(I own nothing and I hope you enjoy. Good day and God bless.)
The sword and the sword wielder must share an understanding, living connection of sorts if either are to reach their full potential as a warrior. In order to reach the desired dreams and purposes of either parties, they must become one being.
The sword wielder must understand how to properly wield the weapon while the sword must remain strong, sharp, and reliable, cutting through all in their path.
It is that very same truth that haunted the River Child Kashuu Kiyomitsu for so many years and the Harmony Being Yasusada Yamatonokami knew just that.
To be used proper by to your full potential by a warrior is to be understood by that warrior. It is to be given purpose, to be given a reason to exist in this world. To be used properly is to be loved.
That is what that person Okita Souji did so long ago.
He took swords that no one knew how to use, swords deemed useless, took them in and gave them that understanding they so craved.
Yasusada understood. He felt this love, this understanding till the end and he would never forget it.
Kiyomitsu, however, was different. He was trusted, he was loved, but then he failed his master. In the heat of battle, he failed Souji and broke. In return for such a betrayal he had Kiyomitsu discarded, thrown away like the worthless trash he had became.
The damage may have been left on the irreparable blade, but the true injury was under the skin, in the mind and heart, emotional and mental. It was these scars that haunted Kityomitsu's every waking moment to this day.
Yasusada understood. He knew this and understood exactly what was wrong with his friend.
That was why he left.
That's why Kiyomitsu left on a journey to become stronger, to make sure that such a thing never happened to him again.
He did this because, without his knowledge, he had become stronger. No one could help him, not even the master, so he chose to help himself, to seek that understanding he so longed for.
Now the dust gathered on a once neatly kept futon.
Now hundreds of pieces of nail and makeup products he had little to no clue what to do with littered the floor.
Now he realized drinking tea made for two by habit all by himself could be so lonely.
Was this how it was for Kiyomitsu before he arrived at the citadel, he wondered.
Perhaps he was being too assumptive.
Yasusada recalled that there was once a time when he didn't possess this given human form, when he didn't have free reign over various limbs and appendages for his own desire.
It was then that he mourned Kiyomitsu, thinking him lost forever.
He desired to embrace him, to take him in his arms and help him to understand that, like himself, Yasusada was also a difficult sword, that him being thrown away was not his doing, that him breaking was not his fault.
What Yasusada wanted to do was show him that he was always good enough in his own eyes, even if the river child was never good enough in his own.
He just wanted to make him see.
But he never did.
He was just too much of a coward.
As he sat quietly in his room, he watched the flake residue from the tea leaves sink to the bottom of the steaming porcelain cup.
As he watched, he let out a heavy sigh.
He was just too much of a coward.
