Archive of Our Own

Autumn

Nansen Ichimonji, the sword was previously in the possession of Tokugawa Ieyasu but had been recently bequeathed to Tokugawa Yoshinao. Nansen watched as Yoshinao carefully held his sword, a token left from his late father. The funeral had ended and people were starting to leave. Nansen looked at the temple where his old master’s body now resided in. It gave him a sense of sadness but not so much that he would cry like some other tsukumogami standing next to their new masters. Maybe it’s because he didn’t spend as much time with his old master as the others did. 

Nansen noticed his master, Tokugawa Yoshinao, started walking away from the temple and quickly followed after. They were most likely heading back to Nagoya castle where Lord Yoshinao was residing in. But before they were about to depart,  Lady Okame, Lord Yoshinao’s mother, quickly handed him something wrapped in a cloth. Lord Yoshinao looked confused but his mother hurried him to quickly go and told him not to let anyone see it. Nansen didn’t have to guess what was wrapped under that cloth because its tsukumogami, Monoyoshi Sadamune, was standing next to him. Monoyoshi’s eyes were puffy red from crying, he was staring blankly at his sword underneath the cloth and had a frown on his face. Monoyoshi was an important sword to Tokugawa Ieyasu and he was expected to be bequeathed to the next Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada, but why is he being given to Lord Yoshinao? Nansen really didn’t understand what the humans were thinking.

Lord Yoshinao spoke a few more words to his mother before finally departing. As Nansen and Monoyoshi followed after him, Nansen glanced over to Monoyoshi a few times. The boy’s head was down, Nansen didn’t need to look at his face to see that the boy was clearly trying to hold back tears. Remembering how the boy used to smile so much around their late master, Nansen wanted to comfort the boy even if just a little so he patted his head softly like how a brother would to his younger sibling. Monoyoshi didn’t say anything but the sniffing stopped so Nansen was glad he could do something to help the pitiful boy.

By the time they had arrived at Nagoya Castle, Monoyoshi finally looked up from the ground. He thanked Nansen for earlier with a small smile, though Nansen knew he forced it s little he was still glad. 

They followed Lord Yoshinao inside where he placed Nansen’s sword in his collection room, where it already had 2 swords there. Lord Yoshinao then proceeded to unwrap the cloth and found Monoyoshi’s blade. He didn’t seem to recognize it and placed it next to another wakazashi blade. Lord Yoshinao then called in one of the maid, telling her to prepare 2 more sets of futon and 2 more meals from today onward.

Tskumogami are souls created from their objects. That soul can linger anywhere as long as they’re not too far away from their objects. Tsukumogami can’t be seen or heard by humans but humans know they exist. Even though tsukumogami are souls, they still apparently have human needs. Which is why when they aren’t given their own futon or meal, they’ll just have to go steal it. And since humans can’t see them, they can’t stop them either. Most warriors and sword owners are aware of this so they’ll usually prepare every requirements ready before the sword arrives.

After the maid left to go fetch as Lord Yoshinao said, Lord Yoshinao turned to where he placed the new swords and said—

“Don’t go cause any ruckus. And don’t break any more doors, please.” The last part was said quickly and quietly with a sigh, before he exited the room.

“……Well time to go explore this new home then nyaa.” Nansen said, stretching. Since tsukumogami are spirits form of their tools, in this case swords, they can’t stray too far away from their swords but he should be able to move around freely within the castle. Nansen headed toward the door when he noticed Monoyoshi hadn’t moved from where he was standing.

“…You’re not going?”

“Ah….I just…would like to be alone for a second…if that’s ok” Monoyoshi said with a small polite smile. Nansen nodded and exited the room, giving the boy some space for himself.

“Now then….where should I explore first……nya”

Yamanbagiri Chougi, a famed sword known by humans for supposedly cutting down a Yamanba (Mountain witch) and known by other tsukumogami for his quick temper and arrogance, was currently sitting idly at the porch. Namazuo Toushirou, who was spying on the famed sword from around the corner, had just gotten here 2 weeks ago and he still didn’t know what to say Chougi. Namazuo had just got reforged from the Siege of Osaka’s fire and was placed with the Owari clan so he lost some of his memories. When he first met Chougi, the latter got so annoyed at him for keep talking about memory lost and then stormed off somewhere. But when Namazuo went to apologize, he saw Chougi was happily playing with a cat like he didn’t just yell at Namazuo and took his anger out on the poor door.

After that, Namazuo tried to talk to him again but each time would resulted in Chougi exiting the room and slamming the door so hard its wooden frame broke or if he had any object in his hand, he would throw it at Namazuo to shut him up but Namazuo would dodge it which then proceeded to the item going through the door, hence breaking the door once again.

After all that happened, in the past 2 weeks and about 12 doors broken, Namazuo decided to keep a little distance between them but he kept observing Chougi as well. But the more he observed, the more confused he got. Chougi would get angry at every little things but his temper would go away as soon as they came. Namazuo had only seen the other smile when he was talking about himself or playing with a cat, which was only once. Other times, he would just walk around the castle, looking for any intruders, with a solemn look on his face.

That was what usually happens but not today. Today, Chougi didn’t walk around every inch of the castle. Today, Chougi didn’t have a solemn look on his face. He didn’t even play with the cat that came and left! Today, Chougi was just sitting down on the porch watching the leaves while smiling! SMILING! In the back of Namazuo’s head, the scene was very familiar…he felt like he had seen someone like this before…Ah but that’s for another time! At the moment, figuring why Chougi, who’s always in a bad mood, was suddenly in such great a mood that he was smiling just by looking at the falling leaves was more important! Seeing this, Namazuo felt like the world could come to an end tomorrow and he wouldn’t be more surprised than this.

‘Is today important to him or something?’ Namazuo wondered. ‘Ah! Today Yoshinao-sama is coming back from the funeral so maybe Yamanbagiri-san is excited to see him?…but then again… Yamanbagiri-san doesn’t seem like the type that want to stay to his master all the time’

Namazuo had been deep in his thought for so long that he didn’t even noticed he was practically glaring holes through Chougi’s head. 

Noticing the intense glare, Chougi turned to look at Namazuo and asked—

“What are you doing?” His smile dropped, replacing with a frown and furrowed brows.

“Ah! Ya-Yamanbagiri-san……” Namazuo was obviously caught off guard at Chougi’s confrontation. He could’ve swear the temperature dropped to 0 with Chougi’s words alone “Umm….nothing?”

“Then why were you glaring at me?”

“……ahahah nothing~? Just wondering why Yamanbagiri-san is in such a great mood…” Namazuo decided to not beat around the bush anymore and gathered all his courage to ask.

“…” Chougi looked surprised. It seemed he himself didn’t even notice he was in a great mood or even smiling. Namazuo didn’t know if he should feel concerned or not.

“Ah! Anyway I just remember I…have to go…somewhere…BYE!” Namazuo said quickly before sprinting away. He knew he just made his relationship with Chougi 10 times more awkward than it already was but he really couldn’t understand him! Why is Chougi so ill-tempered about everything?! Why does his mood switch as easily as closing a door?! But most importantly, why does Namazuo even concern himself with this?!

‘I don’t even understand myself sometimes…’ Namazuo thought with a sigh ‘Maybe if I hadn’t lost my memories back in the fire, then this wouldn’t have happened…’

After the dark haired boy took off, Chougi was left sitting idly at the porch again. He knew the boy had been spying on him for some time now but he had never confronted him about it. And as long as the boy didn’t get in his way, he would continue to ignore him…But what just happened was an exception since the boy was practically glaring daggers at him.

Well enough about Namazuo. Chougi heard that his master, Tokugawa Yoshinao, was coming back today with most likely a sword bequeathed from his late father. Chougi didn’t mind having another tsukumogami around since it had just been him and Namazuo, but hopefully this new sword wouldn’t be a problematic one. Hopefully.

‘Maybe I should go greet him?’ Chougi wondered. ‘Hmm but…that new sword is probably exploring the castle now so he’ll come here eventually. Maybe I should just wait here’

As he was finishing his line of thoughts, unfamiliar footsteps were heard coming from around the corner. When Chougi turned to look, he was met with a blond (or perhaps yellow?) haired tsukumogami. His hair reminded Chougi of the falling ginkgo leaves that he was watching just before. His hair also looked so soft Chougi wanted to run his hand through it. The unknown tsukumogami was wearing a black kimono used for mourning so obviously this was the new sword. While observing the tsukumogami, Chougi’s eyes fell onto the collar on the tsukumogami’s neck and noticed the way his hair looked like it formed cat ears. After looking at the tsukumogami overall, the first word that comes to his mind was—

“A cat…?”

“Nyaa?!?” The tsukumogami let out a cat-like cry at the suddenly accusation. “I’m not a cat!”

“…Are you sure?” Chougi asked again, unconvinced.

“Hah? What part of me even looks like a cat to you nya?!” Chougi didn’t know if this new sword was joking or what but he answered—

“Everything. From your collar to your hair and even your speech”

“It’s a curse! That damn cat curse!” The tsukumogami shouted.

‘Hahhh so much for expectating a normal, quiet and behaved sword’ Chougi complained in his mind.

“Well whatever. By the way, what’s your name? It’s rude to not introduce yourself when you meet someone new, isn’t it?” 

“Why don’t you introduce yourself first?!” Nansen grumbled but seeing that Chougi made no move to answer, so he replied “………Nansen Ichimonji…nya”

“Yamanbagiri Chougi, I am a sword made by Chougi, a Bizen Osafune swordsmith. I am the original Yamanbagiri that was forged by Chougi.”

“……Original…so you have a copy nya?” Nansen asked. Then Chougi’s mood suddenly turned sour. His brows furrowed and his eyes were glaring right at him. Nansen felt like the temperature dropped by several degrees.

“Wh-What is it?!? Nya!”

“Don’t speak of that fake.” Chougi’s tone was cold. Cold enough to freeze a cat to its place.

“Ah…Y-yes! Nya!” Nansen nodded his head immediately. Chougi was obviously showing his authority since he was here first.

“Also…when will stop with that kind of speech? It’s annoying.”

“Hah?! I told you! It’s that damn cat curse!!!” Even though Nansen was frightened by Chougi just earlier, his anger suddenly turned up whenever someone mentioned or talked about his stupid curse.

“And what does that even mean?” Chougi looked at Nansen like he was the most unbelievable person in the world.

“…I just accidentally killed a cat……then it’s like the cat came to haunt me and now I got this damn curse!” Nansen said, voice rising with each syllable. Chougi stared at him for a few moments before laughters bursted out. Nansen looked at him, bewildered.

“Pfft hahahaha! So now you’re a cat just because you killed one?” Chougi teased him.

“Wha-?! I’m not a cat!!! Nya!” Nansen argued back but Chougi only laughed harder.

‘Unbelievable. What a rude guy.’ Nansen thought.

When Chougi finally calmed down, he stood up and gestured his hand for Nansen to follow him. Nansen looked puzzled.

“It’s nearly time for dinner, let’s go Cat Killer-kun” Chougi said before walking away. Nansen stood there, confused at what Chougi just called him.

“…………………………………HAAAAAAAH?!!?!!?”

Imagine his surprise when Chougi opened the door to their room and found another unknown tsukumogami. The tsukumogami was sitting with his knees up in the corner of the room. His face was down but Chougi could see tear stains on his face.

‘So another Tokugawa Ieyasu’s sword…’ Chougi thought. ‘He’s most likely a wakizashi since his stature is close is Namazuo’s.’

“You’ve just arrived here right?” Chougi asked. The boy lifted his head, his eyes were still red from crying but at least he wasn’t covered in tears now.

The boy responded by nodding his head. Chougi sighed, walked closer towards the boy and crouched down to his level.

“It’s rude to not speak when others are speaking to you, y’know”

The boy still didn’t talk to him so Chougi sat next to him and patted his head instead. The boy looked surprised.

“You really loved him, didn’t you? Your old master I mean”

“……yes” The boy finally spoke to him.

“Can you tell me your name?” Chougi asked, his voice soft.

“Monoyoshi Sadamune” Chougi was surprised to hear the boy’s name. As he recalled, Monoyoshi was supposed to be Tokugawa Ieyasu’s beloved sword and was expected to be passed down to the next shogun. So why was he here? Chougi hoped this wouldn’t cause any trouble in the future. Chougi looked at Monoyoshi again. The boy seemed to be wondering the same thing as him.

“Nice to meet you Monoyoshi-kun. I’m Yamanbagiri Chougi. A sword made by Chougi, a Bizen Osafune swordsmith. I am the original Yamanbagiri that was forged by Chougi.” Chougi introduced himself softly with a smile. Monoyoshi smiled back a little.

“Come on, get up. Dinner will be ready soon.” Chougi stood up and held out a hand for Monoyoshi to take. The wakizashi wiped his face with his sleeves one more time before grabbing onto Chougi’s hand.

Standing outside the room, listening on their short conversation, was Nansen Ichimonji. When he talked to Chougi earlier, he thought the latter was a rude and self-centered guy. He would have never expected the guy to be kind to Monoyoshi. 

‘Heh what an interesting guy’ Nansen thought while holding onto the 2 sets of futon recently placed in front of their room.

Winter

After living in the Nagoya Castle with Chougi, and the others, for a about four months Nansen had learned a few things about the Chougi.

1.  Chougi hates it when anyone mention anything about his copy. 

2.  Chougi likes to play with cats

3.  Chougi is surprisingly good with children (except for those that would whine and complain all the time).

4.  And lastly, Chougi’s cape is reeaaallllyyyyyy warm~ (nyaaaa)

And how did he find out about the last one without getting killed? Well….

A week ago

“Winter’s finally here!” Namazuo shouted one morning. The boy, along with Monoyoshi, quickly got changed and ran outside. Monoyoshi seemed a lot better than when he had just gotten here. He smiled even more now. Monoyoshi and Namazuo quickly became friends and they help each other coped with their own problems. Maybe it’s because of Namazuo that Monoyoshi could smile again, and it’s probably the same for Namazuo too since the boy’s smile seemed more lively now.

Nansen lazily got up because of all the shouting. He saw Chougi had also already gotten up and was neatly tucking his futon away. His mouth was in a slight frown and his eyes looked tired, Chougi was probably woken up against his will as well. Since the four of them shared the same room, it was quite hard to get a nice full sleep. One time, Namazuo (accidentally) moved from his own futon and squeezed himself into Nansen’s which caused the latter to roll into Chougi’s futon and resulted in both Namazuo and Nansen getting scolded pretty badly by Chougi and, unsurprisingly, another broken door. 

Nansen shivered at the memory, that was his first time seeing Chougi destroyed a door with an object. His throwing force was terrifyingly strong.

As Nansen was tucking his futon away, his eyes glanced to Chougi, who was turning his back to him, getting changed.  Chougi was stripping out of his sleeping yukata and his shoulders were exposed the moment Nansen looked at him. Nansen quickly turned back, trying to focus on putting the futon away and ignoring his burning cheek. But his mind betrayed him by replaying the memory again. The memory of Chougi slowly taking off his yukata and letting it sat on his back for awhile, showing off his pale shoulders and parts of his back. The Chougi in that moment looked so vulnerable Nansen could—

“Cat Killer-kun, are you finished yet?” Chougi’s voice snapped Nansen out of his impure thought.

“Nyes!” Nansen yelped. Nansen turned to look at Chougi, who was now dressed in his winter kimono with his cloak wrapping around his shoulders.

“Nansen-san! Yamanbagiri-san! It’s snowing!” Namazuo ran back into the room. He was smiling but shivering at the same time.

“It’s really pretty! Please go have a look!” Monoyoshi also poked his head into the room, hands gripping the doorframe and slightly trembling from the coldness.

“Hmm sure. But you two go wear something warm first.” Chougi said. The two wakizashi smiled apologetically before grabbing their hanten (short winter coat) and rushing off outside again. Chougi sighed, muttering something to himself then turned to Nansen, pointing his finger at him.

“You too! Cats usually have their fur to protect them from the cold right? But you obviously don’t so...go wear something more warm!” Chougi said the last part in a hurry then proceeded to looking for something.

Nansen watched as Chougi pulled out two hanten from the dresser, one was his and the other was Chougi’s, and handed them to him.

“Here. Since you’re pretty sensitive to the cold, just one wouldn’t be enough.” Chougi said. Nansen just stared at the two hanten in Chougi’s outstretched hand, comprehending Chougi’s sudden kindness toward him. Seeing as Nansen made no move to take them, Chougi sighed again before wrapping both hanten around Nansen.

“Honestly, can’t you do something yourself for once Cat Killer-kun?”

As Chougi was wrapping the hanten on him and Nansen got the chance to look at Chougi close-up. The latter looked tired, like a babysitter taking care of 2 too energetic kids and 1 problematic cat. But even though he had bags under his eyes and a slight frown, Chougi still looked as beautiful as ever.

“There. Finished” Chougi said, patting Nansen’s hanten once and taking Nansen out of his thoughts.

“A-Ah thanks…nya”

“Your welcome I guess. Let’s go, the kids are waiting” Chougi was now standing by the door. His hand on the wooden door frame with a small blush on his cheeks and a smile pasted on his lips. The scene would’ve looked beautiful, like a wife waiting for her husband, if not for the slight crack on the wooden frame that was placed there by Chougi not long ago, reminding him of Chougi’s dangerousness behind that soft smile and luring words.

Nansen snapped out of his thoughts and quickly followed Chougi, who immediately left after saying all that. Outside was way colder than Nansen anticipated. The two hanten only helped a little to keep him warm. But the two wakizashi, who each only wore one hanten, were playing in the snow, uncaring of the coldness.

‘They even built a snowman…’ Nansen thought, bewildered. He wondered how they managed to keep themselves warm under these falling snow. He glanced to Chougi who was gripping on his cloak and pulling it closer to his body. Chougi was looking at the two boys playing while looking at the falling snow too. Nansen noticed how Chougi looked so perfect with the snowy landscape. His silver hair blended in perfectly with the snow. His soft blue eyes were like the snowing sky. Chougi reminded him of a calm winter morning. His appearance matched with the setting so much even his personality also matched. Cold, yet still had a small sense of warmth. Chougi’s cold, just the winter’s snow, but he’s also delicate, like how each snowflake is. Nansen had seen how delicate Chougi was under all those anger and arrogance, how he would flinched when some servants mentioned the name ‘Kunihiro’ and ‘Copy’, how he would murmured something in his sleep only to wake up few moments later and then cursed something about a nightmare or his copy when he thought everyone was asleep. Chougi had many sides, it seemed. Sides when he’s around others and sides when he’s by himself (or so he thought he was). But despite all that, Nansen had come to like all those sides of Chougi’s, the angry side, the caring side, the sad side. All of them were what made Chougi who he was and who Nansen fell in lov—

“NANSEN-SAAANNNNNNNNN” A loud shout broke his train of thoughts. Nansen looked toward the owner of the voice and saw Namazuo and Monoyoshi smiling and waving at him to come over to them.

“Look! Look! We built a snowcat!” Namazuo yelled. In between the two of them was a snowman but instead of its usual head, there was a cat-like head instead.

“Woah! Nyeat!” Nansen complemented them, moving closer toward the ‘snowcat’. Nansen looked around and saw multiple snowmen around. He didn’t even notice them building this many in such little time.

“O-Oi don’t you think there are a lot already? If someone come and suddenly see snowman popping up everywhere, they’ll be shock to death.” Nansen said nervously.

“Don’t worry about that. No one usually comes around here anyway. And even if they do stumble upon the sight of a hundred snowmen suddenly appearing, they’ll know it’s us.” Chougi said, moving to stand closely beside him.

“That’s…reassuring I guess” Nansen murmured. Nansen looked around once again. He hadn’t realized it until now but their area really was quiet and peaceful. The room they were staying in was the same room as where Lord Tokugawa Yoshinao kept his swords so it was in one of the inner rooms of the castle. But also not so far from the yard beside the castle.

Nansen turned back again to find both Namazuo and Monoyoshi missing. He panicked for a second then suddenly a snowball hit his face on the side.

“Ah! I’m sorry Nansen-san!” Monoyoshi cried, the boy was holding another snowball in hand. Then suddenly—

“Take this!” Namazuo yelled from beside Monoyoshi, throwing a snowball in Nansen’s direction but the latter was able to dodge in time so the snowball landed on Chougi instead.

“A-Ah…..Ya-Yamanbagiri-san…I-I’m so sorry!!! I didn’t mean to hit you!!!” Namazuo cried loudly. Chougi brushed off the snow on his face, looking annoyed but not angry.

“Hahhh I’m going back inside. Play out here all you want but if you get sick, I’m not taking care of you.” Chougi said before walking back toward the castle. The rest of them waited until Chougi was out of sight then—

“Phewww I really thought Yamanbagiri-san was going to kill me for that~” Namazuo spoke up, relieved.

“Oi…you said you weren’t intending to hit Yamanbagiri. So you were intending to hit me! Nya!” Nansen raised his voice.

“A-ah uhh that was….ummm…nothing! Bye!” And with that, the black haired boy took off.

“Get back here nyaaaa!” Nansen shouted, running after him and grabbing some snow along the way, making snowballs and throwing them as he chased the boy.

“Ahhhh come back here you two!” A stressed Monoyoshi chased after them.

Around 30 minutes had passed since Chougi came back into their room. He had been reading a book but the sounds of screams, shouts and laughters from outside were too loud and interrupted his reading.

‘When will they come back in?’ Chougi wondered, somewhat worried. And then, sarcastically, the door slid opened revealing a snow covered Nansen Ichimonji.

“Na-Nansen?” Chougi uttered, surprised.

“What? Nya.” Nansen puffed his cheeks like a child and glanced at Chougi who was sitting at a kotatsu (a low, wooden table frame covered by a futon usually used during winter). Nansen plopped down behind Chougi, grabbing and pulling at his cloak.

“Oi! What are you doing?! Cat killer-kun!” Chougi scowled, reaching back for his cloak but Nansen wrapped it around himself and curled into it, his hand holding onto the cloak tightly not intending to let anyone else take it.

“Cat killer-kun, give me back my cloak.” Chougi demanded.

“Nyao!” Nansen replied, snuggling into the cloak even more.

Chougi stared, pouting, at the cat-like tsukumogami intently. Giving up when he noticed the tsukumogami felled asleep, still clutching his cloak. Chougi sighed, returning his focus onto the book on the kotatsu. Something about the atmosphere made him feel sleepy. It was so calm. The noise from outside lessened, the warmth from both the kotatsu and Nansen, who’s sleeping behind him, made him feel comfortable. And most importantly, being with Nansen made Chougi felt safe. Nansen made him feel a lot of things, things he could understand (like acceptance, happiness, loneliness) and things that he couldn’t (like why did he feel like something is fluttering in his stomach whenever he see Nansen? Why did his heart beat a little faster and face feelings a bit hotter). But overall, just being around Nansen was enough to make Chougi feel complete.

‘But…’

Chougi closed his book, feeling sleepy. He glanced once more time at Nansen sleeping peacefully behind him. He then leaned back, his head on top of Nansen’s body, hoping the other won’t mind.

‘But being around Nansen also make me feel scared………scared of losing him’

Slowly, Chougi drifted off into a deep slumber.

Two weeks later

Chougi’s nightmare came true. Nansen was moving away. He was going back to Tokugawa Hidetada

The news was sudden but apparently Lord Yoshinao realized that the wakizashi he received from his mother was Monoyoshi Sadamune, the prized sword of Tokugawa clan. But instead of sending Monoyoshi back, he sent Nansen instead. And the worse than that was that, Nansen didn’t even say goodbye. He didn’t even say where he’s going. He just left, without a word. He just walked after Lord Yoshinao and the servants as they carried his sword back to Edo castle. Chougi had to find out about this through the maids’ gossiping.

It had been 2 days since Nansen was sent back and Chougi still didn’t understand why Lord Yoshinao chose to send Nansen back instead of Monoyoshi. Did he want to acquire the prized sword for himself? Or was he that blind and had mistaken Nansen for Monoyoshi?

Well whatever the reason, the lack of Nansen around was starting to aggravate Chougi. He admitted that he missed Nansen. He missed having someone to talk to, missed how the other annoyed him, missed how Nansen would hiss at him when Chougi annoyed him back. And he missed how he couldn’t sleep beside Nansen anymore whether it’s at night or just an afternoon nap on a chilly day.

“Yamanbagiri-san, how are you today?” Namazuo asked, walking toward Chougi, who was watching the snow on the porch. Monoyoshi was seen trailing after the other boy with a nervous smile on his face.

“Just as usual” Chougi replied coldly. But that was a lie. Chougi knew that his mood was worse than usual. It had been like that since Nansen left. The two boys didn’t say anything more so Chougi decided to ignore them and continued staring into the empty field of snow.

“Umm Yamanbagiri-san, are you lonely without Nansen-san around?” Namazuo suddenly asked. Chougi knew the boy meant well and was only worried about him but Chougi just couldn’t help but felt a little irritated at that question.

“No I’m not!” Chougi retorted, suddenly raising his voice a bit. Namazuo and Monoyoshi looked at each other, worried expressions on their faces.

“Yamanbagiri-san, it’s okay to be honest with yourself. We know how much you like to spend time with Nansen-san so—” 

“So what?! He’s just an acquaintance! Swords meet and part all the time! That’s just how it is! It’s not like we can choose who we want to stay with!!” Monoyoshi got interrupted by Chougi’s sudden out burst. Chougi hadn’t cared who his words would hurt when he said them but when he looked up and was met with Monoyoshi’s hurt expression, guilt suddenly overcame him.

“Ah— Monoyoshi-kun I’m—“

“Are you sure, Yamanbagiri-san?” Namazuo asked, his face was hidden behind his hair and his voice slightly trembling. “Is Nansen-san really just an acquaintance? Does he really mean so little to you?! Were all the times you two spent together just some meaningless pleasantries?!? Were all those happy times you two spent together just a LIE?!?” The dark haired boy’s voice raised with each sentence, silent tears sliding down his cheeks. “………I was so happy for both of you……You and Nansen-san like each other goddamnit! It’s so obvious! So why?!? WHY AREN’T YOU EVER HONEST WITH YOURSELF YAMANBAGIRI-SAN?!?!?”

The last one hit hard. Much harder than Chougi expected. He had been asking himself the same question too. Why? Why couldn’t he be honest? Why did he keep denying himself? Why did he continue to lie to himself? Why did his heart ache whenever Nansen’s not by his side? Why did he have this love unknown feeling for Nansen?

Why did he just deny himself again?

Nansen had just arrived at Edo castle where Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada was staying. Lord Yoshinao just came to drop him off, spoke a few word with the shogun then left immediately. He didn’t even give a reason why he gave the sword Nansen Ichimonji to the shogun. 

Edo castle was much bigger than Nagoya castle and each sword was even given their own room here. There were quite a lot of swords here, Nansen noticed. Even the Tenka Goken swords were here. The environment here was very different from back at Nagoya castle. Back there, it was noisy most of the time (Namazuo’s fault) but here, despite having many tsukumogami, it was relatively quiet. Edo castle had a calm atmosphere which Nansen wasn’t expecting, with all the changes of shoguns and all, but it was nice.

‘But it would’ve been nicer if Yamanbagiri was here too…’

Anyway, Nansen was currently standing in his room. He had stayed here before, back when he was still with Tokugawa Ieyasu. But this place didn’t feel like home to him. Nagoya castle felt more like home to him, despite only staying there for a little more than two months. But then again, everywhere would’ve felt like home if Chougi was also there.

‘… Why am I still thinking of that guy?!’ Nansen felt frustrated. Even though they had known each other for merely four months. Even though the silver haired tsukumogami frustrated him so much. Even though they has already parted. Why? Why did Nansen miss Chougi this much? Why did he miss Chougi’s smile? Why did he miss seeing Chougi napping on top of him? Why did he miss Chougi’s awful nickname for him? He was supposed to hate the last one, but somehow he found it endearing. Without Chougi being by his side, Nansen felt like something in him was missing. Like this wasn’t right. This wasn’t where he belonged. Where he truly belong was—

‘……Where?’ Nansen couldn’t even answer his own question but for some reason, Chougi came to mind first when he asked that.

“…How long are you gonna haunt me for? Goddamnit!” Nansen cursed under his breath, angry tears brimming his eyes.

‘If only we had never met, then I wouldn’t have felt this way’

“Yamanbagiri-san? I’m coming in.” Monoyoshi opened the door to their shared room. The room was dark, the only light in there was from the from outside through opened door. Chougi was sitting in the corner of the room, hugging his knees. The position reminded Monoyoshi of the first day he had arrived here. Monoyoshi went to sit next to Chougi in the same position but not with his head down.

“Yamanbagiri-san, do you remember how we used to sit like this when you comforted me back then?” Monoyoshi asked quietly. Chougi nodded.

“Heheh the Yamanbagiri-san right now reminds me of myself back then.” Monoyoshi said.

“Kinda ironic wouldn’t you say?” Chougi replied. To which Monoyoshi only smiled.

“…Aren’t you sad Yoshinao-sama didn’t send you back instead?” Chougi asked.

 “Hmm I do feel disappointed but I don’t feel as sad as back then. I think I don’t feel as sad as I thought I would be because I had moved on. Back then, I felt so sad that I didn’t know what to do. And there was something inside me that had bothered me. What had bothered me was not the sadness of loss but it was this feeling of emptiness. It felt like there’s nothing left in my heart at all. Like there’s a void there, eating every emotion away. At some point, I even thought that void was going to eat my entire being. But…after meeting you and Namazuo-san and Nansen-san, the void got smaller and smaller…It’s not like the void is completely gone, it’s still there but just…not eating everything I guess” Monoyoshi paused with a small laugh. Seeing Chougi made no response, Monoyoshi asked—

“…Do you also feel that same void right now, Yamanbagiri-san?”

“…I think so. Maybe. I’m not sure…It feels weird. I don’t know how to explain it.” Chougi answers. “It’s kinda like…I can’t think of anything…Like my mind has stopped working. I’m not sure about the emotion-eating part since I’m not sure how each feeling suppose to feel like… But when I do feel something, I can’t give exact name to it…and it confuses me.”

Monoyoshi quietly listened to Chougi. He was happy to see Chougi slowly opening up to him.

“It’s…kinda like the void you spoke of I guess” Chougi said.

“…”

“…I don’t like it. This feeling…How do you think I close it?” Chougi asked, lifting his head to face Monoyoshi.

“…I think Namazuo-san and I can only help a little with that, coming to term with your feelings I mean. But I think, maybe, Nansen-san can help close the void.” Monoyoshi knew it’s a somewhat cruel answer but it’s also the truth. His problem back then came from losing someone dear to him which he healed by making new friends. But for Chougi, his problem came from missing someone and not knowing the feeling he held for that person. The only one who could help fully close the void in Chougi’s heart was Nansen. Monoyoshi and Namazuo could only help him realize his feelings for Nansen but that’s only a small part to the whole problem.

“…” Chougi didn’t say anything in response to that.

“If Yamanbagiri-san needs someone to talk to, I will gladly listen to you anytime.” Monoyoshi offered.

“…Thank you, Monoyoshi-kun” Chougi smiled a sad smile.

‘Please come back quickly, Nansen-san. Please come back and heal this lonely heart of Yamanbagiri Chougi.’ Monoyoshi prayed.

Spring

After the Namazuo’s confrontation with Chougi last winter, the mood around Nagoya castle had become solemn. Namazuo had apologized for yelling after that but he and Chougi still barely talked to each other since then. Monoyoshi was trying his best to keep the atmosphere going but it sure was difficult with the other two refusing to talk to each other. Whenever Monoyoshi wasn’t with Namazuo, he would go talk to Chougi and listen to him. The latter was obviously lonely without Nansen around. 

Back when Nansen was around, those two would always be with each other. Wherever he saw Chougi, Nansen would always be right beside him. Monoyoshi noticed they liked to spend the morning walking around the castle, probably patrolling, chatting and bickering about various things along the way. Then in the afternoon they would either play shogi together or Chougi would read a book while Nansen napped behind him (And Chougi would eventually fell asleep on top of Nansen). But nowadays, Chougi only spent his time in their room. He only went out when necessary. And Namazuo, although he didn’t frequently stay in the room, he would just wander around the inside of the castle (usually to the kitchen).

It saddened Monoyoshi to see both his comrades down at a time like this. Outside, snow had melted away and the plain white fields were now filled with colors. Green, white and pink decorated the area. It was truly a bewitching sight. Monoyoshi wished to see this scenery together with Namazuo and Chougi (and Nansen) but that felt like an impossible dream now that the situation was like this.

‘No! I can’t just sit around and let this go on!’ Monoyoshi decided, courage suddenly flowed into him. ‘Both Namazuo-san and Yamanbagiri-san cheered me up when I was down, so now it’s my time to repay them back!’

.

.

.

Which was much easier said then done as Monoyoshi soon found out. Both Namazuo and Chougi were really stubborn people. One was too childish to admit his mistake (for speaking too much) while the other was too preoccupied with his thoughts (or feelings?) to notice the other.

“Why do I have to apologize to him first? He’s the who’s being stubborn! I was just pointing something obvious to him!”

“…Sorry Monoyoshi-kun. I really don’t to talk to him right now.”

—were what they said to him. Monoyoshi gave an exhausted sigh as he sat on the porch, admiring the cherry blossoms while trying to find a way for his comrades to bond together again. 

“Hey don’t you think Yoshinao-sama has been looking pretty well recently?” A voice came from down the hallway. Two maids appeared from around the corner, holding washed futons in their arms.

“Of course he does! He’s been stressed about the more broken doors recently but now that there are no more broken doors, there’s no need to pay for their repairs!” The other maid answered, smiling.

“Hahhhhh the tsukumogami sure like making trouble huh” The first maid sighed.

“Right?! What’s their problem with doors?! The doors are fine as they are! It’s a pain to fix them everyday you know!”

“Shhhh! Lower your voice! This is their living quarters! What if one of them hears you?! They might destroy another door out of spite you know!”

‘Ohhhh riiiiiight! Yamanbagiri-san hasn’t broken any doors since Nansen-san left. So that’s why Yoshinao-sama looks happier!’ Monoyoshi giggled at the maids’ conversation. ‘Usually Yamanbagiri-san will destroy at least 6 doors per week after a fight with Namazuo-san’

Then Monoyoshi realized something. Even though Namazuo and Chougi fought and argued all the time, they were never really angry with each other for this long.

‘So……maybe if Yamanbagiri-san destroys another door…while Namazuo-san runs away……,that will lessen their foul mood! (somehow)’

At that time, Monoyoshi thought this was the best idea. He was not expecting the consequences that would soon follow after.

It had been two months since Nansen was moved to Edo castle. And it had been two months since Nansen last saw Chougi. The life here wasn’t bad. In fact, it was better than life in Nagoya castle. The food was better. There were more tsukumogami here but less noise. He even had his own room! But it was also more lonely here. Nansen had met the other swords of course, and they warmly welcomed him. But it just didn’t feel right without Chougi here. He was so used to seeing Chougi’s face when he woke up, that he panicked the first day he woke up to not finding Chougi anywhere. He was also used to seeing doors break everyday and seeing the servants come repair them again and again, that just the fact that not a single door had been broken here before made him want to break a door himself. Nansen liked peace and calmness, of course, because it was the perfect environment to sleep in. But this was too peaceful. It was too calm and it’s unnerving him! He wished he could go to see them again, Chougi, Monoyoshi and Namazuo. He would’ve traveled all the way back to Nagoya just to see them again if it weren’t for these restrictions on tsukumogami.

Nansen helplessly sighed. He was lying in his room with nothing to do. He could go out and socialize with other swords but they didn’t frustrate him like Chougi did, although he hated it when Chougi did frustrate him.

‘Ughhh I really should stop thinking of that guy already!’ Nansen groaned, now rolling around on the floor. He really should go talk with other tsukumagami. Maybe he could go talk to that Tenka Goken who acted like a grandpa. Maybe he would annoy Nansen with lame grandpa jokes.

‘Ah…but I’m too lazy to go find him’ Nansen complained in his mind. So he decided to just continue to lay on the ground until it was time for dinner.

As Nansen was about to fall asleep, while enjoying the silence in the room, the doors to his room suddenly opened revealing Tokugawa Hidetada. The shogun strolled toward where his sword was placed. He took the sword and examined it for a while, then he shouted—

“Send this sword back to Yoshinao!” The servants hurriedly came in and took the sword away. Nansen immediately sat up, panicked.

‘Wait? What did he just say?!’ Nansen wanted to know what the shogun was thinking but he could only follow his sword which was being taken away by the servants and now neatly wrapped in cloth.

“Tch. That Yoshinao. How dare he tricked me into thinking that was the Monoyoshi sword?!” Was the last thing Nansen heard as he left the room, following the servants in a hurry.

“NAMAZUO!!!!!!”

“I’M SORRYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!”

“YAMANBAGIRI-SAN! PLEASE CALM DOWNNN!!!”

Why did Monoyoshi thought this was a good idea… Currently, things were thrown in every directions, the room was a mess and the doors had so many holes in them they couldn’t even be called a door anymore. And both Namazuo and Monoyoshi (yes Monoyoshi too) were about to be killed by Chougi.

‘How did it turn out like thisssssss!!!!’ Monoyoshi cried.

10 minutes earlier

Monoyoshi walked into the kitchen where Namazuo was munching on a bunch of dango.

“Namazuo-san! If you eat that much dango, there’ll be none left for me and Yamanbagiri-san!” Monoyoshi pouted.

“Here. You can have one. But damn Yamanbagiri-san if he doesn’t get any!” Namazuo pouted in return, handing a stick of dango to Monoyoshi.

“Thank you.” Monoyoshi replied, taking the stick and sitting down next to Namazuo. “But you should give some to Yamanbagiri-san too!”

Namazuo shook his head in response, shoving more dango into his mouth. To which Monoyoshi frowned.

“……Namazuo-san…about what you said to Yamanbagiri-san last winter, how did you know Yamanbagiri-san likes Nansen-san?” Monoyoshi innocently asked with definitely no underlying intentions. Namazuo choked on the dango a bit before replying—

“Well……they just spend a lot of time together y’know? And like……they just have that kind of atmosphere around them… Oh and they also stare into each other’s eyes a lot! They also like to sleep next to each other too, like those afternoons! And in some mornings, Nansen-san usually snuggled so close to Yamanbagiri-san they were practically hugging! And also, Yamanbagiri-san definitely acted waaaayyyyyyy softer around Nansen-san despite their bickering!”

“Hmmm interesting…” Monoyoshi murmured with little interest as if he already knew the answers.

“……u-um…Monoyoshi-kun?”

“Ah! Why don’t we go say that to Yamanbagiri-san so that he can realize his feelings! That way, when they meet again, they can confess to each other!” Monoyoshi suggested with much enthusiasm.

“Eh??!? Is that really a good idea? What if they never meet again? That would just make Yamanbagiri-san sad, wouldn’t it?!” Namazuo protested.

“Of course it’s a good idea! They’ll eventually meet each other anyway although that might be a long time but I believe they’ll definitely cross paths again! And also with this, we can help Yamanbagiri-san realized his love for Nansen-san AND you and Yamanbagiri-san will finally forgive each other since you also want Yamanbagiri-san to realize his feelings too right?” Monoyoshi explained with a big smile and Namazuo nodded along, surprised by the other’s sudden enthusiasm.

“F-Fine! Let’s go tell Yamanbagiri-san his true feelings then!” Said Namazuo as he swallowed the last dango.

“Yay!” 

‘And when you two make up with each other, we all can finally go watch the cherry blossoms together.’ Monoyoshi thought fondly.

But then things started going downhill from there.

When Monoyoshi and Namazuo entered their shared room, Chougi was sitting in his usual place reading a book. Monoyoshi placed a plate of dango, which he brought with him just in case, on the kotatsu in front of Chougi.

“Here Yamanbagiri-san!” Monoyoshi said, pushing the plate towards Chougi.

“Thank you, Monoyoshi-kun” Chougi looked up from his boom and replied. He noticed Namazuo standing behind Monoyoshi and turned to his book once again.

“Um Yamanbagiri-san… we have something we want to talk to you” Monoyoshi said, glancing at Namazuo for confirmation. Chougi looked up again and waited for them to continue.

“……It’s about…your relationship with Nansen-san” When Monoyoshi said that, Chougi flinched a bit. Chougi sighed, placing his book down.

“Are we not done with this useless talk already?” Chougi asked coldly, his eyes glaring at both of them.

“But Yamanbagiri-san! You two really like each other!”

“And how do you even know that? You can’t read our thoughts, or can you?” Chougi replied sarcastically.

“No, we can’t read your thoughts but your actions gave it away so blatantly!” Namazuo argued back. Chougi flinched again and narrowed his eyes.

“Like what?” Chougi inquired, his voice deep and cold, as if telling them not to answer but also daring the two boys to.

Namazuo “The way two spent so much time together!”

Chougi “It’s just easier to talk to a fellow uchigana”

Monoyoshi “You sounded softer around Nansen-san!”

Chougi “Hah? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Namazuo “You two liked to sleep together!”

Chougi “……W-wait that just sounds wrong!”

Namazuo “You two even snuggle with each other! I’ve seen it in the mornings!”

Chougi “…… ”

Namazuo “The way you looked at each other too! It’s like you’re imagining kissing Nansen-san in your head!”

Monoyoshi “E-Eh?! Na-Namazuo-san?? I think that’s eno—“

Namazuo “I’ve even seen you two sneaking glances at each other when changing too!”

Chougi “……”

Namazuo “And just because it was getting colder, you took the advantage of that and stood so close to each other saying that it was warmer that way!”

Monoyoshi, desperately whispering “Namazuo-san…I think that’s plenty of reasons already! Please don’t say anything els—“

Namazuo “AND I’ve seen him taken your hand and kiss it too!”

Chougi “……”

‘WHEN DID THAT EVEN HAPPENED?!?!’ Monoyoshi exclaimed in his mind. His mind was now in panic mode. Namazuo had just said so many things that could really anger Chougi. Although he did plan for Chougi to get angry, but this was more than he anticipated. Chougi could as well kill them for this. They really should had prepared more for this.

Monoyoshi glanced at Chougi, who had been sitting too quietly, and he immediately regretted it. Chougi’s face was scary, the scariest he had ever seen. He looked like he could kill even an army of thousands.

“U-U-U-Ummm Ya-Ya-Yamanbagiri-san……?” Monoyoshi called out in a quiet voice, stepping back. He was completely terrified by the uchigatana’s expression. Namazuo, seemingly to finally notice Chougi’s reaction, also stepped back a little.

The furious uchigatana slowly stood up and grabbed the plate on the kotatsu.

“NAMAZUO!!!!!!”

“I’M SORRYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!”

“YAMANBAGIRI-SAN! PLEASE CALM DOWNNN!!!”

Which led to the present situation.

And after what felt like eternity, Chougi has finally calmed down. Monoyoshi had, miraculously, managed to avoid all thrown objects but Namazuo was hit by a book once. The servants who came to see all the ruckus fainted. Lord Yoshinao looked like he had a headache and wanted to cried. In the end, they were moved to another room before their previous one was fixed.

It was truly a disastrous day. But at least Namazuo and Chougi weren’t avoiding each other anymore. Monoyoshi was somewhat glad Nansen doesn’t have to see this mess.

Although the shogun said to return the sword to Lord Yoshinao right away, the servants still hasn’t depart to Nagoya yet. They were informed by a letter from Lord Yoshinao, which came that day, to not come to Nagoya castle until everything is in order which he’ll send another letter for. Apparently there was a huge ruckus in Nagoya castle that day and a whole area in the castle was a mess. And the servants were too afraid to go against Lord Yoshinao’s words so they waited until another letter arrived. A week later, a letter from Lord Yoshinao informing of Nagoya castle peaceful state had finally arrived. The servants quickly rushed off to Nagoya to deliver the sword. When they arrived and presented the sword back to Lord Yoshinao, the latter looked like he was about to faint on the spot. Nansen concluded that the huge ruckus last week was probably something involving the tsukumogami here.

‘What did those threes do this time…’ Nansen groaned.

After the servants left, Lord Yoshinao spent some time contemplating about something as he stared at the sword. When it looked like he had come to a conclusion, he quickly stood up, taking the sword and walked to the room where he kept his swords.

“Hello tsukumogami!” Lord Yoshinao said loudly once inside the room. Nansen, who was standing behind him, looked into the room and saw no one.

‘Poor guy’ Nansen snickered.

“We’ll have a new room arrangement starting from today!” He announced to no one. Nansen watched as Lord Yoshinao placed his sword next to Chougi’s and took the two wakizashi out from their holders. 

“The two uchigatana will stay in this room, while the other two wakizashi will stay in the other” Lord Yoshinao said. Nansen’s eyes widened. Lord Yoshinao then walked into another room which was at the end of the hallway, far from their old room, and placed the two wakizashi swords there.

“You two wakizashi will be staying in this room” Lord Yoshinao said. “I know you four might not like this arrangement but it’s necessary after what happened a week ago and—“

Lord Yoshinao continued his rambling to no one and Nansen didn’t wait to listen until the end. He left the lord to continue talking to himself and went to find where the other three swords were.

After walking around for a while, Nansen found himself on the porch next to a field of flowers, which had been previously filled with snowmen before he left. And in the field stood three figures, two of them were running around while the other was walking after them. They were Namazuo, Monoyoshi and Chougi. Nansen’s face brightened up and called out to them.

“Oiiiii!” He waved his hands around, smiling. The three figures in the field turned to look at the source of the voice. They all had a surprised look on their faces. Namazuo and Monoyoshi quickly ran towards him.

“NANSEN-SAN!!” They shouted as they reached him and hugged him tightly.

“Welcome back!” Namazuo and Monoyoshi said in unison, both smiling happily.

“I’m back.  I’m back.” Nansen replied, patting their heads. He looked up and saw Chougi slowly walking towards him, an unreadable expression on his face. Namazuo and Monoyoshi let go of Nansen and stepped aside.

Nansen quickly walked up to Chougi and hugged him.

“I’m home” He said quietly.

“……Welcome home” Chougi replied quietly, hugging him back. Chougi held onto his back so tight like Nansen would disappear when he let go. Nansen could feel something wet dripping onto his back and realized that Chougi was crying. He could also feel some tears coming to his eyes as well.

“I’m not leaving you ever again, Yamanbagiri Chougi.”

“Don’t you dare go leaving like that again, Cat Killer-kun”

Slowly, Chougi could feel the void in his heart closing. He finally understood this feeling he held for Nansen.

Nansen could feel his heart being complete once again. This was where he truly belonged.

Summer

It had been four months since Nansen came back. Everyday from then was spent happily. Chougi would tease Nansen more frequently. And Nansen would stick around Chougi even more than ever. And more importantly, they both smiled so happily. Namazuo was glad to see both of them being happy together again. Even Monoyoshi seemed happier. He seemed to be the most keen to see them together. Life was so perfect right now.

‘Please don’t let these moments end too. Or at least, if they end, please let me remember all of this.’ Namazuo silently prayed.

“Yamanbagiri-san! Nansen-san! Let’s get going already!” Monoyoshi shouted, hurrying the two uchigatana. His shout snapped Namazuo out of his thoughts. “Namazuo-san too! If we don’t hurry, it’ll be hotter when we go there!”

‘Oh right! Monoyoshi said he found some place he wanted everyone to go so today we’re going there together’ Namazuo remembered. He quickly got ready and grabbed a uchiwa (a type of fan) and went to the uchigatana’s room where Monoyoshi was. The weather had been getting hotter and hotter each day that Namazuo didn’t want to go anywhere without a uchiwa to help cool him down. 

“Where are we going anyway nya?” Nansen asked, fanning himself with two uchiwa.

“It’s a secret!” Monoyoshi answered. To which Nansen sighed in defeat. “Don’t worry Nansen-san! It’s not too far from here, and I’m sure it will totally be worth it!”

“Ah fine fine.” Nansen said, getting up. “Let’s get going then.”

“Yay!”

‘It’s not too far’ was what Monoyoshi said…but they had been walking for 45 minutes already and there was still no sign to reach this destination yet.

“Monoyoshi-kun, are we nearly there yet?” Chougi asked, his skin turning a bit red from the heat.

“Ah just a little bit farther!” Monoyoshi replied. He didn’t look tired at all. Namazuo wondered how he kept himself cooled under all these heat.

Namazuo had been fanning themselves since they had left but he was still sweating like crazy when Monoyoshi, who didn’t even carry a fan with him, didn’t sweat at all! Namazuo turned to look at Nansen, who had been switching from fanning himself and Chougi since the latter ‘forgot’ to bring his own uchiwa.

‘What a cute couple…too bad they’re not official yet though’ Namazuo thought. Even after those two’s heartfelt reunion, they still hadn’t confessed to each other yet. Though they had been flirting with each other more.

“Monoyoshi, are we still not there yet?!” Nansen complained, again.

“Just a little bit more!” Monoyoshi replied apologetically.

“You also said that like 20 minutes ago nyaa!” Nansen looked like he was about to collapse anytime now. The heat really took its toll on him. Chougi took the uchiwa from Nansen and was now fanning it for him.

“Ah! There it is!” Monoyoshi exclaimed, pointing ahead. They quickly walked toward where Monoyoshi was pointing and was met with the sight of a shallow pond with flowers decorating its side. It was truly beautiful.

“Wnyaaah water!!!” Nansen shouted and jumped straight into the river. “Ahhh it’s so cold~” Nansen said with a relax expression on his face.

Hearing that, Namazuo also drop his uchiwa and jumped into the river too.

“Hahhhh so good~~” He gave a relaxed sigh.

Chougi walked to the edge of the river, crouching down and feel the water with his hand.

“Um it’s cold indeed.” Was all he said.

“Right?! I found this place when I was wandering around the castle ground! I never would’ve thought that there’s a pond here!” Monoyoshi said, crouching down next to Chougi.

“Wait. We’re still on the castle ground?!” Nansen asked, surprised. They had started walking from the forest behind the yard near their rooms. Namazuo really thought the thick forest acted as a wall in itself. He had never realized how idiotic that sounded until that day. He never expected to find another wall beyond the thick forest. 

“We must’ve come far from the main castle then. Even I’ve never been here before.” Chougi said, looking around the surroundings. If he looked closely, he could see the castle wall just a few meters away from the pond.

“I’ve never knew we could stray this far from our swords though…Is it really okay to be this far away? What if Yoshinao-sama needs us when we’re away?” Namazuo asked, somewhat worried.

“When will he even need us? This is the beginning of the era of peace y’knyaa” Nansen answered, splashing the water towards Namazuo.

“That’s true I guess” Namazuo replied, splashing back.

Then the two of them continued to splash at each other. Chougi sighed, standing up to avoid getting wet.

“I’m going to wait in the shades—-“ Before Chougi could finish his sentence, Nansen grabbed his hands and pulled him down into the cold water.

“Wahh! Cat Killer-kun!!” Chougi yelled.

“You looked like you were gonna pass out earlier, at least cool down before we head back nya” Nansen said, splashing him with water.

“Stop already! I thought cats were supposed to be scared of water and yet here you are, happily playing in a pond.” Chougi responded and splashed a big wave to him.

“Nyaaa! Don’t splash into my face!” Chougi smirked, splashing more water onto Nansen.

As the two were having a splashing competition, Namazuo also splash some water onto Monoyoshi.

“Ah! Namazuo-san, that’s cold!” Monoyoshi cried.

“Hahahaha you should come play too! It’s pretty fun y’know” Namazuo said.

“No, thank you. I don’t really like cold water.”

“Even though you were the one who invited us…” Namazuo pouted, splashing more water onto Monoyoshi.

“Hahaha I’m already having fun just by seeing you guys play.” Monoyoshi said with a warm smile. Namazuo gave a smile in return.

“But that’s still not enough of an excuse!” Namazuo suddenly said, pulling Monoyoshi into the pond.

“Namazuo-san!!!”

After they had played in the pond, they started walking back. Surprisingly, it only took them 10 minutes to reach the main castle again.

“…Oi, why did we reach the castle faster then when we left nya?” Nansen asked suspiciously.

“Ahhh ummm I…might have gotten a little lost at first…?” Monoyoshi said apologetically.

“Monoyoshi—!!!” Before Nansen could get truly angry with Monoyoshi, Chougi stepped in and said—

“Let’s go wash up first. I could really use a hot onsen right now” And he pulled Nansen away, towards the bath house.

“Let go of me nyaaaaaaaaaa” Namazuo watched as Nansen got dragged away, a blank and knowing expressions on his face.

“I think we shouldn’t go with them” He suggested to Monoyoshi who was starting to head in after them.

“Why not?” Monoyoshi asked innocently.

“Let’s just wait. It’s better than seeing something we’ll regret for the rest of our lives.” Namazuo replied. To which Monoyoshi looked even more confused but agreed anyway.

After they went to get change into a new kimono, Namazuo suddenly realized something.

“Ah! Today’s Tanabata!” 

“Oh! You’re right!” Monoyoshi responded happily. “Do you think they’re going to bring bamboo trees here or not?”

“Maybe. I really hope they will though! This will be my first Tanabata!” Namazuo said, excited.

“First? Didn’t you celebrate Tanabata with your old masters?” Monoyoshi asked.

“Hmm maybe I have…but I don’t remember any of that.”

“Ah! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to—“

“Don’t worry! Don’t worry!” Namazuo interrupted. “Besides, I can make new memories here anyway!” Namazuo smiled to reassure Monoyoshi though the latter still looked a bit troubled.

“…If you say so…” Monoyoshi said hesitantly

Namazuo only smiled.

“But! If…you want to talk about it, I’d be happy to listen! It doesn’t have to just be about your memories! It can be about anything! I’m willing to listen!” Monoyoshi said suddenly, his face became serious.

“Th-thank you.” Namazuo tried to control the trembling in his voice. Namazuo went to hug Monoyoshi. He really thought he had moved past from his memories but it still came to haunt him in the end. He didn’t know he really needed to hear someone said this to him. “Thank you, Monoyoshi-kun! Really, thank you!”

“It’s okay, I’m willing to help everyone.” Monoyoshi replied, stroking Namazuo’s hair as the other let some tears slipped past his eyes.

“Stop dragging me already nya!” Nansen complained as they got into the bath house. Chougi let go of Nansen. Chougi noticed the two wakizashi didn’t follow them and he started to panic a little. Chougi was expecting those two to join them too, so it wouldn’t be awkward with just him and Nansen. But things didn’t o as he planned and now he’s stuck with Nansen, in a bath house. Going out and saying that he would let Nansen go first would ruin his pride as he was the one who dragged Nansen in here himself.

“What are you doing just standing there” Nansen asked, taking off his wet kimono.

“N-Nothing!” Chougi immediately answered, trying to focus his eyes on something else other than Nansen.

“Why aren’t those two coming already?” Nansen wondered out loud, goin into the bath.

“I wonder also…” Chougi responded, trying to calm his wandering eyes. Usually, they would each took turns taking baths but recently the bath house had been renovated so it could be used by more people at the same time. But Chougi had always refused taking baths with Nansen, saying he liked the privacy. So this was his first time bathing with Nansen and so far he felt like he wasn’t going to make it through without passing out from either embarrassment or the heat from the water. 

After Chougi took of his kimono and stepped into the bath, he tried hard not to look at Nansen, turning his back to the other.

“Hmm today’s Tanabata, isn’t it?” Nansen started.

“Eh? Oh right.” Chougi answered, he totally forgot about it.

“Do they celebrate it here too?” Nansen asked.

“Yes. The servants usually bring bamboo trees and and line them up in front of the castle gate. People from the town would also use those bamboo trees so there will be a lot of people.” Chougi answered. Last year he celebrated the festival by himself since there weren’t any other swords around yet so he was pretty excited to spend it together with the others this year.

“Hmm then we should go early then.” Nansen suggested.

“I suppose we should……wait did you just invite me to go like that?!” Chougi was taken by surprise at the other’s subtle invitation.

“Of course! Or did you not want to go?”

“Of course I want to!” Chougi answered, turning to face Nansen.

“It’s a date then!” Nansen smirked, splashing the water on to Chougi before quickly leaving. Chougi sat there, still trying to process what Nansen had just said to him. The words slowly decipher themselves and Chougi could feel his face went red.

‘That sly cat!’

He didn’t say anything as he left the bath and found Monoyoshi and Namazuo walking towards the bath house. He noticed Namazuo’s eyes rim had a somewhat red shade to them but he didn’t question it. He was glad the other two didn’t say or ask anything about his flushed face.

It was nearing night time. Most people would be eating dinner right now but the tsukumogami are preparing to go the front gate where the bamboos are lined up. They were wearing their yukata. Chougi had his usual cloak on his shoulders. Monoyoshi and Namazuo had small pouches on their sides. Apparently, there was going to be a small market there too. Even though tsukumogami can’t be seen and buy anything themselves, they said it would feel help them like they were also a part of it too. (Although, Nansen felt like Namazuo had an underlying intention too…like he was going to use the pouch to help steal something.) Since tsukumogami can’t buy anything themselves, they would rely on the servants! So Chougi wrote up a list of everything that they each would like to buy (that would be sell in the market of course) and placed in it front of Lord Yoshinao’s room (with a small threat at the end of breaking every doors in the castle if he didn’t buy the items on the list). After doing that, they quickly headed to the front gate where it was starting to get crowded by people.

“Here.” Chougi handed them each a tanzaku (paper strip) and a brush for writing.

“Hmm what should I wish for…” Namazuo wondered out loud.

“Write anything you want. Just don’t make it too dramatic” Chougi responded, writing on his tanzaku.

“Eh? You already wrote yours?” Namazuo asked, trying to sneak a look at what Chougi was writing.

“Don’t look!”

“Why~? Is it about a certain someone?” Namazuo teased which earned him a slap in the head. Namazuo turned to look at the others and saw Monoyoshi already tying his tanzaku to a bamboo tree’s branch.

“Eh?? Monoyoshi already wrote yours too?!” Namazuo exclaimed. Monoyoshi nodded and smile to him. Namazuo tried to look at what Monoyoshi wrote but was stopped by Chougi, who said it was inappropriate to look at others wishes.

Namazuo sighed, he still didn’t know what to write. Beside him, Nansen had already hanged his tanzaku.

“Nansen-san, what did you write for yours?” Namazuo asked.

“ ‘To break this cat curse’ of course nya!” Nansen answered. Namazuo found the answer quite ironic.

“If you say what you wished for out loud, that wish won’t come true didn’t you know?” Chougi said with a smirk as he tied his tanzaku to a branch.

“Nyaa!” Nansen exclaimed, teary eyes.

Namazuo couldn’t figure what he wanted to write. He could wish for his memories back but that sounded impossible at the moment. Or maybe he could wish to become stronger? But there’s no need for him to be use in battles since there wasn’t any.

“Namazuo! Are you finish yet nya?” Nansen asked, the others beside him ready to go to the market.

“Ah just a minute!” Namazuo replied, quickly writing down in his tanzaku and tying it to the bamboo branch.

“Wait for me!” Namazuo shouted, running to the others as they headed for the market.

On the bamboo branches were 4 tanzaku, each with different wishes.

‘I wish to break this cat curse.’

‘I wish Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu peace in afterlife.’

‘I wish for this love to be requited.’

‘I wish to never lose my memories again.’

After the tsukumogami returned from the market, it was late and they said goodnight then went to their rooms. The trip to the market was quite fun, although they couldn’t play any of the games or buy anything, it was still fun to watch other kids play around.  After Chougi and Nansen went into their room, they sat in silence. The sound of the festival still rang in their ears, and the quietness in the room made it seemed suffocating.

“Do you…want to go outside?” Nansen suggested.

“And what?”

“Just go for a walk nya.” Chougi considered it  for a second before agreeing.

Outside, they walked around the porch of the castle which oversaw the whole city below. The light from the market was still lively and faint sounds from there were still heard. Nansen saw some servants walking in and out of the castle, talking happily between each other. He also spotted Lord Yoshinao talking to some apprentices who came to learn Shinkage-ryu.

Chougi and Nansen stopped when they found a spot which can clearly see the whole city down below. Nansen insisted they sit there for a while. Earlier, he had heard some townspeople speaking of a firework show nearing midnight. He had also heard them saying it would be really beautiful. Nansen didn’t tell Monoyoshi and Namazuo because he wanted to see this ‘firework show’ with Chougi alone. As they sat there on the porch, they didn’t say anything. Just sitting around enjoying the silence and the view of the city. It was nearing midnight now. 

And right on time, the first firework was let off. It painted a flower-like shape on the sky before disappearing. Then another firework was let off, followed by another one and another. Each with its own color. The night sky turned into a canvas filled with pretty flowers of various colors.

The sight was beautiful, very beautiful. A smile crept onto Nansen’s face. He turned to look at Chougi whose eyes widen at the sight, his mouth was forming a bright smile.

In that summer night, everything else paled in comparison to Chougi’s happy face. Not even the scene of fireworks painting the sky could win over the face Chougi’s making. It’s the face that he wanted to see again and again. Not the frown that Chougi had when someone spoke of his legend as his copy’s. Not the calm face when he slept with a tear slid down his cheek. Nansen could look at that happy face forever. He started to feel the heat rises to his cheeks. Chougi made Nansen felt many things. All of his feelings and thoughts conflicted and screamed with each other. But one thing that screamed out the loudest to him was his rapidly beating heart. And then the realization hit him a train.

‘I love him.’ 

It was as simple as that. Just three syllables were enough to conveyed his thoughts to him. But three syllables were not enough to express how much he liked Chougi, how much he wanted to see him happy, to see him smile freely without that superiority façade. Nansen could feel a rush of euphoria running through him. A sudden urge to confess overcame him and—

“Chougi!” Chougi turned to look at Nansen, surprised by the sudden call but he still had a smile on his face. Chougi didn’t say anything and waited for Nansen to continue.

“Actually I—“

A particularly loud firework in the background covered what Nansen was about to said. But nonetheless, Chougi’s eyes widen, his mouth opened a little as if to respond. Nansen didn’t know if Chougi heard him or not. Judging by the other’s reaction, it looked like he heard it but it also looked like he didn’t hear it too. 

Not longer after, the firework show ended. The lights from the market started going out one by one. Voices were now fading away. Everyone was returning back to go to sleep. And so we’re Chougi and Nansen. That night, they went to bed without saying anything further. Nansen didn’t know if the silence meant that Chougi’s thinking about what he said or something else. But he hoped it was the former since he really wished Chougi had heard him.

Autumn

It had been a year since Nansen first arrived at Nagoya castle. Chougi was surprised by how fast time was. It felt like the whole year had been going by so fast yet so slow at the same time. In just a year, he had found new comrades, new friends and a new relationship. Prior to before the others came here, he had been by himself. The silence back then was nice, but it was  also lonely. He had thought he was fine being alone like that, but after Namazuo came then followed by Nansen and Monoyoshi, the noise and liveliness they brought were both annoying and precious to him. Back then, he wouldn’t have thought that one day he would eventually be smiling happily around others or fall in love.

Chougi was sitting at the porch where he first met Nansen. He was playing with a stray cat that usually came everyday. The cat reminded him of Nansen a bit. It had white fur with orange and black spots all over. The cat was pretty friendly and liked to cling to him but when it was ignored, it would go back. This cat had been his only companion before the other three came. Even though he and stayed with with for almost 2 years, the cat still remained nameless to him. He had considered giving it a name before but he couldn’t think of anything fitting.

“Or maybe I should just call you ‘MiniNansen’…” Chougi wondered out loud.

“Hm? Did you call nya?” Nansen asked, poking his head from around the corner.

“No. I didn’t call you. I called the cat.” Chougi answered with a teasing smile. The cat then purred and rubbed its head on his leg. 

“Hah?”

“See? It looks kinda like you, don’t you think?” Chougi said, picking up the cat for Nansen to see. Nansen glared at the cat.

“That guy looks nothing like me nyaa!” Nansen hissed at the cat, to which it hissed back.

“Hmm really? I think it looks pretty adorable.” Chougi murmured, looking at the cat again. 

“Heeeeehhhhhh what are you two talking about~~” Namazuo slid into the conversation with a knowing smirk.

“That cat nya!” Nansen replied, pointing at the cat that Chougi’s holding.

“I’m thinking of naming him but I’m not sure what name would fit him…” Chougi said.

“Ohhhh~ What name did you give it at first?” Namazuo asked, crouching down to play with the cat.

“MiniNansen” Chougi answered, unembarrassed.

“Pfft……hahahaha……Mi-Mini…Nansen……hahahaha” Namazuo tried to control his laughter. Nansen looked like he dreaded this. And Chougi wondered why Namazuo was having a laughing fit.

“What is everyone doing here?” Monoyoshi, who came with a plate of dango, asked. “Oh! A cat!” Monoyoshi brightened up. He set the plate of dango down next to Chougi and petted it.

“Cute isn’t he? What name do you think would fit him?” Chougi asked.

“Hmm……” Monoyoshi pondered, staring at the cat. He took the cat from Chougi and held it up next to Nansen’s face. Monoyoshi looked back and forth between the cat and Nansen and said—

“How about ‘Nyan Nyan?”

“Nyan Nyan?” The other three spoke up.

“…Isn’t that kinda hard to say…nya?” Nansen scratched his head.

“It’s kinda fitting I think” Namazuo said.

“The name is cute. And the cat is cute too…so it’s fitting I guess” Chougi said.

“It’s decided then!” Namazuo shouted.

“Oi what about my opinion?” Nansen grumbled.

“Let’s get you something to eat, shall we Nyan Nyan?” Monoyoshi smiled.

“Nya~” Nyan Nyan replied back.

Monoyoshi and Namazuo then ran off to the kitchen, taking the cat with them.

“…Do you think the servants are going to scream if they see that floating around nya?” Nansen asked with a snigger.

“Probably” Chougi answered.

“…”

“…”

There was an awkward silence between them. Chougi tried to think up a topic to talk about.

“It’s autumn again, isn’t it” Chougi started. Nansen looked at him, a bit confused at first.

“Yeah. It was also autumn when I came here right?” 

“Yes. You came here around November.”

“…”

“The falling leaves are pretty, aren’t they?” Chougi started again.

“Hm? What do you find pretty about dead leaves nya?” Nansen asked, sitting down next to him.

“Sometimes just because they fall doesn’t mean that they’re dead”

“……What’s with that sudden philosophical-like sentence…nya” Nansen stared at Chougi.

“Hahaha was it too much logic for a cat?” Chougi teased.

“Well sorry for not being the smartest nya, care to explain it to me then?”

“Hmm No” Chougi answered flatly.

“Nya?!” Nansen exclaimed. Chougi laughed in response. Nansen noticed Chougi always put his hand up to cover his mouth whenever he’s laughing. It was such a shame he couldn’t fully see Chougi laugh.

“…Why do you always cover your mouth like that nya?” Nansen asked, pointing at Chougi’s hand which were still in the same position.

“Hm this? I’m not sure either. It’s just a habit I guess” Chougi answered nonchalantly.

“I think it’s better if you stop that habit then, you look prettier when laughing” Nansen said casually.

“…Did you just call me pretty?” Chougi asked, a blush on his face.

“Nya?!” Nansen, having realized what he just said, exclaimed loudly. “Um I didn’t mean…no I meant… uhh I just—“

“Hahaha it’s okay. A compliment from you once in a while isn’t that bad” Chougi laughed without his hand covering his mouth this time. He was truly more prettier that way.

“Ah Ok…”

They sat in silence, enjoying the sight of yellow and orange forest in the yard.

“Seeing the leaves on the ground really make you want to step on it, doesn’t it?” Chougi broke the silence.

“Yeah. The crunchy sounds when you walk over them is really satisfying nya.” Nansen smiled.

“Shall we take a go for a little walk in the forest then?” Chougi suggested.

“…Is it okay to leave Monoyoshi and Namazuo here though?” Nansen asked, worried.

“They’ll be fine. It’s not like they’re going to burn the whole castle down while we’re away. Besides, it’s just a little walk. Wouldn’t take more than 10 minutes.” Chougi said, standing up.

They walked into the forest for a while. Nansen played with the fallen leaves on the way while Chougi looked at him fondly.

‘He’s really like a cat…’ 

As Nansen was jumping on the fallen leaves, a yellow leaf fell on his head. Nansen didn’t seem to notice it. The color seemed to match. Chougi chuckled and said—

“Nansen, come here” Nansen looked surprised at the sudden use of his name but walked toward the other nonetheless. Chougi brushed the leaf off Nansen head.

“There. A leaf felled on your head and you didn’t notice.” Chougi explained.

“Oh thanks nya” Nansen said. He seemed to notice something behind Chougi as his eyes widen. Nansen walked pass Chougi and crouched down next to a tree’s stump. Chougi turned to look at what the other was doing. 

Nansen stood up, holding a white flower.

“Ohh I didn’t think there would be any flower blooming in this season.” Chougi said.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” Nansen asked.

“Yeah”

“But…” Nansen trailed off, walking toward Chougi. He placed the flower behind Chougi’s right ear. “now it’s even prettier nya!”

Chougi’s face turned red. He didn’t expect Nansen to do that. When did Nansen become this smooth at flirting?!

“Ah…thanks” Chougi mumbled, trying to hide his redden cheeks. He looked up and saw Nansen with a fond smile but also a hint of teasing. Seeing that, Chougi was going to back down. With a smirk, he grabbed Nansen by his collar and lightly placed a kiss on his cheek. Chougi released his collar and backed away a little.

“Well then, let’s head back. Monoyoshi-kun and Namazuo-kun should be finished with feeding Nyan Nyan by now. They’ll be suspicious if we’re away for long.” Chougi said walked away, trying hard to cover his embarrassment.

Nansen stood dazed in the middle of the forest, processing what Chougi just did. His face turned bright red. The sensation of Chougi’s soft lips on his cheek still remained. His mind still replaying the scene in his head over and over. He only noticed Chougi was walking away when the sounds of crunching leaves reached his ears.

“Ah wait for me nyaaaa!” Nansen called after him.

Luckily, Monoyoshi and Namazuo didn’t question them where they went or why their faces were as red as the autumn leaves. Chougi and Nansen was forever grateful for that.

One day, during the autumn, Nansen asked Chougi—

“Do you remember what I said during the firework show in summer?”

“…What’s with that sudden question?” Chougi asked back.

“Just answer it nya”

“Well…not really. The firework was quite loud and I couldn’t hear you properly.” Chougi answered.

“Oh…” Nansen sounded disappointed.

“Why? Was it something important?”

“Ah never mind about that” 

“Then why did you ask me in the first place?”

“Just wondering nya”

“You can just tell me again what you said back then”

“Nope~ nya”

“Why?”

“Because I’m fine with the current situation right now nya~” Nansen said, as he hugged Chougi from behind, placing his head on the other’s other.

“…What do you even mean by that?” Chougi sighed, plopping a piece of apple he was cutting into Nansen’s mouth.

“This is what I meant nya” Nansen finished chewing and placed a kiss on Chougi’s cheek. The latter seemed less flustered than before but he still covered his face. But nonetheless, he didn’t protest or told Nansen to stop.

“Ah! Nansen-san! What are you doing?!” Namazuo, who suddenly opened to door to their room, exclaimed.

“Please don’t do indecent things during the day” Monoyoshi warned them with an uneasy smile.

“…KNOCK BEFORE YOU ENTER THEN NYAA!!” Nansen yelled and threw a book at them.

“Wahhh Because Nansen-san kisses Yamanbagiri-san so much, he inherited Yamanbagiri-san’s personality-!!!” Namazuo shouted and quickly ran away.

“Come back here!!!” Nansen ran after him.

Chougi sighed. After all that happened, everyday was still as chaotic as ever. He smiled fondly at the sounds of laughters and shoutings outside. Even though this wasn’t the peace he wanted, it was still better than being alone in this quiet castle. He really hoped days like this won’t end soon.

It was in 1616 when they first met. When the fallen leaves flew and fell onto the porch of Nagoya castle. They were just 2 strangers back then. Then acquaintances, then friends(?) and now……something more than friends. He couldn’t quite put a word to it. They were definitely not lovers (yet) but they were also not the casual friends like Namazuo and Monoyoshi. Even now, 600 years later, he still couldn’t put a name to it. As he stared at the trees in the honmaru’s garden, thinking about they’re relationship, a single autumn leaf fell onto his laps. It was such a nostalgic feeling. The autumn leaves reminded him of that day when they first met.