GENJI BANZAI

[leggymaru]

Things Hizamaru Has Shown His Anija After Learning (Upset Edition):
- the boutique clothes
- bubble bath
- aquarium
- the sunset and stars by the pool
- the fucking ahegao gun makes human noises but doesn't have a human form??? ANIJA?
- the arcade bc it's cool
- what chocobos and spiracorns look like from a book in the library from prompto's world
- the fucking heelys

Comments

week 1, wednesday

[banzais]

[uh sometime after the threesome i guess

but higekiri will seem to be thinking about something as he wanders around - though he blinks when he notices his brother approaching. he offers an easy smile, forsaking the usual bow that he gives everyone else in greeting, and tilts his head]

Brother... have you noticed a trend in the words that are inked into our human bodies?

[leggymaru]

[As expected, he hurries over to his brother's side. The smile he has, though, fades slowly. Oh.

Nervously, his eyes flicker to Higekiri's neck and then move away.]

I thought... they were... not very good things from a long time ago. Chuuya-san didn't want me to see his. He said even if it was long ago, it still hurt. He remembered as if it happened recently.

[banzais]

Mistakes, isn't it? Even if the person wearing them may not see them as such.

[higekiri watches hizamaru's expression at that, curious and contemplative at the same time]

I've seen a few... someone wore one about harming their sibling.

[leggymaru]

[His lips part in surprise, and then his brows gently knot together. He drops his eyes from Higekiri, lips thin.]

Grune-nii has one, too. And Prompto-san. Did the demon put them on us? Why?

[banzais]

Hm... I don't know. To force us to become more open with each other?

[and he peers at hizamaru then]

What was yours again?

[did he really forget or is he making hizamaru say it himself, hm]

[leggymaru]

[His face actually flinches, just barely. It takes a moment before he'll look up at Higekiri. In a way, he doesn't think Higekiri forgot. But he would never call his brother out on it.

Very quietly:] Three shaku.

The length my smith made me.

[banzais]

[close as higekiri's watching, there's no way that he'd miss that flinch, the obvious way that hizamaru doesn't want to admit it.]

... it took me a bit to remember mine - it's a name that's very old, you know? But I thought it was an odd reminder, because I didn't think that it was a mistake... Wasn't cutting you down just answering a prayer to the gods?

[isn't that all he had to do, in order to free his own smith? but now there's something thoughtful in his gaze. he doesn't look angry, or bitter about hizamaru's words - though his gaze isn't as open and easily pleased as it normally is]

Do you feel guilty?

[over the way he was forged, born, created into the world]

[leggymaru]

Tomokiri.

[He does. He feels ashamed, even if he had absolutely not part in the length of himself, especially not in relation to his brother. He doesn't want to say, "Master thought your smith had stolen iron," so he says nothing.

It was just answering a prayer from the gods.]

...You also should have been three shaku, elder brother. So... I accept my punishment from the gods for being wrongly forged.

[banzais]

[ . . . higekiri seems thoughtful at that, listening to hizamaru's explanation. taking on guilt for something that he had no choice in, couldn't have acted on himself, and for that to be a mistake so grave that it's the one that he wears like a brand -

higekiri raises a hand up, letting it rest atop hizamaru's head - and then his fingers encourage him downward, pulling him closer so that it's easier for higekiri to press a kiss to his forehead]

The gods must have truly loved me, to give me such a kind younger brother.

[and for once, just once, higekiri's spirits sound just the slightest bit dampened - even if it might be hard to parse through the warmth in his voice]

[leggymaru]

[Obediently, he lowers his shoulders as if Higekiri's hand is a weight, but the kiss stuns him. Tears well up at the bottom of his eyes, though it's not the first time.]

Elder brother...!

[He's going to cry. He is crying? Both arms shoot up, and he wraps them hastily around Higekiri's shoulders, burrowing his face in the brother's neck.]

Your name is Higekiri! And I wouldn't take any other brother besides you!

[banzais]

[oh - higekiri just laughs softly at that, a lighter noise again as he lets one hand fall on his brother's back to pat it reassuringly]

Mm. You know I feel the same. Even if our family grows, I am relieved when I am at your side.

[hizamaru is the one he has history with, after all? but higekiri just laughs again]

Perhaps it was just this pesky body making me thing of complicated things.

[leggymaru]

[He squeezes in a clinging way, like he's trying to push Higekiri inside himself for protection and keeping, like he's trying to wring the weird feeling of shame and relief out of him.]

You are so amazing, elder brother! I will be forgiven a thousand times by you if I have to!

[Finally, though, he relents and leans back, raising an arm to wipe at his eyes.]

[banzais]

[this little brother of his is such a mess - but higekiri just laughs a little bit at that and when hizamaru lowers his arm again, higekiri will reach out with his hand, index finger running underneath hizamaru's eye as if to try to wipe any remaining tear tracks away]

... I wonder if it's really you who needs to be forgiven...

[leggymaru]

Don't say that, elder brother.

[It was definitely his fault for being longer, not the brothers for being shorter. Anija can really do no wrong--except maybe forget his name. He sniffs, following behind the finger to get rid of the tears.]

I don't mind.

[banzais]

[ . . . ]

Is a sin truly a sin, if the body that bears it doesn't remember being wrong?

Or is the body at fault for not remembering the scar?

[it's just more thinking out loud - more contemplation as he seems to think about what he's not saying out loud to hiza. he adjusts his hand, letting his palm rest on hiza's cheek, thumb brush the tears away more confidently - before just allowing his hand to rest there, holding his face carefully]

Mm, I suppose all will be well regardless.

[leggymaru]

You say the strangest things I don't understand sometimes, elder brother.

[But he doesn't mind being a himbo. He takes Higekiri's wrist in his hands to hold the arm there while presses his face into the palm.] Please don't worry over it, elder brother. It happened a long time ago. ["It doesn't matter if it happened a long time ago. It still hurts. For me, it's like yesterday," is what Chuuya had said. Wow, human pain sure is something.]

Don't tease anyone else about theirs if you see it, okay? I think it hurts the others more because they're human.

[banzais]

Mm, I know. [and higekiri's hand on hizamaru's face will just briefly, gently pinch some of the skin there between his fingers, expression lightening] I am gentle with everyone except you, after all.

[he shouldn't just say that. he really shouldn't.

but he seems like there's just a little bit more on his mind... but he supposes that if it's in the past, it's not worth thinking about - or at least nothing worth burdening his brother with. so instead he's happy to tease again, just a little bit mean]