Work Text:
Kyougoku Masamune is pretty. So pretty. Like he showed up with his perfect nails and his beautiful makeup and his perfect skin, and his fancy lace stockings, and he’s just pretty. Everything he does is pretty.
Midare wishes he could be that pretty. He just wears regular stockings and he has a little lace puff sleeve that he likes a lot and a crinoline under his skirt that makes it nice and fluffy, but it’s not the same.
“Your makeup is so pretty,” Midare says to Kyougoku one day when they’ve both been assigned to the same team. “How do you make it look so perfect?”
Kyougoku smiles and tilts his head like a little bird. “It’s not so hard. I’m the rose engraved with the name Masamune. I must be beautiful.”
That’s such a cool answer Midare can hardly contain himself. Like, the coolest answer!
Kyougoku is even pretty when he fights, like maybe even prettier, actually? When the fight’s done, Midare bounces over to Kyougoku and offers him one of the fruity chewy candies he likes to keep in his pockets.
“You did really good! Like you haven’t been here for that long, but I couldn’t tell at all!”
“…Thank you.” Kyougoku seems a bit distracted in his response as he studies the wrapped candy in his hand. “…What is this?”
“Oh! It’s a candy! They’re like super modern and cool and chewy, I’d never had them before I got here!” Midare leans over to peer at the candy. “Oh, you got the green apple flavor! You should try it. If you like it there’s tons of flavors and they’re all really good!”
Kyougoku rips the wrapper and rolls the candy into his hand. “It smells…like apple? Perhaps?” He puts it into his mouth and Midare immediately starts giggling at the face that he makes. He’s still so perfect and pretty but his face is baffled.
“Do you like it?”
“…I…think so?” Kyougoku looks down at the little wrapper still in his hand.
“Oh good! Here, wait, let me give you some of the other flavors so you can try those too. Like I don’t have them all on me because they do so many but like here’s a grape, and a mango, and a strawberry.” Midare counts them out into Kyougoku’s hand. “You’ve got to tell me which one is your favorite!”
“I will.” Kyougoku still seems a little confused by what’s just happened, but he takes the candy and tucks it away, so that’s definitely a win.
“Strawberry is my favorite,” Kyougoku declares one morning while Midare is blinking into his breakfast. Kyougoku still looks perfect even at way too early in the morning. It’s unfair. Midare kind of still feels like a rumpled mess, but he did wake up with two tigers wrestling in his hair so like. Yeah.
“I’m glad you liked them! Do you want to try more? I can bring some by your room later! Or just like more of the strawberry ones because you’re right, those are super good.” Midare makes himself sit up a little more to look up at Kyougoku properly.
“I would like that.” Kyougoku says. His voice is so pretty. Like everything about him is so pretty.
“I’ll come by after chores! I’m helping Hachisuka with the laundry today.”
“I’ll see you then.” Kyougoku reaches out and plucks an errant fluff of tiger fur out of Midare’s hair. “You have a passenger.”
Midare suddenly feels his face getting warm. Like really, really warm. “Oh, yeah, that’s from Gokotai’s tigers. They were wrestling in my hair this morning when I was asleep and their fur went everywhere. It’s probably all over me, right?”
“Only a bit.” Kyougoku looks Midare over from head to toe. “You seem to have mostly escaped unscathed. Perhaps laundry duty will save you from the rest. I’ll see you later.” He turns and leaves and Midare debates drowning himself in what remains of his breakfast. His face is on fire.
Laundry day with Hachisuka isn’t hard, but it’s a lot of work. There are so many sheets and towels to be washed and hung up to dry in the sun. They always come in smelling like sunshine and not like wet tigers, so it’s worth it. Today it feels like there are even more sheets than usual and Midare would love being outside in the sun but right now he really wants to be done so he can go bring candy to Kyougoku.
Oh, but Kyougoku doesn’t seem like the kind of person who has like a big plastic bag of candy in his room. He’s prettier and fancier than that.
Hachisuka is also fancy and hangs out with Kasen and Souza and Nikkari, and together, they’re super fancy, so Hachisuka should have an answer, right?
“Hey, Hachisuka. If I was gonna give someone some candy as a present, how would I make it look fancy? Like, what would you do? Because the candy isn’t fancy but I want it to look fancy, you know?”
Hachisuka pauses in his struggle with a sheet to look over at Midare.
“You could wrap it in a furoshiki. Well, inside a box and then in a furoshiki.”
“Oh, that would look nice. I don’t have a furoshiki, though. Or a fancy box.” Midare comes over to help Hachisuka before he’s swallowed by the wet sheet.
“I’m sure Kasen has something you could use.” Hachisuka stands back and looks at the newly-hung sheet with satisfaction. “Go ask him when we’re finished here.”
“Okay!”
“No, Midare, that doesn’t mean we should run--! The sheets!”
Hachisuka hands Midare off to Kasen once the laundry is hung without disaster. Mostly without disaster. Enough without disaster.
“Hachisuka tells me you need to wrap a gift?” Kasen says as he leads Midare into his room.
“Yeah! I’ve got some candies and I want them to look fancy. Hachisuka said you maybe had like wrapping stuff.”
“I do have a lacquer box that I don’t have a use for and some furoshiki I’ve accumulated but haven’t used. Here.” Kasen opens a drawer and pulls out a small stack of very fancy and pretty furoshiki that definitely wouldn’t survive tigers and foxes and everything else that lives in the Awataguchi room. “Go get your candy. I’ll help you wrap it.”
“Thank you!” Midare sprints back to his room, doesn’t trip over Jiroutachi and Taroutachi sitting on the engawa, and does almost trip over the threshold. Kyougoku said he liked the strawberry candy, so Midare grabs a bunch of packs of the strawberry flavor that he’s been hoarding (and hiding from Namazuo and Shinano). Then, he runs back to Kasen’s room and skids in the door in socked feet. “Got it!”
“Careful!” Kasen holds up his hands, looking like he expects Midare to slide straight past him and into one of his elegant vases. “No need to rush that much.”
“Sorry!” Midare flops down on his knees in front of Kasen. “I got it! So put it in the box, right?”
“Right,” Kasen agrees, “and then you may choose one of these furoshiki.”
“They’re all so pretty! Look at all the fancy fabric!” Midare rummages through them. “Oh, this pink one is so cute! Look, it’s got flowers on it! And this green one has pretty leaves!” He pulls one out from the middle of the pile. “Oh, I want to use this one!” It’s dark red with a rose pattern and it looks exactly like something Kyougoku might have.
“I thought you’d choose the pink,” Kasen says, but he starts carefully wrapping the box in the dark furoshiki.
“The pink is really, really cute,” Midare agrees, “but the candies are for Kyougoku and this looks like something he’d have, right?”
“It does seem much more his style than yours. And…there.” Kasen sits back. “Very elegant, if I do say so myself.”
“Kasen, it’s so pretty!” Midare claps his hands as he admires the newly-wrapped present. Kasen has done some kind of magic wrapping that makes the fabric on top look like it’s been folded into a flower. It’s perfect for Kyougoku! “Thank you so much!”
“You’re very welcome. Now, off you go with your present. I need to get started working on dinner preparations.” Kasen gently shoos Midare out, but he doesn’t really need to. Midare is already running down the hall. He slides to a stop in front of the room that all the Masamune swords share.
What if Kyougoku thinks the wrapping is too fancy? That’s silly, right? Kyougoku is so fancy, he wouldn’t think anything else was too fancy. Right?
“Kyougoku?” Midare calls. It occurs to him that he doesn’t actually know if Kyougoku is back from whatever his chores were today. Oops. Maybe he should have tried later, like after dinner. Yeah, he should probably come back later.
“Hello.” Kyougoku has opened the door before Midare can panic and actually run away. “Is that for me?”
“Oh, um. Yeah! It’s for you! Sorry if it doesn’t look fancy enough—I got Kasen to help me ‘cause I wanted it to look nice, but um…here.” Midare offers Kyougoku the wrapped box.
“It’s beautiful,” Kyougoku says simply. Midare’s face is very hot all over again. “Do you want to come in? My brothers are out.”
“Sure!” Midare says before his brain can catch up to his mouth. He steps into the room. There’s a small vanity in the corner with makeup and brushes on it. Midare has seen Hyuuga, Ishida, and Kuki. That table is definitely Kyougoku’s. “So, this is all your makeup?”
“Yes.” Kyougoku comes up to stand beside Midare in front of the vanity. He’s still holding Midare’s present.
“I wish I could do makeup like yours! I’ve tried to do some stuff that I’ve seen online, but it’s way harder than it looks.” While Midare speaks, Kyougoku has already started unwrapping the candy. He makes a considering noise as his very perfect nails tear open a wrapper and he pops the candy into his mouth.
“Do you want me to do it for you?” Kyougoku asks.
“Wait, really? You would do that? I don’t want to use your stuff, it looks so nice!” Midare’s face is so hot and maybe he should go see Yagen about like. A treatment for that. Or not, because Yagen might poison him and call it an experiment.
“I don’t mind. Please sit down.” Kyougoku gestures to a little pile of cushions in the corner and turns back to his vanity.
Midare grabs a cushion for each of them and doesn’t scream into them at all, not even a little bit. His face is mostly probably not on fire when he sits down and Kyougoku finally turns around. His hands are full of makeup.
“I don’t think my foundation will match you,” Kyougoku says as he kneels in front of Midare on his own cushion, “but I can do eyeliner for you?”
“Sure,” Midare says. He would definitely agree to literally anything.
“Just stay still,” Kyougoku says. He leans in very close. Oh no. Oh no. He’s definitely going to touch Midare’s face and feel that it is so, so hot. That’s not cool at all! Maybe he can say something to explain it. How do you explain your face being this hot?
Kyougoku sits back before Midare can come with something that sounds not-weird enough. He’s frowning a little. Oh no. He figured it out. It’s weird.
“Sorry, I’ve never done makeup on anyone else,” Kyougoku says. Oh good, Midare wasn’t being too weird at all. “I’m not quite sure how to get the angle right. Do you mind if I--?”
“Totally fine!” Midare squeaks. He’s definitely interrupted Kyougoku, but luckily that doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem. Kyougoku nods and shifts and oh no, what did Midare actually agree to.
Oh.
Oh no.
Oh no.
Kyougoku has scooted forward and carefully settled himself into Midare’s lap, knees pressed on either side of Midare’s hips. Oh no, he’s literally going to explode maybe.
“This is better,” Kyougoku says with a slight smile. He catches Midare’s chin with one pretty, perfect hand to tip it up toward whatever better angle he wants. Is it normal to not be able to swallow? That’s normal, right? Not weird?
“Yep, so much better,” Midare squeaks.
Kyougoku leans in. “Just keep your eyes open. Look at me.” Okay, it’s not like he can possibly look anywhere else. When did Kyougoku’s eyelashes get so long and dark and pretty and also he’s definitely wearing some kind of very light lip gloss. His breath smells like strawberry candy and how is any of this fair.
The eyeliner is cool and wet and Kyougoku is so, so pretty.
“Let me look at you.” Kyougoku sits back. His weight is entirely in Midare’s lap. Exploding is definitely on the table. “Ah, it came out well. You look…” Kyougoku trails off. The tops of his cheeks are pink. Why are they suddenly pink? Like, it’s so cute and so perfect but this is definitely new. It’s really hard to think with everything still smelling like sweet strawberry candy. “Would it be…would you mind if…I have lip gloss.” Kyougoku holds up the lip gloss. It’s definitely like barely even pink, almost clear—
Oh no, it’s the lip gloss that’s on Kyougoku’s actual lips like right now.
“Sounds good.” It comes out sounding so weird, but Kyougoku nods and leans in anyway.
“Can you just—open your mouth a little,” Kyougoku says. Open your mouth a little? Oh no, this is just like that online story about that idol and her girlfriend and—
He definitely just opens his mouth and doesn’t scream at having the lip gloss that has already touched Kyougoku’s actual lips touch his lips too.
Kyougoku sits back. He’s even more pink now. Still super cute. Still in Midare’s lap.
“Could I—could we do this again?” Kyougoku asks. He’s like all breathless and it sounds like maybe he just ran all the way from the honmaru to the cherry tree and back again. “I can get foundation that’s your color and do all of your make up.”
“Definitely!” That comes out weird and like kind of high-pitched and sort of strangled but Kyougoku smiles.
“Maybe you can show me some more candies?” Kyougoku asks.
“Any time,” Midare says like he’s not out of his mind with the fog of sweet strawberry breath.
Kyougoku reaches out and brushes one finger along the corner of Midare’s lips. “I think I used a bit too much lip gloss,” he says.
He should use even more lip gloss. Definitely even more.
“That’s okay! Just gotta practice again, right?” Right?? A normal thing to say??
Kyougoku laughs. “Let me get a tissue. I’ll work until I get it right.”
“Great!”
He’s going to die.
He’s also totally on board with this.