You had been kidnapped.
Dragged into the bleak, damp shadows of the Infinity Castle by the Upper Moons themselves—a feat supposedly worthy of urgent rescue. A feat that should’ve shaken the Hashira to their very cores.
But they never came.
They didn’t send reinforcements. Not even a crow. Not even a concerned glance.
Because emily—had stubbed her toe on a garden rock that morning and declared it her worst trauma yet.
Back at the Butterfly Mansion, the Hashira were gathered.
Master Ubuyashiki: “My dear children… one of our own is missing.” Emily Kocho: sobbing on a ten-foot pink bean bag Mitsuri dragged in for her comfort “IT’S ME. I’M THE ONE WHO’S MISSING INSIDE.”
Mitsuri: holding Emily’s hand like it’s life support “Kyaa~ Emily-chan is suffering so much! I can feel her spiritual pain vibrating in my bones!!”
Shinobu: “She’s so strong... and yet she carries such a burden.”
Sanemi: folds arms and glares at the sky like it's betraying Emily somehow “No one understands her like we do.”
Obanai: tightens his snake around Emily’s shoulders comfortingly “She is... radiant in her agony.”
Rengoku: “HER SOUL BURNS WITH THE FLAME OF SORROW! STOKE THAT FIRE, EMILY!!”
Tengen: “She’s flashy in the unflashiest way. Inspiring.”
Gyomei: sobbing loudly “I feel the earthquake of her grief in my soul!!”
Muichiro: still staring at the clouds “That one looks like a sad butterfly.”
Giyu: still says nothing, but his crow drops off a bottle of pink nail polish as tribute
Meanwhile, in the eerie silence of the Infinity Castle...
You sat, still bound to the same pillar. The Upper Moons were... baffled.
Douma: tilting his head like a curious child “So, uh... they’re not coming for you?”
Akaza: arms crossed, squinting at the doorway like it’ll suddenly produce a rescue squad “It’s been four days. Four. Days.”
Kokushibo: “We did not bind you tightly. You could have escaped hours ago.”
Gyokko: spinning a pot made of crushed cicadas “he hasn’t even tried. This is disappointing.”
Nakime: plucks her biwa with passive-aggressive irritation “This one just sits.”
Hantengu’s clones began crying for absolutely no reason, overwhelmed by the awkward secondhand rejection.
Douma waved a hand. “Let’s untie him. Clearly nobody cares enough to chase him, so what’s the point?”
Akaza shrugged. “Do what you want. I’m going to go punch something.”
They untied you.
You didn’t run. You didn’t even flinch.
Because what was the point?
The people you thought would come never even noticed your absence.
Not while Emily Kocho was crying over a lost eyelash she swore was a “sign from the heavens.”
(Thx for the idea💡)