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“Drat.” Fukushima pushed his hair out of his face. He had been on the way to the gardens when his hair tie snapped. It had been getting looser recently and had finally given up on him. That had been his last one as well. How anyone could cope with their hair constantly in their face he would never know.
He frowned in thought. Maybe another sword would be able to lend him something to tie his hair back with. Perhaps Daihannya or Koryuu would let him use one of theirs. They must have multiples. He headed to their room, as he was nearby anyway. When he knocked there was a groan. Maybe he woke someone up, it was quite late in the day but sometimes they slept in if they had nothing pressing to do.
Well, as he woke them anyway he might as well head in.
When inside he found only one occupant who was laying half on his futon.
Daihannya was sprawled out, a pillow covering most of his face.
Getting close Fukushima scrunched his nose in disgust. Well, someone drank a lot last night.
Fukushima shook his head and crouched down next to him, trying not to breathe in too much. He lifted the corner of the pillow, so he could see Daihannya better.
“Daihannya-chan?” Fukushima poked his cheek. Another groan and one eye opened. Bloodshot. Whatever hangover he was suffering from was well deserved, he was sure. “Good morning, Daihannya-chan,” he said kindly, “may I borrow one of your ribbons? My hair ties are all broken.”
A groan and a waved hand. The eye closed again.
Well… that was succinct.
“I’m taking that as a yes.” Fukushima dropped the pillow back down and went over to the dresser. He had seen where Daihannya kept his ribbons before. Not snooping, just noticing when he was around.
When he opened the drawer he found five ribbons tied in bows, all identical. At least they weren’t in a knotted ball. That was good. He grabbed one and decided to tie all of his hair up as the ribbon was so long, plus he had been so annoyed with it in his face earlier that he really wanted to make sure it was tamed for one day.
-
“Yo, Fukushima,” Nihongou greeted, coming into Fukushima’s secret garden. “I was wondering if you know where I put my playing cards and dice?”
Fukushima looked over at him, brightening at being sought out. “You aren’t going to start a gambling den, are you, Gou-chan? Hasebe-kun may have a fit if you do.”
Waving a hand in the air Nihongou laughed it off. “Heshikiri will have some kind of fit no matter what I do. I’m just going to play some games with Tonbokiri and Otegine, nothing for either of you to worry about.”
With a hum Fukushima got up, clapping his hands together to get rid of any dirt on his gloves. “Your cards and dice are in the second drawer down on your dresser, left hand side to the back.”
Nihongou nodded in thanks. He leant down, pressing a brief kiss to Fukushima’s lips. “Thanks.”
Face heating up a hundred degrees Fukushima squeaked. He hadn’t expected that!
With a smirk Nihongou kissed the top of his head as well. “You’ve tied your hair up,” he noted, “it looks pretty.”
“Thank you,” Fukushima mumbled. In the wake of Nihongou’s compliments his confidence was completely shattered.
“Ribbons look cute on you.” Nihongou was definitely having fun here.
Nodding with another mumble, Fukushima ducked his head.
He got another kiss then Nihongou left with a wave. Fukushima covered his face and let out a sound not dissimilar to that of a dying balloon, sinking down to a crouch next to his raised flower bed. He flopped against the wood and just gave himself a few minutes.
That was such a surprise, he wasn’t sure he would be able to handle it for quite some time.
By the end of the day Fukushima decided he quite liked the ribbon. Nihongou even complimented it. He needed his hair up more often.
-
“Do you think I should get one too?” Jikkyuu asked, looking at the ribbons they had on sale.
Fukushima picked up a purple ribbon with little light purple flowers decorating it. He held it to Jikkyuu’s hair then shook his head. Too much purple. He wanted to compliment his eyes but not overwhelm. Not black, it’d blend in with his hair too much. He found a white ribbon with purple flowers. That looked better.
“Do you want this one?” Fukushima asked. “I think it goes nicely with your eyes.”
Jikkyuu stared at it for a minute before smiling and nodding. “Can I choose yours?”
“Of course!” Fukushima was going to get multiple anyway. He really needed to replace his normal hair ties as well.
Next was the painstaking process of Jikkyuu picking up ribbons and holding them against Fukushima’s hair and eyes. The amount of concentration was very sweet. Finally, Jikkyuu settled on a black ribbon with multicoloured swirls, looking very pleased with himself.
“This looks like fun!” Koryuu came up to them, already carrying a bundle of blankets that he needed, for some reason. Kenshin was at his side with a squishy cushion clasped in his arms. “What are you doing?”
They had come to the store with them when Fukushima said he was going. Koryuu probably just wanted to be out for a little while, whilst Kenshin had decided to ‘supervise’ his brother’s trip. It was probably warranted.
“I chose a ribbon for Fukushima’s hair,” Jikkyuu said plainly, “he chose one for me as well.”
“Are we all getting ribbons?” Koryuu asked.
“If you want,” Fukushima said, “I liked the one I borrowed from Daihannya.”
Koryuu hummed, looking them over. “I think we should match. Let’s all get some.” From the smirk he was planning something else.
“Do you think Mitsutada would like one?” Jikkyuu asked, peering at the selection.
“I’m not sure where it would go in his hair.” His hair was so short but it was a nice idea. “Let’s get one for him anyway.”
“Do you want one, Kenshin?” Koryuu asked. “We can get you and Azuki matching ones.”
Kenshin frowned, holding his cushion tightly. “Our hair is too short.”
“Nonsense!” Koryuu reached down to push around Kenshin’s hair. “We could use a clip and tie the ribbon into a bow to decorate it.”
“You’re being silly again, Koryuu-nii,” Kenshin told him seriously, batting his hand away from him.
“I think that’d look pretty,” Fukushima told him. “Let’s get everyone a new ribbon and some hairclips to put them on.”
Koryuu took one from the pile, looking far too smug with himself. “One for Chougi, as well.”
The ribbon he chose had cats printed on it. No doubt he was planning to tease Chougi. That wasn’t something that Fukushima wanted to get involved in, so left him to it. Instead, he and Jikkyuu picked out a ribbon for Shokudaikiri, Kenshin chose ones for himself and Azuki, still looking quite unconvinced about the entire thing.
“Shouldn’t Daihannya get a new one?” Jikkyuu asked. “As we are choosing ribbons.”
“I suppose,” Fukushima hummed.
Jikkyuu smiled and got one for him as well.
Even with the pile of ribbons Fukushima made sure to grab his normal hair ties.
-
“We made them into clips,” Jikkyuu explained needlessly.
Shokudaikiri laughed awkwardly, accepting the ‘present’ from his brothers. “Thank you,” he said with a strained smile. He appreciated the thought. He really did. They were both already wearing their hair tied up.
“Aren’t you going to try it on?” Fukushima asked, looking far too smug for Shokudaikiri’s liking.
“Uh…” Shokudaikiri stared at the little clip in his hand. “Maybe later.”
Jikkyuu pouted, looking very disappointed in that answer. How it was so easy for him to look like a kicked puppy was a mystery.
“Oh, come on, stop complaining!” Just then Koryuu entered the room with a clatter. He was dragging along Chougi who was struggling against the firm hold Koryuu had on his wrist. In his hair were two clips, with bows and long trailing ribbons. Both of them were the same, a white ribbon with little cartoon cats printed on them. How Koryuu managed to get them onto Chougi and still have all of his working parts without a trip to the recovery room was, honestly, quite impressive.
After being pulled then pushed into the middle of the room Chougi swung around, glaring hard at Koryuu. Idly, Shokudaikiri noted, that Koryuu had his hair all pulled back for once, a very thick blue ribbon tying it up.
“Doesn’t Chougi look cute?” Koryuu asked, waving a hand to gesture to all of Chougi, when really it was just the ribbons that were different. The angry flush to his skin was normal.
“I think so,” Kenshin piped up, smiling sweetly at Chougi.
With a harsh exhale of air Chougi shook his head.
“Koryuu,” Azuki sighed, “did you really have to tease Chougi?”
“I’m not teasing,” Koryuu gasped dramatically, “I am inviting Chougi to join in the family activity.”
“Putting ribbons in your hair is a family activity now?” Shokudaikiri laughed awkwardly again. That was a norm at the moment, feeling out of place somehow. He didn’t know how to feel about the other Osafune swords sometimes. His brothers were certainly a mystery.
“Of course!” Koryuu spun around, his own ribbon very long to match his hair. “Put yours in Shokudaikiri, you’re the only one not wearing his.” That was because Kenshin had gotten Azuki to put his own in.
Reluctantly Shokudaikiri did as bid. He didn’t want to be the only one left out and putting a dampener on their fun. When he clipped it in Jikkyuu lit up, smiling at him then over at Fukushima. He seemed deeply pleased by this for some reason. He had used it to push back some of the hair away from his eyepatch, not that he really needed to but it seemed like the most logical way to wear it.
“So, this is where you all are…” Through the left open door, thank you Koryuu, Daihannya stepped in. He paused, looking them over with a frown. “What is going on here?”
“Surprise!” Koryuu gestured to the room in general. “We all match now!” He pulled out a thick deep red ribbon with a gold pattern out of his pocket. “We even have a new one for you as well.” He went over to mess with Daihannya’s hair, getting slapped on the arm for his trouble, though he accepted the ribbon.
“Matching?” Daihannya looked the ribbon over then at each of them in turn. He paused when he got to Koryuu’s amused expression. “You’re trying to tease me.”
“No, we’re not!” Kenshin said firmly, stamping his foot.
“I have no interest in any of these shenanigans,” Chougi said, trying to untangle one clip from his hair. “Whatever Koryuu-san is doing is just him and no one else.”
Shokudaikiri sighed. He was sure that whatever Koryuu was planning was, indeed, just him. Fukushima was scowling next to him and Jikkyuu seemed vaguely confused.
Koryuu gasped, hand to his chest dramatically. “I have nothing but pure and good intentions!”
“You have evil in your eyes,” Diahannya snorted.
“I shall take that as a compliment!”
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Chougi huffed, wincing when he yanked too hard on the clip. Whatever Koryuu did he did to get them into Chougi’s hair he it to make it stay in place.
“You should accept any your given, Chougi,” Koryuu said, waving a finger at him, because apparently he wanted to risk it being removed. “With how you act sometimes that would be the only compliment you’re likely to be given.”
Then the arguments started up properly.
Shokudaikiri sighed tiredly.
The ribbons were a nice thought, he supposed, though maybe could have been executed better.
Really, the other Osafune’s could be very tiring and he didn’t understand them sometimes.
They weren’t a bad family to be a part of, he supposed.
“Unhand me!”
Though, Shokudaikiri winced, they could learn to maybe not fight. (Personally, he blamed Koryuu and Daihannya for that.)