#kamabushi

Wanpanmas 2023 Day 6: Date

New one-shot fic just went live! I started writing this on the 4th of July because I was inspired by the fireworks. It's just some shameless Okamaitachi/Bushidrill fluff (with background Atomic Samurai/Iaian, fair warning because I know that's some of y'alls NOTP).

Wanpanmas Day 5: Ugly Sweater

It’s a little known fact that Atomic Samurai can knit.

Even his disciples didn’t know.

Then he overheard Iaian talking about how impossible it was to find festive sweaters to suit his needs— “Master hasn’t taught us the method of cutting yarn. If I shorten a sleeve, it will unravel.”

So Atomic Samurai got out his yarns and a set of knitting needles, and set to work.

At Christmas, he handed Iaian his gift.

“Wow, Master,” said Iaian. “You really shouldn’t have.”

“Heh! Say nothing of it, Iai!” Atomic Samurai grinned proudly. He was certainly the best master!

So as to not leave his other disciples out, he knitted a gift for Okamaitachi and Bushidrill, too. With leftover yarn

Something for them to share.

OPM Xmas Countdown prompt: Surprise

“What do you want for Christmas, Bushi?” asked Kama.

“I don’t know,” said Bushi. “Surprise me.”

So Kama did.

(Part 1)

OPM Xmas Countdown prompts: Angel/Santa Claus

Cba to draw a background

(Salty Ask List)

Thanks for the ask, Raya!

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

Oh man that’s a tough one!

There are characters who are pure, but does it make a pure ship by putting them together? 

In which case I guess it’d be Tanktop Master x Mumen Rider. 

They are both dedicated to saving/protecting people, they fight until they can no longer fight, they acknowledge their limits and recognise the potential in others. 

In a relationship, they would be supportive and respectful of each other, and wouldn’t try to control each other-- Mumen wants to attend a battle despite being injured, because he knows there will be civilians there in need of a C-Class hero? TTM recognises his passion to help people and is 100% behind him (riding illegally on the back of his bike. I mean, this is canon already lol). 

I don’t ship it, because I like my ships messy and chaotic, but there is so much potential for pure goodnes from these two. 

Alternatively! Mumen Rider x Glasses. 

Because why have one hard-working and determined glasses-wearing character when you can have two?

They would eternally be encouraging each other and cheering each other on. These two would train together (on a fairly equal footing I think, because who knows how far up the ranks of B-Class Mumen could climb if only he’d gain some self-confidence in his abilities and let himself be promoted...) and they’d figure out each other’s weak points and work on them. And they would tend to each other’s injuries, and commiserate with each other about not being strong enough, whilst reminding each other they are not strong enough yet. 

Bonus ship, because they’re my best idiot rarepair: Okamaitachi x Bushidrill

They’re both so dedicated to their master and the art of the sword, they have so much banter together and there’s so much respect between them. Kama may have her head temporarily turned by beautiful monsters, and Bushi may roll his eyes at that, but along with Iaian they make a tightly-knit squad. You cannot tell me they would not be prepared to die for each other if things got really hairy (which it literally has, previously)-- or with each other, for that matter (Apollo better not be reading this). 

Kama and Bushi are confident in their abilities as heroes, but they’re also confident in each other as heroes. They respect each other’s ability to hold their own in a fight, but they still have each other’s backs, and they know they can always rely on each other to be there for them. There’s never any jealousy over their slight difference in ranking or the differences in their techniques (though Bushi may feel a little put out when Kama is drooling over Amai Mask). Their differences are what make them stronger as a team, and the respect between them forges a much stronger personal relationship. 

Because yes, Kama ‘falls in love’ with handsome monsters, and yes, Bushi rolls his eyes and teases her for it-- but it’s done with humour and affection, and Kama teases right back. (”Did you fall in love?” / “Absolutely not!” ...sure, Bushi.)

(”Have you fallen for me again?” / “I never did!” if you’re going by Viz translations. Yes I needed to put both. Either way, sure, Bushi.)

They are just so good, okay? Neither of them are as pure a soul as the others mentioned here but they still have good hearts. And I think things like respect, dedication, support and acceptance of each other’s flaws makes a ship purer than both parties being pure in their own right. 

And yeah, you could include Iaian in most of these statements because the sam fam trio are super close and work together like a well-oiled machine, but this is about ships and if I have the opportunity to ramble about a rarepair I will grab it with both hands lmao

This reply got long, thank you for giving me the opportunity to ramble!

Title: A Plot Beneath the Mistletoe (3/6)

Rating: G

Pairings: Okamaitachi x Bushidrill, Iaian x Atomic Samurai

Summary:   At the Christmas party, Kamikaze watches his disciples interact, and contemplates what they mean to him-- and why one of them in particular is different.

Notes: It’s time for @wanpanmas 2021!

Follows immediately from chapter 1.

Yay thank you for asking me about the thing!

Okay so... cliche romcom style kamabushi getting together via playing cupid...

Like, Kama has seen how Iai and Kamikaze look at each other. And she's sure that if they were just put in the right situations - stuck together in a dangerous situation, spending time together somewhere romantic, even set up on a blind date if things got really desperate - they would get together.

The moment just has to be right.

And of course she ropes Bushi into this. There's only so much she can do herself, and Bushi can provide The Male Mindset and help her figure out a way to effectively bully them into doing what she wants them to do.

Bushi is unexpectedly approving of her schemes, and they end up having weekly brainstorming sessions to decide what to do next when the schemes fall through (mostly due to the sheer idiocy of their friends, or the occasional monster-related disruption). Little by little they get to know each other better. Like, they already know each other pretty well, but all the time spent together as a group at training camps and so on is a lot different to the time they're spending together plotting to get their friends together.

Turns out Bushi is super romantic. And totally bashful about it at first too, until Kama stops teasing him for it and admits that his ideas are a million times better than hers and they are absolutely going to try this stuff out.

And 'trying stuff out' is exactly where things start to really change between them.

Because they wouldn't just randomly send Iai and Kamikaze to a restaurant they'd merely heard of. They have to test it first, to see if the food is the sort that their friends would like, and if the atmosphere is romantic enough that Kamikaze won't just sit there and grumble about the low lighting, and Iai won't snuff out the candle because it reflects too much upon his armour (Kama is still working on convincing him to not wear his armour when he isn't on active duty)

And like, Kamabushi need to check that the lake with the swan-shaped pedalos isn't just monster-infested enough that if any of them decide to pop up and cause trouble, Iai and Kamikaze can have a romantic near-drowning interlude. (And if they don't encounter monsters, that the outing is relaxing enough that they might start talking and finally confess to each other)

(Kamabushi had a near-drowning interlude. It wasn't particularly romantic, but Bushi was very sweet about Kama's ruined makeup, and when they reached the shore went to buy coffees whilst she ducked into the public toilets to fix it)

Eventually Kama kind of admits to herself that she's as invested in spending time with Bushi as she is in getting her best friend Iai to get together with Kamikaze. She hadn't really looked at Bushi that way until they started on this scheme, but now she can't stop thinking about him. He's nothing like her usual crushes, but he's so sweet. And he calls her out on her bullshit, which is kind of annoying but he does it in such a nice way that she can never stay mad (she just flirts with him in retaliation, and enjoys how red he turns... and sometimes Bushi flirts back)

Anyway eventually Iai and Kamikaze do end up together (that or it turns out they're already together and practically married; never decided which).

And Kama and Bushi congratulate each other on a job well done, and there's comments on both sides that they won't have to have those meetings together anymore to scheme their next move; they won't have to test out those date locations to see if they'll work for their idiot friends.

They part ways at the end of practice that day, and it hadn't escaped Kama's notice that Bushi seemed quieter than usual. Relief, she supposes. It had become pretty stressful, trying to get their idiot friends to notice their feelings for each other.

She heads home alone, missing when Bushi would come back with her, and they'd cook together, and plot.

But Kama is no fool. She knows there's nothing between Bushi and herself, and she's not at all the sort of woman Bushi is attracted to.

It sucks, because this is nothing like when she gets crushes on beautiful monsters and Amai Mask. But when it comes to genuine love, it's important to stay grounded in reality, and Bushi is not for her.

She tells herself not to mope over things that can never be, and gets to work cleaning up her apartment (finding a few little mementos of time with Bushi in the process, and putting them all into a box-- out of sight, out of mind, supposedly).

A little later, Bushi shows up at her door, his face as red as the roses he's holding.

"There's a restaurant I thought we could try," he says. "For us, this time."

Kama considers that maybe she is a bit of a fool after all.