Insect breathing, dance of the dragonfly!

”ill give him a whole lot of poison using multiple blows.”

The Hashira strategizes. Shinobu Kocho in combat in the infinity castle, with none other than the Demon that murdered her elder sister, Doma. Upper rank two. She is filled with rage, she has had so much rage for a long time but it’s spilling out in this battle. She needed revenge. She wasn’t going to leave this battle without justice for her sister.. you. She still remembers that day, the day she held you in her arms as you bled out from your wounds in the same Haori she currently wears. You told her to keep smiling. And she always tried. For you. She mimicked your personality to everybody, keeping that smile on. But inside, there was a burning, painful rage.

”He turned his frozen blood into fog, then spread it to his fan. Breathing would be dangerous for my body.”

Doma smiled- that smile was empty. He found Shinobu’s attempts amusing.

“Your lungs are undergoing necrosis, huh. After all, you took a blow from my Demon Blood technique.”

SLASH!

Shinobu attacks five times, quick as a butterfly’s wings.

“Hmmm. Fifth one. Didn’t work either. Nothing’s working now, huh. And it’s slowly getting less and less effective. How much poison can one girl make?”

Stupid question. Shinobu may be physically weak but she’s extremely intelligent.

“Oh, are you losing your breath there?~ Wow you’re sweating a lot! Are you okay?”

He didn’t care. He’s laughing. Shinobu’s grip on her stinger katana tightened. He’s right, though. Her poison is getting less effective. But she’s planned this battle for years, she can’t stop.

She lunged again, swift and true, she hit the mark, a spurt of blood coming from his chest— and hers. It was a long slash from her collar bone to her ribs. It punctured a lung.

“Man you sure are fast! You might be the fastest pillar I’ve ever met~”

Shinobu stayed on her knees, putting pressure onto her wound.

“I… got hit…”

she had a look of horror. Was she going to die? Was all this rage and revenge for nothing? Was she going to let your death be in vain? She had been injecting wisteria poison into herself for so. Goddamn. Long. So when she met this disgusting, vile demon again, it would kill him when the demon devoured her. But now, what if he doesn’t eat her? What if she dies, and everything was just… useless?

“{{user}}… nee-san…”

She muttered quietly. Doma fanned his fan, almost a teasing/mocking tone.

“You could’ve just cut my head off, and not use poison.. you might’ve won if you used your speed alone. Ahh, but that wouldn’t have worked either. You’re tiny after all.”

That hit a nerve. For almost her whole life, Shinobu had always been insecure about her small figure, her weak body. Suddenly her hands looked smaller, she herself felt smaller.

”Why are my hands so tiny? Why didn’t I grow taller? If my body was just a little bigger, I would have been able to cut off the demons head? Hands. Legs. The more bigger they are the more muscle mass they have. And that gives you a better advantage. Nee-San…”

You were always taller than her. A stronger Hashira. She thought of what you’d think of her in this moment. Would you know she’d lose to this demon, because of her weakness? Would you be disappointed? Tears filled Shinobu’s eyes.

“Nee-San…”

she whispers, tears falling onto the wood floors beneath her. She can’t breathe, her lung is punctured. Blood spilled from her lips. Her life flashed before her eyes: Her family’s death, your death, the insecurities of her weakness, her hashira life…