Broken Wings- Shinobu x Fem. Reader

Past Memories

*T/W - There is a slight mention of homophobia in this chapter, it's extremely small*

Y/N. Tanjiro must've repeated her name countless times in his head after hearing it. Her name sounded like a melody in his head. His gaze flickered over to the candles dancing in the corners of the room, far away enough from the shrine to not catch fire, but still close enough to add to the ambiance of the room. Shinobu sat across from him, her eyes were shut, taking in everything.

"It was about two years ago," she shifted gently on the pillow, attempting to get comfortable. "It was after my eldest sister's passing, she comforted me and we instantly bonded. She really was the sweetest girl." Shinobu let out a soft giggle as she recalled Y/N's presence. "She smelt of fresh rain, and would raise hell for everyone else training, but she always gave everything her best..."

"I took over the Butterfly Estate when I was 14, she would help care for Kanao and she would attempt to cook, granted she was terrible at it! She would pick fights with the other trainees for looking at her weird, and on some occasions would cry like there's no tomorrow." Tanjiro felt a sharp pain in his chest, he thought of his friends, the overaggressive Inosuke, the sensitive Zenitsu, and the forever lovely Nezuko. "I'll be honest, when I first met her, she was definitely not the type of person I would associate with. Too many uncontrolled emotions." She looked up from her hands, she was subconsciously playing with them to distract herself. "She was the first one to help me work through my emotions after Kanae's passing, she helped set the blueprint of who I wanted to become in the future."

Shinobu stood up, dusting off the invisible dust from her silk sweats. She walked over to the darkest corner of the room where a closet hid. Before she opened it she let out a defeated sigh. Looking over at Tanjiro she raised her voice so he could hear her, "Over the next few months she and I would grow closer. What I first had deemed as 'flaws' quickly grew to be my favorite parts of her personality. From her terrible jokes to the way she grumbles when we had an early morning training session.... I grew to love her."

She brushed her hair behind her ears, "More than how two friends should love each other." Tanjiro's eyes widened, he wasn't sure Shinobu could see his facial expression in the dark, maybe that's why she walked away. So she wasn't able to hear Tanjiros scoffs and eyes if he had disapproved of her and her actions. But Shinobu felt a hug, Tanjiro was hugging her. Shinobu's eyes danced with tears, she cried. Fully. The type of cries where she was struggling to breathe. Tanjiro just stood there comforting her, rubbing his hand against her back reassuring her everything was fine. After a moment of silence, Shinobu broke away, gently. She wiped her eyes and looked at the ground, "I never told anyone about my feelings towards her...or other girls for that matter. I didn't want others to look down or to mock me. I told Kanae when I was younger, but she only warned me of a disapproving world."

Tanjiro nodded, while most of the other Hashiras were also queer of some sort, she must of been dealing with her own harsh feelings for a while now.

"One day after a hot training session we went to a small pond together. Just the two of us." She met Tanjiro's gaze. "We were both probably only 15 or 16, we spent the whole day there though. She told me her plans for the future. She planned on being a hashira." She smiled letting out a soft laugh, "She had this crazy expression on her face, I wanted to always be with her. No matter where she was. If she was in Hell, I would also choose nothing more than to burn if it meant seeing her smile again. I never felt more free than when she would tell me stories of her past and her family." Shinobu traced the outline of the closet. "I told her I wanted to meet her family, and be a part of it. I told her that I wanted to help raise a family with her, I told her she would be an excellent parent." Shinobu opened the closet. Specks of dust gracefully fell from the closet, landing on the floor. Inside of the closet there laid a training uniform and a simple blue and pink patterned kimono. There was a simple matching haori sitting beside it along with a simple, and small butterfly clip. Shinobu fidgeted with one of the drawers until it opened. It revealed a small box. Right at that moment Tanjiro felt his heart break into multiple tiny pieces. He spoke for the first time, "Don't tell me,". Shinobu looked at him, eyes heavy. Sadly to Tanjiro's amazing guessing skills he guessed correctly. The tiny box held a pair of matching rings.

"I was planning to give them to her after she returned from her last mission, but-"

Shinobu didn't have to finish the sentence, Tanjiro was able to fill in the rest. Pushing back tears Shinobu spoke again, "This wasn't even her real kimono and haori, these were backups." Shinobu closed the box and placed it back in the closet. Tanjiro noted the different rocks and flowers that decorated the closet, along with the rain scented candles.

Shinobu finally closed the closet and met the gaze of the boy, "I think that's enough for tonight though, but please, if Y/N ever comes across your mind again...please come see me. I have many stories that you may find that meet your fancy. Please get some rest Tanjiro, I hear you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow as you finish your extra training and healing sessions. I apologize for holding you so long." There it was again. There stood the "perfect" and "held together" Kocho Shinobu. It hurt Tanjiro. She was only able to grieve in silence, and to a 15 year old boy who has also lost those dear to him. He could only guess about half the pain Shinobu had been going through the last couple years.

"Thank you for sharing your past with me." Tanjiro bowed and headed out of the room. He passed back down the hallway with the painting in it. But this time he didn't look at it, how could he. The girl in the painting was long dead and gone for good, not to mention Shinobu was madly in love with her. He grieved for Y/N, he grieved for her death and how she's still haunting people's memories. He grieved for Shinobu, who couldn't move on, no matter how many years distanced her and Y/N. Lastly he grieved for both Kanao, for she briefly knew Y/N, but not enough to describe her and the life she presented.

"I'm sorry Tanjiro," Shinobu said to herself as she stood mindlessly in the room, even after Tanjiro left, taking in the smells of all the candles around her. She walked towards the closet again, opening it and picking up the small, delicate butterfly clip. She closely inspected it, the butterfly was decorated in various shades of pink, ranging from obnoxious pinks to soft baby pinks. The colors fit Y/N perfectly. She ran her fingers over the sides of the wings where she noticed there was damage to the wings.

The wings on the butterfly were broken.