"MARCUS!!!"
Shinobu was thrashing desperately, throwing slaps and kicks in every direction. But against Marcus's unshakable stance, all of her resistance crashed against a wall of sheer superiority.
"This is your last warning! Don't you dare—"
"Shut up."
Opening a door, Marcus walked in.
Whose room was it? He didn't know, nor did he care. At this moment, the only thing he wanted was to teach that stubborn woman a damn good lesson!
Finding herself dragged into a room alone with him, Shinobu got scared.
If it had been anyone else, she wouldn't have been worried in the slightest. But Marcus was different.
This guy was known for being shamelessly brazen.
"Marcus-kun, if you have something to say to me, let's talk it over calmly. But, please, put me down fir—"
The next second, the world spun a full turn around her.
Marcus had, indeed, set her down on the ground. Or, to be more precise, he had flipped her over and arranged her across his knees.
Shinobu lay face-down across his legs, her face pointing down and her rear pointing up.
For a moment, she was left speechless.
"…what do you think you're doing?!"
Without uttering a single word, Marcus raised his hand and then…
Smack!
A sharp slap landed on Shinobu's firm rear, leaving her momentarily paralyzed.
"MAR—!!!"
Smack!
"I-It hurts—!"
"It hurts?" Marcus's voice came from above, "Now you know what pain is?"
"When you were injecting yourself with poison, how come you didn't know it hurt?"
"When you imagined an Upper Moon devouring you, how come you didn't know it hurt?"
"When you were planning your own death… how come you didn't know it hurt!?"
Smack!
Shinobu bit her lip, trying not to scream, but her eyes welled up red again.
"My sister…"
"Your sister is your sister, and you are you!"
Smack!
"Your sister wanted you to live well! Not to kill yourself!"
Smack!
"Your sister wanted to see you happy! Not faking a smile every day!"
Smack!
"Your sister wanted you to grow stronger! Not to throw your life in the trash!"
Smack!
"Do you think she'd be happy if you died?"
Smack!
"Do you think she'd applaud you from the heavens if you died? Not in a million years!"
Smack!
"The only thing she'd feel would be immense pain! She'd cry! She'd blame herself for not being able to protect you!"
Smack!
"Just like me right now!"
Shinobu was stunned, "You… what you just said… what…?"
"I SAID!!"
Smack!
"That!"
Smack!
"I!"
Smack!
"Will!"
Smack!
"Suffer!"
Smack!
"Waaaaa!!"
Shinobu suddenly burst into tears: "You bastard, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?! LET ME GO!!"
Marcus was stunned.
Her voice no longer sounded affected. The fake smile was gone. The sweetness had vanished.
...
Could it be that, by way of spankings, he had managed to reset Shinobu back to her factory settings?
"Hit me! Keep hitting me! Just kill me already! Waaaaa!"
"I couldn't protect my sister! I couldn't protect myself! And now, when the only thing I want is to protect Kanao, to leave her a world without demons, YOU EVEN HIT ME!"
"Waaaaa… j-just kill me already!"
Looking at the tempting figure trembling across his lap and crying without the slightest bit of restraint, Marcus lowered his hand… and, this time, let it fall gently on her rear.
"Does it hurt?"
But Shinobu only kept crying.
"I'm sorry…" Marcus murmured softly. "I hurt you."
She shook her head and buried her face in her hands.
"N-No… it's not… that it hurts…"
"Then what is it?"
"It's… it's just that it's been so… so long since anyone… t-took care of me like this…"
Marcus's heart clenched tightly.
…The Insect Pillar.
She was one of the nine strongest in the Demon Slayer Corps.
Someone admired by countless hunters.
Someone always smiling, always kind, always impossible to read.
And, at the same time, she was simply a person…
A little girl who had seen with her own eyes how her sister, her only family, died in her arms.
A poor soul who hid her sadness behind a smile, and who paid tribute to her sister by trying to imitate her.
A complete fool who, not knowing what else to do, hadn't found any better solution than to turn herself into poison.
Marcus's hand caressed her rear tenderly.
"From now on, I'm going to be the one taking care of you."
"W-Who… sniff…" Shinobu shook a little, as if throwing a tantrum, "said I want… you to take care of me?"
"That's not up to you," Marcus replied seriously.
"If you smile, I'll watch you. If you cry, I'll stay with you. If you want to die, I'll stop you. And if you insist on slowly killing yourself… I…"
"I'll put you over my knees again and give you another good spanking."
"Pfft—!"
Shinobu burst out laughing.
A laugh so sudden that tears and snot came out at the same time.
"Y-You're a bastard…"
"I love being a bastard," Marcus admitted, without the slightest bit of shame.
"So, from now on, be a little more obedient. Don't force me to act like a bastard again."
Shinobu didn't say anything else.
She just let herself stay there, resting across his legs, allowing that hand to keep gently rubbing her rear.
So warm… A warmth she hadn't felt in a very, very long time.
Minutes went by…
So many, that the sunlight on the other side of the window slowly drifted from one end of the room to the other.
Finally, Shinobu raised her head.
Her eyes were red, her nose flushed, and the tracks of her tears still ran down her cheeks.
But she was smiling.
And, for once, it wasn't that same old smile. It was a real smile.
"Marcus."
"Mmm?"
"How many times did you hit me?"
Marcus thought about it seriously.
"I didn't count… But I'd guess about ten."
"I did count them."
"And what for? Are you planning to get back at me?"
"Yes." Shinobu nodded. "In the future, I'm going to pay you back one by one."
"Heh." Marcus snorted, amused. "Sure. The day you can beat me."
"I'll work hard."
At last, Shinobu sat up off his lap, calmly smoothing out her rumpled clothes.
"But before any of that…" She looked at him. Her eyes were still red, but this time there was a small light shining inside them.
"Thank you."
Marcus returned her smile.
"You're welcome."
Outside, the sun was still shining brightly.
Shinobu stood in front of the window, gazing at the flowers and plants in the garden.
"What you just said… did you mean it?"
"What part?"
"The part about… taking care of me."
Marcus stepped closer to her. "Of course I meant it."
"Why?"
Shinobu turned to look at him. "How long have we even known each other? Why do you care about me?"
"Maybe because… I like you?"
"You like me?"
The corners of Shinobu's lips curled up slightly, and that curve kept growing until it became, little by little, her standard smile from always.
Even her voice recovered its usual sweetness.
"Marcus-kun~ I'm not the kind of girl who gets charmed by two pretty words~"
"…"
This woman… switches faces at an impressive speed!
"By the way… as for what happened today, I humbly beg Marcus-kun to keep it a secret~"
Looking at that face, Marcus got an enormous urge to mess with her a little.
"And what if I don't want to?"
"You don't want to, hm~?" Shinobu brought a finger to her chin, looking thoughtful. "Well, would you look at that, I just happen to have a poison capable of leaving anyone mute. Perhaps it could be of use to Marcus-kun."
Marcus stiffened and, cautiously, took a step back.
"Don't you dare inject me with anything!"
Shinobu smiled. "Actually, poisoning someone doesn't necessarily require blood~"
"…"
"S-stop saying nonsense!" Marcus, a little nervous, quickly changed the subject. "First tell me what you plan to do about the poison thing!"
"If I keep injecting myself…"
"I'll spank you again!"
"…"
The corner of Shinobu's lips twitched slightly. She stopped looking at Marcus and headed straight toward the door.
"You still haven't told me what you plan to do!"
"Relax." Shinobu paused at the threshold. "As long as I stop injecting it and take good care of myself for a while, I'll be able to recover."
"…Really?"
"I wouldn't dare deceive Lord Demon Pillar, you know~?" Shinobu giggled. "I don't want him spanking me again~"
And, with that said, she opened the door and walked out of the room.
The moment she shut it behind her, the smile on her face vanished all at once, replaced by a grimace of pain.
Leaning against the wall, Shinobu hobbled away, muttering curses under her breath the whole way.
Outside the room.
A few little heads were huddled together, side by side.
Kiyo, Sumi, and Naho, the three little ones, were peeking through the window, holding their breath.
"It looks like Lord Demon Pillar is bullying Shinobu-sama…"
"No, no, it looks like he's comforting her…"
"Lord Demon Pillar looks really angry…"
"Aaah—! He smacked Shinobu-sama on the butt!"
"Shinobu-sama is glaring at him with rage! She's looking at him with so much rage!"
"Shinobu-sama is crying! And now she's laughing!"
"Aaah, this is all so complicated…!"
"Oh, Shinobu-sama is about to open the door, quick, let's hide~!"
"She's gone, it's over."
"By the way… wasn't this Aoi-san's room? She said she was going to change clothes, how come she isn't here?"
The three girls looked at each other.
"We have to go find her quickly! Let's not let her come back to the room. If she runs into Lord Demon Pillar, he's going to smack her on the butt too!"
"That's right, that's right!"
Listening to those whispers coming from the other side of the window, those murmurs they were convinced no one could hear, Marcus almost burst out laughing.
Right after, with an expression halfway between a smile and seriousness, he walked over to the closet, which had been trembling slightly for quite some time now.
'Don't blame me for not keeping the secret, Shinobu…'
This mansion of yours has a few very nosy little spies.
If you let them catch you in a situation like that, then you can no longer leave me mute with your poison, right~?
____
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