Even as she remained enveloped in Horitake's embrace, and despite his complete transparency regarding his whereabouts, Shinobu Kochō made no effort to hide her lingering displeasure. She allowed a trace of her temper to flare, a rare display of personal pique.
Horitake chuckled softly, tightening his hold on her. He showed no intention of letting go.
"It's good that you're annoyed," he teased. "Being annoyed just proves that you still care about me, Shinobu-san. If the day ever comes where I go off to see Mitsuri or Nezuko and you don't feel even a spark of jealousy, it would only mean one of two things has happened."
"Oh? And what would those be?" she asked, her voice dangerously calm.
"First, that you've become so close to Mitsuri and Nezuko that you're practically sisters—to the point where you don't mind sharing. Or..."
"Or?"
"The second possibility is the opposite. It would mean your heart has turned to ash where I'm concerned, and you no longer have any feelings left for me. If that happened, you wouldn't care where I went or who I was with."
At this, Shinobu's lips curled into a mysterious, inscrutable smile. "I see. And which of those two scenarios are you hoping for?"
Without a moment's hesitation, Horitake replied, "The first one, obviously. Wouldn't it be wonderful for everyone to live together in harmony? If things ever reached that second scenario, I'd be heartbroken. I wouldn't even have the face to stand before you."
His blunt, shameless honesty finally made Shinobu snap. Without changing her pleasant expression, she reached out and snatched a handful of the soft flesh at Horitake's waist. She didn't just pinch; she gave it a brutal, high-pressure twist.
"You absolute scoundrel!" she hissed. "I knew it. That was your plan from the very beginning, wasn't it? You've been aiming for this 'harmonious harem' life all along!"
Horitake sucked in a sharp breath of air, his face contorting as he endured the pain. "Wait—didn't you know this from the start, Shinobu-san? I was open about my intentions from the beginning, and you... you didn't exactly say no, right?"
The metaphorical "anger vein" popped on Shinobu's forehead. Her grip tightened even further. What had started as a hundred-and-eighty-degree twist had now become a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree rotation!
Despite her boiling fury, she maintained her trademark sweet smile. "I may have tacitly accepted the situation back then, but that doesn't mean I don't get jealous. And it certainly doesn't mean I won't be annoyed when the situation actually stares me in the face!"
Horitake winced, his teeth gritted. Even with his superhuman physical resilience, a full-circle pinch from a Hashira was no joke. He immediately began to plead for mercy, knowing he had to stabilize her mood first.
"I was wrong, Shinobu-san! It's all my fault. I'm a scumbag, I'm fickle, I'm a heartless womanizer! I repent! I'll regret this for the rest of my life! I wish I could take it all back..."
He threw himself into a low-posture apology, piling on the self-deprecation.
Shinobu was a reasonable woman at heart. Seeing his pathetic display of contrition, she didn't push her luck or escalate the conflict further. She chose to let go, allowing this particular chapter of their argument to close for now.
In truth, Shinobu understood the reality of the situation. The fact that there were three women in Horitake's life was an established fact that couldn't be changed. Since reality was immutable, she could only change her own perspective.
She might be annoyed, but she had been the one foolish enough to fall for this jerk. For his sake, she would have to endure it and try her best to get along with the other two.
Fortunately, neither of them were difficult people. Whether it was Mitsuri or the future Nezuko, they were both kind-hearted girls. They would likely get along quite well.
Thinking of this made Shinobu feel a fresh surge of irritation.
That bastard Horitake really had planned everything. He had scouted the three of them from the start, even considering whether their personalities would be compatible. He had calculated exactly how to make them coexist in peace.
She had to admit, his plan was working. It was on the verge of becoming a reality. Even she found herself less resistant to the idea of a shared life than she ought to be.
Realizing she had unwittingly fallen into the trap of his "sugar-coated bullets," Shinobu let out a helpless, slightly melancholy sigh and finally withdrew her hand.
Seeing her let go, Horitake quickly pulled up his shirt to inspect his waist. "Good heavens... look at that, Shinobu-san. It's already turning purple. Weren't you a bit too ruthless?"
Glancing at the bruise on his side, Shinobu remained unmoved, her demeanor shifting into something almost regal.
"It's just a bruise. What does a scratch like that matter to someone like you? For people like us, who walk through fire and blades daily, that doesn't even count as an injury. Besides, if you want to enjoy the 'blessings' of multiple wives, you have to pay the price. Did you think it would be free?"
She leaned back slightly. "In the future, when we form a household, both Mitsuri and Nezuko-chan will likely be the soft, submissive types. That means I'm the only one who will be able to keep you in check. If I don't keep a tight grip on you, who knows if you'll go out and bring home even more women? If that happens, the three of us won't have a shoulder left to cry on."
Horitake shook his head vigorously, denying the accusation. "No, no, no. Shinobu-san, I told you from the start: there are only the three of you. No more. I'm not going to go out looking for trouble, and bringing someone else home is out of the question."
Shinobu rolled her eyes, her confidence in his promise clearly lacking.
"Please. A man's words are like a ghost's lies—ephemeral and deceptive. With your personality, I doubt you'd ever abandon us, but 'sampling the local cuisine' while you're away? That's entirely possible. Let's look at the facts. Remember that mission we went on to the bathhouse—the one to rescue the Flame Hashira's younger brother?"
She continued, narrowing her eyes. "You went undercover as a decadent young nobleman. You even hired two bathhouse attendants with completely different charms to keep you company. Are you absolutely certain you restrained yourself? That you didn't do anything to those two women?"
Hearing her dig up old history, Horitake nearly jumped out of his skin. "Shinobu-san! You saw the situation yourself! I stuffed those two girls into the closet immediately! I didn't do a single thing!"
"I know you didn't then," she countered. "But what if there was no mission? What if no one needed saving? Facing two such beautiful women, could you really have held back?"
"Uh..."
Horitake was left speechless.
He wanted to say, with full confidence, that he could have restrained himself. But reflecting on that night... if there hadn't been a mission, if there hadn't been lives at stake... he might very well have followed those two women into the hot springs.
When it came to his own nature as a man, Horitake lacked the moral high ground to argue.
Under the "Queen-like" gaze of Shinobu, he could only lower his head in defeat.
Shinobu saw his dejected look and let out a soft sigh of her own. This was enough. Pushing this jerk to this point was sufficient for today.
She wasn't truly interested in dredging up the past; she just needed to "tighten the strings" on his conscience every now and then, ensuring he would think twice before ever truly doing something to betray her trust.
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