"Thanks Iguro," she says walking back together. His ability to contextualize things through metaphor was amazing - like a poet sometimes. Her unease lifted immediately. She found herself pouring her heart out to him. By the end of it, she was even smiling again. He paid like always, but she was grateful for his kindness. He did her a massive and undeserved favor.
Speaking of favors...
As they reached her building, she remembered something. "Uhm, I forgot to thank you for the rice cakes,"
He blinked. "I'm pretty sure you already did, Kanroji."
"No, no, I meant the second box you left on my step." His gaze appeared distant, before refocusing back to her now understanding what she meant.
"Oh... that," he said, rolling his eyes for some reason. "Well, they're still your favorite, aren't they?"
"Yes, but how did you know? In fact, how did you know about the socks too? And how did you know I'd be at the ramen shop and... and.." Her voice trailed off as he shook his head and chuckled.
"I know a lot of things, Kanroji," he replied. "I gave you those socks because you felt uncomfortable about your uniform. Kakushi talk a lot. And the rice cakes - I learned about from Rengoku. I saw you at the ramen shop by chance, but I heard that the master spoke with you — we all did. Everyone's worried about you."
She bit her lip. She didn't mean to make everyone worry, least of all him when he's done so much.
"Will you follow me to the back?" She asked suddenly. He nodded, so she led him to the botanical garden - same one Kyojuro dumped her in.
The dirt was packed; trampled into the ground from countless people going in and out. But it opened up into a beautiful garden perfectly hidden by the fence and the natural foliage that grew over it. Flowerbeds and blooming sakura trees surrounded the outer perimeter. Like snow, petals fluttered silently to the ground as the moon shone high in the sky, casting a purple glow upon everything.
He marveled at the massive sakura tree and asked, "Do you spend a lot of time in here?"
"I do. Isn't it beautiful?" He surveyed the area before closing his eyes, inhaling the scent of Sakura all around them.
"It is," he said. She smiles at him. Shinobu built the garden for pharmaceuticals, but Mitsuri repurposed it for making jams and honeys.
She wanted iguro's opinion on something that reared it's ugly head on days like today, and the garden was the perfect place to talk. Of course, she didn't mention that kakushi sometimes stop by to tend it for beautification, but for now it was empty and perfect for conversation.
"Iguro, am I...bad?" she asked, her voice solemn. That grabbed his full attention snapping his eyes back open.
"Bad? In what way?" She looked at the tree branches blowing gently in the dark breeze as more petals fluttered to the ground.
"Everything." she says, rubbing her knees feeling the chill. "Even compared to other hashira. I'm clumsy and slow to figure things out. even Muichiro is much quicker ... and compared to you I... " she shakes her head, "...it's just I wish I were more like you, sometimes. Actually... I wish I was anybody but- "
"-Kanroji you have to STOP!" he commands raising his hand to show he was serious. Her eyes widened. That was the most curt he's ever been while talking to her. Had she offended him?
"DO NOT make the mistake of making yourself feel small, you're so much better than that!"he said, taking steps towards her.
"I... am?" she asked, uncertain.
"Where are these ideas coming from? Who tells you these things? You can tell me" he said sincerely, coaxing a reluctant smile from her. Without warning she pulls him into a tight embrace. He was shocked at first. His arms hung limply at his sides, but eventually, they slid up her back in return. They stood there for a long time before she released him, taking a seat on a bench in front of the sakura tree.
"I used to feel dumb when people asked me why I joined," she said, closing her eyes and reminiscing about those times. "I know most slayers had hard lives, which drives them to fight. But for me, it was... different." She almost said "stupid" but didn't want to risk further reproach from him.
"Everyone has their reasons for joining the Corps," he replied calmly, his anger dissipating. "But your strength comes from a place of love and compassion, and that is something to be admired." He paused, considering his words carefully. "Sometimes it's the smallest things that make the biggest difference, Mitsuri. You are proof of that. Your smile brings joy to those around you without even realizing it." She felt a warmth spread through her chest when he said that.
Funny, how he sounded just like Rengoku.
Many people thought Iguro hated them because of his cryptic appearance and harsh words, but that wasn't true at all. Talking to him, she realized he used bluntness as a way to ground people. So their egos wouldn't overestimate their abilities ...but also so people like her didn't underestimate themselves either. That's why she trusted what he said.
He was able to put things into words so easily.
"Thank you, Iguro. That means a lot to me." She laughs rubbing her knees with the palms of her hands.
"I know I keep repeating it but I want to thank you for those rice cakes again. Even if Rengoku told you, he's always been a 'big picture' sort of guy...so he doesn't notice small details like that. Not only that, but you always listen to me and never once judge. And even now, you see me as an equal to the others when I don't even see it in myself. I didn't think..." She paused to rub the mist out of her eyes before hugging her knees again and wiggling her toes in her sandals.
"I... didn't think anybody noticed me."
It went quiet. Only the sound of the wind blowing filled the air. When she looked at him, he had his arms crossed and his eyes closed as petals danced all around. She worried he was angry again, but when he opened his eyes to reply, something caught her attention. His right eye glowed, much like a cat's. It pierced her as it reflected the dim light of the moon. Obanai once said he couldn't see much through that eye, but she found herself wondering if he actually could see her through the darkness.
"Has anyone ever told you the story about the sun and moon, Mitsuri?" She shook her head, eager to hear another one of his parables.
He began with a story he'd heard as a child, about how the sun felt lonely in the empty skies, wondering if he was destined to live an eternal life of solitude. A price he paid for being the brightest and putting the needs of others before himself- until he saw the moon.
"The moon?"
"Yes, he caught a rare glimpse of her crowning over the horizon as he descended from the heavens, shining from the light he radiated and instantly fell in love."
"Love at first sight?" Her face flushed at the beauty of it.
He shuffled his feet, looking to the sky. "Yes, he'd chase her through the day, but when he did the days grew short and cold. So instead, he waited for her in the sky, but the days grew long and unbearably hot. He realized the moon was unreachable, not unless the sun stopped shining altogether. But if he did that, then the people..."
"... Would never see another sunrise..." she finished for him.
He nodded. "The sun considered plunging the world into darkness, but the moon stopped him, explaining that their destinies were fated so they couldn't cross paths. They could only glimpse at each other from afar," he finished the tale, with a handwave.
She smiles. "That was a beautiful story, but what're you trying to say, Iguro?"
He looked at her, "What I'm trying to say is, believe in your strengths. Don't kill a part of yourself like the sun to be with the moon." He blinked and then shook his head. "I mean, Don't abandon the light you were blessed with to be like the moon."
"But Iguro, the sun didn't kill a part of himself," she said, "In fact he didn't lose anything." she laughed only stopping when she saw the confused look on his face.
"What do you mean?" he asked, tilting his head.
She flushed in embarrassment, realizing she lacked his articulate skill he possessed but tried anyway. "Uh...well, love isn't selfish. Sure, it's an emotion, but love is an action too. Like the sun bringing light to the people because they needed it...that was love. Love is putting someone else's needs above your own, its a responsibility and a feeling." she explained before crossing her arms.
"Happiness and pain go hand in hand," she said slowly, remembering the master's words from earlier. "Avoiding pain isn't what makes us happy. It's understanding our source of happiness that does. Knowing he wasn't alone was his source of happiness. Without that pain of loneliness, the sun never would have felt the joy he did seeing the moon for the first time. So, I don't think he lost anything. He was able to love her and shine his light for the people simulatenously."
For a few moments, he stared at her, his expression a mix of surprise and awe. "Kanroji," he walks quickly until he was kneeling right in front of her on the bench. He lifted his hand like he wanted to reach out but clenched his fist instead, putting it back on his lap.
"Mitsuri, it's very important you hear what I'm about to say. It is simply your opinion that nobody notices you," he said, his nose wrinkling lightly into a snarl shaming the world for belittling her. "Because I can say for an absolute fact that I do!"
Her eyes glistened as she felt something... He usually spoke in a way that painted the world in poetic hues, but his words now weren't poetic at all. They were raw and a bit fragile. Like he was pleading for her to take a moment and let them sink.
His eyes looked different now, not like a cat. No, now they mirrored the narrative of his story—the right burned hot like the sun's gold radiance, while the left was a dark, somber green, like the moon in obscurity. She couldn't help but stare, mesmerized.
Did he know how beautiful he looked?
Obanai Iguro was beautiful.
Her fingers twitched. She told him what they did was a mistake.
She promised it wouldn't happen again.
She promised she wouldn't do it again...
But...
She closed the distance, crashing her lips onto his with bruising force. Nothing mattered anymore; she surrendered to her unbridled emotions, and right now they told her that even after all those meals... she was still hungry.
It wasn't graceful; stumbling and bumping into everything, trees, flower pots, but one shrub in particular — irritatingly small, caused her to trip entirely, falling to her knees. He extended his hand to help, but she lunged at him, knocking him to his backside, frantically fiddling his belt buckle when a strange noise stops her.
It was a tha-thump-thumping and was getting much louder.It took her a moment to realize it was his heart beating in his chest - stronger than ever. She freezes in his lap, not saying anything. A look crosses her face, first of deep confusion, then quickly descending into fear and panic.
She's afraid he's going to reject her... he realizes.
She jumps up but he reacts quickly grabbing her wrist and steering her right back on top of him.
"I want you, Mitsuri," he says, his resistance crumbling faster than before. "Please..." he pushes himself into a sitting position clasping her trembling hands firmly in his own, reciprocating the support she gave him before.
"I'm not great at expressing what I feel... about anything." He confesses swallowing nervously his eyes drifting to the ground.
"But if you're OK with it, I can show you," he looks back up at her. "Let me do something for you, Mitsuri..." He releases her hands trying to gather his resolve again.
She searched his expression unable to hear a single word he said with her heart pounding in her ears! "O-okay...!" she yells but when he doesnt react she says it again. "Okay!" She was about to shout a third time when he held two fingers to her lips.
"Mitsuri a-are you okay? You're ...shaking..." he asks eyes glancing to her legs.
She was ruining the moment!
Quick! She needed to minimize the awkwardness.
she pulls him in so his chin rested on her shoulder. "Tell me like this" she says shocking him again. His hands hover a bit before resting on her waist and he whispers what he wants.
"I want to taste you."
Her face blazes instantly. "B-but I'm dirty, I- I'm not good..." she stammers clumsily.
"Then tonight, I'll make you feel beautiful again." He replies unfazed rendering her completely speechless. She might've nodded, but in her stupefaction she wasn't sure. He slides his hand from her back to her exposed chest and caresses her sternum softly. But she squeezes his shoulders when he does, just short of shoving him off.
"Tell me to stop, Mitsuri." He breathes in her ear sounding equally torn about he was about to do. But she says nothing.
"I need you to say it" he says, not satisfied with that response. "Do you want this?" He asks.
She hesitates as her eyes fall shut and she inhales deeply.
"...Yes."
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!
Go all the way. Cross the line, Iguro. He drags his fingers over the swell of her breasts like feathers dusting her skin. She stifles a moan as he caresses her, before sliding his hand completely underneath her shirt, cupping her large breast in his hands massaging her nipple gently with his thumb. She gasps loudly when he did dropping her hands from his shoulders to her sides letting him do what he pleased.
He hovers over her neck, not kissing, but teasing while using his other hand to unravel his bandages. Afterwards he pulls back, face forward and leans into hers, tilting his head. She does the same moving forward until their lips connect.
It wasn't drunk or desperate or clumsy this time.
It was purposeful, intimate and beautiful.
Her heart raced in synergy with his; their pounding hearts creating a symphony. it felt like her entire soul had been recharged. She pressed harder against him and he responded the same.
Before she knew, she was on her back atop the bed of petals, his weight pressing down pinning her.
They kissed like that awhile before he pulls away, positioning himself at the feet of her bent legs, deftly spreading them apart while flipping her skirt up onto her stomach. She panicked telling him to wait.
He stops looking down at her for explanation. "G-go back." God she hoped he understood what she meant, her brain was so scrambled she wasn't even sure.
"You liked what I did before?" She nods.
He understood me! He falls to his elbows so they're on either side of her head, leans to one side and shoves his hand back through the side of her shirt cupping her breast again. His waist was in-between her legs spreading them wider.
It felt amazing.
He switches breasts doing the same to the other side massaging her nipple till it got hard against his thumb. Then He pulls his hand out and reaches for her shirt button waiting a bit to see if she protested.
She doesn't of course.
So he unhooks it and just like that, her breasts spill out exposed in front of him. She covers her face with her hands.
He sighs. "Mitsuri You don't have to cover your face, I'm sure you look beautiful underneath." she could hear him smiling with that tease, harkening back to what she said. It was embarrassing now that she was in the same position. She peers through one of her fingers.
"Its ok... g-go ahead" she says meek as a mouse. He didn't tease her anymore and went to work, starting with the left. The heat of his mouth as he sucked made her forget her shame, as hugs him to her chest. He licked her with the same etiquette reserved for a fancy meal. Not aggressive or hungry. Never biting or using his teeth.
He savored her only using his tongue to taste before switching to the other side. His hands roamed her body from rubbing her breasts to massaging her abs.
But he stops short of the waistline of her skirt remembering her protest from before. But she grabs his hand and shoving it between her legs touching herself with his fingers. She let him know she was ready.
So he changes course. Sitting back up he kisses high up her thigh before switching to the other trailing his tongue down the inside before stopping. He grabs her backside yanking her into position with a jerk before pulling her undergarments clean off and looping her knees over his shoulders. He wedges himself on his forearms and just marvels, soaking up the sight.
He never got a good look that night if he was being honest. He couldn't see anything other than a spinning room and the back of his own skull. He was completely at her mercy then, but now he was changing that tonight.
He spreads her pussy open with his fingers then laps her up three times before clamping his mouth down, sucking her in and out. She bucked her hips, lacing her fingers through his hair instinctively, pulling him closer while he licked the underside.
She's salty to the taste but not overbearing, more girl-musk than anything but it didn't create an aversion to him.
"P-please Iguro." She whimpers his name clutching him. But he pauses only starting again once she was looking at him.
"Obanai." He says. She blinks, her face red as hot iron.
"O-Obanai..." she repeats obediently.
His lips upturn into the faintest of smiles as he lowered back down and clamps his mouth again. Apparently the key to pleasuring a woman like this is something Obanai was quite the expert in. Seems being snake pillar does have its utilitarian function outside of battle. A few minutes in and he's a pro.
He wraps his arms around her thighs and goes faster. This time moving his tongue in sweeping circles around her over and over. But when he tries one last tongue maneuver he receives a response that far surpasses his expectations. He had to abruptly to cover her mouth when she let out a particularly fierce cry when he probed his tongue as far in as it would go. She quivered yanking his hair now like the reins of a horse, but he took it as a sign he did his fucking job. Her inner thighs trap him as they quivered one final time before she seizes completely wailing at the moon like an animal.
He eases off wiping his mouth to witness the aftermath. For the briefest of moments he wondered if it would be rude to ask if she reciprocate...
But the rustling of leaves stops him.
"What's that?" She asks sluggishly as if waking from a dream.
He peers in the darkness. "It's Kaburamaru..." he says, "... and Yuan."
Oh great...
He purses his lips in a straight line. He was embarrassed. He completely forgot about his serpent companion until now. But If his crow arrived too that means their play, let's call it, attracted some attention. He jumps to his feet, lifting her up too, dusting dirt and petals off her haori and twigs from her hair.
Kaburamaru helps too, flicking leaves off with his tail before coiling up Kanroji's head like a crown. He grabs her hand yanking her out the garden, but runs straight into the kakushi as they were poised to enter. They asked if everything was all right (specifically mentioning a hearing dog). He almost said 'see for yourself' but Mitsuri nudged him hard wringing the hem of her skirt embarrassed. He realized in abject horror that her undergarments were still back there!
Neither of them grabbed them before rushing out!
He answers quickly saying the animal fled in some arbitrary direction that was emphatically NOT the garden. The kakushi exchange cursory glances not completely sold. But Mitsuri snaps out of her high and invites them in for food instead which they accepted, thankfully.
No way he was sticking around for that, so he heads home.
He made it about 10 paces before she tugs his sleeve. Startling him into turning abruptly as she places Kaburamaru in his hands. At this point, even he couldn't hide the deep flush of embarrassment at forgetting his partner a second time.
" G-goodnight." She waves sheepishly. Which he acknowledges with an equally sheepish bow.
Neither ever spoke about that night again.
