VIP Shoutout: Massive thanks to Joao Miguel de Lima and Justin Avalosfor joining the P-Tier!!♥
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As the medical head of the Butterfly Mansion, she was extremely sensitive to even the smallest changes in the human body.
At such a close distance, she clearly sensed that Rin's eyes had undergone some kind of indescribable transformation.
Before, those black pupils had been deep, occasionally revealing a sharp and intimidating pressure.
Now, his eyes were as calm and clear as a bottomless pool.
Not only that, but the aura around him, which had once felt like a blade drawn from its sheath, had completely withdrawn. Instead, he carried a quiet sense of restraint and depth, a presence that made people feel unconsciously drawn closer.
"Your eyes…" Shinobu Kocho subconsciously raised a slender finger and lightly touched the corner of Rin's eye. "They feel… different from yesterday. Are you feeling unwell?"
The cool touch of her fingertip, carrying a faint scent of wisteria, brushed across Rin's cheek like a feather.
Looking at the delicate face so close to his and those eyes filled with concern, a mischievous smile appeared on Rin's lips.
He suddenly raised his hand, grasped Shinobu Kocho's small hand resting against his cheek, and gave it a gentle tug.
"Ah!"
Shinobu Kocho let out a soft cry as she lost her balance and fell straight into a broad, steady embrace.
Rin adjusted his posture with ease, letting her sit across his lap.
One hand settled firmly around her slender waist, while the other casually played with a strand of black hair that had fallen over her chest.
"You… what are you doing? It's broad daylight—let go of me!"
Shinobu instantly turned red, her blush spreading from her neck all the way to her ears.
She pressed her hands against Rin's chest in a token attempt to push him away, but that small amount of strength felt more like playful resistance than a real struggle.
"You threw yourself into my arms. How can you blame me for that?" Rin replied shamelessly, sounding completely justified.
"Nonsense! I was just looking at your eyes!" Shinobu retorted, flustered, trying to change the subject to hide her racing heart. "Be honest. What did you do last night? Why does it feel like your aura has completely changed?"
"It's nothing much. I just broke through a bottleneck."
Rin gently rested his chin on her shoulder and took a slow breath of her faint, pleasant scent. "My vision improved. I can see you more clearly now. I can even count how often your eyelashes flutter."
This flirtatious remark, delivered in a lazy, magnetic tone, pierced straight through the Insect Hashira's composure.
Shinobu Kocho bit her rosy lips, realizing she couldn't win a verbal exchange with this shameless man.
Her eyes darted about before she suddenly slipped a hand into her sleeve and pulled out a dark brown pill. Taking advantage of the moment Rin was speaking, she quickly popped it into his mouth.
"Mmph?" Rin instinctively held the pill in place.
The next instant, an explosive bitterness, ten times worse than the tonic from earlier, spread across his tongue.
"Haha! Serves you right!"
Seeing Rin's expression stiffen slightly, Shinobu Kocho finally felt like she had won a round and laughed proudly. "This is my special Concentrated Coptis–Sophora Pill. I usually use it to punish patients who refuse to take their medicine properly. Who told you to bully me so early in the morning?"
Her eyes curved into crescents as she laughed. Without her usual composure, this lively, mischievous side of her made Rin's heart skip slightly.
"It's bitter, isn't it? Let me go quickly so you can drink some water—mmph!"
Before Shinobu Kocho could finish speaking, her words were suddenly cut off.
Rin didn't reach for water. Instead, one hand cradled the back of her head while the other tightened around her waist as he leaned forward and firmly kissed her.
Their lips met.
The extremely bitter Coptis–Sophora Pill was deftly pushed by Rin's tongue between their lips.
The bitterness instantly spread through both of their mouths.
Shinobu Kocho's eyes widened. Her hands gripped the front of Rin's clothes tightly as her mind went completely blank.
She wanted to push him away, but her body seemed to melt under the invasive yet unexpectedly gentle kiss.
The medicinal taste that had been unbearably bitter moments ago seemed to ferment into a faint sweetness within the heart-racing closeness.
A light breeze passed through the backyard, scattering a few wisteria petals that drifted softly onto the shoulders of the pair locked in their embrace.
After a long moment, Rin finally released her.
Looking at Shinobu Kocho in his arms, breathing unevenly, her eyes misty and unable to meet his gaze, Rin licked his lips, savoring the lingering sweetness mixed with the medicinal flavor.
"It really is quite bitter."
Rin leaned close to her ear, his voice low and husky, filled with amusement. "But eaten this way, the taste is just right."
"You… you unreasonable bastard…"
Shinobu Kocho shoved Rin away in utter embarrassment and hurriedly straightened the slightly disheveled hem of her kimono.
She didn't even bother picking up the tray that had fallen to the ground. Covering her burning cheeks, she turned and ran toward the laboratory.
"I—I'm going to prepare medicine! Go eat at the dining hall yourself at noon! Don't come looking for me!"
With her flustered and indignant shout echoing behind her, the purple-clad figure quickly disappeared at the end of the long corridor.
Heh~ so cute.
Watching her flee in panic, Rin leaned against the wooden pillar and couldn't help but chuckle.
In this dangerous world filled with demons and death, having a fiancée who could be teased at any moment—someone both tsundere and fiercely protective—was truly something that could bring happiness.
"Boss!"
A yellow head suddenly peeked cautiously over the courtyard wall.
Zenitsu looked around cautiously. After confirming that Miss Shinobu had already left, he flipped over the wall and jumped into the courtyard.
"Lady Shinobu is gone, right?" Zenitsu looked at Rin with a face full of envy, jealousy, and resentment. "Ahh! Boss, teach me! How do you make such a beautiful girl so devoted to you? I want to experience sweet love like that too! I don't want to spend every day stuck with that pig-head and that blockhead Tanjiro!"
Rin's smile faded, and he returned to his usual lazy, indifferent expression.
He stood up and brushed the dust from his clothes.
"Hmm.. You want to learn, huh?"
Zenitsu nodded frantically, his eyes sparkling with desperate eagerness.
"Sure." Rin pointed toward the largest stone weight in the center of the yard. "Go lift that and run fifty laps around the courtyard. Once your strength is enough to one-shot an Upper Rank demon, girls will naturally flock to you."
The smile on Zenitsu's face froze instantly, and he let out a howl of despair.
"Booo~~ You're lying, right?! That stone weight is three hundred pounds! Boss, you're clearly abusing your authority to settle a personal grudge!"
"Sixty laps."
"I'll run! I'll run right now!"
Watching Zenitsu return to the hellish training, Rin nodded in satisfaction.
Peaceful daily life was always short-lived.
Next, he should consider which big fish that old schemer Muzan would send to his chopping block.
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Shinobu definitely didn't run away because she got flustered. She simply had… urgent medical research to conduct.
12 Advance chapters:Patreon/slept01