I'm Sorry, I Was Wrong!

Inside Shinobu Kocho's room at the Butterfly Mansion.

A faint herbal fragrance filled the air, mingling with the cloyingly sweet scent of sakura mochi on Mitsuri Kanroji.

"So that idiot demon really believed it?"

Shinobu Kocho sat beside the tea table, cradling a cup of hot tea. Her purple eyes narrowed slightly, and a smile played on her lips.

"Huh? Idiot demon? Do you mean Kiyohiko-kun?"

"No, Kiyohiko-kun said a friend of his wanted to apologize."

Mitsuri Kanroji knelt across from her, wringing her fingers like an elementary schooler who had done something wrong.

"A friend?" Shinobu Kocho took a sip of hot tea. "Did he say something like he had a friend?"

"Huh? How did you know, Shinobu-chan?"

Mitsuri planted both hands on the table and leaned forward, her eyes lighting up like light bulbs, as if she had discovered something extraordinary.

Shinobu Kocho gently blew the floating leaves across the surface of her tea, recalling that night on the roof.

How do I know? Maybe that idiot demon just likes putting things in such a roundabout way.

She had never expected that the idiot demon, who had blushed and been at a loss when she said they were like a married couple, would now actually want to use a kabedon on her.

Honestly... he's really overestimating himself.

Still, since he wants to put on this act, wouldn't it be boring if I, the "bad woman," didn't play along?

"I'll go get some refreshments. Sit tight for a while, Mitsuri."

Shinobu Kocho set down her teacup, stood up, and straightened her haori. Her movements were graceful and unhurried, but she was already considering whether to respond to that idiot's "forceful" move with a shoulder throw or her Nichirin Blade.

"Huh? O-okay! Take your time, Shinobu-chan!"

Mitsuri was still there, cupping her cheeks and grinning foolishly, completely unaware of the "tragedy" about to unfold.

Shinobu Kocho had just rounded the corner by the kitchen when her steps faltered slightly.

There was no sudden attack as she had expected, no idiot charging over in a noisy commotion and slapping his hand against the wall, and none of those cheesy lines copied from romance novels.

The boy stood quietly in the shadows of the hallway.

Kiyohiko held a wooden tray with a plate of freshly cooked ginger pork on it, though it didn't look very appetizing.

Forgive Kiyohiko for his lack of skill in the kitchen. As an intern in his previous life, he had been too preoccupied with staying alive to think about living better. Besides, Kiyohiko had never actually met anyone who loved ginger this much.

To make something like this in such a short time, he really had put his whole heart into it.

Shinobu Kocho stopped, folded her arms, and tilted her head slightly. Her pale violet eyes seemed to say, "Please begin your performance."

"Oh my, isn't this Kiyohiko-kun?"

Her voice was airy, with a hint of dangerous sweetness.

"Why are you standing here? Are you looking for a corner, perhaps? I heard... someone was planning to perform that strange ritual called a 'kabedon' on me."

"What?!"

Kiyohiko jumped at Shinobu Kocho's sudden appearance, then her words struck him like a bolt from the blue.

Mitsuri Kanroji!!!

Didn't you say you'd keep the secret and not tell anyone?

What exactly did you keep to yourself?!

It took Kiyohiko only a second to accept the fact that Kanroji had betrayed him.

"Um... I thought about it, and that kind of thing... really isn't for me after all. I... couldn't bring myself to do it either."

Shinobu Kocho raised an eyebrow, her gaze falling on the unappetizing plate of ginger pork in his hands.

"So... you abandoned your 'forceful' plan and decided to bribe me with this instead?"

"Kiyohiko-kun, aren't your methods a little too old-fashioned and clumsy?"

"Sh-shut up!"

Kiyohiko cut Shinobu Kocho off.

Shinobu Kocho thought Kiyohiko would bicker with her as usual and call her a bad woman or something, but instead, he lowered his head and said in an extremely faint voice:

"I'm... sorry... I was wrong..."

Shinobu Kocho paused, then clasped her hands behind her back, lifted one foot, and bent forward to look for that familiar face.

"Moshi moshi?"

"What did you just say, Kiyohiko-kun? I didn't hear you."

"I said-I'm sorry! I was wrong!"

Kiyohiko practically shouted it this time, so loudly that several Kakushi members in the adjoining courtyard turned to look.

Seeing the familiar Hashira and demon again, they exchanged knowing glances and quietly slipped away rather than disturb them.

And so, for that instant, it was as if the whole world had fallen silent, leaving only an idiot demon and a bad woman.

Shinobu Kocho's smile froze. She seemed not to have expected that idiot demon to suddenly muster so much courage.

"I... I'm always bragging about how emotionally intelligent I am, saying I understand people's hearts... but the truth is, I don't understand them at all."

Kiyohiko continued, throwing caution to the wind.

"I don't know how to make a girl happy, and I don't know any romantic tricks. I even... I didn't even understand why you were angry at first."

"But then I figured it out..."

As Kiyohiko spoke, his face began to redden beyond his control. He could only turn his head away from Shinobu Kocho, but he stubbornly continued:

"All this time, I've ignored other people's feelings and gone ahead doing whatever I thought was right."

"From now on, I'll take better care of myself, because... because..."

Kiyohiko kept repeating "because," his voice growing quieter and quieter, but thankfully, he finally managed to say it.

"Because... you're the most important person to me in this world."

"I... I don't want you to get angry because you're worried about me."

Shinobu Kocho's pupils widened slightly, her eyes shimmering with a light they had never held before. If Kiyohiko had worked up the courage to look at Shinobu Kocho,

he would have seen that the bad woman who had always teased him so calmly had become just like him, a blush slowly spreading around her ears.

[Increase detected in target Shinobu Kocho's Bond Value. Current Bond Value: 80]

After a long while, Kiyohiko, still looking away, felt the tray in his hands grow lighter.

Shinobu Kocho had taken the plate.

Kiyohiko turned back to find that Shinobu Kocho had already turned away, her back to him so he couldn't see her expression.

"What an idiot demon..."

"I suppose your apology barely passes."

"The food looks awful. If you dare make something this ugly again, I'll stuff your mouth full of ginger."

With that, she carried the plate back to her room, her steps a little hurried, and shut the door with a bang.

Inside the room, Mitsuri Kanroji was kneeling on the tatami with a piece of sakura mochi in her hand. Seeing Shinobu Kocho enter carrying a plate, her cheeks seemingly a little red, she couldn't help widening her eyes in curiosity.

"Huh? Shinobu-chan? Weren't you going to get refreshments? Where did this plate of... very ordinary-looking ginger pork come from?"

Mitsuri Kanroji leaned closer and took a sniff.

"And... Shinobu-chan, your face is so red! Did something good happen? Don't tell me... the kabedon plan worked?!"

"There was no kabedon."

She spoke softly, picking up a slice of pork with her chopsticks and putting it in her mouth.

The sharpness of the ginger and the savory flavor of the pork bloomed on her tongue. It tasted... surprisingly good. Even if that idiot had made it.

"As for something good happening..."

"I suppose there was something, a little."