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In most instances, it takes quite a bit to sufficiently impress Tengen Uzui. The Sound Pillar was, after all, a man who took pride in the fact that he was not only known for his impressive fighting techniques in battle but also for his exuberance and decidedly flashy attitude towards every aspect in life. As a result of his exuberant and flamboyant personality, Tengen is very demanding of others, even going so far as to insult others for their overall lack of fortitude in comparison to him.
So, imagine the man’s surprise when the new, spit-fire Flame Pillar, Kyojuro Rengoku, actually managed to sufficiently knock the wind out of him with a single blow in the midst of a bit of friendly sparring. Though it did not take long for him to recover from the younger man’s attack, Tengen could not help but find Rengoku’s moves to be most impressive, thrilling even. He chuckled in amusement as he stood back up, idly brushing the dust off of his uniform as he met his opponent’s confident smile with his own determined smirk.
“You’re going to wear yourself out in no time, pulling those flashy moves on me,” the Sound Pillar jested just before charging forward at his friend. Rengoku stood firm upon collision, merely lifting his left forearm up to effectively shield himself from Tengen’s attack. Not even his broad smile wavered against the larger man’s directed strength.
“You underestimate my stamina!” Rengoku replied brightly as he swung the wooden sword held within his other hand upwards towards Tengen’s chin. Tengen ducked just in the nick of time and quickly tucked down and rolled past the Flame Pillar, leaping back up to his feet and bringing his own training weapon up just as the other charged and brought his own down in an offensive strike. Rengoku grunted and stumbled slightly as he was tossed backwards by Tengen’s forward thrust.
The early afternoon sun streamed down upon the two as the fight went on; the heat of the day bore down fervently, causing both Hashira to tire out quicker than they normally would. Not that either would let one another know this, stubborn as they were. Rengoku was determined to beat the other out of the want to further prove himself worthy of his newly earned position in the corps. Tengen simply wanted to win out of necessity, for losing was a seriously unflashy business.
The two of them dueled for near-to an hour straight before tiring themselves out. Tengen was partially slumped-over in an attempt to catch his breath when he heard the other let out a boisterous laugh. Rengoku grinned and shook his head, wiping the sweat from his forehead onto his sleeve before looking back towards his opponent.
“How about we call this one a draw?” he offered out to the Sound Pillar, extending a palm towards the taller man. Tengen stood up and nodded, smiling back at his friend as he accepted the other’s grasp within his own and shook hands firmly.
Rengoku was extraordinarily flashy in his own right—something that Tengen had never admitted to so freely over another individual in his life. That being said, he was beginning to grow quite fond of the younger man, a bit more so than he would actually care to admit aloud. Even so, he could not help but allow his gaze to linger just a bit longer upon the other, even once Rengoku had turned his back on him in order to retrieve his discarded cape from the sidelines. There was even a grand modicum of flair in the way the Flame Pillar tossed the flaming cape back over his shoulders, his brightly-colored hair whipping in the wind as he did so.
Tengen only blinked when Rengoku met his eye once again, a look of curiosity and questioning flitting across his features as he took in the other’s expression. Thankfully the Sound Pillar did not really need to scramble about for an excuse to explain his moment of obsessive staring; it was then that he noticed a bit of greenery entangled within Rengoku’s golden locks. With a small smirk, Tengen walked over to him, pointing as he did so.
“You’ve got something in your hair,” he informed his friend dryly. Rengoku blinked, raising a hand up to his head.
“Where? What is it?”
“It’s—hang on, you’re making it worse—here, just let me…”
Rengoku could not help the startled, ever-so-faint bit of blush that crept across his cheeks when Tengen reached over to fix his hair himself. The back of the man’s hand briefly brushed over the side of his face as he gently twisted his broad fingers through his locks, swiftly untangling the debris from his hair. The tall man’s touch was surprisingly soft and cool against his heated skin, far more so than expected.
“Got it,” Tengen announced, pulling back from Rengoku and lifting his prize up. “A leaf.”
“Hah, that’s…” Rengoku cleared his throat and looked away from Tengen’s face to redirect his gaze down to the small leaf still grasped between his fingers. He was being ridiculous and he knew it, so he quickly schooled his expression and silently willed the flush upon his cheeks to fade away as he plucked the little green thing out of Tengen’s hand. “…Thank you.”
“Anytime,” the Sound Pillar replied kindly, grateful that the other man had looked away just in time to miss his look of amusement towards the Flame Pillar’s candor.
Once the older man had walked away and out of sight, Rengoku shook his head at himself, crossing his arms as he frowned slightly in thought. This was getting out of hand…whatever this was. Never before had such strong admiration evolved into what seemed to be profound infatuation, not within Rengoku’s mind at least. If his feelings for Tengen continued to evolve in this way, things could become a bit troublesome in the future. After all, it was highly unlikely that Tengen would return his sentiments.
“So, tell me,” the Sound Pillar piped-up as he returned, jug of water at hand. “What did you do with your hair to make it so soft?”
Then there was this, of course; the fact that Tengen was quite fond of speaking flirtatiously towards the other, as though causing Rengoku to blush furiously was a favorite past-time of his.
“You think it’s soft?” was the Flame Pillar’s uncreative response. Tengen could not help but laugh out loud at this, slamming his palm down upon Rengoku’s shoulder and giving him a good shake.
“It’s very soft,” he assured the younger man with a knowing grin. Sure enough, Tengen’s touch once again ignited something within Rengoku, causing him to blush even more furiously than before. Mischief illuminated within Tengen’s smile as he leaned forward and pointedly whispered into Rengoku’s ear:
“You’re blushing…again.”
“Hah!” Rengoku exclaimed, nervously rubbing at the back of his neck. “So, you did notice that…”
“How could I not?” Tengen teased, then moved his hand from Rengoku’s shoulder up into his hair once more. “You’re cute when embarrassed.”
“I’m not embarrassed,” Rengoku replied a bit defensively. “It’s just warm out.”
“Mhmm,” Tengen merely hummed, watching as the Flame Pillar idly leaned into his touch just a bit. Rengoku probably did not even realize he was doing so, but far be it for Tengen to mind it at all. Beyond a few playful shoves and flirtatious sniping, there was not much pressing upon the boundaries of their still-blooming friendship, after all. Though Rengoku’s obvious bit of a man-crush was quite adorable, Tengen did not place too much weight upon the other’s true feelings, figuring that they did not exceed that of a simple crush. Best not to get one’s hopes up, after all.
At last Tengen finally pulled his hand away from Rengoku, huffing as he placed his hands upon his hips.
“All that sparring has worked-up a ravenous appetite in me,” he announced, looking back at Rengoku. “I’m going to grab myself a late lunch. Care to join me?”
“Yes!” the Flame Pillar replied immediately, his demeanor brightening ten-fold at the mere thought of consuming delicious food. Tengen laughed as he turned and led the way off of the training grounds, Rengoku following close by. If something shifted even minutely between the two of them on that day, they paid no attention to it, silently deciding in mutual agreement that any feelings beyond friendship could remain in the shadows…at least, for now.
After all, leaving the future wide open for opportunity was the far more flamboyant option.