Chapter Text
“You are the worst assistant I've ever had.”
If Kunihiro were awake, he could guarantee that he would look up at him through his long eyelashes, blink his big blue eyes at him, and say something along the lines of “Ohh, Kane-san, I had no idea you felt that way, what have I been doing wrong, how can I make it up to you, I'm so so sorry.” Then Kanesada would have no choice but to ruffle his hair so he'd stop looking at him like that and say he didn't mean it that way, really, and anyway he was the only assistant he'd ever had, so that made him the worst one automatically. Then Kunihiro would have the nerve to laugh that “heh heh heh” laugh of his and say “Does that make me the best one too?” and he would reluctantly have to say yes. Then he would have to either pinch his cheeks really hard or mess up his hair even more to get the dumb overjoyed expression off his face.
But Kunihiro wasn't awake. He was sprawled across the futon and snoring for ten Toushirous. Not the Honebami kind that slept like the dead, as in literally you couldn't see him breathe. The Atsushi kind. Ten Atsushi Toushirous.
Kanesada squatted down and prodded Kunihiro's face. It was all squishy and soft and when he pinched his nose his eyebrows got all frowny. “Some assassin you are,” he said, going back to poking his cheek. “Is that the face you make when you slice some unsuspecting victim's throat in the middle of the night?” Kunihiro got all smiley for some reason and rolled over, clutching the blanket in a stranglehold Kanesada had been on the wrong side of too many times to count. He mumbled something that sounded like “Kane-san” and giggled.
“And to think you're the one who treats me like a child,” he grumbled. He sat down and tugged on Kunihiro's earlobe, then leaned in. “Oi. Don't you have chores to do? Battles to prepare for? A certain someone's hair to brush?” How oblivious could one wakizashi be? How could his terrible assistant, who always got up at the crack of dawn and insisted he did the same, still be asleep long after the bell calling them to lunch had rung?
It was all these night battles. He was going to have to talk to the saniwa about that.
“You're not allowed to complain about me sleeping in anymore, you hear me?” he warned, and since there was nothing else for it, he pried the blanket out of Kunihiro's death grip and lay down next to him. He threw the blanket over them, then had to do it again because Kunihiro's foot was sticking out. “You better appreciate all the trouble I'm going to for the likes of you,” he muttered, and pressed a light kiss to his forehead. He settled in, holding him to his chest, and closed his eyes.
“Kane-san,” Kunihiro mumbled again, and shifted like he was trying to get closer, even though he was already pressed as close to him as he could be.
“Yeah, yeah. Love you too." He tucked Kunihiro's head under his chin, so that if he happened to wake up, he wouldn't catch him smiling.