Shinobu X Female OC

Historian Butterfly AU: Prologue

Shinobu x Female OC

Chapter 1

“There were demons when I was a little girl.”

“Really Gran Gran?” A 5 year old girl looked at her great grandmother with wide blue eyes.

Her grandmother gave a dry chuckle in response as she combed her granddaughter’s hair. “Yes really. They would roam around at night and attack any humans in sight. The more people they devoured the stronger they became. They would be able to transform their bodies and some even used strange spells. I encountered them many times in my youth.”

The little girl tilted her head. “Is that why you always stay in the house when it’s night?”

“Yes, but only out of habit. Demons stopped existing long ago.”

“Why?”

“The same reason why the demons did not wipe us all out in the first place, the demon slayers. They dedicated themselves to fightifor the future of humanity. They would fight with strength beyond what humans were capable of.”

“Were you a demon slayer Gran Gran?”

The grandmother let out a hearty laugh in response. “No my dear. Even when your Gran Gran was young and chipper I lacked the strength and skill to become one. I instead chose to support the slayers on the sidelines as a kakushi. I tended to the wounded and helped with the clean up after battles.” The grandmother paused for a moment. “The Hashira on the other hand were the strongest of the strong. They could kill a demon with seemingly little effort. It’s because of their sacrifice that we are able to live peacefully today.”

“Are you filling Fukuro’s head with your stories again grandma?”

Both people looked up to see a young woman standing in the doorway.

“It’s history Yua.”

Fukuro’s eyes lit up. “Mom!” she exclaimed as she excitedly ran over to the woman, and hugged her legs.

Yua gave her daughter a smile as she lifted Fukuro up into her arms, which she was given a squeal in response. “There’s my curious little bird. Did you enjoy your Gran Gran’s stories?”

Fukuro gave her mother a bright smile. “Yep! She was telling all about the demons and demon slayers!”

Yua let out a sigh as she looked at her grandmother. “Those stories are a bit violent for a 5 year old, don’t you think grandma?”

“I'm not as young as I used to be, Yua. I don’t have much time left and Fukuro needs to learn some stories before I pass on. No offense to you or the rest of the family, but I know none of you were ever able to get the details right.” The grandmother said with a sparkle of amusement in her eyes.

Yua let out a little huff and pouted. “I still don’t understand why it’s so important for me to say flame instead of fire,” she muttered. She looked back at her daughter. “Now say goodbye to Gran Gran, Fukuro.”

“But mom, Gran Gran was about to tell me about the Hashiras! Can’t we stay a little longer? Please!” Fukuro whined, giving her mother the puppy dog eyes.

“Fukuro your Gran Gran needs to rest, and we need to get home so that I can make dinner before your father gets home tonight,” Yua said with an apologetic look on her face.

“Oh come now Yua, I can stay awake a little longer. It’s not like I’m out of this bed much any more! Besides you don’t live far and Hiroshi still has work for another 2 hours. Even if you don’t finish cooking by the time he gets home he wouldn’t mind. He’s always been a very patient man.”

“I don’t know…” Yua trailed off as she looked at her daughter’s pleading face again. She let out a sigh of defeat. “Alright, we can stay, just stop giving me that look,” she said as she gave Fukuro a playful glare, who let out a cheer. “But only one story, okay? Then we really need to get going,” she said as she walked over to her grandmother’s bedside and sat down on a chair with Fukuro in her lap. “I spoil you way too much,” she muttered as she tickled Fukuro’s stomach, who replied with a loud squeal and laugh.

The grandmother laughed at her granddaughter’s antics. “Of course Yua, of course. Now which Hashira do you want me to tell you about?”

Fukuro looked confused and looked at her mom, who let out a hum as she thought for a moment. “How about the one with the butterflies? I haven’t heard that one in a while.”

Fukuro tilted her head and looked at her grandmother. “Butterflies?”

“Ah yes! The Insect Hashira. I have the perfect story for that one. Back when I was just a teenager there I was assigned to a small village in the countryside…”

Fukuro listened attentively to her Gran Gran’s story with fascination. She was young, but she understood that many people believed that her Gran Gran was not well. But she told her stories with such detail, and they were so complex. All Fukuro knew was that she would love to listen to these stories forever.

***

Fukuro was climbing over some debris as she walked through the ruins of what seemed to be an old headquarters, base or at least a place that housed a lot of people. She was a lot older now, about 21 years old. Her long hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail and she had grown quite tall. She was wearing black cargo pants with a light brown button up coat so long that it could pass as a short dress. Her white collared shirt could barely be seen and she wore brown combat boots. Fukuro also had a large backpack on her.

A young man was also accompanying her. He was taller than Fukuro and wore a very similar outfit to her. “Are you sure you know where we are going Hitomi? We have been walking for a while?” he asked.

Currently her face was glued to a notebook as she adjusted the glasses on her face. “Don’t worry Kenta, this isn’t my first time here. According to these notes there should be some sort of room that housed the supposed king of this estate. It’s strange that I couldn’t find a single map of where anything is though. Especially since this place is so huge.

“That’s exactly why I’m worried. This place is a maze! We could get lost if we’re not careful,” Kenta said.

The ruins were very large and varied. Honestly, how little knowledge there was on a place this big was astonishing. It was almost as if no one knew it existed or that it appeared out of nowhere.

“How are you even a historian with that attitude? We research the unknown of the past. You can’t do that without risks,” Fukuro teased.

“There is nothing wrong with being cautious!” Kenta said with a pout.

Fukuro laughed before her mind wandered elsewhere. “Maybe I’ll find some old scrolls or books this time. Or maybe some of those swords I have read so much about. I might even find something that can help prove the existence of demons. Oh! Just thinking about it makes me so excited!” Fukuro said with a squeal.

“I will never understand your obsession with the possibility of demons. Those are probably just some old folk tales so that children wouldn’t stay out after dark.”

“I know, I know, but there is so much mystery surrounding them though. Even if demons aren’t real there are so many answered questions. Like what made Fujikasane Mountain and Natagumo Mountain so deadly? And what was the cause for the sudden decrease in the places’ death rates? It used to be that in both mountains more than 80% of the people who would enter would never come back. But in the late 1920s the deaths in that area just stopped. People even started inhabiting those areas with great success. Or what about-“

Fukuro was cut off as Kenta grabbed her collar and stopped her from walking straight into one of the more intact buildings.

“You’re rambling again. You haven’t been this far before right? So be careful,” he said.

Although it was not Fukuro’s first time here, the place always managed to get more dangerous the further she went. While she did not mind a little danger the thought of ruining whatever artifact she managed to find was enough to make her back out.

“You’re right, thanks Kenta. Time to put the book away. I don’t want to get hurt after all,” Fukuro said as she put the notebook in her bag. “Now come on, let’s check out this place!”

The building was very large so the two historians decided to split up. They still stayed a close enough distance to each other so that they wouldn’t get lost. While searching through one of the rooms Fukuro ended up finding some really old pieces of fabric that might have once acted as rope.

“Hey Kenta! Look what I fou-AAHH!” Fukuro’s foot ended up going through the floor, but instead of finding dirt there was just air. She only had a few seconds to process that before her entire body went through and she tumbled deep underground. “Ow, ow, ow.”

After a few minutes a light came from the hole above and Kenta’s voice rang through the area. “Hitomi! Are you okay?”

Fukuro shakily got up as she dusted herself off. “I’m fine! Just a little bruised. It seems like there is an entire part of this building that is underground!”

“Do you see a way out?”

Fukuro looked around, but it looked like she was stuck in this one room. “No!”

“Gosh darn it- Okay, I’m going to call Zoey okay? She specializes in these kinds of rescues so you should be fine! Just don’t move or do anything that will cause the place to collapse.”

“I won’t!”

After a few minutes Fukuro started to get bored so she turned on her flashlight. The structure seemed stable enough that it wouldn’t collapse so long as she didn’t mess with the walls. There really wasn’t much to the room. Years of being underground really took a toll on it. But Fukuro did see a really old biwa in the corner.

“How did a room like this even get here?” Fukuro muttered as she picked up the biwa and examined it. It was not in the greatest condition. A lot of the wood was chipped and some of the strings were broken. “I wonder if this thing still works,” she muttered as she plucked one of the strings.

Suddenly the whole place began to shake. The sounds of the biwa could be heard echoing around the room despite Fukuro having dropped the instrument out of surprise and fright.

“Oh Lord- Kenta where are you? Something’s happening!” Fukuro screamed as she started to glow. Suddenly Fukuro’s vision was filled with a bright light before everything went black.

***

I actually decided to write it. I don’t know if I’ll ever finish it, but I thought I might as well get started. Don’t be afraid to give questions, headcannon, or prompt requests related to this because there is so much I can talk about that won’t be in this story. Thank you to @shinobusupremecy for giving me encouragement. It’s all because of you that this is on the internet now. Hopefully I can incorporate some actual demon slayer stuff in the first chapter. Btw my OC’s name is Fukuro Hitomi.