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It was early morning. The dew on the leaves had yet to dry, speckling the forest floor as light reflected off the droplets. The sun shone in through the canopy of the trees, submerging only parts of him in the shadow. Other parts were alight with the warmth that contrasted with the cool air that thought it was still nighttime.
A slight breeze licked up the back of his neck, ruffling his bangs before it drifted off to somewhere else in the forest—the world. He brought the cup of green tea, still hot, to his lips, eyes closing as he took a long, refreshing sip.
When the floorboards of the wooden bridge creaked further down the path, Uguisumaru did not outwardly react. He knew who it was, come to fetch him and drag him back to do the daily chores he’d been assigned. But Uguisumaru secretly liked making the other sword come all this way out to the very edges of the citadel’s property. It comforted him: To be needed, even for a task anyone could do, so much so that someone else had to retrieve him.
“You’re here again,” said Yamanbagiri Chougi, coming to stand next to the tachi. It was both a question of incredulity and not at the same time.
“Was this the first place you looked?” Uguisumaru inquired, gaze focused on a bird on a branch in the distance.
Chougi looked proud of himself, puffing his chest out. “I finally learned that it’d always be here out in the forest I’d find you.”
“Hmm…” Uguisumaru smiled devilishly. “I’ll have to find a different spot for tomorrow, then.”
Chougi’s own smile fell. He fixed the stole hanging off his shoulders. “I’ll still find you,” he asserted.
Uguisumaru found it a tad dramatic, but a warm feeling spread through his chest all the same; perhaps it was just the sun rising higher into the sky, though. “It’s a date, then.”
Saying such nonsense always brought a blush to Chougi’s cheeks, even if he tried his damnedest to not let his embarrassment show. Uguisumaru finally tore his eyes from the distant bird in order to look him over: Sure enough, the blush was there. He chuckled.
“Y-You know, there’s much easier ways to go about this,” Chougi replied, keeping his own gaze on some point further out in the forest; his hands grasped the railing of the bridge as if he was liable to be dragged underwater at any moment, “than making me trek to the very edges of the citadel.”
“Oh, I know.” Uguisumaru placed a palm on the back of Chougi’s neck, fingertips slipping beneath the stole very carefully. “But that’s no fun. Here, drink some tea and calm down.” He held the cup up in front of the uchigatana’s face.
Chougi grumbled, but a hand came to support the cup nonetheless, holding it from the opposite side as Uguisumaru. Uguisumaru watched Chougi’s neck bobbing as he swallowed the drink, some of the tea dribbling out of the corner of his mouth. When Chougi lowered the cup, Uguisumaru dove in like a hawk rather than a warbler, leaning down and pressing their lips together.
His mouth was still warm from the tea. Warmer than usual. Chougi made a noise of surprise before relenting to his current predicament. His eyes slid shut; Uguisumaru’s stayed open. He licked the vestiges of tea from Chougi’s mouth, the palm on his neck drawing him closer. Chougi’s hand gripped the cup so tightly, Uguisumaru worried he might break it.
But he didn’t, even as the kiss ended and Chougi caught himself before his lips could chase after Uguisumaru’s. His face had bloomed bright red by then, while Uguisumaru’s had remained as impassive, though grinning, as ever. Uguisumaru sipped the last remnants of the tea, letting out a satisfied sigh, and set the empty cup off to the side on the railing. The bird far off flapped its wings and flew off, sending a few other birds in the area off, too.
“… Well, should we get going?” He peered at Chougi out of the corner of his eye. The humor was apparent in his tone. “I’m certain I’ve been assigned field duty today. It’s with Kasen, so I shouldn’t be late.”
“There’s still time.” Chougi returned the fierce gaze and, hesitant, took a half-step to his right in order to press their shoulders together. “Kasen likes me, too—so feel free to blame me if you’re tardy and he starts yelling.”
Uguisumaru laughed: A warbling trill of a bird’s call. “How noble you are, Yamanbagiri Chougi. But I have faith in my own Kasen-likeability. No need to sacrifice yourself for my sake.”
Their eyes met: The steel-blue eyes of a sword so beloved by everyone but himself matching the flighty green ones of a sword beloved despite his imperfections. Their paths had collided head on long ago, one stumbling over the other until such a path had become one—like the very bridge they stood on, shaded by the trees of the forest.
Chougi grabbed the front of Uguisumaru’s jacket and leaned up on his tip toes, kissing him again. Uguisumaru had met him halfway, his hand returning to the back of Chougi’s neck. This cherished kiss they shared was long and deep; Chougi meandered closer, twisting them both around like gnarled roots until Uguisumaru’s back pressed against the railing.
The mottled sun shone onto Chougi’s back, into Uguisumaru’s face. The wind shifted around them, making room. A bush warbler sang its song, as Uguisumaru sang his own into Chougi’s mouth, against his skin.
But before they could go further than they intended, Uguisumaru slipped on the old wood, his hand flying to the railing. A plonk in the creek below made its way up to their ears, and they both froze, peering over the edge as the cup floated away in the current and out of sight.
“That was my favorite. How terrible.”
“I’ll buy you a new one later. Now…”