"Uh..." Tengen whines, "Perhaps you two lovebirds wanna take that shit elsewhere. I ain't looking for another place to piss-"
Kanroji and Iguro exchange glances.
"-just because you wanna scream and throw eachoth-"
"-We'll leave." Obanai answers for her. "But keep this between-"
"-Yeah yeah" the sound ninja waves, as if he couldn't give any less of a shit, "I'm the world's sexiest, flashiest, ninja, guys, emphasis on sexy and ninja, snitching ain't sexy nor is it the shinobi way," he saunters passed them then adds with a grumble, " But I'm more offended you thought I wouldn't be the first to find out."
Mitsuri blows passed him, covering her face in hot embarrassment. Iguro stayed behind to do damage control she assumed.
She downs several cups of sake like water. Even Muichiro pauses stargazing temporarily to watch in mild curiosity. He was leaning back on his palms, feet wagging side to side with Kaburamaru coiled asleep in his lap but says nothing.
Tokitou was easily the best hashira at not asking questions. Partially because he was empty-headed but mostly because he didn't care. Unless it required slaying demons, he minds his business well. So she could hide out with him until Iguro returned for Kaburamaru.
He emerges 15 minutes later and asks if she wanted to go. She jumped to her feet, eager to avoid Tengen at all costs. Tokitou taps Kaburamaru awake gently, and the snake slithers out of his lap and back to his master. Then he goes back to stargazing, lost in his own world.
Iguro opens the door to his room letting Mitsuri enter first. She asks where Kaburamaru is going as the serpent slithers off his neck and back out the door they entered. He tells her that Kaburamaru has his own room he sleeps in and closes the door behind them. She excitedly takes a sweeping glances around his room. It was her first time seeing it afterall. As expected, it's clean, tidy, and minimal just like him, but not without personality.
He had a collection of tea leaves and cups lining his shelves. A giant calligraphic scroll hanging on his wall with a famous haiku written on it, and a small collection of books in a corner shelf. Iguro's futon is folded too preferring the Japanese style over a bed frame like her. He had floor cushions stacked on top, and a dining table pushed off to the side.
"You really like tea, huh?"she smiles, as he slides passed her to the sole drawer in his room, reaches in, and pulls out a pair of green striped socks, handing them to her.
She gasps. "You remembered!" She hugs the socks to her chest happily. He nods, leaning against the wall, hands in his long sleeves. "I collect souvenirs sometimes on patrols." he says glancing at the shelves she marveled at previously, "I started after a very persistent tea shop owner shoved them in my hands as payment for saving him and his family. Even gave me that scroll." he nodded to the haiku on the wall.
"It's Basho. The shopkeeper said his ancestors knew him personally and gave it to me as a token of their appreciation." He smiles ever so faintly, "So I've been collecting them ever since. Of course, I always decline, but if people persisted, I'd tell them what I liked and take back whatever they gave."
He pointed to a few: cups, incense, tea leaves, books. Apparently, some of the books in the corner were Japanese poetry he received from some traveling monks who gave him prayer beads and some incense on top of it. He described each item in meticulous detail: the demons he slayed, how many, what district, which day, and even how many people were saved before casting his eyes to the floor.
She was amazed at his attention to detail, but couldn't help but notice his crestfallen expression despite his accomplishments.
"Is something bothering you?" she asks. Just like Rengoku's hugs, She's gotten better at deciphering Obanai's subtle expressions. He said on the walk over he wanted to talk about something but never specified what it was. But his face was unusually placid the entire time. It was clear something weighed on his mind and it wasn't just that Tengen found out about them.
He looks up at her contemplative but asks anyway, "what …did you and Rengoku talk about?" She looks at him surprised. But he turns his head away. "I saw you together. Was just curious." he says monotonously.
So he did notice...
She squeezes the socks in her hands, she worried about this.
"He says he..." even though she's pretty positive Obanai knows about the nightmares, she keeps that to herself. "He wants to get married..." she settles with but then shakes her head, "Or rather, he asked me what I thought about him getting married."
Iguro blows air out his nose in a seething scowl, rolling his eyes so hard it's a wonder they didn't get stuck in his head.
"What was that for?"
"Easy, It's a stupid question he asked." He replies aggressively.
"Iguro," that reverence for her former master reared it's persistent head, forcing her to defend the flame hashira against the verbal slight. "I don't know why you're angry, but dont call Rengoku stupid. He's not stupid. So take it back." she says harshly.
His eyes widened, before hardening again into something akin to disappointment, "How can you ...do this?!" he asks low and harsh, visibly angry at her.
"Wh-what?" At first she couldn't get a fix on what he was asking, but then he clarified, "Bounce between us the way you do?!" he says no less aggressive. She recoiled as if slapped, feeling all the color drain from her face. Just like that night he came through her window, When he got temperamental like this, she didn't know what to say or what to do. It was the first time he's ever been so mean to her. She was shocked by his reaction, shocked at the fact there might actually be tears in her eyes as she tried to rationalize his very valid accusation.
"I-I don't..." her eyes stung a bit but she held it together, she was stupid to think he wouldn't ask at some point. She knew getting caught with Kyojuro would turn her into a sloppy hypocrite.
"I don't know..." she says at a loss, but he doesn't bear down anymore. His eyes softened considerably as if realizing he went too far. He shifts gears, trading disappointment for forced amusement, it didn't make her feel much better though.
"Psh. Just forget it." he says blowing it off entirely, as if it weren't worth his time. "But You're still wrong about him, Kanroji." He says contemptuously, thrusting his gaze back to the floor as if it were his enemy.
She wipes her face still recovering from his biting words. "What do you mean?" She sniffs lightly. His eyes pick back up and his expression visibly lifts at her sadness, back into the care she recognized and loved.
He blinks and takes a deep breath trying again, "I'm saying Rengoku isn't smart. Not at all if you ask me." again if Mitsuri were meaner she'd scoff in cold disbelief, but instead she stared dumbly, blurting out a "why".
At first there is no change. Until he shifts his position, pushing off the wall and staring her dead in the eye. "Because If Kyojuro was smart..." he says lazily, dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "he wouldn't have let you go without a fight. You're mine now, Mitsuri."
Neither moved.
The silence screamed as seconds ticked by.
Tick...Tick... Tick... Tick...
Then at the exact same time- they both move, leaping at each other; bodies crashing together with an ardor like never before.
Mitsuri wasn't a vulgar person, but calling this "love-making" would be wildly inaccurate.
Clothes not only flew off, but tore in the process, as they battled for dominance, pushing each other against walls, tripping over his futon, and then rolling on the floor.
Him on top… then Her…Then back to him...
She almost gained the upper hand again, but he was keen on not losing, like he did in the woods. So he pinned her hands firmly at the wrists above her head, in a raw strength she didn't know he possessed, only letting go when she surrendered completely to him.
He shoved his nose into the crook of her neck, while she spread her legs for him, breathing her name in her ear.
"...Mitsuri... Mitsuri..."
He was moaning all kinds of filthy language in her ear as he pushed his way inside, declaring her his and no one else's. It completely blew away the jealous thoughts she unfairly projected onto him earlier.
Again, she wasn't a crude person, but she couldn't describe what they were doing as anything other than fucking.
And boy were they fucking.
there was nothing gentle about the way he gripped her large breasts so tightly she knew they'd bruise by morning.
Nothing gentle about the way she sucked his neck so hard, the suction left a red mark in the shape of her lips on his ivory skin, like a flag on a castle symbolizing her conquest.
Nothing gentle about the way she dug her nails in his back so deep, it was a wonder they didn't break inside his flesh.
nothing gentle about the embarrassing clapping sounds her body made while he pounded her forcefully into his floor.
The single shelf in his room shook violently across The room as They became frenzied with desire.
The sex was overwhelming, making her eyes roll back, as that familiar sensation built up in her stomach. Her pulsating walls found themselves swelling, coming alive almost as much as her beating heart. It hadn't been long since she asked for space, but she felt his absence deeply until now.
So very, very deeply.
She felt it eating alone, without him there listening.
She felt it when she had a problem, and imagined what his hypothetical response might be.
She felt it when she went to bed and found herself craving his presence next to her… just like the first night.
It wasn't loneliness she felt back then. She realizes. Her heart was right the first time, she never should've doubted it.
"I-Igur-"
"-Obanai." he commands, correcting her again. For the first time, he was just as hot and wet as she was, not cool at all. He was giving his all this time. Making sure she was satisfied.
"O...ba...n...nn..." she shuddered drawling his name when he wove his hand into her hair, yanking her head back by her braid.
She didn't care about context anymore. Didn't care if she were his plaything or his woman- she didn't care.
She wanted him.
Wanted him so bad.
Didn't want him to stop.
Didn't want him to let her go. She wanted him to be hers- and hers only … and the sensation of finally understanding this made her want to explode in ecstasy.
He knew it too.
As soon as she was close he breathed voraciously in her ear:
"Come for me, Mitsuri."
Boy did she.
She climaxed hard, cross-eyed underneath him. Her toes contorted, her nails dug in, her voice gargled unintelligibly what sounded like sobs from her throat. But even while she stroked out, he continued a bit longer, falling to his elbows, still holding her tightly.
So, so tightly, like a snake constricting its prey. Never letting go.
He went for a few more seconds until he was sure she was satisfied before groaning loudly, finishing at last.
A few seconds pass by before he relaxes his hold. Shallow pants eased into regular breaths again as she wraps her arms around his lower back affectionately. But suddenly he pulls out of the embrace, blinking frantically as if a spell had been broken.
"Oh… shit!" he mutters rolling off her. "Get dressed!" He orders quickly sifting for their clothes.
She sits up, eyebrows knit in confusion. "Is Something wrong?" His only response is to hastily throw clothes at her. "Iguro what's-"
"-Awww, shit..." another voice—terribly close by and frightfully alert— causes her heart to stop and her head to turn in the direction of Obanai's door.
It was Tengen... but he wasn't alone...
Mitsuri had to bite back an ear-splitting scream as adrenaline shot through her spine like battery acid. Rengoku was hot at his heel to witness the scene in front of them and in a reaction speed none of the four hashira present were prepared for, he, imprudently, punches iguro in the face..