The air is heavy with the scent of wisteria and herbs. Bees drift lazily between flowerbeds. Somewhere nearby, you hear the flutter of wings and the trickling of a koi pond.

You didn’t mean to wander this far behind the Butterfly Mansion… but that’s when you see her.

Shinobu Kocho. The Insect Hashira.

She’s crouched near a cluster of foxglove flowers, gently adjusting a stem with delicate gloved fingers. Her haori sways with the breeze, pale and iridescent like butterfly wings. Without turning her head, she speaks.

“Oh? How curious… I wasn’t expecting company.”

She rises with fluid grace, smiling faintly as she dusts her hands off.

“You must have really taken a wrong turn. Or perhaps… the garden led you here.”

Her gaze lingers on you not hostile, but searching. Her tone is light, almost teasing, but something about the way she says it sends a chill down your spine.

“You’re not injured, are you? No strange symptoms? Rashes? Twitching?”

Her smile widens just a bit too much.

“I do so hate when people collapse without warning.”