A rough yet soft breeze blew, disrupting the gentle dance of leaves and knocking them off their branches. Rays of sunlight pierced through the branches of cherry blossoms, spewing specks of golden sunlight on shadowed patches of grass.
With the soft scent of sunshine up his nose and gentle chirping of crickets ringing in his ears, he just couldn't deny how comforting nature was at that point. Though sitting in the tea room and sipping down a cup of freshly brewed tea was most in his comfort zone.
If it wasn't for the rough bark of the cherry blossom tree against his head and distant voices that had seemed to be falling on deaf ears, he'd have fallen asleep. But rather than moving elsewhere for a better comfort, he stayed where he was. Closing his eyes and listening to whatever hit his ears first.
First was the chirping of crickets and whistling of leaves in the wind, then came the slight shuffling of his kimono. But everything seemed to fade when distant chatters were heard.
"...-chan! Come on."
"I'm Mutsunokami. People call me Mutsu though."
"I-i'm Gokotai…"
"Shishou. It's nice to have a kid in the house ya-know."
'Looks like majority of the swords has gathered there.' Mikazuki thought, while listening to the distant voices that had sounded almost foreign to his ears.
But even so, he listened to all those present fervently as they introduced themselves one after another, before making a mental note to self to introduce himself to the newly forged sword sometime during the week.
"Tsuru-chan, I'll toss you the the ball. You catch it!" The latter yelled and ran to a tree a few meters back, tossing the ball into the air and waited for the white haired child to catch the rubber ball as he instructed.
"Nice catch, Tsuru-chan! Here, throw it to me next!" Shishiou yelled as Tsurumaru caught the ball at ease.
Gradually, all the swords had joined into their small game of toss.
Before anyone could grasp onto the momentum of the game, the friendly yells of, "Toss it to me next!", had turned into, "Let's get Mitsu!", followed by a flailing Mutsunokami trying to dodge the violent hurls of the rubber ball. Any passerby could clearly see that the simple game of toss had become a rough tag game of "Come back here and let me kill you, Mitsu!"
"This game of cat and mouse isn't going to get us anywhere, y-know. If we are going to do it, why not just do it already?" Shishiou said aloud with an evil glint in his eyes, as he drew his sword sheathed in his scabbard.
"Woah, woah. Calm down, Shishiou," Kasen exclaimed, desperately holding onto the younger male's arm to prevent him from fully drawing out his sword.
Mikazuki chuckled amusingly at the scene he had thought up. He didn't need to see what was happening, he could just about make out everything from what he heard.
Though he had always preferred indoors over outdoors, Mikazuki had to admit that occasionally he found being outdoors quite comforting. It was how everyday should be; just the morning duties, chatting away or playing in the backyard. They too were human. They too felt pain and they too dreamt of countless days when they wouldn't have to face every moment in fear of an attack.
Tsurumaru looked around blankly, observing the other swords as they laughed about.
Seeming to have noticed this, Kasen questioned, "Did you have fun?"
"..."
He didn't utter a sound, simply just returned Kasen's questioning stare. Then he nodded, his facials still as blank as ever.
"Ne, ne. Why don't you smile?"
"... ... ..."
And that was when realization hit them, the child's silence being all the evidence they needed. Tsurumaru wasn't the child they had all been looking forward to. There was no child to dote on and raise. There was no soft giggles to fill in the quiet hallways or sweet smiles to welcome them home, no curious gazes wanting to learn or small tears to wipe away. Based on the child's glass orb-like gazes, there'd be no soul either, just an empty shell.
They all sighed dejectedly, not caring that their disappointment or disarray is now shown on their once cheerful expressions.
"Hmm. What's wrong, Kogi-kun? Did you finally decide to admire the beauty of those blossoms?" Hotarumaru teased, noticing that the fellow Taichi sword had been staring at a distant cherry blossom tree, when he'd usually pay vague attention to nature's beauty.
"Nah," the white haired responded with a cheeky grin before yelling towards that direction.
"Jiijii! You've been sleeping there like forever. Since you haven't introduced yourself to Tsuru-chan, your turn to play with him!"
"Ehh, Mika-chan is there?" the small Oodachi exclaimed.
"Kogi-san… this is Mikazuki you're talking to…" a Tantou sword warned nervously.
Sensing the Tantou's slight discomfort, Kogisunemaru laughed heartedly.
"Jiijii's as harmless as a mouse!"
"Me, harmless?" Mikazuki scoffed, "I could as well slit that little cunning throat of yours."
Though he had issued the little death threat, he silently hoped that the other hadn't heard him, knowing a battle against another Taichi would prove as a challenge even for someone like him.
"And as for a matter of fact, I wasn't sleeping." Mikazuki added.
"I'll welcome a challenge any time from you, Mika-chan." Kogitsunemaru laughed, almost as though he was looking down on the elder swords strength.
Before Mikazuki could prove so much as his strength against the fox-like male, Kogitsunemaru had already sent Tsurumaru towards him and had started heading back to the house along with a few other swords.
The only response Mikazuki could give now was a long sigh that went unheard by anyone, knowing that the task of 'babysitting' had just been passed onto him.
"Shf… Tph… Tph"
The soft sound of footsteps walking through patches of grass and disturbing their peaceful dance in the wind was heard. Mikazuki didn't need to turn his head to see who was approaching him, from the soft footsteps and utter silence of the being, he knew who it was.
"Kuninaga. Kuninaga Tsurumaru, right?"
The white haired boy moved to Stand in front of Mikazuki and nodded.
"Then… Tsuru-chan? Like how the others had called you."
The kid nodded again.
"I'm Mikazuki Munechika. Just ignore those remarks about me you're probably hearing around the house."
"..."
He didn't move, didn't say a word and just seemed to be staring intently at the midnight haired as though he was trying to read the elder sword.
Mikazuki extended a hand and rested it against Tsurumaru's cheek before cupping his hands to tilt his face upwards. He then ran his hand down the others neck and extended a finger to gently stroke his throat. Tsurumaru made no attempt to move, but under Mikazuki's touch, he could feel Tsurumaru's slight flinch despite his stoic appearance.
Mikazuki smiled softly. In that instant he realized what the others hadn't; Tsurumaru wasn't emotionless. He just didn't know how and why to express them.
"You have a voice, Tsurumaru. Use it. Whether it is to express happiness or sadness, express it through your voice. If you have words, say it. Not everyone will understand through your actions..."
Mikazuki took a breath of air before resuming with the lecture, reminding himself that this isn't the world it once was.
"Nothing's free in this world. If you want something, Tsurumaru, you have to reach out and grab it yourself; snatch it away from others… You're a Taichi, not a Tantou or a Wakizashi. You don't follow others, you command them. You don't work alongside others, you work alone to achieve what you want. And to do that, you'll need words. Without it, you're nothing but bait to the real world."
"If you're not going to speak to others, then speak to me. Make me your first." Mikazuki said, emphasizing his final words as though he was urging the young child to do so.
He had to get him to use his words. He wasn't going to let him become vulnerable to the real world. And despite how much he had despised the existence of the young child, he couldn't come to hate him. Not the child. Not when he's in the form of the only person he had ever truly cared for. But rather the threads which binds him.