Chapter Text
“HAPPY EASTER EVERY-BUNNY!!” Tengen shouted into a Megaphone.
As he had far too many times before, Tengen woke the hashira up to celebrate a holiday.
“WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT?!” Sanemi shouted as he stomped down the stairs.
“I got it at Office Depot for like twelve bucks!”
“Go get a refund then! You scared Kaburamaru!!” Obanai marched out of his own room, glaring angrily up at Tengen.
“Relax, It’s not that loud! Right?”
“You woke me up and I’m in the basement…” Muichiro yawned, climbing up the stairs.
“Damn, this thing’s got some kick!”
Shinobu stomped out of her room, grabbed the megaphone, and threw it down the stairs, smiling hatefully at Tengen as she did.
“Yeesh, good morning to you too…” Tengen breathed a sigh of defeat.
“Is it really Easter??” Gyomei asked, smiling excitedly.
“It sure is, big guy!” Tengen greeted. Huh, usually Kyojuro was the one excited for holidays. Actually, he was the one who always got up first!
“What’s going on??” Mitsuri slammed her door open, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
“C’mon everyone! I think the easter bunny left us some goodies downstairs!” Tengen led the hashira to the living room.
As promised, the Easter Bunny did come to visit! Each Hashira had a basket with Chocolate Bunnies, plenty of Peeps, and their favorite sweets!
“OOOH! These look SO GOOD!!” Mitsuri squealed, holding herself back from tearing into the chocolate rabbit right away.
“There’s an Easter Bunny?...” Gyomei asked in confusion.
“That’s right! Look, there he is!...” Tengen pointed. And there, standing behind a corner, was a very depressed Easter Bunny…wait, that’s just Giyu in a bunny onesie.
“Can I change now?...” The Ashamed Water Pillar asked.
“What? Without pictures??” Shinobu giggled.
“Please no…”
“Please yes!!” Sanemi grinned.
“He looks like a pink nightmare…” Muichiro murmured.
“I’m the one who got your easter basket, kid.” Giyu glared. Tengen sent him out last night to get all the goods from Stuff Mart since he got the employee discount. However, the Rabbit suit was an unwelcome surprise.
“Hang on! Lemme go grab Kyojuro.” Tengen sighed, heading up the stairs. Huh, usually he was one of the first to wake up! Maybe he had a late shift? The Sound Pillar knocked at his best buddy’s door, holding a flashy, flame colored easter basket.“Buddy? You in there?...”
“Yes! I’m… sniff …just getting c-changed!” Kyojuro answered, his voice abnormally shaky.
Tengen heard through his lie right away. He barged into Rengoku’s room,“Buddy? Are you okay?...”
Much to the hashiras’ despair, Rengoku wasn’t okay. He was still in bed, still in his pajamas. By his nightstand, was an empty tub of ice cream. On his tv, was Little Women. And on his face…were tears. “...No…” Kyojuro’s lip quivered.
“Hey! What’s going on man?...” Tengen wasted no time, joining the forlorn flame pillar’s side, and hugging him close.
“I’m sorry…” Kyojuro bawled, hugging back. “I just…I miss my family, and…we always spent Easter together! And…”
“Hey, it’s alright man!” Tengen patted his back. “I know how ya feel. I miss my wives. My lovely Hina…my feisty Makio…my sweet Suma…” Before Tengen knew it, he was also fighting back tears. But he had to stay strong! “B-but we aren’t alone! We got seven awesome friends down there, and chocolates, and a whole day of fun planned! Whaddya say buddy? I know Mitsuri and Obanai will want you for the Easter Egg Hunt.”
“Well…” Kyojuro sniffled. “I can’t let Kanroji down, right?”
“That’s the spirit! Let’s go.” Tengen smiled, patting Rengoku’s back.
“Hello, Rengoku. Happy Easter.” Gyomei greeted him with a kind smile.
“Hey guys…” Kyojuro waved, his usual, passionate morning greetings absent.
“Is everything okay?” Shinobu caught on instantly, the hashira crowding around Kyojuro and Tengen.
“Yeah, he’s alright. Just feeling homesick is all.” Tengen jostled his buddy slightly, Rengoku nodding in agreement.
“Oh no! It’ll be okay!” Mitsuri instantly hugged Rengoku.
“Yeah, you’ll see Senjuro again before you know it.” Sanemi said in a rare moment of understanding; he missed Genya, after all.
“Thanks guys…” Kyojuro flashed a small, sad smile.
“I hope you feel better, buddy.” Giyu spoke up, putting a hand on the flame pillar’s shoulder.
“Thanks To--” As Kyojuro looked at Tomioka, he processed the fact he was dressed in a rabbit onesie, and began to laugh.
“Good job.” Muichiro spoke up.
“I didn’t do anything…” Giyu sighed.
Not long thereafter, Tengen had gathered his eight friends in the living room, gladly standing atop a chair.
“Alright everybody! Here’s our plan for the day! We will be having…an Easter Egg Hunt!” Tengen pulled an egg from seemingly nothing.
“I’ll bet you five bucks he pulled that out of his ass.” Obanai whispered to Sanemi.
“...Deal.” Sanemi took the bet.
“Our resident Easter Bunny,” Tengen pointed to Tomioka, who still hadn’t gotten a chance to change. “Sent me around our lovely home last night, and I’ve hidden eggs everywhere! Some of them have candy, some have shots, and in a few eggs, there might be some money!”
That grabbed everyone’s attention, for better or worse. Several Hashira were drawn in by the many prizes; exactly as Uzui planned. “What about the--”
“I’m getting to that.” Tengen cut off Giyu before he spoiled the big surprise. “Here’s our teams: In Team One are Mitsuri, Obanai, Giyu, and Kyojuro.”
“Woo! Alright!” Mitsuri cheered, pulling both Obanai and Kyojuro close, Giyu moving further away in case she tried to grab him too.
“Team Two will be Muichiro, Shinobu, Sanemi, and Gyomei!”
“Yay…” Sanemi said sarcastically.
“Oh come now, try to at least act excited!” Shinobu puffed.
“And I, myself, will be the Score Keeper.” Tengen pointed to himself and grinned. “Here’s how you get points: If you find a colored egg, that’s five points. If you find an egg with a pattern, that’s ten points. If you find a themed egg, like this--” Tengen pulled out an egg decorated to look like a minion. “--that’s fifteen points! But be careful now, because some eggs are imposters!!” To prove his point, Uzui grabbed a plastic bag, pulling out one of several empty egg cartons inside it. That dissuaded a few hashira; as Tengen expected. Who wanted to smell like eggs? But, that’s part of the fun!
“If I find one of your fake eggs it’s your ass!” Obanai hissed, getting some chuckles out of the other Hashira.
“Yeah yeah. Anyways, here’s the winning team’s reward…” Tengen went to a cardboard box, opening it with a grunt, and pulling out a massive, golden egg. “Inside here are one hundred lottery tickets! Twenty Five for each teammate! And, the satisfaction of knowing you won this year’s Egg Hunt! Any questions?”
Immediately, three hands went into the air--Muichiro, Gyomei, and Mitsuri.
“Eeny, meeny, miny… Mitsuri.”
“Can we eat the chocolates when we find the eggs?”
“Yep! And you can kill the drinks too! Alright, you next kid.”
“Why count points in intervals of five?” Muichiro asked. “It’s no different from going by one, two, and three…”
“Ah-ha! A Flashy observation, Tokito! But I’ve thought ahead of that. No matter what kind of egg you find, each individual egg you turn in will be worth one additional point!”
At that point, Giyu’s hand also flew up.
“What?”
“Do the actual eggs count for that, too?”
“No. And if you try to turn them in, I’m making YOU count through for real ones!”
Then Obanai’s hand.
“What’s the point of the actual eggs then??”
“It’s a trick!”
Then Shinobu’s.
“Why did you waste so many eggs, Uzui?”
“Do something with them then! Have an egg fight or something.” Tengen puffed.
“Anyone else wanna cut the big guy off?"
"Sorry..." Sanemi whispered to Gyomei and raised his hand.
"It's quite alright." The Stone Pillar sighed.
"What."
"...Did you pull that egg out of--"
"NO!" Tengen barked.
"Got it."
Uzui glared, then regained his composure. "Okay Gyomei, go ahead.”
“Will we be visiting the local church?” Gyomei asked.
“...Why would we do that? None of us are Christian.”
“That is true, but it’s important to recognize the religious importance of this day. In the Bible, this was the day of Jesus’ Resurrection, and I don’t think we should honor that by throwing eggs at each other and doing shots.” Gyomei puffed.
“...Noted. Okay, everybody get to searching!” Tegen exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. What could possibly go wrong?