minutemen | 6 ❀ Summer Citadel

6 ❀ Summer Citadel

Beach. Everyone has been working so hard lately so why not take a break and enjoy the beach? You can make sand castles, play in the water, and there are even umbrellas for those who'd rather just relax in the shade. There's a nice row of water melons ready to be smashed later in the day and when the sun goes down, that's when the sparklers come out.
Suffering. It's the hottest time of the year and the citadel doesn't have central air conditioning. The few air conditions that were installed have given up on life after being used so much and now, we really have to make do with what we can while the Konnosuke try to fix it. There's a limited number of fans, plenty of ice cream to go around, and the citadel should be built to circulate air, right? ... Right?!
Spooks. In Japan, summer is a time for horror. Gather around the camp fire and hear some spooky ghost stories or maybe head out into the woods just outside the citadel for a good ol' fashioned test of courage. It's all good, harmless fun! Of course, with so many spirits gathered in one place, what's to say a stray or curious outsider spirit won't join the mix...
Rain. Summer is also known for sudden and torrential downpours of rain. The clouds always seem to grown and darken suddenly and the next thing you know, it's raining sheets and the ground is shaking from thunder. Once it starts, it never seems to stop. Maybe you were caught out in the rain or maybe this is day 7 stuck inside.
Other! It's summer and there are tons of things to do. Go to the general store and stock up on ice cream, wake up in the middle of the night uncomfortable with heat, or run around screaming because cicadas are dying and flying at your face.

.... poetry?

[Ichigo looks over from the futon in Mikazuki’s room where he is resting (and feeling just a bit sore) after a rather passionate rainy afternoon. Well, there wasn’t anything else to do! And for all of Mikazuki’s talk of how he’s an old man, he definitely didn’t act like one just now... Yes, it’s definitely Mikazuki’s fault that he doesn’t really want to move but he’s curious to know what he’s writing. And somehow in the back of his mind, this feels familiar...

He gets up and puts on one of Mikazuki’s yukatas for he has no idea where his own clothes are... Ichigo then hugs his dear husband from behind, affectionately nuzzling his head against his for a moment before peering over his shoulder.]

What sort of poetry?

[Rainy afternoons are the best to spend in a futon cuddling and doing many other things that one usually would not do during the day. There's no chores that can be done and everyone is slightly bored anyway. It's actually rather weird they haven't been interrupted by a tantou looking for something to do.

Mikazuki smiles and leans back into the embrace a little.]

maybe the kind I used to write to you back then... it was already going out of fashion in that time, but this is what I am most familiar with.

[Well, Yagen was probably aware of where his big brother was going and told the others not to look for him.

Ichigo gives Mikazuki a sweet little kiss on the cheek.]

... you used to write me poetry? [That sounds so romantic! It makes Ichigo happy yet slightly embarrassed, so he’s hides his face behind Mikazuki’s back for a moment but now he’s very curious to know more.] Could you write me one? Maybe I’ll remember it.

Sometimes we did not see each other for days at a time. I wanted to stay in your heart even then.

[So yes, he wrote poetry. A lot of it.]

I don't know that I remember any of the ones I wrote back then, but I coud try for a new one. Let's see....

[He thinks for a moment before he picks up his brush. it glides on the paper, forming elegant calligraphy.]

With the passing time,
Not a moment dry
Are my sleeves;
Low tide does not reveal
The seaweed beneath the waves…

... days? ... yes, Hideyoshi-sama often took me away with him, didn’t he?

[That stirs vague memories of Hideyoshi taking him along to all sorts of places. He can’t recall the exact places but he remembers how much he loved accompanying his master everywhere. He remembers how much his master treasured him, took good care of him and was so proud of him. He knows that he was very fortunate to have had such a master and that his life back then was very happy. And then he recalls being at his master’s deathbed, watching as he wrote his final poem... No, he mustn’t think of that now!! Ichigo is also still unaware that he was also known by another name back then.]

That’s okay. It doesn’t have to be one from before,.

[Ichigo moves to sit next to Mikazuki so that he can watch him adoringly as he wrote, each brush stroke so perfect and graceful. When the poem is done, Ichigo reads it out but is not able to understand the meaning behind it.

Well, Tenka didn’t truly understand them at first either, as the writing style was before his time, but he’d kept each and every piece of poetry Mikazuki wrote to him carefully. It was only one day as he was rereading them that something finally clicked...! Hopefully, Ichigo won’t take that long.]

It’s very beautiful, but...

[Somethung nags at him. There is something more to it, isn’t there? There is something about the word ‘sleeves’.... He reaches out to trace the word, trying to remember what it was that he’d figured out so long ago. He glances over at Mikazuki.]

The sleeves are not sleeves, are they?

[That style of poetry went out of fashion even before Mikazuki ever laid eyes on Ichigo. Even back then, it sometimes took Ichigo a few minutes of puzzling to understand them.

And even back then, Mikazuki probably wrote poems that were lewd on purpose just to see him blush and splutter a little.

He smiles at Ichigo's question.]

No, they are not. And the seaweed is not seaweed either.

The seaweed...?

[Ichigo rereads the poem, keeping in mind that the sleeves and seaweed aren’t as they seem. Then there’s a pause and a soft gasp, and he turns to Mikazuki, very flustered especially since certain activities are still fresh in his mind!]

Mi-Mikazuki! That’s-That’s... obscene!

[And this is perhaps the moment Ichigo realises that his husband is a really dirty old man... yet he still loves him a lot. But does he love him because of it or despite of it...? What does that make him...? Why must you be like that, Mikazuki?]

Hahahahahahahaha!

[He is indeed a dirty old man, Ichigo. One has to find ways to entertain oneself after all, and Heian nobility had a lot of ways of doing that.]

That one is rather tame, Ichigo. I don't remember you blushing quite that hard back then.

[No. Don’t laugh at him like that! He clutches at Mikazuki’s arm with a whimper of embarrassment. Then he whines with a little pout while shaking that arm slightly. Congratulations, you’ve unlocked the more childish side of him that he keeps hidden because he has to be the big brother all the time. But he is a relatively young sword after all and an Awataguchi. Well, Mikazuki probably already knows about this side of him...]

Miiikaazuukiii... That’s not funnnyyyy....

[That has his attention though.]

Tame? But... that was already quite explicit... You... you mean you’ve written me ones that were worse...?

[He can’t really imagine anything worse... he kind of wants to know... No, he shouldn’t. You’ve already ruined the words ‘sleeves’ and ‘seaweed’ for him! But curiosity is a terrible thing and Mikazuki probably sees it in his eyes...

Well, he was a lot less shy then and also probably badly influenced by Mikazuki!]

Well, 'worse' is relative. I would have called them 'better' myself.

[Of course he wrote you worse ones, Ichigo, the whole goal was to fluster you and make you want to come back to his side quicker.

But it is true he is one of the few to have seen that carefree, confident Ichigo. He misses it sometimes.]

Better...?

[He falls silent for a moment as he studies Mikazuki, suddenly understanding why he wrote them. Then he bows his head a bit, suddenly overwhelmed with guilt for something he can barely remember and he had no control over. He wraps Mikazuki in a tight embrace..]

I’m sorry, Mikazuki. You must have been so lonely... Yet all I can remember is how happy I was to be able to go everywhere with Hideyoshi-sama. I’m so sorry...

There is no need for you to apologize.

[The truth is, Mikazuki doesn't remember that time as lonely or unhappy. Being with Lady Nene was on of the high points of his life. She was a refined lady, and he did learn much at her side.]

I only look back on that time fondly. I don't have bad memories of it at all.

[Well no, that's not quite true, because he stayed with Lady Nene even after she was widowed, until she too died and then willed him to Tokugawa Ieyasu. So he had to watch Ichigo burn and then disappear from his life with no recollection of their time together. But still...]

We are blades. We go where our masters go.

[He hugs Mikazuki tighter, not wanting to let go yet.]

... that’s true, it’s something we can’t control, yet I ...

[He just can’t help the deep sorrow he often feels deep inside though. He knows he should be happy and he is happy but there’s always this undercurrent of sadness that he can’t fully understand.

Ichigo lets go after a while and places a hand tenderly on Mikazuki’s cheek, looking him straight in the eyes.]

Mikazuki. Are you happy now?

Right now? Yes.

[At this very moment, yes, he can say that confidently. When he's not plagued by thought sof battles, by heavy memories, by the simple weight of his age and everything he has seen, then yes, he is happy.

Happier now that Ichigo is once again by his side.]

[Ichigo smiles with delight at that.]

I am too.

[And he leans over to kiss him.]

[Mikazuki welcomes the tender kiss, but when he pulls back...]

Are you sure you don't want me to write you another one, then? Since that one is apparently not to your taste.

[And his cheeks are lightly tainted pink again at the thought of that poem.]

Well... it’s not that it’s not to my taste... I was just surprised by it....

[And he finds that he’s kind of okay with it now that he knows part of the reason behind why Mikazuki writes these poems. Now he thinks the poems are rather sweet even if they are extremely embarrassing. (Don’t ever let him know that Mikazuki has been showing everyone these types of poems!)

He’s just going to sit next to him again, leaning against him, feeling quite happy.]

I’ll love for you to write me another one, but just write anything that comes to you. You don’t have to change. [For he loves you just as you are.]

[Anything that comes to him?

After what you have just witnessed, Ichigo, why would you believe this is in any way a safe thing to ask?

But fine, suit yourself... and buckle down for more blushing.]

For you, my love,
At Ukinu Pond
Picking water chestnuts,
These sleeves I’ve dyed
Have become completely drenched!

[Because he trusts and loves you so much, Mikazuki! And he is now determined to try to learn to appreciate what you’re so clearly passionate about.

He picks up the poem and finds he’s not quite as flustered about it as the first one he’d read, though he is still blushing quite a bit.

He understands the sleeves and being drenched but... so he looks over at Mikazuki and quite innocently asks...]

... what do the water chestnuts represent?

Well, if you think about the shapes of the water chestnuts...

[Come on, Ichigo, it's not nearly as fun if he has to spell it out. You're a smart one, you can figure it out.]

[His mind isn’t as dirty as yours! He deals with young children every day after all. Give me a moment to tune into your very lewd mind.]

The shape...? [His blush turns a shade brighter.] Ah... I see...

[Then he looks away for a bit to recollect himself. Mikazaki was ruining so many words for him... but, he is still determined to become used to all this... eventually. But maybe it’s time for a break!]

Are you able to write something that... is perhaps less... suggestive? Say if I wanted to show one to my brothers.

well, of course. A poem should speak to its audience, after all, especially when written sith someone particular in mind.

[And so, when you are the 'someone particular', he writes lewds. Deal with it, Ichigo.]

Hmmmm, let's see....

[He's going to think for a moment, because in spite of the way he acts, he is actually a bit more than a dirty old man.]

In Yoshino
By the mountains, the flowering
Cherry blossoms:
Simply for snow
I did mistake them!

... with someone particular in mind...? So you only write like that when you’re writing to me?

[He feels strangely flattered by that...? But he’d also like something he can actually frame or show off to other people!

Now that’s a lovely poem he can show other people. He picks it up happily.]

I think I’ll frame this one. I’ll keep the other ones too but those I’ll have to lock up to keep away from my brothers...

Well... I have on occasion written such things for fun to other people.

[Because your husband is a troll, Ichigo.]

But the serious ones, yes.

You can keep them here for now, if you'd like.

[Cue the look of abject horror on Ichigo’s face! What have you done, Mikazuki? How many people have you traumatised? How many people is he going to have to go apologise to on your behalf? (Because he’s such a responsible person that he feels absolutely compelled to do so!) Why is this his life now?? (You chose it, Ichigo...)]

... for f-fun...? Who-Who exactly have you written these to? [At least, they aren’t as explicit as these ones, right? Right? Since you said the ‘serious ones’ are for him. Also, please, please tell him you’re joking...]

Poetry time a few days after the other thread~! NSFW-ish?

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