A False Samurai Should Be Careful Of Staining Their Kimono With Puny Samurai's Blood
-'-
It was during my first few months after joining the Harusame, that I was patching myself up. The battles had been carnage, and many died, some were friends others were foes. Despite being strong at my age, I was still inexperienced, and thus, I got injured often. Bandages covered most of my body, and it hurt a lot. Abuto would check up on me frequently, he changed my bandages for me sometimes. Once. I remember crying once, in Abuto's arms. I had buried my face in his chest and his big warm hands held me, one in my head, the other one in the small of my back. It had been a particularly rough day, I had gone into battle with the others, and had killed many enemies. Except that I didn't realized I had killed them. I thought I had merely injured them, and that the blood on my hands were the cause for minor injuries. I had always thought that I never killed anyone, that the others did, and I simply hadn't. But I had been wrong, and when I realized my mistake, the only place I could run into was where Abuto was. He was kind, too kind, and I felt safe with him. It wasn't the safety I felt with my mother, nor my father, but it was close, and I liked being held by him, getting patted in the head and lulled to sleep with his heartbeat. But things change, I couldn't stay as a child forever. I had to stop jumping to his arms whenever I felt sad, I was a pirate now, I had to stand on my own two feet. So I smiled, whenever I killed, whenever I ate, whenever I felt sad, and at some point, I simply couldn't stop smiling. Something snapped inside of me, or perhaps it had done so, long before I left home, and I simply hadn't noticed until now.
-'-
I never saw it coming, I was always trying to keep my shit together, to become strong, I was too focused on that to notice anything else. And yet, it happened when I wasn't paying attention, when I was distracted my mind would wander off to where it shouldn't have; it went to ponder about the samurai with butterflies in his kimono. I noticed him; the way he moved, how his gaze seemed to get lost in some faraway thought, the way he smoked too much, and ate just enough not to be weak. I noticed many things. And it puzzled me. Why is this man so eye-catching to me? Why does my mind go to him when I'm bored? And most importantly, why do I care so much about his sad expression? It took me a long while to figure things out, and I wasn't particularly happy when I did.
-'-
Earth food was good, it had a taste that lingered in your mouth long after consuming it. It wasn't as good as the food in Lambda Centauri, nor Arrakim, it didn't compare to the food found in Rabban-Rautha, and it certainly didn't get to the level of Chevapravatdumrong; but I liked it. I admired the strength samurais wielded, and I was curious for their hidden military forces called shinobis. All in all, Earth and its inhabitants caught my interest due to their natural charm, and of course, I was curious to know more of the planet my mother had talked to me about, so many years ago.
-'-
We had set foot on the land of samurais a couple of days ago. It was a minor stay to set a few gears in motion for Takasugi's plan. All these politics made me drowsy, I've never liked them, that's why I have Abuto deal with those subjects.
It was night time, so I figured I could go out without need to hide myself so much, still, I borrowed some clothes from Takasugi's wardrobe: a flower patterned kimono, purple of course, a pair of wooden sandals, one of those straw hats that cover all of your head held by some straps, and a sword that was exposed on Takasugi's room. Naturally this was borrowed without telling, but with every intention of being returned. I had a few struggles making the kimono stay in place, eventually I got the hang of it, I placed the sword in the belt, and put my hair in a high ponytail, finally, I wear the hat, securing the straps on my chin.
-'-
The streets were noisy and filled with neon lights, delinquents could be seen here and there, several drunks got kicked out of bars, some weird looking ladies with beards walked by, well dressed ladies and gentlemen tried to lure clients into their cabarets. It was a city like many others I had seen, no kids could be spotted around, there was however, at least two or three cats in every alley. It was easy to get lost in the sea of people minding their own business; I felt uncomfortable going on the main roads though, so I took the alleys and less transited routes.
Not too far from the cemented kingdom of the city, you got to the residential part, where the buildings were made mainly of wood and straw. I walked down a path of stones, when I was suddenly surrounded by several men with swords on their belts.
"Yo, traveler, give us yer money!" demands one of them.
"If ya behave we might just let ya live" said another.
And so on, it wasn't anything I hadn't heard before, I smiled and pierced the chest of the man closest to me with my hand. The others gasped, and unsheathed their swords roaring words of vengeance and defiance, it didn't do much for them since they all ended up laying in the cold floor, in a pool of their own blood. This fight would've been much easier if I had been wearing my usual clothes, the kimono didn't let me move the way I wanted, the chal I had on my shoulders had fallen off, and one sandal was embedded to a wall, while the strap of the other sandal was cutting into my skin, I had several cuts on my arms and a big cut on my right leg, also I had been stabbed in the stomach. How the fuck did Takasugi fought with these clothes? How the fuck did anyone fought with these clothes? Wearing them was the same as begging to be killed. And how did they manage to use these frail steel swords in a fight? As soon as I tried to use it, the damn thing broke. Maybe I should've just worn my usual navy chángshān, with my cape and umbrella.
-'-
I snuck back in through the window, my injuries were leaving a trace, so the wooden floors would've been stained.
"You look awful" said a voice.
I turned to look, Takasugi was smoking his kiseru, sitting in the floor of my room.
"Thanks. Your clothes are uncomfortable to fight with" I say smiling.
"That's because you've never worn them before. Speaking of which, why did you stole my things anyways?"
"My clothes are too telling. I figured you didn't want anyone to know that we're here" I answer.
"How very thoughtful of you"
"I know right, you should thank me for this" I tell him proudly.
"I would, if you had asked me for the clothes, and if you hadn't stained them with blood" he replies.
"Life can't always go the way you wan..."
Before finishing I was falling to the ground.
-'-
When I woke up I was tucked in a futon, the lights were dimly lit and it was cold. I looked around to realize that I was in my room. The stained kimono was folded in a corner with all the other things on top. Mom smoked in the window. No. Takasugi. Takasugi smoked in the window. Oh. So that's why I like this man; he reminds me of mother. Makes sense I guess. He notices me tossing around and turns to look at me.
"You fainted" is all he says.
"Sorry" I reply. "I lost a sandal; it got embedded to a wall. The blade of the sword broke. Your kimono got stained with blood too"
Takasugi walks over to where I am, he presses his palm to my forehead.
"Your fever seems to have gone down" he mutters.
I notice then the bandages that cover my arms, chest, and from the feeling of it, my leg.
"Are you mad?" I timidly ask.
"No. But I'm concerned about your health right now; you fainted out of nowhere and your skin was burning"
"Perhaps I caught a cold, and fighting with puny samurais made it worse" I ponder.
"The loss of blood might've helped to worsen things as well" he mumbled to me. "I'll lend you another kimono so you don't get colder, and I'll make you some soup. How does that sound?"
"Sounds great"
The eldest walked out of the room, and returned quickly with a plain light blue kimono and a green chal in his hands. After helping the redhead put it on, he went off to make the soup. He remembered the never ending appetite Kamui had, so he made two pots of hot chicken soup, and took them back to the room. As the redhead devoured the pot the samurai looked at him pensative.
"What's on your mind Takasugi?"
"Mmm? You can call me Shinsuke. I was thinking, since you almost didn't make it back, would you like me to teach you how to fight wearing a kimono?"
"A new way of fighting? Sure. Count me in"
He ate the second pot of soup faster than the first, and fell asleep. The eldest left him to rest after taking away the dirty clothes and the empty pots.
-'-
The next day Kamui was feeling much better. Damn yatos heal fast, so Shinsuke made honor to his word, and was teaching him how to fight, unfortunately, the redhead kept tripping with his own feet.
"Ouch!" moaned Kamui from the ground, where he had face-palmed.
"Heh. Come on, I told you, you bend your knees to create a space in the fabric that allows you to spread your legs to move. You don't throw kicks into your opponent like you usually do"
"Kay"
The younger got up and repeated his actions, following Shinsuke's instructions, he tried to throw a punch to the samurai, but he dodged it, as well as the second, and the third one.
"You know, in normal circumstances, you'd have a hole in your chest" grumbled the rabbit.
"I have no doubt of it, you're strong. Tell you what, I'll teach you how to use a sword"
"That frail blade thingy?"
The eldest chuckled and went inside to get a pair of swords, he gave one to the yato, and motioned for him to mimic his actions. He taught the yato the basics, how to unsheathe, and how to move the sword around, the rabbit was a fast learner and soon they had a match.
Naturally Shinsuke being more experienced won, but at least Kamui had learned to hold his ground.
"Fine. I admit they're not frail blades"
"The blade broke because you're used to apply too much force in your attacks, when you use a katana you apply a small amount of force consistent to the blow you're giving and let the sharpness of the blade do the rest for you" explained Shinsuke.
"Us yatos use our umbrellas as both a shield and weapon, we use too much brute force at times, but still, you samurais leave many openings to get attacked"
"A good samurai makes sure to cover as many blind spots as possible. A puny samurai, as you've put it before, is puny because they don't use their katana to its full potential"
Shinsuke gestured Kamui to give him the katana back so they could go back inside. Kamui went to the bathroom to change clothes; neither of them had really mentioned the fighting lesson to anyone. When the redhead got out he bid goodnight to Shinsuke and went back to his own room, since it was already late at night.
-'-
The samurai pondered on his plans to destroy everything he could until 'the beast inside stopped howling'. The few issues they had gone to arrange there would be finished by tomorrow, so they'd be back on space the day after tomorrow, he wasn't particularly displeased by this fact, space harbored many interesting things; per example he could name a certain redheaded rabbit who had caught his eye. He knew it was the smile what had perked his attention, the smile and his tenacity, his defiance even when he had the worse hand of cards; but mainly the smile conveying haunted eyes that reminded him so much of his teacher.
-'-
The next night, after having dinner, both of them repeated the routine. Kamui wore one of Shinsuke's plum kimonos, and held the katana in his hands, striking a forward attack aiming to the stomach; the samurai blocked it and returned it. The stepping of the rabbit was much better than the day before, he no longer tripped; he walked forward like an actual samurai. Shinsuke aimed at his head with a straight blow, Kamui bent his knees to attack from below managing to pierce lightly the other's stomach. One point.
"Seems like I won this time" sang the redhead as his smile grew wider.
"So it seems" conceded the other with a smirk of his own.
They straightened up and bowed, finishing the lesson and going back inside where they served themselves some tea.
"Say, why did you became a samurai?" inquired the rabbit.
Shinsuke seemed to meditate his answer as he took several sips from his cup.
"I was sent to learn. I was good, and I liked it. The school I was sent to deemed my behavior to be too violent, so I left, and finished learning under my teacher's guidance"
"Did your teacher also used these deathly traps called kimonos?"
"Yes, he did" he chuckled.
Kamui hummed and sipped his tea, stealing in the process a few cookies from the central plate of the table.
"How about you? Why did you became a pirate?"
He paused, ate some more cookies and served himself another cup of tea.
"I needed to go"
"Go where?" inquired Shinsuke.
"Anywhere, but the place I had grown in"
The rabbit's smile hadn't disappeared, but it seemed slightly more forced than usual. Shinsuke's hand went to cup his cheek, tracing irregular patterns with his thumb; Kamui got closer and buried his face in the eldest neck, inhaling the fragrance of sweat, nicotine and Shinsuke's natural scent, the one that stuck in his borrowed kimonos. They stayed like that for a long while, the concept of time forgotten somewhere in the outside world.
"I like you" whispered Kamui.
"I like you as well" muttered Shinsuke.
-'-
Shinsuke scratched the redhead rabbit's skull with his fingernails, eliciting a soft moan from him. They laid in a nest of covers and pillows they had made on the futon, they rested unclothed in each other's arms, the window showed only the darkness of space and the light from faraway stars that became witness of sweet caresses and sugary kisses.
Kamui kissed Shinsuke's shoulder, going from there to his collar bone to his jaw, and from his jaw to his cheek and forehead ending up towering him, so he moved up to cage his legs with his own, finally pecking his lips. The green eyed man caressed the other's thighs then pulling him closer by his hips, bucking his own into him, the younger smiles with lust in his eyes and positions himself to put Shinsuke's dick inside of him in one thrust; he's loose from before. They both pick up a rhythmic, slow pace, moaning softly, just to let each other know they're feeling good. Kamui likes to be on top and Shinsuke likes to watch him jump up and down, the rabbit's face painted with pink, his smile gone to better sigh and moan his name. The eldest didn't stay far behind, he didn't blush, but he moaned and sighed just the same.
The samurai fastens the pace, they lose synchronization for a moment, going back to it quickly. They finish once more, crimson hair falls to the pillow, mixing with shorter rasin locks. Shinsuke bits his lip. The view in front of him is more breathtaking than the one displayed on the window.
-'-
Days went by, like sand slipping from one's fingers filled with sex, sweet nothings, longing eyes and promises of love. Before they knew it circumstances had driven them apart.
-'-
Bansai had gone to check on Shinsuke, he found him smoking his kiseru as usual and sat down.
"Your song is melancholic, I daresay"
"Is it?"
"Yes. Is this because of the captain of the seventh division? You two got close, I daresay"
"Perhaps. But it won't interfere with my plans; I will destroy this corrupted world" he declared, conviction dripping from his voice.
Still, he leaned to rest in Bansai's shoulder. Bansai did not say anything, and let him be.
-'-
Abuto went to see his captain; he found him in his room, laying in the bed with his arms under his head.
"Yo, ahoge! What's the matter?" he asked after closing the door behind him.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" the captain inquired confused.
"That sad expression you've been making for a while"
"You must be imagining things, Abuto"
"Kid, I know you" stated the eldest.
And that was all it took to get the younger one to jump from his bed and throw his arms on the eldest neck, raising his legs and draping them on his hips; like he did when he was a child. Abuto held him close to his chest.
"I'm okay" he declared. "But just this time, could you hold me again, like you used to do?"
The yato responded by clutching him tighter.
-'-
Kamui walked on the streets of Edo, he had gone to pay his sister a visit and was now going back to meet with Abuto at the hotel they were staying at. He wore a purple kimono he stole from Shinsuke's wardrobe a few years ago, and a straw hat with straps that he bought in some store (Kagura had looked at him with her very best impression of Gintoki's dead fish eyes). The habit of going through alleys hadn't left him, so he still took those kinds of routes, his wooden sandals made a clacking noise as he walked.
Somewhere ahead, in one of those dango stores, a man sat wearing a navy chángshān with white pants and black boots. He approached the man sitting next to him, then took a dango stick from his plate and ate it.
"You shouldn't take food from someone else's plate" commented the man casually.
"You shouldn't steal clothes from someone else's wardrobe" retorted the redhead.
"I don't want you to tell me that" smirked the man.
"Hmm. Is not stealing if you have every intention of returning it, Shinsuke"
"And did you intend on returning it?"
"Nope" sang Kamui with a smile.
Shinsuke sighed, then took a sip on his tea. Kamui stole another dango stick. They ordered more dango and tea, the rabbit devouring most of it.
"You were right"
"Of course I was right" said Kamui with confidence. "What was I right about?"
"Your clothes are more comfortable to move in"
"Oh. Yeah. But yours aren't so bad once you get used to them"
They stayed like that, in silence, enjoying the ocasional breeze.
"I've missed you" muttered Shinsuke.
"I've missed you as well" replied Kamui.
Shinsuke put his hand over Kamui's and the rabbit took it to intertwine their fingers. Both smiled at the other, they didn't need to say more.
And so, they talked, they ate, and eventually, went to a love hotel.
-'-
A/N: In response to reviews:
Chapter 23:
Cocoa: "This is one of those fics you never think you'll find until you do, and damn. It's like a miracle appeared before my eyes, this fic is truly a blessing from writer heaven. I legit cannot wait to see what else you'll write, this ship needs more content :,)"
You've made me feel all squishy and warm inside with this review. I will make sure to keep posting more chapters. I hope they'll be of your liking.
Y: "AAAAA Im late to this chapter! It' s a short one but it's still cute and tbh I can relate to Kamui. As a very pale person I have a strong burning hate towards summer and the Sun, aasnd the heat in general lmao.
(Tbh I kinda ship abukamu too, I dont really care what other people have to say about it. They have chemistry and their dynamic is really good shdhjsjs)"
Hehe, so it seems. Yes, I too have pale skin and get sunburnt with nothing. The people, who like summer, sun, heat, and else, are insane.
They do have this chemistry from all those years they've been together. To be honest at the beginning I only shipped HijiGin, and AbuKamu (I'm upset for the lack of content for this couple), until I found Takamui, to be honest this ship never really crossed my head.