the way of the sword
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Summary
Chihiro wishes he could do more, sometimes, hating that same feeling of being reduced to a helpless witness—he'd swore that he'd never be that same fifteen year old kid ever again; never was he to watch on as the fire in front of him lay ablaze to everything he loved…
And yet—here Hakuri was, in a personal purgatory made by the others who were family in almost every single sense of the word. Here, Hakuri was an amalgamation of everything wrong, his own flames almost extinguished, if not for the samurai that lit his helpless existence on fire once again.
or, Hakuri escapes to the one place no one can hurt him—and brings Chihiro with him, albeit unconsciously.
Series
- Part 1 of the way of the sword
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Chiaki dreams.
She dreams of walks without samurai beside her—dreams of the sun hitting her bare skin instead of the finest silk she's draped in for what feels like forever now. She dreams of feeling the coarse sand and dust beneath her bare feet, instead of the clicking sounds her heels make when she's granted the rare chance to do anything outside of being confined to the royal palace. She dreams of being able to mingle with children on the street once more, dreams to interact with the commoners her new family despised, ignoring the pang in her heart when they start staring at her with reverence, with respect, with fear.
There is no comfort for a princess. Chiaki yearns for it anyway.
Series
- Part 2 of the way of the sword
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Summary
Hakuri loves too much.
It's a disgusting, nauseating realization that strikes him randomly one day as he watches Chihiro carefully prepare meals for everyone. His hands and fingers move with both precision and ease as he chops the vegetables and sections the meat into even slices, and Hakuri thinks it's hard to not admire him—Chihiro looks undeniably breathtaking doing anything, and Hakuri can do nothing but stare until he feels himself choking from how long he ends up going without breathing.
Hakuri loves too much. Hakuri wants too much. Hakuri knows he can't give both fully to the one person he loves the most—because he knows, for better or for worse, that they deserve someone that isn't him.
Chihiro begs to differ, though.
Series
- Part 3 of the way of the sword
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Summary
Chihiro grasps a broken Enten in his hands and wonders what it means to be Kunishige Rokuhira's son.
Series
- Part 4 of the way of the sword
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Summary
Before Hakuri can tap his fingers on the counter again (Hinao would scold him for a while, saying it was distracting, but Hakuri begged to differ), the door chimes sound against each other, making that distinctive clinking sound whenever a customer walked in.
Hakuri gulps. "Hello, what can I get for you?" He says, even as he feels his throat run dry as he stares at the customer before him. The man before him had somewhat spiky hair, with red eyes that felt like it was staring right through at him. He was just the tiniest bit shorter compared to Hakuri—he noted that his attire was pretty much all black, save for the pop of red, white, and tricolored goldfish print on the front of his shirt as well as some silver from wearing a necklace.
Hakuri's only thought was this—
They were very, very handsome.
or, Hakuri is a barista and Chihiro is a streamer.
A streamer that Hakuri is a big, big fan of, apparently. He doesn't know that Samurai and Chihiro are the same people, though.
Series
- Part 5 of the way of the sword
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"Why does the Enten, like, you know, manifest through goldfish?"
The question makes Chihiro stop. His mind quiets down completely, that pit in his stomach that he never gave much thought to finally rearing its ugly head again. His hands, preoccupied with tracing circles on Hakuri's thigh, stop too, and the silence drags on for too long, enough that Hakuri swallows the lump in his throat and start darting his eyes back and forth to the pond and Chihiro himself.
"I'm, uh—you don't have to answer if you don't want to, everyone has something to—"
"…It's fine," Chihiro mutters, even as he feels his chest burn, like he's back to that same situation three years ago—fire, smoke and ash filling his lungs—that vision of their little, peaceful and unassuming house in shambles as the boxes containing the Enchanted Blades lay there broken, said swords gone from his vision.
or, Hakuri asks a question, and Chihiro realizes just how much grief he carries within.
Series
- Part 6 of the way of the sword
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I just love you so much, so why don't you just do as I say?
Series
- Part 7 of the way of the sword
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Akemura doesn't like to admit that he's too weak. It's all the children tease him about, including his cousins, and it's not something he wants to admit to someone as upfront as Chiaki. He doesn't want to know that they're in the bullying too, because as much as Chiaki loves to uphold justice her own way, Akemura doesn't want her to be in harms' way.
There's also the fact that she's simply the better fighter of the two currently—always ready to exchange swings, throwing sandals and just about any other imaginable object that could come into mind. Akemura tries, tries and tries to fight it all off, enduring the pain, because he wants to be able to protect her in his own way.
Clearly though, Akemura has a long way to go, if Chiaki is still fussing over him.
Akemura remembers the moment where it all went wrong.
Series
- Part 8 of the way of the sword
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"Chihiro, it's me," You say, knocking on the door three times, then two quick knocks.
The door opens and—
"I missed you," he says, and you immediately step forward to embrace him, uncaring of all the soot and sweat he's drenched in. You breathe in his presence, and he feels himself go stiff for a few seconds, unused to the touch of someone alive after being so cooped up in this place for so long.
or, the rare opportunity to visit Chihiro becomes a possibility to you. Obviously, you visit him.
Series
- Part 9 of the way of the sword
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 1,544
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 3
- Hits:
- 47
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Summary
Shiba is with him, sitting on the steps of the porch of a random place they've managed to rent. It's cozy. There's goldfish swimming around just nearby the pond surrounded by a nice arrangement of stones. The water looks clear.
Too clear. Chihiro can see his own eyes staring back at him, but everything else melts into the ripples and waves—and colors; orange, red, black, yellow, and Chihiro thinks he's looking at a sunset, but obviously, they're just goldfish.
Just goldfish. It's just goldfish. They're not in a bowl. He tears his sight away from them before he mistakes them for something else entirely.
or, try and love as hard as Chihiro might, some things just stay the same.
Series
- Part 10 of the way of the sword