6 ❀ Summer Citadel

[konnosuke]

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.

 

Comments

[oncealifetime]

Oh... I’ll try... not trying so hard then...

[It’s getting too difficult to concentrate anyway with Mitsutada so close to him, wrapping his arms round him and holding his hands. Ichigo tenses at first but soon relaxes and lets Mitsutada manipulate his hands, he also leans back a bit against him. Sometimes, being shortened has its advantages, like now, because the other tachi is able to wrap round him perfectly~!]

[candlestickslayer]

[ He smiles softly to himself as he continues slowly manipulating the way Ichigo's hands move. With a few more moves he stops and has his open his hands. ]

See you did it.

[oncealifetime]

... yes, that does look much better.

[But he's no longer really interested in the mochi, he just wants to be held like this a little longer. He takes hold of Mitsutada's hands.]

... please don't go yet.

[candlestickslayer]

I'll stay right here... as long as you'd like.

[ He even steps just a little closer so Ichigo had more to lean into. He gives both of his hands a little squeeze. ]

[oncealifetime]

Thank you.

[Then he turns around so that he can snuggle against his chest.]

[candlestickslayer]

I wonder if your cold is still bothering you a bit... and you just don't realize it.

[oncealifetime]

Perhaps it is...

[But he knew it wasn’t. He just wanted Mitsutada to hold him because he liked it and he felt like being selfish at that moment.

He pushed away gently after a while.]

We’d better finish making the rest of them.

[candlestickslayer]

Would you like more help, or do you feel you have it now...?

[oncealifetime]

[Ichigo pauses. His back to Mitsutada. ... why must you give him such an enticing choice? He knew he shouldn’t but he was offering... and Mitsutada was just teaching him how to cook. There wasn’t more to it, right?]

Could you help me, please?

[candlestickslayer]

It would be my pleasure.

[ His tone almost sounded like he had a bit of a singy tune to it. ]

[oncealifetime]

[Ichigo noticed the tone and wondered if there was anything to it. Was Mitsutada teasing him...? But he didn’t really mind it as long as he got to be enveloped in his arms again.]

[candlestickslayer]

[ Honestly, he was just in a good mood, and being able to make something delicious like this with someone he's been enjoying the time of just made it even more enjoyable.

So he settles in again, and moved his hands on top of Ichigo's once more to start making another mochi. ]

[oncealifetime]

[Ichigo smiled to himself and just relaxed and leaned back against him. He did at least attempt to pay attention to how Mitsutada moved his hands this time, so that he might be able to do it himself later if he wanted to.]

[candlestickslayer]

[ His movements with Ichigo were slow and gentle, probably because if he took his time with this he could steal just a little bit more of Ichigo's time. He didn't seem to mind so... ]

[oncealifetime]

[He didn’t mind at all. After a while, his mind did wander a bit though and he leaned back more so that he could steal a glance up at Mitsutada.]

[candlestickslayer]

[ Luckily for him, he wasn't caught in his little glances, not yet anyway. He was focusing on making the mochi with Ichigo as his "helper", because he wanted to create something Ichigo would surely enjoy eating. It was clear with the look in his eye, he was really focused on this. ]

[oncealifetime]

[Mitsutada looked so cool like that though. Ichigo couldn’t help being captivated by him and just kept trying to not-so-secretly watch him.]

[candlestickslayer]

Once we have enough of these made, we'll put them in to steam for a bit and then they'll be ready to eat. Hopefully... they taste as good as you imagined they might.

[oncealifetime]

[Oh right, they were making mochi. Ichigo turned his attention back to the food he was supposed to be learning how to make.]

Maybe we can make some tea to go with them? I can make pretty good tea. Uguisumaru-dono taught me how to do it when we lived at the Imperial Collection. We drank a lot of tea back then!

[candlestickslayer]

I would be honored to have tea made by you. I think it would definitely go nicely together.

[ He smiles a bit more, and his arms seem to give Ichigo a gentle squeeze. ]

[oncealifetime]

[Ichigo couldn’t help blushing a little at the squeeze. Then seeing that they were almost done...]

Can I try making the last one on my own?

[candlestickslayer]

Of course..

[ He smiles and lets go of Ichigo's hands, but he wasn't exactly ready to pull away just yet so his arms loosely wrap around Ichigo instead. ]

[oncealifetime]

[Ichigo was about to start making that last mochi, when he noticed that Mitsutada still has his arms around him. After a short pause, he reached out to tighten Mitsutada’s hold on him because he wanted to. Then he turned back to his task at hand.

He did his best to mimic how Mitsutada had moved his fingers earlier and found that he’d somehow managed to learn something despite all that distraction! He was very pleased with his work and looked up at Mitsutada with a rather bright and excited smile.]

Look! Mitsutada-dono! This one looks very close to yours, doesn’t it?

[candlestickslayer]

[ His excitement was contagious, because looking into that smile caused Mitsutada to smile just as much. ]

I knew you had it in you..! We just needed to get those frustrating thoughts out of your head so you could truly enjoy yourself.

[oncealifetime]

That’s because I have a good teacher. Maybe I should call you ‘sensei’ from now on.