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It was a cool, crisp night, with a soft wind blowing through the trees, whispering to each other. The full harvest moon glowed in the star filled sky, illuminating the garden, and the two admiring the beautiful night.
Sitting there under the stars in their favorite spot, drinking tea, alongside some saké, making pleasant conversation, was a yokai named Whisbei, and a shogun, the owner of the estate, Mitsunari, who had left his red haori inside the castle. Though, they were also doing something else, they were cuddling happily together, with an occasional smooch here and there.
The yokai was in a human form, as his companion couldn't see him normally, so that they could hold each other. Whisbei, while in this form, was bigger than Mitsunari, both in height and in bulk. So the most comfortable position for them was Mitsunari wrapping an arm around the yokai's torso, snuggling against his side, and Whisbei had one arm over his master's shoulders, with the other holding Mitsunari's free hand.
As it was late at night, everyone else was asleep so they weren't going to be disturbed, and they both had the tingly feeling of just wanting to cuddle with someone. Sleepily, Mitsunari nuzzled against Whisbei, and the yokai kissed his head softly. A deep purr reverberated within Whisbei's chest, which Mitsunari could hear loud and clear.
"Whisbei," Mitsunari purred happily, "I wanted to tell you something."
With an inquisitive trill, Whisbei looked down at the shogun.
After a bit of shuffling, Mitsunari matched Whisbei's gaze, his cheek softly pressed against the yokai, "You mean so much to me. I don't know what I'd do if we didn't meet. I love you, so very much." he cooed, running his thumb over Whisbei's hand.
Sweetly, Whisbei smiled down at him, "I love you, too. The past few years together have been the best of my whole afterlife, and I never want it to end." he said with a soft lilt in his voice.
Then, Mitsunari started to play with Whisbei's long hair gently and closed his eyes, before whispering sleepily, "I wish we could just stay like this for the rest of our days."
Whisbei nodded in agreement, but he couldn't ignore the sad undertone in Mitsunari's voice.
"Mitsu, is there something wrong?" he asked, using the nickname he reserved for when they were alone intimately.
After a second of Mitsunari thinking about how to phrase his answer, he finally responded in a solemn tone, "If I'm going to be completely honest, I doubt I'd still be alive if it weren't for you. I don't know how I'd die, but I have a feeling it would have happened by now." he then shifted his gaze back up to match the yokai's eyes, "You really are my light, Whisbei. Nothing can ever replace you."
For a moment, Whisbei didn't know what to say to Mitsunari. He knew the shogun got a bit emotionally open when he was drunk or tired, though it was usually only when he was alone with Whisbei, so the combination of him being a little tipsy and his sleepiness was making Mitsunari leave all his feelings out in the open.
These emotions were something the yokai was familiar with, though.
They were the reason Mitsunari found it harder to get out of bed some days. Why, before he met Whisbei, he drank a lot more, and didn't eat for a whole day. Why he worked so hard to prove himself to others. Why he was desperate enough to ask a child the location of Fuuketsumaru, and rely on a spirit he doubted was real a few times before he could hear Whisbei.
Eventually, Whisbei held Mitsunari even closer to himself, pressing him gently into his side, and said, "I'm glad you're here, and I'll be with you every step of the way. You're my light as well."
Whisbei could feel Mitsunari's grip tighten around him, and the soft nuzzling against his side, which he'll admit he enjoyed. He gazed up at the stars, which were their only companions tonight, twinkling softly.
Quietly, a yawn slipped out of Whisbei, which he managed to muffle by holding a hand over his mouth. Soon, the contagiousness of yawning spread to Mitsunari, who sat up, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes.
"We should go to sleep." The shogun said as he stood, though he clearly wasn't happy moving from his comfortable position next to Whisbei, and started to head back inside the castle.
Obediently, Whisbei followed him, picking up and carrying their things inside with them. The yokai set them down where the servants would get them, and they were out of the way, before returning to Mitsunari's bedroom.
Once they were alone in the bedroom, they both got ready to sleep. However, as Whisbei was removing his kimono, he noticed Mitsunari watching him out of the corner of his eye. Mitsunari shifted his gaze away, though it wasn't in a serious way, since it wasn't uncommon for them to look at each other while changing.
Whisbei then purred in a joking tone, "Like what you see, Mitsunari-sama~?" puffing up his chest.
Chuckling, Mitsunari replied, "Well, you're certainly not hard on the eyes."
This just made Whisbei huff, and roll his eyes. But then, when Mitsunari's back was turned, he sneaked up behind the shogun, and picked him up, kissing his cheek lovingly. Mitsunari let out a surprised yelp at being picked up, but quickly relaxed and started to chortle softly, shifting so he could return the kisses to Whisbei's own cheek. They caught each other on the lips a few times in their smooches, before Whisbei put Mitsunari down again.
Contently, they laid in Mitsunari's bed together, cuddling comfortably and kissing once again, arguably even more so now that they were laying down. Whisbei's head was resting on Mitsunari's chest, and wrapped his arms around the shogun's torso.
"Mitsu~" Whisbei cooed sleepily, and smooched Mitsunari on the cheek, "I love you."
Mitsunari smiled warmly, and kissed Whisbei's lips, "I love you, too."
After a few moments of holding each other, and stealing kisses, they fell asleep, just happy to have one another.