"You-!" Shinobu Kocho choked on her words, her little face flushing as she glared at him through gritted teeth. "That was sparring! And you were deliberately targeting my lack of physical strength! You left me covered in mud every time, you violent brute without a shred of gentlemanly manners!"
"On the battlefield, demons won't care whether you're a girl," Rokuya said evenly, though his gaze softened despite himself. "If I don't push you to your limits, you won't even have a chance to escape when you run into a Lower Rank or an Upper Rank. Save your complaints until you can dodge my second move."
"All right, all right, you two. Why do you start arguing every time you see each other?"
A voice as gentle as water came from outside the door. Kanae Kocho walked in carrying a steaming cup of wisteria tea, her pale purple eyes filled with helpless amusement. Today, she was not wearing her Flower Hashira uniform, but a pale pink kimono. Her long hair was loosely pinned up with a butterfly hairpin, making her look especially gentle and lovely.
"Sister! You're always indulging him!" Shinobu turned around indignantly and set the empty wooden basin heavily on the table. "He's going to eat a huge hole in the Butterfly Mansion's accounts!"
Kanae walked to the bedside with a soft laugh and handed Rokuya the tea. "Shinobu says that, but who was it in the kitchen just now who kept urging the cook to add more salmon, saying it was Rokuya's favorite?"
"Sister!!" Shinobu flushed to the tips of her ears, like a kitten with its fur standing on end. "I was... I was just afraid he'd starve to death at the Butterfly Mansion and ruin our family's reputation if word got out!"
Rokuya accepted the teacup,