Theme: Hurt/comfort :3
Note: if the picture doesnt stay im going to start a war
Tags: @Sarah1863479
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It was Senjuro’s birthday and, extremely excited for his younger brother, Kyojuro had visited with a healthy amount of food he’d made himself. By healthy amount, he meant enough to satisfy Mitsuri for a couple days. But that didn’t matter—all that did was Senjuro.
And, for the most part, it went very well. They spoke a bit, talking and laughing and catching up. Kyojuro made Senjuro eat as much as he could whilst he did the chores for him, cleaning the house from top to bottom and discreetly (or so he thought) placing several presents in Senjuro’s room for him to open later. But eventually, of course, Kyojuro had to head out. He would have patrol in an hour and he wasn’t allowed to miss it—even if he really wanted to. Before he left, though, he stopped by his father’s room, intending for a check up.
“Father? Hello?” he said carefully, peeking inside.
Shinjuro was sitting in his bed, facing away from the door. He didn’t look like he’d been up and about recently, several empty bottles of sake littering the floor.
Kyojuro slid the door open, stepping inside. “Good evening,” he murmured. He sat down, placing his hands on his lap, trying not to fidget.
“What,” came Shinjuro’s response, after a long moment.
“It’s been a while,” Kyojuro said. He tried to read his father’s posture, unable to discern him. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“You shits were being too loud,” Shinjuro spat, ignoring his pleasantries. “Try shutting up, for once.”
Kyojuro frowned. “Father, it’s Senjuro’s birthday—”
“I don’t care if it’s the damn emperor’s birthday—you’re talking loud enough to alert the whole fucking country!” Shinjuro slammed down a sake bottle, some of the contents splashing out. He scoffed, irritably wiping his hand on his clothing.
“I- I apologize, but it would be nice if you… wished Senjuro a happy birthday? He’s been working so hard lately, and he doesn’t have much time to do things he should be doing at his age. He’d be very happy if you told him something nice!” Kyojuro said, summoning a tense upbeat tone.
“Happy my ass. Not my fault he’s so slow,” Shinjuro said. He shoved away some of the bottles, moving to lay on his side, propping himself up with his elbow. “He doesn’t need some stupid congratulations for not dying from dust inhalation.”
Kyojuro bit back his rising fury. Stay calm. He must stay calm. “Senjuro works very hard to keep everything intact here! He deserves congratulations for that alone!”
“Oh, fuck off. He doesn’t deserve shit.” Shinjuro tugged the covers up over his body. “Go away.”
“Father-“
“I said leave.” Shinjuro turned to glare at Kyojuro. His expression was contorted, face scrunched in irritation. It hurt Kyojuro to see the complete contrast of his father to his previous self. “I have no time for this nonsense.”
“At least help Senjuro a little today? Make your own dinner…” Kyojuro tried.
“He can make it just fine. I’m busy.”
“Busy what?!” Kyojuro snapped. “Busy drinking? Busy ignoring your responsibilities as a father? Senjuro’s doing more than either of us for this family, at this point! And he’s only thirteen!”
“Yeah, and? He’s fourteen now. He’ll be fine,” Shinjuro growled. “If you want to help him, do it yourself.”
Kyojuro’s jaw clenched and he narrowed his eyes, trying to fight back a retort. “I’m trying to earn money for the family. What are you doing?” he gritted out. Without waiting for a response, he stood and left, closing the door as gently as he could muster behind him. He sucked in a breath, letting it out slowly. Then he quickly plastered a smile on his face, marching over to Senjuro’s room.
“I’lll be on my way out!” he said.
Senjuro turned, eyebrows creased in worry. Obviously, this act wasn’t fooling him. Well, of course. He wasn’t a child. He understood more than he should now. “Are you okay? I heard shouting…” he said, standing.
Kyojuro shook his head. “Everything’s good!” He moved towards him, patting Senjuro gently. “Happy birthday again, Senjuro! I’m very proud of you for getting so far.”
Senjuro smiled at him, though a prick of concern curved his brow. “Thank you, Aniue.”
“Anytime! Now, I’ve better get going!”
“Good luck!” Senjuro called out as Kyojuro left.
“Thank you! Good night!”
Kyojuro continued on his way, hoping Senjuro wasn’t watching as his hand curled into a fist. Fuck. Sometimes, he couldn’t stand his father. He didn’t understand him anymore. And he didn’t know how to feel about it.
Patrol went well. There weren’t any demons around, and after, Kyojuro made his way to Tengen’s home after getting an invitation around dawn. He was still relatively pissed off, although that was mostly because the uneventful patrol had gifted him plenty of time to think. When he arrived, he managed to relax as best he could.
Tengen let him in, basically scooping him up in his arms and announcing to his wives that, “KYOJURO IS HERE!!!”
The response was immediate and suddenly Kyojuro was enveloped in arms and voices. He let himself sink into it, a bit relieved he didn’t have to speak what with the Uzui’s constantly talking over themselves.
Hours later, he found himself training with Tengen as the other three made them some snacks. It sort of reminded him of when he would train Mitsuri, and Senjuro made them snacks whenever they needed breaks. The thought only brought back his argument from the day before and he ended up swinging the practice sword with such vigor that he almost broke it.
“Jesus, Kyojuro,” Tengen said, snatching it before he could do anything else. “I don’t just have a hundred of those. Lay it easy.”
Kyojuro winced internally. “Sorry.”
“‘s fine. Why don’t we take a break? I’m thirsty,” Tengen said, tossing aside the wooden katanas (with such carelessness that diminished the effect of his earlier words) and shifting his head piece.
“Alright!” Kyojuro agreed.
They sat down, grabbing the bamboo bottles that Hinatsuru had left for them and downing the water. (a/n lmao not me having a crisis abt what to call the bamboo things only to involve 5 other ppl in the confusion) For a while, they were silent, staring at a bird that had landed where they had just been training, watching it hop about aimlessly. Then Tengen spoke up, glancing over at Kyojuro.
“You okay?” he asked. His voice was soft and when Kyojuro turned to return the gaze, he found the magenta eyes swirling with mild worry.
Kyojuro sighed. “Yeah. Why?”
“Because you’re a lot more quieter today,” Tengen said. “And you sound tense.”
Oh. Curse Tengen and his abnormally good hearing. And his attentiveness. And the obvious concern that made Kyojuro want to hug him and tell him not to worry.
“I’m fine,” Kyojuro murmured. And it was true, at some level.
“Something wrong?” Tengen asked. He put down his bottle, placing a reassuring hand on Kyojuro’s shoulder.
Kyojuro bit his lip. He really didn’t want to have to confide in Tengen over some family drama… but he doubted not saying anything would help. So he resigned himself with recounting most of it to Tengen, leaning against him as he spoke. “…and then I don’t want to make Senjuro sad or something by telling him, but I’m sure he already gets most of it. I’m just… I’m just so irritated with Father constantly being like this! I feel terrible for not being able to help, but Senjuro’s just a child, he doesn’t deserve this lifestyle. It’s not fair.”
Tengen didn’t interrupt him throughout his rant, nodding along but not saying anything until Kyojuro let out a prolonged sigh as he closed his eyes.
“That’s it, though,” he concluded. “I was just… thinking too much about it. I’m sorry if I worried you.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Tengen assured him. “I’ll always worry about you if you seemed off. Anyway, about your father… I’m glad you’re at least speaking up to him more now. I remember when you refused to. So it’s a step. Hopefully it’ll smack some sense into his asshole of a mind.”
Kyojuro shot up, smacking him gently in the head. “Don’t say that!”
Tengen huffed. “He deserves it. But that’s not the point. About Senjuro—maybe we could just visit him a bit more. I’m sure he’s longing for company. If you want, I can check in on him whenever you’re too busy?”
Kyojuro nodded slowly. “I’d really appreciate that, if you could. But don’t force yourself if-“
“Pssh, it’s fine. I suggested it,” Tengen interrupted, mussing up Kyojuro’s hair. “I get how much you care about Senjuro. He’s literally your whole world. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to him.”
“Okay…” Kyojuro agreed, swatting away Tengen’s hand. “Thanks.”
“Mhm. And, Kyojuro?” Tengen said, after a moment.
“Huh?”
“Next time you go to see your father, I want to be there.”
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« Word count: 1512 »
i hate wattpad not letting me upload pictures on my tablet
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