usual composed self.

"Ah… Have you seen grandma Tsu?" She asked.

Everybody looked towards a corner. Someone was there. 

There was a grandma about 70 yrs old. She had white hair, and a diamond object was planted at the center of her forehead. She was sitting in a lotus position, eyes closed, and her hands were waving – directing the smell of the air on her nose.

She was meditating seriously… Anybody would say that if not only for –

"Sniff. Sniff. Haaah ~ Haaah ~" Shinobu could hear grandma Tsu breathing erratically, sniffing on the air. Her cheeks were red, and a drool escaped her mouth. 

Yes, that grandma was the one Shinobu was looking for. 

"..." Shinobu smiled wryly at that and went in front of grandma Tsu.

She wasn't about to judge grandma Tsu's taste for that because she, too, had her own fetish. 

"Grandma…" Shinobu, arriving in front of grandma Tsu, called out.

Grandma Tsu opened her eyes and found Shinobu in her field of vision.

"... Shinobu cha. You've arrived. Come and sit here with me and feel the fresh, energizing air of –" 

"Nah. I'm good, grandma. I came here for the Nichirin sword I commissioned. Nee-san said it has arrived, and you had it in you." Shinobu intervened to stop her from her long preachings about her fetish and sat beside her.

That's right. Yesterday night, Kanae told Shinobu that her sword had arrived, finally. Grandma Tsu was the one who received it from the 'special' blacksmiths of the Demon Slayers. To find her, she would have to go to the Open Hall tomorrow morning.

"Ohh. That sword?… I see." Grandma Tsu put her hand on her chest and took something out of it. 

"Here… It's a strange sword." Grandma Tsu commented.

Shinobu took the sword from her.

She unsheathes the sword and marvels at it.

The weapon was unusual. It has no blade, instead, it was replaced by a rod. The tip was needle-like resembling a bee's stinger. The hilt was formed like a four-petaled aqua-colored flower, trimmed with orange. The edge of the blade was lavender-blue in color.

She didn't comment on how grandma Tsu took the sword out from her breast. That is because Shinobu already knew that grandma Tsu was odd. She didn't want to hurt her head trying to understand how she did that.

Who was grandma Tsu? 

She is a 78 years old woman who had a mastery of dealing with hidden weapons. She was once called the 'Weapons Hashira' back in her prime. Her body might look empty, but no one knows where she is hiding some weapons. 

Shinobu learned the system of how to handle hidden weapons from her.

But most importantly, grandma Tsu was…

"... Anyways. You haven't gone home for months now, grandma. That was your mansion, you know? What have you been up to?" Shinobu stopped what she was doing and asked the older woman with a curious expression. 

Shinobu felt worried, but her trust in grandma Tsu was more prevalent, so she didn't show it.

"No. It's 'YOUR' and 'KANAE's 'mansion now." Grandma Tsu emphasized.

Grandma Tsu was the one who took the sisters in after Gyomei brought them to the Headquarters. She was fascinated at how determined the sisters were to become strong. She found the potential in them. 

Grandma Tsu was a single woman throughout her life and had no descendants. Since she didn't have a single heir, she decided to bring the Kocho sisters in.

She raised them and gave them her inheritance. She was the owner of the Butterfly mansion.

"... But it's yours originally. I don't know if we really deserve your mansion. We aren't even your–" 

"No. Stop! Even if we are not related by blood, still ..." Grandma Tsu moved her head and faced Shinobu. She had a smile on her face looking at Shinobu tenderly. She put her wrinkled hand on Shinobu's cheek and caressed it gently.

She said with a loving tone,

"You two are MY daughters, okay?"

"What's mine will be yours. So you very well deserved it." She continued.

"..." Shinobu looked down and nodded her head. Deep inside, she felt so grateful to grandma Tsu for picking them up. 

"...But I hear you took in a child with you? Am I an old woman who is a mother of three now?" She asked, smiling, arcing her brow upwards.

"Yes, she was ..."

And so began Shinobu's storytelling about how they met Kanao, how angry she was at the scum, and how she felt so sad for the broken child.

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While that was going on, the men continued their activity. Ricardo took the lead and did some weird dance moves flexing his muscles. 

It was an exercise… No, a breathing exercise precisely. It was done along with some moves that would gain more body muscles, increasing their overall strength.

Who are these men?

They are a squad of slayers that are under the Stone Pillar. 

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After telling a long story, Shinobu noticed that grandma Tsu didn't answer one of her questions earlier. 

"... That's right… What have you been up to, grandma?" She asked.

"Hehe ~" A naughty smile appeared on grandma Tsu's face, her cheeks turned rosy, and her breathing was erratic.

"Do you want to know about it? ~" Cupping her hand on her cheeks, she asked.

"... N-no. Forget I asked." Having an idea of what she had gone through all those months of being absent at home, she denied it.

Grandma Tsu went back to what she had been doing earlier. 

"Sniff. Sniff. Haaah ~ Haaah ~ " 

'Waah, she must have been really frustrated.' 

'I hope I can find someone for me before I get too old to marry. To avoid becoming that.' Shinobu thought, looking at grandma Tsu's erotic face.

…