#warriorswill

The weather had been unseasonably hot for the last few days, the heat spiking just in time for Gorou’s birthday... Which brought Kazuha’s mind back to the cooler.

“Please, close your eyes.” He requested while he opened the cooler and took out a small icecream cake to set on a beach towel.

“Okay, you may open them.”

After receiving the affirmative from Gorou, Kazuha cleared his throat in a way that an observant individuals would see betrayed his slight embarrassment before beginning.

“Are you Mora? Because I always seem to need ‘mora’ you.” “Inazuma shines eternal. So do you.” “Is your name Rex Lapis? Because when I met you I felt like I could see for the first time.”

Kazuha avoided looking at Gorou and turned his gaze skyward instead.

“I believe they are called ‘pickup lines’ and they are meant to combine wordplay with a compliment directed at someone one feels affection for.”

Kazuha was never one for holding grudges, even if this Gorou was one of the reasons they'd ended up in the other world, he couldn't imagine any version of his dearest would want to harm children. Making a decision, he gathered up the children in the room looking at them appraisingly but not unkindly. If they were his and Gorou’s they would at least know self defense and basic military formation by this age, but he supposed it was a kindness that the children in this world been able to grow up without such strict tutelage.

He turned to the younger version of Gorou. “I believe it's too dangerous to try and escort them to a safehouse. We’ll have to stay here and defend this building. Are you prepared to lay down your life?”

“Gorou! I’m glad I caught up to you.”

Kazuha jumped out of his vantage point in the trees branches to land in front of the pointy-eared general and handed him a small box. Inside was a cake he’d made himself and decorated with red rosettes. 

“I have recently learned that in this world, it is a popular custom to give sweets on this day to show your appreciation. Usually, the gift is chocolate, but I did not know if that would be... appropriate.” He had, admittedly, almost picked out ingredients to make Gorou chocolates before he took the general’s unique nature into account. “Thankfully, I have remembered how much you enjoy cake.”

Kazuha wasn’t always a stickler for tradition, but this seemed like the kind of practice meant to bring joy to others and he was more than happy to participate.

extended for you!

they'll all be placed on semi-hiatus!

In retrospect, they probably shouldn’t have been tagging so close to a police station, but they both wanted to send a message somewhere where they’d see it. It’d been Kazuha’s idea to engage in art activism, but he was starting to regret it now. Both he and Gorou had wanted to express their opinions in a way that was personal to them, but maybe they should have just stuck with their group. If only Kazuha hadn’t spent so long figuring out what he wanted to say.

He just couldn’t find the words to express how hard and unfair this city is to Gorou -- was to Tomo...

Pulling off the knit cap that hid his distinctive hair, he pulled it over the Gorou’s fluffy ears.

“Here. Don’t argue; you know they’ll be more suspicious of you if they see you’re not a human.”

“Ah, Gorou. I was looking for you.” When Kazuha went looking for a friend, he always found them with unerring accuracy. “It seems that along with the other strange phenomena this mist has brought here, it has also recalled my dear friend, Tomo, from his grave. Gorou, meet Tomo. Tomo, my old friend Gorou.”

Kazuha was taking this remarkably in stride. As someone who could easily see through illusions created by yokai, he was sure that Tomo was no illusion. He took a step back, interested to see how his two friends would get along.

“Gorou? I’ve heard a lot about you.” Tomo grinned and gave the other an informal bow. “Thank you for taking care of Kazuha when he needed help.”

Tama, who had been sniffing around Gorou’s legs, chose this moment to rub against the general’s legs and Tomo’s smile brightened. “Even Tama likes you and her intuition is never wrong!”

“Indeed,” Kazuha added from the side with a tiny smile. “The fact that she didn’t like Tomo at first was an early indicator there was much about his personality to be desired.”

“Hey!”