Omg congrats on reaching such a huge follower mindstone!!!! and,,,, I'd like to request something for some not as popular characters aaaa. Maybe some sweet spice with SLBP Izumo no Okuni, if you know enough about her to write for her? If not, then Oichi or Sen no Rikyu!!
OMG. I LOVE THIS!!! The Kenshin ES we got earlier this year with Izumo no Okuni was one of my favorites ever! This is an amazing request, thank you. Because you mentioned Izumo no Okuni with a female pronoun (and because that’s how MC interprets the character until otherwise informed), I’ll use she/her in this piece. Thank you again for requesting as part of my follower celebration!
A performer learned the possibilites of paint and powder as surely as they learned the limits of those magics. So Izumo no Okuni knew that the warm color on the cheeks of the woman before her could never be matched by a brush.
“I’m just so nervous,” the young woman confessed with a tense laugh. The trill of it and the shine of her eyes reminded the dancer of the little birds who lived in cages in the houses of rich men. She would never let that happen to this one.
The laugh became a deep breath in, then breathed out low, like she were imitating an owl. Her teacher wanted to pat her cheek and ruffle her feathers, all at the same time.
“I’m so grateful for all your instruction,” she said. Okuni felt a grin curl one side of her mouth. Impossible to resist. “I am going to try to calm down. Do you know any breathing exercises?”
She almost didn’t want to have her, so the lissome movements of her arms when she danced would forever be counterpoint to her sweetness. But only almost. Okuni promised, “I know something better,” and delicately pulled her new apprentice’s hand to her chest, avoiding the strand of beads to settle her palm against thin layers of cloth.
When that blush warmed further, it was a struggle not to laugh or lunge at her. Thankfully for their audience, there were only a few moments before the performance, and Izumo no Okuni was a professional.
“Try to match your heartbeat to mine,” she said pleasantly. Her delightful student had required no sternness at all over their week together. Even now, she looked to her senior for guidance. Sweetest treasure. Her pulse was so strong in her wrist Okuni could feel it in the looseness of her own grip.
“But your heart is beating so fast,” she whispered.
“Exactly,” Izumo no Okuni said, and pressed to unpainted lips the softest kiss she had ever imagined.
“Dancing should excite your spirit,” she breathed against those lips, pressing the hand closer to her heart for proof. “Never forget it, little bird.”
