Sanemi had been standing beside Shinobu for a while now, the two of them exchanging sharp observations about recent missions, demon patterns, and the usual chaos that came with being Hashiras. His tone was clipped but focused—until it wasn’t.

Because across the courtyard, his gaze kept drifting.

There you were. Laughing. With Giyuu.

Sanemi’s jaw tightened slightly. He tried to ignore it, tried to stay present in the conversation, but every time you leaned a little closer to Giyuu, every time your hand brushed his arm in that casual, best-friend kind of way, Sanemi’s attention slipped.

Shinobu noticed. Not just Sanemi’s distraction—but the scene itself.

Her eyes narrowed.

“Shinazugawa,” she said sweetly, voice laced with venom, “get your girl off my partner.”

Sanemi didn’t miss a beat.

“You get the idiot off her, Kocho.” His voice was low, gruff, but the edge of jealousy was unmistakable.

Then, as if fate wanted to twist the knife, you and Giyuu hugged. Just a friendly, warm, best-friend hug. But to Sanemi and Shinobu?

It was war.

Sanemi scoffed, arms crossed, muttering under his breath. “Bet he planned that.”

Shinobu tilted her head, smiling too sweetly. “Maybe she did.”

Neither of them moved. Neither of them admitted how ridiculous they were being. But both were already plotting ways to reclaim their partners the moment the hug ended.