[Chapter Eight]: Lady Shinobu

                                    

                                          
"'Three times a day to boost the healing'?" Zion read, holding a rather large plastic bag with one of his hands and gazing at the words written on it. It was containing a peculiar substance inside. "So I just need to take this after each meal, right?"
"Yes!" said an unfamiliar feminine voice, sounding quite young. 
"Thanks for the help!" Zion flashed her one of his bright smiles, and gave her a thumbs-up. 
And then Y/N slowly opened his eyes, the distant voices having woken him up. His eyes felt remarkably heavy, and he was extremely tired. He began to wonder why this was the case; had he not been unconscious for a good couple of hours? That was his assumption, anyway, but it appeared that perhaps he was only unconscious for a short amount of time...
"Morning, Y/N!" Zion said positively, now flashing him a smile and a thumbs-up upon noticing his awakening. "Or is it afternoon, I don't really know!"
"Where am I?" Y/N asked the small girl near Zion at once. He looked around for his equipment. "Where's my Nichirin Sword?"
"Don't be so hostile, Y/N," Zion interjected, now frowning at him in disappointment. "We've been granted hospitality here!"
"What do you want me to do, be polite?" asked Y/N, and Zion nodded. Y/N let out a sigh, "Please could you tell me where I am?"
"This is the Butterfly Mansion," said another feminine voice, though this one didn't come from the small girl. Y/N turned to the door, where the voice had come from. 
A woman was standing by the open door. She had black wavy hair that faded into purple and her eyes appeared pale and rather large, seemingly lacking pupils as well. Y/N very much doubted that this woman was a Demon Slayer after one look at her build, which, to him at least, appeared to be weak and small. 
"I'm Shinobu Kocho, and you are one of my patients," she answered, walking into the room. Zion smiled at her, with a look on his face implying that they had met before.
Y/N blinked at her for a few moments, before the memories of the previous night proceeded to invade his mind. Then, remembering who saved him, he eagerly questioned, "The woman who saved me, is she here right now?"
"Huh, that's the first time I've seen him eager for something," Zion noted, unable to think about how he should feel. On one hand, Y/N was being more 'emotional' for once, but on the other hand, this was probably just going to be temporary. 
"You must be referring to Kanroji, right?" said Shinobu, a finger by her lips. 
"Oh! The Love Hashira, right?" Zion cut in, staring at Y/N with a look of envy. "You got to meet the Love Hashira? You're a lucky guy!" 
"Is she here?" he questioned Shinobu, ignoring what Zion said. "I want to talk to her."
"Sorry, but I don't think Kanroji has the time to accept any of your words!" Shinobu informed him, in a friendly yet slightly stern tone. "Though I can relay a message to her if you would like."
"My message is for her to come and talk to me," Y/N stated nonchalantly. 
Shinobu chuckled, "No, no! I think you're still misunderstanding. Perhaps a side-effect of your injury...? As a Hashira, Kanroji cannot afford to spare any time for you. Apologies, but any request for her to meet you will be denied."
"If she's a Hashira, then I want her to train me," Y/N said firmly. "I require her training, thus I'm asking you to relay that message to her."
"Hashiras do not pick a Demon Slayer to be their Tsuguko because they asked," Shinobu went on. "They pick a Tsuguko for other reasons, therefore your request will still be denied."