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Sooga had many talents: swordsmanship was only one of them, though it is what he is most known for. That, and being as stern as possible at all times. This alone made him well-known among the Yiga Clan, and many of the footsoldiers feared him for this reason. Sooga could probably cut them up so quick, they wouldn’t even have a chance to blink. But really, Sooga was softer than he appeared.
Sooga had a lot of pastimes that the Yiga didn’t know about. For instance, Sooga liked to do calligraphy. Sooga had excellent skills in shogi as well, though the only person he really played against was Kohga, and even then, Sooga never initiated a game with him.
But perhaps the one Sooga was most proud of, was origami. From a young age, Sooga had a talent for making animals and such out of paper. Whenever he was alone as a child (which was a lot), he would take up the art of paper-folding in order to calm himself and put himself at ease. His favorite to make was the lotus flower, a symbol of purity in his culture.
He longed to be pure like the lotus, in some ways; untainted by the world around him, so dark and confusing, especially as a young boy. He had no real home, no real family. He wished to be reborn within a cause he could call his own, and that’s where Master Kohga came in…
Sooga sits there, at a short table, cross-legged and dressed in flowing robes (though still wearing his mask, of course), folding colored paper into different shapes and figures. When Kohga enters the room, Sooga seldom notices him. Sooga is too involved in his craft, using expert fingers to create a moveable crane, or an owl, or an elephant.
He had a lot of finished ones around him, surrounding his unfinished creations at the table. Kohga approaches slowly and carefully so as not to take Sooga out of his state of focus. But Kohga couldn’t help but ask, “ Whatcha doin’?” lowly, as Sooga began to hum a song under his breath. Sooga jumps, the paper tumbling out of his hands and his knees bumping the underside of the table, exclaiming a restrained, “ Ghhn?!” as he is surprised by Kohga’s question.
“Whoa, whoa!” Kohga soothes him a bit, patting Sooga’s back a couple times to get his point across that it was just him. “Calm down there, big guy, it’s just me!”
“M-Master Kohga!” Sooga quickly bows in the presence of his Master, but Kohga was having none of it today.
“No need for the formalities, Sooga,” He insists and Sooga nods.
“Yes… Of course, Master,”
“Soooo, what are you up to? What’s all this stuff?”
“Have you never seen origami before, Master?” Sooga asks, although he asked with the utmost respect. Kohga picks up one of the fragile origami pieces and examines it.
“Hmm, nope,” Kohga sits beside Sooga, who seemed to think that he was somehow unworthy of sitting so close and casually to Kohga in this way. “What are they?”
“That one is a crane,” Sooga says, showing Kohga how to move it by pulling on its tail. Kohga was intrigued by this, looking absolutely awestruck and impressed by the way it moved. “These ones are butterflies,” Sooga continues, motioning to the blue and black butterfly-shaped origami pieces.
“And this one?” Kohga asks, gently touching the paper petals of a flower-shaped one…
“That one is a lotus,” Sooga had a touch of nostalgia in his tone, which Kohga wasn’t quite used to hearing… It was rare for Sooga to look back on or talk about his past. All Kohga really knew was that Sooga’s history was painful. He didn’t know the details, and thought it rude to ask or bring it up in conversation. “They are a water lily. Hard to come by here in the desert, but where I’m from, they’re common and very beautiful.”
Kohga hums. This was one of the first times he’d ever heard Sooga speak fondly of his home…
“Teach me how to make them!” Kohga practically orders, and Sooga is taken aback.
“Master. You mustn't trouble yourself with these trivialities—“
“I’m sorry, who’s the Master here?” Kohga teases, and Sooga is silent for a moment before nodding once.
“...I see. If you wish it, I will fulfill it, Master.”
“That’s better,” Kohga crosses his legs as Sooga did, picking up a light blue scrap of paper. Sooga shows Kohga the basics; folding on a straight line, how to be as disciplined and stiff as he was when he did it, et cetera.
Kohga was bad at… well, all of it. He didn’t take to folding right away, his hands moving too fast and his mind only on the end result and not on the process. “Master Kohga, if I may…” Sooga leans over to take one of Kohga’s hands in his, then the other one, He puppeteers Kohga’s hands into folding the paper properly, his larger, more experienced hands guiding Kohga’s smaller ones.
“You must work slowly, with precision,” Sooga says softly as he works Kohga’s hands into making a perfect lotus.
They continue to practice, sometimes with Sooga’s hand-to-hand guidance and sometimes not. When Kohga finally made his own, without Sooga’s assistance, it was a little bit crumpled and way too hastily made, but still full of charm.
“Ha- ha!” Kohga holds up his creation with pride, and this made Sooga proud as well. “I did it!”
“Yes, Master. You did. Very good.”
“I’m gonna make another,” Kohga grabs a pink piece this time, folding and folding until he got it right. There was comfortable silence, for a time. Sooga and Kohga simply folded their projects in peace, Sooga’s always coming out a few levels better than Kohga’s rushed creations. But it didn’t matter, as long as his Master was having fun. And he was, judging by the way he hummed and did a little dance as he was seated.
Sooga wasn’t expecting it when Kohga asks him out of the blue, “...Do you ever wish you could go back? To your hometown, I mean.”
Sooga’s breath hitches. He didn’t know how to answer that truthfully, so he spoke in half-truths for now until he gauged Kohga’s reactions. “...I do. But I would not wish to be there if I was not with you, Master.”
Kohga was flattered by this, but rephrases the question to pull more information out of Sooga. “If you had the choice of living a peaceful life back in your hometown, and being here, living this chaotic life with me, what would you choose?”
Sooga gulps at that. But he knew the answer already. “...I would choose the life I have currently made for myself. You… saved me, Master. Saved me from an unfortunate life in an unfortunate place. Without you, I would be nothing. All I want is to be of some use to you.”
“What if you never met me, though? Would you choose to spend the rest of your life among the lotuses?”
Sooga removes his mask, looking at Kohga — his Master — in the dead face of his own mask. “Master, do not say such things. Please. I cannot imagine a life without you. You are my lotus now, Master.” His pinkie finger scooches close and finds Kohga’s own hand, inching ever closer until their hands were entwined. Kohga just stares, wordlessly.
“Allow me to spend my life protecting you. It is all I live for, now.” He kisses the back of Kohga’s hand sweetly. “...I hope I am not being too forward. I am just—“
Kohga leaps forward, wrapping both arms around Sooga’s neck and shoulders. He buries his masked face into Sooga’s collarbone. He says nothing; for once, Master Kohga is utterly silent.
“I love you, my Lotus.”