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.

Well... It's good that it's a gorgeous colour? (Considering horses can't see red or purple, it won't matter much to Mikuniguro.)

He of course smiles at Izuminokami's question.

"As expected of one of your experience, it looks gorgeous. How about this?"

He pauses in his work to show what he has been doing. Slow but steady, the braid is taking shape. Although he's no judge, it seems sufficiently smooth and balanced. (But it is too loose.)

It wasn't too bad, but being braided so loosely, it might fall out soon after tying it up. He gives Tonbokiri a small smile and pats his shoulder.

"Not too bad for your first braid. Though if you want it to stick a little easier, when you do the braiding, if you tug the hair up a little it tightens it up so it doesn't fall loosely."

Izuminokami was looking at him with a lot of pride though. He was impressed with Tonbokori even trying.

"Ah, I see..." He is disappointed in himself, but he is just learning, and it is just the first braid. The pride that Izuminokami is showing him is the final wind to completely blow the disappointment away.

So with a decisive gesture, he pulls apart the braid he'd been working on.

"I see. I shall do better this time. Please watch me."

Again starting the braid is difficult, but he takes the advice to tug the hair snugly each plait.

"I won't take my eyes off you."

Okay, that sounded a little stranger than he had meant for it to sound, but he couldn't take it back now. He wanted to see the look of excitement on his face when he made the braid tighter. He wanted to see Tonbokiri being happy.

Heh, that does sound like a rather powerful statement. But Tonbokiri's attention is more on his work.

Careful and steady, his expression becomes calm as he regains the rhythm of plaiting. It is satisfying to see how nicely a tight braid holds together.

When he gets to the end he looks up at Izuminokami happily.

"How is it this time?"

Of course he had to be one of dramatics when it came to silly things like this, so he leaned down inspecting it for a long time. ( Sorry Tonbo its his own form of teasing ) Every once in a while he lets out a loud hmmmm as he moves around to check the other side. Finally...

He stands up and gives him big grin. "Now this? This is a braid worthy of my own hair."

Tonbokiri has a moment of thinking Izuminokami is being serious, and then as the inspection drags on he understands that this is just teasing.
So he puts on a serious face of his own as he waits.

Finally, he can return Izuminokami's grin.

"Is it? That is high praise, indeed. My thanks."

Taking another ribbon from his sleeve he asks, "Shall we continue and finish his whole mane?"

"Of course. We won't stop until is mane is as gorgeous as mine"

Izuminokami even goes as far as to pump his fist up before slipping a hand into Tonbokiri's sleeve to grab a few more ties for himself. He might have been okay with watching before, but now he couldn't help but want to join in as well.

Even though his hands were free, Izuminokami helped himself to the ribbons in his sleeve... But perhaps being so familiar is also part of being friends.

He laughs, bending to carefully peer at Izuminokami's face.

"Oh? You call your hair a mane as well? Perhaps you are secretly the tsukumogami of a horse?"

Eh... EHHHH??!

Izuminokami's face heated up pretty quickly. Even without trying it seemed like Tonbokiri caught on pretty quickly on how to embarrass the younger sword.

"Th-that's not what I meant at all! I-It was just a saying! There's no way I would be an actual horse no matter what you say!"

On one hand, Tonbokiri is glad that Izuminokami didn't take that as a slight against his pride as a sword.
On the other hand, he'd not expected such an amusing reaction! He's embarrassed over that? (To be fair though, he doesn't have much room to talk himself.)

"Of course. Of course." Tonbokiri gives Izuminokami a sound, reassuring pat on the shoulder. "In apology, I'll get you an apple as a treat when we go back inside. They're very delicious right now." (Is he still teasing? Maybe just a little.)

Mikuniguro knows that key word, and wants an apple too! Hey! He shoves his nose into Izuminokami's side.

"H-hey! I'm not a--" He was cut off when he felt Mikuniguro nudge him eagerly.

His face was completely red now. He was thrown off his whole "cool guy" act and it was so embarrassing.

"D-don't get mad at me! Tonbokiri is the one offering apples get mad at him!"

Tonbokiri relents when he sees how red Izuminokami has become, and turns his laugh towards Mikuniguro.

"My apologies, Mikuniguro. I really will give you an apple later." He pats the stallion's neck firmly. The horse recognizes the promise and nudges Izuminokami gently as if in apology.

"And my apologies towards you as well, Izuminokami-dono. He's not mad. He just loves apples as much as he loves compliments and gets a bit carried away."

Izumi lets out a soft huff and turned his head to the side, his hair moving over his shoulder as he does so.

"You owe us both one later."

For causing so much trouble, Tonbokiri!! Well he really didn't cause any, Izumi just flustered easily when it came to the other sword warriors.

"I'll even get you two."

He pats Izuminokami on the shoulder and holds out a ribbon where he can see it, even turned away as he is.

"Shall we finish? I do not doubt that you can make braids twice as quickly as I can, though."

He lets out a loud huff, which was basically just him tryiing to hide his embarrassment. He wasn't actually mad at the other man, which was shown when he took one of the ribbons and began doing another braid on the horse's lovely mane.

"He's going to make everyone jealous with these looks..."

Izuminokami bounces back quickly, ne.

"Hahaha. Usually the horses are only jealous of treats. I wonder if the braids will become another thing to worry about."

He starts braiding as well.

"Perhaps on the next shopping trip, if Aruji allows such an indulgence, I shall look for some ribbon to use with the horses." Or more like if Hasebe allows such an indulgence. He keeps the purse-strings tight...

"If you're going to be doing that, then you'll have to make sure to pick up some red ones. Red would really show nicely in their fine manes."

Not really, it's just his own personal bias. He wore red ribbons and red everything else all the time. It was most likely just his favorite color.

"Some red ones, then," he agrees with a grin. This reminds him of Mutsunokami jumping on 'what things do you like?' Perhaps it's something that one doesn't think about much until asked.
This does make him wonder though...

"I wonder what colours Aruji likes. Even if I got a different colour for every horse, it would be best to honour Aruji by getting his favourites."

Huh... that really was a good question. They've all been with Aruji for quite some time now, some longer than others, but how much of their likes and dislikes did they really know?

Izuminokami frowned thoughtfully, his fingers slowly braiding now. As hard as he thought on the matter, he really couldn't recall anything that screamed out as something Aruji might like.

"He wears so much white, but... that sounds more like a preference to the fabric type than a favorite color..."

He nods in return, also slower in his braiding as he thinks this over.

"I would ask him directly, but when might we have the chance to ask such a casual thing?" He sighs. "I wonder if even the Konnosuke would know."

"Not to mention a certain somebody hardly lets any of us talk to Aruji when he's the one tending to him," Izumi lets out a poutier sounding huff.

Hasebe was a great fighter and a great ally to have around, but Kanesada would admit in a heartbeat how much of a pain in the rear Hasebe could be when it came to matters with Aruji. And if they wanted to go meet him, surely Hasebe would scold them both of wanting to ask Aruji such a 'ridiculous' and 'pointless' question.

Tonbokiri chuckles sympathetically, knowing exactly who Izuminokami means.

"How dare we approach our honourable Aruji with such a pointless question?" Even without knowing Izuminokami's thoughts, it is not difficult to echo them.

"...The point of the question is rather small, but not entirely meaningless. There is the aim to give honour to Aruji by displaying something he likes. Perhaps that would be enough to satisfy Hasebe-dono."

Izuminokami quickly held a hand to his mouth to try and hide the amusement trying to slip out after that. He didn't expect Tonbokiri to read his mind so easily, and it was especially surprising to actually hear him say those words as well.

"You should do the talking if we do decide to ask. I feel like Hasebe would be more willing to listen to your words than my own."

As they are standing right beside each other as they braid Mikuniguro's mane, it is easy for Tonbokiri to see Izuminokami trying to hide his amusement. He'd just been saying it as it is - it's not all that funny, is it?

He bows his head. "Thank you for your confidence. I shall certainly ask, should the opportunity present itself."

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