[the words manage to pull a smile from higekiri, more sincere as he praises freely:]

Ah, I think that's a rather perfect answer.

[is it any wonder that they turned out like this when hizamaru shows higekiri in affection, and higekiri expects it to be given at every single turn? something warm burns in his chest and he's reminded again of what he was told - this very human emotion, this thing akin to love, and he wonders if it'll sear hotly enough that he could engrave it in hizamaru's skin.

he lowers his sword then, letting the tip of it fall on the skin right above hizamaru's heart - where higekiri had pierced through a training doll just earlier in the day.]

It'll disappear whenever we go to repairs... but I suppose I will admire it until then.

[it's a bit too much to ask higekiri to remember his own name kanji at the moment - but the incisions he makes against hiza's skin are light, skilled, and accurate, possessing a certain level of artistry to them since the genjis are nothing if not aesthetic.

even as higekiri is marking the outline of the minamoto crest into hiza's chest - just one symbol shy of being higekiri's own.]