BUTTERFLY : SHINOBU KOCHO (PART ONE)

Part 2: Chapter 6; Don't Look at Anyone but Me

His smile could do wonders to her.

It could make her heart skip a beat, could calm any storm she may be facing, it could ease the rage within her heart in the blink of an eye.

When his attention was on her, she was the happiest she could be.

But,

When his attention was on someone else, you could say it had the opposite effect.

"Here is where you will be placed for tonight's event, Master Kari."

When Shinobu and Sakusa reached the top of the staircase, they were met with a young woman in a floral-decorated yukata with her hair and makeup neatly done greeting them with another smile.

She introduced herself as a hostess of the Palace, and explained to them how the night would work, what they could do, and how it was special from the others at the Palace.

"You will be seated here for when you desire to order something to eat," she explained, "But leaving to walk around and engage with the other guests is highly encouraged for the night."

"Consider this a gathering for people to congregate and interact with one another away from the eyes of the public."

Shinobu wanted to crinkle her nose in disgust at the remark as the hostess spoke.

Pft, she talks as if this is some super-secret gathering between the city's most pompous fat cats or something, I mean Sakusa and I came into town only today and booked ourselves a spot here, so clearly it's not as prestigious as this woman makes it out to be....

"Thanks, thanks." Sakusa said to the hostess, waving her off with his hand a little, taking a seat at the candle-lit high-top she had directed them to.

The second floor had a different feel to the first, mainly due to its smaller size.

Once you reached the top of the staircase, a long hallway containing both high-top tables on the right side and a bar to the left came into view, with a bartender stationed just like the one on the floor below prepping drinks for the patrons.

Passing this hallway led to the wider, more spacious room in the back of the Palace, with sparse and scattered high-top tables sprinkled across the black floor.

The dim lanterns offered a more cozy atmosphere to the place, or at least Shinobu thought so.

But, she was also well aware of why the place was so dimly-lit that night.

This was a night where women were clearly trying to sneak their way into a man's pants and pockets, after all.

It was very Red-Light-District-esque, what this night was supposed to be.

Either way, the lack of light and gentle music in the background played by the string band in the corner of the room meant getting any old man into the mood to make some nasty mistakes for the night would be ten times easier. That subsequently meant that assuring your financial stability for life was that much easier.

Didn't make it any less disgusting for her, though.

As the hostess walked away, Shinobu took her own seat at the table beside her Hashira compatriot.

It took a little bit of a struggle since the chairs were meant for a high-top and she was, well, not exactly a giant like Sakusa, but she managed to crawl onto the larger chair.

She immediately felt irritated, though.
Her legs dangled in the air because of how small she was.

....This is height discrimination. They do this to make me feel small. I will sue this place.