Knights and Dragons
This is for Kurayami-9.
Feel free to skip this little note if you don't care about kanji and names, but I wanted to explain a few things. Yukimura is a girl for the purposes of this story, and her name will be Seiko, written 精こ. She's married to Sanada, and their son's name is Genshi, written 弦市. The first kanji is the "gen" in Genichirou, and the second is the "ichi" in Seiichi. -Rin
Sanada Seiko (formerly Yukimura Seiko) was getting ready to go grocery shopping. She found her husband, Sanada Genichirou, on the back patio doing push-ups. He was always a very early riser.
"Gen, I need you to take care of Genshi today while I run some errands. You'll have to make breakfast, and please don't make him run laps around the house."
"It builds character." Genichirou muttered, but agreed to his wife's terms. She gave him a peck on the cheek and headed out. Genichirou went inside and looked at the kitchen, deciding what to make for breakfast. After a quick survey of what they had in the pantry, he settled on pancakes.
Genichirou tied on his apron (which wasn't girly, no matter what Seiko said) and set to work. While he was flipping pancakes, his six year old son came into the kitchen clutching his stuffed bear, still in his pajamas. He blinked sleepily and looked around.
"Where's Mommy?" Genichirou stacked some pancakes on a plate and set it at the table.
"She went shopping. Go wash your hands for breakfast." Genshi sat his bear on the table and went to the bathroom. When he came back, Genichirou had finished cleaning up the kitchen and sat at the head of the table with his plate.
Genshi climbed into his chair and poured far too much syrup on his pancakes, eating messily. He looked out the window, watching the rain that was beginning to fall.
"Will you play with me?" Genshi looked at his father hopefully with a mouthful of pancakes. Genichirou considered the request for a moment. He didn't have work, so why not play with his son?
"Sure. Are you finished with breakfast?" Genshi nodded and took his plate to the kitchen.
"I'll go set up, okay?" He ran off to his room, forgetting the bear on the table. Genichirou washed and dried their plates and put them away before following.
Genshi crawled out of a pillow fort when his father came into the room. He had changed into a knight costume, with a wooden sword stuck in his belt (it had been a gift from Uncle Renji).
"You're the dragon, and this is your cave." He pointed to the pillow fort. "I'm the brave knight who's gonna save the kingdom by battling the dragon." Genichirou raised an eyebrow, but crawled into the pillow fort nonetheless.
"Now make dragon noises while I ride my horse up the mountain to find you." The boy held onto a stuffed horse and made noises like hoofbeats with his mouth while galloping about. Genichirou, after some consideration, decided that "dragon noises" meant roaring, so he let out a loud bellowing roar.
Genshi stopped galloping. "The dragon's lair! I found it! Giddy up!" He galloped faster until he reached the "cave," stopping just out of reach of the pillows. He set the horse down and drew his sword.
"Dragon! I have come to do battle!" Genichirou wondered for a moment where his son had learned all of this, then concluded he had probably picked it up from Seiko's bedtime stories. The fearsome "dragon" roared again and poked his head out of the "cave," crawling on all fours.
Genshi charged, swinging his sword. Genichirou reached out and grabbed his ankle, growling, but the boy poked him in the side with the wooden sword. He made his best wounded dragon noises and retreated into the cave, Genshi following.
After a few more whacks and pokes from the sword, the "dragon" was defeated. Genshi climbed up on Genichirou's back.
"Now you shall be my loyal steed! Onward, dragon!" Genichirou roared in answer and began crawling out of the pillow fort.
"Quickly, dragon! We must rescue the princess from her tower!" Genichirou stood and picked his son up, placing him on his shoulders.
"Woah!" Genshi broke character only for a moment. "Good idea, dragon! It will be much faster if we fly." Genichirou ran through the house, Genshi laughing in delight on his shoulders. Unnoticed by father and son, the front door opened and closed.
When the "knight" and "dragon" passed by the door again, Genichirou stopped. "Oh. Welcome home, Seiko." Seiko smiled amusedly.
Suddenly Genshi pointed at his mother. "There's the princess! We hafta save her!" Genichirou scooped her up and headed for the master bedroom. He set the beautiful princess down on their bed, then put Genshi down next to her. Seiko was laughing by now, with Genshi describing how he'd vanquished the terrifying dragon.
Later that night, Genshi had been put to bed, and Genichirou and Seiko were lying in bed with the lights out, while outside the rain had started coming down harder. Little roars of thunder came infrequently at first, but they were getting closer. Ignoring the storm, Seiko turned over to face her husband.
"It's sweet how you played with Genshi today. Thank you." Genichirou grunted.
"He's my son. It was actually kind of fun." Seiko smiled at the admission.
"Goodnight, Gen."
"Goodnight." They fell asleep quickly, but as the storm moved closer, the thunder got louder. One massive boom was all it took to send Genshi running to his parents' room.
Genichirou and Seiko were woken by their young son, who was afraid of the storm. They let him climb into bed with them, and he snuggled in between them. Genshi fell asleep almost instantly now that he felt safe, and his parents soon found sleep again as well. All was peaceful, until the next morning, when they awoke to Genshi jumping on the bed.
"Wake up, it's morning!"